Water-carrying and the Dana'ides 361
Epic tradition, which not improbably rested on Argive folk-
rnemory, associated Danaos and his daughters with the discovery of
a water-supply. This trait, and it alone, is involved in our earliest
reference to their myth. The Iliad speaks of Argos as polydipsion,
very thirsty1,' and Euripides calls it dipsian...chthona, a 'thirsty
land2.' Both phrases presumably allude to the fact that the streams
Jnachos {Panitzd) and Charadros {Xerias), which traverse the Argive
Plain, run dry for the greater part of the year3, so that there is need
t° make up for their lack of water by means of irrigation. But
ancient critics, finding Argos well-watered and fertile, were perplexed
by the Homeric epithet4. Eustathios5 finally offers us a choice of
explanations: 'Either because the Greeks thirsted for it6; or because
rhe myth says that it was once ill-watered but afterwards became
WeU-watered, when Poseidon caused the springs at Lerna to burst
forth through his love for Amymone,the namesake of the Amymonian
Waters7 at Argos; or it may be on account of the Dana'ides, who
came from Egypt and taught the digging of wells, as Hesiod8
observes—
Waterless Argos Danaos made well-watered.'
Strabon9, without naming the author, cites another version of the
ne, in which the 'Danaan maids' take the place of Danaos:
Waterless Argos Danaai made well-watered.
^ aPpears, then, that a Hesiodic line mentioned Danaos as the cause
1 11
2 ■ 4- 171 > cp. Hesych. s.v. Sv//tm> Apyos, Eustath. tn Dionys. per. 419.
3 Eur. Ale. 56o.
4 G. Hirschfeld in Paulj—Wissowa Real-Eiic. ii. 730.
t\' 1 37° Te/>i 8e twv p.v0evop.h'oiv Trrjywv dp-qrai., 5i6ti irKaap-aTa ■woit)tS>v IvtI'
f ^M S* Kai to "Apyos HvvSpov—Oeol 5' at Biffav "Apyos &vv8pov (A. Meineke accepts
ijyj. **'s cj. "Apyoj avvdpov eov Aavaai dloav 'Apyos (vvSpov, cp. Strab. 371 quoted
""an 11 , C^ T^s Te X^pas KoiXijs ota-qs Kai irorafioh Siappeopevys Kal H\r) Kal \lfivas
^oXeus ^viropovp^vrjs vdaai tppedrujv iroXXCov Kai tiriiroXaiwv. afriGivTai
ijT0l , a7raTVS to " Kat kcv iXiyx^Tos Tt6Xvb"i-J/iov "Apyos Ikolpiiv" (II. 4. 171). tovto 8'
5 -p T0U 7ro^vr6drp-oi> Kcirai, rj xwpis tov d woXvtyiov, k.t.X.
S0uid ,stath- »'« II- P- 461, 3 ff., cp. schol. T., schol. B. L., and schol. A. D. //. 4. 171,
8 ""oWtytcw, et. mag. p. 681, 4 ff.
Atrip. esPerate guess of Aristarchos (Hesych. s.v. Styiov "Apyos quoted infra n. 8, cp.
> 433E).
8 Jur; Phoen. 188 f.
^esych6S" ^ ^inkel, 24 Rzach "Apyos avvSpov tbv Aavabs iro'n)<rev Ifvdpov, cp.
yip Ti ', S'v' 5lyP<-"v "Apyos ■ 'Raiooos p^p to avvSpov, 'ApioTapxos 8e to TroXvivbd-qTov (di^ap
tenT'*0"""' ' A'6s P(PXaM^"ov tyai yap to pXafai. M. Schmidt in his ed.
9 Strab1Ve'y S,Uggests the inserti°n of 'HXiiSwpos (?) after the word 'H<r(oSos.
'%n a ' 371 "Apyos dvvSpov Ifo Aavaai Biaav "Apyos IvoSpov, cp. ib- 37° quoted
Epic tradition, which not improbably rested on Argive folk-
rnemory, associated Danaos and his daughters with the discovery of
a water-supply. This trait, and it alone, is involved in our earliest
reference to their myth. The Iliad speaks of Argos as polydipsion,
very thirsty1,' and Euripides calls it dipsian...chthona, a 'thirsty
land2.' Both phrases presumably allude to the fact that the streams
Jnachos {Panitzd) and Charadros {Xerias), which traverse the Argive
Plain, run dry for the greater part of the year3, so that there is need
t° make up for their lack of water by means of irrigation. But
ancient critics, finding Argos well-watered and fertile, were perplexed
by the Homeric epithet4. Eustathios5 finally offers us a choice of
explanations: 'Either because the Greeks thirsted for it6; or because
rhe myth says that it was once ill-watered but afterwards became
WeU-watered, when Poseidon caused the springs at Lerna to burst
forth through his love for Amymone,the namesake of the Amymonian
Waters7 at Argos; or it may be on account of the Dana'ides, who
came from Egypt and taught the digging of wells, as Hesiod8
observes—
Waterless Argos Danaos made well-watered.'
Strabon9, without naming the author, cites another version of the
ne, in which the 'Danaan maids' take the place of Danaos:
Waterless Argos Danaai made well-watered.
^ aPpears, then, that a Hesiodic line mentioned Danaos as the cause
1 11
2 ■ 4- 171 > cp. Hesych. s.v. Sv//tm> Apyos, Eustath. tn Dionys. per. 419.
3 Eur. Ale. 56o.
4 G. Hirschfeld in Paulj—Wissowa Real-Eiic. ii. 730.
t\' 1 37° Te/>i 8e twv p.v0evop.h'oiv Trrjywv dp-qrai., 5i6ti irKaap-aTa ■woit)tS>v IvtI'
f ^M S* Kai to "Apyos HvvSpov—Oeol 5' at Biffav "Apyos &vv8pov (A. Meineke accepts
ijyj. **'s cj. "Apyoj avvdpov eov Aavaai dloav 'Apyos (vvSpov, cp. Strab. 371 quoted
""an 11 , C^ T^s Te X^pas KoiXijs ota-qs Kai irorafioh Siappeopevys Kal H\r) Kal \lfivas
^oXeus ^viropovp^vrjs vdaai tppedrujv iroXXCov Kai tiriiroXaiwv. afriGivTai
ijT0l , a7raTVS to " Kat kcv iXiyx^Tos Tt6Xvb"i-J/iov "Apyos Ikolpiiv" (II. 4. 171). tovto 8'
5 -p T0U 7ro^vr6drp-oi> Kcirai, rj xwpis tov d woXvtyiov, k.t.X.
S0uid ,stath- »'« II- P- 461, 3 ff., cp. schol. T., schol. B. L., and schol. A. D. //. 4. 171,
8 ""oWtytcw, et. mag. p. 681, 4 ff.
Atrip. esPerate guess of Aristarchos (Hesych. s.v. Styiov "Apyos quoted infra n. 8, cp.
> 433E).
8 Jur; Phoen. 188 f.
^esych6S" ^ ^inkel, 24 Rzach "Apyos avvSpov tbv Aavabs iro'n)<rev Ifvdpov, cp.
yip Ti ', S'v' 5lyP<-"v "Apyos ■ 'Raiooos p^p to avvSpov, 'ApioTapxos 8e to TroXvivbd-qTov (di^ap
tenT'*0"""' ' A'6s P(PXaM^"ov tyai yap to pXafai. M. Schmidt in his ed.
9 Strab1Ve'y S,Uggests the inserti°n of 'HXiiSwpos (?) after the word 'H<r(oSos.
'%n a ' 371 "Apyos dvvSpov Ifo Aavaai Biaav "Apyos IvoSpov, cp. ib- 37° quoted