Legendary Passages #0069 - Timaeus & Atlantis -
The Forgotten Enemy, from Plato's Timaeus.
The next six episodes focus on Atlantis. This passage is an
overview of the story, focusing on the forgotten history of Athens and
their triumph over the Atlanteans.
This story was told by an Egyptian priest to Solon, who told
Critias, who told his grandson (also named Critias), who told Socrates
and was recorded by Plato.
Solon tries to impress the Egyptian priest by recounting their
oldest stories of the flood of Deucalion and their earliest genealogies.
The priest dismisses them as children's tales, for there have been many
floods and disasters, and the written word and the greek histories lost
several times over.
Ancient Athens was founded nine thousand years before. Their
greatest act was the defeat of Atlantis, which had conquered Europe and
Africa from beyond the Mediterranean. Athens led the Greeks and their
allies in losing war against Atlantis. Yet she prevailed, and liberated
the enslaved and the subjugated. But then disaster struck and the brave
men of Athens perished, and the island of Atlantis sank beneath the
waves.
http://sacred-texts.com/cla/plato/timaeus.htm
Timaeus & Atlantis,
a Legendary Passage,
from Plato's Timaeus,
trans. by Benjamin Jowett.
Crit. Then listen, Socrates, to a tale which, though strange,
is certainly true, having been attested by Solon, who was the wisest
of the seven sages. He was a relative and a dear friend of my
great-grandfather, Dropides, as he himself says in many passages of
his poems; and he told the story to Critias, my grandfather, who
remembered and repeated it to us. There were of old, he said, great
and marvellous actions of the Athenian city, which have passed into
oblivion through lapse of time and the destruction of mankind, and one
in particular, greater than all the rest. This we will now rehearse.
It will be a fitting monument of our gratitude to you, and a hymn of
praise true and worthy of the goddess, on this her day of festival.
Soc. Very good. And what is this ancient famous action of the
Athenians, which Critias declared, on the authority of Solon, to be
not a mere legend, but an actual fact?
Crit. I will tell an old-world story which I heard from an
aged man; for Critias, at the time of telling it, was as he said,
nearly ninety years of age, and I was about ten. Now the day was that
day of the Apaturia which is called the Registration of Youth, at
which, according to custom, our parents gave prizes for recitations,
and the poems of several poets were recited by us boys, and many of us
sang the poems of Solon, which at that time had not gone out of
fashion. One of our tribe, either because he thought so or to please
Critias, said that in his judgment Solon was not only the wisest of
men, but also the noblest of poets. The old man, as I very well
remember, brightened up at hearing this and said, smiling: Yes,
Amynander, if Solon had only, like other poets, made poetry the
business of his life, and had completed the tale which he brought with
him from Egypt, and had not been compelled, by reason of the
factions and troubles which he found stirring in his own country
when he came home, to attend to other matters, in my opinion he
would have been as famous as Homer or Hesiod, or any poet.
And what was the tale about, Critias? said Amynander.
About the greatest action which the Athenians ever did, and
which ought to have been the most famous, but, through the lapse of
time and the destruction of the actors, it has not come down to us.
Tell us, said the other, the whole story, and how and from
whom Solon heard this veritable tradition.
He replied:-In the Egyptian Delta, at the head of which the
river Nile divides, there is a certain district which is called the
district of Sais, and the great city of the district is also called
Sais, and is the city from which King Amasis came. The citizens have
a deity for their foundress; she is called in the Egyptian tongue Neith,
and is asserted by them to be the same whom the Hellenes call Athene;
they are great lovers of the Athenians, and say that they are in some
way related to them. To this city came Solon, and was received there
with great honour; he asked the priests who were most skilful in
such matters, about antiquity, and made the discovery that neither
he nor any other Hellene knew anything worth mentioning about the
times of old. On one occasion, wishing to draw them on to speak of
antiquity, he began to tell about the most ancient things in our
part of the world- about Phoroneus, who is called "the first man,"
and about Niobe; and after the Deluge, of the survival of Deucalion
and Pyrrha; and he traced the genealogy of their descendants, and
reckoning up the dates, tried to compute how many years ago the events
of which he was speaking happened. Thereupon one of the priests, who
was of a very great age, said: O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are
never anything but children, and there is not an old man among you.
Solon in return asked him what he meant. I mean to say, he replied,
that in mind you are all young; there is no old opinion handed down
among you by ancient tradition, nor any science which is hoary with
age.
And I will tell you why. There have been, and will be again,
many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest
have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and other
lesser ones by innumerable other causes. There is a story, which
even you have preserved, that once upon a time Paethon, the son of
Helios, having yoked the steeds in his father's chariot, because he
was not able to drive them in the path of his father, burnt up all
that was upon the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt.
Now this has the form of a myth, but really signifies a declination of
the bodies moving in the heavens around the earth, and a great
conflagration of things upon the earth, which recurs after long
intervals; at such times those who live upon the mountains and in
dry and lofty places are more liable to destruction than those who
dwell by rivers or on the seashore. And from this calamity the Nile,
who is our never-failing saviour, delivers and preserves us. When,
on the other hand, the gods purge the earth with a deluge of water,
the survivors in your country are herdsmen and shepherds who dwell
on the mountains, but those who, like you, live in cities are
carried by the rivers into the sea. Whereas in this land, neither then
nor at any other time, does the water come down from above on the
fields, having always a tendency to come up from below; for which
reason the traditions preserved here are the most ancient.
The fact is, that wherever the extremity of winter frost or of
summer does not prevent, mankind exist, sometimes in greater,
sometimes in lesser numbers. And whatever happened either in your
country or in ours, or in any other region of which we are informed-if
there were any actions noble or great or in any other way
remarkable, they have all been written down by us of old, and are
preserved in our temples. Whereas just when you and other nations
are beginning to be provided with letters and the other requisites
of civilized life, after the usual interval, the stream from heaven,
like a pestilence, comes pouring down, and leaves only those of you
who are destitute of letters and education; and so you have to begin
all over again like children, and know nothing of what happened in
ancient times, either among us or among yourselves. As for those
genealogies of yours which you just now recounted to us, Solon, they
are no better than the tales of children. In the first place you
remember a single deluge only, but there were many previous ones; in
the next place, you do not know that there formerly dwelt in your land
the fairest and noblest race of men which ever lived, and that you and
your whole city are descended from a small seed or remnant of them
which survived. And this was unknown to you, because, for many
generations, the survivors of that destruction died, leaving no
written word. For there was a time, Solon, before the great deluge
of all, when the city which now is Athens was first in war and in
every way the best governed of all cities, is said to have performed
the noblest deeds and to have had the fairest constitution of any of
which tradition tells, under the face of heaven.
Solon marvelled at his words, and earnestly requested the
priests to inform him exactly and in order about these former citizens.
You are welcome to hear about them, Solon, said the priest, both for
your own sake and for that of your city, and above all, for the sake of
the goddess who is the common patron and parent and educator of both
our cities. She founded your city a thousand years before ours,
receiving from the Earth and Hephaestus the seed of your race, and
afterwards she founded ours, of which the constitution is recorded
in our sacred registers to be eight thousand years old. As touching
your citizens of nine thousand years ago, I will briefly inform you of
their laws and of their most famous action; the exact particulars of
the whole we will hereafter go through at our leisure in the sacred
registers themselves. If you compare these very laws with ours you
will find that many of ours are the counterpart of yours as they
were in the olden time. In the first place, there is the caste of
priests, which is separated from all the others; next, there are the
artificers, who ply their several crafts by themselves and do not
intermix; and also there is the class of shepherds and of hunters,
as well as that of husbandmen; and you will observe, too, that the
warriors in Egypt are distinct from all the other classes, and are
commanded by the law to devote themselves solely to military pursuits;
moreover, the weapons which they carry are shields and spears, a style
of equipment which the goddess taught of Asiatics first to us, as in
your part of the world first to you. Then as to wisdom, do you observe
how our law from the very first made a study of the whole order of
things, extending even to prophecy and medicine which gives health,
out of these divine elements deriving what was needful for human life,
and adding every sort of knowledge which was akin to them. All this
order and arrangement the goddess first imparted to you when
establishing your city; and she chose the spot of earth in which you
were born, because she saw that the happy temperament of the seasons
in that land would produce the wisest of men. Wherefore the goddess,
who was a lover both of war and of wisdom, selected and first of all
settled that spot which was the most likely to produce men likest
herself. And there you dwelt, having such laws as these and still
better ones, and excelled all mankind in all virtue, as became the
children and disciples of the gods.
Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in
our histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and
valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked
made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to
which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the
Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and
there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by
you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya
and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from
these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which
surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of
Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other
is a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a
boundless continent.
Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful
empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over
parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had
subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as
Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into
one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and yours and
the whole of the region within the straits; and then, Solon, your country
shone forth, in the excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind.
She was pre-eminent in courage and military skill, and was the leader of
the Hellenes. And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to
stand alone, after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she
defeated and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those
who were not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us
who dwell within the pillars. But afterwards there occurred violent
earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all
your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis
in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the
sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal
of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island.
http://sacred-texts.com/cla/plato/timaeus.htm
Greek and Roman mythology from the original sources, from Atlantis to Hercules to the Trojan War. Email: LegendaryPassages@gmail.com
Friday, September 15, 2017
Monday, September 11, 2017
LP0068 - The Shield of Eurypylus - Herculean armor, from Quintus Smyrnaeus' The Fall of Troy
Legendary Passages #0068 - The Shield of Eurypylus -
Herculean armor, from Quintus Smyrnaeus' The Fall of Troy.
Last time we heard about the imprint Hercules and his family had on Theban lands. This time we revisit his mighty deeds and labors, etched upon the armor of his son Eurypylus.
During the long years of the Trojan War, many allies came to the defense of Troy, after Paris made off with Helen, and the Achaeans launched a war to get her back. One of these allies was Eurypulus, son of Hercules, who bore a shield depicting his father's legendary labors.
First were the serpents he slew in the crib, then the Nemean Lion, Learnean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar, the Golden Hind, the Stymphalian Birds, the Augean Stables, the Cretan Bull, the Amazonian Girdle, the Mares of Diomedes, the Cattle of Geryon, the Apples of the Hesperides, and the three-headed Cerberus, Guardian of Hades.
Also engraved was the Liberation of Prometheus, the Centauromachy, the centaur Nessus, the giant Antaeus, and rescuing Princess Hesione from the Trojan sea-monster.
Eurypulus matched his father's godly prowess as he made war upon the Achaeans, and vowed to to the Trojans that he would keep on fighting until they achieved victory, or death.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/QuintusSmyrnaeus6.html
The Shield of Eurypylus,
a Legendary Passage,
from Quintus Smyrnaeus' The Fall of Troy,
translated by A. S. Way.
[201] - [352]
Up sprang with dawn the son of Telephus, and passed to the host with all those other kings in Troy abiding. Straightway did the folk all battle-eager don their warrior-gear, burning to strike in forefront of the fight. And now Eurypylus clad his mighty limbs in armour that like levin-flashes gleamed; upon his shield by cunning hands were wrought all the great labours of strong Hercules.
-
Thereon were seen two serpents flickering black tongues from grimly jaws: they seemed in act to dart; but Hercules' hands to right and left -- albeit a babe's hands -- now were throttling them; for aweless was his spirit. As Zeus' strength from the beginning was his strength. The seed of Heaven-abiders never deedless is nor helpless, but hath boundless prowess, yea, even when in the womb unborn it lies.
Nemea's mighty lion there was seen strangled in the strong arms of Hercules, his grim jaws dashed about with bloody foam: he seemed in verity gasping out his life.
Thereby was wrought the Hydra many-necked flickering its dread tongues. Of its fearful heads some severed lay on earth, but many more were budding from its necks, while Hercules and Iolaus, dauntless-hearted twain, toiled hard; the one with lightning sickle-sweeps lopped the fierce heads, his fellow seared each neck with glowing iron; the monster so was slain.
Thereby was wrought the mighty tameless Boar with foaming jaws; real seemed the pictured thing, as by Aleides' giant strength the brute was to Eurystheus living borne on high.
There fashioned was the fleetfoot stag which laid the vineyards waste of hapless husbandmen. The Hero's hands held fast its golden horns, the while it snorted breath of ravening fire.
Thereon were seen the fierce Stymphalian Birds, some arrow-smitten dying in the dust, some through the grey air darting in swift flight. At this, at that one -- hot in haste he seemed -- Hercules sped the arrows of his wrath.
Augeias' monstrous stable there was wrought with cunning craft on that invincible targe; and Hercules was turning through the same the deep flow of Alpheius' stream divine, while wondering Nymphs looked down on every hand upon that mighty work.
Elsewhere portrayed was the Fire-breathing Bull: the Hero's grip on his strong horns wrenched round the massive neck: the straining muscles on his arm stood out: the huge beast seemed to bellow.
Next thereto wrought on the shield was one in beauty arrayed as of a Goddess, even Hippolyta. The hero by the hair was dragging her from her swift steed, with fierce resolve to wrest with his strong hands the Girdle Marvellous from the Amazon Queen, while quailing shrank away the Maids of War.
There in the Thracian land were Diomedes' grim man-eating steeds: these at their gruesome mangers had he slain, and dead they lay with their fiend-hearted lord.
There lay the bulk of giant Geryon dead mid his kine. His gory heads were cast in dust, dashed down by that resistless club. Before him slain lay that most murderous hound Orthros, in furious might like Cerberus his brother-hound: a herdman lay thereby, Eurytion, all bedabbled with his blood.
There were the Golden Apples wrought, that gleamed in the Hesperides' garden undefiled: all round the fearful Serpent's dead coils lay, and shrank the Maids aghast from Zeus' bold son.
And there, a dread sight even for Gods to see, was Cerberus, whom the Loathly Worm had borne to Typho in a craggy cavern's gloom close on the borders of Eternal Night, a hideous monster, warder of the Gate of Hades, Home of Wailing, jailer-hound of dead folk in the shadowy Gulf of Doom. But lightly Zeus' son with his crashing blows tamed him, and haled him from the cataract flood of Styx, with heavy-drooping head, and dragged the Dog sore loth to the strange upper air all dauntlessly.
-
And there, at the world's end, were Caucasus' long glens, where Hercules, rending Prometheus' chains, and hurling them this way and that with fragments of the rock whereinto they were riveted, set free the mighty Titan. Arrow-smitten lay the Eagle of the Torment therebeside.
There stormed the wild rout of the Centaurs round the hall of Pholus: goaded on by Strife and wine, with Hercules the monsters fought. Amidst the pine-trunks stricken to death they lay still grasping those strange weapons in dead hands, while some with stems long-shafted still fought on in fury, and refrained not from the strife; and all their heads, gashed in the pitiless fight, were drenched with gore -- the whole scene seemed to live -- with blood the wine was mingled: meats and bowls and tables in one ruin shattered lay.
There by Evenus' torrent, in fierce wrath for his sweet bride, he laid with the arrow low Nessus in mid-flight.
There withal was wrought Antaeus' brawny strength, who challenged him to wrestling-strife; he in those sinewy arms raised high above the earth, was crushed to death.
There where swift Hellespont meets the outer sea, lay the sea-monster slain by his ruthless shafts, while from Hesione he rent her chains.
-
Of bold Alcides many a deed beside shone on the broad shield of Eurypylus. He seemed the War-god, as from rank to rank he sped; rejoiced the Trojans following him, seeing his arms, and him clothed with the might of Gods; and Paris hailed him to the fray: "Glad am I for thy coming, for mine heart trusts that the Argives all shall wretchedly be with their ships destroyed; for such a man mid Greeks or Trojans never have I seen. Now, by the strength and fury of Hercules -- to whom in stature, might, and goodlihead most like thou art I pray thee, have in mind him, and resolve to match his deeds with thine. Be the strong shield of Trojans hard-bestead: win us a breathing-space. Thou only, I trow, from perishing Troy canst thrust the dark doom back."
With kindling words he spake. That hero cried: "Great-hearted Paris, like the Blessed Ones in goodlihead, this lieth foreordained on the Gods' knees, who in the fight shall fall, and who outlive it. I, as honour bids, and as my strength sufficeth, will not flinch from Troy's defence. I swear to turn from fight never, except in victory or death."
Gallantly spake he: with exceeding joy rejoiced the Trojans.
Herculean armor, from Quintus Smyrnaeus' The Fall of Troy.
Last time we heard about the imprint Hercules and his family had on Theban lands. This time we revisit his mighty deeds and labors, etched upon the armor of his son Eurypylus.
During the long years of the Trojan War, many allies came to the defense of Troy, after Paris made off with Helen, and the Achaeans launched a war to get her back. One of these allies was Eurypulus, son of Hercules, who bore a shield depicting his father's legendary labors.
First were the serpents he slew in the crib, then the Nemean Lion, Learnean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar, the Golden Hind, the Stymphalian Birds, the Augean Stables, the Cretan Bull, the Amazonian Girdle, the Mares of Diomedes, the Cattle of Geryon, the Apples of the Hesperides, and the three-headed Cerberus, Guardian of Hades.
Also engraved was the Liberation of Prometheus, the Centauromachy, the centaur Nessus, the giant Antaeus, and rescuing Princess Hesione from the Trojan sea-monster.
Eurypulus matched his father's godly prowess as he made war upon the Achaeans, and vowed to to the Trojans that he would keep on fighting until they achieved victory, or death.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/QuintusSmyrnaeus6.html
The Shield of Eurypylus,
a Legendary Passage,
from Quintus Smyrnaeus' The Fall of Troy,
translated by A. S. Way.
[201] - [352]
Up sprang with dawn the son of Telephus, and passed to the host with all those other kings in Troy abiding. Straightway did the folk all battle-eager don their warrior-gear, burning to strike in forefront of the fight. And now Eurypylus clad his mighty limbs in armour that like levin-flashes gleamed; upon his shield by cunning hands were wrought all the great labours of strong Hercules.
-
Thereon were seen two serpents flickering black tongues from grimly jaws: they seemed in act to dart; but Hercules' hands to right and left -- albeit a babe's hands -- now were throttling them; for aweless was his spirit. As Zeus' strength from the beginning was his strength. The seed of Heaven-abiders never deedless is nor helpless, but hath boundless prowess, yea, even when in the womb unborn it lies.
Nemea's mighty lion there was seen strangled in the strong arms of Hercules, his grim jaws dashed about with bloody foam: he seemed in verity gasping out his life.
Thereby was wrought the Hydra many-necked flickering its dread tongues. Of its fearful heads some severed lay on earth, but many more were budding from its necks, while Hercules and Iolaus, dauntless-hearted twain, toiled hard; the one with lightning sickle-sweeps lopped the fierce heads, his fellow seared each neck with glowing iron; the monster so was slain.
Thereby was wrought the mighty tameless Boar with foaming jaws; real seemed the pictured thing, as by Aleides' giant strength the brute was to Eurystheus living borne on high.
There fashioned was the fleetfoot stag which laid the vineyards waste of hapless husbandmen. The Hero's hands held fast its golden horns, the while it snorted breath of ravening fire.
Thereon were seen the fierce Stymphalian Birds, some arrow-smitten dying in the dust, some through the grey air darting in swift flight. At this, at that one -- hot in haste he seemed -- Hercules sped the arrows of his wrath.
Augeias' monstrous stable there was wrought with cunning craft on that invincible targe; and Hercules was turning through the same the deep flow of Alpheius' stream divine, while wondering Nymphs looked down on every hand upon that mighty work.
Elsewhere portrayed was the Fire-breathing Bull: the Hero's grip on his strong horns wrenched round the massive neck: the straining muscles on his arm stood out: the huge beast seemed to bellow.
Next thereto wrought on the shield was one in beauty arrayed as of a Goddess, even Hippolyta. The hero by the hair was dragging her from her swift steed, with fierce resolve to wrest with his strong hands the Girdle Marvellous from the Amazon Queen, while quailing shrank away the Maids of War.
There in the Thracian land were Diomedes' grim man-eating steeds: these at their gruesome mangers had he slain, and dead they lay with their fiend-hearted lord.
There lay the bulk of giant Geryon dead mid his kine. His gory heads were cast in dust, dashed down by that resistless club. Before him slain lay that most murderous hound Orthros, in furious might like Cerberus his brother-hound: a herdman lay thereby, Eurytion, all bedabbled with his blood.
There were the Golden Apples wrought, that gleamed in the Hesperides' garden undefiled: all round the fearful Serpent's dead coils lay, and shrank the Maids aghast from Zeus' bold son.
And there, a dread sight even for Gods to see, was Cerberus, whom the Loathly Worm had borne to Typho in a craggy cavern's gloom close on the borders of Eternal Night, a hideous monster, warder of the Gate of Hades, Home of Wailing, jailer-hound of dead folk in the shadowy Gulf of Doom. But lightly Zeus' son with his crashing blows tamed him, and haled him from the cataract flood of Styx, with heavy-drooping head, and dragged the Dog sore loth to the strange upper air all dauntlessly.
-
And there, at the world's end, were Caucasus' long glens, where Hercules, rending Prometheus' chains, and hurling them this way and that with fragments of the rock whereinto they were riveted, set free the mighty Titan. Arrow-smitten lay the Eagle of the Torment therebeside.
There stormed the wild rout of the Centaurs round the hall of Pholus: goaded on by Strife and wine, with Hercules the monsters fought. Amidst the pine-trunks stricken to death they lay still grasping those strange weapons in dead hands, while some with stems long-shafted still fought on in fury, and refrained not from the strife; and all their heads, gashed in the pitiless fight, were drenched with gore -- the whole scene seemed to live -- with blood the wine was mingled: meats and bowls and tables in one ruin shattered lay.
There by Evenus' torrent, in fierce wrath for his sweet bride, he laid with the arrow low Nessus in mid-flight.
There withal was wrought Antaeus' brawny strength, who challenged him to wrestling-strife; he in those sinewy arms raised high above the earth, was crushed to death.
There where swift Hellespont meets the outer sea, lay the sea-monster slain by his ruthless shafts, while from Hesione he rent her chains.
-
Of bold Alcides many a deed beside shone on the broad shield of Eurypylus. He seemed the War-god, as from rank to rank he sped; rejoiced the Trojans following him, seeing his arms, and him clothed with the might of Gods; and Paris hailed him to the fray: "Glad am I for thy coming, for mine heart trusts that the Argives all shall wretchedly be with their ships destroyed; for such a man mid Greeks or Trojans never have I seen. Now, by the strength and fury of Hercules -- to whom in stature, might, and goodlihead most like thou art I pray thee, have in mind him, and resolve to match his deeds with thine. Be the strong shield of Trojans hard-bestead: win us a breathing-space. Thou only, I trow, from perishing Troy canst thrust the dark doom back."
With kindling words he spake. That hero cried: "Great-hearted Paris, like the Blessed Ones in goodlihead, this lieth foreordained on the Gods' knees, who in the fight shall fall, and who outlive it. I, as honour bids, and as my strength sufficeth, will not flinch from Troy's defence. I swear to turn from fight never, except in victory or death."
Gallantly spake he: with exceeding joy rejoiced the Trojans.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
LP0067 - The Protidian Gate - The road from Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece
Legendary Passages #0067 - The Protidian Gate -
The road from Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
Last time we heard how Heracles decided his own destiny. This time we explore the impact that he and his family had on the Theban lands.
First, the tomb of Semele is near the temple of her son Dionysus; although Heracles' mother Alcmena has no tomb of her own, as her body was replaced by a stone. Then comes the tombs of the daughters of Antipoenus, who sacrificed their lives so that Heracles and the Thebans could defeat the Orchomenians. Heracles dedicated a stone lion for this victory. Heracles' father Amphitryon dedicated images to Athena on the spot where he put on, or 'girded', his armor.
On the edge of the city are the tombs of Zethus & Amphion, Melanippus & Tydeus, Oedipus' children, Teiresias, the Trojan Hector, and lastly, Asphodicus.
The road next goes to Teumessus, best known for the legend of the Teumessian fox, which Amphitryon helped defeat. Past Glisas and The Snake's Head, and below supreme Mount Hypastus, is the tomb of Chalcodon, slain by Amphitryon during battle with the Euboeans.
Finally, we come to the Sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter, where each night the doors are closed and opened again by Heracles, here called one of the Idaean Dactyls.
Next time, stories of Heracles etched onto the Shield of Eurypylus.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#8
The Protidian Gate,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[9.16.6] - [9.19.8]
Near the Proetidian gate is built a theater, and quite close to the theater is a temple of Dionysus surnamed Deliverer. For when some Theban prisoners in the hands of Thracians had reached Haliartia on their march, they were delivered by the god, who gave up the sleeping Thracians to be put to death. One of the two images here the Thebans say is Semele. Once in each year, they say, they open the sanctuary on stated days.
There are also ruins of the house of Lycus, and the tomb of Semele, but Alcmena has no tomb. It is said that on her death she was turned from human form to a stone, but the Theban account does not agree with the Megarian. The Greek legends generally have for the most part different versions. Here too at Thebes are the tombs of the children of Amphion. The boys lie apart; the girls are buried by themselves.
XVII. Near is the temple of Artemis of Fair Fame. The image was made by Scopas. They say that within the sanctuary were buried Androcleia and Aleis, daughters of Antipoenus. For when Heracles and the Thebans were about to engage in battle with the Orchomenians, an oracle was delivered to them that success in the war would be theirs if their citizen of the most noble descent would consent to die by his own hand. Now Antipoenus, who had the most famous ancestors, was loath to die for the people, but his daughters were quite ready to do so. So they took their own lives and are honored therefor.
Before the temple of Artemis of Fair Fame is a lion made of stone, said to have been dedicated by Heracles after he had conquered in the battle the Orchomenians and their king, Erginus son of Clymenus. Near it is Apollo surnamed Rescuer, and Hermes called of the Market-place, another of the votive offerings of Pindar. The pyre of the children of Amphion is about half a stade from the graves. The ashes from the pyre are still there.
Near this are two stone images of Athena, surnamed Girder, said to have been dedicated by Amphitryon. For here, they say, he put on his armour when he was about to give battle to Chalcodon and the Euboeans. It seems that the ancients used the verb “to gird oneself” in the sense of “to put on one's armour,” and so they say that when Homer compares Agamemnon to Ares “in respect of his girdle,” he is really saying that they were alike in the fashion of their armour.
The tomb shared by Zethus and Amphion is a small mound of earth. The inhabitants of Tithorea in Phocis like to steal earth from it when the sun is passing through the constellation Taurus. For if at that time they take earth from the mound and set it on Antiope's tomb, the land of Tithorea will yield a harvest, but that of Thebes be less fertile. For this reason the Thebans at that time keep watch over the tomb.
Both these cities hold this belief, and they do so because of the oracles of Bacis, in which are the lines:–
But when a man of Tithorea to Amphion and to Zethus
Pours on the earth peace-offerings of libation and prayer,
When Taurus is warmed by the might of the glorious sun,
Beware then of no slight disaster threatening the city;
For the harvest wastes away in it,
When they take of the earth, and bring it to the tomb of Phocus.
Bacis calls it the tomb of Phocus for the following reason. The wife of Lycus worshipped Dionysus more than any other deity. When she had suffered what the story says she suffered, Dionysus was angry with Antiope. For some reason extravagant punishments always arouse the resentment of the gods. They say that Antiope went mad, and when out of her wits roamed all over Greece; but Phocus, son of Ornytion, son of Sisyphus, chanced to meet her, cured her madness, and then married her.
So Antiope and Phocus share the same grave. The roughly quarried stones, laid along the tomb of Amphion at its base, are said to be the very rocks that followed the singing of Amphion. A similar story is told of Orpheus, how wild creatures followed him as he played the harp.
PROETIDIAN GATE OF THEBES
XVIII. The road from Thebes to Chalcis is by this Proetidian gate. On the highway is pointed out the grave of Melanippus, one of the very best of the soldiers of Thebes. When the Argive invasion occurred this Melanippus killed Tydeus, as well as Mecisteus, one of the brothers of Adrastus, while he himself, they say, met his death at the hands of Amphiaraus.
Quite close to it are three unwrought stones. The Theban antiquaries assert that the man lying here is Tydeus, and that his burial was carried out by Maeon. As proof of their assertion they quoted a line of the Iliad:–
Of Tydeus, who at Thebes is covered by a heap of earth. Hom. Il. 14.114
Adjoining are the tombs of the children of Oedipus. The ritual observed at them I have never seen, but I regard it as credible. For the Thebans say that among those called heroes to whom they offer sacrifice are the children of Oedipus. As the sacrifice is being offered, the flame, so they say, and the smoke from it divide themselves into two. I was led to believe their story by the fact that I have seen a similar wonder. It was this.
In Mysia beyond the Caicus is a town called Pioniae, the founder of which according to the inhabitants was Pionis, one of the descendants of Heracles. When they are going to sacrifice to him as to a hero, smoke of itself rises up out of the grave. This occurrence, then, I have seen happening.
The Thebans show also the tomb of Teiresias, about fifteen stades from the grave of the children of Oedipus. The Thebans themselves agree that Teiresias met his end in Haliartia, and admit that the monument at Thebes is a cenotaph.
There is also at Thebes the grave of Hector, the son of Priam. It is near the spring called the Fountain of Oedipus, and the Thebans say that they brought Hector's bones from Troy because of the following oracle:–
Ye Thebans who dwell in the city of Cadmus,
If you wish blameless wealth for the country in which you live,
Bring to your homes the bones of Hector, Priam's son,
From Asia, and reverence him as a hero,
According to the bidding of Zeus.
The Fountain of Oedipus was so named because Oedipus washed off into it the blood of his murdered father. Hard by the spring is the grave of Asphodicus. He it was who in the fighting with the Argives killed Parthenopaeus, the son of Talaus. This is the Theban account, but according to the passage in the Thebaid which tells of the death of Parthenopaeus it was Periclymenus who killed him.
TEUMESSUS
XIX. On this highway is a place called Teumessus, where it is said that Europa was hidden by Zeus. There is also another legend, which tells of a fox called the Teumessian fox, how owing to the wrath of Dionysus the beast was reared to destroy the Thebans, and how, when about to be caught by the hound given by Artemis to Procris the daughter of Erechtheus, the fox was turned into a stone, as was likewise this hound. In Teumessus there is also a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena, which contains no image. As to her surname, we may hazard the conjecture that a division of the Telchinians who once dwelt in Cyprus came to Boeotia and established a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena.
GLISAS & MT HYPASTUS
Seven stades from Teumessus on the left are the ruins of Glisas, and before them on the right of the way a small mound shaded by cultivated trees and a wood of wild ones. Here were buried Promachus, the son of Parthenopaeus, and other Argive officers, who joined with Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus, in the expedition against Thebes. That the tomb of Aegialeus is at Pegae I have already stated in an earlier part of my history that deals with Megara.
On the straight road from Thebes to Glisas is a place surrounded by unhewn stones, called by the Thebans the Snake's Head. This snake, whatever it was, popped its head, they say, out of its hole here, and Teiresias, chancing to meet it, cut off the head with his sword. This then is how the place got its name. Above Glisas is a mountain called Supreme, and on it a temple and image of Supreme Zeus. The river, a torrent, they call the Thermodon.
Returning to Teumessus and the road to Chalcis, you come to the tomb of Chalcodon, who was killed by Amphitryon in a fight between the Thebans and the Euboeans.
HARMA & MYCALESSUS
Adjoining are the ruins of the cities Harma (Chariot) and Mycalessus. The former got its name, according to the people of Tanagra, because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared here, and not where the Thebans say it did. Both peoples agree that Mycalessus was so named because the cow lowed (emykesato) here that was guiding Cadmus and his host to Thebes. How Mycalessus was laid waste I have related in that part of my history that deals with the Athenians.
On the way to the coast of Mycalessus is a sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter. They say that each night it is shut up and opened again by Heracles, and that Heracles is one of what are called the Idaean Dactyls. Here is shown the following marvel. Before the feet of the image they place all the fruits of autumn, and these remain fresh throughout all the year.
At this place the Euripus separates Euboea from Boeotia. On the right is the sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter, and a little farther on is Aulis, said to have been named after the daughter of Ogygus. Here there is a temple of Artemis with two images of white marble; one carries torches, and the other is like to one shooting an arrow. The story is that when, in obedience to the soothsaying of Calchas, the Greeks were about to sacrifice Iphigeneia on the altar, the goddess substituted a deer to be the victim instead of her. They preserve in the temple what still survives of the plane-tree mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. The story is that the Greeks were kept at Aulis by contrary winds, and when suddenly a favouring breeze sprang up, each sacrificed to Artemis the victim he had to hand, female and male alike. From that time the rule has held good at Aulis that oil victims are permissible. There is also shown the spring, by which the plane-tree grew, and on a hill near by the bronze threshold of Agamemnon's tent.
In front of the sanctuary grow palm-trees, the fruit of which, though not wholly edible like the dates of Palestine, yet are riper than those of Ionia. There are but few inhabitants of Aulis, and these are potters. This land, and that about Mycalessus and Harma, is tilled by the people of Tanagra.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#8
The road from Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
Last time we heard how Heracles decided his own destiny. This time we explore the impact that he and his family had on the Theban lands.
First, the tomb of Semele is near the temple of her son Dionysus; although Heracles' mother Alcmena has no tomb of her own, as her body was replaced by a stone. Then comes the tombs of the daughters of Antipoenus, who sacrificed their lives so that Heracles and the Thebans could defeat the Orchomenians. Heracles dedicated a stone lion for this victory. Heracles' father Amphitryon dedicated images to Athena on the spot where he put on, or 'girded', his armor.
On the edge of the city are the tombs of Zethus & Amphion, Melanippus & Tydeus, Oedipus' children, Teiresias, the Trojan Hector, and lastly, Asphodicus.
The road next goes to Teumessus, best known for the legend of the Teumessian fox, which Amphitryon helped defeat. Past Glisas and The Snake's Head, and below supreme Mount Hypastus, is the tomb of Chalcodon, slain by Amphitryon during battle with the Euboeans.
Finally, we come to the Sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter, where each night the doors are closed and opened again by Heracles, here called one of the Idaean Dactyls.
Next time, stories of Heracles etched onto the Shield of Eurypylus.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#8
The Protidian Gate,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[9.16.6] - [9.19.8]
Near the Proetidian gate is built a theater, and quite close to the theater is a temple of Dionysus surnamed Deliverer. For when some Theban prisoners in the hands of Thracians had reached Haliartia on their march, they were delivered by the god, who gave up the sleeping Thracians to be put to death. One of the two images here the Thebans say is Semele. Once in each year, they say, they open the sanctuary on stated days.
There are also ruins of the house of Lycus, and the tomb of Semele, but Alcmena has no tomb. It is said that on her death she was turned from human form to a stone, but the Theban account does not agree with the Megarian. The Greek legends generally have for the most part different versions. Here too at Thebes are the tombs of the children of Amphion. The boys lie apart; the girls are buried by themselves.
XVII. Near is the temple of Artemis of Fair Fame. The image was made by Scopas. They say that within the sanctuary were buried Androcleia and Aleis, daughters of Antipoenus. For when Heracles and the Thebans were about to engage in battle with the Orchomenians, an oracle was delivered to them that success in the war would be theirs if their citizen of the most noble descent would consent to die by his own hand. Now Antipoenus, who had the most famous ancestors, was loath to die for the people, but his daughters were quite ready to do so. So they took their own lives and are honored therefor.
Before the temple of Artemis of Fair Fame is a lion made of stone, said to have been dedicated by Heracles after he had conquered in the battle the Orchomenians and their king, Erginus son of Clymenus. Near it is Apollo surnamed Rescuer, and Hermes called of the Market-place, another of the votive offerings of Pindar. The pyre of the children of Amphion is about half a stade from the graves. The ashes from the pyre are still there.
Near this are two stone images of Athena, surnamed Girder, said to have been dedicated by Amphitryon. For here, they say, he put on his armour when he was about to give battle to Chalcodon and the Euboeans. It seems that the ancients used the verb “to gird oneself” in the sense of “to put on one's armour,” and so they say that when Homer compares Agamemnon to Ares “in respect of his girdle,” he is really saying that they were alike in the fashion of their armour.
The tomb shared by Zethus and Amphion is a small mound of earth. The inhabitants of Tithorea in Phocis like to steal earth from it when the sun is passing through the constellation Taurus. For if at that time they take earth from the mound and set it on Antiope's tomb, the land of Tithorea will yield a harvest, but that of Thebes be less fertile. For this reason the Thebans at that time keep watch over the tomb.
Both these cities hold this belief, and they do so because of the oracles of Bacis, in which are the lines:–
But when a man of Tithorea to Amphion and to Zethus
Pours on the earth peace-offerings of libation and prayer,
When Taurus is warmed by the might of the glorious sun,
Beware then of no slight disaster threatening the city;
For the harvest wastes away in it,
When they take of the earth, and bring it to the tomb of Phocus.
Bacis calls it the tomb of Phocus for the following reason. The wife of Lycus worshipped Dionysus more than any other deity. When she had suffered what the story says she suffered, Dionysus was angry with Antiope. For some reason extravagant punishments always arouse the resentment of the gods. They say that Antiope went mad, and when out of her wits roamed all over Greece; but Phocus, son of Ornytion, son of Sisyphus, chanced to meet her, cured her madness, and then married her.
So Antiope and Phocus share the same grave. The roughly quarried stones, laid along the tomb of Amphion at its base, are said to be the very rocks that followed the singing of Amphion. A similar story is told of Orpheus, how wild creatures followed him as he played the harp.
PROETIDIAN GATE OF THEBES
XVIII. The road from Thebes to Chalcis is by this Proetidian gate. On the highway is pointed out the grave of Melanippus, one of the very best of the soldiers of Thebes. When the Argive invasion occurred this Melanippus killed Tydeus, as well as Mecisteus, one of the brothers of Adrastus, while he himself, they say, met his death at the hands of Amphiaraus.
Quite close to it are three unwrought stones. The Theban antiquaries assert that the man lying here is Tydeus, and that his burial was carried out by Maeon. As proof of their assertion they quoted a line of the Iliad:–
Of Tydeus, who at Thebes is covered by a heap of earth. Hom. Il. 14.114
Adjoining are the tombs of the children of Oedipus. The ritual observed at them I have never seen, but I regard it as credible. For the Thebans say that among those called heroes to whom they offer sacrifice are the children of Oedipus. As the sacrifice is being offered, the flame, so they say, and the smoke from it divide themselves into two. I was led to believe their story by the fact that I have seen a similar wonder. It was this.
In Mysia beyond the Caicus is a town called Pioniae, the founder of which according to the inhabitants was Pionis, one of the descendants of Heracles. When they are going to sacrifice to him as to a hero, smoke of itself rises up out of the grave. This occurrence, then, I have seen happening.
The Thebans show also the tomb of Teiresias, about fifteen stades from the grave of the children of Oedipus. The Thebans themselves agree that Teiresias met his end in Haliartia, and admit that the monument at Thebes is a cenotaph.
There is also at Thebes the grave of Hector, the son of Priam. It is near the spring called the Fountain of Oedipus, and the Thebans say that they brought Hector's bones from Troy because of the following oracle:–
Ye Thebans who dwell in the city of Cadmus,
If you wish blameless wealth for the country in which you live,
Bring to your homes the bones of Hector, Priam's son,
From Asia, and reverence him as a hero,
According to the bidding of Zeus.
The Fountain of Oedipus was so named because Oedipus washed off into it the blood of his murdered father. Hard by the spring is the grave of Asphodicus. He it was who in the fighting with the Argives killed Parthenopaeus, the son of Talaus. This is the Theban account, but according to the passage in the Thebaid which tells of the death of Parthenopaeus it was Periclymenus who killed him.
TEUMESSUS
XIX. On this highway is a place called Teumessus, where it is said that Europa was hidden by Zeus. There is also another legend, which tells of a fox called the Teumessian fox, how owing to the wrath of Dionysus the beast was reared to destroy the Thebans, and how, when about to be caught by the hound given by Artemis to Procris the daughter of Erechtheus, the fox was turned into a stone, as was likewise this hound. In Teumessus there is also a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena, which contains no image. As to her surname, we may hazard the conjecture that a division of the Telchinians who once dwelt in Cyprus came to Boeotia and established a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena.
GLISAS & MT HYPASTUS
Seven stades from Teumessus on the left are the ruins of Glisas, and before them on the right of the way a small mound shaded by cultivated trees and a wood of wild ones. Here were buried Promachus, the son of Parthenopaeus, and other Argive officers, who joined with Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus, in the expedition against Thebes. That the tomb of Aegialeus is at Pegae I have already stated in an earlier part of my history that deals with Megara.
On the straight road from Thebes to Glisas is a place surrounded by unhewn stones, called by the Thebans the Snake's Head. This snake, whatever it was, popped its head, they say, out of its hole here, and Teiresias, chancing to meet it, cut off the head with his sword. This then is how the place got its name. Above Glisas is a mountain called Supreme, and on it a temple and image of Supreme Zeus. The river, a torrent, they call the Thermodon.
Returning to Teumessus and the road to Chalcis, you come to the tomb of Chalcodon, who was killed by Amphitryon in a fight between the Thebans and the Euboeans.
HARMA & MYCALESSUS
Adjoining are the ruins of the cities Harma (Chariot) and Mycalessus. The former got its name, according to the people of Tanagra, because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared here, and not where the Thebans say it did. Both peoples agree that Mycalessus was so named because the cow lowed (emykesato) here that was guiding Cadmus and his host to Thebes. How Mycalessus was laid waste I have related in that part of my history that deals with the Athenians.
On the way to the coast of Mycalessus is a sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter. They say that each night it is shut up and opened again by Heracles, and that Heracles is one of what are called the Idaean Dactyls. Here is shown the following marvel. Before the feet of the image they place all the fruits of autumn, and these remain fresh throughout all the year.
At this place the Euripus separates Euboea from Boeotia. On the right is the sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter, and a little farther on is Aulis, said to have been named after the daughter of Ogygus. Here there is a temple of Artemis with two images of white marble; one carries torches, and the other is like to one shooting an arrow. The story is that when, in obedience to the soothsaying of Calchas, the Greeks were about to sacrifice Iphigeneia on the altar, the goddess substituted a deer to be the victim instead of her. They preserve in the temple what still survives of the plane-tree mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. The story is that the Greeks were kept at Aulis by contrary winds, and when suddenly a favouring breeze sprang up, each sacrificed to Artemis the victim he had to hand, female and male alike. From that time the rule has held good at Aulis that oil victims are permissible. There is also shown the spring, by which the plane-tree grew, and on a hill near by the bronze threshold of Agamemnon's tent.
In front of the sanctuary grow palm-trees, the fruit of which, though not wholly edible like the dates of Palestine, yet are riper than those of Ionia. There are but few inhabitants of Aulis, and these are potters. This land, and that about Mycalessus and Harma, is tilled by the people of Tanagra.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#8
Friday, August 11, 2017
LP0066 - Vice & Virtue - Herculean work ethic, from Xenophon's Memorabilia
Legendary Passages #0066 - Vice & Virtue -
Herculean work ethic, from Xenophon's Memorabilia.
Last time, we heard snippets from the life of Heracles. This time we focus on him as a youth, deciding what sort of man he shall become.
This is a dialogue between Socrates and Aristippus, with a few quotations as well. Aristippus asks if there is any difference between hardships chosen, and those imposed. Socrates claims that self-imposed hardships build character, and toil is far superior to laziness.
Quoting from Prodicus, the figure of Vice tempts Hercules with ease and delights. Then the manifestation of Virtue offers him respect and self-worth.
Next time, The Protidian Gate of Thebes.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1177
Vice & Virtue,
a Legendary Passage,
from Xenophon's Memorabilia,
translated by H. G. Dakyns.
2.1.21–34
Ar. But, Socrates, to return to your pupil educated in the royal art, which, if I mistake not, you hold to be happiness: how, may I ask, will he be better off than others who lie in evil case, in spite of themselves, simply because they suffer perforce, but in his case the hunger and the thirst, the cold shivers and the lying awake at nights, with all the changes he will ring on pain, are of his own choosing? For my part I cannot see what difference it makes, provided it is one and the same bare back which receives the stripes, whether the whipping be self-appointed or unasked for; nor indeed does it concern my body in general, provided it be my body, whether I am beleaguered by a whole armament of such evils of my own will or against my will—except only for the folly which attaches to self-appointed suffering.
Soc. What, Aristippus, does it not seem to you that, as regards such matters, there is all the difference between voluntary and involuntary suffering, in that he who starves of his own accord can eat when he chooses, and he who thirsts of his own free will can drink, and so for the rest; but he who suffers in these ways perforce cannot desist from the suffering when the humour takes him? Again, he who suffers hardship voluntarily, gaily confronts his troubles, being buoyed on hope —just as a hunter in pursuit of wild beasts, through hope of capturing his quarry, finds toil a pleasure—and these are but prizes of little worth in return for their labours; but what shall we say of their reward who toil to obtain to themselves good friends, or to subdue their enemies, or that through strength of body and soul they may administer their households well, befriend their friends, and benefit the land which gave them birth? Must we not suppose that these too will take their sorrows lightly, looking to these high ends? Must we not suppose that they too will gaily confront existence, who have to support them not only their conscious virtue, but the praise and admiration of the world? And once more, habits of indolence, along with the fleeting pleasures of the moment, are incapable, as gymnastic trainers say, of setting up a good habit of body, or of implanting in the soul any knowledge worthy of account; whereas by painstaking endeavour in the pursuit of high and noble deeds, as good men tell us, through endurance we shall in the end attain the goal. So Hesiod somewhere says:
Wickedness may a man take wholesale with ease,
smooth is the way and her dwelling-place is very nigh;
but in front of virtue the immortal gods have placed
toil and sweat, long is the path and steep
that leads to her, and rugged at the first,
but when the summit of the pass is reached,
then for all its roughness the path grows easy.
And Ephicharmus bears his testimony when he says:
The gods sell us all good things
in return for our labours.
And again in another passage he exclaims:
Set not thine heart on soft things, thou knave,
lest thou light upon the hard.
-
And that wise man Prodicus delivers himself in a like strain concerning virtue in that composition of his about Heracles, which crowds have listened to. This, as far as I can recollect it, is the substance at least of what he says:
"When Heracles was emerging from boyhood into the bloom of youth, having reached that season in which the young man, now standing upon the verge of independence, shows plainly whether he will enter upon the path of virtue or of vice, he went forth into a quiet place, and sat debating with himself which of those two paths he should pursue; and as he there sat musing, there appeared to him two women of great stature which drew nigh to him. The one was fair to look upon, frank and free by gift of nature, her limbs adorned with purity and her eyes with bashfulness; sobriety set the rhythm of her gait, and she was clad in white apparel. The other was of a different type; the fleshy softness of her limbs betrayed her nurture, while the complexion of her skin was embellished that she might appear whiter and rosier than she really was, and her figure that she might seem taller than nature made her; she stared with wide-open eyes, and the raiment wherewith she was clad served but to reveal the ripeness of her bloom. With frequent glances she surveyed her person, or looked to see if others noticed her; while ever and anon she fixed her gaze upon the shadow of herself intently.
"Now when these two had drawn near to Heracles, she who was first named advanced at an even pace towards him, but the other, in her eagerness to outstrip her, ran forward to the youth, exclaiming:
'I see you, Heracles, in doubt and difficulty what path of life to choose; make me your friend, and I will lead you to the pleasantest road and easiest. This I promise you: you shall taste all of life's sweets and escape all bitters. In the first place, you shall not trouble your brain with war or business; other topics shall engage your mind; your only speculation, what meat or drink you shall find agreeable to your palate; what delight of ear or eye; what pleasure of smell or touch; what darling lover's intercourse shall most enrapture you; how you shall pillow your limbs in softest slumber; how cull each individual pleasure without alloy of pain; and if ever the suspicion steal upon you that the stream of joys will one day dwindle, trust me I will not lead you where you shall replenish the store by toil of body and trouble of soul. No! others shall labour, but you shall reap the fruit of their labours; you shall withhold your hand from nought which shall bring you gain. For to all my followers I give authority and power to help themselves freely from every side.'
"Heracles hearing these words made answer: 'What, O lady, is the name you bear?' To which she: 'Know that my friends call be Happiness, but they that hate me have their own nicknames for me, Vice and Naughtiness.'
"But just then the other of those fair women approached and spoke:
'Heracles, I too am come to you, seeing that your parents are well known to me, and in your nurture I have gauged your nature; wherefore I entertain good hope that if you choose the path which leads to me, you shall greatly bestir yourself to be the doer of many a doughty deed of noble emprise; and that I too shall be held in even higher honour for your sake, lit with the lustre shed by valorous deeds. I will not cheat you with preludings of pleasure, but I will relate to you the things that are according to the ordinances of God in very truth. Know then that among things that are lovely and of good report, not one have the gods bestowed upon mortal men apart from toil and pains. Would you obtain the favour of the gods, then must you pay these same gods service; would you be loved by your friends, you must benefit these friends; do you desire to be honoured by the state, you must give the state your aid; do you claim admiration for your virtue from all Hellas, you must strive to do some good to Hellas; do you wish earth to yield her fruits to you abundantly, to earth must you pay your court; do you seek to amass riches from your flocks and herds, on them must you bestow your labour; or is it your ambition to be potent as a warrior, able to save your friends and to subdue your foes, then must you learn the arts of war from those who have the knowledge, and practise their application in the field when learned; or would you e'en be powerful of limb and body, then must you habituate limbs and body to obey the mind, and exercise yourself with toil and sweat.'
"At this point, (as Prodicus relates) Vice broke in exclaiming: 'See you, Heracles, how hard and long the road is by which yonder woman would escort you to her festal joys. But I will guide you by a short and easy road to happiness.'
"Then spoke Virtue: 'Nay, wretched one, what good thing hast thou? or what sweet thing art thou acquainted with—that wilt stir neither hand nor foot to gain it? Thou, that mayest not even await the desire of pleasure, but, or ever that desire springs up, art already satiated; eating before thou hungerest, and drinking before thou thirsteth; who to eke out an appetite must invent an army of cooks and confectioners; and to whet thy thirst must lay down costliest wines, and run up and down in search of ice in summer-time; to help thy slumbers soft coverlets suffice not, but couches and feather-beds must be prepared thee and rockers to rock thee to rest; since desire for sleep in thy case springs not from toil but from vacuity and nothing in the world to do. Even the natural appetite of love thou forcest prematurely by every means thou mayest devise, confounding the sexes in thy service. Thus thou educatest thy friends: with insult in the night season and drowse of slumber during the precious hours of the day. Immortal, thou art cast forth from the company of gods, and by good men art dishonoured: that sweetest sound of all, the voice of praise, has never thrilled thine ears; and the fairest of all fair visions is hidden from thine eyes that have never beheld one bounteous deed wrought by thine own hand. If thou openest thy lips in speech, who will believe thy word? If thou hast need of aught, none shall satisfy thee. What sane man will venture to join thy rablle rout? Ill indeed are thy revellers to look upon, young men impotent of body, and old men witless in mind: in the heyday of life they batten in sleek idleness, and wearily do they drag through an age of wrinkled wretchedness: and why? they blush with shame at the thought of deeds done in the past, and groan for weariness at what is left to do. During their youth they ran riot through their sweet things, and laid up for themselves large store of bitterness against the time of eld. But my companionship is with the gods; and with the good among men my conversation; no bounteous deed, divine or human, is wrought without my aid. Therefore am I honoured in Heaven pre-eminently, and upon earth among men whose right it is to honour me; as a beloved fellow-worker of all craftsmen; a faithful guardian of house and lands, whom the owners bless; a kindly helpmeet of servants; a brave assistant in the labours of peace; an unflinching ally in the deeds of war; a sharer in all friendships indispensable. To my friends is given an enjoyment of meats and drinks, which is sweet in itself and devoid of trouble, in that they can endure until desire ripens, and sleep more delicious visits them than those who toil not. Yet they are not pained to part with it; nor for the sake of slumber do they let slip the performance of their duties. Among my followers the youth delights in the praises of his elders, and the old man glories in the honour of the young; with joy they call to memory their deeds of old, and in to-day's well-doing are well pleased. For my sake they are dear in the sight of God, beloved of their friends and honoured by the country of their birth. When the appointed goal is reached they lie not down in oblivion with dishonour, but bloom afresh—their praise resounded on the lips of men for ever. Toils like these, O son of noble parents, Heracles, it is yours to meet with, and having endured, to enter into the heritage assured you of transcendant happiness.'"
This, Aristippus, in rough sketch is the theme which Prodicus pursues in his "Education of Heracles by Virtue," only he decked out his sentiments, I admit, in far more magnificent phrases than I have ventured on. Were it not well, Aristippus, to lay to heart these sayings, and to strive to bethink you somewhat of that which touches the future of our life?
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1177
Herculean work ethic, from Xenophon's Memorabilia.
Last time, we heard snippets from the life of Heracles. This time we focus on him as a youth, deciding what sort of man he shall become.
This is a dialogue between Socrates and Aristippus, with a few quotations as well. Aristippus asks if there is any difference between hardships chosen, and those imposed. Socrates claims that self-imposed hardships build character, and toil is far superior to laziness.
Quoting from Prodicus, the figure of Vice tempts Hercules with ease and delights. Then the manifestation of Virtue offers him respect and self-worth.
Next time, The Protidian Gate of Thebes.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1177
Vice & Virtue,
a Legendary Passage,
from Xenophon's Memorabilia,
translated by H. G. Dakyns.
2.1.21–34
Ar. But, Socrates, to return to your pupil educated in the royal art, which, if I mistake not, you hold to be happiness: how, may I ask, will he be better off than others who lie in evil case, in spite of themselves, simply because they suffer perforce, but in his case the hunger and the thirst, the cold shivers and the lying awake at nights, with all the changes he will ring on pain, are of his own choosing? For my part I cannot see what difference it makes, provided it is one and the same bare back which receives the stripes, whether the whipping be self-appointed or unasked for; nor indeed does it concern my body in general, provided it be my body, whether I am beleaguered by a whole armament of such evils of my own will or against my will—except only for the folly which attaches to self-appointed suffering.
Soc. What, Aristippus, does it not seem to you that, as regards such matters, there is all the difference between voluntary and involuntary suffering, in that he who starves of his own accord can eat when he chooses, and he who thirsts of his own free will can drink, and so for the rest; but he who suffers in these ways perforce cannot desist from the suffering when the humour takes him? Again, he who suffers hardship voluntarily, gaily confronts his troubles, being buoyed on hope —just as a hunter in pursuit of wild beasts, through hope of capturing his quarry, finds toil a pleasure—and these are but prizes of little worth in return for their labours; but what shall we say of their reward who toil to obtain to themselves good friends, or to subdue their enemies, or that through strength of body and soul they may administer their households well, befriend their friends, and benefit the land which gave them birth? Must we not suppose that these too will take their sorrows lightly, looking to these high ends? Must we not suppose that they too will gaily confront existence, who have to support them not only their conscious virtue, but the praise and admiration of the world? And once more, habits of indolence, along with the fleeting pleasures of the moment, are incapable, as gymnastic trainers say, of setting up a good habit of body, or of implanting in the soul any knowledge worthy of account; whereas by painstaking endeavour in the pursuit of high and noble deeds, as good men tell us, through endurance we shall in the end attain the goal. So Hesiod somewhere says:
Wickedness may a man take wholesale with ease,
smooth is the way and her dwelling-place is very nigh;
but in front of virtue the immortal gods have placed
toil and sweat, long is the path and steep
that leads to her, and rugged at the first,
but when the summit of the pass is reached,
then for all its roughness the path grows easy.
And Ephicharmus bears his testimony when he says:
The gods sell us all good things
in return for our labours.
And again in another passage he exclaims:
Set not thine heart on soft things, thou knave,
lest thou light upon the hard.
-
And that wise man Prodicus delivers himself in a like strain concerning virtue in that composition of his about Heracles, which crowds have listened to. This, as far as I can recollect it, is the substance at least of what he says:
"When Heracles was emerging from boyhood into the bloom of youth, having reached that season in which the young man, now standing upon the verge of independence, shows plainly whether he will enter upon the path of virtue or of vice, he went forth into a quiet place, and sat debating with himself which of those two paths he should pursue; and as he there sat musing, there appeared to him two women of great stature which drew nigh to him. The one was fair to look upon, frank and free by gift of nature, her limbs adorned with purity and her eyes with bashfulness; sobriety set the rhythm of her gait, and she was clad in white apparel. The other was of a different type; the fleshy softness of her limbs betrayed her nurture, while the complexion of her skin was embellished that she might appear whiter and rosier than she really was, and her figure that she might seem taller than nature made her; she stared with wide-open eyes, and the raiment wherewith she was clad served but to reveal the ripeness of her bloom. With frequent glances she surveyed her person, or looked to see if others noticed her; while ever and anon she fixed her gaze upon the shadow of herself intently.
"Now when these two had drawn near to Heracles, she who was first named advanced at an even pace towards him, but the other, in her eagerness to outstrip her, ran forward to the youth, exclaiming:
'I see you, Heracles, in doubt and difficulty what path of life to choose; make me your friend, and I will lead you to the pleasantest road and easiest. This I promise you: you shall taste all of life's sweets and escape all bitters. In the first place, you shall not trouble your brain with war or business; other topics shall engage your mind; your only speculation, what meat or drink you shall find agreeable to your palate; what delight of ear or eye; what pleasure of smell or touch; what darling lover's intercourse shall most enrapture you; how you shall pillow your limbs in softest slumber; how cull each individual pleasure without alloy of pain; and if ever the suspicion steal upon you that the stream of joys will one day dwindle, trust me I will not lead you where you shall replenish the store by toil of body and trouble of soul. No! others shall labour, but you shall reap the fruit of their labours; you shall withhold your hand from nought which shall bring you gain. For to all my followers I give authority and power to help themselves freely from every side.'
"Heracles hearing these words made answer: 'What, O lady, is the name you bear?' To which she: 'Know that my friends call be Happiness, but they that hate me have their own nicknames for me, Vice and Naughtiness.'
"But just then the other of those fair women approached and spoke:
'Heracles, I too am come to you, seeing that your parents are well known to me, and in your nurture I have gauged your nature; wherefore I entertain good hope that if you choose the path which leads to me, you shall greatly bestir yourself to be the doer of many a doughty deed of noble emprise; and that I too shall be held in even higher honour for your sake, lit with the lustre shed by valorous deeds. I will not cheat you with preludings of pleasure, but I will relate to you the things that are according to the ordinances of God in very truth. Know then that among things that are lovely and of good report, not one have the gods bestowed upon mortal men apart from toil and pains. Would you obtain the favour of the gods, then must you pay these same gods service; would you be loved by your friends, you must benefit these friends; do you desire to be honoured by the state, you must give the state your aid; do you claim admiration for your virtue from all Hellas, you must strive to do some good to Hellas; do you wish earth to yield her fruits to you abundantly, to earth must you pay your court; do you seek to amass riches from your flocks and herds, on them must you bestow your labour; or is it your ambition to be potent as a warrior, able to save your friends and to subdue your foes, then must you learn the arts of war from those who have the knowledge, and practise their application in the field when learned; or would you e'en be powerful of limb and body, then must you habituate limbs and body to obey the mind, and exercise yourself with toil and sweat.'
"At this point, (as Prodicus relates) Vice broke in exclaiming: 'See you, Heracles, how hard and long the road is by which yonder woman would escort you to her festal joys. But I will guide you by a short and easy road to happiness.'
"Then spoke Virtue: 'Nay, wretched one, what good thing hast thou? or what sweet thing art thou acquainted with—that wilt stir neither hand nor foot to gain it? Thou, that mayest not even await the desire of pleasure, but, or ever that desire springs up, art already satiated; eating before thou hungerest, and drinking before thou thirsteth; who to eke out an appetite must invent an army of cooks and confectioners; and to whet thy thirst must lay down costliest wines, and run up and down in search of ice in summer-time; to help thy slumbers soft coverlets suffice not, but couches and feather-beds must be prepared thee and rockers to rock thee to rest; since desire for sleep in thy case springs not from toil but from vacuity and nothing in the world to do. Even the natural appetite of love thou forcest prematurely by every means thou mayest devise, confounding the sexes in thy service. Thus thou educatest thy friends: with insult in the night season and drowse of slumber during the precious hours of the day. Immortal, thou art cast forth from the company of gods, and by good men art dishonoured: that sweetest sound of all, the voice of praise, has never thrilled thine ears; and the fairest of all fair visions is hidden from thine eyes that have never beheld one bounteous deed wrought by thine own hand. If thou openest thy lips in speech, who will believe thy word? If thou hast need of aught, none shall satisfy thee. What sane man will venture to join thy rablle rout? Ill indeed are thy revellers to look upon, young men impotent of body, and old men witless in mind: in the heyday of life they batten in sleek idleness, and wearily do they drag through an age of wrinkled wretchedness: and why? they blush with shame at the thought of deeds done in the past, and groan for weariness at what is left to do. During their youth they ran riot through their sweet things, and laid up for themselves large store of bitterness against the time of eld. But my companionship is with the gods; and with the good among men my conversation; no bounteous deed, divine or human, is wrought without my aid. Therefore am I honoured in Heaven pre-eminently, and upon earth among men whose right it is to honour me; as a beloved fellow-worker of all craftsmen; a faithful guardian of house and lands, whom the owners bless; a kindly helpmeet of servants; a brave assistant in the labours of peace; an unflinching ally in the deeds of war; a sharer in all friendships indispensable. To my friends is given an enjoyment of meats and drinks, which is sweet in itself and devoid of trouble, in that they can endure until desire ripens, and sleep more delicious visits them than those who toil not. Yet they are not pained to part with it; nor for the sake of slumber do they let slip the performance of their duties. Among my followers the youth delights in the praises of his elders, and the old man glories in the honour of the young; with joy they call to memory their deeds of old, and in to-day's well-doing are well pleased. For my sake they are dear in the sight of God, beloved of their friends and honoured by the country of their birth. When the appointed goal is reached they lie not down in oblivion with dishonour, but bloom afresh—their praise resounded on the lips of men for ever. Toils like these, O son of noble parents, Heracles, it is yours to meet with, and having endured, to enter into the heritage assured you of transcendant happiness.'"
This, Aristippus, in rough sketch is the theme which Prodicus pursues in his "Education of Heracles by Virtue," only he decked out his sentiments, I admit, in far more magnificent phrases than I have ventured on. Were it not well, Aristippus, to lay to heart these sayings, and to strive to bethink you somewhat of that which touches the future of our life?
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1177
Friday, July 28, 2017
LP0065 - The Chest of Cypselus - Mythological carvings, from Pausanias' Description of Greece
Legendary Passages #0065 - The Chest of Cypselus -
Mythological carvings, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
Last time was Heracles 7th Labor.
This time, more scenes of him, plus the Argonauts, and the Trojan War.
Next time, Heracles chooses between Vice & Virtue.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias5B.html#4
The Chest of Cypselus,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[5.17.5] - [5.19.10]
THE CHEST OF CYPSELUS
There is also a chest made of cedar, with figures on it, some of ivory, some of gold, others carved out of the cedar-wood itself. It was in this chest that Cypselus, the tyrant of Corinth, was hidden by his mother when the Bacchidae were anxious to discover him after his birth. In gratitude for the saving of Cypselus, his descendants, Cypselids as they are called, dedicated the chest at Olympia. The Corinthians of that age called chests kypselai, and from this word, they say, the child received his name of Cypselus.
On most of the figures on the chest there are inscriptions, written in the ancient characters. In some cases the letters read straight on, but in others the form of the writing is what the Greeks call bustrophedon. It is like this: at the end of the line the second line turns back, as runners do when running the double race. Moreover the inscriptions on the chest are written in winding characters difficult to decipher. Beginning our survey at the bottom we see in the first space of the chest the following scenes.
-
Oenomaus is chasing Pelops, who is holding Hippodameia. Each of them has two horses, but those of Pelops have wings. Next is wrought the house of Amphiaraus, and baby Amphilochus is being carried by some old woman or other. In front of the house stands Eriphyle with the necklace, and by her are her daughters Eurydice and Demonassa, and the boy Alcmaeon naked.
Asius in his poem makes out Alcmena also to be a daughter of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. Baton is driving the chariot of Amphiaraus, holding the reins in one hand and a spear in the other. Amphiaraus already has one foot on the chariot and his sword drawn; he is turned towards Eriphyle in such a transport of anger that he can scarcely refrain from striking her.
After the house of Amphiaraus come the games at the funeral of Pelias, with the spectators looking at the competitors. Heracles is seated on a throne, and behind him is a woman. There is no inscription saying who the woman is, but she is playing on a Phrygian, not a Greek, flute. Driving chariots drawn by pairs of horses are Pisus, son of Perieres, and Asterion, son of Cometas (Asterion is said to have been one of the Argonauts), Polydeuces, Admetus and Euphemus. The poets declare that
the last was a son of Poseidon and a companion of Jason on his voyage to Colchis. He it is who is winning the chariot-race.
Those who have boldly ventured to box are Admetus and Mopsus, the son of Ampyx. Between them stands a man playing the flute, as in our day they are accustomed to play the flute when the competitors in the pentathlum are jumping. The wrestling-bout between Jason and Peleus is an even one. Eurybotas is shown throwing the quoit; he must be some famous quoit-thrower. Those engaged in a running-race are Melanion, Neotheus and Phalareus; the fourth runner is Argeius, and the fifth is Iphiclus. Iphiclus is the winner, and Acastus is holding out the crown to him. He is probably the father of the Protesilaus who joined in the war against Troy.
Tripods too are set here, prizes of course for the winners; and there are the daughters of Pelias, though the only one with her name inscribed is Alcestis. Iolaus, who voluntarily helped Heracles in his labours, is shown as a victor in the chariot-race. At this point the funeral games of Pelias come to an end, and Heracles, with Athena standing beside him, is shooting at the hydra, the beast in the river Amymone. Heracles can be easily recognized by his exploit and his attitude, so his name is not inscribed by him. There is also Phineus the Thracian, and the sons of Boreas are chasing the harpies away from him.
-
XVIII. Now I come to the second space on the chest, and in going round it I had better begin from the left. There is a figure of a woman holding on her right arm a white child asleep, and on her left she has a black child like one who is asleep. Each has his feet turned different ways. The inscriptions declare, as one could infer without inscriptions, that the figures are Death and Sleep, with Night the nurse of both.
A beautiful woman is punishing an ugly one, choking her with one hand and with the other striking her with a staff. It is Justice who thus treats Injustice. Two other women are pounding in mortars with pestles; they are supposed to be wise in medicine-lore, though there is no inscription to them. Who the man is who is followed by a woman is made plain by the hexameter verses, which run thus:–
Idas brings back, not against her will,
Fair-ankled Marpessa, daughter of Evenus,
whom Apollo carried off.
A man wearing a tunic is holding in his right hand a cup, and in his left a necklace; Alcmena is taking hold of them. This scene represents the Greek story how Zeus in the likeness of Amphitryon had intercourse with Alcmena.
Menelaus, wearing a breastplate and carrying a sword, is advancing to kill Helen, so it is plain that Troy has been captured.
Medeia is seated upon a throne, while Jason stands on her right and Aphrodite on her left. On them is an inscription:–
Jason weds Medeia, as Aphrodite bids.
There are also figures of Muses singing, with Apollo leading the song; these too have an inscription:–
This is Leto's son, prince Apollo, far-shooting;
Around him are the Muses, a graceful choir, whom he is leading.
Atlas too is supporting, just as the story has it, heaven and earth upon his shoulders; he is also carrying the apples of the Hesperides. A man holding a sword is coming towards Atlas. This everybody can see is Heracles, though he is not mentioned specially in the inscription, which reads:–
Here is Atlas holding heaven, but he will let go the apples.
There is also Ares clad in armour and leading Aphrodite. The inscription by him is “Enyalius.” There is also a figure of Thetis as a maid; Peleus is taking hold of her, and from the hand of Thetis a snake is darting at Peleus. The sisters of Medusa, with wings, are chasing Perseus, who is flying. Only Perseus has his name inscribed on him.
-
On the third space of the chest are military scenes. The greater number of the figures are on foot, though there are some knights in two-horse chariots. About the soldiers one may infer that they are advancing to battle, but that they will recognize and greet each other. Two different accounts of them are given by the guides. Some have said that they are the Aetolians with Oxylus and the ancient Eleans, and that they are meeting in remembrance of their original descent and as a sign of their mutual good will. Others declare that the soldiers are meeting in battle, and that they are Pylians and Arcadians about to fight by the city Pheia and the river Iardanus.
But it cannot for a moment be admitted that the ancestor of Cypselus, a Corinthian, having the chest made as a possession for himself, of his own accord passed over all Corinthian story, and had carved on the chest foreign events which were not famous. The following interpretation suggested itself to me. Cypselus and his ancestors came originally from Gonussa above Sicyon, and one of their ancestors was Melas, the son of Antasus.
But, as I have already related in my account of Corinth, Aletes refused to admit as settlers Melas and the host with him, being nervous about an oracle which had been given him from Delphi; but at last Melas, using every art of winning favours, and returning with entreaties every time he was driven away, persuaded Aletes however reluctantly to receive them. One might infer that this army is represented by the figures wrought upon the chest.
-
XIX. In the fourth space on the chest as you go round from the left is Boreas, who has carried off Oreithyia; instead of feet he has serpents' tails. Then comes the combat between Heracles and Geryones, who is represented as three men joined to one another. There is Theseus holding a lyre, and by his side is Ariadne gripping a crown. Achilles and Memnon are fighting; their mothers stand by their side.
There is also Melanion by whom is Atalanta holding a young deer. Ajax is fighting a duel with Hector, according to the challenge, and between the pair stands Strife in the form of a most repulsive woman. Another figure of Strife is in the sanctuary of Ephesian Artemis; Calliphon of Samos included it in his picture of the battle at the ships of the Greeks. On the chest are also the Dioscuri, one of them a beardless youth, and between them is Helen.
Aethra, the daughter of Pittheus, lies thrown to the ground under the feet at Helen. She is clothed in black, and the inscription upon the group is an hexameter line with the addition of a single word:–
The sons of Tyndareus are carrying off Helen,
and are dragging Aethra from Athens.
Such is the way this line is constructed. Iphidamas, the son of Antenor, is lying, and Coon is fighting for him against Agamemnon. On the shield of Agamemnon is Fear, whose head is a lion's. The inscription above the corpse of Iphidamas runs:
Iphidamas, and this is Coon fighting for him.
The inscription on the shield of Agamemnon runs:
This is the Fear of mortals: he who holds him is Agamemnon.
There is also Hermes bringing to Alexander the son of Priam the goddesses of whose beauty he is to judge, the inscription on them being:
Here is Hermes,
who is showing to Alexander,
that he may arbitrate
Concerning their beauty,
Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.
On what account Artemis has wings on her shoulders I do not know; in her right hand she grips a leopard, in her left a lion. Ajax too is represented dragging Cassandra from the image of Athena, and by him is also an inscription:
Ajax of Locri is dragging Cassandra from Athena.
Polyneices, the son of Oedipus, has fallen on his knee, and Eteocles, the other son of Oedipus, is rushing on him. Behind Polyneices stands a woman with teeth as cruel as those of a beast, and her fingernails are bent like talons. An inscription by her calls her Doom, implying that Polyneices has been carried off by fate, and that Eteocles fully deserved his end.
Dionysus is lying down in a cave, a bearded figure holding a golden cup, and clad in a tunic reaching to the feet. Around him are vines, apple-trees and pomegranate-trees.
-
The highest space – the spaces are five in number – shows no inscription, so that we can only conjecture what the reliefs mean. Well, there is a grotto and in it a woman sleeping with a man upon a couch. I was of opinion that they were Odysseus and Circe, basing my view upon the number of the handmaidens in front of the grotto and upon what they are doing. For the women are four, and they are engaged on the tasks which Homer mentions in his poetry. There is a Centaur with only two of his legs those of a horse; his forelegs are human.
Next come two-horse chariots with women standing in them. The horses have golden wings, and a man is giving armour to one of the women. I conjecture that this scene refers to the death of Patroclus; the women in the chariots, I take it, are Nereids, and Thetis is receiving the armour from Hephaestus. And moreover, he who is giving the armour is not strong upon his feet, and a slave follows him behind, holding a pair of fire-tongs.
An account also is given of the Centaur, that he is Chiron, freed by this time from human affairs and held worthy to share the home of the gods, who has come to assuage the grief of Achilles. Two maidens in a mule-cart, one holding the reins and the other wearing a veil upon her head, are thought to be Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, and her handmaiden, driving to the washing-pits. The man shooting at Centaurs, some of which he has killed, is plainly Heracles, and the exploit is one of his.
As to the maker of the chest, I found it impossible to form any conjecture. But the inscriptions upon it, though possibly composed by some other poet, are, as I was on the whole inclined to hold, the work of Eumelus of Corinth. My main reason for this view is the processional hymn he wrote for Delos.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias5B.html#4
Mythological carvings, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
Last time was Heracles 7th Labor.
This time, more scenes of him, plus the Argonauts, and the Trojan War.
Next time, Heracles chooses between Vice & Virtue.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias5B.html#4
The Chest of Cypselus,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[5.17.5] - [5.19.10]
THE CHEST OF CYPSELUS
There is also a chest made of cedar, with figures on it, some of ivory, some of gold, others carved out of the cedar-wood itself. It was in this chest that Cypselus, the tyrant of Corinth, was hidden by his mother when the Bacchidae were anxious to discover him after his birth. In gratitude for the saving of Cypselus, his descendants, Cypselids as they are called, dedicated the chest at Olympia. The Corinthians of that age called chests kypselai, and from this word, they say, the child received his name of Cypselus.
On most of the figures on the chest there are inscriptions, written in the ancient characters. In some cases the letters read straight on, but in others the form of the writing is what the Greeks call bustrophedon. It is like this: at the end of the line the second line turns back, as runners do when running the double race. Moreover the inscriptions on the chest are written in winding characters difficult to decipher. Beginning our survey at the bottom we see in the first space of the chest the following scenes.
-
Oenomaus is chasing Pelops, who is holding Hippodameia. Each of them has two horses, but those of Pelops have wings. Next is wrought the house of Amphiaraus, and baby Amphilochus is being carried by some old woman or other. In front of the house stands Eriphyle with the necklace, and by her are her daughters Eurydice and Demonassa, and the boy Alcmaeon naked.
Asius in his poem makes out Alcmena also to be a daughter of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. Baton is driving the chariot of Amphiaraus, holding the reins in one hand and a spear in the other. Amphiaraus already has one foot on the chariot and his sword drawn; he is turned towards Eriphyle in such a transport of anger that he can scarcely refrain from striking her.
After the house of Amphiaraus come the games at the funeral of Pelias, with the spectators looking at the competitors. Heracles is seated on a throne, and behind him is a woman. There is no inscription saying who the woman is, but she is playing on a Phrygian, not a Greek, flute. Driving chariots drawn by pairs of horses are Pisus, son of Perieres, and Asterion, son of Cometas (Asterion is said to have been one of the Argonauts), Polydeuces, Admetus and Euphemus. The poets declare that
the last was a son of Poseidon and a companion of Jason on his voyage to Colchis. He it is who is winning the chariot-race.
Those who have boldly ventured to box are Admetus and Mopsus, the son of Ampyx. Between them stands a man playing the flute, as in our day they are accustomed to play the flute when the competitors in the pentathlum are jumping. The wrestling-bout between Jason and Peleus is an even one. Eurybotas is shown throwing the quoit; he must be some famous quoit-thrower. Those engaged in a running-race are Melanion, Neotheus and Phalareus; the fourth runner is Argeius, and the fifth is Iphiclus. Iphiclus is the winner, and Acastus is holding out the crown to him. He is probably the father of the Protesilaus who joined in the war against Troy.
Tripods too are set here, prizes of course for the winners; and there are the daughters of Pelias, though the only one with her name inscribed is Alcestis. Iolaus, who voluntarily helped Heracles in his labours, is shown as a victor in the chariot-race. At this point the funeral games of Pelias come to an end, and Heracles, with Athena standing beside him, is shooting at the hydra, the beast in the river Amymone. Heracles can be easily recognized by his exploit and his attitude, so his name is not inscribed by him. There is also Phineus the Thracian, and the sons of Boreas are chasing the harpies away from him.
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XVIII. Now I come to the second space on the chest, and in going round it I had better begin from the left. There is a figure of a woman holding on her right arm a white child asleep, and on her left she has a black child like one who is asleep. Each has his feet turned different ways. The inscriptions declare, as one could infer without inscriptions, that the figures are Death and Sleep, with Night the nurse of both.
A beautiful woman is punishing an ugly one, choking her with one hand and with the other striking her with a staff. It is Justice who thus treats Injustice. Two other women are pounding in mortars with pestles; they are supposed to be wise in medicine-lore, though there is no inscription to them. Who the man is who is followed by a woman is made plain by the hexameter verses, which run thus:–
Idas brings back, not against her will,
Fair-ankled Marpessa, daughter of Evenus,
whom Apollo carried off.
A man wearing a tunic is holding in his right hand a cup, and in his left a necklace; Alcmena is taking hold of them. This scene represents the Greek story how Zeus in the likeness of Amphitryon had intercourse with Alcmena.
Menelaus, wearing a breastplate and carrying a sword, is advancing to kill Helen, so it is plain that Troy has been captured.
Medeia is seated upon a throne, while Jason stands on her right and Aphrodite on her left. On them is an inscription:–
Jason weds Medeia, as Aphrodite bids.
There are also figures of Muses singing, with Apollo leading the song; these too have an inscription:–
This is Leto's son, prince Apollo, far-shooting;
Around him are the Muses, a graceful choir, whom he is leading.
Atlas too is supporting, just as the story has it, heaven and earth upon his shoulders; he is also carrying the apples of the Hesperides. A man holding a sword is coming towards Atlas. This everybody can see is Heracles, though he is not mentioned specially in the inscription, which reads:–
Here is Atlas holding heaven, but he will let go the apples.
There is also Ares clad in armour and leading Aphrodite. The inscription by him is “Enyalius.” There is also a figure of Thetis as a maid; Peleus is taking hold of her, and from the hand of Thetis a snake is darting at Peleus. The sisters of Medusa, with wings, are chasing Perseus, who is flying. Only Perseus has his name inscribed on him.
-
On the third space of the chest are military scenes. The greater number of the figures are on foot, though there are some knights in two-horse chariots. About the soldiers one may infer that they are advancing to battle, but that they will recognize and greet each other. Two different accounts of them are given by the guides. Some have said that they are the Aetolians with Oxylus and the ancient Eleans, and that they are meeting in remembrance of their original descent and as a sign of their mutual good will. Others declare that the soldiers are meeting in battle, and that they are Pylians and Arcadians about to fight by the city Pheia and the river Iardanus.
But it cannot for a moment be admitted that the ancestor of Cypselus, a Corinthian, having the chest made as a possession for himself, of his own accord passed over all Corinthian story, and had carved on the chest foreign events which were not famous. The following interpretation suggested itself to me. Cypselus and his ancestors came originally from Gonussa above Sicyon, and one of their ancestors was Melas, the son of Antasus.
But, as I have already related in my account of Corinth, Aletes refused to admit as settlers Melas and the host with him, being nervous about an oracle which had been given him from Delphi; but at last Melas, using every art of winning favours, and returning with entreaties every time he was driven away, persuaded Aletes however reluctantly to receive them. One might infer that this army is represented by the figures wrought upon the chest.
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XIX. In the fourth space on the chest as you go round from the left is Boreas, who has carried off Oreithyia; instead of feet he has serpents' tails. Then comes the combat between Heracles and Geryones, who is represented as three men joined to one another. There is Theseus holding a lyre, and by his side is Ariadne gripping a crown. Achilles and Memnon are fighting; their mothers stand by their side.
There is also Melanion by whom is Atalanta holding a young deer. Ajax is fighting a duel with Hector, according to the challenge, and between the pair stands Strife in the form of a most repulsive woman. Another figure of Strife is in the sanctuary of Ephesian Artemis; Calliphon of Samos included it in his picture of the battle at the ships of the Greeks. On the chest are also the Dioscuri, one of them a beardless youth, and between them is Helen.
Aethra, the daughter of Pittheus, lies thrown to the ground under the feet at Helen. She is clothed in black, and the inscription upon the group is an hexameter line with the addition of a single word:–
The sons of Tyndareus are carrying off Helen,
and are dragging Aethra from Athens.
Such is the way this line is constructed. Iphidamas, the son of Antenor, is lying, and Coon is fighting for him against Agamemnon. On the shield of Agamemnon is Fear, whose head is a lion's. The inscription above the corpse of Iphidamas runs:
Iphidamas, and this is Coon fighting for him.
The inscription on the shield of Agamemnon runs:
This is the Fear of mortals: he who holds him is Agamemnon.
There is also Hermes bringing to Alexander the son of Priam the goddesses of whose beauty he is to judge, the inscription on them being:
Here is Hermes,
who is showing to Alexander,
that he may arbitrate
Concerning their beauty,
Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.
On what account Artemis has wings on her shoulders I do not know; in her right hand she grips a leopard, in her left a lion. Ajax too is represented dragging Cassandra from the image of Athena, and by him is also an inscription:
Ajax of Locri is dragging Cassandra from Athena.
Polyneices, the son of Oedipus, has fallen on his knee, and Eteocles, the other son of Oedipus, is rushing on him. Behind Polyneices stands a woman with teeth as cruel as those of a beast, and her fingernails are bent like talons. An inscription by her calls her Doom, implying that Polyneices has been carried off by fate, and that Eteocles fully deserved his end.
Dionysus is lying down in a cave, a bearded figure holding a golden cup, and clad in a tunic reaching to the feet. Around him are vines, apple-trees and pomegranate-trees.
-
The highest space – the spaces are five in number – shows no inscription, so that we can only conjecture what the reliefs mean. Well, there is a grotto and in it a woman sleeping with a man upon a couch. I was of opinion that they were Odysseus and Circe, basing my view upon the number of the handmaidens in front of the grotto and upon what they are doing. For the women are four, and they are engaged on the tasks which Homer mentions in his poetry. There is a Centaur with only two of his legs those of a horse; his forelegs are human.
Next come two-horse chariots with women standing in them. The horses have golden wings, and a man is giving armour to one of the women. I conjecture that this scene refers to the death of Patroclus; the women in the chariots, I take it, are Nereids, and Thetis is receiving the armour from Hephaestus. And moreover, he who is giving the armour is not strong upon his feet, and a slave follows him behind, holding a pair of fire-tongs.
An account also is given of the Centaur, that he is Chiron, freed by this time from human affairs and held worthy to share the home of the gods, who has come to assuage the grief of Achilles. Two maidens in a mule-cart, one holding the reins and the other wearing a veil upon her head, are thought to be Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, and her handmaiden, driving to the washing-pits. The man shooting at Centaurs, some of which he has killed, is plainly Heracles, and the exploit is one of his.
As to the maker of the chest, I found it impossible to form any conjecture. But the inscriptions upon it, though possibly composed by some other poet, are, as I was on the whole inclined to hold, the work of Eumelus of Corinth. My main reason for this view is the processional hymn he wrote for Delos.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias5B.html#4
Sunday, July 9, 2017
LP0064 - The Cretan Bull - Daedalus, Cephalus, & Megacles, from Tzetzes' Chiliades
Legendary Passages #0064 - The Cretan Bull -
Daedalus, Cephalus, & Megacles, from Tzetzes' Chiliades.
Last time we covered the stories of sanctuaries in Thebes. This time we hear several tales concerning the Bull of Minos, the Dog of Cephalus, and the Olympics.
The Bull of Crete ties into several myths. Not only was retrieving it the seventh labor of Heracles, but it also became the Marathon bull, and was the sire of the Minotaur.
We also get more background on Daedalus, exiled from Athens for jealously slaying the son of his sister Perdix. Minos gave sanctuary to Daedalus, and with the slave Naucrate he had a son named Icarus.
Daedalus helped Queen Pasiphae commit adultery with either a bull, or with General Taurus, causing the Minotaur to be born. For this, Daedalus and his son were imprisoned, and eventually escaped either by ship, or by flying. Icarus died, and was buried by Heracles on the island of Icaria.
Daedalus fled to Sicily, but soon Minos followed him there. As King Minos was taking a bath, the daughters of Cocalus added boiling water, and Minos died.
The second story concerns Cephalus and his wife Procris. After a misunderstanding, she fled to Crete, and as a reward for helping Minos, she received a magic spear and a dog that could catch anything. Procris gave these to her husband Cephalus, who sent the dog after the uncatchable Teumessian Fox, so the gods turned both animals into stone. Cephalus took the magic spear hunting with him, and when Procris went to fetch him, he thought she was a wild animal. The magic of the spear was that it never missed.
The last tale concerns Megacles, son of the noblewoman Coesyra, who won third place in the Olympics for horse-racing. The Olympics were founded by Heracles in Olympia, just next to the Augean Stables in Elis, and took place every fifty months.
Next time, more stories of Heracles carved onto The Chest of Cypselus.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
The Cretan Bull,
a Legendary Passage,
from Tzetzes' Chiliades,
translated by Ana Untila.
1.19 - 1.21
1.19 CONCERNING THE BULL OF MINOS (STORY 19)
Minos was a son of Asterion Zeus.
Since the beginning of the world kings were called Zeus as well.
Just like the star of Zeus, which came quickly when he was born
To foretell he would have a destiny of a lion.
It appears only in front of kings who wear a crown.
After the death of the king Asterion,
Minos was not permitted to rule Crete after him
Because, they say, the kingdom must be given by the gods.
A strange sign from the sea would be revealed to him.
Minos promised that, whatever it was,
it would be sacrificed to Poseidon.
Then a beautiful bull appeared from the sea
And he was given immediately the kingdom of the Cretans.
He sacrificed to Poseidon another bull
That he asked to be brought from his herd.
That bull was said to have laid with his wife Pasiphae
Even though she was involved in intercourse
with Daedalus artificial inventions,
She gave birth to Minotaur, a beast half man and half bull.
-
Daedalus was a son of Eupalamus and Alcippe.
He was a craftsman and sculptor in Attica.
He threw from Attica’s citadel
The son of his sister Perdix, whose name was Attalus.
He was being a disciple alongside his uncle Daedalus.
He was the first to make an artificial serpent’s jaw
Which could catch a small piece of wood.
When his uncle saw that,
Being envious of the child’s genius, he killed him.
He went to Minos. There, with the slave Naucrate
He had a son, Icarus. Minos detained them
For having helped his adulterer wife.
He was about to kill them, that’s why he imprisoned them.
They escaped from the prison
Having put wings upon them, they flew through air.
Icarus fell into the sea when he left.
The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was named after him.
Daedalus was saved in Caminus of Sicily.
In Sicily came Minos looking for him.
Minos was killed by the daughters of Cocalus;
By pouring upon him boiling waters he immediately froze.
Now, I should say about the bull
and the involved intercourse,
About the Minotaur and the wings made by Daedalus
And how, they say, Daedalus’ sculptures could move.
As Euripides has said in his play Hecuba:
“I wish I could speak through my arms,
Through my hands and my hair and my walking
And through Daedalus’ crafting or some God’s”
And Plato, the master of comedy, has said:
“Every sculpture made by Daedalus must be seen
To move; that is a wise man”.
-
Minos, who was not permitted to be the ruler before,
Having consulted the seers, spoke to the Cretans.
He would be revealed a sign from the sea.
Commander Taurus showed up with his merchant ships
And Minos took the kingdom as if it were a god’s will.
It was this Taurus, the commander, not the bull,
With whom Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, committed adultery
In cooperation with Daedalus, who helped her
To be closed in the most guarded rooms,
The so-called wooden bull of Daedalus,
Where she had a baby; since the child had two fathers,
Minos and Taurus, he was called Minotaur.
Daedalus knew the ships of those merchants
were so quick as if they had feathers.
He left with them to Sicily.
Icarus was plundered and drowned during a shipwreck.
Daedalus was saved in the house of Cocalus.
The things crafted by Daedalus
were believed to move because of this:
Many years before Daedalus, the statues
Were made without arms, legs or eyes.
Daedalus was the first one to make them with arms and legs
As well as with fingers, eyelids and everything else.
That’s why they say his statues were capable of moving.
1.20 CONCERNING CEPHALUS’ DOG (STORY 20)
Procris, the daughter of Erechtheus and Praxithea,
Was the wife of Cephalus, Deioneus’ son.
She was bribed with a golden crown to lie down with Pteleon.
She fled to Minos after Cephalus discovered her.
Minos had secret intercourse with her
And gave her as a gift a sharp javelin and a fast-running dog.
This dog could quickly catch any fast beast.
She took these presents and returned to Cephalus.
He received the gifts and went hunting.
Believing it was a wild beast, he killed her with a javelin.
Judged by the Areopagus, he went into exile.
At that time there was a Teumessian Fox
That was bringing disaster to the children of Thebes.
Cephalus sends his dog to hunt the fox.
Zeus, by transforming the roads into stones, made the dog win.
This story has been written by Apollodorus.
While the wise Palaephatus, a really intelligent man,
Says a slightly different story.
He says there was a commander named Alopekos
Who was fighting against the Thebans along with other rebels,
Whom Cephalus killed having been called from Athens.
I, too, agree with this version of the story,
which is the most known.
Minos was involved in a secret intercourse with Procris
And after that, he sent her upon fast ships
Along with commander Cynas and many gifts for Cephalus.
Cephalus then sent this Cynas to Alopekos
To fight him as an enemy. They fought upon their horses
Until they destroyed each other.
Alopekos escaped with his ships
And Cynas was chased until the cliffs beside the sea,
Where his ships were, and left this life.
1.21 CONCERNING MEGACLES (STORY 21)
The claiming Megacles was son of Coesyra,
The most noble among all women under the sun.
He was the third one in the horse contest in Olympia.
Olympia was a place next to Triphylia
Where the river Alpheus is still flowing.
Heracles had been forced by Olympian Zeus
To fight and win the beasts of Augeas.
He was honoured with a young branch of a wild olive tree.
This contest continued to take place every fifty months.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
Daedalus, Cephalus, & Megacles, from Tzetzes' Chiliades.
Last time we covered the stories of sanctuaries in Thebes. This time we hear several tales concerning the Bull of Minos, the Dog of Cephalus, and the Olympics.
The Bull of Crete ties into several myths. Not only was retrieving it the seventh labor of Heracles, but it also became the Marathon bull, and was the sire of the Minotaur.
We also get more background on Daedalus, exiled from Athens for jealously slaying the son of his sister Perdix. Minos gave sanctuary to Daedalus, and with the slave Naucrate he had a son named Icarus.
Daedalus helped Queen Pasiphae commit adultery with either a bull, or with General Taurus, causing the Minotaur to be born. For this, Daedalus and his son were imprisoned, and eventually escaped either by ship, or by flying. Icarus died, and was buried by Heracles on the island of Icaria.
Daedalus fled to Sicily, but soon Minos followed him there. As King Minos was taking a bath, the daughters of Cocalus added boiling water, and Minos died.
The second story concerns Cephalus and his wife Procris. After a misunderstanding, she fled to Crete, and as a reward for helping Minos, she received a magic spear and a dog that could catch anything. Procris gave these to her husband Cephalus, who sent the dog after the uncatchable Teumessian Fox, so the gods turned both animals into stone. Cephalus took the magic spear hunting with him, and when Procris went to fetch him, he thought she was a wild animal. The magic of the spear was that it never missed.
The last tale concerns Megacles, son of the noblewoman Coesyra, who won third place in the Olympics for horse-racing. The Olympics were founded by Heracles in Olympia, just next to the Augean Stables in Elis, and took place every fifty months.
Next time, more stories of Heracles carved onto The Chest of Cypselus.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
The Cretan Bull,
a Legendary Passage,
from Tzetzes' Chiliades,
translated by Ana Untila.
1.19 - 1.21
1.19 CONCERNING THE BULL OF MINOS (STORY 19)
Minos was a son of Asterion Zeus.
Since the beginning of the world kings were called Zeus as well.
Just like the star of Zeus, which came quickly when he was born
To foretell he would have a destiny of a lion.
It appears only in front of kings who wear a crown.
After the death of the king Asterion,
Minos was not permitted to rule Crete after him
Because, they say, the kingdom must be given by the gods.
A strange sign from the sea would be revealed to him.
Minos promised that, whatever it was,
it would be sacrificed to Poseidon.
Then a beautiful bull appeared from the sea
And he was given immediately the kingdom of the Cretans.
He sacrificed to Poseidon another bull
That he asked to be brought from his herd.
That bull was said to have laid with his wife Pasiphae
Even though she was involved in intercourse
with Daedalus artificial inventions,
She gave birth to Minotaur, a beast half man and half bull.
-
Daedalus was a son of Eupalamus and Alcippe.
He was a craftsman and sculptor in Attica.
He threw from Attica’s citadel
The son of his sister Perdix, whose name was Attalus.
He was being a disciple alongside his uncle Daedalus.
He was the first to make an artificial serpent’s jaw
Which could catch a small piece of wood.
When his uncle saw that,
Being envious of the child’s genius, he killed him.
He went to Minos. There, with the slave Naucrate
He had a son, Icarus. Minos detained them
For having helped his adulterer wife.
He was about to kill them, that’s why he imprisoned them.
They escaped from the prison
Having put wings upon them, they flew through air.
Icarus fell into the sea when he left.
The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was named after him.
Daedalus was saved in Caminus of Sicily.
In Sicily came Minos looking for him.
Minos was killed by the daughters of Cocalus;
By pouring upon him boiling waters he immediately froze.
Now, I should say about the bull
and the involved intercourse,
About the Minotaur and the wings made by Daedalus
And how, they say, Daedalus’ sculptures could move.
As Euripides has said in his play Hecuba:
“I wish I could speak through my arms,
Through my hands and my hair and my walking
And through Daedalus’ crafting or some God’s”
And Plato, the master of comedy, has said:
“Every sculpture made by Daedalus must be seen
To move; that is a wise man”.
-
Minos, who was not permitted to be the ruler before,
Having consulted the seers, spoke to the Cretans.
He would be revealed a sign from the sea.
Commander Taurus showed up with his merchant ships
And Minos took the kingdom as if it were a god’s will.
It was this Taurus, the commander, not the bull,
With whom Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, committed adultery
In cooperation with Daedalus, who helped her
To be closed in the most guarded rooms,
The so-called wooden bull of Daedalus,
Where she had a baby; since the child had two fathers,
Minos and Taurus, he was called Minotaur.
Daedalus knew the ships of those merchants
were so quick as if they had feathers.
He left with them to Sicily.
Icarus was plundered and drowned during a shipwreck.
Daedalus was saved in the house of Cocalus.
The things crafted by Daedalus
were believed to move because of this:
Many years before Daedalus, the statues
Were made without arms, legs or eyes.
Daedalus was the first one to make them with arms and legs
As well as with fingers, eyelids and everything else.
That’s why they say his statues were capable of moving.
1.20 CONCERNING CEPHALUS’ DOG (STORY 20)
Procris, the daughter of Erechtheus and Praxithea,
Was the wife of Cephalus, Deioneus’ son.
She was bribed with a golden crown to lie down with Pteleon.
She fled to Minos after Cephalus discovered her.
Minos had secret intercourse with her
And gave her as a gift a sharp javelin and a fast-running dog.
This dog could quickly catch any fast beast.
She took these presents and returned to Cephalus.
He received the gifts and went hunting.
Believing it was a wild beast, he killed her with a javelin.
Judged by the Areopagus, he went into exile.
At that time there was a Teumessian Fox
That was bringing disaster to the children of Thebes.
Cephalus sends his dog to hunt the fox.
Zeus, by transforming the roads into stones, made the dog win.
This story has been written by Apollodorus.
While the wise Palaephatus, a really intelligent man,
Says a slightly different story.
He says there was a commander named Alopekos
Who was fighting against the Thebans along with other rebels,
Whom Cephalus killed having been called from Athens.
I, too, agree with this version of the story,
which is the most known.
Minos was involved in a secret intercourse with Procris
And after that, he sent her upon fast ships
Along with commander Cynas and many gifts for Cephalus.
Cephalus then sent this Cynas to Alopekos
To fight him as an enemy. They fought upon their horses
Until they destroyed each other.
Alopekos escaped with his ships
And Cynas was chased until the cliffs beside the sea,
Where his ships were, and left this life.
1.21 CONCERNING MEGACLES (STORY 21)
The claiming Megacles was son of Coesyra,
The most noble among all women under the sun.
He was the third one in the horse contest in Olympia.
Olympia was a place next to Triphylia
Where the river Alpheus is still flowing.
Heracles had been forced by Olympian Zeus
To fight and win the beasts of Augeas.
He was honoured with a young branch of a wild olive tree.
This contest continued to take place every fifty months.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
Monday, July 3, 2017
LP0063 - The Sanctuary of Heracles - A tour of Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece
Legendary Passages #0063 - The Sanctuary of Heracles -
A tour of Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
The next six episodes will be our final review of Heracles and his family for quite a while. This time we shall cover Theban monuments to Cadmus, Heracles, and several gods.
After the Ismenian Hill and Manto's Chair, the tradition of the Laurel-Bearer is discussed, as Heracles was one of those boys. After the tomb of Caanthus, is the House of Amphitryon, where his wife Alcmena gave birth to Heracles. The tomb of Heracles' children is here also, as well as the Chastiser Stone, which ended his madness.
At the Sanctuary of Heracles there is a marble statue of him called Champion; and an ancient wooden one made by Daedalus, after Heracles found and buried his son on Icaria. The Twelve Labors are depicted in carvings, except for the Augean Stables and Stymphalian Birds. And of course there is a gymnasium and a race-course.
Lastly are stories of Cadmus and his family. The Oracle at Delphi told Cadmus and his tribe to follow a specific cow, and when it finally laid down, to there build the city of Thebes. Cadmus himself built an alter to Athena on the spot. The bridal-chamber of his wife Harmonia is now in ruins, but the spot where the Muses sang at their wedding is in the market-place. The bridal chamber of their daughter Semele is forbidden to all men, and contains a log that fell from heaven.
Next time, the story of Heracles' 7th labor: The Cretan Bull.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
The Sanctuary of Heracles,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[9.10.1] - [9.12.6]
X. Not far from the gate is a common tomb, where lie all those who met their death when fighting against Alexander and the Macedonians. Hard by they show a place where, it is said, Cadmus (he may believe the story who likes) sowed the teeth of the dragon, which he slew at the fountain, from which teeth men came up out of the earth.
On the right of the gate is a hill sacred to Apollo. Both the hill and the god are called Ismenian, as the river Ismenus Rows by the place. First at the entrance are Athena and Hermes, stone figures and named Pronai (Of the fore-temple). The Hermes is said to have been made by Pheidias, the Athena by Scopas. The temple is built behind. The image is in size equal to that at Branchidae; and does not differ from it at all in shape. Whoever has seen one of these two images, and learnt who was the artist, does not need much skill to discern, when he looks at the other, that it is a work of Canachus. The only difference is that the image at Branchidae is of bronze, while the Ismenian is of cedar-wood.
Here there is a stone, on which, they say, used to sit Manto, the daughter of Teiresias. This stone lies before the entrance, and they still call it Manto's chair. On the right of the temple are statues of women made of stone, said to be portraits of Henioche and Pyrrha, daughters of Creon, who reigned as guardian of Laodamas, the son of Eteocles.
The following custom is, to my knowledge, still carried out in Thebes. A boy of noble family, who is himself both handsome and strong, is chosen priest of Ismenian Apollo for a year. He is called Laurel-bearer, for the boys wear wreaths of laurel leaves. I cannot say for certain whether all alike who have worn the laurel dedicate by custom a bronze tripod to the god; but I do not think that it is the rule for all, because I did not see many votive tripods there. But the wealthier of the boys do certainly dedicate them. Most remarkable both for its age and for the fame of him who dedicated it is a tripod dedicated by Amphitryon for Heracles after he had worn the laurel.
Higher up than the Ismenian sanctuary you may see the fountain which they say is sacred to Ares, and they add that a dragon was posted by Ares as a sentry over the spring. By this fountain is the grave of Caanthus. They say that he was brother to Melia and son to Ocean, and that he was commissioned by his father to seek his sister, who had been carried away. Finding that Apollo had Melia, and being unable to get her from him, he dared to set fire to the precinct of Apollo that is now called the Ismenian sanctuary. The god, according to the Thebans, shot him.
Here then is the tomb of Caanthus. They say that Apollo had sons by Melia, to wit, Tenerus and Ismenus. To Tenerus Apollo gave the art of divination, and from Ismenus the river got its name. Not that the river was nameless before, if indeed it was called Ladon before Ismenus was born to Apollo.
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XI. On the left of the gate named Electran are the ruins of a house where they say Amphitryon came to live when exiled from Tiryns because of the death of Electryon; and the chamber of Alcmena is still plainly to be seen among the ruins. They say that it was built for Amphitryon by Trophonius and Agamedes, and that on it was written the following inscription:–
When Amphitryon was about to bring hither his bride
Alcmena, he chose this as a chamber for himself.
Anchasian Trophonius and Agamedes made it.
Such was the inscription that the Thebans say was written here. They show also the tomb of the children of Heracles by Megara. Their account of the death of these is in no way different from that in the poems of Panyassis and of Stesichorus of Himera. But the Thebans add that Heracles in his madness was about to kill Amphitryon as well, but before he could do so he was rendered unconscious by the blow of the stone. Athena, they say, threw at him this stone, which they name Chastiser.
Here are portraits of women in relief, but the figures are by this time rather indistinct. The Thebans call them Witches, adding that they were sent by Hera to hinder the birth-pangs of Alcmena. So these kept Alcmena from bringing forth her child. But Historis, the daughter of Teiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the Witches, and she uttered a loud cry of joy in their hearing, that Alcmena had been delivered. So the story goes that the Witches were deceived and went away, and Alcmena brought forth her child.
Here is a sanctuary of Heracles. The image, of white marble, is called Champion, and the Thebans Xenocritus and Eubius were the artists. But the ancient wooden image is thought by the Thebans to be by Daedalus, and the same opinion occurred to me. It was dedicated, they say, by Daedalus himself, as a thank-offering for a benefit. For when he was fleeing from Crete in small vessels which he had made for himself and his son Icarus, he devised for the ships sails, an invention as yet unknown to the men of those times, so as to take advantage of a favorable wind and outsail the oared fleet of Minos. Daedalus himself was saved, but the ship of Icarus is said to have overturned, as he was a clumsy helmsman. The drowned man was carried ashore by the current to the island, then without a name, that lies off Samos. Heracles came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where even to-day a small mound still stands to Icarus on a promontory jutting out into the Aegean. After this Icarus are named both the island and the sea around it.
The carvings on the gables at Thebes are by Praxiteles, and include most of what are called the twelve labours. The slaughter of the Stymphalian birds and the cleansing of the land of Elis by Heracles are omitted; in their place is represented the wrestling with Antaeus. Thrasybulus, son of Lycus, and the Athenians who with him put down the tyranny of the Thirty, set out from Thebes when they returned to Athens, and therefore they dedicated in the sanctuary of Heracles colossal figures of Athena and Heracles, carved by Alcamenes in relief out of Pentelic marble.
Adjoining the sanctuary of Heracles are a gymnasium and a race-course, both being named after the god. Beyond the Chastiser stone is an altar of Apollo surnamed God of Ashes; it is made out of the ashes of the victims. The customary mode of divination here is from voices, which is used by the Smyrnaeans, to my knowledge, more than by any other Greeks. For at Smyrna also there is a sanctuary of Voices outside the wall and beyond the city.
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XII. The Thebans in ancient days used to sacrifice bulls to Apollo of the Ashes. Once when the festival was being held, the hour of the sacrifice was near but those sent to fetch the bull had not arrived. And so, as a wagon happened to be near by, they sacrificed to the god one of the oxen, and ever since it has been the custom to sacrifice working oxen.
The following story also is current among the Thebans. As Cadmus was leaving Delphi by the road to Phocis, a cow, it is said, guided him on his way. This cow was one bought from the herdsmen of Pelagon, and on each of her sides was a white mark like the orb of a full moon.
Now the oracle of the god had said that Cadmus and the host with him were to make their dwelling where the cow was going to sink down in weariness. So this is one of the places that they point out. Here there is in the open an altar and an image of Athena, said to have been dedicated by Cadmus. Those who think that the Cadmus who came to the Theban land was an Egyptian, and not a Phoenician, have their opinion contradicted by the name of this Athena, because she is called by the Phoenician name of Onga, and not by the Egyptian name of Sais.
The Thebans assert that on the part of their citadel, where to-day stands their market-place, was in ancient times the house of Cadmus. They point out the ruins of the bridal-chamber of Harmonia, and of one which they say was Semele's into the latter they allow no man to step even now. Those Greeks who allow that the Muses sang at the wedding of Harmonia, can point to the spot in the market-place where it is said that the goddesses sang.
There is also a story that along with the thunderbolt hurled at the bridalchamber of Semele there fell a log from heaven. They say that Polydorus adorned this log with bronze and called it Dionysus Cadmus. Near is an image of Dionysus; Onasimedes made it of solid bronze. The altar was built by the sons of Praxiteles.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
A tour of Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
The next six episodes will be our final review of Heracles and his family for quite a while. This time we shall cover Theban monuments to Cadmus, Heracles, and several gods.
After the Ismenian Hill and Manto's Chair, the tradition of the Laurel-Bearer is discussed, as Heracles was one of those boys. After the tomb of Caanthus, is the House of Amphitryon, where his wife Alcmena gave birth to Heracles. The tomb of Heracles' children is here also, as well as the Chastiser Stone, which ended his madness.
At the Sanctuary of Heracles there is a marble statue of him called Champion; and an ancient wooden one made by Daedalus, after Heracles found and buried his son on Icaria. The Twelve Labors are depicted in carvings, except for the Augean Stables and Stymphalian Birds. And of course there is a gymnasium and a race-course.
Lastly are stories of Cadmus and his family. The Oracle at Delphi told Cadmus and his tribe to follow a specific cow, and when it finally laid down, to there build the city of Thebes. Cadmus himself built an alter to Athena on the spot. The bridal-chamber of his wife Harmonia is now in ruins, but the spot where the Muses sang at their wedding is in the market-place. The bridal chamber of their daughter Semele is forbidden to all men, and contains a log that fell from heaven.
Next time, the story of Heracles' 7th labor: The Cretan Bull.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
The Sanctuary of Heracles,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[9.10.1] - [9.12.6]
X. Not far from the gate is a common tomb, where lie all those who met their death when fighting against Alexander and the Macedonians. Hard by they show a place where, it is said, Cadmus (he may believe the story who likes) sowed the teeth of the dragon, which he slew at the fountain, from which teeth men came up out of the earth.
On the right of the gate is a hill sacred to Apollo. Both the hill and the god are called Ismenian, as the river Ismenus Rows by the place. First at the entrance are Athena and Hermes, stone figures and named Pronai (Of the fore-temple). The Hermes is said to have been made by Pheidias, the Athena by Scopas. The temple is built behind. The image is in size equal to that at Branchidae; and does not differ from it at all in shape. Whoever has seen one of these two images, and learnt who was the artist, does not need much skill to discern, when he looks at the other, that it is a work of Canachus. The only difference is that the image at Branchidae is of bronze, while the Ismenian is of cedar-wood.
Here there is a stone, on which, they say, used to sit Manto, the daughter of Teiresias. This stone lies before the entrance, and they still call it Manto's chair. On the right of the temple are statues of women made of stone, said to be portraits of Henioche and Pyrrha, daughters of Creon, who reigned as guardian of Laodamas, the son of Eteocles.
The following custom is, to my knowledge, still carried out in Thebes. A boy of noble family, who is himself both handsome and strong, is chosen priest of Ismenian Apollo for a year. He is called Laurel-bearer, for the boys wear wreaths of laurel leaves. I cannot say for certain whether all alike who have worn the laurel dedicate by custom a bronze tripod to the god; but I do not think that it is the rule for all, because I did not see many votive tripods there. But the wealthier of the boys do certainly dedicate them. Most remarkable both for its age and for the fame of him who dedicated it is a tripod dedicated by Amphitryon for Heracles after he had worn the laurel.
Higher up than the Ismenian sanctuary you may see the fountain which they say is sacred to Ares, and they add that a dragon was posted by Ares as a sentry over the spring. By this fountain is the grave of Caanthus. They say that he was brother to Melia and son to Ocean, and that he was commissioned by his father to seek his sister, who had been carried away. Finding that Apollo had Melia, and being unable to get her from him, he dared to set fire to the precinct of Apollo that is now called the Ismenian sanctuary. The god, according to the Thebans, shot him.
Here then is the tomb of Caanthus. They say that Apollo had sons by Melia, to wit, Tenerus and Ismenus. To Tenerus Apollo gave the art of divination, and from Ismenus the river got its name. Not that the river was nameless before, if indeed it was called Ladon before Ismenus was born to Apollo.
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XI. On the left of the gate named Electran are the ruins of a house where they say Amphitryon came to live when exiled from Tiryns because of the death of Electryon; and the chamber of Alcmena is still plainly to be seen among the ruins. They say that it was built for Amphitryon by Trophonius and Agamedes, and that on it was written the following inscription:–
When Amphitryon was about to bring hither his bride
Alcmena, he chose this as a chamber for himself.
Anchasian Trophonius and Agamedes made it.
Such was the inscription that the Thebans say was written here. They show also the tomb of the children of Heracles by Megara. Their account of the death of these is in no way different from that in the poems of Panyassis and of Stesichorus of Himera. But the Thebans add that Heracles in his madness was about to kill Amphitryon as well, but before he could do so he was rendered unconscious by the blow of the stone. Athena, they say, threw at him this stone, which they name Chastiser.
Here are portraits of women in relief, but the figures are by this time rather indistinct. The Thebans call them Witches, adding that they were sent by Hera to hinder the birth-pangs of Alcmena. So these kept Alcmena from bringing forth her child. But Historis, the daughter of Teiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the Witches, and she uttered a loud cry of joy in their hearing, that Alcmena had been delivered. So the story goes that the Witches were deceived and went away, and Alcmena brought forth her child.
Here is a sanctuary of Heracles. The image, of white marble, is called Champion, and the Thebans Xenocritus and Eubius were the artists. But the ancient wooden image is thought by the Thebans to be by Daedalus, and the same opinion occurred to me. It was dedicated, they say, by Daedalus himself, as a thank-offering for a benefit. For when he was fleeing from Crete in small vessels which he had made for himself and his son Icarus, he devised for the ships sails, an invention as yet unknown to the men of those times, so as to take advantage of a favorable wind and outsail the oared fleet of Minos. Daedalus himself was saved, but the ship of Icarus is said to have overturned, as he was a clumsy helmsman. The drowned man was carried ashore by the current to the island, then without a name, that lies off Samos. Heracles came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where even to-day a small mound still stands to Icarus on a promontory jutting out into the Aegean. After this Icarus are named both the island and the sea around it.
The carvings on the gables at Thebes are by Praxiteles, and include most of what are called the twelve labours. The slaughter of the Stymphalian birds and the cleansing of the land of Elis by Heracles are omitted; in their place is represented the wrestling with Antaeus. Thrasybulus, son of Lycus, and the Athenians who with him put down the tyranny of the Thirty, set out from Thebes when they returned to Athens, and therefore they dedicated in the sanctuary of Heracles colossal figures of Athena and Heracles, carved by Alcamenes in relief out of Pentelic marble.
Adjoining the sanctuary of Heracles are a gymnasium and a race-course, both being named after the god. Beyond the Chastiser stone is an altar of Apollo surnamed God of Ashes; it is made out of the ashes of the victims. The customary mode of divination here is from voices, which is used by the Smyrnaeans, to my knowledge, more than by any other Greeks. For at Smyrna also there is a sanctuary of Voices outside the wall and beyond the city.
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XII. The Thebans in ancient days used to sacrifice bulls to Apollo of the Ashes. Once when the festival was being held, the hour of the sacrifice was near but those sent to fetch the bull had not arrived. And so, as a wagon happened to be near by, they sacrificed to the god one of the oxen, and ever since it has been the custom to sacrifice working oxen.
The following story also is current among the Thebans. As Cadmus was leaving Delphi by the road to Phocis, a cow, it is said, guided him on his way. This cow was one bought from the herdsmen of Pelagon, and on each of her sides was a white mark like the orb of a full moon.
Now the oracle of the god had said that Cadmus and the host with him were to make their dwelling where the cow was going to sink down in weariness. So this is one of the places that they point out. Here there is in the open an altar and an image of Athena, said to have been dedicated by Cadmus. Those who think that the Cadmus who came to the Theban land was an Egyptian, and not a Phoenician, have their opinion contradicted by the name of this Athena, because she is called by the Phoenician name of Onga, and not by the Egyptian name of Sais.
The Thebans assert that on the part of their citadel, where to-day stands their market-place, was in ancient times the house of Cadmus. They point out the ruins of the bridal-chamber of Harmonia, and of one which they say was Semele's into the latter they allow no man to step even now. Those Greeks who allow that the Muses sang at the wedding of Harmonia, can point to the spot in the market-place where it is said that the goddesses sang.
There is also a story that along with the thunderbolt hurled at the bridalchamber of Semele there fell a log from heaven. They say that Polydorus adorned this log with bronze and called it Dionysus Cadmus. Near is an image of Dionysus; Onasimedes made it of solid bronze. The altar was built by the sons of Praxiteles.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
LP0062 - Jocasta's Children - Oedipus, Eteocles & Polynices, from The Library of Apollodorus
Legendary Passages #0062 - Jocasta's Children -
Oedipus, Eteocles & Polynices, from The Library of Apollodorus.
Here we end our segment on Oedipus with the tale of the Seven Against Thebes.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#5
Jocasta's Children,
a Legendary Passage,
from The Library of Apollodorus,
translated by J. G. Frazer.
[3.5.7] - [3.6.8]
After Amphion's death Laius succeeded to the kingdom. And he married a daughter of Menoeceus; some say that she was Jocasta, and some that she was Epicasta. The oracle had warned him not to beget a son, for the son that should be begotten would kill his father; nevertheless, flushed with wine, he had intercourse with his wife. And when the babe was born he pierced the child's ankles with brooches and gave it to a herdsman to expose. But the herdsman exposed it on Cithaeron; and the neatherds of Polybus, king of Corinth, found the infant and brought it to his wife Periboea. She adopted him and passed him off as her own, and after she had healed his ankles she called him Oedipus, giving him that name on account of his swollen feet.
When the boy grew up and excelled his fellows in strength, they spitefully twitted him with being supposititious. He inquired of Periboea, but could learn nothing; so he went to Delphi and inquired about his true parents. The god told him not to go to his native land, because he would murder his father and lie with his mother. On hearing that, and believing himself to be the son of his nominal parents, he left Corinth, and riding in a chariot through Phocis he fell in with Laius driving in a chariot in a certain narrow road. And when Polyphontes, the herald of Laius, ordered him to make way and killed one of his horses because he disobeyed and delayed, Oedipus in a rage killed both Polyphontes and Laius, and arrived in Thebes.
Laius was buried by Damasistratus, king of Plataea, and Creon, son of Menoeceus, succeeded to the kingdom. In his reign a heavy calamity befell Thebes. For Hera sent the Sphinx, whose mother was Echidna and her father Typhon; and she had the face of a woman, the breast and feet and tail of a lion, and the wings of a bird.
And having learned a riddle from the Muses, she sat on Mount Phicium, and propounded it to the Thebans. And the riddle was this: -- What is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed? Now the Thebans were in possession of an oracle which declared that they should be rid of the Sphinx whenever they had read her riddle; so they often met and discussed the answer, and when they could not find it the Sphinx used to snatch away one of them and gobble him up. When many had perished, and last of all Creon's son Haemon, Creon made proclamation that to him who should read the riddle he would give both the kingdom and the wife of Laius. On hearing that, Oedipus found the solution, declaring that the riddle of the Sphinx referred to man; for as a babe he is four-footed, going on four limbs, as an adult he is two-footed, and as an old man he gets besides a third support in a staff. So the Sphinx threw herself from the citadel, and Oedipus both succeeded to the kingdom and unwittingly married his mother, and begat sons by her, Polynices and Eteocles, and daughters, Ismene and Antigone. But some say the children were borne to him by Eurygania, daughter of Hyperphas.
When the secret afterwards came to light, Jocasta hanged herself in a noose, and Oedipus was driven from Thebes, after he had put out his eyes and cursed his sons, who saw him cast out of the city without lifting a hand to help him. And having come with Antigone to Colonus in Attica, where is the precinct of the Eumenides, he sat down there as a suppliant, was kindly received by Theseus, and died not long afterwards.
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Now Eteocles and Polynices made a compact with each other concerning the kingdom and resolved that each should rule alternately for a year at a time. Some say that Polynices was the first to rule, and that after a year he handed over the kingdom to Eteocles; but some say that Eteocles was the first to rule, and would not hand over the kingdom. So, being banished from Thebes, Polynices came to Argos, taking with him the necklace and the robe. The king of Argos was Adrastus, son of Talaus; and Polynices went up to his palace by night and engaged in a fight with Tydeus, son of Oeneus, who had fled from Calydon. At the sudden outcry Adrastus appeared and parted them, and remembering the words of a certain seer who told him to yoke his daughters in marriage to a boar and a lion, he accepted them both as bridegrooms, because they had on their shields, the one the forepart of a boar, and the other the forepart of a lion. And Tydeus married Deipyle, and Polynices married Argia; and Adrastus promised that he would restore them both to their native lands. And first he was eager to march against Thebes, and he mustered the chiefs.
But Amphiaraus, son of Oicles, being a seer and foreseeing that all who joined in the expedition except Adrastus were destined to perish, shrank from it himself and discouraged the rest. However, Polynices went to Iphis, son of Alector, and begged to know how Amphiaraus could be compelled to go to the war. He answered that it could be done if Eriphyle got the necklace. Now Amphiaraus had forbidden Eriphyle to accept gifts from Polynices; but Polynices gave her the necklace and begged her to persuade Amphiaraus to go to the war; for the decision lay with her, because once, when a difference arose between him and Adrastus, he had made it up with him and sworn to let Eriphyle decide any future dispute he might have with Adrastus. Accordingly, when war was to be made on Thebes, and the measure was advocated by Adrastus and opposed by Amphiaraus, Eriphyle accepted the necklace and persuaded him to march with Adrastus. Thus forced to go to the war, Amphiaraus laid his commands on his sons, that, when they were grown up, they should slay their mother and march against Thebes.
Having mustered an army with seven leaders, Adrastus hastened to wage war on Thebes. The leaders were these: Adrastus, son of Talaus; Amphiaraus, son of Oicles; Capaneus, son of Hipponous; Hippomedon, son of Aristomachus, but some say of Talaus. These came from Argos; but Polynices, son of Oedipus, came from Thebes; Tydeus, son of Oeneus, was an Aetolian; Parthenopaeus, son of Melanion, was an Arcadian. Some, however, do not reckon Tydeus and Polynices among them, but include Eteoclus, son of Iphis, and Mecisteus in the list of the seven.
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Having come to Nemea, of which Lycurgus was king, they sought for water; and Hypsipyle showed them the way to a spring, leaving behind an infant boy Opheltes, whom she nursed, a child of Eurydice and Lycurgus. For the Lemnian women, afterwards learning that Thoas had been saved alive, put him to death and sold Hypsipyle into slavery; wherefore she served in the house of Lycurgus as a purchased bondwoman. But while she showed the spring, the abandoned boy was killed by a serpent. When Adrastus and his party appeared on the scene, they slew the serpent and buried the boy; but Amphiaraus told them that the sign foreboded the future, and they called the boy Archemorus. They celebrated the Nemean games in his honor; and Adrastus won the horse race, Eteoclus the footrace, Tydeus the boxing match, Amphiaraus the leaping and quoit-throwing match, Laodocus the javelin-throwing match, Polynices the wrestling match, and Parthenopaeus the archery match.
When they came to Cithaeron, they sent Tydeus to tell Eteocles in advance that he must cede the kingdom to Polynices, as they had agreed among themselves. As Eteocles paid no heed to the message, Tydeus, by way of putting the Thebans to the proof, challenged them to single combat and was victorious in every encounter; and though the Thebans set fifty armed men to lie in wait for him as he went away, he slew them all but Maeon, and then came to the camp.
Having armed themselves, the Argives approached the walls; and as there were seven gates, Adrastus was stationed at the Homoloidian gate, Capaneus at the Ogygian, Amphiaraus at the Proetidian, Hippomedon at the Oncaidian, Polynices at the Hypsistan, Parthenopaeus at the Electran, and Tydeus at the Crenidian. Eteocles on his side armed the Thebans, and having appointed leaders to match those of the enemy in number, he put the battle in array, and resorted to divination to learn how they might overcome the foe.
Now there was among the Thebans a soothsayer, Tiresias, son of Everes and a nymph Chariclo, of the family of Udaeus, the Spartan, and he had lost the sight of his eyes. Different stories are told about his blindness and his power of soothsaying. For some say that he was blinded by the gods because he revealed their secrets to men. But Pherecydes says that he was blinded by Athena; for Chariclo was dear to Athena . . . and Tiresias saw the goddess stark naked, and she covered his eyes with her hands, and so rendered him sightless. And when Chariclo asked her to restore his sight, she could not do so, but by cleansing his ears she caused him to understand every note of birds; and she gave him a staff of cornel-wood, wherewith he walked like those who see. But Hesiod says that he beheld snakes copulating on Cyllene, and that having wounded them he was turned from a man into a woman, but that on observing the same snakes copulating again, he became a man. Hence, when Hera and Zeus disputed whether the pleasures of love are felt more by women or by men, they referred to him for a decision. He said that if the pleasures of love be reckoned at ten, men enjoy one and women nine. Wherefore Hera blinded him, but Zeus bestowed on him the art of soothsaying. The saying of Tiresias to Zeus and Hera: "Of ten parts a man enjoys one only; but a woman enjoys the full ten parts in her heart." He also lived to a great age.
So when the Thebans sought counsel of him, he said that they should be victorious if Menoeceus, son of Creon, would offer himself freely as a sacrifice to Ares. On hearing that, Menoeceus, son of Creon, slew himself before the gates. But a battle having taken place, the Cadmeans were chased in a crowd as far as the walls, and Capaneus, seizing a ladder, was climbing up it to the walls, when Zeus smote him with a thunderbolt.
When that befell, the Argives turned to flee. And as many fell, Eteocles and Polynices, by the resolution of both armies, fought a single combat for the kingdom, and slew each other. In another fierce battle the sons of Astacus did doughty deeds; for Ismarus slew Hippomedon, Leades slew Eteoclus, and Amphidicus slew Parthenopaeus. But Euripides says that Parthenopaeus was slain by Periclymenus, son of Poseidon. And Melanippus, the remaining one of the sons of Astacus, wounded Tydeus in the belly. As he lay half dead, Athena brought a medicine which she had begged of Zeus, and by which she intended to make him immortal. But Amphiaraus hated Tydeus for thwarting him by persuading the Argives to march to Thebes; so when he perceived the intention of the goddess he cut off the head of Melanippus and gave it to Tydeus, who, wounded though he was, had killed him. And Tydeus split open the head and gulped up the brains. But when Athena saw that, in disgust she grudged and withheld the intended benefit. Amphiaraus fled beside the river Ismenus, and before Periclymenus could wound him in the back, Zeus cleft the earth by throwing a thunderbolt, and Amphiaraus vanished with his chariot and his charioteer Baton, or, as some say, Elato; and Zeus made him immortal. Adrastus alone was saved by his horse Arion. That horse Poseidon begot on Demeter, when in the likeness of a Fury she consorted with him.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#5
Oedipus, Eteocles & Polynices, from The Library of Apollodorus.
Here we end our segment on Oedipus with the tale of the Seven Against Thebes.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#5
Jocasta's Children,
a Legendary Passage,
from The Library of Apollodorus,
translated by J. G. Frazer.
[3.5.7] - [3.6.8]
After Amphion's death Laius succeeded to the kingdom. And he married a daughter of Menoeceus; some say that she was Jocasta, and some that she was Epicasta. The oracle had warned him not to beget a son, for the son that should be begotten would kill his father; nevertheless, flushed with wine, he had intercourse with his wife. And when the babe was born he pierced the child's ankles with brooches and gave it to a herdsman to expose. But the herdsman exposed it on Cithaeron; and the neatherds of Polybus, king of Corinth, found the infant and brought it to his wife Periboea. She adopted him and passed him off as her own, and after she had healed his ankles she called him Oedipus, giving him that name on account of his swollen feet.
When the boy grew up and excelled his fellows in strength, they spitefully twitted him with being supposititious. He inquired of Periboea, but could learn nothing; so he went to Delphi and inquired about his true parents. The god told him not to go to his native land, because he would murder his father and lie with his mother. On hearing that, and believing himself to be the son of his nominal parents, he left Corinth, and riding in a chariot through Phocis he fell in with Laius driving in a chariot in a certain narrow road. And when Polyphontes, the herald of Laius, ordered him to make way and killed one of his horses because he disobeyed and delayed, Oedipus in a rage killed both Polyphontes and Laius, and arrived in Thebes.
Laius was buried by Damasistratus, king of Plataea, and Creon, son of Menoeceus, succeeded to the kingdom. In his reign a heavy calamity befell Thebes. For Hera sent the Sphinx, whose mother was Echidna and her father Typhon; and she had the face of a woman, the breast and feet and tail of a lion, and the wings of a bird.
And having learned a riddle from the Muses, she sat on Mount Phicium, and propounded it to the Thebans. And the riddle was this: -- What is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed? Now the Thebans were in possession of an oracle which declared that they should be rid of the Sphinx whenever they had read her riddle; so they often met and discussed the answer, and when they could not find it the Sphinx used to snatch away one of them and gobble him up. When many had perished, and last of all Creon's son Haemon, Creon made proclamation that to him who should read the riddle he would give both the kingdom and the wife of Laius. On hearing that, Oedipus found the solution, declaring that the riddle of the Sphinx referred to man; for as a babe he is four-footed, going on four limbs, as an adult he is two-footed, and as an old man he gets besides a third support in a staff. So the Sphinx threw herself from the citadel, and Oedipus both succeeded to the kingdom and unwittingly married his mother, and begat sons by her, Polynices and Eteocles, and daughters, Ismene and Antigone. But some say the children were borne to him by Eurygania, daughter of Hyperphas.
When the secret afterwards came to light, Jocasta hanged herself in a noose, and Oedipus was driven from Thebes, after he had put out his eyes and cursed his sons, who saw him cast out of the city without lifting a hand to help him. And having come with Antigone to Colonus in Attica, where is the precinct of the Eumenides, he sat down there as a suppliant, was kindly received by Theseus, and died not long afterwards.
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Now Eteocles and Polynices made a compact with each other concerning the kingdom and resolved that each should rule alternately for a year at a time. Some say that Polynices was the first to rule, and that after a year he handed over the kingdom to Eteocles; but some say that Eteocles was the first to rule, and would not hand over the kingdom. So, being banished from Thebes, Polynices came to Argos, taking with him the necklace and the robe. The king of Argos was Adrastus, son of Talaus; and Polynices went up to his palace by night and engaged in a fight with Tydeus, son of Oeneus, who had fled from Calydon. At the sudden outcry Adrastus appeared and parted them, and remembering the words of a certain seer who told him to yoke his daughters in marriage to a boar and a lion, he accepted them both as bridegrooms, because they had on their shields, the one the forepart of a boar, and the other the forepart of a lion. And Tydeus married Deipyle, and Polynices married Argia; and Adrastus promised that he would restore them both to their native lands. And first he was eager to march against Thebes, and he mustered the chiefs.
But Amphiaraus, son of Oicles, being a seer and foreseeing that all who joined in the expedition except Adrastus were destined to perish, shrank from it himself and discouraged the rest. However, Polynices went to Iphis, son of Alector, and begged to know how Amphiaraus could be compelled to go to the war. He answered that it could be done if Eriphyle got the necklace. Now Amphiaraus had forbidden Eriphyle to accept gifts from Polynices; but Polynices gave her the necklace and begged her to persuade Amphiaraus to go to the war; for the decision lay with her, because once, when a difference arose between him and Adrastus, he had made it up with him and sworn to let Eriphyle decide any future dispute he might have with Adrastus. Accordingly, when war was to be made on Thebes, and the measure was advocated by Adrastus and opposed by Amphiaraus, Eriphyle accepted the necklace and persuaded him to march with Adrastus. Thus forced to go to the war, Amphiaraus laid his commands on his sons, that, when they were grown up, they should slay their mother and march against Thebes.
Having mustered an army with seven leaders, Adrastus hastened to wage war on Thebes. The leaders were these: Adrastus, son of Talaus; Amphiaraus, son of Oicles; Capaneus, son of Hipponous; Hippomedon, son of Aristomachus, but some say of Talaus. These came from Argos; but Polynices, son of Oedipus, came from Thebes; Tydeus, son of Oeneus, was an Aetolian; Parthenopaeus, son of Melanion, was an Arcadian. Some, however, do not reckon Tydeus and Polynices among them, but include Eteoclus, son of Iphis, and Mecisteus in the list of the seven.
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Having come to Nemea, of which Lycurgus was king, they sought for water; and Hypsipyle showed them the way to a spring, leaving behind an infant boy Opheltes, whom she nursed, a child of Eurydice and Lycurgus. For the Lemnian women, afterwards learning that Thoas had been saved alive, put him to death and sold Hypsipyle into slavery; wherefore she served in the house of Lycurgus as a purchased bondwoman. But while she showed the spring, the abandoned boy was killed by a serpent. When Adrastus and his party appeared on the scene, they slew the serpent and buried the boy; but Amphiaraus told them that the sign foreboded the future, and they called the boy Archemorus. They celebrated the Nemean games in his honor; and Adrastus won the horse race, Eteoclus the footrace, Tydeus the boxing match, Amphiaraus the leaping and quoit-throwing match, Laodocus the javelin-throwing match, Polynices the wrestling match, and Parthenopaeus the archery match.
When they came to Cithaeron, they sent Tydeus to tell Eteocles in advance that he must cede the kingdom to Polynices, as they had agreed among themselves. As Eteocles paid no heed to the message, Tydeus, by way of putting the Thebans to the proof, challenged them to single combat and was victorious in every encounter; and though the Thebans set fifty armed men to lie in wait for him as he went away, he slew them all but Maeon, and then came to the camp.
Having armed themselves, the Argives approached the walls; and as there were seven gates, Adrastus was stationed at the Homoloidian gate, Capaneus at the Ogygian, Amphiaraus at the Proetidian, Hippomedon at the Oncaidian, Polynices at the Hypsistan, Parthenopaeus at the Electran, and Tydeus at the Crenidian. Eteocles on his side armed the Thebans, and having appointed leaders to match those of the enemy in number, he put the battle in array, and resorted to divination to learn how they might overcome the foe.
Now there was among the Thebans a soothsayer, Tiresias, son of Everes and a nymph Chariclo, of the family of Udaeus, the Spartan, and he had lost the sight of his eyes. Different stories are told about his blindness and his power of soothsaying. For some say that he was blinded by the gods because he revealed their secrets to men. But Pherecydes says that he was blinded by Athena; for Chariclo was dear to Athena . . . and Tiresias saw the goddess stark naked, and she covered his eyes with her hands, and so rendered him sightless. And when Chariclo asked her to restore his sight, she could not do so, but by cleansing his ears she caused him to understand every note of birds; and she gave him a staff of cornel-wood, wherewith he walked like those who see. But Hesiod says that he beheld snakes copulating on Cyllene, and that having wounded them he was turned from a man into a woman, but that on observing the same snakes copulating again, he became a man. Hence, when Hera and Zeus disputed whether the pleasures of love are felt more by women or by men, they referred to him for a decision. He said that if the pleasures of love be reckoned at ten, men enjoy one and women nine. Wherefore Hera blinded him, but Zeus bestowed on him the art of soothsaying. The saying of Tiresias to Zeus and Hera: "Of ten parts a man enjoys one only; but a woman enjoys the full ten parts in her heart." He also lived to a great age.
So when the Thebans sought counsel of him, he said that they should be victorious if Menoeceus, son of Creon, would offer himself freely as a sacrifice to Ares. On hearing that, Menoeceus, son of Creon, slew himself before the gates. But a battle having taken place, the Cadmeans were chased in a crowd as far as the walls, and Capaneus, seizing a ladder, was climbing up it to the walls, when Zeus smote him with a thunderbolt.
When that befell, the Argives turned to flee. And as many fell, Eteocles and Polynices, by the resolution of both armies, fought a single combat for the kingdom, and slew each other. In another fierce battle the sons of Astacus did doughty deeds; for Ismarus slew Hippomedon, Leades slew Eteoclus, and Amphidicus slew Parthenopaeus. But Euripides says that Parthenopaeus was slain by Periclymenus, son of Poseidon. And Melanippus, the remaining one of the sons of Astacus, wounded Tydeus in the belly. As he lay half dead, Athena brought a medicine which she had begged of Zeus, and by which she intended to make him immortal. But Amphiaraus hated Tydeus for thwarting him by persuading the Argives to march to Thebes; so when he perceived the intention of the goddess he cut off the head of Melanippus and gave it to Tydeus, who, wounded though he was, had killed him. And Tydeus split open the head and gulped up the brains. But when Athena saw that, in disgust she grudged and withheld the intended benefit. Amphiaraus fled beside the river Ismenus, and before Periclymenus could wound him in the back, Zeus cleft the earth by throwing a thunderbolt, and Amphiaraus vanished with his chariot and his charioteer Baton, or, as some say, Elato; and Zeus made him immortal. Adrastus alone was saved by his horse Arion. That horse Poseidon begot on Demeter, when in the likeness of a Fury she consorted with him.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#5
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