Hard, p. 110; Grimal, s.v. Styx; Herodotus, 6.74 n.1; Frazer on Pausanias 8.17.6 (which gives a detailed description of Frazer's visit to the fall of the Styx in 1895).
Frazer on Pausanias 8.17.6. Frazer says that, although the water of this Styx is "crystal clear", its black appearance is due to a "dark incrustation which spreads over the smooth face of the rock wherever it is washed by the falling water".
Frazer on Pausanias 8.17.6; Reclus, p. 230. From the "fable" of Demeter turning the Styx black, and Apuleius's description, Frazer concludes that the names Black Water and Dragon Water, probably predate Styx as the name of the fall.
Hard, p. 110; Grimal, s.v. Styx; Herodotus, 6.74 n.1; Frazer on Pausanias 8.17.6 (which gives a detailed description of Frazer's visit to the fall of the Styx in 1895).
See for example Reclus, p. 230, who, when describing this Arcadian Styx, assumes the latter saying: "out of this sometimes sombre and sometimes gracious torrent, the ancients made the muddy Styx of the lower world, whose murky floods were forever stirred by the fatal ferryman, Charon". However according to Hard, p. 110, "There is no way of telling whether the traditional conception of the infernal river was influenced by knowledge of the Arcadian Styx and its falls, or whether, conversely, the Arcadian Styx was first given that name because its chilly falls resembled this of the Styx in Hesiod's description".
Frazer on Pausanias 8.17.6; Reclus, p. 230. From the "fable" of Demeter turning the Styx black, and Apuleius's description, Frazer concludes that the names Black Water and Dragon Water, probably predate Styx as the name of the fall.
Compare with Hyginus, Fabulae179; Nonnus, Dionysiaca8.178–406, which relate the same story of Semele's death, though with no mention of Zeus having sworn to grant anything Semele wished for.
Homer, Iliad15.36–42 (Hera to Zeus), 14.271–278 (Hera to Hypnos), Odyssey5.184–187 (Calypso to Odysseus). Gantz, p. 29, calls such oaths in Homer "not overly common", noting that for Zeus, at least, a nod of his head was sufficient, with Zeus once calling such a nod the most sure witness, see Iliad1.524–527.
Gantz, pp. 29, 45; Hesiod, Theogony389–402. Compare with Apollodorus, 1.2.5. West 1966, p. 272, points out that this story of Styx being the first to come to Zeus' aid, by bringing her children, including Nike (Victory) and Kratos (Strength), to Zeus' side, is an aetiological myth explaining both why the gods swear by Styx, and why Victory and Strength reside for evermore with Zeus. West suggests that this myth can be imagined as having come about thought the following though process. "Why do the gods swear by Styx? Because Zeus so ordained. Why did he do so? In reward for some service performed for him by Styx. In what connexion? Most likely in connexion with the Titanomachy, for that was when Zeus most needed help. Then did she fight for him? Hardly in person: but she might have sent her children to fight for him. Then who can they have been, that he needed there help? Why, Victory and Strength; those were the gods he needed."
Hard, p. 110; Grimal, s.v. Styx; Herodotus, 6.74 n.1; Frazer on Pausanias 8.17.6 (which gives a detailed description of Frazer's visit to the fall of the Styx in 1895).
Compare with Hyginus, Fabulae179; Nonnus, Dionysiaca8.178–406, which relate the same story of Semele's death, though with no mention of Zeus having sworn to grant anything Semele wished for.
