The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) (41 page)

because of their valour
: the name of the
Dioskouroi (kouros
means a boy,
Dios
is the genitive of Zeus) suggests that they are sons of Zeus, but here Castor has been described as the son of Tyndareus, so some explanation of their name is required, and it is claimed that they owed it to their personal qualities rather than their joint birth. Their part in two great adventures has already been mentioned, pp. 40 and 49; Ap. now tells of their later life, in particular the incident that leads to their death, thus explaining why they are not present at Troy, and why Menelaos, a Pelopid, is ruling in Lacedaimon at that time. Tyndareus has no other male descendants.

the daughters of Leucippos
: a Messenian king (see p. 44, cf. P. 4. 2. 4). There was a tradition that Hilaeira and Phoebe were betrothed to Idas and Lynceus, the sons of his brother Aphareus, and that this abduction (rather than the following incident) was the cause of the quarrel that led to the death of the Dioscuri (e.g. Hyg. 80).

Lynceus caught sight of Castor
: on the fate of the Dioscuri Ap., and Pindar in his more detailed account in
Nem
. 10. 55 ff, largely follow the early epic the
Cypria
(judging by Proclus’ summary); there Lynceus saw both brothers hiding inside a hollow oak (sc. Pind.
Nem
. 10. 114).

amongst mortals
: strictly, amongst the dead; on their shared immortality, cf.
Od
. 11. 303–4. The story rests on the assumption that Castor was a son of Tyndareus, and thus of wholly mortal birth.

he wanted to violate the goddess
: she is commonly said to have actually slept with him, and willingly; according to
Od
. 5. 125 ff. on a thrice-ploughed field, causing Zeus to strike him dead afterwards when he came to hear of it. Demeter for her part gave birth to Ploutos (Wealth, here as related to successful harvests) in Crete
(Theog
. 969 ff.). See also DS 5. 77. 1 f.

went to the mainland opposite
: his departure from Samothrace is often associated with a great flood sent by Zeus (sometimes identified with Deucalion’s flood, p. 37), and he is said to have used inflated skins to cross the waters (e.g. Lycophron 72 ff, with scholia, and sc.
Il
. 20. 215).

named the country Troy
: although we commonly refer to the city as Troy (as does Homer on occasion), this was strictly the name of the Trojans’
land
(Troia, or Troas, the Troad). The city was Ilios or Ilion (or in its Latin form, Ilium).

Ganymede
: cf.
Il
. 20. 232 ff.,
HH to Aphrodite
202 ff., without as yet the eagle (general in late accounts, e.g. Verg.
Aen
. 5. 253) or any suggestion that he became the beloved of Zeus (first recorded in Eur.
Orestes
1392, cf. Plato
Phdr
. 255c).

aroused Aphrodite’s amorous desire
: the central theme of
HH to Aphrodite
, cf.
Il
. 2. 819 ff.

found a city . . . where the cow lay down
: this story, which is not in Homer, is clearly modelled on the Theban foundation myth, p. 100. Homer never expressly states that Ilos was the founder of Ilion, although he refers several times to his tomb on the plain (e.g.
Il
. 11. 166). In
Il
. 20. 231 ff., he is the son of Tros, but in the passing references in 11 (166 and 372), the son of Dardanos, which is probably the older tradition. Homer notes a movement from the mountains (for the kingdom of Dardanos lay on the slopes of Mount Ida,
Il
. 20. 215–18) to a more civilized and prosperous life on the rich farmland of the plains (ibid. 219 ff).

the Palladion
: a talismanic image which protected the city, see p. 156.

Triton
: a sea-god (p. 33,
Theog
. 931 f.), here as the god of the River Triton in Libya (see Hdt. 4. 179 ff.; P. 9. 33. 5 claims that Athene was reared by a small river of that name in Boeotia). The myth explains Athene’s title Tritogeneia (which is very ancient, and probably of quite different origin).

aegis
: the ‘goatskin’, an attribute of Zeus depicted as a short cloak or a shield; see
Il
. 5. 733 ff.

Electro . . . raped
: the daughter of Atlas, by Zeus (see p. 122, but it is not recorded there, or anywhere else, that she was
raped by
him).

with Ate
: reading
met’Ates
for
met’autes
(‘with her’, i.e. with Electra). This explains the name of the Hill of Ate mentioned above; that she fell to earth at Ilion and the hill was named after her is confirmed by sc.
Il
. 19. 131. Ate is the personification of delusion; when Zeus was deceived by Hera over his plans for Heracles, p. 68, Zeus threw her down to earth (see 77. 19. 91 ff), where her actions are clear to see.

Dawn so loved Tithonos
: see
Theog
. 984 ff. and
HH to Aphrodite
, 218 ff. On Emathion see p. 82 and note; Memnon will be an important ally of the Trojans, p. 154.

as we mentioned
: see p. 86.

Aisacos ... was turned into a bird
: the only other account, Ov.
Met
. 11. 749 ff., is quite different. Aisacos fell in love with the nymph
Hesperia, who was bitten by a viper while he was pursuing her; and when he threw himself into the sea in grief at her death, Tethys transformed him into a bird (there a
mergus
, or diver, but the identification depends upon a purely Latin etymology).

Hecuba had a dream
: cf. Pind.
Paean
8 (rather different), Eur.
Troades
920 ff, Cicero
On Divination
1.21. 42; not in Homer.

protecting: alexesas
: Alexander (strictly, Alexandros) was thus the
man (aner, andros)
who
protected
or defended.

he rediscovered his parents
: Hyg. 91 gives the full story. Priam’s servant came to fetch a bull for games that were to be held in honour of Priam’s lost son (i.e. Paris himself). Paris went to the city and took part in the games, defeating his brothers; and when one of them, Deiphobos, drew his sword on him, he took refuge at the altar of Zeus Herceios. When Cassandra declared prophetically that he was her brother, Priam accepted him as his son.

Apollo . . . art of prophecy
: cf. Aesch.
Ag
. 1202 ff.; there was another story that serpents licked the ears (cf. p. 46) of Cassandra and her brother Helenos when they were left overnight as children in the sanctuary of Thymbraean Apollo (sc.
Il
. 7. 44).

if he mere ever mounded
: we should probably assume that she knows by her prophetic powers that he will be wounded if he abducts Helen (as explicitly stated in Parthen. 4); a pathetic tale that appealed to later sentiment (Hellanicos in the fifth century is the earliest recorded source, Parthen. 4).

learned from Sisyphos
: see also p. 44 and note.

turned the ants into people
: suggested by the etymological fancy that the ancestors of the Myrmidons (the people commanded by Aiacos’ grandson Achilles at Troy) were created from ants,
myrmekes
.

into a seal
: she conceived
Phocos
, the eponym of the Phocians, while she was in the form of a seal,
phoke
.

mhen Greece mas gripped . . . delivered from its barrenness
: see further DS 4. 61. 1 ff, P. 2. 29. 6.

guards the keys of Hades
: see also Plato
Apol
. 41a, where he judges the dead, and Isocrates
Evagoras
15, where he is said to sit beside Pluto and Kore, and enjoy the highest honours.

Telamon . . . killed his brother
: there is a varied tradition. In the earliest recorded source, the
Alcmaionis
, an early epic, both strike him (sc. Eur.
Andr
. 687). Peleus is often said to deal the deathblow (e.g. P. 2. 29. 7, where they are said to have killed him to
please their mother, who would have been angry that Phocos was born to another woman). In DS 4. 72. 6 the death is accidental.

because Heracles . . . Aias
: for the full story see Pind.
Isth
. 6. 35 ff. The appearance of an eagle, the bird of Zeus, indicates that Zeus will respond positively to the prayer; the son is called Aias after the
aietos
(eagle). Ajax is the Latinized form of his name. For Telamon at Troy, see p. 86.

concealing his sword
: a magic sword made by Hephaistos; Acastos expects that Peleus will be killed by the Centaurs who live on Mount Helicon while he is searching for it (cf. Hes.
Cat
. fr. 209). But he is saved by the good Centaur Cheiron.

Polydora . . . River Spercheios
: she is the mother of Menesthios by this river in
Il
. 16. 173; but there she is the
daughter
of Peleus and wife of Boros, son of Perieres, as on p. 127. This report that Peleus married Polydora is unattested elsewhere, and may be an error.

was told by Prometheus
: alluded to in [Aesch.]
PV
907 ff.; cf. Hyg.
PA
15.

according to others
: see Pind.
Isth
. 8. 27 ff., AR 4. 783 ff.

an ashwood spear . . . horses
: later passed on to Achilles, see
Il
. 16. 140 ff. and 19. 400 ff.

When Thetis gave birth . . . went back to the Nereids
: following AR 4. 869 ff. Ambrosia, the food of the gods, would foster what was immortal in the child’s nature. For the use of fire to burn away what is mortal in the body, cf. p. 33. In some sources, Thetis is said to have killed several children born before Achilles while trying to immortalize them (sc. Aristoph.
Clouds
1068a), or test whether they were mortal (sc. AR 4. 816). The passages in the
Iliad
where Homer refers to Thetis in her home under the sea at the time of the Trojan War (e.g.
Il
. 1. 358) seem to assume her departure; but in other passages there is talk of her welcoming Achilles home to the house of Peleus (e.g. 18. 441, cf. 332).

not . . . lips
: privative
a
(implied rather than directly stated) and
cheile
, hence Achilles! By feeding on the flesh and marrow of powerful and courageous animals, Achilles would come to share their qualities.

slaughtering Astydameia
: she had falsely accused him to her husband, p. 128.

Lycomedes
: he ruled the island of Scyros, off Euboea.

Pyrrhos . . . later called Neoptolemos
: because he was young,
neos
, when he went to war,
polemos
, at Troy (see p. 156), or because his
father was (P. 10. 26. 1, reporting the
Cypria)
. His previous name was explained by his red,
pyrrhos
, hair (Serv. on
Am
. 2. 469). Achilles refers to his son on Scyros in
Il
. 19. 326 f.

causing a trumpet to be sounded
: this is explained by Hyg. 96. Odysseus placed women’s finery in the courtyard of the palace with a shield and spear amongst it. He then had a trumpet sounded, accompanied by shouts and the clashing of arms. Thinking that they were under attack, Achilles took off his women’s clothing and seized the shield and spear. Or more simply, when women’s finery with arms mixed amongst it was placed before Achilles and his female companions, he instinctively seized the arms (sc.
Il
. 19. 326). In Homer’s account,
Il
. 11. 769 ff., Achilles remained with Peleus, and was eager to go when Nestor and Odysseus came to fetch him and Patroclos; and the present story was absent from the
Cypria
also (for Achilles came to Scyros and married Deidameia after the Greek attack on Mysia, Procl., cf. sc.
Il
. 19. 326 on the
Little Iliad)
. Because Achilles was too young to be one of Helen’s suitors, he was not bound by oath to join the expedition (and subsequently, when Agamemnon offended him, he could threaten to go home,
Il
. 1. 169 ff., etc.).

Phoenix had been blinded. . . seduced her
: in Homer’s account,
Il
. 9. 447 ff., he actually sleeps with her, at the instigation of his mother (who is jealous of the concubine); he has to go into exile, but is not blinded.

Patroclos had killed a boy
: cf.
Il
. 23. 84 ff.

Achilles had become his lover
: this is never stated by Homer; see also Plato
Symp
. 180a. Patroclos was older than Achilles (
Il
. 11. 787).

the Erechtheid Sea
: not a sea in the literal sense, but a sea-water well in the Erechtheum on the Acropolis, from which the sound of waves could be heard to rise when the south wind was blowing (see P. 1. 26. 6, with Hdt. 8. 55). This symbolic sea, and the mark of his trident in the rock (which can still be seen), were the evidence that Poseidon produced to support his claim (P. 1. 26. 6).

the Pandroseion
: an enclosure near the Erechtheum. The olive tree survived until Roman times (after miraculously regrowing when the Persians set fire to Athens, P. 1. 27. 2, Hdt. 8. 55).

flooded the Thriasian plain
: to the north-west of the city. Not a permanent flood (although he wanted it to be, until Zeus sent Hermes to forbid it, Hyg. 164).

Agraulos, the daughter of Actaios
: her name appears in the form Aglauros elsewhere. Actaios was presumably invented to explain
why Attica was previously called Acte (see above); Pausanias (1. 2. 6) records a tradition that he was the first king of Attica and that Cecrops succeeded to the throne by marrying his daughter.

was tried on the Areiopagos
: the Areiopagos, the traditional Athenian high court which dealt especially with cases involving blood-guilt, met on the place of that name to the north-west of the Acropolis. The present story explains its name (the ‘Hill of Ares’) and its prime function. Because his victim was trying to rape a close relative, and was caught in the act, Ares’ defence would have been acceptable in classical Athens.