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Pseudo-Apollodoros' Bibliotheke and the Greek Mythological Tradition

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Pseudo-Apollodoros' Bibliotheke and the Greek Mythological Tradition Pseudo-Apollodoros’Bibliotheke and the Greek Mythological Tradition by Evangelia Kylintirea A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Classics University College London May 2002 ProQuest Number: 10014985 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10014985 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract Pseudo-Apollodoros’ Bibliotheke is undeniably the most useful single source for the mythical tradition of Greece. Enclosing in a short space a remarkable quantity of information, it offers concise and comprehensive accounts of most of the myths that had come to matter beyond local boundaries, providing its readers with their most popular variants. This study concentrates on the most familiar stories contained in the first book of the Bibliotheke and their proper place in the overall structure of Greek mythology. Chapter One is dedicated to the backbone of Apollodoros’ work: the chronological organisation of Greek mythical history in genealogies. It discusses the author’s individual plan in the arrangement and presentation of his material and his conscious striving for cohesion. Chapters Two and Three are closely linked together: they deal with different stages of the unique narrative of the succession-myth, an account which ultimately comes from a single, archaic source (with minor reworkings to agree with the prevailing tradition of the myth from the Hellenistic period onwards), thus reaffirming Apollodoros’ predilection for early accounts. The fourth Chapter discusses the myths concerning on the family of Oineus and the participants in the Kalydonian Boar Hunt, while the final Chapter concentrates on the first part of the Argonautic expedition, the voyage to Kolchis, as an indication of how Apollodoros reports the whole of the expedition. This study concludes that the mythographer’s main aim is to reproduce a cohesive and faithful summary of the canonical versions of the myths he records, but not necessarily of his sources. Every myth is discussed in the context of the long Greek mythological tradition, giving us a rare insight to Apollodoros’ main preoccupations in structuring his work and the handling of his sources, and rewarding us with tantalising glimpses of many Greek myths that are otherwise lost. Table of contents: Introduction p. 8 Part I: (Re-)Structuring the mythical world Chapter One: Genealogies, Human and Divine A. Introduction p. 25 B. Genealogy and Apollodoros: the family of the Deukalionids p. 32 C. The divine genealogy p. 48 D. Orion p. 56 Part II: ‘^Theomachia^^: The struggle for divine supremacy and the three stages of the succession-myth (1.1.1-6.3) Chapter Two: The world before Zeus: from Ouranos to Kronos A. Introduction p. 74 B. The first two stages of the succession-myth. Remnants of an Orphic poem? p. 77 C. Cosmic variations: unique details in the divine struggle (i) Ouranos as sovereign: the first generation of divine kingship (1.1.1) p. 89 (ii) The offspring of Ouranos and Gaia and their order of birth (1.1.1-3) p. 92 (iii) The second generation of gods: the Titans (1.1.3) p. 92 (iv) The attack on Ouranos: the role of Okeanos (1.1.4) ~ - p. 99 (v) The attack proper and its outcome (1.1.4) p. 102 Chapter Three: After Zeus: Gigantomachy and Typhonomachy (1.6.1-3). An archaic source for a unique account? p. 108 (i) The role of Gaia P- 108 (ii) The Giants and Typhon: two sides of the same coin P- 110 (iii) “Conditional immortality” and other themes P- 114 (iv) Archaic elements in Apollodoros’ account of the Gigantomachy P- 118 (v )‘ ‘Non-Archaic” elements of Apollodoros’ account P- 119 (vi) The Typhonomachy and the archaic tradition p. 139 (vii) The Localisation of the Typhon myth P- 149 Part ni: The world of the Heroes Chapter Four: The Family of Oineus and the Kalydonian Boar Hunt (1.8.1-6). p. 158 A. The family of Oineus (i) Endogamy P- 160 (ii) God in the family: Ares and the parentage of Meleagros P- 165 (iii) Oineus’ other offspring. Agelaos P- 168 (iv) Toxeus P- 174 (v) Other members of the family: Hyleus/ Pylos P- 186 B. The participants in the Hunt P- 189 (i) The Thestiadai P- 193 (ii) Kepheus and Iphikles P- 195 (iii) Atalante P- 199 Chapter Five: The Argonautic expedition: Sailing to Kolchis (1.9.16-23) A. Medeia p. 204 B. The Catalogue of the Argonauts (1.9.16) p. 218 C. The Journey to Kolchis (1.9.17-23) p. 250 (i) The departure from lolkos and the Lemnian episode. ~ ^ p. 252 (ii) The initiation at Samothrake and the sojourn among the Doliones. p. 260 (iii) The sojourn at Mysia and the abandonment of Herakles. p. 265 (iv) Surviving without Herakles: the encounters with Amykos and Phineus. p. 273 Conclusions p. 283 Abbreviations p. 289 Bibliography p. 291 List of Maps and Tables Map: The Geographical difiiision of the family of the Deukalionids p. 64 Genealogies: a) The divine genealogy p. 65 b) The Aiolids: female branch p. 66 c) The Aiolids: male branch p. 70 Table I: The Three Stages of the succession-myth (1.1.1-1.6.3) p. lO"^ Table II: Fathers against Sons: Infanticides p. 17? Table III: The participants in the Kalydonian Boar Hunt ' - p. 191 Table IV: The Catalogue of the Argonauts p. 230 Acknowledgments The research for this study was finished in September 2001. As a result, I have not been able to take into account the following works: Grossardt P., Die Erzahlung von Meleagros: Zur literarischen Entwicklung der Kalydonischen Kultlegende, Leiden/ Boston/ Koln 2001; Papanghelis T., Rengakos A., A Companion to Apollonius Rhodius, Leiden/ Boston/ Koln 2001. A Scholarship from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation enabled me to come to England for studies at a postgraduate level. Without this financial support, this research would never have got off the ground. Alan Griffiths’ MA course on Greek Myth, Religion and Society was a revelation and an inspiration. He also read different versions of this study and made many insightful and valuable comments, for which I am extremely grateful. My greatest debt by far is to my supervisor. Prof. Richard Janko, who guided my research with patience and painstaking attention. His rigorous and incisive criticism was an unfailing source of inspiration. This study is dedicated to my family: my sister, Maria Kylintirea - Hyderioti, for being the unrelenting voice of logic, and my parents, Penelope and Fotios Kylintireas, who braved the long separation and remained throughout a constant source of encouragement and warmth. Their example is a perpetual remainder that f| àyà7tr| obSéîiore feKTtlTCxei. Introduction As a comprehensive and concise handbook of Greek mythology, the Bibliotheke is in many respects unique. Coming at the end of a long and extensively varied tradition of mythological literature, this is the only work of its kind to survive. As such, the work is of seminal importance to everyone who wishes to approach the notoriously difficult subject of Greek myth. A labour of astonishing systemisation, the Bibliotheke records in a continuous narrative the whole span of Greek mythical history, from the birth of gods and the establishment of divine power to the aftermath of the Trojan War and the fates of the last of the heroic race. In it, most of the traditional tales relevant to Greek society as a whole,' beyond local or temporal constrains, find a permanent, fixed position. The significance of such a synthesis becomes evident if we view Greek mythology as an intertext. Greek mythology is “a fund of motifs and ideas ordered into a shared repertoire of stories”, which should be understood in comparison and contrast with other stories in the system. “Greek mythology is an ‘intertexf because it is constituted by all the representations of myths ever experienced by its audience and because every new representation gains its sense from how it is positioned in relation to this totality of previous representations”.^ Greek mythology is, in effect, “an accumulated and accumulating system of narratives and perceptions which determine the interpretation of any individual text within, or added to, the collection”.^ The same attitude, I believe, can be adopted for individual myths. ' See Bremmer 1987, 1-9, who modifies thus Burkert’s definition, I found both Bremmer and Graf 1993, 1-8, extremely helpful. ^ Thus Dowden 1992, 8. ^ Dowden 1995,47, Every myth can be seen as a system of narratives, interpreting and interpreted by every individual articulation of the myth, whether literary, artistic, or oral. Thus e.g., the intertext of the Argonautic myth is a flexible structure, to which every new text (and I use the term loosely, to incorporate oral texts and artistic representations) could potentially add a new perspective. Every new detail added to the body of material that forms “the Argonautic myth” obviously carries with it the idiosyncrasies of its creation (time, locale, form or genre, artist). However, “the Argonautic myth” exists over and above its individual tellings, and remains surprisingly constant in its fluidity. The individual articulations of the myth are evidently more remarkable, but one cannot hope to discover their context without resorting to “the myth”.
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