Dionysus, Ikarios and a Daughter’s Dog ( D Scholia, Il. 22.29)
ὅν τε κύν’ ᾿Ωρίωνος ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσι, Il. 22.29
‘Which they call by the name ‘the dog of Orion’ ”
“Of Orion: [Homer] calls this, then, the dog-star. Some say that this dog transformed into a star is not Orion’s but instead is Erigonê’s, and that it was made into a star for the following reason. There was a man named Ikarios, an Athenian, who had a daughter named Erigonê. She raised a dog from a puppy. When Ikarios once entertained Dionysus, he received from him wine and a shoot of grapes. According to the commandments of the god, he wandered the earth proclaiming the grace of Dionysus and he took the dog with him. When he appeared outside a city, he offered wine to cow-herds. After they sampled it excessively, they fell into a deep sleep. Later, when they woke up, because they believed they had been drugged, they killed Ikarios. The dog returned to Erigonê and told her what had happened by barking. When she learned the truth, she hanged herself. For this reason a plague befell Athens—And the Athenians in obedience to an oracle offered annual rites to both Ikarios and Erigonê. Once they were sanctified as stars, Ikarios was named Boôtês and Erigonê was called the Maiden. But the dog kept his own name. This is the story Eratosthenes tells us.”
᾿Ωρίωνος. Τὸν ἀστρῶον κύνα οὕτως ἔφη.
ἔνιοι δέ φασι τόνδε τὸν κατηστερισμένον
κύνα, οὐκ ᾿Ωρίωνος, ἀλλὰ ᾿Ηριγόνης ὑπάρ-
χειν, ὃν κατηστερισθῆναι διὰ τοιαύτην
αἰτίαν. ῾Ικάριος γένος μὲν ἦν ᾿Αθηναῖος
ἔσχε δὲ θυγατέρα ᾿Ηριγόνην, ἥτις κύνα
νήπιον ἔτρεφε. ξενίσας δέ ποτε ὁ ῾Ικάριος
Διόνυσον, ἔλαβε παρ’ αὐτοῦ οἶνόν τε καὶ
ἀμπέλου κλῆμα. κατὰ δὲ τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ
ὑποθήκας, περιῄει τὴν γῆν προφαίνων τὴν
τοῦ Διονύσου χάριν, ἔχων σὺν ἑαυτῷ καὶ
τὸν κύνα. γενόμενος δὲ ἐκτὸς τῆς πόλεως,
βουκόλοις οἶνον παρέσχε. οἱ δὲ ἀθρόως ἐμ-
φορησάμενοι, οἱ μὲν εἰς βαθὺν ὕπνον
ἐτράπησαν. ὀψέ τε ἐγερθέντες, καὶ νομί-
σαντες πεφαρμάχθαι, τὸν ῾Ικάριον ἀπέ-
κτειναν. ὁ δὲ κύων ὑποστρέψας πρὸς τὴν
᾿Ηριγόνην, δι’ ὠρυγμοῦ ἐμήνυσεν αὐτῇ τὰ
γενόμενα. ἡ δὲ μαθοῦσα τὸ ἀληθὲς, ἑαυ-
τὴν ἀνήρτησε. νόσου δὲ ἐν ᾿Αθήναις γενο-
μένης, κατὰ χρησμὸν ᾿Αθηναῖοι τόν τε
῾Ικάριον καὶ τὴν ᾿Ηριγόνην ἐνιαυσιαίαις
ἐγέραιρον τιμαῖς. οἳ καὶ κατηστερισθέν-
τες, ῾Ικάριος μὲν Βοώτης ἐκλήθη, ᾿Ηρι-
γόνη δὲ παρθένος. ὁ δὲ κύων τὴν αὐτὴν
ὀνομασίαν ἔσχεν. ῾Ιστορεῖ ᾿Ερατοσθένης.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was an Astronomer to whom a collection of Constellation Myths is attributed.
