| Parthenon |
 |
| The temple of Athene (Athena) Parthenos (i.e. Athene the Maiden) on the Acropolis in the city of Athens; built during the time of the most famous and popular archon of Athens, Pericles 447-438 BCE. |
| The temple is now in ruins and a reconstruction project, begun in 2000, promises to complete the restoration of the north colonnade which was improperly done between 1923-1930; the purpose of the current project is to correct the inadequacies of the earlier restoration and return the north façade to its appearance before the unfortunate and senseless explosion of 1687. |
| The temple stands atop the acropolis of Athens and occupies the site of an earlier temple known as the Hecatompedon, i.e. the hundred foot temple; technically the term Parthenon applies only to the portion of the temple containing the naos, i.e. the base on which the statue of Athene stood, but the distinction is fleeting and the entire structure is commonly called The Parthenon. |
| The Parthenon was not built as a place of worship but as a home for the goddess; Athene was thought to dwell in the structure and made her presence known by signs and omens; her favored animals, owls and a giant snake, frequented the Parthenon and there comings and goings served as symbols of her pleasures and wrath; parts of the building were used to store her treasures as well as the Athenian treasury and the assets of the Delian League. |
| The construction of the Parthenon was just a portion of the ambitious public works and building projects undertaken by Pericles but this magnificent structure is the single most impressive product of that era; the supervision of the design and construction was given to a man named Phidias; the architects were Kallikrates (Callicrates) and Iktinus (Ictinus); Pericles gave Phidias a free hand in the details but also warned him to keep meticulous records so that no charge of embezzlement or misappropriation could be leveled against him by members of the political opposition, this caution proved to exonerated Phidias from those charges but his distracters eventually had this brilliant artist and master craftsman imprisoned for “impiety.” |
| The temple was built with stones and white marble from Mount Penteli which borders Athens on the northeast; the naos (cella in Latin) was surrounded by a colonnade of 46 Doric columns; each column was approximately 35 feet (10.7 meters) in height; Phidias also supervised the instillation of the 92 square-panel metopes which decorated the architrave depicting events from history and mythology; the metopes were painted with vivid blue, gold and red pigment; the triangular pediments on the eastern and western sides had representations of Athene competing (and defeating) Poseidon for the dominance of Attica; there were 92 statues and a 520 foot (158.5 meter) brightly painted frieze depicting the procession of the Panathenaea where a giant peplos, i.e. a loose ankle length robe, was carried to the Parthenon and draped on the statue of the goddess. |
| The purpose of the temple was to house the statue of Athene Parthenos (i.e. Athene the Maiden); the statue was destroyed in the third century CE and we only have suggestions as to its true shape and size; the statue is thought to have been approximately 30 feet (9 meters) in height and covered with gold and decorated with ivory. |
| The entire structure has the distinction of being purposely built with slight imperfections; the base is not quite level and the sides are not exactly straight; modern engineers and archeologists agree that these variations were not design flaws but conscious decisions based on laudable artistic ideals and incredible inventive foresight; these subtle affectations has the overall effect of “softening” the effects of the size of the temple and the coldness of the marble. |
| When Athens came under the control of the Christians and then the Moslems, the Parthenon was transformed into a church and then a mosque; in 1687 the Turks used the Parthenon as an ammunition depot; the inevitable explosion did more damage than the previous 2000 years of natural devolution and manmade abuse. |
| The Parthenon is now a national monument and is carefully guarded and monitored by the Greek government; there is an ongoing legal battle between the governments of England and Greece to return the so-called Elgin Marbles from the British Museum to their rightful place, i.e. Greece. |
| Pausanias 3 |
| pove sah NEE ahs |
| The assassin of Philip II of Macedon. |
| Pausanias was a member of Philip’s bodyguard and became jealous of the attention Philip was bestowing on another man also named Pausanias; Pausanias berated the other man, he called him a hermaphrodite and was otherwise verbally abusive; the other Pausanias confided in a member of Philip’s court, Attalus, and vowed to redeem his name with an act of selfless sacrifice; soon thereafter, Philip was engaged in a battle with the Illyrians and the shamed Pausanias threw himself in front of Philip to protect him from an enemy assault; he suffered the fatal blows which were intended for Philip and died heroically. |
| Attalus was so moved by his friend’s heroic death that he decided to seek vengeance on Pausanias; Attalus got Pausanias very drunk and gave his unconscious body to some mule drivers who proceeded to physically abuse Pausanias; when Pausanias regained his senses, he was outraged; he took his complaint to Philip and demanded justice; Philip refused to reprimand Attalus because he was the nephew of Philip’s forth wife, Kleopatra (Cleopatra), as well as being a courageous and effective army commander; Philip tried to soothe Pausanias’ anger by giving him gifts and promoting him in the ranks of his bodyguards but Pausanias was not mollified. |
| Pausanias nursed his anger over the next several years but kept his schemes of revenge to himself; Pausanias was the student of the sophist philosopher, Hermocrates, and asked his teacher how he might become famous; Hermocrates answered the hypothetical question by saying that if someone were to murder a person of great accomplishments, the murderer would be remembered as long as the person he murdered was remembered. |
| In 336 BCE Pausanias decided to kill Philip at an upcoming festival but this was no ordinary festival; dignitaries from all parts of Greece were in attendance and it was also the occasion of the marriage of Philip’s daughter, Kleopatra, by his third wife, Olympias (Myrtale); the crowds were entertained by poets and athletes but the high point of the ceremony was a procession of elaborate statues of the twelve Olympian Immortals plus an equally elaborate statue of Philip; his bodyguards had been instructed to keep their distance as Philip walked into the center of the theatre to bask in the adoration of the visitors; at that moment, Pausanias ran forward and fatally stabbed Philip in the ribs with a Celtic dagger; Pausanias had left horses at strategic locations in order to make his escape but, as fate would have it, he stumbled on a vine and fell; before he could regain his footing, he was killed by the javelins of three pursuing guards, Attalus, Perdikkas (Perdiccas) and Leonnatus. |
| Without knowing how profound his advice would be, Hermocrates had made Pausanias the murderer of the father of Alexander the Great; Pausanias will be remembered for a very long time. |
| There are historians who try to make the argument that Alexander was in some way involved in his father’s assassination but I cannot subscribe to that notion; a careful reading of the accounts of Alexander’s later life makes it abundantly clear that, although he could be ruthless to his enemies, he was also a man of fierce loyalty to his friends and family; Alexander had personal weaknesses but foolishness was not one of his failings; to think that Alexander somehow engineered the assassination of his father a plot element that might be suited to tragic drama but has no place in objective history. |
| Diodorus Siculus, book 16.90-95 |
| Plutarch’s Lives, Alexander, X.3 |
| Peace (Eirene) 1 |
| The goddess Eirene; the personification of Peace; a daughter of Zeus and Themis; Eirene is one of the Horae (The Hours), i.e. the goddesses of the Seasons; the keepers of Heaven’s Gate; her sisters are Eunomia (Harmony) and Dike (Justice). |
| The Horae assist the Olympians by organizing the Seasons and adding balance to Nature; the Horae guard Mount Olympos (Olympus) with a dark veil and open and close the gates of the sky for the other Immortals as they travel to and from their earthly domains. |
| In The Iliad, we see the Horae personally attending Hera and her horses; they open the sky and Hera zooms from her home on Mount Olympos to Mount Ida to distract Zeus from the battle for Troy. |
| Iliad (Lattimore), book 5, (Hours) lines 749 and 750; book 8, (Hours) lines 393 and 433 |
| Iliad (Loeb), book 5, (Hours) line 749; book 8, (Hours) lines 393 and 433 |
| Iliad (Fagles), book 5, (Seasons) line 859; book 8, (Seasons) lines 449 and 498 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 5, (Hours) line 856; book 8, (Hours) lines 444 and 488 |
| Theogony, line 902 |
| Peace (Eirene) 2 |
| A comic play by the Athenian poet, Aristophanes, produced in 421 BCE at the Great Dionysia where it won second prize. |
| Cast of Characters: |
| Trygaios |
| Hermes |
| Ares |
| Eirene (Peace) |
| Hierokles (Hierocles) |
| Son of Lamachos |
| Son of Kleonymos (Cleonymos) |
| Tumult (Omados or Homados) |
| When this play was presented, the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) had been going on for ten years and the need for peace was becoming urgent; shortly after the production of Peace, Athens and Sparta managed to negotiate a treaty which gave the war ravaged Greeks a five year reprieve from the brutal and unrelenting war. |
| The story revolves around a common man named Trygaios who has had enough of the war and decides to take his complaint directly to Zeus; he does not intend to pray or sacrifice in order to get Zeus’ attention, he intends to go to Mount Olympos (Olympus) and confront Zeus face to face. |
| Mounting a flying dung-beetle named Pegasos (Pegasus), Trygaios files to Mount Olympos and is greeted by Hermes; the majority of the gods and goddesses have fled the sacred mountain; Ares (god of War) seems to be in charge of the mountain and he’s urgently looking for a pestle for his mortar so he can grind more Greek cities into dust; he is dismayed to find that the Athenian Kleon (Cleon) and the Spartan Brasides have been killed in the war because they were the best pestles he had. |
| The goddess Eirene (Peace) has been buried in a pit and Trygaios urges the chorus (who represent the various people of Greece) to help him dig her out; the city-folk in the chorus work at cross purposes but the country-folk work together and free Eirene from captivity; there follows a very interesting and highly symbolic scene where Eirene will not speak directly to the chorus but whispers to Hermes and he relates her messages; it seems that the Greeks have called upon Eirene too often with false promises and betrayed her trust; she does not feel that they will give her true homage and therefore will not favor them with her life sustaining voice. |
| Trygaios persuades Eirene to allow her handmaiden to return to Athens with him so that he can show the Council that Eirene will help them if they will give up their hateful ways; when Trygaios is once again on the earth’s surface he faces the audience and tells them that they looked very small and wicked when he flew above them on his dung-beetle and, now that he’s closer, they seem even more so. |
| A sacrifice is made to Eirene and the tradesmen start to approach Trygaios; the sickle-maker is jubilant because business is booming with the farmers working in their fields again; the craftsmen who made war implements are distraught because their products are now worthless; Trygaios suggests that shields be used as commodes and that helmets have handles attached so they can be used as wine pitchers; in the end, all seems to be as it should be with all the people of Greece reclaiming their peaceful traditions. |
| Aristophanes’ plays are sometimes difficult to appreciate because he was a very contemporary poet, i.e. he was writing for the Athenian audience of his day; he would use puns, parody regional accents and speak directly to the audience in ways that force modern translators to seek out the contextual meaning rather than the literal meaning of the poet’s words; for that reason, I suggest that if you find a translation that is difficult to enjoy, please don’t blame Aristophanes, simply look for a translation that you can enjoy; when trying to find a readable translator, you may find this play at your local library in the 882 section or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site. |
| Pedasos (Pedasus) 4 |
| PEA dah sos |
| One of the chariot horses of Achilles; Pedasos had been captured by Achilles when he had taken the city of Thebes and killed Eetion, Andromache’s father; Pedasos was a mortal animal, i.e. he was not born of Immortal stock, but had no trouble keeping up with the other horses which pulled Achilles’ chariot, Balios and Xanthos (Xanthus), who were immortal. |
| When Achilles refused to fight for the Argives, the Trojans gained the upper hand in the fighting and in order to rally the Greeks, Achilles’ lifelong companion, Patroklos (Patroclus), put on Achilles’ armor and mounted Achilles’ chariot with Pedasos, Balios and Xanthos; as Patroklos charged into the Trojan defenses everyone assumed that it was Achilles; the Trojans were fearful and the Argives were invigorated; Patroklos soon encountered a son of Zeus named Sarpedon; when Patroklos engaged Sarpedon, he killed Sarpedon’s charioteer, Thrasymelos (Thrasymelus); Sarpedon threw his spear at Patroklos but missed and hit Pedasos in the right shoulder; Pedasos screamed and went down into the dust, dead; one of Patroklos’ companions, Automedon, drew his sword and cut the reins binding Pedasos to Balios and Xanthos and the two immortal horses regained their footing; Patroklos again charged Sarpedon and killed him. |
| Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 16, lines 152 and 467 |
| Iliad (Fagles), (Bold Dancer) book 16, lines 182 and 554 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 16, lines 177 and 540 |
| Peirithoos (Peirithous) |
 |
| Peirithoos fighting a Centaur for the sake of Laodameia. |
| The legendary king of the Lapithae in Thessaly near Mount Pelion; the son of Zeus and possibly Dia; in The Iliad (book 14, line 318) Peirithoos is simply said to be the son of Zeus and a woman who is said to be the wife of Ixion but she is not named. |
| The life and death of Peirithoos was closely tied to the exploits of the legendary Athenian king, Theseus; Peirithoos had heard of the reputation of Theseus and was compelled to test him; Peirithoos stole some of Theseus’ cattle from the plain of Marathon and when Theseus came after him, Peirithoos did not try to escape but rather stood his ground and faced the hero; the two men were impressed with each other and instead of fighting, Peirithoos extended his hand in friendship and swore that he would accept any punishment that Theseus deemed appropriate; Theseus opted for forgiveness instead of punishment and the two men sealed their friendship with an oath. |
| Peirithoos invited Theseus to a wedding feast and one way or another, the two men led the Lapithae in a war against the Centaurs; there are at least two versions of how the Centaurs disrupted the wedding feast: |
| 1) The wedding was for Peirithoos and Diedamia and the Centaurs were invited guests; the Centaurs became intoxicated and began to harass the Lapithae women; or |
| 2) The wedding was for Peirithoos’ daughter Hippodamia and the neighboring Centaurs raided the festivities and tried to kidnap Hippodamia. |
| Regardless of the motivation, Peirithoos, Theseus and the Lapithae men began to fight with the Centaurs and a bitter war ensued; the Lapithae eventually drove the Centaurs from the area of Mount Pelion. |
| Peirithoos and Theseus were responsible for the kidnapping of Helen when she was a young girl; while in the city of Sparta, the two men saw Helen dancing in the temple of the goddess Artemis; they were captivated by her childlike beauty and took the girl; after they had successfully escaped their pursuers, the two villains drew lots to see who would be allowed to marry Helen; the winner would help the loser find a wife; Theseus won the draw and his plan was to hide Helen with his mother until she was of marrying age. |
| Peirithoos and Theseus went to the town of Aphidnus where they planned to kidnap the daughter of Aidoneus, Kore (Core); when Aidoneus realized what the two plotters were planning, he turned his dog loose on Peirithoos; in this way, a man of renown and responsibility, died the death of a scoundrel. |
| Pelion |
| Mount Pelion; A wooded mountain in Thessaly; sometimes considered more of a hill than a mountain; located near the eastern coast of the mainland and having a height of 5,250 feet (1,600 meters). |
| The slopes of Pelion were the home of the Centaurs before the war with the Lapithae; during their war with the Immortals, the Gigantes (Giants) tried to pile Mount Ossa on top of Mount Pelion in order to reach the summit of Mount Olympos (Olympus). |
| Mount Pelion was the site of the marriage between Thetis and Peleus; as one of the wedding gifts; the Centaur, Cheiron (Chiron), presented an ashen spear which he had fashioned from wood cut from Mount Pelion; the spear was polished by the goddess, Athene (Athena) and, as finishing touch, Hephaistos (Hephaestus) fitted it with a head; eventually the spear was used by Achilles during the siege of the city of Troy; men from the area around Mount Pelion were part of the Greek forces and were called Magnesians, i.e. men from Magnesia. |
| The ship the Argonauts used, the Argo, was built below Mount Pelion. |
| When the fighting at Troy had reached a peak, Achilles put on his newly forged armor and surged into the Trojan defenses; one of his most notable weapons was a spear made of Pelian ash. |
| When the Persians invaded Greece circa 480 BCE, their large naval fleet was wrecked by storms off the coast near Mount Pelion; also spelled Pelium. |
| Histories, book 4.179; book 7.129; book 8.8 and 8.12 |
| The Kypria, fragment 2 |
| Iliad (Lattimore), book 2, line 758; book 16, line 144; book 19, line 391 |
| Iliad (Loeb), book 2, line 757; book 16, line 144; book 19, line 391 |
| Iliad (Fagles), book 2, line 846; book 16, line 171; book 19, line 461 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, line 888; book 16, line 166; book 19, line 428 |
| Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 11, line 316 |
| Odyssey (Fagles), book 11, line 359 |
| Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 11, line 366 |
| Periander |
| peh REE an der |
| The tyrant of the city of Corinth circa 625-585 BCE. |
| Periander succeeded his father Kypselus (Cypselus) and, at the beginning of his reign, was a wise and beneficial ruler; he was noted as a stern but fair man with a devotion to the arts and an inspiration to commerce; he was also included as one of the Seven Sages by some historians which is an indication of his reputation not only in Corinth but throughout the ancient civilized world; his father had been a brutal and murderous man and Periander eventually became as notorious and deadly as his father. |
| The historian, Herodotus, relates an interesting story about Periander and his wife, Melissa, and the alienation of his son Lykophron (Lycophron); Periander and Melissa had three children, Lykophron, another son one year older than Lykophron and a daughter of unstated age; Periander murdered Melissa but his children didn’t know the truth until Lykophron was seventeen and his older brother was eighteen. |
| Periander allowed his sons to visit their grandfather (Melissa’s father), Prokles (Procles), tyrant of Epidaurus; as the boys were leaving Epidaurus, Prokles asked them if they knew who had murdered their mother; he implied, without actually saying so, that their father had murdered their mother; Lykophron understood what Prokles was saying and when he returned to Corinth he would not speak to his father; Periander finally became so irritated with Lykophron’s aloofness that he made Lykophron leave the house; Periander asked his older son what Prokles had said or done to make Lykophron act in such a way but it took some time for the boy to remember what his grandfather had said; Periander assumed that Lykophron would soon come to his senses and beg forgiveness but Lykophron was strong willed and moved in with a friend instead of returning home; Periander threatened Lykophron’s friend and he was turned out into the streets; after another friend took Lykophron in, Periander made a proclamation that anyone who spoke or associated with Lykophron would be subject to a fine to be paid to Apollon. |
| Three days later, Periander saw Lykophron in the streets; the boy was unwashed and hungry; Periander took pity on his son and tried to reason with him; he reminded Lykophron of all the riches he was destined to inherit and said that it was better to be a prince than a beggar; Periander more or less admitted that he had killed Melissa but said that the blame and punishment should not be passed on to his sons; he begged Lykophron to return home; Lykophron was unmoved by his father’s pleas and simply said that Periander had violated his own proclamation and now owed a fine to Apollon for speaking to an outcast. |
| Periander realized that Lykophron was beyond all reason and had him taken to the island of Kerkyra (Corcyra) where he would be out of sight and less of an embarrassment; Kerkyra was a colony of Corinth but there was enmity between them despite their kinship; eventually Periander became too old to manage the affairs of Corinth so he sent a messenger to Lykophron and asked him to return to Corinth because the older boy was too dimwitted to take over the responsibilities of leadership; Lykophron refused to answer the message; Periander then sent his daughter, Lykophron’s sister, to beg him to return; she used some very good arguments but Lykophron said he would never return to Corinth as long as his father was alive; when Periander heard Lykophron’s answer, he decided that he would leave Corinth and live on Kerkyra so that Lykophron could return to Corinth and become the new tyrant; Lykophron agreed to this arrangement and was making plans to go to Corinth but the people of Kerkyra did not want Periander living on their island and killed Lykophron. |
| Periander was so outraged at the murder of his son that he took three hundred boys from the leading families of Kerkyra and was going to send them to King Alyattes of Sardis to be castrated and serve as eunuchs; when the ship carrying the boys landed on the island of Samos, the people learned the fate of the boys and urged them to take sanctuary in the Temple of Artemis; the Samians refused to allow the Corinthians to remove the boys from the temple so the Corinthians surrounded the temple and were intent on starving the boys out; the Samians hastily organized a festival where their young boys and girls would dance to the Temple of Artemis with honey and sesame cakes so that the boys inside could snatch the cakes and have food; the Corinthians saw the hopelessness of the situation and left Samos without the boys; the Samians returned the boys to their homes on Kerkyra. |
| Histories, book 3.48-53 |
| Pausanias, Corinth, 18.8 |
| Pericles 1 |
| (circa 495-429 BCE) One of the most famous of all the Athenian statesmen; the son of Xanthippus and Agariste; a descendant of the family of Alkmaeon (Alcmaeon). |
| Even though the city of Athens was a democracy, the so called Age of Pericles was in fact a period in which one man ruled the government with king-like powers; although he wielded his authority with the consent of the Athenian citizens, he was both admired and criticized for his almost tyrannical domination of the armies and proprietary use of the wealth of the ever expanding Athenian empire; he was a man of great personal charisma and had a reputation for being honest and above corruption or favoritism. |
| Pericles was not a handsome man nor was he a gifted public speaker and for those reasons he was often criticized by his political opponents and satirized by the comic playwrights; his popular appeal was due to his consistent honesty and sincere devotion to the betterment of Athens and its citizens. |
| Pericles was determined to spend the wealth of Athens on the Athenian citizens and its colonies; able-bodied men were assigned to paid positions in the army and navy, whereas other citizens were employed in all manner of public works projects which were brilliantly coordinated and resulted in the construction of some of the most enduring and artistically profound structures ever to grace the Greek landscape; all manner of skills, crafts and arts were required for the construction of such masterpieces as: the Parthenon, the Odeum, the Propylaea and the protective Long Wall (which went from Athens to the nearby port of Piraeus); these civic projects employed vast numbers of workers and gave opportunities to otherwise underemployed Athenians. |
| Pericles ruled Athens for forty-five years (469-429 BCE); when he first entered the political arena, he was opposed by Kimon (Cimon) and the political faction named the Good and True Party; Kimon was generally perceived as a Spartan sympathizer or, at worst, a Spartan lackey; Kimon was ostracized in 461 BCE but was allowed to return to Athens in 450 BCE and died a year later on a military campaign on the island of Cyprus; after his political detractors, like Kimon, were either ostracized or dead, Pericles ruled without serious political opposition for approximately fifteen years (444-429 BCE) but that did not exempt him from personal attacks and civil prosecutions. |
| After Pericles became estranged from his first wife he took the courtesan, Aspasia, as his lifelong companion; his two legitimate sons, Xanthippus and Paralos, were the victims of a plague that ravaged Athens and forced him to champion the revocation of a law that he had sponsored before the plague years; when the king of Egypt had given Athens a gift of forty thousand measures of grain, every citizen was entitled to an equal share; Pericles initiated a law that would strictly define an Athenian citizen as only those with two Athenian parents; this law resulted in the loss of citizenship for almost five thousand people; the loss of citizenship meant that many of these people were sold into slavery; after his sons had died, Pericles revoked the law so that his illegitimate son, by Aspasia, could inherit his fortune. |
| During his career Pericles led, and won, at least nineteen successful military campaigns in the defense of Athens and to ensure the expansion of Athenian trade throughout Greece, Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea; his utter contempt for Sparta led to many minor battles with the proud and militant Spartans and set the stage for the long and bitter Peloponnesian War which began in earnest three years before Pericles’ death; he was survived by one son who was also named Pericles. |
| Periklymenos (Periclymenus) |
| peh ree KLEE meh nos |
| The eldest son of Neleus and Chloris; one of the Argonauts. |
| Periklymenos’ grandfather Poseidon (lord of the Sea) gave him boundless strength and the ability to assume any shape he desired; Periklymenos could transform into an eagle, an ant, a swarm of bees or a snake. |
| Periklymenos sailed with Jason and the Argonauts but his individual exploits are not mentioned in The Argonautika; another Argonaut named Iphitos (Iphitus) played an important role in the eventual death of Periklymenos at the hands of Herakles (Heracles). |
| After the voyage of the Argonauts, Iphitos was thrown to his death from the walls of the city of Tiryns by Herakles and he asked Periklymenos’ father Neleus for absolution for the murder of Iphitos; Neleus refused so Herakles killed Periklymenos, his brother Chromios, and his father, Neleus. |
| During the fight with Periklymenos, the goddess Athene (Athena) warned Herakles about Periklymenos when he assumed the shape of a bird and perched on the yoke-boss of Herakles’ chariot; having been forewarned, Herakles killed Periklymenos with an arrow. |
| His name may also be rendered as Periklymenus or Periclymenos. |
| Argonautika, book 1, lines 156-160 |
| Catalogues of Women and Eoiae, fragment 10 |
| Perkote (Percote) |
| per KOH tee |
| A city on the southern side of the Hellespont north of the site of Troy. |
| Iliad (Lattimore), book 2, lines 831 and 835; book 6, line 30; book 11, lines 229 and 329; book 15, line 547 |
| Iliad (Loeb), book 2, lines 831 and 835; book 6, line 30; book 11, lines 229 and 329; book 15, line 548 |
| Iliad (Fagles), book 2, lines 942 and 947; book 6, line 36; book 11, lines 265 and 384; book 15, line 636 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, lines 999 and 1004; book 6, line 32; book 11, lines 263 and 373; book 15, line 633 |
| Argonautika, book 1, lines 1012-1076 |
| Perseus 1 |
 |
| Perseus was the son of Zeus by the maiden, Danae. |
| King Akrisios (Acrisius) of Argos, Danae’s father, was told by an oracle that Danae would have a son which would take his throne; to thwart the oracle, Akrisios had Danae locked in a bronze vault so she could not be seduced or wed; Zeus came to her as a shower of gold and Perseus was a result of Zeus’ touch. |
| Akrisios took the mother and new-born child and set them adrift in a coffin-like box thinking that they would die at sea but the box washed ashore on the island of Seriphos and was found by the king’s brother, Diktys (Dictys). |
| The king of Seriphos, Polydektes (Polydectes), fell in love with Danae and, as Perseus grew older, thought that the imposing young man was the only obstacle to his successful seduction of Danae; he sent Perseus on a quest for the head of the Medusa. |
| Medusa was one of the three sisters known as the Gorgons and any mortal who dared to look upon Medusa’s face was turned to stone; Polydektes was sure that Perseus would die on this quest but, being the son of Zeus, Perseus had the protection of Athene (Athena) and the assistance of Hermes to assure his success. |
| Perseus first sought out the sisters of the Gorgons, the Graiai (the Gray Sisters), who were three women, gray from birth, who shared one tooth and one eye between them; Perseus stole their tooth and eye and, using them as ransom, forced the Graiai to give him the location of the nymphs who had possession of the Cap of Hades (which would make him invisible), a pair of winged sandals (for flying) and a kibisis (a bag to hold Medusa’s head); he later obtained a sickle (or sword) from Hermes and set out to slay Medusa. |
| With the help of Athene, Perseus was able to cut off Medusa’s head; after the attack on their sister the other Gorgons, Sthenno and Euryale, chased Perseus but his flying sandals saved him; as Perseus flew over the Libyan desert, the drops of blood from Medusa’s severed head produced a brood of vile serpents, the winged horse, Pegasos (Pegasus), and the monster with the golden sword, Chrysaor. |
| The story of Perseus was perhaps three generations before Herakles (Heracles) and has endured as a popular artistic theme from the seventh century BCE until modern times. |
| As Perseus was returning to Argos he encountered a situation in Ethiopia where the king, Kepheus (Cepheus), and his wife, Kassiopeia (Cassiopeia), were going to sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda; Kassiopeia had offended the Nereids by boasting that she was more beautiful than the daughters of Nereus; as revenge for such a transgression, Poseidon (lord of the Sea) sent one of his sea monsters to ravage the countryside and terrorize the inhabitants; the only way to placate the monster was for Andromeda to be sacrificed to Poseidon’s beast; just as the monster was about to devour Andromeda, Perseus intervened and used the head of Medusa to turn the monster to stone. |
| Before Perseus could marry Andromeda, she was kidnapped by another suitor named Phineus; Perseus also used the Gorgon’s severed to turn Phineus and his henchmen to stone. |
| When Perseus returned to the island of Seriphos he found that King Polydektes was threatening his mother with violence and quickly disposed of him; Perseus’ grandfather, Akrisios, had set all of the dramatic events of Perseus’ life into motion by his fear that his grandson would take his throne; as fate would have it, Akrisios had left Argos by the time Perseus returned from his adventures but he could not escape the grand design of the Immortals; while Perseus was participating in an athletic competition, he threw a discus and accidentally killed Akrisios; Perseus refused the throne of Argos and went to Asia Minor where his son, Perses, founded the race that would become known as the Persians |
| Theogony, line 280 |
| Argonautika, book 4, line 1513 |
| Shield of Herakles, lines 216 and 229 |
| Persian Empire |
| The empire of western Asia which was begun by Cyrus the Great in 559 BCE and ended with Darius III in 330 BCE. |
| After the overthrow of the Medes, the Persians successfully ruled western and central Asia without opposition but were soundly defeated on the two occasions when they tried to expand their empire westward into Greece. |
| Even though the Persians had advanced forms of art and science, in Greek literature the Persians were referred to as Barbarians; when Greece entered historic times, the Persian Empire was in decline and their influence was restricted to eastern Asia Minor, India and Egypt; their constant threats to the Greek colonies in Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea were merely a prelude to the invasion of the Greek mainland in 490 and 480 BCE. |
| The first invasion by Darius was repelled by the Greeks with a resounding victory in 490 BCE on the plains of Marathon; the second invasion, by Xerxes in 480 BCE, resulted in the sack of Athens but the Persian navy was decimated at the sea-battle near the island of Salamis and the remnants of the Persian army were defeated at Plataea. |
| After these two catastrophic defeats, the Persians were content to harass the Greek colonies in Asia Minor but their incursions were tempered by the well known fact that the Greeks were, in all ways, militarily superior to the Persians and, if left to themselves, the Greeks were not a threat to the Persian Empire and perfectly content to fight amongst themselves. |
| The kings of the Persian Empire and the approximate periods in which each ruled are as follows: |
| Cyrus the Great 559-529 BCE; |
| Kambyses (Cambyses) 529-522 BCE; |
| Pseudo-Smerdis 522 BCE; 521-485 BCE; |
| Xerxes I 486-465 BCE; |
| Artaxerxes I 465-423 BCE; |
| Xerxes II 423 BCE; |
| Darius II 423-404 BCE; |
| Artaxerxes II 404-358 BCE; |
| Artaxerxes III 338-336 BCE; |
| Darius III 336-330 BCE. |
| Persians (The Persians) 2 |
| A tragedy written by the Athenian playwright, Aeschylus. |
| Cast of Characters: |
| Queen of Persia - Widow of Darius and mother of Xerxes |
| The Ghost of Darius |
| Xerxes |
| The Persians is the story from the Persian point of view of the utter defeat of the Persian army and navy under the leadership of Xerxes after his failed invasion of Greece in 480 BCE; the play is unique in that it deals with a historical event and is not, as is common with the other extant plays by Aeschylus, mythological. |
| The play opens at the tomb of King Darius of Persia with the chorus of Persian Elders waiting patiently for news about the Persian invasion of Greece; the queen of Persia, Darius’ widow, enters and tells the elders that she has had a curious dream and wants their interpretation; she saw two beautiful sisters dressed in splendid clothing; the two women cast lots and one wins Greece and the other wins Asia; the queen’s son, Xerxes, puts the two in harness and tries to get them to pull his chariot; one sister wears the trappings proudly but the other will not be tame and tears the yoke in half; the meaning of the dream is obvious to the elders and it is soon confirmed when a messenger arrives bringing news of the invasion of Greece. |
| The news from Greece is bad; the Persian navy was defeated at Salamis and the army at Plataea; the messenger gives a rather detailed account of the Persian losses; the queen and the elders are grief stricken and, in desperation, the queen asks the spirit of Darius come from the netherworld to advise them; the ghost of Darius appears and makes a rather profound speech as to why his son, Xerxes, failed to conquer Greece. |
| When Xerxes finally enters the scene, he and the chorus exchange lamentations and fret for the future of Persia. |
| This play is deceptively slow paced but provides a Persian perspective for the incredible losses of men and money that Xerxes squandered in his attempted invasion of Greece. |
| If you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus II, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307948; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site. |
| Phaiakians (Phaeacians) |
| The Phaiakians were a mighty seafaring people who played an important role in the culmination of two of the greatest adventures of the ancient Greek world: 1) the Quest for the Golden Fleece when Jason and the sorceress, Medeia (Medea), asked for sanctuary with the Phaiakian king, Alkinoos (Alcinous) and 2) when Odysseus washed ashore on the island of the Phaiakians and they restored him to health and then transported him to his home. |
| The original leader of the Phaiakians was descended from Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and Giants, his name was Nausithoos (Nausithous); Nausithoos had two male children, Alkinoos and Rhexenor; Rhexenor was married and Alkinoos was not; Apollon killed Rhexenor with a shower of painless arrows and Alkinoos married his widow, Arete. |
| One generation before the Trojan War (circa 1230 BCE), Jason and the Argonauts sailed to the land of Kolchis (Colchis) at the eastern edge of the Euxine (Black Sea) to retrieve the Golden Fleece with was kept in the Garden of Ares; King Aietes (Aeetes) told Jason that he could have the Golden Fleece only if he completed a series of seemingly impossible tasks but, when Jason survived the test with the help of Aietes daughter Medeia, Aietes refused to honor his agreement; again with the assistance of Medeia, Jason stole the Golden Fleece and made his escape; Aietes sent his son, Apsyrtos (Apsyrtus), to catch Jason and return the Golden Fleece to him; in order to effect their escape, Jason and Medeia set a trap for Apsyrtos and killed him in cold blood. |
| Jason, Medeia and the Argonauts made their way to the island of Aiaia (Aeaea) which was the home of Medeia’s aunt, the Dread Goddess Kirke (Circe); Jason and Medeia begged Kirke for absolution for the murder of Apsyrtos but Kirke refused; next, Jason and Medeia sailed to the island of the Phaiakians and asked King Alkinoos for sanctuary; King Aietes found out that Jason and Medeia were with the Phaiakians and demanded their return; Alkinoos said that he was morally bound to return a daughter to her father but he would never force a wife to leave her husband; he was tactfully saying that if Jason and Medeia were to be married he would not consider Aietes’ demand valid; Jason and Medeia were married and King Aietes was forced to accept the loss of the Golden Fleece, the murder of his son and the betrayal of his daughter. |
| Ten years after the Trojan War (circa 1260 BCE), Odysseus was still trying to return to his island home of Ithaka (Ithaca) because Poseidon was relentlessly punishing Odysseus for the blinding of the god’s son, Polyphemos (Polyphemus); after Odysseus had lost all of his ships and crewmen, he was cast adrift on a raft and seemed likely to drown until he was washed ashore on the island of the Phaiakians; Odysseus was found delirious on the beach but a young girl named Nausikaa (Nausicaa) and taken to her father who was King Alkinoos; Alkinoos and his queen, Arete, welcomed Odysseus with great courtesy and let the disheveled man tell the story of his part in the Trojan War and the subsequent trials at the hands of Poseidon; Odysseus was invited to participate in a series of athletic contests where he deported himself with agility and grace; Alkinoos and Arete were so moved by the sincerity and determination of Odysseus that they agreed to give him many gifts and transport him to Ithaka; they landed Odysseus in a secluded cove and left him sleeping on the beach surrounded by the treasure they had given him; when Poseidon learned of the way the Phaiakians had helped Odysseus he was enraged; he threatened to destroy the Phaiakians but Zeus calmed him down; when the ship which had carried Odysseus home returned to the island of the Phaiakians, Poseidon turned it to stone in the harbor as a lasting reminder of his displeasure. |
| The name is also spelled as Phaeakians or Phaiacians. |
| Philip II |
| (382-336 BCE) The king of Macedon from 359-336 BCE; the son of Amyntas and Eurydike (Eurydice); the father of Alexander the Great. |
| Philip came from a long line of rulers known as the Argeads who ruled Macedon from as early as 700 BCE and claimed their heritage from Herakles (Heracles) and ultimately from Zeus; sometimes this family is referred to as a dynasty but Philip never used the title of King in official documents because the barons who were chiefs of the various tribes of Macedon were fiercely independent and willing to be led but not ruled. |
| The history of Philip’s family was one of periodic success punctuated by long periods of futility; the Macedonians had successfully traded timber with Athens and Sparta and a good deal of the profits were used to make Macedon more Greek-like, i.e. with roads, temples and festivals, but the majority of Philip’s predecessors were short sighted and more concerned with maintaining their power than having any long term goals for the country; Philip’s father, Amyntas, was over fifty years old when he became king and was not considered to be a forceful or dynamic leader; when Amyntas died, he left his three sons a fragmented realm and the first of his sons to rule (Alexander II) was killed (circa 367 BCE) by his mother’s lover, Ptolemy; Philip and his older brother, Perdikkas (Perdiccas), were not old enough to assume the throne so Ptolemy became the regent until Perdikkas came of age; neither of the two young boys seemed like much of a threat to Ptolemy and it can be assumed that he had no intention of relinquishing the throne to Perdikkas or Alexander; Perdikkas was left to his studies and, at age fifteen, Philip was sent to Thebes as a hostage to guarantee Ptolemy’s good faith in a Theban alliance. |
| While in Thebes, young Philip had the good fortune to become acquainted with several influential men; Philip resided with Pammenes who was a skilled Theban army general and, through his association with Pammenes, was introduced to the finest military strategist in Greece, Epaminondas; Philip made the most of this incredible opportunity and learned many valuable lessons from these knowledgeable men; in later life Philip in turn taught his son, Alexander, all that he had learned from these Theban generals. |
| Philip also learned things about diplomacy and governmental administration while he was in Thebes; the seemingly outdated institution of kingship in Macedon was belittled by the more progressive democratic cities but there were certain advantages to a monarchy that became obvious to Philip as he watched the political infighting and the inability of governing bodies to make rapid changes in political and military policies; together with his military training in Thebes, Philip used the weaknesses of the democratic cities to his advantage throughout his life. |
| When Perdikkas came of age (circa 365 BCE) he had Ptolemy executed and assumed the throne of Macedon; Perdikkas arranged for Philip to return home and made him a district governor; Philip employed the military training tactics he had learned at Thebes with great success; Philip instituted a rigorous training program that stressed loyalty, physical fitness and well rehearsed battlefield maneuvers. |
| With a rather short sighted appreciation of the consequences, Perdikkas allied himself with the Athenians in order to secure his northern and eastern borders but was eventually betrayed by the Athenians when they commandeered the ports of Methone and Pydna; the western frontier of Macedon was also in jeopardy because of the fragile state of relations with Illyria; in 359 BCE, Perdikkas took a large army to the frontier where he was killed and the army soundly defeated; with the weakened state of the military, invading armies from the north and the general disrespect with which the other nations and cities held for Macedon, Philip’s ascension to the throne was not a simple matter; there were five other men besides Philip vying for control. |
| First of all, Philip dealt with his three half-brothers: Menelaus, Archelaus and Arrhidaeus; each had a weak claim to the throne but they also had ineffectual military support to back up their bids for power; Philip had Archelaus arrested and executed; the two remaining half-brothers (Menelaus and Arrhidaeus) fled Macedon. |
| The other two contenders were greater threats to Philip and had substantial military backing; a man named Pausanias was backed by the king of Thrace and another man named Argaeus was backed by Athens; to add to his worries, the northern borders of Macedon were under attack but Philip bribed the northern invaders to institute a temporary truce. |
| Philip cleverly outsmarted and outmaneuvered the final two threats, Pausanias and Argaeus; Philip paid the king of Thrace to assassinate Pausanias and negotiated with the Athenians to withdraw their support for Argaeus in exchange for the unquestioned Athenian control of the port of Pydna; without Athenian hoplites, Argaeus made a failed assault on Aegae with his mercenaries; as Argaeus was retreating back to the port of Methone, Philip confronted Argaeus and forced his surrender. |
| Philip became the new king of Macedon but only a man of his military and diplomatic prowess could have saved the kingdom; when the king of the Paeonians died, Philip invaded their country and forced them to accept his authority; Philip immediately advanced on the Illyrians and, although both armies were of equal size, he used the military tactics he had learned from general Epaminondas of Thebes to outmaneuver the Illyrian commander, Bardylis, and slaughter two thirds of the Illyrian army; when Barbylis surrendered, all major threats to the borders of Macedon were temporally eliminated; with the kingdom temporarily secure and the people of Macedon soundly behind him, the twenty three year old Philip was the new, undisputed king of Macedon. |
| After the defeat of the Illyrians, Philip married Audata, the daughter of the Illyrian commander, Bardylis; she died in 357 BCE after giving birth to a daughter named Kynae (or Kynna); Philip married again almost immediately, this time to a princess of the Elimiotis clan of Macedon; princess Phila was a daughter of a man named Derdas but she too died within a few months of the marriage. |
| When Alexander of Pherae was assassinated in Thessaly, the aristocratic families asked Philip to come to their aid because the wife of Alexander (and her brothers) were out of control and some sort of strong military intervention was needed; Philip came to their aid and took a dancing girl from Larissa (Larisa) as his concubine; her name was Philinna and she eventually bore Philip a son named Arrhidaeus. |
| The city of Amphipolis, located on the river Strymon, had always been a key factor in Philip’s dealings with Athens; Amphipolis was lost to the Athenians at the end of the Peloponnesian War (circa 405 BCE) and they wanted it back because of its strategic location on the northern reaches of the Aegean Sea; when Philip was trying to solicit the assistance of Athens in his confrontation with Argaeus, he forcibly took Amphipolis and promised to cede it to Athens; the Athenians took this as a sign of Philip’s good faith towards Athens; in the spring of 357 BCE, Philip again attacked Amphipolis on the pretext of a dispute with the city government; when Amphipolis appealed to Athens for assistance, the Athenians were too busy with more immediate concerns to send military help and incorrectly assumed that Philip would return Amphipolis to Athenian control; by the fall of 357 BCE, Philip had successfully taken Amphipolis and, to the chagrin of Athens, declared it a free city; the other cities of northern Greece saw this as an indication of Philip’s honest intentions towards them but the Athenians didn’t realize the extent of Philip’s double dealings until he took their port of Pydna. |
| When the Olynthians saw the futility of depending on Athens for military assistance, they made a treaty with Philip in the name of the Chalcidic League; in return for the allegiance of the Olynthians, Philip promised that he would recover Potidaea for them; Philip attacked Potidaea and, after letting the Athenian contingent leave unmolested, surrendered the city to the Olynthians in 356 BCE; this earned him the continued good will of the northern Greek cities. |
| Philip’s third official marriage was his most famous; in the autumn of 357 BCE he married the niece of prince Arybbas of Epirus; her name was Myrtale but she assumed the name of Olympias and became the mother of Alexander the Great in 356 BCE; she was, by all accounts, eccentric and most historians tend to cast her in a very ignoble light; she was eighteen when she married Philip and thoroughly committed to the orgiastic rites of Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine); this cult association involved the use of snakes in the rituals and this gave rise to the story that Alexander was actually the son of the Egyptian god, Ammon, who seduced Olympias in the form of a snake; it was also widely believed that, during his assault on Methone in 354 BCE, Philip was seriously injured and lost his right eye because he had observed Olympias with Ammon in the guise of a snake. |
| Philip’s next opportunity to expand his kingdom came in the form of a request from the city of Krenides (Crenides) for his assistance in repelling the ongoing Thracian aggression; in 356 BCE, Philip successfully took the city and renamed it Philippi; the income from the gold and silver mined from the area around Krenides increased Philip’s income to the point where the economic might of Macedon equaled that of Athens; Philip used the increased revenue to train and equip his growing army but a substantial amount was also spent as bribes to politicians in the southern Greek cities; it would seem that Philip recognized that winning allies with bribes was more cost effective than armed conflict. |
| Philip annexed Thessaly and took another wife to cement relations with the newly acquired territory; her name was Kleopatra (Cleopatra) and she bore him a son; after Philip’s death, Olympias had Kleopatra, her son and father killed to insure that her son, Alexander, would be the sole heir to the throne; with the acquisition of the widely respected cavalry from Thessaly, Philip renounced his treaty with the Olynthians and, in late 349 BCE, laid siege to Olynthus and captured the city in September of the following year; the capture of Olynthus proved Philip’s boast that no city could withstand a siege if the walls of the city had a gate wide enough to admit a traitor with a bag of gold; the Athenians sued for peace but Philip delayed ratifying the peace accords until he reached the crucial gateway of Thermopile and forced the Athenian allies, the Phokians (Phocians), to surrender; despite the continued acts of provocation and acquisition, the Athenians entered a alliance with Philip; the chief opponent of Philip in Athens was Demosthenes; he denounced Philip as a villain but found few Athenians who were willing to take up his cause; after Philip’s death, Demosthenes turned his biting tongue on Alexander but he was too late to stop the swift and charismatic rise of Alexander as a more dynamic and aggressive leader than Philip had ever been. |
| After 346 BCE, Philip relentlessly expanded his empire in northern Greece and, by 340 BCE, the Athenians declared war on Philip because he took control of the Athenian port of Perinthus and commandeered their grain fleet; Thebes joined Athens against Macedon but, after the Theban military was defeated, Athens agreed to meet in Corinth to sue for peace; an accord was signed in the summer of 337 BCE where Philip demanded that all signatories retain their current constitutions and all infractions would be enforced by Philip; he was thus master of (almost) all of Greece; Philip then announced his plans to conquer the Persian Empire and in 336 BCE sent his trusted general, Parmenio, into Asia Minor as a prelude to the full scale invasion. |
| Philip personally taught his son, Alexander, the vital lessons of statecraft and warfare but hired professional philosophers, such as Aristotle, to insure that Alexander had a proper classical education; the antidotal episodes relating to the antagonism between Philip and Alexander were perhaps exaggerated but proof of their mutual devotion to one another can be readily seen by the way Philip entrusted Alexander with military commands and Alexander’s determination to punish all those affiliated with Philip’s assassination when, in the autumn of 336 BCE, Philip was struck down by an assassin at a public ceremony in front of the army and a cadre of foreign dignitaries; Philip was buried at Aegae and, at the age of twenty, Alexander took the throne of Macedon. |
| Philoktetes (Philoctetes) 1 |
| fee lok TEE tees |
| The renowned archer from Oita (Oeta); the son of Poias; Philoktetes killed Alexandros (Paris) in the final battle for Troy. |
| Quite a legend has grown around Philoktetes and his role in the Trojan War and his involvement with Herakles (Heracles); prior to the Trojan War (sometime before circa 1250 BCE), Philoktetes encountered Herakles as he was suffering from wounds accidentally inflicted on him by his wife Deianeira with the acid blood of the centaur, Nessos; Herakles built his own funeral pyre and begged someone to set it ablaze; Philoktetes (or perhaps his father, Poias) lit the fire and Herakles gave Philoktetes (or Poias) his bow and quiver as a reward. |
| Philoktetes was well acquainted with Agamemnon and Menelaos (Menelaus) because he was one of the suitors of Helen before she was finally married to Menelaos; Helen’s step-father, Tyndareus, made all the suitors swear that they would come to the rescue if Helen was ever forcibly taken from her lawful husband; when Alexandros (Paris) took Helen from Sparta, Philoktetes joined the Greek army and sailed to Troy with seven ships under his command; however, before he could reach Troy, Philoktetes was bitten by a water snake and the Greeks abandoned him on the island of Lemnos because of the festering and vile smelling infection caused by the snake bite; there he remained until the tenth year of the Trojan War. |
| During the fighting at Troy, Odysseus captured the Trojan seer, Helenos (Helenus), and was told that Troy would never be captured without Philoktetes and his bow; Diomedes was dispatched to Lemnos and brought Philoktetes back to Troy where he was treated by Machaon and healed of his wounds; Philoktetes joined the fighting and killed Alexandros (Paris); after the sack of Troy, Philoktetes returned safely to his home. |
| When Odysseus was asked about his skill with a bow, he replied that he was surpassed only by one man, Philoktetes. |
| Iliad (Lattemore) book 2, lines 716-725 |
| Iliad (Loeb) book 2, lines 717-725 |
| Iliad (Fagles) book 2, lines 819-826 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald) book 2, lines 857-866 |
| Odyssey (Lattemore and Loeb) book 3, line 190; book 8, line 219 |
| Odyssey (Fagles) book 3, line 215; book 8, line 250 |
| Odyssey (Fitzgerald) book 3, line 205; book 8, line 231 |
| Catalogues of Women, fragment 68 |
| The Kypria, fragment 1, paragraph 9 |
| The Little Iliad, fragments 1 and 12 |
| Philoktetes (Philoctetes) 2 |
| fee lok TEE tees |
| A tragedy by Sophocles circa 408 BCE. |
| Cast of Characters: |
| Odysseus |
| The Trader |
| Neoptolemus (Neoptolemos) |
| Philoktetes |
| The Ghost of Herakles (Heracles) |
| Just as modern writers embellish the facts of otherwise true stories, Euripides took liberties with the historical record surrounding the life of the phenomenal archer, Philoktetes and his involvement in the Trojan War; even so, Euripides still managed to capture the drama and intensity which shrouded the life of the long suffering Philoktetes. |
| Philoktetes was a king and a respected leader of men until he fell victim to a snake bite on the voyage to Troy; the Greeks abandoned him on the island of Lemnos because the snake bite was festering and offense to see and smell; the play begins after Philoktetes has been exiled for nine lonely, bitter years. |
| During the fighting at Troy, Odysseus captured a seer named Helenos and learned that the gods had decreed that without Philoktetes and his bow Troy could never be defeated by the Greeks; Odysseus and Neoptolemus (the son of Achilles) have come to Lemnos to bring Philoktetes back to Troy either by force or persuasion; Odysseus favors the forceful method because he knows that if Philoktetes sees him on Lemnos, the renowned archer will surely kill him because Odysseus was partly responsible for having Philoktetes exiled and Philoktetes has had nine years to hone his anger and plot his revenge. |
| Odysseus hides and sends Neoptolemus to approach Philoktetes and win his confidence with lies; once Philoktetes lowers his defenses, Odysseus and the other sailors were planning to pounce on Philoktetes and take him back to Troy as a prisoner; the plan seems sound to Odysseus because he is accustomed to trickery and lies but Neoptolemus is a young man with a strict moral code and he sincerely believes that they should be honest with Philoktetes and rely on his good will; since the fate of the Trojan War depends on Philoktetes accompanying them back Troy, Odysseus is adamant and Neoptolemus finally agrees to play his part in the charade. |
| The conversation between Neoptolemus and Philoktetes is very revealing and introduces plot elements that are not exactly true in the historical sense but make for some fine drama; Philoktetes is swayed by Neoptolemus’ false sincerity and surrenders his bow without hesitation; at this point Odysseus enters the scene and Philoktetes is beside himself with anger; he berates Neoptolemus for his lies; Odysseus does not care but Neoptolemus is disgusted with the deception he perpetuated on the lonely and suffering Philoktetes. |
| Odysseus is confidant that the whole plan has succeeded but Philoktetes berates Neoptolemus until the young man succumbs to the weight of his guilt and gives Philoktetes back his bow; Philoktetes takes aim at Odysseus and intends to kill him but, at that moment, the ghost of Herakles appears; Herakles tells Philoktetes, Odysseus and Neoptolemus that, even though he was the son of Zeus, his life was full of suffering and that he was forced to endure a life of hardship in order to achieve his ultimate reward; Herakles tells Philoktetes to go to Troy willingly and let the physicians heal his wounds so that he can become a hero and help accomplish the final destruction of the besieged city. |
| I personally recommend the translations compiled by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene, Euripides V (ISBN 0226307840); you can find this and other plays by Euripides at your local library or you can order them from the Book Shop on this site. |
| Phoenician Women (Phoenissae) |
| The Phoenician Women; a play by Euripides; produced between 412 and 408 BCE. |
| Cast of Characters: |
| Jocasta - Wife and mother of Oedipus |
| Antigone - Daughter of Oedipus |
| Polyneikes (Polyneices) - Son of Oedipus |
| Eteokles (Eteocles) - Son of Oedipus, king of Thebes |
| Kreon (Creon) - Brother of Jocasta |
| Teiresias - Blind seer |
| Menoekeus (Menoeceus) - Son of Kreon |
| Oedipus - Blinded ex-king of Thebes |
| The title of this play refers to the chorus which is composed of Phoenician Women who were en route to Delphi to become servants of the oracle of Apollon but are now trapped inside the walls of Thebes because the army from Argos has surrounded the city; the storyline is a continuation of the tragic saga of Oedipus and his children. |
| After Oedipus relinquished the kingship of Thebes, his sons, Eteokles and Polyneikes, agreed to alternate sitting on the throne; Eteokles was the first to rule but, when Polyneikes returned to claim his turn on the throne, Eteokles refused to step down; Polyneikes assembled an army in Argos which became known as the Seven Against Thebes and is preparing to attack the city. |
| The play begins with Polyneikes coming inside the city walls at the request of his mother, Jocasta; she has persuaded the two brothers to meet face to face to try to settle their differences without resorting to a confrontation between the two armies; Polyneikes is more than willing to alternate kingship but Eteokles is unwilling to relinquish the throne without being forcefully evicted; Eteokles reasons that any man who would willingly surrender the Greater for the Lesser is foolish and cowardly. |
| Without the possibility of a peaceful solution, the two armies prepare for battle; an Argive captain attacks each of the city-s seven gates and, after a bout of fierce fighting, the Thebans seem to be winning the war; even with the military advantage, Eteokles is prideful and challenges Polyneikes to single combat to determine the outcome of the war; as the two brothers square off, Jocasta and Antigone run to the battlefield to try and keep the brothers from killing each other but, before the women can reach them, both young men are mortally wounded and near death; as the brothers die Jocasta is beyond consolation and uses a bloody sword to kill herself; the Theban army rushes to the attack and the Argives are routed. |
| There are many elements to this play which explain the subtleties of the Oedipus saga; before the war began, Eteokles made Kreon, Jocasta-s brother, promise that if he (Eteokles) should be killed in the war, Kreon would assume the throne and that Polyneikes would never be buried on Theban soil. |
| The chorus of Phoenician Women are the soul of descriptive eloquence and imagery; when they are describing the curse that has befallen Oedipus and his children, they sing of the cloud that shrouds the city of Thebes and go on to say that the cloud has manifested itself as the cloud of white shields of the Argive army; as in other plays dealing with the Oedipus theme, Antigone is portrayed as a noble and heroic figure which makes me believe that the real Antigone must have been a truly remarkable woman. |
| I personally recommend the translations compiled by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene, Euripides V (ISBN 0226307840); you can find this and other plays by Euripides at your local library or you can order them from the Book Shop on this site. |
| Phoinix (Phoenix) 1 |
| A son of Amyntor and Kleobule (Cleobule); mentor of Achilles. |
| Phoinix’s father was unfaithful to his wife, Kleobule, and she begged Phoinix to seduce the mistress and turn the young woman’s affections away from the aging Amyntor; when Amyntor detected the plot, he cursed Phoinix and drove him from Kalydon; Zeus and Persephone accomplished Amyntor’s curse and Phoinix was never allowed to have children of his own. |
| Phoinix considered killing his father but his hand was stayed by the intervention of his devoted kinsmen and cousins; they kept Phoinix under close watch for nine days and his anger transformed into resolution; on the tenth night he fled Kalydon. |
| Phoinix was given asylum by King Peleus of Phthia; he was treated as an honored guest and Peleus made him the king of Dolopia; he became the advisor and foster-father of Achilles; during the Trojan War, Phoinix begged Achilles to put aside his anger towards Agamemnon and rejoin the fight with the Trojans; he reminded Achilles of the story of Meleagros (Meleager) and how one man’s pride had brought doom to his family and his homeland. |
| Iliad (Lattimore), book 9, lines 168, 223, 426, 432, 607, 621, 659 and 690; book 16, line 196; book 17, lines 555 and 561; book 19, line 311; book 23, lines 360 and 744 |
| Iliad (Loeb), book 9, lines 168, 223, 427, 432, 607, 621, 659 and 690; book 16, line 196; book 17, lines 555 and 561; book 19, line 311; book 23, line 360 |
| Iliad (Fagles), book 9, lines 201, 267, 518, 521, 739, 758, 806 and 841; book 16, line 231; book 17, lines 632 and 638; book 19, line 368; book 23, line 408 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 9, lines 218, 270, 518, 523, 739, 755, 801 and 839; book 16, line 230; book 17, lines 622 and 629; book 19, line 343; book 23, line 415 |
| Phorkys (Phorcys) |
| FOR kees |
| Phorkys is the son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (Earth) and the brother of Thaumas and Eurybia; Phorkys is called the Old Man of the Sea. |
| Phorkys was the consort of his sister, Keto (Ceto), and father the Nymph, Thoosa, as well as the Graiae (the Gray Sisters), the Gorgons, the six-headed monster, Skylla (Scylla) and the serpent, Ladon, who guards the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. |
| Phorkys’ daughter, Thoosa was the consort of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) which would make Phorkys the grandfather of the Cyclops, Polyphemos; when Odysseus returned to his island home of Ithaka, the Phaiakians put him ashore in a secluded harbor sacred to Phorkys and he hid the treasure the Phaiakians had given him in a nearby cave sacred to the Nymphs of the Wellspring. |
| His name is also spelled Phorkus or Phorcus. |
| Theogony, lines 237-239, 270-277 and 333-336 |
| Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 1, line 72; book 13, lines 96 and 345 |
| Odyssey (Fagles), book 1, line 85; book 13, lines 109 and 393 |
| Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 1, line 94; book 13, lines 119 and 433 |
| Phrixus (Phrixos) 1 |
| FREE ksos |
| Phrixus and Helle were the children of King Athamas of Orchomenos (Orchomenus) and his nymph-wife, Nephele (Cloud). |
| Athamas was the brother of the most renowned conniver of all time, Sisyphus, and that audacity seems to have run in the family; Athamas rejected the divine Nephele and began consorting with a mortal woman named Ino; Ino soon began plotting to have Phrixus killed as a sacrificial victim. |
| Nephele and the god, Hermes, devised the escape of Phrixus and his sister, Helle, on a flying ram with a Golden Fleece; the youths flew away from Orchomenos on the ram but Helle fell from its back and drowned in the narrow sea between Asia and Europe; the sea was named Hellspont (Helle’s Sea) in her honor but today we call it the Dardanelles Straits; Phrixus managed to stay astride the flying ram and made his way to the eastern edge of the Euxine (Black Sea) and alighted in the land of Kolchis (Colchis). |
| Kolchis was ruled by King Aietes (Aeetes) and he welcomed Phrixus; Aietes was also convinced that the Golden Fleece of the flying ram was a potent symbol for the continued success of his people and his country; the ram was sacrificed in the Garden of Ares and a dragon was set to guard the Golden Fleece. |
| As time passed and Phrixus grew to manhood, King Aietes arranged for Phrixus to marry his daughter, Chalkiope (Chalciope); Aietes offered Chalkiope to Phrixus without requiring the wedding gifts which were traditionally expected from a suitor; Phrixus and Chalkiope had four sons: Argos, Kytissoros (Cytissorus), Melas and Phrontis. |
| After Phrixus’ death, his four sons decided that it was necessary for them to return to Orchomenos and avenge their father’s mistreatment by Athamas; the young men had not sailed too far west from Kolchis when they became stranded on the Island of Ares; this was obviously not a chance occurrence because Jason and the Argonauts soon arrived on the same island. |
| Jason had formed a crew of the most worthy young Greek men to sail to Kolchis and retrieve the Golden Fleece; their ship was named the Argo and the crew-members were called the Argonauts; Jason invited Phrixus’ sons to join the Argonauts and they proceeded to Kolchis and secured the Golden Fleece; the Argonauts also had another common link to Phrixus other than finding his sons on the Island of Ares; the blinded seer, Phineus, is said to have revealed the way to Kolchis to Phrixus and was blinded for doing so; a generation later, Phineus also told Jason and the Argonauts how to find Kolchis. |
| After the completion of the Quest for the Golden Fleece, the Argonauts went their separate ways; of the four sons of Phrixus, only Kytissoros was finally able to confront Athamas to hold him accountable for the malevolent treatment of their father; when Kytissoros arrived at the town of Alus in Achaea (Achaia), Athamas was slated to die as a sacrifice in accordance with a command from an oracle of Zeus; instead of killing Athamas, Kytissoros saved him from the sacrificial death and, by doing so, incurred the resentment of Zeus; from that time forward, the eldest member of Athamas’ family was forbidden, on penalty of death, to enter the town hall of Alus. |
| The time period in which Phrixus lived was two generations before the Trojan War and one generation before Herakles (Heracles); by that reckoning, Phrixus would have lived circa 1310 BCE. |
| Argonautika, book 1, lines 256 and 763; book 2, lines 1118, 1141, 1143 and 1150; book 3, lines 584, 588 and 595; book 4, line 119 |
| Histories, book 7.197 |
| Catalogues of Women, fragments 38 and 39 |
| The Great Eoiae, fragments 14, 15 and 16 |
| Aegimius, fragment 1 |
| Phrontis |
| FRON tees |
| One of the four sons of Phrixus and Chalkiope (Chalciope); Phrontis and his brothers, Argos, Kytissoros (Cytissorus) and Melas, all became Argonauts. |
| Chalkiope was the daughter of King Aietes of Kolchis (Colchis); Phrixus, and his sister, Helle, were given a flying ram with a Golden Fleece to escape their evil stepmother, Ino, and their father, King Athamas of Orchomenos (Orchomenus); during their escape from Orchomenos, Helle fell from the ram and drowned in the sea but Phrixus managed to reach Kolchis and sacrifice the ram in the Garden of Ares; King Aietes was so impressed with Phrixus and the miraculous golden ram, he allowed him to marry his daughter, Chalkiope, without the wedding gifts which were traditionally expected from a suitor. |
| Phrontis and his brothers were raised in Kolchis but after their father died, he and his brothers left to avenge their father’s unwarranted treatment by King Athamas; Phrontis and his brothers did not reach Orchomenos as they had planned; instead, they became stranded on the Island of Ares in the Euxine (Black Sea); they were rescued from the island by the Argonauts; the Argonauts were on their way to Kolchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece and their encounter with Phrontis and his brothers was more than a chance occurrence; Phrontis and his brothers joined the crew of the Argo and returned to Kolchis. |
| After the completion of the Quest for the Golden Fleece, Phrontis and the Argonauts went their separate ways; of the four sons of Phrixus, only Kytissoros was finally able to confront Athamas to hold him accountable for the malevolent treatment of their father; when Kytissoros arrived at the town of Alus in Achaea (Achaia), Athamas was slated to die as a sacrifice in accordance with a command from an oracle of Zeus; instead of killing Athamas, Kytissoros saved him from the sacrificial death and, by doing so, incurred the resentment of Zeus; from that time forward, the eldest member of Athamas’ family was forbidden, on penalty of death, to enter the town hall of Alus. |
| Argonautika, book 2, lines 1140-1156 |
| Histories, book 7.197 |
| Pindar (Pindaros) |
| peen DAR |
| A Greek lyric poet (circa 518-438 BCE); that brief definition hardly describes a man who has been lauded as the greatest lyric poet of all time; his language, imagery and effortless eloquence have been the subject of praise, imitation and envy for two and a half millennia; to simply say that Pindar was a poet who played the lyre is like saying that Alexander the Great was a soldier who liked to travel. |
| Among the lyric poets, Pindar has the distinction of being one of the few poets who has a substantial body of work from which we can judge his poems and glean insight into his era; we have very little specific knowledge of Pindar’s life but we can piece together certain elements and give a brief biography. |
| Pindar was born in Boeotia near the city of Thebes in a town called Kynoskephalia circa 518 BCE; his mother was Kleodike and his father was probably named Daiphantos; he learned to play the pipes from a man named Skopelinos (who was perhaps his uncle) and later studied choral direction in Athens from Apollodoros (or Agathokles); his musical education may have included instruction from Lasos of Hermione. |
| Individual lyric poets became well known and supported themselves by winning musical competitions; Pindar’s first noted success was when he was approximately twenty years old; he wrote a victory ode for a young man named Hippokleas for winning the diaulos in the Pythian Games of 498 BCE (the diaulos, i.e. a double course, was a foot race where the runners ran to a marker and then back to the starting line); for the next sixty years Pindar continued to win competitions and, by doing so, created quite a following of admirers and patrons; we can assume that Pindar lived until about 438 BCE which would have given him a lifespan of approximately eighty years. |
| Pindar lived during the two Persian invasions of Greece (490 and 480 BCE) and, during the second invasion, his home city of Thebes surrendered to the Persian king, Xerxes, without a fight; the Thebans actually fought as allies of the Persians at Plataia and shared in their humiliating defeat at the hands of the united Greek forces; Pindar did not hesitate to praise the Greek cities for successfully fighting off the Persians but his outspokenness was greeted with disdain in Thebes; his repeated goal in his poetry was to be recognized as a man who was “foremost in wisdom among Hellenes everywhere,” in other words, he was not merely a Theban, he was a Greek. |
| Pindar’s popularity in antiquity explains why so much of his work survived into the modern world; his works can be divided into nine categories: |
| 1) Hymns to various Immortals; |
| 2) Hymns to Apollon (Paeans); |
| 3) Hymns to Dionysos (Dithyrambs); |
| 4) Hymns sung when approaching a holy shrine (Prosodia); |
| 5) Hymns sung by maidens (Partheneia); |
| 6) Songs for dancing (Hyporchemata); |
| 7) Songs for banquets (Enkomia); |
| 8) Songs of lament (Threnoi); and |
| 9) Victory songs (Epinikia). |
| The only poems of Pindar to which I am personally familiar are the Olympian and Pythian odes which are generally referred to as the epinikia, i.e. victory songs; the epinikia are not simply songs praising the winners of athletic competitions, they include references to famous people and events from history as well as offering moral advice to the listener; I recommend these poems highly; the translations by William H. Rice in the Loeb Classical Library Vol. 56 can be found at your local library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site. |
| Pisistratus (Peisistratus) |
| The last tyrant of Greece; (?-527 BCE). |
| Pisistratus was the last tyrant of Athens to hold absolute power; the son of Hippokrates (Hippocrates) and a descendant of Neleus; he was named after one of the sons of the Greek hero, Nestor; his rule was tempered by the constitution instituted by Solon but he was considered to be a beneficent ruler and, despite his sometimes outrageous public posturing, he was instrumental in expanding the artistic and commercial life of the Athenians. |
| During the war with Megara (570 BCE) he achieved acclaim by capturing the port of Nisaea; in 560 BCE he and his supporters forcefully occupied the Acropolis and he proclaimed himself tyrant; he was ousted from Athens in 559 after only one year. |
| The government in Athens suffered in his absence because of the infighting between the different political factions; one of the faction leaders offered Pisistratus his daughter in marriage if he would resume his leadership; this was, of course, not the majority opinion so Pisistratus devised a clever and, as the historian Herodotus puts it, a simple-minded way to make his return; in 550 BCE Pisistratus hired a stately woman named Phya to dress as Athene (Athena) and ride beside him on a chariot into Athens; heralds proceeded the chariot and proclaimed that Pisistratus was returning with the blessing of Athene; whether the citizens were fooled by this stunt is a matter of debate but his showmanship and audacity earned him the right to rule again. |
| After another year he was again exiled and did not return to Athens for another ten years; his next entrance into the city was not as flamboyant as his previous escapade but he managed to retain the rule of Athens from 539 until his death in 527 BCE. |
| During his rule he opened the Euxine (Black Sea) for Athenian traders, gave pensions to artists such as Simonides, instituted the Great Dionysia and gave new splendor to the Panathenaic Festival; his public works and beautification of Athens had a practical and altruistic effect on the citizens and elevated Athens to a new level of respect among all the people of Greece; after his death in 527 BCE, the rule of Athens fell into the indulgent and incompetent hands of his two sons, Hippias and Hipparchus. |
| This web site is entitled From The Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant because the Immortals of Homer held absolute power over the Greeks until the death of Pisistratus; after Pisistratus, the government and people of Greece became more “liberal” and thus more disrespectful of the Immortals; the subsequent decline of their religion led to the eventual loss of dominance by Greece in the ancient world and opened the door for the rise of Rome, the subjugation of the Greek people and the belittlement of their institutions which had thrived for over eight hundred years. |
| Histories, book 1.59-64; book 5.65 |
| Plataea (Plataeae) |
| An ancient city in Boeotia approximately 9 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of the city of Thebes; the site of the final defeat of the invading Persians in 479 BCE. |
| Due to Plataea’s proximity to the powerful city of Thebes, it was under threat of being subjugated by the Thebans; the Plataeans asked the Spartans for protection but Sparta, either for practical or tactical reasons, advised the Plataeans to ask the city of Athens for an alliance; the Athenians agreed to help Plataea if Thebes became too aggressive and, circa 525 BCE, the Thebans tried to extend their territory beyond the traditional boundaries of Plataea. |
| The Athenians sent troops to assist the Plataeans but, by good fortune, the Corinthians happened to be in Plataea and arbitrated a settlement between Thebes and Athens before an armed confrontation could erupt; boundaries were agreed upon and all seemed well until the Athenians prepared to leave; the Thebans fell on the Athenians in an ambush and, although caught off-guard, the Athenians won the battle; the Athenians returned to Plataea and renegotiated the peace agreement with a humbled Thebes; Plataea was allotted more land than the original agreement had stipulated because of the Theban treachery; for this reason, when the Athenians faced the invading army of the Persian king, Darius, in 490 BCE on the fields of Marathon, the Plataeans came to their assistance and fought victoriously with the Athenians. |
| Plataea was the site of the final confrontation between the invading Persian army and the defending Greeks in 479 BCE; the Persians had marched an enormous army from Asia into Greece and Plataea was one of the two cities of Boeotia which had not cowed to the threats of the Persians; the Persians demanded earth and water from each city they encountered to demonstrate that city’s surrender to the Great King; as the Persians marched south through Boeotia, the citizens of Plataea evacuated their city and took refuge at the Isthmus of Corinth where they intended to make a last stand with the other defiant Greek refuges. |
| After the Persians had sacked and burned the city of Athens, their army seemed invincible but the Persian king, Xerxes, underestimated the resiliency of the Greeks; the naval confrontation near the island of Salamis was a disaster for the Persians; the Persian king withdrew his remaining ships to protect the retreat of his army, which was poised to invade the Peloponnesian Peninsula; Xerxes decided to leave a portion of his army in Greece and he chose his cousin, Mardonius, to command the three hundred thousand troops he left behind augmented by an unrecorded number of troops from the Greek cities which had joined the Persians; by comparison, the defending Greeks assembled thirty-eight thousand seven hundred heavily armed men with an additional thirty-four thousand five hundred lightly armed men for a total of seventy-three thousand two hundred warriors. |
| Near Plataea, the two armies were facing one another across the Asopos river and neither side initiated an attack for ten days; the Persians were waiting for their sacrifices to show favorable omens and the Greeks were waiting for more soldiers to join their ranks; Mardonius was eager for a confrontation but his advisor, Artabazus, wanted to retreat to the nearby city of Thebes and use their accumulated wealth to simply buy-off the remaining hostile Greek cities; Mardonius chose to take the initiative and the Persian attack was scheduled for dawn on the eleventh day. |
| The Greeks were, as was their nature, bickering amongst themselves as to where each contingent should be placed in the battle lines; at dawn, Mardonius taunted the Spartans and challenged them to a one-on-one fight, i.e. the Persians, without their allies, would fight against only the Spartans and the fate of Greece would depend on which army won the battle; the Spartans did not respond to Mardonius and the full scale battle was soon joined; the Persian cavalry charged into the midst of the Greeks and caused considerable casualties; the cavalry attack also cut the Greeks off from their water supply so after night fell on that first day of fierce fighting, the Greeks decided to retreat a mile or so to the river Oeroe. |
| During the night the Greeks withdrew, but not to the Oeroe; they moved over 2 miles (3 kilometers) to the temple of Hera at Plataea; the retreat went badly for the Greeks, especially the Spartans who were not accustomed to turning away from an enemy; one Spartan commander, Amompharetus, flatly refused to withdraw from the front lines and the other Spartans were hesitant to leave him alone to be overwhelmed by the Persians; after much arguing and bitter words, most of the Spartans pulled back from the front lines but stayed close enough to come to the assistance of the stubborn commander, Amompharetus. |
| When Mardonius saw that the Greeks had withdrawn, he mocked the Spartans and ordered his troops to advance on the cowardly Greeks; the Persian cavalry went first followed by a disorderly onrush of foot soldiers; Mardonius focused his attention on the Spartans and let his allied Greek soldiers deal with the Athenians; the Spartans were pushed back to the temple of Hera again and the Persians did much damage from behind a wall of wicker shields with arrows and other missiles; the Spartan commander, Pausanias, prayed to Hera and, almost immediately, the tide of the battle turned in favor of the Spartans. |
| Mardonius was in the midst of the battle on his white charger and surrounded by a thousand of the best Persian troops; the Persians were good fighters but, compared to the Greeks, they were lightly armed and out maneuvered; Mardonius was felled and the determination of the Persian soldiers fell with him; Herodotus notes that not one Persian soldier died in the precincts of the temple of Hera because, according to his reasoning, the Persians had burned her temple at Eleusis and were therefore divinely prohibited from touching her sacred grounds at Plataea. |
| The various contingents of soldiers on both sides of the battle were in no way coordinated or orchestrated in their attacks or defense; the Athenians and the Spartans were the most determined of the Greeks and the Persians soldiers were by far the best of their Asian and Greek allies; some of the soldiers on both sides never entered the battle and many did not know or understand the tactics their commanders were initiating; the Spartans fought fiercely at the temple of Hera but there were other Greek soldiers there that did not fight at all. |
| While Mardonius was leading his fatal charge against the Spartans, his deputy, Artabazus, was leading his forty thousand troops away from the battle and his retreat assured the Persian defeat; when the Persians and their allies realized that the battle was lost, they began to make a disorganized retreat towards the walled city of Thebes and another wooden fortress they had erected in Theban territory; if the Persian cavalry had not protected their retreat their losses would have been one hundred percent; the Greeks pursued and slaughtered the majority of the fleeing Persians and their allies. |
| Several curious things happened after the battle was over which can give us some insight into the minds of the Greeks who defended their homeland and did not surrender their freedom to the seemingly overwhelming Persian forces: |
| 1) A man named Lampon encouraged the Spartan leader, Pausanias, to cut the head from Mardonius’ dead body and impale it as revenge for the four thousand Spartans who were killed at Thermopylae, especially for their leader, Leonidas whom the Persians beheaded and impaled; Pausanias told Lampon that such acts were the deeds of barbarians and that although Leonidas was his uncle, he would never dishonor his family or city with such a low and shameful display of mutilation; |
| 2) After the Persians had fled, the Greeks confiscated all the slaves and goods that were left behind; when Pausanias saw the wagons of food and the rich Persian dinnerware, he made the Persian cooks prepare a meal as if it was for Mardonius or Xerxes; he then had his slaves prepare a typical Spartan meal and laid the two suppers out side by side; the Persian meal was elegant compared to the simple Spartan meal; he called in his generals and said that the Persians must be stupid to dine on such fine food and then come to Greece to steal their humble fare. |
| The battle of Plataea was over and the Greeks had won the day with their superior military acumen and sheer bravery; the next time the Persians were fated to face a Greek army was when Alexander the Great conquered them in 331 BCE. |
| Approximate East Longitude 23º 25' and North Latitude 38º 22' |
| Histories, book 6.111 and 6.113; book 7.132, 7.232 and 7.233; book 8.50 and 8.66; book 9.28-86 |
| Podarge |
| po DAR gee |
| A Harpy, i.e. a winged woman; Podarge was the consort of Zephyros (West Wind) and mother of the immortal chariot horses of Achilles, Balios and Xanthos (Xanthus). |
| In the Greek text, Podarge is clearly referred to as a Harpy but, at the same time, she is said to be “grazing” in a meadow near the swirling waters of Okeanos (Ocean) when she encountered Zephyros and conceived Balios and Xanthus; the poet, Hesiod, describes Harpies as having “lovely hair, winged women soaring aloft like birds” and sisters of the rainbow goddess Iris; that description does not evoke the image of a creature who would be “grazing” in a meadow; this would explain why the Podarge’s Harpy aspect is played down and the image of her as a horse seems to dominate the various translations; for example:. |
| The Loeb Classical Library translation calls her “the Harpy Podarge”; |
| The Richmond Lattimore translation calls her “stormy Podarge” in the text but lists her as a Harpy in the index; |
| The Robert Fagles translation calls her “the storm-wind filly Lightfoot” and makes no reference to her as a Harpy; |
| The Robert Fitzgerald translation calls her “stormgust Podarge” and also makes no reference to her as a Harpy. |
| Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 16, line 150 |
| Iliad (Fagles), book 16, line 180 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 16, line 174 |
| Poet and the Woman |
| A comic play by Aristophanes produced in 411 BCE at Athens; usually called The Poet and the Woman but the Greek name was Thesmophoriazusae (Thesmophoriazusia), which might be rendered as Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria, i.e. the Women’s Festival of the goddess, Demeter. |
| This is one of Aristophanes’ more ribald plays and might not be suitable for younger readers. |
| It seems that the women of the city of Athens have decided to kill the poet, Euripides, because of the demeaning way in which he portrays women in his plays; the women put Euripides in the same category as the accursed Persians and declare him an enemy of the state; Euripides persuades his father-in-law, Mnesilochos (Mnesilochus), to dress like a woman and attend the Women’s Assembly in order to speak out on Euripides’ behalf; at first, Mnesilochos speaks well for Euripides and seems to be generating some sympathy for the doomed poet but an informant arrives and tells the women that a male spy has invaded their assembly; it doesn’t take long for the women to deduce that the only woman to speak out for Euripides is the intruder. |
| At this point the play takes a unique turn; I have to admit that I was more than a little surprised when Mnesilochos snatched up a baby from a woman in the assembly and threatened to kill it unless he was allowed to leave the hall unharmed; I won’t tell you how the situation is resolved but I will say that it’s scenes like this which demonstrate Aristophanes’ true comic genius. |
| After Mnesilochos is taken prisoner and restrained, Euripides enters the scene to save his father-in-law from the wrath of the women; the comic banter between Mnesilochos and Euripides is dialogue taken from Euripides’ tragedies and turned into farcical parodies. |
| Although the play mocks Euripides, there is an element of respect for his work laced throughout the puns and jokes; the net result of reading this play is that I wanted to read more plays by Euripides and Aristophanes. |
| Aristophanes’ plays are sometimes difficult to appreciate because he was a very contemporary poet, i.e. he was writing for the Athenian audience of his day; he would use puns, parody regional accents and speak directly to the audience in ways that force modern translators to seek out the contextual meaning rather than the literal meaning of the poet’s words; for that reason, I suggest that if you find a translation that is difficult to enjoy, please don’t blame Aristophanes, simply look for a translation that you can enjoy; you may find this play at your local library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site. |
| Polybotes |
| Polybotes was one of the huge monsters collectively known as the Giants; the Giants were the children of Gaia (Earth) engendered by the blood of Ouranos (the Heavens). |
| The Giants waged an unsuccessful war on the Olympians and were severely punished after their defeat; the poet Hesiod states that the Giants were banished to the Underworld but Apollodorus of Athens clearly describes the brutal death of the Giants. |
| The Giants were mostly human in form but their bodies were massive and they were invincible in their might; they had long drooping locks on their heads and chins; their feet had scales like a dragon or serpent; whether they actually had the feet of dragons or whether they were simply scaled was a point of contention among several of the ancient authors; the traveler and historian, Pausanias, disputed the fact that the Giants literally had dragon feet but ancient artwork generally represented the Giants with serpent-like feet. |
| The origin of the Giants was either Phlegrae or Pallene but it has been suggested that the two names represent the same place; the Immortals were given an oracle which stated that the Giants could not be killed by a god or goddess so they decided to enlist the aid of Herakles (Heracles) to do the actual killing; when Gaia learned of the oracle, she began the preparation of a drug that would protect her awful children but Zeus culled a cunning brew of his own that would make the Giants vulnerable to the wrath of the Immortals; in order to have the time necessary for the creation of the drug, Zeus forbade Eos (Dawn), Selene (Moon) and Helios (Sun) to shine until his task was complete. |
| The goddess Athene (Athena) summoned Herakles and the war against the Giants began: |
| Polybotes was chased by Poseidon to the island of Kos (Cos) where the god broke off a piece of the island (called Nisyrum) and hurled it at the desperate Giant. |
| Polybotes and his brothers all met a similar fate; his brothers were: |
| Alkyoneos (Alcyoneus) - Alkyoneos was one of the two most powerful of the Giants; he was brazen in his contempt for the Olympian Gods and even stole the cattle of Helios from Erythia; he was immortal as long as he remained on his home soil, i.e. he could not be killed by man, god or beast as long as he remained in the land of his birth; he was, however, the first of the Giants to die; Herakles shot Alkyoneos with an arrow and the mighty Giant fell to the ground where he was revitalized by the earth and began to recover from the wound; at the advice of Athene, Herakles dragged Alkyoneos out of Pallene where he was no longer protected by his native soil and he died. |
| Porphyrion - Alkyoneos and Porphyrion were the two most powerful Giants; while Alkyoneos and Herakles were fighting, Porphyrion joined the battle but was immediately distracted by an intervention from Zeus; an irresistible longing for the goddess Hera overcame Porphyrion and he began to tear at the goddesses’ garments; Herakles killed Alkyoneos while Porphyrion was lustfully distracted and Zeus struck the unsuspecting Giant with a thunderbolt and rendered him helpless but not dead; Herakles shot Porphyrion with an arrow and killed him. |
| Ephialtes was shot with an arrow in the left eye by Apollon and then in the right eye by Herakles. |
| Eurytos (Eurytus) was killed by Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine) with a thyrsus, i.e. a wand wreathed in ivy and vine leaves with a pine cone at the top. |
| Klytios (Clytius) was killed by the goddess Hekate (Hecate) with torches; presumably he was burned to death. |
| Mimas was killed when Hephaistos (Hephaestus) showered him with missiles of hot metal. |
| Enkelados (Enceladus) tried to run away but Athene dropped the island of Sicily on him. |
| Hippolytus (Hippolytos) was killed by Hermes who was wearing the Helm of Hades which made him invisible. |
| Gration was killed by Artemis; Agrios (Agrius) and Thoas were beaten with brazen clubs by the Fates; the other (unnamed) Giants were struck by thunderbolts from Zeus; Herakles shot and killed each of the Giants with arrows as they lay suffering. |
| Pausanaus, book vii, chapter 29 |
| Library, book I, chapter VI |
| Theogony, line 185 |
| Polydeukes (Polydeuces or Pollux) |
| He and his brother, Kastor (Castor), were called the Dioskuri (Dioscuri); the twin sons of Zeus and Leda and the brothers of Helen, Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra) and Timandra. |
| In The Iliad (book 3, line 243) Kastor and Polydeukes were merely mortals but later stories gave the brothers a more supernatural countenance; as examples: |
| 1) When Helen was a young girl, she was kidnapped by Theseus; Kastor and Polydeukes saved her with the help of Akademus (Academus) or perhaps Dekelus (Decelus); |
| 2) While they were with the Argonauts, the two brothers became involved with the daughters of Leukippus (Leucippus), Hilaeira and Phoibe (Phoebe), and, for one reason or another, Kastor was killed; Polydeukes was supposedly immortal and did not want to live if his brother was dead; Zeus had mercy on the devoted brothers and allowed Kastor to return from the land of the dead on the condition that Polydeukes would take his place; that meant that the two brothers would alternately spend their days in the Underworld while the other would be free on the face of the earth; eventually they were introduced into the heavens as the constellation, Gemini, i.e. the Twins. |
| An elaboration of the death of Kastor survives in the fragmentary remains of The Kypria; the author (not Homer) says that the two brothers were caught stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynkeus (Lynceus); Kastor was killed by Idas and then he and his brother, Lynkeus, were killed by Polydeukes; Zeus made Kastor and Polydeukes immortal with the condition that while one of them lived on the surface of the earth, the other would reside in the Underworld. |
| Pollux is the Roman name for Polydeukes. |
| Polykrates (Polycrates) 1 |
| The tyrant of the island of Samos. |
| Polykrates ruled Samos from 532 BCE until his death circa 515 BCE; he was a man of great ambition and skill; originally, he took control of the island and shared the governance with his two brothers, Pantagnotus and Syloson, but he had Pantagnotus killed and Syloson was banished. |
| Polykrates amassed a large fleet of ships and assembled an army capable of dominating all who opposed him; from the island of Samos he was in an excellent strategic position to capture and defend the Aegean coast of Asia Minor as well as the islands of the Aegean Sea. |
| There are several interesting stories relating to Polykrates in the Histories by Herodotus: |
| Polykrates had cultivated a friendship with the king of Egypt, Amasis; the two monarchs had exchanged gifts and advice with one another because both men feared the ambitions of the Persian king, Kambyses (Cambyses); Amasis was concerned that Polykrates was too successful and a bit too proud so he advised him to take something that was very important to him and cast it away; Amasis explained that all lives must be checkered with happiness and sorrow and that unless Polykrates endured some degree of hardship his life would end in utter tragedy; Polykrates acted on Amasis’ advice and took his most prized possession, an emerald ring, and threw it into the sea; several days later, a fisherman brought Polykrates an extraordinary fish as a tribute; when the fish was cut open the emerald ring was inside; Polykrates took this as an omen from the gods that his good fortune would continue indefinitely; when he informed Amasis of the event, Amasis broke off all relations with Polykrates saying that the return of the ring was the worst possible omen and that Polykrates’ fate would be one of abject misery and sorrow; Polykrates did not appreciate Amasis’ advice and immediately tried to form an alliance with the Persian king, Kambyses. |
| Kambyses was preparing to invade Egypt so Polykrates offered to assist the Persian king by giving Kambyses fifty warships; Polykrates manned the ships with dissidents so that he could earn the good will of the powerful and ambitious Kambyses and, at the same time, rid himself of any rebels who might want to threaten his power; Kambyses was not as good an ally as Polykrates might have imagined; Kambyses had insurmountable problems that threatened his empire; according to Herodotus, Kambyses was clearly a madman and could only be trusted to act irrationally and violently towards friend and foe alike. |
| At this same time, the Spartans were preparing an attack on the island of Samos and Polykrates needed reliable friends who would help defend his growing empire; the Persian satrap of Sardis, Oroetes, devised a plan by which he could defeat Polykrates with nothing more than a messenger and a believable lie; Oroetes informed Polykrates that he was fearful of Kambyses and that he had the funds to make Polykrates the most powerful Greek tyrant who ever existed; Polykrates was intrigued but moved with caution; he sent a messenger to Oroetes to arrange further negotiations but Oroetes was too sly for the messenger; he filled chests with stones and then put a covering of gold coins on top; he showed the chests of gold to the hapless messenger who reported to Polykrates that Oroetes did indeed have immense wealth; Polykrates’ advisors and diviners were not as quick to trust Oroetes and cautioned him to not meet with the Persian; Polykrates’ daughter had a nightmare in which her father was lifted into the air, washed by Zeus and anointed by Helios (the Sun); Polykrates would not listen to any of their warnings and sailed off with a large entourage to meet his doom; Oroetes wasted no time, he took Polykrates and most of his company prisoner; Polykrates was murdered in a cruel way and then his body was crucified; Amasis’ warning and his daughters dream had come true; Polykrates had come to a bitter end; he was hung in the air to be washed by the rain of Zeus and was anointed by the touch of Helios. |
| Histories, book 3.39-46 and 3.121-125 |
| Thucydides, book 1.13 |
| Polyneikes (Polyneices) |
| The youngest son of King Oedipus and Iokaste (Jocasta) of the city of Thebes; the brother of Eteokles (Eteocles), Antigone and Ismene. |
| Oedipus was cursed to kill his father and marry his mother and the children of this profane union were also cursed; Polyneikes was the son and brother of Oedipus. |
| After his father blinded himself and went into exile Oedipus’ eldest son, Eteokles took control of the government of Thebes; Polyneikes was also exiled so he took refuge in Argos with King Adrastus and married Adrastus’ daughter, Argeia. |
| Polyneikes and six loyal friends formed armies and intended to reclaim the throne of Thebes; the seven armies were necessary because Thebes was known as the City of Seven Gates and thus one army would attack each gate; their effort was commonly known as the Seven Against Thebes. |
| Before the attack, Polyneikes went to his exiled father and begged for his blessing but Oedipus cursed Polyneikes and predicted that Polyneikes and his brother, Eteokles, would both die without honor in the battle for the city; the attack on Thebes failed and Eteokles and Polyneikes both died on each other’s spear. |
| After the battle, Polyneikes’ uncle, Kreon (Creon), assumed the throne and gave Eteokles a noble burial but, as an act of petty revenge, refused to allow a proper burial for Polyneikes; his body was left to the vultures and dogs until one of his sisters, Antigone, defied Kreon and covered her brother with a thin layer of dirt while his body still laid on the battlefield; his other sister was Ismene. |
| His name might literally mean Many Grievances: Poly means Many; Neikea means Grievances, i.e. the children of Eris (Discord); his name may also be rendered as Polynikes or Polynices. |
| Polyphemos (Polyphemus) 1 |
| pho LEE fee mos |
| The Cyclopes son of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and the nymph, Thoosa. |
| After leaving the destroyed city of Troy, Odysseus and his twelve ships were blown off course to the country of the Cyclopes; they beached their ships in a natural harbor and when Eos (Dawn) arrived, they feasted on goats that the nymphs had driven from the hills to the shore where the sailors had camped; Odysseus and his men could see the smoke from hearth fires but did not know who the inhabitants of the land might be. |
| On the following day, Odysseus took his ship and ventured down the coast to seek out the natives; they came to a place where they could see a cave with goats and sheep in a fenced yard; in the distance they could see a monstrous man herding his flocks; Odysseus took twelve of his crewman and went ashore to investigate; Odysseus had the feeling that the monster-man would be wild and lawless so he took some food and a skin of very strong wine with him; they found the cave of the monster-man well stocked with cheese, milk and pens full of lambs and kids; Odysseus’ companions wanted to simply steal the food and make a hasty retreat back to their ship but Odysseus decided to wait for the monster-man to return and see if gifts of food would be offered without resorting to theft. |
| When the Cyclopes, named Polyphemos, returned to the cave, he made such a ruckus that Odysseus and the twelve sailors retreated into the shadows and hid; they watched as the one eyed man separated the males and females and herded the females into the cave; he then rolled a giant stone in front of the cave entrance and began to milk the sheep and goats; when he finished his chores, the Cyclopes lit a fire and finally saw Odysseus and the other men hiding in the recesses of the cave; he asked if they were pirates or traveling on business; Odysseus, in his most eloquent style, told the Cyclopes of their plight and asked for the hospitality that any god fearing man (or monster-man) would provide; the Cyclopes said that he was better than the gods and would offer no hospitality. |
| At that moment, Polyphemos snatched up two of the sailors and dashed them on the floor, spilling their blood and brains, and proceeded to eat them; Odysseus and the other men helplessly cried out to Zeus for mercy but Polyphemos was oblivious to their lamentations and laid down to sleep; Odysseus thought of pulling his sword and attacking Polyphemos but then realized that if the Cyclopes died, the trapped sailors could not move the giant stone that sealed the cave; Odysseus waited for Dawn and an hoped for an opportunity to escape certain death. |
| When Polyphemos awoke he went about his morning chores and, when he had finished milking his goats and sheep, killed and ate two more of Odysseus’ men; he then moved the giant stone at the entrance of the cave and went outside to tend his flocks; Polyphemos replaced the stone trapping Odysseus and the eight surviving men inside the cave; Odysseus began to devise a plan of escape; he took a large tree trunk that was in the cave and sharpened one end and hardened the point with fire; the sailors drew lots and four men were chosen to help Odysseus wield the tree sized spear when the proper time came to attack Polyphemos. |
| When Polyphemos returned to the cave, he brought his entire flock, males and females, inside for the night; he tended to his milking chores and then effortlessly killed and ate two more sailors; Odysseus boldly filled a bowl with the very potent wine he had brought along and offered it to Polyphemos; the Cyclopes took the wine and drank it down; the wine had been a gift to Odysseus and was so strong that it had to be watered down with twenty portions of water in order to make it suitable for any civilized man to drink; Polyphemos explained that Cyclopes made wine but the wine Odysseus had given him was surely made where nectar and ambrosia flow in abundance; he asked for more wine and, after three bowls, tried to engage Odysseus in conversation; he asked Odysseus what his name was and promised to give him a guest-gift in exchange for the wine; Odysseus cleverly said that his name was Nobody (Ουτις); Polyphemos said that he would eat Nobody after he had eaten the other men and that would be his guest-gift. |
| Polyphemos then passed out from the wine and vomited bile and meat on the cave floor; Odysseus and his men heated the point of the tree they had sharpened and poised it in front of Polyphemos’ eye; as the men pushed the searing point of the tree into Polyphemos’ eye, Odysseus used his weight to spin the giant spear so that it would penetrate as deeply as possible; Polyphemos awoke with a scream and pulled the deeply imbedded point from his ruined eye; his cries drew the attention of the neighboring Cyclopes and they converged at the cave entrance and asked why Polyphemos was screaming in the night; “Nobody is trying to kill me,” Polyphemos answered; the other Cyclopes returned to their homes thinking that Polyphemos was suffering from madness; they urged him to call upon his father, Poseidon, for help. |
| Odysseus then had the six remaining men tie three rams abreast and then strapped each man to the belly of the center animal; he chose the largest ram in the flock for himself and hid beneath it in a similar manner; when Dawn arrived, Polyphemos opened the cave entrance and carefully felt the backs of all the sheep as they went outside; the men under the tethered sheep were safely outside when the ram carrying Odysseus came to the entrance; Polyphemos recognized the ram by its thick, luxurious fleece and wondered why the noble beast was the last to leave the cave; Polyphemos assumed that the ram was mourning the injury to its master’s eye and Polyphemos assured the ram that he was going to kill and eat Nobody for the foul deed. |
| When Odysseus was a safe distance from the cave, he untied the other men and proceeded to drive Polyphemos’ flock to the ship; Odysseus signaled the men to quietly load the animals on board so that Polyphemos and the other Cyclopes would not hear them; when the ship was a little distance from the shore, Odysseus could not contain his pride and anger, he called out to Polyphemos and said that the wrath of the gods had been justly administered and that good men had been the instrument of divine retribution; Polyphemos lifted a stone the size of a mountain peak and blindly threw it at the ship; the stone grazed the ship and the wave it created pushed the ship back to the shore; the men rowed frantically to get the ship back to the open water before Polyphemos could hurl another bolder; when they were twice the previous distance from the shore, Odysseus again wanted to taunt the blinded Cyclopes; the other sailors tried to restrain Odysseus but his proud heart would not be silent; he shouted to Polyphemos that he was Odysseus, the sacker of cities from the island of Ithaka (Ithaca), and that he should have killed the evil Cyclopes instead of just blinding him. |
| Polyphemos then realized that his blinding had been foretold by a prophet; he had always been on the lookout for a man named Odysseus but he had been tricked by clever words and missed the prophetic signs; Polyphemos raised his arms to heaven and called upon his father to bring down his vengeance on Odysseus, to kill all his men, to bring turmoil to his household and to delay his homecoming for many years; Poseidon heard his son’s plea and made it all come to pass. |
| Porphyrion |
| Porphyrion was one of the huge monsters collectively known as the Giants; the Giants were the children of Gaia (Earth) engendered by the blood of Ouranos (the Heavens). |
| The Giants waged an unsuccessful war on the Olympians and were severely punished after their defeat; the poet Hesiod states that the Giants were banished to the Underworld but Apollodorus of Athens clearly describes the brutal death of the Giants. |
| The Giants were mostly human in form but their bodies were massive and they were invincible in their might; they had long drooping locks on their heads and chins; their feet had scales like a dragon or serpent; whether they actually had the feet of dragons or whether they were simply scaled was a point of contention among several of the ancient authors; the traveler and historian, Pausanias, disputed the fact that the Giants literally had dragon feet but ancient artwork generally represented the Giants with serpent-like feet. |
| The origin of the Giants was either Phlegrae or Pallene but it has been suggested that the two names represent the same place; the Immortals were given an oracle which stated that the Giants could not be killed by a god or goddess so they decided to enlist the aid of Herakles (Heracles) to do the actual killing; when Gaia learned of the oracle, she began the preparation of a drug that would protect her awful children but Zeus culled a cunning brew of his own that would make the Giants vulnerable to the wrath of the Immortals; in order to have the time necessary for the creation of the drug, Zeus forbade Eos (Dawn), Selene (Moon) and Helios (Sun) to shine until his task was complete. |
| The goddess Athene (Athena) summoned Herakles and the war against the Giants began: |
| Porphyrion and Alkyoneos were the two most powerful Giants; while Alkyoneos and Herakles were fighting, Porphyrion joined the battle but was immediately distracted by an intervention from Zeus; an irresistible longing for the goddess Hera overcame Porphyrion and he began to tear at the goddesses’ garments; Herakles killed Alkyoneos while Porphyrion was lustfully distracted and Zeus struck the unsuspecting Giant with a thunderbolt and rendered him helpless but not dead; Herakles shot Porphyrion with an arrow and killed him. |
| Porphyrion and his brothers all met a similar fate; his brothers were: |
| Alkyoneos (Alcyoneus) - Alkyoneos was one of the two most powerful of the Giants; he was brazen in his contempt for the Olympian Gods and even stole the cattle of Helios from Erythia; he was immortal as long as he remained on his home soil, i.e. he could not be killed by man, god or beast as long as he remained in the land of his birth; he was, however, the first of the Giants to die; Herakles shot Alkyoneos with an arrow and the mighty Giant fell to the ground where he was revitalized by the earth and began to recover from the wound; at the advice of Athene, Herakles dragged Alkyoneos out of Pallene where he was no longer protected by his native soil and he died. |
| Ephialtes was shot with an arrow in the left eye by Apollon and then in the right eye by Herakles. |
| Eurytos (Eurytus) was killed by Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine) with a thyrsus, i.e. a wand wreathed in ivy and vine leaves with a pine cone at the top. |
| Klytios (Clytius) was killed by the goddess Hekate (Hecate) with torches; presumably he was burned to death. |
| Mimas was killed when Hephaistos (Hephaestus) showered him with missiles of hot metal. |
| Enkelados (Enceladus) tried to run away but Athene dropped the island of Sicily on him. |
| Polybotes was chased by Poseidon to the island of Kos (Cos) where the god broke off a piece of the island (called Nisyrum) and hurled it at the desperate Giant. |
| Hippolytus (Hippolytos) was killed by Hermes who was wearing the Helm of Hades which made him invisible. |
| Gration was killed by Artemis; Agrios (Agrius) and Thoas were beaten with brazen clubs by the Fates; the other (unnamed) Giants were struck by thunderbolts from Zeus; Herakles shot and killed each of the Giants with arrows as they lay suffering. |
| Pausanaus, book vii, chapter 29 |
| Library, book I, chapter VI |
| Theogony, line 185 |
| Priam 1 |
 |
| The last king of the city of Troy. |
| Priam and his fifty sons gathered their allies and resisted the attack of the Achaeans (Achaians), i.e. the Greeks, for ten bloody years; he was the son of Laomedon and a direct descendent of Zeus; he was the husband of Hekabe (Hecabe) and the father of many sons and daughters; when the walls of Troy finally fell Priam was killed by the son of Achilles, Neoptolemus (Neoptolemos). |
| The city of Troy was a wealthy commercial center and therefore invaded and looted many times; one of the looters was Herakles (Heracles); in the generation before Priam, Herakles and his army assaulted Troy and successfully plundered the city; Priam’s father, Laomedon, was killed in the assault as were Priam’s brothers, but his sister, Hesione, was spared and given as a concubine to Telamon (the father of Aias); Hesione was accorded the right to choose any of the prisoners she wished to take with her, she chose her brother Podarkes (Podarces) but Herakles declared that, since Podarkes was a slave, he must be purchased before he could be considered as a suitable choice; Hesione gave her veil as the purchase price and thus her brother, Podarkes, was thereafter called Priam, a variation of the word Priamai, meaning To Buy. |
| The image above shows King Priam as he ransoms the body of his son, Hector, from Achilles. |
| Apollodorus of Athens, Library, book 2, chapter 135-136 |
| Prometheus Bound |
| One of the seven surviving tragedies by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus. |
| Cast of Characters: |
| Prometheus |
| Io |
| Hephaistos (Hephaestus) |
| Okeanos (Ocean) |
| Hermes |
| Bia (Force or Might) |
| Prometheus Bound is a sad and moving play dealing with the punishment meted out by Zeus because Prometheus gave fire to the mortals of the earth. |
| Hephaistos (Hephaestus) laments as he chains Prometheus to the peaks of the Caucasus Mountains at the edges of the earth but he is duty bound to follow the instructions of his brother, Zeus; with his distasteful job finished, Hephaistos departs; Prometheus is visited by the daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) who are the chorus in the play; they weep at Prometheus’ misery and when Okeanos flies in on his winged chariot, he too is saddened by the pitiable sight of a fellow god being treated in such a way; Okeanos offers to go to Zeus and beg for Prometheus’ release but Prometheus knows the future and says that he must endure his punishment because he knows that Zeus will not relent. |
| Prometheus explains that he not only gave humanity fire, he gave them all types of knowledge which would allow them to move from the caves and live in the sunlight; mathematics, written language, agriculture, metallurgy, animal husbandry and all forms of civilized knowledge to broaden minds and make life easier came from Prometheus. |
| In the course of her constant wandering, the heifer-maiden, Io, encounters Prometheus chained to the mountainside; she has been forced to roam the earth pestered by a gadfly because Zeus desired her as a lover and she refused his amorous advances; when Zeus’ wife, Hera, found out about Zeus’ attraction for Io, she sent the hundred-eyed Argos to follow the poor girl; after Argos was killed, his spirit became the gadfly which continues to torments Io; even though Prometheus is miserable, he shows mercy to Io and assures her that her suffering will eventually be over and that she will find happiness at the end of her long ordeal; he also tells Io that one of her descendants will eventually free him from his bonds; Io is forced to flee because the gadfly has caught up with her and she runs to escape the biting pains; Prometheus then tells the daughters of Okeanos that Zeus is destined to fall from power and, although he won’t be specific as to the time when this will happen, Prometheus says that Zeus will be toppled by one of his own sons. |
| Zeus knows and hears all; when he heard Prometheus say that he knew when and how Zeus would be toppled from his throne, he sent Hermes to get the specific details but Prometheus is disdainful of Hermes and belittles him by calling him a lackey and a messenger boy and will not give Hermes the information that Zeus demands; Hermes threatens Prometheus by telling him that Zeus will strike the mountain with lightning and bury him alive if he does not reveal how Zeus will be dethroned; he also tells Prometheus that an eagle will gnaw at his liver during the day only to have it mend overnight and then the torment would begin again at dawn; Prometheus is still defiant and says that he will endure his punishment without complaint. |
| This play is intensely sad because Prometheus knows that all of his troubles are his own fault and he fully realized what the punishment would be when he defied Zeus; even so, Prometheus felt that it was more important to act in accordance with his better judgment than to bow to Zeus’ tyrannical injustice. |
| If you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus II, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307948; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site. |
| Protesilaus (Protesilaos) |
| Protesilaus has the dubious honor of being the first Greek warrior killed at the siege of Troy. |
| When he leapt from his ship he was immediately killed by the Trojan hero, Hector; after his death, his younger brother, Podarkes (Podarces), took over his command; the two brothers were descended from the god of War, Ares; his wife, Laodameia (or perhaps her name was Polydora), was so grief stricken that the Immortals allowed Protesilaus to leave the Underworld and return to her for three hours; when he went back into the Underworld Laodameia committed suicide so that she could be with him. |
| In the city of Elaeus, which is very near Troy (but on the European side of the Hellespont), a tomb and a temple were built for Protesilaus; it is unlikely that the body of Protesilaus was in the tomb because the Greeks normally burned their dead. |
| Circa 480 BCE, a Persian viceroy named Artayktes (Artayctes) stole the valuables and violated the women of the temple; Artayktes informed the Persian King Cyrus that he had only stolen from a Greek hero who had once invaded the Persian king’s land and Cyrus granted him permission to keep the plunder; Artayktes had carefully worded the justification of his looting of the temple so as not to say that Protesilaus had been dead for almost eight hundred years and that, when the now-dead hero had attacked Troy, he had not attacked the Persian king’s people or property. |
| At this same time, Cyrus was preparing his invasion of Greece and was ready to cross over from Asia Minor into Europe when the Athenians surrounded Artayktes, his son and his companions at Elaeus; Artayktes managed to escape but the Athenians tracked him down and took him and his son as prisoners; it would seem that Artayktes did not understand the seriousness of his situation because, when he saw one of the soldiers cooking fish, he joked that the fish danced around in the hot coals as if they were still alive just as the dead Protesilaus still had influence with the gods and was able to mete out vengeance to those who had wronged him; Artayktes then tried to use the gold and silver he had stolen from Protesilaus’ temple to bribe the Athenians but they were too honorable to exchange stolen booty from a dead hero’s tomb for the life of a scoundrel; Artayktes was crucified and his son was stoned to death. |
| The Kypria, fragment 1 |
| Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 2, lines 698, 706 and 708; book 13, line 681; book 15, line 705; book 16, line 286 |
| Iliad (Fagles), book 2, lines 796 and 807; book 13, line 788; book 15, line 818; book 16, line 336 |
| Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, lines 830 and 842; book 13, line 781; book 15, line 817; book 16, line 336 |
| Histories, book 7.33; book 9.116-122 |
| Proteus 1 |
| pro TEE us |
| The Old Man of the Sea; an ancient sea god and a thane of Poseidon (lord of the Sea); the son of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys. |
| Proteus was noted for his ability to assume different forms and to prophesy; when Menelaos (Menelaus) and his crewmen were stranded on the island of Pharos, he aroused the sympathy of Proteus’ daughter, Eidothea; she waited until Menelaos was alone and told him how he could catch Proteus and induce him to answer questions; each day at noon, Proteus would come out of the water and lie down in a cavern with his seals and sleep; Eidothea advised Menelaos to take his strongest men, cover themselves with seal skins, and ambush Proteus when he came out of the water. |
| Eidothea skinned four seals and gave the reeking hides to Menelaos and three of his shipmates; she then put ambrosia under their noses so that they could endure the terrible stench of the seals and showed Menelaos the cave where Proteus came out of the water to sleep; Menelaos did as she suggested and caught Proteus unawares; Menelaos grabbed Proteus and would not loosen his grip no matter which form the Old Man of the Sea assumed; Proteus put up a terrible fight and took the shape of a lion, a serpent, a leopard, a boar, fluid water and, finally, a towering tree but Menelaos held fast. |
| Finally Proteus ceased his struggle and asked Menelaos what he wanted; Menelaos asked about his companions who had fought with him at Troy and in which direction he should travel in order to reach his kingdom; Proteus told Menelaos of the sad deaths of Aias (Ajax) and his brother Agamemnon; Proteus also told Menelaos that Odysseus was still adrift on the wine-dark sea; Proteus advised Menelaos to return to Egypt and make sacrifices to the Immortals so that he might return to his home in Argos. |
| Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 4, lines 351-570 |
| Odyssey (Fagles), book 4, lines 408-642 |
| Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 4, lines 393-608 |
| Pythagoras |
| peh thah GO ras |
| (circa 582-500 or 569-475 BCE) The famous Greek philosopher, mathematician and religious reformer. |
| Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos and revered to this day with the principal city on the island named after him, Pythagoreon (originally the city was called Samos). |
| Pythagoras was a vegetarian because he believed in the transmigration of souls which meant that the souls of deceased animals would re-inhabit new animals; Pythagoras believed that he was the reincarnation of a soldier in the Trojan War named Euphorbos; Euphorbos was the Trojan who killed Patroklos (Patroclus) and was then killed by Menelaos (Menelaus); while visiting Argos he saw a war trophy fastened to the wall and openly wept; when asked the reason for his sadness, Pythagoras replied that he had once carried that shield at Troy where he had died fighting the Argives; the witnesses were incredulous so, at the request of Pythagoras, they took the shield from the wall and on the reverse side was written “of Euphorbos.” |
| The followers of Pythagoras were known as Pythagoreans; there are many examples were his followers would defy logic and common sense to demonstrate their good faith and purity of thought; if a Pythagorean was in financial trouble, other members of the sect would share their possessions so that their troubled comrade could be freed from debt and concentrate on the higher aspects of life; this generosity was not reserved to friends or acquaintances, they would come to the aid of any Pythagorean who needed help; one man, Kleinias (Cleinias) of Tarentum, heard that Prorus of Kyrene (Cyrene) had lost his fortune so Kleinias traveled to Libya and gave Prorus enough money to restore his fortune; Kleinias did this even though he did not personally know Prorus but simply because Prorus was a Pythagorean; their acts of kindness were not limited to material sacrifice but also included placing themselves in danger for the sake of their philosophical brothers; when the tyrant, Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, pronounced a death sentence for a Pythagorean named Phintias for conspiring to overthrow the tyranny, Phintias asked if he might have time to put his personal affairs in order before he died; Phintias proposed that a fellow Pythagorean named Damon be put in prison and suffer death if he did not return; Dionysius was skeptical but freed Phintias and imprisoned Damon; when Phintias returned to be put to death, Dionysius was so impressed that he remitted the death sentence and asked if he could become a Pythagorean. |
| Pythagoras did not believe in passing his ideas through the written word, he relied instead on the deeds of his followers to instruct and recruit new converts; the Pythagoreans would practice refining their memory by recounting all of their actions on the previous day before they got out of bed; they would have a meal prepared and simply look at it, after their hunger was aroused they would clear away the meal without eating; these were exercises in self control that would aid them in all aspects of their life and give them the restraint they needed to resist the extravagance and laziness that seemed to dominate most people’s lives. |
| Pythagoras referred to his way of thinking as Philosophy, which meant in Greek, Love of Wisdom; he lived after the so called Seven Sages of Greece and considered their achievements as flawed because they were mere humans with inherent human weaknesses; the distinction between Wisdom and Love of Wisdom is subtle but important; to be wise was not enough for Pythagoras, he believed that the continual love of wisdom was more enduring than occasional acts of wisdom. |
| It must be emphasized that what we know of Pythagoras is mostly conjecture and inference; although Plato (circa 427-347 BCE) and Aristotle (circa 384-322 BCE) gave heed to Pythagoras’ religious and mathematical teachings you must remember that Pythagoras had been dead for at least 50 years before Plato was born; all religious and scientific teachings that we ascribe to Pythagoras are all derived from sources removed from Pythagoras by several generations; in some cases, the structure and details of Pythagorean doctrine was not finalized until 500 years after his death. |
| His religious teachings made him a celebrity in his own time but his scientific insights have endured through the ages; to most modern students, he is perhaps most noted for the formulation of the Pythagorean Theorem which states: in a “right triangle” (a triangle with one angle equal to ninety degrees, i.e. the “right angle”), the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides, i.e. A squared plus B squared equals C squared (with C being the hypotenuse). |
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| Histories, book 2.81; book 4.95 |
| Diodorus Siculus, book X.3-11 |
