the Trojans acting as judges: in Od. 11. 542 ff., the Trojans and Athene are said to be the judges. In the Little Iliad(sc. Aristophanes. Eq. 1056) spies are sent to listen under the walls of Troy, and they hear two girls discussing the matter; when one says that Aias must have been the bravest because he carried off the body of Achilles, the other counters that Odysseus was even braver because he covered their retreat. There was also a tradition that they simply asked the Trojan prisoners (sc. Od. 11. 547).
the allies: cf. Pind. Nem. 8. 26, where the Greeks decide the matter by secret ballot.
the Achaeans: the Greeks (as in Homeric usage).
Aias killed himself: see Sophocles’ Ajax.
Calchas prophesied. . . bow of Heracles: in the Little Iliad(Procl.) this was revealed by the Trojan Helenos, see below, and it seems to have been his only prophecy; in the later tradition the prophecies multiply, and are shared between Calchas and Helenos (to whom three different prophecies are attributed below). For a fuller account of the following see QS 9. 325 ff., which follows the same pattern. For the bow of Heracles, now owned by Philoctetes, see p. 151 and note. It was needed to kill Paris.
Odysseus. . . to see Philoctetes: cf. QS 9. 333 ff. In the Little Iliad(Procl.) he was fetched by Diomedes alone.
cured by Podaleirios: as sons of Ascler’js, he and his brother, Machaon, performed valuable services as healers while serving with the Greeks (cf. Il. 2. 731 f.). In the Little Iliadhe was healed by Machaon (Procl.), here as in QS 9. 461 ff.
Helenos.. . to reveaclass="underline" a son of Priam and Hecuba, p. 125, whose qualities as a diviner are mentioned by Homer ( Il. 6. 76, cf. 7. 44 ff.).
bones of Pelops: see also P. 5. 13. 4 ff.
Neoptolemos: the son of Achilles by Deidameia, the daughter of Lycomedes (see p. 129); he is still on Scyros, the island off Euboea where he was born. For Odysseus’ journey, cf. Od. 11. 506 ff. (where there is no mention of Phoenix).
Eurypylos . . . at the hand of Neoptolemos: cf. Od. 11. 519 ff., he was killed with many others, ‘for the sake of a woman’s gifts’; for Priam had bribed his mother, Astyoche, to send him by offering her a golden vine made by Hephaistos (sc. Od. 11. 520, following Acousilaos).
Odysseus went. . . aid of Diomedes: in the Little Iliad(Procl.), these were two separate expeditions. In the first, in which Diomedes played no part, Odysseus disguised himself to enter the city as a spy, where he was recognized by Helen (compare Helen’s own account in Od. 4. 242 ff.); in the second, he stole the Palladion with the help of Diomedes.
Odysseus. . . suggested it to Epeios: in the Little Iliad, Epeios acted on Athene’s advice (Procl.; cf. Od. 8. 493). It is understandable that the idea should also have been attributed to the crafty Odysseus.
three thousand: the text is surely defective here. Stesichorus said that there were a hundred (Eustathius 1698), and later authors give lower figures. Their function was merely to open the city to the main army.
devoured the sons of Laocoon: in the Sack of Troy(Procl.) in the epic cycle, Laocoon was killed with one of his two sons; the portent signified that Troy would be destroyed along with the senior branch of the Trojan royal family, and understanding its meaning, Aeneas, who belonged to the junior branch, withdrew to Mount Ida. Although later authors disagreed on the cause and significance of the episode, it can be assumed here that the snakes are sent by Apollo as a sign of the coming destruction.
Helen. . . Odysseus covered his mouth: see Od. 4. 274 ff.
came to his rescue: because his father Antenor had offered them his hospitality and protection when they visited the city as ambassadors before the Greek landing, see p. 151 and Il. 3. 205 ff.
Aeneas . . . his piety: cf. Xen. On Hunting1. 15 (where he takes the household gods also); this is the tradition developed by Virgil Aen. 2. 699 ff. For the ancients, respect and care for parents was a religious duty (cf. Plato Laws930e ff.). In the Sack of Troy(Procl.) Aeneas left before the sack, while in the Iliad(20. 307 ff.), Poseidon prophesied that he and his descendants would rule in Troy after the destruction of Priam’s family.
Aithra: she was taken captive by the Dioscuri when they were recovering Helen from Attica, p. 143, and became Helen’s maid and went to Troy with her ( Il. 3. 143 f., Plut. Thes. 34).
had later arrived at Troy: i.e. after the period covered by the Iliad;a similar phrase is used of Amphilochos on p. 162, another figure not mentioned by Homer.
Locrian Aias .. . towards the sky: ‘lesser’ Aias (cf. Il. 2. 527 ff), not to be confused with the more famous son of Telamon (who killed himself before the sack, p. 155). In early epic, Aias merely dragged her away, pulling the statue over as he did so (Procl., cf. P. 5. 19. 5); the rape and the statue’s shocked response are Hellenistic developments (first attested for Callimachus in the third century, sc. Il. 13. 66). An important episode, because it gives rise to the wrath of Athene, which plays such an important part in the story of the return voyages.
they hurled Astyanax from the ramparts: as in Proclus’ summary of the Sack of Troy, the killing of Hector’s son (and slaughter of Polyxena) take place after the burning of Troy; Proclus states that in the epic Odysseus killed him, but the full story may have accorded with Eur. Troades721 ff., where it is said that Odysseus argued for his death before the assembly and the Greeks carried out the sentence. In the Little Iliad, Neoptolemos hurled him down duringthe sack, after seizing him from his nurse (quotation in Tzetz. sc. Lycophr. 1268). His fate was predicted in the Iliad(24. 734 ff.).
slaughtered Polyxene: a daughter of Priam and Hecuba not mentioned by Homer. This episode was portrayed in the Sack of Troy(Procl.); according to Euripides Hecuba37 ff, the ghost of Achilles appeared above his grave and claimed her as his prize of honour. His son Neoptolemos slaughtered her (Ibycus, in sc. Eur. Hec. 40, presumably following early epic).