Ἡ δὲ ε΄ βίβλος, ὡς μετὰ Ἀμύκου φασὶν Ἰάσων, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ Πολυδεύκης ἐμαχέσατο.
The fifth book: how, as they say, it was Jason, and not Polydeuces, who fought with Amycus.
καὶ ὁ χῶρος μαρτυρεῖ, Ἰησόνιος αἰχμὴ καλούμενος· καὶ πηγὴ ἀνατέλλει ἄγχου Ἑλένη καλουμένη.
And the place bears witness, called "Jason's Spear-point" (Iesonios aichme); and a spring rises nearby that is called Helen.
ἐκ τούτου λύεται καὶ τὸ Κριναγόρου ἐπίγραμμα.
From this the epigram of Crinagoras is also solved.
ὅτι τὸ „καὶ Προκλέους ἵπποι χλωρὰν ψαλάκανθαν ἔδουσιν," ἀγνοηθὲν Καλλιμάχῳ, Εὐβούλου ἐστὶ τοῦ κωμικοῦ εἰς Διονύσιον κωμῳδία· καὶ περὶ τῆς παρῳδήσεως τοῦ στίχου.
That the line "and the horses of Procles eat green psalakantha", which escaped Callimachus, comes from a comedy by the comic poet Eubulus directed at Dionysius [?]; and about the parody of the verse.
ἡ δὲ ψαλάκανθα βοτάνη ἐστὶν Αἰγυπτία, ἥτις ἵπποις περιαπτομένη νίκην παρέχει καὶ εὐδαιμονίαν.
Psalakantha is an Egyptian plant which, when tied on to horses, gives victory and good fortune.
φασὶ δὲ ὡς ἡ Ψαλάκανθα νύμφη ἐγένετο ἐν Ἰκαρίᾳ τῇ νήσῳ, ἥτις ἐρασθεῖσα Διονύσου συνέπραξεν αὐτῷ τὴν πρὸς Ἀριάδνην ὁμιλίαν, ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ αὐτῇ συγγένοιτο· καὶ ὡς Διόνυσος μὲν οὐκ ἠβουλήθη, „Ψαλάκανθα δ' ἐπεβούλευσεν Ἀριάδνῃ, ὁ δ' ὀργισθεὶς μετεμόρφωσεν αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν πόαν· μεταγνοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ τιμῇ τοῦ φυτοῦ τῷ Ἀριάδνης αὐτὸ περιέθηκε στεφάνῳ τῷ κατηστερισμένῳ ἐν οὐρανῷ.
They say that Psalakantha was a nymph in the island of Icaria, who, falling in love with Dionysus, helped him to his meeting with Ariadne, on condition that he too should lie with her; and that Dionysus was unwilling, and Psalakantha plotted against Ariadne, and he, in anger, changed her into the plant; but, repenting, in honour of the plant he set it around Ariadne's crown that has been made a constellation in the sky.
τὴν δὲ πόαν οἱ μὲν ἀρτεμισίᾳ ἐοικέναι, οἱ δὲ μελιλώτῳ.
Some say that the plant resembles artemisia, others melilot.
ὡς Ἀθηνόδωρος ὁ Ἐρετριεὺς ἐν ὀγδόῳ ὑπομνημάτων φησὶ Θέτιν καὶ Μήδειαν ἐρίσαι περὶ κάλλους ἐν Θεσσαλίᾳ, καὶ κριτὴν γενέσθαι Ἰδομενέα, καὶ προσνεῖμαι Θέτιδι τὴν νίκην, Μήδειαν δ' ὀργισθεῖσαν εἰπεῖν Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, καὶ ἐπαράσασθαι αὐτῷ μηδέποτε ἀλήθειαν εἰπεῖν, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῆς κρίσεως ἐποίησε· καὶ ἐκ τούτου φησὶ τοὺς Κρῆτας ψεύστας νομισθῆναι.
How Athenodorus of Eretria says in the eighth book of his Memoirs that Thetis and Medea contended for beauty in Thessaly, and that Idomeneus became the judge and awarded the victory to Thetis; and Medea, in anger, said "Cretans are always liars", and called down a curse on him that he should never tell the truth, just as he had done in the judging; and from this, he says, the Cretans came to be thought liars.
παρατίθεται δὲ ἱστοροῦντα τοῦτο ὁ Ἀθηνόδωρος Ἀντίοχον ἐν δευτέρῳ τῶν κατὰ πόλιν μυθικῶν.
Athenodorus cites Antiochus as relating this in the second book of his Mythical Tales by Cities [?].
ὅτι Ἶλος, φησίν, ὁ Λαομέδοντος πατὴρ ἵππουριν εἶχε, καὶ τῶν Πριάμου παίδων Μελάνιππος καὶ Ἰδαῖος.
That Ilus, he says, the father of Laomedon, had a horse-tail [?], and so did Priam's sons Melanippus and Idaeus.
ὡς Ξάνθος καὶ Βαλίος οἱ Ἀχιλλέως ἵπποι πρότερον Γίγαντες ἦσαν, καὶ μόνοι Γιγάντων συνεμάχησαν τοῖς θεοῖς κατὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν.
How Xanthus and Balius, the horses of Achilles, were formerly Giants, and alone of the Giants fought on the side of the gods against their brothers.
ὡς περὶ τὰς Θύλας τῆς Σικελίας ναυαγήσαντος Ὀδυσσέως ἡ Ἀχιλλέως ἀσπὶς ἐξεβράσθη περὶ τὸ μνημεῖον τοῦ Αἴαντος, καὶ ἀνατεθεῖσα τῷ τάφῳ τῇ ἐπαύριον ἐκεραυνώθη.
How, when Odysseus was shipwrecked off the Thylae [?] of Sicily, the shield of Achilles was washed ashore beside the tomb of Ajax, and, set up on the tomb, was struck by lightning the next day.
ὡς ὁ Ἡρακλῆς οὐχὶ τὸ τοῦ Νεμεαίου λέοντος δέρας ἡμπίσχετο, ἀλλὰ Λέοντός τινος ἑνὸς τῶν Γιγάντων, ἐπὶ μονομαχίας προκλήσει ὑφ' Ἡρακλέους ἀνῃρημένου.
How Heracles did not wear the hide of the Nemean lion, but that of a certain Leon, one of the Giants, who had been killed by Heracles after a challenge to single combat.
„ὡς ἀδελφὸς ἦν ὁ δράκων ὁ τὰ χρυσᾶ μῆλα φυλάσσων τοῦ Νεμεαίου λέοντος.
How the serpent that guarded the golden apples was the brother of the Nemean lion.
ὡς ὁ παρ' Ὁμήρῳ Ἶρος Βοιωτὸς ἦν.
How the Irus in Homer was a Boeotian.
ὡς ἡ Κανδαύλου γυνή, ἧς Ἡρόδοτος οὐ λέγει τοὔνομα, Νυσία ἐκαλεῖτο· ἣν καὶ δίκορον καὶ ὀξυωπεστάτην φασὶ γενέσθαι, τὸν δρακοντίτην κτησαμένην λίθον, διὸ καὶ αἰσθέσθαι τὸν Γύγην ἐξιόντα διὰ τῶν θυρῶν· ἄλλοι Τουδοῦν αὐτὴν καλεῖσθαι, οἱ δὲ Κλυτίαν, Ἄβας δὲ Ἀβρὼ ταύτην καλεῖσθαι.
How the wife of Candaules, whose name Herodotus does not give, was called Nysia; and they say that she had a double pupil and was exceedingly sharp-sighted, having acquired the "dragon-stone", so that she noticed Gyges going out through the doors; others say that she was called Toudo, some Clytia, and Abas says that she was called Abro.
σιγῆσαι δὲ τοὔνομά φασι τῆς γυναικὸς τὸν Ἡρόδοτον, ἐπεὶ ὁ ἐρώμενος Ἡροδότου Πλησίρροος Νυσίας ὀνόματι ἐρασθείς, Ἁλικαρνασίας τὸ γένος, ἐπεὶ μὴ τύχοι τῆς ἑταίρας, οὐκ ἀνεχόμενος βρόχῳ ἑαυτὸν ἀνήρτησε· διὸ φυλάξασθαι ὡς ἀπεχθὲς εἰπεῖν τὸ τῆς Νυσίας ὄνομα Ἡρόδοτον.
They say that Herodotus kept silent about the woman's name because Plesirrhous, the beloved of Herodotus, fell in love with a courtesan named Nysias, a Halicarnassian by birth, and when he did not win her, unable to endure it, hanged himself with a noose; and so Herodotus guarded against saying the name of Nysia, as hateful.
ὡς οἱ Κένταυροι φεύγοντες Ἡρακλέα διὰ Τυρσηνίας λιμῷ διεφθάρησαν, θελχθέντες ὑπὸ τῆς Σειρήνων ἡδυφωνίας.
How the Centaurs, fleeing from Heracles through Tyrrhenia, perished of hunger, bewitched by the sweet voices of the Sirens.
ὡς Ἄβδηρος ὁ Ἡρακλέους ἐρώμενος ἀδελφὸς ἦν Πατρόκλου.
How Abderus, the beloved of Heracles, was the brother of Patroclus.
ὡς Ἐπιπόλη ἡ Καρυστία, ἡ Τραχίωνος θυγάτηρ, κρύπτουσα τὴν γυναικείαν φύσιν συνεστρατεύετο τοῖς Ἕλλησι, μηνυθεῖσα δ' ὑπὸ Παλαμήδους ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων κατελεύσθη.
How Epipole of Carystus, the daughter of Trachion, hiding her woman's nature, served as a soldier with the Greeks, and, when she was denounced by Palamedes, was stoned to death by the Greeks.
ὡς Ἀλεξάνδρου ἁρπάζοντος Ἑλένην Μενέλαος ἐν Γορτύνῃ τῆς Κρήτης ἑκατόμβην ἔθυε τῷ Διί.
How, when Alexander (Paris) was carrying off Helen, Menelaus sacrificed a hecatomb to Zeus at Gortyn in Crete.
ὡς Παλαμήδης ἀντ' Ἀγαμέμνονος Ἑλλήνων βασιλεύοι· ἐν Αὐλίδι γὰρ παραγενόμενος Ἀγαμέμνων αἶγα ἀγρίαν ἱερὰν Ἀρτέμιδος κατατοξεύοι, ἀπλοίας δὲ γενομένης τοῖς Ἕλλησι χρᾷ Κάλχας λυθῆναι τὸ δεινόν, εἰ θύσειε τὴν θυγατέρα Ἰφιγένειαν Ἀγαμέμνων Ποσειδῶνι· τοῦ δὲ μὴ ἀνασχομένου, ὀργισθέντες οἱ Ἕλληνες ἀφείλοντο αὐτοῦ τὸ κράτος, καὶ κατέστησαν βασιλέα Παλαμήδην.
How Palamedes became king of the Greeks in the place of Agamemnon; for Agamemnon, having come to Aulis, shot a wild goat sacred to Artemis, and when the Greeks could not sail Calchas declared that the dreadful thing would be lifted if Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to Poseidon [?]; and when he would not bear to do it, the Greeks in anger took the command away from him and made Palamedes king.
„ὡς Φιλοκτήτης ὑπὸ ὄφεως πληγεὶς ἀνῃρέθη, καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος ὑπὸ Μενελάου δόρατι τὸν μηρὸν πληγεὶς πίπτει.
How Philoctetes was killed when struck by a snake, and Alexander (Paris) falls, struck in the thigh by Menelaus' spear.
ὅτι τελευτήσαντος Δημητρίου τοῦ Σκηψίου τὸ βιβλίον Τέλλιδος πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ εὑρέθη· τὰς δὲ Κολυμβώσας Ἀλκμᾶνος πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇ Τυρονίχου τοῦ Χαλκιδέως εὑρεθῆναι φασιν, τὰς δ' Ὑβριστοδίκας Εὐπόλιδος πρὸς τῇ Ἐφιάλτου, τὰς δὲ Εὐνείδας Κρατίνου πρὸς τῇ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ βασιλέως Μακεδόνων, τὰ δ' Ἔργα καὶ τὰς Ἡμέρας Ἡσιόδου πρὸς τῇ τοῦ Σελεύκου τοῦ Νικάτορος κεφαλῇ.
That when Demetrius of Scepsis died, the book Tellis was found by his head; and they say that the Colymbosae of Alcman was found by the head of Tyronichus the Chalcidian, the Hybristodicae of Eupolis by that of Ephialtes, the Euneidae of Cratinus by that of Alexander, king of the Macedonians, and the Works and Days of Hesiod by that of Seleucus Nicator.
ὁ μέντοι νομοθέτης Ἀρκάδων Κερκίδας συνταφῆναι αὐτῷ τὸ α΄ καὶ β΄ τῆς Ἰλιάδος κελεύσειεν· ὁ δὲ Πομπήϊος ὁ Μάγνος οὐδ' εἰς πόλεμον προΐοι πρὶν ἂν τὸ λ΄ τῆς Ἰλιάδος ἀναγνώσειε, ζηλωτὴς ὢν Ἀγαμέμνονος· ὁ δὲ Ῥωμαῖος Κικέρων Μήδειαν Εὐριπίδου ἀναγινώσκων, ἐν φορείῳ φερόμενος, ἀποτμηθείη τὴν κεφαλήν.
The Arcadian lawgiver Cercidas, however, ordered that Books Alpha and Beta of the Iliad be buried with him; and Pompey the Great would not even go forward to war before he had read Book Lambda of the Iliad, being an admirer of Agamemnon; and the Roman Cicero, reading Euripides' Medea as he was carried in a litter, had his head cut off.
ὡς Διόγνητος ὁ Κρής, ὁ πύκτης, νικήσας οὐ λάβοι τὸν στέφανον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐλαθείη ὑπὸ Ἠλείων, διότι ὁ νικηθεὶς καὶ ἀναιρεθεὶς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ Ἡρακλῆς ἐκαλεῖτο ὁμωνύμων τῷ ἥρωι· τοῦτον τὸν Διόγνητον ὡς ἥρωα Κρῆτες τιμῶσιν.
How Diognetus the Cretan, the boxer, though he had won, did not receive the crown, but was even driven out by the Eleans, because the man he had beaten and killed was called Heracles, a namesake of the hero; this Diognetus the Cretans honour as a hero.
ὅτι τὸ Ὁμηρικὸν τιτρώσκεσθαι μέλλοντος „οὐδὲ σέθεν Μενέλαε θεοὶ μάκαρες λελάθοντο," τοῦτον τὸν στίχον παρῴδησεν ὁ Πύθιος Μενέδημε ἀντὶ τοῦ Μενέλαε.
That the Pythian god parodied this Homeric verse, spoken when Menelaus was about to be wounded, "nor did the blessed gods forget you, Menelaus", putting "Menedemus" in place of "Menelaus".
προετάθη δὲ τὸ ζήτημα παρὰ δείπνῳ Αὐγέου τοῦ βασιλέως, ποῖον στίχον Ὁμήρου παρῴδησεν ὁ χρησμός, καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἐν τῷ χρησμῷ ἱστορούμενος.
The question was put forward at a dinner given by King Augeas: which verse of Homer the oracle had parodied, and who is the man spoken of in the oracle.
καὶ ὡς Μενέδημος Ἠλεῖος Βανέα υἱὸν ὑπέδειξεν Ἡρακλεῖ περὶ τῆς καθάρσεως τοῦ Αὐγέου κόπρου, ὥστε ἀποστρέψαι τὸν ποταμόν· ὃν καὶ συμμαχῆσαι Ἡρακλεῖ ἐν τῷ πρὸς Αὐγέαν πολέμῳ φασί, καὶ ἀναιρεθέντα ταφῆναι ἐν Λεπρέῳ παρὰ πεύκης δένδρῳ.
And how Menedemus of Elis, the son of Baneas, advised Heracles about the cleansing of the dung of Augeas, so as to divert the river; they say that he also fought on Heracles' side in the war against Augeas, and, having been killed, was buried at Lepreum beside a pine tree.
ἀγῶνα δὲ θεὶς ἐπ' αὐτῷ Ἡρακλῆς ἐπάλαισε Θησεῖ· ἰσοπαλοῦς δὲ τοῦ ἀγῶνος γενομένου ἐρρήθη παρὰ τῶν θεατῶν περὶ τοῦ Θησέως „ἄλλος οὗτος Ἡρακλῆς."
Heracles, having set up a contest in his honour, wrestled with Theseus; and since the contest was evenly matched, the spectators said of Theseus, "This is another Heracles."
ὅτι Φαντασία τις Μεμφῖτις Νικάρχου θυγάτηρ συνέταξε πρὸ Ὁμήρου τὸν Ἰλιακὸν πόλεμον καὶ τὴν περὶ Ὀδυσσείας διήγησιν· καὶ ἀποκεῖσθαι φασι τὰς βίβλους ἐν Μέμφιδι, Ὅμηρον δὲ παραγενόμενον, καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφα λαβόντα παρὰ Φανίτου τοῦ ἱερογραμματέως, συντάξαι ἐκείνοις ἀκολούθως.
That Phantasia, a woman of Memphis, the daughter of Nicarchus, composed before Homer the Trojan war and the account about Odysseus; and they say the books are kept in Memphis, and Homer, having come there and taken copies from Phanites the sacred scribe, composed his poems in accordance with them.
ὡς Ἄδωνις ἀνδρόγυνος γενόμενος τὰ μὲν ἀνδρεῖα πρὸς Ἀφροδίτην πράσσειν ἐλέγετο, τὰ θηλυκὰ δὲ πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνα.
How Adonis, having become both man and woman, was said to do the male things with Aphrodite and the female things with Apollo.
ὡς Ἀλφειῷ τῷ ποταμῷ γέρας δωρούμενος Ἡρακλῆς, νικήσας ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ, ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ἄλφα καὶ προέταξε τῶν στοιχείων.
How Heracles, bestowing a gift of honour on the river Alpheius after he had won at Olympia, named alpha after him and put it first of the letters.
ὅτι φλυαρῶν οὗτος ὁ μυθογράφος, Μωσῆς, φησίν, ὁ τῶν Ἑβραίων νομοθέτης ἄλφα ἐκαλεῖτο διὰ τὸ ἀλφὸς ἔχειν ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος.
That this mythographer is talking nonsense: Moses, he says, the lawgiver of the Hebrews, was called alpha because he had white patches of skin (alphos) on his body.
Γαλέριος δὲ Κράσσος ὁ χιλίαρχος, ὁ ἐπὶ Τιβερίου Καίσαρος, [χιλίαρχος] βῆτα ἐκαλεῖτο ἡδέως σεύτλῳ χρώμενος, ὃ δὴ βητάκιον καλοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι.
And Galerius Crassus, the tribune under Tiberius Caesar, [tribune,] was called beta because he enjoyed beet, which the Romans call betacium.
καὶ Ὀρπυλλὶς δὲ ἡ Κυζικηνὴ ἑταίρα γάμμα.
And the courtesan Orpyllis of Cyzicus (was called) gamma.
Ἀντήνωρ δὲ ὁ τὰς Κρητικὰς γράψας ἱστορίας δέλτα διὰ τὸ ἀγαθὸς εἶναι καὶ φιλόπολις· τοὺς γὰρ Κρῆτας τὸ ἀγαθὸν δέλτον καλεῖν.
And Antenor, who wrote the Cretan histories, was called delta because he was good and loved his city; for the Cretans call the good "delton".
Ἀπολλώνιος δ' ὁ ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Φιλοπάτορος χρόνοις ἐπ' ἀστρονομίᾳ περιβόητος γεγονὼς ε΄ ἐκαλεῖτο, διότι τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ ε΄ συμπεριφέρεται τῷ τῆς σελήνης, περὶ ἣν ἐκεῖνος μάλιστα ἠκρίβωτο.
And Apollonius, famous for astronomy in the time of Philopator, was called epsilon, because the shape of the epsilon goes round with that of the moon, a subject on which he had been most exact.
Σάτυρος δ' ὁ Ἀριστάρχου γνώριμος ζῆτα ἐκαλεῖτο διὰ τὸ ζητητικὸν αὐτοῦ.
And Satyrus, the pupil of Aristarchus, was called zeta because of his inquisitiveness (zetetikon).
καὶ Αἴσωπόν φασιν, ὡς ὑπὸ Ἴδμονος τοῦ δεσπότου θῆτα ἐκαλεῖτο διὰ τὸ δουλικός τις εἶναι καὶ πολύτροπος· θῆτες γὰρ οἱ δοῦλοι.
And they say that Aesop was called theta by his master Idmon, because he was servile and versatile; for slaves are "thetes".
καὶ ἡ Κυψέλου δὲ μήτηρ, χωλὴ οὖσα, Λάβδα ἐκλήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Πυθίου.
And the mother of Cypselus, being lame, was called Labda by the Pythian priestess [?].
Δημοκύδης δὲ Πυθαγόραν φησί, καταγράψαντα πάντας τοὺς ἀριθμούς, τῷ γ΄ στοιχείῳ κληθῆναι.
Democydes says that Pythagoras, having recorded all the numbers, was called by the third letter, gamma.
τοσαῦτα καὶ τὸ ε΄ βιβλίον.
So much for the fifth book as well.
Cite This Text