Notes on the current edition
Library
1.
As to the disgorging of his offspring by Cronus, see
Hes. Th. 493ff.
, who, however, says nothing about the agency of Metis in administering an emetic, but attributes the stratagem to Earth (Gaia).
2.
As to the war of Zeus on the Titans, see
Hes. Th. 617ff.
;
Hor. Carm. 3.4.42ff.
;
Hyginus, Fab. 118
.
3.
The most ancient oracle at
Delphi was said to be that of Earth; in her office of prophetess the goddess was there succeeded by Themis, who was afterwards displaced by Apollo. See
Aesch. Eum. 1ff.
;
Paus. 10.5.5ff.
It is said that of old there was an oracle of Earth at
Olympia, but it no longer existed in the second century of our era. See
Paus. 5.14.10
. At
Aegira in
Achaia the oracles of Earth were delivered in a subterranean cave by a priestess, who had previously drunk bull's blood as a means of inspiration. See
Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxviii.147
; compare
Paus. 7.25.13
. In the later days of antiquity the oracle of Earth at
Delphi was explained by some philosophers on rationalistic principles: they supposed that the priestess was thrown into the prophetic trance by natural exhalations from the ground, and they explained the decadence of the oracle in their own time by the gradual cessation of the exhalations. The theory is scouted by Cicero. See
Plut. De defectu oraculorum 40ff.
;
Cicero, De divinatione i.19.38, i.36.79, ii.57.117
. A similar theory is still held by wizards in
Loango, on the west coast of
Africa; hence in order to receive the inspiration they descend into an artificial pit or natural hollow and remain there for some time, absorbing the blessed influence, just as the Greek priestesses for a similar purpose descended into the oracular caverns at
Aegira and
Delphi. See
Die Loango Expedition, iii.2, von Dr. E. Pechuel Loesche (Stuttgart, 1907), p. 441
. As to the oracular cavern at
Delphi and the inspiring exhalations which were supposed to emanate from it, see
Diod. 16.26
;
Strabo 9.3.5
;
Paus. 10.5.7
;
Justin xxiv.6.6-9
. That the Pythian priestess descended into the cavern to give the oracles appears from an expression of
Plutarch (De defectu oraculorum, 51
,
κατέβη μὲν εἰς τὸ μαντεῖον). As to the oracles of Earth in antiquity, see
A. Bouche-Leclercq,
Histoire de la Divination dans l'Antiquité, ii.251ff.
;
L. R. Farnell,
The Cults of the Greek States, iii.8ff.
4.
Compare
Hes. Th. 501-506ff.
5.
Compare
Hes. Th. 717ff.
6.
Compare
Hom. Il. 15.187ff.
;
Plat. Gorg. 523a
.
7.
Compare
Hes. Th. 346-366
, who mentions all the Oceanids named by Apollodorus except Amphitrite, who was a Nereid. See
Apollod. 1.2.7
;
Hes. Th. 243
.
8.
As to the offspring of Coeus and Phoebe, see
Hes. Th. 404ff.
9.
As to the offspring of Hyperion and Thia, see
Hes. Th. 371ff.
10.
As to the offspring of Crius and Eurybia, see
Hes. Th. 375ff.
11.
As to the offspring of Iapetus and Asia, see
Hes. Th. 507-520ff.
12.
It is said that Cronus assumed the shape of a horse when he consorted with Philyra, and that, we are told, was why Chiron was born a centaur, half-man, half-horse. See
Scholiast on Ap. Rhod., Argon. i.554
.
13.
As to the offspring of Dawn and Astraeus, see
Hes. Th. 378ff.
14.
As to this parentage of Hecate, see
Hes. Th. 409ff.
But the ancients were not agreed on the subject. See the
Scholiast on Ap. Rhod., Argon. iii.467
. He tells us that according to the Orphic hymns, Hecate was a daughter of Deo; according to Bacchylides, a daughter of Night; according to Musaeus, a daughter of Zeus and Asteria; and according to Pherecydes, a daughter of Aristaeus.
15.
For this brood of abstractions, the offspring of Styx and Pallas, see
Hes. Th. 383ff.
;
Hyginus, Fab. p. 30, ed. Bunte
.
16.
Compare
Hes. Th. 389-403ff.
As to the oath by the water of Styx, see further
Hes. Th. 775ff.
; compare
Hom. Il. 15.37ff.
,
Hom. Od. 5.186
;
HH Apoll. 86ff.
17.
As to the offspring of Sea ( Pontus, conceived as masculine) and Earth (conceived as feminine), see
Hes. Th. 233ff.
;
Hyginus, Fab. p. 28, ed. Bunte
.
18.
As to the offspring of Thaumas and Electra, see
Hes. Th. 265ff.
19.
As to the parentage of the Phorcides and Gorgons, see
Hes. Th. 270ff.
;
Hyginus, Fab. p. 29, ed. Bunte
. As to the monsters themselves, see
Apollod. 2.4.2ff.
20.
For lists of Nereids, see
Hom. Il. 18.38-49
;
Hes. Th. 240-264ff.
;
HH Dem. 417-423
;
Verg. G. 4.334-344
;
Hyginus, Fab. pp. 28ff., ed. Bunte
.