Androgeos:
Testimonia

 

Collected by Todd M. Compton as background for Victim of the Muses: Poet as Scapegoat, Warrior, and Hero in Greco-Roman and Indo-European Myth And History (Washington DC: Center for Hellenic Studies, 2006).

1.     Amelesagoras, FGH 330 F 2 = Hesychius s.v. ep’ Euruguêi agôn

ἐπ’ Εὐρυγύηι ἀγών· Μελησαγόρας τὸν Ἀνδρόγεων Εὐρυγύην εἰρῆσθαί φησι τὸν Μίνωος, ἐφ’ ὧι τὸν ἀγῶνα τίθεσθαι ἐπιτάφιον Ἀθήνησιν ἐν τῶι Κεραμεικῶι.  καὶ Ἡσίοδος “Εὐρυγύης δ’ ἔτι κοῦρος Ἀθηνάων ἱεράων.”

 

Games for Eurugues. Melesagoras says that Androgeos, son of Minos, was called Eurugues, for whom games were founded by the Athenians in the Ceramicus at his tomb. . . .

 

[My trans. Text from FGH. Amelesagoras’ Atthis has been dated to c. 300 BC.]

2.      Callimachus Aetia IV, fr. 103

Ἥρως ὦ κατὰ πρύμναν, ἐπεὶ τόδε κύρβις ἀείδει

 

Dieg V . . . Φησὶν ὅτι ὁ καλούμενος ‘κατὰ πρύμναν ἥρως’ Ἀνδρόγεώς ἐστιν· <- - -> πάλαι γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸν Φαληρικὸν ὅρμον εἶναι, οὗ τὰς ναῦς ὁρμίζεσθαι πρὶν γενέσθαι τὸν Πιεραιᾶ.

 

O Hero of the stern, since a pillar sings this. 

 

Diegesis: “The so-called ‘Hero of the Stern’ is Androgeos. For in days of old, before the Piraeus was built, the anchorage of Phaleron was where ships used to anchor.” Trypanis continues: “Nothing is known about this pillar or its inscription. Androgeos was said to be the son of Minos, and a guardian of the stern of ships.”

 

[Trans. C. A. Trypanis. Text from Pfeiffer, p. 107. Callimachus lived c. 305- 240 BC.]

3.     Diodorus Siculus 4.60.4-5

τῶν δὲ Μίνωος υἱῶν Ἀνδρόγεως μὲν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας κατήντησε Παναθηναίων συντελουμένων, Αἰγέως βασιλεύοντος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀγῶσι νικήσας τοὺς ἀθλητὰς ἅπαντας συνήθης ἐγένετο τοῖς Πάλλαντος παισίν. ἐνταῦθ’ ὁ μὲν Αἰγεὺς ὑποπτεύσας τὴν Ἀνδρόγεω φιλίαν, μήποθ’ ὁ Μίνως βοηθήσας τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ Πάλλαντος ἀφέληται τὴν ἀρχήν, ἐπεβούλευσε τῶι Ἀνδρόγεωι·  βαδίζοντος οὖν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς Θήβας ἐπί τινα θεωρίαν, ἐδολοφόνησεν αὐτὸν διά τινων ἐγχωρίων περὶ Οἰνόην τῆς Ἀττικῆς.

 

As for the sons of Minos, Androgeos came to Athens at the time of the Panathenaic festival, while Aegus was king, and after he defeated all the contestants in the games he became a close friend of the sons of Pallas. Thereupon Aegeus, viewing with suspicion the friendship which Androgeos had formed, since he feared that Minos might lend his aid to the sons of Pallas and take from him the supreme power, plotted against the life of [epebouleuse] Androgeos. Consequently, when the latter was on his way to Thebes in order to attend a festival there, Aegeus caused him to be treacherously slain [edolophonēsen] by certain natives of the region in the neighbourhood of Oenoê in Attica.

 

[Trans. C. H. Oldfather, adapted; text and translation from Perseus. Diodorus lived c. 90 BC to c. 30 BC.]

4.     Catullus 64.77

nam perhibent olim crudeli peste coactam

Androgeoneae poenas exsolvere caedis

electos iuvenes simul et decus innuptarum

Cecropiam solitam esse dapem dare Minotauro.

quis angusta malis cum moenia vexarentur,

ipse suum Theseus pro caris corpus Athenis

proicere optavit potius quam talia Cretam

funera Cecropiae nec funera portarentur.

atque ita nave levi nitens ac lenibus auris

magnanimum ad Minoa venit sedesque superbas.

 

For it is said that once, constrained by the cruelest plague to expiate the slaughter of Androgeos, Cecropia used to give both chosen youths and the pick of the unmarried maidens as a feast to the Minotaur. When thus his strait walls with ills were vexed, Theseus with free will preferred to yield up his body for adored Athens rather than such Cecropian corpses be carried to Crete unobsequied. And therefore borne in a speedy craft by favouring breezes, he came to the imperious Minos and his superb seat.

 

[Trans. Leonard C. Smithers. Text and trans. from Perseus. Catullus lived c. 84 BC- 54 BC.]

5.     Virgil Aeneid VI 14

Daedalus, ut fama est, fugiens Minoïa regna,

15 praepetibus pennis ausus se credere caelo,

insuetum per iter gelidas enavit ad Arctos,

Chalcidicaque levis tandem super adstitit arce.

Redditus his primum terris, tibi, Phoebe, sacravit

remigium alarum, posuitque immania templa.

20 In foribus letum Androgeo: tum pendere poenas

Cecropidae iussi--miserum!--septena quotannis

corpora natorum; stat ductis sortibus urna.

Contra elata mari respondet Gnosia tellus:

hic crudelis amor tauri, suppostaque furto

25 Pasiphaë, mixtumque genus prolesque biformis

Minotaurus inest, Veneris monumenta nefandae;

hic labor ille domus et inextricabilis error+;

magnum reginae sed enim miseratus amorem

Daedalus ipse dolos tecti ambagesque resolvit,

30 caeca regens filo vestigia+. Tu quoque magnam

partem opere in tanto, sineret dolor, Icare, haberes.

Bis conatus erat casus effingere in auro;

bis patriae cecidere manus. Quin protinus omnia

perlegerent oculis, ni iam praemissus Achates

35 adforet, atque una Phoebi Triviaeque sacerdos,

Deiphobe Glauci, fatur quae talia regi:

 

Here Daedalus, the ancient story tells,

Escaping Minos' power, and having made

Hazard of heaven on far-mounting wings,

Floated to northward, a cold, trackless way,

And lightly poised, at last, o'er Cumae's towers.

Here first to earth come down, he gave to thee

His gear of wings, Apollo! and ordained

Vast temples to thy name and altars fair.

On huge bronze doors Androgeos' death was done;

And Cecrops' children paid their debt of woe,

Where, seven and seven,--O pitiable sight!--

The youths and maidens wait the annual doom,

Drawn out by lot from yonder marble urn.

Beyond, above a sea, lay carven Crete:--

The bull was there; the passion, the strange guile;

And Queen Pasiphae's brute-human son,

The Minotaur--of monstrous loves the sign.

Here was the toilsome, labyrinthine maze,

Where, pitying love-lorn Ariadne's tears,

The crafty Daedalus himself betrayed

The secret of his work; and gave the clue

To guide the path of Theseus through the gloom.

0 Icarus, in such well-graven scene

How proud thy place should be! but grief forbade:

Twice in pure gold a father's fingers strove

To shape thy fall, and twice they strove in vain.

Aeneas long the various work would scan;

But now Achates comes, and by his side

Deiphobe, the Sibyl, Glaucus' child.

 

[Trans. Theodore C. Williams. Text and tr. from Perseus. Virgil lived 70-19 BC.]

6.     Propertius 2.1.61-62

et deus exstinctum Cressis Epidaurius herbis

restituit patriis Androgeona focis.

 

The Epidaurian god [Asclepius], using Cressian herbs, restored Androgeon to his father’s home after he died.

 

[My trans. Propertius lived 50-16 BC.]

7.     Plutarch Theseus 15.1

XV. ὀλίγῳ δὲ ὕστερον ἧκον ἐκ Κρήτης τὸ τρίτον οἱ τὸν δασμὸν ἀπάξοντες. ὅτι μὲν οὖν Ἀνδρόγεω περὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἀποθανεῖν δόλῳ δόξαντος, ὅ τε Μίνως πολλὰ κακὰ πολεμῶν εἰργάζετο τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὸ δαιμόνιον ἔφθειρε τὴν χώραν ̔ἀφορία τε γὰρ καὶ νόσος ἐνέσκηψε πολλὴ καὶ ἀνέδυσαν οἱ ποταμοί̓, καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ προστάξαντος ἱλασαμένοις τὸν Μίνω καὶ διαλλαγεῖσι λωφήσειν τὸ μήνιμα καὶ τῶν κακῶν ἔσεσθαι παῦλαν, ἐπικηρυκευσάμενοι καὶ δεηθέντες ἐποιήσαντο συνθήκας ὥστε πέμπειν δι' ἐννέα ἐτῶν δασμὸν ἠϊθέους ἑπτὰ+ καὶ παρθένους+ τοσαύτας, ὁμολογοῦσιν οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν συγγραφέων: [2] τοὺς δὲ παῖδας εἰς Κρήτην κομιζομένους ὁ μὲν τραγικώτατος μῦθος ἀποφαίνει τὸν Μινώταυρον ἐν τῷ Λαβυρίνθῳ διαφθείρειν, ἢ πλανωμένους αὐτοὺς καὶ τυχεῖν ἐξόδου μὴ δυναμένους ἐκεῖ καταθνήσκειν, τὸν δὲ Μινώταυρον, ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδης φησί,

 

σύμμικτον εἶδος κἀποφώλιον βρέφος

 

γεγονέναι, καὶ

 

ταύρου μεμῖχθαι καὶ βροτοῦ διπλῇ φύσει.

 

XV. Not long afterwards there came from Crete for the third time the collectors of the tribute. Now as to this tribute, most writers agree that because Androgeos was thought to have been treacherously killed [apothanein dolōi] within the confines of Attica, not only did Minos harass the inhabitants of that country greatly in war,1 but Heaven [to daimonion] also laid it waste, for barrenness and pestilence smote it sorely, and its rivers dried up; also that when their god assured them in his commands that if they appeased Minos and became reconciled to him, the wrath of Heaven would abate and there would be an end of their miseries, they sent heralds and made their supplication and entered into an agreement to send him every nine years a tribute of seven youths and as many maidens. [2] And the most dramatic version of the story declares that these young men and women, on being brought to Crete, were destroyed by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, or else wandered about at their own will and, being unable to find an exit, perished there; and that the Minotaur, as Euripides says, was

 

            A mingled form and hybrid birth of monstrous shape,

 

and that

 

            Two different natures, man and bull, were joined in him.

 

[Trans. Bernadotte Perrin. Text and translation from Perseus. Plutarch has been dated at c. 46 AD-127 AD.]

8.       “Apollodorus” The Library 3.15.6-8

[6] μετὰ δὲ τὴν Πανδίονος τελευτὴν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ στρατεύσαντες ἐπ' Ἀθήνας ἐξέβαλον τοὺς Μητιονίδας καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τετραχῇ διεῖλον: εἶχε δὲ τὸ πᾶν κράτος Αἰγεύς. γαμεῖ δὲ πρώτην μὲν Μήταν τὴν Ὁπλῆτος, δευτέραν δὲ Χαλκιόπην τὴν Ῥηξήνορος. ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἐγένετο παῖς αὐτῷ, δεδοικὼς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς εἰς Πυθίαν [p. 114] ἦλθε καὶ περὶ παίδων γονῆς ἐμαντεύετο. ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἔχρησεν αὐτῷ:

 

            ἀσκοῦ τὸν προύχοντα ποδάονα, φέρτατε λαῶν,

            μὴ λύσῃς, πρὶν ἐς ἄκρον Ἀθηναίων ἀφίκηαι.

 

ἀπορῶν δὲ τὸν χρησμὸν ἀνῄει πάλιν εἰς Ἀθήνας.

[7] καὶ Τροιζῆνα διοδεύων ἐπιξενοῦται Πιτθεῖ τῷ Πέλοπος, ὃς τὸν χρησμὸν συνείς, μεθύσας αὐτὸν τῇ θυγατρὶ συγκατέκλινεν Αἴθρᾳ. τῇ δὲ αὐτῇ νυκτὶ καὶ Ποσειδῶν ἐπλησίασεν αὐτῇ. Αἰγεὺς δὲ ἐντειλάμενος Αἴθρᾳ, ἐὰν ἄρρενα γεννήσῃ, τρέφειν, τίνος ἐστὶ μὴ λέγουσαν, ἀπέλιπεν ὑπό τινα πέτραν μάχαιραν καὶ πέδιλα, εἰπών, ὅταν ὁ παῖς δύνηται τὴν πέτραν ἀποκυλίσας ἀνελέσθαι ταῦτα, τότε μετ' αὐτῶν αὐτὸν ἀποπέμπειν.

 

αὐτὸς δὲ ἧκεν εἰς Ἀθήνας, καὶ τὸν τῶν Παναθηναίων ἀγῶνα ἐπετέλει, ἐν ᾧ ὁ Μίνωος παῖς Ἀνδρόγεως ἐνίκησε πάντας. τοῦτον Αἰγεὺς ἐπὶ τὸν Μαραθώνιον ἔπεμψε ταῦρον, ὑφ' οὗ διεφθάρη. ἔνιοι δὲ αὐτὸν λέγουσι πορευόμενον εἰς Θήβας [p. 116] ἐπὶ τὸν Λαί̈ου ἀγῶνα πρὸς τῶν ἀγωνιστῶν ἐνεδρευθέντα διὰ φθόνον ἀπολέσθαι. Μίνως δέ, ἀγγελθέντος αὐτῷ τοῦ θανάτου, θύων ἐν Πάρῳ ταῖς χάρισι, τὸν μὲν στέφανον ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἔρριψε καὶ τὸν αὐλὸν κατέσχε, τὴν δὲ θυσίαν οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐπετέλεσεν: ὅθεν ἔτι καὶ δεῦρο χωρὶς αὐλῶν καὶ στεφάνων ἐν Πάρῳ θύουσι ταῖς χάρισι.

 

8] μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ θαλασσοκρατῶν ἐπολέμησε στόλῳ τὰς Ἀθήνας, καὶ Μέγαρα εἷλε Νίσου βασιλεύοντος τοῦ Πανδίονος, καὶ Μεγαρέα τὸν Ἱππομένους ἐξ Ὀγχηστοῦ Νίσῳ βοηθὸν ἐλθόντα ἀπέκτεινεν. ἀπέθανε δὲ καὶ Νῖσος διὰ θυγατρὸς προδοσίαν. ἔχοντι γὰρ αὐτῷ πορφυρέαν ἐν μέσῃ τῇ κεφαλῇ τρίχα ταύτης ἀφαιρεθείσης ἦν χρησμὸς τελευτῆσαι: ἡ δὲ θυγάτηρ αὐτοῦ Σκύλλα ἐρασθεῖσα Μίνωος ἐξεῖλε τὴν τρίχα. Μίνως δὲ Μεγάρων κρατήσας καὶ τὴν κόρην τῆς πρύμνης τῶν ποδῶν ἐκδήσας ὑποβρύχιον ἐποίησε. [p. 118]

 

χρονιζομένου δὲ τοῦ πολέμου, μὴ δυνάμενος ἑλεῖν Ἀθήνας εὔχεται Διὶ παρ' Ἀθηναίων λαβεῖν δίκας. γενομένου δὲ τῇ πόλει λιμοῦ τε καὶ λοιμοῦ. τὸ μὲν πρῶτον κατὰ λόγιον Ἀθηναῖοι παλαιὸν τὰς Ὑακίνθου κόρας, Ἀνθηίδα Αἰγληίδα Λυταίαν Ὀρθαίαν, ἐπὶ τὸν Γεραίστου τοῦ Κύκλωπος τάφον κατέσφαξαν: τούτων δὲ ὁ πατὴρ Ὑάκινθος ἐλθὼν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος Ἀθήνας κατῴκει. ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ὄφελος ἦν τοῦτο, ἐχρῶντο περὶ ἀπαλλαγῆς. ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἀνεῖλεν αὐτοῖς Μίνωι διδόναι δίκας ἃς ἂν αὐτὸς αἱροῖτο. πέμψαντες οὖν πρὸς Μίνωα ἐπέτρεπον αἰτεῖν δίκας. Μίνως δὲ ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοῖς κόρους ἑπτὰ καὶ κόρας τὰς ἴσας χωρὶς ὅπλων πέμπειν τῷ Μινωταύρῳ βοράν. ἦν δὲ [p. 120] οὗτος ἐν λαβυρίνθῳ καθειργμένος, ἐν ᾧ τὸν εἰσελθόντα ἀδύνατον ἦν ἐξιέναι: πολυπλόκοις γὰρ καμπαῖς τὴν ἀγνοουμένην ἔξοδον ἀπέκλειε. κατεσκευάκει δὲ αὐτὸν Δαίδαλος ὁ Εὐπαλάμου παῖς τοῦ Μητίονος καὶ Ἀλκίππης. ἦν γὰρ ἀρχιτέκτων ἄριστος καὶ πρῶτος ἀγαλμάτων εὑρετής. οὗτος ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἔφυγεν, ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως βαλὼν τὸν τῆς ἀδελφῆς [Πέρδικος] υἱὸν Τάλω, μαθητὴν ὄντα, δείσας μὴ διὰ τὴν εὐφυί̈αν αὐτὸν ὑπερβάλῃ: σιαγόνα γὰρ ὄφεως εὑρὼν ξύλον [p. 122] λεπτὸν ἔπρισε. φωραθέντος δὲ τοῦ νεκροῦ κριθεὶς ἐν Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ καὶ καταδικασθεὶς πρὸς Μίνωα ἔφυγε. [κἀκεῖ Πασιφάῃ ἐρασθείσῃ τοῦ Ποσειδωνείου ταύρου συνήργησε τεχνησάμενος ξυλίνην βοῦν, καὶ τὸν λαβύρινθον κατεσκεύασεν, εἰς ὃν κατὰ ἔτος Ἀθηναῖοι κόρους ἑπτὰ καὶ κόρας τὰς ἴσας τῷ Μινωταύρῳ βορὰν ἔπεμπον].

 

[6]  After the death of Pandion his sons marched against Athens, expelled the Metionids, and divided the government in four; but Aegeus had the whole power.[1] The first wife whom he married was Meta, daughter of Hoples, and the second was Chalciope, daughter of Rhexenor.[2] As no child was born to him, he feared his brothers, and went to Pythia and consulted the  oracle concerning the begetting of children. The god answered him:

 

            The bulging mouth of the wineskin, O best of men,

            Loose not until thou hast reached the height of Athens.[3]

 

Not knowing what to make of the oracle, he set out on his return to Athens.

 

[7]  And journeying by way of Troezen, he lodged with Pittheus, son of Pelops, who, understanding the oracle, made him drunk and caused him to lie with his daughter Aethra. But in the same night Poseidon also had connexion with her. Now Aegeus charged Aethra that, if she gave birth to a male child, she should rear it, without telling whose it was; and he left a sword and sandals under a certain rock, saying that when the boy could roll away the rock and take them up, she was then to send him away with them.

 

But he himself came to Athens and celebrated the games of the Panathenian festival, in which Androgeus, son of Minos, vanquished all comers. Aegeus sent him against the bull of Marathon, by which he was destroyed. But some say that as he journeyed [p. 117] to Thebes to take part in the games in honor of Laius, he was waylaid [enedreuthenta] and murdered [apolesthai] by the jealous competitors.[4] But when the tidings of his death were brought to Minos, as he was sacrificing to the Graces in Paros, he threw away the garland from his head and stopped the music of the flute, but nevertheless completed the sacrifice; hence down to this day they sacrifice to the Graces in Paros without flutes and garlands.

 

[8]  But not long afterwards, being master of the sea, he attacked Athens with a fleet and captured Megara, then ruled by king Nisus, son of Pandion, and he slew Megareus, son of Hippomenes, who had come from Onchestus to the help of Nisus.[5] Now Nisus perished through his daughter's treachery. For he had a purple hair on the middle of his head, and an oracle ran that when it was pulled out he should die; and his daughter Scylla fell in love with Minos and pulled out the hair. But when Minos had made himself master of Megara, he tied the damsel by the feet to the stern of the ship and drowned her.[6]

 

When the war lingered on and he could not take Athens, he prayed to Zeus that he might be avenged on the Athenians. And the city being visited with a famine and a pestilence, the Athenians at first, in obedience to an ancient oracle, slaughtered the daughters of Hyacinth, to wit, Antheis, Aegleis, Lytaea, and Orthaea, on the grave of Geraestus, the Cyclops; now Hyacinth, the father of the damsels, had come from Lacedaemon and dwelt in Athens.[7] But when this was of no avail, they inquired of the oracle how they could be delivered; and the god answered them that they should give Minos whatever satisfaction he might choose. So they sent to Minos and left it to him to claim satisfaction. And Minos ordered them to send seven youths and the same number of damsels without weapons to be fodder for the Minotaur.[8] Now the Minotaur was confined [p. 121] in a labyrinth, in which he who entered could not find his way out; for many a winding turn shut off the secret outward way.[9] The labyrinth was constructed by Daedalus, whose father was Eupalamus, son of Metion, and whose mother was Alcippe;[10] for he was an excellent architect and the first inventor of images. He had fled from Athens, because he had thrown down from the acropolis Talos, the son of his sister Perdix;[11] for Talos was his pupil, and Daedalus feared that with his talents he might surpass himself, seeing that he had sawed a thin stick [p. 123] with a jawbone of a snake which he had found.[12] But the corpse was discovered; Daedalus was tried in the Areopagus, and being condemned fled to Minos. And there Pasiphae having fallen in love with the bull of Poseidon, Daedalus acted as her accomplice by contriving a wooden cow, and he constructed the labyrinth, to which the Athenians every year sent seven youths and as many damsels to be fodder for the Minotaur.

 

[Trans. and notes by James George Frazer, adapted; translation and text from Perseus. The Library is attributed to Apollodorus the Grammarian, who floruit c. 140 BC. Some scholars believe this book was compiled in the 1st century AD, and that it might have used a mythical work by Apollodorus as a source.]

9.     Hyginus Fabulae ΧΧΧXΙ

XXXXI MINOS

 

Minos Iouis et Europae filius cum Atheniensibus belligerauit, cuius filius Androgeus in pugna est occisus. qui posteaquam Athenienses vicit, uectigales Minois esse coeperunt; instituit autem ut anno uno quoque septenos liberos suos Minotauro ad epulandum mitterent. Theseus posteaquam a Troezene uenerat et audiit quanta calamitate ciuitas afficeretur, uoluntarie se ad Minotaurum pollicitus est ire. quem pater cum mitteret, praedixit ei ut si uictor reuerteretur uela candida in nauem haberet; qui autem ad Minotaurum mittebantur uelis atris nauigabant.

 

Minos

 

When Minos, son of Jove and Europa, fought with the Athenians, his son Androgeus was killed in the fight. After he conquered the Athenians their revenues became his; he decreed, moreover, that each year they should seven seven of their children as food for the Minotaur. . .

 

[Trans. Mary Grant. Text from the Teubner edition, ed. Peter K. Marshall (Stuttgart 1993).  The Fabulae are attributed to Gaius Julius Hyginus (c. 64 BC - 17 AD). According to the article in Wikipedia, “the style and Latinity and the elementary mistakes (especially in the rendering of the Greek originals) are held to prove that they cannot have been the work of so distinguished a scholar as G. Julius Hyginus. It is suggested that these treatises are an abridgment (made in the latter half of the 2nd century) of the Genealogiae of Hyginus by an unknown grammarian, who added a complete treatise on mythology.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Julius_Hyginus.]

10. Pausanias 1.1.1-5

Ἀττικά

I. τῆς ἠπείρου τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς κατὰ νήσους τὰς Κυκλάδας καὶ πέλαγος τὸ Αἰγαῖον ἄκρα Σούνιον πρόκειται γῆς τῆς Ἀττικῆς: καὶ λιμήν τε παραπλεύσαντι τὴν ἄκραν ἐστὶ καὶ ναὸς Ἀθηνᾶς Σουνιάδος ἐπὶ κορυφῇ τῆς ἄκρας. πλέοντι δὲ ἐς τὸ πρόσω Λαύριόν τέ ἐστιν, ἔνθα ποτὲ Ἀθηναίοις ἦν ἀργύρου μέταλλα, καὶ νῆσος ἔρημος οὐ μεγάλη Πατρόκλου καλουμένη: τεῖχος γὰρ ᾠκοδομήσατο ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ χάρακα ἐβάλετο Πάτροκλος, ὃς τριήρεσιν ὑπέπλει ναύαρχος Αἰγυπτίαις, ἃς Πτολεμαῖος ὁ <Πτολεμαίου> τοῦ Λάγου τιμωρεῖν ἔστειλεν Ἀθηναίοις, ὅτε σφίσιν Ἀντίγονος ὁ Δημητρίου στρατιᾷ τε αὐτὸς ἐσβεβληκὼς ἔφθειρε τὴν χώραν καὶ ναυσὶν ἅμα ἐκ θαλάσσης κατεῖργεν.

[2] ὁ δὲ Πειραιεὺς δῆμος μὲν ἦν ἐκ παλαιοῦ, πρότερον δὲ πρὶν ἢ Θεμιστοκλῆς Ἀθηναίοις ἦρξεν ἐπίνειον οὐκ ἦν: Φαληρὸν δέ--ταύτῃ γὰρ ἐλάχιστον ἀπέχει τῆς πόλεως ἡ θάλασσα--, τοῦτό σφισιν ἐπίνειον ἦν, καὶ Μενεσθέα φασὶν αὐτόθεν ταῖς ναυσὶν ἐς Τροίαν ἀναχθῆναι καὶ τούτου πρότερον Θησέα δώσοντα Μίνῳ δίκας τῆς Ἀνδρόγεω τελευτῆς. Θεμιστοκλῆς δὲ ὡς ἦρξε--τοῖς τε γὰρ πλέουσιν ἐπιτηδειότερος ὁ Πειραιεὺς ἐφαίνετό οἱ προκεῖσθαι καὶ λιμένας τρεῖς ἀνθ' ἑνὸς ἔχειν τοῦ Φαληροῖ--τοῦτό σφισιν ἐπίνειον εἶναι κατεσκευάσατο: καὶ νεὼς καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἦσαν οἶκοι καὶ πρὸς τῷ μεγίστῳ λιμένι τάφος Θεμιστοκλέους. φασὶ γὰρ μεταμελῆσαι τῶν ἐς Θεμιστοκλέα Ἀθηναίοις καὶ ὡς οἱ προσήκοντες τὰ ὀστᾶ κομίσαιεν ἐκ Μαγνησίας ἀνελόντες: φαίνονται δὲ οἱ παῖδες οἱ Θεμιστοκλέους καὶ κατελθόντες καὶ γραφὴν ἐς τὸν Παρθενῶνα ἀναθέντες, ἐν ᾗ Θεμιστοκλῆς ἐστι γεγραμμένος. [3] θέας δὲ ἄξιον τῶν ἐν Πειραιεῖ μάλιστα Ἀθηνᾶς ἐστι καὶ Διὸς τέμενος: χαλκοῦ μὲν ἀμφότερα τὰ ἀγάλματα, ἔχει δὲ ὁ μὲν σκῆπτρον καὶ Νίκην, ἡ δὲ Ἀθηνᾶ δόρυ. ἐνταῦθα Λεωσθένην, ὃς Ἀθηναίοις καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν ἡγούμενος Μακεδόνας ἔν τε Βοιωτοῖς ἐκράτησε μάχῃ καὶ αὖθις ἔξω Θερμοπυλῶν καὶ βιασάμενος ἐς Λάμιαν κατέκλεισε τὴν ἀπαντικρὺ τῆς Οἴτης, τοῦτον τὸν Λεωσθένην καὶ τοὺς παῖδας ἔγραψεν Ἀρκεσίλαος. ἔστι δὲ τῆς στοᾶς τῆς μακρᾶς, ἔνθα καθέστηκεν ἀγορὰ τοῖς ἐπὶ θαλάσσης--καὶ γὰρ τοῖς ἀπωτέρω τοῦ λιμένος ἐστὶν ἑτέρα--, τῆς δὲ ἐπὶ θαλάσσης στοᾶς ὄπισθεν ἑστᾶσι Ζεὺς καὶ Δῆμος, Λεωχάρους ἔργον. πρὸς δὲ τῇ θαλάσσῃ Κόνων ᾠκοδόμησεν Ἀφροδίτης ἱερόν, τριήρεις Λακεδαιμονίων κατεργασάμενος περὶ Κνίδον τὴν ἐν τῇ Καρικῇ χερρονήσῳ. Κνίδιοι γὰρ τιμῶσιν Ἀφροδίτην μάλιστα, καί σφισιν ἔστιν ἱερὰ τῆς θεοῦ: τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀρχαιότατον Δωρίτιδος, μετὰ δὲ τὸ Ἀκραίας, νεώτατον δὲ ἣν Κνιδίαν οἱ πολλοί, Κνίδιοι δὲ αὐτοὶ καλοῦσιν Εὔπλοιαν.

[4] ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλος Ἀθηναίοις ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ Μουνυχίᾳ λιμὴν καὶ Μουνυχίας ναὸς Ἀρτέμιδος, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ Φαληρῷ, καθὰ καὶ πρότερον εἴρηταί μοι, καὶ πρὸς αὐτῷ Δήμητρος ἱερόν. ἐνταῦθα καὶ Σκιράδος Ἀθηνᾶς ναός ἐστι καὶ Διὸς ἀπωτέρω, βωμοὶ δὲ θεῶν τε ὀνομαζομένων Ἀγνώστων καὶ ἡρώων καὶ παίδων τῶν Θησέως καὶ Φαληροῦ: τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν Φαληρὸν Ἀθηναῖοι πλεῦσαι μετὰ Ἰάσονός φασιν ἐς Κόλχους. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀνδρόγεω βωμὸς τοῦ Μίνω, καλεῖται δὲ Ἥρωος: Ἀνδρόγεω δὲ ὄντα ἴσασιν οἷς ἐστιν ἐπιμελὲς τὰ ἐγχώρια σαφέστερον ἄλλων ἐπίστασθαι.

[5] ἀπέχει δὲ σταδίους εἴκοσιν ἄκρα Κωλιάς: ἐς ταύτην φθαρέντος τοῦ ναυτικοῦ τοῦ Μήδων κατήνεγκεν ὁ κλύδων τὰ ναυάγια. Κωλιάδος δέ ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα Ἀφροδίτης ἄγαλμα καὶ Γενετυλλίδες ὀνομαζόμεναι θεαί: δοκῶ δὲ καὶ Φωκαεῦσι τοῖς ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ θεάς, ἃς καλοῦσι Γενναί̈δας, εἶναι ταῖς ἐπὶ Κωλιάδι τὰς αὐτάς. --ἔστι δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἐς Ἀθήνας ἐκ Φαληροῦ ναὸς Ἥρας οὔτε θύρας ἔχων οὔτε ὄροφον: Μαρδόνιόν φασιν αὐτὸν ἐμπρῆσαι τὸν Γωβρύου. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τὸ νῦν δή, καθὰ λέγουσιν, Ἀλκαμένους ἐστὶν ἔργον: οὐκ ἂν τοῦτό γε ὁ Μῆδος εἴη λελωβημένος.

Attica

[I.] On the Greek mainland facing the Cyclades Islands and the Aegean Sea the Sunium promontory stands out from the Attic land. When you have rounded the promontory you see a harbor and a temple to Athena of Sunium on the peak of the promontory. Farther on is Laurium, where once the Athenians had silver mines, and a small uninhabited island called the Island of Patroclus. For a fortification was built on it and a palisade constructed by Patroclus, who was admiral in command of the Egyptian men-of-war sent by Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy, son of Lagus, to help the Athenians, when Antigonus, son of Demetrius, was ravaging their country, which he had invaded with an army, and at the same time was blockading them by sea with a fleet.1

[2] The Peiraeus was a parish from early times, though it was not a port before Themistocles became an archon of the Athenians.2 Their port was Phalerum, for at this place the sea comes nearest to Athens, and from here men say that Menestheus set sail with his fleet for Troy, and before him Theseus, when he went to give satisfaction to Minos for the death of Androgeos. But when Themistocles became archon, since he thought that the Peiraeus was more conveniently situated for mariners, and had three harbors as against one at Phalerum, he made it the Athenian port. Even up to my time there were docks there, and near the largest harbor is the grave of Themistocles. For it is said that the Athenians repented of their treatment of Themistocles, and that his relations took up his bones and brought them from Magnesia. And the children of Themistocles certainly returned and set up in the Parthenon a painting, on which is a portrait of Themistocles.

[3] The most noteworthy sight in the Peiraeus is a precinct of Athena and Zeus. Both their images are of bronze; Zeus holds a staff and a Victory, Athena a spear. Here is a portrait of Leosthenes and of his sons, painted by Arcesilaus. This Leosthenes at the head of the Athenians and the united Greeks defeated the Macedonians in Boeotia and again outside Thermopylae forced them into Lamia over against Oeta, and shut them up there.3 The portrait is in the long portico, where stands a market-place for those living near the sea--those farther away from the harbor have another--but behind the portico near the sea stand a Zeus and a Demos, the work of Leochares. And by the sea Conon4 built a sanctuary of Aphrodite, after he had crushed the Lacedaemonian warships off Cnidus in the Carian peninsula.5 For the Cnidians hold Aphrodite in very great honor, and they have sanctuaries of the goddess; the oldest is to her as Doritis (Bountiful), the next in age as Acraea (Of the Height), while the newest is to the Aphrodite called Cnidian by men generally, but Euploia (Fair Voyage) by the Cnidians themselves.

[4] The Athenians have also another harbor, at Munychia, with a temple of Artemis of Munychia, and yet another at Phalerum, as I have already stated, and near it is a sanctuary of Demeter. Here there is also a temple of Athena Sciras, and one of Zeus some distance away, and altars of the gods named Unknown, and of heroes, and of the children of Theseus and Phalerus; for this Phalerus is said by the Athenians to have sailed with Jason to Colchis. There is also an altar of Androgeos, son of Minos, though it is called that of Heros; those, however, who pay special attention to the study of their country's antiquities know that it belongs to Androgeos.

[5] Twenty stades away is the Coliad promontory; on to it, when the Persian fleet was destroyed, the wrecks were carried down by the waves. There is here an image of the Coliad Aphrodite, with the goddesses Genetyllides (Goddesses of Birth), as they are called. And I am of opinion that the goddesses of the Phocaeans in Ionia, whom they call Gennaides, are the same as those at Colias. On the way from Phalerum to Athens there is a temple of Hera with neither doors nor roof. Men say that Mardonius, son of Gobryas, burnt it. But the image there to-day is, as report goes, the work of Alcamenes6 So that this, at any rate, cannot have been damaged by the Persians.

[Translation and notes by W. H. Jones, translation and text from Perseus. Pausanias lived in the 2nd century AD.]

11. Pausanias 1.27.9-10

9] ἀνέθεσαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλο Θησέως ἔργον, καὶ ὁ λόγος οὕτως ἐς αὐτὸ ἔχει. Κρησὶ τήν τε ἄλλην γῆν καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ ποταμῷ Τεθρίνι ταῦρος ἐλυμαίνετο. πάλαι δὲ ἄρα τὰ θηρία φοβερώτερα ἦν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὡς ὅ τ' ἐν Νεμέᾳ λέων καὶ ὁ Παρνάςιος καὶ δράκοντες τῆς Ἑλλάδος πολλαχοῦ καὶ ὗς περί τε Καλυδῶνα καὶ Ἐρύμανθον καὶ τῆς Κορινθίας ἐν Κρομ[μ]υῶνι, ὥστε καὶ ἐλέγετο τὰ μὲν ἀνιέναι τὴν γῆν, τὰ δὲ ὡς ἱερὰ εἴη θεῶν, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἐς τιμωρίαν ἀνθρώπων ἀφεῖσθαι. καὶ τοῦτον οἱ Κρῆτες τὸν ταῦρον ἐς τὴν γῆν πέμψαι σφίσι Ποσειδῶνά φασιν, ὅτι θαλάσσης ἄρχων Μίνως τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς οὐδενὸς Ποσειδῶνα ἦγεν ἄλλου θεοῦ μᾶλλον ἐν τιμῇ. [10] κομισθῆναι μὲν δὴ τὸν ταῦρον τοῦτόν φασιν ἐς Πελοπόννησον ἐκ Κρήτης καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ τῶν δώδεκα καλουμένων ἕνα καὶ τοῦτον γενέσθαι τὸν ἆθλον: ὡς δὲ ἐς τὸ πεδίον ἀφείθη τὸ Ἀργείων, φεύγει διὰ τοῦ Κορινθίου ἰσθμοῦ, φεύγει δὲ ἐς γῆν τὴν Ἀττικὴν καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐς δῆμον τὸν Μαραθωνίων, καὶ ἄλλους τε ὁπόσοις ἐπέτυχε καὶ Μίνω παῖδα Ἀνδρόγεων ἀπέκτεινε. Μίνως δὲ ναυσὶν ἐπ' Ἀθήνας πλεύσας--οὐ γὰρ ἐπείθετο ἀναιτίους εἶναι σφᾶς τῆς Ἀνδρόγεω τελευτῆς--ἐς τοσοῦτον ἐκάκωσεν, ἐς ὃ συνεχωρήθη οἱ παρθένους ἐς Κρήτην ἑπτὰ καὶ παῖδας ἴσους ἄγειν τῷ λεγομένῳ Μίνω ταύρῳ τὸν ἐν Κνωσσῷ Λαβύρινθον οἰκῆσαι: τὸν δὲ ἐν τῷ Μαραθῶνι ταῦρον ὕστερον Θησεὺς ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἐλάσαι καὶ θῦσαι λέγεται τῇ θεῷ, καὶ τὸ ἀνάθημά ἐστι τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Μαραθωνίων.

[8] This is the first Troezenian legend about Theseus. The next is that Aegeus placed boots and a sword under a rock as tokens for the child, and then sailed away to Athens; Theseus, when sixteen years old, pushed the rock away and departed, taking what Aegeus had deposited. There is a representation of this legend on the Acropolis, everything in bronze except the rock.

[9] Another deed of Theseus they have represented in an offering, and the story about it is as follows:--The land of the Cretans and especially that by the river Tethris was ravaged by a bull. It would seem that in the days of old the beasts were much more formidable to men, for example the Nemean lion, the lion of Parnassus, the serpents in many parts of Greece, and the boars of Calydon, Eryrmanthus and Crommyon in the land of Corinth, so that it was said that some were sent up by the earth, that others were sacred to the gods, while others had been let loose to punish mankind. And so the Cretans say that this bull was sent by Poseidon to their land because, although Minos was lord of the Greek Sea, he did not worship Poseidon more than any other god.

[10] They say that this bull crossed from Crete to the Peloponnesus, and came to be one of what are called the Twelve Labours of Heracles. When he was let loose on the Argive plain he fled through the isthmus of Corinth, into the land of Attica as far as the Attic parish of Marathon, killing all he met, including Androgeos, son of Minos. Minos sailed against Athens with a fleet, not believing that the Athenians were innocent of the death of Androgeos, and sorely harassed them until it was agreed that he should take seven maidens and seven boys for the Minotaur that was said to dwell in the Labyrinth at Cnossus. But the bull at Marathon Theseus is said to have driven afterwards to the Acropolis and to have sacrificed to the goddess; the offering commemorating this deed was dedicated by the parish of Marathon.

[Translation and notes by W. H. Jones, translation and text from Perseus. Pausanias lived in the 2nd century AD.]

12. Schola Graeca in Homeri Iliadem, at 19:590

ἐτέλουν δὲ τὸν δασμὸν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τοῦτον ἐπὶ τῷ δεδολοφονηκέναι Ἀνδρόγεων τὸν παῖδα Μίνωος ἀγωνιζόμενον καὶ νικῶντα παρ’ αὐτοῖς τὰ Παναθήναια.

 

[Theseus comes to Athens and by lot is sent as one of the seven young men to sail to Athens and be sacrificed to the Minotaur.] The Athenians performed this selection because Androgeos, the son of Minos, had been slain deceitfully [dedolophonēkenai] after he had taken part in the Panathenaea, at Athens, and was triumphant.

 

[My trans. Text from G. Dindorf, ed., Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem ex Codicibus Aucta et Emendata (Oxford 1875), 4:202.]

13. Scholiast on Plato Minos 321a

[ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΜΙΝΩΑ, 321a  τοὺς δασμούς] Αἰγέως τοῦ Πανδίονος βασιλεύοντος Ἀθηνῶν, κατὰ τὴν τῶν Παναθηναίων ἑορτὴν Ἀνδρόγεως ὁ Μίνω πάντας ἀγῶνας νικᾷ. τοῦτον Αἰγεὺς στέλλει μὲν ἐπὶ τὸν Μαραθώνιον ταῦρον, διαφθείρεται δὲ ὑπ’ αυτοῦ, ἢ ὥς τινες, πορευόμενος ἐπὶ Θήβας διὰ τὸν Λαΐου ἀγῶνα πρὸς τῶν ἀνταγωνιστῶν διὰ φθόνον απόλλυται. ὃ μαθὼν Μίνως Ἀθήνας τε πολεμεῖ καὶ Μέγαρα εἷλεν, μὴ οἷός τε δ’ ὢν πορθῆσαι ταύτας, εὔχεται τῷ Διὶ παρ’ Ἀθηναίων δίκην λαβεῖν·  καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λιμὸς ἐνσκήπτει τούτοις καὶ λοιμός. χρωμένων δὲ περὶ τῆς τούτων ἀπαλλαγῆς ἀνεῖπεν ὁ Ἀπόλλων δίκας Μίνῳ δοῦναι ἃς ἂν αὐτὸς αἱρῆται. Μίνως δὲ κελεύει δεκέτεις κόρους ἐπτὰ καὶ κόρας ἴσας ἀόπλους πέμπειν κατὰ ἔτος τῷ Μινωταύρῳ βορ[ρ]ὰν κατὰ τὸν λαβύρινθον, ὃς ὑπὸ Δαιδάλου κατεσκεύαστο χῶρός τις σκολιός. Θησεὺς δὲ μετὰ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν κατὰ τὸ τρίτον ἔτος εἰς τὸν δασμὸν καταλεγεὶς τόν τε Μινώταυρον ἀναιρεῖ, καὶ παύει τὴν εἰς Κρήτην πομπὴν τοῦ δασμοῦ. περὶ τούτου οὖν ἐνταῦθά φησι.

 

When Aegeus the son of Pandion was ruling in Athens, at the festival of the Panathenaea, Androgeos son of Minos was victorious over all other contests. Aegeus sent him on a mission against the Marathonian bull, and he was killed by it. Or, as some say, while Androgeos was travelling to Thebes for the contest of Laios, he was killed [apollutai] by his antagonists out of envy. Learning of which, Minos made war against Athens and took Megara. Not being able to sack Athens, Minos prayed to Zeus that he might have justice from the Athenians. And because of this famine fell upon Athens and a plague. And when they consulted the oracle to find a release from these disasters, Apollo told them to make recompense to Minos, whatever he might choose. And Minos ordered them that for ten years they should send nine young men and an equal number of maidens, unarmed, every year to the Minotaur [borran] in the labyrinth, which was a certain crooked place built by Daidalos. And Theseus, after the others, in the third year, was counted into the allotment; he killed the Minotaur, and stoped the sending of the allotment into Crete. Therefore, Plato speaks concerning this here.

 

[My trans. Text from F. de Forest Allen, Ioannes Burnet, C. P. Parker, eds., Scholia Platonica (Haverfordine, PA, 1938), p. 295. Cf. Apollodorus.]

14. Zenobius Centuria 4.6

[The story of the birth of the Minotuar is told] Μίνωος δὲ ὀργιζομένου Ἀθηναίοις διὰ τὸν τοῦ Ἀνδρόγεω φόνον, ὃς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν Ἀθήνησι νέων διὰ φθόνον ἀνῃρέθη ἐν τοῖς Παναθηναίοις νικήσας πένταθλον . . .

 

And since Minos was angry with the Athenians because of the murder of Androgeos, who was killed [anēirethē] by the young men of Athens out of jealousy, after he had won the pentathlon in the Panathenaia . . .

 

[Text from in E. L. Leutsch and F. G. Schneidewin, Paroemiographi Graeci, 2 vols. and supplementary volumen (Göttingen 1887) 1:85. For Zenobius, see the following: “In Roman times, Zenobius, a Greek sophist who lived in Rome during the 2nd century A.D., composed a summary of the proverbs in the books of Lucius of Tarra and Didymus of Alexandria. The earliest edition of the proverbs of Zenobius and Didymus appeared in print in Florence in 1487 under the title Epitome proverbiorum Lucii Tarrhaei et Didymi Alexandrini secundum ordinem alphabeticum graece. Editions published by Aldus Manutius appeared in Venice in 1505, followed by editions in the Hague in 1535 and in Antwerp in 1612. A much more recent edition, Paroemiographi graeci, by T. Gaisdorf appeared in Oxford in 1836. It is believed that the work of Zenobius is based on the proverbs which appeared in the Corpus paroemiographorum graecorum.” Excerpt from Panos Karagiorgos, Introduction to Greek and English Proverbs, at http://www.translatum.gr/etexts/pk/introen.htm.]

15. Servius Commentaries on Virgil’s Aeneid VI 14

sed Minos de Pasiphae habuit liberos plures, Androgeum Ariadnen Phaedram. sed Androgeus, cum esset athleta fortissimus et superaret in agonibus cunctos, apud Athenas ab Atheniensibus et vicinis Megarensibus coniuratis occisus est. quod Minos dolens collectis navibus bella commovit et victis Atheniensibus poenam hanc statuit . . .

 

But Minos had more children with Pasiphae: Androgeus, Ariadne, Phaedra. But Androgeus, because he was the strongest of atheletes and conquered all in games, was slain [occisus est] at Athens by the Athenians and the neighboring Megarians, who had plotted together. Because of which, Minos, grieving, after marshalling his ships, made war against Attica, and after the Athenians had been conquered, he decreed this penalty . . .

 

[My trans. Text from Georg Thilo and Hermann Hagen, eds., Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii, 3 vols. (Hildesheim and Leipzig: Teubner, 1986, orig. 1884). Servius lived in the 4th to 5th centuries AD.]

16. Scholiast on Clement of Alexandria Protrept. 2.40, p. 35, ed. Potter

τιμᾶται δέ τις καὶ Φαληροῖ κατὰ πρύμναν ἥρως.

Frazer (commenting on Pausanias 1.4, see above) writes that Clement writes that “at Phalerum a certain hero was worshipped ‘at the stern’ . . ., and the scholiast on this passage of Clement says that this hero was Androgeus, and that he was thus designated ‘because he founded the sterns of ships.’”

[Frazer’s commentary on Pausanias, 2.35. Clement lived c. 150-216 AD. See Callimachus, above.]

17. Helladius, in Photius Bibliotheca 279

ὅτι ἔθος ἦν ἐν Ἀθήναις φαρμάκους ἄγειν δύο, τὸν μὲν ὑπὲρ ἀνδρῶν, τὸν δὲ ὑπὲρ γυναικῶν, πρὸς τὸν καθαρμὸν ἀγομένους.  καὶ ὁ μὲν τῶν ἀνδρῶν μελαίνας ἰσχάδας περὶ τὸν τράχηλον εἶχε, λευκὰς δ’ ἅτερος.  συβάκχοι δέ φησιν ὠνομάζοντο. τὸ δὲ καθάρσιον τοῦτο λοιμικῶν νόσων ἀποτροπιασμὸς ἦν, λαβὸν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ Ἀνδρόγεω τοῦ Κρητός, οὗ τεθνηκότος ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις παρανόμως τὴν λοιμικὴν ενόσησαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι νόσον, καὶ ἐκράτει τὸ ἔθος ἀεὶ καθαίρειν τὴν πόλιν τοῖς φαρμακοῖς.

 

[Helladius says] That it was the custom at Athens to lead two pharmakoi, one on behalf of the men, and one on behalf of the women, and these were led for purification. And the pharmakos for the men had black figs around the neck, and the other one had white figs.  He says that they were called subakkhoi. And this cleansing served to ward off plagues of disease, and it took its beginning from Androgeus the Cretan [son of King Minos], because the Athenians were afflicted with a plague of disease when he died unjustly in Athens, and this custom began to be in force, to always cleanse the city with pharmakoi.

 

[My trans. Text from René Henry, ed., Photius Bibliothèque, 9 vols. (Paris: Budé, 1977), 8, p. 182. For rites taking their beginnings from primordial injustices, see the Charila festival at Delphi (Plutarch Greek Questions 12), discussed in Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, 106-107; and the “das dorische Karneenfest zur Sühne für die Ermordung des Apollosehers Karnos,” Gebhard, Die Pharmakoi in Ionien, 19 (Pausanias 3.13.4). Helladius of Alexandria was a grammarian who lived in the time of Theodosius the younger (401-450 AD).]

18. Lactantius Placidus Commentaries on Statius Achill. 192

igitur Pasiphae, Solis filia, Minois regis Cretae uxor, tauri amore flagrauit et arte Daedali inclusa intra uaccam ligneam saeptam corio iuuencae pulcherrimae cum tauro concubit. unde natus est Minotuaurus, qui intra Labyrinthum inclusus humanis carnibus uescebatur. sed Minos de Pasiphae habuit liberos plures Androgeum, Ariadnen, Phaedram. Sed Androgeus, cum esset athleta fortissimus et superaret in agonibus cunctos, apud Athenas ab Atheniensibus et uicinis Megarensibus coniuratis occisus est. quod Minos dolens collectis nauibus bella commouit et uictis Atheniensibus poenam hanc statuit ut singulis quibusque annis septem de filiis et septem de filiabus suis edendos Minotauro mitterent. sed terito anno Aegei filius Theseus missus est, potens tam uirtute quam forma, qui, cum ab Ariadne, regis filia, amatus fuisset, Daedali consilio filo iter rexit et necato Minotauro cum rapta Ariadne uictor aufugit.

 

But Minos had more children with Pasiphae: Androgeus, Ariadne, Phaedra. But Androgeus, because he was the strongest athelete and would conquer all in contests, was slain at Athens by the Athenians and the neighboring Megarians, who had plotted together. Because of which, Minos, grieving, after marshalling his ships, made war, and after the Athenians had been conquered, he decreed this penalty . . .

 

[My trans. Text from Robert Dale Sweeney ed., In Statii Thebaida commentum / Lactantii Placidi (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1997) vol. 1, pp. 678-679. Lactantius lived in the 6th century AD. This is nearly the same as Servius.]