[234] Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, King of Thebes and mother of Heracles.--Semelé, the daughter of Cadmus and Hermioné and mother of Bacchus; both seduced by Zeus.--Alopé, daughter of Cercyon, a robber, who reigned at Eleusis and was conquered by Perseus. Alopé was honoured with Posidon's caresses; by him she had a son named Hippothous, at first brought up by shepherds but who afterwards was restored to the throne of his grandfather by Theseus. [235] Because the bald patch on the coot's head resembles the shaven and depilated 'motte.' [236] Because water is the duck's domain, as it is that of Posidon. [237] Because the gull, like Heracles, is voracious. [238] The Germans still call it _Zaunkönig_ and the French _roitelet_, both names thus containing the idea of _king_. [239] The Scholiast draws our attention to the fact that Homer says this of Heré and not of Iris (Iliad, V. 778); it is only another proof that the text of Homer has reached us in a corrupted form, or it may be that Aristophanes was liable, like other people, to occasional mistakes of quotation. [240] In sacrifices. [241] An Athenian proverb. [242] A celebrated temple to Zeus in an oasis of Libya. [243] Nicias was commander, along with Demosthenes, and later on Alcibiades, of the Athenian forces before Syracuse, in the ill-fated Sicilian Expedition, 415-413 B.C. He was much blamed for dilatoriness and indecision. [244] Servants of Pisthetaerus and Euelpides. [245] It has already been mentioned that, according to the legend followed by Aristophanes, Procné had been changed into a nightingale and Philomela into a swallow. [246] The actor, representing Procné, was dressed out as a courtesan, but wore the mask of a bird. [247] Young unmarried girls wore golden ornaments; the apparel of married women was much simpler. [248] The actor, representing Procné, was a flute-player. [249] The parabasis. [250] A sophist of the island of Ceos, a disciple of Protagoras, as celebrated for his knowledge as for his eloquence. The Athenians condemned him to death as a corrupter of youth in 396 B.C. [251] Lovers were wont to make each other presents of birds. The cock and the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest. [252] i.e. that it gave notice of the approach of winter, during which season the Ancients did not venture to sea. [253] A notorious robber. [254] Meaning, "_We are your oracles._"--Dodona was an oracle in Epirus.--The temple of Zeus there was surrounded by a dense forest, all the trees of which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; both the sacred oaks and the pigeons that lived in them answered the questions of those who came to consult the oracle in pure Greek. [255] The Greek word for _omen_ is the same as that for _bird_--[Greek: ornis]. [256] A satire on the passion of the Greeks for seeing an omen in everything. [257] An imitation of the nightingale's song. [258] God of the groves and wilds.