THE PLEIADES.
"But people in general have been deceived by fancying the
[Greek: peleiades] here spoken of to be birds, first of all from the
poetical form of the word, because of the insertion of the
letter [Greek: e]; and secondly, because they have taken the word
[Greek: trêrônes], 'trembling,' as an epithet only of doves; since,
owing to its weakness, that is a very cautious bird; and when
he calls it [Greek: trêrôn], this word is derived from [Greek: treô], and [Greek: treô]
is the same as [Greek: eulabeomai], to be cautious. But still there is
a good deal of reason in attributing the same characteristic
also to the Pleiades: for the fable is, that they are always
fleeing from Orion, since their mother Pleione is constantly
pursued by Orion.
80. "And the variation of the name, so that the Pleiades are called both [Greek: Peleiai] and [Greek: Peleiades], occurs in many poets. First of all, Myro the Byzantian admirably caught the feeling of the Homeric poems, saying in her poem entitled Memory, that the Pleiades convey ambrosia to Jupiter. But Crates the critic, endeavouring to appropriate to himself the credit due to her, produces that assertion as his own. Simonides also has called the Pleiades [Greek: peleiades], in the following lines:—
And may great Mercury, whose protecting pow'r
Watches o'er contests, Maia's mighty son,
Grant you success. But Atlas was the sire
Of seven dark-hair'd daughters, beautiful,
Surpassing all the maidens upon earth,
And now in heaven they're call'd Peleiades.
Here he distinctly calls the Pleiades [Greek: Peleiades], for they it was who were the daughters of Atlas; as Pindar says—
And it is natural
That great Oarion should advance
Not far from the seven Pleiades, at the tail ([Greek: opias]).
For, in the arrangement of the stars, Orion is not far from the Pleiades; from which circumstance has arisen the fable about them, that they, with their mother Pleione, are always fleeing from Orion. But when he calls the Pleiades [Greek: oriai] here, he means [Greek: ouriai], only he has left out the [Greek: u], because the Pleiades are close to the tail of the Bull. And Æschylus has spoken still more plainly, playing on their name on account of the resemblance of its sound, where he says—
The seven celebrated daughters of
The mighty Atlas, much bewail'd with tears
