Fr. 91

       α. . . . Μελικέρτα, μιῆς ἐπὶ πότνια Βύνη   

       

Fr. 92

       ση. .[.]τ̣[. . .]φ̣[          Λε]ανδρίδες εἴ τι παλαιαί

           φθ[έγγ]ονται[             ]υφαν ἱστορίαι.

Fr. 91 Harder (= 91 Pf., = 193 Mass.) P.Mil.Vogl. I 18 col. II 41
   [image], 
Trismegistos 59371

Fr. 92 Harder (= 92 Pf., = 194 Mass.)
  1-3 init. P.Oxy. 2170 fr. 1, 1-3 [image], Trismegistos 59370
  1-3 fin. PSI 1218c, 1-3 [image], Trismegistos 59370

Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, having been driven mad by Hera, fled her husband and jumped into the sea with her son, Melicertes. His body was washed up on the shores of Tenedos, where an altar was placed in his honor. Subsequently, whenever the city was threatened, a woman sacrificed her own child on this altar and was herself blinded. The custom was later abolished when the Penthelidae, the descendants of Orestes and Erigone (the daughter of Aegisthus), settled in Lesbos and exerted their influence on the nearby islands.

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Suggested Citation

Susan Stephens, Callimachus: Aetia. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-947822-07-8.https://dcc.dickinson.edu/tr/callimachus-aetia/book-4/melicertes