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to a city of Crete to announce to Menelaus what had happened. And he, upon hearing, returned immediately to Sparta, sending men to search for them in every place. And when he learned they were in Troy, he sent spies who were to report the truth to him; and Menelaus sent ambassadors with money for Helen to be returned to them. But when these returned unsuccessful, he sent again. And as he accomplished nothing, while the people were in an uproar for her to be returned, the sons of Priam resisted. And Menelaus, having turned back with king Agamemnon, went around to the toparchs of the country, urging them not to overlook the outrage against Greece, but to ally with him and fight together against the barbarians who had dared these things. And they gathered kings and toparchs, as Homer and Dictys say. 24 Exc. Salm.: Paris set forth an encomium of Aphrodite, that is, of desire, and having compared her with Hera and Athena, he gave her the apple, that is, the victory, and he also spoke to her a hymn called the kestos. 2. Palamedes, through the board game, alluded to the earthly world; the zodiacal circle through the twelve squares; through the dice-caster and the seven pebbles in it, the seven stars of the planets; and through the tower, the height of heaven, from which all things, both good and bad, are given. 3. Dictys, who campaigned with Idomeneus against Troy, says that Priam sent an embassy both to David and to Tautanes, king of the Assyrians; and David did not receive it, but Tautanes sent Tithonus and Memnon with a multitude of Indians. (4) He also says that Achilles, attacking by night Hector as he was going out to meet Penthesilea the Amazon, killed both him and those with him. (5) The same man says that Ajax the great, while warring against Polymestor, captured Polydorus, Priam's son, who was being guarded by Polymestor; therefore, having brought him up, the Greeks proclaimed at the city wall to take Helen and give back the boy; but as they would not be persuaded, he was shot down with arrows in sight of all. 6. Rhesus, having his dwellings in Byzantium in the so-called Rheatum, where now is the church of the great martyr Saint Theodore. (7) The Palladium in Troy was a small image, made by a certain philosopher Asius for the protection of the city. (8) When Troy was about to be captured, during the festival of the votive offerings, the fire thrown upon the victims would not catch, but was extinguished; Odysseus, telling this to the Greeks who were already despairing and about to withdraw, encouraged them. 9. Sicily, being triangular, was ruled by three brothers, of whom one was called Cyclops, and another Polyphemus. But having been worn down by him, and having lost many of his own men, after enticing him with gifts and wine, he seized his only-begotten daughter and fled, as Sisyphus of Cos relates. Therefore, because the three ruled together they were called Cyclopes, and it was mythologized that they had three eyes, signifying the three brothers joined to one another; but Polyphemus one, which Odysseus blinded with fire, because he took away his daughter who was inflamed with love. (10) Calypso and Circe were priestesses of Helios and Selene. 25 Exc. De ins.: That king Agamemnon, having sailed away from Ilium to his own homeland, found his wife Clytemnestra committing adultery with Aegisthus. For she, having heard that he had taken Cassandra in Troy as a wife, and having found a pretext, plotted his death with Aegisthus her adulterer, who was also himself of royal lineage. For having dressed her husband in a tunic woven shut on all sides, she prepared for him to be slaughtered by Aegisthus; and she took this man as a husband, and had by him a daughter, Erigone. Therefore Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, having heard these things, came from Schoineus, who had raised him, to avenge his father's death. But Aegisthus and Clytemnestra were plotting to kill him too, but his sister Electra, told him the

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πόλει τῆς Κρήτης ἀπαγγελοῦντα Μενελάῳ τὸ γεγονός. Ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας ἐπανῆλθεν εὐθέως ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ, πέμπων εἰς ἀναζήτησιν αὐτῶν ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ. Καὶ ὅτε ἔμαθε τούτους εἶναι ἐν τῇ Τροίᾳ, ἔπεμψε κατασκόπους ὀφείλοντας αὐτῷ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀπαγγεῖλαι· καὶ ἀποστέλλει πρέσβεις ὁ Μενέλαος μετὰ χρημάτων ἀποδοθῆναι αὐτοῖς τὴν Ἑλένην. Ἀπράκτων δὲ τούτων ἐπανελθόντων, πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν. Ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἔδρα, ταραττομένου τοῦ δήμου πρὸς τὸ ἀποδοθῆναι αὐτὴν, οἱ τοῦ Πριάμου παῖδες ἀνθίσταντο. Ὁ δὲ Μενέλαος ὑποστραφεὶς σὺν Ἀγαμέμνονι τῷ βασιλεῖ περιῄει τοὺς τοπάρχας τῆς χώρας, παρακαλῶν μὴ παριδεῖν τὴν ὕβριν τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ἀλλὰ συμμαχεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ συναγωνίσασθαι κατὰ τῶν ταῦτα τολμησάντων βαρβάρων. Καὶ συνήγαγον βασιλεῖς καὶ τοπάρχας, καθώς φησιν Ὅμηρος καὶ ∆ίκτυς. 24 Exc. Salm.: Ὁ Πάρις ἐγκώμιον ἐξέθετο τῆς Ἀφροδίτης, ἤγουν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ συγκρίνας αὐτὴν μετὰ Ἥρας καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς, δέδωκεν αὐτῇ τὸ μῆλον, ἤτοι τὴν νίκην, εἶπε δὲ εἰς αὐτὴν καὶ ὕμνον τὸν λεγόμενον κεστόν. 2. Ὁ Παλαμήδης διὰ τῆς τάβλας τὸν γήϊνον κόσμον ᾐνίξατο, τὸν ζωδιακὸν κύκλον διὰ τῶν δώδεκα κάσων, διὰ τοῦ ψηφοβόλου καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἑπτὰ κοκκίων τὰ ἑπτὰ ἄστρα τῶν πλανήτων· διὰ δὲ τοῦ πύργου τὸ ὕψος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἐξ οὗ δίδοται πᾶσι καλά τε καὶ φαῦλα. 3. ∆ίκτυς ὁ μετὰ Ἰδομενέως συστρατεύσας ἐπὶ Τροίαν φησὶν ὅτι Πρίαμος ἔπεμψε καὶ πρὸς τὸν ∆αυὶδ πρεσβείαν, καὶ πρὸς Ταυτάνην βασιλέα Ἀσσυρίων· καὶ ὁ μὲν ∆αυὶδ οὐ προσήκατο ταύτην, ὁ δὲ Ταυτάνης ἔπεμψε τὸν Τιθωνὸν καὶ τὸν Μέμνονα μετὰ πλήθους Ἰνδῶν. (4) Φησὶ δὲ καὶ ὅτι Ἕκτορι εἰς ὑπάντησιν Πενθεσιλείας τῆς Ἀμαζόνος ἐξερχομένῳ νυκτὸς ἐπιθέμενος Ἀχιλλεὺς αὐτόν τε καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἀπέκτεινεν. (5) Ὁ αὐτὸς λέγει ὅτι καὶ τὸν παρὰ Πολυμνήστορος φυλαττόμενον Πολύδωρον Πριάμου παῖδα ἔλαβεν Αἴας ὁ μέγας πολεμῶν Πολυμνήστορι· ἀναγαγόντος οὖν αὐτὸν, οἱ Ἕλληνες πρὸς τοῦ τείχους τῆς πόλεως διεκηρύκευον λαβεῖν τὴν Ἑλένην καὶ δοῦναι τὸν παῖδα· ὡς δ' οὐκ ἐπείθοντο, πάντων ὁρώντων κατετοξεύθη. 6. Ῥῆσος τὰς οἰκήσεις ἔχων ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐν τῷ λεγομένῳ Ῥηάτῳ, ὅπου νῦν ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ μεγαλομάρτυρος ἁγίου Θεοδώρου ναός. (7) Τὸ ἐν Τροίᾳ Παλλάδιον ζώδιον ἦν μικρὸν, ὑπὸ Ἀσίου τινὸς φιλοσόφου κατασκευασθὲν εἰς φυλακὴν τῆς πόλεως. (8) Ἐν τῷ μέλλειν τὴν Τροίαν ἁλίσκεσθαι, κατὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν τῶν ἀναθημάτων, τὸ τοῖς θύμασιν ἐπιβαλλόμενον πῦρ οὐχ ἧπτεν, ἀλλ' ἐσβέννυτο· τοῦτο εἰπὼν Ὀδυσσεὺς τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἤδη ἀπαγορεύσασιν καὶ μέλλουσιν ὑποχωρεῖν, ἐθάρρυνεν αὐτούς. 9. Ἡ Σικελία τρίγωνος οὖσα ὑπὸ τριῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐβασιλεύετο, ὧν ὁ μὲν ἐλέγετο Κύκλωψ, ὁ δὲ Πολύφημος. Καταπονηθεὶς δὲ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν οἰκείων ἀποβαλὼν, δώροις δελεάσας αὐτὸν καὶ οἴνῳ, τὴν αὐτοῦ μονογενῆ θυγατέρα ἁρπάσας ἔφυγεν, ὡς Σίσυφος ὁ Κῶος ἱστορεῖ. Ὅτι γοῦν ἀλλήλοις συνήρχοντο οἱ τρεῖς ὠνομάζοντο Κύκλωπες, καὶ ἐμυθεύσαντο ὅτι τρεῖς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἶχον, σημαίνοντες τοὺς τρεῖς ἀδελφοὺς ἀλλήλοις συγκειμένους· ὁ δὲ Πολύφημος ἕνα, ὃν διὰ πυρὸς διετύφλωσεν Ὀδυσσεὺς, ὅτι τὴν αὐτοῦ θυγατέρα ἐκκαυθεῖσαν ἔρωτι ἀφείλετο. (10) Καλυψὼ καὶ Κίρκη Ἡλίου καὶ Σελήνης ἦσαν ἱέρειαι. 25 Exc. De ins.: Ὅτι ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀγαμένων ἀποπλεύσας ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰλίου εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν πατρίδα, εὗρε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα Κλυταιμνήστραν ὑπὸ Αἰγίσθου μοιχευομένην. Ἀκούσασα γὰρ αὕτη ὅτι τὴν Κασσάνδραν ἔλαβεν ἐν τῇ Τροίᾳ γυναῖκα, καὶ ἀφορμὴν εὑρηκυῖα, θάνατον κατασκευάζει σὺν τῷ Αἰγίσθῳ τῷ ἑαυτῆς μοιχῷ, καὶ αὐτῷ γένους ὄντι βασιλικοῦ. Ἐνδύσασα γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα χιτῶνα πανταχόθεν ὑφασμένον, παρεσκεύασεν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ Αἰγίσθου σφαγῆναι· καὶ λαμβάνει τοῦτον ἄνδρα, καὶ ἔσχεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ θυγατέρα Ἠριγόνην. Ταῦτα τοίνυν ἀκούσας ὁ Ὀρέστης, ὁ τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος υἱὸς, ἦλθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Σχοινέως, τοῦ θρέψαντος αὐτὸν, τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν θάνατον ἐκδικήσων. Οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Αἴγισθον καὶ τὴν Κλυταιμνήστραν ἐβουλεύοντο καὶ αὐτὸν ἀνελεῖν, ἀλλ' ἡ τούτου ἀδελφὴ Ἠλέκτρα, ἐξεῖπεν αὐτῷ τὴν