KUON KHRYSEOS was a golden dog set by Rhea to guard the infant god Zeus and his nurse the she-goat Amaltheia. Some say he was the same as Lailaps, the hound which Zeus first presented to Europa on Krete, and from her was passed on to King Minos, Prokris, Kephalos and Pandareos, before being placed amongst the stars as the Constellation Canis Major.
THE GOLDEN HOUND. Pandareus is said to have stolen the golden dog which Hephaestus had made, from the temple of Zeus in Crete, and to have carried it to Tantalus. When Zeus sent Hermes to Tantalus to claim the dog back, Tantalus declared that it was not in his possession.
The god, however, took the animal by force, and threw mount Sipylus upon Tantalus. Pandareos fled to Athens, and thence to Sicily, where he perished with his wife Harmothoe. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1875.) Antoninus Liberalis (11) calls him an Ephesian, and relates that Demeter conferred upon him the benefit of never suffering from indigestion, if he should take ever so much food. The whole scene of his story lies in Crete, and hence Pausanias (x. 30. § 1) thinks that the town of Ephesus is not the famous city in Asia Minor, but Ephesus in Crete.
Leave a Reply