XVII. Λεύκιππος
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων β΄.]
Γαλάτεια ἡ Εὐρυτίου τοῦ Σπάρτωνος ἐγήματο ἐν Φαιστῷ τῆς Κρήτης Λάμπρῳ τῷ Πανδίονος, ἀνδρὶ τὰ μὲν εἰς γένος εὖ ἔχοντι, βίου δὲ ἐνδεεῖ.
17. Leucippus
[Nicander tells this story in Book 2 of the Heteroeumena.]
Galatea, the daughter of Eurytius son of Sparton, was married at Phaestus in Crete to Lamprus son of Pandion, a man of good family but short of livelihood.
οὗτος, ἐπειδὴ ἐγκύμων ἦν ἡ Γαλάτεια, ηὔξατο μὲν ἄρρενα γενέσθαι αὐτῷ παῖδα, προηγόρευσε δὲ τῇ γυναικί, ἐὰν γεννήσῃ κόρην ἀφανίσαι. καὶ οὗτος μὲν ἀπιὼν ἐποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατα, τῇ δὲ Γαλατείᾳ θυγάτηρ ἐγένετο.
When Galatea was pregnant, he prayed that a male child might be born to him, and told his wife beforehand that if she bore a girl she was to do away with it. He then went off to tend his sheep, and Galatea gave birth to a daughter.
καὶ κατοικτείρασα τὸ βρέφος καὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν τοῦ οἴκου λογισαμένη, συλλαμβανόντων δ’ ἔτι καὶ τῶν ὀνείρων καὶ τῶν μάντεων, οἱ προηγόρευον τὴν κόρην ὡς κόρον ἐκτρέφειν, ἐψεύσατο τὸν Λάμπρον ἄρρεν λέγουσα τεκεῖν καὶ ἐξέτρεφεν ὡς παῖδα κοῦρον ὀνομάσασα Λεύκιππον.
She took pity on the baby and considered how lonely the house would be; and since her dreams and the seers also urged her on, telling her to bring the girl up as a boy, she deceived Lamprus, saying she had borne a son, and brought the child up as a boy, giving it the name Leucippus.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ηὔξετο ἡ κόρη καὶ ἐγένετο ἄφατόν τι κάλλος, δείσασα τὸν Λάμπρον ἡ Γαλάτεια, ὡς οὐκ ἐνῆν ἔτι λαθεῖν, κατέφυγεν εἰς τὸ τῆς Λητοῦς ἱερὸν καὶ πλεῖστα τὴν θεὸν ἱκέτευσεν, εἴ πως αὐτῇ κόρος ἡ παῖς ἀντὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς δύναιτο γενέσθαι, [καθάπερ ὅτε Καινὶς μὲν Ἄτρακος οὖσα θυγάτηρ βουλῇ Ποσειδῶνος ἐγένετο Καινεὺς ὁ Λαπίθης·
When the girl grew up and became indescribably beautiful, Galatea, fearing Lamprus, since it was no longer possible to keep the secret, took refuge in the sanctuary of Leto and earnestly begged the goddess that her child might somehow become a boy instead of a girl, [just as Caenis, the daughter of Atrax, became Caeneus the Lapith by the will of Poseidon;
Τειρεσίας δὲ γυνὴ μὲν ἐξ ἀνδρός, ὅτι τοὺς ἐν τῇ τριόδῳ μιγνυμένους ὄφεις ἐντυχὼν ἀπέκτεινεν, ἐκ δὲ γυναικὸς αὖτις ἀνὴρ ἐγένετο †διὰ τὸ δράκοντα πολλάκις πάνακτα† δὲ καὶ Ὑπερμήστραν πιπρασκομένην ἐπὶ γυναικὶ μὲν ἄρασθαι τῖμον, ἄνδρα δὲ γενομένην Αἴθωνι τροφὴν ἀποφέρειν τῷ πατρί· μεταβαλεῖν δὲ καὶ τὸν Κρῆτα Σιπροίτην, ὅτι κυνηγετῶν λουομένην εἶδε τὴν Ἄρτεμιν].
and Tiresias was changed from a man into a woman because he came upon snakes mating at a crossroads and killed them, and from a woman became a man again †because … the snake …†; and Hypermestra, when sold, earned a price [?] as a woman, and, having become a man, brought food to her father Aethon; and the Cretan Siproetes was changed too, because while hunting he saw Artemis bathing].
ἡ δὲ Λητὼ συνεχῶς ὀδυρομένην καὶ ἱκετεύουσαν ᾤκτειρε τὴν Γαλάτειαν καὶ μετέβαλε τὴν φύσιν τῆς παιδὸς εἰς κόρον. ταύτης ἔτι μέμνηνται τῆς μεταβολῆς Φαίστιοι καὶ θύουσι Φυτίῃ Λητοῖ, ἥτις ἔφυσε μήδεα τῇ κόρῃ, καὶ τὴν ἑορτὴν Ἐκδύσια καλοῦσιν, ἐπεὶ τὸν πέπλον ἡ παῖς ἐξέδυ. νόμιμον δ’ ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς γάμοις πρότερον παρακλίνασθαι παρὰ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Λευκίππου.
Leto took pity on Galatea, who was lamenting and pleading unceasingly, and changed the girl's nature into a boy's. The people of Phaestus still remember this transformation; they sacrifice to Leto Phytia (the Grower), who made the girl grow male parts, and they call the festival the Ecdysia (the Stripping-off), because the girl stripped off her robe. It is the custom at weddings to lie down first beside the statue of Leucippus.
XVIII. Ἠέροπος
[Ἱστορεῖ Βοῖος ὀρνιθογονίας β΄.]
Εὔμηλος ὁ παῖς ὁ Εὐγνώτου κατῴκησεν ἐν Θήβαις ταῖς Βοιωτίαις καὶ αὐτῷ παῖς ἐγένετο Βότρης ὄνομα. οὗτος ὁ Εὔμηλος ἐτίμα μεγαλομερῶς τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα.
18. Eeropus
[Boeus tells this story in Book 2 of the Ornithogonia.]
Eumelus, the son of Eugnotus, lived in Boeotian Thebes, and he had a son named Botres. This Eumelus honoured Apollo lavishly.
καί ποτε θύοντος αὐτοῦ παρὼν ὁ παῖς Βότρης ἐδαίσατο τὸν ἐγκέφαλον τοῦ ἀρνὸς πρὶν ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν καταθῦσαι· μαθὼν δὲ τὸ γεγονὸς Εὔμηλος προσέκρουσε κατ’ ὀργὴν πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ τὸν δαλὸν ἀφελὼν ἐκ τοῦ βωμοῦ· καὶ ὁ παῖς καταρρυέντος τοῦ αἵματος καταπεσὼν ἤσπαιρεν.
Once, when he was sacrificing, his son Botres, who was present, ate the brain of the lamb before it had been offered on the altar; when Eumelus learned what had happened, in his anger he took a brand from the altar and struck him on the head with it; and the boy, as the blood streamed down, fell and lay writhing.
ἡ δὲ μήτηρ ὡς εἶδε καὶ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ οἱ θέραπες, μέγιστον ἐποιήσαντο πένθος· Ἀπόλλων δὲ οἰκτείρας, ἐπεὶ αὐτὸν Εὔμηλος ἐτίμα, ὄρνιθα ἐποίησε τὸν παῖδα ἠέροπον, ὃς ἔτι νῦν τίκτει μὲν ὑπὸ γῆς, ἀεὶ δὲ μελετᾷ πέτεσθαι.
When his mother, his father and the servants saw it, they made very great lamentation; but Apollo took pity, because Eumelus honoured him, and made the boy into a bird, the eeropus, which even now lays its eggs under the ground but is always practising flight.
XIX. Φῶρες
[Ἱστορεῖ Βοῖος ὀρνιθογονίας β΄.]
Ἐν Κρήτῃ λέγεται εἶναι ἱερὸν ἄντρον μελισσῶν, ἐν ᾧ μυθολογοῦσι τεκεῖν Ῥέαν τὸν Δία καὶ ⟨οὐκ⟩ ἔστιν ὅσιον οὐδένα παρελθεῖν οὔτε θεὸν οὔτε θνητόν. ἐν δὲ χρόνῳ ἀφωρισμένῳ ὁρᾶται καθ’ ἕκαστον ἔτος πλεῖστον ἐκλάμπον ἐκ τοῦ σπηλαίου πῦρ.
19. The Thieves
[Boeus tells this story in Book 2 of the Ornithogonia.]
In Crete there is said to be a sacred cave of bees, in which, according to the story, Rhea gave birth to Zeus, and it is ⟨not⟩ lawful for anyone, god or mortal, to enter it. At a fixed time every year a great fire is seen blazing out of the cave.
τοῦτο δὲ γίνεσθαι μυθολογοῦσιν, ὅταν ἐκζέῃ τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἐκ τῆς γενέσεως αἷμα. κατέχουσι δὲ τὸ ἄντρον ἱεραὶ μέλιτται, ⟨αἱ⟩ τροφοὶ τοῦ Διός. εἰς τοῦτο παρελθεῖν ἐθάρρησαν Λάιος καὶ Κελεὸς καὶ Κέρβερος καὶ Αἰγωλιός, ὅπως πλεῖστον ἀρύσωνται μέλι· καὶ περιθέμενοι περὶ τὸ σῶμα πάντῃ χαλκὸν ἠρύσαντο τοῦ μέλιτος τῶν μελισσῶν καὶ τὰ τοῦ Διὸς εἶδον σπάργανα καὶ αὐτῶν ὁ χαλκὸς ἐρράγη περὶ τὸ σῶμα.
The story is that this happens when the blood from the birth of Zeus boils up. The cave is held by sacred bees, ⟨the⟩ nurses of Zeus. Laius, Celeus, Cerberus and Aegolius [?] dared to enter it, to draw off as much honey as they could; they covered their bodies all over with bronze, drew off the bees' honey and saw the swaddling clothes of Zeus, and the bronze burst apart around their bodies.
Ζεὺς δὲ βροντήσας ἀνέτεινε τὸν κεραυνόν, Μοῖραι δὲ καὶ Θέμις ἐκώλυσαν· οὐ γὰρ ἦν ὅσιον αὐτόθι θανεῖν οὐδένα· καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς πάντας αὐτοὺς ἐποίησεν ὄρνιθας· καὶ ἔστιν ἐξ αὐτῶν τὸ γένος τῶν οἰωνῶν, λάιοι καὶ κελεοὶ καὶ κέρβεροι καὶ αἰγωλιοί· καὶ εἰσὶν ἀγαθοὶ φανέντες καὶ ἐπιτελεῖς παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ὄρνιθας, ὅτι τοῦ Διὸς εἶδον τὸ αἷμα.
Zeus thundered and raised his thunderbolt, but the Fates (Moirai) and Themis prevented him, for it was not lawful for anyone to die there; and Zeus made them all into birds, and from them comes the race of omen-birds: laioi, keleoi, kerberoi and aigolioi [?]. They are good when they appear and more sure of fulfilment than other birds, because they saw the blood of Zeus.
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