Tag: Prometheus

Fragments about Deucalion, the “Greek Noah”

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

Acusilaos, fr. 34 (from Scholia to the Odyssey)

“Deukalion, in whose time the flood happened, was a son of Prometheus, and his mother, as most say, was Klymene. But Hesiod says that it was Pronoê whereas Acusilaos claims he was the son of the Oceanid Hesione and Prometheus.”

SCHOL. H Q HOM. Od. κ 2: Δευκαλίων, ἐφ’ οὗ ὁ κατακλυσμὸς γέγονε, Προμηθέως μὲν ἦν υἱός, μητρὸς δέ, ὡς <οἱ> πλεῖστοι λέγουσι, Κλυμένης· ὡς δὲ ῾Ησίοδος (F 3) Προνόης· ὡς δὲ ᾿Ακουσίλαος ῾Ησιόνης τῆς ᾿Ωκεανοῦ καὶ Προμηθέως.

 

Hekataios, fr. 13 (from Scholia to Thucydides, 1.3.2)

“Hekataios records that Deukalion had three children: Pronoos, Orestheus, and Marathonios. He also says that Hellen was the son of Pronoos.”

SCHOL. THUKYD. I 3, 2: ῾Εκαταῖος ἱστορεῖ, ὅτι Δευκαλίων τρεῖς παῖδας ἔσχε, Πρόνοον, ᾿Ορεσθέα καὶ Μαραθώνιον. Προνόου δὲ τὸν ῞Ελληνά φησι γενέσθαι.

 

Hellanicus, fr. 2 (from the Scholia to Apollonius Rhodes, 3.1086)

“There Prometheus the son of Iapetos fathered good Deucalion who was the first to make cities and build temples to the gods; he was also the first man to rule as king. In in the beginning of his Catalog, Hesiod says that Deukalion is the son of Pandora. He also records that Hellen is the son of Deucalion and Purrha, the origin of Hellenes and the term Hellas. Hellanikos records that Deukalion ruled as king of Thessaly in the first part of his Deukalionea. In the same section, Hellanicus claims records that Deucalion built an altar to the twelve gods.”

 

SCHOL. APOLL. RHOD. III 1086: ἔνθα Προμηθεὺς ᾿Ιαπετιονίδης ἀγαθὸν τέκε Δευκαλίωνα, ὃς πρῶτος ποίησε πόλεις καὶ ἐδείματο νηοὺς ἀθανάτοις, πρῶτος δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπων βασίλευσεν] ὅτι Προμηθέως καὶ Πανδώρας υἱὸς Δευκαλίων ῾Ησίοδος ἐν πρώτωι Καταλόγων (F 2) φησί· καὶ ὅτι Δευκαλίωνος καὶ Πύρρας ῞Ελλην, ἀφ’ οὗ ῞Ελληνες καὶ ῾Ελλάς. ὅτι δὲ Δευκαλίων ἐβασίλευσε Θεσσαλίας ῾Ελλάνικος ἐν πρώτωι τῆς Δευκαλιωνείας φησίν. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ιβ θεῶν βωμὸν Δευκαλίων ἱδρύσατο ῾Ελλάνικος ἐν τῶι αὐτῶι φησι συγγράμματι. II 1085: ὅτι δὲ Προμηθέως υἱὸς Δευκαλίων ἐβασίλευσε Θεσσαλίας ῾Ελλάνικός φησι· καὶ ὅτι δώδεκα θεῶν βωμὸν ἱδρύσατο.

 

 

Apollodorus, 1.46

“So Prometheus paid this penalty for the theft of fire until Herakles freed him later on, as I made clear in the sections on Herakles. Then the child of Prometheus, Deukalion, was born. He was king in the regions around Phthia and he married Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, who was the first woman the gods created. When Zeus decided to destroy the bronze race, Deucalion built a chest for himself and placed everything he needed in it and entered it with Pyrrha—as Prometheus advised.”

καὶ Προμηθεὺς μὲν πυρὸς κλαπέντος δίκην ἔτινε ταύτην, μέχρις ῾Ηρακλῆς αὐτὸν ὕστερον ἔλυσεν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς καθ’ ῾Ηρακλέα δηλώσομεν· Προμηθέως δὲ παῖς Δευκαλίων ἐγένετο. οὗτος βασιλεύων τῶν περὶ τὴν Φθίαν τόπων γαμεῖ Πύρραν τὴν ᾿Επιμηθέως καὶ Πανδώρας, ἣν ἔπλασαν θεοὶ πρώτην γυναῖκα. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀφανίσαι Ζεὺς τὸ χαλκοῦν ἠθέλησε γένος, ὑποθεμένου Προμηθέως Δευκαλίων τεκτηνάμενος λάρνακα, καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἐνθέμενος, εἰς ταύτην μετὰ Πύρρας εἰσέβη.

 

 

Locum funditus corruptum: Who Was Deucalion’s Mother?

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 5 Comments

I recently started reading more of the fragments of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women. In doing so, I came across the mess that is the parentage of Deucalion.

Schol. Ad Hom. Od. 2.2 hypothesis

“Deukaliôn, in whose time the deluge happened, was the son of Prometheus and his mother—according to most authors—was Klymenê. But Hesiod says that his mother was Pronoê and Akousilaos claims that it was Hesione, the daughter of Okeanos and Prometheus. He married Pyrra who was the daughter of Epimêtheus and Pandôra the one who was given by Epimetheus in exchange for fire. Deukalion had two daughters, Prôtogeneia and Melantheia, and two sons, Ampiktuôn and Hellen, whom others say was actually an offspring of Zeus, but in truth he was Deucalion’s”.

Δευκαλίων, ἐφ’ οὗ ὁ κατακλυσμὸς γέγονε, Προμηθέως μὲν ἦν υἱὸς, μητρὸς δὲ, ὡς οἱ πλεῖστοι λέγουσι, Κλυμένης, ὡς δὲ ῾Ησίοδος Προνοής, ὡς δὲ ᾿Ακουσίλαος ῾Ησιόνης τῆς ᾿Ωκεανοῦ καὶ Προμηθέως. ἔγημε δὲ Πύρραν τὴν ᾿Επιμηθέως καὶ Πανδώρας τῆς ἀντὶ τοῦ πυρὸς δοθείσης τῷ ᾿Επιμηθεῖ εἰς γυναῖκα. γίνονται δὲ τῷ Δευκαλίωνι θυγατέρες μὲν δύο Πρωτογένεια καὶ Μελάνθεια, υἱοὶ δὲ ᾿Αμφικτύων καὶ ῞Ελλην. οἱ δὲ λέγουσιν ὅτι ῞Ελλην γόνῳ μὲν ἦν Διὸς, λόγῳ δὲ Δευκαλίωνος. ἐξ οὗ ῞Ελληνος Αἴολος πατὴρ Κρηθέως.

This story is a bit strange but repeats the typical connection between man and Prometheus. Here, however, mortal man is descended from Prometheus via Deucalion. He married his cousin, which was not all that uncommon, and the rest of the story proceeds somewhat as is typical (leading to the birth of Hellen, the origin of the ethnonym Hellenes).

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