VII.
LYRA inter sidera constituta est hac, ut Eratosthenes ait, de causa, quod initio a Mercurio facta de testudine, Orpheo est tradita, qui Calliopes et Oeagri filius, eius rei maxime studiosus fuit. itaque existimatur suo artificio feras etiam ad se audiendum adlicuisse. qui querens uxoris Eurydices mortem, ad inferos descendisse existimatur, et ibi deorum progeniem suo carmine laudasse, praeter Liberum patrem; hunc enim obliuione ductus praetermisit, ut Oeneus in sacrificio Dianam. postea igitur Orpheus, ut complures dixerunt, in Olympo monte, qui Macedoniam diuidit a Thracia, sed ut Eratosthenes ait, in Pangaeo sedens, cum cantu delectaretur, dicitur ei Liber obiecisse Bacchas, quae corpus eius discerperent interfecti. sed alii dicunt, quod initia Liberi sit speculatus, id ei accidisse; Musas autem collecta membra sepulturae mandasse, et lyram quam maxime potuerunt beneficio, illius memoriae causa figuratam stellis inter sidera constituisse Apollinis et Iouis uoluntate. quorum Orpheus Apollinem maxime laudarat, Iuppiter autem filiae beneficium concessit.
VII. The Lyre
The Lyre was placed among the stars, as Eratosthenes says, for this reason: that, made at the beginning by Hermes from a tortoise-shell, it was handed to Orpheus, who, son of Calliope and Oeagrus, was most devoted to this art. And so by his skill he is thought even to have drawn wild beasts to listen to him. Grieving for the death of his wife Eurydice, he is thought to have gone down to the underworld, and there to have praised in his song the offspring of the gods, except Dionysus; for this one, led by forgetfulness, he passed over, as Oeneus did Artemis in a sacrifice. Afterwards, then, Orpheus — as very many have said, on Mount Olympus, which divides Macedonia from Thrace, but, as Eratosthenes says, sitting on Pangaeus — while he was enjoying his song, Dionysus is said to have set the Bacchae on him, who tore his body to pieces when he was killed. But others say that it befell him because he had spied on the rites of Dionysus; and that the Muses entrusted the gathered limbs to burial, and set up the lyre among the stars, formed of stars as best they could, for the sake of his memory, by the will of Apollo and Zeus; of these Orpheus had praised Apollo above all, and Zeus granted the favour to his daughter.
alii autem dicunt Mercurium, cum primum lyram fecisset in Cyllene monte Arcadiae, septem chordas instituisse ex Atlantidum numero, quod Maia una ex illarum numero esset, quae Mercurii est mater. deinde postea cum Apollinis boues abegisset, deprehensus ab eo, quo sibi facilius ignosceret, petenti Apollini, ut liceret dicere se inuenisse lyram, concessit, et ab eo uirgulam quandam muneri accepit. quam manu tenens Mercurius, cum proficisceretur in Arcadiam et uidisset duos dracones inter se coniuncto corpore alium alium appetere, ut qui dimicare inter se uiderentur, uirgulam inter utrumque subiecit; itaque discesserunt. quo facto, eam uirgulam pacis causa dixit esse constitutam. nonnulli etiam cum faciunt caduceos, duos dracones implicatos uirgula faciunt, quod initium Mercurio fuerat pacis. eius exemplo et athleticis et in reliquis eiusmodi certationibus uirgula utuntur. sed ut ad propositum reuertamur, Apollo lyra accepta dicitur Orphea docuisse, et postquam ipse citharam inuenerit, illi lyram concessisse.
Others say that Hermes, when he first made the lyre on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, set seven strings, after the number of the Atlantides, because Maia, who is the mother of Hermes, was one of their number. Then afterwards, when he had driven off Apollo's cattle and been caught by him, in order to be pardoned more easily he allowed Apollo, who asked it, to say that he had invented the lyre, and received from him a certain little rod as a gift. Holding it in his hand, as Hermes was setting out for Arcadia and saw two serpents with their bodies joined, attacking each other, as though seen to fight, he cast the rod between them; and so they separated. After this he said that the rod had been established as a sign of peace. Some also, when they make caducei, make two serpents entwined about a rod, because that had been the beginning of peace for Hermes. After his example they use a rod both in athletic and in other contests of this sort. But to return to our subject: Apollo, having received the lyre, is said to have taught Orpheus, and, after he had himself invented the cithara, to have granted the lyre to him.
nonnulli etiam dixerunt Uenerem cum Proserpina ad iudicium Iouis uenisse, cui earum Adonim concederet. quibus Calliopen ab Ioue datam iudicem, quae Musa Orphei est mater; itaque iudicasse, uti dimidiam partem anni earum unaquaeque possideret. Uenerem autem indignatam, quod non sibi proprium concessisset, obiecisse omnibus quae in Thracia essent mulieribus, ut Orphea amore inductae ita sibi quaeque appeterent, ut membra eius discerperent. cuius caput in mare de monte perlatum, fluctibus in insulam Lesbum est reiectum; quod ab his sublatum et sepulturae est mandatum. pro quo beneficio ad musicam artem ingeniosissimi existimantur esse. Lyra autem a Musis, ut ante diximus, inter astra constituta est. nonnulli aiunt, quod Orpheus primus puerilem amorem induxerit, mulieribus uisum contumeliam fecisse; hac re ab his interfectum.
Some have also said that Aphrodite came with Persephone to the judgment of Zeus, [to decide] to which of them he should grant Adonis. Calliope, who is the Muse mother of Orpheus, was given them by Zeus as judge; and so she judged that each of them should possess him for half the year. Aphrodite, however, indignant that he had not granted him to her alone, set against all the women who were in Thrace the impulse that, drawn by love of Orpheus, each should so desire him for herself that they tore his limbs apart. His head, carried from the mountain into the sea, was cast up by the waves on the island of Lesbos; it was taken up by them and committed to burial. For this kindness they are thought to be the most gifted in the art of music. The Lyre, however, was placed among the stars by the Muses, as we said before. Some say that because Orpheus was the first to introduce the love of boys, he seemed to the women to have done them an insult; and for this reason he was killed by them.
VIII. OLOR.
Hunc Graeci cygnum appellant; quem conplures, propter ignotam illis historiam, communi genere auium ὄρνιν appellauerunt. de quo haec memoriae prodita est causa. Iuppiter cum amore inductus, Nemesin diligere coepisset neque ab ea ut secum concumberet impetrare potuisset, hac cogitatione amore est liberatus. iubet enim Uenerem aquilae simulatam se sequi; ipse in olorem conuersus ut aquilam fugiens ad Nemesin confugit et in eius gremio se collocauit. quem Nemesis non aspernata, amplexum tenens somno est consopita; quam dormientem Iuppiter compressit. ipse autem auolauit, et quod ab hominibus alte uolans caelo uidebatur, inter sidera dictus est esse constitutus. quod ne falsum diceretur, Iuppiter e facto eum uolantem et aquilam consequentem locauit in mundo. Nemesis autem, ut quae auium generi esset iuncta, mensibus actis, ouum procreauit. quod Mercurius auferens detulit Spartam et Ledae sedenti in gremium proiecit; ex quo nascitur Helena, ceteras specie corporis praestans, quam Leda suam filiam nominauit. alii autem cum Leda Iouem concubuisse in olorem conuersum dixerunt; de quo in medio relinquemus.
VIII. The Swan
The Greeks call this the cygnus (swan); many, because the story is unknown to them, have called it by the general name for birds, ὄρνιν. About it this account has been handed down. Zeus, led on by love, had begun to love Nemesis, and had not been able to win from her that she lie with him; by this scheme he was freed from his love [?]. For he orders Aphrodite, made like an eagle, to pursue him; he himself, turned into a swan, as though fleeing from the eagle, fled for refuge to Nemesis and placed himself in her lap. Nemesis, not rejecting him, holding him in her embrace, was overcome by sleep; and as she slept Zeus lay with her. He then flew away, and because he was seen in the sky by men as he flew high, he is said to have been set among the stars. So that this might not be said falsely, Zeus, from that event, placed him flying, with the eagle following, in the heavens. Nemesis, however, as one who had been joined to the race of birds, after the months were completed, produced an egg. Hermes carried it off, took it to Sparta, and threw it into Leda's lap as she sat; from it Helen is born, surpassing the rest in beauty of body, whom Leda called her daughter. Others, however, said that Zeus lay with Leda, turned into a swan; about which we shall leave the question open.
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