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Λάμπων Πυθέω. Pytheas, father of Lampon, is not likely to be the heroic son of Ischenous, captured at Sciathus and released at Salamis (vii. 181; viii. 92). It is, however, tempting to identify Lampon with the father of the Pytheas, whose victory as a youth at Nemea (before 480 B. C.) was celebrated both by Pindar (Nem. v.) and by Bacchylides (Ode xiii), while those of his brother Phylacidas at the Isthmus (480, 478 B. C.) were sung by Pindar (Isthm. iv and v). The objection is that Pindar (Isthm. v. 16) speaks of Lampon as son of Cleonicus, but Cleonicus may be a remoter ancestor (cf. Isthm. iv. 55) or a title given to Pytheas from the numerous athletic victories of the family (Isthm. iv. 17 f.; v. 60 f.). Lampon belonged to the great house of the Psalychidae (Isthm. v. 63) and was famous for hospitality (Isthm. v. 70; Bacch. xiii. 191). If the Lampon here mentioned be not Pindar's friend, he must have been a contemporary and relative. For τὰ πρῶτα cf. vi. 100. 3 n.

The tale here told of Lampon illustrates two tendencies in H. or his sources: (1) a prejudice against the Aeginetans (v. 81 n.), to whom Athenian opinion was most hostile when H. wrote (cf. ch. 80. 3, 85. 3; vi. 87, 91 nn.); (2) a wish to contrast Greek and barbarian (cf. ch. 82; vii. 134 f.).


For the fate of Leonidas' corpse cf. vii. 238 n. Mardonius seems to have been brought in by the apocryphal story in viii. 114.

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