Crius in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Crius

6 passages from 5 ancient authors that tell of Crius, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Crius was one of the Titans, son of Uranus and Gaea. He married Eurybia, daughter of Pontus and Gaea, and had three children, Astraios, Pallas and Per... For the story in one place, read our article on Crius.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Theogony 370–404Children of Hyperion and Crius; Styx and her sons (370-404)Theia bears Helios, Selene and Eos to Hyperion, and Eos bears the winds and the morning star; Crius and Eurybia's sons include Astraeus, Pallas and Perses. Styx, daughter of Oceanus, bears to Pallas Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia, and Zeus honours her as the great oath of the gods because she was first to support him against the Titans. The section ends as Phoebe comes to the embrace of Coeus.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.45.1–4.49.8The Argonauts II: Colchis, Medea and the golden fleeceThe historian explains the custom of the Colchi of killing strangers by the story of Aeëtes and his brother Perses, and gives the traditions about Medea and about Phrixus and the ram with the golden fleece. With Medea's help the Argonauts take the fleece; the king of the Colchi falls in the fighting, and the chiefs sail home by way of Byzantium and Troy.

Pausanias (2)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.13.1–9Sparta: Carneus, the Dionysiades, and the hill of Argive HeraPausanias notes the tombs of Cynortas, Castor, Idas and Lynceus, a temple of the Saviour Maid and the worship of Domestic Carneus, with explanations of the Dorian worship of Carnean Apollo. He lists the image of Aphetaeus, the colonnaded square, the temple of Dionysus Colonatas with its women’s race, the shrine of Pleuron, the temples of Argive Hera and Protectress Hera on the hill, and the statue of the wrestler Hetoemocles.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.27.1–12Pellene: temples, the athlete Promachus and the MysaeumPausanias describes Pellene, built on a hill split into two parts, with its wily Hermes, the temple of Athena said to be an early work of Phidias, the grove of Artemis Saviour, and the Dionysus festival of torches. The games of Apollo Theoxenios are mentioned, as is the pancratiast Promachus, honoured above the tyrant-wrestler Chaeron. Outside the city is the Mysaeum, a sanctuary of Mysian Demeter with a seven-day festival, the healing sanctuary of Aesculapius called Cyrus, and the river Sythas on the Sicyonian border.

Heraclitus (paradoxographer) (1)

Heraclitus (paradoxographer), On Unbelievable Tales 21–39Hades, gods and transformations, from the Underworld to the oxen of HeliosThe second half deals with journeys to Hades, the fall of Phaethon, the charm of Orpheus, the golden fleece, the gods’ abductions and loves, and the transformations of Procne, the Heliades and others, replacing each miracle with a plain event or a phrase we still use. It ends with the oxen of Helios, read through Homer as a rule against slaughtering working cattle. Chapters 22, 25 and 38 touch gaps in the manuscript.

Palaephatus (1)

Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 30–32Phrixus, the Phorcides, the AmazonsThe golden fleece becomes a golden image of Cos, the one-eyed Graiai a set of sisters guarding a statue of Athena, and the Amazons bearded Thracian-style warriors mistaken for women. These are among the longest chapters of the work.