The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) (43 page)

Ixion
: his story is relevant to the subsequent account of Theseus’ association with Peirithoos (king of the Lapiths in Thessaly) and their battle with the Centaurs, because Ixion was both the father of Peirithoos and the ancestor of the Centaurs (through his son Centauros, who fathered them by mating with mares near Mount Pelion, Pind.
Pyth. 2
. 44 ff., except for the ‘good’ Centaurs Cheiron and Pholos, who were of different birth, see pp. 29 and 75). Ixion’s behaviour towards Hera was particularly reprehensible
because Zeus had purified Ixion after he had murdered his father-in-law, and welcomed him in heaven (DS 4. 69. 4); for a fuller portrayal of his transgression and punishment, see Pind.
Pyth
. 2. 21 ff.

Theseus joined Peirithoos
: this paragraph is inserted from Zenobius 5. 33. Surviving accounts of the banquet are late (e.g. DS 4. 70. 3 f, Plut.
Thes
. 30), although the prowess of Peirithoos, Theseus, and Caineus in fighting the Centaurs is referred to by Homer (
Il
. 1. 262 ff.).

as relatives of the bride
: thus Zenobius, but this is probably a mistake, because they were certainly relatives of the
bridegroom
(cf. VM 1. 162, where they are invited as Peirithoos’ neighbours and relatives), and this connection would surely have been explained in the preceding section on Ixion.

buried in the earth
: the gods are said to have incited the Centaurs against Caineus because of his violence and his presumption in wanting to be honoured as a god (e.g. sc.
Il
. 1. 264). On the limits of invulnerability, see p. 73 on the Nemean lion and note.

captured Athens
: according to the usual account, followed on p. 121, she was hidden at Aphidnai, to the north-east of Athens, and was recovered when the Dioscuri captured that city (cf. Plut.
Thes
. 32–3, where it is said that they were received into Athens afterwards without a fight). It is reported, however, that in a poem in the epic cycle they plundered Athens after taking Aphidnai (sc.
Il
. 3. 242; cf. P. 5. 19. 3 on the Cypselos chest). The Epitome may misrepresent the original text here.

took away Aithra
: she became Helen’s servant and was taken to Troy (see Plut.
Thes
. 34, and
Il
. 3. 143 f.); and when it fell, she was recovered by these two sons of Theseus, Demophon and Acamas, see p. 157.

Menestheus
: a great-grandson of Erechtheus, and thus in the royal line; the leader of the Athenians in the Trojan War, p. 148,
Il
. 2. 552.

became stuck to it
: the rock grew to their flesh (P. 10. 29. 9, referring to Panyasis and contrasting this with the tradition that they were pinioned to the chair; it seems that two versions from different sources are combined here). The name of the chair suggests that it affected the mind also (see Horace
Odes
4. 7. 27 f).

Lycomedes
: he ruled in Scyros, off Euboea, and either feared Theseus’ influence over his subjects or wanted to gratify Menestheus (see Plut.
Thes
. 35, P. 1. 17. 6). See also p. 129.

Tantalos
: son of Zeus and Pluto, daughter of Cronos (or according to some, the son of Tmolos). A wealthy king in Lydia, in Asia Minor, he is introduced here as the ancestor of the Pelopids, the Peloponnesian line which provided the kings of Mycenae and Sparta at the time of the Trojan War. For his punishment, cf.
Od
. 11. 582 ff. (without any mention of the stone, but Archilochus knew of it in the seventh century, sc. Pind.
ol
. 1. 97).

share ambrosia with his friends
: after he had been welcomed at the table of the gods and made immortal with ambrosia, the food of the gods, he wanted to share it with other mortals, Pind.
ol
. 1. 59 ff. For the betrayal of divine secrets, cf. DS 4. 74. 2. The darker story that he served his son Pelops at a banquet of the gods (which Pindar refused to believe,
ol
. 1. 26 ff.) must have been mentioned in the full text, as it is referred to just below.

Broteas
: the son of Tantalos; see also Ovid
Ibis
. 517 ff. and P. 3. 22.4.

a winged chariot
: since Pindar talks of a golden chariot drawn by horses with unwearying wings
(ol
. 1. 87), and Pelops’ horses were portrayed with wings on the sixth-century chest of Cypselos (P. 5. 17. 7), the ‘winged chariot’ of the Epitome may be misleading. In Pindar’s account, this gift from Poseidon is sufficient to ensure victory for Pelops (and probably elsewhere in the earlier tradition; Pherecydes, in the fifth century, is the earliest author known to have referred to Myrtilos in this connection, sc. AR 1. 752).

Pisa
: in Elis, the north-western province of the Peloponnese.

failed to insert the axle-pins
: or according to Pherecydes (ibid.) he inserted axle-pins made of wax.

the Myrtoan Sea
: lying to the east of the Peloponnese and south of Attica; Geraistos was the southernmost cape of Euboea. It was also said that Pelops had promised Myrtilos that he could spend a night with Hippodameia, and pitched him overboard when he reminded him of this (P. 8. 14. 11).

curses at the house of Pelops
: amply fulfilled; it was said by some that this caused Hermes, the father of Myrtilos, to send the golden lamb that causes such trouble below (Eur.
Orest
. 989 ff. with sc. to 990; but below it is sent by Artemis as a sign to confirm Atreus’ kingship).

Apia or Pelasgiotis
: for Apia as a previous name of the Peloponnese, see p. 58; Pelasgiotis must likewise be a previous name, when it was named after Pelasgos (cf. ibid., although we would expect the form Pelasgia). It now gains its definitive name (as the ‘island’ of
Pelops; but it should be noted that the story of Pelops’ sons and grandsons indicates that the main centres outside Elis could not have been ruled by him at this time).

placed it in a chest
: i.e. its fleece.

the Mycenaeans . . . had sent for Atreus and Thyestes
: they are already outside their father’s kingdom of Pisa in Elis because they were summoned by Sthenelos, the father of Eurystheus, to Midea in Argos when he banished Amphitryon, p. 69. In the meantime, Sthenelos has died and Eurystheus has been killed by Hyllos, p. 92, but the Perseid heirs, the Heraclids, have been told by the oracle that they are not to return to the Peloponnese until later, ibid. Correspondingly, it is the divine will that the Pelopids should rule Mycenae in the intervening period; according to sc. Eur.
Orest
. 4, this was revealed in the oracle received by the Heraclids. It was also said that Pelops had expelled Atreus and Thyestes for murdering his illegitimate son Chrysippos (ibid.).

the adultery
: between his wife Aerope and Thyestes.

intercourse with his own daughter
: her name was Pelopia. In one version of this story, she submitted to the incest out of duty (e.g. Hyg. 254), in another, Thyestes raped her unknowingly at Sicyon during nocturnal rites (Hyg. 88). Here we can assume the former; Thyestes is acting in direct obedience to the oracle.

sought refuge
: i.e. from Agamemnon and Menelaos, when they came of age.

But Agamemnon . . . marrying his daughters
: the gap in the text is filled by an extract from Tzetzes,
Chiliades
1. 456–62, which is based on Ap. It explains how Agamemnon and Menelaos escaped to safety after the murder of Atreus. Although they were described above, p. 99, as sons of Pleisthenes (and thus grandsons of Atreus), they are surely sons of Atreus here. Tyndareus fled to Aetolia after he was expelled from Sparta by Hippocoon and his sons, see p. 120 and note. After Heracles had killed them, Tyndareus was able to return (see p. 88), bringing Agamemnon and Menelaos with him. Later Agamemnon expelled Thyestes and became king in Mycenae, and Menelaos became king in Sparta after the death of the Dioscuri deprived Tyndareus of his heirs, p. 122.

Alexander abducted Helen
: we now pass to the events leading up to the Trojan War. Ap.’s main source henceforth will be the poems in the epic cycle that gave an account of the events not covered by Homer; but he also introduces material from later sources. For
all the following, compare the summaries of these epic poems by Proclus (English translations of these can be found, with other relevant material, in
Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns
in the Loeb series). Events prior to the
Iliad
were covered in a single epic, the
Cypria
.

demigods
: a term sometimes applied to the heroes of the Trojan War and earlier adventures (see Hes.
WD
159 ff., cf.
Il
. 12. 23); it need not imply divine parentage.

For one of these reasons
: Homer remarks enigmatically in
Il
. 1. 5 that the war fulfilled the will of Zeus, but offers no explanation. Elsewhere two main reasons are adduced (which need not be exclusive), one, as here, that it was to be a source of glory for those involved, and another that Zeus wanted to lighten the burden on the Earth, which was weighed down by an excessive number of mortals (thus the
Cypria
as quoted in sc.
Il
. 1. 5; some included the Theban War as part of the plan, sc. Eur.
Orest
. 1641).

Eris threw an apple
: Eris, discord personified, now sets in motion the chain of events that will lead to the Trojan War. This takes place at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (Procl.; for the marriage see p. 129). The apple is first mentioned in late sources (e.g. Hyg. 92) but the theme could well be early; it is inscribed ‘to the fairest’, or Eris says that the fairest should take it. On Eris, see also
Il
. 4. 440 ff. The judgement of Paris is mentioned by Homer,
Il
. 24. 25 ff.

with ships built by Phereclos
: on Phereclos, see
Il
. 5. 59 ff. The fleet was suggested by Aphrodite, and she told Aeneas to sail with Paris (Procl).

the funeral of his maternal grandfather Catreus
: after he had been killed by his son Althaimenes, p. 99; Menelaos was his grandson through Aerope.

the treasures
: from the palace of Menelaos; this became an issue in the war, see
Il
. 3. 70 ff. and 285 ff.

put in at Sidon
: Homer alludes to his stay there in
Il
. 6. 289 ff; in the
Cypria
, he captured the city (Procl.).

a phantom of Helen
: a theme invented by the lyric poet Stesichorus (late seventh to early sixth century). According to a later (and doubtless apocryphal) story, he was struck blind after he had spoken badly of Helen in one of his poems, and this caused him to write a recantation saying that only her phantom was present at Troy (thus absolving her from blame for the war); see Plato
Phaed
. 243a f., with the verses quoted there. See also Eur.
Helen
(31 ff. and
passim)
and Hdt. 2. 112 ff.

to Agamemnon in Mycenae
: as king of Mycenae he was the richest and most powerful king in Greece, and undisputed leader of the expedition. According to the Homeric catalogue he ruled the north-eastern corner of the Peloponnese in an area also embracing Corinth and Sicyon (
Il
. 2. 569 ff, while Diomedes ruled Argos, Tiryns, and much of the Argolid, ibid. 559 ff.); but there are also suggestions that he held wider authority (e.g. ibid. 107 ff.).

the oaths
: most of the Greek kings had been suitors for Helen’s hand, and had sworn to help the one who was chosen as her husband if he should be wronged with regard to his marriage, see p. 121.

pretended to be mad
: he is said to have yoked an ox with a horse (Hyg. 95), and sown the land with salt (VM 1. 35).

drew his sword
: or he placed the child in front of Odysseus’ plough (Tzetz. sc. Lycophr. 818). Procl. is vague: he picked up the child ‘to punish it’.

after capturing. . . as a traitor
: this is Odysseus’ later revenge for his ignominious exposure. It was also said that Odysseus killed Palamedes because he was envious of his cleverness (Xen.
Mem
. 4. 2. 33), or that Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Diomedes plotted against him because they were jealous of his popularity with the army for his inventions etc. (sc. Eur.
Orest
. 432). In the
Cypria
, Odysseus and Diomedes drowned him while he was fishing (P. 10. 31. 1).

a breastplate
: in the manuscripts, ‘breastplates’, but this is surely a reference to the magnificent breastplate described in
Il
. 11. 19 ff., a personal gift from one king to another rather than a practical contribution to the expedition. The ruse of the earthenware ships, absent from Homer, may go back to the
Cypria
(although Procl. makes no mention of it). For Cinyras, see p. 131.

Elais, Spermo, and Oino
: their names refer to the oil, grain, and wine elicited by them. They lived with their father, Anios, on Delos. Ap.’s account in the original text was probably comparable with that in Dictys of Crete,
Trojan War
1. 23, where they send provisions to the Greeks at Aulis. It was also said that Anios, who knew that Troy could not be taken until the tenth year, offered to maintain the Greek army at Delos for the intervening period, using his daughters to feed them (Tzetz. sc. Lycophr. 570, reporting the
Cypria
and Pherecydes), or that his daughters came to help the Greeks when they were suffering from hunger at Troy (ibid. 580, reporting Callimachus).

Those who took part
: compare Homer’s catalogue,
Il
. 2. 494 ff.; some of the names and numbers diverge.

a snake . . . after ten years
: cf.
Il
. 2. 308 ff. The nine birds eaten by the snake represent nine years of war; Troy will be captured in the tenth.

Mysia
: in the north-western corner of Asia Minor; historically the Troad lay within the province of that name.

Telephos, son of Heracles
: see pp. 88 and 116.