Apollodorus, Library (epitome)

ToposText · Apollodorus · 176 sections

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.2
§ e.1.2 Fourth, he slew Sciron, the Corinthian, son of Pelops, or, as some say, of Poseidon. He in the Megarian territory held the rocks called after him Scironian, and compelled passers-by to wash his feet, and in the act of washing he kicked them into the deep to be the prey of a huge turtle.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.3
§ e.1.3 But Theseus seized him by the feet and threw him into the sea. Fifth, in Eleusis he slew Cercyon, son of Branchus and a nymph Argiope. This Cercyon compelled passers-by to wrestle, and in wrestling killed them. But Theseus lifted him up on high and dashed him to the ground.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.4
§ e.1.4 Sixth, he slew Damastes, whom some call Polypemon. He had his dwelling beside the road, and made up two beds, one small and the other big; and offering hospitality to the passers-by, he laid the short men on the big bed and hammered them, to make them fit the bed; but the tall men he laid on the little bed and sawed off the portions of the body that projected beyond it. So, having cleared the road, Theseus came to Athens.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.5
§ e.1.5 But Medea, being then wedded to Aegeus, plotted against him and persuaded Aegeus to beware of him as a traitor. And Aegeus, not knowing his own son, was afraid and sent him against the Marathonian bull.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.6
§ e.1.6 And when Theseus had killed it, Aegeus presented to him a poison which he had received the selfsame day from Medea. But just as the draught was about to be administered to him, he gave his father the sword, and on recognizing it Aegeus dashed the cup from his hands. And when Theseus was thus made known to his father and informed of the plot, he expelled Medea.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.7
§ e.1.7 And he was numbered among those who were to be sent as the third tribute to the Minotaur; or, as some affirm, he offered himself voluntarily. And as the ship had a black sail, Aegeus charged his son, if he returned alive, to spread white sails on the ship.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.8
§ e.1.8 And when he came to Crete, Ariadne, daughter of Minos, being amorously disposed to him, offered to help him if he would agree to carry her away to Athens and have her to wife. Theseus having agreed on oath to do so, she besought Daedalus to disclose the way out of the Labyrinth.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.9
§ e.1.9 And at his suggestion she gave Theseus a clue when he went in; Theseus fastened it to the door, and, drawing it after him, entered in. And having found the Minotaur in the last part of the Labyrinth, he killed him by smiting him with his fists; and drawing the clue after him made his way out again. And by night he arrived with Ariadne and the children at Naxos. There Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne and carried her off; and having brought her to Lemnos he enjoyed her, and begat Thoas, Staphylus, Oenopion, and Peparethus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.10
§ e.1.10 In his grief on account of Ariadne, Theseus forgot to spread white sails on his ship when he stood for port; and Aegeus, seeing from the Acropolis the ship with a black sail, supposed that Theseus had perished; so he cast himself down and died.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.11
§ e.1.11 But Theseus succeeded to the sovereignty of Athens, and killed the sons of Pallas, fifty in number; likewise all who would oppose him were killed by him, and he got the whole government to himself.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.12
§ e.1.12 On being apprized of the flight of Theseus and his company, Minos shut up the guilty Daedalus in the Labyrinth, along with his son Icarus, who had been borne to Daedalus by Naucrate, a female slave of Minos. But Daedalus constructed wings for himself and his son, and enjoined his son, when he took to flight, neither to fly high, lest the glue should melt in the sun and the wings should drop off, nor to fly near the sea, lest the pinions should be detached by the damp.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.13
§ e.1.13 But the infatuated Icarus, disregarding his father's injunctions, soared ever higher, till, the glue melting, he fell into the sea called after him Icarian, and perished. But Daedalus made his way safely to Camicus in Sicily.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.14
§ e.1.14 And Minos pursued Daedalus, and in every country that he searched he carried a spiral shell and promised to give a great reward to him who should pass a thread through the shell, believing that by that means he should discover Daedalus. And having come to Camicus in Sicily, to the court of Cocalus, with whom Daedalus was concealed, he showed the spiral shell. Cocalus took it, and promised to thread it, and gave it to Daedalus;
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.15
§ e.1.15 and Daedalus fastened a thread to an ant, and, having bored a hole in the spiral shell, allowed the ant to pass through it. But when Minos found the thread passed through the shell, he perceived that Daedalus was with Cocalus, and at once demanded his surrender. Cocalus promised to surrender him, and made an entertainment for Minos; but after his bath Minos was undone by the daughters of Cocalus; some say, however, that he died through being drenched with boiling water.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.16
§ e.1.16 Theseus joined Hercules in his expedition against the Amazons and carried off Antiope, or, as some say, Melanippe; but Simonides calls her Hippolyte. Wherefore the Amazons marched against Athens, and having taken up a position about the Areopagus they were vanquished by the Athenians under Theseus. And though he had a son Hippolytus by the Amazon,
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.17
§ e.1.17 Theseus afterwards received from Deucalion in marriage Phaedra, daughter of Minos; and when her marriage was being celebrated, the Amazon that had before been married to him appeared in arms with her Amazons, and threatened to kill the assembled guests. But they hastily closed the doors and killed her. However, some say that she was slain in battle by Theseus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.18
§ e.1.18 And Phaedra, after she had borne two children, Acamas and Demophon, to Theseus, fell in love with the son he had by the Amazon, to wit, Hippolytus, and besought him to lie with her. Howbeit, he fled from her embraces, because he hated all women. But Phaedra, fearing that he might accuse her to his father, cleft open the doors of her bed-chamber, rent her garments, and falsely charged Hippolytus with an assault.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.19
§ e.1.19 Theseus believed her and prayed to Poseidon that Hippolytus might perish. So, when Hippolytus was riding in his chariot and driving beside the sea, Poseidon sent up a bull from the surf, and the horses were frightened, the chariot dashed in pieces, and Hippolytus, entangled in the reins, was dragged to death. And when her passion was made public, Phaedra hanged herself.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.20
§ e.1.20 Ixion fell in love with Hera and attempted to force her; and when Hera reported it, Zeus, wishing to know if the thing were so, made a cloud in the likeness of Hera and laid it beside him; and when Ixion boasted that he had enjoyed the favours of Hera, Zeus bound him to a wheel, on which he is whirled by winds through the air; such is the penalty he pays. And the cloud, impregnated by Ixion, gave birth to Centaurus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.21
§ e.1.21 “And Theseus allied himself with Pirithous, when he engaged in war against the centaurs. For when Pirithous wooed Hippodamia, he feasted the centaurs because they were her kinsmen. But being unaccustomed to wine, they made themselves drunk by swilling it greedily, and when the bride was brought in, they attempted to violate her. But Pirithous, fully armed, with Theseus, joined battle with them, and Theseus killed many of them.” (Zenobius, Cent. v. 33).
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.22
§ e.1.22 Caeneus was formerly a woman, but after that Poseidon had intercourse with her, she asked to become an invulnerable man; wherefore in the battle with the centaurs he thought scorn of wounds and killed many of the centaurs; but the rest of them surrounded him and by striking him with fir trees buried him in the earth.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.23
§ e.1.23 Having made a compact with Pirithous that they would marry daughters of Zeus, Theseus, with the help of Pirithous, carried off Helen from Sparta for himself, when she was twelve years old, and in the endeavor to win Persephone as a bride for Pirithous he went down to Hades. And the Dioscuri, with the Lacedaemonians and Arcadians, captured Athens and carried away Helen, and with her Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, into captivity; but Demophon and Acamas fled. And the Dioscuri also brought back Menestheus from exile, and gave him the sovereignty of Athens.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.1.24
§ e.1.24 But when Theseus arrived with Pirithous in Hades, he was beguiled; for, on the pretence that they were about to partake of good cheer, Hades bade them first be seated on the Chair of Forgetfulness, to which they grew and were held fast by coils of serpents. Pirithous, therefore, remained bound for ever, but Hercules brought Theseus up and sent him to Athens. Thence he was driven by Menestheus and went to Lycomedes, who threw him down an abyss and killed him.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.1
§ e.2.1 Tantalus is punished in Hades by having a stone impending over him, by being perpetually in a lake and seeing at his shoulders on either side trees with fruit growing beside the lake. The water touches his jaws, but when he would take a draught of it, the water dries up; and when he would partake of the fruits, the trees with the fruits are lifted by winds as high as the clouds. Some say that he is thus punished because he blabbed to men the mysteries of the gods, and because he attempted to share ambrosia with his fellows.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.2
§ e.2.2 Broteas, a hunter, did not honor Artemis, and said that even fire could not hurt him. So he went mad and threw himself into fire.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.3
§ e.2.3 Pelops, after being slaughtered and boiled at the banquet of the gods, was fairer than ever when he came to life again, and on account of his surpassing beauty he became the beloved of Poseidon, who gave him a winged chariot, such that even when it ran through the sea the axles were not wet.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.4
§ e.2.4 Now Oenomaus, the king of Pisa, had a daughter Hippodamia, and whether it was that he loved her, as some say, or that he was warned by an oracle that he must die by the man that married her, no man got her to wife; for her father could not persuade her to cohabit with him, and her suitors were put by him to death.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.5
§ e.2.5 For he had arms and horses given him by Ares, and he offered as a prize to the suitors the hand of his daughter, and each suitor was bound to take up Hippodamia on his own chariot and flee as far as the Isthmus of Corinth, and Oenomaus straightway pursued him, in full armour, and if he overtook him he slew him; but if the suitor were not overtaken, he was to have Hippodamia to wife. And in this way he slew many suitors, some say twelve; and he cut off the heads of the suitors and nailed them to his house.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.6
§ e.2.6 So Pelops also came a-wooing; and when Hippodamia saw his beauty, she conceived a passion for him, and persuaded Myrtilus, son of Hermes, to help him; for Myrtilus was charioteer to Oenomaus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.7
§ e.2.7 Accordingly Myrtilus, being in love with her and wishing to gratify her, did not insert the linchpins in the boxes of the wheels, and thus caused Oenomaus to lose the race and to be entangled in the reins and dragged to death; but according to some, he was killed by Pelops. And in dying he cursed Myrtilus, whose treachery he had discovered, praying that he might perish by the hand of Pelops.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.8
§ e.2.8 Pelops, therefore, got Hippodamia; and on his journey, in which he was accompanied by Myrtilus, he came to a certain place, and withdrew a little to fetch water for his wife, who was athirst; and in the meantime Myrtilus tried to rape her. But when Pelops learned that from her, he threw Myrtilus into the sea, called after him the Myrtoan Sea, at Cape Geraestus; and Myrtilus, as he was being thrown, uttered curses against the house of Pelops.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.9
§ e.2.9 When Pelops had reached the Ocean and been cleansed by Hephaestus, he returned to Pisa in Elis and succeeded to the kingdom of Oenomaus, but not till he had subjugated what was formerly called Apia and Pelasgiotis, which he called Peloponnesus after himself.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.10
§ e.2.10 The sons of Pelops were Pittheus, Atreus, Thyestes, and others. Now the wife of Atreus was Aerope, daughter of Catreus, and she loved Thyestes. And Atreus once vowed to sacrifice to Artemis the finest of his flocks; but when a golden lamb appeared, they say that he neglected to perform his vow,
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.11
§ e.2.11 and having choked the lamb, he deposited it in a box and kept it there, and Aerope gave it to Thyestes, by whom she had been debauched. For the Mycenaeans had received an oracle which bade them choose a Pelopid for their king, and they had sent for Atreus and Thyestes. And when a discussion took place concerning the kingdom, Thyestes declared to the multitude that the kingdom ought to belong to him who owned the golden lamb, and when Atreus agreed, Thyestes produced the lamb and was made king.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.12
§ e.2.12 But Zeus sent Hermes to Atreus and told him to stipulate with Thyestes that Atreus should be king if the sun should go backward; and when Thyestes agreed, the sun set in the east; hence the deity having plainly attested the usurpation of Thyestes, Atreus got the kingdom and banished Thyestes.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.13
§ e.2.13 But afterwards being apprized of the adultery, he sent a herald to Thyestes with a proposal of accommodation; and when he had lured Thyestes by a pretence of friendship, he slaughtered the sons, Aglaus, Callileon, and Orchomenus, whom Thyestes had by a Naiad nymph, though they had sat down as suppliants on the altar of Zeus. And having cut them limb from limb and boiled them, he served them up to Thyestes without the extremities; and when Thyestes had eaten heartily of them, he showed him the extremities, and cast him out of the country.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.14
§ e.2.14 But seeking by all means to pay Atreus out, Thyestes inquired of the oracle on the subject, and received an answer that it could be done if he were to beget a son by intercourse with his own daughter. He did so accordingly, and begot Aegisthus by his daughter. And Aegisthus, when he was grown to manhood and had learned that he was a son of Thyestes, killed Atreus, and restored the kingdom to Thyestes.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.15
§ e.2.15 “But the nurse took Agamemnon and Menelaus to Polyphides, lord of Sicyon, who again sent them to Oeneus, the Aetolian. Not long afterwards Tyndareus brought them back again, and they drove away Thyestes to dwell in Cytheria, after that they had taken an oath of him at the altar of Hera, to which he had fled. And they became the sons-in-law of Tyndareus by marrying his daughters, Agamemnon getting Clytaemnestra to wife, after he had slain her spouse Tantalus, the son of Thyestes, together with his newborn babe, while Menelaus got Helen. ”
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.2.16
§ e.2.16 And Agamemnon reigned over the Mycenaeans and married Clytaemnestra, daughter of Tyndareus, after slaying her former husband Tantalus, son of Thyestes, with his child. And there were born to Agamemnon a son Orestes, and daughters, Chrysothemis, Electra, and Iphigenia. And Menelaus married Helen and reigned over Sparta, Tyndareus having ceded the kingdom to him.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.1
§ e.3.1 But afterwards Alexander carried off Helen, as some say, because such was the will of Zeus, in order that his daughter might be famous for having embroiled Europe and Asia; or, as others have said, that the race of the demigods might be exalted.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.2
§ e.3.2 For one of these reasons Strife threw an apple as a prize of beauty to be contended for by Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite; and Zeus commanded Hermes to lead them to Alexander on Ida in order to be judged by him. And they promised to give Alexander gifts. Hera said that if she were preferred to all women, she would give him the kingdom over all men; and Athena promised victory in war, and Aphrodite the hand of Helen. And he decided in favour of Aphrodite; and sailed away to Sparta with ships built by Phereclus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.3
§ e.3.3 For nine days he was entertained by Menelaus; but on the tenth day, Menelaus having gone on a journey to Crete to perform the obsequies of his mother's father Catreus, Alexander persuaded Helen to go off with him. And she abandoned Hermione, then nine years old, and putting most of the property on board, she set sail with him by night.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.4
§ e.3.4 But Hera sent them a heavy storm which forced them to put in at Sidon. And fearing lest he should be pursued, Alexander spent much time in Phoenicia and Cyprus. But when he thought that all chance of pursuit was over, he came to Troy with Helen.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.5
§ e.3.5 But some say that Hermes, in obedience to the will of Zeus, stole Helen and carried her to Egypt, and gave her to Proteus, king of the Egyptians, to guard, and that Alexander repaired to Troy with a phantom of Helen fashioned out of clouds.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.6
§ e.3.6 When Menelaus was aware of the rape, he came to Agamemnon at Mycenae, and begged him to muster an army against Troy and to raise levies in Greece. And he, sending a herald to each of the kings, reminded them of the oaths which they had sworn, and warned them to look to the safety each of his own wife, saying that the affront had been offered equally to the whole of Greece. And while many were eager to join in the expedition, some repaired also to Ulysses in Ithaca.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.7
§ e.3.7 But he, not wishing to go to the war, feigned madness. However, Palamedes, son of Nauplius, proved his madness to be fictitious; and when Ulysses pretended to rave, Palamedes followed him, and snatching Telemachus from Penelope's bosom, drew his sword as if he would kill him. And in his fear for the child Ulysses confessed that his madness was pretended, and he went to the war.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.8
§ e.3.8 Having taken a Phrygian prisoner, Ulysses compelled him to write a letter of treasonable purport ostensibly sent by Priam to Palamedes; and having buried gold in the quarters of Palamedes, he dropped the letter in the camp. Agamemnon read the letter, found the gold, and delivered up Palamedes to the allies to be stoned as a traitor.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.9
§ e.3.9 Menelaus went with Ulysses and Talthybius to Cinyras in Cyprus and tried to persuade him to join the allies. He made a present of breastplates to the absent Agamemnon, and swore he would send fifty ships, but he sent only one, commanded by the son of Mygdalion, and the rest he moulded out of earth and launched them in the sea.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.10
§ e.3.10 The daughters of Anius, the son of Apollo, to wit, Elais, Spermo, and Oeno, are called the Oenotropae [Wine-growers}: Dionysus granted them the power of producing oil, corn, and wine from the earth.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.11
§ e.3.11 The armament mustered in Aulis. The men who went to the Trojan War were as follows:— Of the Boeotians, ten leaders: they brought forty ships. Of the Orchomenians, four: they brought thirty ships. Of the Phocians, four leaders: they brought forty ships. Of the Locrians, Ajax, son of Oeleus: he brought forty ships. Of the Euboeans, Elephenor, son of Chalcodon and Alcyone: he brought forty ships. Of the Athenians, Menestheus: he brought fifty ships. Of the Salaminians, Telamonian Ajax: he brought twelve ships.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.12
§ e.3.12 Of the Argives, Diomedes, son of Tydeus, and his company: they brought eighty ships. Of the Mycenaeans, Agamemnon, son of Atreus and Aerope: a hundred ships. Of the Lacedaemonians, Menelaus, son of Atreus and Aerope: sixty ships. Of the Pylians, Nestor, son of Neleus and Chloris: forty ships. Of the Arcadians, Agapenor: seven ships. Of the Eleans, Amphimachus and his company: forty ships. Of the Dulichians, Meges, son of Phyleus: forty ships. Of the Cephallenians, Ulysses, son of Laertes and Anticlia: twelve ships. Of the Aetolians, Thoas, son of Andraemon and Gorge: he brought forty ships.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.13
§ e.3.13 Of the Cretans, Idomeneus, son of Deucalion: forty ships. Of the Rhodians, Tlepolemus, son of Hercules and Astyoche: nine ships. Of the Symaeans, Nireus, son of Charopus: three ships. Of the Coans, Phidippus and Antiphus, the sons of Thessalus: thirty ships.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.14
§ e.3.14 Of the Myrmidons, Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis: fifty ships. From Phylace, Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus: forty ships. Of the Pheraeans, Eumelus, son of Admetus: eleven ships. Of the Olizonians, Philoctetes, son of Poeas: seven ships. Of the Aeanianians, Guneus, son of Ocytus: twenty-two ships. Of the Triccaeans, Podalirius: thirty ships. Of the Ormenians, Eurypylus: forty ships. Of the Gyrtonians, Polypoetes, son of Pirithous: thirty ships. Of the Magnesians, Prothous, son of Tenthredon: forty ships. The total of ships was one thousand and thirteen; of leaders, forty-three; of leaderships, thirty.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.15
§ e.3.15 When the armament was in Aulis, after a sacrifice to Apollo, a serpent darted from the altar beside the neighboring plane-tree, in which there was a nest; and having consumed the eight sparrows in the nest, together with the mother bird, which made the ninth, it was turned to stone. Calchas said that this sign was given them by the will of Zeus, and he inferred from what had happened that Troy was destined to be taken in a period of ten years. And they made ready to sail against Troy.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.16
§ e.3.16 So Agamemnon in person was in command of the whole army, and Achilles was admiral, being fifteen years old.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.17
§ e.3.17 But not knowing the course to steer for Troy, they put in to Mysia and ravaged it, supposing it to be Troy. Now Telephus son of Hercules, was king of the Mysians, and seeing the country pillaged, he armed the Mysians, chased the Greeks in a crowd to the ships, and killed many, among them Thersander, son of Polynices, who had made a stand. But when Achilles rushed at him, Telephus did not abide the onset and was pursued, and in the pursuit he was entangled in a vine-branch and wounded with a spear in the thigh.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.18
§ e.3.18 Departing from Mysia, the Greeks put to sea, and a violent storm coming on, they were separated from each other and landed in their own countries. So the Greeks returned at that time, and it is said that the war lasted twenty years. For it was in the second year after the rape of Helen that the Greeks, having completed their preparations, set out on the expedition and after their retirement from Mysia to Greece eight years elapsed before they again returned to Argos and came to Aulis.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.19
§ e.3.19 Having again assembled at Aulis after the aforesaid interval of eight years, they were in great perplexity about the voyage, because they had no leader who could show them the way to Troy.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.20
§ e.3.20 But Telephus, because his wound was unhealed, and Apollo had told him that he would be cured when the one who wounded him should turn physician, came from Mysia to Argos, clad in rags, and begged the help of Achilles, promising to show the course to steer for Troy. So Achilles healed him by scraping off the rust of his Pelian spear. Accordingly, on being healed, Telephus showed the course to steer, and the accuracy of his information was confirmed by Calchas by means of his own art of divination.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.21
§ e.3.21 But when they had put to sea from Argos and arrived for the second time at Aulis, the fleet was windbound, and Calchas said that they could not sail unless the fairest of Agamemnon's daughters were presented as a sacrifice to Artemis; for the goddess was angry with Agamemnon, both because, on shooting a deer, he had said, “ Artemis herself could not (do it better),” and because Atreus had not sacrificed to her the golden lamb.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.22
§ e.3.22 On receipt of this oracle, Agamemnon sent Ulysses and Talthybius to Clytaemnestra and asked for Iphigenia, alleging a promise of his to give her to Achilles to wife in reward for his military service. So Clytaemnestra sent her, and Agamemnon set her beside the altar, and was about to slaughter her, when Artemis carried her off to the Taurians and appointed her to be her priestess, substituting a deer for her at the altar; but some say that Artemis made her immortal.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.23
§ e.3.23 After putting to sea from Aulis they touched at Tenedos. It was ruled by Tenes, son of Cycnus and Proclia, but according to some, he was a son of Apollo. He dwelt there because he had been banished by his father.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.24
§ e.3.24 For Cycnus had a son Tenes and a daughter Hemithea by Proclia, daughter of Laomedon, but he afterwards married Philonome, daughter of Tragasus; and she fell in love with Tenes, and, failing to seduce him, falsely accused him to Cycnus of attempting to debauch her, and in witness of it she produced a flute-player, by name Eumolpus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.25
§ e.3.25 Cycnus believed her, and putting him and his sister in a chest he set them adrift on the sea. The chest was washed up on the island of Leucophrys, and Tenes landed and settled in the island, and called it Tenedos after himself. But Cycnus afterwards learning the truth, stoned the flute-player to death and buried his wife alive in the earth.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.26
§ e.3.26 So when the Greeks were standing in for Tenedos, Tenes saw them and tried to keep them off by throwing stones, but was killed by Achilles with a sword-cut in the breast, though Thetis had forewarned Achilles not to kill Tenes, because he himself would die by the hand of Apollo if he slew Tenes.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.27
§ e.3.27 and as they were offering a sacrifice to Apollo, a water- snake approached from the altar and bit Philoctetes; and as the sore did not heal and grew noisome, the army could not endure the stench, and Ulysses, by the orders of Agamemnon, put him ashore on the island of Lemnos, with the bow of Hercules which he had in his possession; and there, by shooting birds with the bow, he subsisted in the wilderness.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.28
§ e.3.28 Putting to sea from Tenedos they made sail for Troy, and sent Ulysses and Menelaus to demand the restoration of Helen and the property. But the Trojans, having summoned an assembly, not only refused to restore Helen, but threatened to kill the envoys.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.29
§ e.3.29 These were, however, saved by Antenor; but the Greeks, exasperated at the insolence of the barbarians, stood to arms and made sail against them. Now Thetis charged Achilles not to be the first to land from the ships, because the first to land would be the first to die. Being apprized of the hostile approach of the fleet, the barbarians marched in arms to the sea, and endeavored by throwing stones to prevent the landing.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.30
§ e.3.30 Of the Greeks the first to land from his ship was Protesilaus, and having slain not a few of the barbarians, he fell by the hand of Hector. His wife Laodamia loved him even after his death, and she made an image of him and consorted with it. The gods had pity on her, and Hermes brought up Protesilaus from Hades. On seeing him, Laodamia thought it was himself returned from Troy, and she was glad; but when he was carried back to Hades, she stabbed herself to death.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.31
§ e.3.31 On the death of Protesilaus, Achilles landed with the Myrmidons, and throwing a stone at the head of Cycnus, killed him. When the barbarians saw him dead, they fled to the city, and the Greeks, leaping from their ships, filled the plain with bodies. and having shut up the Trojans, they besieged them; and they drew up the ships.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.32
§ e.3.32 The barbarians showing no courage, Achilles waylaid Troilus and slaughtered him in the sanctuary of Thymbraean Apollo, and coming by night to the city he captured Lycaon. Moreover, taking some of the chiefs with him, Achilles laid waste the country, and made his way to Ida to lift the kine of Aeneas. But Aeneas fled, and Achilles killed the neatherds and Nestor, son of Priam, and drove away the kine.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.33
§ e.3.33 He also took Lesbos and Phocaea, then Colophon, and Smyrna, and Clazomenae, and Cyme; and afterwards Aegialus and Tenos, the so-called Hundred Cities; then, in order, Adramytium and Side; then Endium, and Linaeum, and Colone. He took also Hypoplacian Thebes and Lyrnessus, and further Antandrus, and many other cities.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.34
§ e.3.34 A period of nine years having elapsed, allies came to join the Trojans: from the surrounding cities, Aeneas, son of Anchises, and with him Archelochus and Acamas, sons of Antenor, and Theanus, leaders of the Dardanians; of the Thracians, Acamas, son of Eusorus; of the Cicones, Euphemus, son of Troezenus; of the Paeonians, Pyraechmes; of the Paphlagonians, Pylaemenes, son of Bilsates;
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.3.35
§ e.3.35 from Zelia, Pandarus, son of Lycaon; from Adrastia, Adrastus and Amphius, sons of Merops; from Arisbe, Asius, son of Hyrtacus; from Larissa, Hippothous, son of Pelasgus; from Mysia, Chromius and Ennomus, sons of Arsinous; of the Alizones, Odius and Epistrophus, sons of Mecisteus; of the Phrygians, Phorcys and Ascanius, sons of Aretaon; of the Maeonians, Mesthles and Antiphus, sons of Talaemenes; of the Carians, Nastes and Amphimachus, sons of Nomion; of the Lycians, Sarpedon, son of Zeus, and Glaucus, son of Hippolochus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.4.1
§ e.4.1 Achilles did not go forth to the war, because he was angry on account of Briseis,... the daughter of Chryses the priest. Therefore the barbarians took heart of grace and sallied out of the city. And Alexander fought a single combat with Menelaus; and when Alexander got the worst of it, Aphrodite carried him off. And Pandarus, by shooting an arrow at Menelaus, broke the truce.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.4.2
§ e.4.2 Diomedes, doing doughty deeds, wounded Aphrodite when she came to the help of Aeneas; and encountering Glaucus, he recalled the friendship of their fathers and exchanged arms. And Hector having challenged the bravest to single combat, many came forward, but the lot fell on Ajax, and he did doughty deeds; but night coming on, the heralds parted them.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.4.3
§ e.4.3 The Greeks made a wall and a ditch to protect the roadstead, and a battle taking place in the plain, the Trojans chased the Greeks within the wall. But the Greeks sent Ulysses, Phoenix, and Ajax as ambassadors to Achilles, begging him to fight for them, and promising Briseis and other gifts.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.4.4
§ e.4.4 And night coming on, they sent Ulysses and Diomedes as spies; and these killed Dolon, son of Eumelus, and Rhesus, the Thracian （ who had arrived the day before as an ally of the Trojans, and having not yet engaged in the battle was encamped at some distance from the Trojan force and apart from Hector ）; they also slew the twelve men that were sleeping around him, and drove the horses to the ships.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.4.5
§ e.4.5 But by day a fierce fight took place; Agamemnon and Diomedes, Ulysses, Eurypylus, and Machaon were wounded, the Greeks were put to flight Hector made a breach in the wall and entered and, Ajax having retreated, he set fire to the ships.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.4.6
§ e.4.6 But when Achilles saw the ship of Protesilaus burning, he sent out Patroclus with the Myrmidons, after arming him with his own arms and giving him the horses. Seeing him the Trojans thought that he was Achilles and turned to flee. And having chased them within the wall, he killed many, amongst them Sarpedon, son of Zeus, and was himself killed by Hector, after being first wounded by Euphorbus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.4.7
§ e.4.7 And a fierce fight taking place for the corpse, Ajax with difficulty, by performing feats of valor, rescued the body. And Achilles laid aside his anger and recovered Briseis. And a suit of armour having been brought him from Hephaestus, he donned the armour and went forth to the war, and chased the Trojans in a crowd to the Scamander, and there killed many, and amongst them Asteropaeus, son of Pelegon, son of the river Axius; and the river rushed at him in fury. But Hephaestus dried up the streams of the river, after chasing them with a mighty flame. And Achilles slew Hector in single combat, and fastening his ankles to his chariot dragged him to the ships. And having buried Patroclus, he celebrated games in his honor, at which Diomedes was victorious in the chariot race, Epeus in boxing, and Ajax and Ulysses in wrestling. And after the games Priam came to Achilles and ransomed the body of Hector, and buried it.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.1
§ e.5.1 Penthesilia, daughter of Otrere and Ares, accidentally killed Hippolyte and was purified by Priam. In battle she slew many, and amongst them Machaon, and was afterwards herself killed by Achilles, who fell in love with the Amazon after her death and slew Thersites for jeering at him.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.2
§ e.5.2 Hippolyte was the mother of Hippolytus; she also goes by the names of Glauce and Melanippe. For when the marriage of Phaedra was being celebrated, Hippolyte appeared in arms with her Amazons, and said that she would slay the guests of Theseus. So a battle took place, and she was killed, whether involuntarily by her ally Penthesilia, or by Theseus, or because his men, seeing the threatening attitude of the Amazons, hastily closed the doors and so intercepted and slew her.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.3
§ e.5.3 Memnon, the son of Tithonus and the Dawn, came with a great force of Ethiopians to Troy against the Greeks, and having slain many of the Greeks, including Antilochus, he was himself slain by Achilles. Having chased the Trojans also, Achilles was shot with an arrow in the ankle by Alexander and Apollo at the Scaean gate.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.4
§ e.5.4 A fight taking place for the corpse, Ajax killed Glaucus, and gave the arms to be conveyed to the ships, but the body he carried, in a shower of darts, through the midst of the enemy, while Ulysses fought his assailants.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.5
§ e.5.5 The death of Achilles filled the army with dismay, and they buried him with Patroclus in the White Isle, mixing the bones of the two together. It is said that after death Achilles consorts with Medea in the Isles of the Blest. And they held games in his honor, at which Eumelus won the chariot-race, Diomedes the footrace, Ajax the quoit match, and Teucer the competition in archery.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.6
§ e.5.6 Also his arms were offered as a prize to the bravest, and Ajax and Ulysses came forward as competitors. The judges were the Trojans or, according to some, the allies, and Ulysses was preferred. Disordered by chagrin, Ajax planned a nocturnal attack on the army. And Athena drove him mad, and turned him, sword in hand, among the cattle, and in his frenzy he slaughtered the cattle with the herdsmen, taking them for the Achaeans.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.7
§ e.5.7 But afterwards he came to his senses and slew also himself. And Agamemnon forbade his body to be burnt; and he alone of all who fell at Ilium is buried, in a coffin. His grave is at Rhoeteum.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.8
§ e.5.8 When the war had already lasted ten years, and the Greeks were despondent, Calchas prophesied to them that Troy could not be taken unless they had the bow and arrows of Hercules fighting on their side. On hearing that, Ulysses went with Diomedes to Philoctetes in Lemnos, and having by craft got possession of the bow and arrows he persuaded him to sail to Troy. So he went, and after being cured by Podalirius, he shot Alexander.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.9
§ e.5.9 After the death of Alexander, Helenus and Deiphobus quarrelled as to which of them should marry Helen; and as Deiphobus was preferred, Helenus left Troy and abode in Ida. But as Chalcas said that Helenus knew the oracles that protected the city, Ulysses waylaid and captured him and brought him to the camp;
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.10
§ e.5.10 and Helenus was forced to tell how Ilium could be taken, to wit, first, if the bones of Pelops were brought to them; next, if Neoptolemus fought for them; and third, if the Palladium, which had fallen from heaven, were stolen from Troy, for while it was within the walls the city could not be taken.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.11
§ e.5.11 On hearing these things the Greeks caused the bones of Pelops to be fetched, and they sent Ulysses and Phoenix to Lycomedes at Scyros, and these two persuaded him to let Neoptolemus go. On coming to the camp and receiving his father's arms from Ulysses, who willingly resigned them, Neoptolemus slew many of the Trojans.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.12
§ e.5.12 Afterwards, Eurypylus, son of Telephus, arrived to fight for the Trojans, bringing a great force of Mysians. He performed doughty deeds, but was slain by Neoptolemus.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.13
§ e.5.13 And Ulysses went with Diomedes by night to the city, and there he let Diomedes wait, and after disfiguring himself and putting on mean attire he entered unknown into the city as a beggar. And being recognized by Helen, he with her help stole away the Palladium, and after killing many of the guards, brought it to the ships with the aid of Diomedes.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.14
§ e.5.14 But afterwards he invented the construction of the Wooden Horse and suggested it to Epeus, who was an architect. Epeus felled timber on Ida, and constructed the horse with a hollow interior and an opening in the sides. Into this horse Ulysses persuaded fifty (or, according to the author of the Little Iliad, three thousand) of the doughtiest to enter, while the rest, when night had fallen, were to burn their tents, and, putting to sea, to lie to off Tenedos, but to sail back to land after the ensuing night.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.15
§ e.5.15 They followed the advice of Ulysses and introduced the doughtiest into the horse, after appointing Ulysses their leader and engraving on the horse an inscription which signified, “For their return home, the Greeks dedicate this thank—offering to Athena.” But they themselves burned their tents, and leaving Sinon, who was to light a beacon as a signal to them, they put to sea by night, and lay to off Tenedos.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.16
§ e.5.16 And at break of day, when the Trojans beheld the camp of the Greeks deserted and believed that they had fled, they with great joy dragged the horse, and stationing it beside the palace of Priam deliberated what they should do.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.17
§ e.5.17 As Cassandra said that there was an armed force in it, and she was further confirmed by Laocoon, the seer, some were for burning it, and others for throwing it down a precipice; but as most were in favour of sparing it as a votive offering sacred to a divinity, they betook them to sacrifice and feasting.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.18
§ e.5.18 However, Apollo sent them a sign; for two serpents swam through the sea from the neighboring islands and devoured the sons of Laocoon.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg002:e.5.19
§ e.5.19 And when night fell, and all were plunged in sleep, the Greeks drew near by sea from Tenedos, and Sinon kindled the beacon on the grave of Achilles to guide them. And Helen, going round the horse, called the chiefs, imitating the voices of each of their wives. But when Anticlus would have answered, Ulysses held fast his mouth.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by James George Frazer (1854-1941). Composed ca. 100 CE. Licence: public domain. Source.