On Unbelievable Stories (20-24)

What’s said about Scylla is that she was some kind of beast in the Tyrrhenian sea: a woman down to her navel, from there dogs’ heads sprouted, and the rest of the body a snake. But to imagine her as such a creature is really quite naive.

The truth is this. Tyrrhenian ships used to plunder the coast of Sicily and the Ionian Gulf. There was also at that time a ship - a fast trireme. Its name was ‘Scylla’, and the creature was depicted on its prow. This trireme would often apprehend other boats and make mincemeat out of them, and many stories were told about her. Odysseus, taking advantage of a strong and favourable wind, managed to escape this ship; and in Corcyra he described to Alcinoos how he’d been chased and how he’d escaped and what the skiff looked like. And thus the myth was fabricated.

What’s said about Daidalos is that he crafted statues that moved by themselves. But I think it impossible that a sculpture could walk by itself.

The truth is something like this. Sculptors of that time created statues of men and gods with feet together and arms straight down – Daidalos was the first to create a statue with one foot striding ahead of the other. Because of this people would say, Daidalos made a walking statue, rather than a standing one. It’s just like how we say even today, in that picture, there are men fighting or horses running or a ship thrown about in a storm. So it was said that Daidalos created walking statues.

The account given about Phineus is that the Harpies plundered his livelihood. Some think that they are winged creatures who carried off Phineus’ food from his table.

This is the truth. Phineus was the king of Paionia. He became blind as an old man and his sons died. His daughters Eraseia and Harpyreia …[*] squandered his livelihood. And so the townspeople would say, Wretched Phineus! The Harpies are plundering his livelihood. Pitying him, his neighbours Zetos and Calais, sons of Boreas (a man, not the wind), came to help. They chased his daughters out of the city, collected some money for him and appointed one of the Thracians as a trustee.

They say about Mestra, daughter of Erysichthon, that she could change shape whenever she wanted. This is an utterly ridiculous myth! For how is it possible for a girl to turn into a cow, and then a dog or bird?

The truth is as follows. Erysichthon was a Thessalian who became poor after wasting his money. He had a beautiful daughter named Mestra, who was of marriageable age. Whoever laid eyes on her was overcome with desire. At that time, men did not offer money for a bride, but instead offered gifts – some of horses, others of cows or sheep, or whatever Mestra wanted. The Thessalians, watching Erysichthon's wealth increasing, would say, The horse, cow and everything else, they’ve all come to Erysichthon from Mestra. It's from this that the myth was fabricated.

They say that Geryon was three-headed. But it is impossible for a body to have three heads.

Something like this actually happened. There is a city on the Black Sea called Trihead. Geryon was famous among people at that time for his wealth, amongst other things. Heracles came for his marvellous herd of cattle and killed Geryon when he resisted. People who saw the cattle being driven off were amazed: for although they were of small stature, they were long from the head to the loins and had flat noses, no horns, and large, broad bones. And so they would say to anyone who asked, Heracles drove off the cattle belonging to Triheaded Geryon. Because of this response, some thought him to have three heads.