Read Online The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) by Apollodorus, Robin Hard - Free Book Online Page A

genitals play no part in the birth of Aphrodite, see p. 29 and note.)

Mount Dicte : in most sources Mount Ida, in
Theog
. 484, Aigaion; Dicte only in Hellenistic and later sources, e.g. AR 1. 509. Although Dicte was associated with the cult of Zeus, there was no cave there.

Amaltheia : either a nymph with a she-goat (see p. 89 and note) or the goat itself, as here (cf. Callim.
Hymn
1. 47 f).

Metis : personifies practical or cunning intelligence. In
Theog
. 494 ff., where the stratagem is not explained, the advice is offered by Gaia.

a helmet : this leather helmet or cap makes its wearer invisible. It will be used by Perseus, see pp. 65 f. and note. In
Theog
. 501 ff. the Cyclopes arm Zeus alone, in gratitude for their release.

they shared power : following
Il
. 15. 187 ff.

Oceanides : the daughters of Oceanos and Tethys, who were nymphs of springs and groves. Hes. names forty-one of the ‘eldest’ daughters
(Theog
. 346 ff), but remarks that there were three thousand (364); Ap. only gives the names of those who will be mentioned in the following genealogies. For Hesiod, Amphitrite was a Nereid (243). The sons of Oceanos and Tethys were the rivers of the earth (337 ff).
Theog
. should be consulted for further details on all these divine genealogies (although Ap. sometimes chooses variants from other sources).

Nice, Cratos, Zelos, and Bia : abstractions signifying Victory, Power, Emulation, and Force (all needed by Zeus for his victory against the Titans). See
Theog
. 383 ff.

Pontos : a personification of the Sea. Ap. offers no genealogy; in
Theog
. 132 ff. he is borne by Gaia without prior intercourse. An ancestor of marine beings, and also of monstrous beings not easily associable with Zeus’ immediate family, see
Theog
. 233–336.

Nereids : beautiful sea nymphs, usually said to be fifty in number, who lived with their father in a cave at the bottom of the sea (
Il
. 18. 37 ff.,
Theog
. 240 ff.). Most of their names were suggested by aspects of the sea.

Hebe, Eileithuia, and Ares : respectively, the personification of youth (who performed household duties for the gods, notably as cupbearer, and later married Heracles, p. 91), the goddess of childbirth, and the god of war. For the genealogies in 3. 1 to 4. 6, cf.
Theog
. 886–933.

Eirene, Eunomia, and Dice : the Horai, Seasons, were associated with the seasons of growth in particular; these Hesiodic names
(Theog
. 901 f.)—Peace, Good Order, and Justice—point to the social conditions favouring successful agriculture.

by Dione he had Aphrodite : as in
Il
. 5. 370 f.; but in
Theog
. 188 ff. Aphrodite grows from the sea-foam
(aphros)
that surrounds the severed genitals of Ouranos when they are cast into the sea. Described above as a Titanid (but in
Theog
. 353, a daughter of Oceanos and Tethys), Dione was honoured at Dodona as the consort of Zeus, but otherwise she was of little importance in either cult or myth.

by Styx, Persephone : the river encircling Hades is a suitable mother for a goddess closely associated with the Underworld; but Persephone is usually regarded as Zeus’ daughter by Demeter, as in
Theog
. 912 f. and
HH to Demeter
2–3 (and below on p. 33).

Maenads : women possessed by Bacchic frenzy (see pp. 102 f.); in most accounts they are angered by the scorn that Orpheus showed for other women after he had lost Eurydice, e.g. Ov.
Met
. 11. 1 ff.

Cleio . . . Adonis : when Cleio mocked Aphrodite for falling in love with a mortal, Aphrodite caused her to become subject to a similar passion. Love for a mortal was acceptable for gods, but considered demeaning for goddesses (see Calypso’s observations in
Od
. 5. 118 ff).

But Hyacinthos. . . a discus : it was sometimes said that the West (or North) Wind also sought his favour, and when he favoured Apollo, blew the discus at Apollo’s head (Lucian
Dialogues of the
Gods
14; see also P. 3. 19. 5, Ov.
Met
. 10. 162 ff.). Traditions vary on his birth, see also p. 119.

challenged the Muses : cf.
Il
.