CHAPTER NINE

IlAPA (BI)0UNOI~

I The story of is incorporated into a larger Argonautic whole not only by Apollonius (II 178-530), but by Valerius Flaccus (IV 423-636) as well.1 Both poets, moreover, treat the old man sympathetically, picturing him as an unfortunate victim of ex• cessive divine vengeance. His revelations of divine plans out of con• cern for mankind's welfare hardly merited irrevocable blinding2 or even the temporary nuisance of visitations from the rapacious every time that he tried to consume a meal (so Apollonius II 183ff.; Valerius IV 427ff.).3 Apollonius adds some pathetic touches already essayed in another connection elsewhere in his poem. When he allows the blind seer to call himself 8umxµµopoc:; (II 218), he surely calls to mind the use of the same term with reference to 's parents (I 253; 286) or, again, Polyxo's complaint that the women of Lemnos, herself in• cluded, are to be regarded as such (I 685).4 And just as Polyxo is

1 Valerius offers nothing comparable either to Apollonius' digressive Aristaeus-narrative (II 500-527: cf. above, p. 5, n. 1; lines 498f. and 528-530 (concerning which cf. above, p. 59, n. 2; p. 90, n. 3) are transitional to the next episode, the passage of the Symplegades (discussed in Ch. X below)) or to his more integral story of Paraebius (II 449ff.: cf. below, p. 166 and n. 6). 2 Cf. below, p. 155 and n. 2. 3 Note the Promethean tone of the Valerian Phineus' utterance: fata loquax mentemque Iouis quaeque abdita solus consilia et terris subito uentura parabat, prodideram miserans hominum genus ... [IV 479-481] On this subject see also Mehmel, op. cit. (above, p. 132, n. 1) p. 30; Mirmont, op. cit. (above, p. 1, n. 3) p. 206. The fact that both Prometheus and Phineus are subjected to air-borne attack, by the Harpies in the one instance, by an eagle in the other, whose flight even the witness (Apollonius II 1246ff.: cf. Valerius V 154-176, though his Argonauts perceive only the eagle's shadow cast upon the ground), engages the attention of C. R. Vermaas, De fontibus Apollonii Rhodii (Diss., Leiden, 1897) p. 90. With reference to the sighting of the eagle see also below, pp. 212f. Seep. 160 and n. 3 below con• cerning parallelisms between the role of Prometheus in Aeschylus' PV and PS and that of Phineus in the Apollonian and Valerian . ' Cf. above, pp. 4off.; 66 and n. 2. TIAPA (B1 )0YNOI~ depicted as old, with shrivelled feet, dependent on a cane (I 668- 674), so Phineus (II 197-200).1 Not surprisingly, when either speaks, the audience-Lemniades in the one case, Argonauts in the other-react favorably. Thus, even though they coincide not at all with the advice previously offered by Queen Hypsipyle, Polyxo's suggestions are adopted (I 697f.). 2 Similarly Phineus' plea for protection against the Harpies (II 215ff.), directed to the Argonauts in general and to the Boreads in particular (see lines 234-239), elicits the sympathy of all, but especially of the Boreads themselves, who are reduced to tears (241f.). 3 Zetes commiserates with the old man (245ff.) and promises to ward off the Harpies (248ff.), but only on condition of a guarantee from Phineus that no divine retaliation will result.' In Valerius' version likewise Phineus must rely on a staff for sup• port (IV 434); yet there is no express mention of withered limbs or of a generally weak constitution. On the other hand, both poets allow the seer to preface his supplication to the Argonauts with an announcement that he can impart to them information essential to the success of their expedition (Apollonius II 209ff.; Valerius IV 436ff.). Both, moreover, allow him to use the fact that their sister is also his bride as the basis for a special claim on Calais' and Zetes' sollicitude (Apollonius II 234-239; Valerius IV 460-464). The Va• lerian Zetes' response (IV 466-472) proves even more impassioned than that put into the mouth of the same hero by Apollonius (II 244-253).5

II Like Pindar, who rejected stories disrespectful of the gods and who strove in more than one Ode to rehabilitate mortal Ajax, the two celebrators of Argonautic exploits contrive also to expurgate all that might truly redound to Phineus' discredit.6 A seer who too

1 Portions of the former passage are quoted above, p. 65 ad fin. Close verbal parallels with the latter are taken into account not only by Phinney, Joe. cit. (above, p. 65, n. 2), but also by Ardizzoni, op. cit. (above, p. 80, n. 3) p. 150 and n. 2. 2 See pp. 66f. above. Note that Hypsipyle herself acceded in the end (I 7oof.: cited above, p. 67). 3 See below, p. 166, for the rationale behind the special plea. 4 Concerning the exchange of oaths see also p. 166 and n. 3 below. 5 Yet another instance of Valerius' greater flair for the dramatic (con• cerning which see above, p. 141, n. 1). 8 A particular example of Apollonius' having maintained a Pindaric policy