Talk:Hyrieus

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User:Pmanderson is offering the reader the assertion "Hyreius was childless and a widower when he became the father of Orion" as if he were writing a tidbit of biography — and without giving his source, if it isn't simply Bulfinch's Mythology. The source of this fable is a late one (it's Ovid's Fasti actually), in a context that turns myth into the kind of anecdotal chatter that is dear to Bulfinch, to painters of rococo ceilings, and, apparently, to User:Pmanderson. --Wetman 02:06, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

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The ancient source is Hyginus, who is plainly independent of Ovid, and (according to his modern translators) relying on older sources. The modern source here is not Bullfinch, but Kerenyi - as Wetman should know. I find this incivility grating. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 14:17, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

And calling Ovid "late" compared to a genealogical figment from pseudo-Apollodorus is simply bizarre. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 15:24, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Ps-Hyginus declares his authority for the story of Hyrieus and the urine-birth of Orion to be the poets Pindar and Aristomachus (who is otherwise unknown). Presumably Ovid and Parthenius (the Greek tutor of Virgil) who both refer to the same myth used one or both of these sources as well. Since Pindar recites myths of the oral tradition, one can presume that this version has very old roots -- the fact that he places Hyrieus on the island of Chios rather than in Boeotia, suggests a north Aegean tradition. Multiple Orion myths are hardly surprising, star myths were highly localised. --Theranos 21:27, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Or Chios may indicate a confusion with Oenopion, as is not unlikely. But all this delves into the realm where our sources are conjecturing; which we should avoid if possible. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 15:31, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

• Probably Aristomachus of Soli, who wrote on bee-keeping. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:51, 21 June 2007 (UTC)