“I was consecrated in the shadow of the
divine ambrosial resting place of Melia to carry forward with the arts of my
heart, to the sound of my aulos, a noble concert, to advance your glory. I pray
to you, farshooter Apollo, in the sanctuary you erected with the arts of the
Muses, where Melia, the maiden daughter of Ocean, after sleeping with you,
Pythian Apollo, gave birth to strong Teneros, the most excellent seer.
You, long haired father, handed to him the army of Kadmos and the city of
Zethοs, with manliness for its spiritual salvation. The god of the sea, wielder
of the trident, honored him above all mortals, and he stretched out to the
region of Euripos.” (Pindar
Paean 9”)
So why did Poseidon
honor Apollo’s prophet at three-peaked Mount Ptous in Boeotia (Strabo 34 )
more than any other mortal ? What does that have to do with Poseidon rushing to
the Euripus (Strait)? The strait could be “neighboring” since it separates
Boeotia from the island of Euboea. Plus the nearby plain is named for Tenerus
and there is a Precinct to Poseidon beyond that. (33)
I will have to think
some more on this but what worries me first is that Poseidon honors Tenerus “more
that any other mortal”. Bad things
happen when you are “honored” by the gods; the abduction of Gaymede, (HH5 to
Aphrodite 203) the death of Kleobis and Biton (Herodotus, Histories 1. 31), the
transformation of Lykaon (Pausanias 8. 2. 1-6) etc etc. However the story ends, it probably won’t be
good for Apollo and Melia’s son.
"Verily wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymedes (Ganymede) because of his beauty, to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink for the gods in the house of Zeus--a wonder to see--, honoured by all the immortals as he draws the red nectar from the golden bowl . . . deathless and unageing, even as the gods." Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite 203 ff
“so she (their mother)stood before
the image and prayed that the goddess might grant the best thing for man to her
children Kleobis and Biton, who had given great honor to the goddess. After
this prayer they sacrificed and feasted. The youths then lay down in the temple
and went to sleep and never rose again; death held them ther e” Herodotus, Histories 1. 31
Pausanias on the metamorphosis of Lykaon (Description of Greece 8. 2. 1 –
6) " I for
my part believe this story; it has been a legend among the Arkadians from of
old, and it has the additional merit of probability. For the men of those days,
because of their righteousness and piety, were guests of the gods, eating at
the same board; the good were openly honored by the gods, and sinners were
openly visited with their wrath . . . So one might believe that Lykaon was
turned into a beast . . .
I will have to
ponder the rest.
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