Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/312

 280 HISTORY OF GREECE. Melanippus was of all persons the most odious to him, as having slain both his son-in-law and his brother." Kleisthenes more- over diverted the festivals and sacrifices which had been offered to Adrastus, to the newly established hero Melanippus ; and the lyric tragedies from the worship of Adrastus to that of Diony- sus. But his dynasty did not long continue after his decease, and the Sikyonians then reestablished their ancient solemnities. 1 Near the Proetid gate of Thebes were seen the tombs of two combatants who had hated each other during life even more than Adrastus and Melanippus the two brothers Eteokles and Polynikes. Even as heroes and objects of worship, they still continued to manifest their inextinguishable hostility : those who offered sacrifices to them observed that the flame and the smokw from the two adjoining altars abhorred all communion, and flev off in directions exactly opposite. The Theban exegetes assured Pausanias of this fact. And though he did not himself witness it, yet having seen with his own eyes a miracle not very dissimi- lar at Pioniae in Mysia, he had no difficulty in crediting their assertion. 2 Amphiaraus when forced into the first attack of Thebes against his own foreknowledge and against the warnings of the 1 This very curious and illustrative story is contained in Herodot. v. 67. 'Eirei oe b i?edf TOVTO ov Kapedidov, drceMaJv bniau (Kleisthenes, returning from Delphi) i<pp6vn& pr]%avjjv TgavTbf 6 'Adpiytrrof U7r TO. i. 'Gf 6e ol kZevprjc&at WOKEE, TTE/z^af c 0J?/3af ruf Bcu&maf, Inayayia&ai Mehdvinnov rbv 'AaraKov ol de Qrifialoi edoaav. 'En^yayero 6e TOV MeAavcrTrov b K7iEia$evi)f, Kal yap TOVTO del uirri^aacr&ai, (if e^-&ia- TOV iovTa 'Adp^crr^ of TOV re aSi^Eov Miy/acrrea uneKTovee, Kal TOV ya//- Ppbv Tvdea. The Sikyonians (Herodotus says) TU re 6fj lM,a kTijiuv TOV 'ASptjaTov, KOI Trpdf TU iru&ea OVTOV Tpaymolai xopoiai kyepaipov TOV [lev Atovvaov ov Tipe- UVT, Tbv 61 'AdptJCTTOV. Adrastus was worshipped as a hero at Megara as well as at Sikyon : the Megarians affirmed that he had died there on his way back from Thebes (Pausan. i. 43, 1; Dieuchidas, ap. Schol. ad Pindar. Nem. ix. 31). His house at Argos was still shown when Pausanias visited the town (ii. 23, 2). 3 Pausan. ix. 18,3. Tti eV avTolc dpu/J.eva ov deaaafievoe niara bfiu{ VKEihrifya elvai. Compare Hygin. f. 68. " Et nova fraterno veniet concordia fumo, Quern vetus accensi separat ira pyra." (Ovid, Ibis, 35.* Tho tale was copied by Ovid from Kallimachus (Trist. v. 5, 38.)