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For such sacrifices to appease the winds cf. ii. 119. 2, 3; Verg. Aen. ii. 116 f.; Xen. Anab. iv. 5. 3; Aesch. Ag. 1417ἔθυσεν αὑτοῦ παῖδα, φιλτάτην ἐμοὶ ὠδῖν̓, ἐπῳδὸν Θρῃκίων ἀημάτων” and Paus. ii. 12. 1 (ἐν Τιτάνῃ) βωμός ἐστιν ἀνέμων, ἐφ᾽ οὗ τοῖς ἀνέμοις ἱερεὺς μιᾷ νυκτὶ ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος θύει. δρᾷ δὲ καὶ τἆλλα ἀπόρρητα ἐς βόθρους τέσσαρας, ἡμερούμενος τῶν πνευμάτων τὸ ἄγριον, καὶ δὴ καὶ Μηδείας ὡς λέγουσιν ἐπῳδὰς ἐπᾴδει. Frazer (ad loc.) distinguishes absolutely between these attempts to appease the wind by sacrifice and prayer, and attempts to subdue it by force or by magic (Paus. ii. 34. 2 n. and Golden Bough, i. 220 f.); but surely there are in many of these cases, and especially here, clear traces of magic. If γόησι be retained it must mean ‘by wizards’, while βοῇσι means presumably sacro ululatu, and καταείδοντες (followed by the dative ἀνέμῳ) would seem equivalent to ἐπαείδω, ‘to sing a spell to’. Again, the Magi as early as H. have begun to acquire in western eyes the character of sorcerers (cf. φαρμακεύσαντες, 114. 1 and App. VIII. 3). How deeprooted this belief became may be seen from the use of the word and its derivatives, magic, &c., in Greek, Latin, and modern languages. Once more the words αὐτὸς ἐθέλων rather suggest as an alternative the compelling force of magic.

τετάρτῃ ἡμέρῃ. It was proverbial that even a winter storm in that region never lasted three days; cf. Ar. Prob. xxvi. 9, 941 a 20 οὔ ποτε νυκτερινὸς βορέας τρίτον ἵκετο φέγγος.

Thetis was unwilling to marry a mortal, but Peleus, taught by Chiron, held her fast, while, like Proteus, she took all manner of strange forms, among them that of a cuttle-fish (σηπία whence ἀκτὴ Σηπιάς), until she resumed her proper shape and yielded, finding it was the will of Zeus.

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