Apollodorus Library Book 3. Continued

Adapted from The Library, Book III
Translated by Sir James Frazer

This is by no means meant to be a scholarly treatment of Apollodurus' text, mearly a reference guide for the Pantheon Of Gods and Goddesses section of Bulfinch's Mythology.

Part 1 The Theogony

Part 2 The Family Of Inachus (Belus)

Part 3 The Family Of Agenor (Europa)

Book III continued

X

ATLAS and Pleione, daughter of Ocean, had seven daughters called the Pleiades, born to them at Cyllene in Arcadia, to wit: Alcyone, Merope, Celaeno, Electra, Sterope, Taygete, and Maia. Of these, Sterope was married to Oenomaus, and Merope to Sisyphus.

And Poseidon had intercourse with two of them, first with Celaeno, by whom he had Lycus, whom Poseidon made to dwell in the Islands of the Blest, and second with Alcyone, who bore a daughter, Aethusa, the mother of Eleuther by Apollo, and two sons Hyrieus and Hyperenor.

Hyrieus had Nycteus and Lycus by a nymph Clonia; and Nycteus had Antiope by Polyxo; and Antiope had Zethus and Amphion by Zeus.

And Zeus consorted with the other daughters of Atlas.

Maia, the eldest, as the fruit of her intercourse with Zeus, gave birth to Hermes in a cave of Cylle. He was laid in swaddling-bands on the winnowing fan, but he slipped out and made his way to Pieria and stole the kine which Apollo was herding.

And lest he should be detected by the tracks, he put shoes on their feet and brought them to Pylus, and hid the rest in a cave; but two he sacrificed and nailed the skins to rocks, while of the flesh he boiled and ate some, and some he burned. And quickly he departed to Cyllene.

And before the cave he found a tortoise browsing. He cleaned it out, strung the shell with chords made from the kine he had sacrificed, and having thus produced a lyre he invented also a plectrum.

But Apollo came to Pylus in search of the kine, and he questioned the inhabitants. They said that they had seen a boy driving cattle, but could not say whither they had been driven, because they could find no track. Having discovered the thief by divination, Apollo came to Maia at Cyllene and accused Hermes.

But she showed him the child in his swaddling-bands. So Apollo brought him to Zeus, and claimed the kine; and when Zeus bade him restore them, Hermes denied that he had them, but not being believed he led Apollo to Pylus and restored the kine.

Howbeit, when Apollo heard the lyre, he gave the kine in exchange for it.

And while Hermes pastured them, he again made himself a shepherd's pipe and piped on it. And wishing to get the pipe also, Apollo offered to give him the golden wand which he owned while he herded cattle. But Hermes wished both to get the wand for the pipe and to acquire the art of divination. So he gave the pipe and learned the art of divining by pebbles. And Zeus appointed him herald to himself and to the infernal gods.

Taygete had by Zeus a son Lacedaemon, after whom the country of Lacedaemon is called. Lacedaemon and Sparta, daughter of Eurotas who was a son of Lelex, a son of the soil, by a Naiad nymph Cleocharia, had a son Amyclas and a daughter Eurydice, whom Acrisius married.

Amyclas and Diomede, daughter of Lapithus, had sons, Cynortes and Hyacinth. They say that this Hyacinth was beloved of Apollo and killed by him involuntarily with the cast of a quoit.

Cynortes had a son Perieres, who married Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus, as Stesichorus says, and she bore Tyndareus, Icarius, Aphareus, and Leucippus.

Aphareus and Arene, daughter of Oebalus, had sons Lynceus and Idas and Pisus; but according to many, Idas is said to have been gotten by Poseidon.

Lynceus excelled in sharpness of sight, so that he could even see things under ground.

Leucippus had daughters, Hilaira and Phoebe: these the Dioscuri carried off and married. Besides them Leucippus begat Arsinoe: with her Apollo had intercourse, and she bore Aesculapius. But some affirm that Aesculapius was not a son of Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus, but that he was a son of Coronis, daughter of Phlegyas in Thessaly.

And they say that Apollo loved her and at once consorted with her, hut that she, against her father's judgment, preferred and cohabited with Ischys, brother of Caeneus.

Apollo cursed the raven that brought the tidings and made him black instead of white, as he had been before; but he killed Coronis.

As she was burning, he snatched the babe from the pyre and brought it to Chiron, the centaur, by whom he was brought up and taught the arts of healing and hunting.

And having become a surgeon, and carried the art to a great pitch, he not only prevented some from dying, but even raised up the dead; for he had received from Athena the blood that flowed from the veins of the Gorgon, and while he used the blood that flowed from the veins on the left side for the bane of mankind, he used the blood that flowed from the right side for salvation, and by that means he raised the dead.

I found some who are reported to have been raised by him, to wit, Capaneus and Lycurgus, as Stesichorus says in the Eriphyle Hippolytus, as the author of the Naupactica reports Tyndareus, as Panyasis says Hymenaeus, as the Orphics report and Glaucus, son of Minos, as Melesagoras relates.

But Zeus, fearing that men might acquire the healing art from him and so come to the rescue of each other, smote him with a thunderbolt. Angry on that account, Apollo slew the Cyclopes who had fashioned the thunderbolt for Zeus.

But Zeus would have hurled him to Tartarus however, at the intercession of Latona he ordered him to serve as a thrall to a man for a year. So he went to Admetus, son of Pheres, at Pherae, and served him as a herdsman, and caused all the cows to drop twins.

But some say that Aphareus and Leucippus were sons of Perieres, the son of Aeolus, and that Cynortes begat Perieres, and that Perieres begat Oebalus, and that Oebalus begat Tyndareus, Hippocoon, and Icarius by a Naiad nymph Batia.

Now Hippocoon had sons, to wit: Dorycleus, Scaeus, Enarophorus, Eutiches, Bucolus, Lycaethus, Tebrus, Hippothous, Eurytus, Hippocorystes, Alcinus, and Alcon.

With the help of these sons Hippocoon expelled Icarius and Tyndareus from Lacedaemon.

They fled to Thestius and allied themselves with him in the war which he waged with his neighbours and Tyndareus married Leda, daughter of Thestius. But afterwards, when Hercules slew Hippocoon and his sons, they returned, and Tyndareus succeeded to the kingdom.

Icarius and Periboea, a Naiad nymph, had five sons, Thoas, Damasippus, Imeusimus, Aletes, Perileos, and a daughter Penelope, whom Ulysses married.

Tyndareus and Ledahad daughters, to wit, Timandra, whom Echemus married, and Clytaemnestra, whom Agamemnon married also another daughter Phylonoe, whom Artemis made immortal.

But Zeus in the form of a swan consorted with Leda, and on the same night Tyndareus cohabited with her and she bore Pollux and Helen to Zeus, and Castor and Clytaemnestra to Tyndareus.

But some say that Helen was a daughter of Nemesis and Zeus for that she, flying from the arms of Zeus, changed herself into a goose, but Zeus in his turn took the likeness of a swan and so enjoyed her and as the fruit of their loves she laid an egg, and a certain shepherd found it in the groves and brought and gave it to Leda and she put it in a chest and kept it and when Helen was hatched in due time, Leda brought her up as her own daughter.

And when she grew into a lovely woman, Theseus carried her off and brought her to Aphidnae.

But when Theseus was in Hades, Pollux and Castor marched against Aphidnae, took the city, got possession of Helen, and led Aethra, the mother of Theseus, away captive.

Now the kings of Greece repaired to Sparta to win the hand of Helen.

The wooers were these: — Ulysses, son of Laertes Diomedes, son of Tydeus Antilochus, son of Nestor Agapenor, son of Ancaeus Sthenelus, son of Capaneus Amphimachus, son of Cteatus Thalpius, son of Eurytus Meges, son of Phyleus Amphilochus, son of Aniphiaraus Menestheus, son of Peteos Schedius and Epistrophus, sons of Iphitus Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes Peneleos, son of Hippalcimus Leitus, son of Alector Ajax, son of Oileus Ascalaphus and lalmenus, sons of Ares Elephenor, son of Chalcodon Eumelus, son of Admetus Polypoetes, son of Perithous Leonteus, son of Coronus Podalirius and Machaon, sons of Aesculapius Philoctetes, son of Poeas Eurypylus, son of Evaemon Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus Menelaus, son of Atreus Ajax and Teucer, sons of Telamon Patroclus, son of Menoetius.

Seeing the multitude of them, Tyndareus feared that the preference of one might set the others quarrelling but Ulysses promised that, if he would help him to win the hand of Penelope, he would suggest a way by which there would be no quarrel.

And when Tyndareus promised to help him, Ulysses told him to exact an oath from all the suitors that they would defend the favoured bridegroom against any wrong that might be done him in respect of his marriage.

On hearing that, Tyndareus put the suitors on their oath, and while he chose Menelaus to be the bridegroom of Helen, he solicited Icarius to bestow Penelope on Ulysses.

XI

Now Menelaus had by Helen a daughter Hermione and, according to some, a son Nicostratus and by a female slave Pieris, an Aetolian, or, according to Acusilaus, by Tereis, he had a son Megapeiithes and by a nymph Cnossia, according to Eumelus, he had a son Xenodamus.

Of the sons born to Leda Castor practised the art of war, and Pollux the art of boxing and on account of their manliness they were both called Dioscuri. And wishing to marry the daughters of Leucippus, they carried them off from Messene and wedded them and Pollux had Mnesileus by Phoebe, and Castor had Anogon by Hilaira.

And having driven booty of cattle from Arcadia, in company with Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus, they allowed Idas to divide the spoil. He cut a cow in four and said that one half of the booty should be his who ate his share first, and that the rest should be his who ate his share second.

And before they knew where they were, Idas had swallowed his own share first and likewise his brother's, and with him had driven oft the captured cattle to Messene.

But the Dioscuri marched against Messene, and drove away that cattle and much else besides. And they lay in wait for Idas and Lynceus.

But Lynceus spied Castor and discovered him to Idas, who killed him. Pollux chased them and slew Lynceus by throwing his spear, but in pursuing Lynceus he was wounded in the head with a stone thrown by him, and fell down in a swoon.

And Zeus smote Idas with a thunderbolt, but Pollux he carried up to heaven. Nevertheless, as Pollux refused to accept immortality while his brother Castor was dead, Zeus permitted them both to be every other day among the gods and among mortals.

And when the Dioscuri were translated to the gods, Tyndareus sent for Menelaus to Sparta and handed over the kingdom to him, Ilus and Erichthonius, of whom Ilus died childless, and Erichthonius succeeded to the kingdom and marrying Astyoche, daughter of Simoeis, begat Tros.

On succeeding to the kingdom, Tros called the country Troy after himself, and marrying Callirrhoe, daughter of Scamander, he begat a daughter Cleopatra, and sons, Ilus, Assaracus, and Ganymede.

This Ganymede, for the sake of his beauty, Zeus caught up on an eagle and appointed him cupbearer of the gods in heaven and Assaracus had by his wife Hieromneme, daughter of Simoeis, a son Capys and Capys had by his wife Themiste, daughter of Ilus, a son Anchises, whom Aphrodite met in love's dalliance, and to whom she bore Aeneas and Lyrus, who died childless.

But Ilus went to Phrygia, and finding games held there by the king, he was victorious in wrestling. As a prize he received fifty youths and as many maidens, and the king, in obedience to an oracle, gave him also a dappled cow and bade him found a city wherever the animal should lie down so he followed the cow.

And when she was come to what was called the hill of the Phrygian Ate, she lay down there Ilus built a city and called it Ilium. And having prayed to Zeus that a sign might be shown to him, he beheld by day the Palladium, fallen from heaven, lying before his tent.

It was three cubits in height, its feet joined together in its right hand it held a spear aloft, and in the other hand a distaff and spindle.

The story told about the Palladium is as follows: They say that when Athena was born she was brought up by Triton, who had a daughter Pallas and that both girls practised the arts of war, but that once on a time they fell out and when Pallas was about to strike a blow, Zeus in fear interposed the aegis, and Pallas, being startled, looked up, and so fell wounded by Athena.

And being exceedingly grieved for her, Athena made a wooden image in her likeness, and wrapped the aegis, which she had feared, about the breast of it, and set it up beside Zeus and honoured it.

But afterwards Electra, at the time of her violation, took refuge at the image, and Zeus threw the Palladium along with Ate into the Ilian country and Ilus built a temple for it, and honoured it.

Such is the legend of the Palladium.

And Ilus married Eurydice, daughter of Adrastus, and begat Laomedon, who married Strymo, daughter of Scamander but according to some his wife was Placia, daughter of Otreus, and according to others she was Leucippe and he begat five sons, Tithonus, Lampus, Clytius, Hicetaon, Podarces, and three daughters, Hesione, Cilia, and Astyoche and by a nymph Calybe he had a son Bucolion. Now the Dawn snatched away Tithonus for love and brought him to Ethiopia, and there consorting with him she bore two sons, Emathion and Memnon.

But after that Ilium was captured by Hercules, as we have related a little before, Podarces, who was called Priam, came to the throne, and he married first Arisbe, daughter of Merops, by whom he had a son Aesacus, who married Asterope, daughter of Cebren, and when she died he mourned for her and was turned into a bird.

But Priam handed over Arisbe to Hyrtacus and married a second wife Hecuba, daughter of Dymas, or, as some say, of Cisseus, or, as others say, of the river Sangarius and Metope.

The first son born to her was Hector and when a second babe was about to be born Hecuba dreamed she had brought forth a firebrand,, and that the fire spread over the whole city and burned it.

When Priam learned of the dream from Hecuba, he sent for his son Aesacus, for he was an interpreter of dreams, having been taught by his mother's father Merops.

He declared that the child was begotten to be the ruin of his country and advised that the babe should be exposed. When the babe was born Priam gave it to a servant to take and expose on Ida now the servant was named Agelaus. Exposed by him, the infant was nursed for five days by a bear and, when he found it safe, he took it up, carried it away, brought it up as his own son on his farm, and named him Paris.

When he grew to be a young man, Paris excelled many in beauty and strength, and was afterwards surnamed Alexander, because he repelled robbers and defended the flocks. And not long afterwards he discovered his parents.

After him Hecuba gave birth to daughters, Creusa, Laodice, Polyxena, and Cassandra.

Wishing to gain Cassandra's favours, Apollo promised to teach her the art of prophecy she learned the art but refused her favours hence Apollo deprived her prophecy of power to persuade.

Afterwards Hecuba bore sons, Deiphobus, Helenus, Pammon, Polites, Antiphus, Hipponous, Polydorus, and Troilus: this last she is said to have had by Apollo.

By other women Priam had sons, to wit, Melanippus, Gorgythion, Philaemon, Hippothous, Glaucus, Agathon, Chersidamas, Evagoras, Hippodamas, Mestor, Atas, Doryclus, Lycaon, Dryops, Bias, Chromius, Astygonus, Telestas, Evander, Cebriones, Mylius, Archemachus, Laodocus, Echephron, Idomeneus, Hyperion, Ascanius, Democoon, Aretus, Deiopites, Clonius, Echemmon, Hypirochus, Aegeoneus, Lysithous, Polymedon and daughters, to wit, Medusa, Medesicaste, Lysimache, and Aristodeme.

Now Hector married Andromache, daughter of Eetion, and Alexander married Oenone, daughter of the river Cebren.

She had learned from Rhea the art of prophecy, and warned Alexander not to sail to fetch Helen but failing to persuade him, she told him to come to her if he were wounded, for she alone could heal him.

When he had carried off Helen from Sparta and Troy was besieged, he was shot by Philoctetes with the bow of Hercules, and went back to Oenone on Ida. But she, nursing her grievance, refused to heal him. So Alexander was carried to Troy and died. But Oenone repented her, and brought the healing drugs and finding him dead she hanged herself.

The Asopus river was a son of Ocean and Tethys, or, as Acusilaus says, of Pero and Poseidon, or, according to some, of Zeus and Eurynome.

Him Metope, herself a daughter of the river Ladon, married and bore two sons, Ismenus and Pelagon, and twenty daughters, of whom one, Aegina, was carried off by Zeus.

In search of her Asopus came to Corinth, and learned from Sisyphus that the ravisher was Zeus. Asopus pursued him, but Zeus, by hurling thunderbolts, sent him away back to his own streams hence coals are fetched to this day from the streams of that river.

And having conveyed Aegina to the island then named Oenone, but now called Aegina after her, Zeus cohabited with her and begot a son Aeacus on her. As Aeacus was alone in the island, Zeus made the ants into men for him.

And Aeacus married Endeis, daughter of Sciron, by whom he had two sons, Peleus and Telamon. But Pherecydes says that Telamon was a friend, not a brother of Peleus, he being a son of Actaeus and Glauce, daughter of Cychreus.

Afterwards Aeacus cohabited with Psamathe, daughter of Nereus, who turned herself into a seal to avoid his embraces, and he begot a son Phocus.

Now Aeacus was the most pious of men. Therefore, when Greece suffered from infertility on account of Pelops, because in a war with Stymphalus, king of the Arcadians, being unable to conquer Arcadia, he slew the king under a pretence of friendship, and scattered his mangled limbs, oracles of the gods declared that Greece would be rid of its present calamities if Aeacus would offer prayers on its behalf.

So Aeacus did offer prayers, and Greece was delivered from the dearth. Even after his death Aeacus is honoured in the abode of Pluto, and keeps the keys of Hades.

As Phocus excelled in athletic sports, his brothers Peleus and Telamon plotted against him, and the lot falling on Telamon, he killed his-brother in a match by throwing a quoit at his head, and with the help of Peleus carried the body and hid it in a wood.

But the murder being detected, the two were driven fugitives from Aegina by Aeacus. And Telamon betook himself to Salamis, to the court of Cychreus, son of Poseidon and Salamis, daughter of Asopus. This Cychreus became king of Salamis through killing a snake which ravaged the island, and dying childless he bequeathed the kingdom to Telamon. And Telamon married Periboea, daughter of Alcathus, son of Pelops, and called his son Ajax, because when Hercules had prayed that he might have a male child, an eagle appeared after the prayer.

And having gone with Hercules on his expedition against Troy, he received as a prize Hesione, daughter of Laomedon, by whom he had a son Teucer.

XIII

Peleus fled to Phthia to the court of Eurytion, son of Actor, and was purified by him, and he received from him his daughter Antigone and the third part of the country.

And a daughter Polydora was born to him, who was wedded by Borus, son of Perieres.

Thence he went with Eurytion to hunt the Calydonian boar, but in throwing a dart at the hog he involuntarily struck and killed Eurytion. Therefore flying again from Phthia he betook him to Acastus at lolcus and was purified by him.

And at the games celebrated in honour of Pelias he contended in wrestling with Atalanta.

And Astydamia, wife of Acastus, fell in love with Peleus, and sent him a proposal for a meeting and when she could not prevail on him she sent word to his wife that Peleus was about to marry Sterope, daughter of Acastus on healing which the wife of Peleus strung herself up.

And the wife of Acastus falsely accused Peleus to her husband, alleging that he had attempted her virtue. On hearing that, Acastus would not kill the man whom he had purified, but took him to hunt on Pelion. There a contest taking place in regard to the hunt, Peleus cut out and put in his pouch the tongues of the animals that fell to him, while the party of Acastus bagged his game and derided him as if he had taken nothing.

But he produced them the tongues, and said that he had taken just as many animals as he had tongues.

When he had fallen asleep on Pelion, Acastus deserted him, and hiding his sword in the cows' dung, returned. On arising and looking for his sword, Peleus was caught by the centaurs and would have perished, if he had not been saved by Chiron, who also restored him his sword, which he had sought and found.

Peleus married Polydora, daughter of Perieres, by whom he had a putative son Menesthius, though in fact Menesthius was the son of the river Sperchius.

Afterwards he married Thetis, daughter of Nereus, for whose hand Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals hut when Themis prophesied that the son born of Thetis would be mightier than his father, they withdrew.

But some say that when Zeus was bent on gratifying his passion for her, Prometheus declared that the son borne to him by her would be lord of heaven and others affirm that Thetis would not consort with Zeus because she had been brought up by Hera, and that Zeus in anger would marry her to a mortal.

Chiron, therefore, having advised Peleus to seize her and hold her fast in spite of her shape-shifting, he watc'hed his chance and carried her off, and though she turned, now into fire, now into water, and now into a beast, he did not let her go till he saw that she had resumed 6 her former shape. And he married her on Pelion, and there the gods celebrated the marriage with feast and song.

And Chiron gave Peleus an ashen spear, and Poseidon gave him horses, Balius and Xanthus, and these were immortal.

When Thetis had got a babe by Peleus, she wished to make it immortal, and unknown to Peleus she used to hide it in the fire by night in order to destroy the mortal element which the child inherited from its father, but by day she anointed him with ambrosia.

But Peleus watched her, and, seeing the child writhing on the fire, he cried out and Thetis, thus prevented from accomplishing her purpose, forsook her infant son and departed to the Nereids.

Peleus brought the child to Chiron, who received him and fed him on the inwards of lions and wild swine and the marrows of bears, and named him Achilles, because he had not put his lips to the breast but before that time his name was Ligyron.

After that Peleus, with Jason and the Dioscuri, laid waste lolcus and he slaughtered Astydamia, wife of Acastus, and, having divided her limb from 1 limb, he led the army through her into the city.

When Achilles was nine years old, Calchas declared that Troy could not be taken without him so Thetis, foreseeing that it was fated he should perish if he went to the war, disguised him in female garb and entrusted him as a maiden to Lycomedes.

Bred at his court, Achilles had an intrigue with Deidamia, daughter of Lycomedes, and a son Pyrrhus was horn to him, who was afterwards called Neoptolemus. But the secret of Achilles was betrayed, and Ulysses, seeking him at the court of Lycomedes, discovered him by the blast of a trumpet. And in that way Achilles went to Troy.

He was accompanied by Phoenix, son of Amyntor.

This Phoenix had been blinded by his father on the strength of a false accusation of seduction preferred against him by his father's concubine Phthia. But Peleus brought him to Chiron, who restored his sight, and thereupon Peleus made him king of the Dolopians.

Achilles was also accompanied by Patroclus, son ot Menoetius and Sthenele, daughter of Acastus or the mother of Patroclus was Periopis, daughter of Pheres, or, as Philocrates says, she was Polymele, daughter of Peleus.

At Opus, in a quarrel over a game of dice, Patroclus killed the boy Clitonymus, son of Amphidamas, and flying with his father he dwelt at the house of Peleus and became a minion of Achilles.

XIV

Cecrops, a son of the soil, with a body compounded of man and serpent, was the first king of Attica, and the country which was formerly called Acte he named Cecropia after himself.

In his time, they say, the gods resolved to take possession of cities in which each of them should receive his own peculiar worship. So Poseidon was the first that came to Attica, and with a blow of his trident on the middle of the acropolis, he produced a sea which they now call Erechtheis.

After him came Athena, and, having called on Cecrops to witness her act of taking possession, she planted an olive-tree, which is still shown in the Pandrosium.

But when the two strove for possession of the country, Zeus parted them and appointed arbiters, not, as some have affirmed, Cecrops and Cranaus, nor yet Erysichthon, but the twelve gods. And in accordance with their verdict the country was adjudged to Athena, because Cecrops bore witness that she had been the first to plant the olive.

Athena, therefore, called the city Athens after herself, and Poseidon in hot anger flooded the Thriasian plain and laid Attica under the sea.

Cecrops married Agraulus, daughter of Actaeus, and had a son Erysichthon, who departed this life childless and Cecrops had daughters, Agraulus, Herse, and Pandrosus. Agraulus had a daughter Alcippe by Ares.

In attempting to violate Alcippe, Halirrhothius, son of Poseidon and a nymph Euryte, was detected and killed by Ares.

Impeached by Poseidon, Ares was tried in the Areopagus before the twelve gods, and was acquitted.

Herse had by Hermes a son Cephalus, whom Dawn loved and carried off, and consorting with him in Syria bore a son Tithonus, who had a son Phaethon, who had a son Astynous, who had a son Sandocus, who passed from Syria to Cilicia and founded a city Celenderis, and having married Pharnace, daughter of Megassares, king of Hyria, begat Cinyras.

This Cinyras in Cyprus, whither he had come with some people, founded Paphos and having there married Metharme, daughter of Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, he begat Oxyporus and Adonis, and besides them daughters, Orsedice, Laogore, and Braesia. These by reason of the wrath of Aphrodite cohabited with foreigners, and ended their life in Egypt.

And Adonis, while still a boy, was wounded and killed in hunting by a boar through the anger of Artemis. Hesiod, however, affirms that he was a son of Phoenix and Alphesiboea and Panyasis says that he was a son of Thias, king of Assyria who had a daughter Smyrna.

In consequence of the wrath of Aphrodite, for she did not honour the goddess, this Smyrna conceived a passion for her father, and with the complicity of her nurse she shared her father's bed without his knowledge for twelve nights.

But when he was aware of it, he drew his sword and pursued her, and being overtaken she prayed to the gods that she might be invisible so the gods in compassion turned her into the tree which they call smyrna (myrrh).

Ten months afterwards the tree burst and Adonis, as he is called, was born, whom for the sake of his beauty, while he was still an infant, Aphrodite hid in a chest unknown to the gods and entrusted to Persephone. But when Persephone beheld him, she would not give him back.

The case being tried before Zeus, the year was divided into three parts, and the god ordained that Adonis should stay by himself for one part of the year, with Persephone for one part, and with Aphrodite for the remainder.

However Adonis made over to Aphrodite his own share in addition but afterwards in hunting he was gored and killed by a boar.

When Cecrops died, Cranaus came to the throne he was a son of the soil, and it was in his time that the flood in the age of Deucalion is said to have taken place.

He married a Lacedaemonian wife, Pedias, daughter of Mynes, and begat Cranae, Menaechme, and Atthis and when Atthis died a maid, Cranaus called the country Atthis.

Cranaus was expelled by Amphictyon, who reigned in his stead some say that Amphictyon was a son of Deucalion, others that he was a son of the soil and when he had reigned twelve years he was expelled by Erichthonius.

Some say that this Erichthonius was a son of Hephaestus and Atthis, daughter of Cranaus, and some that he was a son of Hephaestus and Athena, as follows: Athena came to Hephaestus, desirous of fashioning arms.

But he, being forsaken by Aphrodite, fell in love with Athena, and began to pursue her but she fled.

When he got near her with much ado (for he was lame), he attempted to embrace her but she, being a chaste virgin, would not submit to him, and he dropped his seed on the leg of the goddess.

In disgust, she wiped off the seed with wool and threw it on the ground and as she fled and the seed fell on the ground, Erichthonius was produced.

Him Athena brought up unknown to the other gods, wishing to make him immortal and having put him in a chest, she committed it to Pandrosus, daughter of Cecrops, forbidding her to open the chest.

But the sisters of Pandrosus opened it out of curiosity, and beheld a serpent coiled about the babe and, as some say, they were destroyed by the serpent, but ac- cording to others they were driven mad by reason of the anger of Athena and threw themselves down from the acropolis.

Having been brought up by Athena herself in the precinct, Erichthonius expelled Amphictyon and became king of Athens and he set up the wooden image of Athena in the acropolis, and instituted the festival of the Panathenaea and married Praxithea, a Naiad nymph, by whom he had a son Pandion.

When Erichthonius died and was buried in the same precinct of Athena, Pandion became king, in whose time Demeter and Dionysus came to Attica.

But Demeter was welcomed by Celeus at Eleusis, and Dionysus by Icarius, who received from him a branch of a vine and learned the process of making wine. And wishing to bestow the god's boons on men, Icarius went to some shepherds, who, having tasted the beverage and quaffed it copiously without water for the pleasure of it, imagined that they were bewitched and killed him but by day they understood how it was and buried him.

When his daughter Erigone was searching for her father, a domestic dog, named Maera, which had attended Icarius, discovered his dead body to her, and she bewailed her father and hanged herself.

Pandion married Zeuxippe, his mother's sister, and begat two daughters,, Procne and Philomela, and twin sons, Erechtheus and Butes. But war having broken out with Labdacus on a question of boundaries, he called in the help of Tereus, son of Ares, from Thrace, and having with his help brought the war to a successful close, he gave Tereus his own daughter Procne in marriage.

Tereus had by her a son Itys, and having fallen in love with Philomela, he seduced her also saying that Prociie was dead, for he concealed her in the country.

Afterwards he married Philomela and bedded with her, and cut out her tongue.

But by weaving characters in a robe she revealed thereby to Procne her sorrows.

And having sought out her sister, Prdqne killed her son Itys, boiled him, served him up for supper to the unwitting Tereus, and fled with her sister in haste.

When Tereus was aware of what had happened, he snatched up an axe and pursued them. And being overtaken at Daulia in Phocis, they prayed the gods to be turned into birds, and Procne became a nightingale, and Philomela a swallow. And Tereus also was changed into a bird and became a hoopoe.

XV

When Pandion died, his sons divided their father's inheritance between them, and Erechtheus got the kingdom, and Butes got the priesthood of Athena and Poseidon Erechtheus. Erechtheus married Praxithea, daughter of Phrasimus by Diogenia, daughter of Cephisus, and had sons, to wit, Cecrops, Pandorus, and Metion and daughters, to wit, Procris, Creusa, Chthonia, and Orithyia, who was carried off by Boreas.

Chthonia was married to Butes, Creusa to Xuthus, and Procris to Cephalus, son of Deion. Bribed by a golden crown, Procris admitted Pteleon to her bed, and being detected by Cephalus she fled to Minos. But he fell in love with her and tried to seduce her.

Now if any woman had intercourse with Minos, it was impossible for her to escape with life for because Minos cohabited with many women, Pasiphae bewitched him, and whenever he took another woman to his bed, he discharged wild beasts at her joints, and so the women perished.

But Minos had a swift dog and a dart that flew straight and in return for these gifts Procris shared his bed, having first given him the Circaean root to drink that he might not harm her. But afterwards, fearing the wife of Minos, she came to Athens and being reconciled to Cephalus she went forth with him to the chase for she was fond of hunting. As she was in pursuit of game in the thicket, Cephalus, not knowing she was there, threw a dart, hit and killed Procris, and, being tried in the Areopagus, was condemned to perpetual banishment.

While Orithyia was playing by the Ilissus river, Boreas carried her off and had intercourse with her and she bore daughters, Cleopatra and Chione, and winged sons, Zetes and Calais. These sons sailed with Jason and met their end in chasing the Harpies but according to Acusilaus, they were killed hy Hercules in Tenos.

Cleopatra was married to Phineus, who had by her two sons, Plexippus and Pandion. When he had these sons by Cleopatra, he married Idaea, daughter of Dardanus.

She falsely accused her stepsons to Phineus of corrupting her virtue, and Phineus, believing her, blinded them both. But when the Argonauts sailed past with Boreas, they punished him.

Chione had connexion with Poseidon, and having given birth to Eumolpus unknown to her father, in order not to be detected, she flung the child into the deep.

But Poseidon picked him up and conveyed him to Ethiopia, and gave him to Benthesicyme (a daughter of his own by Amphitrite) to bring up. When he was full grown, Benthesicyme's husband gave him one of his two daughters. But he tried to force his wife's sister, and being banished on that account, he went with his son Ismarus to Tegyrius, king of Thrace, who gave his daughter in marriage to Eumolpus's son. But being afterwards detected in a plot against Tegyrius, he fled to the Eleusinians and made friends with them.

Later, on the death of Ismarus, he was sent for by Tegyrius and went, composed his old feud with him, and succeeded to the kingdom.

And war having broken out between the Athenians and the Eleusinians, he was called in by the Eleusinians and fought on their side with a large force of Thracians. When Erechtheus inquired of the oracle how the Athenians might be victorious, the god answered that they would win the war if he would slaughter one of his daughters and when he slaughtered his youngest, the others also slaughtered themselves for, as some said, they had taken an oath among themselves to perish together.

In the battle which took place after the slaughter, Erechtheus killed Eumolpus. But Poseidon having destroyed Erechtheus and his house, Cecrops, the eldest of the sons of Erechtheus, succeeded to the throne.

He married Metiadusa, daughter ofEupalamus, and begat Pandion. This Pandion, reigning after Cecrops, was expelled by the sons of Metioii in a sedition, and going to Pylas at Megara married his daughter Pylia. And at a later time he was even appointed king of the city for Pylas slew his father's brother Bias and gave the kingdom to Pandioii, while he himself repaired to Peloponnese with a body of people and founded the city of Pylus.

While Pandion was at Megara, he had sons born to him, to wit, Aegeus, Pallas, Nisus, and Lycus. But some say that Aegeus was a son of Scyrius, but was passed off by Pandion as his own.

After the death of Pandion his sons marched against Athens, expelled the Metkmids, and divided the government in four but Aegeus had the whole power.

The first wife whom he married was Meta, daughter of Hoples, and the second was Chalciope, daughter of Rhexenor. As no child was born to him, he feared his brothers, and went to Pythia and consulted the oracle concerning the begetting of children.

The god answered him :— "The bulging mouth of the wineskin, O best of men, Loose not until thou hast reached the height of Athens."

Not knowing what to make of the oracle, he set out on his return to Athens. And journeying by way of Troezen, he lodged with Pittheus, son of Pelops, who, understanding the oracle, made him drunk and caused him to lie with his daughter Aethra.

But in the same night Poseidon also had connexion with her.

Now Aegeus charged Aethra that, if she gave birth to a male child, she should rear it, without telling whose it was and he left a sword and sandals under a certain rock, saying that when the boy could roll away the rock and take them up, she w as then to send him away with them.

But he himself came to Athens and celebrated the games of the Panathenian festival, in which An- drogeus, son of Minos, vanquished all comers.

Him Aegeus sent against the bull of Marathon, by which he was destroyed. But some say that as he journeyed to Thebes to take part in the games in honour of Laius, he was waylaid and murdered by the jealous competitors. But when the tidings of his death were brought to Minos, as he was sacrificing to the Graces in Paros, he threw away the garland from his head and stopped the music of the flute, but nevertheless completed the sacrifice hence down to this day they sacrifice to the Graces in Paros without flutes and garlands.

But not long afterwards, being master of the sea, he attacked Athens with a fleet and captured Megara, then ruled by king Nisus, son of Pandion, and he slew Megareus, son of Hippomenes, who had come from Onchestus to the help of Nisus.

Now Nisus perished through his daughter's treachery. For he had a purple hair on the middle of his head, and an oracle ran that when it was pulled out he should die and his daughter Scylla fell in love with Minos and pulled out the hair.

But when Minos had made himself master of Megara, he tied the damsel by the feet to the stern of the ship and drowned her.

When the war lingered on and he could not take Athens, he prayed to Zeus that he might be avenged on the Athenians. And the city being visited with a famine and a pestilence, the Athenians at first, in obedience to an ancient oracle, slaughtered the daughters of Hyacinth, to wit, Antheis, Aegleis, Lytaea, and Orthaea, on the grave of Geraestus, the Cyclops now Hyacinth, the father of the damsels, had come from Lacedaemon and dwelt in Athens.

But when this was of no avail, they inquired of the oracle how they could be delivered and the god answered them that they should give Minos whatever satisfaction he might choose. So they sent to Minos and left it to him to claim satisfaction.

And Minos ordered them to send seven youths and the same number of damsels without weapons to be fodder for the Minotaur.

Now the Minotaur was confined in a labyrinth, in which he who entered could not find his way out for many a winding turn shut off the secret outward way. The labyrinth was constructed by Daedalus, whose father was Eupalainus, son of Metion, and whose mother was Alcippe for he was an excellent architect and the first inventor of images.

He had fled from Athens, because he had thrown down from the acropolis Talos, the son of his sister Perdix for Talos was his pupil, and Daedalus feared that with his talents he might sur- pass himself, seeing that he had sawed a thin stick with a jawbone of a snake which he had found.

But the corpse was discovered Daedalus was tried in the Areopagus, and being condemned fled to Minos. And there Pasiphae having fallen in love with the bull of Poseidon, Daedalus acted as her accomplice by contriving a wooden cow, and he constructed the labyrinth, to which the Athenians every year sent seven youths and as many damsels to be fodder for the Minotaur.

XVI

Aethra bore to Aegeus a son Theseus, and when he was grown up, he pushed away the rock and took up the sandals and the sword, and hastened on foot to Athens. And he cleared the road, which had been beset by evildoers.

For first in Epidaurus he slew Periphetes, son of Hephaestus and Anticlia, who was surnamed the Clubman from the club which he carried. For being crazy on his legs he carried an iron club, with which he despatched the passersby. That club Theseus wrested from him and continued to carry about.

Second, he killed Sinis, son of Polypemon and Sylea, daughter of Corinthus.

This Sinis was surnamed the Pine-bender for inhabiting the Isthmus of Corinth he used to force the passers-by to keep bending pine-trees but they were too weak to do so, and being tossed up by the trees they perished miserably.

In that way also Theseus killed Sinis.