terror-struck: the reason is unclear; Tzetzes (sc. Lycophr. 495, following Ap.) says that he was ‘overcome by a phantom’ rather than struck by terror, but that may well be a mistake. The basket would have contained sacred objects used in the Mysteries of Rhea.
Amphilochos . , . killed one another: on this Amphilochos, a relatively late invention, see p. 114 and note. This story of a double killing was surely based on a similar story told about Amphilochos, son of Amphiaraos (Strabo 14. 5. 16, cf. Tzetzes sc. Lycophr. 440): after founding Mallos (in Cilicia) with Mopsos, he went to Amphilochian Argos for a year, and when Mopsos refused to accept him back as joint ruler on his return, they fought and killed one another in a duel (thus explaining the origin of the famous oracle at Mallos, in which both were involved, see Plut. Moralia434d).
Locris was struck by a plague: yet another disaster provoked by the Locrian Aias’ desecration of Athene’s image, p. 158; the need to propitiate Athene provides a mythical explanation for the strange custom of the Locrian tribute, which is well attested (e.g. Polybius 12. 5. 7; the girls were chosen by lot from the hundred foremost families).
after the Phocian War: it ended in 346 BC; this could only mark the end of the thousand years if the Trojan War took place at an earlier period than the Greeks commonly assumed; see also Strabo 13. 1. 40.
was killed by Aigisthos and Clytemnestra: in the Odyssey, 3. 193 ff. and 4. 529 ff., Aigisthos kills him, in Aesch. Agamemnon1373 ff., Clytemnestra; thereafter in tragedy they are often mentioned together, e.g. Soph. Electra97 ff. Ap. is probably following the Returnshere (for Proclus also reports that he was killed by both in his summary of the poem); if so, it is possible that the motif of the tunic, first mentioned in Aesch. Ag. 1382 ff., may also have originated in early epic. Aigisthos, the son of Thyestes, p. 146, came to Mycenae while Agamemnon was away at Troy and seduced Clytemnestra, Od. 3. 263 ff. In Aesch. Ag. Clytemnestra’s action is provoked by Agamemnon’s sacrifice of Iphigeneia (1414 ff.) and his infidelity with the Trojan captive women Chryseis and Cassandra (1439 ff.).
they killed Cassandra too: cf. Od. 11. 421–3; there she is killed by Clytemnestra alone, and that is the usual account (e.g. Pind. Pyth. 11. 17 ff.).
left Mycenae . . . killed his mother and Aigisthos: cf. Od. 1. 298 ff. and 3. 305 ff. There is no mention of Pylades in Homer, but in the Returnsthe murder of Agamemnon was ‘avenged by Orestes and Pylades’ (Procl.). On the whole affair, see Aesch. Choephoroi, and Soph, and Eur. Electra.
indicted by the Furies. . . acquitted: following Aesch. Eumenides;when the votes are evenly divided, he is acquitted on Athene’s instructions (752 f).
the land of the Taurians: the Crimea. Hereafter Ap. follows Eur. Iphigeneia in Tauris;for a divergent account of how the Taurians dealt with their victims, see Hdt. 4. 103.
he himself married. . .father of Tisamenos: such is the text of the Epitome, but Tzetzes (sc. Lycophr. 1374) states the alternative rather differently, reporting that he either married Hermione and had a son, Tisamenos, by her, or, according to some, he married Erigone and became the father of Penthilos(cf. P. 2. 18. 6, where he is said to have had an illegitimate son, Penthilos, by Erigone in addition to Tisamenos, his legitimate son by Hermione). The suggestion here that Erigone may have been the mother of Tisamenos almost certainly misrepresents the original text. This Erigone was the daughter of Aigisthos and Clytemnestra, p. 163 (not to be confused with the Athenian Erigone on p. 133). On Hermione, see p. 121. Tisamenos succeeded Orestes (who became king of Argos, and later succeeded Menelaos on the Spartan throne also), and he remained the most powerful ruler in the Peloponnese until he was killed and displaced by the returning Heraclids (see p. 94) and the Pelopid line was brought to an end.
Menelaos . . . treasure: see Od. 3. 276 ff.
only a phantom: see p. 147 and note.
went to the Elysian Fields with Helen: thus fulfilling the prophecy of Proteus in Od. 4. 561 ff.; they were sent there because Helen was a daughter of Zeus. Elysium was much like the Isles of the Blessed, a home for immortalized human beings vaguely situated ‘at the ends of the world’, ibid. 563 (although in the later tradition it came to be regarded as a region of the Underworld).
wolves . . . pigs, or asses, or lions: in the Odysseythey are turned into pigs alone (10. 239, although some of her previous victims were turned into wolves and lions, 212).
moly: a mythical plant with white flowers, Od. 10. 302 ff., sometimes identified as a variety of wild onion; the details on Odysseus’ use of it are not derived from the Odyssey.
Telegonos: important for his role in the Telegonia, the last epic in the Trojan cycle, as summarized in Epitome 7. 34–7; not in Homer.
The Sirens: cf. Od. 12. 49 ff. and 165 ff., where there are only two; their names, the statement that they were half bird, and the prophecy regarding their death are not derived from the Odyssey.
cattle: owned by the Sun and not subject to a natural death, see Od. 12. 127 ff.; Circe had warned that they should not be killed.
Latinos: not in Homer; in Theog. 1013 (part of a later addition to Hesiod’s text, probably sixth century), he is Odysseus’ son by Circe, and ruler of the Tyrsenians (i.e. Etruscans) with his brother Agrios. In the Roman tradition, where he is usually a son of Faunus, Latinus becomes an important figure as the king of the aboriginal inhabitants of central Italy when Aeneas arrived (e.g. Verg. Aen. 7 ff.).
for five years: in Od. 7. 259, seven years.
suitors: there is no catalogue of suitors in the Odyssey, although many are mentioned individually, and numbers are given for the suitors from each place (16. 246 ff.; only in the case of Ithaca does the number coincide with the total here).
he wrestled with him: in Od. 18. 88 ff., a boxing match, settled by Odysseus with a single blow.
the land of the Thesprotians: in Epirus, in north-western Greece.