But Pelias dwelt in Thessaly and married Anaxibia, daughter of Bias, but according to some his wife was Phylomache, daughter of Amphion; and he begat a son, Acastus, and daughters, Pisidice, Pelopia, Hippothoe, and Alcestis.[*](Compare Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 175.)
Cretheus founded Iolcus and married Tyro,
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daughter of Salmoneus, by whom he had sons, Aeson, Amythaon, and Pheres.
[*](Compare Hom. Od. 11.258ff.; Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 175.) Amythaon dwelt in Pylus and married Idomene, daughter of Pheres, and there were born to him two sons, Bias and Melampus. The latter lived in the country, and before his house there was an oak, in which there was a lair of snakes. His servants killed the snakes, but Melampus gathered wood and burnt the reptiles, and reared the young ones. And when the young were full grown, they stood beside him at each of his shoulders as he slept, and they purged his ears with their tongues. He started up in a great fright, but understood the voices of the birds flying overhead, and from what he learned from them he foretold to men what should come to pass.
[*](As to the mode in which Melampus learned the language of birds, and with it the art of divination, from serpents in return for the kindness which he had shown to their species, see Scholiast on Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.118; compare Eustathius on Hom. Od. xi.292, p. 1685; Pliny, Nat. Hist. x.137. Helenus and Cassandra are said to have acquired their prophetic power in like manner. As children they were left overnight in a temple of Apollo, and in the morning serpents were found licking their ears. See Scholiast on Hom. Il. vii.44; Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron, Introd. vol. i. pp. 266ff., ed. C. G. Müller. Polybius said that perhaps we and all men might have understood the language of all animals if a serpent had washed our ears (Porphyry, De abstinentia iii.4). In the folk-tales of many lands, men are said to have obtained a knowledge of the language of animals from serpents, either by eating the flesh of serpents or in other ways. See Frazer, “The Language of Animals,” The Archaeological Review`, i. (1888), pp. 166ff. ) He acquired besides the art of taking the auspices, and having fallen in with Apollo at the Alpheus he was ever after an excellent soothsayer.
Bias wooed Pero, daughter of Neleus.[*](The following romantic tale of the wooing of Pero is told also by the Scholiast on Hom. Od. xi.287. It is repeated also in substantially the same form by Eustathius on Hom. Od. 11.292, p. 1685. Compare Scholiast on Theocritus iii.43; Scholiast on Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.118; Prop. ii.3.51ff. A summary of the story, shorn of its miraculous elements, is given by Homer (Hom. Od. 11.287-297, Hom. Od. 15.225-238) and Paus. 4.36.3). See Frazer's Appendix to Apollodorus, “Melampus and the kine of Phylacus.”) But as there were many suitors for his daughter's hand,
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Neleus said that he would give her to him who should bring him the kine of Phylacus. These were in Phylace, and they were guarded by a dog which neither man nor beast could come near. Unable to steal these kine, Bias invited his brother to help him. Melampus promised to do so, and foretold that he should be detected in the act of stealing them, and that he should get the kine after being kept in bondage for a year. After making this promise he repaired to Phylace and, just as he had foretold, he was detected in the theft and kept a prisoner in a cell. When the year was nearly up, he heard the worms in the hidden part of the roof, one of them asking how much of the beam had been already gnawed through, and others answering that very little of it was left. At once he bade them transfer him to another cell, and not long after that had been done the cell fell in. Phylacus marvelled, and perceiving that he was an excellent soothsayer, he released him and invited him to say how his son Iphiclus might get children. Melampus promised to tell him, provided he got the kine. And having sacrificed two bulls and cut them in pieces he summoned the birds; and when a vulture came, he learned from it that once, when Phylacus was gelding rams, he laid down the knife, still bloody, beside Iphiclus, and that when the child was frightened and ran away, he stuck the knife on the sacred oak,
[*](According to the Scholiast on Hom. Od. xi.287, 290 and Eustathius on Hom. Od. xi.292, p. 1685, the tree was not an oak but a wild pear-tree (ἄχερδος).) and the
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bark encompassed the knife and hid it. He said, therefore, that if the knife were found, and he scraped off the rust, and gave it to Iphiclus to drink for ten days, he would beget a son. Having learned these things from the vulture, Melampus found the knife, scraped the rust, and gave it to Iphiclus for ten days to drink, and a son Podarces was born to him.
[*](Compare Apollod. E.3.20, with the note.) But he drove the kine to Pylus, and having received the daughter of Neleus he gave her to his brother. For a time he continued to dwell in Messene, but when Dionysus drove the women of Argos mad, he healed them on condition of receiving part of the kingdom, and settled down there with Bias.
[*](See below, Apollod. 2.2.2; Diod. 2.68.4; Paus. 2.18.4.) Bias and Pero had a son Talaus, who married Lysimache, daughter of Abas, son of Melampus, and had by her Adrastus, Parthenopaeus, Pronax, Mecisteus, Aristomachus, and Eriphyle, whom Amphiaraus married. Parthenopaeus had a son Promachus, who marched with the Epigoni against Thebes;[*](Compare below, Apollod. 3.7.2.) and Mecisteus had a son Euryalus, who went to Troy.[*](See Hom. Il. 2.565ff. ) Pronax had a son Lycurgus; and Adrastus had by Amphithea, daughter of Pronax, three daughters, Argia, Deipyle, and Aegialia, and two sons, Aegialeus and Cyanippus.
Pheres, son of Cretheus, founded Pherae in Thessaly and begat Admetus and Lycurgus. Lycurgus took up his abode at Nemea, and having married Eurydice, or, as some say, Amphithea, he begat Opheltes, afterwards called Archemorus.[*](See below, Apollod. 3.6.4.)
When Admetus reigned over Pherae, Apollo served him as his thrall,[*](See below, Apollod. 3.10.4.) while Admetus
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wooed Alcestis, daughter of Pelias. Now Pelias had promised to give his daughter to him who should yoke a lion and a boar to a car, and Apollo yoked and gave them to Admetus, who brought them to Pelias and so obtained Alcestis.
[*](Compare Hyginus, Fab. 50, 51.) But in offering a sacrifice at his marriage, he forgot to sacrifice to Artemis; therefore when he opened the marriage chamber he found it full of coiled snakes. Apollo bade him appease the goddess and obtained as a favour of the Fates that, when Admetus should be about to die, he might be released from death if someone should choose voluntarily to die for him. And when the day of his death came neither his father nor his mother would die for him, but Alcestis died in his stead. But the Maiden
[*](That is, Persephone.) sent her up again, or, as some say, Hercules fought with Hades and brought her up to him.
[*](This pathetic story is immortalized by Euripides in his noble tragedy Alcestis, happily still extant. Compare Zenobius, Cent. i.18, which to a certain extent agrees verbally with this passage of Apollodorus. The tale of Admetus and Alcestis has its parallel in history. Once when Philip II of Spain had fallen ill and seemed like to die, his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, “in her distress, implored the Almighty to spare a life so important to the welfare of the kingdom and of the church, and instead of it to accept the sacrifice of her own. Heaven, says the chronicler, as the result showed, listened to her prayer. The king recovered; and the queen fell ill of a disorder which in a few days terminated fatally.” So they laid the dead queen to her last rest, with the kings of Spain, in the gloomy pile of the Escurial among the wild and barren mountains of Castile; but there was no Herakles to complete the parallel with the Greek legend by restoring her in the bloom of life and beauty to the arms of her husband. See W. H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, bk. vi. chap. 2, at the end.) Aeson, son of Cretheus, had a son Jason by Polymede, daughter of Autolycus. Now Jason dwelt in
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Iolcus, of which Pelias was king after Cretheus.
[*](For the story of Pelias and Jason, see Pind. P. 4.73(129)ff., with the Scholia; Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.5ff.; Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron i.175; Hyginus, Fab. 12, 13; Serv. Verg. Ecl. 4.34; Lactantius Placidus on Statius, Theb. iii.516. The present passage of Apollodorus is copied almost literally, but as usual without acknowledgment, by Zenobius, Cent. iv.92. It was the regular custom of Aetolian warriors to go with the left foot shod and the right foot unshod. See Macrobius, Sat. v.18- 21, quoting Euripides and Aristotle; Scholiast on Pind. P. 4.133. So the two hundred men who broke through the Spartan lines at the siege of Plataea were shod on the left foot only (Thuc. 3.22). Virgil represents some of the rustic militia of Latium marching to war with their right feet shod and their left feet bare (Verg. A. 7.689ff.). As to the custom, see Taboo and the Perils of the Soul, pp. 311ff. ) But when Pelias consulted the oracle concerning the kingdom, the god warned him to beware of the man with a single sandal. At first the king understood not the oracle, but afterwards he apprehended it. For when he was offering a sacrifice at the sea to Poseidon, he sent for Jason, among many others, to participate in it. Now Jason loved husbandry and therefore abode in the country, but he hastened to the sacrifice, and in crossing the river Anaurus he lost a sandal in the stream and landed with only one. When Pelias saw him, he bethought him of the oracle, and going up to Jason asked him what, supposing he had the power, he would do if he had received an oracle that he should be murdered by one of the citizens. Jason answered, whether at haphazard or instigated by the angry Hera in order that Medea should prove a curse to Pelias, who did not honor Hera, “ I would command him,” said he, “ to bring the Golden Fleece. ” No sooner did Pelias hear that than he bade him go in quest of the fleece. Now it was at Colchis in a grove of Ares, hanging on an oak and guarded by a sleepless dragon.
[*](See Ap. Rhod., Argon. ii.1268-1270, iv.123ff. 163.) Sent to fetch the fleece, Jason called in the help of Argus, son of Phrixus; and Argus, by Athena's advice,
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built a ship of fifty oars named Argo after its builder; and at the prow Athena fitted in a speaking timber from the oak of Dodona.
[*](Compare Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.524ff., iv.580ff.; Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 175. The following narrative of the voyage of the Argo is based mainly on the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius. As to the voyage of the Argonauts, see further Pind. P. 4.156(276)ff.; Diod. 4.40-49; Orphica, Argonautica; Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 175; Hyginus, Fab. 12, 14-23; Ov. Met. 7.1ff.; Valerius Flaccus, Argon. ) When the ship was built, and he inquired of the oracle, the god gave him leave to assemble the nobles of Greece and sail away. And those who assembled were as follows:
[*](For lists of the Argonauts, see Pind. P. 4.171ff.; Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.20ff.; Orphica, Argonautica 119ff.; Valerius Flaccus, Argon. i.352ff.; Hyginus, Fab. 14.) Tiphys, son of Hagnias, who steered the ship; Orpheus, son of Oeagrus; Zetes and Calais, sons of Boreas; Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus; Telamon and Peleus, sons of Aeacus; Hercules, son of Zeus; Theseus, son of Aegeus; Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus; Amphiaraus, son of Oicles; Caeneus, son of Coronus; Palaemon, son of Hephaestus or of Aetolus; Cepheus, son of Aleus; Laertes son of Arcisius; Autolycus, son of Hermes; Atalanta, daughter of Schoeneus; Menoetius, son of Actor; Actor, son of Hippasus; Admetus, son of Pheres; Acastus, son of Pelias; Eurytus, son of Hermes; Meleager, son of Oeneus; Ancaeus, son of Lycurgus; Euphemus, son of Poseidon; Poeas, son of Thaumacus; Butes, son of Teleon; Phanus and Staphylus, sons of Dionysus; Erginus, son of Poseidon; Periclymenus, son of Neleus; Augeas, son of the Sun; Iphiclus, son of Thestius; Argus, son of Phrixus; Euryalus, son of Mecisteus; Peneleos, son of Hippalmus; Leitus, son of Alector; Iphitus, son of Naubolus;
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Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Ares; Asterius, son of Cometes; Polyphemus, son of Elatus.
These with Jason as admiral put to sea and touched at Lemnos.[*](As to the visit of the Argonauts to Lemnos, see Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.607ff.; Orphica, Argonautica 473ff.; Scholiast on Hom. Il. vii.468; Valerius Flaccus, Argon. ii.77ff.; Hyginus, Fab. 15. As to the massacre of the men of Lemnos by the women, see further Hdt. 6.138; Apostolius, Cent. x.65; Zenobius, Cent. iv.91; Scholiast on Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.609, 615. The visit of the Argonauts to Lemnos was the theme of plays by Aeschylus and Sophocles. See TGF (Nauck 2nd ed.), pp. 79, 215ff.; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, ii.51ff. The Lemnian traditions have been interpreted as evidence of a former custom of gynocracy, or the rule of men by women, in the island. See J. J. Bachofen, Das Mutterrecht (Stuttgart, 1861), pp. 84ff. Every year the island of Lemnos was purified from the guilt of the massacre and sacrifices were offered to the dead. The ceremonies lasted nine days, during which all fires were extinguished in the island, and a new fire was brought by ship from Delos. If the vessel arrived before the sacrifices to the dead had been offered, it might not put in to shore or anchor, but had to cruise in the offing till they were completed. See Philostratus, Her. xx.24.) At that time it chanced that Lemnos was bereft of men and ruled over by a queen, Hypsipyle, daughter of Thoas, the reason of which was as follows. The Lemnian women did not honor Aphrodite, and she visited them with a noisome smell; therefore their spouses took captive women from the neighboring country of Thrace and bedded with them. Thus dishonored, the Lemnian women murdered their fathers and husbands, but Hypsipyle alone saved her father Thoas by hiding him. So having put in to Lemnos, at that time ruled by women, the Argonauts had intercourse with the women, and Hypsipyle bedded with Jason and bore sons, Euneus and Nebrophonus.