the cock and the hen of Conrad Gessner - Historiae animalium liber III

¶ Animalia. Κώκαλον, {vetustum} <vetusta> et species gallinacei, Hesychius et Varin. Κώκαλος etiam nomen proprium est, Varin.[1] Persae etiam corvos alectoridas vocant, Hermolaus nescio quo authore. Pausanias quidem in Boeotia gallinaceos quosdam coraxos, id est atro corvorum colore esse scribit[2]. Upupam etiam ἀλεκτρυόνα et γέλασον vocant, Hesych. et Varinus. Cancer Heracleoticus vulgo apud Italos gallus marinus, gallo de mare, nominatur, quod eius chelae cristam galli referant, Pet. Bellonius[3]. Piscis quidam ad Oceanum Germanicum, gobiis congener, ex pictura conijcio, vulgo Seehan, id est gallus marinus vocitatur[4].	¶ Animals. Køkalon is also an old breed of chicken, Hesychius and Varinus. Cocalus is also a personal name Varinus. Persians call alektorídes also the crows, Ermolao Barbaro, I don't know according to what source. In reality Pausanias writes that in Boeotia there are some coraxoí chickens, that is, having the black color of the crows. They call the hoopoe also as alektryóna and ghélason, Hesychius and Varinus. The crab of Heraclea by Italians is commonly said gallus marinus, rooster of sea, since its claws remember the comb of the rooster, Pierre Belon. A fish of the same genus of the gobies living in the neighborhood of Germanic Ocean - North Sea, is commonly called Seehahn, that is, sea rooster, and I think that they call it in this way because of its mottling.
¶ Gallus matricis, id est mola matricis, Sylvaticus[5]. Amatus Lusitanus lib. I. Curationum Medicinalium[6] meminit mulieris quae geminos utero gestans quinto mense abortivit, et tertio a primo abortu die, frustum quoddam carnis emisit, galli cristae cum rostro gallinaceo simile.	¶ The uterine cock - the maternal cock, that is the uterine mole - maternal mole, Matteo Silvatico. Amatus Lusitanus - alias João Rodriguez do Castelo Branco - in 1^st book of Curationes Medicinales makes mention of a woman who, while carrying twins in uterus, aborted in the fifth month, and three days after the first abortion brought forth a piece of flesh resembling a cock's comb with a chicken's beak.
¶ Icones. Asis (regio puto sic dicta) puerum delphino insidentem numis insculpebat, Dardanis gallorum pugnam, Pollux lib. 9. et Caelius[7]. Persarum rex Artaxerxes Cyri iunioris percussori ex Caria, virtutis praemium contribuit, uti in prima acie gallum aureum in hastae gestaret apice[8]. Nam Câras omnes Persae ἀλεκτρυόνας dicunt, id est gallos, propter cristas quas in galeis surrectas habent, Caelius.	¶ Portrayals. The Asians (I think that Asis is the so-called Asian region) impressed on coins a boy setting on a dolphin, the Dardanians - the Trojans - portrayed a fight of roosters, Julius Pollux in 9^th book of Onomastikón and Lodovico Ricchieri. Artaxerxes II king of Persians to that Carian fellow who had wounded Cyrus the Younger, conferred as prize for his cleverness to bring in the first formation’s ranks a gold rooster on the point of his spear. In fact the Persians call all the Carians alektryónas, that is roosters, because of the erect crests they have on helmets, Lodovico Ricchieri.
¶ In Apollinis Delphici templo chirotechnae (id est opifices manuarii) frigida quaedam et curiosa fecerunt, ut qui manui Apollinis gallinaceum imposuit, ut horam matutinam et tempus instantis ortus designaret, Plutarchus in libro Cur Pythia non amplius carmine respondeat.	¶ In the temple of Apollo of Delphi the chirotechnae (that is, the workers using hands) did some silly and curious things, as that fellow who put on the hand of Apollo a rooster so that it was pointing out the morning and the moment of the imminent sunrise, Plutarch in the book Cur Pythia not amplius carmine respondeat or On Pythian oracles.
¶ Lapis Eislebanus aliquando galli effigiem refert, Georg. Agricola. In arce Eleorum Minervae simulacrum est, cuius galeae gallinaceus insidet, Pausanias[9]. vide infra in h.	¶ Sometimes the stone of Eisleben is carrying the portrait of a rooster, Georg Bauer. On the acropolis of the inhabitants of Elis there is a statue of Minerva, on whose helmet a cock is roosting, Pausanias. See more ahead at the paragraph h.
¶ Athenienses Anterotis aram constituerunt, in qua pueri nudi et formosi signum inerat, in ulnis geminos sustinentis generosos gallos, et se in caput impellentis, quibus Timagoram et {Meletum} <Meletem>[10], seu Melitum[11] (utrunque enim legimus) qui amore perierunt, significabant. Historia notissima apud Pausaniam et Suidam: quanquam nonnihil inter se {e}varient, ille in Attica, hic in dictione Melitus, Gyraldus. Gestat autem puer gallinaceos: quod una cum duobus gallis, quos a Melito sibi dono datos ulnis gestabat, ex arce Athenis se praecipitasset. Pausanias aliter hanc historiam referens, gallinaceorum quoque non meminit.	¶ The Athenians built the altar of Anteros on which there was the portrait of a naked and attractive little boy keeping on forearms a couple of purebred roosters, and who was jumping down headlong, by which they were indicating Timagoras and Meles, or Melitus (in fact we find both names) who both died for love. The history is quite well known in Pausanias and in lexicon Suidas, although rather disagreeing each other: Pausanias in Attica, the lexicon Suidas at the entry Mélitos, Giglio Gregorio Giraldi. In fact the little boy brings the roosters: since he would have thrown himself in Athens from the acropolis along with both roosters he was carrying on forearms and which had been given him by Melitus as present. Pausanias, reporting otherwise this history, doesn't mention the roosters too.
¶ In excelsarum turrium apicibus gallinacei icon ex orichalco conflata, et inaurata plerunque, imponi solet, lamina ad ventum versatili. Vide Emblema Alciati quod in fine historiae galli recitabitur.	¶ On the tops of highest towers the image of a brass-cast rooster, and mostly gilded with gold, is usually placed, applied on a vane turning in the wind. See the emblem of Andrea Alciato - Vigilantia et custodia - which will be quoted at the end of rooster's history.
¶ Propria .Auctor {Nicander}[12] <Aelianus> est, Secundum, qui pincerna regius fuit in Bithynia, a gallo amatum eximie cui nomen foret Centaurus, Caelius.	¶ Proper names. The author is ~~Nicander~~ Aelian: A servant, who in Bithynia was cup bearer of the king - Nicomedes, was uncommonly loved by a rooster whose name was Centaur, Lodovico Ricchieri.
¶ Alectryon nomen proprium viri Iliados ρ. non servat ο. magnum in obliquis, {ἠλεκτρύων} <Ἠλεκτρύων> vero paroxytonum servat, Eustathius[13]. Υἱὸν Ἀλεκτρυόνος μεγαθύμου, Homerus[14].	¶ Alectryon - Ἀλεκτρυών, proper name of a man in the 17^th canto of the Iliad, doesn't keep the omega in the inflected forms, on the contrary Ëlektrýøn - Electryon - who is paroxytone is keeping it, Eustathius of Thessalonica. Yiòn Alektryónos megathoúmou - The son of Alectryon the brave, Homer.
¶ Electryon memoratur Amphitryonis {pater et filius} <patruus et frater>[15] Alcei, ut testis est Hesiodus in Aspide.	¶ Electryon uncle of Amphitryon and brother of Alceus is mentioned, as is witness Hesiod in the Shield.
¶ Alector filius fuit Argeae filii Pelopis et Hegesandrae filiae Amiclae (τῆς Ἀμύκλα,) cuius filia Iphiloche vel Echemelus (Ἐχέμηλος) Megapenthi filio Menelai nupta fuit, Eustathius. Fuit et alius Alector filius Epei regis Elidis, etc. Eustathius in secundum Iliados[16].	¶ Alector has been a son of Argeios son of Pelops and Hegesandra who was daughter of Amicla (tês Amýkla), whose daughter - of Alector - Iphiloche, or Echemela (Echémëlos), was bride of Megapenthes son of Menelaus, Eustathius of Thessalonica. Also another Alector, child of Epeus king of Elis, etc., Eustathius in the 2^nd book ad Iliadem.
¶ Adaeus quidam Philippi militum peregrinorum dux, {ἀλεκτρυὼν} <Ἀλεκτρυὼν> cognominabatur. Meminit eius Heraclides Comicus his versibus: Ἀλεκτρυόνα τὸν τοῦ Φιλίππου παραλαβὼν \| Ἀωρὶ κοκκύζοντα, καὶ πλανώμενον \| Κατέκοψεν· οὐ γὰρ εἶχεν οὐδέπω λόφον. \| Ἕνα κατακόψας μάλα συχνοὺς ἐδείπνισε \| Χάρης Ἀθηναίους. ut Athenaeus citat libro 12. nam hic Chares (inquit Eustathius) Athenienses in foro epulis excepit, cum sacrificaret epinicia propter pugnam prospere contra Philippi peregrinos milites gestam. dicit autem illum intempestive cecinisse (ἀωρὶ κοκκύσαι) eo quod pugnam intempestive aggressus sit: et nondum cristam habuisse, hoc est inermem adhuc periculo se exposuisse. Vide infra in proverbio Philippi gallus.	¶ A certain Adeus, commander of the foreign soldiers of Phillip II, was nicknamed Alektryøn. Heraclides the comedy writer mentioned him with these verses: Alektryóna tòn toû Philíppou paralabøn \| Aørì kokkýzonta kaì planømenon \| Katékopsen; ou gàr eîchen oudépø lóphon. \| Héna katakópsas mála sychnoùs edeípnise \| Chárës Athënaíous. – After he caught the Rooster of Phillip while singing early, he tore it asunder while strolling about; in fact he didn't have yet the comb. Chares after had cut his comb asked to dinner a lot of Athenians. - As Athenaeus quotes in the 12^th book. In fact this Chares (Eustathius of Thessalonica says) had the Athenians as guests for dinner in the agora, since he was offering in sacrifice the funeral songs because of the battle successfully carried out against the foreign troops of Phillip. In fact he says that he - Alektryøn - sang out of time (aørì kokkýsai) since he undertook the battle before time: and he didn't yet have on himself the comb - the crest of the helmet, and, that is, he exposed himself to the danger without having protected himself in advance. See ahead – at page 410 - apropos of the proverb The rooster of Phillip.
¶ Alectryon quidam adolescens Marti acceptus fuit, quem Mars aliquando cum Venere concubiturus in domo Vulcani pro vigile secum ducebat, ut si quis appareret, Sol oriens praesertim, indicaret. ille vero somno victus cum Solis ortum non indicasset, Mars a Vulcano deprehensus et irretitus est. qui postea dimissus, Alectryoni iratus in avem eum mutavit una cum armis quae prius gerebat, ita ut pro galea cristam haberet. Itaque memor deinceps huius rei alectryon, etiam nunc ales, id tempus quo Sol prope ortum est, quo scilicet Vulcanus domum reverti solebat, cantu designat. Fabulam memorant Lucianus[17], et ex eo interpretatus Caelius Rhodiginus, et Aristophanis Scholiastes, et Eustathius in octavum Odysseae[18], et Varinus. Alectryonem aliquando Martis ministrum et militem fuisse etiamnum testantur, crista, animositas, calcaria, ut rhetor quidam scripsit. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τῆς ὕστερον μυθοποιητικῆς οὐ σεμνόν ἐστι λάλημα, Eustathius. Alectryon olim tyrannidem gessit, et Persis primus imperavit, etiam ante Darium et {Megabyzum} <Megabazum>[19]: unde etiamnum ab illo imperio Persica avis appellatur, Pisthetaerus apud Aristoph. in Avibus[20]. Ubi Scholiastes, Forte etiam in praecedentibus (inquit) alectryóna vocat Medium avem. nam Persas quoque Medos vocabant. Mox autem subdit {Epops} <Euelpis>, Hinc est nimirum quod adhuc instar magni regis, cyrbasiam (tiaram) in capite solus avium rectam gerens. Quanquam enim (inquit Scholiastes) Persae omnes tiaram ferrent, solis tamen regibus erectam ferre fas erat: caeteris complicata erat vel in frontem prona vergebat, ut Clitarchus tradit. Adeo vero praepotens (inquit Caelius) et formidolosum fuisse illud imperium aiunt, ut nunc quoque avibus id genus diluculo praecinentibus, prosiliant ad opera omnes ceu mulctam veriti.	¶ Alectryon, a youth, was an intimate friend of Mars, and Mars, when was about to go to bed with Venus in the house of Volcano, sometimes was bringing him along to act as sentinel, so that he was warning if someone had appeared, overall the Sun when rising. But, overcome by sleep, since he didn't announce the rising Sun, Mars was captured by Volcano and wound in a net. Afterwards freed, angry towards Alectryon, he changed him into a bird along with weapons he was carrying before, so that in place of the crest he found a comb. So from that moment, mindful of this event, alectryon - the rooster, still today a bird, points out with the song that moment in which the Sun is about to rise, that is, when Volcano usually went back to house. Are telling this fable Lucian and Lodovico Ricchieri who translated it from his text, and the expounder of Aristophanes, and Eustathius of Thessalonica in the commentary of the 8^th book of the Odyssey and Varinus. That once Alectryon has been minister and soldier of Mars, still today are testifying this the comb, the combativeness and the spurs, as a rhetor wrote. Allà toûto tês hústeron mythopoiëtikês ou semnón esti lálëma - But this following content of the fable is not faithful, Eustathius. Once Alectryon reigned as tyrant, and he has been the first ruling Persians, also before Darius and Megabazus: that's why still now from that rule the rooster is named Persian bird, Pisthetaerus in the Birds of Aristophanes. In this regard the expounder says: Perhaps in the previous works he calls the alectryøn also as Median bird. For they called the Persians also as Medians. And suddenly Euelpis adds: That's why still now it alone among birds is carrying on head the upright cyrbasia (the tiara) as the big king. In fact (the expounder says) even though all Persians brought a tiara, only the kings were allowed to carry it upright: for the other persons it was refolded or was hanging on forehead, as Clitarchus of Colophon is handing down. Lodovico Ricchieri says: they report that that empire has been powerful and terrible to such an extent that still now when the birds of this kind sing at dawn, all the people rush to the job as if fearing a punishment.
¶ Cornelius Gallus, poetae veteris nomen. ¶ Gallus, gentile a Gallia. ¶ Est et Gallus fluvius Phrygiae, cuius aqua furorem [405] inducit.	¶ Cornelius Gallus, name of an ancient poet.¶ Gallus – Gaul – stands for foreigner, native from Gaul. ¶ Gallus is also a Phrygian river whose water makes mad.


	404

[1] In Hesychii Dictionarium (Venetiis in Aedibus Aldi & Andreae Soceri Mense Augusto MDXIIII) troviamo Κώκαλον, παλαιὸν καὶ εἶδος ἀλεκτρυῶνος, che a mio avviso non andrebbe tradotto con vetustum et species gallinacei, bensì con vetusta et species gallinacei, che in italiano suona: Køkalon è pure un'antica razza di pollo. Pertanto si emenda il testo di Gessner del quale non conosciamo la fonte, salvo trattarsi di una sua traduzione assai discutibile dal punto di vista sintattico. § Per la citazione di Guarino, così recita il lessico Suida: Κώκαλος, ὄνομα κύριον. Tradotto in italiano suonerebbe: Køkalos, nome di una persona che ha potere. In effetti il mitico re della Sicilia si chiamava Cocalo.

[2] L’aggettivo greco koraxós significa del colore del corvo, di colore nero. Il sostantivo kórax, genitivo kórakos, denota il corvo. - Pausania Periegesi della Grecia IX, Beozia, 22. 4. “Here [in Tanagra] there are two breeds of cocks, the fighters and the blackbirds, as they are called. The size of these blackbirds is the same as that of the Lydian birds, but in colour they are like crows [like a crow - kòraki = to a crow], while wattles and comb are very like the anemone. They have small, white markings on the end of the beak and at the end of the tail.” (translation by W.H.S. Jones) - “Qui [a Tanagra] ci sono due razze di galli, i combattenti e i merli, come sono chiamati. Le dimensioni di questi merli sono le stesse di quelle degli uccelli [dei polli, delle galline] della Lidia, ma nel colore essi sono simili a un corvo[kòraki], mentre i bargigli e la cresta sono molto simili all’anemone; essi posseggono dei piccoli segni bianchi sulla punta del becco e all’estremità della coda.” (traduzione Elio Corti) - Ἔστι δὲ καὶ γένη δύο ἐνταῦθα ἀλεκτρυόνων, οἵ τε μἁχιμοι καὶ οἱ κόσσυφοι καλούμενοι. Τούτων τῶν κοσσύφων μέγεθος μὲν κατὰ τοὺς Λυδούς ἐστιν ὄρνιθας, χρόα δὲ ἐμφερὴς κόρακι, κάλλαια δὲ καὶ ὁ λόφος κατὰ ἀνεμώνην μάλιστα· λευκὰ δὲ σημεῖα οὐ μεγάλα ἐπὶ τε ἄκρῳ τῷ ῥάμφει καὶ ἐπὶ ἄκρας ἔχουσι τῆς οὐρᾶς.

[3] Se Gessner non conosceva il granchio orso di Rondelet corrispondente all'omonimo di Aristotele e al granchio di Eraclea di Belon con le chele a cresta di gallo (quasi certamente la Calappa granulata, sottordine Brachyura), il perché potrebbe risiedere nel fatto che il De piscibus marinis di Guillaume Rondelet veniva pubblicato nel 1554, quindi solo un anno prima del suo trattato di ornitologia, per cui Gessner non aveva magari avuto il tempo di sfogliarlo e di rendersi conto dell'erronea nomenclatura di Belon.

[4] Accade l'esatto contrario di quanto avviene per il pollo dal piumaggio barrato. Nel caso del Seehan citato da Gessner il pesce, il ghiozzo (Gobius niger), diventa un gallo di mare screziato, speckled o mottled in inglese. Nel caso della variante crele del piumaggio barrato del pollo, è invece il pollo a diventare un pesce, cioè il pollo sgombro, in quanto il termine crele fa proprio riferimento a un pesce, e precisamente allo sgombro comune - Scomber scombrus - che ha diversi sinonimi: scombro, lacerto, maccarello. Paragonando i due sgombri conosciuti – l'altro è lo sgombro spagnolo (Scomberomorus maculatus), che è maculato e non barrato - è proprio il maccarello a essere dotato della barratura trasversale migliore, e maccarello in tedesco suona in modo del tutto simile a crele, almeno nella grafia: Makrele. – Per ulteriori dati e per l'iconografia si veda Summa Gallicana III,4,6 al paragrafo Crele; III,1,5.8 al paragrafo Screziato/Speckled; III,4,5 al paragrafo Pomellato/Mottled.

[5] Matthaeus Silvaticus Opus Pandectarum Medicinae (Mantua, 1474, 1475; Venice, 1480, 1488, 1498, 1499, 1511; Turin, 1526; Leyden, 1534, 1541). The many editions indicate the popularity of this work and others cited by Aldrovandi. (Lind, 1963)

[6] Amatus Lusitanus: a pseudonym for João Rodriguez do Castello [Castelo] Branco, who wrote Curationum Medicinalium Centuria Secunda, Venice, 1552; idem, Centuriae Quatuor, etc., Basle, 1556; various editions: Venice, 1557; Leyden, 1564, 1570; Bordeaux, 1620; Venice, 1653; Index Dioscoridis, Antwerp, 1536; In Dioscoridis de medica materia libros quinque enarrationes, Strassburg, 1554; Venice, 1557; Leyden, 1558. See footnote below on P. A. Matthiolus’ edition of Dioscorides and its accompanying attack on Amatus Lusitanus. (Lind, 1963)

[7] Un'interpretazione sul perché i Troiani raffigurassero galli in combattimento sulle monete ci viene offerta da Aldrovandi a pag. 305 del II volume di Ornithologia (1600): [...] quod ideo fecisse eos Pierius Valerianus recte existimat, quoniam magnum pugnacitatis decus sibi antiquitus usurparent. Hinc honoratum semper apud Maronem Dardaniae nomen, cum secus Phryges fere semper ceu imbelles notentur.

[8] Già citato a pagina 402. Plutarco Artaxerses 10,3. - [10] Dinon then affirms that, after the death of Artagerses, Cyrus, furiously attacking the guard of Artaxerxes, wounded the king's horse, and so dismounted him, and when Teribazus had quickly lifted him up upon another, and said to him, "O king, remember this day, which is not one to be forgotten," Cyrus, again spurring up his horse, struck down Artaxerxes. But at the third assault the king being enraged, and saying to those near him that death was more eligible, made up to Cyrus, who furiously and blindly rushed in the face of the weapons opposed to him. So the king struck him with a javelin, as likewise did those that were about him. And thus Cyrus falls, as some say, by the hand of the king; as others by the dart of a Carian, to whom Artaxerxes for a reward of his achievement gave the privilege of carrying ever after a golden cock upon his spear before the first ranks of the army in all expeditions. For the Persians call the men of Caria cocks, because of the crests with which they adorn their helmets. (translated by John Dryden)

[9] Periegesi della Grecia VI, Elide II, 26,3.

[10] Pausania Periegesi della Grecia Attica I,30,1. - Il nome greco di persona Mélës, Mélëtos, accusativo Mélëta, Melete in italiano, viene latinizzato da Giglio Gregorio Giraldi in Meletum anziché Meletem. Se la sua flessione latina corrisponde a quella del fiume della Ionia Meles, anche il nome di persona fa Meletem all’accusativo. La conferma l'abbiamo da Ludwig Dindorf alias Ludovicus Dindorfius (Lipsia 1805-1871), che pubblicò il Pausaniae descriptio Graeciae a Parigi nel 1845: al nominativo scrive Meles, all'accusativo Meletem. - Ecco il testo di Pausania in traduzione inglese, Description of Greece I, Attica, 30,1: Before the entrance to the Academy is an altar to Love, with an inscription that Charmus was the first Athenian to dedicate an altar to that god. The altar within the city called the altar of Anteros (Love Avenged) they say was dedicated by resident aliens, because the Athenian Meles, spurning the love of Timagoras, a resident alien, bade him ascend to the highest point of the rock and cast himself down. Now Timagoras took no account of his life, and was ready to gratify the youth in any of his requests, so he went and cast himself down. When Meles saw that Timagoras was dead, he suffered such pangs of remorse that he threw himself from the same rock and so died. From this time the resident aliens worshipped as Anteros the avenging spirit of Timagoras. (Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D. in 4 Volumes. Volume 1. Attica and Corinth, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1918)

[11] Melitus corrisponde al greco Mélitos del lessico Suida.

[12] The reference to Nicander is a false one since there is no mention of Gallus in the latest edition of his Theriaca and Alexipharmaca by A. S. F. Gow and A. F. Scholfield (Cambridge University Press, 1953); both stories of Gallus and Centoarates are in Aelian. (Lind, 1963) - Infatti non è Nicandro, bensì Eliano, La natura degli animali XII 37, la fonte del gallo di nome Centauro: Un gallo di nome Centauro si innamorò del coppiere di un re (il re era Nicomede di Bitinia). Questa storia ci è stata tramandata da Filone. (traduzione di Francesco Maspero) – La causa prima dell'errata citazione è Lodovico Ricchieri. Mai fidarsi troppo!

[13] Eustazio, pag. 1120,12 (ad Iliadem XVII 602): Óti Alektryøn kýrion keîtai entaûtha ou phylássøn tò ø en të_i genikê_i høs Ëlektrýøn.

[14] There is a marginal reference to Homer Iliad, Book 17; this must be to line 602: “great-hearted son of Alectryon,” the only reference in Homer to the word for chicken in Greek, although a proper name here. (Lind, 1963)

[15] Grande bagarre! Elettrione e Alceo erano fratelli, figli di Perseo. Anfitrione era figlio di Alceo, quindi era nipote di Elettrione, quindi Elettrione era zio di Anfitrione per via paterna – patruus in latino. Nello Scudo di Esiodo troviamo Elettrione Ἠλεκτρύων e sua figlia Alcmena, che talora va sotto il nome di Ἀλκμήνη, talora sotto quello di Ἠλεκτρυώνη, cioè Elettriona, la figlia di Ἠλεκτρύων. – Si emenda pater con patruus e filius con frater.

[16] s. v. Aléktør, ad Iliadem II 615, p. 303; ad Odysseam IV 3-10, p. 1479, 21. Vedi W. H. Roscher, Ausfuehrliches Lexikon der griech. u. roem. Mythologie, s.v. Alektor.

[17] Il sogno ovvero il gallo - Òneiros ë alektryøn.

[18] Omero Odissea 8,274 sgg. (Francesco Maspero, 1998)

[19] Gessner potrebbe aver dedotto l'errore da qualche testo come quello di Aldo Manuzio del 1498 che riporta: πρῶτον πάντων δαρείου καὶ μεγαβύζου.

[20] La notizia che un certo Alektryøn fu tiranno dei Persiani prima di tutti, anche di Dario I e di Megabazo, viene dalla commedia di Aristofane Gli uccelli, 483.