132 A GLOSSARY OF GREEK BIRDS 



riEAEIA [continued). 

 tid\e niiT(Tr}v: the same story transferred to Aeneas and Eurytion, Virg. 

 Aen. V. 485-544. 



On the pigeons that brought ambrosia to the infant Zeus, see Od. 

 xii. 60 ; Moero Byz. ap. Athen. xi. 490 e ; Ptolem. Hephaest. ap. Phot. i. 

 p. 474. 



The Dove that flew between the clashing rocks in the passage of 

 the Hellespont: Apoll. Rh. ii. 328, ii. 557, &c., and Schol. olcovw §7 

 TTpno'de TreAfidSt neipi'/aaade \ vr]6s cnronpo fxedevres e(pUfjifv' . . . liKpa S' 

 eKoy^ap \ ovpaln Trrepa ra'iye TVfkfiahos' rj d' aTrapovaei' | aaKrjdijS : see also 

 Apollod. i. 9, 22, Hygin. Fab. xix, Propert. ii. 26, 39 cum rudis Argus 

 Dux erat ignoto missa columba mari, &c. ; cf. the account of the 

 UXnyKTai nerpai or Cyanean rocks, Od. xii, 62 rrj peu t ovde irorijTa 

 TTnpip-)(iTai, ov8f TreAeiat | rpi'jpcovfs, rai t' ap0poair]v At*. Trarpl (pepovaiv : 

 cf. Plut. ii. 156 F. The Dove in the story of the Argonauts again, 

 in connexion with the fire-breathing bulls, Apoll. Rh. iii. 541 rpi^p^v 

 p.f.v (f)eiiyovaa (Birjv KipKoio TreAetar, | v'^uBtv AlaovibiUi Tvecpo^rjpei/r] fp.TTta's 

 KoXnoii. 



In the above legends there are numerous traces of the mythical 

 astronomy of the Pleiads. This view is a very ancient one ; cf. Athen. 

 xi. 490 E TrpmTT] 8e Moipoi rj Bv^avria Ka\a>s ede^aro tov j/oOi/ rav 'Ofifjpov 

 TTOirificiTuiv, (V TJj Mvi]fxoavvr) fTnypn(pop.evi] (pdcTKovcra ti]U dp^poaiav tcS 

 All Taj IlX(ui8(is KOfjii^eiv. Kparrji 8e 6 KpiriKos ar(f)fTepi(Tdp.€vos avTi]S rrjv 

 do^nv, ms t'Smi/ eKcfjepa tov Xoyov. Cf. Moero, ibi cit., in the story of 

 the Infant Jove, wr S' avrai Tprjpuxn neXeida-LV wnacre jLfxrjv, \ at 87) tol 

 Btpeos Kai x^^H-'^''^os nyyeXoi flaiv : also many references, ap. Athen. 1. c, 

 from Pindar, Simonides, Simmias, Lamprocles, &c., where the wXeiubes 

 are called neXeuites : e. g. Lampr. (p. 554 Bergk) mVe noravals opuwpol 

 TTfXfidaiv aWepi Keiade. The Pleiads are also supposed to be alluded 

 to in Alcman, fr. 23 (Bergk) ml TreXeiaSe? yap apiv | ^Opdia (papos (pfpoi- 

 aais I vvKTa 81 dp(Spo(rlav are aeipioi' I (iarpov dveipojxivai pd)(0VTai. 



The coincidences on which rests the foundation for an astronomical 

 interpretation of the above myths are chiefly the following. As has 

 been mentioned above, s. v. dXKuwf, the sun rose together with the 

 Pleiads in the sign of the Bull, at the vernal equinox, the ancient 

 opening of the year. If the Cretan Jupiter was a Sun-god, he might 

 be said to be nursed by the 7r[f]AeiaSe? : the sign Taurus may have 

 been the Cretan Bull ; and a transit through that sign may have 

 been the celestial BoVTropo? of the Argonautic voyage. The Dove as an 

 attribute of Venus is similarly explained, the do))nis Veneris being in 

 the sign Taurus, the sign of the Pleiad. 



The Doves of Nestor's cup, II. xvi. 634, are also supposed to have 

 reference to the Pleiades, Athen. xi. 490-492. 



On the Dove of Deucalion : cf. Plut. Mor. 968, 1185. On the dove in 



