Cyrene in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Cyrene

15 passages from 6 ancient authors that tell of Cyrene, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Cyrene was the daughter of King Hypseus of the Lapiths, in Greek mythology. Some sources mention that she was instead the daughter of the river god Pe... For the story in one place, read our article on Cyrene.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.86–96Dionysus, Coronis and CyreneHere Hesiod describes the gifts of Dionysus, the wine that brings joy and sorrow, and the story of Coronis, to whom a crow brought word to Pytho. Apollo and Asclepius appear, and Zeus is angry with Apollo. Cyrene and her son Aristaéus follow, then Antiope, and the building of the walls of Thebes by Zethus and Amphion.

Pindar (4)

Pindar, Pythian Odes 5.1–125Pythian 5: for Arcesilas — the Battiads and the colonists of CyrenePindar praises Arcesilas of Cyrene, victor in the chariot race, as blessed with wealth joined to honour, and praises his charioteer. He traces the Dorian colonists from Sparta through Thera and the Heracleidae and Aegeidae to Cyrene, where they brought the Carneian festival. The ode ends with a prayer that Zeus grant the race of Battus a new victory at Olympia.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 9.1–125Pythian 9: for Telesicrates — Cyrene and ApolloPindar praises Telesicrates of Cyrene, victor in the race in armour, and tells how Apollo fell in love with the nymph Cyrene, daughter of Hypseus, who wrestled with lions, and asked Cheiron whether he might take her. Cheiron foretells that Apollo will bring her to Libya, where she will bear Aristaeus, whom Hermes will entrust to Gaia and the Horae. The ode ends with the victories of Telesicrates' family and the stories of Danaüs, who married off his daughters by a race, and of the Libyan bride, the daughter of Antaeus, won in a race.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.1–142Pythian 4: for Arcesilas — Medea's prophecy and Jason at IolcusPindar honours Arcesilas, king of Cyrene and victor in the chariot race, and recalls the word that Medea spoke at Thera, that her companions' descendants would colonise Libya, so that Arcesilas is eighth in the line from Battus. He then turns to Jason, who arrives at Iolcus wearing one sandal and astonishes the crowd in the market-place, and who says that he has come to recover his father's honour. His kinsmen Pheres, Amythaon, Admetus and Melampus gather to him, and he leads them to the hall of Pelias and begins his appeal to the king.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.143–299Pythian 4: for Arcesilas — the Argonauts and the golden fleeceJason offers Pelias the flocks and herds but asks for the sceptre and throne of his father Aeson, and Pelias answers softly, sending him to fetch the golden fleece and the spirit of Phrixus. Jason gathers the Argonauts, including Orpheus, Echion and Eurytus, who sail after his prayer to Zeus. At Colchis Aeëtes sets him a task, and with Medea's charms Jason wins the fleece, kills the serpent and carries Medea off, and the ode ends with a plea that Arcesilas recall the exile Damophilus.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 2.1–113Hymn to ApolloThe laurel and the temple tremble as Apollo approaches, and the profane are told to depart while the young men prepare to sing and dance. The poet praises the god's golden gear, his youth, his healing and music, and the altar of horns he built at the age of four in Ortygia. He tells how Apollo guided Battus to found Cyrene, how the Carneian festival is kept there, and how the god killed the serpent at Pytho. The hymn ends with Apollo spurning Envy with his foot.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.81.1–4.85.7Aristaeus, Eryx, Daphnis and OrionThe historian tells of Aristaeus, son of Apollo and Cyrene, who after the death of Acteon goes to Ceos and helps the Greeks during a plague, and who is honoured as a god in Sicily. He continues with Eryx, son of Aphrodite, with the shepherd Daphnis in the Heraean mountains, and with the giant hunter Orion, whose works in Sicily, at Peloris and elsewhere, are described.

Pausanias (7)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.7.1–3Ptolemy Philadelphus and the revolt of Magas of CyrenePtolemy, son of Berenice, marries his sister Arsinoe, puts to death his brother Argaeus and another brother, and brings Alexander’s body from Memphis. His half-brother Magas, governor of Cyrene, revolts and marches on Egypt but turns back when the Marmarids rise, and Ptolemy maroons four thousand mutinous Gaulish mercenaries on a desert island. Magas persuades his father-in-law Antiochus to break his treaty and invade Egypt, but Ptolemy keeps Antiochus occupied by sending troops against his subjects.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.15.1–7Delphi: the statue of Phryne, offerings against the Gauls, the Athenian palm-tree and Battus' chariotPausanias describes the gilded statue of Phryne by Praxiteles and the offerings of the Epidaurians, Megarians, Plataeans, Heracleans and Amphictyons, including the large Apollo called Sitalcas. He gives the Aetolian offerings against the Gauls with Phaennis' oracle about the Gallic invasion and Attalus, and the Athenian bronze palm-tree from the Eurymedon, whose gilding the crows were said to have pecked before the Sicilian expedition. He ends with the Cyrenian chariot of Battus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.6.1–8Ptolemy of Egypt: his rise after Alexander and wars with AntigonusPausanias begins the story of the kings Ptolemy and Attalus, who gave their names to Athenian tribes. Ptolemy, son of Lagus but said to be Philip’s son, takes Egypt after Alexander’s death, repels Perdiccas, and fights Antigonus and Demetrius with Seleucus, Cassander and Lysimachus as allies. After Antigonus falls he recovers Syria, conquers Cyprus, and leaves Egypt to his son by Berenice rather than to the son of Eurydice, daughter of Antipater.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.26.1–10Epidauria: its early rulers and the birth of AsclepiusAt Lessa the road enters Epidauria. Pausanias gives what the Epidaurians say of their early rulers, including Pityreus and Deiphontes and Epidaurus’ various parentages. He then recounts the competing stories of Asclepius’ birth, from Coronis and Apollo, left on Mount Titthium and suckled by a goat, to the version making him a son of Arsinoe, which he refutes with an oracle. He also lists the daughter sanctuaries at Athens, Pergamum, Smyrna, Cyrene and Lebene.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.8.1–6Olympia: Damarchus the wolf, Eubotas and TimanthesPausanias lists statues of Elean, Arcadian and other victors and rejects as incredible the story that the boxer Damarchus of Parrhasia was turned into a wolf at the sacrifice of Lycaean Zeus. Eubotas of Cyrene had his statue made before his victory because of an oracle. Timanthes of Cleonae killed himself on a fire when he could no longer bend his bow, which Pausanias counts as madness rather than courage. The section ends with the Delphian Timasitheus, who was executed after the attempt of Isagoras to seize the Acropolis of Athens.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.12.1–9Olympia: Hiero's chariot and statues of Areus, Aratus and AgesarchusPausanias describes the bronze chariot and horses dedicated by Dinomenes in memory of the victories of his father Hiero of Syracuse, and the statues of a later Syracusan tyrant, Hiero son of Hierocles, who allied himself first with Carthage and then with Rome. Further statues include those of the Spartan king Areus and of Aratus, and of Theochrestus of Cyrene, who bred horses in the Libyan way. He disputes the claim on the statue of the boxer Agesarchus of Tritaea that the Tritaeans are Arcadians.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.18.1–7Olympia: Anaximenes of Lampsacus and the oldest athlete statuesPausanias describes the chariot of Cratisthenes of Cyrene and the statue of the historian Anaximenes, set up by the people of Lampsacus. He tells how Anaximenes saved his city from Alexander by asking for the opposite of what he wanted, and how he wrote a pamphlet in the style of Theopompus to bring his enemy into disrepute. He ends with Sotades, who was exiled for accepting Ephesian citizenship, and the oldest athlete statues at Olympia, the wooden figures of Praxidamas and Rexibius.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 13.201–308Book 13: Aiacos, Asterios and Aristaios joinAiacos comes with his Myrmidons, who were once ants, and Asterios brings the Cretans, who will later settle in Colchis. Aristaios comes last, because he had challenged Dionysos with his honey and lost. He is the son of Cyrene and leads the Arcadians, armed by Apollo.