Fragment #1—Pausanius, ii. 26. 3: Epidaurus. According to the opinion
of the Argives and the epic poem, the _Great Eoiae_, Argos the son of
Zeus was father of Epidaurus.
Fragment #2—Anonymous Comment. on Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, iii.
7: And, they say, Hesiod is sufficient to prove that the word PONEROS
(bad) has the same sense as ‘laborious’ or ‘ill-fated’; for in the
_Great Eoiae_ he represents Alcmene as saying to Heracles: ‘My son,
truly Zeus your father begot you to be the most toilful as the most
excellent...’; and again: ‘The Fates (made) you the most toilful and
the most excellent...’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Isthm. v. 53: The story has been taken
from the _Great Eoiae_; for there we find Heracles entertained by
Telamon, standing dressed in his lion-skin and praying, and there also
we find the eagle sent by Zeus, from which Aias took his name 2001.
Fragment #4—Pausanias, iv. 2. 1: But I know that the so-called _Great
Eoiae_ say that Polycaon the son of Butes married Euaechme, daughter of
Hyllus, Heracles’ son.
Fragment #5—Pausanias, ix. 40. 6: ‘And Phylas wedded Leipephile the
daughter of famous Iolaus: and she was like the Olympians in beauty.
She bare him a son Hippotades in the palace, and comely Thero who was
like the beams of the moon. And Thero lay in the embrace of Apollo and
bare horse-taming Chaeron of hardy strength.’
Fragment #6—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iv. 35: ‘Or like her in Hyria,
careful-minded Mecionice, who was joined in the love of golden
Aphrodite with the Earth-holder and Earth-Shaker, and bare Euphemus.’
Fragment #7—Pausanias, ix. 36. 7: ‘And Hyettus killed Molurus the dear
son of Aristas in his house because he lay with his wife. Then he left
his home and fled from horse-rearing Argos and came to Minyan
Orchomenus. And the hero received him and gave him a portion of his
goods, as was fitting.’
Fragment #8—Pausanias, ii. 2. 3: But in the _Great Eoiae_ Peirene is
represented to be the daughter of Oebalius.
Fragment #9—Pausanias, ii. 16. 4: The epic poem, which the Greek call
the _Great Eoiae_, says that she (Mycene) was the daughter of Inachus
and wife of Arestor: from her, then, it is said, the city received its
name.
Fragment #10—Pausanias, vi. 21. 10: According to the poem the _Great
Eoiae_, these were killed by Oenomaus 2002: Alcathous the son of
Porthaon next after Marmax, and after Alcathous, Euryalus, Eurymachus
and Crotalus. The man killed next after them, Aerias, we should judge
to have been a Lacedemonian and founder of Aeria. And after Acrias,
they say, Capetus was done to death by Oenomaus, and Lycurgus, Lasius,
Chalcodon and Tricolonus.... And after Tricolonus fate overtook
Aristomachus and Prias on the course, as also Pelagon and Aeolius and
Cronius.
Fragment #11—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 57: In the
_Great Eoiae_ it is said that Endymion was transported by Zeus into
heaven, but when he fell in love with Hera, was befooled with a shape
of cloud, and was cast out and went down into Hades.
Fragment #12—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 118: In the
_Great Eoiae_ it is related that Melampus, who was very dear to Apollo,
went abroad and stayed with Polyphantes. But when the king had
sacrificed an ox, a serpent crept up to the sacrifice and destroyed his
servants. At this the king was angry and killed the serpent, but
Melampus took and buried it. And its offspring, brought up by him, used
to lick his ears and inspire him with prophecy. And so, when he was
caught while trying to steal the cows of Iphiclus and taken bound to
the city of Aegina, and when the house, in which Iphiclus was, was
about to fall, he told an old woman, one of the servants of Iphiclus,
and in return was released.
Fragment #13—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 828: In the
_Great Eoiae_ Scylla is the daughter of Phoebus and Hecate.
Fragment #14—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in
the _Great Eoiae_ says that Phineus was blinded because he told Phrixus
the way 2003.
Fragment #15—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 1122: Argus.
This is one of the children of Phrixus. These.... ....Hesiod in the
_Great Eoiae_ says were born of Iophossa the daughter of Aeetes. And he
says there were four of them, Argus, Phrontis, Melas, and Cytisorus.
Fragment #16—Antoninus Liberalis, xxiii: Battus. Hesiod tells the story
in the _Great Eoiae_.... ....Magnes was the son of Argus, the son of
Phrixus and Perimele, Admetus’ daughter, and lived in the region of
Thessaly, in the land which men called after him Magnesia. He had a son
of remarkable beauty, Hymenaeus. And when Apollo saw the boy, he was
seized with love for him, and would not leave the house of Magnes. Then
Hermes made designs on Apollo’s herd of cattle which were grazing in
the same place as the cattle of Admetus. First he cast upon the dogs
which were guarding them a stupor and strangles, so that the dogs
forgot the cows and lost the power of barking. Then he drove away
twelve heifers and a hundred cows never yoked, and the bull who mounted
the cows, fastening to the tail of each one brushwood to wipe out the
footmarks of the cows.
He drove them through the country of the Pelasgi, and Achaea in the
land of Phthia, and through Locris, and Boeotia and Megaris, and thence
into Peloponnesus by way of Corinth and Larissa, until he brought them
to Tegea. From there he went on by the Lycaean mountains, and past
Maenalus and what are called the watch-posts of Battus. Now this Battus
used to live on the top of the rock and when he heard the voice of the
heifers as they were being driven past, he came out from his own place,
and knew that the cattle were stolen. So he asked for a reward to tell
no one about them. Hermes promised to give it him on these terms, and
Battus swore to say nothing to anyone about the cattle. But when Hermes
had hidden them in the cliff by Coryphasium, and had driven them into a
cave facing towards Italy and Sicily, he changed himself and came again
to Battus and tried whether he would be true to him as he had vowed.
So, offering him a robe as a reward, he asked of him whether he had
noticed stolen cattle being driven past. And Battus took the robe and
told him about the cattle. But Hermes was angry because he was
double-tongued, and struck him with his staff and changed him into a
rock. And either frost or heat never leaves him 2004.