Αἶψα τε Λυγκεὺς Ταΰγετον προσέβαινε ποσὶν ταχέεσσι πεποιθὼς, Ἀκρότατον δ᾽ ἀναβὰς διεδέρκετο νῆσον ἅπασαν Τανταλίδεω Πέλοπος. Also the Homeric Hymn. Apoll. 419, 430, and Tyrtæus, Fragm. 1.— (~Εὐνομία~)—Εὐρεῖαν Πέλοπος νῆσον ἀφικόμεθα. The Schol. ad Iliad, ix. 246, intimates that the name Πελοπόννησος occurred in one or more of the Hesiodic epics. [361] Iliad, ix. 37. Compare ii. 580. Diomêdês addresses Agamemnôn— Σοὶ δὲ διάνδιχα δῶκε Κρόνου παῖς ἀγκυλομήτεω· Σκήπτρῳ μέν τοι δῶκε τετιμῆσθαι περὶ πάντων· Ἀλκὴν δ᾽ οὔ τοι δῶκεν, ὅ,τε κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον. A similar contrast is drawn by Nestôr (Il. i. 280) between Agamemnôn and Achilles. Nestôr says to Agamemnôn (Il. ix. 69)— Ἀτρείδη, σὺ μὲν ἄρχε· σὺ γὰρ ~βασιλεύτατός~ ἐσσι. And this attribute attaches to Menelaus as well as to his brother. For when Diomêdês is about to choose his companion for the night expedition into the Trojan camp, Agamemnôn thus addresses him (x. 232): Τὸν μὲν δὴ ἕταρόν γ᾽ αἱρήσεαι, ὅν κ᾽ ἐθέλῃσθα Φαινομένων τὸν ἄριστον, ἐπεὶ μεμάασί γε πολλοί· Μηδὲ σύ γ᾽ αἰδόμενος σῇσι φρεσὶ, τὸν μὲν ἀρείω Καλλείπειν, σὺ δὲ χείρον᾽ ὀπάσσεαι αἰδοῖ εἴκων Ἐς γενεὴν ὁρόων, εἰ καὶ βασιλεύτερός ἐστιν. Ὡς ἔφατ᾽, ἔδδεισε δὲ περὶ ξανθῷ Μενελάῳ. [362] Iliad, ii. 101. We have here the unrivalled wealth and power of the “king of men, Agamemnôn,” traced up to his descent from Pelops, and accounted for, in harmony with the recognized epical agencies, by the present of the special sceptre of Zeus through the hands of Hermês; the latter being the wealth-giving god, whose blessing is most efficacious in furthering the process of acquisition, whether by theft or by accelerated multiplication of flocks and herds.[363] The wealth and princely character of the Atreids were proverbial among the ancient epic poets. Paris not only carries away Hellen, but much property along with her:[364] the house of Menelaus, when Têlemachus visits it in the Odyssey, is so resplendent with gold and silver and rare ornament,[365] as to strike the beholder with astonishment and admiration. The attributes assigned to Tantalus, the father of Pelops, are in conformity with the general idea of the family—superhuman abundance and enjoyments, and intimate converse with the gods, to such a degree that his head is turned, and he commits inexpiable sin. But though Tantalus himself is mentioned, in one of the most suspicious passages of the Odyssey (as suffering punishment in the under-world), he is not announced, nor is any one else announced, as father of Pelops, unless we are to construe the lines in the Iliad as implying that the latter was son of Hermês. In the conception of the author of the Iliad, the Pelopids are, if not of divine origin, at least a mortal breed specially favored and ennobled by the gods—beginning with Pelops, and localized at Mykênæ. No allusion is made to any connection of Pelops