Part 10
Fragment #68—1742 Berlin Papyri, No. 9739: (ll. 1-10) ‘....Philoctetes sought her, a leader of spearmen, .... most famous of all men at shooting from afar and with the sharp spear. And he came to Tyndareus’ bright city for the sake of the Argive maid who had the beauty of golden Aphrodite, and the sparkling eyes of the Graces; and the dark-faced daughter of Ocean, very lovely of form, bare her when she had shared the embraces of Zeus and the king Tyndareus in the bright palace.... (And.... sought her to wife offering as gifts)
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(ll. 11-15)....and as many women skilled in blameless arts, each holding a golden bowl in her hands. And truly Castor and strong Polydeuces would have made him 1743 their brother perforce, but Agamemnon, being son-in-law to Tyndareus, wooed her for his brother Menelaus.
(ll. 16-19) And the two sons of Amphiaraus the lord, Oecleus’ son, sought her to wife from Argos very near at hand; yet.... fear of the blessed gods and the indignation of men caused them also to fail.
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(l. 20)...but there was no deceitful dealing in the sons of Tyndareus.
(ll. 21-27) And from Ithaca the sacred might of Odysseus, Laertes son, who knew many-fashioned wiles, sought her to wife. He never sent gifts for the sake of the neat-ankled maid, for he knew in his heart that golden-haired Menelaus would win, since he was greatest of the Achaeans in possessions and was ever sending messages 1744 to horse-taming Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces.
(ll. 28-30) And....on’s son sought her to wife (and brought) ....bridal-gifts.... ....cauldrons....
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(ll. 31-33)...to horse-taming Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces, desiring to be the husband of rich-haired Helen, though he had never seen her beauty, but because he heard the report of others.
(ll. 34-41) And from Phylace two men of exceeding worth sought her to wife, Podarces son of Iphiclus, Phylacus’ son, and Actor’s noble son, overbearing Protesilaus. Both of them kept sending messages to Lacedaemon, to the house of wise Tyndareus, Oebalus’ son, and they offered many bridal-gifts, for great was the girl’s renown, brazen.... ....golden....
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(l. 42)...(desiring) to be the husband of rich-haired Helen.
(ll. 43-49) From Athens the son of Peteous, Menestheus, sought her to wife, and offered many bridal-gifts; for he possessed very many stored treasures, gold and cauldrons and tripods, fine things which lay hid in the house of the lord Peteous, and with them his heart urged him to win his bride by giving more gifts than any other; for he thought that no one of all the heroes would surpass him in possessions and gifts.
(ll. 50-51) There came also by ship from Crete to the house of the son of Oebalus strong Lycomedes for rich-haired Helen’s sake.
Berlin Papyri, No. 10560: (ll. 52-54)...sought her to wife. And after golden-haired Menelaus he offered the greatest gifts of all the suitors, and very much he desired in his heart to be the husband of Argive Helen with the rich hair.
(ll. 55-62) And from Salamis Aias, blameless warrior, sought her to wife, and offered fitting gifts, even wonderful deeds; for he said that he would drive together and give the shambling oxen and strong sheep of all those who lived in Troezen and Epidaurus near the sea, and in the island of Aegina and in Mases, sons of the Achaeans, and shadowy Megara and frowning Corinthus, and Hermione and Asine which lie along the sea; for he was famous with the long spear.
(ll. 63-66) But from Euboea Elephenor, leader of men, the son of Chalcodon, prince of the bold Abantes, sought her to wife. And he offered very many gifts, and greatly he desired in his heart to be the husband of rich-haired Helen.
(ll. 67-74) And from Crete the mighty Idomeneus sought her to wife, Deucalion’s son, offspring of renowned Minos. He sent no one to woo her in his place, but came himself in his black ship of many thwarts over the Ogygian sea across the dark wave to the home of wise Tyndareus, to see Argive Helen and that no one else should bring back for him the girl whose renown spread all over the holy earth.
(l. 75) And at the prompting of Zeus the all-wise came.
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(ll. 89-100) But of all who came for the maid’s sake, the lord Tyndareus sent none away, nor yet received the gift of any, but asked of all the suitors sure oaths, and bade them swear and vow with unmixed libations that no one else henceforth should do aught apart from him as touching the marriage of the maid with shapely arms; but if any man should cast off fear and reverence and take her by force, he bade all the others together follow after and make him pay the penalty. And they, each of them hoping to accomplish his marriage, obeyed him without wavering. But warlike Menelaus, the son of Atreus, prevailed against them all together, because he gave the greatest gifts.
(ll. 100-106) But Chiron was tending the son of Peleus, swift-footed Achilles, pre-eminent among men, on woody Pelion; for he was still a boy. For neither warlike Menelaus nor any other of men on earth would have prevailed in suit for Helen, if fleet Achilles had found her unwed. But, as it was, warlike Menelaus won her before.
II. 1745
(ll. 1-2) And she (Helen) bare neat-ankled Hermione in the palace, a child unlooked for.
(ll. 2-13) Now all the gods were divided through strife; for at that very time Zeus who thunders on high was meditating marvellous deeds, even to mingle storm and tempest over the boundless earth, and already he was hastening to make an utter end of the race of mortal men, declaring that he would destroy the lives of the demi-gods, that the children of the gods should not mate with wretched mortals, seeing their fate with their own eyes; but that the blessed gods henceforth even as aforetime should have their living and their habitations apart from men. But on those who were born of immortals and of mankind verily Zeus laid toil and sorrow upon sorrow.
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(ll. 16-30)....nor any one of men.... ....should go upon black ships.... ....to be strongest in the might of his hands.... ....of mortal men declaring to all those things that were, and those that are, and those that shall be, he brings to pass and glorifies the counsels of his father Zeus who drives the clouds. For no one, either of the blessed gods or of mortal men, knew surely that he would contrive through the sword to send to Hades full many a one of heroes fallen in strife. But at that time he knew not as yet the intent of his father’s mind, and how men delight in protecting their children from doom. And he delighted in the desire of his mighty father’s heart who rules powerfully over men.
(ll. 31-43) From stately trees the fair leaves fell in abundance fluttering down to the ground, and the fruit fell to the ground because Boreas blew very fiercely at the behest of Zeus; the deep seethed and all things trembled at his blast: the strength of mankind consumed away and the fruit failed in the season of spring, at that time when the Hairless One 1746 in a secret place in the mountains gets three young every three years. In spring he dwells upon the mountain among tangled thickets and brushwood, keeping afar from and hating the path of men, in the glens and wooded glades. But when winter comes on, he lies in a close cave beneath the earth and covers himself with piles of luxuriant leaves, a dread serpent whose back is speckled with awful spots.
(ll. 44-50) But when he becomes violent and fierce unspeakably, the arrows of Zeus lay him low.... Only his soul is left on the holy earth, and that fits gibbering about a small unformed den. And it comes enfeebled to sacrifices beneath the broad-pathed earth.... and it lies....’
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Fragment #69—Tzetzes 1747, Exeg. Iliad. 68. 19H: Agamemnon and Menelaus likewise according to Hesiod and Aeschylus are regarded as the sons of Pleisthenes, Atreus’ son. And according to Hesiod, Pleisthenes was a son of Atreus and Aerope, and Agamemnon, Menelaus and Anaxibia were the children of Pleisthenes and Cleolla the daughter of Dias.
Fragment #70—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles’ Electra, 539: ‘And she (Helen) bare to Menelaus, famous with the spear, Hermione and her youngest-born, Nicostratus, a scion of Ares.’
Fragment #71—Pausanias, i. 43. 1: I know that Hesiod in the _Catalogue of Women_ represented that Iphigeneia was not killed but, by the will of Artemis, became Hecate 1748.
Fragment #72—Eustathius, Hom. 13. 44. sq: Butes, it is said, was a son of Poseidon: so Hesiod in the _Catalogue_.
Fragment #73—Pausanias, ii. 6. 5: Hesiod represented Sicyon as the son of Erechtheus.
Fragment #74—Plato, Minos, p. 320. D: ‘(Minos) who was most kingly of mortal kings and reigned over very many people dwelling round about, holding the sceptre of Zeus wherewith he ruled many.’
Fragment #75—Hesychius 1749: The athletic contest in memory of Eurygyes Melesagorus says that Androgeos the son of Minos was called Eurygyes, and that a contest in his honour is held near his tomb at Athens in the Ceramicus. And Hesiod writes: ‘And Eurygyes 1750, while yet a lad in holy Athens...’
Fragment #76—Plutarch, Theseus 20: There are many tales.... about Ariadne...., how that she was deserted by Theseua for love of another woman: ‘For strong love for Aegle the daughter of Panopeus overpowered him.’ For Hereas of Megara says that Peisistratus removed this verse from the works of Hesiod.
Athenaeus 1751, xiii. 557 A: But Hesiod says that Theseus wedded both Hippe and Aegle lawfully.
Fragment #77—Strabo, ix. p. 393: The snake of Cychreus: Hesiod says that it was brought up by Cychreus, and was driven out by Eurylochus as defiling the island, but that Demeter received it into Eleusis, and that it became her attendant.
Fragment #78—Argument I. to the Shield of Heracles: But Apollonius of Rhodes says that it (the _Shield of Heracles_) is Hesiod’s both from the general character of the work and from the fact that in the _Catalogue_ we again find Iolaus as charioteer of Heracles.
Fragment #79—Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 266: (ll. 1-6) ‘And fair-girdled Stratonica conceived and bare in the palace Eurytus her well-loved son. Of him sprang sons, Didaeon and Clytius and god-like Toxeus and Iphitus, a scion of Ares. And after these Antiope the queen, daughter of the aged son of Nauboius, bare her youngest child, golden-haired Iolea.’
Fragment #80—Herodian in Etymologicum Magnum: ‘Who bare Autolycus and Philammon, famous in speech.... All things that he (Autolyeus) took in his hands, he made to disappear.’
Fragment #81—Apollonius, Hom. Lexicon: ‘Aepytus again, begot Tlesenor and Peirithous.’
Fragment #82—Strabo, vii. p. 322: ‘For Locrus truly was leader of the Lelegian people, whom Zeus the Son of Cronos, whose wisdom is unfailing, gave to Deucalion, stones gathered out of the earth. So out of stones mortal men were made, and they were called people.’ 1752
Fragment #83—Tzetzes, Schol. in Exeg. Iliad. 126: ‘...Ileus whom the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, loved. And he named him by his name, because he found a nymph complaisant 1753 and was joined with her in sweet love, on that day when Poseidon and Apollo raised high the wall of the well-built city.’
Fragment #84—Scholiast on Homer, Od. xi. 326: Clymene the daughter of Minyas the son of Poseidon and of Euryanassa, Hyperphas’ daughter, was wedded to Phylacus the son of Deion, and bare Iphiclus, a boy fleet of foot. It is said of him that through his power of running he could race the winds and could move along upon the ears of corn 1754.... The tale is in Hesiod: ‘He would run over the fruit of the asphodel and not break it; nay, he would run with his feet upon wheaten ears and not hurt the fruit.’
Fragment #85—Choeroboscus 1755, i. 123, 22H: ‘And she bare a son Thoas.’
Fragment #86—Eustathius, Hom. 1623. 44: Maro 1756, whose father, it is said, Hesiod relates to have been Euanthes the son of Oenopion, the son of Dionysus.
Fragment #87—Athenaeus, x. 428 B, C: ‘Such gifts as Dionysus gave to men, a joy and a sorrow both. Who ever drinks to fullness, in him wine becomes violent and binds together his hands and feet, his tongue also and his wits with fetters unspeakable: and soft sleep embraces him.’
Fragment #88—Strabo, ix. p. 442: ‘Or like her (Coronis) who lived by the holy Twin Hills in the plain of Dotium over against Amyrus rich in grapes, and washed her feet in the Boebian lake, a maid unwed.’
Fragment #89—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 48: ‘To him, then, there came a messenger from the sacred feast to goodly Pytho, a crow 1757, and he told unshorn Phoebus of secret deeds, that Ischys son of Elatus had wedded Coronis the daughter of Phlegyas of birth divine.
Fragment #90—Athenagoras 1758, Petition for the Christians, 29: Concerning Asclepius Hesiod says: ‘And the father of men and gods was wrath, and from Olympus he smote the son of Leto with a lurid thunderbolt and killed him, arousing the anger of Phoebus.’
Fragment #91—Philodemus, On Piety, 34: But Hesiod (says that Apollo) would have been cast by Zeus into Tartarus 1759; but Leto interceded for him, and he became bondman to a mortal.
Fragment #92—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. ix. 6: ‘Or like her, beautiful Cyrene, who dwelt in Phthia by the water of Peneus and had the beauty of the Graces.’
Fragment #93—Servius on Vergil, Georg. i. 14: He invoked Aristaeus, that is, the son of Apollo and Cyrene, whom Hesiod calls ‘the shepherd Apollo.’ 1760
Fragment #94—Scholiast on Vergil, Georg. iv. 361: ‘But the water stood all round him, bowed into the semblance of a mountain.’ This verse he has taken over from Hesiod’s _Catalogue of Women_.
Fragment #95—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad ii. 469: ‘Or like her (Antiope) whom Boeotian Hyria nurtured as a maid.’
Fragment #96—Palaephatus 1761, c. 42: Of Zethus and Amphion. Hesiod and some others relate that they built the walls of Thebes by playing on the lyre.
Fragment #97—Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 1167: (ll. 1-11) ‘There is a land Ellopia with much glebe and rich meadows, and rich in flocks and shambling kine. There dwell men who have many sheep and many oxen, and they are in number past telling, tribes of mortal men. And there upon its border is built a city, Dodona 1762; and Zeus loved it and (appointed) it to be his oracle, reverenced by men........And they (the doves) lived in the hollow of an oak. From them men of earth carry away all kinds of prophecy,—whosoever fares to that spot and questions the deathless god, and comes bringing gifts with good omens.’
Fragment #98—Berlin Papyri, No. 9777: 1763 (ll. 1-22) ‘....strife.... Of mortals who would have dared to fight him with the spear and charge against him, save only Heracles, the great-hearted offspring of Alcaeus? Such an one was (?) strong Meleager loved of Ares, the golden-haired, dear son of Oeneus and Althaea. From his fierce eyes there shone forth portentous fire: and once in high Calydon he slew the destroying beast, the fierce wild boar with gleaming tusks. In war and in dread strife no man of the heroes dared to face him and to approach and fight with him when he appeared in the forefront. But he was slain by the hands and arrows of Apollo 1764, while he was fighting with the Curetes for pleasant Calydon. And these others (Althaea) bare to Oeneus, Porthaon’s son; horse-taming Pheres, and Agelaus surpassing all others, Toxeus and Clymenus and godlike Periphas, and rich-haired Gorga and wise Deianeira, who was subject in love to mighty Heracles and bare him Hyllus and Glenus and Ctesippus and Odites. These she bare and in ignorance she did a fearful thing: when (she had received).... the poisoned robe that held black doom....’
Fragment #99A—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad. xxiii. 679: And yet Hesiod says that after he had died in Thebes, Argeia the daughter of Adrastus together with others (cp. frag. 99) came to the lamentation over Oedipus.
Fragment #99—1765 Papyri greci e latine, No. 131 (2nd-3rd century): 1766 (ll. 1-10) ‘And (Eriphyle) bare in the palace Alcmaon 1767, shepherd of the people, to Amphiaraus. Him (Amphiaraus) did the Cadmean (Theban) women with trailing robes admire when they saw face to face his eyes and well-grown frame, as he was busied about the burying of Oedipus, the man of many woes. ....Once the Danai, servants of Ares, followed him to Thebes, to win renown........for Polynices. But, though well he knew from Zeus all things ordained, the earth yawned and swallowed him up with his horses and jointed chariot, far from deep-eddying Alpheus.
(ll. 11-20) But Electyron married the all-beauteous daughter of Pelops and, going up into one bed with her, the son of Perses begat........and Phylonomus and Celaeneus and Amphimachus and........and Eurybius and famous.... All these the Taphians, famous shipmen, slew in fight for oxen with shambling hoofs,.... ....in ships across the sea’s wide back. So Alcmena alone was left to delight her parents........and the daughter of Electryon....
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(l. 21)....who was subject in love to the dark-clouded son of Cronos and bare (famous Heracles).’
Fragment #100—Argument to the Shield of Heracles, i: The beginning of the _Shield_ as far as the 56th verse is current in the fourth _Catalogue_
Fragment #101 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)—Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 1 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA—Slight remains of 3 lines))
(ll. 4-17) ‘...if indeed he (Teuthras) delayed, and if he feared to obey the word of the immortals who then appeared plainly to them. But her (Auge) he received and brought up well, and cherished in the palace, honouring her even as his own daughters.
And Auge bare Telephus of the stock of Areas, king of the Mysians, being joined in love with the mighty Heracles when he was journeying in quest of the horses of proud Laomedon—horses the fleetest of foot that the Asian land nourished,—and destroyed in battle the tribe of the dauntless Amazons and drove them forth from all that land. But Telephus routed the spearmen of the bronze-clad Achaeans and made them embark upon their black ships. Yet when he had brought down many to the ground which nourishes men, his own might and deadliness were brought low....’
Fragment #102 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)—Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 2 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA—Remains of 4 lines))
(ll. 5-16) ‘....Electra.... was subject to the dark-clouded Son of Cronos and bare Dardanus.... and Eetion.... who once greatly loved rich-haired Demeter. And cloud-gathering Zeus was wroth and smote him, Eetion, and laid him low with a flaming thunderbolt, because he sought to lay hands upon rich-haired Demeter. But Dardanus came to the coast of the mainland—from him Erichthonius and thereafter Tros were sprung, and Ilus, and Assaracus, and godlike Ganymede,—when he had left holy Samothrace in his many-benched ship.
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Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 3 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): (ll. 17-24) 1768....Cleopatra ....the daughter of.... ....But an eagle caught up Ganymede for Zeus because he vied with the immortals in beauty........rich-tressed Diomede; and she bare Hyacinthus, the blameless one and strong........whom, on a time Phoebus himself slew unwittingly with a ruthless disk....
THE SHIELD OF HERACLES
(ll. 1-27) Or like her who left home and country and came to Thebes, following warlike Amphitryon,—even Alcmena, the daughter of Electyron, gatherer of the people. She surpassed the tribe of womankind in beauty and in height; and in wisdom none vied with her of those whom mortal women bare of union with mortal men. Her face and her dark eyes wafted such charm as comes from golden Aphrodite. And she so honoured her husband in her heart as none of womankind did before her. Verily he had slain her noble father violently when he was angry about oxen; so he left his own country and came to Thebes and was suppliant to the shield-carrying men of Cadmus. There he dwelt with his modest wife without the joys of love, nor might he go in unto the neat-ankled daughter of Electyron until he had avenged the death of his wife’s great-hearted brothers and utterly burned with blazing fire the villages of the heroes, the Taphians and Teleboans; for this thing was laid upon him, and the gods were witnesses to it. And he feared their anger, and hastened to perform the great task to which Zeus had bound him. With him went the horse-driving Boeotians, breathing above their shields, and the Locrians who fight hand to hand, and the gallant Phocians eager for war and battle. And the noble son of Alcaeus led them, rejoicing in his host.
(ll. 27-55) But the father of men and gods was forming another scheme in his heart, to beget one to defend against destruction gods and men who eat bread. So he arose from Olympus by night pondering guile in the deep of his heart, and yearned for the love of the well-girded woman. Quickly he came to Typhaonium, and from there again wise Zeus went on and trod the highest peak of Phicium 1801: there he sat and planned marvellous things in his heart. So in one night Zeus shared the bed and love of the neat-ankled daughter of Electyron and fulfilled his desire; and in the same night Amphitryon, gatherer of the people, the glorious hero, came to his house when he had ended his great task. He hastened not to go to his bondmen and shepherds afield, but first went in unto his wife: such desire took hold on the shepherd of the people. And as a man who has escaped joyfully from misery, whether of sore disease or cruel bondage, so then did Amphitryon, when he had wound up all his heavy task, come glad and welcome to his home. And all night long he lay with his modest wife, delighting in the gifts of golden Aphrodite. And she, being subject in love to a god and to a man exceeding goodly, brought forth twin sons in seven-gated Thebe. Though they were brothers, these were not of one spirit; for one was weaker but the other a far better man, one terrible and strong, the mighty Heracles. Him she bare through the embrace of the son of Cronos lord of dark clouds and the other, Iphiclus, of Amphitryon the spear-wielder—offspring distinct, this one of union with a mortal man, but that other of union with Zeus, leader of all the gods.