Call Me By Your Name: Athena and Pallas, Apollodorus 3.12.3

Call Me By Your Name: The Origin of Pallas Athena

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 3.12.3

They say that when Minerva was born, she was raised by Triton, [1] who had a daughter named Pallas. Both women eagerly trained in battle, and at one time, competed with one another in a sparring match. When Pallas almost wounded Minerva, Jupiter freaked out and revealed the Aegis [2].  Pallas looked upon it, terrified, and fell by Minerva’s attack. Minerva became very upset about her death. She built a statue [3] that looked like her, and dressed it with the Aegis breastplate that had caused her so much fear. She placed it in Jupiter’s presence and revered it.

---

[1]  Triton is a water god associated with Lake Triton in Libya [northern coast of Africa; et Pallas, Libycis Tritonidos edita lymphis, Silvius, Punica II.296].

[2] The Aegis is a breastplate that depicts a gorgon head.

[3] A xoanon is an archaic, roughly carved statue of a divinity.

ἱστορία δὲ ἡ περὶ τοῦ παλλαδίου τοιάδε φέρεται: φασὶ γεννηθεῖσαν τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν παρὰ Τρίτωνι τρέφεσθαι, ᾧ θυγάτηρ ἦν Παλλάς: ἀμφοτέρας δὲ ἀσκούσας τὰ κατὰ πόλεμον εἰς φιλονεικίαν ποτὲ προελθεῖν. μελλούσης δὲ πλήττειν τῆς Παλλάδος τὸν Δία φοβηθέντα τὴν αἰγίδα προτεῖναι, τὴν δὲ εὐλαβηθεῖσαν ἀναβλέψαι, καὶ οὕτως ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τρωθεῖσαν πεσεῖν. Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ περίλυπον ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ γενομένην, ξόανον ἐκείνης ὅμοιον κατασκευάσαι, καὶ περιθεῖναι τοῖς στέρνοις ἣν ἔδεισεν αἰγίδα, καὶ τιμᾶν ἱδρυσαμένην παρὰ τῷ Διί.

Huiusmodi de Palladio narratur historia. Aiunt natam Minervam, apud Tritonem, cui filia Pallas erat, educari coepisse: utrasque autem fuisse rei bellicae studiosas, et in contentionem aliquando devensisse: Palladi iamiam vulnus illatum (Minervae) Jovem pavefactum Aegidem opposuisse: Palladem vero territam respexisse: atque ita a Minerva vulneratam concidisse. At Minervam eius de causa summo dolore affectam simulacrum illi simil confecisse, ac thoraci, pectorique eius, quam pertimuerat Aegidem, accommodasse, et apud Jovem honoris ergo constituisse.  Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.

Caeneus: A Trans Warrior Battling Centaurs, Apollodorus Epitome xxii

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library Epitome 22

Caeneus was originally a woman, but after being attacked by Poseidon, asked to become an invulnerable man. Therefore, when he was battling the centaurs, he slew many of them without receiving any injury himself, until finally the remaining centaurs surrounded him and drove him into the earth with fir trees. 

Caeneus, virgo ab Neptuno compressa, petiit ut vir fieret, et atrotus*; et sic evenit. Qui cum pugnaret contra centauros, multos se incolumi interfecit; tandem reliqui centaurorum eum circumstantes abietibus in terram compresserunt et suffocaverunt.

ὅτι Καινεὺς πρότερον ἦν γυνή, συνελθόντος δὲ αὐτῇ Ποσειδῶνος ᾐτήσατο ἀνὴρ γενέσθαι ἄτρωτος: διὸ καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κενταύρους μάχῃ τραυμάτων καταφρονῶν πολλοὺς τῶν Κενταύρων ἀπώλεσεν, οἱ δὲ λοιποί, περιστάντες αὐτῷ, ἐλάταις τύπτοντες ἔχωσαν εἰς γῆν.

atrotus, a, um (ἄτρωτος ): unwounded, invulnerable 

--Apollodorus, Epitome I.22; Translated into Latin by K. Masters

  Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.

Challenging Gender Roles: the Mythical Amazons, Apollodorus Bibl.2.5.9

Overturning Gender Roles: The Amazons

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 2.5.9

Often, authors will use depictions of other nations as a mirror for their own society. The Amazons were used as a foil for Greek [and later, Roman] gender roles for wives and mothers.

The Amazons excelled in waging war, and  trained in all of the “manly” arts. And if they conceived a child from their dalliances with men, they only raised their female offspring. They would remove their right breast so that it wouldn't interfere with their spear throwing ability, but their left breast remained intact, so they could still be able to nurse their children.

ἔθνος μέγα τὰ κατὰ πόλεμον: ἤσκουν γὰρ ἀνδρίαν, καὶ εἴ ποτε μιγεῖσαι γεννήσειαν, τὰ θήλεα ἔτρεφον, καὶ τοὺς μὲν δεξιοὺς μαστοὺς ἐξέθλιβον, ἵνα μὴ κωλύωνται ἀκοντίζειν, τοὺς δὲ ἀριστεροὺς εἴων, ἵνα τρέφοιεν.

Haec gens erat bello gerendo praestantissima, quippe quae viriliter fortitudinem exercebant: ac si quando viris admistae peperissent, partus femineos educabant. Dextras ad haec mammas, ne iaculis emittendis impedimento forent, exterebant; laevas autem alendi filiorum gratia succrescere patiebantur. Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.

From Man to Woman and Back Again: Tiresias, Apollodorus, Bibl.3.6.7

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 3.6.7

According to Hesiod, Tiresias caught sight of two mating snakes near Mt. Cyllene, and when they struck the pair with his walking stick, they transformed from a man to a woman. When they observed those same two snakes mating again a little later, they returned to his original manly form.

Hesiodus autem enarravit, conspicatum aliquando Tiresiam non procul a Cyllene coeuntes angues baculo cecidisse, eumque de viro in mulierem mutatum fuisse, et rursus ita coeuntes eosdem serpentes observasse, et in priorem viri formam rediisse.

Ἡσίοδος δέ φησιν ὅτι θεασάμενος περὶ Κυλλήνην ὄφεις συνουσιάζοντας καὶ τούτους τρώσας ἐγένετο ἐξ ἀνδρὸς γυνή, πάλιν δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ὄφεις παρατηρήσας συνουσιάζοντας ἐγένετο ἀνήρ

Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale (1675)

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.

Ace and Proud: The Heavenly Example of Artemis, Apollodorus Lib.1.4

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 1.4

One of the daughters of Coeus, Asteria, transformed herself into a quail and jumped into the sea in order to escape Jupiter’s assault, and so they named the city Asteria after her for it. Later the city was renamed Delos. When Jupiter raped Latona and Juno pursued her in vengeance, this is where Latona ended up giving birth to Artemis [Diana]. Artemis [Diana] then acted as a midwife to help her mother give birth to her twin brother Apollo. Because Artemis [Diana] loved hunting, she remained a virgin; but Apollo, learning the art of divination from Pan, and went to Delphi, where Themis was giving prophecies.




τῶν δὲ Κοίου θυγατέρων Ἀστερία μὲν ὁμοιωθεῖσα ὄρτυγι ἑαυτὴν εἰς θάλασσαν ἔρριψε, φεύγουσα τὴν πρὸς Δία συνουσίαν: καὶ πόλις ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης Ἀστερία πρότερον κληθεῖσα, ὕστερον δὲ Δῆλος. Λητὼ δὲ συνελθοῦσα Διὶ κατὰ τὴν γῆν ἅπασαν ὑφ᾽ Ἥρας ἠλαύνετο, μέχρις εἰς Δῆλον ἐλθοῦσα γεννᾷ πρώτην Ἄρτεμιν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς μαιωθεῖσα ὕστερον Ἀπόλλωνα ἐγέννησεν.


Ἄρτεμις μὲν οὖν τὰ περὶ θήραν ἀσκήσασα παρθένος ἔμεινεν, Ἀπόλλων δὲ τὴν μαντικὴν μαθὼν παρὰ Πανὸς τοῦ Διὸς καὶ Ὕβρεως ἧκεν εἰς Δελφούς, χρησμῳδούσης τότε Θέμιδος:

Ceterum de Coei filiabus Asteria fugiens Iovis complexum in coturnicem mutata seipsam demisit in mare, quae ab ea urbs Asteria appellata fuit, quae postea Delos nomen accepit. Siquidem Latonam ab Iove compressam per universum terrarum orbem Juno insectata est, donec Delum pervenit, atque ibi Dianam prius peperit: qua obstetrice adiuta mater Apollinem deinceps edidit. Enimvero Diana venationis studio delectata, virgo permansit: Apollo autem divinandi facultatem edoctus a Pane Iovis & Contumeliae filio, Delphos, quo tempore Themis illic oracula dabat, se contulit.
Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale (1675)

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.

The Motherless Birth of Pallas Athena: Apollodorus, Bibl.1.3.6

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 1.3.6

Thetis tried to escape Jupiter's seduction by changing forms, but was unsuccessful. When she became pregnant, Jupiter swallowed her whole, fearing a prophecy that claimed that after she birthed a daughter, she would bear a son who would rule the universe.
When the time had come for the child's delivery, Prometheus (or Vulcan, as others say), struck Jupiter's head with an ax, and Pallas Athena sprang forth from the wound fully armed.
 

μίγνυται δὲ Ζεὺς Μήτιδι, μεταβαλλούσῃ εἰς πολλὰς ἰδέας ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ συνελθεῖν, καὶ αὐτὴν γενομένην ἔγκυον καταπίνει φθάσας, ἐπείπερ ἔλεγε Γῆ γεννήσειν παῖδα μετὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννᾶσθαι κόρην, ὃς οὐρανοῦ δυνάστης γενήσεται. τοῦτο φοβηθεὶς κατέπιεν αὐτήν: ὡς δ᾽ ὁ τῆς γεννήσεως ἐνέστη χρόνος, πλήξαντος αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν πελέκει Προμηθέως ἢ καθάπερ ἄλλοι λέγουσιν Ἡφαίστου, ἐκ κορυφῆς, ἐπὶ ποταμοῦ Τρίτωνος, Ἀθηνᾶ σὺν ὅπλοις ἀνέθορεν.
Jupiter ad haec Thetidi, varias alternanti formas quo illius vitaret amplexus, immiscetur. Quam, cum gravidam esse persensisset, absorbere occupat, quoniam post natam ex ea puellam, filium se parituram dicebat, qui caeli dominatione potiturus esset. Id futurum veritus eam absorbuit. Ubi vero pariendi tempus advenit, Prometheus, sive, ut alii tradunt, Volcanus eius caput securi percussit, deque illius vertice secus Tritonem amnem armata Pallas exilivit.

Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale (1675)

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.