The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) by Apollodorus, Robin Hard
Authors: Apollodorus, Robin Hard
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Heracles kills Cycnos in single combat, but when Ares is about to attack him to avenge the death of his son, Zeus hurls a thunderbolt to separate Heracles and
Ares
. Frazer’s version raises serious problems; in all other accounts of the story (including Ap.’s second version of it on p. 90), Heracles kills Cycnos (cf. Hes.
Shield 416
ff. and Stesichorus in sc. Pind.
ol
. 10. 19), and the story seems altogether pointless if he does not. And it is hard to see why Zeus should intervene to protect Cycnos. (A discussion of the points of language can be found in Carriere’s note.) It should be mentioned, however, that there is some evidence from sixth-century vase-paintings that there may have been a tradition in which Zeus restrained the combatants.
Nereus. . . transformed himself : for Nereus, see p. 29; sea-gods, as inhabitants of a formless medium, are naturally shape-shifters. Nereus appears in no other mythical narrative; the present story was probably suggested by Homer’s account of Menelaos’ encounter with Proteus, another old man of the sea
(Od
. 4. 382 ff).
Antaios : he roofed Poseidon’s temple with travellers’ skulls, Pind.
Isth
. 4. 54. His peculiar relationship with the Earth is first recorded in Roman sources (Ov.
Met
. 9. 183 f., Lucan 4. 593 ff.), but the motif is surely of earlier origin.
he killed Emathion : for his birth, see p. 124 and
Theog
. 984 f. The only indication of the reason for the killing is the remark in DS 4. 27. 3 that after Heracles had sailed up the Nile Emathion attacked him without provocation in Ethiopia. Perhaps the significance of the episode lay in the fact that it marked the southernmost stage of his journey.
He then . . . in Prometheus’ place : for the cause of Prometheus’ punishment, see p. 36. There was an ancient tradition that crowns and garlands are symbolic of the shackles worn by Prometheus as a result of his services to the human race (Athenaeus 672e ff.); so presumably Heracles dons an olive crown as a symbolic substitute for Prometheus’ fetters. (The wild olive was especially associated with Heracles, and he is said to have brought it to Greece from the land of the Hyperboreans, P. 5. 7. 7.) The meaning of Cheiron’s exchange has been much disputed, and only a tentative suggestion can be offered here. We know that Cheiron wants to die because he is suffering from a painful and incurable wound, p. 75. Since Prometheus is immortal by nature, there can be no question of Cheiron simply exchanging his immortality for the mortality of Prometheus and thus becoming able to die (as might be inferred from the phrase on p. 75). It would seem, on the contrary, that this is another symbolic exchange; by passing below, Cheiron assumes the sufferings of Prometheus. The fact that Heracles presents him to Zeus suggests that by giving himself up to die, Cheiron is fulfilling a prior condition set by Zeus. A passage in [Aesch.]
PV
1026 ff. may be relevant here, in which Hermes tells Prometheus that there will be no end to his sufferings unless a god shows himself ready to succeed to them and offers to descend to Hades. This would be a dire fate for an immortal being; but because of Cheiron’s special circumstances, the seemingly impossible condition mentioned in
PV
could be fulfilled.
It is said. . . guardian snake : cf. Soph.
Trachiniae
1099 f., and Eur.
Hercules Furens
, 394 ff.
to fetch Cerberos : Homer knew of this feat,
Il
. 8. 367 f.,
Od
. 11. 623 ff.; see also Bacch. 5. 56 ff.
the souls. . . Meleager. . . Medusa : the souls are the shades of the dead. For the encounter with Meleager, see Bacch. 5. 71 ff. Medusa, the only mortal Gorgon, was killed by Perseus, p. 66; the present encounter was doubtless suggested by
Od
. 11. 633 ff, where Odysseus hurries from the world of the dead in a panic, afraid that Persephone may send some monstrous apparition like the Gorgon’s head.
to procure blood for the souls : the souls are flimsy and witless; a drink of blood
Ares
. Frazer’s version raises serious problems; in all other accounts of the story (including Ap.’s second version of it on p. 90), Heracles kills Cycnos (cf. Hes.
Shield 416
ff. and Stesichorus in sc. Pind.
ol
. 10. 19), and the story seems altogether pointless if he does not. And it is hard to see why Zeus should intervene to protect Cycnos. (A discussion of the points of language can be found in Carriere’s note.) It should be mentioned, however, that there is some evidence from sixth-century vase-paintings that there may have been a tradition in which Zeus restrained the combatants.
Nereus. . . transformed himself : for Nereus, see p. 29; sea-gods, as inhabitants of a formless medium, are naturally shape-shifters. Nereus appears in no other mythical narrative; the present story was probably suggested by Homer’s account of Menelaos’ encounter with Proteus, another old man of the sea
(Od
. 4. 382 ff).
Antaios : he roofed Poseidon’s temple with travellers’ skulls, Pind.
Isth
. 4. 54. His peculiar relationship with the Earth is first recorded in Roman sources (Ov.
Met
. 9. 183 f., Lucan 4. 593 ff.), but the motif is surely of earlier origin.
he killed Emathion : for his birth, see p. 124 and
Theog
. 984 f. The only indication of the reason for the killing is the remark in DS 4. 27. 3 that after Heracles had sailed up the Nile Emathion attacked him without provocation in Ethiopia. Perhaps the significance of the episode lay in the fact that it marked the southernmost stage of his journey.
He then . . . in Prometheus’ place : for the cause of Prometheus’ punishment, see p. 36. There was an ancient tradition that crowns and garlands are symbolic of the shackles worn by Prometheus as a result of his services to the human race (Athenaeus 672e ff.); so presumably Heracles dons an olive crown as a symbolic substitute for Prometheus’ fetters. (The wild olive was especially associated with Heracles, and he is said to have brought it to Greece from the land of the Hyperboreans, P. 5. 7. 7.) The meaning of Cheiron’s exchange has been much disputed, and only a tentative suggestion can be offered here. We know that Cheiron wants to die because he is suffering from a painful and incurable wound, p. 75. Since Prometheus is immortal by nature, there can be no question of Cheiron simply exchanging his immortality for the mortality of Prometheus and thus becoming able to die (as might be inferred from the phrase on p. 75). It would seem, on the contrary, that this is another symbolic exchange; by passing below, Cheiron assumes the sufferings of Prometheus. The fact that Heracles presents him to Zeus suggests that by giving himself up to die, Cheiron is fulfilling a prior condition set by Zeus. A passage in [Aesch.]
PV
1026 ff. may be relevant here, in which Hermes tells Prometheus that there will be no end to his sufferings unless a god shows himself ready to succeed to them and offers to descend to Hades. This would be a dire fate for an immortal being; but because of Cheiron’s special circumstances, the seemingly impossible condition mentioned in
PV
could be fulfilled.
It is said. . . guardian snake : cf. Soph.
Trachiniae
1099 f., and Eur.
Hercules Furens
, 394 ff.
to fetch Cerberos : Homer knew of this feat,
Il
. 8. 367 f.,
Od
. 11. 623 ff.; see also Bacch. 5. 56 ff.
the souls. . . Meleager. . . Medusa : the souls are the shades of the dead. For the encounter with Meleager, see Bacch. 5. 71 ff. Medusa, the only mortal Gorgon, was killed by Perseus, p. 66; the present encounter was doubtless suggested by
Od
. 11. 633 ff, where Odysseus hurries from the world of the dead in a panic, afraid that Persephone may send some monstrous apparition like the Gorgon’s head.
to procure blood for the souls : the souls are flimsy and witless; a drink of blood
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