Chapter 11: The Daughters of Thestios
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♠ Hes fr 25.1-13 MW – Hesiod, Ehoiai (Catalogue of Women)– Fragmenta Hesiodea, p. 15, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
who [. . . to fight with a spear [. . . except for Herakles [. . . to Ares [5] [. . . blond-haired [. . . and from his eyes [. . . like a Gorgon [. . . wild [. . . nor anyone , in deadly tearful war [10] dared to stand strong in front of mighty Meleager looking straight at him, none of the heroic men, whenever he wished to fight face to face. But by the hands of Apollo he lost his dear life fighting the Kouretes around high Pleuron. (Transl E. Bianchelli)
♠ Paus 10.31.3 – Pausanias, Description of Greece
As to the death of Meleager, Homer1 says that the Fury heard the curses of Althaea, and that this was the cause of Meleager’s death. But the poem Eoeae, as it is called, and the Minyad agree in giving a different account. For these poems say that Apollo helped the Curetes against the Aetolians, and that Meleager was killed by Apollo. Greek Text
♠ Hes fr 280.1-2 MW – Hesiod, Katabasis (Descent to the Wonderworld) – Fragmenta Hesiodea, p. 139, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
“. . .] to [sl]ay me by force and with long spear, [but destroy]ing [Fate] and Leto’s [son] slew me. (Transl. Silvio Curtis)
♠ Bak 5.93-154 – Bakchylides, Odes
And Meleager answered him, in tears, “It is hard [95] for men on earth to sway the minds of the gods; for otherwise my father, horse-driving Oineus, would have appeased the anger of holy, white-armed Artemis with her garland of buds, [100] when he entreated her with sacrifices of many goats and red-backed cattle. But the maiden goddess’ anger was unconquerable; she sent an immensely violent [105] boar, a ruthless fighter, to Calydon, the place of lovely choruses; there, his strength raging like a flood, he cut down vine-rows with his tusk, and slaughtered flocks, and whatever mortals [110] came across his path. We, the best of the Hellenes, fought hard to sustain the hateful battle against him, for six days continuously. But when some god gave the upper hand to the Aetolians, [115] we buried those whom the loud-roaring boar had killed in his violent attacks: Ancaeus, and Agelaus, the best of my dear brothers, whom [120] Althaea bore in the far-famed halls of Oineus. Ruinous fate destroyed … For not yet did the hostile goddess, the savage daughter of Leto, [stop] her anger. We fought hard for the beast’s fiery hide [125] with the Couretes, steadfast in battle. Then I killed, among many others, Iphiclus and noble Aphares, my mother’s swift brothers; for [130] strong-spirited Ares does not discern a friend in battle—shafts fly blindly from the hands against the souls of the enemy, and bring death [135] to whomever the god wishes. My mother, the hostile daughter of Thestius, did not take this into account; she brought about my evil fate, the fearless woman, and planned my destruction. [140] She took the log of my swift doom out of the ornate chest, and burned it. Fate had marked off that this should be the boundary of my life. I happened to be slaying [145] Clymenus, Daïpylus’ valiant son, whose body was flawless; I had overtaken him in front of the towers. The others [150] were fleeing to the well-built ancient city of Pleuron. And my sweet soul diminished; I knew that my strength was gone, aiai! I breathed my last breath in tears, as I left behind splendid youth.” Greek Text
♠ Cho 602-11 – Aischylos, Coephoroi
Chorus
Let whoever is not flighty in his wits know this, when he has learned of the device of a lit brand contrived by Thestius’ heartless daughter: [605] she destroyed her own child by burning the charred brand of the same age as he when, coming from his mother’s womb, he cried out, and it aged in pace with him through his life [610] to the day decreed by fate. Greek Text
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Edited by Elena Bianchelli, Retired Senior Lecturer of Classical Languages and Culture, Univ. of Georgia, March 2024.
