D Scholia to the Iliad

ToposText · Anonymous scholiast · 135 sections

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§ 15.256 Phoibos Apollo of the golden aor (Φοῖβον Ἀπόλλωνα χρυσάορον) Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia daughter of Atlas, invented the lyre. He stole Apollo’s cattle but was discovered to be the thief by the god through his power of divination. While Apollo was threatening him, Hermes stole the bow right off his shoulders. The god smiled and gave him his prophetic staff, which is why Hermes is called “golden-wand.” Apollo got the lyre from him, and this is why he is called “ Chrysaor ” from the strap [aortēr] of the lyre. [RSS]
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§ 16.14 They say that Menoitios is still alive (ζώειν μὰν ἔτι φασὶν Μενοίτιον) Aiacos, the son of Zeus and Aigina, married Endeis daughter of Cheiron and had two sons, Peleus and Telamon. He also slept with Psamathe, the Nereid, and fathered Phocos. Peleus killed Phocos which led him to go into exile in Magnesia in Thessaly and stay with Cheiron. Telamon for his part accidentally killed one of his fellow hunters during the Calydonian Boar hunt and went in exile to Salamis, where he married Eriboia daughter of Alcathoos and fathered Aias. Menoitios moved to Opous and fathered Patroklos, who also killed someone involuntarily, Cleisonymos, son of Amphidamas. He fled to Peleus in exile <...three words uncertain...>115 who raised him with Achilles. The story is in Philostephanus (FHG fr. 35). [RSS]
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§ 16.36 If you in your mind are avoiding some destiny (εἰ δέ τινα φρεσὶ σῇσι εοπροπίην ἀλεείνεις) When Thetis was forced by Zeus to marry Peleus, she kept putting the children she gave birth to into fire in the belief that she could burn up the mortal flesh in it while preserving the immortal part. She destroyed six children this way. Achilles, the seventh, she likewise put into the fire, but Peleus saw her do it, rescued the child, and brought him to Mt. Pelion, giving him over to Cheiron to raise. Because Cheiron nourished him on the marrow of lions and bears, he called the boy Achilles. After teaching him the art of medicine and how to play the lyre and sing, he returned him to his father. Thetis, meanwhile, was angry and left Peleus, returning to the sea. But when Achilles was heading off to fight against Troy, she forewarned him: if he fought against the Trojans he would possess a short life, but achieve great glory; but if he stayed away from fighting he would live a long life, but without fame. When he learned this, Achilles chose eternal fame over a transitory life and went to war. The story is in Lycophron (Alex. 178–179) [RSS]
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§ 16.140 Only the spear [of Achilles ] he did not take (ἔγχος δ᾿ οὐχ ἕλετ᾿ οἶον) Homer has, in anticipation, held back only the spear itself because Hephaistos does not work wood. During the wedding of Peleus and Thetis the gods gathered on Mt. Pelion for a feast and brought Peleus gifts. Cheiron cut a thriving ash-tree, fashioned a spear and presented it to Peleus. (They say that Athena planed it and Hephaistos fit it out with a spearhead.) It was with this spear that both Peleus and Achilles after him distinguished themselves in battle. The story is in the poet of the Cypria (fr. 3 Davies). [RSS]
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§ 16.233 Zeus, lord of Dodona (Ζεῦ ἄνα Δωδωναῖε) That is, honored in Dodona, a place of the Hyperboreans. What is the account of Dodonaian Zeus and the place that prompts Homer to invoke him in this way? After the flood that happened in his time, Deucalion traveled to Epeiros and consulted the oracle at the oak tree. When the peleias gave him the response, he settled the area, gathering together those that had survived the flood, and he named the land Dodona after Zeus and Dodona, one of Oceanos’ daughters. The story is in Thrasybulus and Acestodorus. [RSS]
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§ 17.53 just like a shoot that a man nourishes (οἷον δὲ τρέφει ἔρνος ἀνήρ) Poseidon and Athena contended over Attica. Poseidon struck the Acropolis of Attica with his trident and created a sea-wave, but Athena created the olive tree. Their judge was Cecrops, the king of the region of Attica, and he awarded the land to the goddess, saying that the sea was everywhere, but the olive tree was unique to Athens. The story is in Callimachus (fr. 194 Pfeiffer). [RSS]
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§ 18.10 the best of the Myrmidons (Μυρμιδόνων τὸν ἄριστον) Actor was a Locrian by birth. He married Aigina, the daughter of Asopos (the river of Thebes ), after she had slept with Zeus and after some months fathered Menoitios. Menoitios returned to his father’s homeland, Opous, and fathered Patroclos, whom the poet fittingly called a Myrmidon because his father was born on Aigina. [RSS]
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§ 18.486a Pleiades (Πληϊάδες) Seven stars lying in the tail of Taurus (or rather where Taurus breaks off, since the bull was not placed in the stars whole, but only up to its haunches). These are the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, whose names are: Maia, Taygete, Celaino, Merope, Electra, Sterope and Alcyone. Atlas, one of the Giants, slept with Pleione daughter of Oceanos and had seven daughters, who prized their virginity and used to hunt alongside Artemis. When Orion saw them he grew desirous and chased after them, wanting to sleep with them. When they were being overtaken, they prayed to the gods to change their form. Zeus pitied them and turned them into doves {peleiades} and placed them among the stars. They were called Pleiades after their mother, Pleione. They say that Electra, not wanting to witness the destruction of Troy (because her descendants had built it), left the spot where she had been placed. That’s why there are six stars instead of the original seven. The story is in the Cyclic poets (p. 74 Davies). [RSS]
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§ 18.486b Hyades (Ὑάδες) These are the seven stars lying in the horns of Taurus. The are called the Hyades either because of the similarity of their shape to the letter upsilon {Υ} or it is because they are the cause of storms and rainshowers {hyet-}. When Dionysos was born from Zeus’ thigh, Zeus gave the baby over to the nymphs of Dodona to raise: Ambrosia, Coronis, Eudore, Dione, Phaisyle, Polyxo. After they raised him, they traveled alongside him, bestowing the grapevine discovered by the god on humanity. But Lycourgos chased Dionysos to the sea, and Zeus, taking pity on the women, placed them among the stars. The story is in Pherecydes (fr. 90b Fowler; EGM 2.371–7). [RSS]
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§ 18.486c Pleiades and Hyades (Πληϊάδας θ᾿ Ὑάδας τε) They say that the ones placed among the stars along the brow of Taurus are called the Hyades, while those along its haunches (where Taurus breaks off) are called the Pleiades. The story according to Timaeus (FGrHist 566 fr. 91): Atlas, the son of Iapetos and Aithra daughter of Oceanos, had twelve daughters and one son named Hyas. While the son was hunting in Libya, he was killed by a snake. Five of the sisters died while mourning their brother, all of whom Zeus placed among the stars out of pity, giving them the name “ Hyades ” after their brother. The greater {plei-} number, seven, died later and were called the Pleiades. Yet, as Pherecydes (fr. 90c Fowler; EGM 2.371–7) puts it, the Hyades were nymphs of Dodona and the nurses of Dionysos, who entrusted Dionysos to Ino’s care on account of their fear of Hera (this was the same time at which they had been driven off by Lycourgos, too). Of the seven Pleiades, the seventh star is extremely faint. As Aratus says in his funeral poem for Theopropus, when Troy was being sacked, Electra, the mother of Dardanos and one of the Pleiades, fled the company of her sisters; sometimes she appears as a comet, having let her hair {komai} down. Hellanicus in the first book of his Atlantica says that six of them had sex with gods (fr. 19 Fowler; EGM 2.417–8): Taygete and Zeus produced Lacedaimon; Maia and Zeus produced Hermes; Electra and Zeus produced Dardanos; Alcyone and Poseidon produced Hyrieus; Celaino and Poseidon produced Lycos; Sterope and Ares produced Oinomaos; Merope and Sisyphos (a mortal, which is why she is faint) produced Glaucos. [...] [RSS]
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§ 18.486d The strength of Orion (τό τε σθένος Ὠρίωνος) Another way of saying “ Orion.” Orion is the biggest star in the heavens, and here is why he was placed there: Hyrieus, the son of Poseidon and Alcyone (one of Atlas’ daughters), lived in Tanagra in Boiotia. Being an excellent host, he once even welcomed gods into his home. Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes were entertained and treated kindly by him, and so they encouraged him to ask them for whatever he wanted. Being childless, he asked for a son. So the gods took the hide of the ox he had sacrificed for them, ejaculated into it, and told him to hide it under the earth and to retrieve it nine months later. When the nine months were up, Ourion was born, so named because it was as if the gods had, so to speak, “urinated” {ourēsai}, but later he lost the inauspicious name and was called Orion. While he was hunting alongside Artemis, he tried to rape her. Enraged, the goddess brought up from the earth a scorpion, which stung him in the ankle, killing him. Zeus out of pity lifted him into the stars, and this is why Orion sets when Scorpio rises. The story is in Euphorion (fr. 101 Powell). [RSS]
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§ 18.487 The Bear, which they also call the Wagon (Ἄρκτον θ᾿ ἣν καὶ Ἅμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν) Two Bears are shown in the northern regions. This one, the one called the Great Bear, is also called the Wagon because it was placed among the stars in the form of a wagon. The nearby one, the Small Bear, is called the Dog’s Tail because it has a bent tail like a dog’s—but Homer does not mention this one, since it was only later discovered by Thales the Milesian, one of the Seven Wise Men. Zeus desired Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, and slept with her without Hera knowing about it. But when the goddess did find out, she changed Callisto into a bear, and she ordered Artemis to shoot it as if it were a wild animal. But Zeus took her into the heavens and placed her in the stars, his first catasterism. The story is in Callimachus (fr. 632 Pfeiffer). [RSS]
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§ 18.493 A large wedding celebration is afoot (πολὺς δ᾿ ὑμέναιος ὀρώρει) [...]136 Others say that Hymenaios was an Argive man who, when he was sailing past Athens, arrived just as young women from Attica were being abducted by some Pelasgians. When he appeared, he was the reason they were not violated since he drove off the Pelasgians. Because of this, women who were legally getting married, as if they were appealing to him, used to sing a certain hymn to him called the Hymenaion. [RSS]
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§ 18.590 He wrought a dancing floor on it, etc. (ἐν δὲ χορὸν ποίησε καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς) Hephaistos also carefully wrought on [the shield] a dance that has a similar arrangement of dancers as the one that was created by the inventor Daidalos for Ariadne in the city of Knossos on Crete. For the story is told that when Theseus traveled from Aphidnai to Athens, he arrived just as the tributes—the seven boys and seven girls—were being sent to Minos on Crete. The Athenians were performing this tribute as payment for the treacherous murder of Androgeos, Minos’ son, when he was taking part in the Panathenaia festival and kept winning. Anyways, they say that Theseus willingly enlisted with the those heading off, and when he got to Crete he caught the eye of Ariadne, Minos’ daughter. Because of this he was saved by the skill of Daidalos in the following way. Daidalos gave Ariadne a ball of thread and told her to give it to Theseus so that he could attach the end of the thread to the entranceway. That would allow him to unwind the ball as he entered the Labyrinth, and, once he overcame the beast, he would have a simple and easy way back out of the Labyrinth, which had a complex, interwoven set of passages out. When Theseus got out after overcoming the beast, he along with the other boys and girls weaved a choral dance for the gods in such a way that it reflected his intricate weaving in and out of the Labyrinth. It was Daidalos that came up with and created the practice of choral dance. [RSS]
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§ 19.113 great oath (μέγαν ὅρκον) The water of Styx. Of the children of Ouranos, Styx was the one sister held in the highest honor, and after the battle of the heavenly gods against the so-called Titans, she became the in the following way. Cronos and the other Titans (the children of Ouranos ), the older generation, were preparing to bring war against the younger gods led by Zeus. They determined to do this through an ambush and brought their sister into their counsel, but when she learned of the specifics of their plans, she revealed them to Zeus, betraying her siblings. Zeus and the other gods avoided the ambush, met the Titans in war, and defeated them. Then he honored Styx by making the water of Styx the unbreakable oath of the gods. The story is told in more detail in Hesiod’s Theogony (lines 389–403). [RSS]
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§ 19.119 and stopped Alcmene [from giving birth] (Ἀλκμήνης δ᾿ ἀπέπαυσεν [τόκον]) Zeus slept with Alcmene daughter of Electryon and made her pregnant (how was explained in book 14 [line 323]). When she was about to give birth, Zeus swore in the presence of the gods that the one born from him on that very day would be king. Out of jealousy, Hera paused Alcmene’s labor and caused Sthenelos’ wife Antibia (some say it was Nicippe ), who was six months’ pregnant, to deliver Eurystheus. (This is why even babies born prematurely at six months are cared for.) Eurystheus became king and ordered Heracles to complete the labors; when the latter finished them, he was compensated with immortality following the instructions of Athena and Apollo. The story is in Rhianus (fr. 9 Powell = FGrHist 265 fr. 51). [RSS]
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§ 19.326 or my own son, who is being raised on Scyros for me (ἠὲ τὸν ὃς Σκύρῳ μοι ἔνι τρέφεται φίλος υἱός) After Alexander carried off Helen, Agamemnon and Menelaos assembled the Greeks to march against Troy. Knowing that it was fated for Achilles to die in Troy, Peleus went to king Lycomedes on Scyros and put Achilles in his care. Lycomedes put him in women’s clothing and raised him along with his daughters as a girl. When the Greeks received an oracle that Troy could not be taken without Achilles, they sent Odysseus, Phoinix, and Nestor to Peleus, who said his son wasn’t there with him. So they traveled to Scyros and, suspecting that Achilles was being raised among the young women, followed Odysseus’ suggestion: they tossed weapons and baskets filled with other loom-instruments in front of the women’s quarters. The girls rushed toward the baskets and other items, but Achilles outed himself when he picked up the weapons and that’s how he joined their campaign. Earlier, however, when he was living with the young women, he had seduced Deidameia, Lycomedes’ daughter. She bore him Pyrrhos, who later was named Neoptolemos. Though young, he fought with the Greeks after the death of his father. The story is in the Cyclic poets (p. 75 Davies). [RSS]
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§ 20.3 high ground (θρωσμῷ) A lofty place from which one can “spring” {thor-} or “leap” down. This place is in Troy, about five stades [= 5/8 mile] in circumference, lying between the Simoeis River and the so-called village of the Ilians. This is also where people think the goddesses were judged in the beauty contest. It is called Callicolone {“Beautiful Hill”}, because it is the most conspicuous landmark in the surrounding area. The story is in Demetrius of Scepsis (fr. 23 Gaede). [RSS]
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§ 20.145 to the earthen wall of godlike Heracles, lofty, the one the Trojans and Athena made so that he could slip away and escape the sea monster (τεῖχος ἐς ἀμφίχυτον Ἡρακλῆος θείοιο ὑψηλόν, τὸ ῥά οἱ Τρῶες καὶ Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη ποίεον, ὄφρα τὸ κῆτος ὑπεκπροφυγὼν ἀλέαιτο) When Poseidon and Apollo worked as slaves for Laomedon at Zeus’ command, they built the wall for an agreed-upon price. Breaking his oath and promises, Laomedon did not render payment and drove them off. Enraged, Poseidon sent a sea monster against the land, which continually destroyed all the people and growing crops it met. Laomedon consulted an oracle, and the response was this: he was to set out his daughter Hesione as food for the sea monster and in so doing he would be freed of the terror. He set out his daughter and announced that the would give the person who killed the sea monster the immortal horses that Zeus had given Tros in return for Ganymedes. Heracles came and promised to accomplish the challenge, and after Athena built the wall called “earthen” as a protection for him, he crawled into the beast’s belly through its mouth and destroyed its insides. Laomedon made a switch and gave Heracles mortal horses. When Heracles learned about this, he marched against Troy and sacked it, and that’s how he got those horses. The story is in Hellanicus (fr. 26b Fowler; EGM 2.311–3). [RSS]
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§ 20.215 First cloud-gathering Zeus fathered Dardanos (Δάρδανον αὖ πρῶτον τέκετο) Dardanos, the son of Zeus and Electra (the daughter of Atlas ), escaped from Samothrace when great rains came. Building a raft and wrapping himself in a leather sack, he crossed to Mt. Ida in the Troad. He got off the raft and on Zeus’ orders built a city, which he called Dardania after himself. The story is in Lycophron (Alex 69–85). [RSS]
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§ 20.307 and then the power of Aineias will rule the Trojans (νῦν δὲ δὴ Αἰνείαο βίη Τρώεσσι ἀνάξει) When Aphrodite learned of the prophecy that the descendants of Anchises would rule the Trojans after the reign of Priam’s family was brought to an end, she slept with Anchises even though he was past his prime. She gave birth to Aineias. Wanting to create a pretext to bring an end to Priam’s family, she inspired in Paris a desire for Helen. And after he carried Helen away, Aphrodite only appeared to fight on the side of the Trojans (in reality she was encouraging their defeat) so that they would not give up hope completely and give Helen back. The story is in Acusilaus (fr. 39 Fowler; EGM 2.561). [RSS]
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§ 20.403 as a bull bellows as it is dragged to the Heliconian lord (ὡς δ᾿ ὅτε ταῦρος ἤρυγεν ἑλκόμενος Ἑλικώνιον ἀμφὶ ἄνακτα) [...]144 The story is as follows. Neleus, the son of Codros, having received an oracle, sent out a group of settlers from Athens and Achaian Helice to settle Miletos and Caria. When they got to Caria they built a sanctuary for Poseidon and they called the area “Heliconion” after the sacred area in Helice. Whenever they sacrifice to the god, they think the god is receiving the sacrifice favorably if the bulls bellow; but if the bulls make no sound, they are discouraged since they think the god is angry. The story is in Clitophon (FHG fr. 5). [RSS]
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§ 21.1 the ford of the river [ Xanthos ] (πόρον ποταμοῖο...[Ξάνθου]) [...]But there is also another story circulating. Once Heracles, in the grips of dire thirst, prayed to his father Zeus to show him a flowing stream. Not wanting him to die, Zeus threw a thunderbolt and revealed a small trickle of water. When Heracles saw it, he dug {skapt-} to make it flow more closely to the surface and called it “ Skamandros,” as if “Kamandros” since it was the cause of his toil {kamat-}. This is why the poet reasonably ties the origin of the river to Zeus. It got the name Xanthos from the fact that the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite were judged in the beauty contest after having washed in its waters having blond {xanth-} hair. [RSS]
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§ 21.194 Not even lord Acheloios is his [ Zeus’] equal (τῷ οὐδὲ κρείων Ἀχελώϊος ἰσοφαρίζει) When Heracles descended into the underworld to fetch Cerberos, he encountered Meleagros son of Oineus, who begged him to marry his sister Deianeira. So, when he returned to the light above, Heracles hurried off to Oineus in Aitolia. When he got there, he found that Acheloios, the nearby river, was wooing the girl. Heracles wrestled him even as the river-god took the form of a bull, and during the struggle Heracles broke off one of this horns, thus winning the maiden. They say that Acheloios received a horn from Amaltheia daughter of Oceanos, and by trading that with Heracles, he got back his own horn. The Acheloios is clearly the biggest of all the rivers in Greece, and for this reason they call all water sources by this name. The story is in Pindar (Dith. 2; cf. Apollodorus 2.7.5). [RSS]
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§ 21.448 You, Phoibos, herded his shambling, crook-horned cattle (Φοῖβε σὺ δ᾿ εἰλίποδας ἕλικας βοῦς βουκολέεσκες) They say that Apollo was called “Herder” {nomios} for the following reason. Ancient people thought that plagues came from Apollo, but every plague starts with the animals, as Homer says [Il. 1.50], “He went after the mules and swift dogs first.” So wanting to entreat the god so that he would turn aside the plagues, they called him herder and guard of the flocks—and this is why Homer says that he shepherded flocks under Laomedon and herded horses for Admetus. This is how Apollodorus tells it (of Athens, FGrHist 244 fr. 96). [RSS]
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§ 22.29 The dog of Orion (ὅν τε κύν᾿ Ὠρίωνος) This is how Homer describes the constellation “Dog.” But some say that the dog placed among the stars is not Orion’s dog, but that of Erigone, which was put in the heavens for the following reason. Icarios was an Athenian by birth and had an only daughter, Erigone, who was raising a puppy. Once Icarios hosted Dionysos in his home and received from him both wine and a cutting of a grape vine. Following the god’s instructions, he went around the land publicizing Dionysos’ gift, and he took the dog with him. When he was outside of the city he offered some herders wine, and they all in a group drank their fill. Some fell into a deep sleep, but those who did not thought that the drink was some deadly drug, so they beat Icarios to death. When those who had fallen asleep woke up recovered the next day, they realized their crime and took to flight. But the dog returned to Erigone and indicated what had happened by howling. When Erigone learned the truth, she hanged herself. A plague struck in Athens and the Athenians, following an oracle, started honoring both Icarios and Erigone with yearly honors. They were also placed among the stars: Icarios was called “ Bootes ” {Cart-Driver}, and Erigone “ Parthenos ” {Virgin}. The dog kept the same name. The story is in Eratosthenes (fr. 22 Powell). [RSS]
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§ 23.91 Let a single urn [hold] the remains of us both (ὣς δὲ καὶ ὀστέα νῶϊν ὁμὴ σορός) When Hephaistos was on Naxos (one of the Cyclades ), Dionysos hosted him and got from him a golden vase as a gift. Later, when Dionysos was chased off by Lycourgos and fled into the sea, he was received kindly by Thetis, and so he gave her the vase that had been made by Hephaistos. And she gifted it to her son, so that after death his remains could be put in it. The story is in Stesichorus (PMG fr. 234). [RSS]
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§ 23.144 It appears my father prayed to you in vain, Spercheios, etc. (Σπέρχει᾿ ἄλλως σοί γε πατὴρ ἠρήσατο Πηλεὺς καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς) It was customary among the ancients to clip the hair of their youth when they reached adulthood and dedicate it to rivers. For they thought that rivers were responsible for nurturing them, and it was for this reason that they brought water from rivers to their wedding celebrations when they take an omen about the birth and raising of children. This is why Peleus too dedicated Achilles’ hair to this river—for he was from Pharsalos in Thessaly. The story is in the authors of the Argolica. [RSS]
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§ 23.346 Not even if you were to drive the colt Areion in front of you (οὐδὲ εἴ κεν μετόπισθεν Ἀρείονα πῶλον ἐλαύνοις) When Poseidon desired Erinys, he changed his form into that of a horse and slept with her in Boiotia beside the spring Tilphousa. Impregnated, she gave birth to a horse, which was called Areion {“better, stouter”} because it was the best. Copreus, who was ruler of Haliartos in Boiotia, received this horse as a gift from Poseidon. He, in turn, gifted it to Heracles when the latter stayed with him. It was competing on this horse that Heracles won a horserace against Cycnos, the son of Ares, in the sanctuary of Pagasaian Apollo (this is near Troizen [incorrect]). Later, in another handoff, Heracles gave the colt to Adrastos, and it was because of the horse that Adrastos survived the Theban War, while the others perished. The story is in the Cyclic poets ( Thebaid fr. 6c Davies). [RSS]
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§ 23.660 To whoever Apollo grants endurance (ᾧ δὲ κ᾿ Ἀπόλλων δώῃ καμμονίην) Phorbas was the strongest man in his day. Thinking himself superior, he practiced boxing, forced passers-by to compete against him, and killed them. But, driven by that outsized sense of superiority, he was accustomed to show the same sort of arrogance even toward the gods. So Apollo came to him, engaged him in a fight, and killed him. And it was because of that fight that the god was also thought to be the overseer of the art of boxing. The story is in the Cyclic poets (p. 74 Davies). [RSS]
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§ 23.683 a loin cloth (ζῶμα δέ οἱ) Originally, it was customary for ancient folks to wear a loin cloth over the genitals when they competed in athletic contests. In the Olympiad, when Orsippos the Lacedaimonian competed, his loin cloth slipped off and that was the reason for his victory. From that time on it has been custom to run naked. [RSS]
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§ 23.821 he kept trying to hit his neck [with the point of his] shining [spear] (αἰὲν ἐπ᾿ αὐχένι κῦρε φαεινοῦ [δουρὸς ἀκωκῇ]) The story is told that Heracles, who had sailed to the island of Salamis for some reason, arrived at the very moment when Telamon’s son Aias was born. So Heracles stopped, picked up the child, and threw his lion cloak around him, at which point he boasted that he would be invulnerable. And when Aias grew up, he was invulnerable all over, except for his neck. For that, apparently, was the body part that the lion skin happened not to cover at the time. [RSS]
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§ 24.24 They kept urging sharp-eyed Argeiphontes to steal [ Hector’s body] ([τὸν] κλέψαι δ᾿ ὀτρύνεσκον ἐΰσκοπον Ἀργειφόντην) Zeus desired Maia, the daughter of Atlas, and slept with her secretly without Hera’s knowledge. Impregnated, she gave birth to Hermes in Cyllene in Arcadia. He had an appetite for stealing {klept-] things because Zeus cheated on {klept-} Hera when he slept with Maia. Once, for instance, when his mother was bathing with her sisters, Hermes snuck in and swiped their clothes right from under them; they, naked, had no idea what to do. Hermes laughed at this and then gave them back their clothes. He also stole Apollo’s cattle. The story is in Eratosthenes (fr. 1 Powell). [RSS]
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg5026.tlg017:24.251
§ 24.251 Deiphobos and Hippothoos (Δηΐφοβόν τε καὶ Ἱππόθοον) When Alexander was shot by Philoctetes, Priam set Helen’s hand in marriage as a prize for the man emerged victorious in the contest. Deiphobos won, so he got to marry her. The story is in Lycophron (Alex. 169–71). [RSS]
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg5026.tlg017:24.602
§ 24.602 For even fair-tressed Niobe remembered food (καὶ γάρ τ᾿ ἠΰκομος Νιόβη ἐμνήσατο σίτου) Niobe was daughter of Tantalos and the wife of Amphion. After she married Amphion she had twelve children, six girls and six boys. Swollen with pride over the number and the beauty of her children, she threw in Leto’s face that she only had two children, Apollo and Artemis, and she boasted that she was more blessed in children than Leto was. The goddess, enraged, sent her own children after them: Apollo killed the males while they were hunting on Mt. Cithairon, while Artemis killed the females at home. Niobe grieved inconsolably over her great misfortune. Zeus took pity on her and turned her into stone, which even today can be seen on Mt. Sipylos in Phrygia from every direction, sending forth streams of tears. The story is in Euphorion (fr. 102 Powell). [RSS]

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by R. Scott Smith et al.. Composed ca. 350 CE. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC-BY). Source.