THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
EDITED BY
E. CAPPS, PH.D., LL.D. T. E. PAGE, LITT.D. W. H. D. ROUSE, LITT.D.
APOLLODORUS
THE LIBRARY
I

THE LIBRARY
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
SIR JAMES GEORGE FRAZER,
F.B.A., F.R.S.
FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
IN TWO VOLUMES
I
LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN
NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
MCMXXI

TO
MY OLD TEACHER AND FRIEND
HENRY JACKSON, O.M.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION IX
SUMMARY xlv
SYMBOLS EMPLOYED IN THE CRITICAL NOTES lix
BOOK I 1
BOOK II 127
BOOK III 295
ERRATA.
VOL. I.
P. 73 For " Thestius " read " Agrius."
VOL. II.
P. 54. For "later version" read "earlier version."
INTRODUCTION
I.—THE AUTHOR AND His BOOK 
NOTHING is positively known, and little'*can be
conjectured with any degree of probability, concerning
the author of the Library. Writing in th?
ninth century of our era the patriarch Photius call's
him Apollodorus the Grammarian,1 and in the manuscripts
of his book he is described as Apollodorus
the Athenian, Grammarian. Hence we may conclude
that Photius and the copyists identified our
author with the eminent Athenian grammarian of
that name, who flourished about 140 B.C. and wrote
a number of learned works, now lost, including an
elaborate treatise On the Gods in twenty-four books,
and a poetical, or at all events versified, Chronicle in
four books.2 But in modern times good reasons
have been given for rejecting this identification,3
1 Photius, Bibliotheca, p. 142a, 37 sq., ed. Bekker.
2 W. Christ, GeschicMe der griechischen Litteratur (Nordliugen,
1889), pp. 455 sqq.; Schwartz, in Pauly-Wissowa,
Real-Encyclopddie der classichen Altertumswissenschaft,
i. 2855 sqq. The fragments of Apollodorus are collected
in 0. Muller's Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, i. 428 sqq.
3 This was first fully done by Professor C. Robert in his
learned and able dissertation De Apollodori Bibliotheca
(Berlin, 1873). In what follows I accept in the main his
arguments and conclusions.
ix
INTRODUCTION
and the attribution of the .Library to the Athenian
grammarian is now generally abandoned. For the
treatise On the Gods appears, from the surviving
fragments and references, to have differed entirely
in scope and rrvjthod from the existing Library.
The aim of the author of the book On the Gods seems
to have been to explain the nature of the deities on
rationalistic principles, resolving them either into
personified powers of nature l or into dead men and
women,2 and in his dissections of the divine nature
he appears to have operated freely with the very
flexible instrument of etymology. Nothing could
well be further from, the spirit and method of the
mythographer, who in the Library has given us a
convenient summary of the traditional Greek mythology
without making the smallest attempt either to
explain or to criticize it. And apart from this
general dissimilarity between the works of the
grammarian and of the mythographer, it is possible
from the surviving fragments of Apollodorus the
Grammarian to point to many discrepancies and
contradictions in detail.3
Another argument against the identification of
the mythographer with the grammarian is that the
author of the Library quotes the chronicler Castor ; 4
1 Joannes Lydus, De Mensibus, iv. 27; Fragmenta
Historicorum Qraecorum, iv. 649. a Athenagoras, Supplicatio pro Christianis, 28, p. 150, ed.
Otto; FragmentaHistoricontm Qraecorum, i. 431, frag. 12.
3 See 0. Robert, De Apollodori Bibliotheca, pp. 12 sqq.
4 Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, ii. 1. 3.
INTRODUCTION
for this Castor is supposed to be a contemporary of
Cicero and the author of a history which he brought
down to the year 61 B.C.1 If the chronicler's date is
thus correctly fixed, and our author really quoted
him, it follows that the Library is not a work of the
Athenian grammarian Apollodorus, since it cannot
have been composed earlier than about the middle
of the first century B.C. But there seems to be no
good ground for disputing either the date of the
chronicler or the genuineness of our author's reference
to him; hence we may take it as fairly
certain that the middle of the first century B.C. is
the earliest possible date that can be assigned to the
composition of the Library.
Further than this we cannot go with any
reasonable certainty in attempting to date the work.
The author gives no account of himself and never
refers to contemporary events : indeed the latest occurrences
recorded by him are the death of Ulysses
and the return of the Heraclids. Even Rome and
the Romans are not once mentioned or alluded to
by him. For all he says about them, he might have
lived before Romulus and Remus had built the future
capital of the world on the Seven Hills.
1 Suidas, s.v. Rao-rap ; Strabo, xii. 5. 3, p. 568; W. Christ,
Oeschichte der griechischen Litteratur, p. 430. He married
the daughter of King Deiotarus, whom Cicero defended in
his speech Pro rege Deiotaro, but he was murdered, together
with his wife, by his royal father-in-law. Among his
writings, enumerated by Suidas, was a work XpoviKa. ayvo-l]-
/j.ara.
INTRODUCTION
And his silence on this head is all the more
remarkable because the course of his work would
naturally have led him more than once to touch
on Roman legends. Thus he describes how Hercules
traversed Italy with the cattle of Geryon
from Liguria in the north to Rhegium in the
south, and how from Rhegium he crossed the
straits to Sicily.1 Yet in this narrative he does not
so much as mention Rome and Latium, far less tell
the story of the hero's famous adventures in the
eternal city. Again, after relating the capture and
sack of Troy he devotes some space to describing
the dispersal of the heroes and their settlement in
many widely separated countries, including Italy
and Sicily. But while he mentions the coming of
Philoctetes to Campania,2 and apparently recounted
in some detail his wars and settlement in Southern
Italy,3 he does not refer to the arrival of Aeneas in
Latium, though he had told the familiar stories, so
dear to Roman antiquaries, of that hero's birth from
Aphrodite4 and his escape from Troy with his father
Anchises on his back.5 From this remarkable silence
we can hardly draw any other inference than that
the writer was either unaware of the existence of
Rome or deliberately resolved to ignore it. He
1 The Library, ii. 5. 10. 2 Epitome, vi. 15. 3 Epitome, vi. 156. It is to be noted, however, that this
passage is not found in our manuscripts of Apollodorus but
has been conjecturally restored to his text from the Scholia
on Lycophron of Tzetzes. 4 The Library, iii. 12. 2. 5 Epitome, iii. 21.
xii
INTRODUCTION
cannot have been unaware of it if he wrote, as is
now generally believed, under the Roman Empire.
It remains to suppose that, living with the evidence
of Roman power all around him, and familiar as he
must have been with the claims which the Romans
set up to Trojan descent,1 he carefully abstained from
noticing these claims, though the mention of them
was naturally invited by the scope and tenor of his
work. It must be confessed that such an obstinate
refusal to recognize the masters of the world is
somewhat puzzling, and that it presents a serious
difficulty to the now prevalent view that the author
was a citizen of the Roman empire. On the other
hand it would be intelligible enough if he wrote in
some quiet corner of the Greek world at a time
when Rome was still a purely Italian power, when
rumours of her wars had hardly begun to trickle
across the Adriatic, and when Roman sails had not
yet shown themselves in the Aegean.
As Apollodorus ignored his contemporaries, so
apparently was he ignored by them and by posterity
for many generations. The first known writer to
quote him is Photius in the ninth century A.D., and
the next are John and Isaac Tzetzes, the learned
Byzantine grammarians of the twelfth century, who
made much use of his book and often cite him by
1 Juvenal repeatedly speaks of the old Roman nobility
as Troiugenae (i. 100, viii. 181, xi. 95); and the same term
is used by Silius Italicus (Punic, xiv. 117, xvi. 658) as
equivalent to Romans.
INTRODUCTION
name.1 Our author is named and quoted by scholiasts
on Homer,2 Sophocles,3 and Euripides.4 Further,
many passages of his work have been interpolated,
though without the mention of their author's name, in
the collection of proverbs which Zenobius composed
in the time of Hadrian.3 But as we do not know
when the scholiasts and the interpolator lived, their
quotations furnish us with no clue for dating the
Library.
Thus, so far as the external evidence goes, our
author may have written at any time between the
middle of the first century B.C. and the beginning of
the ninth century A.b. When we turn to the internal
evidence furnished by his language, which is
the only remaining test open to us, we shall be
disposed to place his book much nearer to the earlier
than to the later of these dates. For his Greek
style, apart from a few inaccuracies or solecisms, is
fairly correct and such as might not discredit a
writer of the first or second century of our era.
Even turns or phrases, which at first sight strike
the reader as undoubted symptoms of a late or
degenerate Greek, may occasionally be defended by
the example of earlier writers. For example, he
1 See e.g. Tzetzes, Scholia on Lycophron, 178, 355, 440,
1327 ; id., Chiliades, i. 557.
2 Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 42, 126, 195 ; ii. 103, 494.
3 Scholiast on Sophocles, Antigone, 981, ravra 8' iffrope'i
'A.iro\\6$cepos ev TTJ Bij8A.«o(Mj/q7.
4 Scholiast on Euripides, Alcestis, i.
6 As to the date of Zenobius, see Suidas, s.v. 2,t\v6$ios.
xiv
INTRODUCTION
once uses the phrase TOLLS aXriOeicu? in the sense of
" in very truth." 1 Unquestionably this use of the
plural is common enough in late writers,2 but it is
not unknown in earlier writers, such as Polybius,3
Alcidamas,4 and even Isocrates.5 It occurs in some
verses on the unity of God, which are attributed to
Sophocles, but which appear to be undoubtedly
spurious.6 More conclusive evidence of a late date
is furnished by our author's use of the subjunctive
with ?va, where more correct writers would
have employed the infinitive;7 and by his occasional
employment of rare words or words used in an
unusual sense.8 But such blemishes are comparatively
rare. On the whole we may say that the style of
Apollodorus is generally pure and always clear,
1 ii. 7. 7. 3 For examples see Babrius, Ixxv. 19, with Rutherford's
note ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 522 ; Scholiast on
Homer, II. ix. 557 ; Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, ii. 178,
iv. 815. 8 Polybius, x. 40. 5, ed. Dindorf.
4 Alcidamas, Odysseus, 13, p. 179 in Blass's edition of
Antiphon. However the genuineness of the Odysseus is
much disputed. See Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopddie der
classichen Altertumswissenschajt, i. 1536.
5 Isocrates, xv. 283, vol. ii. p. 168, ed. Benseler.
6 The Fragments of Sophocles, edited by A. C. Pearson
(Cambridge, 1917), vol. iii. p. 172, frag. 1126, with Jebb's
note, p. 174.
7 i. 4. 2, ffvv6e/j.fvo)v Se avrwv 'Iva . . . 5ia0f} : i. 9. 15, jjr^ffaTO
irapa fj.otpcav 'Iva . . . airoKvBri : iii. 12. 6, iroiriaa.fi.fvov euxas
'Hpa/cA«'ous Iva, avr£ irais yevrjTai : Epitome, V. 17, $6£av 8e
"Tois iro\\ots 'Iva avrbv edffuiri.
8 For example e/crpoxaC*"', "to run out" (ii. 7. 3), irpoaav(-)(
fiv, "to favour" (ii. 8. 4). For more instances see
C. Robert, De ApoUodori Bibliotheca, pp. 42 sqq,
xv
INTRODUCTION
simple, and unaffected, except in the very rare
instances where he spangles his plain prose with a
tag from one of his poetical sources.1 But with all
his simplicity and directness he is not an elegant
writer. In particular the accumulation of participles,
to which he is partial, loads and clogs the march of
his sentences.
From a consideration of his style, and of all
the other evidence, Professor C. Robert inclines
to conclude that the author of the Library was a
contemporary of Hadrian and lived in the earlier
part of the first century A.o.2 Another modern
scholar, W. Christ, even suggested so late a date
for the composition of the work as the reign of
Alexander Severus in the third century A.D.S To
me it seems that we cannot safely say more than
that the Library was probably written at some time
in either the first or the second century of our era.
Whether the author's name was really Apollodorus,
or whether that name was foisted on him by the
error or fraud of scribes, who mistook him or desired
to palm him off on the public for the famous
Athenian grammarian, we have no means of deciding.
Nor, apart from the description of him by
the copyists as " Apollodorus the Athenian," have
1 See for example his description of the Cretan labyrinth
as ofrc^jua /ca,u7ra7s iro\vir\6Kois irXavSiv TT/J/ e^oSov (iii. 1. 3,
compare iii. 15. 8); and his description of Typhon breathing
fire, TroAA.^v 5e e/c TOV ffrofj.aTos Trupbs e£e/3paffffe £d\riv (i. 6. 3). .
a C. Kobert, De Apottodori Bibliotheca, pp. 40 sq.
3 W. Christ, Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur, p. 571,
INTRODUCTION
we any clue to the land of his birth. He himself is
silent on that as on every other topic concerning
himself. But from some exceedingly slight indications
Professor C. Robert conjectures that he was
indeed an Athenian.1
Turning now from the author to his book, we may
describe the library as a plain unvarnished summary
of Greek myths and heroic legends, as these were
recorded in literature; for the writer makes no
claim to draw on oral tradition, nor is there the least
evidence or probability that he did so : it may be
taken as certain that he derived all his information
from books alone. But he used excellent authorities
and followed them faithfully, reporting, but seldom
or never attempting to explain or reconcile, their
discrepancies and contradictions.2 Hence his book
possesses documentary value as an accurate record
of what the Greeks in general believed about the
origin and early history of the world and of their
race. The very defects of the writer are in a sense
advantages which he possessed for the execution
of the work he had taken in hand. He was neither
a philosopher nor a rhetorician, and therefore lay
under no temptation either to recast his materials
under the influence of theory or to embellish them
1 C. Robert, De Apollodori Bibliotheca, pp. 34 sq. Amongst
these indications is the author's acquaintance with the " sea
of Erechtheus " and the sacred olive-tree on the Acropolis of
Athens. See Apollodorus, iii. 14. 1.
* 2 This is recognized by Professor C. Robert, De Apollodori
Bibliotheca, p. 54.
xvii
VOL. i. b
INTRODUCTION
for the sake of literary effect. He was a common
man, who accepted the traditions of his country in
their plain literal sense, apparently without any
doubt or misgiving. Only twice, among the many
discrepant or contradictory views which he reports
without wincing, does he venture to express a preference
for one over the other. The apples of the Hesperides,
he says, were not, as some people supposed,
in Libya but in the far north, in the land of the
Hyperboreans ; but of the existence of the wondrous
fruit, and of the hundred-headed dragon which
guarded them, he seemingly entertained no manner
of doubt.1 Again^ he tells us that in the famous
dispute between Poseidon and Athena for the
possession of Attica, the judges whom Zeus appointed
to adjudicate on the case were not, as some people
said, Cecrops and Cranaus, nor yet Erysichthon, but
the twelve gods in person.2
How closely Apollodorus followed his authorities
may be seen by a comparison of his narratives with
the extant originals from which he drew them, such
as the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles,3 the Alcestis^
and Medea 5 of Euripides, the Odyssey ,6 and above
all the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius.7 The
1 Apollodorus, ii. 5. 11. 2 Apollodorus, iii. 14. 1.
s Apollodorus, iii. 3. 5. 7 sqq. * Apollodorus, i. 9. 15.
5 Apollodorus, i. 9. 28. 6 Apollodorus, Epitome, vii. 7 Apollodorus, ii. 9. 16-26. However, Apollodorus allowed
himself occasionally to depart from the authority of Apollonius,
for example, in regard to the death of Apsyrtus. See i.
19.24 with the note ; and for other variations, see O. Robert,
De Apollodori Bibliotheca, pp. 80 sqq.
Xvlii
INTRODUCTION
fidelity with which he reproduced or summarized the
accounts of writers whose works are accessible to
us inspires us with confidence in accepting his
statements concerning others whose writings are
lost. Among these, perhaps, the most important
was Pherecydes of Leros, who lived at Athens in the
first half of the fifth century B.C. and composed a
long prose work on Greek myth and legend, which
more than any other would seem to have served as
the model and foundation for the Library of
Apollodorus. It is unfortunate that the writings of
Pherecydes have perished, for, if we may judge
of them by the few fragments which survive,
they appear to have been a treasure-house of Greek
mythical and legendary lore, set forth with that
air of simplicity and sincerity which charm us in
Herodotus. The ground which he covered, and the
method which he pursued in cultivating it, coincided
to a large extent with those of our author. Thus
he treated of the theogoiiy, of the war of the gods
and the giants, of Prometheus, of Hercules, of the
Argive and the Cretan sagas, of the voyage of the
Argo, and of the tribal or family legends of Arcadia,
Laconia, and Attica; and like Apollodorus he
seems to have paid great attention to genealogies.1
Apollodorus often cites his opinion, and we cannot
doubt that he owed much to the writings of his
1 See W. Christ, Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur
p. 249 ; Fragmento Historicorum Graecorum, ed. C. Miiller,
i. 70 sqq.
b 2
INTRODUCTION
learned predecessor.1 Other lost writers whom our
author cites, and from whose works he derived
materials for his book, are the early Boeotian
genealogist Acusilaus, who seems to have lived
about 500 B.C., and Asclepiades of Tragilus, a pupil
of Isocrates, in the fourth century B.C., who composed
a treatise on the themes of Greek tragedies.2
Compiled faithfully, if uncritically, from the best
literary sources open to him, the Library of Apollodorus
presents us with a history of the world, as
it was conceived by the Greeks, from the dark
beginning down to a time when the mists of
fable began to lift and to disclose the real actors
on the scene. In other words, Apollodorus conducts
us from the purely mythical ages, which lie far
beyond the reach of human memory, down to the
borderland of history. For I see no reason to doubt
that many, perhaps most, of the legendary persons
recorded by him were not fabulous beings, but
men of flesh and blood, the memory of whose
fortunes and family relationships survived in oral
1 As to the obligations of Apollodorua to Pherecydes, see
C. Robert, De Apollodori Bibliotheca, pp. 66 sqq.
1 For the fragments of Acusilaus and Asclepiades, see
Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, ed. C. Miiller, i.
101 sqq., iii. 301 sqq. Another passage of Acusilaus, with
which Apollodorus would seem to have been acquainted, has
lately been discovered in an Egyptian papyrus. See The
Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XIII, edited by B. P. Grenfell and
A. S. Hunt (London, 1919), p. 133; and my note on Apollodorus,
Epitome, i. 22, yol. ii. p. 151. As to the obligations
of Apollodorus to Acusilaus and Asclepiades, see C. Robert,
De Apollodori Bibliotheca, pp. 68 sqq., 72 sqq.
xx
INTRODUCTION
tradition until they were embalmed in Greek literature.
It is true that in his book, as in legend
generally, the real and the fabulous elements blend
so intimately with each other that it is often difficult
or impossible to distinguish them. For example,
while it seems tolerably certain that the tradition
of the return of the Heraclids to Peloponnese is
substantially correct, their ancestor Hercules a few
generations earlier looms still so dim through the
fog of fable and romance that we can hardly say
whether any part of his gigantic figure is solid, in
other words, whether the stories told of him refer to
a real man at all or only to a creature of fairyland.1
1 In favour of the view that Hercules was a man of flesh
and blood, a native of Thebes, might be cited the annual
sacrifice and funeral games celebrated by the Thebans at one
of the gates of the city in honour of the children of Hercules
(Pindar, Isthm. iv. 61 (104) aqq., with the Scholiast) ; the
statement of Herodotus (v. 59) that he had seen in the
sanctuary of the Ismenian Apollo at Thebes a tripod bearing
an inscription in " Cadmean letters" which set forth that
the tripod had been dedicated by Amphitryon, the human
father of Hercules ; and again the statement of Plutarch
(De genio Socratis, 5; compare id. Lysander, 28) that the
grave of Alcmena, mother of Hercules, at Haliartus had been
opened by the Spartans and found to contain a small bronze
armlet, two jars with petrified earth, and an inscription in
strange and very ancient characters on a bronze tablet, which
Agesilaus sent to the king of Egypt to be read by the
priests, because the form of the inscription was supposed to
be Egyptian. The kernel round which the Theban saga of
Hercules gathered may perhaps have been the delivery of
Thebes from the yoke of the Minyans of Orchomenus ; for
according to tradition Thebes formerly paid tribute to that
ancient and once powerful people, and it was Hercules who
not only freed his people from that badge of servitude, but
INTRODUCTION
Again, though the record of the old wars of Thebes
and Troy is embellished or defaced by many mythical
episodes and incidents, we need not scruple to believe
that its broad outlines are true, and that the
principal heroes and heroines of the Theban and
Trojan legends were real and not mythical beings.
Of late years it has been supposed that the heroes
and heroines of Greek legend are "faded gods/' that
is, purely imaginary beings, who have been first exalted
to the dignity of deities, and then degraded to a
rank not much above that of common humanity. So
far as I can j udge, this theory is actually an inversion
gained so decisive a victory over the enemy that he reversed
the relations between the two cities by imposing a heavy
tribute on Orchomenus. There is nothing impossible or even
improbable in the tradition as recorded by Apollodorus
(ii. 4. 11). Viewed in this light, the delivery of the Thebans
from the Orchomenians resembles the delivery of the Israelites
from the Philistines, and Hercules may well have been the
Greek counterpart of Samson, whose historical existence has
been similarly dimmed by fable. Again, the story that after
the battle Hercules committed a murder and went to serve
Eurystheus as an exile at Tiryns (Apollodorus, ii. 4. 12)
tallies perfectly with the usage of what is called the heroic
age of Greece. The work of Apollodorus contains many
instances of banishment and servitude imposed as a penalty
on homicides. The most famous example is the period of
servitude which the great god Apollo himself had to undergo
as an expiation for his slaughter of the Cyclopes. (See
Apollodorus, iii. 10. 4.) A homicide had regularly to submit
to a ceremony of purification before he was free to associate
with his fellows, and apparently the ceremony was always
performed by a foreigner in a country other than that in
which the crime had been committed. This of itself entailed
at least temporary banishment on the homicide. (See Index,
s.vv. "Exile"and "Purification.")
xxii
INTRODUCTION
of the truth. Instead of the heroes being gods on the
downward road to humanity, they are men on the upward
road to divinity; in other words, they are men
of flesh and blood, about whom after their death fancy
spun her glittering cobwebs till their real humanity
was hardly recognizable, and they partook more and
more of the character of deities. When we consider
the divine or semi-divine honours paid in historical
times to men like Miltiades,1 Brasidas,2 Sophocles,3
Dion/ Aratus,5 and Philopoemen,6 whose real existence
is incontestable, it seems impossible to deny
that the tendency to deify ordinary mortals was an
1 Herodotus, vi. 38. 2 Thucydides, v. 11.
3 Etymologicum Magnum, s.v. Ae£iav, p. 256. 6 ; Istrus,
quoted in a life of Sophocles, Vitarum Scriptores Qraeci
Minores, ed. A. Westermann (Brunswick, 1845), p. 131 ;
Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, ed. C. Muller, i. 425.
The poet was worshipped under the title of Dexion, and " the
sanctuary of Dexion" is mentioned in an Athenian inscription
of the fourth century B.C. See Ch. Michel, Recueil d'Inscriptions
Grccques (Brussels, 1920), No. 966, pp. 761 sq.;
G. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum'6, No. 1096
(vol. iii. pp. 247 sq.). Compare P. Foucart, Le cultedesHdros
chez les Grecs (Paris, 1918), pp. 121 sqq. (from the Mdmoires
de VAcadimie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, tome xlii.).
In this valuable memoir the veteran French scholar has
treated of the worship of heroes among the Greeks with
equal judgment and learning. With his treatment of the
subject and his general conclusions I am happy to find myself
in agreement. 4 Diodorus Siculus, xvi. 20.
8 Polybius, viii. 14; Plutarch, Aratus, 53; Pausanias,
ii. 8. 1, ii. 9. 4 and 6.
6 Diodorus Siculus, xxix. 18, ed. L. Dindorf ; Livy, xxxix.
50. Heroic or divine honours are not mentioned by Plutarch
in his impressive description of the funeral of Philopoemen
(Philopoamen, 21); but he says that the Messenian prisoners
were stoned to death at the tomb.
INTRODUCTION
operative principle in ancient Greek religion, and
that the seeds of divinity which it sowed were probably
still more prolific in earlier and less enlightened
ages ; for it appears to be a law of theological evolution
that the number of deities in existence at any
moment varies inversely with the state of knowledge
of the period, multiplying or dwindling as the
boundaries of ignorance advance or recede. Even in
the historical age of Greece the ranks of the celestial
hierarchy were sometimes recruited, not by the slow
process of individual canonization, as we may call it,
but by a levy in mass ; as when all the gallant men
who died for the freedom of Greece at Marathon and
Plataea received the first step of promotion on the
heavenly ladder by being accorded heroic honours,
which they enjoyed down to the second century of
our era.1
Yet it would be an error to suppose that all Greek
heroes and heroines had once been live men and
women. Many of them were doubtless purely
1 As to the heroic honours accorded to the dead at Marathon,
see Pausanias, i. 32. 4 ; Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum,
ii. No. 471. Remains of the sacrifices offered to the
dead soldiers have come to light at Marathon in modern times.
See my commentary on Pausanias, vol. ii. 433 sq. As to the
heroic honours enjoyed by the dead at Plataea, see Thucydides,
iii. 58 ; Plutarch, Aristides, 21 ; G. Kaibel, Epigrammata
Graeca ex lapidibus conlecta (Berlin, 1878), No. 461, p.
183 ; Inscriptions Graecae Megaridis Oropiae Boeotiae, ed.
G. Dittenberger (Berlin, 1892). No. 53, pp. 31 sq. In the
inscription the dead are definitely styled "heroes," and it
is mentioned that the bull was still sacrificed to them by the
city "down to our time" (/«XP^ *P' ^/*«")-
fictitious beings, created on the model of the others
to satisfy the popular craving for supernatural
patronage. Such in particular were many of the socalled
eponymous heroes, who figured as the ancestors
of families and of tribes, as the founders of cities,
and as the patrons of corporations and trade guilds.
The receipt for making a hero of this pattern was
simple. You took the name of the family, tribe,
city, corporation, or guild, as the case might be,
clapped on a masculine termination, and the thing
was done. If you were scrupulous or a stickler for
form, you might apply to the fount of wisdom at
Delphi, which would send you a brevet on payment,
doubtless, of the usual fee. Thus when Clisthenes
had created the ten Attic tribes, and the indispensable
heroes were wanted to serve as figure-heads,
the Athenians submitted a " long leet " of a hundred
candidates to the god at Delphi, and he pricked the
names often, who entered on their office accordingly.1
Sometimes the fictitious hero might even receive
offerings of real blood, as happened to Phocus, the
nominal ancestor of the Phocians, who got a libation
of blood poured into his grave every day,2 being
much luckier than another hero, real or fictitious, at
Phaselis in Lycia, who was kept on a low diet of fish
1 Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 21 ; Etymologicum
Magnum, s.v. 'EWWI'U/J.OL • Scholiast on Aristides, Panathen.,
vol. iii. p. 331, ed. G. Dindorf (where for Ka\\ir9fvi}s we
must read KA.e«rfleVrjx). As to the fictitious heroes, see
P. Foucart, Le culte des Hiros chez Us Grecs, pp. 47 sqq.
2 Pausanias, x. 4. 10. As to Phocus in his character of
eponymous hero of Phocis, see Pausanias, x. 1. 1.
XXV
. INTRODUCTION
and had his rations served out to him only once a
year.1 It is difficult to conceive how on such a scale
of remuneration the poor hero contrived to subsist
from one year's end to the other.
The system of Euhemems, which resolves the gods
into dead men, unquestionably suffers from the vice
inherent in all systems which would explain the infinite
multiplicity and diversity of phenomena by a
single simple principle, as if a single clue, like
Ariadne's thread, could guide us to the heart of this
labyrinthine universe; nevertheless the theory of
the old Greek thinker contains a substantial element
of truth, for deep down in human nature is the
tendency, powerful for good as well as for evil, to
glorify and worship our fellow-men, crowning their
mortal brows with the aureole as well as the bay.
While many of the Greek gods, as Ouranos and Ge,
Helios and Selene, the Naiads, the Dryads, and so
on, are direct and transparent personifications of
natural powers; and while others, such as Nike,
Hygieia, and Tyche, are equally direct and transparent
personifications of abstract ideas,2 it is possible
1 Athenaeus, vii. 51, pp. 297E-298A.
2 The personification and deification of abstract ideas in
Greek and Roman religion are illustrated, with a great
wealth of learning, by L. Deubner in W. H. Roscher's
Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie, iii.
2068 sqq. What Juvenal says (x. 365 sq.) of the goddess of
Fortune, one of the most popular of these deified abstractions,
might be said with equal truth of many other gods and
goddesses :
Nos te,
Nos faeimus, Fortuna, deam caeloque locamus.
xx vi
INTRODUCTION
and even probable that some members of the
pantheon set out on their career of glory as plain
men and women, though we can no longer trace
their pedigree back through the mists of fable to
their humble origin. In the heroes and heroines
of Greek legend and history we see these gorgeous
beings in the chrysalis or incubatory stage, before
they have learned to burst the integuments of earth
and to flaunt their gaudy wings in the sunshine of
heaven. The cerements still cling to their wasted
frames, but will soon be exchanged for a gayer garb
in their passage from the tomb to the temple.
But besides the mythical and legendary narratives
which compose the bulk of the Library, we may
detect another element in the work of our author
which ought not to be overlooked, and that is the
element of folk-tale. As the distinction between
myth, legend, and folk-tale is not always clearly
apprehended or uniformly observed, it may be well
to define the sense in which I employ these terms.
By myths I understand mistaken explanations of
phenomena, whether of human life or of external
nature. Such explanations originate in that instinctive
curiosity concerning the causes of things
which at a more advanced stage of knowledge seeks
satisfaction in philosophy and science, but being
founded on ignorance and misapprehension they are
always false, for were they true they would cease to
be myths. The subjects of myths are as numerous
as the objects which present themselves to the mind
xxvii
INTRODUCTION
of man; for everything excites his curiosity, and of
everything he desires to learn the cause. Among
the larger questions which many peoples have
attempted to answer by myths are those which
concern the origin of the world and of man, the
apparent motions of the heavenly bodies, the regular
recurrence of the seasons, the growth and decay
of vegetation, the fall of rain, the phenomena of
thunder and lightning, of eclipses and earthquakes,
the discovery of fire, the invention of the useful arts,
the beginnings of society, and the mystery of death.
In short, the range of myths is as wide as the world,
being coextensive with the curiosity and the ignorance
of man.1
By legends I understand traditions, whether oral
or written, which relate the fortunes of real people
in the past, or which describe events, not necessarily
1 By a curious limitation of view some modern writers
would restrict the scope of myths to ritual, as if nothing but
ritual were fitted to set men wondering and meditating on the
causes of things. As a recent writer has put it concisely,
"Les myihes sont lea explications des rites" (F. Sartiaux,
" La philosophic de 1'histoire des religions et les origines du
Christianisme dans le dernier ouvrage de M. Loisy," Revue
du Mois, Septembre-Octobre, 1920, p. 15 of the separate
reprint). It might have been thought that merely to open
such familiar collections of myths as the Theogony of
Hesiod, the Library of Apollodorus, or the Metamorphoses
of Ovid, would have sufficed to dissipate so erroneous a conception
; for how small is the attention paid to ritual in
these works ! No doubt some myths have been devised to
explain rites of which the true origin was forgotten ; but
the number of such myths is small, probably almost infinitesimally
small, by comparison with myths which deal with
other subjects and have had another origin.
INTRODUCTION
human, that are said to have occurred at real places.
Such legends contain a mixture of truth and falsehood,
for were they wholly true, they would not be
legends but histories. The proportion of truth and
falsehood naturally varies in different legends ; generally,
perhaps, falsehood predominates, at least in
the details, and the element of the marvellous or
the miraculous often, though not always, enters
largely into them.
By folk-tales I understand narratives invented by
persons unknown and handed down at first by word
of mouth from generation to generation, narratives
which, though they profess to describe actual occurrences,
are in fact purely imaginary, having no other
aim than the entertainment of the hearer and making
no real claim on his credulity. In short, they are
fictions pure and simple, devised not to instruct or
edify the listener, but only to amuse him; they
belong to the region of pure romance. The zealous
student of myth and ritual, more intent on explaining
than on enjoying the lore of the people, is too
apt to invade the garden of romance and with a
sweep of his scythe to lay the flowers of fancy in
the dust. He needs to be reminded occasionally
that we must not look for a myth or a rite behind
every tale, like a bull behind every hedge or a canker
in every rose. The mind delights in a train of
imagery for its own sake apart from any utility to
be derived from the visionary scenes that pass before
her, just as she is charmed by the contemplation of
xxix
INTRODUCTION
a fair landscape, adorned with green woods, shining
rivers, and far blue hills, without thinking of the
timber which the woodman's axe will fell in these
green glades, of the fish which the angler's line will
draw from these shining pools, or of the ore which
the miner's pick may one day hew from the bowels
of these far blue hills. And just as it is a mistake
to search for a mythical or magical significance in
every story which our rude forefathers have bequeathed
to us by word of mouth, so it is an error to
interpret in the same sad and serious sense every
carving and picture with which they decorated the
walls of their caverns. From early times, while
some men have told stories for the sheer joy of
telling them, others have drawn and carved and
painted for the pure pleasure which the mind takes
in mimicry, the hand in deft manipulation, and the
eye in beautiful forms and colours.1 The utilitarian
creed is good and true only on condition that we
interpret utility in a large and liberal sense, and do
1 M. Marcellin Boule has lately made some judicious
observations on the tendency to push too far the magical
interpretation of prehistoric cave paintings. Without denying
that magic had its place in these early works of art, he concludes,
with great verisimilitude, that in the beginning " tart
n'est probablement qu'une manifestation parliculiere d'un
esprit general limitation dejd, si developpe chez les singes."
See his book, Les Hommes FossiUs (Paris, 1921), p. 260 note.
A similar view of the origin of art in emotional impulses
rather than in the deliberate and purposeful action of magic
and religion, is expressed by Mr. Sarat Chandra Roy in his
able work, Principles and Methods of Physical. Anthropology
(Patna, 1920), pp. 87 sq.
XXX
INTRODUCTION
not restrict it to the bare satisfaction of those bodily
instincts on which ultimately depends the continuance
both of the individual and of the species.
If these definitions be accepted, we may say that
myth has its source in reason, legend in memory,
and folk-tale in imagination; and that the three
riper products of the human mind which correspond
to these its crude creations are science, history, and
romance.
But while educated and reflective men can clearly
distinguish between myths, legends, and folk-tales,
it would be a mistake to suppose that the people,
among whom these various narratives commonly circulate,
and whose intellectual cravings they satisfy,
can always or habitually discriminate between them.
For the most part, perhaps, the three sorts of narratives
are accepted by the folk as all equally true or
at least equally probable. To take Apollodorus, for
example, as a type of the common man, there is not
the least indication that he drew any distinction in
respect of truth or probability between the very
different kinds of narrative which he included in
the Library. To him they seem to have been all
equally credible ; or if he entertained any doubts as
to their credibility, he carefully suppressed them.
Among the specimens, or rather morsels, of popular
fiction which meet us in his pages we may instance
the tales of Meleager, Melampus, Medea, Glaucus,
Perseus, Peleus, and Thetis, which all bear traces
of the story-teller's art, as appears plainly enough
xxxi
INTRODUCTION
when we compare them with similar incidents in
undoubted folk-tales. To some of these stories,
with the comparisons which they invite, I have
called attention in the notes and Appendix, but
their number might no doubt easily be enlarged.
It seems not improbable that the element of folktale
bulks larger in Greek tradition than has commonly
been suspected. When the study of folk-lore
is more complete and exact than at present, it may
be possible to trace to their sources many rivulets of
popular fiction which contributed to swell the broad
and stately tide of ancient literature.1
In some respects the Library of Apollodoms resembles
the book of Genesis. Both works profess
to record the history of the world from the creation,
or at all events from the ordering of the material
universe, down to the time when the ancestors of
the author's people emerged in the land which was
to be the home of their race and the scene of their
1 Among recent works which mark a distinct advance
in the study of folk-tales I would particularly mention
the modestly named Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- und
Hausmdrchen der Briider Grimm by Johannes Bolte and
Georg Polivka, published in three octavo volumes, Leipsic,
1913—1918. A fourth volume, containing ail index and a
survey of the folk-tales of other peoples, is promised and
will add greatly to the utility of this very learned work,
which does honour to German scholarship. Even as
it is, though it deals only with the German stories
collected by the two Grimms, the book contains the fullest
bibliography of folk-tales with which I am acquainted. I
regret that it did not reach me until all my notes were
passed for the press, but I have been able to make some use
of it in the Appendix.
xxxii
INTRODUCTION
glory. In both works the mutations of nature and
the vicissitudes of man are seen through the glamour,
and distorted or magnified, by the haze, of myth and
legend. Both works are composite, being pieced
together by a comparatively late redactor, who
combined materials drawn from a variety of documents,
without always taking pains to explain their
differences or to harmonize their discrepancies. But
there the resemblance between them ends. For
whereas the book of Genesis is a masterpiece of
literary genius, the Library of Apollodorus is the dull
compilation of a commonplace man, who relates
without one touch of imagination or one spark of
enthusiasm the long series of fables and legends
which inspired the immortal productions of Greek
poetry and the splendid creations of Greek art.
Yet we may be grateful to him for saving for us
from the wreck of ancient literature some waifs
and strays which, but for his humble labours, might
have sunk irretrievably with so many golden argosies
in the fathomless ocean of the past.
II.—MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS.
1. Manuscripts.1 A fair number of manuscripts of
the Library are known to exist, but they are all late
and of little value. All are incomplete, ending
1 This account of the manuscripts is derived from Mr. R.
Wagner's preface to his critical edition of the text (Teubner,
Leipsic, 1894).
xxxiii
VOL. i. c
INTRODUCTION
abruptly in the middle of Theseus's adventures on
his first journey to Athens. This of itself raises a
presumption that all are copies of one defective
original. The latest editor, Mr. Richard Wagner,
enumerates fourteen manuscripts, of which he has
employed ten for his recension of the text. Among
them he singles out one as the archetype from which
all the other extant manuscripts are dei'ived. It is
a fourteenth century manuscript in the National
Library at Paris and bears the number 2722. Mr.
Wagner designates it by the symbol R. The other
nine manuscripts employed by him he arranges in
three classes, as follows :—
The first class comprises two manuscripts, namely
one of the fifteenth century in the Bodleian Library
at Oxford (Laudianus 55), and one of the fifteenth
or sixteenth century at Paris (numbered 2967).
Mr. Wagner designates the Oxford manuscript by
the symbol O and the Paris manuscript by the
symbol R\
The second class, designated by the symbol B,
comprises three manuscripts, namely a Palatine-
Vatican manuscript of the sixteenth century, numbered
52 (symbol P); a Paris manuscript of the
sixteenth century, numbered 1653 (symbol Rb), and
another Paris manuscript of the fifteenth century,
numbered 1658 (symbol Rc).
The third class, designated by the symbol C, comprises
four manuscripts, namely a Vatican manuscript
of the fifteenth century, numbered 1017 (symbol V) ;
INTRODUCTION
a manuscript of the fifteenth century in the Laurentian
Library at Florence, numbered LX. 29 (symbol
L) ; a manuscript of the fifteenth century at Naples,
numbered III. A 1 (symbol N); and a manuscript of
the fifteenth century at Turin numbered C II. 11
(symbol T).
Besides these, Mr. Wagner mentions four manuscripts
which appear not to have been accurately
collated. They are : a manuscript of the sixteenth
century in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (d'Orvillianus
X. I. 1, 1); a manuscript of the sixteenth
centui'y in the British Museum (Harleianus 5732);
a manuscript of the sixteenth century at Turin
(B IV. 5); and a manuscript of the sixteenth century
in the Barberini palace at Rome (T 122). Of these
the British Museum manuscript is reported to be
well written, and the two Italian manuscripts to be
very bad.
Such were the materials which existed for establishing
the text of the Library down to 1885, when
Mr. R. Wagner, examining some mythological works
in the Vatican Library at Rome, was so fortunate as
to discover a Greek manuscript (No. 950), of the end
of the fourteenth century, which contains an epitome
of the Library, including the greater part of the
portion at the end which had long been lost. Two
years later Mr. A. Papadopulos-Kerameus discovered
fragments of a similar epitome in a Greek manuscript
at Jerusalem. The manuscript formerly belonged to
the monastery (laura) of St. Sabbas and hence is
xxxv
c 2
INTRODUCTION
known as the Codex Sabbaiticus. It is now preserved
in the library of the patriarch at Jerusalem and bears
the number 366. By a curious coincidence the
discoverers published the two epitomes almost simultaneously,
but without any knowledge of each other.1
The text of the two epitomes, though in general
agreement, does not always coincide exactly. Where
the text of the Vatican epitome differs from the
Sabbaitic, it sometimes agrees with the text of
Apollodorus as quoted by Tzetzes, and this agreement
has led Mr. Wagner to conclude that Tzetzes
is the author of the Vatican epitome. Certainly
Tzetzes was well acquainted with the Library of
Apollodorus and drew upon it largely in his learned
commentary on Lycophron. It would not, therefore,
be surprising if he had made an abridgment of it for
his own use or that of his pupils. The hypothesis
of his authorship is confirmed by the observation that
the same manuscript, which contains the Vatican
epitome, contains also part of Tzetzes's commentary
on Lycophron.
1 The Vatican epitome was published by Mr. R. Wagner
in a separate volume, with Latin notes and dissertations, at
Leipsic in 1891, under the title Epitoma Vaticana ex Apollodori
Bibliotheca, edidit Richardus Wagner, Ac.ce.dunt Gurae
Mythographae de Apollodori fontibus. The Sabbaitic fragments
of the epitome were published by Mr. A. Papadopulos-
Kerameus in Rheinisches Museum, N.F. xlvi. (1891),
pp. 161-192 under the title Apollodori Bibliothecae fragmenta
Sabbaitica. The Sabbaitic manuscript was examined again
by Mr. H. Achelis, and some corrected readings which he
reported were published by Professor Hermann Diels in the
same volume of the Rheinisches Museum, pp. 617 sq.
INTRODUCTION
2. Editions. The first edition of the Library was
published by Benedictus Aegius at Rome in 1555.
In it the Greek text is accompanied by a Latin
translation and followed by some notes. The second
edition was prepared by the scholar and printer
Hieronymus Commelinus and published posthumously
at his press in Heidelberg in 1599. It contains the
Latin version of Aegius as well as the Greek text,
and prefixed to it are a few critical notes by Commelinus,
chiefly recording the readings of the Palatine
manuscript. The next edition was brought out by
Tanaquil Faber (Salmurii, 1661). I have not seen it,
but according to Heyne it contains some slight and
hasty notes not unworthy of-a scholar. The next
editor was the learned English scholar Thomas Gale,
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Regius
Professor of Greek in the University. He edited
Apollodorus along with the mythological treatises of
Conon, Ptolemaeus Hephaestionis, Parthenius, and
Antoninus Liberalis, in a volume entitled Historiae
Poeticae Scriptures Antiqui, which was published, or at
all events printed, at Paris in 1675. For his recension
of Apollodorus he used the readings of at least
one Oxford manuscript, but according to Heyne he
was not very diligent in consulting it. His text of
Apollodorus and the other mythographers is accompanied
by a Latin translation and followed by critical
and exegetical notes.
All previous editions of Apollodorus were superseded
by the one which the illustrious German
xxxvii
INTRODUCTION
scholar C. G. Heyne published with a copious critical
and exegetical commentary. It appeared in two
volumes, first in 1782 and 1783, and afterwards,
revised and improved, at Gottingen in 1803.1 Though
he did not himself consult any manuscripts, he used
the collations of several manuscripts, including the
Palatine, Vatican, Medicean, and two in the Royal
Library at Paris, which had been made many years
before by a young scholar, Gerard Jacob van
Swinden, for an edition of Apollodorus which he
had planned. Heyne also made use of some extracts
from a third manuscript in the Royal Library at
Paris, which were procured for him by J. Schweighauser.
With the help of these collations and his
own admirable critical sagacity, Heyne was able to
restore the text of Apollodorus in many places, and
to purge it of many alien words or sentences which
had been interpolated from scholia or other sources
by the first editor, Aegius, and retained by later
editors. His commentary bears ample witness to
his learning, acumen, and good sense, and fully
sustains his high reputation as a scholar.
A new edition of Apollodorus was published in
two volumes, with a French translation and notes by
E. Clavier, at Paris in 1805, and another with notes,
1 This second edition was issued in two forms, one in
octavo, the other in smaller volumes. I have used the
octavo edition. The first volume contains the Greek text
with introduction and critical notes, but no translation.
The second volume contains the exegetical commentary.
xxxviii
INTRODUCTION
apparently in Latin, by Chr. L. Sommer at Rudolstadt
in 1822. These two editions,, like the early
one of Faber, I have not seen and know them only
by report. In the first volume of his great edition
of the fragments of the Greek historians,1 C. Miiller
included the text of Apollodorus with a Latin translation.
He had the advantage of using for the first
time a collation of the Paris manuscript 2722, which,
as we have seen, is now believed to be the archetype
of all the extant manuscripts of Apollodorus. The
text of Apollodorus was edited, with critical notes,
by A. Westermann in his collection of ancient Greek
mythologists (Scriptores Poeticae Historiae Graeci,
Brunswick, 1843), but he collated no manuscripts
for the purpose. And contrary to his usual practice
the great scholar Immanuel Bekker also collated no
manuscripts for the edition of Apollodorus which he
published (Teubner, Leipsic, 1854). Nevertheless,
relying on his own excellent judgment, profound
knowledge of Greek, and long experience of the
ways of copyists, he produced a sound text, corrected
in places by his conjectures. The edition of
R. Hercher which followed (Weidmann, Berlin,
1874) is characterized by the introduction of many
conjectural readings, a few of them plausible or
probable, and by such copious excisions that this
1 Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, five volumes, Paris.
The preface to the first volume is dated February, 1841 ;
the preface to the fifth volume is dated November, 1869.
INTRODUCTION
slashing critic may almost be said to have mangled
rather than emended his author.
Lastly, the text of Apollodorus, supplemented for
the first time by the Vatican and Sabbaitic epitomes,
was edited with a concise critical apparatus and
indices by Mr. Richard Wagner (Teubner, Leipsic,
1894). By means of his extensive collation of
manuscripts, and particularly by a comparison of the
Vatican and Sabbaitic epitomes, which are clearly
independent of our other manuscripts and often
contain better readings, Mr. Wagner succeeded in
restoring the true text in many places. He has
earned the gratitude of all students, not only ot
Apollodorus but of Greek mythology, by his fortunate
discovery of the Vatican epitome and by his careful
and judicious recension of the text.
In the present edition the text is based on that of
Mr. Wagner, but in doubtful passages I have compared
the editions of Heyne, Miiller, Westermann,
Bekker, and Hercher, and occasionally the older
editions of Aegius, Commelinus, and Gale; and I
have exercised my own judgment in the selection of
the readings. All variations from Mr. Wagner's
text are recorded in the footnotes. I have collated
no manuscripts, and my references to their readings
are, without exception, derived from my predecessors,
almost all from the critical apparatus of Mr. Wagner,
whose symbols I have used to designate the manuscripts.
Conjectural emendations of my own have
been very rarely admitted, but in this respect I have
xl
INTRODUCTION
allowed myself a somewhat greater latitude in
dealing with the text of the Epitome, which rests on
the authority of only two manuscripts and has not,
like the rest of the Library, been subjected to the
scrutiny of many generations of scholars.
In printing the Epitome, or rather that portion of
it only which begins where the manuscripts of the
unabridged work break off, I have departed from
Mr. Wagner's arrangement. He has printed the
Vatican and the Sabbaitic versions in full, arranging
the two in parallel columns. This arrangement has
the advantage of presenting the whole of the manuscript
evidence at a glance to the eye of the reader,
but it has the disadvantage of frequently compelling
him, for the sake of the comparison, to read the same
story twice over in words which differ little or not
at all from each other. To avoid this repetition,
wherever the two versions present us with duplicate
accounts of the same story, I have printed only one
of them in the text, correcting it, where necessary,
by the other and indicating in the footnotes the
variations between the two versions. In this way
the text of the Epitome, like that of the rest of the
Library, flows in a single stream instead of being
diverted in many places into two parallel channels.
I venture to believe that this arrangement will
prove more convenient to the ordinary reader,
while at the same time it will sufficiently meet the
requirements of the critical scholar. The differences
between the Vatican and the Sabbaitic
xli
INTRODUCTION
versions are often so slight that it was not always
easy to decide which to print in the text and which
to relegate to the footnotes. I have endeavoured to
give the preference in every case to the fuller and
better version, and where the considerations on each
side were very evenly balanced, I have generally, I
believe, selected the Vatican version, because on
the whole its Greek style seems somewhat purer
and therefore more likely to correspond with the
original.
As the Library is no doubt chiefly used as a work
of reference by scholars who desire to refresh their
memory with the details of a myth or legend or to
trace some tale to its source, I have sought to consult
their convenience by referring in the notes to the
principal passages of other ancient writers where
each particular story is told, and have often, though
not always, briefly indicated how far Appllodorus
agrees with or differs from them. Further, in
commenting on my author I have illustrated some
points of folk-lore by parallels drawn from other
peoples, but I have abstained from discussing at
length their origin and significance, because such
discussions would be foreign 4;o the scope of the
series to which this edition of Apollodorus belongs.
For the same reason I have barely alluded to the
monumental evidence, which would form an indispensable
part of a regular commentary on Apollodorus.
Many of the monuments have already been
described and discussed by me in my commentary
xlii
INTRODUCTION
on Pausanias, and in order to avoid repetition, and
to save space, I have allowed myself not infrequently
to refer my readers to that work. Even so, I fear I
have considerably transgressed the limits usually set
to annotation in this series; and I desire to thank
the General Editors for the kind indulgence which
has permitted and pardoned the transgression.
J. G. FRAZER.
1, BRICK COURT, TEMPLE,
LONDON.
5th April, 1921.
xliii

SUMMARY1
I.—THEOOONY.
Book I., Chaps, i.-vi.
OFFSPBING of Sky and Earth : the Hundred-handed,
Cyclopes, Titans, i. 1-3. The Titans attack and mutilate
Sky, origin of the Furies, i. 4. The children of Cronus
and Bhea, the birth of Zeus, i. 5-7. Zeus conquers the
Titans and divides the kingdom with his brothers, ii. 1.
Offspring of the Titans, ii. 2-5. Offspring of Sea and
Earth, ii. 6-7.
Children of Zeus by Hera, Themis, Dione, Eurynome,
Styx and Memory (the Muses), iii. 1. Children of the
Muses: Calliope's children Linus and Orpheus, iii. 2,
Clio's child Hyacinth (Thamyris), iii. 3, Euterpe's child
Rhesus, Thalia's children the Corybantes, Melpomene's
children the Sirens, iii. 4. Hephaestus, iii. 5. The
'- birth of Athena, iii. 6. Asteria, Latona, the birth of
* Artemis and Apollo. Apollo slays the Python, iv. 1,
. Tityus, iv. 1, and Marsyas, iv. 2. Artemis slays Orion,
iv. 3-5.
Children of Poseidon and Amphitrite, iv. 6.
Pluto carries off Persephone. Demeter comes to
Eleusis (Triptolernus). Persephone remains with Pluto
(Ascalaphus), v.
Battle of the gods and giants, vi. 1-2. Typhon, vi. 3.
1 Translated, with some modifications, from the Aryumentum
prefixed to R. Wagner's edition of Apollodorus.
xlv
SUMMARY
II.—THE FAMILY OF DEUCALION.
Book I., Chaps, vn.-ix.
Prometheus creates men, and for the theft of fire is
nailed to the Caucasus, vii. 1. Deucalion and Pyrrha
saved from the flood, vii. 1-2. Deucalion's children.
Hellen's sons Dorus, Xuthus, Aeolus and their children,
vii. 2-3.
Aeolus's daughters and their offspring : Perimede,
Pisidice, Alcyone, vii. 3-4. Canace (the Aloads), vii. 4.
Calyce, Endymion, Aetolus, Pleuron and Calydon and
their children (Marpessa), vii. 5-10. Oeneus, grandson
of Pleuron, father of Deianira and Meleager, viii. 1-2.
The hunting of the Calydonian boar (list of the hunters,
viii. 2), death of Meleager, viii. 2-3. Tydeus, son of
Oeneus. Death of Oeneus, viii. 4-6.
Aeolus's sons and their offspring : Athamas, father of
Phrixus and Helle (the Golden Fleece), ix. 1. The
deaths of Athamas and Ino, ix. 2. Sisyphus and his
stone, ix. 3. Deion, ix. 4. Perieres, ix. 5. Magnes,
ix. 6. Salmoneus and his mock thunder, ix. 7. Tyro,
daughter of Salmoneus, mother of Neleus and Pelias,
ix. 8-10. Cretheus, husband of Tyro. His grandsons
Bias and the seer Melampus (the kine of Phylacus),
ix. 11-13. Admetus, son of Pheres (son of Cretheus),
and husband of Alcestis, ix. 14-15. Jason, son of Aeson
(son of Cretheus), sent by Pelias to fetch the Golden
Fleece, ix. 16.
The Argonauts.—The building of the ship Argo. List
of the Argonauts, ix. 16. The Argonauts put in at the
island of Lemnos, ix. 17, they kill Cyzicus, king of the
Doliones, by mistake, ix. 18, they leave Hercules and
Polyphemus in Mysia (Hylas), ix. 19, Pollux conquers
Amycus, king of the Bebryces, ix. 20, at Sahnydessus
they rid Phineus of the Harpies, ix. 21, they pass
through the Symplegades, ix. 22, they are received by
Lycus, king of the Mariandynians, ix. 23, they arrive in
Colchis. Jason, with the help of Medea, tames the bulls,
xlvi
SUMMARY
conquers the earth-born men, and carries off the Golden
Fleece. The Argonauts set out with Medea (the murder
of Apsyrtus), ix. 23-24. As they sail past the Eridanus,
Zeus causes them to wander ; they are purified for the
murder of Apsyrtus by Circe, ix. 24, sailing past the
Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis, they come to the Phaeacians,
ix. 25, they dedicate an altar to Radiant Apollo,
they destroy Talus, the bronze guardian of the island
of Crete, -ix. 26. Return of the Argonauts. Death
of Pelias, ix. 26-27. Jason and Medea fly to Corinth.
Medea murders Glauce, the bride of Jason, and her
own children, takes refuge with Aegeus at Athens, has
by him a son, Medus, and finally returns to her own
country, ix. 28.
III.—THE FAMILY OF INACHUS (BELUS).
Book II., Chcq)s. i.-vm.
Inachus's sons Aegialeus and Phoroneus, and
Phoroneus's children. Argus and Pelasgus. Argus
of the many eyes, i. 1. lo's wanderings, i. 2-4. Her
great-grandsons Agenor (compare iii. 1-7) and Belus, i. 4.
Belus's offspring : Danaus and Egyptus, i. 4. Marriage
of the sons of Egyptus with the daughters of Danaus (list,
i. 5), i. 4-5. Nauplius the wrecker, son of Amymone,
i. 5.
Acrisius and Proetus, grandsons of Lynceus and
Hypermnestra, ii. 1. The daughters of Proetus are
cured of their madness by Melampus, ii. 2. Bellerophon
kills the Chimaera, iii. 1-2. Danae, daughter of Acrisius,
with her infant son Perseus, floats to Seriphos, iv. 1.
Perseus, sent by Polydectes, comes to the Phorcides
and the nymphs, slays Medusa (birth of Pegasus),
iv. 2, frees Andromeda, punishes Polydectes, iv. 3,
and returning to his country kills Acrisius accidentally,
iv. 4. The family of Perseus. Birth of Eurystheus,
grandson of Perseus, iv. 5. War of Blectryon, son of
xlvii
SUMMARY
Perseus, against the Teleboans. Amphitryon, grandson
of Perseus, accidentally kills Electryon, iv. 6. Amphitryon
goes with Alcmena to Thebes, kills the Cadmean vixen,
and wages war on the Taphians : Pterelaus of the golden
hair killed by his daughter, iv. 6-7.
Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcraena, kills the serpents
sent by Hera, iv. 8. The education of Hercules (Linus),
iv. 9. Hercules kills the lion of Cithaeron (the daughters
of Thespius), iv. 9-10, conquers the Minyans, marries
Megara, receives arms from the gods, iv. 11, goes
mad, murders his children, and is sent by Apollo to
Eurystheus, iv. 12.
The twelve (ten, see iv. 12 and v. 11) labours of
Hercules, v.
1. He strangles the Nemean lion and is entertained by
Molorchus, v. 1.
2. With lolaus he destroys the Lernaean hydra and
kills the crab, v. 2.
3. He wounds and captures the Cerynitian hind, v. 3.
4. He captures the Erymanthian boar, he kills the
Centaurs (Pholus, Chiron), v. 4.
5. He cleanses the stable of Augeas (the testimony of
Phyleus), v. 5.
6. He shoots the Stymphalian birds, v. 6.
7. He brings the Cretan bull to Eurystheus, v. 7.
8. He carries off the mares of Diomedes the Thracian
(death of Abderus and foundation of Abdera), v. 8.
9. He wins the belt of Hippolyta (the sons of Androgeus
in Paros ; Mygdon ; rescue of Hesione ; Sarpedon ;
Thasos ; the sons of Proteus), v. 9.
10. He drives away the kine of Geryon from Erythia
(the pillars of Hercules ; the golden goblet of the Sun :
lalebion and Dercynus, Eryx, Strymon), v. 10.
11. He brings the apples of the Hesperides from the
Hyperboreans to Mycenae (Cycnus, Nereus, Antaeus,
Busiris, Emathion, Prometheus, Atlas), v. 11.
12. He carries off Cerberus from the nether world
(the Eleusinian mysteries, the Gorgon's ghost, Theseus
and Pirithous, Ascalaphus, Menoetes), v. 12.
xlviii
SUMMARY
Hercules woos in vain. lole, daughter of Euryfcus, and
in a fit of madness kills Iphitus, vi. 1-2, fights with
Apollo for the Delphic tripod, and serves Omphale for
three years (Cecropes, Syleus; the burial of Icarus),
vi. 2-3. Along with Telamon he captures Troy (Hesione,
Priam), vi. 4. He ravages the island of Cos, vii. 1. He
conquers Augeas (Eurytus and Cteatus ; foundations at
Olympia), vii. 2, captures Pylus, makes war on the
Lacedaemonians (Cepheus, Sterope, and the Gorgon's
tress), vii. 3, and forces Auge (exposure of Telephus),
vii. 4. He marries Deianira (the wrestling with Achelous,
the horn of Amalthea\ vii. 5, fights for the Calydonians
against the Thesprotians (Astyoche, Tlepolenms),
sends his sons to Sardinia, kills Eunomus at a feast,
sets out with Deianira for Trachis, kills ISTessus at the
ford, vii. 6, slaughters an ox of Thiodamas, fights for
Aegimius against the Lapiths (Coronus, Laogoras), slays
Cycnus and Amyntor. He captures Oechalia and carries
off lole ; infected by the poisoned robe which he received
from Deianira, he burns himself on a pyre on Mount
Oeta (Poeas), and ascending to heaven he marries Hebe,
vii. 7.
List of the children of Hercules, vii. 8.
The Heraclids fly to Ceyx, and then to the Athenians,
with whose help they vanquish Eurystheus, viii. 1. They
occupy and then abandon Peloponnese. Tlepolemus
goes to Rhodes. Through misunderstanding an oracle
the Heraclids make a second fruitless attempt to conquer
Peloponnese, viii. 2. In the third generation afterwards
Temenus, Cresphontes, and Aristodemus build ships
arid again prepare to attack Peloponnese, but having
slain a soothsayer they fail in the enterprise, viii. 2-3.
Ten years afterwards the Heraclids under the leadership
of Oxylus conquer Peloponnese and divide it among
themselves by lot, viii. 3-5. The deaths of Temenus
and Cresphontes, viii. 5.
xlix
VOL, I. d
SUMMARY
IV.—THE FAMILY OF AGENOB. (EUROPA).
Book III., Chaps, i. 1-in. 2.
Agenor's children. Euro pa is carried off by Zeus ;
and Phoenix, Cilix, Cadmus, and Thasus, being sent to
fetch her back, settle in Phoenicia, Cilicia, Thrace, and
Thasos, i. 1. Europa's children : Minos, Sarpedon,
Rhadamanthys (Miletus), i. 2. On the death of Asterius,
husband of Europa, Minos succeeds to the kingdom of
Crete. Inflamed with love for a bull, which Poseidon
had sent from the sea, Pasiphae gives birth to the
Minotaur, i. 3. Althaemenes, grandson of Minos, settles
with his sister Apemosyne in Rhodes, and involuntarily
kills his father Catreus, ii. Glaucus, son of Minos, his
death and resurrection (the seer Polyidus), iii. 1-2. - •
V.—THE FAMILY OF AGENOE (CADMUS).
Book III., Chaps, iv. 1-vii. 7,
Cadmus, following a cow, founds Thebes, slays the
dragon of Ares, and overcomes the earthborn brothers,
iv. 1-2. Children of Cadmus and Harmonia : Autonoe,
Ino, Semele, Agave, Polydorus. Semele and Zeus. Birth
and upbringing of Dionysus (Athamas, Ino, and Melicertes),
iv. 2-3. Actaeon, son of Autonoe, and his dogs,
iv. 4. The travels of Dionysus (deaths of Lycurgus and
Pentheus, adventure with the pirates), v. 1-3. The end
of Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria, v. 4. The offspring
of Polydorus: Labdacus, Laius. Lycus and Dirce are
slain by Zethus and Amphion, the sons of Antiope by
Zeus, v. 5. Niobe and her children, the weeping stone,
v. 6. Oedipus, his birth and exposure, his parricide,
the riddle of the Sphinx, his incest, his exile and death
in Attica, v. 7-9.
Expedition of the Seven against Thebes, vi. 1-vii. 1.
Polynices, expelled by Eteocles, marries the daughter of
Adrastus (Tydeus), vi. 1. Eriphyle, bribed by Polynices
SUMMARY
with the golden necklace, induces "Amphiaraus to join in
the war, vi. 2. List of the leaders, vi. 3. On the death
of Opheltes they institute the Nemean games, vi. 4, they
send Tydeus on an embassy to Thebes, vi. 5, attack the
city (account of the seer Tiresias, vi. 7), and are defeated
by the Thebans (Capaneus, Eteocles and Polynices,
Tydeus, Amphiaraus), vi. 6-8. Heroism and death of
Antigone. The bodies of the leaders are buried by
Theseus, death of Evadne on the pyre, vii. 1.
The Epigoni (list, vii. 2) capture Thebes ; death of
Tiresias, vii. 2-4. Alcmaeon, his matricide, madness,
wanderings and death; * his wife Callirrhoe, and his
children Amphilochus and Tisiphone, vii. 5-7.
VI.—THE FAMILY OF PELASGUS.
Book III., Chaps, vm.-ix.
Lycaon, son of Pelasgus, and his sons (list viii. 1),
except the youngest, Nyctimus, are killed for their
impiety by Zeus with thunderbolts, viii. 1-2. Callisto,
daughter of Lycaon, mother of Areas, transformed into
a bear, viii. 2. The offspring of Areas. Auge, mother
of Telephus, ix. 1. Atalanta and her suitors, Milanioii
and the golden apples, ix. 2.
VII.—THE FAMILY OF ATLAS.
Book III., Chaps, x. 1-xii. 6.
The Pleiades, x. 1. Hermes, son of Maia, his youthful
exploits, x. 2. The offspring of Taygete : Lacedaemon,
Hyacinth, Lynceus, and Idas. Leucippus's
daughters, of whom Arsinoe becomes the mother of
Aesculapius (Coronis). Aesculapius is educated by
Chiron and thunderstruck by Zeus for his leechcraft.
Apollo kills the Cyclopes and serves Admetus for a year,
x. 3-4. Children of Hippocoon, of Icarius, and of
Tyndareus. Birth of Helen, x. 4-7. Helen is carried
off by Theseus, but rescued by Castor and Pollux, x. 7.
li
d 2
SUMMARY
Helen's suitors and marriage with Menelaus, x. 8-9.
Meuelaus's children, xi. 1. Castor and Pollux, their
combat with Idas and Lynceus, their elevation to the
gods, and their alternations between the upper and lower
worlds, xi. 2.
Electra, daughter of Atlas, her offspring, xii. 1-6.
lasion and Dardanus and his sons Ilus and Erichthonius.
Tros, son of Erichthonius, and father of Ilus, Assaracus,
and Ganymede, xii. 1-2. Ilus, following a cow, founds
Troy and receives the Palladium. Origin of the Palladium.
Laomedon, son of Ilus, father of Tithonus
and of Priam, xii. 3. Tithonus and the Dawn. Priam's
children : Aesacus, Hector, Paris, Cassandra, and the
rest, xii. 4-5. Hector and Andromache. Paris and
Oenone, xii. 6.
VIII.—THE FAMILY OF ASOPUS.
Book III., Chaps, xii. 6-xni. 8.
Asopus's children, Ismenus, Pelagon, and twenty
daughters, of whom Aegina is carried off by Zeus, xii. 6.
Aeacus, son of Aegina, his righteousness, his prayer for
rain ; father of Peleus and Telamon, who are banished
for the murder of their brother Phocus. Telamon
becomes king of Salamis ; father of Ajax and Teucer,
xii. 6-7. Peleus comes to Phthia ; joining in the hunt
of the Calydonian boar he accidentally kills Eurytion ; is
purified by Acastns and maligned by Astydamia, wife of
• Acastus ; hunts on Mount Pelion and is saved from the
centaurs by Chiron,- xiii. 1-3. Marriage of Peleus and
Thetis, xiii. 4-5. The nurture of Achilles (Thetis, Chiron,
Lycomedes), xiii. 6-8. Phoenix, Patroclus, xiii. 8.
IX.—THE KINGS OF ATHENS.
Book III., Chaps, xiv. 1-xv. 9.
1. Gecrops, earth-born. Contest between Athena and
Poseidon for the guardianship of Athens, xiv. 1. Cecrops's
lii
SUMMARY
children Erysichthon, Agraulus, Herse, Pandrosus (Halirrhothius
; trial and acquittal of Ares at the Areopagus),
-• xiv. 2. Cephalus, son of Herse, and ancestor of Cinyras,
• xiv. 3. Adonis, son of Cinyras, loved by Aphrodite,
killed by a boar, xiv. 3-4.
2. Cranaus, earth-born, father of Cranae, Cranaechme,
and Atthis, xiv. 5.
3. Amphidyon, earth-born or son of Deucalion, xiv. 6.
4. Erichthonius, son of Hephaestus by Atthis or Athena,
dedicates an image of Athena on the Acropolis and
institutes the Panathenaic festival, xiv. 6.
5. Pandion, son of Erichthonius : in his reign Demeter
comes to Celeus at Eleusis, and Dionysus comes to Icarius
(death of Erigone), xiv. 7. Pandion's daughters Procne
and Philomela (Tereus), xiv. 8.
6. Erechtheus, son of Pandion : his priestly brother
. Butes, his children, xv. 1. Chthonia. Procris and
Cephalus (Minos), xv. 1. Orithyia and Boreas, xv. 2.
Cleopatra and Phineus, xv. 3. Eumolpus, son of Chione,
xv. 4. Erechtheus, in the war with Eleusis, sacrifices one
of his daughters, and slays Eumolpus, xv. 4-5.
7. Cecrops, son of Erechtheus, xv. 5.
8. Pandion, son of Cecrops, is expelled by the sons of
Metion and flies to Megara, xv. 5.
9. Aeyeus, son of Pandion, returns to Athens with his
brothers, xv. 5-6, and begets Theseus by Aethra at
Troezen, xv. 6-7. He sends Androgeus, son of Minos,
•» against the Marathonian bull, xv. 7. Minos makes war
on Megara (Nisus and Scylla) and on Athens, xv. 7—8.
Hyacinth's daughters are sacrificed at Athens, xv. 8.
Minos imposes on the Athenians a tribute of boys and
girls to be sent annually to the Minotaur (the labyrinth
built by Daedalus), xv. 8—9.
10. Theseus.
X.—THESEUS.
Book III., Chap, xvi., Epitome, i. 1-24.
On growing up Theseus quits Troezen for Athens, kills
v Periphetes, Sinis, in. xvi., the Crommyonian sow,
liii
SUMMARY
Sciron, Cercyon, and Damastes, Epitome, i. 1-4. Aegeus,
instigated by Medea, sends Theseus against the Marathonian
bull and offers him a cup of poison, 5-6. Theseus,
with the help of Ariadne, conquers the Minotaur, and
flying with* Ariadne resigns her to Dionysus in Naxos,
7-9, and on the death of Aegeus succeeds to the kingdom
of Athens, 10—11. Daedalus and his son Icarus escape
from the labyrinth : Icarus falls into the sea, but Daedalus
reaches the court of Cocalus, whose daughters kill Minos,
12—15. Theseus marries an Amazon, and afterwards
Phaedra. Death of Hippolytus, 16—19. Ixion and his
wheel, 20. Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths, 21 (Zenobius).
Caeneus, 22. Theseus goes down to hell with
Pirithous, but is freed by Hercules, and being expelled
from Athens is murdered by Lycomedes, 23-24.
XL—THE FAMILY OF PELOPS.
Epitome, n. 1—16.
Tantalus in hell, 1. Broteas, 2. Pelops, with the
help of Myrtilus, vanquishes Oenomaus, marries Hippodamia,
kills Myrtilus, and takes possession of Peloponnese,
3-9. Sons of Pelops : Atreus and Thyestes (the golden
lamb, Aerope, backward journey of the sun, the cannibal
feast, Aegisthus), 10—14. Agamemnon and Menelaus are
brought up by Polyphides and Oeneus, 15 (Tzetzes).
Agamemnon marries Clytaemnestra, and Menelaus marries
Helen, 16.
XII.—ANTEHOMEKICA.
Epitome, HI. 1-35.
Zeus resolves to stir up war, 1. The Apple of Discord
awarded by Paris to Aphrodite. Paris carries off Helen,
and, after tarrying in Phoenicia and Cyprus, returns to
Troy, 2-4. Helen left with Proteus in Egypt, 5. Menelaus
and Agamemnon summon the kings of Greece to war.
Ulysses feigns madness (death of Palamedes). Cinyras
sends- toy ships. The Wine-growers, 6-10.
liv
SUMMARY
Catalogue of the ships, 11-14. The portent at Aulis,
15. Agamemnon and Achilles chosen leaders, 16. The
Mysian war. Telephus wounded by Achilles. Return of
the Greeks, 17-18.
In the tenth year after the rape of Helen the Greeks
again assemble. Telephus, being healed by Achilles,
shows them the way, 19-20. Iphigenia sacrificed to
Artemis at Aulis and transported by the goddess to
Tauris, 21-22. The Greeks arrive at Tenedos 23. Tenes
and his stepmother, 24-25. Tenes killed by Achilles, 26.
Philoctetes, stung by a serpent, is marooned in Lemnos,
27. Ulysses and Menelaus demand the restoration of
Helen, 28. The Greeks land at Troy and put the Trojans
to flight. Death of Protesilaus (Laodamia). Cycnus.
The Trojans besieged, 29-31. Achilles slays Troilus,
captures Lycaon, and having slain Mestor drives off the
herds of Aeneas, 32. List of the towns taken by Achilles,
33. In the tenth year the Trojans receive the help of
allies (list), 34-35.
XIII.— THE "ILIAD."
Epitome, iv. 1-8.
The wrath of Achilles. The combat of Menelaus and
Paris, 1. Diomedes wounds Aphrodite and meets Glaucus
in battle. The combat of Ajax and Hector, 2. The
Greeks, put to flight, send ambassadors to Achilles, 3.
Ulysses and Diomedes slay Dolon, 4. Hector attacks the
ships, 5. The death of Patroclus, 6. Achilles receives
arms from Thetis, puts the Trojans to flight, and slays
Hector. The burial of Patroclus. Priam ransoms the
body of Hector, 7-8.
XIV.—POSTHOMERICA.
Epitome, v. 1-25.
Penthesilea slain by Achilles. Thersites (death of
Hippolyte), 1-2. Achilles slays Memnon, but is shot by
Iv
SUMMARY
Apollo and Paris, 3. His body and his arms are rescued
by Ajax and Ulysses, 4. The burial of Achilles, 5.
Competition of Ajax and Ulysses for the arms of Achilles.
Death and burial of Ajax, 6-7.
In accordance with a prophecy of Calchas, Ulysses and
Diomedes fetch Philoctetes, who shoots Paris, 8. Quarrel
between Deiphobus and Helenus for the hand of Helen.
By the advice of Calchas, Ulysses captures Helenus on
Mount Ida, and Helenus prophesies to the Greeks concerning
the fall of Troy, 9-10. By the advice of Helenus,
the Greeks fetch the bones of Pelops, and Ulysses and
Phoenix bring Neoptolemus from Scyros. Neoptolemus
kills Eurypylus, son of Telephus. Ulysses and Diomedes
steal the Trojan Palladium, 11-13.
By the advice of Ulysses, Epeus fashions the Wooden
Horse, in which the leaders ensconce themselves. The
Greeks leave Sinon behind and depart to Tenedos, 14-15.
The Trojans drag the Horse into the city, and despite the
counsels of Laocoon and Cassandra resolve to dedicate it
to Athena, 16-17. The sous of Laocoon killed by serpents,
18. On a signal given by Sinon the Greeks return.
Helen comes to the Horse and calls to the Greek leaders
(Anticlus), 19. The leaders descend from the Horse and
open the gates to the Greeks, 20. The sack of Troy :
Priam, Glaucus, Aeneas, Helena, Aethra, Cassandra,
21-22. Division of the spoil : the slaughter of Astyanax
and Polyxena, the fortunes of Cassandra, Andromache,
and Hecuba (changed into a dog), Laodice swallowed in
an earthquake. Trial of Ajax for impiety, 23-25.
XV.—THE RETURNS.
Epitome, vi. 1-30.
Quarrel between Agamemnon and Menelaus concerning
the return. Diomedes, Nestor, and Menelaus set out, 1.
Amphilochus, Calchas, Leonteus, Polypoetes, and Podalirius
go by land to Colophon, where Calchas is vanquished
by Mopsus in a contest of skill and is buried by his
companions, 2-4.
Ivi
SUMMARY
The fleet of Agamemnon is dispersed by a storm oft
Tenos. Shipwreck, death, and burial of Ajax, 5-6.
Many are shipwrecked and perish through the false lights
displayed by Nauplius at Cape Caphereus, 7. Nauplius,
the revenge he takes for the death of his son, 8—11.
Neoptolenius goes by land to Molossia, and by the way
he buries Phoenix. Helenus remains with Deiadamia in
Molossia. Neoptolemus, on the death of Peleus, succeeds
to the kingdom of Phthia, wrests Hermione from Orestes,
and. is killed at Delphi, 12-14. Wanderings of the
leaders who escaped shipwreck at Cape Caphereua, 15,
15 a I c (Tzetzes).
' The loves of Demophon and Phyllis, 16—17 Podalirius
and the oracle, 18. Amphilochus, 19. Virgins sent by
the Locrians for a thousand years to Athena at Troy,
20-22.
Agamemnon on his return home is murdered by
Aegisthus and Olytaemnestra, 23. Orestes is brought up
by Strophius, and with the help of Pylades murders
Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus. He is tormented by the
Furies, but acquitted at the Areopagus, 24-25. Orestes
with the help of Pylades brings back Iphigenia and the
image of Artemis from Tauris to Greece, 26-27. The
children of Orestes and his death, 28.
After many wanderings Menelaus arrives in Egypt,
where he recovers Helen from Proteus, and after eight
years returns to Sparta. Dying he is received with
Helen into the Elysian fields, 29-30.
XVI.—THE WANDERINGS OF ULYSSES.
Epitome, vn. 1-40.
Ulysses variouslj' said to have roamed over Libya, or
Sicily, or the Ocean, or the Tyrrhenian Sea, 1.
Ulysses, after setting sail from Troy, fights with the
Cicones, 2. The Lotus-eaters, 3. Adventures with the
Cyclops Polyphemus, 4—9. The isle of Aeolus, King of
the Winds, 10-11. The cannibal Laestrygones, 12-13.
Ivii
SUMMARY
The enchantress Circe, 14-16. The descent to the nether
world, 17. The Sirens, 18-19. Scylla and Charybdis,
20-21. The oxen of the Sun. The shipwreck. Charybdis,
22-23. The island of Calypso. The raft. Alcinous and
the Phaeacians. The return home, 24—25. The suitors
of Penelope (list 27-30), 26-31. Eumaeus. Melanthius.
Irus, 32. The slaughter of the suitors, 33.
Ulysses in Thesprotia performs the rites enjoined by
Tiresias and marries the queen Callidice (Poliporthes;,
34-35. Ulysses is killed unwittingly by his son Telegonus.
Telegonus takes his father s body and Penelope
with him to Circe, who transports them to the Islands of
the Blest, 36-37.
Other stories told of Penelope and Ulysses : Penelope
said to have been debauched by Antinous and therefore
sent back to her father Icarius ; at Mantinea she gives
birth to Pan, whom she had by Hermes, 38. Amphinomus
slain by Ulysses, because he was said to have
seduced Penelope, 39. Ulysses, sentenced by Neoptolemus
to banishment for the murder of the suitors,
emigrates to Aetolia, and having there begotten a son
Leontophonus by the daughter of Thoas he dies in old
age, 40.
Iviii
SYMBOLS EMPLOYED IN THE CRITICAL NOTES
(Adopted from R. Wagner's edition, Leipsic, 1894)
A = Readings of all or most of the MSS. of The Library,
E = Epitoma Vaticana : Vaticanus 950.
S = Sabbaitic fragments : Sabbaiticus-Hierosolymitanus 366.
R = Parisinus 2722 (the archetj^pe).
Ra = Parisinus 2967.
O — Oxford MS. : Laudiauus 55.
B = Readings of the MSS. PRbRc.
P = Palatinus-Vaticanus 52.
Rb = Parisinus 1653.
R= = Parisinus 1658.
C = Readings of the MSS. VLTN.
V = Vaticanus 1017.
L = Laurentianus pint. LX. 29.
N = Neapolitans 204 (III. A 1).
T = Taurinensis GIL 11.
[ ] Passages enclosed in these brackets are probably
spurious.
   Passages enclosed in these brackets are not in the
existing manuscripts -'of Apollodorus, but were
probably written by him.
lix

APOLLODORUS
THE LIBRARY
VOL. I.
ADOAAOAOPOY
BIBAIO©HKH
I. QvpavOS 7T/3WTO9 TOV
fcocrjAOV. ryr/fjias Be Trjv ereKVcoare 7r/3o Tov9
e/earoy^et/oa? TrpoaaryopevQevicts, TSpidpecov
KOTTOV, ot fj,eye06t re dvv7repft\Tf]Toi teal Bvvdf^ei
KaOeiGTriicecrav, ^etpa? aev ava eicarbv
2 Be ava TrevriJKOVTa e^ovre^, //.era. TOVTOVS
f\v C, schol. Plato, Laws, \ii. p. 795 c.
1 According to Hesiod (Theog. 126 sgg.)  Sky (Uranus)
was a son of Earth (Gaia), but afterwards lay with his own
mother and had by her Cronus, the giants, the Cyclopes, and
so forth. As to the marriage of Sky and Earth, see the
fragment of the Chrysippus of Euripides, quoted by Sextus
Empiricus, p. 751, ed. Bekker (Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta,
ed. A. Nauck,2 Leipsic, 1889, p. 633) ; Lucretius i.
250sg.,ii. 991 sqq. ; Virgil, Oeorg. ii. 325 sqq. The myth
of such a marriage is widespread among the lower races.
See E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture* (London, 1873), i. 321
sqq., ii. 270 sqq. For example, the Ewe people of Togo-land,
in West Africa, think that the Earth is the wife of the Sky,
and that their marriage takes place in the rainy season,
when the rain causes the seeds to sprout and bear fruit.
These fruits they regard as the children of Mother Earth,
who in their opinion is the mother also of men and of gods,
see J. Spieth, Die. Ewe-Stamme (Berlin, 1906), pp. 464, 548.
In the regions of the Senegal and the Niger it is believed
APOLLODORUS
THE LIBRARY
BOOK I
I. SKY was the first who ruled over the whole
world.1 And having wedded Earth, he begat first
the Hundred-handed, as they are named : Briareus,
Gyes, Cottus, who were unsurpassed in size and
might, each of them having a hundred hands and fifty
heads.2 After these, Earth bore him the Cyclopes,
that the Sky-god and the Earth-goddess are the parents of
the principal spirits who dispense life and death, weal and
woe, among mankind. See Maurice Delafosse, Haut-S6negal-
Niger (Paris, 1912), iii. 173 sqq. Similarly the Manggerai, a
people of West Flores, in the Indian Archipelago, personify
Sky and Earth as husband and wife ; the consummation of
their marriage is manifested in the rain, which fertilizes
Mother Earth, so that she gives birth to her children, the
produce of the fields and the fruits of the trees. The sky is
called langlt ; it is the male power: the earth is called alang;
it is the female power. Together they form a divine couple,
called Motrl Kraeng. See H. B. Stapel, '' Het Manggeraische
Volk (West Flores)," Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-
Land- en Volkenkunde, Ivi. (Batavia and the Hague, 1914),
p. 163.
2 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 147 sqq. Instead of (4yes, some
MSS. of Hesiod read Gyges, and this form of the name is
supported by the Scholiast on Plato, Laws, vii. p. 795 c.
Compare Ovid, Fasti, iv. 593; Horace, Odes, ii. 17. 14, iii.
4. 69, with the commentators.
B 2
APOLLODORUS
avr& reKvol F?) Ku/cXcoTra?, "A.pyt)v l
BpovTijv, wv 67eao-T09 el%€v eva o(f 6a\/jibv eVt rov
fj,er(f)7rov. d\\a rovrovs ^ev Qvpavos S^o-a? et9
Tdprapov eppt-^re (ro7T09 &e ovros e/je/SwS?;? CO-TIP
€v"A.l?)OV, rO(TOVTOV CLTTO y?)S '^COV &ldTTr){M O(TOV
3 air ovpavov 777), re/cvot Se avdis e'/c Trjs 7rai8as
/j,ev TOU9 Ttrava9 Trpoo-ayopevdewras, ^fl/ceavov
Kotov rY7repiova Kpeiov 'laTrerw /cat vecorarov 2
Kpovov, Qwyarepas Se ras K\r)9eicra 
'Peav
4 ' A-fyava/crovcra £ e Tf] ejrl rf) aTrwXeia TWV et9
ermdecr8ai TW irarpi, tea
apirrjv K.p6vp. ol Be 'fi/ceaz/oO %w/3t9
Kal Kpovo9 a'norep.oov ra alSoia TOV 7raT/oo9
6d\ao-(rav d)ira-€V. e/c Be
rov peovros afjuno^ epivves eyevovro
^KTi^ovr) Meyaipa. T-^9 5e a/0%^9 e
1 "Apyyv Heyne : apirriv EA.
2 vaiirtnov EOKa : yevvfera.Tot  ET : yfvva.i6-ra.Tov VLN.
3 pi(( evT6 v E : pij 8tVTcav A.
1 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 139 sgg1.
2 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 617 sgg. and for the description
of Tartarus, 717 sqq. According to Hesiod, a brazen anvil
would take nine days and nights to fall from heaven to earth,
and nine days and nights to fall from earth to Tartarus.
3 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 132 sqq. who agrees in describing
Cronus as the youngest of the brood. As Zeus, who
succeeded his father Cronus on the heavenly throne, was
likewise the youngest of his family (Hesiod, Theog. 453 sqq. ),
we may conjecture that among the ancient Greeks or their
ancestors inheritance was at one time regulated by the
custom of ultimogeniture or the succession of the youngest,
as to which see Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, i. 429 sqq.
THE LIBRARY, I. i. 2-4
to wit, Arges, Steropes, Brontes,1 of whom each had
one eye on his forehead. But them Sky hound and
cast into Tartarus, a gloomy place in Hades as far
distant from earth as earth is distant from the sky.2
And again he begat children by Earth, to wit, the
Titans as they are named: Ocean, Coeus, Hyperion,
Crius, lapetus, and, youngest of all, Cronus; also
daughters, the Titanides as they are called : Tethys,
Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Dione, Thia.3
But Earth, grieved at the destruction of her children,
who had been cast into Tartarus., persuaded
the Titans to attack their father and gave Cronus
an adamantine sickle. And they, all but Ocean,
attacked him, and Cronus cut off his father's
genitals and threw them into the sea; and from
the drops of the flowing blood were born Furies,
to wit, Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera.4 And,
having dethroned their father, they brought up their
In the secluded highlands of Arcadia, where ancient customs
and traditions lingered long, King Lycaon is said to have
been succeeded by his youngest son. See Apollodorus, iii. 8. 1.
4 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 156-190. Here Apollodorus
follows Hesiod, according to whom the Furies sprang,
not from the genitals of Sky which were thrown into the
sea, but from the drops of his blood which fell on Earth
and impregnated her. The sickle with which Cronus did
the deed is said to have been flung by him into the
sea at Cape Drepanum in Achaia (Pausanias, vii. 23. 4).
The barbarous story of the mutilation of the divine father by
his divine son shocked the moral sense of later ages. See
Plato, Republic, ii. pp. 377 E-378 A, Euthyphro, pp. 5 E-6 A ;
Cicero, Dt natura deorum, ii. 24. 63 sqq. Andrew Lang
interpreted the story with some probability as one of a
world-wide class of myths intended to explain the separation
of Earth and Sky. See his Custom and Myth (London, 1884),
pp. 45 sqq.; and as to myths of the forcible separation of
Sky and Earth, see E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture2, i.
322 sqq.
5
APOLLODORUS
TOU? re tcararapTapwdevras dvtfyayov aSe\(f)OV$
Kal rrjv dpxyv Kpovw irapeSoaav.
'O Se rovrov? [iev ev  rq  Taprdpa) rrd\iv
adelp^e, rrjv Se d&e\(pr)V 'Peav yij/j,as,
Tfj re Kal Qvpavos edea-TTHoSovv avr&
VTTO TraiSbs ISiov rnv apyrjv dbaipe8/n-
/j / \ / r/V / r ' Teraai, tcareTrtve ra yevvco/jieva. KCU TrpcoTrjv fiev
ryevvydeio-av 'Eo-Tta^ KaTeiriev, CLTCL
KOI "Hpav, yite^' a? H\ovr(ova real
6 opyio-deia-a 8e eVl TOVTOIS 'Pea irapa^/iverai /juev
et9 KprfTijv, OTrrjviKd TOV Ata ey/cv/AOVovera ervy-
Xave, yevva Se ev avrpy T^? At/cr?;? Ata. KOI
rovrov pJkv StScocr* Tpetyecrdai Kouyo^irt re «at rat?
MeXtcrcrea)?x iraldl vvfj,pai;, ^ASpacrreia re Kal
7 "1^??. avrai fjiev ovv rov rraiSa erpefov rS  rrjs
'A/iaX^eta? yd\aicri, ol £e Kovp^Te? evoirKoi ev
1 MeXifffffias Zenobius, (7en. ii. 48: jueA«rre'wj' EA.
1 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 453-467.
2 According to Hesiod, Khea gave birth to Zeus in Crete,
and the infant god was hidden in a cave of Mount Aegeum
(Theog. 468-480). Diodorus Siculus (v. 70) mentions the
legend that Zeus was born at Dicte in Crete, and that the
god afterwards founded a city on the site. But according to
Diodorus, or his authorities, the child was brought up in a
cave on Mount Ida. The ancients were not agreed as to
whether the infant god had been reared on Mount Ida or Mount
Dicte. Apollodorus declares for Dicte, and he is supported
by Virgil (Georg. iv. 153), Hervius (on Virgil, Aen. iii. 104),
and the Vatican Mythographers (Scriptores rerum mythicarum
Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, Cellis, 1834, vol. i. pp. 34, 79,
First Vatican Mythographer, 104, Second Vatican Mythographer,
16). On the other hand the claim of Mount Ida is
favoured by Callimachus (Hymn, i. 51), Ovid (Fasti, iv. 207),
and Lactantius Placidus (on Statius, Theb. iv. 784). The
wavering of tradition on this point is indicated by Apollo-
6
THE LIBRARY, 1. i. 4-7
brethren who had been hurled down to Tartarus,,
and committed the sovereignty to Cronus.
But he again bound and shut them up in Tartarus,
and wedded his sister Rhea; and since both Earth and
Sky foretold him that he would be dethroned by his
own son, he used to swallow his offspring at birth.
His first-born Hestia he swallowed, then Demeter and
Hera, and after them Pluto and Poseidon.1 Enraged
at this, Rhea repaired to Crete, when she was big
with Zeus, and brought him forth in a cave of Dicte.2
She gave him to the Curetes and to the nymphs
Adrastia and Ida, daughters of Melisseus, to nurse.
So these nymphs fed the child on the milk ot
Amalthea;3 and the Curetes in arms guarded the
dorus, who while he calls the mountain Dicte, names one of
the god's nurses Ida.
8 As to the nurture of Zeus by the nymphs, see Callimachus,
Hymn i. 46 sqq.; Uiodorus Siculus, v. 70. 2 sq. ;
Ovid, fasti, v. Ill sqq. ; Hyginus, Fab. 139 ; id. Astronom.
ii. 13; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. iii. 104; Lactantius Placidus,
on Statius, Theb. iv. 784; Scriptores rerun mythicarum
Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 34, 79 (First Vatican
Mythographer, 104; Second Vatican Mythographer, 16).
According to Callimachus, Amalthea was a goat. Aratus
also reported, if he did not believe, the story that the
supreme god had been suckled by a goat (Strabo, viii. 7. 5,
p. 387), and this would seem to have been the common
opinion (Diodorus Siculus, v. 70. 3 ; Hyginus, Astronom. ii.
13 ; Second Vatican Mythographer, 16). According to one
account, his nurse Amalthea hung him in his cradle on a tree
" in order that he might be found neither in heaven nor on
earth nor in the sea " (Hyginus, Fab. 139). Melisseus, the
father of his nurses Adrastia and Ida, is said to have been a
Cretan king (Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 13); but his name is
probably due to an attempt to rationalize the story that the
infant Zeus was fed by bees. See Virgil, Georg. i. 149 sqq.
with the note of Servius on v. 153 ; First Vatican Mythographer,
104 ; Second Vatican Mythographer, 16.
APOLLODORUS
TW avrpq) TO j3pe(j)oi fyvKdaaovres TO 49
Ta9 acTTTtSa? crvvefcpovov, Iva /JLTJ TT}? rov
f)covrjs 6 K/9oz O9 a/covo-rj. 'Pea Se \i6ov cnrap-
yav(ocrao-a Se&wice K/5oz/a  Karatnelv a 9 TO*'
yeyevvr)fj,evov iralSa.
II. 'E-rreiS^ 8e Zey? eyevrjdr)1 TeX-eto?, Xa//./3ai ei
M^Tty T^y 'fl/ceavoO crvvepyov, r) StSwcri Kpovw
tcarcurteiv (frdppaKov, vfi ov e/eetvo? avajfcacrffeis
irpwrov [iev e%ep.el rbv \L6ov, eireira TOV?
OP 77/009
TroXe/ioi/. fjia^o^evatv Se avr&v
tidr) ES: e " ^ ^ RaC
1 As to the Curetes in their capacity of guardians of the
infant Zeus, see Callimachus, Hymn, i. 52 sgg.; Strabo, x.
3. 11, p. 468; Diodorus Siculus, v. 70, 2-4; Lucretius, ii.
633-639 ; Virgil, Georg. iii. 150 sq.; Ovid, Fasti, iv. 207 sqq.;
Hyginus, Fab. 139; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. iii. 104; Lactantius
Placidus, on Statius, Theb. iv. 784 ; Scriptores rerum
mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 34, 79 (First
Vatican Mythographer, 104 ; Second Vatican Mythographer,
16). The story of the way in which they protected the divine
infant from his inhuman parent by clashing their weapons
may reflect a real custom, by the observance of which human
parents endeavoured to guard their infants against the
assaults of demons. See Folk-lore in the Old Testament, iii.
472 sqq.
2 As to the trick by which Ehea saved Zeus from the maw
of his father Cronus, see Hesiod, Theog. 485 sqq.; Pausanias,
viii. 36. 3, ix. 2. 7, ix. 41. 6, x. 24. 6; Ovid, Fasti, iv. 199-
206 ; Hyginus, Fab. 139; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. iii. 104;
Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb. iv. 784; Scriptores
rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 34, 79
(First Vatican Mythographer, 104 ; Second Vatican Mythographer,
16). The very stone which Cronus swallowed and
afterwards spewed out was shown at Delphi down to the
second century of our era ; oil was daily poured on it, and on
THE LIBRARY, I. i. 7-11. i
babe in the cave, clashing their spears on their
shields in order that Cronus might not hear the
child's voice.1 But Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling
clothes and gave it to Cronus to swallow, as if it
were the new-born child.2
II. But when Zeus was full-grown, he took Metis,
daughter of Ocean, to help him, and she gave Cronus
a drug to swallow, which forced him to disgorge first
the stone and then the children whom he had swallowed,
3 and with their aid £eus waged the war
against Cronus and the Titans.4 They fought for
festival days unspun wool was laid on it (Pausanias, x. 24. 6).
We read that, on the birth of Zeus's elder brother Poseidon,
his mother Rhea saved the baby in like manner by giving his
father Cronus a foal to swallow, which the deity seems to
have found more digestible than the stone, for he is not said
to have spat it out again (Pausanias, viii. 8. 2). Phalaris, the
notorious tyrant of Agrigentum, dedicated in the sanctuary
of Lindian Athena in Rhodes a bowl which was enriched with
a relief representing Cronus in the act of receiving his children
at the hand of Rhea and swallowing them. An inscription
on the bowl set forth that it was a present from the famous
artist Daedalus to the Sicilian king Cocalus. These things
we learn from a long inscription which was found in recent
years at Lindus : it contains an inventory of the treasures
preserved in the temple of Athena, together with historical
notes upon them.  See Chr. Blinkenberg, La Chronique
du temple Lindien (Copenhagen, 1912), p. 332 (Acad&mie
Royalc des Sciences et des Lettres de Danemark, Extrait du
Bulletin de I'annte 1912, No. 5-6). 3 As to the disgorging of his offspring by Cronus, see
Hesiod, Theog. 493 sqq., who, however, says nothing about
the agency of Metis in administering an emetic, but attributes
the stratagem to Earth (Gaia).
4 As to the war of Zeus on the Titans, see Hesiod, Theog.
017 sqq.; Horace, Odes, iii. 4. 42 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 118.
APOLLODORUS
eviavrovs Se/ca fj Trj r£ Au e^pirjae rrjv viKt]v,
TOU? KaraTaprapcoBevra; av e^rj cruyu/ia^of1?' o
Be ri]v f)povpov(rav avrwv T(i Beafjia Ka/i7r»;i 
aTTOfcreivas e'Xvere. KOI Kv/cXwTre? Tore Aa /^e^
BtSoacn ftpovrrjv /cal da-TpaTTrjv KOI icepavvov,
IL\ov7tt vi Se Kvvetjv,1 Tioaei&wvi Se rplaivav
01 Be TOUTOt? o7T\ta'0evTe{ Kparovcn Tirdvoav, KOI
Ka0eipj;avT€; CLVTOVS ev r& Taprdpta TOU? e/caToy-
%e//oa9 Karearriaav* (frvXaicas. avrol Be Sia/c\r)-
povvrai Trepl TT}? dp^rjf, KOL \ay%dvei, Zev9 ^v
rrjv ev ovpavw Bvvacneiav, HoGeiS&v Be Trjv ev
0a\d(rcrr}, Tl\ovreav Be TTJV ev "AiBov.
ro Be TiTavcov €Kyovoi *£l/ceavov /j,ev KOL
'QtceaviBes, 3 'Aa/a 'S/Tvg 'HXe/cr/aa Aco/)i?
1 Kvvff\v E : Kvaverjv A.
2 «aT6rr)jrav E : KaBiffTaffav A, KaOiaraffi Bekker. See
R. Wagner, Epitoma Vaticana, p. 84.
3 The MSS. add rpurxiKmi (A) or Tpurx&'oi (E). The
word seems to have been interpolated from Hesiod, Thtog.
364.
1 The most ancient oracle at Delphi was said to be that of
Earth ; in her office of prophetess the goddess was there
succeeded by Themis, who was afterwards displaced by
Apollo. See Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1 sqq. ; Pausanias, x. 5.
5 sq. It is said that of old there was an oracle of Earth at
Olympia, but it no longer existed in the second century of our
era. See Pausanias, v. 14. 10. At Aegira in Achaia the
oracles of Earth were delivered in a subterranean cave by
a priestess, who had previously drunk bull's blood as a means
of inspiration. See Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxviii. 147 ; compare
Pausanias, vii. 25. 13. In the later days of antiquity the
oracle of Earth at Delphi was explained by some philosophers
on rationalistic principles : they supposed that the priestess
was thrown into the prophetic trance by natural exhalations
from the ground, and they explained the decadence of the
THE LIBRARY, I. 11. 1-2
ten years, and Earth prophesied victory x to Zeus if
he should have as allies those who had been hurled
down to Tartarus. So he slew their gaoleress Campe,
and loosed their bonds. And the Cyclopes then gave
Zeus thunder and lightning and a thunderbolt,2 and
on Pluto they bestowed a helmet and on Poseidon
a trident. Armed with these weapons the gods
overcame the Titans, shut them up in Tartarus, and
appointed the Hundi*ed-handers their guards;3 but
they themselves cast lots for the sovereignty, and
to Zeus was allotted the dominion of the sky, to
Poseidon the dominion of the sea, and to Pluto the
dominion in Hades.4
Now to the Titans were born offspring: to Ocean
and Tethys were born Oceanids, to wit, Asia, Styx,
oracle in their own time by the gradual cessation of the
exhalations. The theory is scouted by Cicero. See Plutarch,
De defectu omculorum, 40 sqq. ; Cicero, De divinatione, i. 19.
38, i. 36. 79, ii. 57. 117. A similar theory is still held by
wizards in Loango, on the west coast of Africa; hence in
order to receive the inspiration they descend into an artificial
pit or natural hollow and remain there for some time, absorbing
the blessed influence, just as the Greek priestesses for a
similar purpose descended into the oracular caverns at Aegira
and Delphi. See Die Loango Expedition, iii. 2, von Dr. E.
Pechuel-Loesche (Stuttgart, 1907), p. 441. As to the oracular
cavern at Delphi and the inspiring exhalations which were
supposed to emanate from it, see Diodorus Siculus, xvi. 26 ;
Strabo, ix. 3. 5, p. 419; Pausanias, x. 5. 7 ; Justin, xxiv. 6.
6—9. That the Pythian priestess descended into the cavern
to give the oracles appears from an expression of Plutarch
(De defectu oraculorum, 51, (care'^rj fj.ev els TO nwreiov). As to
the oracles of Earth in antiquity, see A. Bouche-Leclercq,
Histoire de la Divination dans I'Antiquite, ii. 251 sqq.; L. R.
Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, iii. 8 sqq.
2 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 501-506.
3 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 717 sqq.
4 Compare Homer, II. xv. 187 sqq.; Plato, Gorgias, p. 523A.
APOLLODORUS
['A^irpirrj] Mrjris, Kotou Se KOI
'Acrrepta KOI A^rtw, cT7re/otoz o9 Se
T?}9 rioi/rou 'Acrr/jato? IlaXXa? Hepcrij?,
V 8e ital 'Acrta? x "ArXa9, 09 e%et rot9
TOI/ ovpavov, fcal TIpo/j,i)06v} real 'ETTf-
Kal Me^otrto9, 01^ Kepavvwa-as ev rfj
eu9 KaTerapTapwaev. €yevero Se real
Kpovov Kal &i\vpaf Xeipcov 8i(j vr)s KevTavpos,
'Hou9 Be Kal 'Aa"rpaiov aveftoi teal aa-rpa, ILepaov
Se Kal 'A(TTe/ ta9 'EiKdrr), TlaXXavros 8e Kal
5 SrfO9 l NIKI K9ar09 Z-Xo9 Bta. TO Se T9
eTroirjcrev opKov, ravryv avTrj rifj,r)v SiSovs avff
&v avr& Kara Tirdvwv /Jbera r&v TGKVWV crvve-
6 TLovTov be Kal F^9 ^o/o/co? 2
1 The MSS. add T£ V 'fl/ceovoO, which Heyne, Westermanu
Miiller, and Bekker alter into TT}S 'fliteavov.
2 $6pKos Heyne, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher, (compare ii
4. 2) : Qtpicvs A.
1 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 346-366, who mentions all the
Oceanids named by Apollodorus except Amphitrite, who was
a Nereid. See Apollodorus, i. 2. 7 ; Hesiod, Theog. 243.
2 As to the offspring of Coeus and Phoebe, see Hesiod,
Theog. 404 sqq.
3 As to the offspring of Hyperion and Thia, see Hesiod,
Theog. 371 sqq.
4 As to the offspring of Crius and Eurybia, see Hesiod,
Theog. 375 sqq.
5 As to the offspring of lapetns and Asia, see Hesiod,
Theog. 507-520.
6 It is said that Cronus assumed the shape of a horse when
he consorted with Philyra, and that, we are told, was why
THE LIBRARY, I. n. 2-6
Electra, Doris, Eurynome, Amphitrite, and Metis ;1
to Coeus and Phoebe were born Asteria and Latona
; 2 to Hyperion and Thia were born Dawn, Sun,
and Moon; 3 to Crius and Eurybia, daughter of Sea
(Pontus), were born Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses;4
to lapetus and Asia was born Atlas, who has the sky
on his shoulders, and Prometheus, and Epimetheus,
and Menoetius, he whom Zeus in the battle with the
Titans smote with a thunderbolt and hurled down to
Tartarus.5 And to Cronus and Philyra was born
Chiron, a centaur of double form;6 and to Dawn
and Astraeus were born winds and stars;7 to Perses
and Asteria was born Hecate ; 8 and to Pallas and
Styx were born Victory, Dominion, Emulation, and
Violence.9 But Zeus caused oaths to be sworn by
the water of Styx, which flows from a rock in Hades,
bestowing this honour on her because she and
her children had fought on his side against the
Titans.10
And to Sea (Pontus) and Earth were born Phorcus,
Chiron was born a centaur, half-man, half-horse. See
Scholiast on Apolloriius Rhodius, Argon, i. 554.
7 As to the offspring of Dawn and Astraeus, see Hesiod,
Theog. 378 sqq. 8 As to this parentage of Hecate, see Hesiod, Theog.
409 sqq. But the ancients were not agreed on the subject.
See the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iii. 467. He
tells us that according to the Orphic hymns, Hecate was a
daughter of Deo ; according to Bacchylides, a daughter of
Night; according to Musaeus, a daughter of Zeus and Asteria;
and according to Pherecydes, a daughter of Aristaeus.
9 For this brood of abstractions, the offspring of Styx and
Pallas, see Hesiod, Theog. 383 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. p. 30, ed.
Bunte.
10 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 389-403. As to the oath by the
water of Styx, see further Hesiod, Theog. 775 sqq.; compare
Homer, II. xv. 37 sq., Od. v. 186 sq.; Homeric Hymn to
Apotto, 86 sq.
APOLLODORUS
*Ipis fcal a pTrviai, 'AeXXw /cal  'fl/cvireri), ^o
Se KOL K^roC? $ opKiSe; /cal  Fopyoves, jrepl & v
7 €pov/J,€v orav ra Kara Tlepaea Xeyw/^ei/, N?;/jea 9 Se
/ecu Ae0p6 09 -1 NyprjiSes, a)v ra ovo/Aara K.vfji006rj
co T\av/eov6fjbifi Navcridorj 'AXt^, 'Epara) 2a& 
®eTi9, ^tii\,ifjL6vr} 'A.yav'r] Eu-
ACOTW Qepovaa, FaXareta ' A/crat?; novro/ie-
Sovcra 'Imrodorj hvcridvacrGa, Ku/icb 'Hio^ 'AXilEiV/
cpdvrr), TIpcora) KaXui|ra)
Kpaz/TO) Neo/i?7/c)t9, 'ITTTTOVOT; 'Idveipa
.i TOvor) MeXtri;,2 AIIOVT) N^crat?;
aOt], Eu/ioXTr-?; 'Iov?7 kwapevrj
III. Zeu? 3e ya/iet yu,ez^ f/Hpay, /cal re/cval
"Apr]v,s fjiiyvvrai 8e TroXXafr
s re /cal adavdrois jvvat^iv. etc fjiev oifv
4 Qvpavov
A.rpO7rov, etc
1 The MSS. add TcDr 'nfceovoD, which Heyne, Westermanu,
Mftller, and Bekker alter into rfjs 'HKeai/oD.
2 Me\fnj Heyne, comparing Hesiod, Theog. 246, Homer,
//. xviii. 42, etc. : MeAirj A.
3 "Aprji/ Gale : Sp^Tjy R : 0^7^ E : apyr)i  B.
4 rfjs E : TOV A.
1 As to the offspring of Sea (Pontus, conceived as masculine)
and Earth (conceived as feminine), see Hesiod, Theog.
233 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. p. 28, ed. Bunte.
2 As to the offspring of Thaumas and Electra, see Hesiod,
Theog. 265 sqq.
s As to the parentage of the Phorcids anJ Gorgons, see
14
THE LIBRARY, I. 11. 6-m. i
Thaumas, Nereus, Eurybia, and Ceto.1 Now to
Thaumas and Electra were born Iris and the Harpies,
Aello and Ocypete ; 2 and to Phorcus and Ceto were
born the Phorcids and Gorgons,8 of whom we shall
speak when we treat of Perseus. To Nereus and
Doris were born the Nereids,4 whose names are
Cymothoe, Spio, Glauconome, Nausithoe, Halie,
Erato, Sao, Amphitrite, Eunice, Thetis, Eulimene,
Agave, Eudore, Doto, Pherusa, Galatea, Actaea,
Pontomedusa, Hippothoe, Lysianassa, Cymo, Eione,
Halimede, Plexaure, Eucrante, Proto, Calypso,
Panope, Cranto, Neomeris, Hipponoe, lanira, Polynome,
Autonoe, Melite, Dione, Nesaea, Dero,
Evagore, Psamathe, Eumolpe, lone, Dynamene, Ceto,
and Limnoria.
III. Now Zeus wedded Hera and begat Hebe,
Ilithyia, and Ares,5 but he had intercourse with many
women, both mortals and immortals. By Themis,
daughter of Sky, he had daughters, the Seasons, to
wit, Peace, Order, and Justice; also the Fates, to wit,
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropus ; 6 by Dione he had
Hesiod, Theog. 270 sqq. ; Hyginus, Fab. p. 29, ed. Bunte.
As to the monsters themselves, see Apollodorns, ii. 4. 2 sq.
4 For lists of Nereids, see Homer, II. xviii. 38-49 ; Hesiod,
Theog. 240-264 ; Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 417-423 ; Virgil,
Qeorg. iv. 334-344 ; Hyginus, Fab. pp. 28 sq., ed. Bunte.
8 As to the offspring of Zeus and Hera, see Homer II. v.
889 sqq. (Ares), xi 270 sq. (Ilithyia), Od. xi. 603 sq. (Hebe) ;
Hesiod, Theog. 921 sqq. According to Hesiod, Hera was the
last consort whom Zeus took to himself ; his first wife was
Metis, and his second Themis (Theog. 886, 901, 921).
6 For the daughters of Zeus and Themis, see Hesiod,
Theog. 901 sqq.
APOLLODORUS
Se T?}?
e/c
fjiovcras, irpmrrjv jnev KaXA,t07r 7i , elra
) Mf-'XTrofievrjv RvTepTnjv 'E/jaxcb Tep-^n-
Qvpaviav ®d\€iav lioXy/cw/ai/.
fiev ovv teal Qldypov, /car' eVt-
TroXXowo?, Aivos, ov cH/)a/c\^9
direKT€ive, teal 'O/o^ey? o acr/c^o-a? KiOaptoSiav, 09
a8a v I/civet \i0ovs re /col BevBpa. diro6avovari; Se
yvvaitcbs avrov, Brj^Oeicnis VTTO
1 avayeiv Heyne : ayayelv A.
1 As to Dione, mother of Aphrodite, see Homer, II. \. 370
sqq.; Euripides, Helena,, 1098; Hyginus, Fab. p. 30, ed.
Bunte. Hesiod represents Aphrodite as born of the sea-foam
which gathered round the severed genitals of Sky (Uranus).
See Hesiod, Theog. 188 sqq.
2 As to the parentage of the Graces, see Hesiod, Theog.
907 sqq. ; Pausanias, ix. 35. 5 ; Hyginus, Fab. p. 30, ed. Bunte.
3 According to the usual account, the mother of Persephone
was not Styx but Demeter. See Hesiod, Theog. 912 sq.;
Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 1 sqq.; Pausanias, viii. 37. 9 ;
Hyginus, Fab. p. 30, ed. Bunte.
4 As to the names and parentage of the Muses, see Hesiod,
Theog. 75 sqq., 915 sqq.
5 Accounts differ as to the parentage of Linus. According
to one, he was a son of Apollo by the Muse Urania (Hyginus,
Fab. 161); according to another, he was a son of Apollo
by Psamathe, daughter of Orotopus (Pausanias, ii. 19. 8) ;
according to another, he was a son of Apollo by Aethusa,
daughter of Poseidon (Contest of Homer and Hesiod, p. 570,
ed. Evelyn-White, Loeb Classical Library) ; according to
another, he was a son of Magnes by the Muse Clio (Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 831).
8 That Orpheus was a son of Oeagrus by the Muse Calliope
is affirmed also by Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 23 sqq. ;
Conon, Narrat. 45 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 831
16
THE LIBRARY, I. m. i-2
Aphrodite ; J by Eurynome, daughter of Ocean, he
had the Graces, to wit, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and
Thalia ; 2 by Styx he had Persephone ; 8 and by
Memory (Mnemosyne) he had the Muses, first Calliope,
then Clio, Melpomene, Euterpe, Erato, Terpsichore,
Urania, Thalia, and Polymnia.4
Now Calliope bore to Oeagrus or, nominally, to
Apollo, a son Linus,5 whom Hercules slew ; and
another son, Orpheus,6 who practised minstrelsy and
by his songs moved stones and trees. And when
his wife Eurydice died, bitten by a snake, he went
down to Hades, being fain to bring her up/ and he
the author of The Contest o Homer and Hesiod, p. 570, ed.
Evelyn- White ; Hyginus, Fab. 14 ; and the First and Second
Vatican Mythographers (Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini,
ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 26, 90). The same view was
held by Asclepiades, but some said that his mother was the
Muse Polymnia (Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i.
23). Pausanias roundly denied that the musician's mother
was the Muse Calliope (ix. 30. 4). That his father was
Oeagrus is mentioned also by Plato (Sympos. p. 179 D), Diodorus
Siculus(iv. 25. 2), and Clement of Alexandria (Protrept.
7, p. 63, ed. Potter). As to the power of Orpheus to move
stones and trees by his singing, see Euripides, Bacchae, 561
sqq.; Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 26 sqq.; Diodorus Siculus,
iv. 25. 2 ; Eratosthenes, Cataster. 24 ; Conon, Narrat. 45 ;
Horace, Odes, i. 12. 7 sqq.; Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus, 1036
sqq.; id., Hercules Fur ens, 572 sq.
7 As to the descent of Orpheus to hell to fetch up Eurydice,
compare Pausanias, ix. 30. 6 ; Conon, Narrat. 45 ; Virgil,
Georg. iv. 454 sqq. ; Ovid, Metamorph. x. 8 sqq. ; Hyginus,
Fab. 164 ; Seneca, Hercules Furens, 569 sqq.; id. Hercules
Oetaeus, 1061 sqq. ; Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb.
viii. 59 and 60 ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed.
G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 26 sq., 90 (First Vatican Mythographer,
76; Second Vatican Mythographer, 44). That Eurydice was
killed by the bite of a snake on which she had accidentally
trodden is mentioned by Virgil Ovid, Hyginus, and the
Vatican Mythographers.
VOL. I.
APOLLODORUS
KOI Tl\ovT(t va eireiaev avaTre/jb-^rai. 6 Be virerovro
Troirjcreiv, av /u.^ Tropevo/uievos 'O/3-
eTTicrrpa^fj irplv et? ryv oiKiav avrou irapa-
6 Se airiaTwv eTricrrpa^et? edeaffaro
rrjv yvvaiKa, r) Se 7rd\iv vTrearpe^Jrev. evpe Se
'OytH^eu? «al ra Aiovvcrov nvcmjpia, fcal
irepl Trjv Tliepiav ^iaairacrOei^ VTTO ra)v
3 KXetcb Se Iltepou rov Ma7t»7/To?
'A/ /3o81x779 (wt'etStcre lya^o 0.^777 TOV rov
epwra), crvve\0ova-a Se
avrov TratBa rTaKivdov, ov ®djj,vpi  6
/icavo? KOI 'A/07to7r?;9 vvfKpr]; ea"%evl epwra,
7rpwTO9 ap%dfj,evos epav appevcov. aXX,' "TaKivffov
/jiev vGTepov 'ATroXA-wy epcofievov ovra HCTK.W
1 ftrxe" JEA : Yffxe' Hercher, Wagner. But $x*iv fpt»ra is
good Greek. See Herodotus, v. 32; Apollodorus, Epit. i\. 6.
On the other hand Apollodorus has ttrxeic epcara elsewhere
(i. 9. 8, I 9.23, ii. 3. 1, iii. 14. 4).
1 On Orpheus as a founder of mysteries, compare Euripides,
Rhesus, 943 sq. ; Aristophanes, Frogs, 1032 ; Plato,
Protagoras, p. 369 D ; id. Republic, ii. 7, pp. 365 E-366 A ;
Demosthenes, Or. xxv. 11, p. 772 ; Diodorus Siculus, i. 23,
i. 96. 2-6, iii. 65. 6, iv. 25. 3, v. 77. 3 ; Pausanias, ii. 30. 2,
ix. 30. 4, x. 7. 2; Plutarch, .Frogr. 84 (Plutarch, Didot ed.
vol. v. p. 55). According to Diodorus Siculus (i. 23), the
mysteries of Dionysus which Orpheus instituted in Greece
were copied by him from the Egyptian mysteries of Osiris.
The view that the mysteries of Dionysus were based on those
of Osiris has been maintained in recent years by the very able
and learned Trench scholar, Monsieur Paul Foucart. See his
treatise, Le culte de Dionysos en Attique (Paris, 1904), pp. 8
sqq. ; id. Les mysteres d'fileusis (Paris, 1914), pp. 1 sqq.,
445 sqq.
2 As to the death of Orpheus at the hands of the Maenads
or the Thracian women, see Pausanias, ix. 30. 5 ; Conon,
Narrat. 45 ; Eratosthenes, Cataster. 24 ; Virgil, Georg. iv.
520 sqq.; Ovid, Metamorph. xi. 1 sqq. Usually the women are
18
THE LIBRARY, I. in. 2-3
persuaded Pluto to send her up. The god promised
to do so, if on the way Orpheus would not turn round
until he should be come to his own house. But he
disobeyed and turning round beheld his wife ; so
she turned back. Orpheus also invented the
mysteries of Dionysus,1 and having been torn in
pieces by the Maenads - he is buried in Pieria. Clio
fell in love with Pierus, son of Magnes, in consequence
of the wrath of Aphrodite, whom she had twitted
with her love of Adonis ; and having met him she
bore him a son Hyacinth, for whom Thamyris, the
son of Philammon and a nymph Argiope, conceived
a passion, he being the first to become enamoured of
males. But afterwards Apollo loved Hyacinth and
killed him involuntarily by the cast of a quoit.3 And
said to have been offended by the widower's constancy to
the memory of his late wife, and by his indifference to their
charms and endearments. But Eratosthenes, or rather the
writer who took that name, puts a different complexion on
the story. He says that Orpheus did not honour Dionysus,
but esteemed the sun the greatest of the gods, and used to
rise very early every day in order to see the sunrise from the
top of Mount Pangaeum. This angered Dionysus, and he
stirred up the Bassarids or Bacchanals to rend the bard limb
from limb. Aeschylus wrote a tragedy on the subject called
the Bassarids or Bassarae. See Tragicorum Graecorum
Fragmenta, ed. A. Nanck2 (Leipsic, 1889), pp. 9 sq. 3 As to the death of Hyacinth, killed by the cast of Apollo's
quoit, see Nicander, Ther. 901 sqq. ; Pausanias, iii. 19. 4 sq.;
Lucian, Dial, deorum, xiv. ; Philostratus, Imag. i. 23 (24) ;
Palaephatus, De incredib. 47 ; Ovid, Metamorph. x. 162 sqq.;
Servius, on Virgil, Ed. iii. 63 ; Lactantius Placidus, on
Statius, Theb. iv. 223 ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini,
ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 37, 135 sq. (First Vatican Mythographer,
117 ; Second Vatican Mythographer, 181). The
usual story ran that Apollo and the West Wind, or, according
to others, the North Wind, were rivals for the affection of
Hyacinth ; that Hyacinth preferred Apollo, and that the
c 2
APOLLODORUS
CLKWV aTre/creive, ®d/j,vpis Be
KOI Ki8apq Bia Trepl /j,ovcriKrj  rjpicre
fj,ovcrai?, rvvdefji,evof, av [lev KpeLrrwv evpedfj,
TrKricndaeiv Ttdaais, eav Be ^rrrjdfj, arepridrjO'ecrOai
ov av etcelvai 6e\wcn. KadvirepTepai Be at ftovcrai
I \ n » /  \ \ " / l yevofi€vai /eat rwv o^armv avrov /cat ri]; Kivapy8ia 
ecneprjaav. ^vreprrt]^ Be KOI irorafjiov
^Tpv/uLOVOs 'Pfjcros, ov ev TpoLa Aio/jitfSiis diretcreivev
& 9 Be evioi \ejovcri, KaX,Xio7r»?9 VTrijp^ev.
®a\eia; Be «al 'AvroXXwvo? eyevovro Kopvftavres,
Me\7royLtei''^9 Be KOI 'A^eXwoy ^eipfjves, irepl wv
ev rot? Trepl 'OSycrcreco? epovjuev,
"Hpa Be %wpi9 evvrfs eyevvrja-ev f/H(paia-'TOV & 9
Be f/O/i 7/J09 \eyei, ftal TOVTOV e/c Ai09 eyevvijcre.
jealous West Wind took his revenge by blowing a blast which
diverted the quoit thrown by Apollo, so that it struck
Hyacinth on the head and killed him. From the blood of the
slain youth sprang the hyacinth, inscribed with letters which
commemorated his tragic death ; though the ancients were not
at one in the reading of them. Some, like Ovid, read in them
the exclamation AI AI, that is, " Alas, alas ! " Others, like
the Second Vatican Mythographer, fancied that they could
detect in the dark lines of the flower the first Greek letter (T)
of Hyacinth's name. 1 This account of Thamyris and his contest with the Muses
is repeated almost verbally by Zenobius, Cent. iv. 27, and by
a Scholiast on Homer, II. ii. 595. As to the bard's rivalry
with the Muses, and the blindness they inflicted on him, see
Homer, II. ii. 594—600 ; compare Euripides, Rhesus, 915 sqq.;
Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i.
p. 60 (First Vatican Mythographer, 197). The story of the
punishment of Thamyris in hell was told in the epic poem The
Minyad, attributed to Prodicus the Phocaean (Pausanias, iv.
33. 7). In the great picture of the underworld painted by
Polygnotus at Delphi, the blind musician was portrayed
sitting with long flowing locks and a broken lyre at his feet
(Pausanias, x. 30. 8).
20
THE LIBRARY, I. in. 3-5
Thamyris, who excelled in beauty and in minstrelsy
engaged in a musical contest with the Muses, the
agreement being that, if he won, he should enjoy
them all, but that if he should be vanquished he
should be bereft of what they would. So the
Muses got the better of him and bereft him both or
his eyes and of his minstrelsy.1 Euterpe had by the
river Strymon a son Rhesus, whom Diomedes slew at
Troy;2 but some say his mother was Calliope.
Thalia had by Apollo the Corybantes ;3 and Melpomene
had by Achelous the Sirens, of whom we shall
speak in treating of Ulysses.4 /
Hera gave birth to Hephaestus without intercourse Y
with the other sex,5 but according to Homer he was
2 As to the death of Rhesus, see Homer, II. x. 474 sqq.;
compare Conon, Narrat. 4. It is the subject of Euripides's
tragedy Rhesus ; see particularly verses 756 sqq. Euripides
represents Rhesus as a son of the river Strymon by one of the
Muses (w. 279, 915 sqq.), but he does not name the particular
Muse who bore him.
3 Very discrepant accounts were given of the parentage of
the Corybantes. Some said that they were sons of the Sun
by Athena ; others that their parents were Zeus and the
Muse Calliope ; others that their father was Cronus. See
Strabo, x. 3. 19, p. 472. According to another account, their
mother was the Mother of the Gods, who settled them in
Samothrace, or the Holy Isle, as the name Samothrace was
believed to signify. The name of the father of the Corybantes
was kept a secret from the profane vulgar, but was revealed
to the initiated at the Samothracian mysteries. See Diodorus
Siculus, iii. 55. 8 sq.
4 As to the Sirens, see Apollodorus, Epitome, vii. 18 sq.
Elsewhere (i. 7. 10) Apollodorus mentions the view that the
mother of the Sirens was Sterope.
5 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 927 sq.; Lucian, De sacrificiis, 6.
So Juno is said to have conceived Mars by the help of the
goddess Flora and without intercourse with Jupiter (Ovid,
Fasti, v. 229 sq.). The belief in the possible impregnation
APOLLODORUS
piirrei Be avrbv e'£ ovpavov Zev? "Hpa Sedeicrr)
ravrrjv yap
TTOV ^ei^Stva eTmrep^raaav 'Hpa/cXe?, ore Tpoiav
€\cbv €7r\ei. Treaovra o° r'Hf aia-TOV eV Arfpvq) /cat
e Zeu? M^rtSt,2
uTre/) TOU p,rj rvve\6elv, KOI avrrjv
eyfcvov Karairivei f)0dcra , eireLirep
ire E : eKKpffj,dffaffa RS, fj-eicpt/jia.ffe O.
E, Scholiast on Plato, Timaeus, p. 23 D : ®4rtSt A.
of women without sexual intercourse appears to have been
common, if not universal, among men at a certain stage of
social evolution, and it is still held by many savages. See
Adonis, Attis, Osiris, 3rd ed. i. 92 sqq.; Folk-lore in the Old
Testament, ii. 204,notes; A. et G. Grandidier, Ethnographie
de Madagascar, ii. (Paris, 1914), pp. 245 sq. The subject is
fully discussed by Mr. E. S. Hartland in his Primitive
Paternity (London, 1909-1910).
1 Compare Homer, II. i. 571 sq., 577 sq. In these lines
Hephaestus plainly recognizes Hera as his mother, but it is
not equally clear that he recognizes Zeus as his father ; the
epithet " father" which he applies to him may refer to the
god's general paternity in relation to gods and men.
a See Homer, II. i. 590 sq. 3 See Homer, II. xv. 18 sqq., where Zeus is said to have
tied two anvils to the feet of Hera when he hung her out of
heaven. Compare Apollodorus, ii. 7. 1 ; Nonnus, in Westermann's
Mythographi Graeci (Brunswick, 1843), Appendix
Narrationum, xxix. 1, pp. 371 sq. 4 The significance of lameness in myth and ritual is obscure.
The Yorubas of West Africa say that Shankpanna, the god of
small-pox, is lame and limps along with the aid of a stick, one
of his legs being withered. See (Sir) A. B. Ellis, The Yorubas-
peaking peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa (London,
1894), p. 73. The Ekoi of Southern Nigeria relate how the
first fire on earth was stolen from heaven by a boy, whom the
Creator (Obassi Osaw) punished with lameness for the theft.
22
THE LIBRARY, I. in. 5-6
one of her children by Zeus.1 Him Zeus cast out of
heaven, because he came to the rescue of Hera in
her bonds.2 For when Hercules had taken Troy
and was at sea, Hera sent a storm after him; so Zeus
hung her from Olympus.3 Hephaestus fell on Lemnos
and was lamed of his legs,4 but Thetis saved
him.5
Zeus had intercourse with Metis, who turned into
many shapes in order to avoid his embraces. When
she was with child, Zeus, taking time by the forelock
See P. Amaury Talbot, In the Shadow of the Bush (London,
1912), pp. 370 sq. This lame boy seems to play the part of a
good fairy in Ekoi tales, and he is occasionally represented in
a "stilt play" by an actor who has a short stilt bound round
his right leg and limps like a cripple. See P. Amaury Talbot,
op. cit. pp. 58, 285. Among the Edo of Benin "custom
enjoined that once a year a lame man should be dragged around
the city, and then as far as a place on the Enyai road, called
Adaneha. This was probably a ceremony of purification."
See W. N. Thomas, Anthropological Report on the Edo-speaking
peoples of Nigeria, Part I. (London, 1910), p. 35. In a race
called "the King's Race," which used to be run by lads on
Good Friday or Easter Saturday in some parts of the Mark of
Brandenburg, the winner was called "the King," and the last
to come in was called "the Lame Carpenter." One of the
Carpenter's legs was bandaged with splints as if it were
broken, and he had to hobble along on a crutch. Thus he
was led from house to house by his comrades, who collected
eggs to bake a cake. See A. Kuhn, Markische Sagen und
Mdrchen (Berlin, 1843), pp. 323 sq.
5 As to the fall of Hephaestus on Lemnos, see Homer, II,
i. 590 sqq.; Lucian, De sacrificiis, 6. The association of the
fire-god with Lemnos is supposed to have been suggested by
a volcano called Moschylus, which has disappeared— perhaps
submerged in the sea. See H. F. Tozer, The Islands oj the
Aegean, pp. 269 sqq.; K. C. Jebb on Sophocles, Philoctetes,
800, with the Appendix, pp. 243-245. According to another
account, Hephaestus fell, not on Lemnos, but into the sea,
where he was saved by Thetis. See Homer, II. xviii. 394.iqq.
23
APOLLODORUS
'yevvacrffai2 Kopijv, 09 ovpavov Bvvdarr);
. rovro f o/3r]6ei$ KareTriev avrrfv to?
7
$ 77 /caOdirep
, e/c K0pv )?, eTrl Troraavv
ovrXoi? avedopev.
IV. Twv Se Kotou Qwyarepcav 'Acrrepia fjuev
Of^o^delcra oprvyt eavrrjv et? 6a\.aTaav
f)£vyovcra ryv irpbs Ata trvvovGiav teal
aV eKeivrjs 'Atrrepta Trporepov K\rj6elara, varepov
e avve\6ovara Att tcara
airacrav v
e\0ovcra jevvd
vcrrepov
yevv-fiffeiv Heyne, comparing Hesiod, Theog.
890 s§. : ^.e-ye yewT](Tfiv A, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker,
Hercher, Wagner.
2 yej/j/ao-flat E, Scholiast on Plato, Timaeus, p. 23 D :
ytvfff&ai A.
3 7ew^(rec( s A, Scholiast on Plato, Timaeus, p. 23 D :
, Wagner.
1 See Hesiod, T/ieogr. 886-900, 929S-929P, ed. Evelyn-
White ; Scholiast on Plato, Timaeus, p. 23 D. Hesiod says
that Zeus acted on the advice or warning of Earth and Sky.
The Scholiast on Hesiod, quoted by Goettling and Paley in
their commentaries, says that Metis had the power of turning
herself into any shape she pleased.
2 Compare the Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 195, who cites
the first book of Apollodorus as his authority. According to
the usual account, followed by the vase-painters, it was
Hephaestus who cleft the head of Zeus with an axe and so
delivered Athena. See Pindar, Olymp. vii. 35 (65) sqq. ;
Scholiast on Plato, Timaeus, p. 23 D. According to Euripides
(Ion, 454 sqq.), the delivery was effected b}r Prometheus ; but
according to others it was Palamaon or Hermes who split the
24
THE LIBRARY, I. in. 6-iv. i
swallowed her, because Earth said that, after
giving birth to the maiden who was then in her
womb, Metis would bear a son who should be the lord
of heaven. From fear of that Zeus swallow'ed her.1
And when the time came for the birth to take place,
Prometheus or, as others say, Hephaestus, smote the
head of Zeus with an axe, and Athena, fully armed,
leaped up from the top of his head at the river Triton.2
IV. Of the daughters of Coeus, Asteria in the
likeness of a quail flung herself into the sea in order
to escape the amorous advances of Zeus, and a city
was formerly called after her Asteria, but afterwards
it was named Delos.3 But Latona for her intrigue
with Zeus was hunted by Hera over the whole earth,
till she came to Delos and brought forth first Artemis,
by the help of whose midwifery she afterwards gave
birth to Apollo.4
head of the supreme god and so allowed Athena to leap forth.
See the Scholiast on Pindar, Olymp. vii. 35 (65).
3 Compare Callimachus, Hymn to Delos, 36 sqq.; Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 401 ; Hyginus, Fab. 53; Servius, on
Virgil, Aen. iii. 73 ; Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb. iv.
795; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode,
vol. i. pp. 13, 79 sq. (First Vatican Mythographer, 37;
Second Vatican Mythographer, 17).
4 As to the birth of Apollo and Artemis, see the Homeric
Hymn to Apollo, 14 sqq. ; Pindar, On Delos, p. 560, ed.
Sandys ; Hyginus, Fab. 140 ; and the writers cited in
the preceding note. The usual tradition was that Latona
gave birth both to Artemis and to Apollo in Delos, which
formerly had been called Asteria or Ortygia. But the
author of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo distinguishes
Ortygia from Delos, and says that, while Apollo was born in
Delos, Artemis was born in Ortygia. Thus distinguished
from Delos, the island of Ortygia is probably to be identified,
as Strabo thought, with Rhenia, an uninhabited island a
little way from Delos, where were the graves of the Delians ;
for no dead body might be buried or burnt in Delos (Strabo,
25
APOLLODORUS
"A/9T6/U? /j,ev ovv TO, Trepl Or/pav a
7rap0evo; efieivev, ATroXXeoj/ be rrjv
/j,ad(av irapa Tlavos TOV Ato? ical "Y ft peas 1
rJKev elf AeX^ ov5, %/o 7cryu,(M So y 0-779 rore ©e/cuSo?'
o 9 Se o (frpovp&v TO fjiavreiov Tlvdcov otfris ercdoXvev
avTov 7rape\,0eiv eTTi TO ^acr^a, -TOVTOV ave\(bv TO
fj,avT€iov 7rapa\a/j,/3dvei. rcTeivei Be /ACT" ov TTO\V
icai TtTvo^, 05 rfv Ato? uto? /cat T^9
'EXa/)?;?,2 ^y Zew?, eTreiBrj
1 "Y&pfas EA, Tzetzes, $eAoZ. o» Lycophron, 772 (all
MSS.), Westermann : ©uyuSpecos Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth.,
Argum. (p. 297, ed. Boeckh), Aegius, Heyne, Miiller,
Bekker, Hercher, Wagner.
Aegius : t\di r)s A : e \ev-ns E.
x. 5. 5, p. 486). Not only so, but it was not even lawful
either to be born or to die in Delos ; expectant mothers and
dying folk were ferried across to Rhenia, there to give birth
or to die. However, Rhenia is so near the sacred isle that
when Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, dedicated it to the
Delian Apollo, he connected the two islands by a chain.
See Thucydides, iii. 104 ; Diodorus Siculus, xii. 58. 1 ;
Pausanias, ii. 27. 1. The notion that either a birth or
a death would defile the holy island is illustrated by
an inscription found on the acropolis of Athens, which
declares it to be the custom that no one should be
born or die within any sacred precinct. See "E(pTjfj.epls
apx"o\oyiK-f], Athens, 1884, pp. 167 sq. The desolate and
ruinous remains of the ancient necropolis, overgrown by
asphodel, may still be seen on the bare treeless slopes of
Rhenia. which looks across the strait to Delos. See H. F.
Tozer, The Islands of the Aegean (Oxford, 1890), pp. 14 sq.
The quaint legend, recorded by Apollodorus, that immediately
after her birth Artemis helped her younger twin brother
Apollo to be born into the world, is mentioned also by
Servius (on Virgil, Aen. iii. 73) and the Vatican Mythographers
(see the reference in the last note). The legend,
these writers inform us, was told to explain why the maiden
goddess Artemis was invoked by women in childbed.
26
THE LIBRARY, I. iv. i
Now Artemis devoted herself to the chase and
remained a maid; but Apollo learned the art of
prophecy from Pan, the son of Zeus and Hybris,1
and came to Delphi, where Themis at that time used
to deliver oracles; 2 and when the snake Python,
which guarded the oracle, would have hindered him
from approaching the chasm,3 he! killed it and took
over the oracle.4 Not long afterwards he slew also
Tityus, who was a son of Zeus and Elare, daughter of
Orchomenus; for her, after he had debauched her,
1 Pan, son of Zeus and Thymbreus (Thymbris ? Hybris ?),
is mentioned by a Scholiast on Pindar, who distinguishes
him from Pan, the son of Hermes and Penelope. See the
Argument to the Pythians, p. 297, ed. Boeckh. 2 As to the oracle of Themis at Delphi, see Aeschylus,
Eumenides, Isqq.; Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris, 1259 sqq.;
Pausanias, x. 5. 6 ; Scholiast on Pindar, Argument to the
Pythians, p. 297, ed. Boeckh. According to Ovid (Metamorph.
i. 367 sqq.), it was Themis, and not Apollo, whom
Deucalion consulted at Delphi about the best means of
repeopling the earth after the great flood.
3 The reference is to the oracular chasm at which the
priestess, under the supposed influence of its divine exhalations,
delivered her prophecies. See Diodorus Siculus, xvi.
26 ; Strabo, ix. 3. 5, p. 419 ; Justin, xxiv. 6. 9.
4 As to Apollo's slaughter of the Python, the dragon that
guarded the oracle at Delphi, see Plutarch, Quaest. Graec. 12 ;
id. De defectu oraculorum, 15 ; Aelian, Var. Hist. iii. 1 ;
Pausanias, ii. 7- 7, ii. 30. 3, x. 6. 5 sq.; Ovid, Metamorph. i.
437 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 140. From Plutarch and Aelian we
learn that Apollo had to go to Tempe to be purified for the
slaughter of the dragon, and that both the slaughter of the
dragon and the purification of the god were represented
every eighth year in a solemn festival at Delphi. See my
note on Pausanias, ii. 7. 7 (vol. iii. pp. 53sqq.). The Pythian
games at Delphi were instituted in honour of the dead
dragon (Ovid and Hyginus, ll.cc. ; compare Clement of
Alexandria, Protrept. 2, p. 29, ed. Potter), probably to soothe
his natural anger at being slain.
27
APOLLODORUS
Setcro.9 Hpav viro lyfjv e/cpvtye, teal rbv KVO(f)oprjdevra
iraiBa Tirvbv VTrepf^ejeOr) et9 ^ W9 avrj-
?, TroOtp fcaraa^eBel^ eTrio-Trdrai' f) Be TOU?
eTTLKoKelrai /cal fcararo^evovaiv avrov.
at Be /cal pera ddvarov yvires yap avrov
rrjv KapBiav evr'A.iBov effdiova'tv.
2 'A-Tre/crewe Be 'ATroXXtoj/ /cal rbv 'Q\v[j,7rov
ta TO rrjv ori
opevriv ER, compare Homer, Od. xi. 581 : tpxo/j.fvos A..
1 Compare Scholiast on Homer, Od. vii. 324 ; Eustathius
on Homer, Od. vii. 324, p. 1581 ; Apollonius Rhodius, Argon.
i. 761 sq., with the Scholiast on v. 761. The curious story
how Zeus hid his light o' love under the earth to save her
from the jealous rage of Hera was told by the early mythologist
and antiquarian Pherecydes of Athens, as we learn from
the Scholiast on Apolloniu& Rhodius (I.e.). Pherecydes was a
contemporary of Herodotus and Hellanicus, and wrote in the
first half of the fifth century B.C. Apollodorus often refers
to him, and appears to have made much use of his writings,
as I shall have occasion to observe in the course of these
notes. With regard to Elare or Elara, the mother of Tityus,
some people thought that she was a daughter of Minyas, not
of Orchomeuus (Scholiast on Homer, and Eustathius, ll.cc.).
Because Tityus was brought up under the earth, he was said
to be earth-born (yriyev-^s, Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius,
Argon, i. 761). Homer calls him simply a son of Earth
(Od. xi. 576), and in this he is followed by Virgil (Aen. vi.
595).
* As to the crime and punishment of Tityus, see Homer,
Od. xi. 576-581 ; Pindar, Pyth. iv. 90 (160) sqq., with the
Scholiast on v. 90 (160) ; Lucretius, iii. 984 sqq.; Virgil, Aen.
vi. 595 *qq.; Horace, Odes, ii. 14. 8 sq., iii. 4. 77 sqq., iii. 11.
21 sq., iv. 6. 2 sq. ; Hyginus, Fab. 55 ; Scriptores rerum
mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 4, 110
28
THE LIBRARY, I. iv. 1-2
Zeus hid under the earth for fear of Hera, and brought
forth to the light the son Tityus, of monstrous size,
whom she had borne in her womb.1 When Latona
came to Delphi, Tityus beheld her, and overpowered
by lust drew her to him. But she called her children
to her aid, and they shot him down with their arrows.
And he is punished even after death ; for vultures eat
his heart in Hades.2
Apollo also slew Marsyas, the son of Olympus.
For Marsyas, having found the pipes which Athena
had thrown away because they disfigured her face,3
(First Vatican Mythographer, 13 ; Second Vatican Mythographer,
104). The tomb of Tityus was shown at Panopeus
in Phocis ; it was a mound or barrow about a third of a
furlong in circumference. See Pausanias, x. 4. 5. In Euboea
there was shown a cave called Elarium after the mother of
Tityus, and Tityus himself had a shrine where he was
worshipped as a hero (Strabo, ix. 3. 14, p. 423). The death
of Tityus at the hands of Apollo and Artemis was represented
on the throne of Apollo at Amyclae (Pausanias, iii. 18. 15),
and it was the subject of a group of statuary dedicated by
the Cnidians at Delphi (Pausanias. x. 11. 1). His sufferings
in hell were painted by Polygnotus in his famous picture of
the underworld at Delphi. The great artist represented the
sinner worn to a shadow, but no longer racked by the vultures
gnawing at his liver (Pausanias, x. 29. 3).
3 As she played on the pipes, she is said to have seen her
puffed and swollen cheeks reflected in water. See Plutarch,
De cohibenda ira, 6; Athenaeus, xiv. 7, p. 616 EF; Propertius,
iii. 22 (29). 16 sqq.; Ovid, Fasti, vi. 697 sqq.; id. Ars
Amat. iii. 505 s^.; Hyginus, Fab. 165 ; Fulgentius, Mytholoy.
iii. 9 ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode,
vol. i. pp.40, 114 (First Vatican Mythographer, 125 ; Second
Vatican Mythographer, 115). On the acropolis at Athens
there was a group of statuary representing Athena smiting
Marsyas because he had picked up the flutes which she had
thrown away (Pausanias, i. 24.1). The subject was a favourite
theme in ancient art. See my note on Pausanias, I.e. (vol. ii.
pp. 289 sqq.).
29
APOLLODORUS
cifj,opj)oi  , rj\6ev ei? epivTrepl fiOVdiK^ 'A-TroXXom.
crvv0efjiev(ov Be avrwv 'iva o vt/crjcras o (3ov\€Tai
BiaOfj rov rjTTrj/jievov, T }? Kpiaews ^ivofjievr]^ rrjv
Kiddpav cnpe-^ras ^jatm^ero o 'ATroXXwv, Kal
ravro Ttoieiv e/ceXeucre 1 rov Mapcrvav rov Be
dSwarovvTOS evpedels rcpeiffcrcov 6 'ATroXXeor,
/cp6fj,dcra; TOV Mapcruai/ e/c TWOS inreprevovs
7TITU09, e«T6/AO)I/ TO SepfAd OVTCOS 8l€(f 06lpev.
3 'flpicova Be "A/are/it? dire/CTetvev ev
TOVTOV 77776^77 \eyovffiv VTrep^eyeOrj TO
£ €peicv8r]; Be avTov TlocreiBwvos /cal
\ey€i. eBcopijffaro Be avrw IlocretSwz/ Biaftaiveiv
rrjv OdXacraav. OUTO? 7rpa)Tr}v  2 fiev eyij/Jie
'^iB'rjv, rjv eppttyev et? "AiBov irepl ju,op(pf]; e'pt-
"Hpa1 3 av0i; Be e\6a)v 619
1 4icf\evfff A : *Kf\eve E, Wagner.
2 irpa'rr\v  conjecturally inserted by Hercher and
Wagner.
3 "Hpct Wagner (apparently a misprint.)
1 As to the musical contest between Marsyas and Apollo,
and the punishment of the vanquished Marsyas, see Diodorus
Siculus, iii. 59 ; Pausanias, ii. 22. 9 ; Ovid, Metamorph. vi.
382s£j'.; id. Fasti, vi. 703 sg'g.; Hyginus, Fab. 165; Scriptores
rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp.
40, 114 (First Vatican Mythographer, 125 ; Second Vatican
Mythographer, 115). There has been some doubt as to the
interpretation of the words r^v Kidapav rrpe\l/as '•  but that
they mean simply "turned the lyre upside down," as Heyne
correctly explained them, is shown by a comparison with
the parallel passages in Hyginus ("citharam versabat") and
the Second Vatican Mythographer (" invertit citharam, et
canere coepit. Inversis autem tibiis, quum se Marsya
Apollini aequiparare nequiret " etc. ). That the tree on
which Marsyas was hanged was a pine is affirmed by many
ancient writers besides Apollodorus. See Nicander, Alex^-
pharmaca, 301 sq., with the Scholiast's note ; Lucian, Trago-
3°
THE LIBRARY, I. iv. 2-3
engaged in a musical contest with Apollo. They
agreed that the victor should work his will on the
vanquished, and when the trial took place Apollo
turned his lyre upside down in the competition and
bade Marsyas do the same. But Marsyas could not,
So Apollo was judged the victor and despatched
Marsyas by hanging him on a tall pine tree and
stripping off his skin.1
And Artemis slew Orion in Delos.2 They say that
he was of gigantic stature and born of the earth;
but Pherecydes says that he was a son of Poseidon
and Euryale.3 Poseidon bestowed on him the power
of striding across the sea.4 He first married Side,5
whom Hera cast into Hades because she rivalled
herself in beauty. Afterwards he went to Chios and
dopodagra, 314 sq.; Archias Mitylenaeus, in Anthologia
Palatina, vii. 696; Philostratus Junior, Imagines, i. 3;
Longus, Pastor, iv. 8 ; Zenobius, Cent. iv. 81 ; J. Tzetzes,
Ghiliades, i. 353 sqq. Pliny alone describes the tree as a
plane, which in his time was still shown at Aulocrene on the
way from Apamea to Phrygia (Nat. Hist. xvi. 240). The
skin of the flayed Marsyas was exhibited at Celaenae within
historical times. See Herodotus, vii. 26; Xenophon, Anabasis,
i. 2. 8 ; Livy, xxxviii. 13. 6 ; Quintus Curtius, iii. 1.
1-5; Pliny, Nat. Hist. v. 106.
2 See Homer, Od. v. 121-124 ; Horace, Odes, iii. 4. 70 sqq.
3 The same account of Orion's parentage was given by
Hesiod, whom Pherecydes probably followed. See Eratosthenes,
Catasterism. 32 ; Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 34.
4 Some thought that Orion waded through the sea (so
Virgil, Aen. x. 763 sqq.), others that he walked on the top
of it (so Eratosthenes, Catasterism. 32; Scholiast on Nicaiider,
Ther. 15; Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 34).
5 As Side means "pomegranate" in Greek, it has been'
supposed that the marriage of Orion to Side is a mythical
expression for the ripening of the pomegranate at the season
when the constellation Orion is visible in the nightly sky.
See W. Pape, Worterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen3
(Brunswick, 1884), ii. 1383.
31
APOLLODORUS
rrjv Olvo7r(,G)vo  e/w^crreycraTO. /jiedvcras Be
QlvoTTiMv avrov Koi^wfjievov eV^A-ojcre KOI Trapa
TOt9 alyia\oi$ eppt-^rev. 6 Se eTrl TO c
e\6utv KOL dpTrdaas TratSa eva,
e/cei Se Trapayevo/Aevos
VTTO T^? r)\iaKrj; aKTivo?, KOI &ia
4 Ta%ea)v eirl rbv OlvoTricova ecrTrevSev. a\\a T&
/j,€V nocretSwv ^aicrrorevKTOv VTTO yrjv KO,T€-
cr/cevacrev OLKOV, 'll/Jtwyo? 5' 'Ha 9 epaaOelaa
tfpTracre teal €fc6fj,icrev els A^Xov eVotei yap avrrjv
'A£ po£tT77 crvve^cof epdv, OTI "Apei a-vvevvdcrdrj.
5 6 8' 'fl/otft)v, co? ftev evLOi, Xeyovcriv, dvypeOrj
"ApTe/jiiv 7rpoKa\ovfievo , co? Se Tives,
plav TMV ef "TTrepftopeaiv jrapa-
TrapOevwv UTT' 'A/jre/itSo? ero^evdr).
1 'Hpa.iffTov  a conjecture of Heyne, who proposed to
read  els A?j/« oc  eirl rb xa^Ke?°v 'H/)afrTou , comparing
Eratosthenes, Cataster. 32.
2 e'£aK€(T0eJs Hercher : e/c/caels MSS. and editors, including
Wagner.
1 This quaint story of Orion and Oenopion is told also by
Eratosthenes, Gatasterism. 32 ; the old Scholiast on Aratus,
Phaenomena, 322, quoted in Epicorum Graecorum Fraqmenta,
ed. G. Kinkel, p. 89 ; the Scholiast on Nicander,
Ther. 15 ; Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 34 ; Servius, on Virgil,
Aen. x. 763 ; and the First Vatican Mythographer, 33
(Scriptores rerum myihicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i.
p. 12), except that this last writer substitutes Minos, king of
Crete, for Oenopion. The name of the guide whom Orion
took on his back to guide him to the sunrise was Cedalion
(Lucian, De domo, 28 ; Eratosthenes, Scholiast on Aratus,
and Hyginus, ll.cc.). Sophocles made the stoi'y the theme
of a satyric drama called Cedalion, of which a few fragments
have come down to us. See Tragicorum Graecorum Frag-
32
THE LIBRARY, I. iv. 3-5
wooed Merope, daughter of Oenopion. But Oenopion
made him drunk, put out his eyes as he
slept, and cast him on the beach. But he went to
the smithy of Hephaestus, and snatching up a lad
set him on his shoulders and bade him lead him. to
the sunrise. Being come thither he was healed by
the sun's rays, and having recovered his sight he
hastened with all speed against Oenopion. But for
him Poseidon had made ready a house under the
earth constructed by Hephaestus.1 And Dawn
fell in love with Orion and carried him off and
brought him to Delos; for Aphrodite caused
Dawn to be perpetually in love, because she had
bedded with Ares. But Orion was killed, as some
say, for challenging Artemis to a match at quoits,
but some say he was shot by Artemis for offering
violence to Opis, one of the maidens who had come
from the Hyperboreans.2
menta, ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 202 sq.; The Fragments oj Sophocles,
ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii. pp. 8 sqq. Euripides represents
the blinded Polymestor praying to the Sun to restore
his sight (Hecuba, 1067 sqq.).
2 Compare Scholiast on Homer, Od. v. 121, who calls the
maiden Upis. According to another, and more generally
received, account, Orion died of the bite of a scorpion, which
Artemis sent against him because he had attempted her
chastity. For this service the scorpion was raised to the
rank of a constellation in the sky, and Orion attained to a
like dignity. That is why the constellation Orion flies for
ever from the constellation Scorpion round the sky. See
Aratus, Phaenomena, 634 sqq.; Nicander, Ther. 13 sqq.;
Eratosthenes, Catasterism. 32 ; Scholiast on Homer, II. xviii.
486; Scholiast on Homer, Od. v. 121 ; Lactantius Placidus,
on Statius, Theb. iii. 27 ; Scholiast on Caesar Germanicus,
Aratea, p. 386, ed. Eyssenhardt, in his edition of Martianus
Capella. The Scholiast on Homer, II. xviii. 486, cites as his
authority Euphorion, a grammarian and poet of the fourth
century B.C.
33
VOL. I. D
APOLLODORUS
TloaeiSwv Se ^ A.p(^n pir'rjv [rr)V 'Q/ceavov]
ica
Y. H\OVTCOV Se II epcrefj) 01/7/5 e/oacr$el? Ato?
o-vvepyovvros ripiraaev avrrjv /cpvj a. ^rjfji^'njp
£e yaexa Aayu.7raSwz  VVKTOS re /cat ^/ie/oa? /cara
Traaav Trjv yrjv ^rjrovo-a irepiyei' fjiadovcra Se
Trap' 'Ep/uoi/ewi/ ort IlA-ouTcoi/ avrrjv ijpTracrev,
1 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 930 sg^.
2 Rhode, more commonly in the form Rhodes, is a personification
of the island of Rhodes, which Pindar calls the
Bride of the Sun (Olymp. vii. 14), because it was the great
seat of the worship of the Sun in ancient Greece. A Rhodian
inscription of about 220 B.C. records public prayers offered
by the priests '' to the Sun and Rhodos and all the other
gods and goddesses and founders and heroes who have the
city and the land of the Rhodians in their keeping." See
P. Cauer, Delectus Inscriptionum Graecarum2, p. 123, No. 181;
Ch. Michel, Recueil d'Inscriptions Grecques, p. 24, No. 21;
H. Collitz and F. Bechtel, Sammlung der griechischen Dialekt-
Inschrijten, vol. iii. p. 412, No. 3749. Every year the
Rhodians threw into the sea a chariot and four horses for
the use of the Sun, apparently supposing that after riding a
•whole year across the sky his old chariot and horses must be
quite worn out. See Festus, s.v. " October equus," p. 181,
ed. C. 0. Miiller.
3 This account of the rape of Persephone and Demeter's
quest of her is based on the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. The
opening passage, including the explanation of the Laughless
Stone, is quoted verbally by Zenobius (Cent. i. 7) and the
Scholiast on Aristophanes (Knights, 785), but without mention
of their authority. For other accounts of the rape of Persephone
and Demeter's quest of her, see Diodorus Siculus, v. 4. 1—3,
v. 68. 2 ; Cicero, In Verrem, Act. II. lib. 4, cap. 48 ; Ovid,
Fasti, iv. 419 sqq.; id. Metamorph. v. 346 sqq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 146 ; Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, v. 347 ; Scriptores
rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 106-108
(Second Vatican Mythographer, 93-100). All these writers
34
THE LIBRARY, I. iv. s-v. i
Poseidon wedded Amphitrite, daughter of Ocean,
and there were born to him Triton l and Rhode, who"
was married to the Sun.2
V. Pluto fell in love with Persephone and with the
help of Zeus carried her off secretly.3 But Demeter
went about seeking her all over the earth with
torches by night and day, and learning from the
people of Hermion that Pluto had carried her off,4
agree in mentioning Sicily as the scene of the rape of Persephone
; Cicero and Ovid identify the place with Enna (Henna),
of which Cicero gives a vivid description. The author of the
Homeric Hymn to Demeter says (vv. 16 sq.) that the earth
yawned, "in the Nysian plain," but whether this was a real
or a mythical place is doubtful. See T. W. Allen and E. E.
Sikes, The Homeric Hymns, p. 4 (on Hymn i. 8). It was
probably the luxuriant fertility of Sicily, and particularly the
abundance of its corn, which led later writers to place the
scene of the rape in that island. In Ovid's version of the
visit of Demeter to Eleusis (Fasti, iv. 507 sqq.), Celeus is not
the king of the place but a poor old peasant, who receives
the disguised goddess in his humble cottage. 4 This visit paid by the mourning Demeter to Hermion,
when she was searching for the lost Persephone, is not
mentioned by the author of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter,
nor, so far as I know, by any other ancient writer except
Zenobius (Cent. i. 7) and the Scholiast on Aristophanes
(Knights, 785), both of whom, however, merely copied
Apolloclorus without naming him. But compare Pausanias,
ii. 35. 4-8, who mentions the sanctuary of Subterranean
Demeter at Hermion, and describes the curious sacrificial
ritual observed at it. At Hermion there was a chasm which
was supposed to communicate with the infernal regions,
and through which Hercules was said to have dragged up
Cerberus (Pausanias, ii. 35. 10). The statement of Apollodorus
in the present passage suggests that according to local
tradition Pluto dragged down his bride to hell through the
same chasm. So convinced were the good people of Hermion
that they possessed a private entrance to the nether regions
that they very thriftily abstained from -the usual Greek
practice of placing money in the mouths of their dead
35
D 2
APOLLODORUS
ovpavov,
*8e ryvvai/el rj/eev et? 'EXeucrtya. /cat irpwrov jj,ev
€7r! TTjV air e#efcf 779 K\rideiaav ' A.je\aarov eKaOicre
Trerpav Trapa TO KaAAi^o/oov (frpeap Ka\ov^evov,
eTrena 77/009 KeXeoy e\dovcra, TOV ftacn\evovTa
Tore 'Ei\€vcrivia)v, ev&ov ovawv yvvai/cwv, icdi
\eyov(r(0v TOVTWV Trap1 avras KaOe^ecrOai, ypald
Tt? 'lap/By (TKW'tyacra Trjv deov eTroirjcre /j,ei8iaaai.
8ta rovro ev TO?? Oecr/jucxfjopiois ra?
o-KMTTTeiv \eyova-iv.
"Ovros 8e rfj TOV KeXeoi) yvvaiKi
TraiSiov, TOVTO eTpetyev rj Ai^^TTjp Trapa\ajBovcra'
/3ov\o/J,ei r) 8e avTO addvaTOV Troifjc
et? Trvp fcaT€Ti,0ei TO /9yoe^o9 Ka
as o~dpKa  avTOV. tcad' r^ikpav Se
TOV A?7yuo0wi/T09 (TOVTO jap fjv
1 KarfKnrev Zenobius, Cent. i. 7, Scholiast on Aristophanes,
Knights, 785 : aviXmev A.
(Strabo, ix. 6. 12, p. 373). Apparently they thought that
it would be a waste of money to pay Charon for ferrying
them across to hell when they could get there for nothing
from their own backdoor. 1 Compare Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 98 sqq., who says
that Demeter, sad at heart, sat down bv the wayside at the
Maiden's Well, under the shadow of an olive-tree. Later in
the poem (w. 270 sqq.) Demeter directs the people of Eleusis
to build her a temple and altar " above Callichorum" — that
is, the Well of the Fair Dances. Apollodortis identifies the
well beside which Demeter sat down with the Well of the
Fair Dances. But from Pausanias (i. 38. 6, i. 39. 1) we learn
that the two wells were different and situated at some
distance from each other, the Well of the Fair Dances being
close to the Sanctuary of Demeter, and the Maiden's Well,
or the Flowery Well, as Pausanias calls it, being outside
Eleusis, on the road to Megara. In the course of the modern
36
THE LIBRARY, I. v. i
she was wroth with the gods and quitted heaven,
and came in the likeness of a woman to Eleusis.
And first she sat down on the rock which has been
named Laughless after her, beside what is called the
Well of the Fair Dances * ; thereupon she made her
way to Celeus, who at that time reigned over the
Eleusinians. Some women were in the house, and
.when they bid her sit down beside them, a certain
old crone, lambe, joked the goddess and made her
smile.2 For that reason they say that the women
break jests at the Thesmophoria.3
But Metanira, wife of Celeus, had a child and
Demeter received it to nurse, and wishing to make
it immortal she set the babe of nights on the fire and
stripped off its mortal flesh. But as Demophon—for
excavation of the sanctuary at Eleusis, the Well of the Fair
Dances was discovered just outside the portal of the sacred
precinct. It is carefully built of polygonal stones, and the
mouth is surrounded by concentric circles, round which the
women of Eleusis probably tripped in the dance. See
TlpaKTiKa rfjs 'A.pxaio\oyiKTJs ''Eratplas, Athens, 1892, pp. 33 sq.
In antiquity solemn oaths were sworn by the water of the
well (Alciphron, iii. 69).
2 As to the jesting of the old woman with Demeter, see
Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 194-206 ; Scholiast on Nicander,
Alexipharmaca, 130, who calls Demeter's host Hippothoon,
son of Poseidon.
3 The jests seem to have been obscene in form (Diodorus
Siculus, v. 4. 6), but they were probably serious in intention ;
for at the Thesmophoria rites were performed to ensure the
fertility of the fields, and the lewd words of the women may
have been thought to quicken the seed by sympathetic
magic. See Scholia in Lucianum, ed. H. Rabe (Leipsic,
1906), pp. 275 sq.; Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, i.
62 sq., 116, ii. 17 sqq.
37
APOLLODORUS
T3 TratSt) eTrerrfp^crev rj Tlpa^idea,1 /ecu
a ei? irvp €yKefcpv/j,p,evoi  aveftorjcre'
TO ftev /3pe£o9 VTTO rov Trvpb} avri\d)6ri,
2 rj dea Se avrrjv e^etyrjve. Tpi7rTO\,efj,u  Se rc3
TT peer fivrepw TWV M.eTaveipa  2 TraiScov Sippov
Karacricevdcracra TTTTJVWV SparcovTcov TOV irvpbv
)V 0\V)V OLKOVfJtGVIjV 8t' OVpdVOV dlporcdTecnreipe.
Tiavvacris Se T piTrrokefJiov
\eyef (frrjcrl yap A.r}/j,rjrpa 717509 CLVTOV
e\0eiv. &ep6Kv$r)$ Se (firjcnv avrbv
/cal r?}9.
AiO9 Se nXouTWi/t T?)y Koprjv a
cravTO9, o TlXovrmv, 'iva /J,r) TTO\VV
TTJ /jir]Tpl /cara/Jieivr), poias ebfoicev avrfj
1 ^ n/ a£«0e'a A, Bekker : MeTaveipa, ri -n-pa^ei Bed Heyne,
Westermann : Merdveipa, rt irpatrcret fj Bed Miiller : ^ Meraveipa
Hercher, Wagner.
2 MeTore^as Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher,
Wagner : npa£i0e'as A.
1 See Appendix, "Putting Children on the Fire."
2 Compare Cornutus, Theologiae Oraecae Compendium, 28,
pp. 53 sg. ed. C. Lang ; Ovid, Fasti, iv. 559 sqq. ; id. Tristia,
iii. 8. (9) 1 sg.; Hyginus, Fab. 147 ; id. Astronom. ii.
14 ; Servius, on Virgil, Oeorg. i. 19 and 163 ; Lactantius
Placidus, on Statius, Theb. ii. 382 ; Scriptores rerum
mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 3, 107
(First Vatican Mythographer, 8 ; Second Vatican Mythographer,
97). The dragon-car of Triptolemus was mentioned
by Sophocles in his lost tragedy Triptolemus. See Tragicorum
Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2, p. 262, frag.
539 ; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii.
p. 243, frag. 596. In Greek vase-paintings Triptolemus is
often represented in his dragon-car. As to the representations
of the car in ancient art, see Stephani, in Compte
Rendu (St. Petersburg) for 1859, pp. 82 sqq.; my note on
Pausanias, vii. 18. 3 (vol. iv. pp. 142 sq.) ; and especially
38
THE LIBRARY, I. v. 1-3
that was the child's name—grew marvellously by
day, Praxithea watched, and discovering him buried
in the fire she cried out; wherefore the babe was
consumed by the fire and the goddess revealed herself.
1 But for Triptolernus, the elder of Metanira's
children, she made a chariot of winged dragons, and
gave him wheat, with which, wafted through the sky,
he sowed the whole inhabited earth.2 But Panyasis
affirms that Triptolemus was a son of Eleusis, for he
says that Demeter came to him. Pherecydes, however,
says that he was a son of Ocean and Earth.3
But when Zeus ordered Pluto to send up the Maid,
Pluto gave her a seed of a pomegranate to eat, in
order that she might not tarry long with her mother.4
A. B. Cook, Zeus, i. (Cambridge, 1914), pp. 211 sqq., who
shows that on the earlier monuments Triptolemus is represented
sitting on a simple wheel, which probably represents
the sun. Apparently he was a mythical embodiment of the
first sower. See Spirits of the Corn and oj the Wild, i. 72 sq.
3 The accounts given of the parentage of Triptolemus were
very various (Pausanias, i. 14. 2 sq.), which we need not
wonder at when we remember that he was probably a purely
mythical personage. As to Eleusis, the equally mythical hero
who is said to have given his name to Eleusis, see Pausanias,
viii. 38. 7. He is called Eleusinus by Hyginus (Fab. 147)
and Servius (on Virgil, Oeorg. i. 19).
4 The Maid (Kore) is Persephone. As to her eating a seed
or seeds of a pomegranate, see Homeric Hymn to Demeter,
371 sqq., 411 sqq.; Ovid, Metamorph. v. 333 sqq.; id. Fasti,
iv. 601 sqq.; Servius, on Virgil, Georg. i. 39 and Aen. iv. 462 ;
Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb. iii. 511 ; Scriptores
rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 3, 108
(First Vatican Mythographer, 7 ; Second Vatican Mythographer,
100). There is a widespread belief that if a living
person visits the world of the dead and there partakes of
food, he cannot return to the land of the living. Thus, the
ancient Egyptians believed that, on his way to the spirit
land, the soxil of a dead person was met by a goddess (Hathor,
39
APOLLODORUS
KOKKOV. TI Be ov TrpoiSofAevr] TO crv/Ji/3r)a'6/j,evov
KaTrr)va\a aev avTov. Kara/jtaprvpijcravTOs Se
avrrjs 'ATKa\d(f)OV roil 'A%epovTOs KCU Yopyvpa;,
rovro) [lev ArjitijTTjp ev "Ai8ov {Sapeiav e-jredij/ce
Trerpav, Tlepcrefyovri Be KdO* e/cacrrov eviavrov TO
fjiev rpirov jjuera IL\ouT& i o9 ^va^Kaaff-rj fieveiv,
TO Be \oiirov irapa TO£?
Nouit, or Nit), who offered him fruits, bread, and water, and
that, if he accepted them, he could return to earth no more.
See G. Maspero, Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de I' Orient
Classiques, les Origines (Paris, 1895), p. 184. Similarly, the
natives of New Caledonia, in the South Pacific, say that when
a man dies, messengers come from the other world to guide
his soul through the air and over the sea to the spirit land.
Arrived there, he is welcomed by the other souls and bidden
to a banquet, where he is offered food, especially bananas.
If he tastes them, his doom is fixed for ever : he cannot
return to earth. See the missionary Gagniere, in Annales
de la Propagation de la Foi, xxxii. (Lyons, 1860), pp. 439 sq.
The Eastern Melanesians believe that living people can go
down to the land of the dead and return alive to the upper
world. Persons who have done so relate how in the nether
world they were warned by friendly ghosts to eat nothing
there. See R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians (Oxford,
1891), pp. 277, 286. Similar beliefs prevail and similar tales
are told among the Maoris of New Zealand. For example, a
woman who believed that she had died and passed to the
spirit land, related on her return how there she met with her
dead father, who said to her, ' ' You must go back to the earth,
for there is no one now left to take care of my grandchild.
But remember, if you once eat food in this place, you can
never more return to life ; so beware not to taste anything
offered to you." See E. Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions
of the New Zealanders (London, 1856), pp. 150-152.
Again, they tell of a great chief named Hutu, who performed
the same perilous journey. On reaching the place of departed
spirits he encountered a certain being called Hine nui te po,
that is, Great Mother Night, of whom he inquired the way
down to the nether world. She pointed it out to him and
40
THE LIBRARY, I. v. 3
Not foreseeing the consequence, she swallowed it;
and because Ascalaphus, son of Acheron and Gorgyra,
bore witness against her, Demeter laid a heavy rock
on him in Hades.1 But Persephone was compelled
to remain a third of every year with Pluto and the
rest of the time with the gods.2
gave him a basket of cooked food, saying, " When you reach
the lower regions, eat sparingly of your provisions that they
may last, and you may not be compelled to partake of their
food, for if you do, you cannot return upwards again." See
E. Taylor, Te Ika A Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants,
2nd ed. (London, 1870), p. 271. And the same rule
holds good of fairyland, into which living people sometimes
stray or are enticed to their sorrow. '' Wise people recommend
that, in the circumstances, a man should not utter a
word till he conies out again, nor, on any account, taste fairy
food or drink. If he abstains he is very likely before long
dismissed, but if he indulges he straightway loses the will
and the power ever to return to the society of men." See
J. G. Campbell, Superstitions oj the Highlands and Islands
of Scotland (Glasgow, 1900), p. 17. See further E. S. Hartland,
The Science oj Fairy Tales (London, 1891), pp. 40 sqq. 1 As to the talebearer Ascalaphus, below, ii. 5. 12. According
to another account, Persephone or Demeter punished
him by turning him into a screech-owl. See Ovid, Metamorph.
v. 538 sqq,; Servius, on Virgil, Georg. i. 39 and on
Aen. iv. 462 ; Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb. iii. 511 ;
Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i.
p. 108 (Second Vatican Mythographer, 100). 2 Apollodorus agrees with the author of the Homeric Hymn
to Demeter (w. 398 sqq., 445 sqq.) that Persephone was to
spend one-third of each year with her husband Pluto in the
nether world and two-thirds of the year with her mother and
the other gods in the upper world. But, according to another
account, Persephone was to divide her time equally between
the two regions, passing six months below the earth and six
months above it. See Ovid, Fasti, iv. 613sq.; id. Metamorph.
v. 564 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 146 ; Servius, on Virgil, Georg. i.
39; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode,
vol. i. p. 108 (Second Vatican Mythographer, 100).
41
APOLLODORUS
VI. He/si fJ ev ovv A^^T/JO? ravra
T7) Be Trepl Tirdvav dyavarcTovffa yevva ri
e£ Qirpavov, fteyeffei pev ffm/jLaraiv dvvTr
TOU9, Bvvd/ji£i Be dfcaTaycovia-Tovs;, oc (froftepol fj,ev
TOU9 Screen Kcnefyaivovro, Kadei^evoi ftadelav
etc /ce^akrj^ KCU yeveia v  el^ov Be
^oXtSa? Spafcovrwv. eyevovro 8e, to?
rives ^eyovcriv, ev &\eypai$, to? Se a\\oi, ev
Iia\\tjvr). TJKOVTI^OV 8e els ovpavov l Trerpas /cat
Spvs 'fyfji/jLevas. Siecfrepov Se iravTOtv Tlopfjjvpicov
Te teal 'AX/cvovevs, 09 8rj Kal dddvaros rjv ev fjjrep
eyevvijOr) yy /^a^opevo^. ovros Be Kal T«9 'HXtof
float e% 'EjOf^eta? r^Xacre. rot9 Be deoi? \6jiov
r/v VTTO dewv /j,ei  /irjBeva TWV FiydvTWV d
Bvvaa-Qai, TVfjL/j,a%ovvro  Be 6v7]ro
Tijcreiv. alffOo^evrj Be Yrj rovro ef^rei pdp{J,afcov,
tva fjujB' VTTO dvijrov Bvwr)0a)(riv aTroKeeOai. Zei»9
1 ovpavov E : ovpavovs A.
1 According to Hesiod (Theog. 183 sqq.), Earth was impregnated
by the blood which dropped from heaven when
Cronus mutilated his father Sky (Uranus), and in due time
she gave birth to the giants. As to the battle of the gods
and giants, see J. Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 63 ; Horace,
Odes, iii. 4. 49 sqq.; Ovid, Metamorph. i. 150 sqq. ; Olaudian,
Gigantomachia ; Sidonius Apollinaris, Carm. xii. 155^., ed.
Baret ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H.
Bode, vol. i. pp. 4, 92 (First Vatican Mythographer, 11 ;
Second Vatican Mythographer, 53). The account which
Apollodorus here gives of it is supplemented by the evidence
of the monuments, especially temple-sculptures and vasepaintings.
See Preller-Robert, Griechische Mythologie, i.
67 sqq. Compare M. Mayer, Die Oiganten und Tiianen,
(Berlin, 1887). The battle of the gods and the giants was
sculptured on the outside of the temple of Apollo at Delphi,
as we learn from the description of Euripides (Ion, 208
42
THE LIBRARY, I. vi. i
VI. Such is the legend of Demeter. But Earth,
vexed on account of the Titans, brought forth the
giants, whom she had by Sky.1 These were matchless
in the bulk of their bodies and invincible in
their might; terrible of aspect did they appear, with
long locks drooping from their head and chin, and
with the scales of dragons for feet.2 They were
born, as some say, in Phlegrae, but according to others
in Pallene.3 And they darted rocks and burning
oaks at the sky. Surpassing all the rest were
Porphyrion and Alcyoneus, who was even immortal
so long as he fought in the land of his birth.
He also drove away the cows of the Sun from
Erythia. Now the gods had an oracle that none of
the giants could perish at the hand of gods, but that
with the help of a mortal they would be made an
end of. Learning of this. Earth sought for a simple
to prevent the giants from being destroyed even by
sqq.). On similar stories see Appendix, "War of Earth on
Heaven."
2 Compare Ovid, Metamorph. i. 184, Tristia, iv. 7. 17 ;
Macrobius, Sat. i. 20. 9 ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. iii. 578 ;
Claudian, Gigant. 80sq.; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini,
ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. p. 92 (Second Vatican Mythographer,
53). Pausanias denied that the giants were serpent-footed
(Pausanias, viii. 29. 3), but they are often so represented on
the later monuments of antiquity. See Kuhnert, in W. H.
Eoscher's Lexikon der griech. und rom. Mythologie, i. 1664
sqq.; M. Mayer, Die Oiganten und Titanen, pp. 274 sqq.
3 Phlegra is said to have been the old name of Pallene
(Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. *Ae'ypo). The scene of the battle
of the gods and giants was laid in various places. See
Diodorus Siculus, v. 71 ; Strabo, v. 4. 4 and 6, pp. 243, 245,
vi. 3, 5, p. 281, vii. p. 330, frag. 25 and 27, x. 5. 16, p. 489,
xi. 2. 10, p. 495; Pausanias, viii. 29. 1, with my note. Volcanic
phenomena and the discovery of the fossil bones of
large extinct animals seem to have been the principal sources
of these tales.
43
APOLLODORUS
S' aTreiTTWv (aivetv 'Hot re KO,\ ^e\tvr KOI 'HXt& 
TO /Jiev ()pfJ,aKOi  auro9 ere/i€ ( ) c r a  ; ,
8e avfiaaxov St' 'AOrjvds eVe/caXecraTo. tca/celvos
Trpwrov fJ^ev ero^evaev JA.\fcvovea' TTITTTWP Se e?rt
•3-779 77)9 //.aXXov aveOaKiTreTO' 'A^i/a9 Se VTTOQe^
kvr]^ e£a  r?}9 IIa\\^i/?79 2 eiXicvarev avrov.
2 Kcuceivos yttev o{/TW9 ercXei/Ta, Tlopj vpi(ov Be
Kara rrjv fjid^v e^dapuLrjae ical f/Hyoa.
avrov TOU9 Treirovs /ca ia-
£ecr0ai fieXovros ftorjOovs e7refca\eiro' /cat AtO9
Kepavvcocravros avrov Hpa/c\ij; ro^evaas avre/creive.
rcav Se \ontwv 'ATroXXwi/ /xey '^f)id\rov
rbv dpicrrepbv ero^evaev o^6a\^6v, 'UpatcXijs 8e
rbv Se^iov ^ivpvrov 8e 6vpcrq  Aiovvcros efcreive,
KXurtoy 8e Sacrlv 3 'E/car?;, Miuavra 4 Se H^ at-
CTT09 y8aXa)i» fjbvSpois. ^ h.6rjva S
jovri "ZttceXiav eTreppitye rrjv vr\rov,
Se rrjv Sopav e/crejAovcra ravry Kara rrjv
1 ere/is E : erafj.e A.
2 Tla\\-f)vifis Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher,
Wagner : ae\i\vns A.
3 Sqfflv M. Mayer, Die Giganten und Titanen (Berlin,
1887), pp. 204 sq. : $a.a\v A.
4 yii/j.avra M. Mayer, op. cit. pp. 204 sq. comparing Claudian,
(riV/. 85, and Sidonius Apollinaris, Carm. xv. (Migne,
xii. Baret), 25 : /j.a\\ov MSS. and editors, including Wagner.
1 Compare Pindar, Nem. iv. 27 (43) sgg., Isthm. vi. 31 (45)
sgg1. with the Scholia ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 63.
The Scholiast on Pindar, Isthm. vi. 32 (47), mentions, like
Apollodorus, that Alcyoneus had driven away the oxen of
the Sun. The reason why Hercules dragged the wounded
44
THE LIBRARY, I. vi. 1-2
a mortal. But Zeus forbade the Dawn and the Moon
and the Sun to shine, and then, before anybody else
could get it, he culled the simple himself, and by
means of Athena summoned Hercules to his help.
Hercules first shot Alcyoneus with an arrow, but
when the giant fell on the ground he somewhat
revived. However, at Athena's advice Hercules
dragged him outside Pallene, and so the giant died.1
But in the battle Porphyrion attacked Hercules and
Hera. Nevertheless Zeus inspired him with lust for
Hera, and when he tore her robes and would have
forced her, she called for help, and Zeus smote him
with a thunderbolt, and Hercules shot him dead with
an arrow.2 As for the other giants, Ephialtes was
shot by Apollo with an arrow in his left eye and by
Hercules in his right; Eurytus was killed by Dionysus
with a thyrsus, and Clytius by Hecate with torches,
and Mimas by Hephaestus with missiles of red-hot
metal.3 Enceladus fled, but Athena threw on him
in his flight the island of Sicily4; and she flayed
Pallas and used his skin to shield her own body in
giant from Pallene before despatching him was that, as
Apollodorus has explained above, the giant was immortal
so long as he fought on the land where he had been born.
That, too, is why the giant revived when in falling he
touched his native earth.
2 Compare Pindar, Pyth. viii. 12 (15) sqq., who says that
the king of the giants (Porphyrion) was shot by Apollo, not
Hercules. Tzetzes agrees with Apollodorus (Sckol. on Lycophron,
63).
8 According to Euripides (Ion, 215 sq.), Mimas was killed
by Zeus with a thunderbolt; according to Apollonius (Argon.
iii. 1226 sq.) and Claudian ('Gigant. 87 sq.), he was slain by
Ares.
4 Compare Virgil, Aen. iii. 578 sqq. The combat of Athena
with Enceladus was sculptured on the temple of Apollo at
Delphi. See Euripides, Ion, 209 sq.
45
APOLLODORUS
TO iBiov eVecr/ceTre cratfia. IIoXi//3 '0)7779 Se Sta Tr}9
6a\d(Tcrrii Sico%del; VTTO TOV Ylocreifiwvos rj/cev e/9
Kar IlocrefSftii' Se rr/s vqcrov /te/309
ev avro), TO \6j6fj,evov Nicrvpov.
"A.i8o; fcvvrjv e^cov Kara TTJV
5' "Aypiov Kal ®6cova
2 roi»9 Be aXA.ou9 tcepavvois Zei»9
/ SM Travras oe
ero^eutrei/.
3 'Il9 S' CKpaTrjcrav ol 6eol T&V Tiyavrav, Trj
fj.dX\ov ^oXa #etcra ^I^VVTCH, Taprdpa), Kal yevva
Tvcficova eV KtXi/cia,3 /j.e/jii'yp,ewr)v e^ovra pvcriv
dvBpos Kal drjpiov. ot'T09 p,ev Kal /j,eyedei, Kal
SvvdjAei Trdvroov SnjveyKev oaovs eyevvycre Yrj, rjv
Be avTO  rd //,ei  aXP1 WP&v ajr^erov fteyedos
dvSpo/j,op(f)ov, cocrre virepe^eiv p,ev Trdvrcav TWV
oputv, rj 8e K6f)d\r) 7roXA,a/a9 Kal TWV acnputv
e-^rave- -)(elpa  Se et%e rrjv /j,ev eVt rrjv ecnrepav
€K TOVTCOV 4
1 "\Tpa.rlwvu probably corrupt. Various emendations have
been suggested, as Aiyaloava (Heyne, M. Mayer, op. cit.
pp. 201 sq.), Evpvri(ai a, "Paitava. (Hercher).
* /jLax^evai Heyne, Westermann, M. Mayer, op. cit.
p. 203 : fj.axofj.fvas A : /jLaxopevovs RRa Heyne (in the text),
Miiller, JBekker, Hercher. 3 KiAi/aa Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher :
SiKeAfa A.
4 For 6/c Toimav we should perhaps read e| &fj.av or e/c ruv
&iuev. See Hesiod, Theog. 824 sq. e/c 5e 01 ia^av \ $v
eKarbv icet a\al &pios, Seivoio SpaKovros. Compare M. Mayer,
op. cit. p. 227.
1 According to one account the Pallas whom Athena flayed,
arid whose skin she used as a covering, was her own father,
46
THE LIBRARY, I. vi. 2-3
the fight.1 Polybotes was chased through the sea hy
Poseidon and came to Cos ; and Poseidon, breaking
off that piece of the island which is called Nisyrum,
threw it on him.2 And Hermes, wearing the helmet
of Hades,3 slew Hippolytus in the fight, and Artemis
slew Gration. And the Fates, fighting with brazen
clubs, killed Agrius and Thoas. The other giants
Zeus smote and destroyed with thunderbolts and all
of them Hercules shot with arrows as they were
dying.
When the gods had overcome the giants, Earth,
still more enraged, had intercourse with Tartarus and
brought forth Typhon in Cilicia,4 a hybrid between
man and beast. In size and strength he surpassed
all the offspring of Earth. As far as the thighs he
was of human shape and of such prodigious bulk
that he out-topped all the mountains, and his head
often brushed the stars. One of his hands reached
out to the west and the other to the east, and from
who had attempted her chastity. See Clement of Alexandria,
Protrept, ii. 28, p. 24, ed. Potter; Tzetzes, Schol. on
Lycophron, 355; Cicero, De natura deorum, iii. 23. 59.
2 Compare Strabo, x. 5. 16, p. 489.
3 The helmet of Hades was thought to render the wearer
invisible. Compare Homer, Iliad, v. 844 sq.; Hesiod, Shield
of Hercules, 226 sq.
* As to Typhon, or Typhoeus, as he is also called, who was
especially associated with the famous Corycian cave in
Cilicia, see Hesiod, Theog. 820 sqq.; Pindar, Pyth. i. 15 sqq.;
Aeschylus, Prometheus Vinctus, 351 sqq.; Antoninus Liberalis,
Transform. 28 ; Ovid, Metamorph. v. 321 sqq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 152; Mela, i. 76, ed. G. Parthey ; Scriptores rerum
mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 4, 29, 92
(First Vatican Mythographer, 11 and 86 ; Second Vatican
Mythographer, 53). As to the Corycian cave, see Adonis,
Attis, Osiris, 3rd ed. i. 152 sqq. According to Hesiod (Theog.
821), Typhoeus was the youngest child of Earth.
47
Se egefyov etcarbv /eef)a\al Spa/eovrwv. rd Se
drco fj,r/po!)v cnreipas el^ev vTrepjAeyed
& v oX/eot 7T/OO9 avrrjv eKretvo/jiev
avpiyfibv TroXvv e^ieaav. irav Se avrov TO
KareTrrepwro, av^^pal 8e etc /ce^aX)}? /cal
rpt%e? e^qvefAaivTO, irvp Se eSep/ceTO rot9
TOIOVTOS &v 6 Tv^icoy Kal Tri\iicovTo 
irerpas GTT ainov rov ovpavov
6fj,ov KOL /3o^9 ecpepero' TroXX^y Be
rov rr6//,aT09 vrupo? e^eftpaacre %a\r)i . 6eol
a 9 elSov avrbv eV ovpavov opp,(ajjievov, ei9 Airyv
rov f)vyd8e? efyepovro, Kal Siw/coftevoi ra  I
yLtere/SaXoy1 et9 £&a. Zeu9 Se Troppco pev ovra
Tv(j}&va e/SaXXe Kepavvols, Trkqaiov Se
KaTeTrXrjTTev2 apjrrj, Kal
rov Kaaiov opovs avveSictige' TOVTO Se VTrep-
%vpia;. KeWt, Se avrbv Kararerpcof^evov
ISwv et? vetp«9 crvve/3a\e. Tfcicoz/ Se ra?9 crTret-
^  .r /i \ / » / \ \ •/ pat9 7rey347TA,e^C7ei9 /carecr^ey avrov, /cat TT)^ apjrrjv
7repie\6fjL6vos rd re TCOZ/ %eipwv Kal TTO&WV
vevpa, dpdjjievos Be eVt rwy WJJLGW
avrbv Sid rfjs 6a\da0-179 €19 KiXi«tay3 «at
7rape\0cbv et9 TO KwpvKiov avrpov Karedero.
o/tot»9 Se /cat TO. vevpa Kpvtyas ev apKrov Bopa
Kelffi djredero, Kal fcare&rrjo-e (f)v\aKa 4 ^.e\,(f vvrjv
SpaKaivav ^/uBtjp Be r\v avrr) 77 ATO/JT/. 'EyO/z,^9 Se
1 /j.eTf/3a\ov E : /iere/SaAAoj' A.
2 KaTGirAriTTev E: KaTeTTTTjatv A : KareirT^ffffev Heyne,
Westermann, Miiller : Kareirrr^ev Bekker : Ka.-rfit\i}ffTfv
Hercher.
3 KiXiKtaj/ Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher,
Wagner: 2"ceAiai/ AE.
1 Karetrrria-f pv\a.Ka E : Karfm-qffe A : ^)uAo«a  Kareffrriffe
Bekker, Hercher.
THE LIBRARY, I. vi. 3
them projected a hundred dragons' heads. From the
thighs downward he had huge coils of vipers, which
when drawn out, reached to his very head and
emitted a loud hissing. His body was all winged l :
unkempt hair streamed on the wind from his head
and cheeks; and fire flashed from his eyes. Such
and so great was Typhon when, hurling kindled
rocks, he made for the very heaven with hissings
and shouts, spouting a great jet of fire from his
mouth. But when the gods saw him rushing at
heaven, they made for Egypt in flight, and being
pursued they changed their forms into those of animals.
2 However Zeus pelted Typhon at a distance
with thunderbolts, and at close quarters struck him
down with an adamantine sickle, and as he fled pursued
him closely as far as Mount Casius, which overhangs
Syria. There, seeing the monster sore wounded,
he grappled with him. But Typhon twined about him
and gripped him in his coils, and wresting the sickle
from him severed the sinews of his hands and feet,
and lifting him on his shoulders carried him through
the sea to Cilicia and deposited him on arrival in the
Corycian cave. Likewise he put away the sinews there
also, hidden in a bearskin, and he set to guard them
the she-dragon Delphyne, who was a half-bestial
maiden. But Hermes and Aegipan stole the sinews
1 Or "feathered." But Antoninus Liberalis (Transjorm.
28) speaks of Typhon's numerous wings.
2 Compare Antoninus Liberalis, Transform. 28; Ovid,
Metamorph. v. 319 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 152; Scriptores rerum
mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H.Bode, vol. i. p. 29 (First Vatican
Mythographer, 86). The story of the transformation of the
§)ds into beasts in Egypt was probably invented by the
reeks to explain the Egyptian worship of animals, as Lncian
shrewdly perceived (De sacrificiis, 14).
49
VOL. I. E
APOLLODORUS
Kal Alyiirav eKK\e^avre^ ra vevpa fypftoo-av T& 
Au \a06vT6f, Zet 9 Be rrjv loiav dvaKO[Aio-dfj,evos
Icryyv, €^ai(pvrj; e£ ovpavov errl Trr-rjv&v o%ov/Aevos
apf^ari, ftaXXwv /cepavvois evr 6/309 eSica^e
TO \ey6fjievov Nvaav, oVof fioipai avrbv
rjirdrrjcTav TreicrBels yap on p
eyevcraro TO Z  e^fiep
€TriSta)K6/j,€VO; av&i$ rjKev ei? ®pa/cr]v, Kal
irepl TOV Alpov o\a ejBa\\ev oprj.
TOVTO)V $e eV avrbv VTTO TOV fcepavvov Trd\iv
Q)6ov/jLev(av TroXu eVi TOV o/jou? e^eK\vaev alpa-
Kal (f)acriv e/c TOVTOV TO 6pot KXyOrfvai Al/j.ov.
(pevyeiv 8e Qp^Okvn avrS) l Sta TT}
ua"779 Zef9 eTreppityev Atrvrjv 0/709 ev
TOVTO Be VTrep/juejeOe^ ecmi , e£ ov
Sevpo (pacriv drrb TWV /3\r)0evTO)V /cepavv&v lyi
aQai 7TV/5O9 dvcKpvari/jiaTa. a\\a rrepl p,ev rov-
TG)v /*e%pt ToO oevpo rj^tv \e\e%0(a.
VII. Hpofj,r)8ev? Se e£ vBaros Kal y^9 avdpa-
7rof9 7rXacra9 eSwfcev avTOis KCU irvp, \d6pa Ai09
ev vdpdr]Kt rcpvifras. ft 9 Se Tjadero Zeu9, eTrera^ev
1 6p/j.fi6evTi avrf E : 6p(j.r)devTOS O.VTOV A.
1 According to Nonnus (Dionys. \. 481 sgq.), it was Cadmus
who, disguised as a shepherd, wheedled the severed sinews
of Zeus out of Typhon by pretending that he wanted them
for the strings of a lyre, on which he would play ravishing
music to the monster. The barbarous and evidently very
ancient story seems to be alluded to by no other Greek
writers.
2 This story of the deception practised by the Fates on
Typhon seems to be otherwise unknown.
3 Haemus, from haima (blood); hence "the Bloody Mountain."
It is said that a city of Egypt received the same name
for the same reason (Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. 'Hpd ).
5°
THE LIBRARY, I. vi. 3-vn. i
and fitted them unobserved to Zeus.1 And having
recovered his strength Zeus suddenly from heaven,
riding in a chariot of winged horses, pelted Typhon
with thunderbolts and pursued him to the mountain
called Nysa, where the Fates beguiled the fugitive ;
for he tasted of the ephemeral fruits in the persuasion
that he would be strengthened thereby.2 So being
again pursued he came to Thrace, and in fighting at
Mount Haemus he heaved whole mountains. But
when these recoiled on him through the force of the
thunderbolt, a stream of blood gushed out on the
mountain, and they say that from that circumstance
the mountain was called Haemus.3 And when he
started to flee through the Sicilian sea, Zeus cast
Mount Etna in Sicily upon him. That is a huge
mountain, from which down to this day they say that
blasts of fire issue from the thunderbolts that were
thrown.4 So much for that subject.
VII. Prometheus moulded men out of water and
earth 5 and gave them also fire, which, unknown to
Zeus, he had hidden in a stalk of fennel.6 But when
4 As to Typhon under Mount Etna see Aeschylus, Prometheus
Vinctus, 363 sqq.; Pindar, Pyth. i. 17 (32) sqq.; Ovid,
Fasti, iv. 491 sq., Metamorph. v. 352 sq.
5 As to the creation of the human race by Prometheus,
compare Philemon in Stobaeus, Florilegium, ii. 27 ; Pausanias,
x. 4. 4; Lucian, Dialogi deorum, i. 1 ; Libanius, Orat.
xxv. 31, vol. ii. p. 552, ed. R. Foerster; Ovid, Metamorph.
i. 82 sqq.; Juvenal, Sat. xiv. 35. It is to be observed that in
the earliest versions of the legend (Hesiod, Theog. 510 sqq.,
Works and Days, 48 sqq.; Aeschylus, Prometheus Vinctus)
Prometheus appears only as the benefactor, not the creator,
of mankind.
6 Compare Hesiod, Works and Days, 50 sqq., Theog. 565
sqq.; Aeschylus, Prometheus Vinctus, 107 sqq.; Plato,
Protagoras, 11, p. 321; Hyginus, Fab. 144; id. Astronom. ii. 15.
According to Servius (on Virgil, Eel. vi. 42), Prometheus
51
APOLLODORUS
T» Kay/eacr&  opei TO r«yiia avrov
'jrpo(rij\S)crai' TOVTO Be J^Kvducov 0^009 ecrriv. ev
e&e&ero' rcaO' e/cda-Trjv Se r)/j,epav aero?
avra  TOVS Xo/3ou? evefiero TOV r/Traro?
* Sm VVKTOS. KCLI Upo/jtrjdevs jj,ev
K\a7revTO  Sifcr)v erive ravrrjv,
avrbv vcrrepov eKvaev, 0)9 ev ro?9
2 Tlpofjir]dea); Se 7reu  Aeu/eaXtwz/ eyevero. OUTO?
/3acri,\eva)V TWV Trepl rrjv &diav TOTTCOV japei
Tlvppav rrjv 'ETTtyct^^eeo? KOI HavSwpas, rjv eVXa-
^eol TrpcoT'Tjv yvvaitca. evret Se dtyavicrai Zet ?
1 TOU TJTTOTOS a.v£avo/ji.fi'ov Heyne, Hercher, Wagner : T&V
ai ^avo/j.4viav AE, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker.
stole the fire by applying a torch to the sun's wheel. Stories
of the original theft of fire are widespread among mankind.
See Appendix, " Myths of the Origin of Fire." The
plant (j/aphj£) in which Prometheus is said to have carried
the stolen fire is commonly identified with the giant fennel
(Ferula communis). See L. Whibley, Companion to Greek
Studies* (Cambridge, 1916), p. 67. Tournefort found the
plant growing abundantly in Skinosa, the ancient Schinussa,
a small deserted island south of Naxos (Plin. Nat. Hist. iv.
68). He describes the stalk as about five feet high and three
inches thick, with knots and branches at intervals of about
ten inches, the whole being covered with a tolerably hard
rind. "This stalk is filled with a white pith, which, being
very dry, catches fire just like a wick ; the fire keeps alight
perfectly in the stalk and consumes the pith only gradually,
without damaging the rind ; hence people use this plant to
carry fire from one place to another ; our sailors laid in a
supply of it. This custom is of great antiquity, and may
serve to explain a passage in Hesiod, who, speaking of the
fire which Prometheus stole from heaven, says that he carried
it away in a stalk of fennel." He tells us, further, that the
Greeks still call the plant nartheca. See P. de Tournefort,
52
LIBRARY, I. vn. 1-2
Zeus learned of it, he ordered Hephaestus to nail his
body to Mount Caucasus, which is a Scythian mountain.
On it Prometheus was nailed and kept bound
for many years. Every day an eagle swooped on
him and devoured the lobes of his liver, which grew
by night. That was the penalty that Prometheus
paid for the theft of fire until Hercules afterwards
released him, as we shall show in dealing with
Hercules.1
And Prometheus had a son Deucalion.2 He reigning
in the regions about Phthia, married Pyrrha, the
daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, the first woman
fashioned by the gods.3 And when Zeus would
Relation d'un Voyage du Levant (Amsterdam, 1718), i. 93.
The plant is common all over Greece, and may be seen in
particular abundance at Phalerum, near Athens. See W. G.
Clark, Peloponnesus (London, 1858), p. Ill ; J. Murr, Die
Pflanzenwelt in der griechischen Mylholoqie (Innsbruck, 1890),
p. 231. In Naxos Mr. J. T. Bent saw orange gardens divided
by hedges of tall reeds, and he adds : "In Lesbos this reed
is still called vapQi}Ka. (vdp8t]£), a survival of the old word for
the reed by which. Prometheus brought down fire from
heaven. One can understand the idea well: a peasant to-day
who wishes to carry a light from one house to another will
put it into one of these reeds to prevent its being blown out."
See J. Theodore Bent, The Cyclades (London, 1885), p. 365.
Perhaps Bent mistook fennel for a reed. The rationalistic
Diodorus Siculus explained the myth of the theft of fire by
saying that Prometheus was the inventor of the fire-sticks, by
the friction of which against each other fire is kindled. See
Diodorus Siculus, v. 67. 2. But Greek tradition attributed
the invention of fire-sticks to Hermes. See the Homeric
Hymn to Hermes, 108 sqq.
1 As to the release of Prometheus, see ii. 5. 11.
2 The whole of the following account of Deucalion and
Pyrrha is quoted, with a few trifling verbal changes, by the
Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, i. 126, who cites Apollodorus as
his authority.
3 As to the making of Pandora, see Hesiod, Works and
Days, 60 sqq., Theog. 571 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 142.
0 tj
APOLLODORUS
TO
\dpvaica, /cal ra
et9 ravryv pera T\.vppa;
Zeu9 8e iroXvv verov arf ovpavov %ea9
ra
rvv6j)vyovB et9 ra Tr^rjaiov v^rrfka opr). Tore Se
teal ra Kara ®ecrcra\Lav opr] Sieffrrj, Kal ra e«TO9
'Icr0fj,ov teal TleXiOTrovvrfcrov avve^edrj 4 irdvra.
A€v/ca\i(ov 8e ev rfj \dpvaKi Sia T^? 0d\d(ra'r)}
fapo/Aevos e0'  rjn,epas evvea Kal VVKTCI
tcra.9 TO) Hapvacrai Tr^ocrtcr^et, Kaicel rS)v
rrav\,av \a/3ovr(ov e/c/9«9 0v€i A^t, (j)v%ia)
Se rrefJityas '^pfif/v rrpos avrov ercerpefyev alpelcr/
9at5 o rt /3ov\€rai' o Be alpeirai avOpaynovs
avrS) yevecrdat. /cal Ato9 elirov 709 UTre/3 Kefyakrjs
e6a\\ev aipcov \idovs, ical 01)9 [tev ej3oL\e Aew-
Ka\ia v, avBpes eyivovro, 0^9 Se Tlvppa, ryvvaiKes.
odev KOI \aol //.era^o^t/cw? mvo/J-dadrjaav avro rou
o Xt#o9-
Ylvovrai Se e/c IIy3oa9 &evKa\t'(avi
r)9e\r)re E, Scholiast on Homer, /Z. i. 126 (citing Apollodoru-
s): ij6e\e A.
2 eire'/37? A : ei'creSu E : eve.Brj Scholia&t on Homer, 7Z. i. 126.
3 ffvvfpvyov E, Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 126; avvefyvroiv
Ra: ffwefyoiraiv A.
4 cruvexf&ii A, Westermann, Bekker: trui'exuflrj Heyne,
Miiller, Hercher, Wagner. But the passive aorist trwexeOri
of x€/a  is recognized by the Elymologicum Magnum, s.v.
X^i P- 809, 46, and rightly defended by Lobeck, Phrynichus,
pp. 731 sq.
5 aSpelffBai E: aire'ieOui. A, Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 126:
e\effdai Hercher.
54
THE LIBRARY, I. vn. 2
destroy the men of the Bronze Age, Deucalion by
the advice of Prometheus constructed a chest,1 and
having stored it with provisions he embarked in it
with Pyrrha. But Zeus by pouring heavy rain from
heaven flooded the greater part of Greece, so that
all men were destroyed, except a few who fled to
the high mountains in the neighbourhood. It was
then that the mountains in Thessaly parted, and that
all the world outside the Isthmus and Peloponnesus
was overwhelmed. But Deucalion, floating in the
chest over the sea for nine days and as many nights,
drifted to Parnassus, and there, when the rain ceased,
he landed and sacrificed to Zeus, the god of Escape.
And Zeus sent Hermes to him and allowed him
to choose what he would, and he chose to get men.
And at the bidding of Zeus he took up stones and
threw them over his head, and the stones which
Deucalion threw became men, and the stones which
Pyrrha threw became women. Hence people were
called metaphorically people (laos) from laas, "a
stone." 2
And Deucalion had children by Pyrrha, first
1 As to Deucalion's flood, see Lucian, De dea Syria, 12 sq.;
Ovid, Metamorph. i. 125-415; Hyginus, Fab. 153; Servius,
on Virgil, Eclog. vi. 41 ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum
Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 57 sq., 99 (First Vatican
Mythographer, 189 ; Second Vatican Mythographer, 73) ;
Folk-lore in the Old Testament, i. 146 sqq. Another person
who is said to have escaped alive from the flood was a certain
Cerambus : the story ran that the nymphs wafted him aloft
on wings over the Thessalian mountains. See Ovid, Metamorph.
vii. 353 sqq.
5 Compare Pindar, Olymp. ix. 41 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 153.
55
APOLLODORUS
, OV €K AtO?
evioi 
/j,era Kpavaov fSacriXeva-a? rrjs 'ArTi/cys, Ovydrtjp
3 Be UpovToyeveta, e£ 979 Kal Ato? 'Ae#Xto9. "EX-
\rjvo^ Se teal vv/utyrjs 'OpcrT/tSo? 3 Acopo? HoO^o?
AtoXo?. auro9 jjiev ovv aft avrov rovs icdKovyu-
ei/oi'9 Tpaitcovs irpO(n]yopev(revf'^ O^f]va;, TO49 Be
Traicrlv e/j,ept,cre rrjv %(i)pav teal Ho£)^o9 /Jbev \a/3a)V
rr]V TleXoTrovvrjaov etc Kp€ovcrr)? rrj? 'E/ e^#e&)9
'A^aioy eyevvi]cre Kal "Iowa, d^ ' wy 'A^atot /cat
"I& z e9 KaXovvrai, Aw/)09 Se T^ Trepav %a pav
v \a/3ot)v row /caroi/covs aft eavTov
etcaXecrev, A 10X09 Se ftaariXevwv TWV ire pi
av TOTTWV rov? evoiKovvras AioXet9
Trpocrrjryopevcre, Kal 7^0.9 'l&vaper'rjv rrjv A?;t//,a^ou
7raiSa9 /^ev eyevvrjcrev evrra, Kyo^ea ^Lcrv^ov
^AOdfiavra %a\/jia)vea Arjiova Mdyvrira TleptTjprjv,
0vyarepa? Be irevre, Kai/a/c^y ' K\K,vovr)V Iletcrt-
KOI yoerr^9, eicrtt«7;9 e /cat
4 "Avri(f)of Kal "A/era)/). 'A.\Kv6vrjv Be
A, Scholiast on Homer, /?. xiii. 307 (citing
Apollodorus) : yeyevrjcrBai Ra.
2 ei'joi . . . Sevrepos 8e in Scholiast on Homer, I.e.
3 opoylSos PRC : 'OpeidSos Heyne : 'OOprjiSos Scholiast on
Plato, Sympos. p. 208 D, Hercher.
1 This passage as to the children of Deucalion is quoted by
the Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, xiii. 307, who names Apollodorus
as his authority.
2 As to Hellen and his sons, see Strabo, viii. 7. 1, p. 383;
Pausanias, vii. 1,2; Conon, Narrat. 27. According to the
Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, i. 2, Xuthus was a son of Aeolus.
56
THE LIBRARY, I. vn. 2-4
Hellen, whose father some say was Zeus, and second
Amphictyon, who reigned over Attica after Cranaus ;
and third a daughter Protogonia, who became the
mother of Aethlius by Zeus.1 Hellen had Dorus,
Xuthus, and Aeolus2 by a nymph Orseis. Those who
were called Greeks he named Hellenes after himself,3
and divided the country among his sons. Xuthus
received Peloponnese and begat Achaeus and Ion by
Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, and from Achaeus
and Ion the Achaeans and lonians derive their names.
Dorus received the country over against Peloponnese
and called the settlers Dorians after himself.4
Aeolus reigned over the regions about Thessaly and
named the inhabitants Aeolians.5 He married
Enarete, daughter of Deimachus, and begat seven
sons, Cretheus, Sisyphus, Athamas, Salmoneus, Deion,
Magnes, Perieres, and five daughters, Canace, Alcyone,
Pisidice, Calyce, Perimede.6
Perimede had Hippodamas and Orestes by Achelous;
and Pisidice had Antiphus and Actor by Myrmidon.
Alcyone was married by Ceyx, son of Lucifer.7
3 According to the Parian Chronicle, the change of the
national name from Greeks (Graikoi) to Hellenes took place
in 1521 B.C. See Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, ed.
C. Muller, i. 542 sg. Compare Aristotle, Meteorologica, i. 14,
p. 352; Etymologicum Magnum, p. 239, s.v. TpaiKos ;
Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. TpaiK^s; Pausanias, iii. 20. 6, with
my note; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson,
vol. ii. p. 160.
4 As to the early seats of the Dorians, see Herodotus, i. 56.
5 As to the Aeolians of Thessaly, compare Pausanias, x.
8. 4; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 67. 2.
6 As to Aeolus, his descendants, and their settlements, see
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 67. 2—7 ; Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iv.
107 (190).
7 According to Ovid (Metamorph. xi. 271 sq.), Ceyx reflected
his father's brightness in his face.
57
APOLLODORUS
'J&(oo-popov 7rat9. ovroi Be Bi
aTrdiXovTO' 6 fj,ev yap rrjv yvvai/ca e\6yev f'}Ipav,
TI be rov avBpa Ata, Zet"? Be avrovs d
real TTjv fjiev akKvbva ercoL^ae rov Be /crfv/ca.
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[iev ovv e^/jiev *I(j)i/AeSeiav TTJV
riojeiS(wyo9 r/pdcrdrj, /cal cryye^w? (
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roi9 /coXTrot? evetyopei. (rvvekQoov Be avry
86t)V Bvo eyevvrjcre iral^a^, 'Orov Kal '
rou9 'AXft)zSa9 Xeyo/jievovs. OVTOI tea
rjv^avov TrXaro? /jiev irt]^valov fJ,f)KO; Be opyvtaiov
evvea Be ercov yevojMevoi, Kal TO fj,ev TrXaro? TT^^wy
e%o^Te9 evvea TO Be /ueyedos opyviwv evvea, 7r/oo?
0eov$ 2 p^a'xeaOai Bievoovvro, /cal rrjv /JLZV "Oatrav
e?ri rov "O\v/jLTrov edecrav, eVt Se rr/v "Ocrcrav
Bevres TO Il^Xio^ Bia rwv opwv rovroov ^TretXovy
et9 ovpavov avafttfcrecrdai, /cal rrjv pJev QaXaaaav
^c6cra^Te9 TOI? opeai TTOirjcreiv 3 eXejov rfjreipov,
rrjv Be yfjv OaXacraav env&vro Be 'R0ta\T^9 ^ev
"ttpav 912ro9 Se "Ayore/it^. eBrjcrav Be KOL "A.pv]v.
1 ey&vvnfftv Scaliger, Heyne (in text), Westermann,
Miiller, Bekker, Hercher, Wagner: eiroiriaev A. Heyne
conjectured enyricrev. 2 Seous E : fleby A.
3 TTorliffeiv A : e'/cTrorrjtreii' E, Wagner.
1 Compare Scholiast on Aristophanes, Birds, 250 ; Schol.
on Homer, II. ix. 562 ; Eustathius on Homer, I.e. p. 776.
The story may be a reminiscence of an ancient Greek custom,
in accordance with which kings are said to have been regularly
called Zeus. See J. Tzetzes, Antehomerica, 102 sq.;
id., Ghiliades, i. 474 ; A. B. Cook, " The European Sky-god,"
Folk-lore, xv. (1904), pp. 299 sqq. 2 Compare Lucian, Halcyon, 1; Schol. on Aristophanes,
Birds, 250; Ovid, Metamorph. xi. 410 sqq., especially 710 sqq.;
58
THE LIBRARY, I. vn. 4
These perished by reason of their pride ; for he said
that his wife was Hera, and she said that her husband
was Zeus.1 But Zeus turned them into birds;
her he made a kingfisher (alcyon) and him a gannet
(ceyx).2
Canace had by Poseidon Hopleus and Nireus and
Epopeus and Aloeus and Triops. Aloeus wedded
Iphimedia, daughter of Triops; but she fell in love
with Poseidon, and often going to the sea she would
draw up the waves with her hands and pour them
into her lap. Poseidon met her and begat two sons,
Otus and Ephialtes, who are called the Aloads.3
These grew every year a cubit in breadth and a
fathom in height; and when they were nine years
old,4 being nine cubits broad and nine fathoms high,
they resolved to fight against the gods, and they set
Ossa on Olympus, and having set Pelion on Ossa
they threatened by means of these mountains to
ascend up to heaven, and they said that by filling up
the sea with the mountains they would make it dry
land, and the land they would make sea. And
Ephialtes wooed Hera, and Otus wooed Artemis;
moreover they put Ares in bonds.5 However, Hermes
Hyginus, Fob. 65. The identification of the sea-bird ceyx
is doubtful. See D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Glossary of
Greek Birds (Oxford, 1895), p. 81. 3 As to the Aloads, see Homer, Od. xi. 305 sqq.; Virgil,
Aen. vi. 582 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 28.
4 This answers to the eweaipoi of Homer (Od. xi. 31), the
meaning of which has been disputed. See Merry, on Homer,
Od. x. 19. Hyginus (Fab. 28) understood tweoipoi in the
same way as Apollodorus (" cum essent annorum novem "). 5 They are said to have imprisoned him for thirteen months
in a brazen pot, from which he was rescued, in a state of
great exhaustion, by the interposition of Hermes. See
Homer, II. v. 385 sqq. Compare my note, "Ares in the
brazen pot," The Classical Review, ii. (1888) p. 222.
59
APOLLODORUS
TOVTOV [lev ovv 'E/o/^9 e£e/cX6i/rei , dvei\e Be
£aaa yap Trjv IBeav els e\apov Bia fjiecrwvl avTMV
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Be ^TepOTTTjv /cal ^TpaToviKfjv Kal Aao-
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'EiTTlKaffTI] Kal.
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jv Trjv KaXvScoi^o9 eyevvr/a-e TlopOdova
1 p.tff(av ERa, Hercher, Wagner : ^eaov A : /xeVou Heyne,
Westermann, Muller, Bekker.
2 TOU 6r]plov Heyne, Hercher, Wagner : rb Otip'iov AE,
Westermann, Muller, Bekker.
3 rrjiSos vv/ji(t ^s Hercher, Wagner : cr»)£5os Ra : o"nl5os vvfj.-
pi}s % vtjiSos A.
4 AaoJ oi'TTji' Heyne : A.ec^6vr^v A : AcwQdvrriv Hercher.
60
THE LIBRARY, I. vn. 4-7
rescued Ares by stealth, and Artemis killed the
Aloads in Naxos by a ruse. For she changed herself
into a deer and leaped between them, and in their
eagerness to hit the quarry they threw their darts
at each other.1
Calyce and Aethlius had a son Endymion who led
Aeolians from Thessaly and founded Elis. But some
say that he was a son of Zeus. As he was of surpassing
beauty, the Moon fell in love with him, and Zeus
allowed him to choose what he would, and he chose
to sleep for ever, remaining deathless and ageless.2
Endymion had by a Naiad nymph or, as some say, by
Iphianassa, a son Aetolus, who slew Apis, son of
Phoroneus, and fled to the Curetian country. There
he killed his hosts, Dorus and Laodocus and Polypoetes,
the sons of Phthia and Apollo, and called the
country Aetolia after himself.3
Aetolus and Pronoe, daughter of Phorbus, had sons,
Pleuron and Calydon, after whom the cities in Aetoliawere
named. Pleuron wedded Xanthippe, daughter
of Dorus, and begat a son Agenor, and daughters,
Sterope and Stratonice and Laophonte. Calydon
and Aeolia, daughter of Amythaon, had daughters,
Epicaste and Protogonia, who had Oxylus by Ares.
And Agenor, son of Pleuron, married Epicaste,
daughter of Calydon, and begat Porthaon and
1 Compare Hyginus, Fab. 28.
2 As to Endymion and the Moon, see Apollonius Rhodius,
Argon, iv. 57 sq., with the Scholiast; Pausanias, v. 1. 4;
Mythographi Graeci, ed Westermann, pp. 319 sq., 324;
Hyginus, Fab. 271. -The present passage of Apollodorus is
quoted almost verbally by Zenobius, Cent. iii. 76, but as
usual without mention of his authority. The eternal sleep
of Endymion was proverbial. See Plato, Phaedo, 17, p. 72 c;
Macarius, Cent. iii. 89; Diogenianus, Cent. iv. 40; Cicero,
De finibus, v. 20. 55 ; compare id. Tuscul. Disput. i. 38. 92.
* Compare Pausanias, v. 1. 8 ; Conon, Narrat. 14.
APOLLODORUS
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VIII. OtVew £e fiacriXevwv K.d\.vBwvo; irapa
1 As to Evenus and Marpessa, see Scholiast on Homer,
Iliad, ix. 557 ; Eustathius, on Homer, Z.c. p. 776 ; Plutarch,
Parallela, 40 ; Hyginus, ^Fafe. 242 (who calls Evenus a son of
Hercules). According to the first two of these writers,
Evenus, like Oenomaus, used to set his daughter's suitors to
run a chariot race with him, promising to bestow her on the
winner ; but he cut off the heads of his vanquished competitors
and nailed them to the walls of his house. This seems
62
THE LIBRARY, I. vn. y-vin. i
Demonice, who had Evenus, Molus, Pylus, and
Thestius by Ares.
Evenus begat Marpessa, who was wooed by Apollo,
but Idas, son of Aphareus, carried her off in a winged
chariot which he received from Poseidon.1 Pursuing
him in a chariot, Evenus came to the river Lycormas,
but when he could not catch him he slaughtered his
horses and threw himself into the river, and the
river is called Evenus after him. But Idas came to
Messene, and Apollo, falling in with him, would have
robbed him of the damsel. As they fought for the
girl's hand, Zeus parted them and allowed the maiden
herself to choose which of the two she would marry ;
and she, because she feared that Apollo might desert
her in her old age, chose Idas for her husband.2
Thestius had daughters and sons by Eurythemis,
daughter of Cleoboea : the daughters were Althaea,
Leda,3 Hypermnestra, and the males were Iphiclus,
Evippus, Plexippus, and Eurypylus.
Porthaon and Euryte, daughter of Hippodamas,
had sons, Oeneus, Agrius, Alcathous, Melas, Leucopeus,
and a daughter Sterope, who is said to have
been the mother of tbe Sirens by Achelous.
VIII. Reigning over Calydon, Oeneus was the
to be the version of the story which Apollodorus had before
him, though he has abridged it.
2 Compare Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, ix. 557 (who cites
Simonides) ; Eustathius, on Homer, I.e. p. 776; Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 561; Pausanias, v. 18. 2.
3 Pausanias (iii. 13. 8) agrees with Apollodorus in saying
that Leda was the daughter of Thestius. who was a son of
Agenor, who was a son of Pleuron ; and he cites the epic
poem of Areus as his authority for the genealogy.
63
7T/X0T09
Be 'AX$euai  Tr\v ©ecrrtov yevva
e/creivev virepTr'rjBrjo-avTa TVJV Tatypov, Kal Trapa
rovrov ®vpea /cat K.\v/j,evov,z fcal ffvyarepa
Topyrjv, r)v 'AvBpai/jiwv eyrjpe, Kal Arjtdveipav, r)i 
'A\0aiav \eyovaiv etc Atovvcrov ryevvf)(rai, avrr)
8' r)vi6%ei Kal TO, Kara TroXe/iov rja/cet, Kal irepl
T&V r^dfimv avrfjs 'H^a/cXr}? Trpo? 'A^eXwoy eVa-
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5aXo5 Kara/cay. TOVTO aicovffacra TOV Sa\bv
dvei\ero 'AX^ata /cal KarWero et9 \dpvaKa.
MeXea^po? Se az^^p ar/JWTo? /cal yevvaios yevo-
/ie^o? Tov&e TOV rpoTrov eTeXeur^crey.
KapTT(ov ev Ty %& /oa. ^evofjievwv ra?
1 trpta-ros ERa : Trpcorft A.
2 KXv/j.efjLov Bekker, Wagner (misprint).
3 on omitted in AE, but inserted by Diodorus Siculus in
the parallel passage, iv. 34. 6.
4 TeA.eu-r/irei MeA.e'a7pos AE, Zenobius, (7e7Z. V. 33 : reAeu-
T^ffeiv yie\eaypov LN.
1 Compare Hyginus, .PaS. 129. 2 So Romulus is said to have killed Remus for leaping over
the rising wall of Rome (Livy, i. 7. 2).
3 See Apollodorus, ii. 7. 5, with the note.
4 The whole of the following account of the life and
death of Meleager is quoted, with a few verbal changes
and omissions, by Zenobius (Cent. v. 33). The storjT is
told by Bacchylides (Epinic. v. 93 sqq.) and, though
without any express mention of the burning brand or of
Meleager's death, by Homer (Iliad, ix. 529-599). Compare
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 34 ; Ovid, Metamorph. viii. 270 sqq. ;
64
THE LIBRARY, I. vm. 1-2
first who received a vine-plant from Dionysus.1 He
married Althaea, daughter of Thestius, and begat
Toxeus, whom he slew with his own hand because he
leaped over the ditch.2 And besides Toxeus he had
Thyreus and Clymenus, and a daughter Gorge, whom
Andraemon married, and another daughter Deianira,
who is said to have been begotten on Althaea by
Dionysus. This Deianira drove a chariot and practised
the art of war, and Hercules wrestled for her
hand with Achelous.3 Althaea had also a son Meleager,
4 by Oeneus, though they say that he was begotten
by Ares. It is said that, when he was seven days old,
the Fates came and declared that Meleager should die
when the brand burning on the hearth was burnt out.
On hearing that, Althaea snatched up the brand and
deposited it in a chest.5 Meleager grew up to be an
invulnerable and gallant man, but came by his end
in the following way. In sacrificing the firstfruits of
Lactantius Placidus, on Statins, Theb. ii. 481 ; Scriptores
rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 46 sq.
(First Vatican Mythographer, 146). It was made the theme
of tragedies by Sophocles and Euripides. See Aug. Nauck,
Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta'2 (Leipsic, 1889), pp. 219
sq., 525 sqq.; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. by A. C.
Pearson, ii. 64 sqq.
5 For the story of the burning brand on •which the life of
Meleager depended, see also Aeschylus, Choeph. 604 sqq.;
Bacchylides, Epinic. v. 136 sqq.; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 34.
&sq.; Pausanias, x. 31. 4; Antoninus Liberalis, Transform. 2 ;
Dio Chrysostom, Or. Ixvii. vol. ii. p. 231, ed. L. Dindorf ;
Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, ix. 534 ; Ovid, Metamorph. viii.
445-525; Hyginus, Fab. 171, 174; Lactantius Placidus, on
Statius, Theb. ii. 481; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini,
ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. p. 47 (First Vatican Mythographer,
146). The story belongs to a widespread class of tales concerned
with the "external soul." or the belief that a person's
life is bound up with an animal or object outside of his own
body. See Balder the Beautiful, ii. 94 sqq.
65
VOL. I. F
APOLLODORUS
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1 Apvaj Aegius : irujuos A.
2 OiK\eovs Heyne, Westerniann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher,
Wagner: ioK\eovs A. Compare A. C. Pearson, The Fragments
of Sophocles, vol. ii. p. 119.
3 r^r &4]pav A : T&J/ Kdirpov E.
66
THE LIBRARY, I. vin. 2
the annual crops of the country to all the gods Oeneus
forgot Artemis alone. But she in her wrath sent a
boar of extraordinary size and strength, which prevented
the land from being sown and destroyed the
cattle and the people that fell in with it. To attack
this boar Oeneus called together all the noblest men
of Greece, and promised that to him who should
kill the beast he would give the skin as a prize. Now
the men who assembled to hunt the boar were
these l:—Meleager, son of Oeneus ; Dryas, son of
Ares ; these came from Calydon ; Idas and Lynceus,
sons of Aphareus, from Messene; Castor and Pollux,
sons of Zeus and Leda, from Lacedaemon ; Theseus,
son of Aegeus, from Athens ; Admetus, son of Pheres,
from Plierae; Ancaeus and Cepheus, sons of Lycurgus,
from Arcadia; Jason, son of Aeson, from
lolcus; Iphicles, son of Amphitryon, from Thebes;
Pirithous, son of Ixion, from Larissa; Peleus, son
of Aeacus, from Phthia; Telamon, son of Aeacus,
from Salamis ; Eurytion, son of Actor, from Phthia ;
Atalanta, daughter of Schoeneus, from Arcadia;
Amphiaraus, son of Oicles, from Argos. With
them came also the sons of Thestius. And when
they were assembled, Oeneus entertained them for
nine days ; but on the tenth, when Cepheus and Ancaeus
and some others disdained to go a-hunting with
a woman, Meleager compelled them to follow the
chase with her, for he desired to have a child also by
Atalanta, though he had to wife Cleopatra, daughter
of Idas and Marpessa. When they surrounded the
1 For lists of the heroes who h anted the Calydonian
boar, see Ovid, Metamorph. viii. 299 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab.
173.
67
F 2
APOLLODORUS
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ii. 4. 10, ii. 5. 1): rrjs fir/pas E, Wagner: TIJS 8-npas £ar A,
Bekker: rov G-rjplis parl Heyne, Miiller: rov Brtpbs Westermann.
Hercher omits rrjs 6{]pas (paa-lv.
68
THE LIBRARY, I. VIH. 2-3
boar, Hyleus and Ancaeus were killed by the brute,
and Peleus struck down Eurytion undesignedly with
a javelin. But Atalanta was the first to shoot the
boar in the back with an arrow, and Amphiaraus was
the next to shoot it in the eye ; but Meleager killed
it by a stab in the flank, and on receiving the skin
gave it to Atalanta. Nevertheless the sons of Thestius,
thinking scorn that a woman should get the
prize in the face of men, took the skin from her,
alleging that it belonged to them by right of birth if
Meleager did not choose to take it. But Meleager
in a rage slew the sons of Thestius and gave the skin
to Atalanta. However, from grief at the slaughter
of her brothers Althaea kindled the brand, and
Meleager immediately expired.
But some say that Meleager did not die in that
way,1 but that when the sons of Thestius claimed
the skin on the ground that Iphiclus had been the
first to hit the boar, war broke out between the
Curetes and the Calydonians ; and when Meleager
had sallied out2 and slain some of the sons of
Thestius, Althaea cursed him, and he in a rage remained
at home; however, when the enemy approached
the walls, and the citizens supplicated him
to come to the rescue, he yielded reluctantly to his
wife and sallied forth, and having killed the rest of
1 The following account of the death of Meleager is substantially
that of Homer, II. ix. 529 sqq.
'* From Calydon, then besieged by the Curetes.
69
APOLLODORUS
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rov veicpov yvvalK.es dTTfapvewOrjcrav.
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Olvei TvBevs. HeiaavBpos Be avrov etc r6pyris
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rrjv (3QV\ir](Tiv Ato? epaa0)]vat.
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MeXai^o9 TralBas eTTiftovXevovras Olvei,
1 a-n-oKTelvaL Faber, Heyne, Westermann, Bekker, Hercher,
Wagner : dirocrTerAai A.
1 The birds called in Greek meleagrides, guinea-fowl
(Numida sp.). See Antoninus Liberalis, Transform. 2 ;
Aelian, De natura animalium, iv. 42; Ovid, Metamorph. viii.
533-546; Hyginus, Fab. 174 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist. x. 74, xxxvii.
40. Worshippers of Artemis strictly abstained from eating
the bird ; the reason of the abstention was known to the
natives of Leros, one of the Sporades (Aelian, I.e.). The
birds were kept in the sanctuary of the Maiden ( Artemis ?)
in that island, and were tended by the priests (Athenaeus,
xiv. 71, p. 655 c). It is said that it was Artemis who turned
70
THE LIBRARY, I. viii. 3-5
the sons of Thestius, he himself fell fighting. After
the death of Meleager, Althaea and Cleopatra hanged
themselves, and the women who mourned the dead
man were turned into birds.1
After Althaea's death Oeneus married Periboea,
daughter of Hipponous. The author of the Thebaid
says that when Olenus was sacked, Oeneus received
Periboea as a gift of honour; but Hesiod says that
she was seduced by Hippostratus, son of Amarynceus,
and that her father Hipponous sent her away from
Olenus in Achaia to Oeneus, because he dwelt far
from Greece, with an injunction to put her to death.2
However, some say that Hipponous discovered that
his daughter had been debauched by Oeneus, and
therefore he sent her away to him when she was with
child. By her Oeneus begat Tydeus. But Pisander
says that the mother of Tydeus was Gorge, for Zeus
willed it that Oeneus should fall in love with his
own daughter.3
When Tydeus had grown to be a gallant man
he was banished for killing, as some say, Alcathous,
brother of Oeneus; but according to the author
of the Alcmaeonid his victims were the sons of Melas
who had plotted against Oeneus, their names being
the sisters of Meleager into birds by touching them with a
rod, after which she transferred them to the island of Leros
(Antoninus Liberalis, I.e.) On the birds see D'Arcy Wentworth
Thompson, Glossary of Greek Birds (Oxford, 1895),
pp. 114 sq.
2 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 35. 1 sq., according to
whom Periboea alleged that she was with child by Ares.
Sophocles wrote a tragedy on the subject; a few fragments
of it remain (The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson,
i. 216 sqq.).
3 Gorge was a daughter of Oeneus. See above, i. 8. 1 ;
Pausanias, x. 38. 5.
APOLLODORUS
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'Aypiov TraiBas, ^w/ot9 'QrfX'r)TTOv ical
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vyov), rrjv Be (3acri\eiav, €7rei8r)
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Be rbv vefcpbv et9 "Apyos Ko^Lcra^ eOatyev
evda vvv ?roXi? arc eicelvov Olvorj fca\eirai, KOI
1 'AA/c/xatWoi Heyne (comparing Strabo, X. 2. 25, p. 462),
Bekker, Wagner : 'A.\Kfj.eavos Hercher : &\\ov A, Westermann,
Miiller.
1 Compare Eustathius, on Homer, Iliad, xiv. 122, p. 971 ;
Scholia on Homer, Iliad, xiv. 114, 120 ; The Fragments of
Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. iii. p. 38, frag. 799 ; Statius,
Theb. i. 401 sqq., with the commentary of Lactantius Placidus,
pp. 47 sq. ed. R. Jahnke. The accounts differ as to whom
Tydeus killed, but they agree that he fled from Calydon to
72
THE LIBRARY, I. vm. 5-6
Pheneus, Euryalus, Hyperlaus, Antiochus, Eumedes
Sternops, Xanthippus, Sthenelaus ; but as Pherecydes
will have it, he murdered his own brother Olenias.1
Being arraigned by Agrius, he fled to Argos and came
to Adrastus, whose daughter Deipyle he married and
begat Diomedes.
Tydeus marched against Thebes with Adrastus,2
and died of a wound which he received at the hand of
Melanippus. But the sons of Agrius, to wit, Thersites,
Onchestus, Prothous, Celeutor, Lycopeus, Melanippus,
wrested the kingdom from Oeneus and gave it to
their father, and more than that they mewed up
Oeneus in his lifetime and tormented him.3 Nevertheless
Diomedes afterwards came secretly with
Alcmaeoii from Argos and put to death all the sons
of Agrius, except Onchestus and Thersites, who had
fled betimes to Peloponnese; and as Oeneus was
old, Diomedes gave the kingdom to Andraemon who
had married the daughter of Oeneus, but Oeneus
himself he took with him to Peloponnese. Howbeit,
the sons of Thestius, who had made their escape,
lay in wait for the old man at the hearth of
Telephus~ in Arcadia, and killed him. But Diomedes
conveyed the corpse to Argos and buried him in the
place where now a city is called Oenoe after him.4
Adrastus at Argos, and that Adrastus purified him from
the murder (Eustathius and Scholia on Homer, tt.cc.) and
gave him his daughter to wife. Compare Apollodorus, iii. 6.1.
2 See below, iii. 6. 3 sqq.
3 With this and what follows compare Pa.usanias, ii. 25. 2 ;
Scholiast on Aristophanes, Acharn. 418 ; Antoninus Liberalis,
Transform. 37 ; Hyginus, Fab. 175. The story furnished
Euripides with the theme of a tragedy called Oeneus. See
Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 536
sqq.
4 Compare Pausauias, ii. 25. 2.
73
APOLLODORUS
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f ct(ri ir)v AiymXe& 9, eVt re %r\ficis /ecu Tpoiav
ecTTpdrevcre.
IX. Ta v Se AtoXof TraiBcov ^ Addfjua^, Botwrta?
Bvvacnevcov, etc Ne£eX?79 TCKVOI TratSa yuey &pi£ov
dvyarepa Be "EXX^p. a5#i9 Se ""Iz^co ya/j,ei, eg ^9
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dvrfpTracre, Kal Trap' 'Rp/Aov Xa/Soucra
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ovpavov yrjv vTrepe/3r]crav KOI dakacfaav. & 9 Se
1 iraur€T0ai E, Hercher, Wagner : 7rau(ro(r6at A.
2 fy ' E : ?f A.
1 For the story of Athamas, Phrixus, and Helle, see Zenobius,
Ceni. iv. 38 ; Apostolius, (7en«. xi. 58 ; Scholiast on
Aristophanes, Clouds, 257 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron,
22 ; Eustathius, on Homer, Iliad, vii. 86, p. 667 ; Scholiast
on Homer, Iliad', vii. 86 ; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 47 ; Hyginus,
Fab. 1—3 ; id. Astronomica, ii. 20 ; Lactantius Placidus, on
Statius, Achill. i. 65 ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini,
ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 8, 120s?. (First Vatican Mythographer,
23 ; Second Vatican Mythographer, 134). According
to Herodotus (vii. 197), it was a rule among the descendants
74
THE LIBRARY, I. vm. 6-ix. i
And having married Aegialia, daughter of Adrastus
or, as some say, of Aegialeus, he went to the wars
against Thebes and Troy.
IX. Of the sons of Aeolus, Athamas ruled over
Boeotia and begat a son Phrixus and a daughter
Helle by Nephele.1 And he married a second wife,
Ino, by whom he had Learchus and Melicertes.
But Ino plotted against the children of Nephele
and persuaded the women to parch the wheat;
and having got the wheat they did so without the
knowledge of the men. But the earth, being sown
with parched wheat, did not yield its annual crops;
so Athamas sent to Delphi to inquire how he might
be delivered from the dearth. Now Ino persuaded
the messengers to say it was foretold that the
infertility would cease if Phrixus were sacrificed to
Zeus. When Athamas heard that, he was forced by
the inhabitants of the land to bring Phrixus to the
altar. But Nephele caught him and her daughter
up and gave them a ram with a golden fleece,
which she had received from Hermes, and borne
through the sky by the ram they crossed land and
of Phrixus that the eldest son of the family should be sacrificed
(apparently to Laphystian Zeus) if ever he entered the
town-hall; hence, to escape the risk of such a fate, many of
the family fled to foreign lands. Sophocles wrote a tragedy
called Athamas, in which he represented the king himself
crowned with garlands and led to the altar of Zeus to be
sacrificed, but finally rescued by the interposition of Hercules
(Scholiast on Aristophanes, Clouds, 237 ; Apostolius, Cent.
xi. 58 ; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, i.
1 sqq.). These traditions point to the conclusion that in the
royal line of Athamas the eldest son was regularly liable to
he sacrificed either to prevent or to remedy a failure of the
crops, and that in later times a ram was commonly accepted
as a substitute for the human victim. Compare The Dying
God, pp. 161 sqq.
75
APOLLODORUS
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Aeviccova '
1 Compare Zenobius, Cen*. iv. 38 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on
Lycophron, 229 ; Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, vii. 86 ; Eustathius
on Homer, Iliad, vii. 86, p. 667 ; id. on Homer, Od. v.
339, p. 1543 ; Pausanias, i. 44. 7 sg., ix. 34. 7 ; Ovid, Metamorph.
iv. 481-542 ; Hyginus, Fab. 4 and 5. Euripides wrote
a tragedy, 7no, of which a number of fragments remain. See
Tragicorum tiraecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 482
76
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 1-2
sea. But when they were over the sea which lies
betwixt Sigeum and the Chersonese, Helle slipped
into the deep and was drowned, and the sea was
called Hellespont after her. But Phrixus came to
the Colchians, whose king was Aeetes, son of the
Sun and of Perseis, and brother of Circe and
Pasiphae, whom Minos married. He received
Phrixus and gave him one of his daughters, Chalciope.
And Phrixus sacrificed the ram with the golden fleece
to Zeus the god of Escape, and the fleece he gave
to Aeetes, who nailed it to an oak in a grove of
Ares. And Phrixus had children by Chalciope, to
wit, Argus, Melas, Phrontis, and Cytisorus.
But afterwards Athamas was bereft also of the
children of Ino through the wrath of Hera; for he
went mad and shot Learchus with an arrow, and Ino
cast herself and Melicertes into the sea.1 Being
banished from Boeotia, Athamas inquired of the god
where he should dwell, and on receiving an oracle
that he should dwell in whatever place he should be
entertained by wild beasts, he traversed a great
extent of country till he fell in with wolves that
were devouring pieces of sheep ; but when they saw
him they abandoned their prey and fled. So
Athamas settled in that country and named it
Athamantia after himself ;2 and he married Themisto,
daughter of Hypseus, and begat Leucon, Erythrius,
Schoeneus, and Ptous.
sqq. It is said that Hera drove Athamas mad because she
was angry with him for receiving from Hermes the infant
Dionysus and bringing him up as a girl. See Apollodorus.
iii. 4. 3 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron. 22.
a Compare Scholiast on Plato, Minos, p. 315 c; Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 22 ; Etymologicum Magnum, s.v. 'A0a-
IJ.O.VTIOV, p. 24. 10. According to the last of these writers,
Athamantia was a plain in Thessaly.
77
APOLLODORUS
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ii. 520, Scholiast on Euripides, Troades, 9), Hercher,
Wagner : 'Acrrepoiria A.
2 Ilpikpjj' Aegius : irpoKvrjv A.
1 Compare Homer, Iliad, vi. 152 sg. ; Pausanias, ii. 1. 1.
2 As to Bellerophon and the Chimera, see Apollodorus, ii.
3. 1, with the note. 3 As to Sisyphus and his stone, see Homer, Od. xi. 593-600.
Homer does not say why Sisyphus was thus punished, but
Pausanias (ii. 5. 1) and the Scholiast on Homer (Iliad, i. 180)
agree with Apollodorus as to the crime which incurred this
punishment. Hyginus assigns impiety as the cause of his
sufferings (Fab. 60). The picturesque story of this cunning
knave, who is said to have laid Death himself by the heels,
so that nobody died till Ares released Death and delivered
78
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 3-5
And Sisyphus, son of Aeolus, founded Ephyra, which
is now called Corinth,1 and married Merope, daughter
of Atlas. They had a son Glaucus, who had by
Eurymede a son Bellerophon, who slew the firebreathing-
Chimera.2 But Sisyphus is punished in
Hades by rolling a stone with his hands and head in
the effort to heave it over the top ; but push it as he
will, it rebounds backward.3 This punishment he
endures for the sake of Aegina, daughter of Asopus ;
for when Zeus had secretly carried her off, Sisyphus
is said to have betrayed the secret to Asopus, who
was looking for her.
Deion reigned over Phocis and married Diomede,
daughter of Xuthus; and there were born to him a
daughter, Asterodia, and sons, Aenetus, Actor,
Phylacus, and Cephalus, who married Procris,
daughter of Erechtheus.* But afterwards Dawn fell
in love with him and carried him off.
Perieres took possession of Messene and married
Gorgophonej daughter of Perseus, by whom he had
sons, to wit, Aphareus and Leucippus,5 and Tyndareus,
Sisyphus himself into his clutches (Scholiast on Homer, Iliad,
vi. 153), was the theme of plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles,
and Euripides. See Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed.
A.Nauck2, pp. 74 sqq., 251, 572 ; The Fragments of Sophocles,
ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii. pp. 184 sq. Critias, one of the Thirty
Tyrants at Athens, is credited with a play on the same
theme, of which a very striking fragment, giving a wholly
sceptical view of the origin of the belief in gods, has come
down to us. See Sextus Empiricus, ed. Im. Bekker, pp. 402
sqq.; Tragicorwn Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2,
pp. 771 sqq.
4 Compare ii. 4. 7, iii. 15. 1. As to the love of Dawn or
Day for Cephalus, see Hesiod, Theog. 986 sqq.; Pausanias, i.
3. 1 ; Antoninus Liberalis, Transform. 41 ; Ovid, Metamorph.
vii. 700-713 ; Hygimis, Fab. 189, 270.
5 Compare Pausanias, iv. 2. 2 and 4.
79
APOLLODORUS
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and Bekker, bracketed by Westermann, and deleted by
Hercher and Wagner.
3 noA.u8e'/CTTjs Aegius : TroAuSeu/crjs A.
4 SiKiffav Heyne : $tct)aav A.
5 fTrcaSiipero Faber, Bekker, Wagner : airuiSvptro A, Heyne,
Westermann, Miiller : €7re^x6TO Hercher (comparing Philostratus,
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1 See below, iii. 10. 3.
2 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 68. 1. His city was called
80
THE LIBRARY, 1. ix. 5-8
and also Icarius. But many say that Perieres was
not the son of Aeolus but of Cynortas, son of
Amyclas ; l so we shall narrate the history of the
descendants of Perieres in dealing with the family
of Atlas.
Magnes married a Naiad nymph, and sons were
born to him, Polydectes and Dictys; these colonized
Seriphus.
Salmoiieus at first dwelt in Thessaly, but afterwards
he came to Elis and there founded a city.2
And being arrogant and wishful to put himself on an
equality with Zeus, he was punished for his impiety;
for he said that he was himself Zeus, and he took
away the sacrifices of the god and ordered them to
be offered to himself; and by dragging dried hides,
with bronze kettles, at his chariot, he said that he
thundered, and by flinging lighted torches at the
sky he said that he lightened. But Zeus struck him
with a thunderbolt, and wiped out the city he had
founded with all its inhabitants.3
Now Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus and Alcidice,
was brought up by Cretheus, brother of Salmoneus,
and conceived a passion for the river Enipeus, and
often would she hie to its running waters and utter
Salmone. See Strabo, vii. 3. 31 and 32, p. 356 ; Stephanus
Byzantius, s.v. ~2.a.\^avii.
3 Compare Virgil, Aen. vi. 585 sqq. with the commentary
of Servius ; Hyginus, Fab. 61; Scriptores rerum mythicarum
Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 28, 93 (First Vatican
Mythographer, 82; Second Vatican Mythographer, 56). In
the traditions concerning Salmoneus we may perhaps trace
the reminiscence of a line of kings who personated the Sky-god
Zeus and attempted to make rain, thunder and lightning by
means of imitative magic. See The Magic Art and the
Evolution oj Kings, i. 310, ii. 177, 180 aq. Sophocles composed
a Satyric play on the subject (The Fragments of Sophocles,
ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii. pp. 177 sqq.).
8 i
VOL. I. G
APOLLODORUS
flocreiBatv Be elfcacrQels 'EwTrei o~vyKa.T€K\idr)
avTrj' r) Be yevvijaacra Kpvtya SiBv/jiovs Trainees
€Kri6r]criv. €Kfceipevct)v Be TWV /Speffraiv, Trapiovraiv
iTTTTCxfroppoov x ITTTTO? /ilia TTpoaa^rafuLevrj rfj xrf^f) 2
0arepov T&V ftpefywv irekiov n rov irpoacoTrov
yue/oo? eiroL^o-ev. 6 Be iinrotyopPos dficporepovs
rovf Trat^a? aveKofjievos eOpetye, Kal TOV pev ire\Lu -
0evra IleXtav e/eaXecre, roi  Be erepov N?7Xea.
re\ei(o8evr€f Be aveynutpiaav rrjv [Myrepa, KCU rrjv
jjuyrpviav aTreKTeivav StS/ypa)' fcaKovpevriv yap
yvovres UTT' avTr/s rrjv prfrepa wp/jirjcrav eV CLVTTJV,
•Y] Be fyOdaaa-a et? TO T?}? f/H/o«9 re/LLevos Karej vje,
1 irapi&VTaiv itrirafyopfiSiv MSS. and editors : irapi6vros iitiro-
(f)op0ov Hercher. But compare Scholiast on Homer, II x.
334, eirf\6ovTes ovv ol iTnrotyop/Hol a.V€\ofj.evol re TO TrcuSia
erpecfrov. On the other hand Eustathius, on Homer, Od. xi.
253, p 1681, has the singular : rov-rov pev iinroQop&iis ave\6-
/j.evos KrA.
2 9ri\ri A. Wagner ascribes the correction x7)*-? to Aegius ;
but in his text Aegius reads 07jAf} and translates it so
(" mamma casn quodam tetigisset "). Commelinus and Gale
read xn^y  and so Heyne, . Westermann, Miiller, Bekker,
Hercher, and Wagner.
1 As to the passion of Tyro for the river Enipeus, see
Homer, Od. xi. 235 sqq.; Lucian, Dial. Marin. 13 ; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 68. 3 ; Eustathius, on Homer, Od. xi. 234, p. 1681.
Sophocles wrote two plays, both called Tyro, on the romantic
love and sorrows of this heroine. See Tragicorum Graecorum
Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 272 sqq.; The Fragments oj
Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii. pp. 270 sqq. 2 As to the exposure and discovery of the twins Pelias and
Neleus, see Menander, Epitrepontes, 108-116 (Four Plays of
Menander, ed. E. Capps, pp. 60 sq. ); Scholiast on Homer, II.
x. 334 ; Eustathius, on Homer, Od. xi. 253, p. 1681. According
to Eustathius and the Scholiast on Homer (ll.cc.), Pelias
was suckled by a mare and Neleus by a bitch. Compare
82
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 8
her plaint to them. But Poseidon in the likeness of
Enipeus lay with her,1 and she secretly gave birth
to twin sons, whom she exposed. As the babes lay
forlorn, a mare, belonging to some passing horsekeepers,
kicked with its hoof one of the two infants
and left a livid mark on its face. The horse-keeper
took up both the children and reared them ; and the
one with the livid (pelion) mark he called Pelias,
and the other Neleus.2 When they were grown up,
they discovered their mother and killed their
stepmother Sidero. For knowing that their mother
was ill-used by her, they attacked her, but before
they could catch her she had taken refuge in the
precinct of Hera.3 However, Pelias cut her down
Aelian, Var. Hist. xii. 42. Aristotle says (Poetics, 16, p. 1454,
b 25) that in Sophocles's play Tyro the recognition of the
forsaken babes was effected by means of the ark (rKdpt)) in
which they were found. Menander seems to have followed
a somewhat different tradition, for he says that the children
were found by an old goatherd, and that the token by which
they were recognized was a small scrip or wallet (TmiplSiov).
The legend of the exposed twins, the children of a divine
father by a human mother, who were suckled by animals,
reared by a peasant, and grew up to quarrel about a kingdom,
presents points of resemblance to the legend of Eomulus and
Remus ; and it has even been suggested that the Greek tale,
as dramatized by Sophocles, was the ultimate source of the
Roman story, having filtered to the early Roman historian
Q. Fabius Pictor through the medium of the Greek historian
Diocles of Peparethus, whom Fabius Pictor appears to have
followed on this and many other points of early Roman
history (Plutarch, Romulus, 3). The same word aK&fyi) which
Sophocles seems to have applied to the ark in which Pelias
arid Neleus were exposed, is applied by Plutarch (l-c.) to
the ark in which Romulus and Remus were exposed. See
C. Trieber, "Die Romulussage," Rheinisches Museum, N.F.
xliii. (1888), pp. 568. 3 Compare Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 175, who seems
to have copied Apollodorus.
33
G 2
APOLLODORUS
Tle\ia; Be eir avrwv TMV /3a /iWf avrrjv
9 real KaOoKov BiereXei T^z/'Hpaz' drifjid^cov. ea-ra-
(ria(rav Be vcrrepov 777)09 aAA,?;Aou9, Kal N^Xet"?
fiev eKTrecrcov rjfcev et9 ^lle(rarjvr]v Kal Hv\ov Kri^ei,
teal yajj,el XXwptSa rrjv 'A/u,£toz o9, e^ 97? avrS)
ryivejai Ovydrrip fiev Hr)pa), appe^e? Be Tavpos
TlvXdwv A^i/ia%09 l£vpv/3io; 'E7TtXao9
varyopas JA\dcrra p NecrTcwp
r) /cal TlocreiBwv BiBcocri fj,era-
9, /cal fjia^o/jievo1? ore 'Hpa/c\779
TlvXov, yiv6fjL€vo$ ore //-ev Xea)f ore Se
ore Se fieAttrcra, u^ ' cHpa/cXeov9 //-era TW^
N/»7Xe»9 TraiSwv ajredavev. ecrc^dij Be
Necrrcop /iovo?, eTrecBr) Trapa Teprivlois erpefpeTO'
09 !y^/ta9 ' Avafyftiav rrjv KpaTie»9 Qvyarepas
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Be Hepaea ^rpdri'xov "Aprjrov '
rparov
10
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Be TleicnBiKrjv Tle^oTreiav 'i
11 KprjBev? Be KTicra? '
1 evioi R, Wagner : tvioi \iyovtri A.
1 Compare Homer, Od. xi. 281 s^g.; Pausanias, iv. 2. 5.
2 See below, ii. 7. 3, and compare Homer, II. xi. 690-693,
with the Scholia; Ovid, Metamorph. xii. 549 sqq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 10. As to Periclymenus, see the verses of Hesiod
quoted by the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 156,
according to whom Periclymenus received from Poseidon the
power of turning himself into an eagle, an ant, a bee, or a
snake ; but Hercules, so says the scholiast, killed him with
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 8-n
on the very altars, and ever after he continued to
treat Hei'a with contumely. But afterwards the
brothers fell out, and Neleus, being banished, came
to Messene, and founded Pylus, and married Chloris,1
daughter of Amphion, by whom he had a daughter,
Pero, and sons, to wit, Taurus, Asterius, Pylaon,
Deimachus, Eurybius, Epilaus, Phi'asius, Eurymenes,
Evagoras, Alastor, Nestor and Periclymenus, whom
Poseidon granted the power of changing his shape.
And when Hercules was ravaging Pylus, iri the fight
Periclymenus turned himself into a lion, a snake, and
a bee, but was slain by Hercules with the other sons
of Neleus. Nestor alone was saved, because he was
brought up among the Gerenians.2 He married
Anaxibia, daughter of Cratieus,3 and begat daughters,
Pisidice and Polycaste, and sons, Perseus, Stratichus,
Aretus, Echephron, Pisistratus, Antilochus, and
Thrasymedes.
But Pelias dwelt in Thessaly and married Anaxibia,
daughter of Bias, but according to some his wife was
Phylomache, daughter of Amphion; and he begat
a son, Acastus, and daughters, Pisidice, Pelopia,
Hippothoe, and Alcestis.4
Cretheus founded lolcus and married Tyro,
a blow of his club" when he had assumed the form of a fly.
According to another account, it was in the form of a bee
that Periclymenus was slain by Hercules (Eustathius, on
Homer, Od. xi. 285, pp. 1685 sq.; Scholiast on Homer, II. ii.
336). But Ovid (I.e.) says that Hercules shot him in the
shape of an eagle, and this version is followed by Hyginus
(Fab. 10). Periclymenus is also reported to have been able
to change himself into any animal or tree he pleased (Eustathius,
I.e.; Scholiast on Homer, Od. xi. 286).
3 According to Homer (Od. in. 452), the wife of Nestor
was Eurydice, daughter of Clymenus.
4 Compare Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 175.
85
APOLLODORUS
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rat TratSe? avr& Bia? Kal MeA,a/i7rot/9, 09 eVi rwv
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e/cavcre, TOU? Se TCOI' o(j)eo)v veocraovs
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ra?9 7Xft)raat9 e^eicdOaipov. 6 Be
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av9 punrois TO, jjLe\\ovra. -rrpocreXafBe
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Se 7ro\\5)v avTO  fAvrjcrTevo/jievGov rrjv dvyarepa
1 irv\ov E : n{)\t]V A. 2 irapaffTdvres E : Trepio'Tai'Tes A.
3 Bt'as Se 6 ' A/j.v8aoi'os A : the words 6 'A.uuflaoi'os were condemned
as a gloss by Heyne and are omitted byHercher
and Wagner.
1 Compare Homer, Od. xi. 258 sq.; Tzetzes, Schol. on
Lycophron, 175.
2 As to the mode in which Melampus learned the language
of birds, and with it the art of divination, from serpents in
return for the kindness which he had shown to their species,
see Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 118 ; compare
Euetathius on Homer, Od. xi. 292, p. 1685 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist.
x. 137. Helenus and Cassandra are said to have acquired their
prophetic power in like manner. As children they were left
overnight in a temple of Apollo, and in the morning serpents
were found licking their ears. See Scholiast on Homer, II.
vii. 44 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, Introd. vol. i. pp.
86
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 11-12
daughter of Salmoneus, by whom he had sons,
Aeson, Amythaon, and Pheres.1 Amythaon dwelt
in Pylus and married Idomene, daughter of Pheres,
and there were born to him two sons, Bias and
Melampus. The latter lived in the country, and
before his house there was an oak, in which there
was a lair of snakes. His servants killed the
snakes, but Melampus gathered wood and burnt the
reptiles, and reared the young ones. And when
the young were full grown, they stood beside him
at each of his shoulders as he slept, and they
purged his ears with their tongues. He started up
in a great fright, but understood the voices of the
birds flying overhead, and from what he learned
from them he foretold to men what should come
to pass.2 He acquired besides the art of taking the
auspices, and having fallen in with Apollo at the
Alpheus he was ever after an excellent soothsayer.
Bias wooed Pero, daughter of Neleus,3 But as
there were many suitors for his daughter's hand,
266 sq., ed. C. G. Miiller. Porph.yry said that perhaps we and
all men might have understood the language of all animals
if a serpent had washed our ears (De abstinentia, iii. 4). In
the folk-tales of many lands, men are said to have obtained
a knowledge of the language of animals from serpents, either
by eating the flesh of serpents or in other ways. See my
article, " The Language of Animals," The Archaeological
Review, i. (1888), pp. 166 sqq.
8 The following romantic tale of the wooing of Pero is
told also by the Scholiast on Homer (Od. xi. 287). It is
repeated also in substantially the same form by Eustathius,
on Homer, Od. xi. 292, p. 1685. Compare Scholiast on
Theocritus, iii. 43; Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, i. 118;
Propertius, ii. 3. 51 sqq. A summary of the story, shorn of
its miraculous elements, is given by Homer (Od. xi. 287-297,
xv. 225-238) and Pausanias (iv. 36. 3). See Appendix,
' Melampus and the kine of Phylacus."
87
APOLLODORUS
Baxrew ecprj r& r«9 3?v\d,Kov 1 /3oa9 teouicravri
avra). avrai Be fjcrav ev &v\dtcr], KOI
KVCOV e$v\aT(rev aura? ov ovre ai'B pwrros ovre
0i]piov Tre\a? e\6elv rjBvvaro. ravras
Bta? T«9 ftbas K\e-^rai trape/edX-ei rov a
crv\JXa/3ecr0ai. MeA,ayu,7rov9 Se UTretr^er
trpoeiTrev on f ci)padr)T6Tai K\eTrrci)v teal
eviavrov ovrto ra? /Qoa9 Xijtyerai. //.era
vTrocr^ecru' et9 &v\dfcr)v cnrijei teal, K
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olfctj^an e$v\dcraero. \eLTTOjjievov Be rov eviavrov
ftpa^eo^ %p6vov, rSiV Kara TO fcpvtyaiov 3
T7]9 crT67^9 (TKCO~\,^KCOV a/covet, rov fiev epcorwvros
ijor} yuepo9 rov SOKOV Bia/3e/3pcorai, rwv Be
\ot7rbv eka^iffrov elvai. /cat
e/ceXevcrev aurbv e/9 erepov oifcrj/jia /uera-
, yevo/^evov Be rovrov ycter' ov ITO\V crvve-
Trecre TO OL/cijfjia. 6avp.d(rai Be £ v\aKO;, /cat
jjiadatv oTt earl /jidvris aptcrros, \vcra  irapeKa-
\eo-ev elirelv 07r&)9 avrov rq  TratBl 'I0t«Xco TraiBes
ryevcovrai. o Be VTrea^ero efi c5 Ta9 /3oa9 \ijtyerai.
teal tcaraOvcras ravpovs Svo teal /jbeXiaas
roi»9 olwvovs TrpocreteaXecraro' 7rapayevo/-ievov Be
alyvinov, rrapa rovrov /j,avddvei Brj on &v\.ate6;
Trore Kpiovs repvwv eVl rwv alBoiwv 5 rrapa rw
'I^t/fA-w rrjv ud%aipav y/j,aryfji€vr)v en teareffero,
Beicravros Be rov TtaiBbs KOI tyvyovros av0i  Kara
rfjs /6/7O.9 Bpvbs avrr/v 67rrj£e, /cal ravrijv a/JL$i-
1 &v\dicov A, Westermann, Miiller : 'I^f/cAou Aegius,
Heyne, Bekker, Hercher, Wagner.
2 SeVjutos Bekker : Seffyuols A.
3 Kpvt a.Lov RRaJ3 : KopvQaiov C, PRC in the margin : opoiptatov
Faber, Hercher. 4 airoKpivo^evuv R : airoKpLva/j,ti a v A.
5 al^olcav R : alfiicav A : a.ypS v Heyne, Westermann, Bekker.
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 12
Neleus said that he would give her to him who
should bring him the kine of Phylacus. These
were in Phylace, and they were guarded by a dog
which neither man nor beast could come near.
Unable to steal these kine. Bias invited his brother
to help him. Melampus promised to do so, and
foretold that he should be detected in the act of
stealing them, and that he should get the kine after
being kept in bondage for a year. After making
this promise he repaired to Phylace and, just as
he had foretold, he was detected in the theft and
kept a prisoner in a cell. When the year was nearly
up, he heard the worms in the hidden part of the
roof, one of them asking how much of the beam
had been already gnawed through, and others answering
that very little of it was left. At once
he bade them transfer him to another cell,
and not long after that had been done the cell
fell in. Phylacus marvelled, and perceiving that
he was an excellent soothsayer, he released him
and invited him to say how his son Iphiclus might
get children. Melampus promised to tell him,
provided he got the kine. And having sacrificed
two bulls and cut them in pieces he summoned the
birds; and when a vulture came, he learned from
it that once, when Phylacus was gelding rams, he
laid down the knife, still bloody, beside Iphiclus,
and that when the child was frightened and ran
away, he stuck the knife on the sacred oak,1 and the
1 According to the Scholiast on Homer (Od. xi. 287 and
290) and Eustathius (on Homer, Od. xi. 292, p. 1685), the tree
was not an oak but a wild pear-tree (&x«p8oj).
89
APOLLODORUS
   o £ 0 9 . eeyev ovv,
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eQijrevaev 'ATroXXw^ avrw ^vrja-revo^ivw rr)V
90
R : a.lu.f iTpoxd cras -A.
2 67rl R : u-n-b A. 3 TJJJ R : TOV A.
l v vartpov added by Hercher.
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 12-15
bark encompassed the knife and hid it. He said,
therefore, that if the knife were found, and he scraped
off the rust, and gave it to Iphiclus to drink for ten
days, he would beget a son. Having learned these
things from the vulture, Melampus found the knife,
scraped the rust, and gave it to Iphiclus for ten days
to drink, and a son Podarces was born to him.1
But he drove the kine to Pylus, and having received
the daughter of Neleus he gave her to his brother.
For a time he continued to dwell in Messene, but
when Dionysus drove the women of Argos mad,
he healed them on condition of receiving part of the
kingdom, and settled down there with Bias.2
Bias and Pero had a son Talaus, who married
Lysitnache, daughter of Abas, son of Melampus, and
had by her Adrastus, Parthenopaeus, Pronax, Mecisteus,
Aristomachus, and Eriphyle, whom Amphiaraus
married. Parthenopaeus had a son Promachus, who
marched with the Epigoni against Thebes;3 and
Mecisteus had a son Euryalus, who went to Troy.4
Pronax had a son Lycurgus; and Adrastus had by
Amphithea, daughter of Pronax, three daughters,
Argia, Deipyle, and Aegialia, and two sons, Aegialeus
and Cyanippus.
Pheres, son of Cretheus, founded Pherae in Thessaly
and begat Admetus and Lycurgus. Lycurgus took up
his abode at Nemea, and having married Eurydice, or, as
some say, Amphithea, he begat Opheltes, afterwards
called Archemorus.5 When Admetus reigned over
Pherae, Apollo served him as his thrall,6while Admetus
1 Compare Apollodorus, Epitome, iii. 20, with the note.
2 See below, ii. 2. 2 ; Diodorus Siculus, ii. 68. 4 ; Pausanias,
ii. 18. 4. 3 Compare below, iii. 7. 2. 4 See Homer, II. ii. 565 sq.
5 See below, iii. 6. 4. ' See below, iii. 10. 4.
91
APOLLODORUS
dvyarepa "A\Kr)(rrtv. ereeivov 1 8e Bwcreiv
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eovros KOI fedirpov,5
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e evioi \6yova~iv, '
16
ouro? co/cet eV 'IcoX/cw,
1 fKflvov Heyne, Hercher, Wagner: eKeivy MSS., Wester -
maim, Mtiller, Bekker.
2 eira.~yyeiXa.fi.evov. The MSS. add ire\\iov (Tle\iov), which
is deleted by Hercher and Wagner, following Heyne.
3 \eovros Kal Kairpov Heyne : \e6vroiv Kal Ka-rrptav A.
4 ffTreipd/u.a(n Heyne : (nrefpa/ta A.
5 Trapa RRa : irepl A.
6 6A.7JTOJ. The MSS. add irarfo ^ ^T1P ^ Y"}1^. These
words are retained by Westermann and Miiller, but omitted
by Bekker, Kercher, and Wagner, following Heyne.
7 irp} s avr'bv aveKo^.i(re  . Omitted in the MSS. : restored
by Fischer and Wagner from Zenobius, Cent. i. 18.
1 Compare Hyginus, Fab. 50 and 51.
2 That is, Persephone.
3 This pathetic story is immortalized by Euripides in his
noble tragedy Alcestis, happily still extant. Compare
92
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 15-16
wooed Alcestis, daughter of Pelias. Now Pelias
had promised to give his daughter to him who should
yoke a lion and a boar to a car, and Apollo yoked and
gave them to Admetus, who brought them to Pelias
and so obtained Alcestis.1 But in offering a sacrifice
at his marriage, he forgot to sacrifice to Artemis ;
therefore when he opened the marriage chamber he
found it full of coiled snakes. Apollo bade him
appease the goddess and obtained as a favour of the
Fates that, when Admetus should be about to die,
he might be released from death if someone should
choose voluntarily to die for him. And when
the day of his death came neither his father nor his
mother would die for him, but Alcestis died in his
stead. But the Maiden2 sent her up again, or, as
some say, Hercules fought with Hades and brought
her up to him.3
/ Aeson, son of Cretheus, had a son Jason by
/Polymede, daughter of Autolycus. Now Jason dwelt in
Zenobius, Cent. i. 18, which to a certain extent agrees
verbally with this passage of Apollodorus. The tale of
Admetus and Alcestis has its parallel in history. Once
when Philip II. of Spain had fallen ill and seemed like to
die, his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, "in her distress,
implored the Almighty to spare a life so important to the
welfare of the kingdom and of the church, and instead of
it to accept the sacrifice of her own. Heaven, says the
chronicler, as the result showed, listened to her prayer. The
king recovered ; and the queen fell ill of a disorder which in
a few days terminated fatally." So they laid the dead queen
to her last rest, with the kings of Spain, in the gloomy pile
of the Escurial among the wild and barren mountains of
Castile ; but there was no Hercules to complete the parallel
with the Greek legend by restoring her in the bloom of life
and beauty to the arms of her husband. See W. H. Prescott,
History of the Reign of Philip the Second, bk. vi. chap. 2, at
the end.
93
APOLLODORUS
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1 Qvffiav ER, Zenobius, (7e?i£. iv. 92 : Ovaias A.
2 rf E, Zenobius, 7en«. iv. 92 : rfs A.
3 eA.eeii' A, Zenobius, Cent. iv. 92 : TrXeti/ E.
1 For the story of Pelias and Jason, see Pindar, Pyth. iv.
73 (129) sqq., with the Scholia ; Apollonius Rhodius, Argon.
i. 5 sqq.; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, i. 175; Hyginus,
Fab. 12 and 13 ; Servius, oti Virgil, Eel. iv. 34 ; Lactantius
Placidus, on Statins, Theb. iii. 516. The present passage of
Apollodorus is copied almost literally, but as usual without
acknowledgment, by Zenobius, Cent. iv. 92. It was the
94
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 16
lolcus, of which Pelias \\-as king after Cretheus.1
But when Pelias consulted the oracle concerning
the kingdom, the god warned him to beware of the
man with a single sandal. At first the king understood
not the oracle, but afterwards he apprehended
it. For when he was offering a sacrifice at the sea to
Poseidon, he sent for Jason, among many others, to
participate in it. Now Jason loved husbandry and
therefore abode in the country, but he hastened to
the sacrifice, and in crossing the river Anaurus he lost
a sandal in the stream and landed with only one.
When Pelias saw him, he bethought him of the oracle,
and going up to Jason asked him what, supposing he
had the power, he would do if he had received an
oracle that he should be murdered by one of the
citizens. Jason answered, whether at haphazard or
instigated by the angry Hera in order that Medea
should prove a curse to Pelias, who did not honour
Hera, " I would command him," said he, " to bring
the Golden Fleece." No sooner did Pelias hear
that than he bade him go in quest of the fleece.
Now it was at Colchis in a grove of Ares, hanging on
an oak and guarded by a sleepless dragon.2
Sent to fetch the fleece, Jason called in the help of
Argus, son of Phrixus; and Argus, by Athena's advice,
regular custom of Aetolian warriors to go with the left foot
shod and the right foot unshod. See Macrobius, Sat. v. 18-
21, quoting Euripides and Aristotle; Scholiast on Pindar,
Pyth. iv. 133. So the two hundred men who broke through
the Spartan lines at the siege of Plataea were shod on the left
foot only (Thucydides, iii. 22). Virgil represents some of the
rustic militia of Latium marching to war with their right feet
shod and their left feet bare (Aen. vii. 689 sq.). As to the
custom, see Taboo and the Perils of the Soul, pp. 311 sqq.
2 See Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 1268-1270, iv. 123
sqq. 163.
95
APOLLODORUS
TrevTij/covropov vavv KaTecr/cevacre Tr^v Trpocrayopevdei
rav dirb TOV KaravKevdaavros 'Apyca'
Kara Se rrjv Trpypav evrfpfjiocrev 'Adrjva (fixavrjev l
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1 ^covfjev ER : ^aivj) A. 2 'A7v/ov Aegius : a-yp/ou A.
3 0r)revs Ai7e'eos Aegius : afyeus Briar eus A.
4 'Oi/cAeoi/s Aegius : ioK\eovs A.
6 Kau't'cos Koptwi'os Aegius : K(ipcoros Koivetos Clavier, Hercher.
6 'l-mroL^/nov A : 'lTnrd\K(nov Scholiast un Homer, //. ii. 494 :
'linra\Kifj.ov Diodorus Siculus, iv. 67. 7.
7 'AAe/crpuovos Homer, 7^. xvii. 602, with the Scholiast :
oj'os Diodorus Siculus, iv. 67. 7.
1 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 524 sgg., iv. 580
sqq.; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 175. The following
96
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 16
built a ship of fifty oars named Argo after its builder;
and at the prow Athena fitted in a speaking timber
from the oak of Dodona.1 When the ship was built,
and he inquired of the oracle, the god gave him
leave to assemble the nobles of Greece and sail
away. And those who assembled were as follow: -
Tiphys, son of Hagnias, who steered the ship;
Orpheus, son of Oeagrus; Zetes and Calais, sons of
Boreas; Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus ; Telamon
and Peleus, sons of Aeacus ; Hercules, son of Zeus;
Theseus, son of Aegeus; Idas and Lynceus, sons of
Aphareus ; Amphiaraus, son of Oicles ; Caeneus,
son of Coronus ; Palaemon, son of Hephaestus or of
Aetolus; Cepheus, son of Aleus ; Laertes son of Arcisius
; Autolycus, son of Hermes ; Atalanta, daughter
of Schoeneus; Menoetius, son of Actor; Actor,
son of Hippasus ; Admetus, son of Pheres; Acastus,
son of Pelias; Eurytus, son of Hermes; Meleager,
son of Oeneus; Ancaeus, son of Lycurgus; Euphemus,
son of Poseidon; Poeas, son of Thaumacus;
Butes, son of Teleon; Phanus and Staphylus, sons
of Dionysus; Erginus, son of Poseidon; Periclymenus,
son of Neleus; Augeas, son of the Sun;
Iphiclus, son of Thestius; Argus, son of Phrixus ;
Euryalus, son of Mecisteus ; Peneleus, son of Hippalmus
; Leitus, son of Alector; Iphitus, son of Naubolus;
narrative of the voyage of the Argo is hased mainly on the
Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius. As to the voyage of the
Argonauts, see further Pindar, Pyth. iv. 156 (276) sqq.; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 40-49; Orphica, Argonautica; Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 175 ; Hyginus, Fab. 12, 14-23; Ovid,
Metamorph. vii. 1 sqq.; Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica.
2 For lists of the Argonauts, see Pindar, Pyth. iv. 171 sqq.;
Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 20 sqq.; Orphica, Argonautica,
119 sqq.; Valerius Flaccus, Argon, i. 352 sqq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 14.
97
VOL. I. H
APOLLODORUS
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18 'ATTO ArffAvov 8e Trpoaia^ovcn AoXtocrty,2
OVTOS avrovs vTreSe^
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dvrnrvoiais, dyvoovvres TrdXiv rot9
1 TaXjUfj'os Homer, 77. ii. 512 : &\/j.fi os A.
2 AoAj'oa-ii' Aegius : So\iois EA.
1 As to the visit of the Argonauts to Lemnos, see Apollonius
Rhodius, -drgron. i. 607 sqq.; Orphica, Argonautica, 473
sgg.; Scholiast on Homer, II. vii. 468 ; Valerius Flaccus,
Argon, ii. 77 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 15. As to the massacre of
the men of Lemnos by the women, see further Herodotus, vi.
138 ; Apostolius, Cent. x. 65 ; Zenobius, Cent. iv. 91 ; Scholiast
on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 609, 615. The visit of the
Argonauts to Lemnos was the theme of plays by Aeschylus
and Sophocles. See Tragicorum Graecorurn Fragmenta, ed.
A. Nauck2, pp. 79, 215 sqq.; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed.
A. C. Pearson, ii. 51 sqq. The Lemnian traditions have been
interpreted as evidence of a former custom of gynocracy, or
98
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 16-18
Ascalaphus and lalmenus, sons of Ares; Asterius,
son of Cometes ; Polyphemus, son of Elatus.
These with Jason as admiral put to sea and
touched at Lemiios.1 At that time it chanced that
Lemnos was bereft of men and ruled over by a queen,
Hypsipyle, daughter of Thoas, the reason of which was
as follows. The Lemnian women did not honour
Aphrodite, and she visited them with a noisome
smell; therefore their spouses took captive women
from the neighbouring country of Thrace and bedded
with them. Thus dishonoured, the Lemnian women
murdered their fathers- and husbands, but Hypsipyle
alone saved her father Thoas by hiding him. So having
put in to Lemnos, at that time ruled by women, the
Argonauts had intercourse with the women, and
Hypsipyle bedded with Jason and bore sons, Euneus
and Nebrophonus.
And after Lemnos they landed among the Doliones,
of whom Cyzicus was king.2 He received
them kindly. But having put to sea from there by
night and met with contrary winds, they lost their
bearings and landed again among the Doliones.
the rule of men by women, in the island. See J. J. Bachofen,
Das Mutterrecht (Stuttgart, 1861), pp. 84 sqq. Every year
the island of Lemnos was purified from the guilt of the
massacre and sacrifices were offered to the dead. The ceremonies
lasted nine days, during which all fires were extinguished
in the island, and a new fire was brought by ship
from Delos. If the vessel arrived before the sacrifices to
the dead had been offered, it might not put in to shore or
anchor, but had to cruise in the offing till they were completed.
See Philostratus, Heroica, xx. 24.
2 As to the visit of the Argonauts to the Doliones and the
death of King Cyzicus, see Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i.
935-1077 ; Orphica, Argonautica, 486 sqq.; Valerius Flaccus,
Argon, ii. 634 sqq., iii. 1 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 16.
99
APOLLODORUS
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1 ^Sfw/cev Zenobius, (7e?i. vi. 21, Hercher, Wagner : ^5/a)|e»'
EA. 2 KJOJ/ E : K^OU A.
3 'Hp£8c0f os Faber : 'Hpo'Soros A.
1 They lamented for three days and tore out their hair ;
they raised a mound over the grave, marched round it
thrice in armour, performed funeral rites, and celebrated
games in honour of the dead man. The mound was to be
seen down to later days, and the people of Cyzicus continued
to pour libations at it every year. See Apollonius Rhodius,
Argon, i. 1057-1077. Compare Orphica, Argonautica, 571 sqq. ;
Valerius Flaccus, Argon, iii. 332 sqq.
TOO
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 18-19
However, the Doliones, taking them for a Pelasgian
army (for they were constantly harassed by the Pelasgians),
joined battle with them'by night in mutual
ignorance of each other. The Argonauts slew many
and among the rest Cyzicus ; but by day. -when they
knew what they had done, they mourned £nd cut off
their hair and gave Cyzicus a costly burial;1 ard after
the burial they sailed away and touched at Mysia.2
There they left Hercules and Polyphemus." , Tor
Hylas, son of Thiodamas, a minion of Hercules, Ii?,d
been sent to draw water and was ravished away' by
nymphs on account of his beauty.3 But Polyphemus
heard him cry out, and drawing his sword gave chase
in the belief that he was being carried off by robbers.
Falling in with Hercules, he told him ; and while the
two were seeking for Hylas, the ship put to sea. So
Polyphemus founded a city Cius in Mysia and reigned
as king;4 but Hercules returned to Argos. However
Herodorus says that Hercules did not sail at all
at that time, but served as a slave at the court of
Omphale. But' Pherecydes says that he was left
behind at Aphetae in Thessaly, the Argo having declared
with human voice that she could not bear
2 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 1172 sqq. ;
Valerius Flaccus, Argon, iii. 481 sqq.
3 As to Hylas and Hercules, compare Apollonius Rhodius,
Argon, i. 1207 sqq.; Theocritus, Id. xiii.; Antoninus Liberalis,
Transform. 26; Orphica, Argonautica, 646 sqq.; Valerius
Flaccus, Argon, iii. 521 sqq.; Propertius, i. 20. 17 sqq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 14; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed.
G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 18, 140 (First Vatican Mythographer,
49 ; Second Vatican Mythographer, 199). It is said that
down to comparatively late times the natives continued to
sacrifice to Hylas at the spring where he had disappeared,
that the priest used to call on him thrice by name, and that
the echo answered thrice (Antoninus Liberalis, I.e.).
* Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 1321 sqq., 1345 sqq.
101
APOLLODORUS
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^T\s added by Hercher, comparing Scholiast on Plato,
Laws, vii. p. 796 A. J 7rpoe/caA€?To Faber : irporeKa.\eiTo A.
1 The opinions of the ancients were much divided as to
the share Hercules took in the voyage of the Argo. See
Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 1290. In saying
that Hercules was left behind in Mysia and returned to
Argos, our author follows, as usual, the version of Apollonius
Rhodius (Argon, i. 1273 sqq.). According to another version,
after Hercules was left behind by the Argo in Mysia, he
made his way on foot to Colchis (Theocritus, Id. xiii. 73 sqq.).
Herodotus says (i. 193) that at Aphetae in Thessaly the hero
landed from the Argo to fetch water and was left behind by
Jason and his fellows. From the present passage of Apollodorus
it would seem that in this account Herodotus was following
Pherecydes. Compare Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. 'A^eroi.
2 As to the visit of the Argonauts to the Bebryces, and the
boxing-match of Pollux with Amyous, see Apollonius Rhodius,
Argon, ii. 1 sqq. ; Theocritus, xxii. 27 sqq. ; Orphica, ArgonatUica,
661 sqq.; Valerius Flaccus, Argon, iv. 99 sqq.; Hygi-
IO2
THE LIBRARY, I, ix, 19-21
his weight. Nevertheless Demaratus has recorded
that Hercules sailed to Colchis; for Dionysius even
affirms that he was the leader of the Argonauts.1
From Mysia they departed to the land of the
Bebryces, which was ruled by King Amycus, son of
Poseidon and a Bithynian nymph.2 Being a doughty
man he compelled the strangers that landed to box
and in that way made an end of them. So going to
the Argo as usual, he challenged the best man of the
crew to a boxing match. Pollux undertook to box
against him and killed him with a blow on the elbow.
When the Bebryces made a rush at him, the chiefs
snatched up their arms and put them to flight with
great slaughter.
Thence they put to sea and came to land at
Salmydessus in Thrace, where dwelt Phineus, a seer
who had lost the sight of both eyes.3 Some say he
nus, Fab. 17 ; Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb. iii. 353 ;
Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i.
pp. 31, 123 (First Vatican Mythographer, 93; Second Vatican
Mythographer, 140). The name of the Bithynian nymph,
mother of Amycus, wus Melie (Apollonius Rhodius, Argon.
ii. 4 ; Hyginus, Fab. 17 ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. v. 373).
3 As to Phineus and the Harpies, see Apollonius Rhodius,
Argon, ii. 176 sqq., with the Scholia on w. 177, 178, 181;
Scholiast on Homer, Od. xii. 69; Valerius Flaccus, Argon, iv.
422 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 19; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. iii. 209 ;
Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i.
pp. 9 sq., 124 (First Vatican Mythographer, 27 ; Second
Vatican Mythographer, 142). Aeschylus and Sophocles
composed tragedies on the subject of Phineus. See Tragicorum
Oraecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 83, 284 sqq.;
The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii. pp.
311 sqq. The classical description of the Harpies is that of
Virgil (Aen. iii. 225 sqq.). Compare Hesiod, Theog. 265-269.
In his account of the visit of the Argonauts to Phineus, the
rationalistic Diodorus Siculus (iv. 43 sq.) omits all mention
of the Harpies.
103
APOLLODORUS
elvai \ejovcnv, ol Be TiocreiB&vos vlov Kal
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rpvia TOU9 ISiovs ervc^Xeoere 7ratSa9, rives Se UTTO
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%(i)v et? Trjv 'Ei\\dSa TT\OVV e/jir)vvcrev. eirefjb^rav
§e avrS) teal ra? ayOTrfta? ol deoi' irrepwrai Se
rjffav avrat, Kal ejreiSr)1 T£  &ivei T
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ova avripira^ov, 6\iya Se ocra oa-/A-^5 dva,7r\€a
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apirviwv avrov eav dTraXXd^cocriv. ol 8e Trape-
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e^ai^vrjs crvv (Boy /caraTrrdaai rrjv rpotyrjv ijp-
Tracrav.2 Oeacrd^evoi. oe ol Boyoeou TratSe?
ical KaXai'?, ovres Trrepcoroi, (T7rao-dfj.evoi ra
Si depos ecim/cov. rjv Be rat? apjrviais
redvdvai VTTO r&v Bo/oeoi; TraiBoiv, rot? Be Bo/jeou
rraicrl rare reXevrrjcreiv orav Bitotcovres prj /cara-
\dfSaxri. Bt(OKO/j.ev(0v Be rwv dpTrviwv rj [tev Kara
Tle\OTr6vvrja-ov et? rov Tiyprjv rcorap^ov e/jbTTLTrrei,
09 vvv air" e/cet^T/9 "ApTrus KaXeiraf ravrrjv Be ol
p£v NiKo6or]v ol Be JAe\\07rovv Ka\ov(nv. rj Be
erepa Ka\ov/jievr) ^KVirerrj, a 9 Be evioi 'QKvdorj
('HcrtoSo9 Be \ejei avrrjv '£lKV7r68r)v}, avrrj Kara
rrjv UpoTTovrioa (pevyovcra
, at vvv O.TT' eKeivrj? %rpoj)dBe} Ka\ovv-
1 eireiSr; Bekker : tire&av EA : tiretibv . . . TraparlOoiTo (for
MS. irape-rtBeTo) Hercher. 2 ^piraa-av E : riptrafrv A.
104
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 21
was a son of Agenor,1 but others that he was a son
of Poseidon, and he is variously alleged to have been
blinded by the gods for foretelling men the future ; or
by Boreas and the Argonauts because he blinded his
own sons at the instigation of their stepmother; 2 or
by Poseidon, because he revealed to the children of
Phrixus how they could sail from Colchis to Greece.
The gods also sent the Harpies to him. These were
winged female creatures, and when a table was laid
for Phineus, they flew down from the sky and snatched
up most of the victuals, and what little they left stank
so that nobody could touch it. When the Argonauts
would have consulted him about the voyage, he
said that he would advise them about it if they
would rid him of the Harpies. So the Argonauts
laid a table of viands beside him, and the Harpies
with a shriek suddenly pounced down and snatched
away the food. When Zetes and Calais, the sons of
Boreas, saw that, they drew their swords and, being
winged, pursued them through the air. Now it was
fated that the Harpies should perish by the sons of
Boreas, and that the sons of Boreas should die when
they could not catch up a fugitive. So the Harpies
were pursued and one of them fell into the river
Tigres in Peloponnese, the river that is now called
Harpys after her ; some call her Nicothoe, but others
Aellopus. But the other, named Ocypete or, according
to others, Ocythoe (but Hesiod calls her Ocypode) 3
fled by the Propontis till she came to the Echinadian
Islands, which are now called Strophades after her;
1 So Apollonius Rhodius (Argon, ii. 237, 240) and Hyginus
(Fab. 19).
2 See below, iii. 15. 3 note.
3 Hesiod (Theog. 267) calls her Ocypete.
APOLLODORUS
raf effrpd(prj yap o 9 rfkOev eiri r auras, KOI
yevo/j,evr) Kara rrjv rjiova VTTO Kapdrov Tr'nrrei crvv
TO) SlGOKOVri. 'A7TOXX(WZ £O9 &£ €V TO49
rat9 ew? %rpo(f d8(ov vija-mv prj(rlv avra?
vat KOI /j,r)8ev TraOelv, Sovcras opicov rov £ ivea
/J,1)K€Tl
22
TOV 7T\OVV TO49 'A-pJOVaVTCtlS, Kdl TTepl TWV CTVfl-
TcXrjydScov vireOero Trer/xwy r&v Kara OaXaarcrav.
rfarav Se VTrep/JLeyeOeis avrai, crvy/cpovoaevai 8e
VTTO rf)$ rcov Trvev/jtdrcov y8ta9 rov Sia
Tropov aireK\ei,ov. e^epero Se iroXkrj
/j,ev VTrep l avrcov o/ttp^X?; TroXu? 8e Trdrayos, rjv
Be dBvvarov Kol rot9 Trereivots 81 avr&v 8te\0elv.z
eiirev ovv avrois dcjieivai vreXetaSa 8ia rwv Trerpwv,
KOI ravryv tav fiev tSoxri, aaydeia-av, 8ia7r\eiv
Karaf)povovvTaf, edv 8e dTro\ofj,evrjv,3 firj 7r\elv
/3id£ecr6ai. ravra dfcovcravres dvijyovro, Kal a ?
Tr\rja-iov rfaav rwv Trerpcov, afyacnv e/c T/}? Trpypa9
TreXeidSa' rrjs Se i7rra^evr); ra axpa rfjs
ovpas rj o-u/i7TTft)crf9 rwv rrerp&v
ovv eTriryprjcravres ra
evrovov,5 a-v\\a/3o/*evr); "Hpas, 8irj\0ov,
1 vnep Bekker : vir' EA : OTT" Clavier, Hercher.
2 Sie\6el   E : eMelv A.
3 awo\\vfj.evr{v EA, Wagner : oiroAu^e'j/Tjc Heyne, Weatermann,
Miiller, Bekker, Hercher.
4 aire6fpiTtv A : airtOpt^ev E : awedpiffev Wagner.
5 evrovov A : f\i-r6vov E, Wagner.
1 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 284-298, who
says that previously the islands were called the Floating Isles
(Plotai). 2 The Clashing Rocks are the islands which the Greeks
106
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 21-22
for when she came to them she turned (estraphe) and
being at the shore fell for very weariness with her
pursuer. But Apollonius in the Argonautica says that
the Harpies were pursued to the Strophades Islands
and suffered no harm, having sworn an oath that they
would wrong Phineus no more.1
Being rid of the Harpies, Phineas revealed to
the Argonauts the course of their voyage, and advised
them about the Clashing Rocks 2 in the sea.
These were huge cliffs, which, dashed together by the
force of the winds, closed the sea passage. Thick
was the mist that swept over them, and loud the
crash, and it was impossible for even the birds to
pass between them. So he told them to let fly a
dove between the rocks, and, if they saw it pass
safe through, to thread the narrows with an easy
mind, but if they saw it perish, then not to force a
passage. When they heard that, they put to sea, and
on nearing the rocks let fly a dove from the prow,
and as she flew the clash of the rocks nipped off the
tip of her tail. So, waiting till the rocks had recoiled,
with hard rowing and the help of Hera, they passed
through, the extremity of the ship's ornamented
called Symplegades. Another name for them was the
Wandering Rocks (Planctae) or the Blue Rocks (Cyaneae).
See Herodotus, iv. 85; Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 317 sq.;
Valerius Flaccus, Argon, iv. 561 sq.; Pliny, Nat. Hist. vi. 32 ;
Merry, on Homer, Od. xii. 61; Appendix, "The Clashing
Rocks." As to the passage of the Argo between them, see
Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 317 sqq., 549-610; Orphica,
Argonautica, 683-714; Valerius Flaccus, Argon, iv. 561—702;
Hyginus, Fab. 19. According to the author of the Orphica
the bird which the Argonauts, or rather Athena, let fly
between the Clashing Rocks was not a dove but a heron
(epwSio's). The heron was specially associated with Athena.
See D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Glossary oj Greek Birds,
p. 58.
107
APOLLODORUS
ra fcpa TWV a£XaJT&)i  7/79 veto? TrepiKOTrecrr);.
at fj,ev ovv o-Vfj,7r\rjydS€  efcrore ecrrrjaav xpewv
yap TJV avrais i ea 9 l Trepaicodeiarjif crrrjvai
23 Ol Se 'ApyovavTai irpbs M.apiavSvvov  irapeyevovro,
fcdicet j)i,\of p6vcas o f3acu\evi
ev6a Qvijffrcei /j,ev "iSyLtcav o
avTOV tcdirpov, Bvrjaicei, Se teal Ttj! f5,
rr]v vavv 'Ay/cato9 VTria-^velrai Kvftepvav.
IIapa7r\6i'craj'T€9 Se ®ep/j,(t)8ovTa KOI Kavtcacrov
eVl Qciffiv TTorafAov rj\6ov 0^709 7779
€(mv.2 eryKa6op/Ma-deia"ri; Be 77)9 veax;1 rj/ce
aawy, Kal TO, eTrirayevra virb He\tov
vrape/eaXet Sovvai TO Sepa? avr&- o Se
v7rea"%eTO, eav TOU9 %«X«:o7roSa9 ravpovs
fjLovo; icaTa^ev^r}. rjcrav &e aypiot Trap aura 
ravpoi $vo, fteyedei 8iaf epovT€;, Swpov fH^ aicrroy,
o? %a\Kov; uev et%oy 7r68a9, 7rvp Se e'«
ffTOfj,drcov e(f va-cDV. TOVTOVS avr& ^ev^avTi eVe-
Tacrcre 3 cnreipeiv SpaKovros o&ovras' et%e yap
irap ' ' K6v]vas TOU9 r}/J,i(T6is &v KaSyu-09
ev 0^at9. ajropovvros Be TOV 'Iatroi/09
1 vecbs E : VTJ?IS A.
2 effTlv eytcaOopniffdeiffiis E, Wagner : eo-n 77} $• KaOopfj-iff6elo"
r)s A. 3 ^TreVacrtre E : ^ir€-rd(raero A.
1 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, ^rgron. ii. 720 539. ; Orphica,
Argonautica, 715 sg1?.; Valerius Flaccus, Argon, iv. 733 s??-;
Hyginus, Fab. 18. 2 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 815 sqq.; Orphica,
Argonautica, 725 s^^. ; Valerius Flaccus, Argon, v. 1 sqq. ;
Hyginus, .Fafe. 14 and 18. According to Apollonius, the
barrow of Idmon was surmounted by a wild olive tree,
which the Nisaeans were commanded by Apollo to worship
as the guardian of the city.
108
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 22-23
poop being shorn away right round. Henceforth
the Clashing Rocks stood still; for it was fated that,
so soon as a ship had made the passage, they should
come to rest completely.
The Argonauts now arrived among the Mariandynians,
and there King Lycus received them
kindly.1 There died Idmon the seer of a wound
inflicted by a boar ;2 and there too died Tiphys, and
Ancaeus undertook to steer the ship.8
And having sailed past the Thermodon and the
Caucasus they came to the river Phasis, which is in
the Colchian land.4 When the ship was brought into
port, Jason repaired to Aeetes, and setting forth the
charge laid on him by Pelias invited him to give
him the fleece. The other promised to give it if
single-handed he would yoke the brazen-footed bulls.
These were two wild bulls that he had, of enormous
size, a gift of Hephaestus; they had brazen feet
and puffed fire from their mouths. These creatures
Aeetes ordered him. to yoke and to sow dragon's
teeth ; for he had got from Athena half of the
dragon's teeth which Cadmus sowed in Thebes.5
While Jason puzzled how he could yoke the bulls,
3 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 851-898; Orphica,
Argonautica, 729 sqq.; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron,
890 ; Valerius Flaceus, Argon, v. 13 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 14
and 18.
4 As to Jason in Colchis, and his winning of the Golden
Fleece, see Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 1260 sqq., iii. 1 sqq.,
iv. 1-240 ; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 48. 1-5 ; Valerius Flaccus,
Argon, v. 177-viii. 139 ; Ovid, Metamorph. vii. 1-158. The
adventures of Jason in Colchis were the subject of a play by
Sophocles called The Colchian Women. See The Fragments
of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii. pp. 15 sqq.; Tragicorum
Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck 2, pp. 204 sqg.
5 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iii. 401 sqg., 1176
?qq.
109
APOLLODORUS
vatro TOV9 ravpovs
vrov epwra t«7%et* r)v Be avrt) dvydr^jp Alijrov
al Ei'oWa9 T???
'Q/ceavov, (frappa/eis.1 SeBoiKvla
avrov
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aydjijrai. 6fj,6cravTO 
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TO 86pv Kal TO ro)/ia' TOVTW 761/3
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TWV o$6vTO v eK 7^9 avSpas /jt,e\~\,ei,v
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jj,€ffov \i6ovs airoOev, orav Se virep rovrov yu,aya 
i Tcu 7T/309 aX,Xr/Xov9, TOT£ Kreiveiv avrovs.
\d(TC0v Be TOVTO a/covffas Kal %pi(rd/j.evo; rut
, 7rapayev6fjL€vof; et9 TO TOV veoo aXcro?
rou9 ravpovs, KCU crvv TroXXw irvp\
avrovs fca,Te%€vj;e, crTreipavrof 3 Be
O.UTOV Toi»9 o8o^Ta9 di ere\\ov e/c rrjs 77)9 avBpes
evoirXoL' o Be OTTOV ir\eiova^ eatpa, ftdXXwv
dpavw; 4 \L6ovs, Trpb? avToy? /ia%o//,ewu9 71/009
Trpocritov avrjpei. KOI KctTe^ewy pivwv 5
1 f ap/jMKis ERa : j apfj.a.Kois A. s o&y ERRa : &s A.
3 ffirelpa.t Tos E : o-Trefpovroj A. 4 atpava s E : aj ave7s A.
8 KUTe^evyfj.fi'oav Faber : /coTo^eu^i/i/juej/ftiv EA.
1 As to the yoking of the brazen-footed bulls, compare
Pindar, Pyth. iv. 224 (399) sqq.; Apollonius Rhodius, Argon.
no
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 23
Medea conceived a passion for him; now she was a
witch, daughter of Aeetes and Idyia, daughter of
Ocean. And fearing lest he might be destroyed
by the bulls, she, keeping the thing from her
father, promised to help him to yoke the bulls
and to deliver to him the fleece, if he would swear
to have her to wife and would take her with him on
the voyage to Greece. When Jason swore to do so,
she gave him a drug with which she bade him anoint
his shield, spear, and body when he was about to
yoke the bulls ; for she said that, anointed with it, he
could for a single day be harmed neither by fire nor
by iron. And she signified to him that, when the
teeth were sown, armed men would spring up from
the ground against him; and when he saw a knot of
them he was to throw stones into their midst from
a distance, and when they fought each other about
that, he was then to kill them.1 On hearing that,
Jason anointed himself with the drug,2 and being
come to the grove of the temple he sought the
bulls, and though they charged him with a flame
of fire, he yoked them.3 And when he had sowed
the teeth, there rose armed men from the ground ;
and where he saw several together, he pelted them
unseen with stones, and when they fought each other
he drew near and slew them.4 But though the bulls
iii. 1026 sqq. As to the drug with which Jason was to anoint
himself, see further Pindar, Pyih. iv. 221 (394) sq.; Apollonius
Rhodius, Argon- iii. 844 sqq. It was extracted from a
plant with a saffron-coloured flower, which was said to grow
on the Caucasus from the blood of Prometheus. Compare
Valerius Flaccus, Argon, vii. 355 sqg.; Pseudo-Plutarch, De
Fluviis, v. 4.
2 Apolloriius Rhodius, Argon, iii. 1246 sqq*
» Ibid. 1278 sqq. 4 Ibid. 1320-1398.
I l l
APOLLODORUS
T&V ravpwv OVK eBiBov TO Bepas
8e rr\v re 'A/J7&) fcaraf)\e$;ai Kal Krelvai rou?
€fjnT\60vra;. fyddaaaa Be M.r/Beia rov 'Idaova
VVKTOS CTTI TO Sepas ijyaye, Kal rbv pv\dcr(rovTa
BpaKovra KaraKOi^iaacra rot? ^ap/xa,voi? //.era
'lacropo?, e%ovcra TO Sepas, eirl rrjv 'Apyoa Traperyevero.
avveiire'ro Be avrrj /cat o a
T09. ot Se VVKTOS pera TOVTCOV avrj^(9'Y]Tav.
24 At^TT;? 8e eTTiyvovs ra TYJ
ct p/j,r)cre rrjv vavv St,u)K€iv. ISovffa Be avrov
7r\r)alov ovra M.ijBeia TOV dBe\(f bv f ovevet Kal
p,e\iaaaa Kara rov ftv&ov piirrei. crvvadpoifav
Be At^T^? Ta ToO TratSo? /j,e\r) rrjs Bicat-eats vcrreprjo-
e- BtOTrep V7rocrrp€'^ra;, Kal ra crwdevra rov
e\rj 6d"^ra?, rov rbrrov Trpoarjiyopevcre
TTO\\OU? Be rwv KoX%t«v eTTt rrjv ^rjrijcriv
rr)s 'Apyovs e£e7re/n^ei , drrei\rjffa^, el ftr)
MrfBeiav a^ovcriv, avrovs rceicrecrOai ra e
ol Be a"%icrdevre  l aXXo? aXXa%ou
eiroiovvro.
Toi? Be 'A.pyovavrai  rbv 'ttptBavov rcorafibv
Traparf\eovo~i Zew ^vLcra^ inrep rov (povev-
\d/3pov
, Wagner: ffx^eVresA: Statrxsfi
Westermann, Miiller : SiaxfBevres Bekker :
Hercher.
1 Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 123-182.
2 Here Apollodorus departs from the version of Apollonius
Rhodius, according to whom Apsyrtus, left behind by Jason
and Medea, pursued them with a band of Colchians, and,
overtaking them, was treacherously slain by Jason, with the
connivance of Medea, in an island of the Danube. See
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 23-24
were yoked, Aeetes did not give the fleece; for he
wished to burn down the Argo and kill the crew.
But before he could do so, Medea brought Jason by
night to the fleece, and having lulled to sleep by her
drugs the dragon that guarded it, she possessed herself
of the fleece and in Jason's company came to the
Argo.1 She was attended, too, by her brother
Apsyrtus.2 And with them the Argonauts put to
sea by night.
When Aeetes discovered the daring deeds done
by Medea, he started off in pursuit of the ship ;
but when she saw him near, Medea murdered her
brother and cutting him limb from limb threw the
pieces into the deep. Gathering the child's limbs,
Aeetes fell behind in the pursuit; wherefore he
turned back, and, having buried the rescued limbs
of his child, he called the place Tomi. But he sent
out many of the Colchians to search for the Argo,
threatening that, if they did not bring Medea to him,
they should suffer the punishment due to her ; so they
separated and pursued the search in divers places.
When the Argonauts were already sailing past the
Eridanus river, Zeus sent a furious storm upon them,
and drove them out of their course, because he was
Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 224 sq., 303—481. Apollodorus
seems to have followed the account given by Pherecydes in
his seventh book (Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon.
iv. 223, 228). The version of Apollonius is followed by
Hyginus (Fab. 23) and the Orphic poet (Argonaictica, 1027
sqq.). According to Sophocles, in his play The Colchian
Women, Apsyrtus was murdered in the palace of Aeetes
(Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 228) ; and this
account seems to have been accepted by Euripides (Medea,
1334). Apollodorus's version of the murder of Apsyrtus is
repeated verbally by Zenobius (iv. 92), but as usual without
acknowledgment.
H3
VOL. I. I
APOLLODORUS
TrapaTrXeovToov 17 vavs
iv rr)V opyrjv TOV Ato?, eai  x
^P Avarovlav TOV 'A^Jrvprov f)6vov Ka
VTTO ~KipKi)i. ol 8e 7ra/)a7rXevcrayT69 ra
/cat KeXTW^ e^yr;, /cat Sta TOU 2ap&oviov
SiaKO/jiia-QevTes,5 Trapa/iei^a/iei'ot Tvpprjviav rj\-
dov et? Alalrjv,^ evda KI/J/CT;? iKerai
/cadaipovrai.
25 Ila
T^V evavrav povaav / i e w w v TOV?
/caTeo-%e. /AOj/05 Be BOUTT;? e%evr)%aTO TT/OO? aura?,
o*  apnrdaaaa 'AqbpoStT^ ev Ai\.vfBaiq 
Mera Se ra? ^eipijvas Tr,i' vavv
/cat 2/cvXXa /cat irkipai
f \b$; TroXX?) /cal fcajrvos dvapep6fj,evo;
ewpdro. d\\d Sia TOVTWV SteKO/jbicre rrjv vavv
rapaK\r)6eia-a VTTO f/H/)a?.
Se ©piva/ciav vfjcrov 'HXtof
/3ou9 5 e'xovcrav et? r^v ^aidxcov vrjffov KepKVpav
rj/cov, ^
1 ^av Heyne : ei EA.
2 \i-yvav Scaliger : \i$vt»v EA.
3 StaKOfjLiffOfVTes E : KomaBevres A.
* alatr/v ERRaC': Aiafaf Heyne, Westermann, Miiller,
Bekker, Hercher.
5 ySovj EA : jSo'as Wagner.
1 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 576-591 ; Orphica,
Argonautica, 1160 sgg.
2 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, -4rgron. iv. 659-717, who
describes the purificatory rites. A sucking-pig was waved
over the homicides ; then its throat was cut, and their hands
were sprinkled with its blood. Similar rites of purification
114
THE LIBRARY, 1. ix. 24-25
angry at the murder of Apsyrtus. And as they were
sailing past the Apsyrtides Islands, the ship spoke,
saying that the wrath of Zeus would not cease unless
they journeyed to Ausonia and were purified by Circe
for the murder of Apsyrtus.1 So when they had
sailed past the Ligurian and Celtic nations and had
voyaged through the Sardinian Sea, they skirted
Tyrrhenia and came to Aeaea, where they supplicated
Circe and were purified.2
And as they sailed past the Sirens,3 Orpheus
restrained the Argonauts by chanting a counter
melody. Butes alone swam off to the Sirens, but
Aphrodite carried him away and settled him in Lilybaeum.
After the Sirens, the ship encountered Charybdis
and Scylla and the Wandering Rocks,4 above which
a great flame and smoke were seen rising. But Thetis
with the Nereids steered the ship through them at
the summons of Hera.
Having passed by the Island of Thrinacia, where
are the kine of the Sun,5 they came to Corcyra, the
island of the Phaeacians, of which Alcinous was
king.6 But when the Colchians could not find the
for homicide are represented on Greek vases. See my note
on Pausanias, ii. 31. 8 (vol. iii. p. 277).
3 About the Argonauts and the Sirens, see Apollonius
Rhodius, Argon, iv. 891-921 ; Orphica, Argonautica, 1270-
1297 ; Hyginus, Fab. 14.
4 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 922 sqq. These
Wandering Rocks are supposed to be the Lipari islands, two
of which are still active volcanoes.
5 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 964-979, according
to whom the kine of the Sun were milk-white, with
golden horns.
6 About the Argonauts among the Phaeacians, see Apollonius
Rhodius, Argon, iv. 982 sqq.; Orphica, Argonautica,
1298-1354 ; Hyginus, Fab. 23.
I J5
i 2
APOLLODORUS
rrjv vavv evpeiv yu?; SvvajAevwv ol fiev rots Kepavviois1
opecri TrapcpK'rjcrav, ol Se elf rrjv 'I\\vpi8a
KO[JUGSevres e/crtcrav 'AA|ru/mSa9 wijcrovs' evioi Se
717)09 &aiatfa9 e\86vT€S Tr]v 'A/ y&  /careXaftov Kal
rr)V MrjSeiav aTryrovv Trap 'AXrcivoov. 6 Se
eiTrev, el [lev ijSr) rvve\ri\v0ev 'Idcrovi, Scacreiv
avrrjv e/ceivo), el S' ert irapOevos ecrri, T& irarpl
aTroTrefffreiv.2' 'AprjTV) Se r) 'A\rctv6ov yvvrj §daaaaa
MrfSeiav 'lacrov* crvve^ev^ev offev ol /Jiev
KoX%oi //.era Qaid/ewv K,a,T(t Ki]aav, ol Se 'Apyovavrai
//.era rfjf M.rj8eias avrj')(drj(rav.
26 IlXeovre? be VVKTOS &(f)o8pq) TrepimTTTOvo'i
XXtov Se crra? CTU ra? MeXayrtof ?3
Togevaas T& /3e\ei et? Trjv Qakaccrav
ol Se 7r\r)alov eOedcravro vrjaov,
r& Se Trapa irpoaSoiclav dvcKfrawfjva
'Avd^riv etcdXecrav' ISpvcrdftevoi Se
aly\r)TOV6 teal OvGidaavr
erpaTrrjcrav. SoOelrrai S' viro
SwSe/ca Oepdiratvat TOU? dpia-reas ecrK(O7r-
TOV ytiera Traiyviw oOev en KOI vvv ev rfj dvcria
(Tvvr)0es ecrrt crKooirTeiv rat? yvvai^iv.
1 Kepawiois Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 175: «ep/cupaiois
A : Kepicvpaitav E. 2 airoTTf/jityeiv E : avriirffj.\f/fiv A.
3 MeXoi/T^ous Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1707 : juevoi-
T^OU A.
4 A participle like Karair\ay€vres seems wanted. Compare
ii. 5. 1.
5 aj7\^row Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1716 : alyatov A.
1 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1106 «??.; Orphica,
Argonautica, 1327 sgg.
2 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, .4r/on. iv. 1111-1169;
Orphica, Argonautica, 1342 sg?.
3 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1206 sqq.
116
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 25-26
ship, some of them settled at the Ceraunian mountains,
and some journeyed to Illyria and colonized
the Apsyrtides Islands. But some came to the
Phaeacians, and finding the Argo there, they demanded
of Alcinous that he should give up Medea.
He answered, that if she already knew Jason, he
would give her to him, but that if she were still a
maid he would send her away to her father.1 However,
Arete, wife of Alcinous, anticipated matters by
marrying Medea to Jason;2 hence the Colchians
settled down among the Phaeacians8 and the Argonauts
put to sea with Medea.
Sailing by night they encountered a violent storm,
and Apollo, taking his stand on the Melantian ridges,
flashed lightning down, shooting a shaft into the sea.
Then they perceived an island close at hand, and
anchoring there they named it Anaphe, because it
had loomed up (anaphanenai) unexpectedly. So they
founded an altar of Radiant Apollo, and having offered
sacrifice they betook them to feasting ; and twelve
handmaids, whom Arete had given to Medea, jested
merrily with the chiefs; whence it is still customary
for the women to jest at the sacrifice.4
4 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1701-1730 5
Orphica, Argonautica, 1361-1367. From the description of
Apollonius we gather that the raillery between men and
women at these sacrifices was of a ribald character (ala-xpols
eirecrfftv). Here Apollodorus again departs from Apollonius,
who places the intervention of Apollo and the appearance of
the island of Anaphe after the approach of the Argonauts to
Crete, and their repuse by Talos. Moreover, Apollonius tells
how, after leaving Phaeacia, the Argonauts were driven by a
storm to Libya and the Syrtes, where they suffered much
hardship (Argon, iv. 1228-1628). This Libyan episode in
the voyage of the Argo is noticed by Diodorus Siculus
(iv. 56. 6), but entirely omitted by Apollodorus.
117
APOLLODORUS
rrpoo~-
virb TaXft . rovrov ol fiev rov
elvat \eyovcriv, ol Se vrcb 'H£atcrToi 
SoOfjvai' 05 rfv ^aX/eoO? avrfp, ol Se ravpov avrbv
\ejovaiv. el%e 8e f)\efta fiuav airo av^evos
Kwrcndvovcrav a%pt a-fyvp&v Kara Se TO reppa1
T?}? ^ Xey8o5 57X09 o~t,r)pei(TTo ^aX/cou?. OVTO? o
TaX-ca? Tpl? e/cao-TT/5 r)[j,epa  rrjv vijcrov TrepiTpo-
%d£(t)v ertfpef Sio Kal rore TTJV 'Apyw rrrpoo~-
ffewpwv rot? \i6ois eySaXXey. e^aTrarrj-
UTTO Mt7Seta9 diredavev, w? /aev e'wot
Bio, (jjapfjid/cmv avrq  paviav Mr;Seta?
efjL/3a\ovffr]s, to? Se rivet, vrroo-'^p^kvTf]^ rroirfcreiv
aOdvarov KOI rov r^\ov efeXouo-^5, eicpvevros rov
rravros fywpos avrbv cnroQavelv. rives Se avrbv
ro%evdevra v-rrb Tioiavros et5 TO crfyvpbv reXevrijo~
ai \eyovo~i.
M.iav Se evravOa vvicra iielvavres A.iyivp re poo- -
icr^ovcriv iiBpevaacrdai 0e\ovre , /cal yiverai rrepi
a//,tXXa. e/celffev 8e Bia
7*75
1 re'pjua Faber, Heyne, Bekker, Hercher, Wagner : Sfp/ma A,
Zenobius, Cent. v. 85, Westermann, Miiller.
1 As to Talos, see Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1639-
1693; Orphica, Argonautica, 1358-1360; Agatharchides, in
Photius, Bibliotheca, p. 443 6, lines 22-25, ed. Bekker ; Lucian,
De saltatione, 49 ; Zenobius, Cent. v. 85 ; Suidas, s.v. 'SapSdvios
ye\»s ; Eustathius, on Homer, Odyssey, xx. 302, p. 1893 ;
Scholiast on Plato, Republic, i. p. 337 A. Talos would seem
to have been a bronze image of the sun represented as a man
•with a bull's head. Bee The Dying Ood, pp. 74 sq.; A. B.
Cook, Zeus, i. 718 sqq. In his account of the death of Talos
our author again differs from Apollonius Rhodius, according
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 26
Putting to sea from there, they were hindered
from touching at Crete by Talos.1 Some say that
he was a man of the Brazen Race, others that he was
given to Minos by Hephaestus; he was a brazen man,
but some say that he was a bull. He had a single
vein extending from his neck to his ankles, and a
bronze nail was rammed home at the end of the vein.
This Talos kept guard, running round the island
thrice every day ; wherefore, when he saw the Argo
standing inshore, he pelted it as usual with stones.
His death was brought about by the wiles of Medea,
whether, as some say, she drove him mad by drugs,
or, as others say, she promised to make him immortal
and then drew out the nail, so that all the ichor
gushed out and he died. But some say that Poeas
shot him dead in the ankle.
After tarrying a single night there they put in to
Aegina to draw water, and a contest arose among
them concerning the drawing of the water.2 Thence
they sailed betwixt Euboea and Locris and came to
to whom Talos perished through grazing his ankle against a
jagged rock, so that all the ichor in his body gushed out. This
incident seems to have been narrated by Sophocles in one
of his plays (Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv.
1638 ; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, i. 110
sqq.). The account, mentioned by Apollodorus, which referred
the death of Talos to the spells of Medea, is illustrated
by a magnificent vase-painting, in the finest style, which
represents Talos swooning to death in presence of the Argonauts,
while the enchantress Medea stands by, gazing grimly
at her victim and holding in one hand a basket from which
she seems to be drawing with the other the fatal herbs. See
A. B. Cook, Zeus, i. p. 721, with plate XLI.
2 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1765-1772, from
whose account we gather that this story was told to explain
the origin of a foot-race in Aegina, in which young men ran
with jars full of water on their shoulders.
APOLLODORUS
rj\6ov, rov Trdvra TT\OVV ev rerrapffi fjwjcrl re\ei(0-
27 IleXta? Se aTroyvov? rrjv vTroarpofyrjv rwv
' Apyovavrwv rov Aicrova /ereiveiv ijde\ev 6 Be
alrr)crd/j,evo; eavrbv dve\eiv Bvcriav €7rtre\a)v
dSew? TOV ravpeiov (nracrd/jtevos ai/Aaros l airi-
Oavev. f) 8e 'lacroi/09 /jiijrijp errrapacraf^evr] IleXia,2
VIJTTIOV aTroXnrovffa TraZSa Upo/jta'^ov eavrrjv
avijprr)(re' IleXta? Se real rov avrfj KaraXet^devra
TraiSa dTretcreivev. o Se 'Idcrwv KcnekOwv TO /J.ev
Sepas eSw/ce, irepl u v Se rjSiKijdrj /j,€T€\,0eiv e6e\a)V
Kaipov l^eBe^eTO. /ecu Tore pJev et? 'Icr^/iov yttera
rcov apicrrecov fjr\evcra; dveOtjfce rrjv vavv Ilocret-
S&vi, avffis Se MijSeiav TrapafcdXet ^rjreiv 07ra)9
IleXta? avTO) Sifcas V7r6o"%r). r) Se et? ra ftacri-
Xeta rov TleXiov 7rape\0ovcra Treidei ras 6vyareyoa?
avrov rov Trarepa /cpeovpyrjcrat teal icade-
^rjcrai, Sia fyappaKtov avrov eTrayyelO^o^evrj
Troincreiv veov Kai rov 7rio~revcrai, ydpiv KOIOV
  ' \ a , / 5 / A V r » /ieAtcracra /cat Kaue'Yrjaaa'a eTroirja-ev apva. at
Se Triffrevcrao-ai, rov Trarepa fcpeovpy overt KOI
. "A/cacrro? 3 Se fjiera TK V rrjv 'Ico\fcov
1 ravpfiov ffira.aa.ft.cvos alamos E : Tavpov alyita nraffd/j.fvos A.
2 TreAi'oc E : TreA/av A.
3 yA«:o(rToj Aegius : S5porros EA.
1 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 50. 1 ; Valerius Flaccus,
Argon, i. 777 sq. The ancients believed that bull's blood was
poisonous. Similarly Themistocles was popularly supposed
to have killed himself by drinking bull's blood (Plutarch,
Themistocles, 31).
2 Her name was Perimede, according to Apollodorus (i. 9.
16). Diodorus Siculus calls her Amphinome, and says that
she stabbed herself after cursing Pelias (iv. 50. 1).
120
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 26-2?
lolcus, having completed the whole voyage in four
months.
Now Pelias, despairing of the return of the
Argonauts, would have killed Aeson; but he requested
to be allowed to take his own life, and in
offering a sacrifice drank freely of the bull's blood
and died.1 And Jason's mother cursed Pelias and
hanged herself,2 leaving behind an infant son
Promachus; but Pelias slew even the son whom
she had left behind.3 On his return Jason surrendered
the fleece, but though he longed to avenge
his wrongs he bided his time. At that time he sailed
with the chiefs to the Isthmus and dedicated the ship
to Poseidon, but afterwards he exhorted Medea to
devise how he could punish Pelias. So she repaired
to the palace of Pelias and persuaded his daughters
to make mince meat of their father and boil him,
promising to make him young again by her drugs;
and to win their confidence she cut up a ram and
made it into a lamb by boiling it. So they believed
her, made mince meat of their father and boiled
him.4 But Acastus buried his father with the help
3 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 50. 1.
4 With this account of the death of Pelias compare Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 51 sq.; Pausanias, viii. 11. 2 sq.; Zenobius,
Cent. iv. 92 ; Plautus, Pseudolus, Act iii. vv. 868 sqq.: Cicero,
De senectute, xxiii. 83; Ovid, Metamorph. vii. 297-349;
Hyginus, Fab. 24. The story of the fraud practised by Medea
on Pelias is illustrated by Greek vase-paintings. For example,
on a black-figured vase the ram is seen issuing from the
boiling cauldron, while Medea and the two daughters of Pelias
stand by watching it with gestures of glad surprise, and the
aged white-haired king himself sits looking on expectant. See
Miss J. E. Harrison, Greek Vase Paintings (London, 1894),
plate ii; A. Baumeister, DenTcmdler des klassischen Altertums,
ii. 1201 sq., with fig. 1394. According to the author of
121
APOLLODORUS
TOV Trarepa ddirrei, TOV Be 'Ida-ova
fiera r»
28 Oi Be rjKOv e/9 HbpivOov, KOI Betca pev err)
Bi€T€\ovv €VTV%OVVT€S, avffis Be TOV rrjs Kopivffov
K^eoz/ro? TT/V ffvyarepa TXavtcrjv
eyyv&VTOs, TrapaTre/j/^rdfjievo^ 'Idcrow M.IJBeiav
eyd/4ei. r) Be, ou? re w/AOcrev 'Ido-cov 6eov 
KOL rrjv 'lacroi/o?
rfj
2
fj,era rov / o
i,3 TOU? Be iraiBas ovs el^ev e^ 'Idaovos,
Kal dPeprjTa, aTre/cretve, teal Xa/SoOcra
•jrapa 'HXtoi* ap/jua TTTTJVWV* BpaKovrwv eTrl
TOVTOV (frevyovo'a rj\0ev ei; 'A^va?. Xeyerai Be
tcal  on (frevyovcra roy? TratSa? ert vrjiriovs
/eaT€\i7rev, t«€Ta9 KaOLaracra eVt rov
1 fj.€fj.ayfj.fvov E : /nfnayevfitvov A.
2 (pap/jiaKOif EK : f dpfj.aKof A.
3 /coTe^ A6X07j E : Karaj)\tyei A.
4 Tmji'wj' E(7. Some MSS. read Trriji/bv.
the epic Returns (Nostoi), Medea in like manner restored to
youth Jason's old father, Aeson ; according to Pherecydes and
Simonides, she applied the magical restorative with success
to her husband, Jason. Again, Aeschylus wrote a play called
The Nurses of Dionysus, in which he related how Medea
similarly renovated not only the nurses but their husbands by
the simple process of decoction. See the Greek Argument to
the Medea of Euripides, and the Scholiast on Aristophanes,
Knights, 1321. (According to Ovid, Metamorph, vii. 251-
294, Medea restored Aeson to youth, not by boiling him, but
by draining his body of his effete old blood and replacing it by
a magic brew.) Again, when Pelops had been killed and
122
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 27-28
of the inhabitants of lolcus, and he expelled Jason
and Medea from lolcus.
They went to Corinth, and lived there happily
for ten years, till Creon, king of Corinth, betrothed
his daughter Glauce to Jason, who married
her and divorced Medea. But she invoked the
gods by whom Jason had sworn, and after often
upbraiding him with his ingratitude she sent the
bride a robe steeped in poison, which when Glauce
had put on, she was consumed with fierce fire along
with her father, who went to her rescue.1 But
Mermerus and Pheres, the children whom Medea had
by Jason, she killed, and having got from the Sun
a car drawn by winged dragons she fled on it to
Athens.2 Another tradition is that on her flight she
left behind her children, who were still infants,
setting them as suppliants on the altar of Hera of the
served up at a banquet of the gods by his cruel father Tantalus,
the deities in pity restored him to life by boiling him in
a cauldron from which he emerged well and whole except for
the loss of his shoulder, of which Demeter had inadvertently
partaken. See Pindar, Olymp. i. 26. (40) sq., with the Scholiast
; Tzet/.es, Schol. on Lycophron, 152-153. For similar
stories of the magical restoration of youth and life, see
Appendix, "The Renewal of Youth."
1 See Euripides, Medea, 1136 sqq. It is said that in her
agony Glauce threw herself into a fountain, which was
thenceforth named after her (Pausanias, ii. 2.6). The fountain
has been discovered and excavated in recent years. See
G. W. Elderkin, "The Fountain of Glauce at Corinth,"
American Journal of Archaeology, xiv. (1910), pp. 19-50.
2 In this account of the tragic end of Medea's stay at
Corinth our author has followed the Medea of Euripides.
Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 54; Ovid, Metamorph. vii.
391 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 25. According to Apuleius (Metamorph.
i. 10), Medea contrived to burn the king's palace and
the king himself in it, as well as his daughter.
123
APOLLODORUS
i 8e avrovs dva-
/carerpavparicrav.
Se ^/cev et? 'Adrfvas, icd/cel
Atyei TrcuSa yevva
vrrepov (Buffet (frvyas e£ A.dr]V(av yttera TO£)
€«/3aXX,6rat. aA-V OUTO?
Bapftdwv rr]V vf  eavrbv ^(apav airauav
€, Kul a-rparevofievos eVi 'IvSov? cnre
fie et9 KoX%oi;9 rjKOev ayvwaro*;, Kal
a A.lr)rr)v VTTO rov aSe\.f)Ov Tlep&ov
rfi? /3artA,eta9 ea-reprj^evov, KreLvacra rovrov r&
jrarpl rrjv fiacriXeiav a
1 Compare Pausanias, ii. 3. 6; Aelian, Varia Historia, v.
21 ; Scholiast on Euripides, Medea, 9 and 264. Down to a
comparatively late date the Corinthians used to offer annual
sacrifices and perform other rites for the sake of expiating the
murder of the children. Seven boys and seven girls, clad in
black and with their hair shorn, had to spend a year in the
sanctuary of Hera of the Height, where the murder had been
perpetrated. These customs fell into desuetude after Corinth
was captured by the Romans. See Pausanias, ii. 3. 7;
Scholiast on Euripides, Medea, 264; compare Philostratus,
Heroica, xx. 24.
2 According to one account, Medea attempted to poison
Theseus, but his father dashed the poison cup from his lips.
See below, Epitome, i. 5 sq.; Plutarch, Theseiis, 12; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 55. 4-6 ; Pausanias, ii. 3. 8 ; Scholiast on Homer,
II. xi. 741; Eustathius, Comment, on Dionysius Perieg.
1017 ; Ovid, Metamorph. vii. 406-424- According to Ovid,
124
THE LIBRARY, I. ix. 28
Height; but the Corinthians removed them and
wounded them to death.1
Medea came to Athens, and being there married
to Aegeus bore him a son Medus. Afterwards,
however, plotting against Theseus, she was driven
a fugitive from Athens with her son.2 But he conquered
many barbarians and called the whole
country under him Media,3 and marching against
the Indians he met his death. And Medea came
unknown to Colchis, and finding that Aeetes had
been deposed by his brother Perses, she killed Perses
and restored the kingdom to her father.4
the poison which Medea made use of to take off Theseus was
aconite. 3 For the etymology, compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 55. 5
and 7, iv. 56. 1 ; Strabo, xi. 13. 10, p. 526 ; Pausanias, ii. 3.
8; Eustathius, Comment, on Dionysius Perieg. 1017; Hyginus,
Fab. 27. 4 According to others, it was not Medea but her son Medus
who killed Perses. See Diodorus Siculus, iv. 56. 1; Hyginus,
Fab. 27. Cicero quotes from an otherwise unknown Latin
tragedy some lines in which the deposed Aeetes is represented
mourning his forlorn state in an unkingly and
unmanly strain (Tusculan. Disput. iii. 12. 26). The narrative
of Hyginus has all the appearance of being derived from a
tragedy, perhaps the same tragedy from which Cicero quotes.
But that tragedy itself was probably based on a Greek
original; for Diodorus Siculus introduces his similar account
of the assassination of the usurper with the remark that the
history of Medea had been embellished and distorted by the
extravagant fancies of the tragedians.

BOOK II
B
I. 'EiTreiSr Se TO TOU Aef#aXi& i 09
TO
O KOI Twdvos yiverai Trat? "Ivai/09, af '
* \   « A "T -\ " ' ou 7roTa/4O9 ei/ Apj€i lva^o; Ka\,€irai. rovrov
Kal MeXtct92 Tt}? 'fl/ceavov 3 opa)vev; re teal
Alyia\ev; TratSes eyevovro. A/^taXetu? yuey o5i/
airacra A.lryia\eta
?}? varepov IleXo-
Trovvrjcrov Trpocrayopevdeio'')]? Swacrrevcav e/c
8t/c7793 vvfif 7)? 'ATTIV teal Nio
*A?rt9 /ttev oyi/ e/9 rvpavviBa rrjv eavrov //.eraa
£' eavrov rrjv TleXoTrovvrjcrov '
eX^tovo9 /ca
red ave, KCU
yvvaiicl
eyevero, a 9
1 \fjufjLev Aegius : \fyo(j.et  A.
2 MeAfas Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 177, Scholiast on
Plato, Timaeus, p. 22 A : /ue\io-(njj A.
3 T7j\oS^/c?;s Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 177, Scholiast
on Plato, Timaeus, p. 22 A : £K TJ}S Aao5i«rjs Heyne (in the
text). * ovap.oi.aa.s Bekker, Wagner (misprint).
1 As to Inachus and his descendants, see Tzetzes, Schol.
on Lycophron, 177 (who follows Apollodorus) ; Pausanias, ii.
15. 5 ; Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes, 932 ; Scholiast on
128
BOOK II
I. HAVING now gone through the family of Deucalion,
we have next to speak of that of Inachus.
Ocean and Tethys had a son Inachus, after whom
a river in Argos is called Inachus.1 He and Melia,
daughter of Ocean, had sons, Phoroneus and Aegialeus.
Aegialeus having died childless, the whole
country was called Aegialia; and Phoroneus, reigning
over the whole land afterwards named Peloponnese,
begat Apis and Niobe by a nymph Teledice. Apis
converted his power into a tyranny and named the
Peloponnese after himself Apia ; but being a stern
tyrant he was conspired against and slain by
Thelxion and Telchis. He left no child, and being
deemed a god was called Sarapis.2 But Niobe had
by Zeus (and she was the first mortal woman with
whom Zeus cohabited) a son Argus, and also, so says
Homer, II. i. 22. According to Apion, the flight of the
Israelites from Egypt took place during the reign of Inachus
at Argos. See Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelii, x. 10. 10 sq.
On the subject of Phoroneus there was an ancient epic
Phoronis, of which a few verses have survived. See Epicorum
Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. G. Kinkel, pp. 209 sqq.
2 Apollodorus identifies the Argive Apis with the Egyptian
bull Apis, who was in turn identified with Serapis (Sarapis).
As to the Egyptian Apis, see Herodotus, ii. 153 (with Wiedeniann's
note), iii. 27 and 28. As to Apia as a name for
Peloponnese or Argos, see Aeschylus, Suppl. 260 sqq.; Pausanias,
ii. 5. 7 ; Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 22 ; TVetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 177 ; Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. 'Airfa.
129
VOL. I. K
APOLLODORUS
al
orcovvras
2 Se rbv Tle\aa-ybv avTO^Oovd (frrjcriv emit. aXXa
irepl fiev TOVTOV iraXiv epov/uev "Apyos be \a/3oi)vl
Tr)V /3affi\eiav aft eavrov
€Ka\ecrev "Apyos, icai yrffj,a; l&vd&vrjv rrjv
fj,6vos real Neat/3a9 ere/cixacrev "EiK/Sacrov TLeipavra
Kpiacrov, 09 teal rrjv (3ari\£iav Trape-
'E«:/3a(roy Be 'A.yrji (i)p yiverai, TOVTOV £
6 TravoTTTt]^ \6y6^evof. el%e 8e o5ro9 6pdd\fj,ov;
fjLev ev Travii TO  crw//,aTt, u7rep/3aA,Xa)i' Se Swdfiei
TOV fj^ev rrjv 'A.p/ea$Lav \vfiaiv 6 pevov Tavpov ave-
\wv Trjv TOVTOV Sopav ^//.^tecraTO, ^aTVpov Be
TOU9 'Ap«aSa9 dSiKovvTa Kal a^aipovfjievov ra
^ocTK'rjfjiaTa VTroarTas aireKTeive. Xe^erat Be OTI
Kal TTJV TapTapov Kal T1^ "Et^tSvav, r) TOVS
crvvijpTra^ev, e7riTr)pr)(ra; KoifACOfj.ewrjv
. e^eBitcvja-e Be KOI TOV "A.mBos povov,
TOU9 amow diroKTeivas.
"Apyov Be Kal 'I«jyU,77^9 Tr/  'AcrwTroO ?rat9
"Iacro9,2 ov (jjacriv 'Iw yevecrdai, Kao-Tft)/? Be o
(rvyypdtya; ra. ^poviKa Kal TroXXoi T&V Tpayi/c&v
'Ivd%ov rr)v '!&) \eyov(riv 'HcrtoSo9 Be Kal 'Axov-
1 After Xa/Soov the MSS. (A) add -rrapa Qopcaveces, which is
omitted by Hercher and Wagner, following Heyne.
2 "laffos Aegius : To-os A.
1 See below, iii. 8. 1.
2 Compare Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes, 932 ; Hyginus,
Fab. 145.
3 As to Argus and his many eyes, compare Aeschylus,
Suppl. 303 sqq.; Scholiast on Euripides, Phoen. 1116 ; Ovid,
Metamorph. i. 625 sqq. • Hyginus, Fab. 145 ; Servius, on
Virgil, Aen. vii. 790 ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini,
130
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 1-3
Acusilaus, a son Pelasgus, after whom the inhabitants
of the Peloponnese were called Pelasgians.
However, Hesiod says that Pelasgus was a son of
the soil. About him I shall speak again.1 But
Argus received the kingdom and called the Peloponnese
after himself Argos; and having married
Evadne, daughter of Strymon and Neaera, he begat
Ecbasus, Piras, Epidaurus, and Criasus,2 who also
succeeded to the kingdom.
Ecbasus had a son Agenor, and Agenor had a son
Argus, the one who is called the All-seeing. He had
eyes in the whole of his body,3 and being exceedingly
strong he killed the bull that ravaged Arcadia
and clad himself in its hide; 4 and when a satyr
wronged the Arcadians and robbed them of their
cattle, Argus withstood and killed him. It is said,
too, that Echidna,5 daughter of Tartarus and Earth,
who used to carry off passers-by, was caught asleep
and slain by Argus. He also avenged the murder ot
Apis by putting the guilty to death.
Argus and Ismene, daughter of Asopus, had a son
lasus, who is said to have been the father of Io.6
But the annalist Castor and many of the tragedians
allege that Io was a daugherof Inachus;7 and Hesiod
ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 5sq. (First Vatican Mythographer,
18 - 4 Compare Dionysius, quoted by the Scholiast on Euripides,
Phoeniss. 1116, who says merely that Argus was clad
in a hide and had eyes all over his body.
5 As to the monster Echidna, half woman, half snake, see
Hesiod, Theog. 295 sqq.
6 Compare Pausanias, ii. 16. 1 ; Scholiast on Euripidos,
Orestes, 932.
7 Compare Aeschylus, Prometheus, 589 sqq.; Herodotus, i.
1; Plutarch, De malignitate Herodoti, 11; Lucian, Dial,
deorum, iii.; id. Dial. Marin. vii. 1 ; Pausanias, iii. 18. 13 ;
Ovid, Metamorph. i. 583 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 145.
rS1
K 2
APOLLODORUS
crt/Vao? Tleipijvos avrrjv pariv ewai. Tavryv
teotoirvvnv TTIS r/Hoa? evov&av Zey? e&deioe. e^ovcrav Zeus €f)0eipe.
eis Be u£' r/H/ a? r^? pev /copy? atydftevos
ei? ftovv //.ere/iop^iwo-e \evKr)V, anrw^offaro Be
ravrp1 p/q (rvve\,0eiv Bio tfrqcriv HtrioSo? ov/c
eTricnracrdat, rrjv CLTTO TOV Oewv opjtjv TOVS ytvo-
/juevovf op/cov9 vjrep epwro?. r/Hpa Be aiTijcrafj,evr)
Trapa Ato9 rr)v /3oOi/ f v\afca avrrjv /carea'Trjo'ev
"Apyov TOV TravoTTTrjv, ov QepefcvSr)? 2 pev 'A.peo-
TO/009 Aeyet, 'Acr/cXT/TTtaSj;? 8e 'Ii/a%ou, Kep/cwfr3
Be "Apyov KOI 'lafjMJvrjs T?}? 'AtWTroi) Qvyarpos'
'A/coucrtXao? 8e ryrjyevf) avrov \eyei. OUTO? e«
T?}? eXata? eBecr/jievev avrrjv ^rt? ei' ra  MW/CT;-
vaiwv v'jrfjp/%€V a\cr€i. Ato? Se ermrrd^avro^
'Kp/jifj K\e-fyai rrjv ftovv, ^vvaavro^ 'lepaicos,
ejreiBrj \a6eiv OVK rjBvvaro, \'i,0w /3aXo 
Kreive TOV "Apyov, odev dpyei(f)6vTr); €
r/Hpa Se T^ /3oi- olwrpov epfiaXXet rj Be T
rjicev et? TOI^ d?r' e/cetV^? 'loviov Kokirov K\Tf]6evrat
Bia rfj^ 'IXXvpiBos iropev9ela-a teal TOV
vTrepj3a\ovGa BiejSrj TOV rare p,ev icdKov-
Tropov %paKiov, vvv Be aTT eKeivrjs Bocrrropov.
aTce\6ovaa 4 Be et? 'ZtcvOlav Kal rrjv
,epiBa ytjv, Tro\~\.r)v %epaov Tr\avr]deiaa KO\
T}V Biavr)£a/j,evr) QdXacrffav RvpcoTrrjs re ical
1 ravry Wagner : raur/jy E : aurV A : apx'hv Hercher.
2 QfpeKvSris . . . 'Aer/cAr/TnoSTjs Heyne (comparing Scholiast
on Euripides, Phoenissae, 1116), Bekker, Hercher, Wagner:
'Ao-KArpnciS^s . . . ^epeKvSrjs A, Westermann.
3 Ke'p/cai^ Aegius : Kftcpoty A.
4 a.irf\6ovffa. E : eTre\6ovra A.
1 Compare Aeschylus, Suppl. 291 sgg. ; Scholiast on Homer,
132
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 3
and Acusilaus say that she was a daughter of Piren.
Zeus seduced her while she held the priesthood of
Hera, but being detected by Hera he by a touch
turned lo into a white cow1 and swore that he had
not known her; wherefore Hesiod remarks that
lover's oaths do not draw down the anger of the gods.
But Hera requested the cow from Zeus for herself
and set Argus the All-seeing to guard it. Pherecydes
says that this Argus was a son of Arestor ;2 but Asclepiades
says that he was a son of Inachus, and Cercops
says that he was a son of Argus and Ismene, daughter
of Asopus ; but Acusilaus says that he was earthborn.
3 He tethered her to the olive tree which was
in the grove of the Mycenaeans. But Zeus ordered
Hermes to steal the cow, and as Hermes could not do
it secretly because Hie rax had blabbed, he killed
Argus by the cast of a stone ; 4 whence he was called
Argiphontes.5 Hera next sent a gadfly to infest the
cow,b and the animal came first to what is called
after her the Ionian gulf. Then she journeyed through
Illyria and having traversed Mount Haemus she
crossed what was then called the Thracian Straits but
is now called after her the Bosphorus.7 And having
gone away to Scythia and the Cimmerian land she
wandered over great tracts of land and swam wide
stretches of sea both in Europe and Asia until at last
I I . ii. 103 (who cites the present passage of Apollodorus);
Ovid, Metamorph. i. 588 sqq.
2 The passage of Pherecydes is quoted by the Scholiast on
Euripides, Phoenissae, 1116. 3 So Aeschylus, Prometheus, 305.
* Compare Scholiast on Aeschylus, Prometheus, 561; Scholiast
on Homer, IL ii. 103. * That is, slayer of Argus. 6 For the wanderings of lo, goaded by the gadfly, see
Aeschylus, Suppl. 540sqq., Prometheus, 786(805) sqq.; Ovid
Metamorph. i. 724 sqq.
Bosvoros, "Cow's strait" or "Ox-ford."
*
APOLLODORUS
Ao"ia9  Te\evTalov fj/cev x els Atyvmov, orrov
ap^auav ftopcprjv aTroXa/SoOcra yevva irapa
NeiXffl Trora/ift) "E7ra/ oz  TratSa. TOVTOV Se "
Selrai Koup^rwi/ afyavr) Troirjaar ol Se r)f dviarav
avTov. Kal Zeu9 ^ev alcrOofJievos tcreivei Kow-
'Id) 8e €TTL ^T'rja'iv Tov TratSos erpaTrero.
Be Kara rrjv ^vpiav airaa-av (exec
yap e/Aijvvero OTI 2 rj  3 rov Bv^Xtwi' /3a(riXe«t)5
yvvr) 4 €Ti0r)vei TOV vlov) KOL TOV "E7rac/ oz  evpovcra,
et9 Aiyi»7TToi  eX0ovra e^ajjuridr) Tr)\€y6vq 
T& ftacrikevovTi, Tore AiyvjrTlfav. ISpvaaTO Se
eicd\eaav
tcai Tr)V 1ft) icriv o/xoto)9 TTpoo'rjyopeva'av.
4 "E7ra£o9 Se /3acri\eva v AlyvrrTicov yafjuel Me/u.-
NetXof dvyaTepa, Kal CLTCO TavTrjs KT'I^GL
' TroKiv, Kal Tercvol OvyaTepa Aiftvyv,
yivovTai TracSe? SiSv/jioi 'Ay^vcop Kal
'Aytfvwp [lev ovv et9 QOWIK^V aTraX-
3acriXeure, KaKel 7779 /ieyaXT/? pi^ty; eye-
VCTO yevedpxr)?- 06ev {jTrepd^aofjieOa Trepl TOVTOV.
677X09 Se L»7TOyLtetVa9 €V Alyvmut /3ao-fXeyet fiev
AlyvTTTov, yafj et Se 'Ay^ivorjv5 T^V NetXou
OvyaTepa, Kal avT& yivovTai 7ratSe9
1 ^/cei/ A : 7/ei E. 2 ort inserted by Bekker : us Heyne.
3 ^ a conjecture of Heyne's. 4 71/1'^ inserted by Aegius.
8 'Ayxivorjv A, Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 42 (citing the
Second Book of Apollodorus) : 'A-yx'W'"' Scholiast on Plato,
Timaeus, p. 25 B : 'Ax'pfo? Tzetzes, Chiliades, vii. 353, and
Schol. on Lycophron, 583.
1 Compare Aeschylus, Prometheus, 846(865) sqq.; Herodotus,
ii. 153, iii. 27; Ovid, Metamorph. i. 748 sqq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 145. 2 Isis, whom the ancients sometimes identified with lo (see
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 3-4
she came to Egypt, where she recovered her original
form and gave birth to a son Epaphus beside the
river Nile.1 Him Hera besought the Curetes to make
away with, and make away with him they did. When
Zeus learned of it, he slew the Curetes; but lo set
out in search of the child. She roamed all over Syria,
because there it was revealed to her that the wife of
the king of Byblus was nursing her son ; 2 and having
found Epaphus she came to Egypt and was married
to Telegonus, who then reigned over the Egyptians.
And she set up an image of Demeter, whom the
Egyptians called Isis,3 and lo likewise they called by
the name of Isis.4
Reigningover theEgyptians Epaphus married Memphis,
daughter of Nile, founded and named the city
of Memphis after her, and begat a daughter Libya,
after whom the region of Libya was called.5 Libya
had by Poseidon twin sons, Agenor and Belus.6 Agenor
departed to Phoenicia and reigned there, and there
he became the ancestor of the great stock ; hence we
shall defer our account of him.7 But Belus remained
in Egypt, reigned over the country, and married
Anchinoe, daughter of Nile, by whom he had twin
below), is said to have nursed the infant son of the king of
Byblus. See Plutarch, Isis et Osiris, 15 sq. Both stories
probably reflect the search said to have been instituted by
Isis for the body of the dead Osiris.
3 For the identification of Demeter with Isis, see Herodotus,
ii. 59, 156 ; Diodorus Siculus, i. 13. 5, i. 25. 1, i. 96. 5.
* Herodotus remarked (ii. 41) that in art Isis was represented
like lo as a woman with cow's horns. For the identification
of lo and Isis, see Diodorua Siculus, i. 24. 8 ; Lucian,
Dial, deorum, iii.; Clement of Alexandria, Strom, i. 21. 106,
p. 382, ed. Potter; Propertius, iii. 20. 17 sq.; Juvenal, Sat.
vi. 526 sqq.; Statins, Sylv. iii. 2. 101 sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 145.
5 Compare Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 894.
• Compare J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, vii. 349 sq.
1 See below, iii. 1.
O3
APOLLODORUS
teal Aaz ao9, ft 9 Se f t]criv
teal K.r)(f ev? teal 3 ivevs Trpoffert. Aai aoi 
ovv 677X09 ev Aiftvy fcaTWKi(T€V, 1 AtyvTTTov Se ev
'A/3a/3ta, 09 teal KaTacrrpeTJrd/jievos2 T^y MeA-a//.-
TroSwi'3 ^(opav df ' eavrov  4 wvopacrev Atyvrr-
TOV. yivovrai 8e etc 7ro\\a)v yvvaitewv AlyvTTTQ)
H.GV 7rat8e9 irevTijtcovra, ffvyarepes Se Aavaw
TrevTijtcovra. crracnacrdvvtov Be CLVTWV irepl 7779
a/o%?795 vffrepov, Aavao9 701)9 Alyinnov TratSa?
Se8oi/cft)9, vTrodepevtis 'AG^vcis avrw vavv tcarea-
tcevaare irpwros teal ra9 0vyarepa; evOepevos
epvye. Trpoa-ar^oiv6 Se 'PoSy TO r?;9 AivBias7
dya\fjLa 'Adrjvd? iSpvcraro. evrevOev 8e rjtcev elf
"Apyo?, /cat T?)^ ftacriXeiav avrq 
Vekdvwp 8 o Tore j3a(ri,\eva v auro9
r?}9 ^(wpa9 a^)' eavrov TOV9 evoiteovvras
a v6fjLacre .Q dvvSpov 8e rfjs ^& /3a
1 KCtTCpKlfffV R : KO.TaH1}ffeV A.
2 KaraffTpefyoifjievos Scholiast on Homer, //. i. 42, Scholiast
on Plato, Timaeus, p. 25 B : /forao'/cail'a^eyos A.
3 /xeA.a/it7ro'5a i  R, Scholiast on Homer, J7. i. 42, Scholiast on
Plato, Timaeus, p. 25 B, Zenobius, Cer?/. ii. 6 : jiter \afjLTrdScav A.
4 d£' eauToi) added by Aegius from the Scholiasts on Homer
and Plato, II.cc.
5 irepl TTJJ apxys omitted by Heyne and Bekker. Compare
Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 42, araffiavrdiv Se irpbs a\\-f]\ovs
irepl TJJS apx^s.
6 irpoaffxuv Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 42 : irpocrayatv A.
7 \ivSlas R : \v5las A.
8 TeAaJ'cop Heyne; compare Pausanias ii. 16. 1, ii. 19. 3, sq.:
•n-€\dvcap A : eAAavtup Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 42.
9 ourbs Se /cpar^iray rfjj x^Pas "0' eauToO TOUJ ^voiKOvvras
Anvaovs uvd/naarev. These words are cited in the present
connexion by the Scholiast on Homer, //. i. 42, as from the
Second Book of Apollodorus. They are inserted by Aegius,
Cominelinus, Gale, and Miiller, but omitted by Heyne,
Westermann, Bekker, Hercher, and Wagner.
136
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 4
sons, Egyptus and Danaus,1 but according to Euripides,
he had also Cepheus and Phineus. Danaus was
settled by Belus in Libya, and Egyptus in Arabia;
but Egyptus subjugated the country of the Melampods
and named it Egypt after himself. Both had
children by many wives; Egyptus had fifty sons, and
Danaus fifty daughters. As they afterwards quarrelled
concerning the kingdom, Danaus feared the
sons of Egyptus, and by the advice of Athena he built
a ship, being the first to do so, and having put his
daughters on board he fled. And touching at Rhodes
he set up the image of Lindian Athena.2 Thence
he came to Argos and the reigning king Gelanor
surrendered the kingdom to him;3 and having made
himself master of the country he named the inhabitants
Danai after himself. But the country being
1 The following account of Egyptus and Danaus, including
the settlement of Danaus and his daughters at Argos, is
quoted verbally, with a few omissions and changes, by the
Scholiast on Homer, II. i. 42, who mentions the second book
of Apollodorus as his authority. Compare Aeschylus, Suppl.
318 sqq. ; Scholiast on Euripides, Hecuba, 886, and Orestes,
872 ; Hyginus, Fab. 168 ; Servius on Virgil, Aen. x. 497.
2 Compare Herodotus, ii. 182 ; Marmor Parium, 15-17,
pp. 544, 546, ed. C. Miiller (Fragmenta Historicorum
Graecorum, vol. i.); Diodorus Siculus, v. 58. 1 ; Strabo, xiv.
2. 11, p. 655 ; Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelii, iii. 8. As
to the worship of the goddess, see Cecil Torr, Rhodes in
Ancient Times (Cambridge, 1885), pp. 74 sq., 94 sq. In
recent years a chronicle of the temple of Lindian Athena has
been discovered in Rhodes : it is inscribed on a marble slab.
See Chr. Blinkenberg, La Chronique du temple Lindien
(Copenhagen, 1912).
3 Compare Pausanias, ii. 16. 1, ii. 19. 3 sq.
137
APOLLODORUS
Kal ra9 TTijyas e^pave TlocretB&v
&IOTI Trjv %a pav "Hpas l
elvai, r«9 Ovyarepas vSpevaofievas eVe/z^e.
Be avTfov 'AuvfAtowr} ^rovcra vScop ptTrret
TTepiavaaras e-rredvuet (rvyyevea-Qai,'
8e TOUT&) (rvvevvd^eTat, Kal avrfj
T«9 ev Aepvrj Trrjyas efi^waev.
5 Ot Be AlyvTTTOV TraiSe? eXtiovres elf
r?}9 Te e%0pa; TravaaorOai irapeKakovv Kal
dvyarepas avrov ya/jt,eiv rj^iovv. Aaz^ao9 ^e
jjuev airiaTwv avrwv 7049 eTrayyeXfiacriv, aua Be
Kal uvrjcriKaxcov irepl Trjs (pvyrjs, waohoyei rou9
yduovs Kal BieK\ijpov 70,9 Kopas. "TTrep/jwrfarpav
pev ovv rrjv Trpecrfivrepav e^ec\ov A.vyKei
Kal T*opyof 6vr)v'i Tlpmret- ovrot yap IK /3a(Ti\iSo$
yvvaiKos Apyvfylris eyeyoveicrav AlyvTTTO). rcav Be
Ev/ocd7T»79 AvrofJidr'rjv JA/jLV/j,a vr)v 'Ayavyv
avrai Be e/e /8acrfXtSo9 eyevovro Aayaw, GK Be
Kal
1 "Upas Heyne, comparing Pausanias, ii. 15, 5 : 'AOyvas A.
2 YopyotyAvriv Aegius : yopyo(f)6vTf]v A.
3 After "fTrep^vticrrpa the MSS. (A) add Avyitevs Se Ka.\vKi)v
f \axev. These words are rightly omitted by Hercher and
Wagner, following Heyne : they are bracketed by C. Miiller,
but retained by Westermann and Bek.ker.
1 Compare Pausanias, ii. 15. 5.
2 Compare Euripides, Phoenissae, 187 sqq.; Lucian, Dial.
Marin. vi.; Philostratus, Imagines, i. 8 ; Scholiast on Homer,
138
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 4-5
waterless, because Poseidon had dried up even the
springs out of anger at Inachus for testifying that the
land belonged to Hera/ Danaus sent his daughters
to draw water. One of them, Amymone, in her search
for water threw a dart at a deer and hit a sleeping
satyr, and he, starting up, desired to force her ; but
Poseidon appearing on the scene, the satyr fled, and
Amymone lay with Poseidon, and he revealed to her
the springs at Lerna.2
But the sons of Egyptus came to Argos, and exhorted
Danaus to lay aside his enmity, and begged
to marry his daughters. Now Danaus distrusted
their professions and bore them a grudge on account
of his exile ; nevertheless he consented to the marriage
and allotted the damsels among them.3 First, they
picked out Hypermnestra as the eldest to be the
wife of Lynceus, and Gorgophone to be the wife of
Proteus; for Lynceus and Proteus had been borne
to Egyptus by a woman of royal blood, Argyphia;
but of the rest Busiris, Enceladus, Lycus, and
Daiphron obtained by lot the daughters that
had been borne to Danaus by Europe, to wit,
Automate, Amymone, Agave, and Scaea. These
daughters were borne to Danaus by a queen; but
Gorgophone and Hypermnestra were borne to him
II. iv. 171 ; Propertius, iii. 18. 47 sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 169.
There was a stream called Amymone at Lerna. See Strabo,
viii. 6. 8, p. 371 ; Pausanias, ii. 37. 1 and 4 ; Hyginus, I.e.
3 For the marriage of the sons of Egyptus with the
daughters of Danaus, and its tragic sequel, see Zenobius,
Cent. ii. 6 ; Scholiast on Euripides, Hecuba, 886, and Orestes,
872 ; Scholiast on Homer, II. iv. 171 ; Hyginus, Fab. 168;
Servius, on Virgil, Aen. x. 497. With the list of names of
the bridal pairs as recorded by Apollodorus, compare the
list given by Hyginus, Fab. 170.
139
APOLLODORUS
I7T/J09 Be 'l7r7roBd/j£iav,
'Ayrfvcop KXeoTrdrpav, Xatro? 'Aarepiav, AtotcopvGTrjs
'IinroBa/Aeiav,1 "AX#?792 T\avKr)v, 'AXK/
j,qvo)p 'iTnrofAeSovcrav, 'I-mroffoos r6pyrjv, Eu-
%ijv(op *I(f)i/jbeBovcrav, 'iTTTroXuro? 'PoS^y. OVTOI
fj,ev ol Be/ca el; 'A/oa/3ta? yvvai/cos, al B€ irapOkvoi
e£ a/j,aSpvdS(ov vv/j,(pa)v, al fiev 'AT\avTeir)?, al
Be e/c $01/9779. 'AryaTTToXe/iOs Se e
Meveyu,a%o9 N^Xw, ot fjL6i» eTrra e/c
yvvaitcos, al 8e TrapOevoi,
aK\rjpwfr\ Be eXa^ov Bi op^ww/jiLav ra?
ot e/c Tupta9, KXetTO9 KXetr^y,
X^I/, XyOVCr47T7rO9 XyOfCrtTTTT^I'. Oi
vrjiBos vv[j,cpr)} TratSe? BcoBe/ca eK\r)pGt)cravTO
rcov etc IloXv^o{)9 vrjiBos vv/j,f r)s- rjaav Be ol
IIoXu«TG)/3 X^oj/fcO9, at 8e Kopai Avrovorj ©eai/co
'HXe/cr/ja KXeoTrdrpa EvpvBi/cij T\avfci7T7rr} 'Av-
OrjKeia KXeoBooprj EVITTTTT; 'E/jarw ^rvyvrj Rpv/cij.
ol Be e/c  Topyovos AlyvTrrw yevofievoi €K\/r)p(ocravro
irepl TCOV etc Tliepias, teal \ay%dvei Tlept,-
f)af ftev 'A/craiyv, Olvevs Be HoBdptcTjv,
1 'iTTroSa^eto)'. This name has already occurred two
lines higher up ; hence Heyne conjectured KAeo8a/ue«ai' or
4 £Ao5aJueia»') comparing Pausanias, iv. 30. 2 (where the
better reading seems to be ^v\oSdfj.eia). Wagner conjectured
'liriroQ6t]v, comparing Hyginus, Fab. 170.
2 "AXK-qs R : &\KIS A.
3 GdpTiv R : (ftdpTtiy A : QaivapfTyv Hercher. Heyne conjectured
Qapriv.
140
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 5
by Elephantis. And tstrus got Hippodamia; Chalcodon
got Rhodia; Agenor got Cleopatra; Chaetus
got Asteria; Diocorystes got Hippodamia; Alces
got Glauce; Alcmenor got Hippomedusa; Hippothous
got Gorge; Euchenor got Iphimedusa; Hippolytus
got Rhode. These ten sons were begotten
on an Arabian woman; but the maidens were
begotten on Hamadryad nymphs, some being
daughters of Atlantia, and others of Phoebe.
Agaptolemus got Pirene; Cercetes got Dorium;
Eurydamas got Phartis; Aegius got Mnestra ;
Argius got Evippe ; Archelaus got Anaxibia;
Menemachus got Nelo. These seven sons were begotten
on a Phoenician woman, and the maidens on
an Ethiopian woman. The sons of Egyptus by Tyria
got as their wives, without drawing lots, the daughters
of Danaus by Memphis in virtue of the similarity
of their names ; thus Clitus got Clite ; Sthenelus got
Sthenele; Chrysippus got Chrysippe. The twelve
sons of Egyptus by the Naiad nymph Caliadne cast
lots for the daughters of Danaus by the Naiad nymph
Polyxo : the sons were Eurylochus, Phantes, Peristhenes,
Hermus, Dryas, Potamon, Cisseus, Lixus,
Imbrus, Bromius, Polyctor, Chthonius ; and the damsels
were Autonoe, Theano, Electra, Cleopatra, Eurydice,
Glaucippe, Anthelia, Cleodore, Evippe, Erato,
Stygne, Bryce. The sons of Egyptus by Gorgo,
cast lots for the daughters of .Danaus by Pieria, and
Periphas got Actaea, Oeneus got Podarce, Egyptus
141
APOLLODORUS
Tt]v, 'ISfimv TtvXdpyrjv. ovroi1 Be elri vewraror
"IBa? 'iTTTroBifcrjv, kaifypav 'ABidvTiyv (avrai Se
etc p^rpos ejevovro "Epcrijs), HavBicov Ka\\iSifC'r)v,
"AyO/S^Xo? Oi^rjv, "TTrepfSios Ke\aiv(a, 'ITTTTOKOpv
TTr); trTirepi7T'TT'r]v' OVTOI eg 'H^atcrrtyT;?, at
Se etc
, rat9
TOU9 vv/4f)iov} a
(7Tpa ' avri] 'yap A.vryfcea Siecraxre irapdevov avrrjv
j v\dga^'ra' Bib /caOeipgas av-rrjv Aa^ao?
etypovpei. al Be a\\ai rwv AavaoO Qvyarepoov
ra9 yu-ei  «6^)aXa9 TWI/ WJJL^LWV ev ry Aepvy fearcopvgav,
ra Be crw/^ara TT/JO r-^9 7roXew9 eKijBevcrav.
fcal auT«9 etcddrjpav 'Kdrfva re /cat 'EjO/*?}? Ato9
«eXevcrai/ro9. Aaz^ao9 Se vcrrepov erT7rep/Avi]crTpav
Awytcei (TvvwKicre, ra9 Se Xoi7ra9 Bvyarepa? et9
yv/AVi/cbv dywva rot9 VIK&GIV e'Sw/cev.
'AfjLVfj,(bvrj Be e/c HocreiBwvos e^evvfjae Na-v-
TT\LOV. o5ro9 /ia/cpo/9to9 ryevo/Aevos, 7T\ea v rrjv
6d\aTrav,
1 o£TDt Heyne (conjecture), Westermann : ot Se vewraroi
(omitting €tn) Hercher : o/crcb MSS. , Aegius, Commelinus,
Gale, Heyne (in text), Bekker : foKi-cb Wagner.
2 eK\ripara.vTo EA : fK\T]p(aara,To Wagner, comparing Zenobius,
(7en. ii. 6, where, however, we should rather read
€K\rjpuffavTo instead of GK\T] pwffa.ro ; for the middle voice of
ovv cannot be used in the sense of "allotting."
1 Compare Pindar, Nem. i. 6 (10), with the Scholiast;
Pausanias, ii. 19. 6, ii. 20. 7, ii. 21. 1 and 2 ; Horace, Odes,
iii. 11. 30 sqq.; Ovid, Heroides, xiv.
2 Compare Zenobius, Cent. iv. 86. According to Pausanias
142
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 5
got Dioxippe, Menalces got Adite, Lampus got Ocypete,
Idmon got Pylarge. The youngest sons of
Egyptus were these : Idas got Hippodice; Dai'phron
got Adiante (the mother who bore these damsels was
Herse) ; Pandion got Callidice; Arbelus got Oeme ;
Hyperbius got Celaeno; Hippocorystes got Hyperippe;
the mother of these men was Hephaestine, and
the mother of these damsels was Crino.
When they had got their brides by lot, Danaus
made a feast and gave his daughters daggers ; and
they slew their bridegrooms as they slept, all but
Hypermnestra; for she saved Lynceus because he
had respected her virginity:x wherefore Danaus
shut her up and kept her under ward. But the rest
of the daughters of Danaus buried the heads of their
bridegrooms in Lerna 2 and paid funeral honours to
their bodies in front of the city; and Athena and
Hermes purified them at the command of Zeus.
Danaus afterwards united Hypermnestra to Lynceus;
and bestowed his other daughters on the victors in
an athletic contest.3
Amymone had a son Nauplius by Poseidon.4 This
Nauplius lived to a great age, and sailing the sea he
used by beacon lights to lure to death such as he fell
(ii. 24. 2) the heads of the sons of Egyptus were buried on
the Larisa, the acropolis of Argos, and the headless trunks
were buried at Lerna.
3 Compare Pindar, Pyth. ix. 112 (195), with the Scholiasts ;
Pausanias, iii. 12. 2. The legend may reflect an old custom
of racing for a bride. See The Magic Art and the Evolution
of Kings, ii. 299 sqq. It is said that Danaus instituted
games which were celebrated every fifth (or, as we should say,
every fourth) year, and at which the prize of the victor in
the foot-race was a shield. See Hyginus, Fab. 170.
4 Compare Strabo, viii. 6. 2, p. 368; Pausanias, ii. 38. 2,
iv. 35. 2.
143
APOLLODORUS
j)6pet.1 crvveftr) ovv teal avrbv reXevrrjcrai eteeivco
T& 0avdra .2 Trplv Be reXevrrjcrai eyr)jj,e 3 & 9 /tier
ol rpayiteol \eyova-i, K\vfji€vr)v Trjv Kar/3e«9, a 9
8e 6 TOVS voarovf ypdtyas, &i\vpav, & 9 $e
Kep/cwi/r,4 'Ha-iovrjv, teal eyevvrj&e HaT^aa^Sijv
O'latea N avert fj,e8ovra.
II. Avytcevs Se /j,era Aavabv "Apyov? Svvatrrevcav
et; 'YTrep/AVijcrTpas reicvol TraiSa "A/3avra.
rovrov Be teal 'Ayhatas 5 rfjs MavTivetos StSv/jtoi
TralSes eyevovro 'Arcpicrios teal Tlpolros. ovroi
xal Kara yao-Tpo? fiev eri, ovre  earacria^ov TT/JO?
, teal 7ro\e/j,ovvTe  evpov dcnriSa? Trpca-
TOI. teal teparijcras 'A/cptcri09 Tlpolrov "Apyovs
e^e\avvei. o S' rjteev et9 Avtetav ?r/oo9 'loftdrijv,
a 9 Se Tti e9 (f aa-i, 7Tyoo9 'Afj,(j)i,dvaKTa' teal ya//,€t
Trjv TOVTOV ffvyarepa, ct 9 fiev "OjArjpos, "Avreiav,
a 9 Se ol rpayitcoi, ^Oeveftoiav. /eardyei 8e
avrbv o fcrjSeffTrjs /iera crrparov Avteiav, teal
1 iirvpTo(t 6pei J. Kuhn, on Pausanias, ii. 25. 4 : iSvffQdpti
MSS.
2 &Ktiv(p ry Qa.vo.-rcp. After these words the MSS. add
qiiirep TOV &\\av re\evrr](ravTtav £8uff(p6pfi, which appears to
be a corrupt and ungrammatical gloss on exe'ivy T$ Baviry.
The clause is retained by Heyne, Westermann, Miiller,
Bekker, and Wagner, but is rightly omitted by Hercher.
J. Kuhn (I.e.) proposed to retain the clause, but to alter
f8vrf 6pfi as before into eirvprot 6pei ; but this would not
suffice to restore the grammar and sense. For such a
restoration a sentence like jjiirep &\\ovs reXevrriaai eiroiti
irvp(roj)optav would be required.
3 irpiv Se re\fvrrjffai %yri/j.e A: irplv re\evTrj(rai. fyt\^f 8e
Wagner (connecting irplv Te\evrrjffai with the preceding sentence).
4 Kepjccoi// Aegius : /ce'/cpoi|/ A.
5 'Ay\aias Heyne, comparing Scholiast on Euripides,
Orextes, 965 : aya\\tas A : 'Il/caAeJas Aegius, Commelinus, Gale.
144
THE LIBRARY, II. i. 5-11. i
in with.* It came to pass, therefore, that he himself
died by that very death. But before his death he
married a wife; according to the tragic poets, she
was Clymene, daughter of Catreus ; but according to
the author of The Returns,'2' she was Philyra ; and according
to Cercops she was Hesione. By her he had
Palamedes, Oeax, and Nausimedon.
II. Lynceus reigned over Argos after Danaus and
begat a son Abas by Hypermnestra ; and Abas had
twin sons Acrisius and Proetus 3 by Aglaia, daughter
of Mantineus. These two quarrelled with each other
while they were still in the womb, and when they
were grown up they waged war for the kingdom,4 and
in the course of the war they were the first to invent
shields. And Acrisius gained the mastery and drove
Proetus from Argos; and Proetus went to Lycia to
the court of lobates or, as some say, of Amphianax,
and married his daughter, whom Homer calls Antia,5
but the tragic poets call her Stheneboea.6 His
father-in-law restored him to his own land with an
1 See below, Epitome, vi. 7-11. 2 Nostoi, an epic poem describing the return of the Homeric
heroes from Troy. See Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta,
ed. G. Kinkel, pp. 52 sqq.; Hesiod, in this series, pp. 524 sqq.;
D. B. Monro, in his edition of Homer, Odyssev, Bks. xiii.-
xxiv. pp. 378-382.
3 With this and what follows compare Pausanias ii. 16. 2,
ii. 25. 7.
4 So the twins Esau and Jacob quarrelled both in the
womb and in after life (Genesis, xxv. 21 sqq.). Compare
Rendel Harris, Boanerges, pp. 279 sq., who argues that
Proetus was the elder twin, who, as in the case of Esau and
Jacob, was worsted by his younger brother.
5 Homer, II. vi. 160.
6 See below, ii. 3. 1, iii. 9. 1. Euripides called her
Stheneboea (Eustathius, on Homer, II. vi. 158, p 632).
J45
VOL. 1. L
APOLLODORUS
Tipvvda, ravrrjv avrq 
fjiepia-dfievoi 8e rrjv 'ApyeLav
/carp/cow, /cal 'A/cpitno? jj,ev "A.pyov;
2 /3a(Ti\ev€i, IlyooiTO? 8e Tt,pvv0o . /cal yiverai
'Afcpicriy /j,ev el; Ev/wSwcty? 1-7)9 AatceSai/Jiovos
Aavdrj, Ylpoirta Be etc ^deve/Soias AvcriTTTrr) KCU
KCU '\f idvaa-aa,. avrai Be o 9 ereXeia)-
fnavrjcrav, & 9 p^v fHrto8o9 j r]criv, on ra?
TeXera? ov KareSe^ovro, to? Se 'Aicov-
TI TO T?}? r/Hyoa9 £6avov e^rjvre-
\Hrav. yevofievai Se e/i/tapet? eTr\avwvro ava
rrjv 'A.pyeiav aira^av, avffis 8e rrjv 'Aptcabiav
KOI rrjv HeXoTrovvrjcrov * Sie\.0ovcrai yu-er' d/cocr-
1 teal rty TltKoir&vvt]trov omitted by Hercher and Wagner.
We should perhaps read KO! T}]V \onr^v  ne\oir6vvr)rov.
1 Compare Bacchylides, Epinic. x. 77 sq. • Pausanias, ii.
25. 8 ; Strabo, viii. 6. 8, p. 371.
* Compare Bacchylides, Epinic. x. 40-112 ; Herodotus, ix.
34 ; Strabo, viii. 3 19, p. 346 ; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 68 ; Pausanias,
ii. 7. 8, ii. 18. 4, v. 5. 10, viii. 18. 7 sq.; Scholiast on
Pindar, Nem. ix. 13 (30); Clement of Alexandria, Strom, vii.
4. 26, p. 844, ed. Potter ; Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. 'Afavia;
Virgil, Ed. vi. 48 sqq.; Ovid, Metamorph. xv. 325 *7g.;
Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxv. 47 ; Servius, on Virgil, Eel. vi. 48 ;
Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb. iii. 453; Vitruvius,
viii. 3. 21. Of these writers, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus,
and, in one passage (ii. 18. 4), Pausanias, speak of the madness
of the Argive women in general, without mentioning
the daughters of Proetus in particular. And, according to
Diodorus Siculus, with whom Pausanias in the same passage
(ii. 18. 4) agrees, the king of Argos at the time of the affair
was not Proetus but Anaxagoras, son of Megapenthes. As
to Megapenthes, see Apollodorus, ii. 4. 4. According to
Virgil the damsels imagined that they were turned into
cows ; and Servius and Lactantius Placidus inform us that
this notion was infused into their minds by Hera (Juno)
to punish them for the airs of superiority which they
146
THE LIBRARY, II. ir. 1-2
army of Lycians, and he occupied Tiryns, which the
Cyclopes had fortified for him.1 They divided the
whole of the Argive territory between them and
settled in it, Acrisius reigning over Argos and
Proetus over Tiryns. And Acrisius had a daughter
Danae by Eurydice, daughter of Lacedaemon, and
Proetus had daughters, Lysippe, Iphinoe, and Iphianassa,
by Stheneboea. When these damsels were
grown up, they went mad,2 according to Hesiod,
because they would not accept the rites of Dionysus,
but according to Acusilaus, because they disparaged
the wooden image of Hera. In their madness they
roamed over the whole Argive land, and afterwards,
passing through Arcadia and the Peloponnese,
assumed towards her; indeed, in one place Lactantius
Placidus says that the angry goddess turned them into
heifers outright. In these legends Mr. A. B. Cook sees
reminiscences of priestesses who assumed the attributes and
assimilated themselves to the likeness of the cow-goddess
Hera. See his Zeus, i. 451 sqq. But it is possible that the
tradition describes, with mythical accessories, a real form of
madness by which the Argive women, or some portion of them,
were temporarily affected. We may compare a somewhat
similar form of temporary insanity to which the women of the
wild Jakun tribe in the Malay Peninsula are said to be liable.
" A curious complaint was made to the Penghulu of Piang-gu,
in my presence, by a Jakun man from the Anak Endau. He
stated that all the women of his settlement were frequently
seized by a kind of madness—presumably some form of
hysteria—and that they ran off singing into the jungle, each
woman by herself, and stopped there for several days and
nights, finally returning almost naked, or with their clothes
all torn to shreds. He said that the first outbreak of this
kind occurred a few years ago, and that they were still
frequent, one usually taking place every two or three months.
They were started by one of the women, whereupon all the
others followed suit." See Ivor H. N. Evans, "Further
Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of Pahang," Journal of the
Federated Malay States Museums, vol. ix. part 1, January
1920, p. 27 (Calcutta, 1920). T47
L 2
APOLLO DORUS
/u«9 a7rar»79 Bid rfjs eptjfAias erpo^a^ov. Me-
\dfjL7rov? Be 6 'A/if#aovo9 teal ^IBofjuevrj^ T?)?
"A/3ai'TO9, [tdvris wv teal rrjv Bid tfiapudtecov Kal
KaOapfiwv ffepaTreiav 7rp& T09 evprjKoo;, VTricr^velrai
Oepcnreveiv ra9 7rap0evov$, el XaySot TO rpirov
//.6/OO9 T?}9 SwaaTeias. OVK iTrirpeirovro^ Be
TIpOLTOV depcnreveiv eirl [iKrOols Trj\ifcovroi^, eri
/jLd\\ov efjiaivovro al irapdevoi teal TrpoaeTi
TOVTCW at \pi7ral yvvat/ces' Kal ydp avrai
oitcia  d7ro\nrovcfai TOU9 tStoi/9 dfrwiKX
teal €t9 TTJV epijjjLiav ej oi,T(0v. 7rpopaivov(rr); Be
eTrt TrXetcrroi' 7779 crv/j,f)opa;, rovs alTtjdevras
[MKrOovs o IJ/)otTO9 eBi&ov. 6 Be vTreo-^ero Oepa-
Treveiv orav erepov roffovrov r?}9 7^9 o a8eX^ o9
avTov \d/3rj Bta9. Tipoiros Be ev\a(3r)0els fJirj
fSpaBvvovo-rjs rrjs Oepaireias aiTrjdeir) real ir\eiov,
depajreveiv a-vve^ooprjaev eVt TOVTOLS.
7TOU9 Be Trapa\aftu v rov? Bvvartardrovf
veaviwv /ACT' d\a\ay/j,ov tcai nvos evOeov
etc rwv opwv avrds elf ^iicvwva avveBLw^e. Kara
Se Toy Bimyfjiov 77 Trpea-^vrdrrj TWV dvyarepoav
^\\a^ev Tat9 Be Xonrais Tw^pvcrais
ffaxppovrja-ai a-weftr], teal ravras p ev
IIpotTO9 MeXayw-TroSi teal TSiavri, iraiBa
S' vcrrepov eyevvr)cre M.eyarrevdrjv.
III. BeAAeyOO/ oi'T»79 Be o T*\avicov rov ^,icrv(j)ov,
tcreivas dicovcriais dBe\j)bv ArjXidBtjv,1 »9 Se rives
j)aa-t Tleipfjva* a\\oi Be 'A\KifjLevrjv, 77/009 Tlpoi-
)v J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, vii. 812 : j
2 Tleiprjva. J. Tzet^es, Chiliades, vii. 812 : ITejprjv A, Zenobius,
(7en. ii. 87.
148
THE LIBRARY, II. n. 2-111. i
they ran through the desert in the most disorderly
fashion. But Melampus, son of Amythaori by Idomene,
daughter of Abas, being a seer and the first to
devise the cure by means of drugs and purifications,
promised to cure the maidens if he should receive the
third part of the sovereignty. When Proetus
refused to pay so high a fee for the cure, the
maidens raved more than ever, and besides that, the
other women raved with them ; for they also abandoned
their houses, destroyed their own children,
and nocked to the desert. Not until the evil had
reached a very high pitch did Proetus consent to
pay the stipulated fee, and Melampus promised to
effect a cure whenever his brother Bias should receive
just so much land as himself. Fearing that, if
the cure were delayed, yet more would be demanded
of him, Proetus agreed to let the physician proceed
. on these terms. So Melampus, taking with him the
most stalwart of the young men, chased the women
in a bevy from the mountains to Sicyon with shouts
and a sort of frenzied dance. In the pursuit Iphinoe,
the eldest of the daughters, expired ; but the others
were lucky enough to be purified and so to recover
their wits.1 Proetus gave them in marriage to
Melampus and Bias, and afterwards begat a son,
Megapenthes.
III. Bellerophon, son of Glaucus, son of Sisyphus,
having accidentally killed his brother Deliades or, as
some say, Piren, or, as others will have it, Alcimeiies,
1 According to Bacchylides (Epinic. x. 95 sqq.), the father
of the damsels vowed to sacrifice twenty red oxen to the Sun,
if his daughters were healed : the vow was heard, and on the
intercession of Artemis the angry Hera consented to allow
the cure.
149
APOLLODORUS
rov e\0a v /caBaiperai. KOI avrov l^Qeveftoia
epcora la^ei, KOI TrpovirepTrei * \6yovs Trepl avvofcrta?.
rov Se airapvovfJievov, Xeyet TT/JO?
Tlpoirov OTI Be\AeyOO£oz'T779 avrfj Trepl
~\,6yovs. TUpotrof Se
vTO) 7T/J09 'I
ev at? eveyeypaTTTO T$eX\,6pof)6i T'r)v
s3 eirera^ev avru 
i, vo/j,i£o)v avrbv VTTO TOV drjpiov
' rjv yap ov fiovov evl a\\a ?roXXot9 OVK
7rpOTOfJ,r)v [lev \eovro$, ovpav
Se Spd/covTos, rpiTrjv Se /ce(j a\,rfv /Jiecr^v alyos,
Si r)  irvp aviei. teal Trjv %a)pav Sietydeipe, KCU
TO. /3oa/cij/j,dTa eXv^aivero" fiia yap f vcri? rpiwv
drjpt&v et^e Svvaptv.* \eyerai Se ical rrjv XtfMipav
TavTijv * rpa(f rjvat jj,ev VTTO 'AfjLicrcoSdpov,
e'lpij/ce Kal "O^rjpo^, yevvrjdfjvai oe IK
Kal ' E^tSz^9, /ca^ft)? 'Hcrto5o9 icrropei.
2 dvafti/Bdcras ovv eawrov o BeAAe/3o0oi'Trj9 €7rl rbv
offire/JLirft Faber: IT poire pit ft A.
^lffai Wagner (comparing Zenobius, Gent. ii. 87):
iv A, Heyne, Miiller: Kopifciv Westermann, Bekker,
Hercher.
3 avajvovs Hercher, Wagner (comparing Zenobius, Cent.
ii. 87): tniyvovs A.
4 fila yap Qvcrts rpiuiv Brjptcav eT^e 5vva/j.iv. Wagner would
transpose this sentence so as to make it follow immediately
the words iro\\ois OVK evd\tarov above, omitting the
following e?xe Se. The sentence would then run : fiv yap ov
fn6vov evl eiAAa iro\\ois OVK fvd\caTov [nia yap Qvffts Tpiiav
Qitpitav 6?xe 8vvafM , •nporofji.iiv (j.ev \4ovros KT\. The change
improves the sense and is confirmed by Zenobius, Cent.
ii. 87.
5 Kal i))v Xifiatpav ravTyv omitted by Hercher and Wagner,
following Heyne.
THE LIBRARY, II. in. 1-2
came to Proetus and was purified.1 And Stheneboea
fell in love with him/ and sent him proposals for a
meeting; and when he rejected them, she told
Proetus that Bellerophon had sent her a vicious proposal.
Proetus believed her, and gave him a letter
to take to lobates, in which it was written that he
was to kill Bellerophon. Having read the letter,
lobates ordered him to kill the Chimera, believing
that he would be destroyed by the beast, for it was
more than a match for many, let alone one; it had the
fore part of a lion, the tail of a dragon, and its third
head, the middle one, was that of a goat, through
which it belched fire. And it devastated the country
and harried the cattle; for it was a single creature
with the power of three beasts. It is said, too, that
this Chimera was bred by Amisodares, as Homer also
affirms,3 and that it was begotten by Typhon on
Echidna, as Hesiod relates.4 So Bellerophon mounted
1 Compare Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 17 ; id.
Chiliades, vii. 810 sqq.; Scholiast on Homer, II. vi. 155.
According to one account, mentioned by these writers,
Bellerophon received his name (meaning slayer of Bellerus)
because he had slain a tyrant of Corinth called Bellerus.
2 In the following story of Bellerophon, our author follows
Homer, II. vi. 155 sqq. (where the wife of Proetus is called
Antia instead of Stheneboea). Compare Tzetzes, Schol.
on Lycophron, 17; id. Chiliades, vii 816 sqq.; Zenobius,
Gent. ii. 87 (who probably followed Apollodorus) ; Hyginus,
Fab. 57 ; id. Astronom. ii. 18 ; Scriptores rerum mythicarum
Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 24, 119 (First Vatican
Mythographer, 71 and 72 ; Second Vatican Mythographer,
131). Euripides composed a tragedy on the subject called
Stheneboea. See Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed.
A. Nauck2, pp. 567 sqq. According to Tzetzes (Schol. on
Lycophron, 17), lobates refrained from slaying Bellerophon
with his own hand in virtue of an old custom which forbade
those who had eaten together to kill each other.
3 Homer, II. xvi. 328 sq. * Hesiod, Theog. 319 sq.
APOLLODORUS
Yltjyaaov,1 bv efyev ITTTTOV e/e MeSouo-^? irrrjvbv
•yeryevvrj/Aevov KOL HoaeiS&vos, dpdels et? {/-
drro rovrov /carer 6j;eva6 rrjv Xipaipav.
Be rbv dywva rovrov €7rera£ev avra  2oXt//AOJ9
/jLa^eadfjvai.2 a 9 8e ereX-evrrjcre KCU rovrov,
'Aycta£oo-£ v errera^ev dya)vLaaa6ai 3 avrov. a 9 Se
teal ravras aireKreive, TOV? yevvaiorr}ri 4 Av/cLcov
Sicufrepeiv SoKovvras eViXe^a? errera^ev CLTTOKrelvai
\o%rjcravTa;. a 9 &e «al rovrov^ aTreicrewe
irdvras, Oavfidcra^ rrjv Bvva/Jiiv avrov 6 'Io/SaT»79
rd re ypd/j.p,ara ebeige KCU Trap* avry peveiv
r/£ia)cre' 8ov? Se rrjv dwyarepa 3 i\,ov6r)v Kal
aiv rrjv ftaoiKelav Kare\i7rev avrp.5
IV. 'A.Kpiffin Be Trepl TraiScov yeveo~eco$ dppevoav
^prjff'T'qpia^Ofjiiv^ o 8eb 6 efyr) lyeveo-Ocu7 TralSa e/c
rfjs ffvyarpos, ci? avrov aTro/crevet.3 Setcra? 8e
6 9 'A#p60-£O9 rovro, VTTO yrjv 6dXa/j,ov tcara-
1 rbv H-fjyaa-ov Aegius : TO.S irvjyas A.
2 /j.axfr6rjvai MSS. : juaxeVacrflot Heyne, Miiller, Bekker,
Hercher. But for the aorist ^axeff^j/ot see Pausanias, v.
4. 9, /J.axfr6riva.i ; Plutarch, De. solertia animalium, 15, M«X«-
trdfvra ; and on such forms of the aorist in later Greek, see
Lobeck, Phrynichus, pp. 731 sq. ; W. G. Rutherford, The
New Phrynichus, pp. 191 sqq.
3 ayovi(raff6ai Ra.5T, Zenobius, Cent. ii. 87 : ayavi£eff6cu
LN, Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher.
4 yfvvai6rr)Ti Bekker, Hercher : re peJrjjTj A : rare ceJrijTt
Gale, Westermann, Wagner (comparing Zenobius, Cent.
TOVS T^Tf (xilfJiri VCOTIJTOS SiCKptpOVTas).
8 Sovs 5e r^v Buyarepa . . . Karf\tirev aiiry A : Sovs Se avrqi
T)IV Ovyarepa . . . KaTe\nrev, Wagner (comparing Zenobius,
Cent. ii. 87). 6 6 n66ios E.
7 yev4r0ai EA, Zenobius, Cent. i. 41, Scholiast on Homer,
II. xiv. 319 : yevhaeaBai Hercher. Perhaps we should read
yevfr6ai kv.
8 awoKTfi'fi E : airoKreivr) A, Zenobius, Cent. i. 41.
9 5e 6 E, Zenobius, Cent. i. 41, Scholiast on Homer, II.
xiv. 319 : ovv A.
THE LIBRARY, II. m. 2-iv. i
his winged steed Pegasus, offspring of Medusa and
Poseidon, and soaring on high shot down the Chimera
from the height.1 After that contest lobates ordered
him to fight the Solymi, and when he had finished
that task also, he commanded him to combat the
Amazons. And when he had killed them also, he
picked out the reputed bravest of the Lycians and
bade them lay an ambush and slay him. But
when Bellerophon had killed them also to a man,
lobates, in admiration of his prowess, showed him
the letter and begged him to stay with him; moreover
he gave him his daughter Philonoe,2 and dying
bequeathed to him the kingdom.
IV. When Acrisius inquired of the oracle how he
should get male children, the god said that his
daughter would give birth to a son who would kill
him.3 Fearing that, Acrisius built a brazen chamber
1 For the combat of Bellerophon with the Chimera, see
Homer, II. vi. 179 sqq.; Hesiod, Theog. 319 sqq.; Pindar,
Olymp. xiii. 84 (120) sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 57.
2 Anticlia, according to the Scholiast on Pindar, Olymp.
xiii 59 (82) ; Casandra, according to the Scholiast on Homer,
II. vi. 155.
3 The following legend of Perseus (ii. 4. 1-4) seems to be
based on that given by Pherecydes in his second book, which
is cited as his authority by the Scholiast on Apollonius
fthodius, Argon, iv. 1091, 1515, whose narrative agrees
closely with that of Apollodorus. The narrative of Apollodorus
is quoted, for the most part verbally, but as usual
without acknowledgment, by Zenobius, Cent. i. 41, who,
however, like the Scholiast on Apollonius (ll.cc.), passes over
in silence the episode of Andromeda. Compare Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 838 (who may have followed Apollodorus)
; Scholiast on Homer, II. xiv. 319. The story of
Danae, the mother of Perseus, was the theme of plays by
Sophocles and Euripides. See Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta,
ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 143 sqq., 168 sqq., 453 sqq.; The
Fragments of Sopfyocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. i. pp. 38
sqq., 115 sqq.
153
APOLLODORUS
TJV Aavdrjv e(f povpei. TCLVTIJV
/j,ev, a 9 evioi eyouatv, e eipe potTO?, '66ev
aurot? /cal rj ffrdcris e/civijOij' & ? Be evioi (f acn,
Zei»9 /4eTa/toyo£a #et9 et9 •ftpvabv /cal Bia rijs
opof rj; et? Toi»9 kavdrj? elapuel? fc6\7rov; GVVri\
0ev. aladofjLevos 8e 'A«ptcriO9 vcnepov el;
avTr)  yeyevvr]/ji€vov Tlepvea, fj,rj Tricrreycra? VTTO
AtO9 ef)0cipdai, rrjv dvyarepa //.era roO 7rat8o9
et9 ^.dpvaKa /3aXcbi/ eppi-fyev els daXacraav. Trpocreve^
deiaris Se
2 dverpetye*- TOVTOV. ftacriXevcov 8e rfi;
Kal r/vBpwpevov Tiepcred)1; py Swdpevos
d~vveKa\ei TOU? 0tXot»9, /w
'ea, Xeycov epavov avvdyeiv "evrt rot/9 ']
r^9 Qivo/Aaov ^d^ovs. rov I.
/cal eTrl rfj Kepa\fj 7779 Fop-yovos OVK
dvrepelv,2 irapa /Jbev TWV \OLTTWV yTrjaev
Trapd Se TOV TLepa-ews ov \aftov rou9
€TT€Ta^e r^9 Fopyovos KO/JLL^IV ryv Kecpa\rjv. o
Be EpyLtoO Kal 'P^6rivai TrpOKad^ovfjievatv eirl ra9
&6pKov Trapayiverai3 dvyarepas, 'Ez/tw /cat
Tle(f)pr)B(t) 4 /cat Aeivat- rfaav Se avrai K.rjTovs re
Kal Qop/cov, Fopyovcav a$e\(f)al, ypalai eK yeverrj^;.
eva re o(f)0a\/j,bv at r/oet9 Kal eva oBovra el%ov,
1 avfrp€t e A, Zenobius, Cent. i. 41: avedpeij/e E, Wagner.
2 avreptlv Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher :
avralpfif A, Zenobius, Cent. ii. 41 (corrected by Gaisford). 3 Trapayivf-rai Zenobius, Cent. i. 41 : yive-rai A.
4 Ti€(f)priS(t  Heyne (compare Hesiod, Theog. 273) : /ue/i-
(pprjSca A.
1 Compare Sophocles, Antigone, 944 sqq. Horace represents
Danae as shut up in a brazen tower (Odes, iii. 16. 1 sqq.).
154
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 1-2
under ground and there guarded Danae.1 Howevei*,
she was seduced, as some say, by Proetus, whence
arose the quarrel between them ; 2 but some say that
Zeus had intercourse with her in the shape of a
stream of gold which poured through the roof into
Danae's lap. When Acrisius afterwards learned
that she had got a child Perseus, he would not
believe that she had been seduced by Zeus, and putting
his daughter with the child in a chest, he cast
it into the sea. The chest was washed ashore on
Seriphus, and Dictys took up the boy and reared
him. Polydectes, brother of Dictys, was then king
of Seriphus and fell in love with Danae, but could
not get access to her, because Perseus was grown to
man's estate. So he called together his friends,
including Perseus, under the pretext of collecting
contributions towards a wedding-gift for Hippodamia,
daughter of Oenomaus.3 Now Perseus having declared
that he would not stick even at the Gorgon's
head, Polydectes required the others to furnish
horses, and not getting horses from Perseus ordered
him to bring the Gorgon's head. So under the
guidance of Hermes and Athena he made his way
to the daughters of Phorcus, to wit, Enyo, Pephredo,
and Dino; for Phorcus had them by Ceto, and they
were sisters of the Gorgons, and old women from
their birth.4 The three had but one eye and one
2 That is, between Acrisius and Proetus. See above, ii. 2.1.
3 That is, he pretended to be a suitor for the hand of
Hippodamia and to be collecting a present for her, such as
suitors were wont to offer to their brides. As to Hippodamia
and her suitors, see Epitome, ii. 4 sgq.
* As to the Phorcides, compare Hesiod, Theog. 270 sqq.;
Aeschylus,Prometheus, 794 sqq.; Eratosthenes, Cataster. 22;
Ovid, Metamorph. iv. 774 sqq.; Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 12.
Aeschylus wrote a satyric play on the subject. See Tragicorum
Qraecorum Fragment**, ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 83 sq.
155
APOLLODORUS
ravTa
rcvpievcras o Tlepcrevs, o ? arcrfrovv, ef r} Bmcreiv
av v^^^cr covrai rrjv oBbv rrjv CTTI ra9 vvpfyas
avrai Be at vvpcpai Trrrjvd eiyov
a* Kal Trjv KI^KTIV, fy fyaaiv elvai Trrjpav
&e teal 'HcrtoSo? ev 'AaTrtSt evrt rov
TLav. 8e fierdfypevov el^e «apa  8eivoio
Topyov; , dfjifii 8e piv Kiftivis dee.
eiprjrai Se Trapa TO KelarOai etcei ecrdrjra teal rrjv
rpo(J3ijv.'\l el^ov Be teal rrjv vAtSo?  Kvvijv.'2
v(pr)yr)(rafJi,evQ)V Be TWV QopKiBwv, aTroSou? rov re
oBovra /cal rov of)0a\fjibv avrais, Kal Trapayevofj,
evo; 7T^ 09 ra; vvjjifyas, Kal rv^wv a v eaTrovBa^e,
rrjv fJiev Ki/3icriv rrepiej3d\ero, ra Be TreStXa rot?
acpvpoi? Trpocnjp/Aocre, rrjv Be KWrjV rfj K€(f)a\fj
erreOero. ravrriv e^wv avros [lev o&5 ij0e\6v
e/3\eTrev, VTTO aX\a)v Be oi % kwparo. \a^o)v Be
Kal Trapa 'Ep/iou dBafAavrivrjv apTrrjv,
et? rov *£lKeavbv rjKe Kal KareXa^e ra?
Koi/J,(i)/j,eva;. rjcrav Be avrai ^dev
MeSoucra. fjbovr) Be TJV OvrjTr) M.eBovcra^ Bid rovro
eTrl Trjv TavTys Ke(pa\r)V Tlepa-evs eTre/jif)0r). el^ov
Be at Yopyoves Kej)a\ds [lev 'jrepieaTreipap.evas
f)o\icri, BpaKovTOiv, oBovras Be fJLejd\ov? ct ? crvcav,
Kal ^etyoa? %aX«a?, Kal Trrepvyas ^/oycra?, Bi &v
eTrerovro. rov9 Be IBovTas \i0ovi eirolovv. e
1 The passage enclosed in square brackets is probably a
gloss which has crept into the text.
2 TV "Ai'Sos  Kwrjv Wagner (comparing Zenobius, Cent.
i. 41 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 838) : TV ttwyv A.
156
THE LIBRARY, 11. iv. 2
tooth, and these they passed to each other in turn.
Perseus got possession of the eye and the tooth, and
when they asked them back, he said he would
give them up if they would show him the way to
the nymphs. Now these nymphs had winged
sandals and the kibisis, which they say was a wallet.
But Pindar and Hesiod in The Shield say of
Perseus:—l
" But all his back had on the head of a dread monster,
The Gorgon, and round him ran the kibisis."
The kibisis is so called because dress and food are deposited
in it.2 They had also the cap of Hades.
When the Phorcides had shown him the way, he
gave them back the tooth and the eye, and coming
to the nymphs got what he wanted. So he slung
the wallet (kibisis) about him, fitted the sandals to
his ankles, and put the cap on his head. Wearing it,
he saw whom he pleased, but was not seen by
others. And having received also from Hermes an
adamantine sickle he flew to the ocean and caught the
Gorgons asleep. They were Stheno, Euryale, and
Medusa. Now Medusa alone was mortal; for that
reason Perseus was sent to fetch her head. But the
Gorgons had heads twined about with the scales of
dragons, and great tusks like swine's, and brazen
hands, and golden wings, by which they flew; and
they turned to stone such as beheld them. So Perseus
1 Hesiod, Shield of Hercules, 223 sq.
2 The word Kt&iffis is absurdly derived by the writer from
iceta-dai and effB-fis. The gloss is probably an interpolation.
157
APOLLODORUS
ovv avTals o Hepcrevs Koi^w^vai^, KarevdvvovJ"rj;
rrjv 'Xetpa 'A$77i a9, direarpafjip^vo^ KOI fiXeircav
6t9 dffTriBa %a\Kr)v, Bi' 779 rrjv €itc6va rrj? Topyovos
eft\€7rev, eKaparofitjcrev avrtfv. airoTfir]-
Be T^? «e^ aX^9, etc rrjf Topyovos e^edope
TTTIJVOS ITTTTO?, Kai Xpvadap 6 T*rjpvbvov
TOVTOVS Se eyevvrjcrev e/c Tlocrei&wvos. 6
fj,ev ovv Ile/Jcrew evOe^evo^ el? rrjv Kifticriv rrjv
Kefya\r)V rfjs MeSoycr^?1 OTTLCTCO TrdXiv e^wpei, at
Se Fopyove? etc rfjs KOLTr)f avacrraa-at,1 TOvHepaea
cBico/cov, KCU crvviSetv CIVTOV ov/c r/8vvavro 8ia rrjv
Kvvfjv. aTreKpinrrero yap VTT ainrf^.
Hapayev6/.i6vo; Be et? KiQiomiav, ^9 e/3aai\eve
evpe rrjv TOVTOV 0vyarepa 'AvSpo/j,eSav
Trapafceifjievrjv fiopav 0akacra-Lq  Krjrei. Kaffaieireia
yap f] K»;£ea 9 yvvrj Nrjpqifftv tfpiffe Trepl
«aX,Xou9, KCU Trafffav elvai Kpetcrffcov fjv^crev
odev at NtjprjiSe? efjurfvicrav, Kai TlocreiS&v avrat9
irK^^vpav Te ITTI rrjv %(bpav
/cat KIJTOS. "A/A/i&)j'09 Be %pri(ravro$ rrjv
rrjs o-v/jLj)opas, eav rj Kacr(Tte7reta9
'Av8po/J,eBa irporeOy r& /cr/rei fiopd,
rovTo dvayKCKrdels 6 K^ew VTTO rcov AiOioTrmv
eirpa^e, /cal TrpocreSrja-e Trjv 0vyarepa Trerpa.
ravrrjv Oeaad^evo^ o TLepcrevs Kai epacrdeis
1 avcurTaffai A : ava-Kraaai Wagner, comparing Zenobius,
Cent. i. 41.
1 Compare Ovid, Metamorph. iv. 782 sq.
2 Compare Hesiod, Theog. 280 sqq.; Ovid, Met-amorph. iv .
784 sqq., vi. 119 sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 151.
3 For the story of Andromeda, see Tzetzes, Schol. on
Lycophron, 836; Conon, Narrat. 40 (who rationalizes the
158
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 2-3
stood over them as they slept, and while Athena
guided his hand and he looked with averted gaze on
a hrazen shield, in which he beheld the image of the
Gorgon,1 he beheaded her. When her head was cut
off, there sprang from the Gorgon the winged horse
Pegasus and Chrysaor, the father of Geryon ; these
she had by Poseidon.2 So Perseus put the head
of Medusa in the wallet (kibisis} and went back
again ; but the Gorgons started up from their slumber
and pursued Perseus: but they could not see
him on account of the cap, for he was hidden by it.
Being come to Ethiopia, of which Cepheus was
king, he found the king's daughter Andromeda set
out to be the prey of a sea monster.3 For Cassiepea,
the wife of Cepheus, vied with the Nereids in beauty
and boasted to be better than them all; hence the
Nereids were angry, and Poseidon, sharing their
wrath, sent a flood and a monster to invade the
land. But Ammon having predicted deliverance
from the calamity if Cassiepea's daughter Andromeda
were exposed as a prey to the monster, Cepheus was
compelled by the Ethiopians to do it, and he bound
his daughter to a rock. When Perseus beheld her,
he loved her and promised Cepheus that he would
story); Eratosthenes, Cataster. 16, 17, and 36; Ovid, Metamorph.
iv. 665 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 64; id. Astronom. ii. 11 ;
Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i.
pp. 24 sq. (First Vatican Mythographer, 73). According to
the first two of these writers, the scene of the tale was laid
at Joppa. The traces of Andromeda's fetters were still
pointed out on the rocks at Joppa in the time of Josephus
(Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 2). Sophocles and Euripides composed
tragedies on the subject, of which some fragments remain.
See Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2, pp.
157 sqq., 392 sqq.; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C.
Pearson, i. 78 sqq.
159
APOLLODORUS
avaiprjaetv u7rer%€To et TO KTJTO?, e
crcoOeicrav avrr/v avrq  Saxreiv yvvaiKa. eirl TOVTot9
yevofjLevcov op/cow, t'Trocrra? TO KrJTo? eKTeive
teal rrjv ' Av8po/jie8av e\vaev. €Tri/3ov\€vovTo$
Be avro) J £z e& 9, 09 rjv a8e\f)o; TOV K?7jE «o9
Topyova Set^a9 yu,era rwv
avrov e'Xt^wcre 7rapa%p^/ia.
8e et9 %ept,j)ov, real KardX-afioov
2 7049 /Sft)yu,ot9 yttera roO At/erf 09
Sia rrjv TloXvSeKrou f3iav, el
TOV
Topyovos eSeige' TWV Se ISovTcov, oiroiov e
%epif)ov AIKTVV j3a(ri\ea, aTreBca/ce TO,
7re8i\a Kal rrjv Kiftiaiv fcal TTJV KVVYJV 'Eyo/iiJ, TTJV
Se Kef)a\r)v r?}9 Topyovos 'Affyva. eE,pfji,fj; fjuev
ovv Ta Trpoeiprjfjieva 7rd\iv direSafce rat9 vv/Mfrais,
'Affrjvd 8e ev pecry Trj aaTrlBi, 7779 Topyovos Trjv
/cepa\r}V eveOrjice.* \eyeTai 8e VTT eviwv OTI Si
'Affyvdv r) MeSoucra efcapaTO/uL^drj- tyaal Se OTI
l irepl /caXXoi/9 rjd6\r)(r€v f] Popyci) avrfj avy-
/cal 'Av8po/j,eSa 
et9 "Apyos, iva 'Aicpiaiov 0edar)Tai. 6
8e TOVTO adtov KCU  5 8e8oiKcb^ TOV
s R : eyyevd/jitvos A : eyyv^f^evos Heyne,
Westermann, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher.
2 irpoanrft evyv'iav Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 838 : irpoire
f evyviav A. 3 ra /3affi\eia R : rbf /3aai\fa A.
4 evedt}Ke Heyne : ore'0Tj«e A.
6 TOUTO juaea)!/ /cal. These words, absent in the MSS., are
restored by Wagner from Zenobius, Cent. i. 41.
1 60
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 3-4
kill the monster, if he would give him the rescued
damsel to wife. These terms having been sworn
to, Perseus withstood and slew the monster and
released Andromeda. However, Phineus, who was
a brother of Cepheus, and to whom Andromeda
had been first betrothed, plotted against him ; but
Perseus discovered the plot, and by showing the
Gorgon turned him and his fellow conspirators at
once into stone. And having come to Seriphus he
found that his mother and Dictys had taken refuge
at the altars on account of the violence of Polydectes;
so he entered the palace, where Polydectes
had gathered his friends, and with averted face he
showed the Gorgon's head; and all who beheld it
were turned to stone, each in the attitude which he
happened to have struck. Having appointed Dictys
king of Seriphus, he gave back the sandals and the
wallet (kibisis) and the cap to Hermes, but the
Gorgon's head he gave to Athena. Hermes restored
the aforesaid things to the nymphs and Athena
inserted the Gorgon's head in the middle of her
shield. But it is alleged by some that Medusa was
beheaded for Athena's sake ; and they say that the
Gorgon was fain to match herself with the goddess
even in beauty.
Perseus hastened with Danae and Andromeda to
Argos in order that he might behold Acrisius.
But he, learning of this and dreading the oracle,1
1 That is, the oracle which declared that he would be
killed by the son of Danae. See above, ii. 4. 1.
161
VOL. I. M
APOLLODORUS
aTro\i7ro)v "A/37O9 ei? TT/V lle\acryi(OTLV
yrjv. TefTa/tuSou l Be TOV Aapiacraicov2
eVt Karoi^ofj,eva  ra  irarpl oiaTiOevTos 3 yufivi/cbv
dy&va, irapeye'veTO KOI o Tlepa€vi aycovicraa-Bai
6e\(i)V, dyaviZo/jLevos Be TrevradXov, TOV Bia-fcov
CTTL TOV *A.Kpi(riov
aTretcreivev avrov. alaOo^evo^ Be TOV
rov fiev 'kfcpionov e^co T%
ala"%vv6fjievo; Be ei9 "Apyos eiravekOelv
rov K\r/pov TOV Bt avTOV T€T€\evTr)KOTO;,
ayevojAevos et? rfipvv0a5 7r/ o9 TOV HOOLTOV
d^v rj\\d%aTo, TOVTP re TO "Ap-
709 eve^eipicre. KOI MeyaTrevOi^; JLLCV eftacrfaevcrev
'Apyeiwv, Hepffevs Be TipvvQos, 7rpoa-Tei%ia-a;
M.iBeiav 6 teal M.vKijvas. eyevovTo Be ei; 'AvBpo-
[j,eSa  7raiSe9 avT&, trplv
'EXXaSa IIe/)(7i79, ov trapa
(a?ro TOVTOV Be Toi»9 Tlepcrwv
yevecrffai), ev M-VKrjvai} Be 'AX/caio? KOL
KOl f/E\6i09 7 M.^(TT(Op T6 KOI 'H\eKTpV(OV, KOI
Topyo(j)6vt}, TJV
1 TevTdfMidov E, Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 838 (compare
Dionysius Halicarnasensis, Antiquit. Rom. i. 28. 3),
Hercher, Wagner : revTa/j.ia A, Westermann : TevTa/j.iov,
Heyne, M tiller, Bekker.
2 hapiffaatuiv EA, Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 838,
Zeuobius, Cent. i. 41 : A.apicra(av Ra, Bekker, Hercher,
Wagner.
51 StaridfVTos E, Zenobius, Cent. i. 41 : SiarefleWos A.
4 TereAetaiyueVoy R : Tere\eafj.ei ov A.
5 tipvvQa. R : Tlpvv6ov A.
6 Mt'Seiai' Aegius : n^Seiav A : Mi'Stav Heyne. See below,
ii. 4. 6, p. 170, note.
7 "EAetos T/etzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 838 : eAijj R :
e'Aas Ra(7: f\\a* B.
162
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 4-5
forsook Argos and departed to the Pelasgiaii land.
Now Teutamides, king of Larissa, was holding
athletic games in honour of his dead father, and
Perseus came to compete. He engaged in the
pentathlum, but in throwing the quoit he struck
Acrisius on the foot and killed him instantly.1 Perceiving
that the oracle was fulfilled, he buried
Acrisius outside the city,2 and being ashamed to
return to Argos to claim the inheritance of him
who had died by his hand, he went to Megapenthes,
son of Proetus, at Tiryns and effected an exchange
with him, surrendering Argos into his hands.3 So
Megapenthes reigned over the Argives, and Perseus
reigned over Tiryns, after fortifying also Midea and
Mycenae.4 And he had sons by Andromeda : before
he came to Greece he had Perses, whom he left
behind with Cepheus (and from him it is said that
the kings of Persia are descended) ; and in Mycenae
he had Alcaeus and Sthenelus and Heleus and
Mestor and Electryon,5 and a daughter Gorgophone,
whom Perieres married.6
1 Compare Pausanias, ii. 16. 2.
2 According to another account, the grave of Acrisius was
in the temple of Athena on the acropolis of Larissa. See
Clement of Alexandria, Protre.pt. iii. 45, p. 39, ed. Potter.
3 As to this exchange of kingdoms, compare Pausanias.
ii. 16. 3.
4 As to the fortification or foundation of Mycenae by Perseus,
see Pausanias, ii. 15. 4, ii. 16. 3.
5 As to the sons of Perseus and Andromeda, compare
Scholiast on Homer, II. xix. 116; Scholiast on Apollonius
Rhodius, Argon, i. 747. The former agrees with Apollodorus
as to the five sons born to Perseus in Mycenae, except that
he calls one of them Aelius instead of Heleus ; the latter
mentions only four sons, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Mestor, and
Electryon.
6 See below, iii. 10. 3.
163
APOLLODORUS
'E/c /jt,ev ovv 'AXfcaiov teal 'Acm/Sa/^aav rfjs
IIeXo7ro9, & 9 Be evioi \eyovai A.aovo/Arjs r/}?
Tovvea)?, ft 9 Be aAAot 7rd\iv 'In Trovers T^9
' Afiffurpvcov eyeveTO KOI dvydrfjp
e/c Be MtfaTopos Kal AvTiBi/cr); r?y?
ITeXoTro? 'lir-rroOor). rainrfv dprraffas Hoa-etBwv
/cal /co/itcra? Girl ra? 'E^t^aSa? vrjffovs fiiyvvTai,
KOL yevva Tdf)iov, 05 w'/atre Td(f)0i  KOI roi»9 Xaoi)?
T^Xe/Soa? efcdXea-ev, on r»;Xo{) 7779 TrarpiBos e/3r/.
eV Ta^iov Be Trat? ITre/jeXao? eyevero' rovrov
dOdvarov eVoiT/cre IlocretSwi', ey T^ /ce(j)a\f)
evdels rpi^a, ITrepeXaw 5e eyevovro
e yij/j,as rrjv 'AXfcaiov dvyarepa
' Aval; a), eyevwja-e dvyarepa /j,ev 'A\K/j,tfvr)v, TTCUKeXaivea
'Aya^t/ia^oy Av&ivofAov
'Avd/CTOpa 'AyO^eXaoi/, //era Se rouroi/9 /cat voOov
etc &pvyias yvvaifcbs MtSea9 3 AIKV/J,VIOV.
1 2rpoTo)3aT»jj/ added by Aegius from Tzetzes, Schol. on
Lycophron, 932 ; compare Scholiast on Pindar, Olymp. vii.
28 (49).
2 $v\6vo/j.ov RR*5, Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 932 :
j t\ov6/A.ov C.
3 MiSeay Pindar, CM. vii. 29 (53), Heyne, Weatermann,
Miiller, Bekker, Hercher, Wagner : MrjSefaj A, Tzetzeg,
Schol. on Lycophron, 932, where Miiller, the editor, reads
MiSe'os in the text " auctoritate Apollodori," but adds that
" Nostri Codd. consentiunt in nrjSeias."
1 The name Teleboans is derived by the writer from telou
ebe (rri\ov *y3ij), "he went far." The same false etymology
is accepted by Tzetzes (Schol. on Lycophron, 932). Strabo
164
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 5
Alcaeus had a son Amphitryon and a daughter
Anaxo by Astydamia, daughter of Pelops ; but some
say he had them by Laonome, daughter of Guneus,
others that he had them by Hipponome, daughter
of Menoeceus ; and Mestor had Hippothoe by
Lysidice, daughter of Pelops. This Hippothoe was
carried off by Poseidon, who brought her to the
Echinadian Islands, and there had intercourse with
her., and begat Taphius, who colonized Taphos
and called the people Teleboans, because he had
gone farl from his native land. And Taphius had a
son Pterelaus, whom Poseidon made immortal by
implanting a golden hair in his head.2 And to
Pterelaus were born sons, to wit, Chromius, Tyrannus,
Antiochus, Chersidamas, Mestor, and Eueres.
Electryon married Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus,3
and begat a daughter Alcmena,4 and sons, to wit,
Stratobates, Gorgophonus, Phylonomus, Celaeneus,
Amphimachus, Lysinomus, Chirimachus, Anactor,
and Archelaus; and after these he had also a
bastard son, Licymnius, by a Phrygian woman
Midea.5
says (x. 2. 20, p. 459) that the Taphians were formerly called
Teleboans. 2 See below, ii. 4. 7. 3 Thus Electryon married his niece, the daughter of his
brother Alcaeus (see above, ii. 4. 5). Similarly Butes is said
to have married the daughter of his brother Erechtheus (iii.
15. 1), and Phineus is reported to have been betrothed
to the daughter of his brother Cepheus (ii. 4. 3). Taken
together, these traditions perhaps point to a custom of
marriage with a niece, the daughter of a brother.
4 According to another account, the mother of Alcmena
was a daughter of Pelops (Euripides, Heraclidae, 210 sq.), her
name being variously given as Lysidice (Scholiast on Pindar,
Olymp. vii. 27 (49) ; Plutarch, Theseus, 6) and Eun^dice
(Diodorus Siculus, iv. 9. 1).
5 Compare Scholiast on Pindar, OJymp. vii. 27 (49).
'65
APOLLODORUS
Be /cal Nt/aTTTr^ rr)? IIe\07ro9 'AXl
teal MeSoucra, varepov Be /cal E,vpvT0evs
eyevero, 09 /cal M.VKT]VK V eftacrfaevcrev. ore yap
fHpaK\r)? eytteXXe yevvaa6at, Zew? eV $6049 ef r)
TOV ajro IIe/ocreco9 yevvrjOrjcro/jLevov Tore /SacriXevaeiv
Mv/cyv&v, "Hpa Be Sia 2 %fj\ov EtXet^uta9 3
eVetcre rov pev 'AX/c/A^z/^9 TOKOV e'7rtr%eti , Eupycr^
ea Se TO^ ^OeveXov Trapecr/cevcKre ryevvrjdrjvai
ovra.
 09 Be /3a(n\evovTO$ M.v/crjva)i , pera
01 Tlrepe\dov TraiBes e\06vTe; rrjv
'hv [TOV /jirjTpO'jrdropo^] r  arrrjTOW,
Kal fir) 7r/3O(7e^oi'T096 'HXe«Tpwo^O9 aTrri\avvov ra?
1 'AA-Kuoi/rj Wagner (comparing Diodorus Siculus, iv. 12. 7) :
a\Kvv6ri R : a\KivHri A. 2 8ia E : Sick rbc A.
3 EiA.etfly(aj EA, Wagner : EiA« ifluiay Heyne, Westermann,
Miiller, Bekker, Hercher.
4 Tarpiwv Heyne: Ta^iou MSS., Westermann, Mtiller,
Bekker, Hercher, Wagner.
5 ToD /irjTpowaTopos (compend. ) R : ra /xrjrpoiraTcopos Ra : T^
MTpoirdropt A. As Heyne saw, the words are probably a
gloss which has crept into the text. Wagner does not
bracket them.
6 irpoirtxovros Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 932 : irpoof-
XOVTfS A.
1 According to other accounts, her name was Antibia
(Scholiast on Homer, I I . xix. 119) or Archippe (J. Tzetzes,
ChiUades, ii. 172, 192).
2 Compare Homer, II. xix. 95-133, where (v. 119) the
Ilithyias, the goddesses of childbirth, are also spoken of in
the plural. According to Ovid (Metamorph. ix. 292 sqq.),
the goddess of childbirth (Lucina, the Roman equivalent
of Ilithyia) delayed the birth of Hercules by sitting at
the door of the room with crossed legs and clasped hands
until, deceived by a false report that Alcmena had been
delivered, she relaxed her posture and so allowed the birth
to take place. Compare Pausanias, ix. 11. 3 Antoninus
166
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 5-6
Sthenelus had daughters, Alcyone and Medusa, by
Nicippe,1 daughter of Pelops; and he had afterwards
a son Eurystheus, who reigned also over
Mycenae. For when Hercules was about to be born,
Zeus declared among the gods that the descendant
of Perseus then about to be born would reign over
Mycenae, and Hera out of jealousy persuaded the
Ilithyias to retard Alcmena's delivery,2 and contrived
that Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, should be born a
seven-month child.3
When Electryon reigned over Mycenae, the sons
of Pterelaus came with some Taphians and claimed
the kingdom of Mestor, their maternal grandfather,
4 and as Electryon paid no heed to the claim,
Liberalis, Transform. 29, according to whom it was the
Fates and Ilithyia who thus retarded the birth of Hercules.
Among the Efiks and Ibibios, of Southern Nigeria, "the
ancient custom still obtains that locks should be undone
and knots untied in the house of a woman who is about to
bear a babe, since all such are thought, by sympathetic magic,
to retard delivery. A case was related of a jealous wife,
who, on the advice of a witch doctor versed in the mysteries
of her sex, hid a selection of padlocks beneath her garments,
then went and sat down near the sick woman's door and
surreptitiously turned the key in each. She had previously
stolen an old waist-cloth from her rival, which she knotted
so tightly over and over that it formed a ball, and, as an
added precaution, she locked her fingers closely together and
sat with crossed legs, exactly as did Juno Lucina of old when
determined to prevent the birth of the infant Hercules"
(D. Amaury Talbot, Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive
People, the Ibibios of Southern Nigeria (London, etc. 1915),
p. 22). See further Taboo and the Perils of the Soul, pp. 294 sqq.
3 Compare Scholiast on Homer, II. xix. 119 ; J. Tzetzes,
Chiliades, it. 172 sqq., 192 sqq.
4 Taphius, the father of Pterelaus, was a son of Hippothoe,
who was a daughter of Mestor. See above, ii. 4. 5. Thus
Mestor was not the maternal grandfather, but the greatgreat-
grandfather of the sons of Pterelaus. Who the maternal
167
Se TOW 'HXe«T/ovoj/o9
e/c 7rpoK\ijcrea s 1 d\Xrj\ov 9 aTrefcreivav.
Se TWZ  'HXe/eT/oiWo9 TraiSwv AIKV/AVIOS en veos
Se HrepeXdov J&vijprjs, 09
/cat
Trapedevro rw fiacriXel ra v '
'A/j,f iTpv(ov Se Trapa TloXvlfevov ^v
avras ijfya'yev €19 2 '
TW TWI  TTdiScov
TrapaSovs Tr]v ftaai\aav 'Afjbfynpvwvi KOI
' A\KfjMjvr]v, e^opidaas Iva f^e^pi TJ"/?
irapOevov avrrji  f)v~\,d£ij, (TTpaTeveiv eVi
9 Sievoelro. a7roXaiySavo^TO9 Se avrov
€7T dVTIJV
df)fj/cev o /Jiera ^et/aa.9 et%e poiraXov, TO Se clTrotcpovcrdev
djro rwv /cepdrcov els Trjv 'H\€K-rpvovof
K€(f)aX,r)v e\0bv aTre/creivev avrov. odev \a/3(i v
ravrrjv ryv Trpopa(Tiv
1 TrpoK\r)ffeiis Gale : Trpo&\T}crea f A.
" Mi»/cr,i'as Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 932:
grandfather of the sons of Pterelaus was we do not know,
since the name of their mother is not recorded. The words
' ' their maternal grandfather " are probably a gloss which has
crept into the text. See the Critical Note. Apart from the
difficulty created by these words, it is hard to suppose that
Elect ry on was still reigning over Mycenae at the time of this
expedition of the sons of Pterelaus, since, being a son of
Perseus, he was a brother of their great-great-grandfather
Mestor.
1 Compare Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 747-751, with the
Scholiast on r. 747 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 932,
whose account seems based on that of A polled orns.
168
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 6
they drove away his kine ; and when the sons of
Electryon stood on their defence, they challenged
and slew each other.1 But of the sons of Electryon
there survived Licymnius, who was still young;
and of the sons of Pterelaus there survived Everes,
who guarded the ships. Those of the Taphians
who escaped sailed away, taking with them the
cattle they had lifted, and entrusted them to
Polyxenus, king of the Eleans; but Amphitryon
ransomed them from Polyxenus and brought them
to Mycenae. Wishing to avenge his sons' death,
Electryon purposed to make war on the Teleboans,
but first he committed the kingdom to Amphitryon
along with his daughter Alcmena, binding him
by oath to keep her a virgin until his return.2
However, as he was receiving the cows back, one
of them charged, and Amphitryon threw at her the
club which he had in his hands. But the club
rebounded from the cow's horns and striking
Electryon's head killed him.3 Hence Sthenelus
laid hold of this pretext to banish Amphitryon from
- Compare Hesiod, Shield of Hercules, 14 sqq., where it is
said that Amphitryon might nofc go in to his wife Alcmena
until he had avenged the death of her brothers, the sons of
Electryon, who had been slain in the fight with the Taphians.
The tradition points to a custom which enjoined an avenger
of blood to observe strict chastity until he had taken the life
of his enemy.
y A similar account of the death of Electryon is given
by Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 932, who seems to follow
Apollodorus. According to this version of the legend, the
slaying of Electryon by Amphitryon was purely accidental.
But according to Hesiod (Shield of Hercules, 11 sq., 79 sqq.)
the two men quarrelled over the cattle, and Amphitryon
killed Electryon in hot bloorl. Compare the Scholiast on
Homer, 77. xiv. 323.
169
' A^npixova, KOL rrjv a
v&v teal r?)9 TipwOos auro9 Karea-^e' rrjv Se
'M.iSeiav,1 jjieTairei^d^evo^ TOU? IIeA,O7ro9
"Arp'ea ical &vearrr)v, irapkOero TOVTOIS.
'AfAf)iTpva v Se crvv 'A~\,Kfj,ijvr) teal
7rapayev6/A6vo  ejrl ®rj/3a; VTTO
avr)
varov,
/nez/09 e t »7Xeyoa9 (rrparevei 'AfjL^irpixav, rea
Trape/caXei (rvJO^afteaOai KpeovTa. o Se e'0^
crTparevcreiv, eav Trporepov efceivos rrjv KaSyu-etav 3
raXXa^' ef Qeipe jap rrjv* KaSdyplov.
viroaravro^ Se o/x&)9
TJV avrrjv /i?;Se rtva KaTa\a(3eiv.
Be rrjs ^(opa^, eva TWV acn&v TraiSa
ol ®K]j3aloi Kara ^r\va Trpoeriffeffav avrfj, 7roXXoi»9
TOVT el /*?) yevoiTO.
1 Mi'Seiac Eekker, Hercher : MiSeav Heyne, Westermann,
Mitller : ^rjSeiaj' A. Both forms, MfSeia and Mi'Sea, are
recognized by Strabo (viii. 6. 11, p. 373) and Stephanus
Byzantius (s.v. MlSeia), but Strabo preferred the form MiSea
for the city in Argolis, and the form Mi'Sem for the similarly
named city in Boeotia. In the manuscripts of Pausanias
the name is reported to occur in the forms MiSefa, Mi8«'a,
M^Seio, IVbjSei'a, and Mr)5e'o, of which the forms MiSei'a, M^Seto,
and MrjSeta appear to be the best attested. See Pausanias,
ii. 16. 2, ii. 25. 9, vi. 20. 7, viii. 27. 1, with the critical
commentaries of Schubart and Walz, of Hitzig and Bliimner.
The editors of Pausanias do not consistently adopt any one
of these forms. For example, the latest editor (F. Spiro)
adopts the form MiSei'o in one passage (ii. 16. 2), MrjSeia in a
second (ii. 25. 9), MiSe'a in a third (vi. 20. 7), and MfSew in a
fourth (viii. 27. 1).
2 avry Wagner, following Eherhard and comparing
Scholiast on Homer, II. xiv. 323; Hesiod, Shield of Her-
170
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 6-7
the whole of Argos, while he himself seized the
throne of Mycenae and Tiryns ; and he entrusted
Midea to Atreus and Thyestes, the sons of Pelops,
whom he had sent for.
Amphitryon went with Alcmeiia and Licymnius to
Thebes and was purified by Creonx and gave his
sister Perimede to Licymnius. And as Alcmena
said she would marry him when he had avenged her
brothers' death, Amphitryon engaged to do so, and
undertook an expedition against the Teleboans, and
invited Creon to assist him. Creon said he would
join in the expedition if Amphitryon would first rid
the Cadmea of the vixen; for a brute of a vixen was
ravaging the Cadmea.2 But though Amphitryon
undertook the task, it was fated that nobody should
catch her. As the country suffered thereby, the
Thebans every month exposed a son of one of the
citizens to the brute, which would have carried
off many if that were not done. So Amphitryon
1 That is, for the killing of Electryon. Compare Hesiod,
Shield of Hercules, 79 sqq.; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron,
932 ; Euripides, Hercules Furens, 16 sq.
2 The animal had its lair at Teumessus, and hence was
known as the Teumessian fox. See Pausanias, ix. 19. 1 ;
Antoninus Liberalis, Transform. 41 ; Apostolius, Cent. xvi.
42; Suidas, s.v. T«u,m)(Tia ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, i. 553 sqq.
(who refers to Apollodorus as his authority) ; Ovid, Metamorph.
vii. 762 sqq. By an easy application of the rationalistic
instrument, which cuts so many mythological knots, the
late Greek writer Palaephatus (De Incredib. 8) converted the
ferocious animal into a gentleman (KO.A&S Kayoflbs) named Fox,
of a truculent disposition and predatory habits, who proved
a thorn in the flesh to the Thebans, until Cephalus rid them
of the nuisance by knocking him on the head.
rules, 14 sqq.: rf A, Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker,
Hercher. 3 i-V Ka^eiav A : rovs KaSpeiovs Hercher.
4 rV A: yrjv Hercher. 5 apira^ovari Palmer : apira^ovirri A.
171
APOLLODORUS
Kepa\oi  rov
crvve7rei0ev errl p,epei rcov drrb T^Xeftoow
\a$ vpa)V ayeiv eirl rrjv Orjpav rov KVVO, ov
jjjayev Iff Kp^rr;? rrapd Mtf& o9 \a/3ovcrct'
TJV 8e fcal rovr(p ir^irpw^vov irav, o n av
r], \afjL/3dv€ii'. SiwKO/jLevrjs ovv VTTO rov KVVOI
Se e%wv e/c j&ev ©opi/cov r^
/n/jfa^ovvra, etc Se £ o)K,e(ov TlavoTrea,
ere Be "EXof? l T?;? 'Apiyeta? r/E\etoy rov Tlepcreas,
eK Se &t)/3(t)v Kpeovra, ra? r&v Tatfricov vtfcrovs
erropOei. ci^pi /u,ey ovv e^rj TlrepeXaos, OVK ebvvaro
rrjv Tdpov e\eiv 0)9 Be r) HrepeXdov Qvydryp
Ko/ia^ft) epaatielcra 'Afj.f)[,Tpvct)vos rrjv
rptya rov Trarpo? etc r^ fce(j)a\f)?
TLrepe\dov reXevrijaavros e^eipwa-aro raf vr/crovs
ttTracra?. rijv p^ev ovv Ko/^a^w /creivei2
rpvtov Kol rr/v \eiav e^mv et9 @7;/3a
ra-9 vrjcrovs 'Eikeita Kal Ke^iaXw SiSaxri. fedicelvoi
7roXet9 avr&v errwvv^ov^ Kricravres Karw/crjaav.
II/oo TOI) oe 'Afifpirpvwva Trapayevea-ffai ei?
Zeu?, Sta. vvfcrbs e\6cov /cal rrjv piav
rpirr\,acridTa$ vvKra? ofj,oios 'AfMpirpvwvi jevo-
1 "EAous Aegins : f\ovri]s A. 2 xreivei RRa : Kreivas A.
3 r$)v filav rpnr\affidffas VVKTO. MSS. and editions. The
Vatican Epitome (E) reads as follows : rV ^lav VVKTO. vevraiT\
ana.ffas T) Kara TIVO.S Tpnr\affidffa.s, 01 /cat SJB TOVTO rpifffirtpov
agtovfft \eyer8ai rbv 'Hpa/cAe'a : "having multiplied the single
night fivefold or threefold, according to some, who on that
account claim for Hercules the title of Triesperus (He of the
Three Evenings)." The title of Triesperus is similarly explained
by Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 33. The multiplication
of the night fivefold appears to be mentioned by
no other ancient writer Compare R. Wagner, Epitoma
Vaticana, p. 98.
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 7-8
betook him to Cephalus, son of Deioiieus. at
Athens, and persuaded him, in return for a share
of the Teleboan spoils, to bring to the chase
the dog which Procris had brought from Crete
as a gift from Minosl ; for that dog was destined
to catch whatever it pursued. So then, when the
vixen was chased by the dog, Zeus turned both of
them into stone. Supported by his allies, to wit,
Cephalus from Thoricus in Attica, Panopeus from
Phocis, Heleus, son of Perseus, from Helos in Argolis,
and Creon from Thebes, Amphitryon ravaged
the islands of the Taphians. Now, so long as Pterelaus
lived, he could not take Taphos; but when
Comaetho, daughter of Pterelaus, falling in love
with Amphitryon, pulled out the golden hair from
her father's head, Pterelaus died,2 and Amphitryon
subjugated all the islands. He slew Comaetho, and
sailed with the booty to Thebes,3 and gave the
islands to Heleus and Cephalus; and they founded
cities named after themselves and dwelt in them.
But before Amphitryon reached Thebes, Zeus
came by night and prolonging the one night threefold
he assumed the likeness of Amphitryon and bedded
1 As to Procris, see below, iii. 15. 1.
2 Compare Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 932. For the
similar story of Nisus and his daughter Megara, see below,
iii. 15. 8.
3 In the sanctuary of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes, the
historian Herodotus saw a tripod bearing an inscription in
"Cadmean letters," which set forth that the vessel had been
dedicated by Amphitryon from the spoils of the Teleboans.
See Herodotus, v. 59. Among the booty was a famous goblet
which Poseidon had given to his son Teleboes, and which
Teleboes had given to Pterelaus. See Athenaeus, xi. 99,
p. 498 o; Plautus, Amphitryo, 256 sq. For the expedition of
Amphitryon against theTeleboans orTaphians, see alsoStrabo,
x. 2. 20; Pausanias, i. 37. 6; Plautus, Amphitryo, 183-256.
APOLLODORUS
) KOi TO,
S(,ijj)jo-aro. 'A/afyirpvwv Se Trapaecopa
(piXoffrpovov/Aevrjv irpos
avrov rrjv yvvaLKa, eTrvvOdvero ryv air Lav elrrovcrys
Be on rfj Trporepa WKrl Trapayevo/utevos
avrfj o-vyKe/coi/MjTai, /mavddvei Trapa Teipeaiov
-TTjv lyevofievrjv rov Ato? Gwovcriav. yA\K/j,r)wr) £e
Svo eyevvrjcre TralSas, Atl /iev '\\paK\ea, [Aid VVKT\
TTpecrftvrepov, *A/j,(f)iTpv(t vi Se *lf iK\ea. rov Be
6Wo9 oKra^viaiov Svo Spd/covras vireps
f/Hpo. eVl rrjv evvqv ei
TO / o e o ? 6e\ovaa, e
rat? %epcr\v avroiis Sietfideipe.
iv 'A/j,(piTpva va, fiov\6[jievov fj
rjv rwv iraiSmv eKeivov, TOV? Spd/covras els rrjv
evvrjv €fjt,(3a\eiv, KOI rov /zef 'I£t/e\eof ? (pvyovros
rov Se 'HpaK\eov 9 vTrocrrdvros /Jiadelv a 9 'I(f iK\r)s
6% avrov yeyevvrjrai.
'EStSa^^T; Be 2 'H/)a,«;X }9 dp^arrj\areiv fj-ev
VTTO 'A/j,f)irpv(i)Vo;, rra\aieiv S~e UTTO Avro\vKov,
ro^eveiv Se VTTO Eivpvrov, oTrXoytta^etv 8e VTTO
1 Trepl (compend.) E, Bekker, Kerch er : Trapa A.
2 8e R : fj.fv A.
1 For the deception of Alcmena by Zeus and the birth of
Hercules and Iphicles, see Hesiod, Shield oj Hercules, 27-56 ;
L)iodorus Siculus, iv. 9 ; Scholiast on Homer, II. xiv. 323,
and Od. xi. 266 ; Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 33 ; Hyginus,
Fab. 29. The story was the subject of plays by
Sophocles and Euripides which have perished (Tragicorum
Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 156, 386 sqq.;
The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C Pearson, i. 76 sqq.) ;
and it is the theme of a well-known comedy of Plautias, the
Amphitryo, which is extant. In that play (Prologue,
174
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 8-9
with Alcmena 1 and related what had happened concerning
the Teleboans. But when Amphitryon
arrived and saw that he was not welcomed by his
wife, he inquired the cause ; and when she told him
that he had come the night before and slept
with her, he learned from Tiresias how Zeus had
enjoyed her. And Alcmena bore two sons, to wit,
Hercules, whom she had by Zeus and who was the
elder by one night, and Iphicles, whom she had by
Amphitryon. When the child was eight months
old, Hera desired the destruction of the babe and
sent two huge serpents to the bed. Alcmena called
Amphitryon to her help, but Hercules arose and
killed the serpents by strangling them with both his
hands.2 However, Pherecydes says that it was
Amphitryon who put the serpents in the bed, because
he would know which of the two children was
his, and that when Iphicles fled, and Hercules stood
his ground, he knew that Iphicles was begotten of
his body.
Hercules was taught to drive a chariot by Amphitryon,
to wrestle by Autolycus, to shoot with the
bow by Eurytus, to fence by Castor, and to play the
Plautus mentions the lengthening of the night in which
Jupiter (Zeus) begat Hercules. The Scholiast on Homer (II.
xiv. 323) says that Zeus persuaded the Sun not to rise for
three days; and the threefold night is mentioned also by
Diodorus Siculus (iv. 9. 2). The whole story was told by
Pherecydes, as we learn from the Scholiasts on Homer (II.
xiv. 323 ; Od. xi. 266) ; and it is likely that Apollodorus here
follows him, for he refers to Pherecydes a few lines below.
2 As to the infant Hercules and the serpents, compare
Pindar, Nem. i. 33 (50) sqq. ; Theocritus, xxiv.; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 10. 1 ; Pausanias, i. 24. 2 ; Plautus, Amphitryo,
1123 sqq.; Virgil, Aen. viii. 288 sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 30.
According to Theocritus (xxiv. 1), Hercules was ten months
old when he strangled the serpents.
175
APOLLODORUS
KttcrTopo9  KiOaputBelv Be vrrb Aivov. ovros Be rjv
tt£eX£o9 'Qpcpew dtyiKoaevo? Se et? ®rf/3as Kal
(B?7/3aiO9 yevoftevos iiiro 'Hpa#A,eoU9 r^ Ktddpa
7rX»7769 drreOavev eiri7r\tfj;avra jap avrov op-
yio~0el$ drreKreive. BIKIJV Be errayovrwv nv&v
avry (frovov, frapaveyi'to VO/JLOV 'PaBajidvOvos
\6yovros, 09 av d/LLVvr)rai rov %eipcov dSi/ccov
Kardp^avra,1 dd&ov elvai, Kal O#TW? aTreXv^.2
Setcra? 5e ' K^Lrpvoov /J,r) TrdXiv ri iroitjcrr) roiovrov,
eTref^^ev avrov ei? rd /3ovf 6pftia. fcd/cel
Tpef 6/u,evo} fjue^iOei re Kal p(i i* y rrdvrcov Birjvey/
cev. rjv 8e Kal OewprfOel^ f)avepb$ 3 on Ato?
Trai? TJV rerpaTnyxyalov /j,ev yap el^e TO crwua,
Try/Jo? 8' e£ o/j,/j,dra)v ekaprrev acry~\,r]v. ovtc fjaro-
^et Be ovre ro^evcov ovre dtcovrL^oav.
'Ey Se T0i9 /3ou/coXto(9 vrrdp^aiv OKr
/caeT /9 rov Kidaipcbveiov dvel\e \eovra.
 ydp 6p/j,(i)fj,evof ex rov Kidaipmvos ra9
10 rpvwvos ecpdeipe y8oa9 Kal T«9 ©ecrTrtou.4 /9acrt-
1 Kardp^avra E : tfplaj'Ta A. - aire^vdi] ERRa : aTreAa^Tj R.
3 0aj'epbs R : ipavepcvs E : £oj8epbi A.
4 0f (TTrfov Bekker, Hercher, Wagner : Qeariov E A, Heyne,
Westermann, Miiller. This king's name is variously reported
by the ancients in the forms &eririos and ®effrios. In
favour of the form ®ea-irios, see below, ii. 7. 6 ; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 29. 2. In favour of the form &fcmos, see below,
ii. 4. 12, ii. 7- 8 (where ®eariov occurs in the MSS.) ; Pausanias,
iii. 19. 5, ix. 27. 6. When we consider the variation
of the MSS. on this point, the extreme slightness of the
difference (a single stroke of the pen) between the two forms,
and the appropriateness of the form ©eWm for the name of
a king of Thespiae, we may surmise that the true form is
QfaTrioi, and that it should everywhere replace 0t'mos in
our editions of Greek authors. There is at all events no
doubt that Diodorus Siculus read the name in this form,
for he speaks of ®eririos aa /3afft\fi/uv TTJJ dfj.uivvfj.ov \iapas.
I76
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 9-10
lyre by Linus.1 This Linus was a brother of Orpheus ;
he came to Thebes and became a Theban, but was
killed by Hercules with a blow of the lyre; for
being struck by him, Hercules flew into a rage and
slew him.2 When he was tried for murder, Hercules
quoted a law of Rhadamanthys, who laid it down
that whoever defends himself against a wrongful
aggressor shall go free, and so he was acquitted. But
fearing he might do the like again, Amphitryon sent
him to the cattle farm; and there he was nurtured
and outdid all in stature and strength. Even by the
look of him it was plain that he was a son of Zeus;
for his body measured four cubits,3 and he flashed a
gleam of fire from his eyes ; and he did not miss,
neither with the bow nor with the javelin.
While he was with the herds and had reached
his eighteenth year he slew the lion of Cithaeron,
for that animal, sallying from Cithaeron, harried
the kine of Amphitryon and of Thespius.4 Now
1 As to the education of Hercules, see Theocritus, xxiv. 104
sqq., according to whom Hercules learned wrestling not from
Autolycus but from Harpalycus, son of Hermes.
2 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iii. 67.2 ; Pansanias, ix. 29.9 ;
J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 213 sq.
3 Four cubits and one foot, according to the exact measurement
of the historian Herodorus. See J. Tzetzes, Chiliades,
ii. 210 sq.; id. Schol. on Lycophron, 662.
4 According to another account, the lion of Cithaeron was
killed by Alcathous (Pausanias, i. 41. 3 sq.). But J. Tzetzes
(Chiliades, ii. 216 sq.) agrees with Apollodorus, whose
account of Hercules he seems to follow.
Heyne, though he admits that he had not been consistent
(" Animo in gravioribus occupato nonfui satis constans in hoc
nomine") deliberately preferred Qta-inos to ©sVrios : "Verum
tamen necesse est Thespii nomen, si quidem Thespiadae dictae
suntfiliae." See his critical note on ii. 7. 8 (vol. i. p. 226).
177
VOL. I. K
APOLLODORUS
rjv OUTO? tyecnriwv, 7rpo9 ov cufiitcero
e\eiv /3ov~\.6/j,evo; rbv \eovra. o Se
avrbv e^evia-e Trevrijtcovra f)/jiepas, teal lirl rrjv
Otjpav ef;i6vri vvtcrbs e/cdarr)*; fjtiav crvvevva^e
Bvyarepa (Trevr^JKOvra Be avr& rjcrav etc
yap
Se niav vofjLi^wv elvai rqv ael avvevva^offvvrf\
6e Trdcrai;. KCU xeipwffd/jievos rbv
ev Sopav
11 'AvatcdfATTTOvri 8e avry UTTO rij  6r)pa  crvvrjvrrjcrav
/ctfpv/ces irapa 'Rpyivov 7T£fAf)d€VT€S, '(va
-napa ®r)/3di(av rbv Sacr/ioy \d/3(i3(nv.
®r)/3aioi rbv ftaa^ov 'Eipyivqt St' alriav
rbv Mivvcov /SacrtXea \[0n
77^10^09, ovo/jLa Tlepujp^, ev 'Oyo
Be
€49
re\evro)v 'Epytvp r& iraiSl e/cSiKrja-ai, rbv 6dva-
TOV avrov. &rparevcrdjj.evo  Se 'E/37?yo9 evrl ®tf-
/3a?, /creiva? OVK 0X1701*9 ecrrreia'aro peO' opicwv,
O7r&)9 Tre/ATTwcnv avrw ®ri(3aioi, Safffj,bv em eiKOffiv
ertj, Kara eVo9 e/carbv /3oa9. eVi rovrov rbv
Aegius : 'OpX'nTTV A.
1 As to Hercules and the daughters of Thespius, compare
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 29. 2 sg.; Pausanias, ix. 27. 6 sq.;
Athenaeus, xiii. 4, p. 556 F ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 221 sqq.
The father of the damsels is called Thestius by Pausanias and
Athenaeus, who refers to Herorlorns as his authority. See
the Critical Note.
I78
THE LIBRARY, II. n. 10-11
this Thespius was king of Thespiae, and Hercules
went to him when he wished to catch the
lion. The king entertained him for fifty days, and
each night, as Hercules went forth to the hunt,
Thespius bedded one of his daughters with him
(fifty daughters having been borne to him by Megamede,
daughter of Arneus); for he was anxious that
all of them should have children by Hercules.
Thus Hercules, though he thought that his bedfellow
was always the same, had intercourse with
them all.1 And having vanquished the lion, he
dressed himself in the skin and wore the scalp 2 as a
helmet.
As he was returning from the hunt, there met
him heralds sent by Erginus to receive the tribute
from the Thebans.3 Now the Thebans paid tribute
to Erginus for the following reason. Clymenus,
king of the Minyans, was wounded with a cast of a
stone by a charioteer of Menoeceus, named Perieres,
in a precinct of Poseidon at Onchestus; and being
carried dying to Orchomenus,, he with his last breath
charged his son Erginus to avenge his death. So
Erginus marched against Thebes, and after slaughtering
not a few of the Thebans he concluded a treaty
with them, confirmed by oaths, that they should
send him tribute for twenty years, a hundred kine
every year. Falling in with the heralds on their
2 More exactly, "the gaping mouth." In Greek art
Hercules is commonly represented wearing the lion's skin,
often with the lion's scalp as a hood on his head. See, for
example, A. Baumeister, Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums,
i. figs. 724, 726, 729, 730.
3 As to Hercules and Erginus, compare Diodorus Siculus,
iv. 10. 3-5 ; Pansanias, ix. 37. 2 sq. ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades,
ii. 226 sqq.
179
N 2
APOLLODORUS
bv et? ©?7/3a.9 rovs Kr/pv/cas aTTiovras avvrv-
/cXr}? eXco/S^craTO' diroTt/Acov yap avrwv
ra Syra teal ras plvas, real [Bid ayoiviwv^ rd? %elpas
Bija-as efc TWV rpa^Xwv, efirj TOVTOV 'Epyivw
KOI Mivvais Baa/jibv Kopi^eiv. ef) 049 dyavaKz
earrpdrevaev eVt ®rif3as. 'H/ja/cXi}? Se \aoir\
a Trap' 'A^va? ical 7ro\€f^ap^a)V 'Rpylvov
eKTetve, rot"? 8e Mivvas erpe-^-aro /cal TOV
8nr\ovv quay/Caere ®r)/3aioi; f epew. crvv-
Se Kara TT/V
Trapd KpeovTO? dpiaretov Trjv TTpea-^vTaTrjv dvyarepa
M.eydpav, ei; 179 avr& 7ratSe9 eyevovro rpeis,
©?^pt//,a%09 KpeovTidSys Arji/cocov. TYJV Be vecorepav
Qvyarepa Kpecov 'I^)f/cXet3 SiSaxriv, ijStj jraiSa
Be Kal 'A^fcutfwrjv fieTa rbv
Bdvarov Ato9 7rat9 'TPaBduavdvs, /carw/cei Be ev
1 Sia ffxotviuv ab inepto Graeculo apposita suspicor, Heyne.
The words are at least misplaced, if, as seems probable,
diroTe/tiif is to be understood as applying to ras xe?Pas as we'l
as to TO. Sira. /cal ras $lva.s.
'* ayavnicTcav. HejTne proposed to insert e/mj/os or 'Epylvos.
The sense seems to require one or the other.
3 'l^iicAe? Wagner : t^t'/cA^ A. For the form 'tytfcXf/s, see
i. 8. 2, ii. 4. 8 (thrice), ii. 7. 3 ; and compare R. Wagner,
Epitoma Vaticana, pp. 98 sq.
4 'flfcoXeais A. In Homer (II. ii. 501), Strabo (ix. 2. 26,
p. 410), and Stephanus Byzantius (s.v. 'n/caA.e'a) the name
occurs in the singular, '{1/caA.e'a ('Q.Ka\4t] Homer).
1 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 10. 6 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades,
ii. 228. As to the sons of Hercules by Megara, compare
below, ii. 7. 8. The ancients differed considerably as to the
180
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. n
way to Thebes to demand this tribute, Hercules outraged
them ; for he cut off their ears and noses and
hands, and having fastened them [by ropes] from their
necks, he told them to carry that tribute to Erginus
and the Minyans. Indignant at this outrage, Erginus
marched against Thebes. But Hercules, having received
weapons from Athena and taken the command,
killed Erginus, put the Minyans to flight, and
compelled them to pay double the tribute to the
Thebans. And it chanced that in the fight Amphitryon
fell fighting bravely. And Hercules received
from Creon his eldest daughter Megara as a prize of
valour,1 and by her he had three sons, Therimachus.
Creontiades, and Deicoon. But Creon gave his
younger daughter to Iphicles, who already had a son
lolaus by Automedusa, daughter of Alcathus. And
Rhadamanthys, son of Zeus, married Alcmena after
the death of Amphitryon, and dwelt as an exile at
Ocaleae in Boeotia.2
number and names of the children whom Hercules had by
Megara. According to Pindar (Isthm. iv. 63 sq.) there were
eight of them. Euripides speaks of three (Hercules Fur ens,
995 sq.). See Scholiast on Pindar, Isthm. iv. 61 (104) ;
Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 48 and 663; Scholiast on
Homer, Od. xi. 269 (who agrees with Apollodorus and quotes
Asclepiades as his authority) ; Hyginus, Fab. 31 and 32.
The Thebans celebrated an annual festival, with sacrifices
and games, in honour of the children. See Pindar, Isthm.
iv. 61 (104) sqq., with the Scholiast.
2 Compare Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 50, who says
that Ehadamanthys fled from Crete because he had murdered
his own brother. He agrees with Pausanias that the worthy
couple took up their abode at Ocaleae (or Ocalea) in Boeotia.
Their tombs were shown near Hallartus, in Boeotia. See
Plutarch, Lysander, 28. The grave of Alcmena was excavated
in antiquit}7, during the Spartan occupation of the Cadmea.
It was found to contain a small bronze bracelet, two earthen-
181
APOLLODORUS
tov e Trap upurou rijv
e\a/3e Trapa 'Ep/ioO //.ey £«po9, Trap'
'Ai7roXX(0i'O9 Se To£a, Trapa Se 'H^atcrrof Occtpa/ca
Xpvaovv, Trapa 8e 'A^i/a9 rjrerr\ov' po7ra\ov /uey
yap auT09 erepev e'/e Ne/u,ea?.
TJ Mera, Se r^y TT/JO? Mt^va? /j-afflv crvvefti] ai TU)
/cara %rj\ov f/H/oa? ^avr\vai, Kal rou9 re l&iovs
TraiBas, 01)? e/c Meyapa? el^ev, et? Tr£)p €/J,/3a\etv
Kal TWV 'I^t/cXe'oi;?3 Swo- Sto KaTa&iKaffas eavrov
f)Vyr)V KaQaiperai /JLGV VTTO ®enriov,4 Trapayevoyu.
ei/09 Se et? AeX/ oi 9 TrvvOdverai rov 0eov irov
KaroiKijeei. rj Se TLvOia Tore TTp&rov rHpa,K\ea
avrov Trpoa^yopevcre- ro Se rrponr^v 5
1 TTpOjuaeioz/ A, Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker,
Hercher : Trpo/rfj.a6uv EB, Wagner.
2 'EvpvTov Aegius, Commelinus, Gale, Heyne, Westermann
, Miiller, Bekker, Hercher: auroC A, Wagner.
3 t^i/cA eons E : I(J IK\OV A.
4 0eo-7rioi» Bekker, Hercher, Wagner: Qe^Ttou EA, Heyne,
Westermann, iliiller. 5 irpu nv E : irp&rov A.
ware jars, and a bronze tablet inscribed with ancient and
unknown characters. See Plutarch, Z)e genio Socratis, 5.
A different story of the marriage of Rhadamanthys and
Alcmena was told byr Pherecydes. According to him, when
Alcmena died at a good old age, Zeus commanded Hermes to
steal her body from the coffin in which the sons of Hercules
were conveying it to the grave. Hermes executed the commission,
adroitly substituting a stone for the corpse in the
coffin. Feeling the coffin very heavy, the sons of Hercules
set it down, and taking off the lid they discovered the fraud.
They took out the stone and set it up in a sacred grove at
Thebes, where was a shrine of Alcmena. Meantime Hermes
had carried off the real Alcmena to the Islands of the Blest,
where she was married to Rhadamanthys. See Antoninus
Liheralis, Transform. 33. This quaint story is alluded to by
Pausanias, who tells us (ix. 16. 7) that there was no tomb of
Alcmena at Thebes, because at her death she had been turned
to stone.
182
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. 11-12
Having first learned from Eurytus the art of
archery,1 Hercules received a sword from Hermes, a
bow and aiTOws from Apollo,2 a golden breastplate
from Hephaestus, and a robe from Athena ; for he
had himself cut a club at Nemea.
Now it came to pass that after the battle with the
Minyans Hercules was driven mad through the
jealousy of Hera and flung his own children, whom
he had by Megara, and two children of Iphicles into
the fire ; 3 wherefore he condemed himself to exile,
and was purified by Thespius, and repairing to
Delphi he inquired of the god where he should
dwell.4 The Pythian priestess then first called
him Hercules, for hitherto he was called Alcides.5
1 See above ii. 4. 9. According to another account, Hercules
learned archery from the exile Rhadamanthys (Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 50), and if we accept the MS. reading
avrov in the present passage (see Critical Note), this was the
version of the story here followed by Apollodorus. But it
seems more likely that avrov is a scribe's mistake for Evpvrov
than that Apollodorus should have contradicted himself flatly
in two passages so near each other. The learned Tzetzes (I.e.)
mentions no less than three different men—Teutarus, Eurytus,
and Rhadamanthys—to whom the honour of having taught
Hercules to shoot was variously assigned by tradition.
2 As to the gifts of the gods to Hercules, see Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 13. 3, who, besides the sword and bow given by
Hermes and Apollo, mentions horses given by Poseidon.
3 Compare Euripides, Hercules Furens, 967 sqq.; Moschus,
iv. 13 sqq.; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 11. 1 sq.; Tzetzes, Schol.
on Lycophron, 38 ; Nicolaus Damascenus, Frag. 20, in Fragmenta
Historicorurn Graecorum, ed. C. Miiller, iii. 369 ;
Hyginus, Fab. 32.
1 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 10. 7.
5 Hercules was called Alcides after his grandfather Alcaeus,
the father of Amphitryon. See above, ii. 4'. 5. But, according
to another account, the hero was himself called Alcaeus
before he received the name of Hercules from Apollo. See
Sextus Empiricus, pp. 398 sq., ed. Im. Bekker ; Scholiast on
Pindar, Olymp. vi. 68 (115)
183
APOLLODORUS
Karoi/celv 8e avrov elirev ev
i, ^vpvaOel \arpevovra err) ScoBetca, KOI
roi 9 £7TtTacrcro/iei ou9 a#A,ou9 $€/cal e7riT€\€lv, Kal
o#T6 9 eprj, TWV a@\(ov a~WTe\€O'dev'ra v, aOdvarov
avrbv eaeaOai.
V. TOUTO afeovcras o '}HpaK\ij; et9 ^ipvvda rj\9e,
KOI TO Trpocrrarro/jievov VTTO Eu/ t r#e«9 ereXet.
TrpwTOV jj£v ovv eTrera^ev avrq) rov Neyu-eou \eov-
TO? rr)v Sopav KO/ni^eiv rovro 8e £q ov TJV arpa)-
rov, etc Tvtywvos yeyevvii/Aevov? Tropevofievof ovv
enl rov \eovra rj\6ev et? KXewra?, KOI ^evi^erai
rrapa avBpl X€PvrlrH MoXo/r^w. Kal Bveiv iepelov
0e\ovTi et9 rjfjiepav ef)r) rrjpelv rptaKoarT^v, Kal av
fjbev airo 7*79 #77/30.9 era)09 eTraveXdrj, Ail crwrijpi
Oveiv, eav 8e aTroddvy, TOTS a 93 rjpd)i evayi^eiv.
1 8e'/fo Bekker, Hercher, Wagner : 5co5e/ca EA.
2 767fV»'7jjU€i'oj' ERa : yfjevrj/j-fvov A.
3 T($T€ &s Aegius : ry TE'COS A.
1 For the labours of Hercules, see Sophocles, TracMniae,
1091 sqq.; Euripides, Hercules Furens, 359 sqq., 1210 sqq. ;
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 10 sqq.; Pausanias, v. 10. 9, v. 26. 7 ;
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, vi. 208 sqq. ; J. Tzetzes,
Chiliades, 229 sqq.; Virgil, Aen. viii. 287 sqq.; Ovid, Mefamorph.
ix. 182 sg7.; Hj'ginus, ^a6. 30.
2 As to the Nemean lion, compare Hesiod, Theog. 326 sqq. ;
Bacchylides, Epinic. viii. 6 sgg. ; Sophocles, Trachiniae, 1091
sq1?.; Theocritus, xxv. 162 sgg. ; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 11. 3 sq.;
Eratosthenes, Cataster. 12 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, 11. 232 sq.;
Hyginus, Fab. 30. According to Hesiod, the Nemean lion was
begotten by Orthus, the hound of Geryon, upon the monster
Echidna. Hyginus says that the lion was bred by the Moon.
3 As to Hercules and Molorchus, compare Tibullus, iv. 1.
12 sq.; Virgil, Georg. iii. 19, with Servius's note ; Martial, iv.
64. 30, ix. 43. 13 ; Statius, Sylv. iii. 1. 28.
4 The Greeks had two distinct words for sacrificing,
according as the sacrifice was offered to a god or to a hero,
that is, to a worshipful dead man ; the former sacrifice was
expressed by the verb 6v€tv, the latter by the verb fvayifciv.
184
THE LIBRARY, II. iv. i2-v. r
And she told him to dwell in Tiryns, serving
Eurystheus for twelve years and to perform the ten
labours imposed on him, and so, she said, when the
tasks were accomplished, he would be immortal.1
V. When Hercules heard that, he went to Tiryns
and did as he was hid by Eurystheus. First, Eurystheus
ordered him to bring the skin of the Nemean
lion ;2 now that was an invulnerable beast begotten
by Typhon. On his way to attack the lion he came
to Cleonae and lodged at the house of a day-labourer,
Molorchus ;3 and when his host would have offered
a victim in sacrifice, Hercules told him to wait for
thirty days, and then, if he had returned safe from
the hunt, to sacrifice to Saviour Zeus, but if he were
dead, to sacrifice to him as to a hero.4 And having
The verbal distinction can hardly be preserved in English,
except by a periphrasis. For the distinction between the
two, see Pausanias, ii. 10. 1, ii. 11. 7, iii- 19. 3; and for more
instances of evayi^eiv in this sense, see Pausanias, iii. 1. 8,
vi. 21. 11, vii. 17. 8, vii. 19. 10, vii. 20. 9, viii. 14. 10 and
11, viii. 41. 1, ix. 5. 14, ix. 18. 3 and 4, ix. 38. 5, x. 24. 6 ;
Inscriptions Graecae Meyaridis, Oropiae, Boeotiae, ed.
G. Dittenberger, p. 32, No. 53. For instances of the
antithesis between Qveiv and evayifciv, see Herodotus, ii. 44 ;
Plutarch, De Herodoti malignitate, 13; Ptolemaen.s
Hephaest., Nov. Hist. iii. (Mythoyraphi Graeci, ed. A.
Westermann, p. 186); Pollux, viii. 91 ; Scholiast on Euripides,
Phoenissac, 274. The corresponding nouns 0vtrla.i
and (va.yifffjia.Ta, are similarly opposed to each other. See
Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 58. Another word which
is used only of sacrificing to heroes or the dead is evrf/^vfiv.
See, for example, Thucydides, v. 11, us Tjpco't -re ev-re^vovai (of
the sacrifices offered at Amphipolis to Brasidas). Sometimes
the verbs £vayi£fiv and fi rf/j.vfiv are coupled in this sense.
See Philostratus, Heroic.a, xx. 27 and 28. For more evidence
as to the use of these words, see Fr. Pfister, Der Reliquienkult
im Altertum (Giessen, 1909-1912), pp. 466 sgq. Compare
P. Foucart, Le culte des Mros chcz les Grecs (Paris, 1918), pp.
96, 98 (from the Memoires de I'Academie des Inscriptions et
Belles-Lettres. vol. xlii).
APOLLO DO BUS
a'? Be ri]v Nejjbeav d^tKOjjievo^ icai rov \eovra
[AaffTeixras ero%evae TO Trpwrov o 9 Be e^adev
arpcorov ovra, dvareivd/j,evo? TO poTra\ov eBicd/ce.
crvfjifivyovros Be et? d^i(f)larrofjLOvl arrrfKaiov avrov
rrjv erepav evm/coBojjiijo-ev2 eicroSov, Sia Be T }?
€tireicrf)\0€ rq  ffypiq), /cat Treptdels
KaTa\a/3o)v Be rov MoXop^oy eV T^ Te\evraLa
ra)v r)^epwv t»? veicpa) /jbeXXovra TO lepelov evaji-
Au ^76^ et? Mi/«7;i'a9 TOV
8e AcaTa7rXa'/et94 avrov TVJV
dvBpeiav arrelTre TO \oi7rbv5 avrat et9 T^y 7ro\iv
elaievai, BeiKvveiv Be Trpo TWV TTV\WV eKekeve TOIX;
a6\ovs. parl Be ori Seicras teal irldov eavrq 
elcncpv/3f)vai, VTTO yrjv6 /carecr/cei/aae, /cat
KrjpvKa KoTr/jea Il€\07ro9 TOV 'HXetou
Toi/9 ad\ov?* ovros Be "Ityirov /creivas,
619 Mf/o?z a9 «al TV^MV Trap1 Ev/oi;er#e& 9
Kadapcricov eicet KCLTM/CCI.
' Aevrepov Be adXov eireTatfev CLVTW rrjv \epvaiav
vSpav KTetvai' avrtf Be ev ra  rrj; Aepvys e\ei
eKTpa(f €tffa ej-eftaivev ei9 TO TreBiov KOI rd re
1 rb  a/jL(f iffrofji.ov Wagner, comparing Diodorus Siculus,
iv. 11. 3 sq. 2 ei )»toS6/j.iirei  E : avyKoSo^fffv A.
3 K.\eavis Hercher, Wagner (comparing Pediasmus, De
Herculis laborious, 1) : NVK^VUS A.
4 /carairAoyelx E : KO,Ta\aft(i)v A.
5 aTreiire rJ  AoJTrbv Bekker, Hercher, Wagner : aTreiTra-ro
\ottrbv EA. 6 yrjv E : 77)$ A.
1 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 12. 1, who however places
this incident after the adventure with the Erymanthian boar.
2 As to the herald Copreus, compare Homer, II. xv. 639 sq.,
with the note of the Scholiast.
186
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 1-2
come to Nemea and tracked the lion, he first shot an
arrow at him, but when he perceived that the beast
was invulnerable, he heaved up his club and made
after him. And when the lion took refuge in a
cave with two mouths, Hercules built up the one
entrance and came in upon the beast through the
other, and putting his arm round its neck held it
tight till he had choked it; so laying it on his
shoulders he carried it to Cleonae. And finding
Molorchus on the last of the thirty days about to
sacrifice the victim to him as to a dead man, he sacrificed
to Saviour Zeus and brought the lion to Mycenae.
Amazed at his manhood, Eurystheus forbade him
thenceforth to enter the city, but ordered him to exhibit
the fruits of his labours before the gates. They
say, too, that in his fear he had a bronze jar made
for himself to hide in under the earth,1 and that he
sent his commands for the labours through a herald,
Copreus,2 son of Pelops the Elean. This Copreus
had killed Iphitus and fled to Mycenae, where he was
purified by Eurystheus and took up his abode.
As a second labour he ordered him to kill the
Lernaean hydra.3 That creature, bred in the swamp
of Lerna, used to go forth into the plain and ravage
3 Compare Euripides, Htrcules Fur ens, 419 sqq. • Dioilorus
Siculus, iv. 11. 5 sq.; Pausanias, ii. 37. 4, v. 5. 10, v. 17. 11;
Zenobius, Cent. vi. 26 ; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, vi.
212 sqq.; J. Tzetzes, Chitiades, ii. 237 sqq.; Virgil, Aen. viii.
299 sq.; Ovid, Metamorph. ix. 69 sqq.; Hygimis, Fab. 30.
Diodorus and Ovid multiply the hydra's heads to a hundred ;
the sceptical Pausanias (ii. 37. 4) would reduce them to one.
Both Diodorus and Pausanias, together with Zenobius and
Hyginus, mention that Hercules poisoned his arrows with
the gall of the hydra. The account which Zenobius gives of
the hydra is clearly based on that of Apollodorus, though
as usual he does not name his authority.
I87
APOLLO DOR US
KOI rrjv %(apav Bie(p0eipev. el%e Se
r) vBpa vTrep/jieyedes ff&fui, /ce^aXa? fyov evvea,
r«9 ftev o/cro) Ovr/rds, rrjv Be /jierr)v dddvarov.
eVt/3a9 ovv apfAaros, r)vio%ovvro$ 'Io\aof, irapeyevero
et9 rrjv Aepz^v, KCU TOU? jj,ev ITTTTOVS
Se v$pav evpoov ev TLVL Xo^jw x trapa
fj^ 'A/AVfitovris, OTTOV 6 ^a)Xeo9 aurr/9
{3aXXti)V fteXeai TreTrvpwfAevois rjvdyicaaev
, e/c/3aivovcrav Se avrrjv KpctTijcras /caretvei'.
i? 8e OarepM 2 TWI^ TroSwv eVetvero 3 Trept-
^ " « ' '^ Sjv v JL V^ ' TrAa/cettra. TW poTraA-w oe ra? «6paA-a9 KOTTTCOV
ovSev avveiv r)$vv
fce(J)a\r); 8vo avej)voi To. etre^orjdei Se
rf) vBpa virepfjiejeBf]^, Sdfcvcov rov 7r68a. Bib
rovrov cnroifTelvas eTrefcaXea-aro /ecu
TOI  'loXaov, 09
K€j)a~\,wv eKwXvev avievai. /cal5 rovrov rov
rpoTrov rwv ava^vojjievaiv icefyaXwv Trepiryevo/Aevos,
rrjv addvarov cnro KQ-fras Karwpv^e KOI fSapelav
erredrj/ce rcerpav, Trapa rr)V oBbv rr]i  (frepovcrav Sia
Aep^9 et9 'EXatoOi'Ta'0 TO Be rw/xa 7179 vBpas
dvaa"%i(ra; rfj %oX^ row? oicrrov; e^a^rev. Eupvcrdevs
Be ecf)r) p^rj Belv Karapidfjufjcrai rovrov 7 eV
rot? Se/fa 8 TOV a0\ov ov yap [tovos d\\a /cal
T ;9 vBpas Trepieyevero.
1 Ao'^xj) EA : TO'TTW L, V (first hand, in margin).
2 Barepy E : Qarrov A.
3 eveixfro E : TjveixfTo A.
4 ^Suroro E, Zenobius, (7eji. vi. 26 : eSuvaro A.
5 /cai E, Zenobius, Ce?;. vi. 26 : /cara A.
6  E\aioOj'Ta, L. Ross, Reiseii und lleiswouttn durch Grie.-
chenland, i. (Berlin, 1841), p. 156 note : sKeovv-ra. EA.
188
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 2
both the cattle and the country. Now the hydra had
a huge body, with nine heads, eight mortal, but the
middle one immortal. So mounting a chariot
driven by lolaus, he came to Lerna, and having
halted his horses, he discovered the hydra on a hill
beside the springs of the Amymone, where was its
den. By pelting it with fiery shafts he forced it to
come out, and in the act of doing so he seized and
held it fast. But the hydra wound itself about one
of his feet and clung to him. Nor could he effect
anything by smashing its heads with his club, for as
fast as one head was smashed there grew up two. A
huge crab also came to the help of the hydra by biting
his foot.1 So he killed it, and in his turn called for
help on lolaus who, by setting fire to a piece of the
neighbouring wood and burning the roots of the
heads with the brands, prevented them from sprouting.
Having thus got the better of the sprouting heads, he
chopped off the immortal head, and buried it, and put
a heavy rock on it, beside the road that leads through
Lerna to Elaeus. But the body of the hydra he slit
up and dipped his arrows in the gall. However,
Eurystheus said that this labour should not be
reckoned among the ten because he had not got the
better of the hydra by himself, but with the help of
lolaus.
1 For this service the crab was promoted by Hera, the foe
of Hercules, to the rank of a constellation in the sky. See
Eratosthenes. Cataster. 11 (who quotes as his authority the
Heraclia of Panyasis); Hyginus, Astronomica, ii. 23.
7 TOVTOV E, Pediasmus, De Herculis laboribus, 2 (rbv aySiva.
rovrov) : omitted in A.
s Se'/ca Bekker, Hercher, Wagner : SwSe/ca EA, Pediasmus,
De Her culls laboribus, 2.
189
APOLLODORUS
3 Tpirov dd\ov eirera^ev avrw rrjv Kepvvlriv 1
e\af ov et9 Mv/crjvas C/LITTVOVV evey/celv. r)V Be 7}
e'XaJ6o9 ev Qlvorj, ^pvcroKepa)?, 'AprefjuSos lepd'
Sib real /9ouXoyu.ei O9 avrijv 'HpaK\r); /t^Te ave\eiv
f4iJT6 Tpw&ai, crvveUw^ev o\ov eviavrov. eVet Be
ffdfjivov TO Qriplov rfj Sicogei avvefywyev eh 0/309
TO Xeyo/ievov 'ApTe/Aiffiov, KatcelQev em TroTajiov
AdBcDva, rovrov Siafiaiveiv /j,e\\ovffav
KOL Oe/jievo^ eirl rwv wfAtov Bia
jirelyeTo. yueT* 'ATroXXw^o? Be "
atyypeiro, /cat TO lepov %yov
KTeivovra 2 KaT€/j.e/ApeTo. 6 Be
rrjv avdyrcrjv, teal rbv ainov €ITTU V
yeyovevac, irpavvas r^v opyrjv T^9 deov TO Or^piov
4 TerapTOv ad\ov eTrera^ev avrtp rov ^
Oiov tcdirpov £!)VTa KOfJil^eiv TOVTO Be TO Or)pt,ov
rrjv "tyciiffiBa, 6pp,a)p.evov ej; opovs o
criv ,vj,av0ov. 8£eoievo9 ovv &o\6
KCU
1 Kepvf'tTtv Hej'ne : Kepvrjnv E : ttepv-fiTiiv A.
2 KTetvovTa Wagner : KTeivavTa EA.
1 Compare Pindar, Olymp. iii. 28 (50) sqq. • Euripides,
Hercules Furens, 375 sqq.; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 13. 1 :
J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 265 sgg.; Hyginus, ^06. 30. Pindar
says that in his quest of the hind with the golden horns
Hercules had seen " the land at the back of the cold north
wind." Hence, as the reindeer is said to be the only species
of deer of which the female has antlers, Sir William Ridgeway
argues ingeniously that the hind with the golden horns was
no other than the reindeer. See his Early Age of Greece
i. (Cambridge, 1901), pp. 360 ^5^. Later Greek tradition, as
we see from Apollodorus, did not place the native land of the
190
THE LIBRARY, It. v. 3-4
As a third labour he ordered him to bring the
Cerynitian hind alive to Mycenae.1 Now the hind
was at Oenoe ; it had golden horns and was sacred to
Artemis; so wishing neither to kill nor wound it,
Hercules hunted it a whole year. But when, weary
with the chase, the beast took refuge on the mountain
called Artemisius, and thence passed to the
river Ladon, Hercules shot it just as it was about to
cross the stream, and catching it put it on his shoulders
and hastened through Arcadia. But Artemis
with Apollo met him, and would have wrested the
hind from him, and rebuked him for attempting to
kill her sacred animal.2 Howbeit, by pleading necessity
and laying the blame on Eurystheus, he
appeased the anger of the goddess and carried the
beast alive to Mycenae.
. As a fourth labour he ordered him to bring the
Erymanthian boar alive ;3 now that animal ravaged
Psophis, sallying from a mountain which they call
Erymanthus. So passing through Pholoe he was entertained
by the centaur Pholus, a son of Silenus by a
hind so far away. Oenoe was a place in Argolis. Mount
Artemisius is the range which divides Argolis from the plain
of Mantinea. The Ladon is the most beautiful river of
Arcadia, if not of Greece. The river Cerynites, from which
the hind took its name, is a river which rises in Arcadia and
flows through Achaia into the sea. The modern name of the
river is Bouphousia. See Pausanias, vii. 25. 5, with my note.
2 The hind is said to have borne the inscription. " Taygete
dedicated (me) to Artemis." See Pindar, Otymp. iii. 29 (53)
sq., with the Scholiast.
3 As to the Erymanthian boar and the centaurs, see
Sophocles, Trachiniae, 1095 sqq.; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 12 ;
J. Tzetzes, Ghiliades, ii. 268 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 30. The
boar's tusks were said to be preserved in a sanctuary of Apollo
at Cumae in Campania (Pausanias, viii. 24. 5).
191
APOLLODORUS
oi TO9 fHpa/c\€i fj,ev orcra
ra Kpea, avrbs Be w^tot9 e'%pr)ro. alrovv TO9 8e olvov
rH^a#Xeof9, e/ ?7 BeBot/cevat rov KOWOV rwv Kevravpajv
dvoi^ai iriBov dappelv Be Trapa/ceXevadcHyoa
«:X?79 avrov rjvoi^e, teal yuer' ou TTO\V
ocr/,17791 alcrdojuevoi Traprfcrav ol Kevravpoi,
fjievoL KCLL eXdrais, €7rl TO rov
nrr)\aiov. TOU9 /tez  oyj/ Trpd Tovs TO\,/J,IJIGGO
irapeKdelv "A^j-^ioT /ecu "Aypiov
erpe^raTo {3d\\(ov 8aXot9, rou9 Be
\onroix; ero^evcre BIWKMV a%pt T?}
7T/009 Xetpwz/a (rvvej)vyov, 09 e
0/3OU9 IlTyXiof Trapa MaXeav Karat/crjcre.
vrat irepiTreirrcoKOTa^ row Kevravpov 9 ro^evcov
o fH/?a/cA,r}9, TO 5e eve^dev 'EXaTOU
TOU /Spaxiovo? TW yovari rov Xetpa)f09 e/J,mj-
yvvrai. dvtadels Be 'H/c»a«X?}9 rrpocrBpa/jLobv TO Te
/9eXo9 e£ei\KVre, KOI Bovros Xet/3uro9 tydpiiaicov
erredrfKev. aviarov Be e^oov TO eX/co9 e/9 TO (nrrj-
\aiov avraXXacro'eTai.2 fcd/cel re\evrrjcrai /3ouXo-
/ji€vof, ical fir) BvvdfAevos erreirrep addvaros rjv,
dvnBovros Att TIpo/J,r]0ea)s avrov 3 ai/T1 avrov
fyevrjaQfievov addvarov, ovrays drredavev. ol \oi-
7TO\ Be r&v Kevravpow (jievyovo'iv aXXo9 aXXa%^,
«ai Ti^e9 /iey Trapeyevovro 619 0^09 MaXeav, Eupvricov
Be et9 ^oXo?;^, Necrcro9 5e eVt rrora^ov
e \onrovs vTroBe^dfievos Tloaei-
1 TTJS oT/xijs E : Sia rfjy 6(r/xrjs A.
2 a7ra\\arreTa{ Scaliger : a\\d(r(reTcu EA.
3 aurbv Wagner : rbr EA ; Tipo/nydea rbv Hemsterhuis on
Lncian, Dialoy. Mort. 26.
192
THE LIBRARY,-II. v. 4
Melian nymph.1 He set roast meat before Hercules,
while he himself ate his meat raw. When Hercules
called for wine, he said he feared to open the jar
which belonged toj^the centaurs in common.2 But
Hercules, bidding him be of good courage, opened
it, and not long afterwards, scenting the smell, the
centaurs arrived at the cave of Pholus, armed with
rocks and firs. The first who dared to enter, Anchius
and Agrius, were repelled by Hercules with a shower
of brands, and the rest of them he shot and pursued
as far as Malea. Thence they took refuge with
Chiron, who, diiven by the Lapiths from Mount
Pelion, took up his abode at Malea. As the centaurs
cowered about Chiron, Hercules shot an arrow at
them, which, passing through the arm of Elatus,
stuck in the knee of Chiron. Distressed at this,
Hercules ran up to him, drew out the shaft, and
applied a medicine which Chiron gave him. But the
hurt proving incurable, Chiron retired to the cave
and there he wished to die, but he could not, for he
was immortal. However, Prometheus offered himself
to Zeus to be immortal in his stead, and so Chiron
died. The rest of the centaurs fled in different
directions, and some came to Mount Malea, and
Eurytion to Pholoe, and Nessus to the river Evenus.
The rest of them Poseidon received at Eleusis and
1 As to these nymphs, see Hesiocl, Theog. 187. The name
perhaps means an ash-tree nymph (from yueAfa, an ashtree),
as Dryad means an oak-tree nymph (from Spvs, an
oak-tree).
2 Compare J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 271 ; Theocritus, vii.
149 sq. The jar had been pi'esented by Dionysus to a
centaur with orders not to open it till Hercules came
(Diodorus Siculus, iv. 12. 3).
193
VOL. I. O
APOLLODORUS
o&v et? 'Ei\,evffiva opet KCLTeKaKv-fy-ev. J oXo? oe
eX/evcra? etc vexpov TO /SeXo9 edavfia^ev, el TOV9
TrjXiKOVTOVs TO fjiifcpbv oi£j)0eip6' TO Se T^9 XelP0*
b\iv0ricrav rfkOev eirl TOV Trooa /cal Tra
avrov. eiravekButv oe et9
f); teal 3?o\ov reXevTija-av
avTOV ITTI rrjv TOV Kairpov Gypav
i, teal Si(0f;a  avTov e/c TIVO?
tcpavyr/s, et? yiova TroXX^y Trapei/j.€vov
Te eKOfAiaev et9 MfACjyva?.
eTrera^ev avra  a6\ov rtov Avyeiov
Iv rjfjiepa fiid fJiovov e/c^opijcrai TifV
ovQov. fjv Se 6 Ayyeta? /3artXeu9 "HXtSo?, a 9
fj,ev Ttves eiTrov, vrat? 'HXiou, w? 5e rcves, Tlocrei-
Scopo?, & 9 Se evioi, &6plSav'To$, TroXXa? Se et^e
/Soa/cr/fidTiav Tro'i^va^. rovry "npocreX-dfav 'Hpa-
K\rjt, ov SrjXcoffas Trjv }Lvpvcrd€(o  eTrirayyv,
epaTKe yum rj/^epa rP/f ovOov €/cpoprjcreiv, el Sooaei
rrjv Se/cdTrjv avry T&V ^oa-Krj^draiv. Avyeias Se
Twv vTria-^veirai. fj,apTVpdfj,evos 3 Se 'Hyoa-
TOV A.vyeiov iraiSa QvXea, T?;? TG av\rj; TOV
Biei\€ Kai TOV 'A\f eioi  teal TOV Tlijvetbv
1 &6\os 6s ... dd\]/as auroj'. This passage has been
emended by Wagner from the Vatican Kpitome (E). In
the MSS. of Apollodorus (A) it runs as follows : eirai G\9wi 
Se els ^o\6t]v 'Hpa/cArjs iial b6\ov Te\evruvra Oeaird/nevos /J.fra
Kal SAAwv TO\\S v, t\Ki ffas £K veiepov rb Bf\os eOavfiaCev, tl
TOVS T7l\lKOllTOl S T^ filKfbv Sl€p0€lpf ?b Sf TiJJ X€1P^S O \ l f f O r j f f a f
?l\6ov en] rbc TralSa Kal vapaxprma. airtitTfivtv a.vr6v. Bdtyas Se
ba\ov 'HpaxXrjs.
2 tlffud-fieras E : omitted in A. Compare Wagner, Epitome.
Vaticana, pp. 100 sq. ; and for the late form of the aorist
(eiVceflijffaj for tlffwaas), see Veitch, Greek Verbs (Oxford,
1879), p. 715.
194
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 4-5
hid them in a mountain. But Pholus, drawing the
arrow from a corpse, wondered that so litttle a
thing could kill such big fellows ; howbeit, it slipped
from his hand and lighting on his foot killed him on
the spot.1 So when Hercules returned to Pholoe, he
beheld Pholus dead ; and he buried him and proceeded
to the boar-hunt. And when he had chased
the boar with shouts from a certain thicket, he drove
the exhausted animal into deep snow, trapped it. and
brought it to Mycenae.
The fifth labour he laid on "him was to carry out
the dung of the cattle of Augeas in a single day.'-
Now Augeas was king of Elis ; some say that he was
a son of the Sun, others that he was a son of Poseidon,
and others that he was a son of Phorbas ; and
he had many herds of cattle. Hercules accosted him,
and without revealing the command of Eurystheus,
said that he would carry out the dung in one day,
if Augeas would give him the tithe of the cattle.
Augeas was incredulous, but promised. Having taken
Augeas* s son Phyleus to witness, Hercules made a
breach in the foundations of the cattle-yard, and then,
diverting the courses of the Alpheus and Peneus,
1 Compare Servius, on Virgil, Aen. viii. 294.
2 As to Augeas and his cattle-stalls, see Theocritus, xxv.
7 sqq.; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 13. 3; Pausanias, v. 1. 9 sq.;
J. Tzetzes, CTwZtades, \\.2J8sqq. (who seems to follow Apollodorus)
; Scholiast on Homer, II. ii. 629, xi. 700 ; Scholiast
on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 172 ; Hyginus, Fab. 30.
According to the rationalistic Pausanias, the name of the
father of Augeas was Eleus (Eleios), which was popularly
corrupted into Helios, " Sun " ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. viii.
300.
3 naprvpdtpevos E, Pediasmus, Ds Herculis laboribus, 5:
UpTVpOVUfVOS A.
J95
o 2
APOLLODORUS
vvveyyvs peovTas -jrapo^erevaa^ eTnyayev, e/cpovv
8t aXX,7?9 e%68ov Trot^cra?. iiaOmv Be Avyeias on
/car' eTTiTayrjv EivpvT0e(o$ TOVTO emreTeXecrTat,
TOV piaOov OVK cnreBiBov, Trpocreri 8' rjpvelro KOI
fjbir6bv VTroa-yeaQai Bajcreiv, ftal Kpivea'dai irepl
TOVTOV eroifjLos G\eyev elvai. Ka06^ofj,eva v Be rwv
Btfcaa-rwv K\i)dels o &v\ei ; VTTO (Hpaic\€OV; rov
Trarpo? KaT€fjLaprvpr)(T€v, eiTrcbv 6/jt,o\oyfj(rai. fiiadov
Saxreiv avr&, opyiaflel? Be Avyeias, Trplv
rrjv ^rjf ov eve%0rjvai, rov -re ^v^ea KCU rov
ovv et? &ov\i%iov rfkOe /catcel Karwicei, 'Hpa-
K\f); Be et? "£l\evov 717)09 Ae^a/iei/of ri/ce, KOI
tcar€\a/3e TOVTOV /te'XXovra Bi avdy/crjv fj,vr](TTeveiv
^LvpVTiwvi KevTavpw Mv??crfyita%^^ rrjv Qwya-
Tepa' iffi ov 7TapaK\t]0eli 0ot]6elv €\06vra errl
Trjv vvp ^ t]V EivpVTiwva aireKTeivev. TZvpVffffeix;
Be ovBe TOVTOV ev rot? Bexa 1 TrpocreBegaTo TOV
a6\ov, ~\.ey(0v errl fjuaQa) 7T€7rpa)(0ai.z
"EKTOV erreTagev ad\ov avTw ra? S
opviOas etcBiw^ai. rjv Be ev Sru/x^aXft) TroXet
rvvr]pej r); v\rj- et? TavTrjv opvets
1 SC'KO Bekker, Hercher, Wagner : SwSeKa EA, Pediasmus,
De Herculis laboribus, 5.
2 trfirpaxOai E, Wagner. The MSS. appear to read ireirpa-
XeVai, and so Heyne, Westermann, Miiller, Bekker and
Hercher.
1 Compare Homer, //. ii. 629, with the Scholiast ; Pansanias,
v. 1. 10, v. 3. 1 and 3.
2 Compare Bacchylides, referred to by the Scholiast on
Hprner, Od. xi. 295 ; Bacchylides, ed. B. C. Jebb, p. 430 ;
Diodorus Sicnlus, iv. 33. 1 ; Pausanias, vii. 18. 1 ; Hyginus,
Fab, 33.
196
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 5-6 .
which flowed near each other, he turned them into
the yard, having first made an outlet for the water
through another opening. When Augeas learned
that this had been accomplished at the command of
Eurystheus, he would not pay the reward ; nay more,
he denied that he had promised to pay it, and 011
that point he professed himself ready to submit to
arbitration. The arbitrators having taken their seats,
Phyleus was called by Hercules and bore witness
against his father, affirming that he had agreed to
give him a reward. In a rage Augeas, before the
voting took place, ordered both Phyleus and Hercules
to pack out of Elis. So Phyleus went to Dulichium
and dwelt there,1 and Hercules repaired to Dexamenus
at Olenus.2 He found Dexamenus on the
point of betrothing perforce his daughter Mnesimache
to the centaur Eurytion, and, being called upon by
him for help, he slew Eurytion when that centaur
came to fetch his bride. But Eurystheus would not
admit this labour either among the ten, alleging
that it had been performed for hire.
The sixth labour he enjoined on him was to chase
away the Stymphalian birds.3 Now at the city of
Stymphalus in Arcadia was the lake called Stymphalian,
embosomed in a deep wood. To it countless
3 As to the Stymphaliaii birds, see Apollonius Rhodius,
Argon, ii. 1052-1057, with the Scholiast on 1054; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 13. 2 ; Strabo, viii. 6. 8, p. 371 ; Pausanias, viii.
22. 4; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, vi. 227 sqq. •
J. Tzetzes. Chiliades, ii. 291 sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 20 and 30 ;
Serving, on Virgil, Aen. viii. 300. These fabulous birds were
said to shoot their feathers like arrows. Compare D'Arcy
Wentworth Thompson, Glossary of Greek Birds, p. 162.
From the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (I.e.) we learn
that the use of a brazen rattle to frighten the birds was
mentioned both by Pherecydes and Hellariicus.
197
APOLLODORUS
arr\erot, rrjv drrb TWV \vK(av dprrayrjv Beooitcviat.
d/jbrj^avovvros ovv 'Hpa/cAeof? TTW? etc rrjs t/Xr/?
ra.9 opviOas e/cfidXr), ^d\fcea tcp6ra\a SiScocriv
avTto 'A0f]vd rrapa H^atcrrof Xa/3oi)cra. ravra
Kpovwv erri1 rti/o? opov; rf] \i/j,vr) TrapaKeifiivov 2
ra? opvi6a; I(p6/3€f al Be rov SOVTTOV ov% VTTOjjLevova'ai
ftera. Seou? UVITTTCIVTO, KOI rovrov rov
rpoTTov '}3.paK\ijs ero^evaev avrds.
r'E,/3So/u,ov €7rera^€v aO\ov rov K/)^ra dycvyeiv
ravpov. rovrov 'AfCovatXaos fiev elvaL $T]ai rbv
o~iairop0/ji€va-avra }^vp(a7rijv Att, rives Be TOV VTTO
IlocretScovo? avaSoOevra e/c 0a\d(rcn]f, ore icaradvcreiv
TlotreiBwvi Mti/& 9 elrre TO (jjavev IK 7779
0a\daarr);. vai $acri ffeao-df^evov avrbv rov
ravpov TO /caXXo? rovrov /j.ev elf ra J3ovtc6\ia
aTTorrefJi'fyai? Ovvai Be a\\ov Hocrei&covf e^ ' ol»
opyicrOevra rbv 6ebv dypiwcrai rbv ravpov. errl
rovrov Trapayevbfjievos els Kpqrrjv 'H/oa/cX?}9,
erretBrj o-vX\a{3eiv4 djftovvri MiVw9 etTrei/ ayTfo
\a/ji/3dveiv BiayfovKra/^evfi), \a/3cov Kol5 rrpbs EupvaOea
Biatco/jLicras eBei^e, Kal TO XotTrot' eiacrev
averov o Be rrXavrjOels 619c ^rrdprrfv re Kal
'ApreaBiav arraaav, Kal 8ia/3a  rbv 'Icr0/j.6v, els
1 eirt E, Pediasmus, De Herculis labonbus, 6 : viro A.
2 irapaiceifjLfvov E, Pediasmus, De fJerculis laboribus, 6 :
•irepiK€i/j,ti ov A.
3 a.Troir4/j.\l/ai E : a.iroTrt/ji.ireiv A. 4 (ruAXa^e?^ E : AajSeTv A.
5 A.o5i)v (coi E : Kal Ao/Sft"' A.
6 els E, but apparently absent in A : ava Heyne, who,
however, would prefer to omit 2irapT7jj/ re «ol 'ApKaStav
a-iraa-ay as an interpolation.
1 In no other ancient account of the Stymphalian birds,
so far as I know, are wolves mentioned. There is perhaps
198
THE LIBRARY, IT. v. 6-7
birds had flocked for refuge, fearing to be preyed
upon by the wolves.1 So when Hercules was at
a loss how to drive the birds from the wood, Athena
gave him brazen castanets, which she had received
from Hephaestus. By clashing these on a certain
mountain that overhung the lake, he scared the
birds. They could not abide the sound, but fluttered
up in a fright, and in that way Hercules shot
them.
The seventh labour he enjoined on him was to
bring the Cretan Bull.2 Acusilaus says that this was
the bull that ferried across Europa for Zeus; but some
say it was the bull that Poseidon sent up from the sea
when Minos promised to sacrifice to Poseidon what
should appear out of the sea. And they say that
when he saw the beauty of the bull he sent it away
to the herds and sacrificed another to Poseidon; at
which the god was angry and made the bull savage.
To attack this bull Hercules came to Crete, and
when, in reply to his request for aid, Minos told him
to fight and catch the bull for himself, he caught it
and brought it to Eurystheus, and having shown it
to him he let it afterwards go free. But the bull
roamed to Sparta and all Arcadia, and traversing the
a reminiscence of an ancient legend in the name of the
Wolf's Ravine, which is still given to the deep glen, between
immense pine-covered slopes, through which the road runs
south-westward from Stymphalus to Orchomenus. The glen
forms a conspicuous feature in the landscape to anyone
seated on the site of the ancient city and looking across the
clear shallow water of the lake to the high mountains that
bound the valley on the south. See my commentary on
Pausanias, vol. iv. p. 269.
2 As to the Cretan bull see Diodorus Siculns, iv. 13.4;
Pausanias, i. 27. 9 sq., v. 10. 9 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 293-
298 (who seems to follow Apollodorus) ; Hyginus, Fab. 30.
APOLLODORUS
Mapadwva T?}? 'ArTt/c^? df)ttc6fj,evos TOU?
piovs SieXvfiaivero.
"Oy&oov a6\ov eTrera^ev avry ra?
TOV ©/00/CO9 t7T7rOV9 649 Mi;/C?;i a9 KO^l
Gyro? "Apeo9 «at K.vprfvr)?, j3affi\evi.
e6vov; ®pa/ciov Kal ^a^ifiwrdrov, et%e Se avQpw-
TTCHJMZ'yovs iinrovs. 7rX,evcra9 otw yiiera rwy eKovcri(
o  (rvveTropevwv KCU ftiacrdpevos TOVS ITTL rat?
(f)a,Tvai  rStv 'iinrmv vTrdpftovras tfyayev eiri rrjv
6d\a,(raav. rwv 8e I&IGTOVWV crvv 07r\ot9 eTTtj3or)
0ovvTcov T^9 //ei' 17T7TOU9 irapeSwicev 'AfiSijptp l
f v\dcr7€iv' o5ro9 8e ^v 'E/o/AoO 7ra?9, A.o/cpb  €%
'O7TOOPT09, 'HpaAfXeoy? ep&iievo*;, ov ai mTroi
St£(pdeipav €7ri(T7racrd/ji6vai'2 Trpbs Be TOVS Btarovas
Siaycovicrd/jievo? /cat AtofAijSij
T0i 9 XotTTO^ rjvdjKaa'e5 f evyetv, Ka
7r6\iv "AftBrjpa4 Trapa rbv rdtyov TOV
1 'Aj88^pj , E : avS-hpip or avS-fjpy A, Pediasmus, Dt, Herculis
laboribus, 8.
3 For iiriffira.ffa.ntva.1 we should perhaps read Siaa-iraffd^evai,
' ' by tearing him in pieces." The mares were man-eating.
3 fydyicaffe E, Pediasmus, De Herculis laborious, 8 : yvdy-
«a£e A.
4 &&5- lpa. E, Wagner : &vor\pov A : "AfiSrjpov Heyne, Westermann,
Miiller, Bekker, Hercher.
1 As to the man-eating mares of Dioraedes, see Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 15. 3 sq.; Philostratus, Imagines, ii. 25 ; Quintus
Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, vi. 245 sqq.; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades,
ii. 299-308 (who seems to follow Apollodorus, except that he
speaks of the animals in the masculine as horses, not mares) ;
Strabo, vii. p. 331, frags. 44 and 47, ed. A. Meineke ; Stephanus
Byzantius, s.v. "A&Sripa ; Hyginus, Fab. 30 (who gives
the names of four horses, not mares). According to Diodorus
Siculus (I.e.), Hercules killed the Thracian king Diomedes
himself by exposing him to his own mares, which devoured
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 7-8
Isthmus arrived at Marathon in Attica and harried
the inhabitants.
The eighth labour he enjoined on him was to bring
the mares of Diomedes the Thracian to Mycenae.1
Now this Diomedes was a son of Ares and Cyrene,
and he was king of the Bistones, a very war-like
Thracian people, and he owned man-eating mares. So
Hercules sailed with a band of volunteers, and having
overpowered the grooms who were in charge of the
mangers, he drove the mares to the sea. When the
Bistones in arms came to the rescue, he committed
the mares to the guardianship of Abderus, who was
a son of Hermes, a native of Opus in Locris, and a
minion of Hercules ; but the mares killed him by
dragging him after them. But Hercules fought against
the Bistones, slew Diomedes and compelled the rest
to flee. And he founded a city Abdera beside the
grave of Abderus who had been done to death,2
him. Further, the historian tells us that when Hercules
brought the mares to Eurystheus, the king dedicated them
to Hera, and that their descendants existed down to the time
of Alexander the Great. 2 Compare Strabo, vii. p. 531, frags. 44 and 47, ed. A.
Meineke; Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. "A.SS^pa; Philostratus,
Imagines, ii. 25. From Philostratus we learn that athletic
games were celebrated in honour of Abderus. They comprised
boxing, wrestling, the pancratium, and all the other
usual contests, with the exception of horse-racing—no
doubt because Abderus was said to have been killed by
horses. We may compare the rule which excluded horses
from the Arician grove, because horses were said to have
killed Hippolytus, with whom Virbius, the traditionary
founder of the sanctuary, was identified. See Virgil, Aen.
vii. 761-780 ; Ovid, Fasti, iii. 265 sq. When we remember
that the Thracian king Lycurgus is said to have been killed
by horses in order to restore the fertility of the land (see
Apollodorus, iii. 5. 1), we may conjecture that the tradition
201
APOLLODORUS
pevTO? 'AfiSypov, ra? 1 ITTTTOVS
e8a K€. fieffevro? oe aura? Ev/Jfo-#e& 9, ei? TO
0/009 "OXfyll7rOl  e\0OVOrat 77Y)O9 TWV
a9\ov '
TOV
'A/ja£oi a z , a? Kara/cow Trepl TOV ®epfJ,(a8ovTCt
•jTorafJ^ov, eBvos /Jieya TCL Kara ir6\e^ov' ycr/cow
yap dvBpiav, teal et TTOTC fuyeicrat ryevv^(T€iav, TO,
9r)\ea erpetfrov, ical TOU? fJLev Se^tou? //atrroy?
e%€6\iftov, "iva fjt/tj Kco\vcovrai a/covri^eiv, Toi/9 Se
dpurrepovs eia v, 'iva rptyoiev. et%e Se 'iTTTroXyr^
roy "Ajoeo? ^coaTrjpa, av^oKov TOV Trpwreveiv
(nracrcav. €7r TOVTOV TOV
, \aj3€iv avTov eTTi
/tr^TT;?. •7rapa\a^oav ovv
cry/z/ia^oi'9 ev yttta 1^771 eTrXe*,2 /cat
vs Kcna Kovv ol
f3dirro)v 4 Se Suo TW^ ey Trj  5 1/774 avvkftri re\ev-
VTTO TWV Miixoof vlatv vjrep & v
1 ray ER : robs A. 2 ir\e~t E. 3 V Faber : na.1 A.
4 uito$o.vTwv Heyne : a.ir'k irdvTwv A. 5 rfj added by Bekker.
of the man-eating mares of Diomedes, another Thracian king
who is said to have been killed by horses, points to a custom
of human sacrifice performed by means of horses, whether
the victim was trampled to death by their hoofs or tied to
their tails and rent asunder. If the sacrifice was offered, as
the legend of Lycurgus suggests, for the sake of fertilizing
the ground, the reason for thus tearing the victim to pieces
may have been to scatter the precious life-giving fragments
as widely and as quickly as possible over the barren earth.
Compare Adonis, Attis, Osiris3, ii. 07 sgq. The games at
202
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 8-9
and bringing the mares he gave them to Eurystheus.
But Eurystheus let them go, and they came to Mount
Olympus, as it is called, and there they were destroyed
by the Avild beasts.
The ninth labour he enjoined on Hercules was to
bring the belt of Hippolyte.1 She was queen of the
Amazons, who dwelt about the river Thermodon, a
people great in war; for they cultivated the manly
virtues, and if ever they gave birth to children
through intercourse with the other sex, they reared
the females; and they pinched off the right breasts
that they might not be trammelled by them in throwing
the javelin, but they kept the left breasts, that they
might suckle. Now Hippolyte had the belt of Ares
in token of her superiority to all the rest. Hercules
was sent to fetch this belt because Admete, daughter
of Eurystheus, desired to get it. So taking with him a
band of volunteer comrades in a single ship he set
sail and put in to the island of Paros, which was inhabited
by the sons of Minos,2 to wit, Eurymedon,
Chryses, Nephalion, and Philolaus. But it chanced
that two of those in the ship landed and were killed
by the sons of Minos. Indignant at this, Hercules
Abdera are alluded to by the poet Macbon, quoted by
Athenaeus, viii. 41, p. 349 B.
1 As to the expedition of Hercules to fetch the belt of the
Amazon, see Euripides, Hercules Fur ens, 408 sqq.; Apollonius
Rhodius, Argon, ii. 777 sqq., 966 sqq., with the Scholia on
vv. 778, 780 ; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 16; Pausanias, v. 10. 9 ;
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, vi. 240 sqq.; J. Tzetzes,
Chiliades, ii. 309 sqq.; id. Schol. on Lycophron, 1327 (who
follows Apollodorus and cites him by name); Hyginus,
Fab. 30.
2 According to Diodorus Siculus (v. 79. 2), Rhadamanthys
bestowed the island of Paros on his son Alcaeus. Combined
with the evidence of Apollodorus, the tradition points to a
Cretan colony in Pares.;
203
rHpatc\rj; TOUTOU? ^ev rrapa%pf)/j,a direKreive,
TOl/5 &€ \017TOVS /CttTa/cXetVa? €7TO\l6pK€l, &»?
Trape/caXovv dvrl rwv dvatpe-
Svo \aj3eiv, o£/9 civ avro? 0e\tjffei€v. 6
8e Xuera? rqv troXiop/ciav, teal TOU? 'AvS/ooyew rov
ut'ou? aveXo/*€^09 'AX/ecuop /cat '^Qeve'X.ov,
Mu7/ai/ 7T|005 AvKOV TOV &affKV\OV, KOL
virb1 . . . roO BeySpu/ceo
v AV/CGJ TTO\\OV; cnre
real rov j3ari\€a Mu^Soya, d8e\f bv
TT}? 2 }$e(3pvKU v TroXXrjv 3 aTrore/Lioyf)
v eSco/ce Av/co)' 6 Be Trarav e/cewrjv etcd-
\eo~6V 'Ha/eXuav.
e et? roy eV ®€/Mrtcvpa Xfrv
,5 f/H/ a yttta rwy 'A/*a£oi/& i 
elicacrOeicra TO 7r\rj0o; eVe^otra, \eyovffa ort6
T^V /SacrtXtSa dfyapTrdfyvcriv^ ol 7rporeX#oz/Te?
%evoi, al Be /j,e0J OTT\(OV eirl rrjv vavv Karedeov
crvv tTTTTOt?.8 a ? Se et8ei  avrds /ca0co7r\ia'/j,€i a;
e/c SoXou TOVTO yevea6at, rrjv
Kreivas rbv ^oxrrijpa df aip€irai,
bs Be ra? XoiTra? dya)vi(rd[j,€vo$ aTTOTrXet, /tat
Tpoiq.
Be rare Kara firfviv
rrjv
1 The passage is corrupt and defective. Heyne proposed
to correct and supply it as follows : Kal £ei ta9els vir' avrov,  
rov Be&pvKtav &acri\fas eirj$a\6vTos €ts r^v yiji',  BoriOoav.
Sommer conjectured vir' avrov, TOVTOV Se «al  TOW Veppvicuv
Wagner : r)jf A. s iro\\ty Heyne: irA\u  A.
204
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 9
killed the sons of Minos on the spot and besieged
the rest closely, till they sent envoys to request that
in the room of the murdered men he would take
two, whom he pleased. So he raised the siege, and
taking on board the sons of Androgeus, son of Minos,
to wit, Alcaeus and Sthenelus, he came to Mysia, to
the court of Lycus, son of Dascylus, and was entertained
by him ; and in a battle between him and
the king of the Bebryces Hercules sided with
Lycus and slew many, amongst others King Mygdon,
brother of Amycus. And he took much land from
the Bebryces and gave it to Lycus, who called it all
Heraclea.
Having put in at the harbour of Themiscyra, he
received a visit from Hippolyte, who inquired why he
was come, and promised to give him the belt. But
Hera in the likeness of an Amazon went up and
down the multitude saying that the strangers who had
arrived were carrying off the queen. So the Amazons
in arms charged on horseback down on the ship.
But when Hercules saw them in arms, he suspected
treachery, and killing Hippolyte stripped her of her
belt. And after fighting the rest he sailed away and
touched at Troy.
But it chanced that the city was then in distress consequently
on the wrath of Apollo and Poseidon. For
4 els K, Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 1327 : us A.
5 {nroffxoufvns Pediasmus (Dt. Herculia loboribus, 9), Hercher,
Wagner : f iriffx"ovfj.fvris EA.
s Srt E, absent apparently in A.
7 CHpapTruCovcrLV EB : a.pir&£ovaiv A.
3 avv "irirois omitted by Hercher.
205
APOLLODORUS
yap fcal HoaeiSwv TIJV Aao/ieSo^ro? vftpiv ir€ipdcrai
ei^ieiv TO Hepyaftov. rots Be retrbv
fj,tcrdov ov/c aireSibov. Sia TOVTO
JAW \oifjiov eVe/AT^e, Tlo(rei$(t)v Be
dvaf ep6fj.evov viro TrX^/u./iu/Ji'So?, 6 TOV? ev
wrfpTrafyv av0p(*)7rovs. ^pr/ff/jLwv 8e Xea7ra\\
ayr)v ecrecrOai rwv rrvjJi^opSyv, lav
fj1 Aaope&wv 'Hcriovyv TTJV Ovyarepa avrov
T& Kijrei ftopdv, ouro92 TrpovOrjKe rat?
rr); 0a\dffcrr)S
1 Trpo0fj E : irpoffdri A.
2 rip K-fiTft jSopaf, ovros E : &opa.v Kitret, 6 5e A.
1 Compare Hoiner, II. vii. 452 sq., xxi. 441-457. According
to the former of these passages, the walls of Troy were built
by Poseidon and Apollo jointly for king Laomedon. Butaccording
to the latter passage the walls were built by
Poseidon alone, and while he thus toiled as a mason, Apollo
served as a herdsman, tending the king's cattle in the wooded
glens of Ida. Their period of service lasted for a year, and
at the end of it the faithless king not only dismissed the two
deities without the stipulated wages which they had honestly
earned, but threatened that, if they did not take themselves
off, he would tie Apollo hand and foot and sell him for a slave
in the islands, not however before he had lopped off the ears
of both of them with a knife. Thus insulted as well as robbed,
the two gods retired with wrath and indignation at their
hearts. This strange tale, told by Homer, is alluded to by
Pindar (Olymp. viii. 30 (40) sqq.), who adds to it the detail
that the two gods took the hero Aeacus with them to aid
them in the work of fortification ; and the Scholiast on
Pindar (pp. 194 sq. ed. Boeckh) explains that, as Troy was
fated to be captured, it was necessary that in building the
walls the immortals should be assisted by a mortal, else the
city would have been impregnable. The sarcastic Lucian
tells us (De sacrificiis, 4) that both Apollo and Poseidon
laboured as bricklayers at the walls of Troy, and that the
sum of which the king cheated them was more than thirty
206
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 9
desiring to put the wantonness of Laomedon to the
proof, Apollo and Poseidon assumed the likeness ot
men and undertook to fortify Pergamum for wages.
But when they had fortified it, he would not pay
them their wages.1 Therefore Apollo sent a pestilence,
and Poseidon a sea monster, which, carried
up by a flood, snatched away the people of the
plain. But as oracles foretold deliverance from these
calamities if Laomedon would expose his daughter
Hesione to be devoured by the sea monster, he exposed
her by fastening her to the rocks near the sea.2
Trojan drachmas. The fraud is alluded to by Virgil (Georg.
i. 502) and Horace (Odes, iii. 3. 21 sq.). Compare Hyginus,
Fab. 89 ; Ovid, Metamorph. xi. 194 sqq.; Servius, on Virgil,
Aen. viii. 157 ; Scriptores rcrum mythicarum Latini. ed.
G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 43 sq., 138 (First Vatican Mythographer,
136; Second Vatican Mythographer, 193). Homer
does not explain why Apollo and Poseidon took service with
Laomedon, but his Scholiast (on II. xxi. 444), in agreement
with Tzetzes (Schol. on Lycophron, 34). says that their
service was a punishment inflicted on them by Zeus for a
conspiracy into which some of the gods had entered for the
purpose of putting him, the supreme god, in bonds. The
conspiracy is mentioned by Homer (11. i. 399 sqq.), who
names Poseidon, Hera, and Athena, but not Apollo, among
the conspirators ; their nefarious design was defeated by the
intervention of Thetis and the hundred-handed giant Briareus.
We have already heard of Apollo serving a man in
the capacity of neatherd as a punishment for murder perpetrated
by the deity (see above, i. 9. 15, with the note).
These backstair chronicles of Olympus shed a curious light
on the early Greek conception of divinity.
2 For the story of the rescue of Hesione bj- Hercules, see
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 42; Scholiast on Homer, II. xx. 146;
Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 34; Ovid, Metamorph.
xi. 211 sqq.; Valerius Flaccus, Argon, ii. 451 sqq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 89 ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. viii. 157; Scriptores
rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. p. 44
(First Vatican Mythographer, 136). A curious variant
207
APOLLODORUS
eKK~ei/j,evi]v 'H/oa«X,f?9 v-
TTTTOVS -jrapa Aaofi
r/79 Tavv/jirfSovs dpTrcvyfj*; eSafce. Satcreiv
Se AaofieSovTos elirovro*;, KTeivas TO KIJTOS 'Hcrjovrjv
eo-wcre. ^ fSovXopevov Be TOV fucrObv CLTTOSovvcu,
TTO\€fji^(T€iv Tpoia2 aTreiXjjcra? avfyOr).
Kal Trpocriar^ei Alvw, evOa ^evi^eTai VTTO HoXa,
Tlocrei&wvo? fiev vlbv
noA,TU09, vftpHTTrjv ovra ro];evcrai direKreive.
KCU Trapayev6fj,evo  et? ©acroj/ Kal %eip(0a-dfj.evo 
Traicrl Karoi/ceiv. eic ©acrof Se opprjOel1; ITT!
p(i)vr)i  Tlo\vjoi ov KOI Tj]\eyovov, roy?
TOU IIoref5wi'o? viovs, Trdkaieiv
jv dTre/creive. «o//,icra9 Se
eSatfcev
E : ataa-fiv aiirijv A. 2 Tpo/at E : Tpoiav A.
of the story is told, without mention of Hesione, by the
Second Vatican Mythographer (Fab. 193, vol. i. p. 138,
ed. G. H. Bode). Tzetzes says that Hercules, in full armour,
leaped into the jaws of the sea-monster, and was in its
belly for three days hewing and hacking it, and that at
the end of the three days he came forth without any hair
on his head. The Scholiast on Homer (I.e.) tells the tale
similarly, and refers to Hellanicus as his authority. The
story of Hercules and Hesione corresponds closely to that of
Perseus and Andromeda (see Apollodorus, ii. 4. 3). Both
tales may have originated in a custom of sacrificing maidens
to be the brides of the Sea. Compare The Magic Art and the
Evolution of Kings, ii. 150 sqq.
1 The horses were given by Zeus to Tros, the father of
Ganymede. See Homer, II. v. 265 sqq.; Homeric Hymn to
Aphrodite, 210 sq. ; Pausanias, v. 24. 5. According to
208
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 9
Seeing her exposed, Hercules promised to save
her on condition of receiving from Laomedon the
mares which Zeus had given in compensation for the
rape of Ganymede.1 On Laomedon's saying that
he would give them, Hercules killed the monster
and saved Hesione. But when Laomedon would not
give the stipulated reward,2 Hercules put to sea
after threatening to make war on Troy.3
And he touched at Aenus, where he Avas entertained
by Poltys. And as he was sailing away he shot and
killed on the Aenian beach a.lewd fellow, Sarpedon,
son of Poseidon and brother of Poltys. And having
come to Thasos and subjugated the Thracians who
dwelt in the island, he gave it to the sons of Androgeus
to dwell in. From Thasos he proceeded to
Torone, and there, being challenged to wrestle by
Polygonus and Telegonus, sons of Proteus, son of
Poseidon, he killed them in the wrestling match.4
And having brought the belt to Mycenae he gave it
to Eurystheus.
another account, which had the support of a Cyclic poet, the
compensation given to the bereaved father took the shape,
not of horses, but of a golden vine wrought by Hephaestus.
See Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes, 1391. As the duty of
Ganymede was to pour the red nectar from a golden bowl in
heaven (Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, 206), there would be
a certain suitability in the bestowal of a golden vine to replace
him in his earthly home.
2 As to the refusal of Laomedon to give the horses to
Hercules, see Homer, II. v. 638-651, xxi. 441-457 ; Ovid,
Metamorph. xi. 213 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 69. Laomedon twice
broke his word, first to Poseidon and Apollo and afterwards
to Hercules. Hence Ovid speaks of " the twice-perjured
walls of Troy " (Metamorph. xi. 215).
3 Aa to the siege and capture of Troy by Hercules, see
below, ii. 6. 4. 4 Compare J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 320 sq.
209
APOLLODORUS
10 Ae/caroy eirerdyrjl adXov ra9 Trjpvovov
e£ 'Eyou#eia9 KOfjii^eiv. 'Epu$eta Se rjv '
Tr\r)criov Keif^evrj vrfcro^, rj vvv T'dBeipa
ravrrjv /caryicei Fypvovr)1? Xpvcrao/JO? Kol KaX-
\ippor]; TT}? 'O/ceavoO, Tpiwv e^cov dvSpwv crv/j,-
(f ves crw/za, a-vvrjyfjLevov^ et9 ep Kara rr)V yaarepa,
t? a?ro \ary6va v re KCU
Se os o
iropevoovv
evrl ra? Yvjpvovov /36«9
ajpia TroXXa f
(3aive,s Kal TrapeX.Ooav Taprija'crov effrrja-e
1 e7T6Ta7ij E : 5e era^ij A. * jSo'as E : ^oCs A.
3 ffwfiyp.tvov fifv Bekkcr. 4 8e Heyne : TC A.
5 "Op8os Pediasmus, De Herculis laboribus, 10: "OpOpos A.
See exegetlcal note on this passage.
« yeyenj/j.tvos BC.
7 Tr6\\a  f£a   oi/eAooi' Wagner (comparing Diodorus
Siculns, iv. 17. 3) : v6\\a irapeABiav A.
8 ^irtfir) Scholiast on Plato, Timaevs, p. 24 E, Hercher.
1 As to Hercules and the cattle of Geryoii, see Hesiod,
Theog. 287-294, 979-983; Pindar, Frag. 169 (151), ed. Sandys ;
Herodotus, iv. 8 ; Plato, Gorgias, 39, p. 484 B ; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 17 sq. ; Pausanias, iii, 18. 13, iv. 36. 3 ; Quintus
Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, vi. 249 sqq.; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades,
\\. 322-352 (who seems to follow Apollodorus) ; Scholiast on
Plato, Timaeus, p. 24 E ; Pliny, Nat. Hist. iv. 120 ; Solinus,
xxiii. 12 ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. viii. 300.
2 Compare Herodotus, iv. 8; Strabo, iii. 2. 11, p. 148,
iii. 5 4, p. 169 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist. iv. 120 ; Solinus, xxiii. 12.
Gadira is Cadiz. According to Pliny (I.e.}, the name is derived
from a Punic word gadir, meaning " hedge." Compare
Dionyaius, Perieg. 453 sqq. The same word agadir is still
210
THE LIBRARY, II. v. TO
As a tenth labour he was ordered to fetch the kine
of Geryon from Erythia.1 Now Erythia was an
island near the ocean; it is now called Gadira.2
This island was inhabited by Geryon, son of Chrysaor
by Callirrhoe, daughter of Ocean. He had the body
of three men grown together and joined in one at
the waist, but parted in three from the flanks and
thighs.3 He owned red kine, of which Eurytion
was the herdsman and Orthus,4 the two-headed hound,
begotten by Typhon on Echidna, was the watch-dog.
So journeying through Europe to fetch the kine of
Geryon he destroyed many wild beasts and set foot
in Libya/ and proceeding to Tartessus he erected as
tokens of his journey two pillars over against each
used in the south of Morocco in the sense of "fortified house,"
and many places in that country bear the name. Amongst
them the port of Agadir is the best known. See E. Doutte,
En tribu (Pa.ris, 1914), pp. 50 sq. The other name of the
island is given by Solinus (I.e.) hi the form Erythrea, and by
Mela (iii. 47) in the form Eythria.
3 As to the triple form of Geryon, compare Hesiod, Theoij.
287 ; Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 870 ; Euripides, Hercules
Furens, 423 sq.; Scholiast on Plato, Timaeus, p. 24 E ;
Pausanias, v. 19. 1 : Lucian, Toxaris, 62; Tzetzes, Schol.
on Lycophron, 652; Lucretius, v. 28; Horace, Odes, ii. 14.
1 sq.; Virgil, A en. vi. 289; Ovid, Metamorph. ix. 184 sq.;
Hyginus. Fab. 30 and 151.
4 The watchdog's name is variously given as Orthus (Orthos)
and Orthrus (Orthros). See Hesiod, Theog. 293 (where Orthos
seems to be the better reading) ; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica,
vi. 253 (Orthros) ; Scholiast on Pindar, Isthm. i.
13 (15) (Orthos); Scholiast on Plato, Timaeus, p. 24E(Orthros,
so Stallbaum) ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 333 (Orthros);
Pediasmus, De HercuUs laboribus, 10 (Orthos); Servius, on
Virgil, A en. viii. 300 (Orthrus).
3 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 17. 3 sq., who says that
Hercules completely cleared Crete of wild beasts, and that he
subdued many of the wild beasts in the deserts of Libya and
rendered the land fertile and prosperous.
APOLLODORUS
Kara rrjv iropeiav, TO ro%ov eVt rop deov
everetvev 6 Be rr/v avSpeiav avrov 0av/j,d(ra;
ypvcreov ebwice Sevra?, ev 5 rov 'Qtceavov Ste-Tre-
^r \ ' ' •   r^ //) »  ' pace. Kai rrapayevofJisvos et? j^pvoeiav ev opei
"A./3avri avKi^erai. aladonevo^ Se o
avrov wpfjLa' o 8e Kal rovrov r& pOTraXw
dep6fnfvos R, Pediasmus. De HercuUs Jaborilms, 10 : Oepv&
fjLfvos A.
1 The opinions of the ancients were much divided on the
subject of the Pillars of Hercules. See Strabo, iii. 5. 5,
pp. 169-172. The usual opinion apparently identified them
with the rock of Calpe (Gibraltar) and the rock of Abyla,
Abila, or Abylica (Ceuta) on the northern and southern sides
of the straits. See Strabo, iii. 5. 5, p. 170 ; Tzetzes,
Schol. on Lycophron, 649 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist. iii. 4 ; Mela, i.
27, ii. 95 ; Martianus Capella, vi. 624. Further, it seems to
have been commonly supposed that before the time of Hercules
the two continents were here joined by an isthmus, and
that the hero cut through the isthmus and so created the
straits. See Diodorus Siculus, iv. 18. 5 ; Seneca, Hercules,
furens, 235 sqq.; id. Hercules Oetaeus, 1240 ; Pliny, I.e.; Mela,
i. 2" ; Martianus Capella, vi. 625. Some people, however, on the
contrary, thought that the straits were formerly wider, and
that Hercules narrowed them to prevent the monsters of the
Atlantic ocean from bursting into the Mediterranean (Diodorus
Siculus, I.e.). An entirely different opinion identified the
Pillars of Hercules with two brazen pillars in the sanctuary
of Hercules at Gadira (Cadiz), on which was engraved an
inscription recording the cost of building the temple. See
Strabo, iii. 5.5, p. 170; compare Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 242,
who speaks of "the columns of Hercules consecrated at
Gadira." For other references to the Pillars of Hercules, see
Pindar, Olymp. iii. 43 sq., Nem. iii. 21, Isthm. iv. 11 sq. ;
Athenaeus, vii. 98, p. 315 CD; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 339
(who here calls the pillars Alybe and Abinna) ; Scholiast on
Plato, Timaeus, p. 24 E ; Dionysius, Orbis Descriptio, 64-68,
with the commentary of Eustathius (Geographi Graeci
212
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 10
other at the boundaries of Europe and Libya.1 But
being heated by the Sun on his journey, he bent
his bow at the god, who in admiration of his hardihood,
gave him a golden goblet in which he crossed
the ocean.2 And having reached Erythia he lodged
on Mount Abas. However the dog, perceiving him,
rushed at him ; but he smote it with his club, and
Minorca, ed. C. Miiller, ii. pp. 107, 228). According to Eustathius
(I.e.), Calpe was the name given to the rock of Gibraltar
by the barbarians, but its Greek name was Alybe ; and the
rock of Ceuta was called Abemia by the barbarians but by
the Greeks Cynegetica, that is, the Hunter's Rock. He tells
us further that the pillars were formerly named the Pillars
of Cronus, and afterwards the Pillars of Briareus. 2 Apollodorus seems to be here following Pherecydes, as
we learn from a passage which Athenaeus (xi. 39, p. 470 C D)
quotes from the third book of Pherecydes as follows : '' And
Hercules drew his bow at him as if he would shoot, and the
Sun bade him give over; so Hercules feared and gave over.
And in return the Sun bestowed on him the golden goblet
which carried him with his horses, when he set, through the
Ocean all night to the east, where the Sun rises. Then
Hercules journeyed in that goblet to Erythia. And when he
was on the open sea, Ocean, to make trial of him, caused the
goblet to heave wildly on the waves. Hercules was about to
shoot him with an arrow; and the Ocean was afraid, and
bade him give over." Stesichorus described the Sun embarking
in a golden goblet that he might cross the ocean in the
darkness of night and come to his mother, his wedded wife,
and children dear. See Athenaeus, xi. 38, p. 468 E ; compare
id. xi. 16, p. 781 D. The voyage of Hercules in the golden
goblet was also related by the early poets Pisander and Panyasis
in the poems, both called Heraclia, which they devoted
to the exploits of the great hero. See Athenaeus, xi. 38,
p. 469 D; compare Macrobius, Saturn., v. 21. 16 and 19.
Another poet, Mimnermus, supposed that at night the weary
Sun slept in a golden bed, which floated across the sea to
Ethiopia, where a chariot with fresh horses atood ready for
him to mount and resume his daily journey across the sky.
See Athenaeus, xi. 39, p. 470 A.
213
APOLLODORUS
teal rov j3ovKO\oi  Rvpvriwva rw tcvvl fioijdovvra
d7T6KT€ive. Mez/oiT?;? Be e/cet ra? "AtSov /3oa?
86TKa v Trjpvovr] TO 7670^09 aTnj'yyeiXev. 6 Be
fcarahafttov 'Hpa/cXea irapa Trora/iov ^Avffefiovvra
ra? /3oa9 aTrdjovra, avaT^crd^evo^ fid^v ro^evcnreQavev.
'HpaK\rj; Be evdepevos TO? /3oa?
SeVa « STrXeuo-a et et? TO SeVa? ai SmTrXeuo-a? et? TapTi)errov
TO
ev y Ta? /3oa9 d^rjpovvro 'laXeyStco^3 TC A:ai Aep-
S ol nofrei^wvo? wot, ou? Kreivas &ia Tvpprjj/'
et. aTTO 'Piyyiov 8e a? aTroppijyvvffi ravpos,
1 'A8Sr7pi'oc Heyne : avSripiav or avSyptav A
3 fivfiff-rivnv Gale (compare Diodorus fSiculus iv. 19. 4,
4iroir)raTo rrtv iroptiav Sia rrjs hiyvartKris) : Aiyvrjv Heyne, conjecturing
Aiyuas : Ai^r)" A, J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 340.
3 'ia\f/3i(i v R : aAe^jaiy A.
1 Compare Tzetzes, Schol. on Lycophron, 652, who
probably follows Apollodorus.
2 Abderia, the territory of Abdera, a Phoenician city of
southern Spain, not to be confused with the better known
Abdera in Thrace. See Strabo, iii. 4. 3, p. 157 ; Stephanns
Byzantius, s.v. *ABliypa.
3 Apollodorus has much abridged a famous adventure of
Hercules in Liguria. Passing through the country with the
herds of Geryon, he was attacked by a great multitude of the
warlike natives, who tried to rob him of the cattle. For a
time he repelled them with his bow, but his supply of arrows
running short he was reduced to great straits ; for the
ground, being soft earth, afforded no stones to be used as
missiles. So he prayed to his father Zeus, and the god in
pity rained down stones from the sky ; and by picking them
up and hurling them at his foes, the hero was able to turn
the tables on them. The place where this adventure took
place was said to be a plain between Marseilles and the
Rhone, which was called the Stony Plain on account of the
vast quantity of stones, about as large as a man's hand,
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 10
when the herdsman Eurytion came to the help of the
dog, Hercules killed him also. But Menoetes, who
Avas there pasturing the kine of Hades, reported to
Geryon what had occurred, and he, coming up with
Hercules beside the river Anthemus,1 as he was
driving away the kine, joined hattle with him and
was shot dead. And Hercules, embarking the kine
in the goblet and sailing across to Tartessus, gave
back the goblet to the Sun.
And passing through Abderia2 . he came to
Liguria,3 where lalebion and Dercynus, sons of
Poseidon, attempted to rob him of the kine, but
he killed them4 and went on his way through
Tyrrhenia. But at Rhegium a bull broke away5
which were scattered thickly over it. In his play Prometheus
Unbound, Aeschylus introduced this story in the form of a
prediction put in the mouth of Prometheus and addressed
to his deliverer Hercules. See Straho, iv. 1. 7, pp. 182 sq.;
Dionysius Halicarnasensis, Antiq. Bom. i. 41 ; Eustathius,
Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes, 76 (Geographi Oraeci
Minores, ed. C. Muller, ii. 231); Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 6 ;
Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. A.Nauck2, pp. 66 sq.
The Stony Plain is now called the Plaine de la Crau. It
" attracts the attention of all travellers between Aries and
Marseilles, since it is intersected by the railway that joins
those two cities. It forms a wide level area, extending for
many square miles, which is covered with round rolled stones
from the size of a pebble to that of a man's head. These are
supposed to have been brought down from the Alps by the
Durance at some early period, when this plain was submerged
and formed the bed of what was then a bay of the Mediterranean
at the mouth of that river and the Rhone " (H.F. Tozer,
Selections from Straho, p. 117).
4 Compare J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 340 sqq., who calls the
victims Dercynus and Alebion.
3 The author clearly derives the name of Rhegium from
this incident (Prjyiov from avopp^yvvffi). The story of the
escape of the bull, or heifer, and the pursuit of it by Hercules
was told by Hellanicus. See Dionysius Halicarnasensis,
2 T 5
APOLLODORUS
Ta^e'eo9 et9 rrjv OaXacraav efirreawv Kal Biavy-
et?  liiKe\iav, teal rrjv Tr\r)(rlov ^wpav
Bt€\dcov [rrjv air e/ceivov K\r)0eio~av 'IraXiav
(Tvpprjvol yap Lra\bv rbv ravpov
et9 rreBiov "Epvxos, 09 efiaviXevev '
Be f)v TiocreiBwvos Trafr, 09 TOZ^ ravpov rat?
ovv
rrjv avrov
€V Ta?9 TOV "EyOU«:09
dye\ai;, \eyovTos ov Saxreiv av /AT? 7raXatra?
avrov Trepiyevyrai, rpls jrepi'yzvofievos Kara rrjv
7rd\i]V a7T€KT€ive, Kal TOV ravpov \a{3(i)v //.era rwv
errl rbv 'loviov rf\avve rrovrov. tw? Be
eirl TOVS yu,u%ou9 TOV rrovrov, ra?9 ftovo~lv
olarpov €ve/3a\€V 77 f/Hpa, Kal o-^t^ovrai Kara
ra9 T?}9 ©/3a/cr;9 vrctopeias' 6 Be Bicogas ra; fiev
ffv\\a/3a)v errl rov ' Ei\\ijcnrovTOv rpyayev, al Be
a7ro\€i(j)dei(Tai TO \onrbv rfcrav aypiai. /ioXt9 Be
TOV TTOTa/jiov, TraXat TO peidpov TC\(OTOV ov efjurr\
r)aa; TreTpais arrXatrov eiroirfo'e, teal r«9
1 r}jv air fictlvov . . . e'/caAetrai' omitted by Wagner. Heyne
proposed to omit these words, together with the preceding
teal rV ir^fflov x* Pav SifXO&if, and he is followed by Hercher.
Antiq. Rom. i. 35. 2. It is somewhat singular that Apollodorus
passes so lightly over the exploits of Hercules in Italy,
and in particular that he says nothing about those sxdventures
of his at Rome, to which the Romans attached much significance.
For the Italian adventures of the hero, and Ms
sojourn in Rome, see Diodorus Siculus, iv. 20-22; Dionysius
Halicarnasensis, Antiq. Rom. i. 34 sq., 38-44 ; Propertius,
iv. 9 ; Virgil, Aen. viii. 201 sqq.; Ovid, Fasti, i. 543 sqq. On
the popularity of the worship of Hercules in Italy, see
216
THE LIBRARY, "It; v. 10
and hastily plunging into the sea swam across to
Sicily, and having passed through the neighbouring
country since called Italy after it, for the Tyrrhenians
called the bull italus,1 came to the plain of Eiyx,
who reigned over the Ely mi.2 Now Eryx was a son
of Poseidon, and he mingled the bull with his own
herds. So Hercules entrusted the kine to Hephaestus
and hurried away in search of the bull. He
found it in the herds of Eryx, and when the king
refused to surrender it unless Hercules should beat
him in a wrestling bout, Hercules beat him thrice,
killed him in the wrestling, and taking the bull
drove it with the rest of the herd to the Ionian Sea.
But when he came to the creeks of the sea, Hera
afflicted the cows with a gadfly, and they dispersed
among the skirts of the mountains of Thrace.
Hercules went in pursuit, and having caught some,
drove them to the Hellespont; but the remainder
were thenceforth wild.3 Having with difficulty
collected the cows, Hercules blamed the river Strymon,
and whereas it had been navigable before, he
made it unnavigable by filling it with rocks ; and he
Dionysius Halicarnasensis, Antiq. Rom. i. 40. 6, who says :
"And in many other parts of Italy (besides Rome) precincts
are consecrated to the god. and altars are set up both in cities
and beside roads ; and hardly will you find a place in Italy
where the god is not honoured." 1 Some of the ancients supposed that the name of Italy
was derived from the Latin vitulus, "a calf." See Varro,
Rerum Rusticarum, ii. 1. 9; Dionysius Halicarnasensis,
Antiq. Rom. i. 35. 2; compare Aulus Gellius, xi. 1. 2.
* As to Herculus and Eryx, see Diodorus Siculus, iv. 23.2 ;
Pausanias, iii. 16. 4 sq., iv. 36. 4 ; J. Tzetzes, Ghiliades, ii.
346 sqq.; id. Schol. on Lycophron, 866; Virgil, Aen. v. 410
sqq. ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. i. 570. 3 The story was apparently told to account for the origin
of wild cattle in Thrace.
217
APOLLODORUS
SeBo&Kev. o Be aura?
dvvev "Hpa.
11 TeXecrdevr&v 8e TCOV ad\cov Iv p^vl teal erecriv
OKTCO, (Ay 7rpoa$e£d/jLevoi l&vpvcrdevs TQV re rwv
rov Avjeov (3 OT fey par (ov Kal TOV rr)? i/Spa?, evSe-
1 This period fur the completion of the labours of Hercules
is mentioned also by the Scholiast on Homer (II. viii. 368)
and Tzetzes (Chiliades, ii. 353 sq.\ both of whom, however,
may have had the present passage of Apollodorus before
them. It is possible that the period refers to the eight years'
cycle, which figured prominently in the religious calendar of
the ancient Greeks; for example, the Pythian games were
originally held at intervals of eight years. See Geminus,
Element. Astron. viii. 25 sqq. ed. C. Manitius ; Censorinus,
De die natali, 18. It is to be remembered that the period of
service performed by Hercules for Eurystheus was an expiation
for the murder of his children (see Apollodorus, ii. 4.12).
Now Cadmus is said to have served Ares for eight years as
an expiation for the slaughter of the dragon, the offspring of
Ares (see Apollodorus, iii. 4. 2). But in those days, we are
told, the "eternal year" comprised eight common years
(Apollodorus, I.e.). Now Apollo served Admetus for a year
as an expiation for the slaughter of the Cyclopes (Apollodorus,
iii. 10. 4 ) ; but according to Servius (on Virgil, Aen. vii. 761),
the period of Apollo's service was not one but nine years. In
making this statement Servius, or his authority, probably
had before him a Greek author, who mentioned an fwearripls
as the period of Apollo's service. But though ewectTiipls
means literally "nine years," the period, in consequence of
the Greek mode of reckoning, was actually equivalent to eight
years (compare Celsus, De die natali, 18. 4, " Octaeteris facia,
quae tune enneateris vocitata, quia primus ejus annus nono
quoque anno redibat"). These legends about the servitude
of Cadmus, Apollo, and Hercules for eight years, render it
probable that in ancient times Greek homicides were banished
for eight years, and had during that time to do penance by
serving a foreigner. Now this period of eight years was
called a " great year" (Censorinus, De die natali, 18. 5), and
the period of banishment for a homicide was regularly a
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 10-11
conveyed the kine and gave them to Eurystheus, who
sacrificed them to Hera.
When the labours had been performed in eight
years and a month,1 Eurystheus ordered Hercules, as
an eleventh labour, to fetch golden apples from the
year. See Apollodorus, ii. 8. 3 ; Euripides, Hippolytus, 34-37,
id. Orestes, 1643-1645 ; Nicolaus Damascenus, Frag. 20
(Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum,e{. C. Miiller, iii. 369);
Hesychius, s.v. airfvtaurtff/j.6s ; Suidas, s.v. airevavriffai. Hence
it seems probable that, though in later times the period of a
homicide's banishment was a single ordinary year, it may
formerly have been a "great year," or period of eight
ordinary years. It deserves to be noted that any god who
had forsworn himself by the Styx had to expiate his fault by
silence and fasting for a full year, after which he was
banished the company of the gods for nine years (Hesiod,
Theog. 793-804) ; and further that any man who partook of
human flesh in the rites of Lycaean Zeus was supposed to
be turned into a wolf for nine years. See Pausanias, viii. 2;
Pliny, Nat. Hist. viii. 81; Augustine, De civitate Dei, xviii.
17. These notions point to a nine years' period of expiation,
which may have been observed in some places instead of the
eight years' period. In the present passage of Apollodorus,
the addition of a month to the eight years' period creates a
difficulty which I am unable to explain. Ancient mathematicians
defined a "great year" as the period at the end of
which the sun, moon, and planets again occupy the same
positions relatively to each other which they occupied at the
beginning; but on the length of the period opinions were much
divided. See Cicero, De natura deorum, ii. 20 51 sq. Different,
apparently, from the "great year" was the "revolving"
(vertens) or "mundane" (mundanus) year, which was the
period at the end of which, not only the sun, moon, and
planets, but also the so-called fixed stars again occupy the
positions relatively to each other which they occupied at the
beginning; for the ancients recognized that the so-called fixed
stars do move, though their motion is imperceptible to our
senses. The length of a "revolving" or "mundane" year
was calculated by ancient physicists at fifteen thousand years.
See Cicero, Somnium Scipionis, 7, with the commentary of
M.icrobius, ii. 11.
APOLLODORUS
fcarov eTT€Ta%€V aO\ov Trap
prfKa fcofj,L%€t,v.1 ravra Be r/v, oi % W9 rives elirov
ev kiftvy, dXX' etrl rov "ArXa^ro? ev 'TTrep-
/3o/oeo49f a Atl r?}  ytffJiavTi "Rpav2 eBwprjffaro.
e£uXarre Be aura Bpd/ctav aOdvaro^, Tujbwi o?
/ml 'E^tSv?;?, /ce£#Xa9 e^ow ercarov e^pfjro Be
(jxovals iravToiats ical Troi/ttXat?. ytiera rovrov Be
cEa-7reptSe9 tyvXarrov, A 17X77 ^Epvdeia 'Ea-Trepia
\\pedovffa.5 Tropevofjievos ovv eirl iroTa^ov 'JE%e-
Bwpov f)Ke. Kvrcvo? Be "Apeo? /cal IIu/3r;y7;9 ei's
fj,ovofia%iav avrov 7rpO€Ka\,€lro. "A/aeo? Se TOI)-
TOV e/cBifcovvTOS KOI GWiaTcivTos fiovo/Jia%iai ,
yQXi/^et9 Kepavvos /*€ro9 a^orepwv BiaXvet TTJV
1 KontCtt" Aegius : Ko^lffiav RA.
2 Au rr?   yf]u.avTi"Hpav Valckenar (comparing Scholiast
on Apollonius Rhodius, .^n/oft. iv. 1396) : Ail 7^/ua»"ri "Hpo A.
3 'EffTrep/a 'Apeflouera Gale, Aegius : effria fpeBovffa A.
1 As to the apples of the Hesperides, gee Hesiod, Tlieog.
215 sj. ; Euripides, Hercules Furens, 394 ^gg". ; Apollonius
Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1396 sqq., with the Scholiast on 1396;
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 26; Pausanias. v. 11. 6, v. 18. 4,
vi. 19. 8 ; Eratosthenes, Cataster. 3; j. Tzetzes, Chiliades,
ii. 355 6g7.; Ovid, Metamorph. iv. 637 sgfl., ix. 190;
Hyginus, Fab. 30 ; id. Astronom. ii. 3 ; Scholia in Caesaris
Germanici Aratea, pp. 382 sq.t in Martianus Capella,
ed. Fr. Eyssenhardt; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini,
ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. pp. 13 sq., 130 (First Vatican
Mythographer, 38 ; Second Vatican Mythographer, 161).
From the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (I.e.) we learn
that the story of Hercules and the apples of the Hesperides
was told by Pherecydes in the second book of his
work on the marriage of Hera. The close resemblance which
the Scholiast's narrative bears to that of Apollodorus seems
to show that here, as in many other places, our author
followed Pherecydes. The account given by Pherecydes of
the origin of the golden apples is as follows. When Zeus
married Hera, the gods brought presents to the bride. Among
the rest, Earth brought golden apples, which Hera so much
admired that she ordered them to be planted in the garden
220
THE LIBRARY, II. v. n
Hesperides,1 for he did not acknowledge the labour
of the cattle of Augeas nor that of the hydra. These
apples were not, as some have said, in Libya, but on
Atlas among the Hyperboreans.2 They were presented
by Earth to Zeus after his marriage with Hera,
and guarded by an immortal dragon with a hundred
heads, offspring of Typhon and Echidna, which spoke
with many and divers sorts of voices. With it the
Hesperides also were on guard, to wit, Aegle, Erythia,
Hesperia, and Arethusa. So journeying he
came to the river Echedorus. And Cycnus, son of
Ares and Pyrene, challenged him to single combat.
Ares championed the cause of Cycnus and marshalled
the combat, but a thunderbolt was hurled between
the two and parted the combatants.3 And going on
of the gods beside Mount Atlas. But, as the daughters of
Atlas used to pilfer the golden fruit, she set a huge serpent
to guard the tree. Such is the story told, on the authority
of Pherecydes, by Eratosthenes, Hyginus (Astronom. ii. 3),
and the Scholiast on the Aratea of Germanicus. 2 Here Apollodorus departs from the usual version, which
placed the gardens of the Hesperides in the far west, not the
far north. We have seen that Hercules is said to have gone
to the far north to fetch the hind with the golden horns (see
above, ii. 5. 3 note); also he is reported to have brought
from the land of the Hyperboreans the olive spray which was
to form the victor's crown at the Olympic games. See Pindar,
Olymp. iii. 11 (20) sqq.; Pausanias, v. 7. 7, compare id. v. 15.3. 3 Compare Hyginus, Fab. 31, who desci'ibes the intervention
of Mars (Ares) on the side of his son Cycnus, and the fall
of the thunderbolt which parted the combatants ; yet he says
that Hercules killed Cycnus. This combat, which, according
to Apollodorus, ended indecisively, was supposed to have
been fought in Macedonia, for the Echedorus was a Macedonian
river (Herodotus, vii. 124, 127). Accordingly we
must distinguish this contest from another and more famous
fight which Hercules fought with another son of Ares, also
called Cycnus, near Pagasae in Thessaly. See Apollodorus,
ii. 7. 7, with the note. Apparently Hyginus confused the
two combats,
221
APOLLODORUS
fiaSi^wv Se Si Jl\\vpt,o)v, teal
em 77ora//,oy 'HpiBavov, rjtce 777)09 vvfj,j ai
KCU Oe/AiSo?. avrai ^VVOV(TLV avr&
j-v\\a/3(i)v Se avrov KOi^fievov /cat
eva\\dcra-ovra yu.op^a? eSrj&e, teal oiiK €\vcre Trpiv
T) fj,a6eiv Trap* avrov TTOV Tvy^dvoiev ra i^rfXa
Kal al 'EcrTre/citSe?. iiaOwv Be A.ij3vr]v Bie^rjet.
TavTrjs eftacriXeve irais Iloo-eiScoi/o? 'A^rato?, 09
roi 5 ^ei/ov9 avayrcdfav TraXaieiv avypei. TOVTU*
irdXaieiv dvayK(t£6fj,evos cH/3a/cX?}9 dpd^evo^ afifMacriz
fjierecopov «Xacra? dire/crewe" ^ravovra jap
7779 Icf^vpoiepov^ ffvve^aive^ yive(rOai, &io Kal
P»)9 rives ef)acrav TOVTOV elvai
Mera AtySu^v Be AIJVTTTOV
1 ffirevScav Aegius : tyevyiav A.
2 a/Xjuatri R, Scholiast on Plato, Laws, vii. p. 79G A : u,ujuotffi
A.
3 ifr^wpdrepo*' R : iffxvpATaTov A.
4 ffwe^aive R, Scholiast on Plato, Laws, vii. p. 796 A :
ffvvtflr) A.
5 Sieljfei Faber : e'£j?et A.
1 The meeting of Hercules with the nymphs, and his
struggle with Nereus, are related also by the Scholiast on
Apollonius Rhodius, Argon. \v. 1396, citing as his authority
Pherecydes, whom Apollodorus also probably follows. The
transformations of the reluctant sea-god Nereus in his encounter
with Hercules are like those of the reluctant sea-god
Proteus in his encounter with Menelaus (Homer, Od. iv. 354-
570;, and those of the reluctant sea-goddess Thetis with her
lover Peleus (see below, iii. 13. 5).
2 As to Hercules and Antaeus, see Pindar, Istlim. iv. 52 (87)
sqq., with the Scholiast on 52 (87) and 54 (92) ; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 17. 4; Pausanias, ix. 11. 6; Philostratus,
Imagines, ii. 21 ; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, vi.
285 sqq.; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 363 sqq- ; Scholiast on
Plato, Laws, vii. p. 796 A (whose account agrees almost
verbally with that of Apollodorus); Ovid, Ibis, 393-395,
222 . - .
THE LIBRARY, II. v. n
foot through Illyria and hastening to the river
Eridanus he came to the nymphs, the daughters of
Zeus and Themis. They revealed Nereus to him,
and Hercules seized him while he slept, and though
the god turned himself into all kinds of shapes, the
hero bound him and did not release him till he had
learned from him where were the apples and the
Hesperides.1 Being informed, he traversed Libya.
That country was then ruled by Antaeus, son of
Poseidon,2 who used to kill strangers by forcing
them to wrestle. Being forced to wrestle with him,
Hercules hugged him, lifted him aloft,3 broke and
killed him ; for when he touched earth so it was that
he waxed stronger, wherefore some said that he was
a son of Earth.
After Libya he traversed Egypt. That country
with the Scholia; Hyginus, Fab. 31 ; Lucan, Pharsal. iv.
588-655; Juvenal, Sat. in. 89 ; Statius, Theb. vi. 893
sqq.; Lactantius Placidus, on Statius, Theb. vi. 869 (894);
Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode,
vol. i. pp. 19, 131 (First Vatican Mythographer, 55;
Second Vatican Mythographer, 164). According to Pindar,
the truculent giant used to roof the temple of his sire
Poseidon with the skulls of his victims. The fable of his
regaining strength through contact with his mother Earth
is dwelt on by Lucan with his usual tedious prolixity. It is
briefly alluded to by Ovid, Juvenal, and Statius. Antaeus
is said to have reigned in western Morocco, on the Atlantic
coast. Here a hillock was pointed out as his tomb, and the
natives believed that the removal of soil from the hillock
would be immediately followed by rain, which would not
cease till the earth was replaced. See Mela, iii. 106. Sertorius
is said to have excavated the supposed tomb and to
have found a skeleton sixty cubits long. See Plutarch,
Sertorius, 9 ; Strabo, xvii. 3. 8, p. 829. 3 More literally, "lifted him aloft with hugs." For this
technical term (a^a) applied to a wrestler's hug, see Plutarch,
Fabius Maximus, 23, and Alcibiades, 2.
223
APOLLODORUS
e/3acri\6V€ Boucrtptf TlocreiSoyvo^ 7rcu9 Kai Avcriavdcrcnjs
TJ?? 'ETra^ou. o5ro9 rot"? !*€vov$ effvev
em j3(i)/j,y Ato? /card TI \6jiov evvea yap er?;
df)opia TIJV Aiyvjrrov Kare\aj3e, frpacrto;1 Be
e\0a v etc KvTTyOou, fjidvTis rrjv
1 l pdrios A, Heyne, Westermann, Miiller : f pdyios E:
Aegius, Bekker, Hercher. Compare Ovid, Ars
Amat. i. 649 sg. ( Thraaius) ; Hyginus, Fab. 56 (Thasius).
1 For Hercules and Busiris, see Diodorus Siculus, iv.
18. 1, iv. 27. 2sg.; Plutarch, Parallel®, 38; Scholiast on
Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv. 1396 ; T/etzes, Schol. on
Lycophron, ii. 367 sq. ; Ovid, Metamorph. ix. 182 sg.; id.,
Ars Amat. i. 647-652 ; Scholia on Ovid, Ibis, 397 (p. 72,
ed. R. Ellis) ; Hyginus, Fab. 31 and 56 ; Servius, on Virgil,
A en. viii. 300 and Georg. iii. 5 ; Philargyrius, on Virgil,
Qe.org. iii. 5 ; Lactantius Placidus, on Statins, Theb. xii.
155. Ovid, with his Scholiasts, Hyginus and Philargyrius.
like Apollodorus, allege a nine or eight yeai-s' dearth or
drought as the cause of the human sacrifices instituted by
Busiris. Their account may be derived from Pherecydes,
who is the authority cited by the Scholiast on Apollonius
Rhodius (I.e.). Hyginus (Fab. 56) adds that the
seer Phrasius, who advised the sacrifice, was a brother of
Pygmalion. Herodotus, without mentioning Busiris, scouts
the story on the ground that human sacrifices were utterly
alien to the spirit of Egyptian religion (Herodotus, ii. 45).
Isocrates also discredited the tradition, in so far as it relates
to Hercules, because Hercules was four generations younger,
and Busiris more than two hundred years older, than Perseus.
See Isocrates, Busiris, 15. Yet there are grounds for thinking
that the Greek tradition was substantially correct. For
Manetho, our highest ancient authority, definitely affirmed
that in the city of Ilithyia it was customary to burn alive
' ' Typhonian men " and to scatter their ashes by means of
winnowing fans (Plutarch, Isis et Osiris, 73). These " Typhonian
men" were red-haired, because Typhon, the Egyptian
embodiment of evil, was also red-haired (Plutarch, Isis et
Osiris, 30 and 33). But red-haired men would commonly be
foreigners, in contrast to the black-haired natives of Egypt ;
and it was just foreigners who, according to Greek tradition,
224
THE LIBRARY, II. v. n
was then ruled by Busiris,1 a son of Poseidon by
Lysianassa, daughter of Epaphus. This Busiris used
to sacrifice strangers on an altar of Zeus in accordance
with a certain oracle. For Egypt was visited with
dearth for nine years, and Phrasius, a learned seer
who had come from Cyprus, said that the dearth
were chosen as victims. Diodorus Siculus points this out
(i. 88. 5) in confirmation of the Greek tradition, and he tells
us that the red-haired men were sacrificed at the grave of
Osiris, though this statement may be an inference from his
etymology of the name Busiris, which he explains to mean
" grave of Osiris." The etymology is correct, Busiris being
a Greek rendering of the Egyptian bu-As-iri, "place of
Osiris." See A. Wiedemann, Herodots Zweites Buck (Leipsic,
1890), p. 213. Porphyry informs us, on the authority of
Manetho, that the Egyptian custom of sacrificing human
beings at the City of the Sun was suppressed by Amosis
(Amasis), who ordered waxen effigies to be substituted for
the victims. He adds that the human victims used to be
examined just like calves for the sacrifice, and that they were
sealed in token of their fitness for the altar. See Porphyry,
De abstinentia, iii. 35. Sextus Empiricus even speaks of
human sacrifices in Egypt as if they were practised down to
his own time, which was about 200 A.D. See Sextus Empiricus,
p. 173, ed. Bekker. Seleucus wrote a special treatise on
human sacrifices in Egypt (Athenaeus, iv. 72, p. 172 D). In
view of these facts, the Greek tradition that the sacrifices
were offered in order to restore the fertility of the land or to
procure rain after a long drought, and that on one occasion
the king himself was the victim, may be not without significance.
For kings or chiefs have been often sacrificed under
similar circumstances (see Apollodorus, iii. 5.1; Adonis, Attis,
Osiris, 3rd ed. ii. 97 sqq.; The Magic Art and the Evolution
of Kings, i. 344 sqq., 352 sqq.) ; and in ancient Egypt the
rulers are definitely said to have been held responsible for the
failure of the crops (Ammianus Marcellinus, xxviii. 5. 14) ;
hence it would not be surprising if in extreme cases they
were put to death. Busiris was the theme of a Satyric play
by Euripides. See Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed.
A. Nauck2, pp. 452 sq.
225
VOL. 1. Q
APOLLODORUS
d(f)Opiav l rravaaadai lav %evov dvBpa T(p Au
a-fyd^QHTi /car* ero9. Bov(Tipi; oe e/celvov irp6)-rov
alpacas TOV fjidvTiv TOVS /caTiovras £evov  eacpa^e.
crv\~\,i](p8el} ovv teal 'Hpa/cX,^ rofc ^co/iot? Trpoae(
f)epero ra oe oecrfid 8iapprj^a^ TOV re Rovcripiv
Kal TOV e/ceuvov rraioa 'A/^^tSayuavra aireKTetve.
Trpocria^ei. Kal ^oi/XaTou rti/o? Xvera?
eTepov T&V Tavpwv airo r% o/z.a^?79
Bvcras. o Be ySo?;Xar^9 fiorjdeiv eavT& //.^ Bvvd-
/uievos crra9 eVt TWOS opovs KdTrjpaTO. Sib Kal
vvv, eTceioav Bvcoaiv 'Hpa/cX-et, /zera KdTapwv
1 We should perhaps read TTJ^ a.popiav
8 offfai/ ER : affias A.
3 A.ivSiaiv ER. : Aw8/a i/ A.
1 The Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (Argon, iv. 1396)
calls him Iphidamas, and adds "the herald Chalbes and the
attendants " to the list of those slain by Hercules. 2 Thermydra is the form of the name given by Stephanus
Byzantius (s.v.). In his account of this incident Tzetzes calls
the harbour Thermydron (Chiliades, ii. 385). Lindus was one
of the chief cities of Rhodes. 3 Compare Conon, Narrat. 11 ; Philostratus, Imagines, ii.
24; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 385 sqq.; Lactantius, Divin.
Inst. i. 21. According to all these writers except Tzetzes
(who clearly follows Apollodorus), Hercules's victim in this
affair was not a waggoner, but a ploughman engaged in the
act of ploughing; Philostratus names him Thiodamus, and
adds : " Hence a ploughing ox is sacrificed to Hercules, and
they begin the sacrifice with curses such as, I suppose, the
husbandman then made use of; and Hercules is pleased and
blesses the Lindians in return for their curses." According
to Lactantius, it was a pair of oxen that was sacrificed, and
the altar at which the sacrifice took place bore the name of
bouzygos, that is, "yoke of oxen." Hence it seems probable
226
THE LIBRARY, II. v. n
would cease if they slaughtered a stranger man in
honour of Zeus every year. Busiris began by
slaughtering the seer himself and continued to
slaughter the strangers who landed. So Hercules
also was seized and haled to the altars, but he burst
his bonds and slew both Busiris and his son Amphidamas.
1
And traversing Asia he put in to Thermydrae, the
harbour of the Lindians.2 And having loosed one of
the bullocks from the cart of a cowherd, he sacrificed
it and feasted. But the cowherd, unable to protect
himself, stood on a certain mountain and cursed.
Wherefore to this day, when they sacrifice to Hercules,
they do it with curses.3
that the sacrifice which the story purported to explain was
offered at the time of ploughing in order to ensure a blessing
on the ploughman's labours. This is confirmed by the ritual
of the sacred ploughing observed at Eleusis, where members
of the old priestly family of the Bouzygai or Ox-yokers
uttered many curses as they guided the plough down the
furrows of the Rarian Plain. See Etymologicum Magnum,
s.v. Eov£vyia, p. 206, lines 47 sqq.; Anecdota Graeca, ed. Im.
Bekker, i. 221 ; Hesychius, s.v. Vov&yns; Paroemiographi
Oraeci, ed. E. L. Leutsch und F. G. Schneidewin, i. 388;
Scholiast on Sophocles, Antigone, 255; Plutarch, Praecepta
Conjugalia, 42. Compare J. Toepffer, Attische Oenealoyie
(Berlin, 1889), pp. 136 sq.; The Spirits of the Corn and of the
Wild, L 108 sq. The Greeks seem to have deemed curses of
special efficacy to promote the fertility of the ground ; for we
are told that when a Greek sowed cummin he was expected to
utter imprecations or the crop would not turn out well. See
Theophrastus, Historiaplantarum,vn. 3. 3, ix. 8.8 ; Plutarch,
Quaest. Conviv. vii. 2. 3 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist. xix. 120. Roman
writers mention a like custom observed by the sowers of rue
and basil. See Palladius, De re rustica, iv. 9 ; Pliny, Nat.
Hist. xix. 120. As to the beneficent effect of curses, when
properly directed, see further The Magic Art and the Evolution
of Kings, i. 278 sqq.
Q 2
APOLLODORUS
Tlapicov Se 'Apaftiav ^Hfjuadicava Kreivei
TtOtovov. fcal &ia TT}? At/3t ??9 iropeuffeis eirl
ego) OaXavaav Trap 'HXtou l TO SeTra?
(Bdvei? Kal TrepaiwOels em Trjv iJTreipov
dvTifcpv /carero^evo'ev eTrl TOV Kau/carou rov
TO rov Hpofj,r)6ea)S fjirap aerov, ovra
Kal Tvf wvo ' Kal TOV Tipon-rfOia e\vcre,
eXo/i.6^09 TOV TT)? eXata?, Kal Trapea"%e
1 irap' 'HA(ou C. Robert, De Apollodori Bibliotheca, pp.
47 sq. (comparing Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon.
iv. 1396) : /caroirXer o5 A.
2 vapa\ap.Bdvti Frazer : KaroAa^aJ'ei MSS., Heyne, Westermann,
Miiller, Bekker, Wagner : Xa.nfia.vti Hercher. The
verb Kara\a/ji.&dvei.v means to seize or catch, generally with
the implication of force or violence. It cannot mean to
receive peaceably as a favour, which is the sense required in
the present passage. Thus the scribes have twice blundered
over the preposition irapa in this sentence (/caTairAet, /cara-
Xo/x^Savei).
1 Compare J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 369 sq., who as usual
follows Apollodorus. According to Diodorus Siculus (iv. 27. 3),
after Hercules had slain Busiris, he ascended the Nile to
Ethiopia and there slew Emathion, king of Ethiopia.
2 As to Hercules and Prometheus, see Diodorus Siculus,
iv. 15. 2 ; Pausanias, v. 11. 6 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 370 sq.;
Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, ii. 1248, iv. 1396 ;
Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 15 ; id. Fab. 31, 54, and 144 ; Servius,
on Virgil, Eel. vi. 42. The Scholiast on Apollonius (ii. 1248)
agrees with Apollodorus as to the parentage of the eagle
•which preyed on Prometheus, and he cites as his authority
Pherecydes ; hence we may surmise that Apollodorus is
following the same author in the present passage. The time
during which Prometheus suffered on the Caucasus was said
by Aeschylus to be thirty thousand years (Hyginus, Astron.
ii. 15); but Hyginus, though he reports this in one passage,
elsewhere reduces the term of suffering to thirty years ( Fab. 54
and 144).
3 The reference seems to be to the crown of olive which
Hercules brought from the land of tha Hyperboreans and
228
THE LIBRARY, II. v. n
And passing by Arabia he slew Emathion, son
of Tithonus,1 and journeying through Libya to the
outer sea he received the goblet from the Sun.
And having crossed to the opposite mainland he shot
on the Caucasus the eagle, offspring of Echidna and
Typhon, that was devouring the liver of Prometheus,
and he released Prometheus,2 after choosing for himself
the bond of olive,3 and to Zeus he presented
instituted as the badge of victory in the Olympic games.
See Pindar, Olymp. iii. 11 (20) sqq.; Pausanias, v. 7. 7. The
ancients had a curious notion that the custom of wearing
crowns or garlands on the head and rings on the fingers was
a memorial of the shackles once worn for their sake by their
great benefactor Prometheus among the rocks and snows of
the Caucasus. In order that the will of Zeus, who had
sworn never to release Prometheus, might not be frustrated
by the entire liberation of his prisoner from his chains,
Prometheus on obtaining his freedom was ordered to wear on
his finger a ring made out of his iron fetters and of the rock
to which he had been chained ; hence, in memory of their
saviour's sufferings, men have worn rings ever since. The
practice of wearing crowns or garlands was explained by
some people in the same way. See Hyginus, Astronom. ii. 15;
Servius, on Virgil, Eel. vi. 42 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxvii. 2 ;
Isidore, Origines, xix. 32. 1. According to one version of the
legend, the crown which the sufferer on regaining his liberty
was doomed to wear was a crown of willow ; and theCarians,
who used to crown their brows with branches of willow,
explained that they did so in imitation of Prometheus. See
Athenaeus, xv. 11-13, pp. 671 E-673 B. In the present passage
of Apollodorus, if the text is correct, Hercules, as the
deliverer of Prometheus, is obliged to bind himself vicariously
for the prisoner whom he has released ; and he chooses to do
so with his favourite olive. Similarly he has to find a substitute
to die instead of Prometheus, and he discovers the
substitute in Chiron. As to the substitution of Chiron for
Prometheus, see Apollodorus, ii. 5. 4. It is remarkable that,
though Prometheus was supposed to have attained to immortality
and to be the great benefactor, and even the creator, of
mankind, he appears not to have been worshipped by the
(Creeks; Lucian says that nowhere were temples of Prometheus
to be seen (Prometheus, 14).
229
APOLLODORUS
Ail Xeipmva OvrjaKeiv aOdvarov x avr avrov
Se fjitev 6/9 "TTTepftopeovs 777509 "Ar\avra,
TIpOfj,r]0eo)? TO  'HpaK\ei avrov lirl ra
a fj,rj rropevcaOai, SiaSe^d^evov 8e "ArXai'To?
rbv TTO\OV diroa-reXXeiv e/celvov, TreiaOels 8ieBe-
;aTO. "AT\a9 Se Bpetyd/J,€vo  2 Trap' ^cnrepi^wv
ftrfKa rj/ce TT/JO? 'Hpa/vXea. /cat /a?; /3ovXoroi'
iroXov €%Giv 3 . . . «al (rireipav em T?)?
6e\eiv Troirjcra(r0ai. rovro arcovcras
"ArXa9, eVl 7779 KaraOels ra yu?}Xa roy 7roXoi 
SieSe^aro. «;a oi/Ta)9 a^eXo/iei/09 aura 'H/oa«X^9
a7r?;XXaTT6To. ei/tot 5e (fraaiv ov Trapa "Ar\avro;
aura Xa/3e« , aXX' avrbv BpetyacrQai ra /j,fj\a,
Kreivavra rbv (frpovpovvra otyiv. /co/ucra9 Se ra
a Ei!»pi;o-^e6 ZSwicev. 6 Se \a/3obv 'H/oa/eXet
1 oflctpeiToi/ A, but wanting in E and omitted by Wagner.
Gale proposed to read Xelpuva aOdvarov ovrn  QvhffKuv avr'
avrov OeKovTa.. Retaining the MS. order of the words we
might read dvfjaKfir aOdvarov ^vra  avr' a.\ ro\  OtXovra.
The accumulation of participles (&vra— 6 f \ovra) is awkward
but quite in the manner of Apollodorus.
2 For 5pe\l/d/Aet os we should perhaps read Sefajuevos. For
5pr7TTer0ai means "to pluck from a tree," not "to receive from
a person." The verb is used correctly by Apollodorus a few
lines below.
3 Gale pointed out that there is here a gap in the text
of Apollodorus, which can be supplied from the following
passage of a scholium ou Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, iv.
1396 : T& pel/ /irjAo avros tyt\riv aTrolffeiv 'EvpvffOf'i, rbv 5' ovpavbv
vreirf6r)Kfv avrbv r$ "'ArAai'Ti. "f\v ")ap flirwv
avrai 6 ripo/j.T)9fvs irtro9ffji(i os, Kt\fi fiv Sf£aor6o.i rbv ovpav6v,
2 3°
THE LIBRARY, II. v. n
Chiron, who, though immortal, consented to die in
his stead.
Now Prometheus had told Hercules not to go himself
after the apples but to send Atlas, first relieving
him of the burden of the sphere; so when he was
come to Atlas in the land of the Hyperboreans, he took
the advice and relieved Atlas. But when Atlas had
received three apples from the Hesperides, he came
to Hercules, and not wishing to support the sphere
he said that he would himself carry the apples to
Eurystheus, and bade Hercules hold up the sky in
his stead. Hercules promised to do so, but succeeded
by craft in putting it on Atlas instead. For at the
advice of Prometheus he begged Atlas to hold up
the sky till he should x put a pad on his head.
When Atlas heard that, he laid the apples down on
the ground and took the sphere from Hercules. And
so Hercules picked up the apples and departed. But
some say that he did not get them from Atlas, but
that he plucked the apples himself after killing the
guardian snake. And having brought the apples he
gave them to Eurystheus. But he, on receiving
1 The passage in angular brackets is wanting in the
manuscripts of Apollodorus, but is restored from the Scholiast
on Apollonius Rhodius (Argon, iv. 1396), who quotes as his
authority Pherecydes, the writer here seemingly followed by
Apollodorus. See the Critical Note. The story of the
contest of wits between Hercules and Atlas is represented in
one of the extant metopes of the temple of Zeus at Olympia,
which were seen and described by Pausanias (v. 10. 9). See
my note on Pausanias (vol. iii. pp. 524 sq.).
teas ov rireipa.v fir\ rfyv Kef a\^iv iroi-lifferai. In this passage I
read avexew and irirfipav for £xe»' and ir^pav, which appear
to be the readings of the MSS. In the parallel passage of
Pausanias (v. 11.5) we read of ovpnvbv «a! JTJV "ATActs avex^v-
231
APOLLODORUS
eocoprja-aro' Trap1 ov \aftovaa 'Affrjva TTO\IV avra
dTTCKOfJUcrev' oatov yap OVK rjv avra reOffvaL TTOV.
12 AwBeKarov a6\ov eVeTay^ Kepfiepov e^"AiBov
KO/Jii^eiv. et%e Be o5ro9 rpeis f-^ev KVV&V /ee$aA.a?,
Tvjv Be ovpav Bpdfcovros, Kara 8e rov vwrov
Travroicov el%ev ofawv «e/ aXa9. yu.eX.Xwz/ ovv eVl
TOVTOV aTTievai rjXOe Trpos ^V^O\TTOV ei? 'EXevtrtya,
/jLvr)0rjvai \TJV Be OVK egbv %evoi; Tore
ireibrjirep fferbs 1 Hv\iov Trat? yevoyiiei/
o? e/mveiTo]. ^ Bvvd/j,evo; Be IBeiv ra /j,vcrr^pia
OVK TJV i ]ryvicrpevo; TOV Kevravpcov z povov,
viro EtyioA.7rot; Tore ef^vrjOr). teal
eirl Taivapov TT}? AaKtoviferjs, ov
1 Ofrbs R : 'Beanos A.
2 Kfvravpcav E, Scholiast on Homer, II. viii. 368 : Kfvravpov
A.
1 As to Hercules and Cerberus, see Homer, II. viii. 366 sqq.,
Od. xi. 623 sqq.; Bacchylides, Epinic. v. 56 sqq.; Euripides,
Hercules furens, 23 sqq., 1277 sqq.; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 25. 1,
iv.26. 1 ; Pausanias, ii. 31. 6, ii. 35. 10, iii. 18. 13, iii.25. 5sq.,
v. 26. 7, ix. 34. 5 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 388-405 (who
seems to follow Apollodorus) ; Scholiast on Homer, II. viii.
368 ; Ovid, Metamorph. vii. 410 sqq. ; Hyginus, Fab. 31 ;
Seneca, Agamemnon, 859 sqq., Hercules furens, 50sgg.; Scriptores
rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. p. 20
(First Vatican Mythographer, 57). Ancient writers differ as
to the number of Cerberus's heads. Hesiod assigned him fifty
(Theog. 311 sq. ) ; Pindar raised the number to a hundred
(Scholiast on Homer, II. viii. 368), a liberal estimate which
was accepted by Tzetzes in one place (Schol. on Lycophron,
699) and by Horace in another (Odes, ii. 13. 34). Others
reduced the number to three. See Sophocles, Trachiniat,
1098; Euripides, Hercules furens, 24 and 1277; Pausanias,
iii. 25.6 ; Horace, Odes, ii. 19. 29 sqq., iii. 11. 11 sqq. ; Virgil,
Ge.org. iv. 483, Aen. vi. 417 sqq. ; Ovid, Metamorph. iv. 451
sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 151 ; Seneca, Agamemnon, 62, Hercules
furens, 783s g. Apollodorus apparently seeks to reconcile
232
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 11-12
them,bestowed them on Hercules, from whom Athena
got them and conveyed them back again; for it was
not lawful that they should be laid down anywhere.
A twelfth labour imposed on Hercules was to bring
Cerberus from Hades.1 Now this Cerberus had three
heads of dogs, the tail of a dragon, and on his back
the heads of all sorts of snakes. When Hercules
was about to depart to fetch him, he went to Eumolpus
at Eleusis, wishing to be initiated. However it
was not then lawful for foreigners to be initiated:
since he proposed to be initiated as the adoptive son
of Pylius. But not being able to see the mysteries
because he had not been cleansed of the slaughter of
the centaurs, he was cleansed by Eumolpus and then
initiated.2 And having come to Taenarum in Laconia,
these contradictions, and he is followed as usual by Tzetzes
(Chiliades, ii. 390 sqq.), who, however, at the same time
speaks of Cerberus as fifty-headed. The whole of the
present passage of Apollodorus, from the description of
Cerberus down to Hercules's slaughter of one of the kine
of Hades, is quoted, with a few small variations, by a
Scholiast on Homer, I I . viii. 368. See Dindorf's edition of
the Scholia, vol. i. p. 287. The quotation is omitted by Bekker
in his edition of the Scholia (p. 233).
2 As to the initiation of Hercules at Eleusis, compare
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 25. 1 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 394.
According to Diodorus, the rites were performed on this
occasion by Musaeus, son of Orpheus. Elsewhere (iv. 14. 3)
the same writer says that Demeter instituted the lesser
Eleusinian mysteries in honour of Hercules for the purpose
of purifying him after his slaughter of the centaurs. The
statement that Pylius acted as adoptive father to Hercules
at his initiation is repeated by Plutarch (Theseus, 33), who
mentions that before Castor and Pollux were initiated at
Athens they were in like manner adopted by Aphidnus.
Herodotus says (viii. 65) that any Greek who pleased might
be initiated at Eleusis. The initiation of Herculea is represented
in ancient reliefs. See A. B. Cook, Zeus, i. 425 sqq.
233
APOLLODORUS
rrjf "AiSov l KaTaftdorea)? TO
Sia rovrov /ccnrjei.2 07rr)ViKa Be elSov avrov al
•fyv%ai,, %& /H9 M.e\edypov KCU MeSoycr^9 TT}?
Topyovos tywyov. eVt Be rr)V Topyova TO £1^09
W9 £a)(rav eXfcei, KCU irapa 'E/o/zoO pavO dvei on
/cevov ei8co\6v ea-Ti. tr^aiov Se T&V "A.i$ov
7rv\(t)v 76vo/iez/o? Stjaea evpe teal TleipiOovv rbv
Yleparef 6vr)s fjivrjcrrevofj^vov yd/j,ov Kai Bia TOVTO
SeOevra. Oeaadfjievoi 8e 'Hpa/cXea T«9 jfelpa^
wpeyov t»9 dvacrrrjcro/jievoi Sia r^9 eiceivov j3ia?.
6 Se ®r)ffea f^ev \a/36fj.evos T^9 %et/J09 ijyetpe,
TleipiOovv 5e avacrrrjcrat {3ov\6fjLevo  T?}9 7*79
1 TIJJ "AiSou KarajSacrews BA, Scholiast on Homer, 7/. viii.
368 : TJJS eis "AiSow /cara/3cicr«a s Heyne (conjecture), Westermann,
Hercher, Wagner.
2 /caT7?e Scholiast on Homer, viii. 368, Heyne, Westermann,
Miiller, Eekker, Hercher : oTrjfet A : ^rrj/€i E, Wagner.
1 Compare Euripides, Hercules fur ens, 23 sqq.; Pausanias,
xxv. 5 ; Seneca, Hercules furens, 807 sqq. Sophocles seems
to have written a Satyric drama on the descent of Hercules
into the infernal regions at Taenarum. See The Fragments
of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol, i. pp. 167 sq. According
to another account, Hercules descended, not at Taenarum
but at the Acherusian Chersonese, near Heraclea Pontica on
the Black Sea. The marks of the descent were there pointed
out to a great depth. See Xenophon, Anabasis, vi. 2. 2.
2 So Bacchylides (Epinic. v. 71 sqq.) represents Hercules
in Hades drawing his bow against the ghost of Meleager in
shining armour, who reminds the hero that there is nothing
to fear from the souls of the dead ; so, too, Virgil (Aen. vi.
290 sqq.) describes Aeneas in Hades drawing his sword on the
Gorgons and Harpies, till the Sibyl tells him that they are
mere flitting empty shades. Apollodorus more correctly
speaks of the ghost of only one Gorgon (Medusa), because of
the three Gorgons she alone was mortal. See Apollodorus,
ii. 4. 2. Compare Homer, Od. xi. 634 sq.
3 On Theseus and Pirithous in hell, see Apollodorus,
234
THE LIBRARY, II. v. 12
where is the mouth of the descent to Hades, he
descended through it.1 But when the souls saw him,
they fled, save Meleager and the Gorgon Medusa.
And Hercules drew his sword against the Gorgon, as
if she were alive, but he learned from Hermes that
she was an empty phantom.2 And being come near
to the gates of Hades he found Theseus and Pirithous,
3 him who wooed Persephone in wedlock
and was therefore bound fast. And when they
beheld Hercules, they stretched out their hands
as if they should be raised from the dead by his
might. And Theseus, indeed, he took by the hand
and raised up, but when he would have brought up
Epitome, i. 23 sq.; Homer, Od. xi. 631 ; Euripides, Hercules
furens, 619 ; Apollonius Rhodius, Argon, i. 101 sqq., with the
Scholiast on 101 ; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 26. 1, iv. 63. 4: sq.;
Pausanias, i. 17. 4, ix. 31. 5, x. 29. 9 ; Apostolius, Cent. iii.
36 ; Suidas, s.v. Kluiret.; Scholiast on Aristophanes, Knights,
1368 ; Virgil, Aen. vi. 392 sqq., 617 sq.; Horace, Odes, iii. 4.
79 sq., iv. 7. 27 sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 79 ; Aulus Gellius, x. 16.
13 ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. vi. 617 ; Scriptores rerum rnythicarum
Latini, ed. G. H. Bode, vol. i. p. 18 (First Vatican
Mythographer. 48). The general opinion seems to have been
that Hercules rescued Theseus, but that he could not save
Pirithous. Others, however, alleged that he brought up both
from the dead (Hyginus, I . e . ) ; others again affirmed that he
brought up neither (Diodorus Siculus, iv. 63. 5). A dull
rationalistic version of the romantic story converted Hades
into a king of the Molossians or Thesprotians, named
Aidoneus, who had a wife Persephone, a daughter Cora, and
a dog Cerberus, which he set to worry his daughter's suitors,
promising to give her in marriage to him who could master
the ferocious animal. Discovering that Theseus and Pirithous
were come not to woo but to steal his daughter, he arrested
them. The dog made short work of Pirithous, but Theseus
was kept in durance till the king consented to release him at
the intercession of Hercules. See Plutarch, Theseus, 31. 4
and 35. 1 sq.; Aelian, Var. Hist. iv. 5 ; Pausanias, i. 17. 4,
i. 18. 4, ii. 22. 6, iii. 18. 5; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 406 sqq.
235
APOLLODORUS
dp!j/c€v. «7re«i^ucre Be KOL rov 'Ar/cairerpov.
/3ov\6/Ji€vo; Be at//,z rai? tyw^als
i, piav rwv "AiBov /3owy aTreox^afey.
o Se veficav avras Meyom?? o l^evOdovvfJiov * Trpo-
2 ei9 irdXqv 'HpaArXea, X 7£$et9
i ra? TT\evpas Kcneayels* VTTO Tlep(reatrowro?
Se avrov H\ovT(oi a
TOV Ke/o/Jepoz;, eTrera^ev 6 H\OVTCI)V djeiv %& /oi9
wi/ el%ey OTT\WV Kparovvra. 6 £e evpwv avrov
eVl rat? TrvXat? roO 'A^epovro?, TW re
ical rfj Xeovrfj
' rj K e ) ra? ^et/oa? ou/c dvfj/ce5
fcparwv KOI ay^cov TO OrfpLov, e'ft 9 eVefcre, Ka'nrep
VTTO TOV /cara rr)i  ovpav Spdrcovros.
)v ovv avrov r)Ke &ia Tpoi&vos iroi^ad-
;^ dvdftacriv. 'Acr/cdXa^ov JACV ovv
eTroirjaev wrov,® cHyoa/cXr}9 Se T&vpvcrdei
TOI/ Kepftepov
VI. Mera 5e roi)9
eSco/cev '
deXwv eTrvvOdveTO l&vpVTov
Bvvdcrrijv ad\ov irporeffeiKevat 7 roy '10X779
ydfj,ov TO  viKijcravri ro^i/cfj 8 avrov re
1 K.€vd{ai v(j.ov Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 397, Aegius : Kv9oivv/j.ov
E. 2 irpo/coAeffa^ei/os Faber : irpoffKCLXtffajJievos EA.
s /j.fffos Faber : faeaov EA. 4 Kareoyels E : /carecifas A.
6 oii/c aJ^/ce . . . SpdicovTos E : OIIK cti'TJ/ce, Kdiirep SaKVofj.evos
virb TOV KO.TO, rijv ovpav SpaKovros, Kparcav etc rov rpaxfihov «oi
«7Xw T{  Griplov e-jrfiffe A. 6 STOJ/ Aegius : ovov EA.
7 irporeOfiKevai E : •Trporefl^'ai RRaB : irpoTfOelvcu G.
* TO|(«T? E : ro|t/cV A.
1 See Apollodorus, i. 5. 3.
2 Compare J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 396 sqq., who calls the
herdsman Menoetius.
236
THE LIBRARY, II. v. i2-vi. i
Pirithous, the earth quaked and he let go. And he
rolled away also the stone of Ascalaphus.1 And
wishing to provide the souls with blood, he
slaughtered one of the kine of Hades. But
Menoetes, son of Ceuthonymus, who tended the kine,
challenged Hercules to wrestle, and, being seized
round the middle, had his ribs broken ; 2 howbeit, he
was let off at the request of Persephone. When
Hercules asked Pluto for Cerberus, Pluto ordered
him to take the animal provided he mastered him
without the use of the weapons which he carried.
Hercules found him at the gates of Acheron, and,
cased in his cuirass and covei'ed by the lion's skin, he
flung his arms round the head of the brute, and
though the dragon in its tail bit him, he never
relaxed his grip and pressure till it yielded.3 So he
carried it off and ascended through Troezen.4 But
Demeter turned Ascalaphus into a short-eared owl,5
and Hercules, after showing Cerberus to Eurystheus,
carried him back to Hades.
VI. After his labours Hercules went to Thebes
and gave Megara to lolaus,6 and, wishing himself to
wed, he ascertained that Eurytus, prince of Oechalia,
had proposed the hand of his daughter lole as a
prize to him who should vanquish himself and his
8 Literally, " till he persuaded (it)."
4 Compare Pausanias, ii. 31. 2. According to others, the
ascent of Hercules with Cerberus took place at Hermione
(Pausanias, ii. 35. 10) or on Mount Laphystius in Boeotia
(Pausanias, ix. 34. 5).
s Compare Ovid, Metamorph. v. 538 sqq. As to the shorteared
owl (3 ros), see D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Glossary
of Greek Birds, pp. 200 sq.
6 With this and what follows down to the adventure with
Syleus, compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 31 (who seems to be
following the same authority as Apollodorus) ; J. Tzetzes,
Chiliades, ii. 412-435.
237
APOLLODORUS
K.OL roi 9
ovv et9 Gl\a\iav KOL rfj Toifi/cf) KpeirTwv avrwv
yevo/jievos OVK eVu^e TOV jd/jiov, 'I£tVou /j,ev TOV
TrpeTJSvTepov TWV •naloutv \eyovTos Sioovai rq 
ical
Kal SeSoifcevai 'Xeyovrcnv
l ra ^
ov 7roX,v Be
rovro,
8e aTTKTTWV acfiiKveiTai 7T/309 'Hpa/cXea, teal crvvrv^
oiv rfKOvn eic ^e/ow^2 aurw, creata/coTi rrjv
drroffavovcrav "AX/crjcrTiv 'ASyu^TG), 7rapatca\et
Kal ^evi^ei fj,ev CLVTOV, jJt,aveis Se avdis cnro
v eppi^frev avTov rei^wv. Ka0ap0rjvai Se
TOV tfiovov df)iKveirai 717)09 N^Xea- I\v\iwv
rjv o5ro9 Svvdo'T'rjs. aTTwaa^evov Be
avrov Bia Trp 7r/)09 Rvpvrov })i\iav, et9 '
7rapayev6fJevof VTTO A?7t^)o/3of rov
Kadaipe-rai. KaTar%e0els Be Beivfj vbaw Sia TOV
f)6vov, €49
1 yfvvri9r)ff6/j.€va E : yevriffo^va R : 7€i/»'')jcroiu€j'a A.
2 Qepiav R : (f opoav A.
1 Compare Scholiast on Homer, 77. v. 392 ; Sophocles,
Trachiniae, 260 s^g1., with the Scholiast on 266 ; Scholiast on
Euripides, Hippolytus, 545.
3 As he had killed the children he had by Megara. See
Apollodorus, ii. 4. 12.
3 The story is told somewhat differently by Homer (Od.
xxi. 23-30). According to him, Iphitus had lost twelve
mares (not oxen) and came in search of them to Hercules,
who murdered him in his house and kept the mares. A
238
THE LIBRARY, II. vi. 1-2
sons in archery.1 So he came to Oechalia, and
though he proved himself better than them at
archery, yet he did not get the bride; for while
Iphitus, the elder of Eurytus's sons, said that lole
should be given to Hercules, Eurytus and the others
refused, and said they feared that, if he got children,
lie would again kill his offspring.2 Not long after,
some cattle were stolen from Euboea by Autolycus,
and Eurytus supposed that it was done by Hercules
; but Iphitus did not believe it and went to
Hercules. And meeting him, as he came from
Pherae after saving the dead Alcestis for Admetus,
he invited him to seek the kine with him. Hercules
promised to do so and entertained him; but going
mad again he threw him from the walls of Tiryns.3
Wishing to be purified of the murder he repaired to
Neleus, who was prince of the Pylians. And when
Neleus rejected his request on the score of his friendship
with Eurytus, he went to Amyclae and was
purified by Deiphobus, son of Hippolytus.4 But
being afflicted with a dire disease on account of the
murder of Iphitus he went to Delphi and inquired
Scholiast on Homer (Od. xxi. 22) says that the mares had
been stolen by Autolycus and sold by him to Hercules.
Another Scholiast on the same passage of Homer, who
refers to Pherecydes as his authority, says that Hercules
treacherously lured Iphitus to the top of the wall, then hurled
him down. As to the quest of the mares and the murder of
Iphitus, see also Sophocles, Trachiniae, 270-273; Diodorus
Siculus, iv. 31. 2 sq. (who says that Hercules himself stole
the mares out of spite at Eurytus) ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii.
417-423 ; Scholiast on Homer, II, v. 392. Apollodorus seems
to be the only writer who substitutes cattle for mares in this
story. 4 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 31. 4 sq.; Scholiast ou
Homer, II. v. 392.
239
APOLLODORUS
\ayrjv GTrvvOdvero TJ}? VOGOV. jaij
Se avT& T?}9 Tlvdias TOV re vaov crv\av ij0e\€, /cat
TOV TpirroBa /Sacrrdcras fcaracr/cevd^eiv l fjLavreiov
iBiov. fjia%OfJ,ei ov Be UVT& 'A7roXX& po9  6 Zey9
t?7n peaov avrSbv Kepavvbv. /cal TOVTOV Bia\v-
0evTQ)v TOV TpoTTOv, \afA
09 e\€yev aTra\\ayr)is avTW 7^9 VQGOV
TrpaOevn Kal rpLa err) \arpevaavrL teal
3 TTotvrjv TOV f)6vov rrjv TifMrjv Eupurw. TOU Se
XPyvpov SoOewTOs 'Epfifjs *H.paK\ea Trnrpda-fcei-
KOI avTOV toveiTat 'O/a^aX^ 'lapbdvov,12 j3aa~i-
\evovaa AuScoz', fj rrjv rjyepoviav T€\€VT&V 6
Kare\nre. rrjv /j,ev ovv
ov
oe fji(pr) ovevmv Toi»9 ftev irep
Ke/o/Cft)7ra9 &v\\,a/3a)v eByae, l£,v\€a Be
1 /caraff/ceucifeij' E : KaraaKevd^ft A.
2 iapHdvov R (second hand), Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 430 :
lopSdvov EA. The MSS. of Pausanias similarly vary between
the forms iapSdvov and lopfidvov as the name of a river in
Elis. See Pausanias vi. 21. 6, with the critical notes of
Schubart and Walz, of Hitzig and Bliimner.
1 As to the attempt of Hercules to carry off the tripod, see
Plutarch, De El apud Delphos, 6 ; id. De sera numinis
vindicta, 12 (who says that Hercules carried it off to Pheneus);
Pausanias, iii. 21. 8, viii. 37. 1, x. 13. 7 sq.; Scholiast on
Pindar, Olymp. ix. 29 (43) ; Cicero, De natura deorum, iii.
16. 42 ; Hyginus, Fab. 32 ; Servius, on Virgil, Aen. viii. 300.
The subject was often represented in ancient art ; for example,
it was sculptured in the gable of the Treasury of the Siphniana
at Delphi ; the principal pieces of the sculpture were
discovered by the French in their excavation of the sanctuary.
SeeE. Bourguet, Les mines de Delphes (Paris, 1914), pp. 76
sqq., and my commentary on Pausanias, vol. v. pp. 274 sq.
2 As to Hercules and Omphale, see Sophocles, Trachiniae,
247 sqq. ; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 31. 5-8 ; Lucian, Dialog.
240
THE LIBRARY, II. vi. 2-3
how he might be rid of the disease. As the Pythian
priestess answered him not by oracles, he was fain to
plunder the temple, and, carrying off the tripod, to
institute an oracle of his own. But Apollo fought
him,1 and Zeus threw a thunderbolt between them.
When they had thus been parted, Hercules received
an oracle, which declared that the remedy for his
disease was for him to be sold, and to serve for three
years, and to pay compensation for the murder to
Eurytus. After the delivery of the oracle, Hermes
sold Hercules, and he Avas bought by Omphale,2
daughter of lardanes, queen of Lydia, to whom
at his death her husband Tmolus had bequeathed
the government. Eurytus did not accept the compensation
when it was presented to him, but Hercules
served Omphale as a slave, and in the course of his
servitude he seized and bound the Cercopes at
Ephesus ; 3 and as for Syleus in Aulis, who compelled
deorum. xiii. 2; Plutarch, Quaestiones Graecae, 45; J. Tzetzes,
Chiliades, ii. 425 sqq.; Scholiast on Homer, Od. xxi. 22;
Joannes Lydus, De magistratibus, iii. 64 ; Ovid, Heroides,
ix. 55 sqq.; Hyginus, Fab. 32; Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus, 371
sqq.; Statius, Theb. x. 646-649. According to Pherecydes,
cited by the Scholiast on Homer (I.e.), Hermes sold Hercules
to Omphale for three talents. The sum obtained by his sale
was to be paid as compensation to the sons of the murdered
Iphitus, according to Diodorus (I.e.). The period of his servitude,
according to Sophocles (Trachiniae, 252 sq.), was
only one year ; but Herodorus, cited by the Scholiast on
Sophocles (Track. 253), says that it was three years, which
agrees with the statement of Apollodorus.
3 As to the Cercopes, see Diodorus Siculus, iv. 31. 7 ;
Nonnus, in Mythographi Oraeci, ed. A.Westermann, Appendix
Narrationum, 39, p. 375 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 431,
v. 73 sqq.; Zenobius, Cent. v. 10; Apostolius, Cent. xi. 19.
These malefactors were two in number. Hercules is said to
have carried them hanging with their heads downward from
APOLLODORUS
aKa~mf.iv vay/c-
%ovra, crvv rals pifais ra? a/iTre'Xou? /cavcra?2
7-779 Qvyarpos "KevoSoKi)? 3 aireKreive. /cal
o"%(t)V vr/ao) AoA/%*?, TO 'I/cdpov crw/ia i'Scoj' rot?
a,iyia\oii 7Tpo(T^)€pof^6VOi  eda^re, /cal rrjv vrjaov
dvrl AoXt%»75 'Ifcapiav dtcdXecrev. avri TOVTOV AateV
Tlicry el/cova 7rapcnr~\,r]o'iav tcarea-Kevacrev
rjv vvfcrbs dyvoijcras 'HpaK\r)$ \ldw
€p,7rvovv eir\ri%e. icad' ov Be %povov
e\drp€V6 Trap' 'O/A^aXv;, 'Xeyerat rov eirl KoX^oi;?
•rr\ovv yeveadai KOI rr)v rov Ka\vB(ovi,ov fcdirpov
1 «c AuA/5i EA, Miiller, Bekker, Wagner: eV AvSia Pier son,
Westermann : rbv AvSw^ Gale : ^v av\{avt or eV a/j.Tre\u vi
Heyne (conjecture) : ev 4 uAAiSi Hercher. But Heyne's conjecture
iv oyUTreAaJi/t may be right ; for a place Aulis in Lydia
is otherwise unknown, and the mention of the vineyards
seems essential to the sense. Compare Diodorus Siculus,
iv. 31. 7, 2juAea 5e TOWS trapiAvras £evovs avvapird^ovra KO.\ TOVS
a.fj.tre\u vas fftcdirTeiv avaydfavra ; 3. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii.
432 sq. , SuAea /cal rbv AvSiOv, fSidfrfras TOVS £evovs II TOVS
a/tTreA&ij'as aurcov ff/cairTti*' SovXtias Tp6irca. Tzetzes appears
to have made two men out of Syleus the Lydian : his version
favours Gale's conjecture in the present passage of Apollodorus.
The passage should perhaps be rewritten as follows :
2uA«'a 8e fbv AuSiov TOVS irapidvTas £ft ovs :TOI»S d/xireAwvas  
ffKairTftv ava.yKa.£ovra, ovv TCUS pi£eus TO.S a.(j.ire\ovs avacrirdo'a.s
KT\. See the next note.
2 Kauffas E : ffKa^/as A : ffirdffas Meineke. We should perhaps
read a-vaffirdaas, comparing Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 435,
KK! irpoOe\vp.t'ovs avaffira Kal TOVTOV TO.S d/xTreAouj. The uprooted
vines are shown at the feet of Hercules and Syleus in
a vase-painting. See W. H. Roscher, LexiTcon d. yriech. u.
rom. Myth. iii. 1622.
3 zevotioK-ns E(7: Hej/oS/Kr/s RaS, Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 434.
a pole. They are so represented in Greek art. See W. H.
Roscher, Lexikonder griech. und rom. Mythologie, ii. HQQsgq.
The name Cercopes seems to mean " tailed men," (from KfpKos,
"tail"). One story concerning them was that they were
THE LIBRARY, II. vi. 3
passing strangers to dig, Hercules killed him with his
daughter Xenodice, after burning the vines with the
roots.1 And having put in to the island of Doliche, he
saw the body of Icarus washed ashore and buried it,
and he called the island Icaria instead of Doliche. In
return Daedalus made a portrait statue of Hercules
at Pisa, which Hercules mistook at night for living
and threw a stone and hit it. And during the time
of his servitude with Omphale it is said that the
voyage to Colchis2 and the hunt of the Calydonian
deceitful men whom Zeus punished by turning them into
apes, and that the islands of Ischia and Procida, off the
Bay of Naples, were called Pithecusae (" Ape Islands ") after
them. See Harpocration, s.v. Kepitwty ; Eustathius, on Homer,
Od. xix. 247, p. 1864 ; Ovid, Metamorjyh, xiv. 88 sqq. According
to Pherecydes, the Cercopes were turned into stone. See
Scholiast on Lucian, Alexander, 4, p. 181, ed. H. Rabe. The
story of Hercules and the Cercopes lias been interpreted as a
reminiscence of Phoenician traders bringing apes to Greek
markets. See 0. Keller, Thiere des classischen Alterthums
(Innsbruck, 1887), p. 1. The interpretation may perhaps be
supported by an Assyrian bas-relief which represents a Herculean
male figure carrying an ape on his head and leading
another ape by a leash, the animals being apparently brought
as tribute to a king. See 0. Keller, op. cit., p. 11, fig. 2;
Perrob et Chipiez, Histoire de I'Art dans VAntiquite, ii. 547,
tig. 254.
1 Compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 31.7 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades,
ii. 432 sq. • Conou, Narrat. 17. Euripides wrote a satyric
play on the subject. See Tragicorum Oraecorum Fragmenta,
ed. A. Nauck2, pp. 575 sgq. The legend may be based on
a custom practised by vine-dressers on passing strangers. See
W. Mannhardt, Mythologische Forschungen,pp. 12,53sq.,v?ho,
for the rough jests of vine-dressers in antiquity, refers to
Horace, Sat. i. 8. 28 sqq.; Pliny, Nat. Hist, xviii. 26. 66. (249).
2 That is, the voyage of the Argo. See above, i. 9. 16 sqq.
As to the hunt of the Calydonian boar, see above, i. 8. 2 sqq.
As to the clearance of the Isthmus by Theseus, see below,
iii. 16, and the Epitome, i. 1 sqq.
243
R 2
APOLLODORUS
e/c
TOV 'ladjJiov fcaOdpai.
4 Mera Be TT\V \cnpelav aTraXXayet? TJ?? vocrov
eVi vl\iov €7r\et trevTriKOVTopois oKTWtcaiSefca,
Gvvadpoicras (rrparov dvSpwv apicrrcov eKovaiws
6e\bvTU v (TTpaTevecrOai. KaTaTT\evcra; Be et?
"iXfoy rrjv fjiev TWV vewv f v\afcr)V 'OiArXet tcare-
\nrev, avrbs Be /tera TWV d\\cov aptarecov w
eTrl rrjv TroXiv. Trapcfyevo/Aevos Be eVt ra?
avv T& TT\r)6eL A.aofj,eBwv 'Ot/cXea fj,ev
ftct%o jxevov ', dTreXacrOels l Se VTTO TWV /ju
/cXeou? eTToXto/oKetTO. TT}? Be iro\iopKias evecrT
ocr?ji9 prjtfas TO ret^o? TeXa/icov TrpwTO? elarjXBev
ei? rrjv TTO\IV, Kal fiera TOVTOV 'H/oa/cX^?. & 9 Se
ededcraTo TeXa/u-eofa irpWTOv elcre\r)\vdoTa, cnra-
(rdfievo^ TO %ipos e?r' avrbv &p^a,2 /j,r]Beva 0e\a v
eavrov vpeiTTOva vo/j,t£ea0at. crvvi^atv Be rovro
TeXa/icby Xt^oi»9 TrXrjaiov fcet/Jbevovs
TOV 8e epo/Mvov TI TrpaTTOi /3co/iov elirev '
Xeou? KaTaa-fcevd^eiv fca\\ivi/cov. o Se
a 9 etXe r^y TroXtv, KaTaTO^Gvaas A.ao/j(.eBovTa
TOW9 7ratSa9 avTOv
dpiTTeiov 'Hatovrjv Trjv AaopeBov TO? dvycnepa
A : aireAafleiy Ra, Heyne, Westermann, Miiller,
Bekker, Hercher, Wagner. On the form of the aorist
e\acr8eis, see Veitch, G'ree^ Fcr&s (Oxford, 1879), p. 240.
2 &pfjLa. E : 77vei A, Wagner.
1 As to the siege and capture of Troy by Hercules, see
Homer, II. v. 640-643, 648-651 ; Pindar, Isthm. vi. 26 (38)
sqq.; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 32 ; J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 443
sg.; id. Schol. on Lycophron, 34; Ovid, Metamorph. xi. 213-
217, xiii. 22 sq.; Hyginus, Fab. 89. The account given by
Diodorus agrees so closely in matter, though not in words,
244
THE LIBRARY, II. vi. 3-4
boar took place, and that Theseus on his way from
Troezen cleared the Isthmus of malefactors.
After his servitude, being rid of his disease he
mustered an army of noble volunteers and sailed for
Ilium with eighteen ships of fifty oars each.1 And
having come to port at Ilium, he left the guard of
the ships to Oicles 2 and himself with the rest of the
champions set out to attack the city. Howbeit Laomedoii
marched against the ships with the multitude
and slew Oicles in battle, but being repulsed by the
troops of Hercules, he was besieged. The siege
once laid, Telamon was the first to breach the wall
and enter the city, and after him Hercules. But
when he saw that Telamon had entered it first, he
drew his sword and rushed at him, loath that anybody
should be reputed a better man than himself. Perceiving
that, Telamon collected stones that lay to hand,
and when Hercules asked him what he did, he said he
was building an altar to Hercules the Glorious Victor.
3 Hercules thanked him, and when he had taken
the city and shot down Laomedon and his sons, except
Podarces, he assigned Laomedon's daughter Hesione
with that of Apollodorus that both authors probably drew on
the same source. Homer, with whom Tzetzes agrees, s&ys
that Hercules went to Troy with only six ships. Diodorus
notices the Homeric statement, but mentions that according
to some the fleet of Hercules numbered " eighteen long ships."
2 As to Oicles at Troy, compare Diodorus Siculus, iv. 32.3 ;
Pausanias, viii. 36. 6, who says that his tomb was shown
near Megalopolis in Arcadia. Sophocles seems to have
written a play called Oicles, though there is some doubt as
to the spelling of the name. See The Fragments of Sophocles,
ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. ii. p. 119.
:i This incident is recorded also by Tzetzes (Schol. on Lycophron,
469) : but according to him the title which Telamon
applied to Hercules at the altar was Averter of Ills (Alexikakos),
not Glorious Victor (Kallinikos).
245
APOLLODORUS
i, Kal
e(j)r) Seiv rrpwrov avrov Sov\ov
jeveardai, Kal Tore ri irore Sovcrav dvr avrov l
\a/3etv avrov. 1} Be mrcpaaKOjJievov rrjv Ka\vrrrpav
VII. IlXeo^T09 Se O-TTO Tpoias '
H/)a ^aXeTTOu? eVeyLf^e2 ^et/xcoz/a?- e^' ot?
dyava/crij(ras Zev? ercpe/aaffev avrrjv el; ' '
TrpocreTrXet 8e 'H/3a«X?}? T^ K&)' /eat
avrov ol Kwot \r)npiKov ayeiv aroKov,
\ovres, \L9oLS TTpoa-TrXelv 6KO)\vov. 6
yu-ew? avrifv VVKTOS 3 etXe, /cat TOJ; /3ari\ea
Eii pv7rv\ov, 'AcrTU7raXata9 TralSa Kal
etcreivev. erpooOrj Be Kara rijv fid^rjv fHy
VTTO XaX«ft Soyro9, «al Ato? e^aprrdaavros avrov
ovoev erraOe. rropdrjcras Se Kco ^/ce 5«' - A.0r)va; 4
e/9 QXeypav, Kal /xera
1 SoDrrai' afr' UVTOV E : 8oCr' ctyr' avrwv A.
2 eir«^ |/6 EA : e7re'rre,itJ/e conjectured by Heyne, who rightly
observed that fvnr^Tvetv is the usual word in this connexion.
Compare i. 9. 24, Epitome, iii. 4, vi, 5.
3 afrTV VI//CT&J Wagner : T^V VVKTO. A.
4 'Aflrj^as Gale, Heyne (comparing i. 6. 1) : 'AflTjvaj/ Westermann,
Miiller, Bekker, Hercher, Wagner, apparently
following the MSS.
1 Compare Sophocles, Ajax, 1299-1303 ; Scholiast on
Homer, II. viii. 284 ; Ovid, Metamorph. xi. 216 sq.; Hyginus,
Fab. 89.
2 This derivation of the name Priam from the verb priamai,
"to buy, "is repeated, somewhat more clearly, by Tzetzes,
246
THE LIBRARY, II. vi. 4^11. i
as a prize to Telamon l and allowed her to take with
her whomsoever of the captives she would. When
she chose her brother Podarces, Hercules said that
he must first be a slave and then be ransomed by her.
So when he was being sold she took the veil from her
head and gave it as a ransom ; hence Podarces was
called Priam.2
VII. When Hercules was sailing from Troy, Hera
sent grievous storms,3 which so vexed Zeus that he
hung her from Olympus.4 Hercules sailed to Cos/
and the Coans, thinking he was leading a piratical
squadron, endeavoured to prevent his approach by a
shower of stones. But he forced his way in and
took the city by night, and slew the king, Eurypylus,
son of Poseidon by Astypalaea. And Hercules was
wounded in the battle by Chalcedon ; but Zeus
snatched him away, so that he took no harm. And
having laid waste Cos, he came through Athena's
agency to Phlegra, and sided with the gods in their
victorious war on the giants.6
Schol. on Lycophron, 34, rio5ap/crji/ f-rrpiaro, oQev /ec
npiafjLos. Compare Hyginus, fab. 89, Podarci,filio eius infanti,
regnum dedit, qui postea Priamus est appellatus, fab TOV
TrpiaffOai. For the bestowal by Hercules of the kingdom on the
youthful Priam, compare Seneca, Troades, 718 sqq.
3 See Homer, II. xiv. 249 sqq., xv. 24 sqq.
4 See Apollodorus, i. 3. 5.
* With the following account of Hercules's adventures in
Cos, compare the Scholiasts on Homer, II. i. 590, xiv. 255 ;
J. Tzetzes, Chiliades, ii. 445 ; Ovid, Metamorph. vii. 363 sq.
The Scholiast on Homer (II. xiv. 255) tells us that the story
was found^in Pherecydes, whom Apollodorus probably follows
in the present passage.
6 See Apollodorus, i. 6. 1 sq.
247
APOLLODORUS
2 Mer' ov -rrokv Be eV Avyeiav ea-rparevero,
avvadpoLra; 'ApKaBiKov cnparov KOI trapa\a^fav
€0€\ovra; rwv1 airo TT)? 'EXXaSo? apio-rewv.
Avyeias 8e rov a/ ' 'Hpa^Xeou? TroXe/AOi' arcovcov
Kariart]aev 'HXeta y crrparriyovs TZvpvrov Kal
KreaTO^ rv[Ji,pvei$, 01 Bvvd/j,ei TO 1)9 Tore av6pcf)-
7TOV9 UTre/96/3aXA,oz , TratSe? Se rjcrav MoXtov?;? /cal
Avyetou. avve^f] Se 'Hpav\€i Kara
rrjv arpareiav voarfaai- Sia TOVTO Kal T7rov8a;
TOU9 MoXtovtSa9 eTronja-aro. 01 Se varepov
avTov vocrovvra, eTrtridevTai TW rrpa-
Kal Kreivovcn 7roXXov9. Tore yLtev ow 2
avQis Be rfjs Tpirrjs
OW MoXtoi't8a9
crvvffvras, ev KXewyat9
TOVTOUS a«X7}9 ajreKreive, Kal
a rovra)
rrjv ftacri\eiav eSwKev. edrjK€ Be Kal rbv 'OXuyLt-
1 rail' affr&v A, Westermann, Miiller. drrrav is rightly
omitted by Bekker, Hercher, and Wagner, following Heyne.
2 o5v E : ovv OVK A.
1 For the expedition of Hercules against Augeas, see
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 33. 1 ; Pausanias, v. i. 10 sq., v. 2. 1,
vi. 20. 16 ; Scholiast 011 Pindar, Olymp. x. 31 (40).
2 As to Eurytus and Cteatus, who were called Actoriones
after their father Actor, and Moliones or Molionides, after
their mother Molione, see Homer, II. ii. 621, xi. 709 sq., 751
sqq., xxiii. 638; Pausanias