Heracles had killed Hippocoon and his sons: see pp. 87 f.

Polydeuces. . . Helen . . . Castor: that Helen was a daughter of Zeus was agreed from Homer onwards, but with regard to the Dioscuri —Polydeuces (or under his Latin name, Pollux) and Castor— there was disagreement as to whether Castor was a mortal son of Tyndareus or a son of Zeus like Polydeuces. Although Pindar agrees with the present account in Nem. 10 (see 73 ff., though not in Pyth. 4. 171 f.) and Castor was mortal in the Cypria(Clem. Al. Protr. 2. 30), there was also an early tradition that both were sons of Zeus, as the name Dioscuri implies (Hes. Cat. fr. 24, cf. HH to the Dioscuri).

and Clytemnestra: most editors favour this addition; but since Clytemnestra has been mentioned already with Timandra and Phylonoe as one of Tyndareus’ children by Leda, it cannot be assumed that Ap. must have listed her as one of the children conceived on this occasion(and Carriere remarks that she is not always included in comparable lists, e.g. VM 2. 132).

a daughter of Zeus by Nemesis: they had intercourse at Rhamnos in Attica (Catast. 25), where there was a sanctuary of Nemesis (P. 1. 33. 2); according to the local legend, Nemesis was her mother, but Leda suckled and reared her (P. 1. 33. 7). The story goes back to early epic (the Cypria, see Athenaeus 334b ff., with a quotation). Leda too is said to have laid an egg after her intercourse in bird form (it was shown to visitors in Sparta, P. 3. 16. 1).

to Aphidnai: in Attica; see also p. 143 and note.

swear an oath: if they are to be eligible. This will be important later because when Helen is abducted by Paris, all her previous suitors will be obliged to go to war to help Menelaos recover her, p. 147.

a son, Nicostratos: in Homer, Hermione is her only child (Od. 4. 12 ff., cf. Il. 3. 175). Nicostratos would have been born after the Trojan War, as his name, ‘Victorious Army’, indicates. According to P. 2. 18. 5, he was an illegitimate son of Menelaos by a slave-woman, like Megapenthes below (who is mentioned in Od. 4. 11); in any case, Menelaos was succeeded by Orestes, son of Agamemnon, which would indicate that he had no legitimate male heirs at the time of his death.

because of their valour: the name of the Dioskouroi (kourosmeans a boy, Diosis the genitive of Zeus) suggests that they are sons of Zeus, but here Castor has been described as the son of Tyndareus, so some explanation of their name is required, and it is claimed that they owed it to their personal qualities rather than their joint birth. Their part in two great adventures has already been mentioned, pp. 40 and 49; Ap. now tells of their later life, in particular the incident that leads to their death, thus explaining why they are not present at Troy, and why Menelaos, a Pelopid, is ruling in Lacedaimon at that time. Tyndareus has no other male descendants.

the daughters of Leucippos: a Messenian king (see p. 44, cf. P. 4. 2. 4). There was a tradition that Hilaeira and Phoebe were betrothed to Idas and Lynceus, the sons of his brother Aphareus, and that this abduction (rather than the following incident) was the cause of the quarrel that led to the death of the Dioscuri (e.g. Hyg. 80).

Lynceus caught sight of Castor: on the fate of the Dioscuri Ap., and Pindar in his more detailed account in Nem. 10. 55 ff, largely follow the early epic the Cypria(judging by Proclus’ summary); there Lynceus saw both brothers hiding inside a hollow oak (sc. Pind. Nem. 10. 114).

amongst mortals: strictly, amongst the dead; on their shared immortality, cf. Od. 11. 303–4. The story rests on the assumption that Castor was a son of Tyndareus, and thus of wholly mortal birth.

he wanted to violate the goddess: she is commonly said to have actually slept with him, and willingly; according to Od. 5. 125 ff. on a thrice-ploughed field, causing Zeus to strike him dead afterwards when he came to hear of it. Demeter for her part gave birth to Ploutos (Wealth, here as related to successful harvests) in Crete (Theog. 969 ff.). See also DS 5. 77. 1 f.

went to the mainland opposite: his departure from Samothrace is often associated with a great flood sent by Zeus (sometimes identified with Deucalion’s flood, p. 37), and he is said to have used inflated skins to cross the waters (e.g. Lycophron 72 ff, with scholia, and sc. Il. 20. 215).

named the country Troy: although we commonly refer to the city as Troy (as does Homer on occasion), this was strictly the name of the Trojans’ land(Troia, or Troas, the Troad). The city was Ilios or Ilion (or in its Latin form, Ilium).

Ganymede: cf. Il. 20. 232 ff., HH to Aphrodite202 ff., without as yet the eagle (general in late accounts, e.g. Verg. Aen. 5. 253) or any suggestion that he became the beloved of Zeus (first recorded in Eur. Orestes1392, cf. Plato Phdr. 255c).

aroused Aphrodite’s amorous desire: the central theme of HH to Aphrodite, cf. Il. 2. 819 ff.

found a city . . . where the cow lay down: this story, which is not in Homer, is clearly modelled on the Theban foundation myth, p. 100. Homer never expressly states that Ilos was the founder of Ilion, although he refers several times to his tomb on the plain (e.g. Il. 11. 166). In Il. 20. 231 ff., he is the son of Tros, but in the passing references in 11 (166 and 372), the son of Dardanos, which is probably the older tradition. Homer notes a movement from the mountains (for the kingdom of Dardanos lay on the slopes of Mount Ida, Il. 20. 215–18) to a more civilized and prosperous life on the rich farmland of the plains (ibid. 219 ff).

the Palladion: a talismanic image which protected the city, see p. 156.

Triton: a sea-god (p. 33, Theog. 931 f.), here as the god of the River Triton in Libya (see Hdt. 4. 179 ff.; P. 9. 33. 5 claims that Athene was reared by a small river of that name in Boeotia). The myth explains Athene’s title Tritogeneia (which is very ancient, and probably of quite different origin).

aegis: the ‘goatskin’, an attribute of Zeus depicted as a short cloak or a shield; see Il. 5. 733 ff.

Electro . . . raped: the daughter of Atlas, by Zeus (see p. 122, but it is not recorded there, or anywhere else, that she was raped byhim).