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(Πάνδαρος; Pándaros, Lat. Pandarus). [German version] [1] Trojan troop commander Trojan troop commander, son of Lycaon (but cf. also Carcabus);Verg. Aen. 5,495-497 mentions Eurythion [5] as his brother. According to Hom. Il. 4,103 and 121, P. lived in Zelia (Troas) the contingent of which was under his command (Hom. Il. 2,824-827), whilst Hom. Il. 5,105 and (implicitly) 173 identifies Lycia (Lycii, Lycia) as his country of origin eventhough the Lycian troop contingent was led by Sarpedon and Glaucus [4] (…

[German version] (Κάλχας; Kálchas, Lat. Calchas). Son of Thestor, seer and augur for the Greeks during the Trojan War who ‘knew what is, what will be, and what was’ (Hom. Il. 1.70). To the army gathered in  Aulis awaiting departure, C. correctly prophesied, based on the flight of birds, that Troy would be defeated in the tenth year of the war (Hom. Il. 2.303ff.; Kypria argumentum p. 40 Bernabé). When the Greek fleet was prevented from departing due to lack of wind, C. explained that Artemis was ang…

(Κοπρεύς; Kopreýs). [German version] [1] Servant of Eurystheus Son of  Pelops. He transmits to  Hercules the tasks ordered by  Eurystheus, who fears personal contact. For this reason, Homer reverses the normally descending genealogical line in hero epics and refers to C. as ‘the worse father of the better son’ (Hom. Il. 15,639-641). In Eur. Heracl., C. demands in Eurystheus' name the release of the  Heraclidae, who are seeking asylum from the Attic king  Demophon [2]. According to Apollod. 2,5,1, Eurystheus had cleansed C. from a blood guilt. The name is not originally derived from kópro…

(Λίχας; Líchas). [German version] [1] Messenger of Hercules Herald of Hercules [1]; he brings Hercules the garment which Deianira, jealous of Iole, had painted with the blood of the centaur Nessus (Hes. Cat. fr. 25,20-25 M-W; Soph. Trach.; Bacchyl. 16; for possible precursors and variants, see [1]). The supposed love charm causes the death of Hercules, who, in his agony, smashes the innocent L. against a rock in the sea (Soph. Trach. 772ff.; Apollod. 2,7,7? corrupt text). Later sources (Ov. Met. 9,2…

[German version] (Θερσίτης; Thersítēs). Greek warrior at Troy. In the Iliad (Hom. Il. 2,211-277) T. is a physically deformed (the corresponding description is unique in the Iliad) and quarrelsome grumbler, hated by all for his sarcastic remarks - esp. by Achilles [1] and Odysseus. After the latter has stopped the army from returning home, T. attacks Agamemnon with arguments consciously referring to those of Achilles (Hom. Il. B. 1) but also criticizing him. Odysseus silences him by attacking him verbally and physically, …

(Ἰδαῖος; Idaîos). [German version] [1] Epithet of Zeus Epithet of  Zeus from the Ida on Crete (Eur. fr. 472 TGF; Inscr. Creticae 1,12,1) or near Troy (Hom. Il. 24,291; Verg. Aen. 7,139; in Celaenae: Plut. Mor. 306e f.) and of  Heracles as Daktylos I. and founder of the Olympic Games (Paus. 5,7,6ff.; 8,31,3; also in Elis and Erythrae: Paus. 6,23,3; 9,27,8). Willi, Andreas (Basle) [German version] [2] Son of Chryse and Dardanus Son of Chryse and  Dardanus [1] with whom he emigrates from Arcadia across Samothrace to the  Ida mountains [2], which are said to be named af…

[German version] (Ἰάμβη; Iámbē). Maid in the house of  Celeus, where  Demeter, mourning her abducted daughter Persephone, accepts nothing but a simple chair, which I. offers to her (H. Hom. 2,192-197; reverse ritual related to thrónōsis, placing the initiant on a foot stool [1]). I. makes Demeter laugh with her cheeky jokes and provocative insults, thus improving her mood (H. Hom. 2,202-204, cf. SH 680,51ff.). This reflects the cultic practice of aischrologia (ritual insult). Evidently, there is a connection between the mythical figure of I. and the literary genre …

[German version] (Κεβριόνης; Kebriónēs). Bastard son of  Priamus, half-brother of  Hector, who makes him his chariot driver after Archeptolemus' death (Hom. Il. 8,318f.). C. participates in the storming of the Greeks' ship camp; the chariot is entrusted to a weaker fighter for this time period (ibid. 12,91ff.). Finally, Patroclus kills C. with the throw of a stone and ridicules him as he falls from the chariot by comparing him with a diver (ibid. 16,737-750). Nünlist, René (Basle) Bibliography P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des Troyens de l'Iliade, Vol. 1, 1988, 677-679.

[German version] (῾Ρῆσος/ Rhêsos, Latin Rhesus). King of Thrace, son of Eïoneus (Hom. Il. 10,138) or of the river god Strymon ([Eur.] Rhes. 279). R. and his snow-white horse appear only in the tenth year of the war as an ally of the Trojans and dies on the first night, without having played any part in battle. Caught on his nightly tour of reconnoissance, Dolon has betrayed R. and his men. Diomedes kills the men in their sleep, as R. has foreseen in a nightmare, and Odysseus makes off with the horses…

(Σαρπηδών/ Sarpēdṓn). [German version] [1] Son of Zeus and Laodameia [1]. Son of Zeus and Laodameia [1]. In the Trojan War, S. and his cousin Glaucus [4] command the Lycians (Lycii), the strongest and remotest allies of the Trojans (Hom. Il. 2,876-877; the name S. is also of Lycian origin [1]). Zeus' son S. wins a duel with Zeus' grandson Tlepolemus (ibid. 5,628-662) and plays a decisive part in storming the defensive wall around the Greek camp (ibid. 12,290-471). Here his rousing speech to Glaucus (ibid. …

[German version] (Κηδαλίων, κήδαλον, Kēdalíōn, kḗdalon, which probably describes a tool: ‘poker’?). Comes from the island of Naxos, initiates  Hephaestus into the blacksmith's craft at the request of his mother  Hera (schol. Hom. Il. 14,296). On Lemnos, Hephaestus makes C. the leader of blinded  Orion. Sitting on his shoulders, C. leads Orion towards the sun, through whose rays Orion is healed of his blindness (Hes. fr. 148a M-W; Eratosth. Katasterismoi 32; Apollod. 1,4,3). Scarcely more than the title is known of Sophocles' satyr play ‘C.. (TrGF IV fr. 328-333). Nünlist, René (Basl…

[German version] (Καπανεύς; Kapaneús). Son of Hipponous [3], married to  Evadne [2] and father of  Sthenelus. C. is one of the  Seven against Thebes (and is therefore to be included in the Theban epics even if he does not appear in the surviving fragments). His boastful statement that not even the strike of a thunderbolt from Zeus could prevent him from taking part in the conquest of Thebes provokes Zeus to strike him down just so (Aesch. Sept. 423ff.). According to Stesichorus (fr. 194 PMG),  Ascl…

(Κοίρανος; Koíranos). [German version] [1] Descendant of Melampus Belongs to the family tree of  Melampus (Hes. Cat. 136,3), but his exact position therein is not certain; father of the seer  Poly(e)idus (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 112; Paus. 1,43,5). Nünlist, René (Basle) [German version] [2] Charioteer of Meriones Charioteer for  Meriones; he saves  Idomeneus' [1] life by bringing a chariot to him at exactly the right moment, so that he instead of Idomeneus is hit by  Hector's spear (Hom. Il. 17,611-614). The motif of ‘substitution death’ is typical of Homer's epics [1]. Nünlist, René (Bas…

(Πολυδάμας/ Polydámas, in Homer with metrical lengthening Πουλυδάμας/ Poulydámas). [German version] [1] Trojan Trojan, son of Panthous. On the basis of his experience P. possesses an understanding of the past and the future. As an astute and level-headed counsellor he represents the pessimistic alter ego of Hector, the town’s defender, who was born on the same day as P. Nevertheless, at the decisive moment P.’ sensible advice (retreat into the town) is not taken heed of. At this occasion, his character is (n…

[German version] (Σίσυφος; Sísyphos). Mythical fraudster and penitent in the Underworld. Son of Aeolus [1], father of Glaucus [2], grandfather of Bellerophon, founder and king of Corinth (Corinthus), legendary and proverbial fraudster, who as a punishment in the Underworld has to roll a rock up a mountain, but every time just before reaching the summit it rolls back down into the valley (Hom. Od. 11,593-600). S. earns the punishment by conquering death (i.e. abandoning the boundaries placed on huma…

[German version] (τειχοσκοπία/ teichoskopía, ‘viewing from the walls’). Term, coined already in Antiquity (Schol. Eur. Phoen. 88), for the scene in the Iliad in which Helen (Helena [I 1]) identifies for Priamus the most important leaders of the Greek army (Agamemnon, Odysseus, Menelaus, Ajax [1], Idomeneus [1]) from the Trojan walls (Hom. Il. 3,161-244, imitated e.g. by Eur. Phoen. 88-192). The Homeric narrator has Helen observe an event happening elsewhere at the same time and present it verbally toPriam (and hence …

[German version] (Ἑκατόγχειρες, centimani = ‘hundred-handed’). Briareus (also called Aegaeon: Hom. Il. 1,403f.), Cottus and Gy(g)es (for the name forms see [1]) are powerful monsters (hundred arms, fifty heads: Hes. Theog. 147ff.), offspring of  Uranus and  Gaia. They were chained by their father and thrown into Tartarus (617ff.). Zeus frees them and, on account of their hundred arms, makes them allies in the battle with the  Titans (626ff.). The belief that the H. later guarded the defeated Titans…

[German version] (Τιθωνός; Tithōnós). Member of the Trojan royal family, grandson of Ilus [1], son of Laomedon [1] and hence a brother of Priamus. Eos, the  goddess of dawn, abducted the extremely attractive T. and makes him her lover (cf. Cephalus [1], Cleitus [1], Orion [1]). According to the Homeric formula Eos brings light in the morning, by rising from "T.' bed" (Hom. Il. 11,1 et passim). The result of their union is the Aethiopian king Memnon [1]. Eos asks Zeus for immortality for T., but neg…

(Σειρῆνες/ Seirḗnes; Latin Sirenes, Sirenae). [German version] I. Mythology Mythical female creatures who sing seductively Sirens are mythical beings (in Greek myth female) in ancient sailors' tales (the earliest evidence - admittedly without context - extends back to the Mycenaean period [1]). Their seductive song makes sailors forget their home  (cf. Lotophagi) and perish. Instructed by Circe, Odysseus outwits the Sirens: he stops the ears of his companions with wax and has himself tied to the mast with inst…

(Τυδεύς; Tydeús). [German version] [1] Son of Oeneus and Periboea Son of Oeneus and Periboea [6]. He has to leave his home after killing one of his relatives (for his motive: [1. 175]). In Argos, Adrastus [1] gives him his daughter Deipyle in marriage. In the siege of Troy, their son Diomedes [1] fights hard to match the achievements of his father in every way. As one of the Seven against Thebes, T. is part of an embassy to the city and emerges victorious from a series of contests with the Thebans. On his…