Chapter 11: The Daughters of Thestios
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♠ Hes fr 23 MW – Hesiod, Ehoiai (Catalogue of Women) – Fragmenta Hesiodea, pp. 13-14, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
Agamemnon <lord of men> married the dark-eyed daughter <of Tyndareos, Klytaimestra, for the sake of her beauty (?)>. [15] And she in his halls <bore slim-ankled Iphimede> and Elektra who rivaled the goddesses in beauty. Iphimede the well greaved Achaians slaughtered on the altar of famed <Artemis of the golden arrows> on that day <when they sailed on their ships> to Ilion [20] <to exact> a penalty for the <slim-ankled> Argive woman, an eidôlon, that is. For <Iphimede herself the huntress> showerer of arrows easily saved, and pored down upon her head <lovely ambrosia, so that her flesh might be unchanging>,and she made her immortal and ageless all her days. [25] And now the races of men upon the hearth call her Artemis of the wayside, <the attendant of the famous> showerer of arrows. Last, in the house, dark-eyed Klytemnestra having yielded to Agamemnon bore noble Orestes, who then having come to full youth avenged himself on the murderer of his father (patrophoneus), [30] and killed his overbearing mother with a pitiless weapon. Echemos made Timandra his blooming wife, he who ruled over all Tegea and Arkadia rich in flocks, wealthy, dear to the blessed gods; she bore him Laodokos magnanimous shepherd of people [35] overpowered because of golden Aphrodite [. . . was king [. . . (Transl. T. N. Gantz and E. Bianchelli)
♠ Il 9.144-47 – Homer, Iliad
Three daughters have I in my well-builded hall, [145] Chrysothemis, and Laodice, and Iphianassa; of these let him lead to the house of Peleus which one he will. Greek Text
♠ S: El 157 – Sophokles, Elektra
Chrysothemis and Iphianassa, whose parents and blood you share Greek Text
♠ Kypria fr 24 PEG – Poetae Epici Graeci 1, p. 58, ed. A. Bernabé. Leipzig 1987.
SCHOL. Soph. El. 157 (110 Papageorgios) He either agrees with Homer (Il 9.144) who said that Homer had three daughters or he says, as the Kypria, that he had four, including Iphigeneia and Iphianassa. (Transl. E. Bianchelli)
♠ IA 49-51 – Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis
Leda, the daughter of Thestius, had three children, maidens, [50] Phoebe, Clytemnestra my wife, and Helen. Greek Text
♦ Basel, Antikenmuseum und Sammlung Ludwig BS1401: Attic black-figure hydria with Phoibe (named), Diokouroi on horses (named), and Helen (named)
Beazley Archive Pottery Database(opens in new tab) (no photo)
Attic Vase Inscriptions(opens in new tab)
Digital LIMC(opens in new tab) (with photo)(opens in new tab)
♦ Athens, National Museum, Akropolis Collection 18063: Attic red-figure stamnos by Polygnotos with Theseus reaching for Helen, Peirithoos mounting chariot and distressed Phoibe (all characters named)
Beazley Archive Pottery Database (no photo)
Digital LIMC (no photo)
♠ Her 8.77 – Ovid, Heroides (Epistles): Hermione to Orestes
my grandsire wept, and my mother’s sister Phoebe, and the twin brothers. Latin Text
♠ Hes fr 197 MW – Hesiod, Ehoiai (Catalogue of Women) – Fragmenta Hesiodea, pp. 96-97, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
P. Berol. 9739 col. ii, ed. Wilamowitz [Tab iv]
so many women skilled in excellent works, all holding golden bowls in their hands; and now Kastor and strong Polydeukes would have made him their brother-in-law by their might, but Agamemnon, [5] being her brother-in-law, wooed her for his brother Menelaos.
_________
and the two sons of Lord Amphiaraos son of Oikles wooed from Argos very nearby; but the indignation of gods and men drove them too . . . (Transl. E. Bianchelli)
♠ Hes fr 204.85-95 MW – Hesiod, Ehoiai (Catalogue of Women) – Fragmenta Hesiodea, p. 101, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
[85] But Atreus’ son, Menelaos dear to Ares, defeated all of them because he offered the most. Cheiron on wooded Pelion was taking care of Peleus’ swift-footed son, best of men, who was still a boy; for neither Menelaos dear to Ares [90] would have defeated him nor anyone else of the men on earth courting Helen, if swift Achilleus had found her still a virgin in the house when he returned from Pelion. But Menelaos dear to Ares obtained her first. She bore beautiful-ankled Hermione in the halls [95] unexpectedly. (Transl. E. Bianchelli)
♠ Hes fr 175 MW – Hesiod, Ehoiai (Catalogue of Women) – Fragmenta Hesiodea, p. 84, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
Schol. Soph. El. 539 (p. 128 Papageorgios) “Didn’t he have two children?”
Hesiod agrees with him:
She bore Hermione to spear-famed Menelaos; and youngest of all she bore Nikostratos, offspring of Ares. (Transl. E. Bianchelli)
♠ Kinaithon fr 3 PEG – Poetae Epici Graeci 1, p. 116, ed. A. Bernabé. Leipzig 1987.
♠ Alexandrian Lysimachos 382F12 FGrH – Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 3 B, p. 256, ed. F. Jacoby. 2d ed. Leiden 1957.
♠ Kypria fr 12 PEG – Poetae Epici Graeci 1, p. 51, ed. A. Bernabé. Leipzig 1987.
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#Phoibe, #Dioskouroi, #Helen, #Theseus, #Peirithoos,
Artistic sources edited by Frances Van Keuren, Prof. Emerita, Lamar Dodd School of Art, Univ. of Georgia, and by R. Ross Holloway, Elisha Benjamin Andrews Professor Emeritus, Brown University, September 2026
Literary sources edited by Elena Bianchelli, Retired Senior Lecturer of Classical Languages and Culture, Univ. of Georgia, February 2024.
