XII. Κύκνος
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων γ΄ καὶ Ἀρεὺς ὁ Λάκων ἐν ᾄσματι Κύκνῳ.]
Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Θυρίης τῆς Ἀμφινόμου παῖς ἐγένετο Κύκνος. οὗτος ἦν εὐσχήμων τὴν ὄψιν, τὸ δὲ ἦθος ἄχαρις καὶ ἀγροῖκος ⟨καὶ⟩ πρὸς κυνηγέσια ἐκτόπως φιλότιμος. ᾤκει δ’ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγρῶν τὸ μέσον Πλευρῶνος καὶ Καλυδῶνος· ἐγένοντο δ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐρασταὶ πλεῖστοι διὰ τὸ κάλλος.
12. Cycnus
[Nicander tells this story in Book 3 of the Heteroeumena, and Areus of Laconia in his song Cycnus.]
Cycnus was the son of Apollo and Thyrie, the daughter of Amphinomus. He was handsome to look at, but in character graceless and boorish ⟨and⟩ extraordinarily eager for hunting. He lived in the country, midway between Pleuron and Calydon; and because of his beauty he had very many lovers.
ὁ δὲ Κύκνος καθ’ ὑπεροψίαν προσίετο αὐτῶν οὐθένα· τάχιστα δὲ διαμισηθεὶς ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων ἐραστῶν καταλείπεται. Φύλιος δὲ μόνος αὐτῷ συνέμενεν. ὁ δὲ καὶ τοῦτον οὐ μετρίως ἐξύβρισεν. ἐφάνη γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χρόνῳ μέγα τι χρῆμα λέοντος ἐν Αἰτωλοῖς, ὃς αὐτούς τε καὶ τὰ θρέμματα διελυμαίνετο.
But in his arrogance Cycnus accepted none of them; very soon he came to be hated and was abandoned by his other lovers. Only Phylius stayed with him. But Cycnus treated him too with outrageous insolence. For at that time a huge lion appeared among the Aetolians, which was destroying both them and their flocks.
τοῦτον οὖν τῷ Φυλίῳ προσέταξεν ὁ Κύκνος ἄνευ σιδήρου κτεῖναι κἀκεῖνος ὑπέσχετο καὶ ἀνεῖλε μηχανῇ τοιαύτῃ. εἰδὼς ἥντινα ὥραν ἔμελλεν ὁ λέων ἐπιφοιτήσειν ἐνέπλησε τὴν γαστέρα πολλῶν σιτίων καὶ οἴνου κἀπεὶ προσεπέλασεν ὁ θήρ, ἐξήμεσεν ὁ Φύλιος τὰ σιτία.
Cycnus ordered Phylius to kill this lion without iron; he promised to do so and killed it by the following device. Knowing at what hour the lion would come, he filled his belly with a great deal of food and wine, and when the beast came near, Phylius vomited up the food.
καὶ ὁ λέων ὑπὸ λιμοῦ ⟨τῇ⟩ τροφῇ ταύτῃ χρησάμενος ἐκαρώθη ὑπὸ τοῦ οἴνου, ὁ δὲ Φύλιος περιβαλὼν τὸν βραχίονα τῇ ἐσθῆτι, ᾗ ἐφόρει, ἔφραξε τὸ στόμα τοῦ λέοντος· ἀνελὼν δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ἀναθέμενος ἐπὶ τὸν ὦμον ἀπήνεγκε πρὸς τὸν Κύκνον καὶ διεβοήθη παρὰ πολλοῖς ἐπὶ τῷ κατορθώματι τούτῳ.
The lion, in its hunger, ate this food and was stupefied by the wine; Phylius wrapped his arm in the garment he was wearing and blocked the lion's mouth; he took it up, lifted it onto his shoulder and carried it to Cycnus, and he became famous among many people for this achievement.
ὁ δὲ Κύκνος ἕτερον ἆθλον ἐπέταττεν ⟨ἔτι⟩ ἀτοπώτερον. ἐγένοντο γὰρ ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ γῦπες, ὑπερφυές τι καὶ μέγα χρῆμα, καὶ πολλοὺς ἀπεκτίννυον ἀνθρώπους· τούτους ἐκέλευε συλλαβεῖν ζῶντας καὶ ἀπενεγκεῖν ἔξω πάσης μηχανῆς.
Cycnus imposed another labour, ⟨even⟩ stranger. For in that land there were vultures, huge and monstrous creatures, which killed many people; he told him to catch these alive and bring them to him without any device.
ἀποροῦντι δὲ τῷ Φυλίῳ πρὸς τὸ ἐπίταγμα κατὰ θεὸν ἀετὸς ἡρπακὼς λαγωὸν ἡμιθνῆτα κατέβαλε πρὶν ἀπενεγκεῖν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα. ὁ δὲ Φύλιος ἀναρρήξας τὸν λαγωὸν καὶ τοῦ αἵματος ἑαυτὸν ἀναπλήσας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔκειτο. οἱ μὲν οὖν ὄρνιθες ὡς ἐπὶ νεκρὸν ὥρμησαν, ὁ δὲ Φύλιος πιέσας τῶν σφυρῶν δύο καὶ κατασχὼν ἀπήνεγκε πρὸς τὸν Κύκνον.
While Phylius was at a loss over this command, by the will of a god an eagle that had seized a hare dropped it half-dead before carrying it to its nest. Phylius tore open the hare, covered himself with its blood and lay on the ground. The birds swooped on him as on a corpse, and Phylius grasped two of them by the legs, held them fast and carried them to Cycnus.
ὁ δὲ αὐτῷ τρίτον ἔτι χαλεπώτερον ἆθλον ἐπέταττεν· ἐκέλευε γὰρ ἀπαγαγεῖν ταῦρον ἐκ τῆς ἀγέλης ταῖς χερσὶ λαβόντα μέχρι πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν τὸν τοῦ Διός. ὁ δὲ Φύλιος ἀμηχανῶν ὅτι χρήσεται πρὸς τὸ ἐπίταγμα ηὔξατο συλλαβέσθαι αὐτῷ τὸν Ἡρακλέα. καὶ πρὸς τὴν εὐχὴν ταύτην ἐφάνησαν δύο ταῦροι περὶ μίαν οἰστρήσαντες βοῦν καὶ τοῖς κέρασι τύπτοντες ἀλλήλους κατέβαλον εἰς τὴν γῆν. ὁ δὲ Φύλιος, ἐπειδὴ παρείθησαν, τὸν ἕτερον ταῦρον ἀναψάμενος ἐκ τοῦ σκέλους ἀπήγαγεν ἄχρι πρὸς τὸν βωμόν, βουλήσει δὲ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ⟨ἔγνω τὸ λοιπὸν⟩ ἀμελῆσαι τῶν ἐπιταγμάτων τοῦ παιδός.
Cycnus imposed on him a third labour, still harder: he told him to take a bull from the herd with his bare hands and lead it to the altar of Zeus. Phylius, not knowing what to do about this command, prayed to Heracles to help him. In answer to this prayer two bulls appeared, maddened over one cow, butting each other with their horns, and they threw each other to the ground. When they had collapsed, Phylius tied one bull by the leg and led it away to the altar; but by Heracles' will ⟨he resolved from then on⟩ to disregard the boy's commands.
τῷ δὲ Κύκνῳ παρέστη δεινὸν ἀτιμασθέντι παρὰ τὴν δόξαν, ἀθυμήσας δὲ κατέβαλεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὴν Κωνώπην λεγομένην λίμνην καὶ ἠφανίσθη· πρὸς δὲ τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ καὶ Θυρίη ἡ μήτηρ κατέβαλεν ἑαυτὴν εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνῳ λίμνην καὶ ἐγένοντο βουλῇ Ἀπόλλωνος ὄρνιθες ⟨κύκνοι⟩ ἀμφότεροι ἐν ⟨τῇ⟩ λίμνῃ.
Cycnus felt it terrible to be slighted against his expectation; in despair he threw himself into the lake called Conope and vanished. At his death his mother Thyrie too threw herself into the same lake, and by Apollo's will they both became birds, ⟨swans⟩, on ⟨the⟩ lake.
ἀφανισθέντων δὲ καὶ ἡ λίμνη ⟨Θυρίην⟩ μετωνομάσθη καὶ ἐγένετο κυκνείη καὶ πολλοὶ ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦ ἀρότου ἐνταῦθα φαίνονται κύκνοι. πλησίον δὲ κεῖται καὶ τὸ τοῦ Φυλίου σῆμα.
After they vanished, the lake too was renamed ⟨Thyrie⟩ and became the Swan Lake (Cycneie) [?], and at ploughing time many swans are seen there. Close by lies the tomb of Phylius as well.
XIII. Ἀσπαλίς
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων β΄.]
Διὸς καὶ νύμφης Ὀθρηίδος ἐγένετο παῖς Μελιτεύς. τοῦτον ἡ μήτηρ ἐξέθηκεν εἰς τὴν ὕλην κατὰ δέος Ἥρας, ὅτε αὐτῇ Ζεὺς ἐμίχθη. ὁ δὲ παῖς Διὸς βουλῇ οὐκ ἠφανίσθη ἀλλ’ ηὔξετο τρεφόμενος ὑπὸ μελισσῶν. ἐνέτυχε δὲ αὐτῷ ποιμαίνων πρόβατα Φάγρος ὁ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ὀθρηίδος νύμφης, ἥτις ἔτεκε ⟨καὶ⟩ Μελιτέα τὸν ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ παῖδα.
13. Aspalis
[Nicander tells this story in Book 2 of the Heteroeumena.]
Zeus and the nymph Othreis had a son, Meliteus. His mother exposed him in the wood out of fear of Hera, after Zeus had lain with her. But by the will of Zeus the child did not perish; he grew up, fed by bees. Phagrus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Othreis, who had ⟨also⟩ borne Meliteus, the child in the wood, came upon him while herding sheep.
θαυμάσας δὲ πρὸς τὸν ὄγκον τοῦ σώματος καὶ ἔτι πλέον πρὸς τὰς μελίσσας ἀνείλετο καὶ ἀπήνεγκεν εἰς τὰ οἰκία καὶ ἔτρεφεν ἐν πολλῇ σπουδῇ θέμενος αὐτῷ Μελιτέα ὄνομα, διότι ὑπὸ μελισσῶν ἐτράφη· ὑπῆλθεν αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ χρησμός, ἐν ᾧ ποτε θεὸς εἶπε σῴζειν ὁμόγνιον ὄντα τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν μελισσῶν τρεφόμενον.
He marvelled at the size of the child's body, and still more at the bees; he took him up, carried him home and reared him with great care, giving him the name Meliteus because he had been fed by bees (melissai); and he also recalled the oracle in which a god had once told him to save the one fed by bees, as one of his own kin.
ὁ δὲ παῖς ἐπεὶ τάχιστα ἠνδρώθη, ἀνὴρ ἐγένετο γενναῖος καὶ πλείστων ἦρξε περιοίκων καὶ πόλιν ἔκτισεν ἐν τῇ Φθίᾳ προσαγορεύσας Μελίτην. ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ Μελίτῃ τύραννος ἐγένετο βίαιος καὶ ὑβριστής, ὃν οἱ μὲν ἐπιχώριοι οὐδ’ ὀνομάζουσιν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ξένων Τάρταρος ἐκαλεῖτο. οὗτος εἴ τις διαβοηθείη παρθένος ἐπὶ κάλλει τῶν ἐγχωρίων, ἀπῆγεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐμίγνυτο πρὸ γάμου κατὰ βίαν.
As soon as the boy reached manhood, he became a noble man; he ruled over very many of the neighbouring peoples and founded a city in Phthia, which he called Melite. In this Melite there arose a violent and insolent tyrant, whom the local people do not even name [?], but who was called Tartarus by foreigners. Whenever a girl of the country became famous for her beauty, he would carry her off and violate her before her marriage.
ποτὲ δ’ οὖν εἴρητο πρὸς τοὺς θέραπας ἀπάγειν Ἀσπαλίδα τὴν θυγατέρα τὴν Ἀργαίου τῶν οὐκ ἀσήμων. ἡ δὲ παῖς, ὡς ἔκπυστος ὁ λόγος ἐγένετο, πρὶν ἀφικέσθαι τοὺς ἀπάξοντας ἀνήρτησεν ἑαυτήν. τῆς δὲ πράξεως οὔπω διαβοηθείσης ἀδελφὸς ὁ τῆς Ἀσπαλίδος Ἀστυγίτης ὤμοσεν, ὅτι πρότερον τίσεται τὸν τύραννον ἢ τὸ σῶμα καθαιρήσει τὸ τῆς ἀδελφῆς.
Once he had told his servants to bring him Aspalis, the daughter of Argaeus, a man of some note. When the girl learned of this, she hanged herself before the men who were to take her arrived. Before what she had done became known, Aspalis' brother Astygites swore that he would take vengeance on the tyrant before he took down his sister's body.
ἐνδὺς δὲ τάχιστα τὴν στολὴν τῆς Ἀσπαλίδος καὶ κρύψας παρὰ τὴν εὐώνυμον πλευρὰν τὸ ξίφος ἔλαθε πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν ἀντίπαις ὤν· παρελθὼν δ’ εἰς τὰ οἰκία γυμνὸν ὄντα καὶ ἀφύλακτον τὸν τύραννον κτείνει.
He quickly put on Aspalis' clothes, hid his sword at his left side and, being still a youth, passed unnoticed by his looks; he went into the palace and killed the tyrant, who was unclothed and unguarded.
οἱ δὲ Μελιτεῖς τὸν μὲν Ἀστυγίτην ἐστεφάνουν καὶ μετὰ παιάνων προέπεμπον, τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ τυράννου κατεπόντωσαν εἰς ποταμὸν ἐμβαλόντες, ὃν ἔτι νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου Τάρταρον καλοῦσι· τὸ δὲ σῶμα τὸ τῆς Ἀσπαλίδος ἐξερευνῶντες πάντα τρόπον, ὅπως κηδεύσωσιν ἐπισήμως, οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν εὑρεῖν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ἠφανίσθη κατὰ θεόν, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἐφάνη ξόανον παρὰ τὸ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἑστηκός.
The people of Melite crowned Astygites and escorted him in procession with paeans; the body of the tyrant they threw into a river and sank it, and from that time to this they call the river Tartarus. They searched in every way for the body of Aspalis, to bury it with honour, but they could not find it; it had vanished by the will of a god, and in place of the body a wooden statue (xoanon) appeared, standing beside the statue of Artemis [?].
ὀνομάζεται δὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις τοῦτο τὸ ξόανον Ἀσπαλὶς Ἀμειλήτη Ἑκαέργη, ᾧ καθ’ ἕκαστον ἔτος αἱ παρθένοι χίμαρον ἄθορον ἐκρίμνων, ὅτι καὶ ἡ Ἀσπαλὶς παρθένος οὖσα ἑαυτὴν ἀπηγχόνισεν.
Among the local people this statue is called Aspalis Ameilete Hecaerge, and every year the maidens used to hang up an unmated kid for it, because Aspalis too, being a maiden, had hanged herself.
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