A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

(Πανδάρεως), a son of Merops of Miletus, is said to have stolen the golden dog which Hephaestus had made, from the temple of Zeus in Crete, and to have carried it to Tantalus. When Zeus sent Hermes to Tantalus to claim the dog back, Tantalus declared that it was not in his possession. The god, however, took the animal by force, and threw mount Sipylus upon Tantalus. Pandareos fled to Athens, and thence to Sicily, where he perished with his wife Harmothoe. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1875; comp. TANTALUS.) Antoninus Liberalis (11) calls him an Ephesian, and relates that Demeter conferred upon him the benefit of never suffering from indigestion, if he should take ever so much food. The whole scene of his story lies in Crete, and hence Pausanias (10.30.1) thinks that the town of Ephesus is not the famous city in Asia Minor, but Ephesus in Crete. The story of Pandareos derives more interest from that of his three daughters. Aedon, the eldest of them, was married to Zethus, the brother of Amphion, by whom she was the mother of Itylus. From envy of Amphion, who had many children, she determined to murder one of his sons, Amaleus, but in the night she mistook her own son for her nephew, and killed him. Some add, that she killed her own son after Amaleus, from fear of the vengeance of her sister-in-law, Niobe. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 175.) The two other daughters of Pandareos, Merope and Cleodora (according to Pausanias, Cameira and Clytia), were, according to Homer, deprived of their parents by the gods, and remained as helpless orphans in the palace. Aphrodite, however, fed then with milk, honey, and wine. Hera gave them beauty and understanding far above other women. Artemis gave them dignity, and Athena skill in the arts. When Aphrodite went up to Olympus to arrange the nuptials for her maidens, they were carried off by the Harpies. (Hom. Od. 20.67, &c., 19.518, &c.) Polygnotus painted them in the Lesche of Delphi in the act of playing at dice, and adorned with wreaths of flowers.

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