132 A GLOSSARY OF GREEK BIRDS 



riEAEIA {continued). 



(Sake ixio-o-rjv : 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. olcovco b) 



TrpoaOc neXeuidi 7reipf,aracr6€ | vrjos dntmpb jxedevres ecpUpev' . . . ciKpa §' 

 €KO\fsav I ovpaia nrepa raiye neXeidbos' 17 5' diropovaeu \ d(TKr]8r)S : 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 

 UXayKTai nerpai or Cyanean rocks, Od. xii. 62 777 piv r ovbe iroT^ra 

 Traptpxerai, ovde neXftat | Tpi)pooves, rat t' dpj3poair]v Ait irarp\ (pepovtriv : 

 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 rprjpcov 

 p.ev (pevyovaa fiirjv KipKOio neXeids, | v^Audeu AlaopLdeco 7re(pofir]p,€VT) cpneae 

 koXttois. 



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 7rpd>Tr] 8e Moipco 17 Bv£ai>Tia KaXcos ibe^aro top vovv tcov 'Oprjpov 

 7roiT)p,dTcov i iv Tjj Mutjp,o(TvvT] emypacpopevr] (pdo-Kovaa rrju dp-fipocrLav too 

 Au rag IlXeiddas Kopi£eiv. Kpdrrjs de 6 KpiriKos crcp€T€pi<rdpevos avrrjs ttjv 

 dogav, cos i§ioj/ €K(pepd tov Xoyov. Cf. Moero, ibi cit., in the story of 

 the Infant Jove, cos §' avrcos Tprjpaxri neheidaiv conaae Tiprjv, \ at §17 toi 

 Oepeos Km x«V aros ayyeXoi elatp : also many references, ap. Athen. 1. c, 

 from Pindar, Simonides, Simmias, Lamprocles, &c, where the irXeiddes 

 are called TreXeidbes : e. g. Lampr. (p. 554 Bergk) aire noravals 6pcowp,ol 

 •ncXtidaiv aWepi KtiaOe. The Pleiads are also supposed to be alluded 

 to in Alcman, fr. 23 (Bergk) ral neXeuides yap dpiv \ 'OpOLq <pdpos cpepoi- 

 crais I vvKTa hi dpfipoo-'iav are acipiov \ aarpov dveipopivat. pdyovrai. 



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. <x\kuwi>, 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[e]Aeiafieff : the sign Taurus may have 

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

 been the celestial Boanopos of the Argonautic voyage. The Dove as an 

 attribute of Venus is similarly explained, the, domtes 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, 1 185. On the dove in 



