Task: sowing dragon's teeth

Motif

Task: sowing dragon's teeth.

Tests. · Tests of prowess: tasks. · Nature of tasks. · Impossible or absurd tasks. · Tasks contrary to laws of nature. · view the constellation · filed as H1024.5

ask the rhapsode about this motif →

“Tiphys, son of Hagnias, who steered the ship; Orpheus, son of Oeagrus; Zetes and Calais, sons of Boreas ; Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus ; Telamon and Peleus, sons of Aeacus; Hercules, son of Zeus; Theseus, son of Aegeus; Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus; Ampbhiaraus, son of Oicles; Caeneus, son of Coronus; Palaemon, son of Hephaestus or of Aetolus ; Cepheus, son of Aleus ; Laertes son of Arci- sius; Autolycus, son of Hermes;…”

— The Library (Bibliotheca), BOOK I, ch. IX · served from our shelf uncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan

On our shelf — the index’s citations, resolved to served chapters

GreekThe Library (Bibliotheca), BOOK I, ch. IXThompson cites: Frazer Apollodorus I 109 n. 4.

Scholars’ trail — 1reference

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

GreekFrazer Apollodorus I 109 n. 4. → on our shelf: The Library (Bibliotheca), BOOK I, ch. IX

Within the index

Filed under Tasks contrary to the nature of animals.

Filed beside it

Task: milking a bull Task: placing frogs in a tree Task: chasing a hare into every trap in a high tree Task: teaching an ass to read Task: procuring bird out of season Task: teaching animal to speak Task: spinning wool still on goat's back

Keeps company with — shares receipted episodes

Sleepless dragon Brazen-footed, fire-breathing bulls. (Cf. B15.6, B15.5)Animal languages learned from serpent (not eaten). (Cf. B176.)Bird language Grateful animals Helpful serpent Tabu: falsely claiming the powers of a god Transformation and disenchantment at will Power of self-transformation received from a god Magic ship. (Cf. D1121.)Magic drug renders invulnerable. (Cf. D1240.)Symplegades. Rocks that clash together at intervals. (Cf. D931.)

wander