[7]
As the country suffered thereby, the Thebans every month exposed a son
of one of the citizens to the brute, which would have carried off many if that were not
done. So Amphitryon betook him to Cephalus, son of Deioneus, at Athens, and persuaded him, in return for a share of the
Teleboan spoils, to bring to the chase the dog which Procris had brought from Crete as a gift from Minos1; for
that dog was destined to catch whatever it pursued. So then, when the vixen was chased by
the dog, Zeus turned both of them into stone. Supported by his allies, to wit, Cephalus
from Thoricus in Attica, Panopeus from Phocis, Heleus, son of Perseus, from Helos in Argolis, and Creon from Thebes,
Amphitryon ravaged the islands of the Taphians. Now, so long as Pterelaus lived, he could
not take Taphos; but when Comaetho, daughter of Pterelaus, falling in love with
Amphitryon, pulled out the golden hair from her father's head, Pterelaus died,2
and Amphitryon subjugated all the islands. He slew Comaetho, and sailed with the booty to
Thebes,3 and gave the islands to Heleus and Cephalus; and they founded
cities named after themselves and dwelt in them.
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1 As to Procris, see below, Apollod. 3.15.1.
2 Compare Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 932. For the similar story of Nisus and his daughter Megara, see below, Apollod. 3.15.8.
3 In the sanctuary of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes, the historian Herodotus saw a tripod bearing an inscription in “Cadmean letters,” which set forth that the vessel had been dedicated by Amphitryon from the spoils of the Teleboans. See Hdt. 5.59. Among the booty was a famous goblet which Poseidon had given to his son Teleboes, and which Teleboes had given to Pterelaus. See Athenaeus xi.99, p. 498 C; Plaut. Amph. 256ff. For the expedition of Amphitryon against the Teleboans or Taphians, see also Strab. 10.2.20; Paus. 1.37.6; Plaut. Amph. 183-256.
Apollodorus. Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Includes Frazer's notes.
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