τελέσας δὲ τοῦτον τὸν ἆθλον τὸν Ὀλυμπικὸν ἀγῶνα συνεστήσατο, κάλλιστον τῶν τόπων πρὸς τηλικαύτην πανήγυριν προκρίνας τὸ παρὰ τὸν Ἀλφειὸν ποταμὸν πεδίον, ἐν ᾧ τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον τῷ Διὶ τῷ πατρίῳ καθιέρωσε. στεφανίτην δʼ αὐτὸν ἐποίησεν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς εὐηργέτησε τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐδένα λαβὼν μισθόν.
τὰ δʼ ἀθλήματα πάντα αὐτὸς ἀδηρίτως ἐνίκησε, μηδενὸς τολμήσαντος αὐτῷ συγκριθῆναι διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς, καίπερ τῶν ἀθλημάτων ἐναντίων ἀλλήλοις ὄντων· τὸν γὰρ πύκτην ἢ παγκρατιαστὴν τοῦ σταδιέως δύσκολον περιγενέσθαι, καὶ πάλιν τὸν ἐν τοῖς κούφοις ἀθλήμασι πρωτεύοντα καταγωνίσασθαι τοὺς ἐν τοῖς βαρέσιν ὑπερέχοντας δυσχερὲς κατανοῆσαι. διόπερ εἰκότως ἐγένετο τιμιώτατος ἁπάντων τῶν ἀγώνων οὗτος, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπʼ ἀγαθοῦ λαβών.
After the performance of this Labour Heracles established the Olympic Games, having selected for so great a festival the most beautiful of places, which was the plain lying along the banks of the Alpheius river, where he dedicated these Games to Zeus the Father. And he stipulated that the prize in them should be only a crown, since he himself had conferred benefits upon the race of men without receiving any monetary reward. All the contests were won by him without opposition by anyone else, since no one was bold enough to contend with him because of his exceeding prowess. And yet the contests are very different one from another, since it is hard for a boxer or one who enters for the “Pankration” to defeat a man who runs the “stadion,” and equally difficult for the man who wins first place in the light contests to wear down those who excel in the heavy. Consequently it was fitting that of all Games the Olympic should be the one most honoured, since they were instituted by a noble man.
οὐκ ἄξιον δὲ παραλιπεῖν οὐδὲ τὰς ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν αὐτῷ δοθείσας δωρεὰς διὰ τὴν ἀρετήν. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν πολέμων τραπέντος αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἀνέσεις τε καὶ πανηγύρεις, ἔτι δʼ ἑορτὰς καὶ ἀγῶνας, ἐτίμησαν αὐτὸν δωρεαῖς οἰκείαις ἕκαστος τῶν θεῶν, Ἀθηνᾶ μὲν πέπλῳ, Ἥφαιστος δὲ ῥοπάλῳ καὶ θώρακι· καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐφιλοτιμήθησαν οἱ προειρημένοι θεοὶ κατὰ τὰς τέχνας, τῆς μὲν πρὸς εἰρηνικὴν ἀπόλαυσιν καὶ τέρψιν, τοῦ δὲ πρὸς τὴν τῶν πολεμικῶν κινδύνων ἀσφάλειαν. τῶν δʼ ἄλλων Ποσειδῶν μὲν ἵππους ἐδωρήσατο, Ἑρμῆς δὲ ξίφος, Ἀπόλλων δὲ τόξον τε ἔδωκε καὶ τοξεύειν ἐδίδαξε, Δημήτηρ δὲ πρὸς τὸν καθαρμὸν τοῦ Κενταύρων φόνου τὰ μικρὰ μυστήρια συνεστήσατο, τὸν Ἡρακλέα τιμῶσα.
ἴδιον δέ τι συνέβη καὶ κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου συντελεσθῆναι. Ζεὺς γὰρ πρώτῃ μὲν ἐμίγη γυναικὶ θνητῇ Νιόβῃ τῇ Φορωνέως, ἐσχάτῃ δʼ Ἀλκμήνῃ· ταύτην δʼ ἀπὸ Νιόβης ἑκκαιδεκάτην οἱ μυθογράφοι γενεαλογοῦσιν· ὥστε τοῦ γεννᾶν ἀνθρώπους ἐκ μὲν τῶν ταύτης ταύτης προγόνων ἤρξατο, εἰς αὐτὴν δὲ ταύτην κατέληξεν· ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ τὰς πρὸς θνητὴν ὁμιλίας κατέλυσε, καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ὕστερον χρόνους οὐδένα τούτων γεννήσειν ἄξιον ἐλπίζων οὐκ ἐβουλήθη τοῖς κρείττοσιν ἐπεισάγειν τὰ χείρω.
It would also not be right to overlook the gifts which were bestowed upon Heracles by the gods because of his high achievements. For instance, when he returned from the wars to devote himself to both relaxations and festivals, as well as to feasts and contests, each one of the gods honoured him with appropriate gifts; Athena with a robe, Hephaestus with a war-club and coat of mail, these two gods vying with one another in accordance with the arts they practised, the one with an eye to the enjoyment and delight afforded in times of peace, the other looking to his safety amid the perils of war. As for the other gods, Poseidon presented him with horses, Hermes with a sword, Apollo gave him a bow and arrows and taught him their use, and Demeter instituted the Lesser Mysteries in honour of Heracles, that she might purify him of the guilt he had incurred in the slaughter of the Centaurs.
A peculiar thing also came to pass in connection with the birth of this god. The first mortal woman, for instance, with whom Zeus lay was Niobê, the daughter of Phoroneus, and the last was Alcmenê, who, as the writers of myths state in their genealogies, was the sixteenth lineal descendant from Niobê. It appears, then, that Zeus began to beget human beings with the ancestors of Alcmenê and ceased with her; that is, he stopped with her his intercourse with mortal women since he had no hope that he would beget in after times one who would be worthy of his former children and was unwilling to have the better followed by the worse.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν περὶ τὴν Παλλήνην γιγάντων ἑλομένων τὸν πρὸς τοὺς ἀθανάτους πόλεμον, Ἡρακλῆς τοῖς θεοῖς συναγωνισάμενος καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνελὼν τῶν γηγενῶν ἀποδοχῆς ἔτυχε τῆς μεγίστης. Ζεὺς γὰρ τοὺς μὲν συναγωνισαμένους τῶν θεῶν μόνους ὠνόμασεν Ὀλυμπίους, ἵνα τῇ ταύτης τιμῇ ὁ ἀγαθὸς κοσμηθεὶς ἐπωνυμίᾳ διαφέρῃ τοῦ χείρονος· ἠξίωσε δὲ ταύτης τῆς προσηγορίας τῶν ἐκ θνητῶν γυναικῶν γενομένων Διόνυσον καὶ Ἡρακλέα, οὐ μόνον ὅτι πατρὸς ἦσαν Διός, ἀλλὰ διότι καὶ τὴν προαίρεσιν ὁμοίαν ἔσχον, εὐεργετήσαντες μεγάλα τὸν βίον τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
Ζεὺς δέ, Προμηθέως παραδόντος τὸ πῦρ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, δεσμοῖς κατελάβετο καὶ παρέστησεν ἀετὸν τὸν ἐσθίοντα τὸ ἧπαρ αὐτοῦ. Ἡρακλῆς δʼ ὁρῶν τῆς τιμωρίας αὐτὸν τυγχάνοντα διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων εὐεργεσίαν, τὸν μὲν ἀετὸν κατετόξευσε, τὸν δὲ Δία πείσας λῆξαι τῆς ὀργῆς ἔσωσε τὸν κοινὸν εὐεργέτην.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἔλαβεν ἆθλον ἀγαγεῖν τὰς Διομήδους τοῦ Θρᾳκὸς ἵππους. αὗται δὲ χαλκᾶς μὲν φάτνας εἶχον διὰ τὴν ἀγριότητα, ἁλύσεσι δὲ σιδηραῖς διὰ τὴν ἰσχὺν ἐδεσμεύοντο, τροφὴν δʼ ἐλάμβανον οὐ τὴν ἐκ γῆς φυομένην, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ξένων μέλη διαιρούμεναι τροφὴν εἶχον τὴν συμφορὰν τῶν ἀκληρούντων. ταύτας ὁ Ἡρακλῆς βουλόμενος χειρώσασθαι τὸν κύριον Διομήδην παρέβαλε, καὶ ταῖς τοῦ παρανομεῖν διδάξαντος σαρξὶν ἐκπληρώσας τὴν ἔνδειαν τῶν ζῴων εὐπειθεῖς ἔσχεν.
Εὐρυσθεὺς δʼ ἀχθεισῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν τῶν ἵππων ταύτας μὲν ἱερὰς ἐποίησεν Ἥρας, ὧν τὴν ἐπιγονὴν συνέβη διαμεῖναι μέχρι τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνος βασιλείας. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν ἆθλον ἐπιτελέσας μετʼ Ἰάσονος συνεξέπλευσε συστρατεύσων ἐπὶ τὸ χρυσόμαλλον δέρος εἰς Κόλχους. ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἐν τῇ τῶν Ἀργοναυτῶν στρατείᾳ τὰ κατὰ μέρος διέξιμεν.
After this, when the Giants about Pallenê chose to begin the war against the immortals, Heracles fought on the side of the gods, and slaying many of the Sons of Earth he received the highest approbation. For Zeus gave the name of “Olympian” only to those gods who had fought by his side, in order that the courageous, by being adorned by so honourable a title, might be distinguished by this designation from the coward; and of those who were born of mortal women he considered only Dionysus and Heracles worthy of this name, not only because they had Zeus for their father, but also because they had avowed the same plan of life as he and conferred great benefits upon the life of men.
And Zeus, when Prometheus had taken fire and given it to men, put him in chains and set an eagle at his side which devoured his liver. But when Heracles saw him suffering such punishment because of the benefit which he had conferred upon men, he killed the eagle with an arrow, and then persuading Zeus to cease from his anger he rescued him who had been the benefactor of all.
The next Labour which Heracles undertook was the bringing back of the horses of Diomedes, the Thracian. The feeding-troughs of these horses were of brass because the steeds were so savage, and they were fastened by iron chains because of their strength, and the food they ate was not the natural produce of the soil but they tore apart the limbs of strangers and so got their food from the ill lot of hapless men. Heracles, in order to control them, threw to them their master Diomedes, and when he had satisfied the hunger of the animals by means of the flesh of the man who had taught them to violate human law in this fashion, he had them under his control. And when the horses were brought to Eurystheus he consecrated them to Hera, and in fact their breed continued down to the reign of Alexander of Macedon.
When this Labour was finished Heracles sailed forth with Jason as a member of the expedition to the Colchi to get the golden fleece. But we shall give a detailed account of these matters in connection with the expedition of the Argonauts.
Ἡρακλῆς δὲ λαβὼν πρόσταγμα τὸν Ἱππολύτης τῆς Ἀμαζόνος ἐνεγκεῖν ζωστῆρα, τὴν ἐπὶ τὰς Ἀμαζόνας στρατείαν ἐποιήσατο. πλεύσας οὖν εἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον ἀπʼ ἐκείνου κληθέντα Πόντον, καὶ καταπλεύσας ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκβολὰς τοῦ Θερμώδοντος ποταμοῦ, πλησίον Θεμισκύρας πόλεως κατεστρατοπέδευσεν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ βασίλεια τῶν Ἀμαζόνων ὑπῆρχε.
καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ᾔτει παρʼ αὐτῶν τὸν προστεταγμένον ζωστῆρα· ὡς δʼ οὐχ ὑπήκουον, συνῆψε μάχην αὐταῖς. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἄλλο πλῆθος αὐτῶν ἀντετάχθη τοῖς πολλοῖς, αἱ δὲ τιμιώταται κατʼ αὐτὸν ταχθεῖσαι τὸν Ἡρακλέα μάχην καρτερὰν συνεστήσαντο. πρώτη μὲν γὰρ αὐτῷ συνάψασα μάχην Ἄελλα, διὰ τὸ τάχος ταύτης τετευχυῖα τῆς προσηγορίας, ὀξύτερον εὗρεν αὑτῆς τὸν ἀντιταχθέντα. δευτέρα δὲ Φιλιππὶς εὐθὺς ἐκ τῆς πρώτης συστάσεως καιρίῳ πληγῇ περιπεσοῦσα διεφθάρη. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Προθόῃ συνῆψε μάχην, ἣν ἐκ προκλήσεως ἔφασαν ἑπτάκις νενικηκέναι τὸν ἀντιταξάμενον. πεσούσης δὲ καὶ ταύτης, τετάρτην ἐχειρώσατο τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Ἐρίβοιαν. αὕτη δὲ διὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πολεμικοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἀνδραγαθίαν καυχωμένη μηδενὸς χρείαν ἔχειν βοηθοῦ, ψευδῆ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἔσχε κρείττονι περιπεσοῦσα.
Heracles then received a Command to bring back the girdle of Hippolytê the Amazon and so made the expedition against the Amazons. Accordingly he sailed into the Pontus, which was named by him Euxeinus, and continuing to the mouth of the Thermodon River he encamped near the city of Themiscyra, in which was situated the palace of the Amazons. And first of all he demanded of them the girdle which he had been commanded to get; but when they would pay no heed to him, he joined battle with them. Now the general mass of the Amazons were arrayed against the main body of the followers of Heracles, but the most honoured of the women were drawn up opposite Heracles himself and put up a stubborn battle. The first, for instance, to join battle with him was Aella, who had been given this name because of her swiftness, but she found her opponent more agile than herself. The second, Philippis, encountering a mortal blow at the very first conflict, was slain. Then he joined battle with Prothoê, who, they said, had been victorious seven times over the opponents whom she had challenged to battle. When she fell, the fourth whom he overcame was known as Eriboea. She had boasted that because of the manly bravery which she displayed in contests of war she had no need of anyone to help her, but she found her claim was false when she encountered her better.
μετὰ δὲ ταύτας Κελαινὼ καὶ Εὐρυβία καὶ Φοίβη, τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος οὖσαι συγκυνηγοὶ καὶ διὰ παντὸς εὐστόχως ἀκοντίζουσαι, τὸν ἕνα στόχον οὐκ ἔτρωσαν, ἀλλʼ ἑαυταῖς συνασπίζουσαι τότε πᾶσαι κατεκόπησαν. μετὰ δὲ ταύτας Δηιάνειραν καὶ Ἀστερίαν καὶ Μάρπην, ἔτι δὲ Τέκμησσαν καὶ Ἀλκίππην ἐχειρώσατο. αὕτη δʼ ὀμόσασα παρθένος διαμενεῖν τὸν μὲν ὅρκον ἐφύλαξε, τὸ δὲ ζῆν οὐ διετήρησεν. ἡ δὲ τὴν στρατηγίαν ἔχουσα τῶν Ἀμαζόνων Μελανίππη καὶ θαυμαζομένη μάλιστα διʼ ἀνδρείαν ἀπέβαλε τὴν ἡγεμονίαν.
Ἡρακλῆς δὲ τὰς ἐπιφανεστάτας τῶν Ἀμαζονίδων ἀνελὼν καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πλῆθος φυγεῖν συναναγκάσας, κατέκοψε τὰς πλείστας, ὥστε παντελῶς τὸ ἔθνος αὐτῶν συντριβῆναι. τῶν δʼ αἰχμαλωτίδων Ἀντιόπην μὲν ἐδωρήσατο Θησεῖ, Μελανίππην δʼ ἀπελύτρωσεν ἀντιλαβὼν τὸν ζωστῆρα.
The next, Celaeno, Eurybia, and Phoebê, who were companions of Artemis in the hunt and whose spears found their mark invariably, did not even graze the single target, but in that fight they were one and all cut down as they stood shoulder to shoulder with each other. After them Deïaneira, Asteria and Marpê, and Tecmessa and Alcippê were overcome. The last-named had taken a vow to remain a maiden, and the vow she kept, but her life she could not preserve. The commander of the Amazons, Melanippê, who was also greatly admired for her manly courage, now lost her supremacy. And Heracles, after thus killing the most renowned of the Amazons, and forcing the remaining multitude to turn in flight, cut down the greater number of them, so that the race of them was utterly exterminated. As for the captives, he gave Antiopê as a gift to Theseus and set Melanippê free, accepting her girdle as her ransom.
Cite This Text