Fantastic Friday 2: Some Shape Shifters

Paradoxographus Vaticanus 31-32

This is probably the briefest version of the Teiresias story I know. Here’s another paradoxographical account.

31 “Teiresias the son of Euêros, after he witnessed two snakes having sex, killed them and immediately turned into a woman. After not much time he was a man and was selected as a judge of the pleasure of a man and woman in sex before Zeus and Hera. He said that a woman has more.”

Τειρεσίας <ὁ> Εὐήρους δύο δράκοντας μιγνυμένους θεασάμενος κτείνει αὐτοὺς καὶ παραυτίκα γυνὴ ‘κγίνεται, μετ’ οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἀνήρ, καὶ δικαστὴς ἡδονῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἀνδρὸς τῆς ἐν τῆ μίξει παραλαμβάνεται πρὸς Διὸς καὶ ῞Ηρας· καὶ πλείονα λέγει τὴν τῆς γυναικός.

32 “In Homer, Proteus changes into every kind of shape just as Thetis does in Pindar, Nereus does in Stesikhoros and Mêstra does in Hesiod.”

Παρ’ ῾Ομήρῳ Πρωτεὺς εἰς πάντα μετεμορφοῦτο, καθὰ Θέτις παρὰ Πινδάρῳ καὶ Νηρεὺς παρὰ Στησιχόρῳ καὶ Μήστρα <παρ’ ῾Ησιόδῳ>.

Image result for medieval manuscript proteus
der Höllisher Protheus (hellish proteus) Erasmus Finx 1694

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