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Broteas: the son of Tantalos; see also Ovid Ibis. 517 ff. and P. 3. 22.4.
a winged chariot: since Pindar talks of a golden chariot drawn by horses with unwearying wings (ol. 1. 87), and Pelops’ horses were portrayed with wings on the sixth-century chest of Cypselos (P. 5. 17. 7), the ‘winged chariot’ of the Epitome may be misleading. In Pindar’s account, this gift from Poseidon is sufficient to ensure victory for Pelops (and probably elsewhere in the earlier tradition; Pherecydes, in the fifth century, is the earliest author known to have referred to Myrtilos in this co
Pisa: in Elis, the north-western province of the Pelopo
failed to insert the axle-pins: or according to Pherecydes (ibid.) he inserted axle-pins made of wax.
the Myrtoan Sea: lying to the east of the Pelopo
curses at the house of Pelops: amply fulfilled; it was said by some that this caused Hermes, the father of Myrtilos, to send the golden lamb that causes such trouble below (Eur. Orest. 989 ff. with sc. to 990; but below it is sent by Artemis as a sign to confirm Atreus’ kingship).
Apia or Pelasgiotis: for Apia as a previous name of the Pelopo
placed it in a chest: i.e. its fleece.
the Mycenaeans . . . had sent for Atreus and Thyestes: they are already outside their father’s kingdom of Pisa in Elis because they were summoned by Sthenelos, the father of Eurystheus, to Midea in Argos when he banished Amphitryon, p. 69. In the meantime, Sthenelos has died and Eurystheus has been killed by Hyllos, p. 92, but the Perseid heirs, the Heraclids, have been told by the oracle that they are not to return to the Pelopo
the adultery: between his wife Aerope and Thyestes.
intercourse with his own daughter: her name was Pelopia. In one version of this story, she submitted to the incest out of duty (e.g. Hyg. 254), in another, Thyestes raped her unknowingly at Sicyon during nocturnal rites (Hyg. 88). Here we can assume the former; Thyestes is acting in direct obedience to the oracle.
sought refuge: i.e. from Agamemnon and Menelaos, when they came of age.
But Agamemnon . . . marrying his daughters: the gap in the text is filled by an extract from Tzetzes, Chiliades1. 456–62, which is based on Ap. It explains how Agamemnon and Menelaos escaped to safety after the murder of Atreus. Although they were described above, p. 99, as sons of Pleisthenes (and thus grandsons of Atreus), they are surely sons of Atreus here. Tyndareus fled to Aetolia after he was expelled from Sparta by Hippocoon and his sons, see p. 120 and note. After Heracles had killed them, Tyndareus was able to return (see p. 88), bringing Agamemnon and Menelaos with him. Later Agamemnon expelled Thyestes and became king in Mycenae, and Menelaos became king in Sparta after the death of the Dioscuri deprived Tyndareus of his heirs, p. 122.
Alexander abducted Helen: we now pass to the events leading up to the Trojan War. Ap.’s main source henceforth will be the poems in the epic cycle that gave an account of the events not covered by Homer; but he also introduces material from later sources. For all the following, compare the summaries of these epic poems by Proclus (English translations of these can be found, with other relevant material, in Hesiod and the Homeric Hymnsin the Loeb series). Events prior to the Iliadwere covered in a single epic, the Cypria.
demigods: a term sometimes applied to the heroes of the Trojan War and earlier adventures (see Hes. WD159 ff., cf. Il. 12. 23); it need not imply divine parentage.
For one of these reasons: Homer remarks enigmatically in Il. 1. 5 that the war fulfilled the will of Zeus, but offers no explanation. Elsewhere two main reasons are adduced (which need not be exclusive), one, as here, that it was to be a source of glory for those involved, and another that Zeus wanted to lighten the burden on the Earth, which was weighed down by an excessive number of mortals (thus the Cypriaas quoted in sc. Il. 1. 5; some included the Theban War as part of the plan, sc. Eur. Orest. 1641).
Eris threw an apple: Eris, discord personified, now sets in motion the chain of events that will lead to the Trojan War. This takes place at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (Procl.; for the marriage see p. 129). The apple is first mentioned in late sources (e.g. Hyg. 92) but the theme could well be early; it is inscribed ‘to the fairest’, or Eris says that the fairest should take it. On Eris, see also Il. 4. 440 ff. The judgement of Paris is mentioned by Homer, Il. 24. 25 ff.
with ships built by Phereclos: on Phereclos, see Il. 5. 59 ff. The fleet was suggested by Aphrodite, and she told Aeneas to sail with Paris (Procl).
the funeral of his maternal grandfather Catreus: after he had been killed by his son Althaimenes, p. 99; Menelaos was his grandson through Aerope.
the treasures: from the palace of Menelaos; this became an issue in the war, see Il. 3. 70 ff. and 285 ff.
put in at Sidon: Homer alludes to his stay there in Il. 6. 289 ff; in the Cypria, he captured the city (Procl.).
a phantom of Helen: a theme invented by the lyric poet Stesichorus (late seventh to early sixth century). According to a later (and doubtless apocryphal) story, he was struck blind after he had spoken badly of Helen in one of his poems, and this caused him to write a recantation saying that only her phantom was present at Troy (thus absolving her from blame for the war); see Plato Phaed. 243a f., with the verses quoted there. See also Eur. Helen(31 ff. and passim)and Hdt. 2. 112 ff.