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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §4.60.1-4.60.5

Lineage of the Cretan Kings and Death of Androgeus

Passage 296 of 406 · Greek

Summary

As background to Theseus' slaying of the Minotaur, the narrative traces the lineage of the Cretan kings down to Minos the Second, and describes how his son Androgeus was assassinated in Attica by the plot of Aegeus.

§4.60.1λείπεται δʼ ἡμῖν εἰπεῖν περὶ Μινωταύρου τοῦ ἀναιρεθέντος ὑπὸ Θησέως, ἵνα συντελέσωμεν τὰς τοῦ Θησέως πράξεις.
Now there remains for us to speak of the Minotaur which was slain by Theseus, in order that we may bring the deeds of Theseus to a completion.
ἀναγκαῖον δʼ ἐστὶ προσαναδραμόντας τοῖς χρόνοις τὰ συμπεπλεγμένα τούτοις διελθεῖν, ἵνα σαφὴς ἡ σύμπασα γένηται διήγησις.
But it is necessary to run back in time and go through the matters connected with these things, so that the entire narrative may become clear.
§4.60.2Τέκταμος ὁ Δώρου τοῦ Ἕλληνος τοῦ Δευκαλίωνος εἰς Κρήτην πλεύσας μετὰ Αἰολέων καὶ Πελασγῶν ἐβασίλευσε τῆς νήσου, γήμας δὲ τὴν Κρηθέως θυγατέρα ἐγέννησεν Ἀστέριον.
Tectamus, the son of Dorus, who was the son of Hellen, the son of Deucalion, having sailed to Crete with Aeolians and Pelasgians, became king of the island, and marrying the daughter of Cretheus, he begot Asterius.
οὗ βασιλεύοντος ἐν Κρήτῃ Ζεύς, ὥς φασιν, Εὐρώπην ἁρπάσας ἐκ Φοινίκης καὶ διακομίσας εἰς Κρήτην ἐπὶ ταύρου, μιγεὶς τρεῖς υἱοὺς ἐγέννησε, Μίνω καὶ Ῥαδάμανθυν καὶ Σαρπηδόνα.
While Asterius was ruling in Crete, Zeus, as they say, having carried off Europa from Phoenicia and conveyed her to Crete upon a bull, united with her and begot three sons, Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon.
§4.60.3μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὴν Εὐρώπην Ἀστέριος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς Κρήτης ἔγημεν· ἄπαις δʼ ὢν τοὺς τοῦ Διὸς παῖδας υἱοποιησάμενος διαδόχους τῆς βασιλείας ἀπέλιπε.
After this, Asterius, the king of Crete, married Europa; and since he was childless, he adopted the sons of Zeus and left them as successors to the kingdom.
τούτων δὲ Ῥαδάμανθυς μὲν τοῖς Κρησὶν ἐνομοθέτησε, Μίνως δὲ διαδεξάμενος τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ γήμας Ἰτώνην τὴν Λυκτίου Λύκαστον ἐγέννησεν, ὃς διαδεξάμενος τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ γήμας Ἴδην τὴν Κορύβαντος ἐγέννησε Μίνωα τὸν δεύτερον, ὅν τινες Διὸς υἱὸν ἀναγράφουσιν.
Of these, Rhadamanthys gave laws to the Cretans, while Minos, succeeding to the kingship and marrying Itone, the daughter of Lyctius, begot Lycastus. The latter, succeeding to the rule and marrying Ida, the daughter of Corybas, begot Minos the Second, whom some writers record as the son of Zeus.
οὗτος πρῶτος Ἑλλήνων ναυτικὴν δύναμιν ἀξιόλογον συστησάμενος ἐθαλαττοκράτησε.
This Minos was the first of the Greeks to assemble a notable naval force and establish a thalassocracy.
§4.60.4γήμας δὲ Πασιφάην τὴν Ἡλίου καὶ Κρήτης ἐγέννησε Δευκαλίωνα καὶ Κατρέα καὶ Ἀνδρόγεων καὶ Ἀριάδνην, καὶ ἕτερα τέκνα ἔσχε πλείονα νόθα.
Marrying Pasiphaë, the daughter of Helios and Crete, he begot Deucalion, Catreus, Androgeus, and Ariadne, and had several other, illegitimate, children.
τῶν δὲ Μίνωος υἱῶν Ἀνδρόγεως μὲν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας κατήντησε Παναθηναίων συντελουμένων, Αἰγέως βασιλεύοντος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀγῶσι νικήσας τοὺς ἀθλητὰς ἅπαντας συνήθης ἐγένετο τοῖς Πάλλαντος παισίν.
Of the sons of Minos, Androgeus arrived in Athens while the Panathenaic festival was being celebrated, during the reign of Aegeus, and having defeated all the athletes in the contests, he became an intimate friend of the sons of Pallas.
§4.60.5ἐνταῦθʼ ὁ μὲν Αἰγεὺς ὑποπτεύσας τὴν Ἀνδρόγεω φιλίαν, μήποθʼ ὁ Μίνως βοηθήσας τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ Πάλλαντος ἀφέληται τὴν ἀρχήν, ἐπεβούλευσε τῷ Ἀνδρόγεῳ.
Thereupon Aegeus, suspicious of the friendship of Androgeus, fearing lest Minos, by lending aid to the sons of Pallas, should strip him of his rule, plotted against Androgeus.
βαδίζοντος οὖν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς Θήβας ἐπί τινα θεωρίαν, ἐδολοφόνησεν αὐτὸν διά τινων ἐγχωρίων περὶ Οἰνόην τῆς Ἀττικῆς.
Accordingly, when the latter was journeying to Thebes for a certain festival, Aegeus treacherously murdered him by means of some of the natives near Oenoe in Attica.

Notes

  1. p.v.1.p.492προσαναδραμόντας — The accusative participle προσαναδραμόντας agrees with the omitted subject in the accusative (ἡμᾶς) of the infinitive διελθεῖν, which is introduced by the impersonal construction ἀναγκαῖον ἐστὶ. This represents a transition from the preceding dative ἡμῖν to the regular accusative-and-infinitive construction.
  2. 4.60.2οὗ βασιλεύοντος — A genitive absolute construction where the relative pronoun οὗ (referring back to Asterius) serves as the grammatical subject. The use of a relative pronoun in a genitive absolute functions to connect the preceding clause smoothly to the new sentence.
  3. p.v.1.p.493μήποθʼ ὁ Μίνως βοηθήσας ... ἀφέληται τὴν ἀρχήν — A clause of fearing introduced by the participle of suspicion ὑποπτεύσας. It uses the conjunction μήποτε ('lest at some time' / 'fearing lest') and takes the aorist subjunctive ἀφέληται to express a future apprehension.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §4.60.1-4.60.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:4.60.1-4.60.5

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