1

Photios, Myriobiblion cod. 190 Ptolemaios Chennos (a.k.a. Hephaistion), New History[146a.41] . [146b] , [5] . , , , , . , . [10] , . . , [15] , . Read: Ptolemaios Hephaistions New History, a scholarly collection in six books. A truly useful book for those who undertake to attempt erudition in history; it can, in fact, quickly provide the basis for knowing its elements jointly, whereas one would have to spend a long life in the labour of gathering them from each book separately. It has a great deal of extraordinary and poor fictions; still more absurdly, for certain negligible stories he attempts to explain how they came about. As for the editor of these stories, he is somewhat credulous, given to boastfulness, and has a dull style. He dedicates his work to a certain Tertylla whom he celebrates as his lady, and whose love for letters and scholarship he praises. He accuses some of his predecessors of having approached the subject in an unhealthy way. But of those of his stories that are not polluted with the incredible and the implausible, the majority offer learning that is outstanding and pleasant to know.

Book 1[146b.17] , , , [20] , , , , . [25] . Famous deaths The first book contains an account Sophokles death, and before him, that of Protesilaos; then also the death of Herakles, how he killed himself by fire because at the age of fifty he was unable to draw his bow; and about Kroisos, who was saved from the pyre; and the death of Achilleus; and the courtesan Lais, who died when she choked on an olive pit. In treating each of these subjects, he shows that his predecessors have committed errors in transmitting them. Then concerning king Alexander: at Ephesos he saw a depiction of Palamedes being assassinated by

2

, a ruse, and was troubled by it because he resembled Aristoneikos, Alexanders [30] partner in ball-games; for this was Alexanders character, kind and thoughtful for , . his companions. Explanations of names He then argues that the crux in Euphorions Hyakinthos, Only Kokytos washed the wounds of Adonis, means the following: Kokytos, as his name was, studied medicine under Cheiron, and he treated Adonis when he was wounded by the boar. He says that the person in book 1 of Herodotos Histories who was killed by Adrastos, son of Gordias, was named Agathon; and he killed him when he was quarrelsome about a quail. He says that Kadmos and Harmonius were changed into lions and that Teiresias underwent seven metamorphoses, and he explains why the Cretans call him daughter of Phorbas. Erymanthos, son of Apollo, was punished because he had seen Aphrodite after her union with Adonis and Apollo, irritated, changed himself into a wild boar and killed Adonis by striking through his defenses. He explains why the poet made doves the servants of the gods at their meals, and he reports what king Alexander and Aristotle said to each other above; he speaks also of Homer and the doves. He says that the poet Epicharmos was descended from Achilleus, son of Peleus. Homer calls Patroklos the first horseman because he learned from Poseidon, who loved him, the art of riding horses. Odysseus was first called Outis because he had large ears, but, he says, during a day of rain his mother who carried him was unable to stop him lying down at the side of the road and that is the reason why he was given the name of Odysseus. An Arkadian named Peritanos committed adultery with Helen when she lived with Alexandros in Arkadia; Alexandros, to punish him for this adultery emasculated him and it is since then that the Arkadians call eunuchs peritanoi.

, , [35] . , . , [40] , . [147a] , . [5] , , . . [10] . , , , . [15] , , .

3

[20] , . . . [25] , , . , , . . .

Children and their guardians Aristonikos of Tarentum said that Achilleus, when he lived among the young girls at the house of Lykomedes, was called Kerkysera; he was also called Issa and Pyrrha and Aspetos and Prometheus. Botryas of Myndos says that all Niobes children were killed by Apollo. Odysseus father gave him a guardian called Myiskos, a Kephallenian, to accompany him. Achilleus also had a guardian who accompanied him, called Noemon, Carthaginian by race, and Patroklos had Eudoros. And Antipatros of Akanthe says that Dares, who wrote the Iliad before Homer, was Hektors guardian and got him to promise not to kill Achilleus companion. And he says that Protesilaos guardian was Dardanos, Thessalian by race, and that Antilochos of Chalkis was appointed rider and monitor by Nestor, his father. These are the headings in book 1.

Book 2[147a.33] , [35] , . . , , . [40] [147b] , , , [5] . . . , . [10] Herakles Book 2 deals with Herakles who after his spell of madness was cured with hellebore by Antikyreus who had discovered the remedy for this in Phokis, where it was abundant; others each give a different version of this cure. He says that Nestor was loved by Herakles; that it was not Philoktetes but the Trachinian Morsimos who lit the pyre of Herakles; that Herakles, after the Nemean lion had bitten off one of his fingers had only nine and that there exists a tomb erected for this detached finger; other authors say that he lost his finger following a blow by a dart of a stingray and one can see at Sparta a stone lion erected on the tomb of the finger and which is the symbol of the power of the hero. It is since then that stone lions have likewise been erected on the tombs of other important people; other authors give different explications of the lion statues. From the pyre of Herakles a swarm of locusts flew out which ravaged the countryside like a plague before they were destroyed. It was Aphrodite who, because of Adonis whom both she and Herakles loved,

4

. , . . [15] , , , [20]. . . [25] , . , [30] , , . , . , [35] , , .

taught Nessos the centaur the trap with which to snare Herakles. Nireus of Syme, who was loved by Herakles, helped him to beat down the lion of Helikon; others say that Nireus was the son of Herakles. Who are the Charites referred to by the poet to whom he compared the hair of Euphorbos? Herakles, says the author, was called Neilos at his birth; then, when he saved Hera in killing the nameless giant with the fiery breath who attacked her, he changed his name because he had escaped the danger of Hera. Abderos, beloved of Herakles, was killed by Theseus when he came to announce the episode of the pyre. Aristonikos of Tarentum says that the middle head of the hydra was of gold. Alexandros of Myndos says that a serpent born of earth fought with Herakles against the Nemean lion; fed by Herakles, it accompagnied him to Thebes and stayed in a tent; it was this that ate small sparrows and was changed to stone. The Argo was constructed by Herakles on Ossa in Thessaly; her name was given because of Argos, son of Jason, who was loved by Herakles; it is becase of him that he undertook the voyage with Jason to Scythia. He recounts that Hera who fought on the side of Geryon was wounded on her right by Herakles and all that followed him. Korythos, an Iberian, who was also beloved of Herakles, was the first to manufacture a helmet; it is from this, says the author, that this piece of armour takes its name. Miscellanea The tomb which passes for that of Zeus in Crete is that of Olympos of Crete, who received Zeus son of Kronos, raised him and taught divine things to him; but Zeus, he says, struck down his foster-parent and master because he had pushed the Giants to attack him in his turn; but when he had struck, before his body he was full of remorse and, since he could appease his sorrow in no other way, he gave his own name to the tomb of his victim. Of which author of verse did Alexander son of Philip say: "Proteus, well, drink wine now that you have eaten human flesh"? And a great deal about Proteus:

, , , [40] , [148a] . . , . [5] , , ,

5

, Which song was Alexander accustomed to sing and whose were the words? On . . who did the same Alexander son of Philip write a funeral chant? Such are the chapters of the second book.

Book 3[148a.10] , , , , . [15] , , , , . . , , . , , [25] , . . , [30] . . . , , . [35] , . , . The third book tells how Hyllos son of Herakles had a horn on the right side of his face, and Epopeus of Sikyon seized it after having killed Hyllos in single combat; he filled it with water of the Styx and became king of the country. Concerning the water of the Styx in Arkadia he recounts the following: while Demeter was mourning for her daughter, Poseidon intruded on her sorrow and she in anger metamorphosed into a mare; she arrived at a fountain in this form and detesting it she made the water black.

Hekale and all those who took this name. Alexanders father was not Philip but a man called Drakon and of Arkadian origins; this was the origin of the legend of the serpent. He speaks of Ptolemaios dog; it fought by the side of its master; it was opened when it died and found to have a hairy heart; it was of the Molossian race and was called Briareus. Concerning Poulydamas; that is, the question of what is meant by the poets words, Daughter of Pandaros, nightingale-girl Chloreis, etc. He speaks of the Palladion that Diomedes and Odysseus stole together; of the reed which repeated that Midas had the ears of an ass; of the Akestalian birds which were sought in Stesichoros; of the raft of Gigo which is at the edge of the Ocean, which can only be moved with an asphodel and remains immovable by force. Rhopalos was the son of Herakles; on the same day he rendered to his father the honours due to a hero and sacrificed to him as a god. Amphiaraos received his name because the parents of his mother had both prayed that she would give birth without grief. , Who wrote the hymn that is sung at Thebes in honour of Herakles and where [40] , he is called son of Zeus and Hera? Then those who composed hymns in different

6

[148b] , , . , , [5] , [10] . , , [15] . . , [20] , , , .

cities are discussed. He says that the poet Philostephanos of Mantineia never used a coat since he was born and that Matris the Theban, an author of hymns, lived all his life on myrtle leaves. Eupompus of Samos raised, incredible wonder, a wild serpent; it was, it was said, a son to him; it was called Drakon and had very piercing sight and could easily see at twenty stades; he placed it in the service of Xerxes for a thousand talents and, sat with him under the golden plane tree it described to him what it saw of the naval combat between the Greeks and barbarians and the exploit of Artemision. Plesirrhoos of Thessaly, author of hymns, was loved by Herodotos and was his heir; it is he who composed the introduction of the first book of Herodotos of Halikarnassos; the authentic beginning of the Histories of Herodotos is in fact: "Those of the Persians who are knowledgeable say that the Phoenicians were the cause of the conflict". Polyzelos of Kyrene never laughed, from which his surname of Agelastos. The man who overrode everyone with his piety was, according to some, Antigonos of Ephesos, according to others Lykias of Hermione, of whom Theophrastos speaks in his letters. Achilleus and Deidamia had two children: Neoptolemos and Oneiros; Oneiros was killed by Orestes, who didnt recognise him, while fighting with him in Phokis for a place to pitch a tent.

[25] , , , , [30] , . , . [35] , . , .

Coincidences The author then deals with coincidence in history. At the tomb of Amykos there grows a red laurel and those who have tasted it have taken prizes in boxing; Antodoros, who had eaten some, gained thirteen crowns; all the same he was conquered by Dioskoros of Thera in his fourteenth combat, just as Amykos himself, it is said, had fallen to one of the Dioskouroi. And they say that Kroisos was born [conceived?] during a feast of Aphrodite, at which the Lydians have a procession for her decorating the goddess with all their wealth. When it was announced that Themistokles was born, his father sacrificed a bull, and when he drank the bulls blood he died. Dareios, son of Hystapes, exposed by his mother, was fed on mares milk by a horse-pasturer,

7

, , [40] . [149a] . [] , [5] . , , , . . [10] , . , , , . [15] . .

Spargapises, and so he rules thanks to a horses neighing. A slave of the songwriter Ibykos, Herakles by name, was burned alive for siding with robbers against his master. Orestes came into the world during the festival of Demeter Erinys. Philip as an child attempted in the evenings to strike shooting stars with his arrows and the divine Diognetus predicted that the infant would become master of many peoples. And Aster star was also the name of someone who lost an eye to an arrow that way. Marsyas the flutist, the one who was flayed, was born during a festival of Apollo, where the skins of all those victims one has flayed are offered to the god. The story of Tityos, who attempted to ambush Alexander. The mother of Claudius, while pregnant, desired some of those mushrooms called boletus and ate some, and Claudius died from eating some of the same which had been poisoned. He speaks of the centaur Lamios who, caught in adultery, was murdered according to some by the eunch Peirithos, according to others by Theseus; such are the numerous effects of coincidence in these stories. Thus ends the third book.

Book 4[149a.16] , . , [20] , , , , . [25] , . , , , Famous Helens The fourth recounts that Helen was the first to imagine drawing lots with the fingers and that she won at chance with Alexander; she was the daughter of Aphrodite. There was born of Helen and Achilleus in the fortunate isles a winged child named Euphorion after the fertility of this land; Zeus caught him and with a blow knocked him to earth in the isle of Melos, where he continued the pursuit and changed the nymphs there into frogs because they had given him burial. Some say that Helen was taken away by Alexandros when she hunted on the mount of the Virgin; struck by his beauty, she followed him like a dog. The author speaks of the embroidered belt which Hera received from Aphrodite and gave to Helen: it was stolen by Helens servant, Astyanassa and

8

. [30] . , . , [35] . , , ( , ) . [40] . [149b] , . , [5] . , . , [10] ( , ) , , . . [15] , , , , , , [20] . , , , , [25] ,

recovered from her by Aphrodite. What is the significance of what Helen says in Homer: "Each imitating the voice of their spouse"? Helen was the daughter of Helios and Leda and she was called Leonte; this was, it is said, following the resentment of Aphrodite against Menelaos who had arranged the abduction of Helen: he had promised a hecatomb to Aphrodite as the price of the marriage, and didnt offer it. The Helen-flower grows in Rhodes; it received its name from her, because it grew under the tree on which Helen hanged herself; those who ate of it inevitably come to quarrel. It was Helen who was taken by Menelaos and so married him. Some authors report that Helen, arrived in Scythia Tauris with Menelaos in search of Orestes, was immolated to Artemis with Menelaos by Iphigeneia; others say that she was removed during the voyage of the Greeks home by Thetis, metamorphosed into a seal. It is said that Helen was called by her real name Echo because of her ability to imitate voices; her name of Helen came from the fact that Leda brought her into the world in a marshy place. The place called Sandalion at Sparta takes its name from the sandal of Helen who fell in this place while Alexander pursued here. Helen had a daughter by Alexander; they disagreed about the name to give her; he wanted to call her Alexandra, she wanted to call her Helen; Helen won by beating him in a game of knucklebones, and the infant received the same name as her mother; this daughter was killed, it is said, by Hekabe when Troy was taken. In the time of the Trojan War there were many celebrated Helens: the daughter of Aigisthos and Klytaimnestra that Orestes killed; the one who assisted Aphrodite in her union with Adonis, the daughter of an inhabitant of Epidamnos, whom the people of that town honour under the attributes of Aphrodite because she distributed silver during a famine; the daughter of Faustulus who was the foster-father of Remus and Romulus. The woman who ate three dogs a day was also called Helen, as well as the sister of Dikaiarchos, son of Telesinos, and eighteen others of which the Helen before Homer, daughter of the Athenian Museum and who recounted the war of Troy; it is of her, it is said, that Homer obtained the subject of his poem and it is her who had a lamb that could speak

9

, two languages; also among them, the daughter of the Aitolian Tityros: she , . provoked Achilleus to single combat and gave him a head-wound which was not mortal, but it was she who fell under his blows. [30] , Helen the painter also belongs to the list; she was the daughter of Timon of , , Egypt: she painted the battle of Issos at the time when she was at the height of her , poweres; the picture was displayed in the temple of Peace under Vespasian. . Archelaos of Cyprus says that there was a Helen of Himera who was the love of [35] , the poet Stesichoros; she was the daughter of Mikythos; she left Stesichoros and went to live with Boupalos. The poet, wishing to defend himself from being a fool, wrote that Helen had left at his own wish, and the story that Stesichoros . became blind is false. Double names and meaningful names On the moly plant that Homer speaks of; this plant had, it is said, grown from the blood of the giant killed in the isle of Kirke; it has a white flower; the ally of Kirke who killed the giant was Helios; the combat was hard, mlos, hence the name of the plant. Dionysos was loved by Cheiron, from whom he learned chants and dances, the bacchic rites and initiations. The author speaks of the "Taraxippos" of Olympos and of the Myrtilloi, father and son. Neoptolemos Makiotes was the only one to learn from Aithos, a Delphian, the oracle of Phemonoe. It is of this Aithos that Herodotos says, in the first book of his Histories: "although I know his name I will not quote him". The author speaks of double appellations in Homer; one is that used among the gods, the other current among men; the Xanthos is the only river which is a son of Zeus. He treats of other double names. There is, he says, in the Tyrrhenian country a tower called Tower of the Sea, of the name of "Sea", a Tyrrhenian expert in drugs; she worked for Kirke and fled from her mistress. It was to her, says the author, that Odysseus came; with the aid of her drugs, she changed him into a horse and kept him with her until he died of old age. Thanks to this anecdote, the difficulty in Homer is resolved: "Then the sea will send you the

, [40] , [150a] , . , . [5] . . [10] , , . , , [15]. . . .

10

softest of deaths". So much for book 4.

Book 5[150a.20] , , . , . . [25] , . , . [30] , , , [35] . , . , [40] , , [150b] , , . [5] . , , , . , , [10]. , , Book 5 tells how it was Jason and not Polydeukes who fought against Amykos and the place they fought witnesses this by its name, "Spear of Jason", and a spring appears near there which is called Helen. Thanks to these facts, the sense of an epigram of Krinagoras is clarified. "And the mares of Proklos will eat the green psalakanthos", a verse unknown to Kallimachos, is the comic Euboulos satire on Dionysios. The author also deals with the parody of this verse. As for the psalakanthos, it is an Egyptian plant that gives health and victory when used to decorate horses. It is said, on the other hand, that Psalakantha was a nymph of the isle of Ikaros who, captured by Dionysos, helped him to obtain Ariane on the condition that he should also belong to her, and Dionysos refused; Psalakantha took herself to Ariadne and the irritated god turned her into a plany; then, feeling remorse, he wanted to honour this plant by placing it in the crown of Ariadne, who took her place among the celestial constellations. As for the plant, some say it resembles wormwood, others the melilot. He reports that Athenodoros of Eretria, in the eighth book of his commentaries, says that Thetis and Medeia had a dispute in Thessaly as to which was the most beautiful; their judge was Idomeneus, who gave the victory to Thetis; Medeia in anger said that the Cretans were always liars and in revenge she made the curse that he would never speak the truth, just as he had lied in his judgement; it is from that, he says, that Cretans pass as liars. Athenodoros cites as author of this story Antiochos in his second book of legends about the town. Ilos, the father of Laomedon, had, he says, a plume of horsehair and, among the sons of Priam, Melanippos and Idaios likewise. Xanthos and Balios, the horses of Achilleus, once belonged to giants and they were the only ones to fight alongside the gods against their brothers. When Odysseus had a shipwreck close to Thyla in Sicily, the shield of Achilleus was thrown ashore near the monument

11

. , [15] . . , , [20] , , , , [25] , , , . [30] , . . , , [35] , , . . [40] [151a] . , , .

of Aias; placed next to the monument, it was struck by lightning the next day. Herakles did not wear the skin of the Nemean lion, but that of a certain Lion, one of the giants killed by Herakles whom he had challenged to single combat. The dragon which guarded the golden apples was the brother of the Nemean lion. Iros, who appears in Homer, was a Boiotian. The wife of Kandaulos, whose name is not mentioned in Herodotos, was called Nysia; she acquired double pupils and a very piercing sight when she obtained the stone of the serpent; it was thanks to this gift that she saw Gyges leaving through the door; others say that she was called Toudoun, and others Klytia; Abas says that she was called Abro. The wifes name was, it is said, passed over in silence by Herodotos because Plesirrhoos, whom Herodotos loved, was taken with a woman called Nysia and who was of a family of Halikarnassos, and that he hanged himself when he was unsuccesful with her. It is for this reason that Herodotos does not mention the name of Nysia which was odious to him. The centaurs who fled from Herakles through Tyrrhenia perished of hunger, ensnared by the soft song of the sirens. Abderos, who was loved by Herakles, was the brother of Patroclus. Epipole of Karystos, daughter of Trachion, hid her sex to go on campaign with the Greeks; denounced by Palamedes, she was stoned by the Greeks. When Alexander abducted Helen, Menelaos offered a hecatomb to Zeus at Gortyne in Crete. Palamedes commanded the Greeks in place of Agamemnon, in fact, at his arrival at Aulis, Agamemnon shot with an arrow wild goat sacred to Artemis; the Greeks finding it impossible to set sail, Kalchas predicted that the prodigy would cease if Agamemnon sacrified his daughter Iphigeneia to Poseidon; when he refused, the angry Greeks removed his command and nominated Palamedes king.

What famous people were reading when they died [5] , Philoktetes died bitten by a serpent and Alexandros was killed by Menelaos . with a blow of the spear in his thigh. After the death of Demetrios of Skepsis, next

12

[10] , , , . [15] . , , , [20] .

to his head was found the book of Tellis, and Alkmans Divers was found, it is said, next to the head of Tyronichos of Chalkis; Eupolis Violators of Justice next to the head of Ephialtes, Kratinos Eunides next to that of Alexander king of the Makedonians, and the Works and Days of Hesiod next to that of Seleukos Nikator. And the legislator of the Arkadians, Kerkidas, ordered that books 1 and 2 of the Iliad be buried with him. And Pompeius Magnus never went to war without reading book 11 of the Iliad because he was an admirer of Agamemnon. And the Roman Cicero was beheaded while being carried in his litter where he was reading Euripides Medeia.

, , , . [25] , , , . , , [30] . , , [35] . [151b] , , , [5].

Miscellanea Diognetos the Cretan boxer, winner in a competition, did not receive the crown but was even attacked by the Eleians because the adversary whom he had defeated and killed was called Herakles like the hero. This Diognetos is honoured as a hero by the Cretans. The Homeric line at the moment where Menelaos is wounded, Nor did the blessed gods forget you, Menelaos, was parodied by the Pythian god who substituted Menedernos for Menelaos. During a banquet given by the emperor Augustus, the question was posed, which verse of Homer was parodied by the oracle, and who is the personage of whom this oracle spoke. Menedemos the Elean, son of Bounias, showed to Herakles how to clean the stables of Augeus by diverting a river; it is said also that he fought alongside Herakles in his fight with Augeus; he was killed and buried in Lepreon close to a pine. Herakles instituted games in his honour and he fought against Theseus; as the combat was equal, the spectators declared that Theseus was a second Herakles. Phantasia, a woman of Memphis, daughter of Nicarchus, composed before Homer a tale of the Trojan War and of the adventures of Odysseus. The books were deposited, it is said, at Memphis; Homer went there and obtained copies from Phanites, the temple scribe, and he composed under their inspiration.

13

, . , , . [10] , , , , , . [15] , , , , . , , [20] . [25] . , , . , . .

Alphabetic names Adonis, having become androgynous, behaved as a man for Aphrodite and as a woman for Apollo. As a homage to the river Alpheios, after a victory at Olympia, Herakles named the letter alpha after it, and he placed it at the head of the alphabet. Our mythographer, in emitting his twaddle, says that Moses the legislator of the Hebrews was called Alpha because he had a white scab on his body. Galerius Crassus, who was a military tribune under Tiberius, was called Beta because he liked to eat white beet which the Romans call betacium. Horpyllis, the courtesan of Kyzikos, was called Gamma and Antenor, author of the History of Crete, was called Delta because he was good and loved his city, because the Cretans call something good delton. And Apollonios, who made himself famous in the time of Philopator for his knowledge of astronomy, was called Epsilon because the form of this letter matched the contours of the moon, in the knowledge of which he was very skilled. Satyros the friend of Aristarchos was called Zeta because of his love for research and Aisopos, it is said, was called Theta by Idmon, his master, because he was of a servile and changing character; indeed slaves are called thetes. The mother of Kypselos, who was lame, was called Lambda by the Pythian god. And Demokydes says that Pythagoras, who described all the numbers, was named by the numeral 3 (gamma). And that is the material in book 5.

Book 6[151b.29] , [30] , , . . [35] , . Book 6 contains the following chapters. Achilleus, killed by Penthesileus, was resuscitated at the request of his mother Thetis to return to Hades once he had killed Penthesileia. In the Alexandra which Lykophron wrote: "What sterile nightingale killer of centaurs...", these are the Seirens that he called killers of centaurs. Helenos, son of Priam, was beloved of Apollo and received from him the silver bow with which he wounded Achilleus in the hand.

14

[152a] . , [5] ( ) , , . [10] , . , [15] . , . . , [20], , . , , [25] , , , . , [30] . [35] . . ,

Achilleus and other famous Achilleuses It was with Andromache and her sons that Priam came to beg Achilleus for the bones of Hector. Thetis burned in a secret place the children she had by Peleus; six were born; when she had Achilleus, Peleus noticed and tore him from the flames with only a burnt foot and confided him to Chiron. The latter exhumed the body of the giant Damysos who was buried at Pallene Damysos was the fastest of all the giants removed the calcaneus bone and incorporated it into Achilleus foot with drugs. This calcaneus fell when Achilleus was pursued by Apollo and it was thus that Achilleus, fallen, was killed. It is said, on the other hand, that he was called podarkes swift-footed by the poet because, it is said, Thetis gave the newborn child the wings of Arke, and podarkes means that his feet had the wings of Arke. And Arke was the daughter of Thaumas and her sister was Iris; both had wings, but, during the struggle of the gods against the Titans, Arce flew out of the camp of the gods and joined the Titans. After the victory Zeus removed her wings before throwing her into Tartaros and, when he came to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, he brought these wings as a gift for Thetis. Peleus, it is said, received on the occasion of his marriage a sword from Hephaistos; from Aphrodite a piece of jewellery on which was engraved an Eros; from Poseidon some horses, Xanthos and Balios; from Hera a cloak; from Athena a set of aulos pipes; from Nereus a basket of the salt called divine, and which has an irresistable virtue for the appetite, the taste of food and their digestion, whence the expression "...she poured the divine salt". The author speaks of the Achilleus son of the earth and of all the Achilleuses who have been celebrated since Trojan times; it is this son of the earth who, when Hera fled from the union with Zeus, received her in his cave and persuaded her to marry Zeus, and it is said that this was the first marriage of Zeus and Hera, and Zeus promised Achilleus that he would make famouse all who bore his name. It is for that reason that Achilleus son of Thetis is famous. The master of Cheiron was called Achilleus and it of him that the name came which Cheiron gave to the son

15

. [40] , . [152b], . , , [5] . , . .

of Peleus. The promoter of ostracism at Athens was called Achilleus; this was the son of Lyso. It is said that there was born also a son of Zeus and the Lamia called Achilleus; he was of an irresistible beauty and like others was the object of a competition which he won, with Pan as judge. Aphrodite was irritated and placed in the heart of Pan the love of Echo and she made him become as ugly and unattractive as he had been beautiful. And the son of a certain Galatos was called Achilleus, and the author says that he had grey hair from birth; and there are still forty other Achilleuses who were famous, and two among them were dogs and their behaviour as dogs was astonishing. Miscellanea Priam was beloved by Zeus and received from him the golden vine plant of which he made a gift to Eurypylos, son of Telephos, as the price of his alliance. Aisopos, killed by the people of Delphi, resuscitated and fought alongside the Greeks at Thermopylai. Philoktetes, at Lemnos, was cured by Pylios son of Hephaistos, from whom he learned how to draw the bow; the river Skamandros had a son, Melos, who was beautiful; it is said that Hera, Athena and Aphrodite quarrelled on his account, as to who would have him as a priest; Alexander judged that Aphrodite won; it is for this reason the fable of the apple (mlon) circulates. Hypermenes, in his book about Chios, says that Homer had a servitor called Skindapsos; he was fined a thousand drachmas by the people of Chios because he hadnt burned the body of his master; and the man who invented an instrument with the name of this person, the skindapsos, was a man of Eretria, son of the flute-player Poikilos. And thats book 6.

, [10] , . , . , , [15] . , , . [20] . . [25] . .

Book 7[152b.26] In book 7 is found the story given by Theodoros of Samothrake, who says that , Zeus, after his birth, didnt stop laughing for seven days and that this is the . [30] reason why the number seven is considered perfect. Achilleus, because he was

16

, saved from the fire that his mother had lit to burn him, was called "saved from , . fire" and it is because one of his lips (cheilea) was burned that he was called Achilleus by his father. , . Telemachos was put to death by the Seirens when they learned that he was the [35] son of Odysseus. Odysseus, in the land of the Tyrrhenians, took part in a flute , . playing competition which he won; he played the Fall of Ilios by Demodokos. , , Stichios the Aitolian, who was beloved of Herakles, was opened and found to , have a hairy heart; he had been killed by Herakles himself when, in his madness, [40] he killed his own children and it is said that he was the only one the hero . lamented. Hermes, beloved of Polydeukes, one of the Dioskourides, made him a [153a] . gift of Dotor, the Thessalian horse. Apollo organised funeral games in honour of , Python; Hermes contributed to it, like Aphrodite; she won and accepted as prize a , [5] zither which she gave as a gift to Alexander. It is of her that Homer says : But . what could help bring your zither to you In Bacchylides, what is the word , . attributed to Silenus and to whom did he address it? The rock of Leukas, and people who jumped from it The rock of Leukas received its name from Leukos, the companion of Odysseus, who was originally from Zakynthos and who was, says the poet, killed by Antiphos; this is the person, it is said, who raised the temple of Apollo Leukates. Thus those who dive from the top of the rock were, it is said, freed from their love and for this reason: after the death of Adonis, Aphrodite, it is said, wandered around searching for him. She found it in Argos, a town of Cyprus, in the sanctuary of Apollo Erithios and stole him after having told Apollo in confidence the secret of her love for Adonis. And Apollo brought her to the rock of Leukas and ordered her to throw herself from the top of the rock; she did so and was freed from her love. When she sought the reason of this, Apollo told her, it is said, in his capacity as a soothsayer, he knew that Zeus, always enamoured of Hera, had sat on this rock and been delivered from his love. And many others, men and women, suffering from the evil of love, were delivered from their passion in jumping from the top of the rock, such as

, , , , [10] . . [15] , , . . [20] , , , . , [25]. ,

17

, , , [30] . , , , , . [35] . . [40]. [153b] , . , , [5] . , , , , , . . [15], , , , [20] , , .

Artemisia, daughter of Lygdamis, who made war with Persia; enamoured of Dardarnos of Abydos and scorned, she scratched out his eyes while he slept but as her love increased under the inflence of divine anger, she came to Leukas at the instruction of an oracle, threw herself from the top of the rock, killed herself and was buried. Hippomedon of Epidamnos, says the author, was enamoured of a young boy of his land and, unable to obtain any success as the boy had a penchant for another, he killed him, then went to Leukas, jumped, and killed himself. And the comic poet Nikostratos, in love with Tettigidaia of Myrine, jumped and was cured of his love. Makes of Bouthroton was, it is said, surnamed "White rock" because he had been cured of the evils of love after he jumped from the rock four times. A crowd of other people pass to be relieved in this way. Boulagoras the Phanagorite, enamoured of the flutist Diodorus, threw himself from the rock and was killed at an advanced age. Rhodope of Amisene killed herself also in jumping for the love of two twin lads who belonged to the guards of king Antiochus and were called Antiphon and Kyros. And Charinos, an iambic poet, was in love with the eunuch Eros, Eupators wine-pourer; trusting the legend of the rock he jumped, broke his leg, and died of pain while making these iambics:

To the devil with you, deceptive and murderous rock of Leukas! Alas for Charinos, alas! this iambic Muse You have turned to cinders with your empty words of hope. So much Eupator suffered for Eros. And Nireus of Katana, in love with Athena of Attike, came to the rock and jumped and was delivered of his pain. In jumping he fell into the net of a fishman in which when he was pulled out was also found a box filled with gold. He went to law with the fisherman for the gold, but Apollo appeared to him in the night in a dream and told him to desist since he should give thanks for his safety and he threatened him; it was not right in addition to try to appropriate gold which belonged to others. , The pan is, it is said, a sea fish of the whale family and of which the

18

, [25] appearance reminds one of Pan; in his body is found a stone, the "asterite" which, , . , exposed to the sun, catches fire; it is useful otherwise to make a charm. Helen was , . in possession of this stone, which carried graven on it the image of the pan fish itself, and she used it as a seal. Such are the chapters of the seventh book of Ptolemaios Hephaistions New . History, for the use of scholars.