De Incredibilibus

What’s said about Scylla is that she was some kind of beast in the Tyrrhenian sea: a woman down to her navel, from there dogs’ heads sprouted, and the rest of the body a snake. But to imagine her as such a creature is really quite naive.

The truth is this. Tyrrhenian ships used to plunder the coast of Sicily and the Ionian Gulf. There was also at that time a ship - a fast trireme. Its name was ‘Scylla’, and the creature was depicted on its prow. This trireme would often apprehend other boats and make mincemeat out of them, and many stories were told about her. Odysseus, taking advantage of a strong and favourable wind, managed to escape this ship; and in Corcyra he described to Alcinoos how he’d been chased and how he’d escaped and what the skiff looked like. And thus the myth was fabricated.

What’s said about Daidalos is that he crafted statues that moved by themselves. But I think it impossible that a sculpture could walk by itself.

The truth is something like this. Sculptors of that time created statues of men and gods with feet together and arms straight down – Daidalos was the first to create a statue with one foot striding ahead of the other. Because of this people would say, Daidalos made a walking statue, rather than a standing one. It’s just like how we say even today, in that picture, there are men fighting or horses running or a ship thrown about in a storm. So it was said that Daidalos created walking statues.

The account given about Phineus is that the Harpies plundered his livelihood. Some think that they are winged creatures who carried off Phineus’ food from his table.

This is the truth. Phineus was the king of Paionia. He became blind as an old man and his sons died. His daughters Eraseia and Harpyreia …[*](There is a lacuna in the text here.) squandered his livelihood. And so the townspeople would say, Wretched Phineus! The Harpies are plundering his livelihood. Pitying him, his neighbours Zetos and Calais, sons of Boreas (a man, not the wind), came to help. They chased his daughters out of the city, collected some money for him and appointed one of the Thracians as a trustee.

They say about Mestra, daughter of Erysichthon, that she could change shape whenever she wanted. This is an utterly ridiculous myth! For how is it possible for a girl to turn into a cow, and then a dog or bird?

The truth is as follows. Erysichthon was a Thessalian who became poor after wasting his money. He had a beautiful daughter named Mestra, who was of marriageable age. Whoever laid eyes on her was overcome with desire. At that time, men did not offer money for a bride, but instead offered gifts – some of horses, others of cows or sheep, or whatever Mestra wanted. The Thessalians, watching Erysichthon's wealth increasing, would say, The horse, cow and everything else, they’ve all come to Erysichthon from Mestra. It's from this that the myth was fabricated.

They say that Geryon was three-headed. But it is impossible for a body to have three heads.

Something like this actually happened. There is a city on the Black Sea called Trihead. Geryon was famous among people at that time for his wealth, amongst other things. Heracles came for his marvellous herd of cattle and killed Geryon when he resisted. People who saw the cattle being driven off were amazed: for although they were of small stature, they were long from the head to the loins and had flat noses, no horns, and large, broad bones. And so they would say to anyone who asked, Heracles drove off the cattle belonging to Triheaded Geryon. Because of this response, some thought him to have three heads.

They say that Glaucos was consumed by his horses. What they don’t realise is that he was a breeder of horses and that, because he suffered serious losses and didn’t look after his affairs, he was destroyed.

This myth, too, is completely laughable. It says that after Glaucos died in a barrel of honey, Minos buried an Argive man, Polyidos, son of Coiranos, in his tomb. Polyidos had seen a serpent treating another serpent which had died with a herb and resurrecting it and it is said that he did the same thing to Glaucos and resurrected him. But this is impossible. A dead man cannot be resurrected – nor a snake, nor any other living being!

Something of this sort happened. Glaucos drank some honey and it upset his bowels. He became ever more sick and fell unconscious. Among the physicians who came, greedy for money, was Polyidos. He knew that a certain herb would help -- he had learnt about it from a physician called Draco [‘Serpent’]. When Glaucos was close to death, he treated him using this plant and returned him to health. And so people would say, When Glaucos died from honey, Polyidos resurrected him with a plant he had learnt about from Draco. And from this storytellers fashioned the myth.

It is said that this Glaucos once ate a certain herb, became immortal, and now lives in the sea. The idea that Glaucos alone would have happened upon this particular herb is utterly naive. And the same can be said of the idea that a human – or any other terrestrial animal – could live in the sea when not even river creatures can survive in the sea (or, conversely, sea creatures survive in rivers). So, the story is foolish.

The truth is as follows. Glaucos was a fisherman from Anthedon and a diver without equal. While he was diving in the harbour, and people were watching him from the town, he swam across to a certain spot and was not seen for several days by the townspeople. They caught sight of him swimming back and asked him, Where were you these last few days?, and he said, In the sea.

He also kept fish in a tank and, whenever there was a storm and none of the other fishermen could catch fish, he would ask the townspeople which fish they would like, and he would provide them whatever they wanted. Glaucos got the nickname ‘of the sea’ in the same way that today, when someone lives in the mountains and is a good hunter, this man is called ‘of the mountain’. So it was just because Glaucos spent most of his time in the sea that he was dubbed ‘Glaucos of the sea’. And he died when he encountered a savage sea creature. Since he didn’t emerge from the sea, people created the myth that he was living in the sea and would live there for the rest of time.

They say that Bellerophon rode Pegasos, a winged horse. But I don’t think that a horse would ever be capable of flight, not even if it had all the wings of flying creatures. And if such a creature existed then, it would exist now too. They also say that he killed Amisodaros’ Chimaira. The Chimaira was ‘a lion at the front, a serpent at the back and a she-goat in the middle’. Some think that such a beast really did exist even though it had three heads upon one body. But it is impossible for a snake, a lion and a goat to eat the same sort of food. And a mortal being able to breathe fire? Absurd! And which of the heads did the body obey?

The truth is this. Bellerophon was an exile from Corinth, a handsome and noble man. He equipped a large ship and set about plundering and looting the coastal territories as he sailed by. The name of his ship was Pegasos (just as now every ship has a name; and I think the name Pegasos would more likely be given to a ship than to a horse).

King Amisodaros lived near the Xanthos river on a high mountain onto which encroached the Telmissis wood. There are two routes up the mountain: the one at the front from the city of Xanthos, the other, at the back, from Caria. Everywhere else is steep cliffs. In the middle of these is a great chasm in the earth, from which fire erupts. The name of this mountain is Chimaira. Those living near it say that at one time a lion lived along the route at the front and a serpent along the route at the back and that both of these would attack woodcutters and shepherds. Then Bellerophon came and set fire to the mountain. The Telmissis wood was completely burnt down and the beasts killed. And so, those living nearby would say, When Bellerophon arrived with Pegasos, he destroyed Amisodaros’ Chimaira. The myth was fabricated from this actual event.

They say that Pelops came to Pisa with winged horses to court Hippodameia, the daughter of Oinomaos. I repeat what I said about Pegasos. If Oinomaos had noticed that Pelops' horses had wings, he would never have let his daughter step foot in his chariot.

What can be said instead is that Pelops came with a ship upon whose cabin were depicted winged horses. He seized the girl and fled. And so people would say that Pelops seized the daughter of Oinomaos and fled on ‘winged horses’. And so the myth was fabricated.

The story that they tell about Phrixos is that the ram warned him that his father intended to sacrifice his own children, so he took his sister and climbed up onto its back with her. They crossed the sea and arrived at the Black Sea, completing the entire journey in about three or four days. This in particular is fanciful – that a ram could swim through the sea faster than a ship, and to do this carrying two people, and sufficient food and water for himself and for them. (Presumably they could not survive without food for such a length of time!)

And then – so the story goes – Phrixos slaughtered the ram who had warned him and had brought him to safety. He flayed him and gave the fleece to Aietes as a bride price for his daughter. (Aietes was king of that region at the time.) See how rare fleeces were then: a king took a sheepskin in exchange for his own daughter! Or did he consider his own daughter worth so little? To avoid ridicule some now say that the fleece was golden. But if the fleece really had been golden, the king ought not to have taken it from a foreigner. It has also been said that it was for this sheepskin that Jason set out in the Argo with the best of the Greeks. Phrixos would not have been so ungrateful as to murder his protector, nor would the Argo have sailed in search of the skin even if it had been studded with emeralds.

The truth is as follows. Athamas, son of Hellen’s son Aiolos, was king of Phthia. He had entrusted his property and his kingdom to a man whom he considered especially loyal and greatly deserving. His name was Crios (‘Ram’). When Phrixos' mother died, Athamas gave his kingdom to him, since he was the elder. …[*](There is a lacuna in the text here, in which the plot of Athamas’ new wife towards her stepchildren was probably described.) Crios learned about the plot and said nothing to Athamas, but instead spoke to Phrixos and instructed him to leave the country. Crios prepared a ship, placed in it all of Athamas’ valuables, and loaded it with his property and wealth. Amongst these was a statue of the mother of Merops, daughter of Helios, whose name was Cos (‘Fleece’). She had used her own money to have a life-sized statue of herself made out of gold. (It was a huge amount of gold, so the story surrounding it became legendary). Anyway, Crios loaded all this onto the ship along with Phrixos and Helle, and they left. Helle became sick and died during the voyage. (It was after her that the Hellespont was named). The others arrived in Phasis and settled there. Phrixos married the daughter of Aietes, king of Colchis, and gave the golden statue of Cos as a bride price. Later, when Athamas died, Jason sailed on the Argo in search of this golden statue of Cos, and not for a ram’s fleece. This is the truth.

The story told about these women is much more laughable: that Phorcys had three daughters who had a single eye they each made use of in turn. The one using it would insert it in her head in order to see; she would then hand the eye over to the next one, and this is how they all saw. Perseus crept up behind them silently and grabbed their eye. He said that he would not give it back unless they showed him where to find the Gorgon. So they showed him the way. After Perseus cut off the Gorgon's head, he went to Seriphos, showed it to Polydectes, and thus turned him to stone. But this is even more laughable: a living man turning to stone after seeing the head of a corpse? What is the power of a corpse?

What happened was something like this. Phorcys was a Cernaian. The Cernaians were descendants of the Ethiopians who lived on the island of Cerne outside the Pillars of Heracles. They worked Libyan land by the river Annon, [*](The form of the placename is corrupt; ‘Annon’ is one of several (all unlocatable) variants in the manuscripts.) directly opposite Carthage. They were exceptionally rich in gold. This man Phorcys ruled the islands (there are three) outside the Pillars of Heracles and he made a golden statue of Athena, four cubits tall. The Cernaians call Athena ‘Gorgon’, just as the Thracians call Artemis ‘Bendis’, the Cretans ‘Dictyna’, and the Lacedaimonians ‘Oupis’. Anyway, Phorcys died before the statue could be dedicated in the sanctuary, and left behind three daughters: Stheno, Euryale and Medousa. The women didn’t want to marry anyone, so they divided up their father's estate and each ruled one of the islands. Regarding the Gorgon, the women decided neither to dedicate it in the sanctuary nor to divide it between them. Rather, each in turn kept it in her own treasury. Phorcys had a companion, a handsome and noble man, who helped them in all matters, just as if he were their eye.

Perseus was an exile from Argos and was raiding along the coast with ships and a band of men. After learning that there was a kingdom ruled by women, rich in gold, and few in fighting men, he travelled there. He lay in wait in the narrows between Cerne and Sarpedonia, and then captured the Eye when he was sailing through from one island to another. The Eye explained to Perseus that there was nothing worth taking from the women except the Gorgon, and revealed that it was made entirely of gold. When the Eye had not arrived at the agreed-upon time, the women gathered in one place and began accusing one another. Each denied having him, so they began to wonder what had happened. While they were gathered there Perseus launched an attack against them with his ships. He announced that he had the Eye and said that he would not give him back unless they revealed where the Gorgon was. He threatened also to kill the three of them if they did not obey. Medousa refused to disclose the location, but Stheno and Euryale did. So Perseus killed Medousa and handed over the Eye to the other two. He took the Gorgon and dismantled it. He fitted out a trireme, set the head of the Gorgon on it and gave the ship the name ‘Gorgon’.

He sailed around in the trireme exacting money from the islanders and killing those who refused to hand it over. So one day he sailed to the island of the Seriphians and demanded money from them; they asked him for a few days to gather the money. They brought together stones the height of men, deposited them in their agora, and then abandoned Seriphos. Perseus sailed back again for the money that he had demanded, but on entering the agora he found no one there, only stones the height of men. And so Perseus would say to other islanders, when they did not give him his money, Beware that you don’t suffer what the Seriphians did, who gazed at the head of the Gorgon and were turned to stone!

What I say about the Amazons is that they were not women who fought in battle, but they were foreign men who wore full-length tunics, like Thracian women do, and tied up their hair with bands and shaved their beards like the men of Patara on the Xanthos river [*](The form of the placename is corrupt. Following Stern we translate Froehner’s conjecture.) do even now. Because of this, they were called women by their enemies. This race of Amazons was good at fighting. It is unlikely that an army of women ever existed, for there’s no such thing anywhere today.

False, too, is the myth about Orpheus: that four-legged beasts, reptiles, birds and trees would follow him when he played the cithara.

I think that this is how things came to pass. Bacchants in their frenzies tore livestock to pieces in Pieria; amongst the other violent things they did, they decamped to the mountains and spent their days there. While they were up there the townsfolk, worried about their wives and daughters, had to summon Orpheus to devise a plan to get them down from the mountain. After sacrificing to Dionysos, he led down the frenzied women playing his cithara. They came down from the mountain holding then for the first time stalks of giant fennel and branches from all sorts of trees. People watching were amazed by the foliage and said, Even the forest comes down from the mountain when Orpheus plays his cithara. And from this event the myth was fabricated.

The story about Pandora is not acceptable: that she was moulded from clay and then passed on her likeness to others. I don’t think this is the case.

Rather, Pandora was a very wealthy Greek woman and, whenever she went out, she would adorn herself by applying a lot of clay to her skin. She was the first to discover how to use a lot of clay to enhance her complexion. (Many women do this now, but none of them attracts comment for it because it's so common). That was the actual event, but the story was turned into something impossible.

Among the other foolish things people say is that the first race of humans was born from ash trees [meliai]. But I think it is not possible for humans to be born from wood.

Rather, there was a man called Melios, after whom were named the Meliai [‘daughters of Melios’], just as the Hellenes were named after Hellen and the Ionians were named after Ion. But that whole family line perished and the name was lost. Likewise, the races of iron and bronze never existed, but are made-up nonsense.

The same thing happened with regard to Heracles. It is said that he had leaves on his body....[*](The text of this entry is corrupt. The lacunae cannot be reconstructed with any certainty.) And so Philoites …[*](The text of this entry is corrupt. The lacunae cannot be reconstructed with any certainty.) the first individual to invent this method, burnt [the wounds] and returned him to health. The story was elaborated from this actual event.

What’s said about Ketos [‘the sea monster’] is that he would periodically emerge from the sea at Troy. If they gave it girls to eat, it would go away, but if they didn’t, it would ravage their land. But it’s naive for people to make pacts with fish – who doesn’t know that?

This is what happened. There was a great king – very powerful and with a large navy – who subjugated the whole coast of Asia. Those subjugated to him paid taxes which they called ‘tribute’. The people of that time did not use currency but paid in goods. From some cities he demanded horses, from others, cattle, and from others, girls. This king’s name was actually Keton, but those who could not speak Greek called him ‘Ketos’. He would sail around demanding the tribute at the appointed time and destroy the land of whoever did not hand it over.

At one of these times, Heracles arrived at Troy with an army of Greeks. King Laomedon paid him to help the Trojans. Keton unloaded his troops and advanced on foot. When Heracles and Laomedon, each with his own army, met him in battle, they killed him. And the myth was fabricated from this event.

It is said about the Lernaian Hydra that it was a snake with fifty heads but one body, and that whenever Heracles cut off one of its heads, two more would grow. It is also said that Crab came to the rescue of the Hydra and that on that occasion Iolaos aided Heracles, seeing as Crab was aiding the Hydra. If anyone believes that such a thing existed, they’re a fool: the image is laughable! And why, whenever Heracles cut off one of the heads, was he not devoured by the others and consumed by pain?

Something like this must have happened. Lernos was the king of this region and it took its name from him. (At that time, everyone there lived in small villages; this is now Argive territory.) In those days there existed the cities of Argos, Mycenae, Tiryns, [*](We translate Westermann’s conjecture Τίρυνς rather than the transmitted Τυρ(ρ)ήνη.) and Lerna, and a king was appointed to each. The other kings were subject to Eurystheus, son of Persues’ son Sthenelos, as he had the greatest and most populous territory, that of Mycenae. But Lernos had no desire to be subject to him, and this is why they went to war. There was then, on a pass that gave access to Lernos, a formidable fort. It was guarded by fifty brave bowmen who manned a tower unceasingly, day and night. The name of this fort was Hydra.

Eurystheus sent Heracles to conquer the fort. Heracles’ men began to attack the archers with fiery missiles, but whenever any one of them was struck and fell, two would step up in his place, following the brave example of the fallen man. Since Lernos almost besieged by Heracles, he hired Carian mercenaries. There arrived a tall and warlike man named Carcinos [‘Crab’] at the head of the army. With his help, they held out against Heracles.

Then Iolaos, son of Iphicles and Heracles’ nephew, arrived to help out with an army from Thebes. He approached Hydra and set fire to the regenerating tower. And thus, with this force, Heracles conquered the Lernaians: he defeated Hydra and destroyed the army. This is the event that they wrote up with the Hydra as a snake, and so fabricated the myth.

What is said about Cerberos is that he was a dog with three heads. It is clear that, just like Geryon, he too was from the city called Trihead and so people would say, That’s a large and handsome Triheaded hound! It is said that Heracles led him up out of Hades: such a myth!

What happened was something like this. Guarding his cattle Geryon had two large, spirited dogs whose names were Cerberos and Orthos. Orthos was done away with by Heracles in Trihead after he had rounded up the cattle. Cerberos, meanwhile, went along with the herd. Wanting the dog, a Mycenaean man by the name of Molottos first asked Eurystheus to give him the dog. After Eurystheus refused, Molottos persuaded the herdsmen to let him keep the dog penned up in a cave on Cape Tainaron in Laconia. Because Cerberos sired excellent offspring, he would lower down female dogs for him to mount.

Eurystheus sent Heracles on the hunt for the dog. Having wandered the whole Peloponnese, he arrived at the place where he had been tipped off that the dog was to be found. He descended into the cave and led the dog out. And so people would say, Having descended through a cave into Hades, Heracles led the dog up out of there.