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Get: Rutherford 2001, pp. 343, 344; + pages mentioned in index

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Ancient

Lycophron

Alexandra

1211 (Mair, pp. 594, 595)

the land of the Aonians^f to be their saviour, when they are harassed by an armed host which seeks to sack their land and the shrine of Tenerus.^g

^f Boeotians.

^g Son and priest of Ptoian Apollo in Boeotia.

Higher up than the Ismenian sanctuary you may see the fountain which they say is sacred to Ares, and they add that a dragon was posted by Ares as a sentry over the spring. By this fountain is the grave of Caanthus. They say that he was brother to Melia [Μελίας] and son to Ocean, and that he was commissioned by his father to seek his sister, who had been carried away. Finding that Apollo had Melia [Μελίαν], and being unable to get her from him, he dared to set fire to the precinct of Apollo that is now called the Ismenian sanctuary. The god, according to the Thebans, shot him.

9.10.6

Here then is the tomb of Caanthus. They say that Apollo had sons by Melia [Μελίας], to wit, Tenerus and Ismenus [Ἰσμηνόν]. To Tenerus Apollo gave the art of divination, and from Ismenus the river got its name. Not that the river was nameless before, if indeed it was called Ladon before Ismenus was born to Apollo.

9.26.1

So sacred this sanctuary has been from the beginning. On the right of the sanctuary is a plain named after Tenerus the seer, whom they hold to be a son of Apollo by Melia [Μελίας];

Pindar

Pythian

11.1–6 (Race, pp. 380, 381)

Daughters of Cadmus, you, Semele, neighbor

of the Olympian goddesses, and you, Ino Leucothea,

who share the chambers of the Nereid sea nymphs,

go with the most nobly born mother of Heracles

and join Melia [Μελίαν]³ at the treasury of the golden tripods, [4]

the sanctuary which Loxias⁴ especially honored

and named the Ismenion,⁵ the true seat of seers. [6]

3 Mother by Apollo of Tenerus and Ismenus (cf. Paus. 9.10).

4 Cult name of Apollo in his prophetic guise.

5 The temple of Apollo, named for his son Ismenus, famous for rendering oracles.

fr. 51d [= Strabo, 9.2.34]

Race, pp. 246, 247

51d Strabo, Geography of Greece. “And the same poet calls Tenerus”

the temple-tending seer with the same name as the plains

fr. 52g (Paean 7) Race, pp. 278, 279 = D7 (Pa. 7) Rutherford, pp. 338–339

Race, pp. 278, 279

FOR THE THEBANS TO . . . FOR . . .

(I come to?) the giver of divine oracles

and to the word-fulfilling

sanctuary of the god⁴⁷ . . . and to the splendid hall

of Oceanus’ daughter . . . Melia [Μελίας] [4]

for Apollo at least

...

we speak of the hero Tenerus

of bulls

before the altar 15

. . . . . .

they sang a song

oracle

⁴⁷ Apollo. Tenerus, his son by Melia, was the prophet both of Apollo Ptoïus in the plain that bears his name and of Apollo Ismenius in Thebes (cf. Pyth. 11.4–6 and Pae. 9.41–46).

Rutherford, p. 339

MARGINAL TITLE. For the Thebans to . . . To the giver of divine oracles and the word-fulfilling shrine of the god ... and the bright court of Melia, the (rich-haired daughter) of Oceanus . . . for Apollo . . . running over the mountains . . . with gentle-spirited . . . to gleam (?) . . . pouring a drop of pa(eans?) . . . with the Kharites for me next to . . . on a sweet aulos . . . (me) going along the far-shining peak the hero called Tenerus . . . of bulls . . . in front of the altar . . . their voices sounded . . . (he made) an oracle.

fr. 52k 34–46 (Paean 9) Race, pp. 292–295 = A1 (Pa. IX) Rutherford, pp. 189–192

Race, pp. 292–295

I have been ordained by some divine . . .

to compose, beside the immortal couch [λέχει] of Melia [Μελίαν], [35]

a noble song with the pipe

and by the skills of my mind in your honor.

I entreat you, Far-Shooting god,

as I dedicate to the Muses’ arts

your oracle⁶⁶ . . . [40]

in which Melia [Μελία], daughter of Oceanus,

having shared your bed [λέχει], Pythian god,

bore mighty Tenerus, chosen prophet of oracles.

To him, unshorn father, you entrusted

the people of Cadmus and Zethus’ city⁶⁷ [45]

because of his wise courage.

For the sea god Wielder of the Trident

honored him above all mortals,

and he sped (his chariot) to the region of Euripus::⁶⁶ At the Ismenion in Thebes (schol.).

⁶⁷ Thebes, whose walls were built by Amphion and Zethus (cf. Od. 11.262–264).

Rutherford, pp. 191–192

I have been ordained by some fateful (sign?) near the immortal bed of Melia to link noble verses ... in which Oceanus' daughter Melia, joined with you in your bed, god of Pytho, once (?) bore Tenerus, broad in force, distinguished interpreter of oracles. To him, father with unshorn hair, you entrusted [p. 192] Cadmus' folk in the city of Zeathus on account of his temperate courage. For once the sea god who shakes the trident honoured him above all other men and directed [his chariot] towards the ground of Euripus.

Scholia on Pindar

Scholiast on Pindar Pythian 11.5–6 (Drachmann, pp. 254–255).

11.5 (Drachmann, p. 254)

5. ἴτε σὺν Ἡρακλέος ἀριστογόνῳ: ...

11.5 [cont.] (Drachmann, p. 255)

[1] σιν ό Πίνδαρος [Pindar] ... προσκαλέω [summons]

[2] ... Θήβησιν ἡρωίδας [Theban heroines] ...Ἰσμήνιον [Ismenion] ...

[3] Τενέρου [Tenerus]] ἱερόν [sacrifice (n.) / filled with (adj.)] εἰμί [sum] ... χρηστήριον. [an oracle/oracular] τριπόδων [tripods] ... θησαυρόν [store, treasure]

[4] ... Ἰσμήνιον [Ismenion]

Rutherford, p. 196 n. 22

For Tenerus' Theban connections see Dr iii. 255. 1 ff. ... ('He summons the heroines of Thebes to come to the Ismenion, in which is the sacred of Tenerus')

[5] ... ἡ [his/her?] δὲ [?] Μελία [Melia] Ἰσ-

[6] [Ἰσ]μηνυ ἀδελφὴ [Ismenus' sister] ὑπὸ [under the power of?] Ἀπόλλωνς [Apollo] φθαρεῖσα [ruined, raped?] χαἰ [his/her?] γεννήσασα [begat] Τε-

[7] [Τε]νέρον [Tenerus] ἀφ᾽ [without male heirs] οὗ [his/her? not?] ἐν [sum] Θηβαίς Τηνεριχὸν πεδίον [the Theban Teneric plain].

Larson, p. 304 n. 57

...Schol. Pind. Pyth 11.5–6 (Melia is sister of Ismenos and mother of Teneros).

11.6 (Drachmann, p. 255)

6. πὰρ Μελίαν χρυσέων: Μελία Ὠχεανοῦ θυγάτηρ, (Melia Oceanus' daughter) ἕξ (from out of?) ἧς χαἰ (her?)

Apollo

Teneros

ὁ (his/her?)

μάντις (prophet),

ὅς (his/her?)

παρ᾽ (beside)

Ismenus

τᾥ

ποταμῷ (river)

ἐμαντεύετο (devine, prophesy).

χαἰ (his/her?)

αὐτόθι (on the spot)

μαντεῖον (oracle)

εστιν (sum),

ὅ (his/her?)

Ismenion

χαλεῖται (?),

ἔστι (sum)

δὲ (but)

χαἰ (his/her?)

πηγὴ (spring)

ὁμώνυμος (having the same name)

τῇ (as?)

ήρωιδι ("the heroine", per Larson, p. 305 n. 58)

Fontenrose, p. 319

The Pindaric Scholiast (see note 83) agrees that Ismenos was Melia's brother, not her son, as Pausanias has it.

Larson, p. 304 n. 57

...Schol. Pind. Pyth 11.5–6 (Melia is sister of Ismenos and mother of Teneros).

Larson, p. 305

According to Schol. Pind. Pyth. 11.6, at the site of the Ismenion there is a spring with the name of "the heroine" Melia.

Strabo

9.2.34 [= Pindar frs. 51b & 51d (Race, pp. 246, 247)]

The Teneric Plain is named after Tenerus. In myth he was the son of Apollo by Melia [Μελίας], and was a prophet of the oracle on the Ptoüs Mountain, which the same poet [i.e. Pindar] calls three-peaked:

"and once he took possession of the three-peaked hollow of Ptoüs."

And he calls Tenerus

"temple minister, prophet, called by the same name as the plains."

The Ptoüs lies above the Teneric Plain and Lake Copais near Acraephium. Both the oracle and the mountain belonged to the Thebans. And Acraephium itself also lies on a height. They say that this is called Arne by the poet, the same name as the Thessalian city.

Tzetzes on Lycophron Alexandra 1211

1211 (Müller, p. 963)

[cited by Grimal, p. 512]

Modern

Grimal

s.v. Melia, p. 281

Melia (Μελια)

1. A daughter of Oceanus and a sister of Ismenus. After an affair with Apollo she gave birth to Ismenus and Tenarus [sic]. She was worshipped in the temple of Apollo Ismenius near Thebes and at Thebes there was a spring called after her

2. There was another daughter of Oceanus called Melia. She married Inachus by whom she had three sons, Aegialeus, Phegeus and Phoroneus (Table 17).

s.v. Tenerus, p. 439

Tenerus (Τήνερος) The king of Thebes, in Boeotia, and son of the nymph MELIA and Apollo. He was the brother of the hero Ismenus, who gave his name to the Boeotian river of that name. He was himself a priest of the temple of Apollo Ptoius and a famous soothsayer.

Hornblower

p. 433

1211. ... this is hardly more than a flowery way of saying 'Thebes' (or just possibly 'Boiotia' generally; see below). Teneros was son of Apollo as a result of his rape of Melia, daughter of Ocean, a story with an obvious appeal for Kassandra, who was another object of Apollo's lust. Teneros had an oracle at the Theban Ismenion: Σ Pi. P. 11. 5 (p. 255 Drachmann; cf. I. Rutherford 2001: 196 and n. 22). See also Pi. frag. 51d = Paian 9, A1 Rutherford, and frag. 51k = Paian 7, D7 Rutherford. His brother, parented in the same way, was Ismenos, eponym of the Theban river. The same name Teneros survived in antiquity, and still survives today, in the 'Teneric plain' due NW of Thebes, some way below the Ptoion, for which Apolline sanctuary see 265n. It has been thought, partly from location of the eponymous plain, that Teneros must have been somehow connected with the Ptoiuon) Strabo evidently thought so, 9. 2. 34, and cf. Schacter 1981-94: 1. 59, 3. 40, and many other scholars); but I. Rutherford 2001: 343-4 has challenged this, and is right to insist that hard linking evidence is in short supply. Actually the plain is much closer to Thebes than to the Ptoion (Barr. map 55 E4). In any case, the present context is firmly Theban, and neither Σ nor Tzetzes make any allusion to the Ptoion here. But 'Aonians' and 'Ektenoi' (1209 and 1212) signify 'Boiotians' more generally, so a similar wide extension is conceivable here too, if we decline to discard the speculative Ptoion connection altogether.

Larson

BU online version

BU pp. 40–41

The same theme of heroes as the progeny of nymphs and gods appears in Pindar, who tells of the Okeanid consort of Apollo, Melia. She bore to Apollo the sons [p. 41] Teneros, a prophet, and Ismenios, who gave his name to the local river and to the temple itself, the Ismenion (4.3.1).

BU p. 142

Tradition held that Ismenos, eponym of the Theban river and hill, and his brother Teneros, the seer of Apollo Ptoös and eponym of the Teneric plain, were offspring of Apollo and the Okeanid Melia.

BU p. 304

57. For Ismenos and Teneros, see Paus. 9.10.6, 9.26.1 (sons of Melia and Apollo); Pindar fr. 52k.41 (Teneros only); Schol. Pind. Pyth 11.5–6 (Melia is sister of Ismenos and mother of Teneros).

Rutherford

p. 161

the second triad [of Pindar fr. 52k Race] seems to describe the birth of the Theban prophet Tenerus, son of Apollo and Melia.

p. 189

A1 (Pa. IX) [= Pindar fr. 52k Race]

... [lines 1–20]

p. 190

... [lines 35–49]

p. 191

I have been ordained by some fateful (sign?) near the immortal bed of Melia to link noble verses ... in which Oceanus' daughter Melia, joined with you in your bed, god of Pytho, once (?) bore Tenerus, broad in force, distinguished interpreter of oracles. To him, father with unshorn hair, you entrusted [cont.]

p. 192

Cadmus' folk in the city of Zeathus on account of his temperate courage. For once the sea god who shakes the trident honoured him above all other men and directed [his chariot] towards the ground of Euripus.

p. 196

[the singer of Paean 9 states] his location, the child-bed of Melia, which must mean the Ismenion at Thebes;

The focus on the god and the oracle prepares the way for a narrative relating to the hero and seer Tenerus, who had connections with the Ismenion at Thebes and with Ptoion.²² His origins may have been in the so-called Teneric plain between Thebes and Mt. Phikion to the west.²³ In versions of the myth known from later sources Apollo abducted Melia and slew her brother Caanthus when he [cont.]

²² For Tenerus' Theban connections see Dr iii. 255. 1 ff. ... ('He summons the heroines of Thebes to come to the Ismenion, in which is the sacred of Tenerus'). For his Ptoian connections see on D7.

²³ Paus. 9.26. 1, Strabo 9. 2. 34, who cites Pin. fr. 51d for this connection (see below).

p. 197

came to rescue her. Apollo and Melia had two sons, Tenerus, the seer, and Ismenus, who gave his name to the Theban river.²⁴ The surviving part of the narrative in A1 supplies only the beginning of a story: Melia bore Tenerus, and Apollo entrusted to him the city of Thebes.

²⁴ Paus. 9.10.5; for the full range of versions see Schachter (1967), 4.

p. 339

[Paean 7:] MARGINAL TITLE. For the Thebans to . . . To the giver of divine oracles and the word-fulfilling shrine of the god ... and the bright court of Melia, the (rich-haired daughter) of Oceanus . . . for Apollo . . . running over the mountains . . . with gentle-spirited . . . to gleam (?) . . . pouring a drop of pa(eans?) . . . with the Kharites for me next to . . . on a sweet aulos . . . (me) going along the far-shining peak the hero called Tenerus . . . of bulls . . . in front of the altar . . . their voices sounded . . . (he made) an oracle.

p. 340

(1) line 1: μαντευμ̣άτ̣[ω]ν τε θεσπεσίων δοτῆρα. I take it that the reference is to a person not a place, and I suggest that Tenerus is the most appropriate referent.

p. 341

(3) ἀγλαάν τ᾿ ἐς αὐλάν | Ὠκεανοῖο̣[ ]υ Μελίας. This refers to the sanctuary of Melia, mother of Tenerus and Ismenus, who, as we know from A1. 35, gave birth where the Ismenion was later to be.

Schachter 1967

p. 4

Pindar refers to Teneros as the god's prophet.

The cult complex at the Ismenion consisted of Apollo, Melia, and their son Teneros, who are named by Pindar.²⁴

Teneros is the eponym of the Teneric Plain. According to Strabo, Pindar made Teneros prophet of the oracle at the Ptoion, and parts of the seventh Paian'' seem to associate Teneros with that oracle, as well as with Melia and the Ismenion. This may be a poetic way of asserting the fact of Theban controll over the Ptoion, by making the legendary prophet of the Ismenion the prophet of the other oracle.

It is rather odd to find the Teneric Plain in one place and Teneros in another. A possible explanation may be that Teneros was imported to the Ismenion from the countryside west of Thebes, and that the oracle was not originally Theban at all.

p. 5

We have to consider the possibility ... that [at the Ismenion] Apollo supplanted an earlier deity. ...There remains Teneros, the god's son and prophet. He seems to be the likeliest candidate.

Schachter 1981

p. 59

[Teneros] is linked genealogically with the Ismenion, and geographically with the plain west of Thebes which bears his name. He is also associated with the Ptoion, but how, it is noy clear, although Strabo (9.2.34 [413]:perpahs from Pindar) calls him a prophet of the Ptoion oracle. Ihave elsewhere tried to explain Teneros' role in the Teneric Plain, at the Ismenion and at the Ptoion.³ His presence at the Ptoion may be due solely to Pindar, and might reflect the Theban presence at the sanctuary during the fifth century.