I. Κτήσυλλα
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων γ΄.]
Κτήσυλλα ἐγένετο Κεία τὸ γένος ἐξ Ἰουλίδος Ἀλκιδάμαντος θυγάτηρ. ταύτην ἰδὼν Ἑρμοχάρης Ἀθηναῖος χορεύουσαν Πυθίοις περὶ τὸν βωμὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐν Καρθαίᾳ ἐπεθύμησεν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπιγράψας μῆλον ἔρριψεν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος, ἡ δὲ ἀνείλετο καὶ ἀνέγνω·
1. Ctesylla
[Nicander tells this story in Book 3 of the Heteroeumena (Transformations).]
Ctesylla was a girl of Ceos by birth, from Iulis, the daughter of Alcidamas. Hermochares, an Athenian, saw her dancing at the Pythian festival around the altar of Apollo at Carthaea and desired her; he wrote on an apple and threw it into the sanctuary of Artemis, and she picked it up and read it.
ἐπεγέγραπτο δὲ ὅρκος κατὰ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἦ μὴν γαμηθήσεσθαι Ἑρμοχάρει Ἀθηναίῳ. ἡ μὲν οὖν Κτήσυλλα ἀπέρριψε τὸ μῆλον αἰδεσθεῖσα καὶ χαλεπῶς ἤνεγκεν [ὥσπερ ὅτε Κυδίππην Ἀκόντιος ἐξηπάτησεν].
Written on it was an oath by Artemis that she would truly marry Hermochares the Athenian. Ctesylla threw the apple away out of shame and was vexed [as when Acontius deceived Cydippe].
Ἑρμοχάρει δὲ αἰτησαμένῳ κατῄνεσε τὸν γάμον ὁ πατὴρ ὁ τῆς Κτησύλλης καὶ ὤμοσε τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα τῆς δάφνης ἁψάμενος. ἐπεὶ δὲ διῆλθεν ὁ τῶν Πυθίων χρόνος, Ἀλκιδάμας ἐκλαθόμενος τὸν ὅρκον, ὅν ὤμοσεν, ἑτέρῳ συνῴκισε τὴν θυγατέρα.
When Hermochares asked for her, Ctesylla's father consented to the marriage and swore to it by Apollo, touching the laurel. But when the time of the Pythian festival had passed, Alcidamas forgot the oath he had sworn and gave his daughter in marriage to another man.
καὶ ἡ παῖς ἔθυεν ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερῷ. χαλεπῶς δὲ φέρων Ἑρμοχάρης ἐπὶ τῷ τοῦ γάμου διαμαρτεῖν εἰσέδραμεν εἰς τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον. καὶ ἡ παῖς αὐτὸν ἰδοῦσα κατὰ θεὸν ἠράσθη καὶ συνθεμένη διὰ τῆς τροφοῦ διαλαθοῦσα τὸν πατέρα νύχιος ἀπέπλευσεν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας καὶ γάμος ἐπράχθη τῷ Ἑρμοχάρει.
The girl was offering sacrifice in the sanctuary of Artemis. Hermochares, aggrieved at having missed the marriage, ran into the Artemisium; and the girl saw him and, by the will of a god, fell in love with him; she came to an arrangement through her nurse, escaped her father's notice and sailed away by night to Athens, and the marriage with Hermochares took place.
τεκοῦσα δ’ ἡ Κτήσυλλα καὶ χαλεπῶς ἐκ τοῦ τόκου διατεθεῖσα ἐτελεύτησε κατὰ δαίμονα, ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῆς ἐψεύσατο τὸν ὅρκον. καὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα κομίσαντες ἔφερον ὅπως κηδεύσωσιν, ἐκ δὲ τῆς στρωμνῆς πελειὰς ἐξέπτη καὶ τὸ σῶμα τῆς Κτησύλλης ἀφανὲς ἐγένετο.
Ctesylla gave birth, fell gravely ill after the delivery and died by the will of a divinity, because her father had broken his oath. They took up her body and were carrying it out to bury it, but a dove flew out from the bedding of the bier and Ctesylla's body vanished.
χρωμένῳ δ’ Ἑρμοχάρει ὁ θεὸς ἀνεῖπεν ἱδρύσασθαι ἱερὸν παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουλιήταις ἐπώνυμον [Ἀφροδίτης] Κτησύλλης· ἔχρησε δὲ καὶ τοῖς Κείοις. οἱ δὲ θύουσιν ἄχρι νῦν, Ἰουλιῆται μὲν Ἀφροδίτην Κτήσυλλαν ὀνομάζοντες, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι Κτήσυλλαν Ἑκάεργην.
When Hermochares consulted the oracle, the god told him to found a sanctuary among the people of Iulis named after [Aphrodite] Ctesylla; and he gave the same oracle to the Ceans as well. They sacrifice to this day, the people of Iulis calling her Aphrodite Ctesylla, the others Ctesylla Hecaerge.
II. Μελεαγρίδες
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων γ΄.]
Οἰνεὺς ὁ Πορθέως τοῦ Ἄρεως ἐβασίλευσεν ἐν Καλυδῶνι καὶ ἐγένοντο αὐτῷ ἐξ Ἀλθαίας τῆς Θεστίου ⟨υἱοὶ μὲν⟩ Μελέαγρος, Φηρεύς, Ἀγέλεως, Τοξεύς, Κλύμενος, Περίφας· θυγατέρες δὲ Γόργη, Εὐρυμήδη, Δηιάνειρα, Μελανίππη.
2. The Meleagrides
[Nicander tells this story in Book 3 of the Heteroeumena.]
Oeneus, the son of Portheus son of Ares, was king in Calydon, and by Althaea daughter of Thestius he had ⟨sons⟩, Meleager, Phereus, Ageleus, Toxeus, Clymenus and Periphas, and daughters, Gorge, Eurymede, Deianira and Melanippe.
ἐπεὶ δ’ ἔθυεν ἀπαρχὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς χώρας, ἐκλανθάνεται τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος. αὕτη κατὰ μῆνιν ἐφορμᾷ σῦν ἄγριον, ὅς κατέφθειρε τὴν γῆν καὶ πολλοὺς ἀπέκτεινεν. ἔπειτα Μελέαγρος καὶ οἱ Θεστίου παῖδες συνήγειραν τοὺς ἀριστέας ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπὶ τὸν σῦν, οἱ δὲ ἀφικόμενοι κτείνουσιν αὐτόν.
Once, when he was sacrificing first-fruits on behalf of the land, he forgot Artemis. In her wrath she sent against them a wild boar, which ravaged the land and killed many people. Then Meleager and the sons of Thestius gathered the best men of Greece against the boar, and they came and killed it.
ὁ δὲ Μελέαγρος διανείμας τὰ κρέα αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἀριστεῦσι τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ δέρος ἐξαιρεῖ γέρας ἑαυτῷ. Ἄρτεμις δέ, ἐπεὶ τὸν ἱερὸν σῦν ἔκτειναν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐχολώθη καὶ νεῖκος ἐνέβαλεν αὐτοῖς. οἱ γὰρ παῖδες οἱ Θεστίου καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι Κουρῆτες ἅπτονται τοῦ δέρους φάμενοι μετεῖναι τὰ ἡμίσεια τῶν γερῶν ἑαυτοῖς.
Meleager divided its flesh among the champions and took out the head and the hide as a prize for himself. But Artemis, because they had killed the sacred boar, grew still angrier and cast strife among them. For the sons of Thestius and the other Curetes laid hold of the hide, saying that half of the prizes belonged to them.
Μελέαγρος ⟨δὲ⟩ ἀφαιρεῖται κατὰ βίαν καὶ κτείνει τοὺς Θεστίου παῖδας. ἐκ ταύτης τῆς προφάσεως πόλεμος ἐγένετο Κουρῆσι καὶ Καλυδωνίοις· καὶ ὁ Μελέαγρος εἰς τὸν πόλεμον οὐκ ἐξῄει μεμφόμενος ὅτι αὐτῷ κατηράσατο ἡ μήτηρ διὰ τὸν τῶν ἀδελφῶν θάνατον.
⟨But⟩ Meleager took it from them by force and killed the sons of Thestius. From this cause war broke out between the Curetes and the Calydonians; and Meleager would not go out to the war, resentful because his mother had cursed him for the death of her brothers.
ἤδη δὲ τῶν Κουρήτων μελλόντων αἱρεῖν τὴν πόλιν ἔπεισε τὸν Μελέαγρον ἡ γυνὴ Κλεοπάτρα τοῖς Καλυδωνίοις ἀμῦναι. ὁ δὲ ἀναστὰς ἐπὶ τὸν στρατὸν τῶν Κουρήτων καὶ αὐτὸς ἀποθνῄσκει τῆς μητρὸς ἐμπρησάσης τὸν παρὰ τῶν Μοιρῶν αὐτῇ δοθέντα δαλόν· ἐπέκλωσαν γὰρ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι χρόνον ἐφ’ ὅσον ἂν ὁ δαλὸς διαμένῃ.
When the Curetes were already on the point of taking the city, his wife Cleopatra persuaded Meleager to defend the Calydonians. He rose up against the army of the Curetes and he too died, when his mother burned the log that the Fates (Moirai) had given her; for they had spun it as his destiny that he should live as long as the log lasted.
ἀπέθανον δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι παῖδες ⟨οἱ⟩ Οἰνέως μαχόμενοι. καὶ πένθος ἐπὶ Μελεάγρῳ μέγιστον ἐγένετο [παρὰ] Καλυδωνίοις. αἱ δὲ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ παρὰ τὸ σῆμα ἐθρήνουν ἀδιαλείπτως ἄχρις αὐτὰς Ἄρτεμις ἁψαμένη ῥάβδῳ μετεμόρφωσεν εἰς ὄρνιθας καὶ ἀπῴκισεν εἰς Λέρον τὴν νῆσον ὀνομάσασα Μελεαγρίδας.
The other sons of Oeneus also died fighting. There was the greatest mourning for Meleager [among] the Calydonians. His sisters wept unceasingly beside his tomb, until Artemis touched them with a wand, changed them into birds and settled them on the island of Leros, naming them meleagrides (guinea-fowl).
αἱ δὲ ἄχρι νῦν [ἔτι] καθ’ ὥραν ἔτους λέγονται πένθος ἐπὶ Μελεάγρῳ φέρειν. δύο δὲ τῶν Ἀλθαίας θυγατέρων Γόργην καὶ Δηιάνειράν φασι κατ’ εὐμένειαν Διονύσου μὴ μεταβαλεῖν, ὅτι τὴν χάριν αὐτῷ Ἄρτεμις διδοῖ.
To this day, it is said, they [still] mourn for Meleager at the proper season of the year. Two of Althaea's daughters, Gorge and Deianira, were not transformed, they say, through the goodwill of Dionysus, because Artemis granted him this favour.
III. Ἱέραξ
[Ἱστορεῖ Βοῖος ὀρνιθογονίᾳ.]
Ἱέραξ ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ Μυριανδυνῶν γῇ δίκαιος ἀνὴρ καὶ ἐπιφανής. οὗτος ἱερὰ Δήμητρος ἱδρύσατο ⟨πλεῖστα⟩ καὶ πλείστους αὐτῆς καρποὺς ἔλαβεν.
3. Hierax
[Boeus tells this story in the Ornithogonia (The Generation of Birds).]
Hierax was a just and distinguished man in the land of the Mariandyni. He founded ⟨very many⟩ sanctuaries of Demeter and received very abundant harvests from her.
ἐπεὶ δὲ Τεῦκροι κατὰ χρόνον τὸν ἱκνούμενον οὐκ ἀπεδίδοσαν ἱερὰ Ποσειδῶνι, ἀλλὰ ὑπ’ ὀλιγωρίας ἐξέλειπον, χαλεπήνας Ποσειδῶν τοὺς μὲν ἐκείνης ⟨τῆς γῆς⟩ καρποὺς ἔφθειρε, κῆτος δ’ ἐξαίσιον ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐφώρμησεν αὐτοῖς.
But when the Teucrians, at the appointed time, did not render sacrifices to Poseidon but let them lapse through neglect, Poseidon in his anger destroyed the crops of that ⟨land⟩ and sent against them a monstrous sea-creature out of the sea.
οὐ δυνάμενοι δὲ πρὸς τὸ κῆτος καὶ τὸν λιμὸν ἀντέχειν ἀπέστελλον οἱ Τεῦκροι πρὸς τὸν Ἱέρακα καὶ ἐδέοντο πρὸς τὸν λιμὸν ἐπαμῦναι· κἀκεῖνος ἔπεμπε [τε] καὶ πυρὸν καὶ ἄλλην τροφήν.
Unable to hold out against the sea-monster and the famine, the Teucrians sent to Hierax and begged him to help them against the famine; and he sent them wheat and other food.
Ποσειδῶν δὲ μηνίσας, ἐπεὶ κατέλυεν αὐτοῦ τὰς τιμάς, ἐποίησεν ὄρνιθα, ὅς ὀνομάζεται ⟨ἔτι καὶ⟩ νῦν ἱέραξ, καὶ τὸ ἦθος ἤλλαξεν ἀφανίσας· μέγιστα γὰρ ὑπ’ ἀνθρώπων φιληθέντα πλεῖστον ἐποίησεν ὑπὸ τῶν ὀρνέων μισηθῆναι καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀποθανεῖν κωλύσαντα πλείστους ἐποίησεν [αὐτὸν] ὀρνίθων ἀποκτεῖναι.
Poseidon, enraged because Hierax was undoing the honours due to him, made him into a bird, which ⟨still even⟩ now is called hierax (hawk), and he changed his character, doing away with the old one: the man who had been loved most of all by men he caused to be hated most of all by the birds, and the man who had kept many men from dying he caused to kill very many birds.
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