XLVIIII Aesculapius
Aesculapius Apollinis filius Glauco Minois filio vitam reddidisse [sive Hippolyto] dicitur. quem Iupiter ob id fulmine percussit. Apollo, quod Iovi nocere non potuit, eos qui fulmina fecerant, id est Cyclopes, interfecit. Quod ob factum Apollo datus est in servitutem Admeto regi Thessaliae.
49. Asclepius
Asclepius, son of Apollo, is said to have restored life to Glaucus, son of Minos [or to Hippolytus]. For this Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt. Apollo, because he could not harm Zeus, killed those who had made the thunderbolts, that is, the Cyclopes. For this deed Apollo was given into servitude to Admetus, king of Thessaly.
L Admetus
Alcestim Peliae filiam cum complures in coniugium peterent et Pelias cum multos eorum repudiaret, simultatem his constituit [ei se daturum] qui feras bestias ad currum iunxisset, is quam vellet aveheret. Itaque Admetus ab Apolline petiit, ut se adiuvaret. Apollo cum ab eo esset liberaliter tractatus, cum in servitium fuit ei traditus, aprum et leonem ei iunctos tradidit, quibus ille Alcestim [in coniugium] avexit.
50. Admetus (first version)
When many men sought Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, in marriage and Pelias turned many of them away, he set them a contest [that he would give her to the man] who yoked wild beasts to a chariot, and that man might carry off whom he wished. So Admetus asked Apollo to help him. Apollo, who had been treated generously by him when he was handed over to him into servitude, gave him a boar and a lion yoked together, with which he carried off Alcestis [in marriage].
LI Alcestis
Alcestim Peliae et Anaxibies Biantis filiae filiam complures proci petebant in coniugium. Pelias vitans * eorum conditiones repudiavit, et simultatem constituit, ei se daturum qui feras bestias ad currum iunxisset et Alcestim in coniugio avexisset. Itaque Admetus ab Apolline petiit ut se adiuvaret. Apollo autem quod ab eo in servitutem liberaliter esset acceptus aprum et leonem ei iunctos tradidit, quibus ille Alcestim avexit. Et illud ab Apolline accepit, ut pro se alius voluntarie moreretur. pro quo cum neque pater neque mater mori voluissent, uxor se Alcestis obtulit et pro eo vicaria morte interiit. quam postea Hercules ab inferis revocavit.
51. Alcestis (second version)
Many suitors sought Alcestis, daughter of Pelias and of Anaxibie, daughter of Bias, in marriage. Pelias, avoiding * , rejected their proposals and set a contest, saying he would give her to the man who yoked wild beasts to a chariot and carried Alcestis off in wedlock. So Admetus asked Apollo to help him. Apollo, because he had been received into servitude by him generously, gave him a boar and a lion yoked together, with which he carried Alcestis off. And he also received from Apollo that someone else might die voluntarily in his place. When neither his father nor his mother had been willing to die for him, his wife Alcestis offered herself and died in his place, a substitute death. Hercules afterwards called her back from the underworld.
LII Aegina
Iupiter cum Aeginam Asopi filiam vellet comprimere et Iunonem vereretur detulit eam in insulam Oenonen et gravidam fecit, unde natus est Aeacus. Hoc Iuno cum rescisset serpentem in aquam misit quae eam venenavit. ex qua qui biberat debitum naturae solvebat. Quod cum amissis sociis Aeacus prae paucitate hominum morari non posset, formicas intuens petiit ab Iove, ut ⟨tot⟩ homines in praesidio sibi daret. tunc Iupiter formicas in homines transfiguravit qui Myrmidones sunt appellati, quod graece formicae myrmeces dicuntur; insula autem Aeginae nomen possedit.
52. Aegina
When Zeus wished to lie with Aegina, daughter of Asopus, and feared Hera, he carried her to the island of Oenone and made her pregnant; from this Aeacus was born. When Hera found this out, she sent a serpent into the water, which poisoned it. Whoever drank from it paid the debt of nature. When Aeacus, his companions lost, could not stay on because there were so few people, he looked at the ants and asked Zeus to give him ⟨as many⟩ men for his protection. Then Zeus changed the ants into men, who were called Myrmidons, because ants are called myrmeces in Greek; the island took the name of Aegina.
LIII Asterie
Iovis cum Asterien *Titanis filiam amaret, illa eum contempsit a quo in avem ortygem commutata est, quam nos coturnicem dicimus. eamque in mare abiecit et ex ea insula est enata, quae Ortygia est appellata. Haec mobilis fuit: quo postea Latona ab Aquilone vento delata est iussu Iovis tunc, cum eam Python persequeretur; ibique oleam tenens Latona peperit Apollinem et Dianam. quae insula postea Delos est appellata.
53. Asterie
When Zeus loved Asterie, daughter of the * Titan, she spurned him, and was changed by him into the bird ortyx, which we call quail. He threw her into the sea, and from her an island arose, which was called Ortygia. It was floating; afterwards Leto was carried there by the North Wind at Zeus' command, at the time when Python was pursuing her, and there, holding an olive tree, Leto bore Apollo and Artemis. The island was afterwards called Delos.
LIIII Thetis
Thetidi Nereidi fatum fuit, qui ex ea natus esset fortiorem fore quam patrem. Hoc praeter Prometheum cum sciret nemo et Iovis vellet cum ea concumbere, Prometheus Iovi pollicetur se eum praemoniturum, si se vinculis liberasset. Itaque fide data monet Iovem, ne cum Thetide concumberet, ne si fortior nasceretur Iovem de regno deiiceret, quemadmodum et ipse Saturno fecerat. Itaque datur Thetis in coniugium Peleo Aeaci filio, et mittitur Hercules, ut aquilam interficiat, quae eius cor exedebat; eaque interfecta Prometheus post triginta *annos de monte Caucaso est solutus.
54. Thetis
It was fated for the Nereid Thetis that her son would be stronger than his father. Since no one but Prometheus knew this, and Zeus wished to lie with her, Prometheus promised Zeus that he would warn him in advance if he freed him from his bonds. So, once a pledge was given, he warned Zeus not to lie with Thetis, lest, if a stronger son were born, he should cast Zeus from his kingdom, as Zeus himself had done to Cronus. So Thetis was given in marriage to Peleus, son of Aeacus, and Heracles was sent to kill the eagle that was eating his heart; when it was killed, Prometheus was freed from Mount Caucasus after thirty * years.
LV Tityus
Latona quod cum Iove concubuerat, Iuno Tityo Terrae filio immani magnitudine iusserat, ut Latonae vim afferret. qui cum conatus esset a Iove fulmine est interfectus. qui novem iugeribus ad inferos exporrectus iacere dicitur, et serpens ei appositus est, qui iecur eius exesset, quod cum luna recrescit.
55. Tityus
Because Leto had lain with Zeus, Hera had ordered Tityus, son of Earth, a man of huge size, to do violence to Leto. When he attempted it, he was killed by Zeus with a thunderbolt. He is said to lie stretched out over nine acres in the underworld, and a serpent has been set by him to eat his liver, which grows back as the moon waxes.
LVI Busiris
In Aegypto apud Busiridem Neptuni filium cum esset sterilitas et Aegyptus annis novem siccitate exaruisset, ex Graecia augures convocavit. Phrasius Pygmalionis fratris filius Busiridi monstravit, immolato hospite venturos imbres, promissisque fidem ipse immolatus exhibuit.
56. Busiris
In Egypt, under Busiris son of Poseidon, when there was barrenness and Egypt had been parched by drought for nine years, he called together seers from Greece. Phrasius, son of Pygmalion's brother, showed Busiris that if a guest were sacrificed rain would come, and he himself, being sacrificed, made good his promise.
LVII Stheneboea
Bellerophon cum ad Proetum regem exul in hospitium venisset adamatus est ab uxore eius Stheneboea. qui cum concumbere cum ea noluisset, illa viro suo mentita est se ab eo compellatam. At Proetus re audita conscripsit tabellas de ea re et mittit eum ad Iobaten regem patrem Stheneboeae. quibus lectis talem virum interficere noluit sed ad Chimaeram eum interficiendum misit, quae tripartito ⟨corpore⟩ ore flammam spirare dicebatur. †idem ‘prima leo postrema draco media ipsa chimaera’. hanc super Pegasum sedens interfecit et decidisse dicitur in campos Aleios. unde etiam coxas eiecisse dicitur. at rex virtutes eius laudans alteram filiam dedit ei in matrimonium. Stheneboea re audita ipsa se interfecit.
57. Stheneboea and Bellerophon
When Bellerophon came as an exile to King Proetus as a guest, he was desired by the king's wife, Stheneboea. When he refused to lie with her, she lied to her husband that he had solicited her. Proetus, hearing this, wrote a tablet about the matter and sent him to King Iobates, Stheneboea's father. When he had read it, Iobates did not want to kill such a man, but sent him to be killed by the Chimaera, which was said to be of three-fold ⟨body⟩ and to breathe flame from its mouth. †idem: ‘lion in front, serpent behind, the Chimaera herself in the middle’. Sitting on Pegasus, he killed it, and he is said to have fallen onto the Aleian plain, whence he is also said to have dislocated his hips [?]. The king, praising his courage, gave him his other daughter in marriage. When Stheneboea heard of it, she killed herself.
LVIII Smyrna
Smyrna Cinyrae Assyriorum regis et Cenchreidis filia. cuius mater Cenchreis superbius locuta quod filiae suae formam Veneri anteposuerat, Venus matris poenas exequens Smyrnae infandum amorem obiecit adeo ut patrem suum amaret. quae ne suspendio se necaret, nutrix intervenit. et patre nesciente per nutricem cum eo concubuit, ex quo concepit: idque ne palam fieret pudore stimulata in silvis se abdidit. cui⟨us⟩ Venus postea miserta est et in speciem arboris eam commutavit, unde myrrha fluit. ex qua natus est Adonis, qui matris poenas a Venere est insecutus.
58. Smyrna
Smyrna was the daughter of Cinyras, king of the Assyrians, and of Cenchreis. Her mother Cenchreis spoke too proudly, because she had put her daughter's beauty before Aphrodite's; and Aphrodite, exacting punishment from the mother, put in Smyrna an unspeakable love, so that she loved her own father. When she was about to kill herself by hanging, the nurse intervened. And without the father's knowledge, through the nurse she lay with him, and conceived by him; and, driven by shame lest this become public, she hid herself in the woods. Aphrodite afterwards pitied her and changed her into the form of a tree, from which myrrh flows. From her was born Adonis, who pursued Aphrodite on account of his mother's punishment.
LVIIII Phyllis
Demophoon Thesei filius in Thraciam ad Phyllidem in hospitium dicitur venisse et ab ea esse amatus. Qui cum in patriam vellet redire fidem ei dedit se ad eam rediturum. qui die constituta cum non venisset, illa eo die dicitur novies ad littus cucurrisse quod ex eo ἐννέα ὁδοί Graece appellatur. Phyllis autem ob desiderium Demophoontis spiritum emisit. cui parentes cum sepulc[h]rum constituissent, arbores ibi sunt natae, quae certo tempore Phyllidis mortem lugent, quo folia arescunt et diffluunt. cuius ex nomine folia graece φύλλα sunt appellata.
59. Phyllis
Demophoon, son of Theseus, is said to have come as a guest to Phyllis in Thrace and to have been loved by her. When he wished to return to his homeland, he gave her his word that he would come back to her. When he did not come on the appointed day, she is said to have run down to the shore nine times that day; from this the place is called in Greek ἐννέα ὁδοί (Nine Ways). Phyllis gave up the ghost from longing for Demophoon. When her parents had made a tomb for her, trees grew there which mourn Phyllis' death at a fixed time, when the leaves dry up and fall; and from her name leaves are called φύλλα in Greek.
LX Sisyphus et Salmoneus
Sisyphus et Salmoneus Aeoli filii inter se inimice fuere. Sisyphus petiit ab Apolline quomodo posset interficere inimicum id est fratrem. cui responsum fuit, si ex compressu Tyronis Salmonei fratris filiae procreasset liberos, fore ultores. quod cum Sisyphus fecisset, duo sunt filii nati, quos Tyro mater eorum sorte audita necavit. at Sisyphus ut resciit **qui nunc dicitur saxum propter impietatem adversus montem ad inferos cervicibus volvere: quod cum ad summum verticem perduxerit, rursum deorsum post se revolvatur.
60. Sisyphus and Salmoneus
Sisyphus and Salmoneus, sons of Aeolus, were hostile to each other. Sisyphus asked Apollo how he could kill his enemy, that is, his brother. The answer was that if he fathered children by Tyro, daughter of his brother Salmoneus, they would be avengers. When Sisyphus did this, two sons were born, whom their mother Tyro killed when she heard the oracle. But when Sisyphus found out, ** he is now said, because of his impiety, to roll a stone with his neck up a mountain in the underworld; when he has brought it to the top, it rolls back down behind him.
LXI Salmoneus
Salmoneus Aeoli filius Sisyphi frater cum tonitrua et fulmina imitaretur Iovis, sedens quadrigam faces ardentes in populum †mitteret et cives; ob id a Iove fulmine est ictus.
61. Salmoneus
Salmoneus, son of Aeolus and brother of Sisyphus, when he imitated the thunder and lightning of Zeus, sitting in a four-horse chariot and hurling burning torches †mitteret on the people and the citizens, was for this struck by a thunderbolt by Zeus.
LXII Ixion
Ixion †Leontei filius conatus est Iunonem comprimere. Iuno Iovis iussu nubem supposuit, quam Ixion Iunonis simulac[h]rum esse credidit. ex ea nati sunt centauri. at Mercurius Iovis iussu Ixionem ad inferos in rota constrinxit quae ibi adhuc dicitur verti.
62. Ixion
Ixion, son of †Leonteus, tried to lie with Hera. Hera, at Zeus' command, substituted a cloud, which Ixion believed to be an image of Hera. From it the centaurs were born. Hermes, at Zeus' command, bound Ixion in the underworld to a wheel, which is said to be turning there still.
LXIII Danae
Danae Acrisii et Aganippes filia. huic fuit fatum, ut quod peperisset Acrisium interficeret. quod timens Acrisius eam in muro lapideo praeclusit: Iovis autem in imbrem aureum conversus cum Danae concubuit, ex quo compressu natus est Perseus. Quam pater ob stuprum inclusam in arca cum Perseo in mare deiecit. ea voluntate Iovis delata est in insulam Seriphum. quam piscator Dictys cum invenisset effracta vidit mulierem cum infante, quos ad regem Polydectem perduxit. qui eam in coniugio habuit et Perseum educavit in templo Minervae. Quod cum Acrisius rescisset, eos ad Polydectem morari, repetitum eos profectus est. quo[d] cum venisset, Polydectes pro eis deprecatus est: Perseus Acrisio avo suo fidem dedit se eum nunquam interfecturum. Qui cum tempestate retineretur, Polydectes moritur. cui cum funebres ludos facerent, Perseus disco misso, quem ventus distulit, in⟨fre⟩git caput Acrisii, et eum interfecit. ita quod voluntate sua noluit deorum factum est. sepulto autem eo Argos profectus est regnaque avita possedit.
63. Danae
Danae was the daughter of Acrisius and Aganippe. It was fated for him that the child she bore would kill Acrisius. Acrisius, fearing this, shut her up in a stone wall; but Zeus, changed into a golden shower, lay with Danae, and from this union Perseus was born. Her father, because of the ravishing, shut her in a chest with Perseus and threw them into the sea. By Zeus' will it was carried to the island of Seriphus. The fisherman Dictys, when he found it, saw, on breaking it open, a woman with an infant, and took them to King Polydectes. He took her as his wife and brought Perseus up in the temple of Athena. When Acrisius found out that they were staying with Polydectes, he set out to reclaim them. When he arrived, Polydectes pleaded on their behalf; Perseus gave his grandfather Acrisius his word that he would never kill him. As he was held back by a storm, Polydectes died. While they were holding funeral games for him, Perseus threw a discus, which the wind carried off, and struck Acrisius' head, and killed him. Thus what he did not will himself was done by the will of the gods. After burying him, he went to Argos and took possession of his ancestral kingdom.
LXIIII Andromeda
Cassiope filiae suae Andromedae formam Nereidibus anteposuit. ob id Neptunus expostulavit, ut Andromeda Cephei filia ceto obiceretur. Quae cum esset obiecta Perseus Mercurii ‘talaribus’ volans eo dicitur venisse et eam liberasse a periculo. Quam cum abducere vellet, Cepheus pater cum Agenore, cuius sponsa fuit, Perseum clam interficere voluerunt. ille cognita re caput Gorgonis eis ostendit omnesque ab humana specie sunt informati in saxum. Perseus cum Andromeda in patriam redit. || Polydectes sive Proetus ⟨ut⟩ vidit Perseum tantam ‘virtutem’ habere, pertimuit eumque per dolum interficere voluit. qua re cognita Perseus caput Gorgonis ei ostendit et is ab humana specie est immutatus in lapidem.
64. Andromeda
Cassiope put the beauty of her daughter Andromeda before that of the Nereids. For this Poseidon demanded that Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus, be exposed to a sea monster. When she had been exposed, Perseus is said to have come flying there with Hermes' ‘winged sandals’ and to have freed her from danger. When he wanted to carry her off, her father Cepheus, with Agenor, to whom she was betrothed, wanted to kill Perseus secretly. He, learning of it, showed them the Gorgon's head, and they were all changed from human form into stone. Perseus returned to his homeland with Andromeda. || When Polydectes or Proetus saw that Perseus had such ‘courage’, he was afraid and wished to kill him by a trick. Perseus, learning of this, showed him the Gorgon's head, and he too was changed from human form into stone.
LXV Alcyone
Ceyx Hesperi sive Luciferi et Philonidis filius cum in naufragio periisset Alcyone Aeoli et Aegiales filia uxor eius propter amorem ipsa se in mare praecipitavit. qui deorum misericordia ambo in aves sunt mutati, quae alcyones dicuntur. hae aves nidum ova pullos in mari ‘septem’ diebus faciunt ‘hiberno tempore’. mare his diebus tranquillum est. quos dies nautae alcyonia appellant.
65. Alcyone
Ceyx, son of Hesperus or Lucifer and of Philonis, perished in a shipwreck; his wife Alcyone, daughter of Aeolus and Aegiale, out of love threw herself into the sea. Through the pity of the gods, both were turned into birds, which are called alcyones (kingfishers). These birds make their nest, eggs and chicks on the sea for ‘seven’ days ‘in the winter season’. The sea is calm on these days; sailors call these days the alcyonia.
Cite This Text