VI. Περίφας
Περίφας ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ αὐτόχθων πρόσθεν ἢ φανῆναι Κέκροπα τὸν Γῆς. οὗτος ἐβασίλευσε τῶν ἀρχαίων ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐγένετο δίκαιος καὶ πλούσιος καὶ ὅσιος καὶ ἱερὰ πλεῖστα ἐποίησεν Ἀπόλλωνι δίκας τε πλείστας ἐδίκασε καὶ αὐτὸν ἐμέμψατ’ ἄνθρωπος οὐδείς,
6. Periphas
Periphas was born from the earth in Attica before Cecrops, the son of Earth, appeared. He was king of the men of old and was just, rich and pious; he made very many sanctuaries for Apollo and judged very many lawsuits, and no one found fault with him,
ἀλλὰ ἑκόντων ἡγεῖτο πάντων καὶ πρὸς ὑπερβολὴν αὐτοῦ τῶν ἔργων μετέβαλον ⟨εἰς αὐτὸν⟩ οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰς τιμὰς τοῦ Διὸς καὶ ἔγνωσαν αὐτὰς εἶναι Περίφαντος καὶ ἱερὰ καὶ ναοὺς ἐποίησαν αὐτοῦ καὶ Δία Σωτῆρα προσηγόρευσαν καὶ Ἐπόψιον καὶ Μειλίχιον.
but he led all men [?] with their own consent, and because of the surpassing greatness of his deeds men transferred ⟨to him⟩ the honours of Zeus and decided that they belonged to Periphas; they made sanctuaries and temples for him and called him Zeus the Saviour, the All-seeing (Epopsios) and the Kindly (Meilichios).
Ζεὺς δὲ νεμεσήσας ἐβούλετο μὲν σύμπασαν αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν κεραυνῷ συμφλέξαι, δεηθέντος δ’ Ἀπόλλωνος μὴ αὐτὸν ἀπολέσαι πανώλεθρον, ἐπεὶ περισσῶς αὐτὸν ἐτίμα, τοῦτο μὲν Ἀπόλλωνι δίδωσι Ζεύς, ἐλθὼν δ’ εἰς τὰ οἰκία τοῦ Περίφαντος καὶ καταλαβὼν ὁμιλοῦντα τῇ γυναικί, πιέσας ἀμφοτέρους ταῖς χερσὶν ⟨αὐτὸν μὲν⟩ ἐποίησεν ὄρνιθα αἰετόν, τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ δεηθεῖσαν καὶ αὐτὴν ὄρνιθα ποιῆσαι σύννομον τῷ Περίφαντι ἐποίησε φήνην.
Zeus was indignant and wanted to burn up his whole house with a thunderbolt, but when Apollo begged him not to destroy Periphas utterly, since Periphas had honoured him exceedingly, Zeus granted Apollo this; he came to Periphas' house, found him in company with his wife, pressed them both in his hands and made ⟨him⟩ into an eagle; and his wife, who begged that she too be made a bird to be Periphas' companion, he made a phēnē.
καὶ τῷ μὲν Περίφαντι δωρεῖται τιμὰς ἀντὶ τῆς ἐν ἀνθρώποις ὁσιότητος· ποιεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὄρνισι βασιλέα καὶ διδοῖ φυλάσσειν τὸ ἱερὸν σκῆπτρον καὶ προσιέναι πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θρόνον· τῇ γυναικὶ δὲ τοῦ Περίφαντος, ἥν ἐποίησε φήνην, διδοῖ πρὸς ἅπασαν πρᾶξιν ἀνθρώποις αἰσίαν ἐπιφαίνεσθαι.
To Periphas he gave honours in return for his piety among men: he made him king of all the birds and granted him to guard the sacred sceptre and to come near his own throne; and to Periphas' wife, whom he had made a phēnē, he granted that she should appear to men as a good omen for every undertaking.
VII. Ἄνθος
[Ἱστορεῖ Βοῖος ὀρνιθογονίας α΄.]
Αὐτονόου τοῦ Μελανέως καὶ Ἱπποδαμείας ἐγένοντο υἱοὶ μὲν Ἐρῳδιὸς [καὶ] Ἄνθος Σχοινεὺς Ἄκανθος, θυγάτηρ δὲ Ἀκανθυλλίς, ᾗ κάλλιστον εἶδος ἔδωκαν οἱ θεοί.
7. Anthus
[Boeus tells this story in Book 1 of the Ornithogonia.]
Autonous, the son of Melaneus, and Hippodamia had sons, Erodius [and] Anthus, Schoeneus and Acanthus, and a daughter, Acanthyllis, to whom the gods gave the greatest beauty.
τῷ δὲ Αὐτονόῳ τούτῳ ἐγένοντο ἵππων ἀγέλαι πλεῖσται καὶ ἔνεμον αὐτὰς Ἱπποδάμεια ⟨ἡ⟩ τούτου γυνὴ καὶ οἱ παῖδες αὐτῶν.
This Autonous had a great many herds of horses, and they were grazed by Hippodamia his wife and their children.
ἐπεὶ δὲ Αὐτονόῳ γῆν ἔχοντι πλείστην οὐδεὶς καρπὸς ἐφαίνετο κατ’ ὀλιγωρίαν ἔργων, ἀλλ’ ἔφερεν αὐτῷ σχοίνους ὁ χῶρος καὶ ἀκάνθας, ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὠνόμασε τοὺς παῖδας Ἄκανθον καὶ Σχοινέα καὶ Ἀκανθυλλίδα καὶ τὸν πρεσβύτατον Ἐρῳδιόν, ἐπεὶ αὐτὸν ἠρώησεν ὁ χῶρος.
Autonous had a great deal of land, but no crop ever appeared on it, because the work was neglected; the ground bore him rushes (schoinoi) and thistles (akanthai), and after these he named his children Acanthus, Schoeneus and Acanthyllis, and the eldest Erodius, because the land had failed (ērōēsen) him.
οὗτος ὁ Ἐρῳδιὸς πλεῖστον ἐφίλησε τὰς ἀγέλας τῶν ἵππων καὶ ἔτρεφεν αὐτὰς ἐν τῷ λειμῶνι. ἐπεὶ δὲ Ἄνθος [τοῦ Αὐτονόου παῖς] ἐξήλασε τὰς ἵππους ἐκ τοῦ λειμῶνος, αὗται εἰργόμεναι τροφῆς ἐξεθύμησαν καὶ τὸν Ἄνθον ἐπιστᾶσαι κατεβίβρωσκον πλεῖστα ἐπιβοώμενον ἀμῦναι τοὺς θεούς.
This Erodius loved the herds of horses dearly and pastured them in the meadow. But when Anthus [the son of Autonous] drove the mares out of the meadow, they, kept from their food, grew savage, set upon Anthus and devoured him, while he cried out loudly to the gods for help.
ὁ μὲν οὖν πατὴρ ὑπὸ ἄχους ἐκπλαγεὶς ὤκνησεν ἀπελάσαι τὰς ἵππους καὶ ὁ θεράπων τοῦ παιδός, ἡ δὲ μήτηρ διεμάχετο πρὸς τὰς ἵππους, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀσθένειαν οὐδὲν ἐδυνήθη πρὸς τὸν ὄλεθρον ἐπαμῦναι.
His father, stunned with grief, hesitated (ōknēsen) to drive off the mares, and so did the boy's servant; his mother fought against the mares, but because of the weakness of her body she could do nothing to ward off his death.
κἀκεῖνοι μὲν οὕτω τεθνεῶτα τὸν Ἄνθον ἔκλαιον. Ζεὺς δὲ καὶ Ἀπόλλων οἰκτείραντες πάντας αὐτοὺς ἐποίησαν ὄρνιθας· τὸν μὲν Αὐτόνοον ὄκνον, ὅτι [αὐτοῦ ὁ πατὴρ] ὤκνησεν ἀπελάσαι τὰς ἵππους, τὴν δὲ μητέρα κορυδόν, ὅτι ἐκορύσσετο πρὸς τὰς ἵππους μαχομένη περὶ τοῦ παιδός·
So they wept for Anthus, who had died in this way. Zeus and Apollo took pity on them all and made them into birds: Autonous into an oknos, because [his father] hesitated to drive off the mares, and the mother into a crested lark (korydos), because she armed herself (ekorysseto) against the mares, fighting for her child;
αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν Ἄνθον καὶ τὸν Ἐρῳδιὸν καὶ Σχοινέα καὶ Ἀκανθυλλίδα, γενομένους ὄρνιθας τῷ αὐτῷ ἐποίησαν ὀνόματι καλεῖσθαι καθὰ καὶ πρὶν ἢ μεταβαλεῖν αὐτοὺς ὠνομάζοντο, τὸν δ’ ὀπηδὸν τοῦ Ἄνθου κατὰ ταὐτὰ τῷ ἀδελφῷ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐποίησαν ἐρῳδιόν, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὅμοιον. ἥσσων γάρ ἐστιν ἱκανῶς τοῦ πελλοῦ καὶ οὐ γίνεται σύνεδρος οὗτος ὁ ἐρῳδιὸς ἄνθῳ, καθάπερ οὐδ’ ὁ ἄνθος τῷ ἐφίππῳ, ὅτι μέγιστα κακὰ ἔπαθεν ὁ Ἄνθος ὑπὸ τῶν ἵππων.
Anthus himself, Erodius, Schoeneus and Acanthyllis, now birds, they caused to be called by the same names as before they were transformed; and Anthus' attendant they made, like the boy's brother, a heron (erōdios), but not of the same kind: for he is a good deal inferior to the grey heron (pellos). And this heron does not keep company with the anthos, just as the anthos does not keep company with the 'horseman' bird (ephippos) [?], because Anthus suffered the greatest evils from the horses.
καὶ ἔτι νῦν ὅταν ἀκούσῃ φωνοῦντος ἵππου φεύγει μιμούμενος ἅμα τὴν φωνήν.
And even now, when it hears a horse neighing, it flees, imitating the sound at the same time.
VIII. Λάμια ἢ Σύβαρις
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων δ΄.]
Παρὰ τὰ σφυρὰ τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ πρὸς νότον ὄρος ἐστίν, ὅ καλεῖται Κίρφις παρὰ τὴν Κρῖσαν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐστιν ἔτι νῦν σπήλαιον ὑπερμέγεθες, ἐν ᾧ θηρίον ᾤκει μέγα καὶ ὑπερφυές, καὶ αὐτὸ ⟨οἱ μὲν⟩ Λάμιαν, οἱ δὲ Σύβαριν ὠνόμαζον.
8. Lamia or Sybaris
[Nicander tells this story in Book 4 of the Heteroeumena.]
At the foot of Parnassus, to the south, there is a mountain called Cirphis, near Crisa, and on it there is still today an enormous cave, in which there lived a great and monstrous beast; ⟨some⟩ called it Lamia, others Sybaris.
τοῦτο καθ’ ἡμέραν ἑκάστην τὸ θηρίον ἐπιφοιτῶν ἀνήρπαζεν ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν τὰ θρέμματα καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ἤδη δὲ τῶν Δελφῶν βουλευομένων ὑπὲρ ἀναστάσεως καὶ χρηστηριαζομένων εἰς ἥντινα παρέσονται χώραν, ὁ θεὸς ἀπόλυσιν ἐσήμανε τῆς συμφορᾶς, εἰ ἑκόντες ἐθέλοιεν ἐκθεῖναι παρὰ τῷ σπηλαίῳ ἕνα κοῦρον τῶν πολιτῶν.
Every day this beast came out and carried off from the fields the flocks and the people. The Delphians were already deliberating about leaving their homes and were consulting the oracle about the land to which they should go, when the god revealed a way out of their misfortune: if they were willing [?] to expose by the cave one young man from among the citizens.
κἀκεῖνοι καθάπερ ὁ θεὸς εἶπεν ἐποίουν. κληρουμένων δ’ ἔλαχεν Ἀλκυονεὺς ὁ Διόμου καὶ Μεγανείρης παῖς, μονογενὴς ὢν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ καλὸς καὶ κατὰ τὴν ὄψιν καὶ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἦθος.
They did as the god had said. When they cast lots, the lot fell on Alcyoneus, the son of Diomus and Meganeira, his father's only son, beautiful both in his looks and in the character of his soul.
καὶ οἱ μὲν ἱερεῖς τὸν Ἀλκυονέα στέψαντες ἀπήγαγον εἰς τὸ τῆς Συβάριδος σπήλαιον, Εὐρύβατος δὲ κατὰ δαίμονα ἐκ τῆς Κουρήτιδος ἀπιὼν ὁ Εὐφήμου παῖς, γένος μὲν ἔχων Ἀξιοῦ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, νέος δ’ ὢν καὶ γενναῖος, ἐνέτυχεν ἀγομένῳ τῷ παιδί.
The priests put a garland on Alcyoneus and led him away to the cave of Sybaris; but Eurybatus, the son of Euphemus, who was descended from the river Axius and was young and noble, happened by the will of a divinity to be coming from the land of the Curetes, and he met the boy as he was being led away.
πληγεὶς ⟨δ’⟩ ἔρωτι καὶ πυθόμενος καθ’ ἥντινα πρόφασιν ἔρχονται, δεινὸν ἐποιήσατο μὴ οὐκ ἀμῦναι πρὸς δύναμιν, ἀλλὰ περιιδεῖν οἰκτρῶς ἀναιρεθέντα τὸν παῖδα.
He was struck with love, and when he learned for what reason they were going, he thought it terrible not to help him as far as he could, but to stand by while the boy was pitifully killed.
περισπάσας οὖν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀλκυονέως τὰ στέμματα καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπιθέμενος ἐκέλευεν ἀπάγειν ἑαυτὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδός. ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτὸν ⟨ἐπ’ ἄντρον⟩ οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀπήγαγον, εἰσδραμὼν καὶ τὴν Σύβαριν ἐκ τῆς κοίτης συναρπάσας παρήνεγκεν εἰς ἐμφανὲς καὶ κατὰ τῶν πετρῶν ἔρριψεν.
So he pulled the garlands off Alcyoneus, put them on his own head and told them to lead him away instead of the boy. When the priests had led him ⟨to the cave⟩, he ran in, seized Sybaris from her lair, carried her out into the open and threw her down the cliffs.
ἡ δὲ καταφερομένη προσέκρουσε τὴν κεφαλὴν παρὰ τὰ σφυρὰ τῆς Κρίσης. καὶ αὐτὴ μὲν ἐκ τοῦ τραύματος ἀφανὴς ἐγένετο, ἐκ δὲ τῆς πέτρας ἐκείνης ἀνεφάνη πηγή, καὶ αὐτὴν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι καλοῦσι Σύβαριν· ἐκ δὲ ταύτης καὶ Λοκροὶ πόλιν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Σύβαριν ἔκτισαν.
As she was falling she struck her head at the foot of Crisa. She vanished as a result of the wound, and from that rock a spring appeared, which the local people call Sybaris; and from it the Locrians too founded a city in Italy called Sybaris.
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