IV. Περὶ τῆς Καδμείας Σφιγγός
Περὶ τῆς Καδμείας Σφιγγὸς λέγεται ὡς θηρίον ἐγένετο σῶμα μὲν κυνὸς ἔχον, τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον κόρης, πτέρυγας δὲ ὄρνιθος, φωνὴν δὲ ἀνθρώπου. καθίζουσα δὲ ἐπὶ Φικίου ὄρους αἴνιγμά τι ἑκάστῳ τῶν πολιτῶν ᾖδεν· ὃν δ᾽ ἂν εὗρε διαλύσασθαι μὴ δυνάμενον, τοῦτον ἀνήρει. διαλυσαμένου δὲ τὸ αἴνιγμα Οἰδίποδος, ῥίψασα ἑαυτὴν ἀνεῖλεν. ἔστι δὲ ἄπιστος καὶ ἀδύνατος ὁ λόγος. οὔτε γὰρ ἰδέα τοιαύτη δύναται γενέσθαι. τό τε τοὺς μὴ δυναμένους διαλύεσθαι ⟨τὰ⟩ αἰνίγματα κατεσθίεσθαι ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς, παιδαριῶδες, τό τε τοὺς Καδμείους μὴ κατατοξεῦσαι τὸ θηρίον, ἀλλὰ περιορᾶν τοὺς πολίτας ὡς πολεμίους κατεσθιομένους, μάταιον. ἔχει οὖν ἡ ἀλήθεια ὧδε. Κάδμος ἔχων γυναῖκα Ἀμαζονίδα, ᾗ ὄνομα Σφίγξ, ἦλθεν εἰς Θήβας, καὶ ἀποκτείνας Δράκοντα τήν τε οὐσίαν καὶ βασιλείαν παρέλαβε, μετὰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Δράκοντος, ᾗ ὄνομα Ἁρμονία. αἰσθομένη δὲ ἡ Σφὶγξ ὅτι ἄλλην ἐπέγημε, πείσασα πολλοὺς τῶν πολιτῶν συναπᾶραι αὐτῇ, καὶ τῶν χρημάτων τὰ πλεῖστα ἁρπάσασα, καὶ τὸν ποδώκη κύνα, ὃν ἧκεν ὁ Κάδμος ἄγων, λαβοῦσα, μετὰ τούτων ἀπῆρεν εἰς τὸ καλούμενον ὄρος Φίκιον, καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἐπολέμει τῷ Κάδμῳ· ἐνέδρας δὲ ποιουμένη κατὰ τὴν ὥραν ἀνήρει οὓς διαρπάζουσα ᾤχετο. καλοῦσι δὲ οἱ Καδμεῖοι τὴν ἐνέδραν αἴνιγμα. ἐθρύλλουν οὖν οἱ πολῖται λέγοντες „Σφὶγξ ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀγρία αἰνίγματι ὑφισταμένη διαρπάζει, καὶ καθίζει ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους. ἐξευρεῖν δὲ τὸ αἴνιγμα οὐδεὶς δύναται, ἔκ τε τοῦ προφανοῦς μάχεσθαι ἀδύνατον· οὐ γὰρ τρέχει, ἀλλὰ πέτεται καὶ κύων καὶ γυνή, οὕτω ποδώκης ἐστί.“ κηρύττει δὲ ὁ Κάδμος τῷ ἀποκτενοῦντι τὴν Σφίγγα χρήματα δώσειν πολλά. ἐλθὼν οὖν ὁ Οἰδίπους, ἀνὴρ Κορίνθιος τὰ πολεμικὰ ἀγαθός, ἵππον ἔχων ποδώκη, καὶ λόχους τῶν Καδμείων ποιήσας καὶ διὰ νυκτὸς ἐξιὼν καὶ ἐνεδρεύσας αὐτήν, εὗρε τὸ αἴνιγμα [τουτέστι τὴν ἐνέδραν] καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν τὴν Σφίγγα. τούτων γενομένων τὰ λοιπὰ ἐμυθεύθη.
4. The Sphinx of Thebes
About the Sphinx of Cadmus’ city it is said that she was a beast with a dog’s body, a girl’s head and face, a bird’s wings and a human voice. Sitting on Mount Phicium she sang a riddle to each of the citizens; and whomever she found unable to solve it she killed. When Oedipus solved the riddle, she threw herself down and perished. But the story is incredible and impossible. For no such shape can come into being; and that those unable to solve riddles should be devoured by her is childish, and that the Thebans should not shoot the beast down but stand by and watch their fellow citizens being eaten like enemies is foolish. This, then, is the truth. Cadmus had a wife, an Amazon, whose name was Sphinx, and came to Thebes; having killed Draco he took over his property and kingship, and after that also Draco’s sister, whose name was Harmonia. When Sphinx perceived that he had married another woman, she persuaded many of the citizens to leave with her, seized most of the property, and took the swift hound that Cadmus had brought with him; with these she went off to the mountain called Phicium, and from there made war on Cadmus. She set ambushes at the right season and killed some, plundering others and going away. The Thebans call an ambush a “riddle” (ainigma). So the citizens used to say, repeatedly: “The savage Sphinx is plundering us with a riddle, lying in wait and settling on the mountain. No one can find out the riddle, and to fight her openly is impossible; for she does not run but flies, being both dog and woman, so swift of foot is she.” Cadmus proclaimed that he would give a great deal of money to whoever killed the Sphinx. Oedipus, a Corinthian, good in warfare, came with a swift horse, formed companies of the Thebans, went out by night and laid an ambush for her; he found the riddle [that is, the ambush] and killed the Sphinx. After this happened, the rest was turned into myth.
V. Περὶ τῆς Τευμησίας Ἀλώπεκος
Φασὶ περὶ τῆς Τευμησίας ἀλώπεκος ὡς ἁρπάζουσα τοὺς Καδμείους κατήσθιεν. ἔστι δὲ εὔηθες. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλο τί ἐστι χερσαῖον θηρίον ὃ δύναται ἁρπάσαι ἄνθρωπον φέρειν, ἀλώπηξ δὲ μικρόν ἐστι καὶ ἀσθενές. ἐγένετο δέ τι τοιοῦτον. ἀνὴρ Θηβαῖος καλὸς κἀγαθὸς ἐκαλεῖτο Ἀλώπηξ, ὃ ἦν πανοῦργος· οὗτος γὰρ συνέσει πάντων τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπερέφερε. δεδιὼς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς μὴ ἐπιβουλεύσῃ αὐτῷ, ἐξελαύνει αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως. συναγαγὼν δὲ ἐκεῖνος πολὺν στρατὸν καὶ ἄλλους μισθοφόρους, κατέλαβε τὸν καλούμενον λόφον Τευμήσιον. ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμώμενος ἦγε καὶ ἔφερε τοὺς Θηβαίους. ἔλεγον δὲ οἱ ἄνθρωποι „Ἀλώπηξ ἡμᾶς κατατρέχων ὑποχωρεῖ.“ ἀφικνεῖται δὲ ἀνὴρ Κέφαλος ὀνόματι, γένος Ἀθηναῖος, στρατὸν πολὺν ἔχων, ἐπίκουρος τοῖς Θηβαίοις. οὗτος τόν τε Ἀλώπεκα ἀπέκτεινε καὶ τὸν στρατὸν αὐτοῦ ἐξήλασεν ἐκ τοῦ Τευμησίου· ὧν γενομένων ἐμυθολογήθη ἐκεῖνα.
5. The Teumessian Fox
They say about the Teumessian fox that it seized the Thebans and ate them. But this is foolish. For there is no other land animal that can seize a man and carry him off, and a fox is small and weak. What happened was something like this. A Theban gentleman was called Fox (Alopex), because he was crafty: he surpassed all other men in cleverness. The king, fearing that he would plot against him, drove him out of the city. Gathering a large army and other mercenaries, Fox seized the hill called Teumesion. From there he set out and drove off and plundered the Thebans. People used to say: “Fox is running us down and then retreating.” Then a man called Cephalus, an Athenian by birth, arrived with a large army as an ally of the Thebans. He killed Fox and drove his army out of Teumesion; and from these events those tales were told as myth.
VI. Περὶ Ἀκταίωνος
Φασὶν Ἀκταίωνα ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων κυνῶν καταβρωθῆναι. τοῦτο δὲ ψευδές· κύων γὰρ δεσπότην καὶ τροφέα μάλιστα φιλεῖ, ἄλλως τε καὶ αἱ θηρευτικαὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους σαίνουσιν. ἔνιοι δέ φασιν ὡς Ἄρτεμις μὲν ⟨εἰς ἔλαφον μετέβαλεν⟩ αὐτόν, ἔλαφον δὲ ἀνεῖλον αἱ κύνες. ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ Ἄρτεμιν μὲν δύνασθαι ὅ τι θέλοι ποιῆσαι· οὐ μέντοι ἐστὶν ἀληθὲς ἔλαφον ἐξ ἀνδρὸς ἢ ἐξ ἐλάφου ἄνδρα γενέσθαι· τοὺς δὲ μύθους τούτους συνέθεσαν οἱ ποιηταί, ἵνα οἱ ἀκροώμενοι μὴ ὑβρίζοιεν εἰς τὸ θεῖον. τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς ἔχει ὧδε. Ἀκταίων ἦν ἀνὴρ τὸ γένος Ἀρκάς, φιλοκύνηγος. οὗτος ἔτρεφεν ἀεὶ κύνας πολλὰς καὶ ἐθήρευεν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν, τῶν δὲ αὑτοῦ πραγμάτων ἠμέλει. οἱ δὲ τότε ἄνθρωποι αὐτουργοὶ πάντες ἦσαν οἰκέτας τε οὐκ εἶχον[, ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτοῖς ἐγεώργουν], καὶ οὗτος ἦν πλουσιώτατος ὃς [αὐτὸς ἐγεώργει καὶ] ἐργατικώτατος ὑπῆρχε. τῷ οὖν Ἀκταίωνι ἀμελοῦντι τῶν οἰκείων, μᾶλλον δὲ κυνηγετοῦντι, διεφθάρη ὁ βίος. ὅτε δὲ οὐκέτι εἶχεν οὐδέν, ἔλεγον οἱ ἄνθρωποι „δείλαιος ὁ Ἀκταίων, ὃς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων κυνῶν κατεβρώθη.“ ὥσπερ καὶ νῦν ἐάν τις πορνοβοσκῶν ἀτυχήσῃ, λέγειν εἰώθαμεν „ὑπὸ τῶν πορνῶν κατεβρώθη.“ τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ τὸ περὶ τὸν Ἀκταίωνα γέγονεν.
6. Actaeon
They say that Actaeon was devoured by his own dogs. But this is false: a dog loves most of all its master and the one who feeds it, and hunting dogs in particular fawn on everybody. Some say that Artemis ⟨turned him into a stag⟩ and that the dogs killed a stag. To me it seems that Artemis can do whatever she wishes; but it is not true that a stag came from a man, or a man from a stag; the poets composed these myths so that their hearers should not behave insolently towards the divine. The truth is this. Actaeon was an Arcadian by birth and fond of hunting. He always kept many dogs and hunted in the mountains, and neglected his own affairs. In those days all people worked their own land and had no slaves [but farmed for themselves], and the richest man was the one who [farmed for himself and] was most industrious. So because Actaeon neglected his household, or rather went hunting, his livelihood was ruined. When he had nothing left, people said: “Poor Actaeon, who was devoured by his own dogs.” Just as even now, if a brothel-keeper comes to grief, we are accustomed to say: “He was eaten up by his whores.” Something of this kind happened in the case of Actaeon too.
VII. Περὶ τῶν Διομήδους ἵππων
Περὶ τῶν Διομήδους ἵππων φασὶν ὅτι ἀνδροφάγοι ἦσαν, γελοίως· τὸ γὰρ ζῷον τοῦτο μᾶλλον χόρτῳ καὶ κριθῇ ἥδεται ἢ κρέασιν ἀνθρωπίνοις. τὸ δ᾽ ἀληθὲς ὧδε ἔχει. τῶν παλαιῶν ἀνθρώπων ὄντων αὐτουργῶν, καὶ τὴν τροφὴν καὶ τὴν περιουσίαν οὕτως κτωμένων, ἅτε τὴν γῆν ἐργαζομένων, ἱπποτροφεῖν τις ἐπελάβετο, καὶ μέχρι τούτου ἵπποις ἥδετο, ἕως οὗ τὰ αὑτοῦ ἀπώλεσε καὶ πάντα πωλῶν κατανάλωσεν εἰς τὴν τῶν ἵππων τροφήν. οἱ οὖν φίλοι ἀνδροφάγους τοὺς ἵππους ὠνόμασαν. ὧν γενομένων προήχθη ὁ μῦθος.
7. The Horses of Diomedes
About the horses of Diomedes they say that they were man-eaters, which is ridiculous: this animal takes more pleasure in grass and barley than in human flesh. The truth is this. In the days when people worked their own land and acquired in this way both their food and their surplus, as farmers do, a certain man took to breeding horses, and enjoyed horses so far that he lost his own possessions and sold everything and spent it all on feeding the horses. So his friends called the horses “man-eaters.” From these events the myth was brought forward.
VIII. Περὶ Νιόβης
Φασὶν ὡς Νιόβη γυνὴ ζῶσα λίθος ἐγένετο ἐπὶ τῷ τύμβῳ τῶν παίδων· ὅστις δὲ πείθεται ἐξ ἀνθρώπου λίθον γενέσθαι ἢ ἐκ λίθου ἄνθρωπον, εὐήθης ἐστί. τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς ἔχει ὧδε. Νιόβης ἀποθανόντων τῶν παίδων, ποιήσας τις εἰκόνα λιθίνην ἔστησεν ἐπὶ τῷ τύμβῳ [τῶν παίδων]. ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ παριόντες „Νιόβη λιθίνη ἕστηκεν ἐπὶ τῷ τύμβῳ· ἐθεασάμεθα ἡμεῖς αὐτήν“, ὥσπερ καὶ νῦν λέγεται „παρὰ τὸν χαλκοῦν Ἡρακλέα ἐκαθήμην“ καὶ „παρὰ τὸν Πάριον Ἑρμῆν ὤν“. τοιοῦτον ἦν κἀκεῖνο, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ Νιόβη αὐτὴ λιθίνη ἐγένετο.
8. Niobe
They say that Niobe, a living woman, became stone at the tomb of her children; but whoever believes that stone came from a human being, or a human being from stone, is simple-minded. The truth is this. When Niobe’s children had died, someone made a stone image and set it up on the tomb [of her children]. So passers-by said: “Stone Niobe stands on the tomb; we saw her ourselves,” just as now people say “I was sitting by the bronze Heracles” and “[I was] by the Parian Hermes.” The case of Niobe was like that; it was not that Niobe herself became stone.
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