Ammon: he had an oracle at the oasis of Siwa in Egypt, which was regarded by the Greeks as an oracle of Zeus.

claimed to rival the goddess in beauty: this may seem surprising, but we have seen that she was once attractive to Poseidon; according to Ov. Met. 4. 798 ff, Athene transformed her into her familiar Gorgonic form because she had slept with Poseidon in the goddess’ sanctuary.

what the oracle had predicted: that he would be killed by his daughter’s son, pp. 64 f.

king of Larissa: this lay in the land of the (Thessalian) Pelasgians, and we should understand that Acrisios went to stay with Teutamides. In Pherecydes’ account (sc. AR 4. 1091) Perseus went there specifically to find Acrisios, and became involved in the games by chance.

on the foot, killing him: this seems odd—the incident on p. 76, which involves a poisoned arrow, is not comparable—but it accords with Pherecydes’ account in sc. AR 4. 1091. In Hyg. 63, the wind blows the discus from his hand at Acrisios’ head, so fulfilling the will of the gods. Some said that Perseus himself invented the discus, and was using the occasion to demonstrate his skill with it (P. 2. 16. 2).

fortified. . . Mycenae: Perseus was commonly seen as its founder (cf. P. 2. 16. 3). Henceforth it will be one of the three great centres in the Argolid with Argos and Tiryns.

gone far: telou ebe: hence Teleboans. The etymology is forced; the name probably means ‘those whose (war-) criescan be heard from afar’.

descendant of Perseus. . . about to be born: Zeus means Heracles (see p. 70), his own son by Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon, grandson of Perseus; but Hera’s stratagem will ensure that Eurystheus, a grandson of Perseus, will be born before Heracles, and thus rule at Mycenae in accordance with this declaration by Zeus. Hera is always jealous of Zeus’ children by other women. (As is usual in mythical history, Heracles’ divine parentage does not exclude him from the lineage of his putative mortal father; he is also descended from Perseus through his mother.)

the Eileithuiai: there was a goddess Eileithuia specifically associated with childbirth, cf. p. 29, but the name was also used in the plural as a generic term to refer to other divine beings in so far as they helped (or hindered) childbirth. The story is told by Homer, Il. 19. 96 ff.; compare P. 9. 11. 2 and Ov. Met. 9. 292 ff. for later developments. In Homer, Hera merely restrains the Eileithuiai (Il. 19. 119) from helping Alcmene, but in the later tradition they actively hinder the birth.

of their maternal grandfather: the text is confused. For the basis of their claim, see p. 68; the succession runs: Perseus—Mestor— Hippothoe—Taphios—Pterelaos—the sons of Pterelaos. Earlier in the sentence I have kept the manuscript reading ‘with Taphios’ (cf. Tzetz. sc. Lycophr. 932; as against ‘with some Taphians’ following Heyne’s emendation); the fact that the sons of Pterelaos are seeking to regain the kingdom of the maternal grandfather of Taphioscould well explain the original meaning of the text, or the proper reference of the problematic phrase if it is a gloss. Note that Electryon, a son of Perseus, is involved in a dispute with the great-great-great-grandsons of Perseus! The islands of the Teleboans lay opposite Acarnania near the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf.

striking him dead: by accident, but there is also an early tradition that they argued over the cattle and Amphitryon killed him in a fit of anger (see Hes. Shield11 f. and 82). This gives Sthenelos a pretext to take power in Mycenae, and Hera’s stratagem will ensure that his son Eurystheus rules there after him; and the expulsion of Amphitryon and Alcmene explains why Heracles will start his life in exile at Thebes.

she would marry him: this corresponds with the account attributed to Pherecydes in sc. Il. 14. 323 and sc. Od. 11. 266, but in Hes. Shield14 ff. (in lines taken from Hes. Cat.)they were already married (as one might well infer from the previous paragraph) and she makes the consummationof the marriage conditional on the vengeance. (Without a small emendation by Wagner, the passage would read, ‘she would marry the person who avenged . . .’)

the vixen: the Teumessian fox, which had its lair on Mount Teumessos in Boeotia; Dionysos is said to have sent it (P. 9. 19. 1) but we are not told why. (Perhaps because he was rejected by Pentheus, p. 103.) Here the Cadmeia clearly means the territory of Thebes (rather than just the citadel).

Cephalos, son of Deioneus: for his birth, see p. 44 (Deioneus can be identified with Deion).

the dog: its name was Lailaps, ‘Hurricane’ (e.g. Hyg. 189); for how Cephalos came to possess it, see also p. 134.

Zeus turned. . . them to stone: this divine intervention was needed to resolve, or at least remove, the intolerable contradiction which arose when a beast that was fated to catch its prey was set in pursuit of a beast that was fated never to be caught. In astral mythology Zeus turns the dog into a constellation (Canis Major, Catast. 33).

put Comaitho to death: he is unwilling to accept the love of one who has betrayed her father and city; compare the story of Scylla on p. 137.

Heracles: the only other complete life history to survive from antiquity is that of Diodorus of Sicily (4. 8–39), which follows a similar pattern, and should be consulted on all the following.

killed the serpents: cf. Pind. Nem. 1. 39 ff.

Linos had struck him: after losing patience at his ‘sluggishness of soul’, DS 3. 67. 2. Surviving accounts are late, although the episode is depicted in fifth-century vase-paintings.

Rhadamanthys: the Cretan lawmaker who became a judge in Hades, see p. 97.

should all conceive children by Heracles: he is impressed by his extraordinary strength and expects him to father fine children, cf. DS 4. 29. 3. According to the temple legend at Thespiai, P. 9. 27. 5, he slept with all but one, who became his priestess at the temple, and did so in a single night.

dressed in its skin: but according to some, it was the Nemean lion, p. 73, who provided the skin (e.g. Theocritus 25. 163 ff.; as the skin of an invulnerable beast, it had the advantage of being impenetrable—Heracles had to use the lion’s own claws to cut it).