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From Epic to Parable: a Syriac Reading of the Fall of Troy*

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From Epic to Parable: a Syriac Reading of the Fall of Troy* FROM EPIC TO PARABLE: A SYRIAC READING OF THE FALL OF TROY* Surviving West-Syrian chronicles offer overall nine references to the Trojan War, serving essentially a chronological function: contextualisation of the siege in the time of the Judges, the political and military chiefs who ruled before King Saul, safely links the early days of Greco-Roman history to Biblical events1. Little more of the war is of interest, or indeed known, to their authors. The Chronicle of Zuqnīn (8th c.), for instance, can refer to Troy as to the city sacked, “in the time of the judge Elon”, by a certain “Alexander”2: the story is completely reversed as the prince of Troy, Alexander Paris, is turned into the conqueror of his own homeland by an author presumably misled by the fame of Alexander the Great, a familiar figure in Syriac literature. With its eighteen pages of manuscript devoted to the narration of “the battles against the city of Troy and its destruction”3, the Anonymous Chronicle up to the year 1234 (Anonymous Chronicle, from here on), a universal chronicle reaching down to the year 1234 in its account of secu- lar history (whose end is however lost)4, stands out as the exception to this * I wish to thank Pier Giorgio Borbone, under whose inspiring guidance an earlier ver- sion of this paper was written at the University of Pisa, and Peter Garnsey, for his invalu- able help and advice across its various versions. While revising my article at the University of Cambridge I also benefitted from the generous, crucial suggestions of Marco Fantuzzi, Richard Hunter, Elizabeth Key Fowden, and Philip Wood: my sincere gratitude goes to them all. 1 The West-Syrian works providing a mention of the siege are: the Ecclesiastical History of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor (about 569 CE); the Chronicle of Jacob of Edessa (7th c. CE); the Chronicle up to the year 640; the Chronicle of Zuqnīn (also known as Chronicle of the Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Mahrē, 8th c. CE); the Chronicle up to the year 846; the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (12th c. CE); the Chronicle up to the year 1234; the Chronicles (in Syriac and in Arabic) of Bar Hebraeus (13th c. CE). A complete survey of these testimonies is provided by HILKENS, Ilioupersides, p. 289 ff. 2 “In the year 832 [of Abraham], Abisan died and was buried in Bethlehem. After him, Elon of the tribe of Zebulon judged Israel for 8 years; in those days, Ilion was seized by Alexander” (tr. HILKENS, Ilioupersides, p. 292; text: ChABOT, Chronicon Pseudo- Dionysianum, p. 27.4-7 ed., p. 21.29 tr.). 3 Cod. p. 50-67, cf. ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I, 66.8-78.24 ed., 50.16-59.34 tr. 4 An introduction to the Anonymous Chronicle is available in BROCK, Historical Writing, p. 17-18; DEBIÉ, L’écriture, p. 585-588. Jean-Baptiste Chabot published an edition of the Syriac text of the first volume in 1920 and a Latin translation of the same volume in 1936 (ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I). For a French translation of the account of the Trojan War see also NAU, Traduction. Quotes from the text are provided with reference to the Le Muséon 132 (1-2), 37-64. doi: 10.2143/MUS.132.1.3286533 - Tous droits réservés. © Le Muséon, 2019. 38 L. NICCOLAI picture. Its account of the fall of Troy is certainly independent of sources known to have exercised an influence on Western Syriac chronography, such as Eusebius’ Chronicon (early 4th c.) and John Malalas’ Chronicle (6th c.)5. A recently mooted idea is that the Anonymous Chronicle derived its Trojan section from an ancient source – the Iliou Persis, a Greek archaic epic whose dating is tentatively placed by scholars in the 6th c. BCE6. The first part of this paper will assess the plausibility of this hypothesis. By taking into account the process of reception and transmission of ancient Greek epic in Late Antiquity, I argue that the style and structure of the Anonymous Chronicle’s Trojan section hint in fact at its derivation from mediated epic materials. Acknowledgment of the role played in shaping the Trojan narrative by a long-lasting tradition of elaboration on its mat- ter is essential, I then suggest, to our understanding of the function of the Trojan section in the chronicle. As an adaptable, “living” story, the nar- ration of the siege of Troy is moulded into serving a Christian teleologi- cal perspective. In particular, by placing the account in the context of late antique allegorical readings of the Homeric poems, and highlighting par- allelisms between the Anonymous Chronicle’s narrations of the fall of Troy and of Titus’ siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), I argue that Troy is envisaged in the text as linked to Jerusalem by a typological relationship. 1. The “Chronography of ’wmwrws” Introducing its account of the siege of Troy, the Anonymous Chronicle refers to its source in the following terms: In those times when the Judges of the Israelites held the power (…) a man, whose name was Alexander Paris (…) took by force Helen, wife of the king Menelaos, and brought her to the great city of Ilion, that (is located) by the sea of Asia (…). We considered recording here its [scil. Ilion’s] memory, on account of its great devastation, as we have found it in the Chronography of ’wmwrws, that begins its story with book (m’mr’) forty-three up to book fifty-one; thus, the narration about it is contained in eight books (ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I, 66.9-23 ed., 50.16-29 tr.). corresponding sections in ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I (both edition and translation); English translations are mine. 5 On the Syriac transmission of Eusebius’ Chronicon, that exercised a pivotal influence on West-Syrian chronography, see BURGESS, Eusebian and post-Eusebian Chronography. Malalas’ Chronicle, the first (surviving) Byzantine universal chronicle, seems on the other hand the remote source of the account of the Trojan War as provided by the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (HILKENS, Ilioupersides, p. 296-301). 6 The hypothesis of descent of the material in the Anonymous Chronicle from the Iliou Persis has been advanced by HILKENS, Ilioupersides, following a previous consideration by Lawrence Conrad on the activity of Theophilus of Edessa as a translator of epic poems (see below). FROM EPIC TO PARABLE 39 The Syriac term indicating the source is maktbōnūt zabnē: the “writing of times”. Although its author is identified with a certain ’wmwrws (with every plausibility, “Homer”), maktbōnūt zabnē is not a label for poems. It is, instead, a technical term to indicate ‘chrono-graphy’, a chronicle in prose7. A survey of the Anonymous Chronicle’s account of the Trojan War can further illustrate its un-relatedness to Homeric poetry: – The beginning of the text presents a brief narration of Helen’s family background. Born of an anonymous Greek king (presumably Tyndareus) and of a woman named “Nuna”, many Greeks seek to marry her because of her beauty. Her father chooses Menelaus, but forces the other suitors to swear a pact of mutual loyalty (ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I, 66.23-67.21 ed., 50.29-51.16 tr.). – Having heard of Helen’s extraordinary beauty, Paris sets out to kidnap her. Menelaus, who is unaware of his intentions, hospitably receives him. Paris and Helen fall in love with each other, elope, are welcomed by the Trojans and marry; Paris’ sister (referred to here as “Mamistra”8) foretells disgrace but is unheeded (ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I, 67.21-69.28 ed., 51.17-53.6 tr.). – The Greek army sails to Troy. During a stopover, a snake comes out of a fire and devours nine sparrows and their mother. This is interpreted as an omen: after ten years of siege, Troy will fall (ChABOT, Chronicon anony- mum I, 69.28-71.28 ed., 53.7-54.24 tr.). – The Greek army arrives and pillages the Troad; Achilles fights the Ama- zons and the Ethiopians, and dies at the hands of Paris (ChABOT, Chroni- con anonymum I, 71.28-73.25 ed., 54.24-55.30 tr.). – Paris is killed by Philoctetes; Hector dies in the battle. Helen is mar- ried to one of the two surviving sons of Priam; the other9, mad with jeal- ousy, reveals to the Greeks that Troy is protected by the Palladium, the statue of Athena (ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I, 73.25-31 ed., 55.31- 56.7 tr.). – Two unnamed Greeks steal the Palladium from Troy. The wooden horse is constructed; another Greek10 persuades the Trojans to bring it into the city walls; the Greeks enter, ravage and burn the city; then, “in great joy”, they return to their respective homes (ChABOT, Chronicon anonymum I, 73.31-78.24 ed., 58.22-59.34 tr.). This series of events has clearly very little to do with either the Iliad or the Odyssey. In the Anonymous Chronicle, Achilles features simply as a mighty warrior who fights against Amazons and Ethiopians: no reference 7 Also the author of the Anonymous Chronicle refers to his work as a maktbōnūt zabnē (HILKENS, Sources, p. 23). 8 Cassandra in the Greek epic tradition; the origin of the name “Mamistra” remains unclear. 9 To be identified (according to the traditional account) with Helenus, Priamus’ son endowed with the gift of prophecy. 10 The two Greeks are traditionally Odysseus and Diomedes; the Greek who deceives the Trojans is known as Sinon. 40 L. NICCOLAI is made to any Iliadic theme connected to him (such as, for instance, his wrath). The fleetingly mentioned Hector even dies after him, rather than before11, thus following a narrative sequence not documented elsewhere.
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