JUPITER IN THEBAID 1 AGAIN 135
justified in the case of Adrastus thus: Jupiter fathered Epaphus by Io
(Apollod. 2.1.3), Libya was the daughter of Epaphus and the mother
of Agenor and Belus; Belus fathered Danaüs who conquered Argos
and called its inhabitants Danaï (Apollod. 2.1.4); Danaüs gave his
daughter, Hypermnestra, to be married to Lynceus, the son of his
brother, Aegyptus, with whom he had had a long and bitter quarrel
(Apollod. 2.1.5). Lynceus and Hypermnestra had a son, Abas, the
father of Acrisius (Apollod. 2.2.1), whose daughter, Danaë (Apollod.
2.2.2), bore Perseus to Jupiter (Apollod. 2.4.2). More directly, Abas
had a daughter, Lysimache, whose son was Adrastus (Apollod.1.9.13).
In the case of Oedipus, Apollodorus supports the case thus: Agenor,
the brother of Belus, above, fathered Cadmus (Apollod. 3.1.1) who
fathered Polydorus (Apollod. 3.4.2), the father of Labdacus, and Lab-
dacus was the father of Laius (Apollod. 3.5.5), Oedipus’ father (Apol-
lod. 3.5.7).
mens cunctis imposta manet (1.227 “the mind bestowed on all of
them remains”): Jupiter continues with a general comment before
turning to specific crimes: quis funera Cadmi nesciat (1.227–8
“Who does not know of the deaths of Cadmus?”): to what does funera
refer? Mozley (1928) translates: “bloodshed” which he glosses: ‘The
slaughter of the armed warriors who sprang from the dragon’s teeth’;
but this will not do. The incident occurs also in Ovid’s Metamor-
phoses (3.26–130) where we are told (3.118–22) that they killed one
another, and there is no suggestion that any guilt attaches to Cadmus.
Shackleton Bailey renders funera “calamities” which I doubt is defen-
sible but, even if it is, its implicit acknowledgement that Cadmus is
only the victim of sin makes him out of place in this list. Perhaps Jupi-
ter, in his confusion, is thinking of uersi...funera Cadmi (Lucan
3.189), but that refers to Cadmus’ transformation into a snake. Lactan-
tius Placidus is silent.
et totiens excitam a sedibus imis Eumenidum bellasse aciem
(1.228–9 “and that the host of the Furies stirred up from their lowest
seats have gone to war so often.”): Jupiter’s vague non-specific refer-
ence to the Furies’ attacks on the wicked should be compared for
dramatic effect with Statius’ narrative cited here by Heuvel:
St ygias lustrare seueris
Eumenidas perhibetur aquis; huc mergere suetae
ora et anhelantes poto Phlegethonte cerastas,