IX. Ἠμαθίδες
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων δ΄.]
Ζεὺς Μνημοσύνῃ μιγεὶς ἐν Πιερίᾳ Μούσας ἐγέννησεν. ὑπὸ δὲ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ἐβασίλευε Πίερος αὐτόχθων Ἠμαθίας καὶ αὐτῷ θυγατέρες ἐγένοντο ἐννέα, καὶ χορὸν ἐναντίον ἔστησαν αὗται Μούσαις καὶ ἀγὼν ἐγένετο μουσικῆς ἐν τῷ Ἑλικῶνι.
9. The Emathides
[Nicander tells this story in Book 4 of the Heteroeumena.]
Zeus lay with Mnemosyne in Pieria and fathered the Muses. About this time Pierus, a native of Emathia, was king, and he had nine daughters; they formed a chorus to rival the Muses, and a contest in music took place on Helicon.
ὅτε μὲν οὖν αἱ θυγατέρες ᾄδοιεν τοῦ Πιέρου, ἐπήχλυε πάντα καὶ οὐδὲν ὑπήκουε πρὸς τὴν χορείαν, ὑπὸ δὲ Μουσῶν ἵστατο μὲν οὐρανὸς καὶ ἄστρα καὶ θάλασσα καὶ ποταμοί, ὁ δ’ Ἑλικὼν ηὔξετο κηλούμενος ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἄχρις αὐτὸν βουλῇ Ποσειδῶνος ἔπαυσεν ὁ Πήγασος τῇ ὁπλῇ τὴν κορυφὴν πατάξας.
Whenever the daughters of Pierus sang, everything grew dark and nothing would listen to their dancing song; but at the singing of the Muses the sky, the stars, the sea and the rivers stood still, and Helicon, enchanted with pleasure, swelled up towards the sky, until, by the will of Poseidon, Pegasus stopped it by striking its summit with his hoof.
ἐπεὶ δὲ νεῖκος ἤραντο θνηταὶ θεαῖς, μετέβαλον αὐτὰς αἱ Μοῦσαι καὶ ἐποίησαν ὄρνιθας ἐννέα καὶ ἔτι νῦν ὀνομάζονται παρ’ ἀνθρώποις κολυμβάς, ἴυγξ, κεγχρίς, κίσσα, χλωρίς, ἀκαλανθίς, νῆσσα, πιπώ, δρακοντίς.
Because they, being mortals, had taken up a quarrel with goddesses, the Muses changed them and made them into nine birds, and to this day they are called among men the kolymbas (grebe), iynx (wryneck), kenchris (kestrel), kissa (jay), chloris (greenfinch), akalanthis (goldfinch), nessa (duck), pipo (woodpecker) and drakontis [?].
X. Μινυάδες
[Ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος ἑτεροιουμένων δ΄ καὶ Κόριννα.]
Μινύου τοῦ Ὀρχομενοῦ ἐγένοντο θυγατέρες Λευκίππη, Ἀρσίππη, Ἀλκαθόη καὶ ἀπέβησαν ἐκτόπως φιλεργοί. πλεῖστα δὲ [καὶ] τὰς ἄλλας γυναῖκας ἐμέμψαντο, ὅτι ἐκλιποῦσαι τὴν πόλιν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν ἐβάκχευον, ἄχρι Διόνυσος εἰκασθεὶς κόρῃ παρῄνεσεν αὐταῖς μὴ ἐκλείπειν τελετὰς [ἢ μυστήρια] τοῦ θεοῦ.
10. The Minyades
[Nicander tells this story in Book 4 of the Heteroeumena, and Corinna.]
Minyas, the son of Orchomenus, had daughters, Leucippe, Arsippe and Alcathoe, who turned out extraordinarily industrious. They greatly reproached [also] the other women, because they left the city and roamed the mountains as bacchants, until Dionysus, taking the likeness of a girl, urged them not to neglect the rites [or mysteries] of the god.
αἱ δὲ οὐ προσεῖχον. πρὸς δὴ ταῦτα χαλεπήνας ὁ Διόνυσος ἀντὶ κόρης ἐγένετο ταῦρος καὶ λέων καὶ πάρδαλις καὶ ἐκ τῶν κελεόντων ἐρρύη νέκταρ αὐτῷ καὶ γάλα.
But they paid no attention. Angered at this, Dionysus became, instead of a girl, a bull, a lion and a leopard, and nectar and milk flowed for him from the weaving-beams.
πρὸς δὲ ⟨ταῦτα⟩ τὰ σημεῖα τὰς κόρας ἔλαβε δεῖμα. καὶ μετ’ οὐ πολὺ κλήρους εἰς ἄγγος αἱ τρεῖς ἐμβαλοῦσαι ἀνέπηλαν· ἐπεὶ δ’ ὁ κλῆρος ἐξέπεσε Λευκίππης, ηὔξατο θῦμα τῷ θεῷ δώσειν καὶ Ἵππασον τὸν ἑαυτῆς παῖδα διέσπασε σὺν ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς.
At ⟨these⟩ signs fear took hold of the girls. Not long after, the three of them put lots into a vessel and shook them; and when the lot fell out for Leucippe, she vowed to give the god a victim, and together with her sisters she tore apart her own son Hippasus.
καταλιποῦσαι δὲ τὰ οἰκεῖα τοῦ πατρὸς ἐβάκχευον ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ ἐδρέποντο κισσὸν καὶ μίλακα καὶ δάφνην, ἄχρις αὐτὰς Ἑρμῆς ἁψάμενος τῇ ῥάβδῳ μετέβαλεν εἰς ὄρνιθας· καὶ αὐτῶν ἡ μὲν ἐγένετο νυκτερίς, ἡ δὲ γλαῦξ, ἡ δὲ βύξα. ἔφυγον δὲ αἱ τρεῖς τὴν αὐγὴν τοῦ ἡλίου.
Leaving their father's house they roamed the mountains as bacchants and plucked ivy, smilax and laurel, until Hermes touched them with his wand and changed them into birds: one of them became a bat, one an owl, and one a byxa (eagle-owl). And all three shunned the light of the sun.
XI. Ἀηδών
[Ἱστορεῖ Βοῖος ὀρνιθογονίᾳ.]
Πανδάρεος ᾤκει τῆς γῆς τῆς Ἐφεσίας, ἵν’ ἐστὶν ⟨ἔτι⟩ νῦν ὁ πρηὼν παρὰ τὴν πόλιν· ᾧ διδοῖ Δημήτηρ δῶρον μηδέποτε βαρυνθῆναι τὴν γαστέρα ὑπὸ σιτίων, ὁπόσον ἂν πλῆθος εἰσενέγκηται.
11. Aedon
[Boeus tells this story in the Ornithogonia.]
Pandareus lived in the land of Ephesus, where ⟨even⟩ now the headland is [?], near the city; Demeter gave him the gift that his belly would never be weighed down by food, however much he took in.
ἐγένετο δὲ τῷ Πανδαρέῳ θυγάτηρ Ἀηδών· ταύτην Πολύτεχνος ὁ τέκτων ἔγημεν, ὃς ᾤκει ἐν Κολοφῶνι τῆς Λυδίας, καὶ πλεῖστον χρόνον ἐτέρποντο συνοικοῦντες ἀλλήλοις. ἐγένετο δ’ αὐτοῖς παῖς μονογενὴς Ἴτυς.
Pandareus had a daughter, Aedon; she was married by Polytechnus the craftsman, who lived in Colophon in Lydia, and for a very long time they lived together happily. They had an only child, Itys.
ἄχρι μὲν οὖν θεοὺς ἐτίμων, εὐδαίμονες ἦσαν· ἐπεὶ δὲ λόγον ἀχρεῖον ἀπέρριψαν, ὅτι πλέον ἀλλήλους Ἥρας καὶ Διὸς φιλοῦσιν, [καὶ] Ἥρα μεμψαμένη τὸν λόγον Ἔριν αὐτοῖς ἔπεμψεν, ἡ δὲ νεῖκος ἐνέβαλεν εἰς τὰ ἔργα. καὶ Πολυτέχνῳ μὲν ὀλίγον ἦν ἔτι δίφρον ἁρμάτιον ἐκποιῆσαι, Ἀηδόνι δὲ τὸν ἱστὸν ἐξυφῆναι καὶ συντίθενται εἰς ἀλλήλους ὅπως ⟨ὁποτέρῳ⟩ ἂν τάχιον ἀνυσθῇ τὸ ἔργον, τούτῳ θεράπαινα παρὰ τοῦ ἑτέρου γένηται.
As long as they honoured the gods, they were happy; but when they let slip a foolish word, that they loved one another more than Hera and Zeus did, [and] Hera took offence at the word and sent Eris (Strife) to them, and she cast rivalry into their work. Polytechnus had only a little left to do to finish a chariot seat, and Aedon to finish weaving her web on the loom; and they agreed with each other that ⟨whichever of them⟩ finished the work sooner should receive a serving-woman from the other.
καὶ ἐπειδὴ θᾶσσον ἡ Ἀηδὼν τὸν ἱστὸν ἐξύφανεν (Ἥρα γὰρ αὐτῇ συνελάμβανεν), ὁ Πολύτεχνος ἀχθόμενος τῇ νίκῃ τῆς Ἀηδόνος ἀφίκετο πρὸς τὸν Πανδάρεον καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀηδόνος προσεποιήσατο πεμφθῆναι, ὅπως αὐτῇ Χελιδονίδα τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἀπαγάγῃ. καὶ ὁ Πανδάρεος οὐδὲν ὑπονοήσας πονηρὸν δίδωσιν ἀπάγειν.
When Aedon finished weaving her web sooner (for Hera was helping her), Polytechnus, aggrieved at Aedon's victory, went to Pandareus and pretended he had been sent by Aedon to bring her sister Chelidonis back to her. Pandareus, suspecting nothing wicked, let him take her away.
ὁ δὲ Πολύτεχνος παραλαβὼν τὴν κόρην ᾔσχυνεν ἐν τῇ λόχμῃ καὶ ἄλλοις ἠμφίεσεν αὐτὴν ἐσθήμασι κἀκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀπέκειρε τὴν κόμην καὶ ἠπείλησε θάνατον, εἰ ἐξερεῖ ποτε ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν Ἀηδόνα.
Polytechnus took the girl, raped her in the thicket, dressed her in other clothes, cut off the hair of her head and threatened her with death if she ever told Aedon about this.
καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐλθὼν εἰς τὰ οἰκία παραδίδωσι τῇ Ἀηδόνι κατὰ τὰ συγκείμενα ὡς θεράπαιναν τὴν ἀδελφήν, ἡ δὲ αὐτὴν διέφθειρε πρὸς τὰ ἔργα, μέχρις ἡ Χελιδονὶς ἔχουσα κάλπιν πλεῖστα παρὰ τὴν κρηνίδα κατωδύρετο καὶ αὐτῆς ἐπηκροάσατο τὸν λόγον ἡ Ἀηδών. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀλλήλας ἔγνωσαν καὶ ἠσπάσαντο, ἐπεβούλευον τῷ Πολυτέχνῳ συμφοράν.
When he arrived home he handed her sister over to Aedon as a serving-woman, as they had agreed, and Aedon wore her out with work, until Chelidonis, carrying a water-jar by the spring, was lamenting bitterly and Aedon overheard what she said. When they had recognised and embraced each other, they plotted a disaster for Polytechnus.
καὶ τὸν παῖδα κατακόψασαι ⟨καὶ⟩ τὰ κρέα ἐν λέβητι συνθεῖσαι ταῦτα μὲν ἦψον, Ἀηδὼν δὲ φράσασα πρὸς ἑαυτῆς γείτονα εἰπεῖν Πολυτέχνῳ δαίσασθαι τῶν κρεῶν, ἀφίκετο σὺν τῇ ἀδελφῇ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα Πανδάρεον καὶ ἐδήλωσεν οἵα ἐχρήσαντο συμφορᾷ, Πολύτεχνος δὲ μαθὼν ὅτι τοῦ παιδὸς ἐδαίσατο τὰ κρέα, μετεδίωξεν αὐτὰς ἄχρι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ αὐτὸν οἱ θεράποντες οἱ τοῦ Πανδαρέου συνέλαβον καὶ ἔδησαν ἀφύκτῳ δεσμῷ, ὅτι ἐνελωβᾶτο εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Πανδαρέου, καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἐναλείψαντες μέλιτι κατέβαλον εἰς τὰ ποίμνια.
They cut the boy up, ⟨and⟩ put the flesh in a cauldron and cooked it; Aedon told a neighbour to tell Polytechnus to feast on the meat, and went with her sister to her father Pandareus and revealed the misfortune they had suffered. When Polytechnus learned that he had feasted on his son's flesh, he pursued them as far as their father; and the servants of Pandareus seized him and bound him with bonds he could not escape, because he had done outrage against Pandareus' house; and they smeared his body with honey and threw him down among the flocks.
καὶ Πολύτεχνον μὲν αἱ μυῖαι προσίζουσαι ἐλυμαίνοντο, Ἀηδὼν δὲ οἰκτείρασα πρὸς τὴν παλαιὰν φιλίαν ἀπεῖργεν ἐκ τοῦ Πολυτέχνου τὰς μυίας. ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτὴν κατεφράσθησαν οἱ γονεῖς τε καὶ ὁ ἀδελφός, μισήσαντες ἐνεχείρησαν ἀποκτεῖναι.
The flies settled on Polytechnus and tormented him, but Aedon, pitying him for the sake of their former love, kept the flies off Polytechnus. When her parents and her brother noticed her doing this [?], they hated her and tried to kill her.
Ζεὺς δὲ πρὸ τοῦ μεῖζον κακὸν ἐμπεσεῖν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Πανδαρέου οἰκτείρας ἐποίησε πάντας ὄρνιθας· καὶ οἱ μὲν αὐτῶν ἐξέπτησαν ἄχρι πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν, οἱ δὲ εἰς τὸν ἀέρα. Πανδάρεος μὲν οὖν ἐγένετο ἁλιαίετος, ἡ δὲ μήτηρ τῆς Ἀηδόνος ἀλκυών, καὶ εὐθὺς ἐβούλοντο καταβαλεῖν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν. ἀλλὰ Ζεὺς ἐκώλυσεν.
But Zeus, before a greater evil fell upon the house of Pandareus, took pity and made them all birds; some of them flew off towards the sea, others into the air. Pandareus became a sea-eagle (haliaietos), and Aedon's mother a kingfisher (alkyon), and at once they wanted to throw themselves into the sea, but Zeus prevented them.
οὗτοι τοῖς πλέουσιν οἱ ὄρνιθες αἴσιοι φαίνονται. Πολύτεχνος δὲ μεταβαλὼν ἐγένετο πελεκάν, ὅτι Ἥφαιστος αὐτῷ πέλεκυν ἔδωκε τεκταίνοντι· καὶ ἔστιν ἀγαθὸς οὗτος ὁ ὄρνις φανεὶς τέκτονι. ὁ δὲ τῆς Ἀηδόνος ἀδελφὸς ἐγένετο ἔποψ αἴσιος καὶ πλέουσι καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς φανείς, σὺν ἁλιαιέτῳ δὲ ἢ ἀλκυόνι μᾶλλον.
These birds appear to sailors as good omens. Polytechnus was changed and became a pelekan (woodpecker?) [?], because Hephaestus had given him an axe (pelekys) when he was working as a craftsman; and this bird is a good sign when it appears to a craftsman. Aedon's brother became a hoopoe (epops), a good omen when it appears both to sailors and on land, and more so together with a sea-eagle or kingfisher.
Ἀηδὼν δὲ καὶ Χελιδονὶς ⟨τῷ αὐτῷ ὀνόματι⟩ λέγονται· καὶ ἡ μὲν παρὰ ποταμοὺς καὶ λόχμας τὸν παῖδα τὸν Ἴτυν θρηνεῖ, Χελιδονὶς δ’ ἐγένετο σύνοικος ἀνθρώποις Ἀρτέμιδος βουλῇ· διότι κατ’ ἀνάγκας ἐκλιποῦσα τὴν παρθενίαν πλεῖστα τὴν Ἄρτεμιν ἐπεβοήσατο.
Aedon and Chelidonis are called ⟨by the same name⟩ as the birds (nightingale and swallow); the one laments her son Itys by rivers and thickets, while Chelidonis came to live with men by the will of Artemis, because, when she had lost her virginity by force, she had called loudly on Artemis.
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