Текст книги "The Library of Greek Mythology"

Автор книги: Apollodorus

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The Theban victory and its aftermath

So when the Thebans consulted him, Teiresias told them that they would be victorious if Menoiceus, the son of Creon, offered himself as a sacrifice to Ares.* On hearing this prophecy, Menoiceus, son of Creon, slaughtered himself in front of the gates. In the ensuing battle, the Cadmeians were chased back to their walls, and Capaneus seized a ladder and was using it to climb the wall when Zeus struck him down* with a thunderbolt. ⁸When this took place, the Argives turned and fled. Because so many had died, Eteocles and Polyneices, in accordance with the decision of both armies, fought for the throne in single combat and killed one another. Fierce fighting broke out once again, and the sons of Astacos performed deeds of valour, Ismaros killing Hippomedon, Leades killing Eteoclos, and Amphidicos killing Parthenopaios (though according to Euripides, Parthenopaios was killed by Periclymenos, son of Poseidon). And Melanippos, the last of the sons of Astacos, wounded Tydeus in the stomach. As he lay half dead, Athene asked Zeus for a remedy and brought it along, with the intention of applying it to make him immortal. But Amphiaraos realized what she intended, and in his hatred against Tydeus for persuading the Argives to march against Thebes in opposition to his own judgement, he cut off the head of Melanippos (for Tydeus, although wounded, had killed Melanippos*) and gave it to Tydeus, who split it open and gulped down the brains. At the sight of this, Athene was so revolted that she withheld her intended favour and refused to grant it. Amphiaraos fled beside the River Ismenos, and before Periclymenos could wound him in the back, Zeus hurled a thunderbolt to open a chasm in the earth. And Amphiaraos was swallowed up in it, together with his chariot and his charioteer Baton (or according to some, Elaton); and Zeus made him immortal.* Adrastos, the sole survivor, was saved by his horse Areion (which Demeter had borne to Poseidon after having intercourse with him in the likeness of a Fury*).

¹Creon, who then succeeded to the Theban throne,* caused

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the bodies of the Argive dead to be thrown out unburied, issued a proclamation that nobody should bury them, and posted guards. But Antigone, one of the daughters of Oedipus, stole the body of Polyneices and gave it a secret burial; and when she was caught in the act, she was buried alive in the grave by Creon himself.

Adrastos made his way to Athens, where he sought refuge at the altar of Pity, and placing a suppliant’s bough* on the altar, he asked to be allowed to bury his dead. The Athenians marched against Thebes with Theseus, captured the city,* and gave the dead to their relatives for burial. As the pyre of Capaneus was blazing, his wife Evadne, daughter of Iphis, threw herself on to it and was burned with her husband.

The Epigoni and the Second Theban War

²Ten years later, the sons of the fallen, who were called the Epigoni,* decided to mount an expedition against Thebes because they wanted to avenge the death of their fathers. When they consulted the oracle, the god foretold victory if Alcmaion was their leader. Although Alcmaion had no desire to lead the expedition before he had punished his mother, he went to war none the less; for Eriphyle, on receiving the robe [of Harmonia] from Polyneices’ son Thersandros, persuaded her sons also to take part* in the expedition. So taking Alcmaion as their leader, the Epigoni went to war against Thebes. Those who took part in the expedition were the following: Alcmaion and Amphilochos, sons of Amphiaraos; Aigialeus, son of Adrastos; Diomedes, son of Tydeus; Promachos, son of Parthenopaios; Sthenelos, son of Capaneus; Thersandros, son of Polyneices; and Euryalos, son of Mecisteus.

³They began by sacking the villages in the neighbourhood of Thebes, and then, when the Thebans under Laodamas, son of Eteocles, advanced against them, they fought with valour. Laodamas killed Aigialeus,* but was killed in his turn by Alcmaion, and after his death the Thebans fled inside their walls. Teiresias then advised them to send a herald to the Argives to talk about a truce while they themselves made their escape. So they sent a herald to the enemy, and in the meantime loaded their women and children on to the wagons and fled from the city. They arrived by night at a spring called Tilphoussa, and as Teiresias drank from it, his life came to an end. After travelling a great distance, the Thebans founded the city of Hestiaia* and settled there. ⁴When the Argives eventually learned that the Thebans had fled, they entered the city, where they gathered together the plunder and pulled down the walls. They sent part of the plunder to Delphi as an offering to Apollo, and with it Manto, daughter of Teiresias; for they had made a vow that if they captured Thebes, they would dedicate the finest of the spoils to the god.

The later history of Alcmaion

⁵After the capture of Thebes, when Alcmaion learned that his mother Eriphyle had accepted bribes to his detriment also, his outrage was all the greater, and in obedience to an oracle granted him by Apollo, he put his mother to death. Some say that he killed her with the help of his brother Amphilochos, others that he did so on his own. Alcmaion was pursued by the Fury of his mother’s murder,* and overcome by madness, he went first to Oicles in Arcadia and then to Phegeus in Psophis; and after he had been purified by Phegeus, he married his daughter Arsinoe, and gave her the necklace and the robe. But afterwards, as a result of his presence, the earth grew barren, and he was told by the god in an oracle to depart to Acheloos and receive from him [a land which had not yet been seen by the Sun*]. So he went first to Oineus in Calydon, who offered him hospitality, and then to the Thesprotians, who drove him from their country; but finally he arrived at the springs of Acheloos, and was purified by him, and received his daughter, Callirrhoe, in marriage. And on land that Acheloos had formed by laying down his silt, he founded a city and settled there.

Later, Callirrhoe wanted to acquire the necklace and the robe, and told Alcmaion that she would no longer live with him unless she obtained them; so he went back to Psophis and told Phegeus that he had been informed by an oracle* that he would be delivered from his madness when he had taken the robe and necklace to Delphi and dedicated them. Phegeus believed him and handed them over; but when a servant revealed that he was taking them to Callirrhoe, the sons of Phegeus, on their father’s orders, set an ambush for Alcmaion and killed him. When Arsinoe rebuked them, the sons of Phegeus packed her into a chest and carried her to Tegea, where they gave her to Agapenor as a slave, on the false accusation that it was she who had murdered Alcmaion. ⁶When Callirrhoe learned of Alcmaion’s death, she asked Zeus (who had become her lover) to cause the sons whom she had borne to Alcmaion to become fully grown, and so enable them to avenge their father’s murder. And all of a sudden her sons were adults, and they set off to avenge their father. It happened that Pronoos and Agenor, the sons of Phegeus, who were taking the necklace and robe to Delphi for dedication, called in at the house of Agapenor at just the same time as Amphoteros and Acarnan, the sons of Alcmaion; so the sons of Alcmaion killed their father’s murderers, and then went on to Psophis, where they entered the palace and killed Phegeus and his wife. They were pursued as far as Tegea, but were saved by the Tegeans and some Argives, who came to their rescue and put the Psophidians to flight.

⁷When they had informed their mother of what had happened, they went to Delphi, and dedicated the necklace and the robe, on the instructions of Acheloos. Then they travelled to Epirus, gathered together some settlers, and founded Acarnania.*

Euripides* says that during the time of his madness Alcmaion had two children by Manto, daughter of Teiresias, namely Amphilochos and a daughter, Tisiphone; and that he took the babies to Corinth and gave them to Creon, king of Corinth, to bring up; and because of her exceptional beauty, Tisiphone was sold into slavery by Creon’s wife, who was afraid that Creon might take her as his wife, and she was purchased by Alcmaion, who kept her as a servant girl without realizing that she was his daughter; and when he returned to Corinth to reclaim his children, he recovered his son also; and Amphilochos, in obedience to oracles from Apollo, founded Amphilochian Argos.*

8. Arcadian mythology (the Pelasgids)

Lycaon and his sons

¹Let us return now to Pelasgos, who is described by

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Acousilaos as a son of Zeus and Niobe, as we observed above,* while Hesiod says that he was born from the earth. By Meliboia, daughter of Oceanos, or according to others, by a nymph, Cyllene, he had a son, Lycaon, who became king of the Arcadians, and by many different women fathered fifty sons:* Melaineus, Thesprotos, Helix, Nyctimos, Peucetios, Caucon, Mecisteus, Hopleus, Macareus, Macednos, Horos, Polichos, Acontes, Evaimon, Ancyor, Archebates, Carteron, Aigaion, Pallas, Eumon, Canethos, Prothoos, Linos, Corethon, Mainalos, Teleboas, Physios, Phassos, Phthios, Lycios, Halipheros, Genetor, Boucolion, Socleus, Phineus, Eumetes, Harpaleus, Portheus, Plato, Haimon, Cynaithos, Leon, Harpalycos, Heraieus, Titanas, Mantineus, Cleitor, Stymphalos, and Orchomenos. They outstripped all men in arrogance and impiety; and Zeus, wanting to test their impiety, visited them in the guise of a labourer. They invited him to share their hospitality, and slaughtering a child from the local population, they mixed his entrails into the sacrifices* and served them up to him, at the instigation of the eldest brother, Mainalos. Zeus, in revulsion, overturned the tableat the place which is now known as Trapezous*and struck Lycaon and his sons with thunderbolts, with the exception of the youngest, Nyctimos, for Ge interceded beforehand by grasping the right hand of Zeus and calming his anger. ²When Nyctimos succeeded to the throne, Deucalion’s flood took place; some said that it had been brought about by the impiety of Lycaon’s sons.

Callisto and the birth of Areas; early Arcadian genealogies

According to Eumelos and some other sources, Lycaon had a daughter too, named Callisto (though Hesiod says that she was one of the nymphs,* Asios that she was a daughter of Nycteus, and Pherecydes that she was a daughter of Ceteus). A companion of Artemis in the hunt, she wore the same clothing, and had sworn to her that she would remain a virgin. But Zeus conceived a passion for her, and despite her unwillingness, had intercourse with her, taking on the form, some say, of Artemis, or according to others, of Apollo; and wanting Hera to remain ignorant of the matter, he turned her into a bear. Hera persuaded Artemis, however, to shoot her* down as a wild beast (though some say that Artemis shot her because she had failed to preserve her virginity). After Callisto’s death, Zeus gathered up her baby son and gave him to Maia to bring up in Arcadia, naming him Areas.* As for Callisto, he turned her into a constellation and called it the Bear.

^lAreas had two sons,* Elatos and Apheidas, by Leaneira,

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daughter of Amyclas (or by Meganeira, daughter of Crocon, or according to Eumelos, by a nymph, Chrysopeleia). They divided the land between them, but Elatos held all the power. Elatos had two sons, Stymphalos and Pereus, by Laodice, daughter of Cinyras; and Apheidas had a son, Aleos, and a daughter, Stheneboia, who became the wife of Proitos. Aleos in turn had a daughter, Auge, and two sons, Cepheus and Lycourgos, by Neaira, daughter of Pereus.

Auge was raped by Heracles,* and hid her baby in the sanctuary of Athene, whose priesthood she held. When the land became infertile and the oracles revealed that there was something sacrilegious in the sanctuary of Athene, she was found out, and delivered by her father to Nauplios to be put to death; but Nauplios passed her on to Teuthras, the ruler of the Mysians, who married her. Her baby was exposed on Mount Parthenion, where a doeoffered him her teat, which is how he came to be called Telephos. After he had been reared by the herdsmen of Corythos, he went to Delphi in the hope of discovering his parents, and following the advice of the god, he made his way to Mysia, where he became the adopted son of Teuthras, and later, when Teuthras died, his successor as king.

Atalante

²Lycourgos had four sons, Ancaios, Epochos, Amphidamas, and Iasos, by Cleophyle or Eurynome. Amphidamas had a son, Melanion, and a daughter, Antimache, who became the wife of Eurystheus. Iasos and Clymene, daughter of Minyas, had a daughter, Atalante.* She was exposed by her father, who desired male children, but a she-bear came along frequently to suckle her until she was discovered by some hunters, who brought her up amongst themselves. When she was fully grown, Atalante preserved her virginity, and spent her time hunting in the wilderness, arms in hand. The Centaurs Rhoicos and Hylaios tried to rape her, but she shot them down with her arrows and killed them. She was present, moreover, amongst the heroes at the hunt for the Calydonian boar,* and at the games held in honour of Pelias* she wrestled with Peleus and defeated him. Later she discovered her parents, and when her father tried to persuade her to marry, she went to a place which was well fitted to be a race-course, and halfway along it she placed a three-cubit stake. From this point, she caused her suitors to set out in advance of her in a race, which she would run fully armed; and if she caught up with any of the suitors, his penalty was death on the spot, and if she did not, his reward was marriage. When many suitors had already perished, Melanion fell in love with her and arrived to take part in the race. He brought with him some golden apples*which he had acquired from Aphrodite, and as Atalante was chasing after him, he threw them down; and when Atalante delayed to pick them up, she was defeated in the race. So Melanion became her husband. And one day, so it is said, while they were out hunting, they entered the sanctuary of Zeus, and when they ventured to make love there, they were turned into lions.

According to Hesiod and some other sources, Atalante was a daughter not of Iasos, but of Schoineus, while according to Euripides, she was a daughter of Mainalos, and her husband was not Melanion, but Hippomenes. She bore to Melanion (or Ares) a son, Parthenopaios, who took part in the expedition against Thebes.

9. Laconian and Trojan mythology (the Atlantids)

The Pleiades

¹To Atlas and Pleione, daughter of Oceanos, seven daughters

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were born at Cyllene in Arcadia, who were known as the Pleiades,* namely, Alcyone, Merope, Celaino, Electra, Sterope, Taygete, and Maia. Of these, Sterope became the wife of Oinomaos, and Merope the wife of Sisyphos; and Poseidon had intercourse with two of them, first with Celaino, who bore him a son, Lycos, whom he settled in the Isles of the Blessed, and secondly with Alcyone, who bore him a daughter, Aithousa (who bore Eleuther to Apollo), and two sons, Hyrieus and Hyperenor. Hyrieus and a nymph, Clonie, had two sons, Nycteus and Lycos; and by Polyxo, Nycteus became the father of Antiope, who bore Zethos and Amphion to Zeus.

The birth and early exploits of Hermes

²Zeus had intercourse with the three remaining daughters of Atlas. After the eldest of them, Maia, had slept with him, she gave birth to Hermes* in a cave on Mount Cyllene. He was laid on a winnowing fan in his swaddling clothes, but freed himself from them and made his way to Pieria,* where he stole the cattle which were being pastured there by Apollo. So as not to be given away by their tracks, he put shoes over their feet, and took them to Pylos, where he concealed them in a cave, except for two that he sacrificed. He nailed the skins of these to some rocks, and some of their flesh he boiled and ate, and some of it he burned; and he then returned swiftly to Cyllene. And in front of the cave there, he found a tortoise grazing. Clearing out the shell, he stretched across it some strings made from the guts of the sacrificed cattle; and after creating a lyre by this means, he also invented the plectrum.

As Apollo was searching for his cattle, he arrived in Pylos and questioned the inhabitants. They said that they had seen a boy driving the cattle away, but were unable to say where they had been driven, because they could find no tracks. Discovering the identity of the thief by divination, Apollo went to Maia in Cyllene and accused Hermes. She pointed to him in his swaddling clothes; and Apollo took him to Zeus, and demanded the return of his cattle. When Zeus ordered him to give them back, Hermes denied that he had them, but meeting with disbelief, he took Apollo to Pylos and handed the cattle back. On hearing his lyre, however, Apollo gave him the cattle in exchange for it; and while Hermes was pasturing them, he made a shepherd’s pipe and played on that. Wanting to acquire the pipe as well, Apollo offered him the golden staff that he possessed as a herdsman. But as well as receiving this in exchange for the pipe, Hermes wanted to acquire the art of divination also. So he handed over the pipe, and learned from Apollo how to divine by the use of pebbles.* And Zeus made him his own herald and herald to the gods of the Underworld.*

Early Lacedaimonian genealogies; the story of Asclepios

³Taygete bore to Zeus a son, Lacedaimon, from whom the land of Lacedaimon derives its name; and by Sparta, daughter of Eurotas (who was a son of Lelex,* who had been born from the earth, and of Cleochareia, a naiad nymph), Lacedaimon had a son, Amyclas, and a daughter, Eurydice, who became the wife of Acrisios. Amyclas and Diomede, daughter of Lapithes, had two sons, Cynortas and Hyacinthos.* This last is said to have been the beloved of Apollo, who accidentally killed him when throwing a discus. Cynortas had a son, Perieres, who married Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus, according to Stesichoros, and fathered Tyndareus, Icarios, Aphareus, and Leucippos. Aphareus* and Arene, daughter of Oibalos, had three sons, Lynceus, Idas, and Peisos; but it is said by many that the father of Idas was in fact Poseidon. Lynceus was remarkable for the sharpness of his sight, which was so acute that he could even see what lay beneath the earth. Leucippos had two daughters, Hilaeira and Phoebe, who were carried off by the Dioscuri, and became their wives.

In addition to these, he had a third daughter, Arsinoe, who gave birth to Asclepios after Apollo had made love with her. Some say, however, that Asclepios was not the daughter of Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippos, but rather of Coronis,* daughter of Phlegyas in Thessaly; and they say that Apollo fell in love with her and immediately had intercourse with her, but that she, against her father’s wishes, preferred Ischys, the brother of Caineus, and became his wife. Apollo cursed the crow that brought him this news, and turned it black, instead of white as it had been hitherto. Coronis he put to death; and as she was consigned to the flames, he seized her [unborn] baby from the pyre, and took him to Cheiron the Centaur, who brought him up and taught him the arts of medicine and hunting. Asclepios became a surgeon, and he developed the art to such a degree that he not only prevented some people from dying, but even raised them from the dead. For he had received from Athene blood that had flowed from the veins of the Gorgon; and he used the blood that had flowed from the veins on the left side* to put people to death, and that which had flowed from the right, to save them—and it was by this means that he raised the dead.t ⁴But Zeus, fearing that human beings would acquire the art of healing from him and be able to come to one another’s rescue, struck him down* with a thunderbolt. Angered by this, Apollo killed the Cyclopes who had forged the thunderbolt* for Zeus. As Zeus was about to hurl him into Tartaros, Leto interceded on his behalf, and he ordered him instead to serve a man as a labourer for a year. So Apollo went to Admetos,* son of Pheres, at Pherae, and served him as a herdsman, causing all his cows to deliver twins at every birth.

Tyndareus, Leda, and their children

But there are those who say that Aphareus and Leucippos were born to Perieres, son of Aiolos, and that Perieres, son of Cynortas, was the father of Oibalos, who fathered Tyndareus, Hippocoon, and Icarios by a naiad nymph, Bateia.*

⁵Hippocoon became father of the following sons: Dorycleus, Scaios, Enarophoros, Euteiches, Boucolos, Lycaithos, Tebros, Hippothoos, Eurytos, Hippocorystes, Alcinous, and Alcon. With the help of his sons, Hippocoon expelled Icarios and Tyndareus* from Lacedaimon. They took refuge with Thestios,* and joined him as allies in the war he was waging against his neighbours; and Tyndareus married Thestios’ daughter, Leda. Afterwards, however, when Heracles had killed Hippocoon and his sons,* they returned to Lacedaimon and Tyndareus succeeded to the throne.

⁶Icarios and a naiad nymph, Periboia, had five sons, Thoas, Damasippos, Imeusimos, Aletes, and Perileos, and a daughter, Penelope, who became the wife of Odysseus; Tyndareus and Leda had some daughters, namely, Timandra, who became the wife of Echemos, and Clytemnestra, who became the wife of Agamemnon, and also Phylonoe, who was made immortal by Artemis.

⁷Taking the form of a swan, Zeus had intercourse with Leda, as did Tyndareus on the same night, and she bore Polydeuces and Helen to Zeus, and Castor* [and Clytemnestra*] to Tyndareus. According to some, however, Helen was a daughter of Zeus by Nemesis;* for when Nemesis tried to avoid intercourse with Zeus by changing herself into a goose, Zeus in turn took the form of a swan and had intercourse with her. As the fruit of their intercourse, she laid an egg, which was discovered in the woods by a shepherd, who took it to Leda and presented it to her. She placed it in a chest and kept it safe, and when in due time Helen hatched out, Leda brought her up as her own daughter.

Helen and her suitors

Helen grew into a girl of such remarkable beauty that Theseus carried her off and took her to Aphidnai;* but while he was in Hades, Polydeuces and Castor marched against the city, captured it, and recovered Helen, and also took away Theseus’ mother, Aithra, as a captive.

⁸The kings of Greece came to Sparta to seek the hand of Helen. These were her suitors: Odysseus, son of Laertes; Diomedes, son of Tydeus; Antilochos, son of Nestor; Agapenor, son of Ancaios; Sthenelos, son of Capaneus; Amphimachos, son of Cteatos; Thalpios, son of Eurytos; Meges, son of Phyleus; Amphilochos, son of Amphiaraos; Menestheus, son of Peteos; Schedios [and] Epistrophos[, sons of Iphitos]; Polyxenos, son of Agasthenes; Peneleos[, son of Hippalcimos]; Leitos[, son of Alector]; Aias, son of Oileus; Ascalaphos and Ialmenos, sons of Ares; Elephenor, son of Chalcodon; Eumelos, son of Admetos; Polypoites, son of Peirithoos; Leonteus, son of Coronos; Podaleirios and Machaon, sons of Asclepios; Philoctetes, son of Poias; Eurypylos, son of Evaimon; Protesilaos, son of Iphiclos; Menelaos, son of Atreus; Aias and Teucros, sons of Telamon; and Patroclos, son of Menoitios.

⁹When Tyndareus saw the throng of suitors, he was afraid that if he picked out one of them, the rest would turn to violence. Odysseus promised, however, that if Tyndareus would help him to gain the hand of Penelope, he would suggest a means by which all dissension could be averted; and when Tyndareus promised his help, Odysseus told him to make all the suitors swear an oath* that they would come to the aid of the chosen bridegroom if he were ever injured by another with regard to his marriage. On hearing this advice, Tyndareus made the suitors swear the oath, and while he himself chose Menelaos as a bridegroom for Helen, he asked Icarios to grant Penelope in marriage to Odysseus.

¹By Helen, Menelaos had a daughter, Hermione, and according

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to some accounts, a son, Nicostratos;* and by a slave-woman, Pieris, of Aetolian descent (or according to Acousilaos, by Tereis), he had a son, Megapenthes, and by a nymph, Cnossia, he had, according to Eumelos, a son, Xenodamos.

The fate of the Dioscuri

²Of the two sons born to Leda, Castor devoted himself to the arts of war, and Polydeuces to boxing; and because of their valour,* the pair were called the Dioscuri. Wishing to marry the daughters of Leucippos,* they abducted them from Messene and took them as their wives; and Polydeuces became the father of Mnesileos by Phoebe, and Castor the father of Anogon by Hilaeira. After driving some plundered cattle from Arcadia with the aid of Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus, they entrusted them to Idas for division. Cutting a cow into four, he said that whoever ate his share first should have half of the plunder, and the one who ate his share second should have the remainder. And before the others had a chance, Idas swallowed down his own portion and then his brother’s too, and with his brother’s help, drove the plunder to Messene. The Dioscuri responded by marching against Messene and taking away the plundered cattle and much else besides; and they waited in ambush for Idas and Lynceus. But Lynceus caught sight of Castor* and revealed his presence to Idas, who killed him. Polydeuces chased after them, and killed Lynceus with a javelin throw, but as he was pursuing Idas, he was hit on the head by a stone that Idas had thrown, and fell unconscious. And Zeus struck Idas with a thunderbolt and carried Polydeuces up to heaven; and when Polydeuces was unwilling to accept immortality while Castor lay dead, Zeus granted that both of them should live alternate days amongst the gods and amongst mortals.* After the Dioscuri had been raised to the gods, Tyndareus summoned Menelaos to Sparta and transferred the kingdom to him.

Early Trojan mythology

¹Electra, daughter of Atlas, had two sons, Iasion and

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Dardanos, by Zeus. Iasion conceived a passion for Demeter and was struck by a thunderbolt because he wanted to violate the goddess;* and Dardanos, stricken with grief at his brother’s death, left Samothrace and went to the mainland opposite.* The king of that land was Teucros, son of the River Scamander and a nymph, Idaia, and its inhabitants were called the Teucrians after him. Dardanos was welcomed by the king, and after receiving a share of the land and the king’s daughter, Bateia, in marriage, he founded a city, Dardanos; and when Teucros died, he called the whole country Dardania. ²He had two sons, Ilos and Erichthonios, one of whom, Ilos, died without offspring, while the other, Erichthonios, inherited the kingdom, married Astyoche, daughter of Simoeis, and became the father of Tros. When Tros succeeded to the throne, he named the country Troy* after himself, and taking Callirrhoe, daughter of Scamander, as his wife, he had a daughter, Cleopatra, and three sons, Ilos, Assaracos, and Ganymede. This Ganymede* was so beautiful that Zeus used an eagle to carry him off, and made him cupbearer to the gods in heaven. Assaracos for his part had a son, Capys, by Hieromneme, daughter of Simoeis. And by Themiste, daughter of Ilos, Capys had a son, Anchises, who aroused Aphrodite’s amorous desire;* and she slept with him, and gave birth to Aeneas, and to Lyros, who died without offspring.

³Ilos went to Phrygia, and finding that games were being held there by the king, he became victor in the wrestling. As a prize he received fifty boys and as many girls, and the king, in obedience to an oracle, also gave him a dappled cow, telling him to found a city at the place where the cow lay down.* So he followed the cow, and when it arrived at a certain hill, called the Hill of Phrygian Ate, it lay down; and there Ilos founded a city, naming it Ilion. And he prayed to Zeus to reveal a sign to him, and when day arrived, he saw the Palladion,* which had fallen from the sky, lying outside his tent. It was three cubits high; its feet were joined together, and in its right hand it held a raised spear and in the other, a distaff and spindle.

This is the story that people tell about the Palladion. They say that after her birth, Athene was brought up by Triton,* who had a daughter, Pallas; and that both girls practised the arts of war, and this led them into conflict one day. And when Pallas was about to land a blow, Zeus grew alarmed and placed his aegis* in the way, causing Pallas to look upwards in fright and fall victim to a fatal wound from Athene. Greatly distressed at her loss, Athene fashioned a wooden statue in her likeness, and wrapping the aegis which had aroused her fear around its chest, she set it up by Zeus’ side and paid honour to it. Subsequently, since Electra had sought refuge at the Palladion when she was raped,* Zeus threw the Palladion along with Ate* into the land of Ilion, where Ilos built a temple for it and honoured it. That is what people say about the Palladion.

Ilos married Eurydice, daughter of Adrastos, and became the father of Laomedon, who married Strymo, daughter of Scamander (though according to some, his wife was Placia, daughter of Otreus, or according to others, Leucippe). Laomedon had five sons, Tithonos, Lampos, Clytios, Hicetaon, and Podarces, and three daughters, Hesione, Cilia, and Astyoche; and by a nymph, Calybe, he had a son, Boucolion.

⁴Dawn so loved Tithonos* that she carried him off and took him to Ethiopia, where she slept with him and gave birth to two sons, Emathion and Memnon.

Priam, Hecuba, and their children

⁵After Ilion was captured by Heracles, as we mentioned* somewhat earlier, Podarces, afterwards known as Priam, became king there. He took as his first wife Arisbe, daughter of Merops, by whom he had a son, Aisacos, who married Asterope, daughter of Cebren, and so mourned for her when she died that he was turned into a bird.* Priam later gave Arisbe to Hyrtacos, and took as his second wife Hecuba, daughter of Dymas (or according to some, the daughter of Cisseus, or according to others, of the River Sangarios and Metope). The first child born to her was Hector; and when her second child was about to be born, Hecuba had a dream* in which she gave birth to a firebrand and the fire spread through the whole city and burned it down. When Priam learned of the dream from Hecuba, he sent for his son Aisacos, who could interpret dreams because he had been taught the art by his maternal grandfather Merops. Aisacos said that the birth of the child meant the ruin of his country, and advised that the baby should be exposed. So when the baby was born, Priam gave it to a servant (Agelaos by name) to be taken to Mount Ida for exposure; and after it had been exposed by him, the baby was suckled for five days by a bear. When Agelaos found the child still alive, he picked him up and took him home to rear in the country as his own son, naming him Paris. When he grew up to be a young man, Paris, who was superior to many in beauty and strength, acquired the further name of Alexander, for warding off robbers and protecting*the flocks. And not long afterwards he rediscovered his parents.*