Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/171

 ELEIAN GENEALOGY. 139 booty. 1 Augeas was rich in all sorts of rural wealth, and pos- sessed herds of cattle so numerous, that the dung of the animals accumulated in the stable or cattle enclosures beyond all power of endurance. Eurystheus, as an insult to Herakles, imposed upon him the obligation of cleansing this stable : the hero, dis- daining to carry off the dung upon his shoulders, turned the course of the river Alpheios through the building, and thus swept the encumbrance away. 2 But Augeas, in spite of so signal a ser- vice, refused to Herakles the promised reward, though his son Phyleus protested against such treachery, and when he found that he could not induce his father to keep faith, retired in sorrow and wrath to the island of Dulichion. 3 To avenge the deceit practised upon him, Herakles invaded Elis; but Augeas had powerful auxiliaries, especially his nephews, the two Molionids (sons of Poseidon by Molione, the wife of Aktor), Eurytos and Kteatos. These two miraculous brothers, of transcendent force, grew together, having one body, but two heads and four arms. 4 1 Iliad, xi. 670-760 ; Pherckyd. Fragm. 57, Didot. 8 Diodor. iv. 13. *T/3pewf SVEKC.V Efyw<n9ei)f irpoffera^e Ka&dpai 6 6s 'Hpa- Khfft rb fiEv roZf &/i.oif E^EveyKelv avrqv uTredoKifiacnv, EKK^.'IVUV TT/V in rqf v(3pU alaxvvqv, etc. (Pausan. v. 1. 7 ; Apollodor. ii. 5, 5). It may not be improper to remark that this fable indicates a purely pasto ral condition, or at least a singularly rude state of agriculture ; and the way in which Pausanias recounts it goes even beyond the genuine story : wf Kal ra TTOA/lti r^f xupaf avrti fidr/ diaTehslv apya ovra vrrb TUV POOKJJ/MUTUV Trjf Kowpov. The slaves of Odysseus however know what use to make of the dung heaped before his outer fence (Odyss. xvii. 299); not so the purely carnivorous and pastoral Cyclops (Odyss. ix. 329). The stabling into which the cattle go from their pasture, is called Koirpog in Homer, 'Ehdovaac; ef KOTtpov, ETTI/V /3oTav7J KopeauvTdi (Odyss. x. 411) : compare Iliad, xviii. 575 Mn/c^iSfy/oi 6' and Korrpov ETrsaaevovTO Ttedoi'tis. The Augeas of Theocritus has abundance of wheat-land and vineyard, as well as cattle : he ploughs his land three or four times, and digs his vine- yard diligently (xx. 20-32). 3 The wrath and retirement of Phyleus is mentioned in the Iliad (ii. 633), but not the cause of it. 4 These singular properties were ascribed to them both in the Hesiodic poems and by Pherekydes (Schol. Ven. ad II. xi. 715-750, et ad II. xxiii. 838 ), but not in the Iliad. The poet Ibykus (Fragm. 1 1, Schneid. ap. Athena. li. 57) calls them a/lt/caf iaoKetyuAovf, eviyviovf, 'A/z0orepoi>f yeyaairaf ev Lieu apyvpsu. There were temples and divine honors to Zens Molion (Lactantius. de Falsa Kcligionc. i. 221