The term epic (derived from Greek épos = word, song) is generally applied to narrative poems which describe the deeds of heroes in war, an astounding process of mutual destruction that periodically and frequently affects mankind. This kind of poetry was composed in early times, being chanted by minstrels during the 'Dark Ages'—before 800 BC—, and later written down during the Archaic period—from c. 700 BC). Greek Epic is the earliest surviving form of Greek (and therefore "Western") literature, and precedes lyric poetry, elegy, drama, history, philosophy, mythography, etc.

The word cycle (from Greek kúklos = circle ) is generally applied to any group of poems, tales, or plays revolving about a central theme. Since the legends of the Theban wars and the Trojan War represent two different constellations of events, we may then say that the "Epic Cycle" (epikòs kúklos) contains both a "Theban Cycle" and a "Trojan Cycle".

The poems of the "Trojan Cycle" are not extant but the prose summaries of Proclus' Chrestomathy (or volume of selected passages) are. Proclus has not yet been identified, but scholars believe that he could be either a grammarian of the second century, or else the Neoplatonist philosopher, from ca. AD 412-485. According to A. Severyns [see Bibliography] there are nine manuscripts reproducing the Cypria, but only one (Venetus A) reproducing the rest of the cycle. In addition, Photius (Byzantine scholar and Patriarch of Constantinople in AD 858-67 and 878-86) wrote an outline [1] of Proclus' summaries in his Bibliotheca (or Library); also other authors, such as Athenaeus and Pausanias, have mentioned the Cyclic poems, thus adding details not referred to by Proclus in his Chrestomathy. In certain editions, these fragments are usually appended to Proclus' text (as can be seen in Evelyn-White's translation below) in order to provide a more complete picture of the lost poems.

The manuscript Venetus A containing the text of "the rest" (Cetera), that is, summaries of all poems except the Cypria (Aethiopis, Little Iliad, Sack of Ilium, Returns, and Telegony ) was discovered in 1781 by Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d'Ansse de Villoison, and a first edition—the editio princeps—including both Cypria and Cetera was published in 1786 by the distinguished hellenist Christian Gottlob Heyne (1729-1812). The Cypria had been discovered by Thomas Tychsen (1758-1834) in a manuscript of the 11th century. [2]

We are often reminded that the Library of Apollodorus—a cardinal mythological source—lacks an account of the Trojan War, and that his Epitome —which indeed narrates events of the Trojan War —was first discovered in 1891. Before this year, additional information about the Trojan War was to be found in scholia to Homer, and in the work of later poets and mythographers such as Hyginus, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus, and Tzetzes (the latter's Antehomerica, Homerica and Posthomerica became known in 1763).

The term Cyclic poems coventionally excludes both the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer, but if these two were combined with the Cyclic poems according to the order of events, we would get the following "Trojan Cycle":

There has also been another division of the material into 'Antehomerica' (Cypria), 'Homerica' (Iliad), and 'Posthomerica' (events after those described in the Iliad). This division honours the name of one author (Homer), but must paradoxically place one of Homer's works (the Odyssey) under the heading 'Posthomerica'.

Below (left column) is Hugh G. Evelyn-White's translation, originally published (1914) in the collection of the Loeb Classical Library (LCL). In each case Proclus' text comes first (the 'Argument'). Then follow a number of shorter references to the Cyclic poems found in other authors, and finally the notes written by Evelyn-White. The names and numbers added between angular brackets are our own editorial insertion. They indicate the uniform spelling used in the pages of the Greek Mythology Link and have been inserted to facilitate further consultation within this site. Names of characters, places, or peoples that are not linked may be found in the Dictionary. Our own 'Additional notes' are in the right column.

Cypria

Iliad

Aethiopis

Little Iliad

Sack of Ilium

Returns

Odyssey

Telegony

Translation

Additional notes

Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (LCL 1914). The names added between angular brackets are our own editorial insertion. They indicate the spelling used in the pages of the Greek Mythology Link. The numbers between angular brackets correspond to the "numbering of namesakes" used in this site for identifications purposes. Names of characters, places, or peoples that are not linked may be found in the Dictionary.

Fragment 1. [Argument] Proclus, Chrestomathy, i:
This [1] is continued by the epic called Cypria which is current is eleven books. Its contents are as follows.

The Cypria were eleven books ascribed to Stasinus of Cyprus or to Hegesinus of Salamis (Hegesias), or to Homer [see fr.2]. The name of this epic (explains M. Davies) has been thought to derive from Stasinus' place of origin, or else from Aphrodite, who is closely connected with the island of Cyprus. The fragments in Evelyn-White's edition (left column) are in this column referred to with the initials "E-W"; those of the more recent edition by Martin L. West (LCL 2003) are marked "West". For other authors mentioned, see Bibliography below.

Zeus plans with Themis to bring about the Trojan war. Strife <Eris> arrives while the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus and starts a dispute between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them is fairest. The three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to Alexandrus <Alexander = Paris> [2] on Mount Ida for his decision, and Alexandrus <Paris>, lured by his promised marriage with Helen, decides in favour of Aphrodite.

The reasons why this war was conceived are explained below (E-W frag. 3).

The dispute of the goddesses leads to the Judgement of Paris on Mt. Ida. The first mention of this event is in Hom.Il.24.25-30. The famous apple of Eris appears first in Apd.Ep.3.2, and Hyg.Fab.92 and then in other authors. Apollodorus mentions an inscription on the apple (a dedication to beauty or to the most beautiful) whereas Hyginus says that Eris simply exhorted the fairest to pick the apple up. Whether this apple is 'golden' or not depends on the version.

Then Alexandrus <Paris> builds his ships at Aphrodite's suggestion, and Helenus <1> foretells the future to him, and Aphrodite order Aeneas to sail with him, while Cassandra prophesies as to what will happen afterwards. Alexandrus <Paris> next lands in Lacedaemon and is entertained by the sons of Tyndareus <= the DIOSCURI>, and afterwards by Menelaus in Sparta, where in the course of a feast he gives gifts to Helen.

Dares [8, and 9] mentions the prophecies of Cassandra, and says that those accompanying Paris to Hellas were Polydamas, Deiphobus ₁ and Aeneas. Quintus Smyrnaeus [The Fall of Troy 2.41ff.] represents Polydamas (Hector ₁ now being dead) as wishing to render Helen back to the Achaeans. In Dares 5-10, the reason for this voyage is to recover Hesione ₂, or, this failing, to abduct a woman from Hellas.

After this, Menelaus sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen to furnish the guests with all they require until they depart. Meanwhile, Aphrodite brings Helen and Alexandrus <Paris> together, and they, after their union, put very great treasures on board and sail away by night. Hera stirs up a storm against them and they are carried to Sidon, where Alexandrus <Paris> takes the city. From there he sailed to Troy and celebrated his marriage with Helen.

Menelaus sailed to Crete to perform the obsequies of his mother's father Catreus [Apd.Ep.3.3.], who had recently died at Rhodes [Apd.3.2.2; Dio.5.59]

In the meantime Castor and Polydeuces <the DIOSCURI>, while stealing the cattle of Idas <2> and Lynceus <1>, were caught in the act, and Castor <1> was killed by Idas, and Lynceus and Idas by Polydeuces. Zeus gave them immortality every other day.

Of the DIOSCURI Castor ₁ was mortal and Polydeuces immortal, but they shared immortality every other day (as we also learn in Apd.3.11.2, Vir.Aen.6.120, and Hyg.Ast.2.22). They are brothers of Helen and Clytaemnestra.

Iris <1> next informs Menelaus of what has happened at his home. Menelaus returns and plans an expedition against Ilium with his brother, and then goes on to Nestor. Nestor in a digression tells him how Epopeus <1> was utterly destroyed after seducing the daughter of Lycus <5?>, and the story of Oedipus, the madness of Heracles <1>, and the story of Theseus and Ariadne. Then they travel over Hellas and gather the leaders, detecting Odysseus when he pretends to be mad, not wishing to join the expedition, by seizing his son Telemachus for punishment at the suggestion of Palamedes.

Epopeus ₁, whom Hyginus calls Epaphus ₂ [Fabulae 7 and 8] married Antiope ₃, daughter of Nycteus ₂ [Apd.3.5.5; Pau.2.6.1; Hyg.Fab.7;Prop.1.4.5, 3.15.14], or of the river god Asopus [Pau.2.6.1; Hom.Od.11.260]. "Daughter of Lycus" is probably a mistake, but Lycus ₅, brother of Nycteus ₂, was her uncle. While ruling Thebes, Lycus ₅ attacked Sicyon, slew Epopeus ₁ and captured Antiope ₃, whom he seduced [Apd.3.5.5; Hyg.Fab.7]. See also Amphion ₁.

On the 'madness' of Odysseus and the trick of Palamedes different versions are told by Apollodorus, Epitome 3.7, and by Hyginus, Fabulae, 95.

All the leaders then meet together at Aulis and sacrifice. The incident of the serpent and the sparrows [3] takes place before them, and Calchas foretells what is going to befall. After this, they put out to sea, and reach Teuthrania and sack it, taking it for Ilium. Telephus comes out to the rescue and kills Thersander <1> the son of Polyneices <Polynices>, and is himself wounded by Achilles. As they put out from Mysia a storm comes on them and scatters them, and Achilles first puts in at Scyros and married Deidameia <Deidamia ₁>, the daughter of Lycomedes <1>, and then heals Telephus, who had been led by an oracle to go to Argos, so that he might be their guide on the voyage to Ilium.

The incident of the serpent and the sparrows is related in Hom.Il.2.299ff., Apd.Ep.3.15, Ov.Met.12.11ff., etc.

Thersander ₁ was one of the EPIGONI and king of Thebes. According to Hyg.Fab.108 and Vir.Aen.2.61, Thersander ₁ was among those who hid inside the WOODEN HORSE at the end of the Trojan War.

When the expedition had mustered a second time at Aulis, Agamemnon, while at the chase, shot a stag and boasted that he surpassed even Artemis. At this the goddess was so angry that she sent stormy winds and prevented them from sailing. Calchas then told them of the anger of the goddess and bade them sacrifice Iphigeneia to Artemis. This they attempt to do, sending to fetch Iphigeneia <Iphigenia> as though for marriage with Achilles. Artemis, however, snatched her away and transported her to the Tauri, making her immortal, and putting a stag in place of the girl upon the altar.

This second expedition implied a considerable delay. Apollodorus counts time as follows:

"So the Greeks returned at that time, and it is said that the war lasted twenty years. For it was in the second year after the rape of Helen that the Greeks, having completed their preparations, set out on the expedition and after their retirement from Mysia to Greece eight years elapsed before they again returned to Argos and came to Aulis." [Epitome, 3.18]

and thereby explains why Helen says to Hector ₁ at Troy:

"For this is now the twentieth year from the time when I went from thence and am gone from my native land..." [Hom.Il.24.765]

Next they sail as far as Tenedos: and while they are feasting, Philoctetes is bitten by a snake and is left behind in Lemnos because of the stench of his sore. Here, too, Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon because he is invited late. Then the Greeks tried to land at Ilium, but the Trojans prevent them, and Protesilaus is killed by Hector <1>. Achilles then kills Cycnus <1>, the son of Poseidon, and drives the Trojans back. The Greeks take up their dead and send envoys to the Trojans demanding the surrender of Helen and the treasure with her. The Trojans refusing, they first assault the city, and then go out and lay waste the country and cities round about. After this, Achilles desires to see Helen, and Aphrodite and Thetis contrive a meeting between them. The Achaeans next desire to return home, but are restrained by Achilles, who afterwards drives off the cattle of Aeneas, and sacks Lyrnessus and Pedasus and many of the neighbouring cities, and kills Troilus. Patroclus <1> carries away Lycaon <1> to Lemnos and sells him as a slave, and out of the spoils Achilles receives Briseis as a prize, and Agamemnon Chryseis <3>. Then follows the death of Palamedes, the plan of Zeus to relieve the Trojans by detaching Achilles from the Hellenic confederacy, and a catalogue of the Trojan allies.

Philoctetes' accident occurred in Tenedos [Apd.Ep.3.27], or in the island of Chryse [Soph.Phi.263ff.], or in Lemnos [Hyg.Fab.102].

For Protesilaus, see comment to fragment 17.

For Palamedes, see comment to fragment 19.

In the Cypria, Zeus plans to detach Achilles in order to relieve the Trojans whereas in the Iliad, the Trojans are relieved for the sake of Achilles.

The catalogue of Trojan allies is in Apd.Ep.3.34ff. See also TROJAN LEADERS.

2.

Tzetzes, Chil. xiii. 638:
Stasinus composed the Cypria which the more part say was Homer's work and by him given to Stasinus as a dowry with money besides.

3.

Scholiast on Homer, Il. i. 5:
"There was a time when the countless tribes of men, though wide-dispersed, oppressed the surface of the deep-bosomed earth, and Zeus saw it and had pity and in his wise heart resolved to relieve the all-nurturing earth of men by causing the great struggle of the Ilian war, that the load of death might empty the world. And so the heroes were slain in Troy, and the plan of Zeus came to pass."

 
The scholiast writes: "The story is found in Stasinus, the author of the Cypria, who says:", and then quotes what appears in Evelyn-White's translation (left column). But a fuller version of this scholion is supplied, for example, in Allen's edition (frag. 1) and in the recent West edition (frag. 1). There we learn that Zeus first planned 'the Theban War' (either that of the SEVEN AGAINST THEBES or that of the EPIGONI) which destroyed large numbers of men. According to the same scholiast, Zeus' adviser on the Trojan War was Momos [i] (not Themis). Zeus can destroy everyone by thunderbolts or floods, but Momos proposed both the marriage of Thetis to a mortal and the birth of a beautiful daughter (Helen) as instruments of a war conceived to achieve the lightening of the earth. Here the argument of Proclus (see above frag. 1) is not in agreement with the scholiast's account on the Cypria (West, frag. 1). Malcom Davies [p. 35], who does not find Momos as appropriate and adviser to Zeus as Themis, believes that this scholion must have a different source to the Cypria. The phrase "the plan of Zeus came to pass" occurs in Iliad 1.5 as well. One may think that this "plan" refers to the many dead who in the Iliadic proem are already "lightening the earth" as a result of Achilles' wrath, but scholars do not fully agree on this matter [see also J. S. Burgess, p.149].

4.

Volumina Herculan, II. viii. 105:
The author of the Cypria says that Thetis, to please Hera, avoided union with Zeus, at which he was enraged and swore that she should be the wife of a mortal.

 
Thetis refused Zeus to please Hera, and consequently the enraged god decided she should be the wife of a mortal man (Peleus). The same idea is found in Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.794.

5.

Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvii. 140:
For at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the gods gathered together on Pelion to feast and brought Peleus gifts. Cheiron <Chiron> gave him a stout ashen shaft which he had cut for a spear, and Athena, it is said, polished it, and Hephaestus fitted it with a head. The story is given by the author of the Cypria.

6.

Athenaeus, xv. 682 D, F:
The author of the Cypria, whether Hegesias or Stasinus, mentions flowers used for garlands. The poet, whoever he was, writes as follows in his first book: "She clothed herself with garments which the Graces <CHARITES> and Hours <HORAE> had made for her and dyed in flowers of spring—such flowers as the Seasons wear—in crocus and hyacinth and flourishing violet and the rose's lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and heavenly buds, the flowers of the narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is Aphrodite clothed at all seasons. [*Lacuna*] Then laughter-loving Aphrodite and her handmaidens wove sweet-smelling crowns of flowers of the earth and put them upon their heads—the bright-coiffed goddesses, the Nymphs and Graces <CHARITES>, and golden Aphrodite too, while they sang sweetly on the mount of many-fountained Ida."

Here is meant Iliad 16.140 (not 17.140).

The ashen spear is mentioned by Homer ad loc. and by Apd.3.13.5.

7.

Clement of Alexandria, Protrept ii. 30. 5:
"Castor <1> was mortal, and the fate of death was destined for him; but Polydeuces, scion of Ares, was immortal."

"Scion of Ares" figuratively speaking, that is. Castor ₁ and Polydeuces (the DIOSCURI) are called sons of Zeus and Leda [Apd.1.8.2]. Being more specific, the same source [Apd.3.10.7] tells that Zeus consorted with Leda, and on the same night also Tyndareus consorted with her. She then bore Polydeuces and Helen to Zeus, and Castor ₁ and Clytaemnestra to Tyndareus as also Hyginus says [Fabulae 77; see also Hyg.Ast.2.8]. This explains why Polydeuces and Helen were immortal whereas Castor ₁ and Clytaemnestra were mortal. Polydeuces refused to accept immortality while Castor ₁ was dead, and finally shared life and death with his mortal brother [Apd.3.11.2; Vir.Aen.6.120; Hyg.Ast.2.22].

8.

Athenaeus, viii. 334 B:
"And after them she bare a third child, Helen, a marvel to men. Rich-tressed Nemesis once gave her birth when she had been joined in love with Zeus the king of the gods by harsh violence. For Nemesis tried to escape him and liked not to lie in love with her father Zeus the Son of Cronos; for shame and indignation vexed her heart: therefore she fled him over the land and fruitless dark water. But Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her. Now she took the form of a fish and sped over the waves of the loud-roaring sea, and now over Ocean's stream and the furthest bounds of Earth, and now she sped over the furrowed land, always turning into such dread creatures as the dry land nurtures, that she might escape him."

Several authors say that Helen was daughter of Nemesis, among which Apd.3.10.7, Hyg.Ast.2.8, and Pau.1.33.7ff. Apollodorus says that Nemesis, trying to escape the god, changed herself into a goose, but Zeus conquered her, having assumed the shape of a swan. In the Catalogue of Women E. [66 in E-W], the mother of Helen is 'an Oceanid'.

9.

Scholiast on Euripides, Andr. 898:
The writer [4] of the Cyprian histories says that (Helen's third child was) Pleisthenes <Plisthenes ₃> and that she took him with her to Cyprus, and that the child she bore Alexandrus <Paris> was Aganus.

If Plisthenes ₃ is the third child, then Aganus must be the second, and Hermione the first. Plisthenes ₃ should be Helen's child by Menelaus. After the Trojan War, Menelaus sailed to Cyprus and other places [Apd.Ep.6.29]. According to the Catalogue of Women E. [69 and 70 in E-W], Menelaus was son of Plisthenes ₁, son of Atreus [Hyg.Fab.86].

10.

Herodotus, ii. 117:
For it is said in the Cypria that Alexandrus <Paris> came with Helen to Ilium from Sparta in three days, enjoying a favourable wind and calm sea.

Herodotus' remark is not in agreement with Proclus' Argument: "Hera stirs up a storm against them and they are carried to Sidon ..." [see above E-W, frag. 1].

11.

Scholiast on Homer, Il. iii. 242:
For Helen had been previously carried off by Theseus, and it was in consequence of this earlier rape that Aphidna, a town in Attica, was sacked and Castor <1> was wounded in the right thigh by Aphidnus <2> who was king at that time. Then the Dioscuri, failing to find Theseus, sacked Athens. The story is in the Cyclic writers.

Aphidnus ₂ is said to have adopted the DIOSCURI, who had demanded to be initiated in the mysteries. The privilege could not be granted before they had been adopted [Plu.The.33.2].

Iphigenia could have been the fruit of that abduction. In Pau.2.22.6-7 and Lib.Met.27, she is called daughter of Theseus and Helen.

Plutarch, Thes. 32:
Hereas relates that Alycus was killed by Theseus himself near Aphidna, and quotes the following verses in evidence:

"In spacious Aphidna Theseus slew him in battle long ago for rich-haired Helen's sake." [5]

Alycus was son either of Sciron and Pandion ₄'s Daughter, or of Sciron and Chariclo ₃ [Plu.The.32.5], daughter of Cychreus [Plu.The.10.3], son of Poseidon and Salamis [Dio.4.72.4]. Alycus' sister is Endeis, mother of Peleus.

12.

Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. x. 114:
"Straightway Lynceus <1>, trusting in his swift feet, made for Taygetus. He climbed its highest peak and looked throughout the whole isle of Pelops <1>, son of Tantalus <1>; and soon the glorious hero with his dread eyes saw horse-taming Castor and athlete Polydeuces both hidden within a hollow oak."

Philodemus, On Piety:
(Stasinus?) writes that Castor <1> was killed with a spear shot by Idas <2> the son of Aphareus <1>.

Lynceus ₁, who excelled in sharpness of sight so that he could even see things under ground [Apd.3.10.3; AO.1188] was, soon after this, killed either by Castor ₁ [Hyg.Fab.80] or by Polydeuces [Apd.3.11.2].

Philodemus' account coincides with those of Apollodorus and Pindar, who also say that Castor ₁ was killed by Idas ₂ [Apd.3.11.2; Pin.Nem.10.60]. In Ov.Fast.5.709, he is killed by Lynceus ₁. In Hyg.Ast.2.22, he dies in Aphidnae (which would preclude the DIOSCURI receiving Paris, as mentioned by Proclus in the Argument), or else when Lynceus ₁ and Idas ₂ attacked Sparta.

13.

Athenaeus, 35 C:
"Menelaus, know that the gods made wine the best thing for mortal man to scatter cares."

Athenaeus adds immediately after: "The writer of the Cypria, whoever he may be, is the authority for this." And that is why this fragment is included.

14.

Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, Elect. 157:
Either he follows Homer who spoke of the three daughters of Agamemnon, or—like the writer of the Cypria—he makes them four, (distinguishing) Iphigeneia <Iphigenia> and Iphianassa <1>.

Iphianassa ₁ is daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra in Hom.Il.9.145, and Soph.Ele.158.

15. [6]

Contest of Homer and Hesiod:
"So they feasted all day long, taking nothing from their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men, provided for them."

16.

Louvre Papyrus:
"I never thought to enrage so terribly the stout heart of Achilles, for very well I loved him."

17.

Pausanias, iv. 2. 7:
The poet of the Cypria says that the wife of Protesilaus—who, when the Hellenes reached the Trojan shore, first dared to land—was called Polydora <3>, and was the daughter of Meleager, the son of Oeneus <2>.

Protesilaus' wife is Polydora, says Pausanias 4.2.7, following the Cypria. Apollodorus, in Epitome 3.30, calls her Laodamia (these two we record as Polydora ₃ and Laodamia ₂). Laodamia ₂ was daughter of Acastus [Hyg.Fab.104; Apd.Ep.3.30.], son of Pelias ₁.

18.

Eustathius, 119. 4:
Some relate that Chryseis <3> was taken from Hypoplacian [7] Thebes, and that she had not taken refuge there nor gone there to sacrifice to Artemis, as the author of the Cypria states, but was simply a fellow townswoman of Andromache.

19.

Pausanias, x. 31. 2:
I know, because I have read it in the epic Cypria, that Palamedes was drowned when he had gone out fishing, and that it was Diomedes <2> and Odysseus who caused his death.

According to Apd.Ep.3.8, 6.8 and Hyg.Fab.105, Palamedes was stoned to death through the machinations of Odysseus: Having taken a prisoner, Odysseus compelled him to write a letter of treasonable purport ostensibly sent by Priam ₁ to Palamedes; and having buried gold in the quarters of Palamedes, he dropped the letter in the camp. Agamemnon read the letter, found the gold, and delivered up Palamedes to be stoned as a traitor.

20.

Plato, Euthyphron, 12 A:
"That it is Zeus who has done this, and brought all these things to pass, you do not like to say; for where fear is, there too is shame."

Plato introduces this quotation with the words:

'What I mean is the opposite of what the poet said, who wrote:'

An scholiast ad loc. remarked: "It is a quotation of Stasinus' Cypria." [West, frag. 29], and that is why this fragment was added to this collection.

21.

Herodian, On Peculiar Diction:
"By him she conceived and bare the Gorgons, fearful monsters who lived in Sarpedon, a rocky island in deep-eddying Oceanus."

This quotation is preceded by the words:

'And Sarpedon in the special sense of the island in Oceanus, where the Gorgons live, as the author of the Cypria says:' [West, frag.30]

For the GORGONS, see Medusa ₁.

22.

Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis vii. 2. 19:
Again, Stasinus says:

"He is a simple man who kills the father and lets the children live."

NOTES by Evelyn-White:

[1] The preceding part of the Epic Cycle (?).

[2] sc. Paris.

[3] While the Greeks were sacrificing at Aulis, a serpent appeared and devoured eight young birds from their nest and lastly the mother of the brood. This was interpreted by Calchas to mean that the war would swallow up nine full years. Cp. Iliad ii, 299 ff.

[4] i.e. Stasinus (or Hegesias: cp. fr. 6): the phrase "Cyprian histories" is equivalent to "The Cypria".

[5] Cp. Allen "C.R." xxvii. 190.

[6] These two lines possibly belong to the account of the feast given by Agamemnon at Lemnos.

[7] sc. the Asiatic Thebes at the foot of Mt. Placius.

 

NOTES

[i] Momos is a child of Nyx (Night) in Hesiod, Theogony 214. This name is translated as 'Blame', 'Mockery', 'Cavil', etc. In one of Aesop's Fables (Babrius 59 = Gibbs 518 = Towsend 252 = Chambry 124), the nature of fault-finder Momos is illustrated thus:

Cypria

Iliad

Aethiopis

Little Iliad

Sack of Ilium

Returns

Odyssey

Telegony

Following the Cypria is the Iliad of Homer.

The story begins by describing how Agamemnon dismisses the priest of Apollo who had come to the Achaean camp to ransom his daughter (Chryseis ₃). As a result, Apollo comes from heaven "darker than night" and decimates the Achaean army by plague. The calamity makes Agamemnon to yield, but he compensates himself by taking Briseis — Achilles' prize of war—for himself. Achilles then, withdraws in anger from the war, and asks his mother Thetis to persuade Zeus to avenge the outrage by granting victory to the Trojans. This she obtains.

Misled by a dream, Agamemnon prepares to fight without Achilles. During a truce Menelaus and Paris meet in single combat, the latter being saved by Aphrodite by a hair's-breadth and taken back to Troy. There follow a love scene between Paris and Helen, and, in the field, the wounding of Menelaus by Pandarus ₁, a treacherous action that breaks the truce.

During the ensuing battle Diomedes ₂ manages to wound two deities (Aphrodite and Ares), and the Trojans are forced to return to the city, where Hector ₁ meets his mother, and his wife and son. As Hector ₁ returns to battle, he meets Ajax ₁ in combat, but the fight is suspended when night falls. Then follows a truce to cremate the dead.

Next the Achaeans build a wall to protect the ships while in heaven Zeus forbids the gods to interfere in the war. As war resumes, the Trojans are victorious, and spend the night in the open plain. An embassy comes to Achilles, offering gifts if he will return to battle, which he refuses. As several leaders are wounded, the Trojans break through the wall and begin attacking the ships. Against the will of Zeus, who has been beguiled by Hera, Poseidon helps the Achaeans to drive the Trojans back. As Zeus wakes up, the Trojans are able again to threaten the ships. It is then that Achilles agrees to send his men under the command of his friend Patroclus ₁, who runs into battle wearing Achilles' armour. Patroclus ₁ kills many Trojans, among which Zeus' son Sarpedon ₁, but is finally slain by Hector ₁.

When these news reach Achilles, he resolves to avenge his friend's death even though his mother warns him that he—by Fate's decree—will be killed immediately after Hector ₁'s death. A new set of armour for Achilles is made by Hephaestus at Thetis' request.

Being reconciled with Agamemnon, Achilles returns to battle slaughtering Trojans in great numbers, including those who had plunged into the river Scamander to save themselves. The river god—seeing the pollution of the waters—complains, but since Achilles would not stop, the god attempts to drown him by overflowing the banks. Yet the god is forced to yield through the intervention of Hera, who incites Hephaestus to burn the waters.

As the Trojans find themselves shut up in the city, follows the single combat during which Achilles slays Hector ₁ before the walls of Troy and outrages his body by tying him by the feet and dragging him behind his chariot.

Then comes the cremation of Patroclus ₁, and the funeral games in his honour. As Hector ₁'s body is still thrown down in front of Achilles' tent, King Priam ₁ comes by night to the Achaean camp—led by Hermes —to ransom it. Achilles is moved to pity by the old king, receiving him hospitably into his tent, and the next day surrenders the body. A truce is decreed for the burial ceremony, and the funeral of Hector ₁ closes the poem.

Cypria

Iliad

Aethiopis

Little Iliad

Sack of Ilium

Returns

Odyssey

Telegony

Translation

Additional notes

Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (LCL 1914). The names added between angular brackets are our own editorial insertion. They indicate the spelling used in the pages of the Greek Mythology Link. The numbers between angular brackets correspond to the "numbering of namesakes" used in this site for identifications purposes. Names of characters, places, or peoples that are not linked may be found in the Dictionary.

Five books by Arctinus of Miletos (fl. ca. 776 BC). This epic is called "Aethiopis" because it describes the deeds of the Ethiopian prince Memnon, a newly-arrived Trojan ally.

Fragment 1. [Argument]

Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii:
The Cypria, described in the preceding book, has its sequel in the Iliad of Homer, which is followed in turn by the five books of the Aethiopis, the work of Arctinus of Miletus. Their contents are as follows. The Amazon Penthesileia <Penthesilia>, the daughter of Ares and of Thracian race, comes to aid the Trojans, and after showing great prowess, is killed by Achilles and buried by the Trojans. Achilles then slays Thersites for abusing and reviling him for his supposed love for Penthesileia <Penthesilia>. As a result a dispute arises amongst the Achaeans over the killing of Thersites, and Achilles sails to Lesbos and after sacrificing to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto, is purified by Odysseus from bloodshed.

Penthesilia's death is described in QS.1.610ff., and mentioned in Hyg.Fab.112 and Try.35. See also Thersites.

Then Memnon, the son of Eos, wearing armour made by Hephaestus, comes to help the Trojans, and Thetis tells her son about Memnon. A battle takes place in which Antilochus is slain by Memnon and Memnon by Achilles. Eos then obtains of Zeus and bestows upon her son immortality; but Achilles routs the Trojans, and, rushing into the city with them, is killed by Paris and Apollo. A great struggle for the body then follows, Aias taking up the body and carrying it to the ships, while Odysseus drives off the Trojans behind. The Achaeans then bury Antilochus and lay out the body of Achilles, while Thetis, arriving with the Muses and her sisters, bewails her son, whom she afterwards catches away from the pyre and transports to the White Island. After this, the Achaeans pile him a cairn and hold games in his honour. Lastly a dispute arises between Odysseus and Aias <Ajax ₁> over the arms of Achilles.

1.
Achilles "is killed by Paris and Apollo", as Hector ₁ foretells in Hom.Il.22.359, and also the immortal horse (Xanthus ₁) says ("by a god and a mortal") in 19.416. Yet we also learn that Thetis had foretold Achilles that he would die by the arrows of Apollo (Hom.Il.21.275ff.), a prophecy that Quintus Smyrnaeus evokes in Fall of Troy 3.95.

2.
Apollo guides Paris' shaft in Ov.Met.12.605, and Vir.Aen.6.56-58. But Higynus (fabula 107) says that Apollo himself killed Achilles, having taken the form of Paris.

3.
No mention of Paris is made by Sophocles: (Philoctetes 334: "Dead—not by a mortal hand, but by a god's," says Neoptolemus), or by Euripides (Andromache 1108: "I demanded once that the god pay the penalty for my father's death," says Neoptolemus) or by Quintus Smyrnaeus:

"From mortal sight he [Apollo] vanished into cloud,
And cloaked with mist a baleful shaft he shot
Which leapt to Achilles' ankle..." (Fall of Troy 3.70)

4.
However, Euripides, in Andromache 655, mentions only Paris as the slayer of Achilles, and in his Hecuba, he makes Hecabe ₁ say:

"...it was I that bore Paris, whose fatal shaft laid low the son of Thetis."

5.
Otherwise Achilles is said to have been killed in the temple of Apollo when he was about to meet Polyxena ₁ (Hyg.Fab.110, Dictys 4.11, Dares 34, etc.) with a view to marrying her.

2.

Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 804:
Some read: "Thus they performed the burial of Hector <1>. Then came the Amazon, the daughter of great-souled Ares the slayer of men."

"The Amazon" is Penthesilia. See AMAZONS, Thersites, etc.

3.

Scholiast on Pindar, Isth. iii. 53:
The author of the Aethiopis says that Aias <Ajax ₁> killed himself about dawn.

For the death of Ajax ₁, see for example Soph.Aj.815ff.; Hyg.Fab.242; Eur.Hel.96; Pin.Nem.7.26; Pin.Isth.4.35; QS.5.482; Pau.3.19.12.

Cypria

Iliad

Aethiopis

Little Iliad

Sack of Ilium

Returns

Odyssey

Telegony

Translation

Additional notes

Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (LCL 1914). The names added between angular brackets are our own editorial insertion. They indicate the spelling used in the pages of the Greek Mythology Link. The numbers between angular brackets correspond to the "numbering of namesakes" used in this site for identifications purposes. Names of characters, places, or peoples that are not linked may be found in the Dictionary.

Four books by Lesches of Mytilene (fl. ca. 660 BC).

Fragment 1. [Argument]

Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii:
Next comes the Little Iliad in four books by Lesches of Mitylene: its contents are as follows. The adjudging of the arms of Achilles takes place, and Odysseus, by the contriving of Athena, gains them. Aias <Ajax ₁> then becomes mad and destroys the herd of the Achaeans and kills himself. Next Odysseus lies in wait and catches Helenus <1>, who prophesies as to the taking of Troy, and Diomede <Diomedes ₂> accordingly brings Philoctetes from Lemnos. Philoctetes is healed by Machaon, fights in single combat with Alexandrus <Paris> and kills him: the dead body is outraged by Menelaus, but the Trojans recover and bury it. After this Deiphobus <1> marries Helen, Odysseus brings Neoptolemus from Scyros and gives him his father's arms, and the ghost of Achilles appears to him.

The judgement on the arms is first mentioned in Hom.Od.11.544; for a detailed account see Ov.Met.13.1ff.

For the death of Ajax ₁, see above the additional notes to Aethiopis frag. 3.

Philoctetes was brought by Odysseus and Diomedes ₂ [Apd.Ep.5.8; Hyg.Fab 102; QS.9.325ff.], or by Odysseus and Neoptolemus [Soph.Phi.]. According to Apd.Ep.5.8, it was Podalirius who cured Philoctetes. The single combat between Paris and Philoctetes is described in QS.10-206ff.

Apollodorus says (Ep.5.9) that Helenus ₁ and Deiphobus ₁ quarrelled as to which of them should marry Helen.

Concerning the fetching of Philoctetes and Neoptolemus, the oracles of Helenus ₁, the Palladium, etc., see Conditions to take Troy.

Eurypylus <6> the son of Telephus arrives to aid the Trojans, shows his prowess and is killed by Neoptolemus. The Trojans are now closely beseiged, and Epeius <2>, by Athena's instruction, builds the wooden horse. Odysseus disfigures himself and goes in to Ilium as a spy, and there being recognized by Helen, plots with her for the taking of the city; after killing certain of the Trojans, he returns to the ships. Next he carries the Palladium out of Troy with help of Diomedes <2>. Then after putting their best men in the wooden horse and burning their huts, the main body of the Hellenes sail to Tenedos. The Trojans, supposing their troubles over, destroy a part of their city wall and take the wooden horse into their city and feast as though they had conquered the Hellenes.

The arrival of Eurypylus ₆ is described by Apollodorus (Ep.5.12) and Quintus Smyrnaeus (8.128ff.).

According to Apollodorus (Ep.5.14), the stratagem of the WOODEN HORSE was conceived by Odysseus. This stratagem is mentioned by Homer, Od.4.274ff. where it is related the incident of Helen imitating the voices of the wives of the Achaean chieftains who were inside the fatal device (see also Apd.Ep.5.19, and Try.454ff.). Tryphiodorus says that it was Aphrodite who disclosed to Helen that the Achaeans were inside the WOODEN HORSE.

2.

Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer:
"I sing of Ilium and Dardania, the land of fine horses, wherein the Danai, followers of Ares, suffered many things."

3.

Scholiast on Aristophanes, Knights 1056 and Aristophanes ib.:
The story runs as follows: Aias <Ajax ₁> and Odysseus were quarrelling as to their achievements, says the poet of the Little Iliad, and Nestor advised the Hellenes to send some of their number to go to the foot of the walls and overhear what was said about the valour of the heroes named above. The eavesdroppers heard certain girls disputing, one of them saying that Aias <Ajax ₁> was by far a better man than Odysseus and continuing as follows:

"For Aias <Ajax ₁> took up and carried out of the strife the hero, Peleus' son: this great Odysseus cared not to do."

To this another replied by Athena's contrivance:

"Why, what is this you say? A thing against reason and untrue! . . . . Even a woman could carry a load once a man had put it on her shoulder; but she could not fight. For she would fail with fear if she should fight."

They quarrel as to their achievements in order to obtain the arms of Achilles. See above additional notes to fragment 1, and Aethiopis frag. 3.

4.

Eustathius, 285. 34:
The writer of the Little Iliad says that Aias <Ajax ₁> was not buried in the usual way [1], but was simply buried in a coffin, because of the king's anger.

 
According to Apd.Ep.5.7, Ajax ₁ alone of all who fell at Troy was buried in a coffin, his grave beeing at Rhoeteum. He adds that Agamemnon forbade his body to be burnt.

5.

Eustathius on Homer, Il. 326:
The author of the Little Iliad says that Achilles after putting out to sea from the country of Telephus came to land there:

"The storm carried Achilles the son of Peleus to Scyros, and he came into an uneasy harbour there in that same night."

 
As it is related in the Cypria (fr. 1), see above.

6.

Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. vi. 85:
"About the spear-shaft was a hoop of flashing gold, and a point was fitted to it at either end."

7.

Scholiast on Euripides ,Troades, 822:
"... the vine which the son of Cronos gave him as a recompense for his son. It bloomed richly with soft leaves of gold and grape clusters; Hephaestus wrought it and gave it to his father Zeus: and he bestowed it on Laomedon <1> as a price for Ganymedes."