Fragment #2—Tzetzes, Chil. xiii. 638: Stasinus composed the _Cypria_ which the more part say was Homer’s work and by him given to Stasinus as a dowry with money besides.
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Homer, Il. i. 5: ‘There was a time when the countless tribes of men, though wide-dispersed, oppressed the surface of the deep-bosomed earth, and Zeus saw it and had pity and in his wise heart resolved to relieve the all-nurturing earth of men by causing the great struggle of the Ilian war, that the load of death might empty the world. And so the heroes were slain in Troy, and the plan of Zeus came to pass.’
Fragment #4—Volumina Herculan, II. viii. 105: The author of the _Cypria_ says that Thetis, to please Hera, avoided union with Zeus, at which he was enraged and swore that she should be the wife of a mortal.
Fragment #5—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvii. 140: For at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the gods gathered together on Pelion to feast and brought Peleus gifts. Cheiron gave him a stout ashen shaft which he had cut for a spear, and Athena, it is said, polished it, and Hephaestus fitted it with a head. The story is given by the author of the _Cypria_.
Fragment #6—Athenaeus, xv. 682 D, F: The author of the _Cypria_, whether Hegesias or Stasinus, mentions flowers used for garlands. The poet, whoever he was, writes as follows in his first book:
(ll. 1-7) ‘She clothed herself with garments which the Graces and Hours had made for her and dyed in flowers of spring—such flowers as the Seasons wear—in crocus and hyacinth and flourishing violet and the rose’s lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and heavenly buds, the flowers of the narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is Aphrodite clothed at all seasons.
((LACUNA))
(ll. 8-12) Then laughter-loving Aphrodite and her handmaidens wove sweet-smelling crowns of flowers of the earth and put them upon their heads—the bright-coiffed goddesses, the Nymphs and Graces, and golden Aphrodite too, while they sang sweetly on the mount of many-fountained Ida.’
Fragment #7—Clement of Alexandria, Protrept ii. 30. 5: ‘Castor was mortal, and the fate of death was destined for him; but Polydeuces, scion of Ares, was immortal.’
Fragment #8—Athenaeus, viii. 334 B: ‘And after them she bare a third child, Helen, a marvel to men. Rich-tressed Nemesis once gave her birth when she had been joined in love with Zeus the king of the gods by harsh violence. For Nemesis tried to escape him and liked not to lie in love with her father Zeus the Son of Cronos; for shame and indignation vexed her heart: therefore she fled him over the land and fruitless dark water. But Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her. Now she took the form of a fish and sped over the waves of the loud-roaring sea, and now over Ocean’s stream and the furthest bounds of Earth, and now she sped over the furrowed land, always turning into such dread creatures as the dry land nurtures, that she might escape him.’
Fragment #9—Scholiast on Euripides, Andr. 898: The writer 3003 of the Cyprian histories says that (Helen’s third child was) Pleisthenes and that she took him with her to Cyprus, and that the child she bore Alexandrus was Aganus.
Fragment #10—Herodotus, ii. 117: For it is said in the _Cypria_ that Alexandrus came with Helen to Ilium from Sparta in three days, enjoying a favourable wind and calm sea.
Fragment #11—Scholiast on Homer, Il. iii. 242: For Helen had been previously carried off by Theseus, and it was in consequence of this earlier rape that Aphidna, a town in Attica, was sacked and Castor was wounded in the right thigh by Aphidnus who was king at that time. Then the Dioscuri, failing to find Theseus, sacked Athens. The story is in the Cyclic writers.
Plutarch, Thes. 32: Hereas relates that Alycus was killed by Theseus himself near Aphidna, and quotes the following verses in evidence: ‘In spacious Aphidna Theseus slew him in battle long ago for rich-haired Helen’s sake.’ 3004
Fragment #12—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. x. 114: (ll. 1-6) ‘Straightway Lynceus, trusting in his swift feet, made for Taygetus. He climbed its highest peak and looked throughout the whole isle of Pelops, son of Tantalus; and soon the glorious hero with his dread eyes saw horse-taming Castor and athlete Polydeuces both hidden within a hollow oak.’
Philodemus, On Piety: (Stasinus?) writes that Castor was killed with a spear shot by Idas the son of Aphareus.
Fragment #13—Athenaeus, 35 C: ‘Menelaus, know that the gods made wine the best thing for mortal man to scatter cares.’
Fragment #14—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, Elect. 157: Either he follows Homer who spoke of the three daughters of Agamemnon, or—like the writer of the _Cypria_—he makes them four, (distinguishing) Iphigeneia and Iphianassa.
Fragment #15—3005 Contest of Homer and Hesiod: ‘So they feasted all day long, taking nothing from their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men, provided for them.’
Fragment #16—Louvre Papyrus: ‘I never thought to enrage so terribly the stout heart of Achilles, for very well I loved him.’
Fragment #17—Pausanias, iv. 2. 7: The poet of the _Cypria_ says that the wife of Protesilaus—who, when the Hellenes reached the Trojan shore, first dared to land—was called Polydora, and was the daughter of Meleager, the son of Oeneus.
Fragment #18—Eustathius, 119. 4: Some relate that Chryseis was taken from Hypoplacian 3006 Thebes, and that she had not taken refuge there nor gone there to sacrifice to Artemis, as the author of the _Cypria_ states, but was simply a fellow townswoman of Andromache.
Fragment #19—Pausanias, x. 31. 2: I know, because I have read it in the epic _Cypria_, that Palamedes was drowned when he had gone out fishing, and that it was Diomedes and Odysseus who caused his death.
Fragment #20—Plato, Euthyphron, 12 A: ‘That it is Zeus who has done this, and brought all these things to pass, you do not like to say; for where fear is, there too is shame.’
Fragment #21—Herodian, On Peculiar Diction: ‘By him she conceived and bare the Gorgons, fearful monsters who lived in Sarpedon, a rocky island in deep-eddying Oceanus.’
Fragment #22—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis vii. 2. 19: Again, Stasinus says: ‘He is a simple man who kills the father and lets the children live.’
THE AETHIOPIS
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: The _Cypria_, described in the preceding book, has its sequel in the _Iliad_ of Homer, which is followed in turn by the five books of the _Aethiopis_, the work of Arctinus of Miletus. Their contents are as follows. The Amazon Penthesileia, the daughter of Ares and of Thracian race, comes to aid the Trojans, and after showing great prowess, is killed by Achilles and buried by the Trojans. Achilles then slays Thersites for abusing and reviling him for his supposed love for Penthesileia. As a result a dispute arises amongst the Achaeans over the killing of Thersites, and Achilles sails to Lesbos and after sacrificing to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto, is purified by Odysseus from bloodshed.
Then Memnon, the son of Eos, wearing armour made by Hephaestus, comes to help the Trojans, and Thetis tells her son about Memnon.
A battle takes place in which Antilochus is slain by Memnon and Memnon by Achilles. Eos then obtains of Zeus and bestows upon her son immortality; but Achilles routs the Trojans, and, rushing into the city with them, is killed by Paris and Apollo. A great struggle for the body then follows, Aias taking up the body and carrying it to the ships, while Odysseus drives off the Trojans behind. The Achaeans then bury Antilochus and lay out the body of Achilles, while Thetis, arriving with the Muses and her sisters, bewails her son, whom she afterwards catches away from the pyre and transports to the White Island. After this, the Achaeans pile him a cairn and hold games in his honour. Lastly a dispute arises between Odysseus and Aias over the arms of Achilles.
Fragment #2—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 804: Some read: ‘Thus they performed the burial of Hector. Then came the Amazon, the daughter of great-souled Ares the slayer of men.’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Isth. iii. 53: The author of the _Aethiopis_ says that Aias killed himself about dawn.
THE LITTLE ILIAD
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: Next comes the _Little Iliad_ in four books by Lesches of Mitylene: its contents are as follows. The adjudging of the arms of Achilles takes place, and Odysseus, by the contriving of Athena, gains them. Aias then becomes mad and destroys the herd of the Achaeans and kills himself. Next Odysseus lies in wait and catches Helenus, who prophesies as to the taking of Troy, and Diomede accordingly brings Philoctetes from Lemnos. Philoctetes is healed by Machaon, fights in single combat with Alexandrus and kills him: the dead body is outraged by Menelaus, but the Trojans recover and bury it. After this Deiphobus marries Helen, Odysseus brings Neoptolemus from Scyros and gives him his father’s arms, and the ghost of Achilles appears to him.
Eurypylus the son of Telephus arrives to aid the Trojans, shows his prowess and is killed by Neoptolemus. The Trojans are now closely besieged, and Epeius, by Athena’s instruction, builds the wooden horse. Odysseus disfigures himself and goes in to Ilium as a spy, and there being recognized by Helen, plots with her for the taking of the city; after killing certain of the Trojans, he returns to the ships. Next he carries the Palladium out of Troy with help of Diomedes. Then after putting their best men in the wooden horse and burning their huts, the main body of the Hellenes sail to Tenedos. The Trojans, supposing their troubles over, destroy a part of their city wall and take the wooden horse into their city and feast as though they had conquered the Hellenes.