CHAPTER II.
And being very anxious to know accurately who the sons of Polycaon were by Messene, I perused the poem called the Great Eœæ and the Naupactian poems, and also all the genealogical information of Cinæthon and Asius. And yet I did not discover anything in them except that the Great Eœæ say that Polycaon the son of Butes married Euæchme, the daughter of Hyllus the son of Hercules, but they make no mention of either Messene or her husband. But in after time, when none of the descendants of Polycaon survived, they continued five generations and no more, they introduced as King Perieres the son of Æolus. To his court came as the Messenians say Melaneus, a skilful archer and for that reason thought to be the son of Apollo, and Perieres assigned to him Carnasium to dwell in, which was formerly called Œchalia from the wife of Melaneus. But the Thessalians and Eubœans—for there are almost always disputed accounts of most Grecian events—give different accounts. The former say that Eurytium a place deserted in our days was a city in old times and called Œchalia: but Creophylus in his Heraclea has written what corresponds with the account of the Eubœans. And Hecatæus the Milesian writes that Œchalia is in Scium a part of Eretria. But the Messenians seem to me to give the most probable account, especially about the bones of Eurytus, which I shall touch upon later. And Perieres had by Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus Aphareus and Leucippus who, on his death, succeeded their father as kings of the Messenians, but Aphareus had most power. During his reign he built the city Arene which got its name from the daughter of Œbalus, his wife and uterine sister. For Gorgophone was married to Œbalus, as I have already mentioned, in my account of Argolis, and also in my account of Laconia. Aphareus then built the city Arene in Messenia, and received into his house his cousin Neleus, the son of Cretheus, the son of Æolus (who was surnamed Poseidon), when he fled from Pelias at Iolcus, and gave him the maritime parts of the land, among which were several other cities besides Pylos, where Neleus dwelt, and made it his seat of government. And Lycus the son of Pandion came also to Arene, when he also fled from Athens from his brother Ægeus. And he taught the mysteries of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus and his sons and his wife Arene. And he introduced them into Andania, for Caucon there initiated Messene. And the elder and more manly of Aphareus’ children was Idas, and the younger was Lynceus, of whom Pindar said, believe it who will, that he had such keen eyesight that he could see through the trunk of a tree. We do not know of Lynceus having had a son, but Ides had by Marpessa a daughter Cleopatra, who married Meleager. And the writer of the Cyprian Poems says that the wife of Protesilaus, (who when the Greeks got to the Troad was the first who ventured to land), was by name Polydora, and he also says that she was the daughter of Meleager the son of Œneus. If this be correct then all these three women, beginning with Marpessa, committed suicide after the death of their husbands.