(1) φασὶν ὡς Ἡρακλῆς τὸ Ἀμαλθείας κέρας καλούμενον πανταχοῦ περιέφερεν, ἐξ οὗ ἐγίνετο αὐτῷ ὅσα ἐβούλετο εὐξαμένῳ. (2) ἡ δὲ ἀλήθεια ἥδε. (3) Ἡρακλῆς ἀποδημῶν κατὰ Βοιωτίαν μετὰ Ἰολάου τοῦ ἀδελφιδοῦ καταλύει ἐν Θεσπιαῖς ἔν τινι πανδοκείῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἐτύγχανε γυνὴ καλουμένη Ἀμάλθεια πανδοκεύουσα, ὡραία καὶ καλὴ σφόδρα. (4) Ἡρακλῆς δὲ ἡδόμενος αὐτῇ πλείονα χρόνον ἐπεξενοῦτο. (5) Ἰόλαος δὲ βαρέως φέρων ἐπινοεῖ τὴν ἐμπολὴν τῆς Ἀμαλθείας ἐν κέρατι κειμένην ἀφελέσθαι, ἐξ ἧς ἐμπολῆς ὅ τι ἤθελεν ὠνεῖτο ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ. (6) ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ συνέκδημοι “Ἡρακλῆς τὸ Ἀμαλθείας κέρας ἔσχεν, ἐξ οὗ ὠνεῖτο ὅσα βούλοιτο ἑαυτῷ.” (7) ἐκ τούτων οὖν ὁ μῦθος προσανεπλάσθη, καὶ οἱ γραφεῖς γράφοντες <τὸν Ἡρακλέα> προσγράφουσι τὸ Ἀμαλθείας κέρας.
notes
According to myth, the horn of Amalthea was a miraculous object that produced whatever its owner desired. It later became known as the cornucopia, or “horn of plenty.” Amalthea herself was sometimes said to be the goat who nursed the infant Zeus in Crete, and sometimes a nymph who cared for that goat. In one tradition, one of Amalthea’s horns broke off and Zeus blessed it with inexhaustible abundance. In another tradition connected with Heracles, the hero received a wondrous horn after wrestling the river god Achelous.
For a later (albeit brief) version of the story that Palaephatus is responding to, see Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.7.5.
1
φασὶν: “people say.”
τὸ Ἀμαλθείας κέρας καλούμενον: the participle καλούμενον here has the sense of “so-called.”
ἐγίνετο αὐτῷ ὅσα ἐβούλετο εὐξαμένῳ: read as ὅσα ἐβούλετο ἐγίνετο αὐτῷ εὐξαμένῳ: “whatever he wanted came into existence for him after he prayed for it.”
ἐγίνετο … ὅσα: neut. pl. nom., subject of a verb in the singular, as usual.
4
πλείονα χρόνον: an intensifying use of the comparative adjective (Smyth 1067), “for a rather long time.”
5
βαρέως φέρων: “taking this badly.”
ἐν κέρατι κειμένην: "kept in a horn."
ἀφελέσθαι: "to take away," "to steal," > ἀφαιρέω. Middle infinitive after ἐπινοεῖ.
ὅ τι: a space is placed between ὅ and τι to distinguish the neuter singular indefinite relative pronoun (ὅστις, ἥτις, ὅ τι) from the conjunction ὅτι “that,” “because.”
7
ἐκ τούτων: “from these circumstances (or events).”
<τὸν Ἡρακλέα>: angled brackets within the Greek text indicate that the word has been added by the editor.
vocabulary
1
Ἡρακλῆς –έους, ὁ Heracles, the Greek hero
Ἀμάλθεια –ας, ἡ Amalthea, Zeus’s nurse
κέρας –ατος, τό horn
πανταχοῦ, adv. everywhere
περιφέρω to carry around
εὔχομαι, εὔξομαι, εὐξάμην to pray
3
ἀποδημέω, contr. to travel abroad
Βοιωτία –ας, ἡ Boeotia
Ἰόλαος –ου, ὁ Iolaus [Greek hero]
ἀδελφιδοῦς –οῦ, ὁ nephew
καταλύω to stay in, rest at (e.g. as a guest at an inn)
Θεσπιαί –ῶν, αἱ Thespiae, a city in Boeotia
πανδοκεῖον –ου, τό inn
πανδοκεύω to run an inn, be an innkeeper
ὡραῖος –α –ον youthful
σφόδρα, adv. very, exceedingly
4
ἥδομαι, ἡσθήσομαι, —, —, —, ἥσθην to be delighted by (+ dat.)
ἐπιξενόομαι, —, —, —, ἐπεξένωμαι, ἐπεξενώθην to be entertained as a guest; to reside
5
ἐπινοέω, contr. to devise, contrive; plan
ἐμπολή –ῆς, ἡ profits
ὠνέομαι, ὠνήσομαι, ὠνησάμην, —, ἐώνημαι, ἐωνήθην to buy
6
συνέκδημος –ου, ὁ fellow-traveler
7
μῦθος –ου, ὁ tale
προσαναπλάττω, —, προσανέπλασα, —, —, προσανεπλάσθην to fabricate in addition
γραφεύς –έως, ὁ painter
προσγράφω to paint something in addition