Homer, Iliad VI 156-190

Glaucus continues his family history, relating the story of his grandfather Bellerophon (or Bellerophontes). Proitos and his wife Anteia hatched a plan to have Bellerophon killed, sending him to Lycia with a sealed note that ordered the recipient to kill the bearer. After receiving the note, the king of Lycia set a series of tasks for Bellerophon meant to kill him, but all failed to do so.

The story of Bellerophontes appears as a self-contained narrative inside the Glaucus-Diomedes digression, an example of what is called an “epyllion,” or “little epic.” The form itself, of which there are many examples in Greek and Latin poetry, seems to invite thought about how the inner and outer stories might be related. [read full essay]

156: τῷ: “to this one,” “to him,” indirect object of ὤπασαν (“granted”) in the next line. κάλλος: that Bellerophon was physically attractive supplies the motive for the story that follows (Kirk).

157: οἱ: “for him,” (= αῦτῷ), dative with μήσατο (“devised”). θυμῷ: “in his heart.”

158: ἔλασσεν: aor. > ἐλαύνω, Attic ἤλασεν. Bellerophon is the missing direct object. πολὺ: “by far,” adverbial acc. (acc. of extent). ἦεν: “was,” 3rd sg. impf. > εἰμί, Attic ἦν (Monro 12).

159: nearly parenthetical.  Ἀργείων: added to explain δήμου, and to make distinct the place of Bellerophon’s sojourn. Without it, the hearer might think he is in his home at Corinth. οἱ … ἐδάμασσε: “had made subject to him (Proitos),” “had put in his power” (Stoevesandt). ἐδάμασσε: aor. > δαμνάω (= δάμνημι = δαμάζω), supply the obj. δῆμον or τοὺς Ἀργείους. Some understand Bellerophon only as the object of ἐδάμασσε, but the words suggest kingly rule in general rather than power over a single man.

160: δῖ’ = δῖα, nom. sg fem. adjective. Proitus’ wife Anteia (Sthenoboia in post-Homeric accounts) was mad for Bellerophon (ἐπεμήνατο) namely for secretly mingling with him (μιγήμεναι) in love. The Potiphar’s Wife theme is a widespread folktale one, represented in Greek mythology by Phaedra and Hippolytus in Euripides’ Hippolytus, as well as by Peleus and the wife of Acastus (Apollodorus 3.13.3).

161–2: μιγήμεναι: aor. pass. inf. > μείγνυμι. τὸν: “this one,” Bellerophon. Βελλεροφόντην below is in apposition. οὔ τι: “not at all,” τι is an adverbial acc. (Goodell 540). οὔ τι / πεῖθ᾽: “could not persuade,” = ἐπεῖθε, iterative impf. > πείθω (Stoevesandt). ἀγαθὰ φρονέοντα: “thinking noble thoughts,” “right thinking.”

163: ψευσαμένη … προσηύδα: “contrived a falsehood and said.” ψευσαμένη: aor. mid. ptc. > ψεύδω.

164: τεθναίης … ἢ κάκτανε: “either die yourself, or kill ….” τεθναίης: “may you be dead,” pf. opt. of wish > θνήσκω. κάκτανε = κατάκτανε, 2nd aor. imperat. > κατακτείνω.

165: μ’ = μοι (a rare elision of οι), agreeing with ἐθελούσῃ. The participle is concessive, “though I did not wish it.” Both datives are governed by μιγήμεναι, “mingle with.”

166: οἷον ἄκουσε: “(at) what he heard,” literally, “the sort of thing which he heard,” indirect exclamation.

167: ἀλέεινε κτεῖναι: “hesitated to kill” Bellerophon, as his wife demanded. σεβάσσατο τό γε: “he had (religious) scruples about this.” His conscience would not allow Proitοs to kill a guest with his own hand, but he did not shrink from asking his father-in-law to do the deed.

168: Λυκίηνδε: “to Lycia.” -δε implies place to which (Monro 335.2). πόρεν δ᾽ ὅ γε σήματα λυγρὰ: a South Italian Greek stamnos (jar) dating to 400–390 BC and now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (00.349a) depicts the moment when Proitos has just handed to Bellerophon the letter for King Iobates of Lycia asking him to kill the young hero.

170: δεῖξαι: aor. act. infin. > δείκνυμι. ἠνώγειν: 3rd sg. plpf. > perf. ἄνωγα. ᾧ: “to his own”  = ἑῷ, dat. sg. possessive pronoun of the 3rd person > ἑός (Monro 254). ὄφρ’: = ὄφρα, purpose clause, opt. in secondary sequence (Monro 307).

171: ὁ: “this man,” “he,” demonstrative. βῆ: 3rd sg. aor. > βαίνω.

172: ὅτε δὴ: “just when.” δὴ implies exactness. Λυκίην … Ξάνθον: “to…,” acc. of direction without preposition. Lycia, a region in southwest Asia Minor, was dominated by the river Xanthus (not to be confused with the Xanthus that flows around Troy, mentioned at 6.4). ἷξε: 3rd sg. aor. > ἵκω. ῥέοντα: pres. ptc. > ῥέω.

173: προφρονέως: adverb > πρόφρων.

175: ἐφάνη: 3rd sg. aor. pass. > φαίνω.

176: καὶ … καὶ: “both … and.” ᾔτεε: = ἐ-αίτε-ε, impf. > αἰτέω. ἰδέσθαι: aor. inf. > aor. εἶδον, which supplies the aorist of ὁράω (Goodell 391).

177: ὅττί … φέροιτο: “whatever … brought,” pres. opt. in a relative clause of characteristic, secondary sequence. ὅττί = ὅ τι. οἱ: “for him,” = ἑαυτῷ, indirect object of φέροιτο. πάρα: “from…,” “from (the side of),” governing γαμβροῖο (anastrophe).

179: πρῶτον: “first,” adv., followed by δεύτερον at 6.184. πεφνέμεν: reduplicated aor. act. inf. > aor. ἔπεφνον (see 6.12).

180: ἥ δ᾽: “and it,” i.e. Chimera. ἔην: 3rd sg impf. > εἰμί, Attic ἦν (Monro 12). θεῖον: “divine,” equivalent to θεῶν, parallel to ἀνθρώπων. γένος: “offspring,” predicate noun.

181: μέσση δὲ χίμαιρα: its middle is that of a she-goat (χίμαιρα), which lends its name to the whole mythological creature, the Chimera (Χίμαιρα). Bellerophon’s defeat of the Chimera became a popular scene in later pottery and mosaic, a scene that regularly includes Pegasus, the winged horse tamed by Bellerophon (an episode not included by Homer).

182: δεινὸν: either modyfing μένος or adv., “terribly.” μένος: neuter acc. direct object, limited by πυρὸς. 

183: τὴν μὲν … αὖ: “this one … and again.” τεράεσσι: dat. pl. Homer does not say what τέρας is; traditionally it is Pegasus. πιθήσας: “trusting in,” “confident in” (+ dat.), nom. sg. aor. ptc. > πείθω.

184: δεύτερον: “second,” adverbial acc., cf. 179. Σολύμοισι … κυδαλίμοισι: “with…,” i.e. “against…” dat. of association with a verb of fighting (see 6.141).

185: “that, he claimed, was the hardest battle with men in which he had engaged” (Stoevesandt). φάτο: “he claimed x (to be) y” + double acc., 3rd sg. impf. mid. (with no difference in meaning from active) > φημί. δύμεναι: “to enter,” infinitive of ἔδυν, root aorist > δύομαι, epexegetical (explanatory) infinitive depending on καρτίστην.

186: τὸ τρίτον: “third,” adv. acc.

187: τῷ: “for him,” i.e. Bellerophon, dat. of interest. ὕφαινε: understand Proitos, king of Lycia.

188: κρίνας: nom. sg. aor. ptc. > κρίνω

189: εἷσε: “set” (lit. “sat”), 3rd sg. aor. active > ἵζω. τοὶ: “and these,” a demonstrative pronoun referring to the men chosen by Proitos. οὔ τι: “not at all” (see 6.161).