had been informed by an oracle: although one might infer from the present narrative that Alcmaion is inventing this, he is said to have received such an oracle (Athenaeus 232d ff. tells how it supposedly ran).
founded Acarnania: to the west of Aetolia facing the Ionian Sea; see also P. 8. 24. 9.
Euripides: in his lost tragedy Alcmaion in Corinth.
founded Amphilochian Argos: Thucydides’ report (2. 68) that it was founded by his uncle Amphilochos, son of Amphiaraos, on his return from Troy reflects the older tradition; the present Amphilochos was apparently invented by Euripides, and his late entry into the family causes nothing but confusion, cf. p. 162 and note.
as me observed above: see p. 58 and note. Pelasgos, the Arcadian ‘first man’, becomes the father of Lycaon, the founder of the common cult of the Arcadian communities, that of Zeus Lycaios on Mount Lycaion.
fifty sons: for the most part eponymous founders of Arcadian towns. See also P. 8. 3. The list is one name short.
a child. . . into the sacrifices: according to a similar account by Nicolaus of Damascus, first century BC (see Frazer i. 390 n. 1 for a translation), the pious Lycaon warned his subjects that Zeus made constant visits to inspect their behaviour; and one day, when he offered a sacrifice saying that the god was about to visit, some of his sons performed the present action to check whether the god really did come (for if he did, he would surely recognize what they had done). There is a conflicting version of this story in which Lycaon himself (angered by Zeus’ seduction of Callisto, see below) served his grandson Areas to Zeus, who reacted by overturning the table and transforming Lycaon into a wolf (see under Hes. Cat. fr. 163, and Hyg. PA4). See also P. 8. 2. 1 ff. for the local tradition, and Ovid’s portrait of a wicked Lycaon in Met. 1. 196 ff.
Trapezous: from trapeza, a table; but the town is also said to have been named after one of Lycaon’s sons (P. 8. 3. 3).
Hesiod. . . one of the nymphs: according to Catast. 1, Hesiod called her a daughter of Lycaon; but Ap. may be reporting the Catalogue, and Catast. the Hesiodic Astronomy.
Hera persuaded Artemis. . . to shoot her: after discovering what had happened, and leaving Artemis ignorant of the bear’s identity; in a somewhat different version, Callisto sleeps willingly with Zeus and Hera herself transforms her (P. 8. 3. 6 f.; attested for Callimachus in sc. Il. 18. 487). But in the story attributed to Hesiod in Catast. 1, it is Artemis who transforms her, angered to see that her companion is pregnant when she is taking a bath. See also Ov. Met. 2. 409 ff.
naming him Areas: in Greek there is a similarity in sound between arktos, a bear (his mother’s present form), and Areas. He gave his name to Arcadia (cf. P. 8. 4. 1, formerly named Pelasgia).
Areas had two sons: for a fuller account of the sons of Areas and their descendants, see P. 8. 4. 2 ff.
Auge mas raped by Heracles: see also p. 88 and note.
lasos and Clymene . . . had a daughter, Atalante: this genealogy (cf. Theognis 1287 ff., where her father is called Iasion, and Hyg. 99) connects Atalante with Arcadia; but in the main alternative cited below (that she is a daughter of Schoineus, as in Hes. Cat. fr. 72), she is connected with Boeotia. Some details in the stories associated with her vary according to the tradition (for instance, the husband of the Boeotian Atalante is not Melanion, who is clearly an Arcadian, cf. P. 3. 12. 9, but Hippomenes, son of Megareus, a Boeotian), but the stories themselves are substantially the same, and there is no reason to assume that there were two separate Atalantes, one Arcadian and one Boeotian.
the hunt for the Calydonian boar: where her presence as the only woman had important repercussions, see p. 41.
games held in honour of Pelias: for the death of Pelias, see p. 57; the games were held by his son Acastos (see p. 127, which also explains Peleus’ presence there; and cf. Hyg. 273).
golden apples: from the Hesperides, see p. 81 and note (e.g. VM 1. 39), or according to Ovid (Met. 10. 644 ff.) from the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Tamasos in Cyprus.
the Pleiades: familiar as the cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. According to the usual story, Orion pursued them (and their mother) through Boeotia, and the gods, or Zeus, taking pity on them, transferred them to the heavens (Hyg. PA21; the story was known to Pindar, see Nem. 2. 10 ff).
gave birth to Hermes: most of the following derives from the fuller account in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, q.v. (but the present narrative differs on certain details).
Cyllene. . . Pieria: Hermes’ birthplace was in Arcadia; Pieria lay north of Mount Olympos in Thessaly.
pebbles: thriai, or divining pebbles, which were used none the less in a subordinate role at Apollo’s oracle at Delphi. It is not known exactly how they were employed.
herald to the gods of the Underworld: he conducted the souls of the dead between this world and Hades (cf. Od. 24. 1 ff. and p. 152).
Lelex: the local ‘first man’, and eponym of the Leleges, the aboriginal inhabitants; comparable to Pelasgos and the Pelasgians in Arcadia, p. 58 and notes. His son Eurotas represents the main Laced-aimonian river, and his granddaughter Sparta the main Laced-aimonian town. See also P. 3. 1. 1 ff.
Hyacinthos: see p. 30 and note.
Aphareus: a Messenian king, see also P. 4. 2. 4 ff.
but rather of Coronis: as in Hes. Cat. fr. 60. This Thessalian descent is consistent with the tradition that Asclepios was reared by Cheiron (on Mount Pelion in Thessaly). We know Apollo’s own view on this matter because an Arcadian asked the Delphic oracle, and it declared in favour of Coronis (P. 2. 26. 6). For the story of Asclepios’ birth to Coronis, see also Pind. Pyth. 3. 8 ff. (where there is as yet no mention of the crow).
on the left side: as always, the side of ill omen.