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Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica [108]

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tells of the death of Parthenopaeus says that it was Periclymenus who killed him.


ENDNOTES:

(1) The haunch was regarded as a dishonourable portion. (2) The horse of Adrastus, offspring of Poseidon and Demeter, who had charged herself into a mare to escape Poseidon. (3) Restored from Pindar Ol. vi. 15 who, according to Asclepiades, derives the passage from the "Thebais".



THE EPIGONI (fragments)

Fragment #1 -- Contest of Homer and Hesiod: Next (Homer composed) the "Epigoni" in seven thousand verses, beginning, `And now, Muses, let us begin to sing of younger men.'


Fragment #2 -- Photius, Lexicon: Teumesia. Those who have written on Theban affairs have given a full account of the Teumesian fox. (1) They relate that the creature was sent by the gods to punish the descendants of Cadmus, and that the Thebans therefore excluded those of the house of Cadmus from kingship. But (they say) a certain Cephalus, the son of Deion, an Athenian, who owned a hound which no beast ever escaped, had accidentally killed his wife Procris, and being purified of the homicide by the Cadmeans, hunted the fox with his hound, and when they had overtaken it both hound and fox were turned into stones near Teumessus. These writers have taken the story from the Epic Cycle.


Fragment #3 -- Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 308: The authors of the "Thebais" say that Manto the daughter of Teiresias was sent to Delphi by the Epigoni as a first fruit of their spoil, and that in accordance with an oracle of Apollo she went out and met Rhacius, the son of Lebes, a Mycenaean by race. This man she married -- for the oracle also contained the command that she should marry whomsoever she might meet -- and coming to Colophon, was there much cast down and wept over the destruction of her country.


ENDNOTES:

(1) So called from Teumessus, a hill in Boeotia. For the derivation of Teumessus cp. Antimachus "Thebais" fr. 3 (Kinkel).



THE CYPRIA (fragments)

Fragment #1 -- Proclus, Chrestomathia, i: This (1) is continued by the epic called "Cypria" which is current is eleven books. Its contents are as follows.

Zeus plans with Themis to bring about the Trojan war. Strife arrives while the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus and starts a dispute between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them is fairest. The three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to Alexandrus (2) on Mount Ida for his decision, and Alexandrus, lured by his promised marriage with Helen, decides in favour of Aphrodite.

Then Alexandrus builds his ships at Aphrodite's suggestion, and Helenus foretells the future to him, and Aphrodite order Aeneas to sail with him, while Cassandra prophesies as to what will happen afterwards. Alexandrus next lands in Lacedaemon and is entertained by the sons of Tyndareus, and afterwards by Menelaus in Sparta, where in the course of a feast he gives gifts to Helen.

After this, Menelaus sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen to furnish the guests with all they require until they depart. Meanwhile, Aphrodite brings Helen and Alexandrus together, and they, after their union, put very great treasures on board and sail away by night. Hera stirs up a storm against them and they are carried to Sidon, where Alexandrus takes the city. From there he sailed to Troy and celebrated his marriage with Helen.

In the meantime Castor and Polydeuces, while stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynceus, were caught in the act, and Castor was killed by Idas, and Lynceus and Idas by Polydeuces. Zeus gave them immortality every other day.

Iris next informs Menelaus of what has happened at his home. Menelaus returns and plans an expedition against Ilium with his brother, and then goes on to Nestor. Nestor in a digression tells him how Epopeus was utterly destroyed after seducing the daughter of Lycus, and the story of Oedipus, the madness of Heracles, and the story of Theseus and Ariadne. Then they travel over Hellas and gather the leaders, detecting Odysseus when he pretends to be mad,
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