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Home , 251 BC, Amythaon, Apis (Greek mythology), Aratus of Sicyon, Heraea (Arcadia), Olenus (Achaea)

«EIKASMOS» XXIX (2018)

Images of the Hellenistic in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά*

This paper examines the Peloponnesian states in the second half of the third century BC from the perspective of Hellenistic poetry. It would seem that Poly- bius’ declaration of decline (κατέφθαρτο) in the late should be reconsidered1. Many poetical fragments that have come to light in the last decades contribute to a better understanding of the history, society and culture of this turbulent period. Wars waged for territorial and political expansion, together with an efflorescence of the arts and literary scholarship, characterize the Hel- lenistic world. However, it is unclear whether the Peloponnese incorporated or rejected the new features2. Consequently, it would be intriguing to observe how the states of southern are presented in Hellenistic poetry, and especially in the Cretan poet Rhianus. My particular focus is on Rhianus’ epic poems, defined carmina ethnographica by Meineke (1843, 181). We know little about the poems Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά, due to their fragmentary condition, the surviving lines dominated by city-names and mythical genealogies. It is therefore hard to get a clear idea of either the structure or the mythological-historical context, or to establish the patterns of ethnography, in these two poems3. However, my interpretation of Rhianus’ epic fragments will demonstrate that his use of the mythical past alludes to the recent historical and

* Thanks are due to all the people kind enough to review this paper: Ewen Bowie for his academic insights on the text, and the anonymous reviewers of «Eikasmόs». Thanks most espe- cially go to my supervisor Konstantinos Spanoudakis for encouraging my research in Rhianus’ ethnographical poetry. All mistakes and errors, however, are my own. 1 Polyb. II 62,4, see also Walbank 1957, 267f. The Hellenistic Peloponnese has never been the focus of an exhaustive monograph. Walbank (1981) provides excellent discussions of history, politics and warfare, though he covered the Hellenistic world in his entirety and not the Peloponnese in particular. 2 Cf. Shipley 2005 and 2008. Rostovtzeff (1941, 1109-1112) lists important social and ideological innovations such as national consciousness, though afterwards he dismisses them since they do not «counteract the dominant characteristics of Greek institutions». 3 Scholars included Rhianus among the historians of the ethnographical tradition due to the religious, cultural, and mythical references of a region in each poem (see FGrHist IIIb 87- 89). However, they underlined a distinction between the historical and ethnographical epic in the tradition of the narrative hexametric poetry: cf. Pearson (1962, 418), Misgeld (1969, 116- 121), Cameron (1995, 297f.), who considers that regional epic treats a region from mythical to historical times, though «seldom to the writer’s own day»; see also Ambühl 2010, 152. 314 SPANAKIS religious realities of the Peloponnese in the second half of the third century BC. The prominent of the classical period has been replaced by federal systems (κοινά) while the balance of power has shifted4. saw its power reduced, and federations such as the Achaean League played an important role in the struggle for control between the Hellenistic rulers5. Furthermore, quotations from Μεσσηνιακά and Θεσσαλικά will be given to elucidate the poetic construction of Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά. It is remarkable that Achaia, and are Peloponnesian states, and through a multitude of ethnic names combined with references to early epic () and the ethnographic tradition (, Hellanicus, Hecataeus) I will show that the poet’s main purpose was to argue for an increased sense of Greek identity and for interaction between the cities both inside and outside the peninsula. Besides, Ithome in Messenia was Rhianus’ possible place of origin and Troezen is mentioned in one of his amatory epigrams6. It has been generally assumed that the poet moved to mainland Greece7. Hence, Rhianus’ links with the Peloponnese became closer and he might have been an eyewitness for some data in his ethnographical works.

Map of the Southern Peloponnese in the Hellenistic period. Source: A.J. Hillen, Strategies of Unity within the Achaean League, Diss. Utah 2012.

4 Cf. McInerney 2013, 466-479. 5 Cf. Walbank 1984, 221-256. 6 FGrHist 265 T 1a-b. Ithome is possibly an αὐτοσχεδιασμός because of Rhianus’ famous work Mεσσηνιακά, or, according to Meineke (1843, 173), a city where he actually stayed to ex- plore places for his history. For Rhianus’ epigram about Troezen, cf. AP XII 58 = HE 3204-3207. 7 Cf. Meineke 1843, 173, Gow-Page 1965, II 503f. Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 315

1. Federal systems (κοινά) in the Ἀχαϊκά

Achaia did not attract much attention among ancient historians either for political or for ethnographic history. Unfortunately, ’s Ἀχαιῶν Πολιτεία (fr. 143,3 G.) and a Πελληναίων Πολιτεία (fr. 69 W. = Cic. Att. II 2) ascribed to Dicaearchus survive only in titles and their content is unknown. Autocrates (FGrHist 297 FF 1f.) and Autesion (FGrHist 298 FF 1f.) are the only extant his- torians to have written about Achaia, though the only fragments surviving contain no more than mythical references to (probably Zeus Homarius of the Achaean League). Jacoby tentatively places them between the third and the second century BC, a floruit close to that of Rhianus8. The ethnographical poem Ἀχαϊκά consisted of four books. But only three hexameter lines and four references to ethnics and Achaean city-names survived from the whole poem. Stephanus Byzantius’ Ἐθνικά is the main source of these fragments, raising an important issue: it is open to question whether Stephanus directly consulted Rhianus’ ethnographical poems in order to write his lexicon, or drew his knowledge from an intermediary source. Criticism of sources in the nineteenth century conjectured that Stephanus always had an indirect source for his entries. A number of other citations of Rhianus were transmitted by ancient scholarship (such as scholia and lexica). However, Billerbeck argues that Stephanus could have had Rhianus’ ethnographical poems as a direct source for his lexico- graphical work, as well as Nicander’s, to whom the Hellenistic tradition of the ethnographical epic owes its origins9. In the second book of Ἀχαϊκά, Rhianus begins his narrative with the genea­ logy of Apis, son of Phoroneus, son of Inachus. It is said that the land was named Apia after Apis as well as its people Ἀπιδανῆες (FGrHist 265 F 1 = fr. 13 Pow.):

ὑμετέρη τοι, τέκνα, Φορωνέος Ἰναχίδαο ἀρχῆθεν γενεή· τοῦ δὲ κλυτὸς ἐκγένετ’ Ἆπις, ὅς ῥ’ Ἀπίην ἐφάτιξε καὶ ἀνέρας Ἀπιδανῆας.

8 See Rigsby 1986, 351f.; Castelli 1994, 75f.; Cameron 1995, 298f. (F.), for Rhianus’ possible date of floruit in the second half of the third century BC. 9 Cf. Billerbeck (2008, 310f.), where it is mentioned that Hellenistic ethnographical epic owes its origins to Nicander, thus assuming that the latter precedes Rhianus. This appears to stem from Cameron’s attempt (1995, 297f.) to postulate a very high chronology for Nicander, making him more or less a contemporary of Callimachus. However, this view proves untenable on several grounds, cf. Massimilla 2000; Magnelli 2006 and 2010; Overduin 2015. Additionally, many citations of Rhianus also occurred in Herodian’s scholarly works edited by Lentz (1867), who assumes (p. CLXII) that all of Stephanus’ entries could have come from Herodian, an un- certain assumption; see also Reitzenstein 1929, 243; Castelli 1998, 10 n. 43. On the problematic reconstruction of Herodian’s treatises, cf. Dyck 1993 and Dickey 2014. 316 SPANAKIS

Your generation, children, originates from Phoroneus, son of Inachus; from him descended the glorious Apis, who named the land Apia and the men Apidanes.

The mythical tradition offers different versions of Apis’ genealogy. Rhianus fol- lows the tradition according to which Apis was the son of Phoroneus and Teledike (or Laodike), a grandson of the river Inachus and Oceanis Melia, and a brother of Niobe10. These hexameters recall a quite common formula used, for example, in the for Glaucus’ genealogy, VI 151-153 ἡμετέρην γενεήν … ἴσασιν· / … / ἔνθα δὲ Σίσυφος ἔσκεν, ὃ κέρδιστος γένετ’ ἀνδρῶν11. Glaucus narrates the tale of Bellerophon and his descendants, beginning from κέρδιστος Sisyphus, in a simple and workmanlike style, as an answer to Diomedes about his origins12. Consequently, it could be assumed that Rhianus, a Homeric scholar, uses a similar formula in the proem of his second book, to introduce the myth­ ical genealogy of κλυτός Apis, son of Phoroneus. These prefatory verses seem to initiate a song of a mythical origin from the old (ἀρχῆθεν). The use of the second person (ὑμετέρη) indicates that Rhianus addresses the inhabitants (τέκνα) of Peloponnese, considering them descendants of Apis. The main question raised by these hexameters is why Rhianus begins his nar­ rative­ in the second book of his ethnographical epic about Achaia with the mythical origin of Apis. The significant term Apia, meaning the peninsula of Peloponnese, could indicate that the poet tried to build a quite comprehensive Peloponnesian periegesis. Homer was the first poet to use the term ἀπία to mean a distant land (τηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης) referring especially to the Peloponnese (Il. I 270, III 49, Od. VII 25, XVI 18). The νεώτεροι poets (cf. St. Byz. α 357 Bill.) claimed that Homer gave that name to the land which he usually calls Argos, and called its inhabitants Ἀπιδόνες or Ἀπιδονῆες13. A tradition about Argos having its origins from Apis is found in the tragic poets (Supp. 260, 777 and Ag. 256) and (OC 1303). Furthermore, Apia was also a favourite toponym of the Alexandrians: Callimachus (Iov. 13f. ἀλλά ἑ Ῥείης / ὠγύγιον καλέουσι λεχώιον Ἀπιδανῆες), Apollonius Rhodius (IV 263 οἶοι δ’ ἔσαν Ἀρκάδες Ἀπιδανῆες), Eratosthenes ( fr. 5 Pow.) and Hermesianax (fr. 7,96 Pow. ὅτ’ Ἀπιδανῆς Λαΐδος ἠράσατο),

10 Cf. Roscher 1884/1890, 419f. It is also argued that Rhianus probably draws the legend of Apis from the Κρητικά of Dosiadas, the first poet to mention the hero’s origin from Phoroneus, cf. Philod. Piet. 45 = FGrHist 458 F 8, see also Philippson 1920, 267. However, of Dosiadas’ chronology we virtually know nothing, cf. Kwapisz 2013, 27f., on the Pattern Poems. 11 For the common formula ὑμετέρη γενεή, cf. Il. XX 214, Od. XVI 117, H. Hom. Ven. 201, 219, Nonn. D. X 115. 12 Cf. Kirk 1990, 177. 13 Ariston. Sign. Il. ap. schol. Il. I 270, p. 49 Friedländer (see also Fraser 1972, II 689 n. 265), cf. also Strab. VIII 6,9. Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 317 refer to Arcadians as Ἀπιδανῆες14. Consequently, it seems that both Argos and claimed their ancestry from Apis. What is more, Inachus and Phoroneus are Peloponnesian rivers; the scholiast of Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica (l.c.) explains that the Peloponnesians descend from Apis, son of Phoroneus. Hence, it is more reasonable to deduce that Rhianus also referred to the Peloponnese as a whole as Apia, with Achaia belonging to its territory. The Cretan poet would have considered Apis indigenous, while other traditions presented him as an immigrant (cf. Aesch. Supp. 262 and the νεώτεροι poets)15. We have seen affiliations of Argos and Arcadia with the geographical name Apia in texts of the classical period, though nothing alludes to a link between Achaia and Apia. In fact, Rhianus, a learned poet, inserted this genealogy into his account of Achaia16; Apia could be a geographical allusion recalling the revival of the Achaean League by of in 251 BC. Apis came from Argos, or Arcadia (or Sicyon), and saved the peninsula of Peloponnese from serpents17. Similarly, Aratus plotting from Argos against the tyranny of Sicyon, managed to free his native city and secure its accession to the Achaean League18. This histor­ ­ ical event was the first step for the transformation of an ethnic confederacy into a larger body, which would embrace the whole of the Peloponnese under Aratus’ command. could be seen as a historical parallel to the mythical hero Apis, and the Achaean League which transformed the Peloponnese into a considerable force in the Hellenistic world, additionally becomes a parallel to Apia. In the second book of the poem the legendary Libyan ethnos of Ἄτλαντες is mentioned and, following them, the Ἀτάραντες (FGrHist 265 F 2 = fr. 12 Pow.). According to Herodotus (IV 184,4), the Ἄτλαντες are Libyan people and there are two mountains bearing the same name. Rhianus probably referred to a tradi-

14 See Sistakou 2005, 245f. and 514 nn. 15f. Similarly, in Mnaseas (fr. 1 Capp.) the oldest tradition closely connects the hero to a Peloponnesian environment, and in particular Arcadian. Cappelletto (2003, 132 nn. 31f.), however, thinks that the connection with Arcadia seems rather uncertain, though, in schol. Ap. Rh. IV 263-264b, the discovery itself of the lunar phases by Endymion recurs as one of the explanations of the epithet προσέληνοι for the Arcades (cf. also Mnaseas fr. 20 Capp.). Mnaseas would have mentioned Endymion in an introductory section to his work on the mythical foundation of Greek civilization in the Peloponnese. It could be assumed that his Periplus started from the description of Greece and, in particular, the Peloponnese. On a Peloponnesian and Arcadian origin, see also S. Barbantani, Aristias/ Ariston of Chios (1771), in S. Schorn (ed.), Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker. Part IV, Leiden-Boston (forthcoming). 15 For the Peloponnese’s origins, see Jackson 1998, 581-585. 16 Sistakou (2005, 243) explores allusions to geographical names and the subsequent inter- action between a poeta doctus and a learned audience on the basis of these hints. 17 Cf. Eust. Dion. Per. 414. (II 5,7) relates a different version of this legend, possibly well known in Rhianus’ times, claiming that Apis was a son of the Sicyonian Telchin and father of Thelxion. Thus, Sicyon, along with Argos and Arcadia, claimed descent from Apis. 18 Cf. Plut. Arat. 3f., 9-11, see also Walbank 1984, 243f. 318 SPANAKIS tion harking back to Herodotus or the Ionian historiographers19. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the Cretan poet inserted a digression about Libyan tribes in his ethnographical account of Achaia. Rhianus integrated the Atlantes probably allud- ing to a mythical Arcadian tradition about a mountain Atlas and a tribe so named in the Peloponnese. A relationship between Arcadia and the mountain Atlas is attested in Dionysius of Halikarnassos (I 61,1) where Atlas is noted as the first king of Arcadia who lived near the mountain Kaukonios. Mount Atlas, identified with the mountain Kyllene in northern Arcadia, formed a natural boundary dividing Achaia from the central Pelo- ponnese20. Additionally, the northern border with Achaia is not very well attested in archaic and classical sources, though Herodotus (VI 74,2) includes Pheneos (located near the border) in Arcadia21. Consequently, it is tempting to assume that a refer- ence to Arcadia in a hexameter poem about Achaia probably involves a historical allusion to Rhianus’ own days: in the 230s BC the Achaean League had embraced Megalopolis and the largest part of Arcadia, including Pheneos and Stymphalos near the mountain Kyllene (or Atlas in mythical times)22. Indisputably, Aratus of Sicyon’s ultimate goal was to embrace the whole Peloponnese in a federation in which Arcadia, being Achaia its neighbour, would be a crucial member23. Again, in the same book of Ἀχαϊκά Rhianus quotes the city name Boλίνη (FGrHist 265 F 3 = fr. 11 Pow.), which can also be traced in Pausanias’ narrative (VII 23,4) about a maiden Boline, who threw herself into the sea to escape the pursuit of Apollo24. Aly (1914, 787) assumed that Rhianus himself could be the

19 Cf. St. Byz. α 520 Bill. The text presented by Jacoby for the entry of Stephanus inserts the emendation καί instead of δέ handed down in the first line; in the second line Jacoby integ­ ­ rates an Ἀρκαδίας absent in the tradition, and eliminates δέ attested after Ῥιανός: these vari- ants are introduced to justify the mention of the Ἄτλαντες, who are noted as a Libyan people. Moreover, Jacoby restricts the quotation of Rhianus to the mention of the second book of his Ἀχαϊκά, while he attributes Ἀτάραντας … ὀνείρους to the quotation of Herodotus. Meineke (1843, 182) ascribed to Herodotus only the sentence καὶ ὅτι οὐ βλέπουσιν οὗτοι ὀνείρους (Hdt. IV 185,1) and extended the text of Rhianus also to the reference to the Ἀτάραντες and the Ἄτλαντες, on the basis of Eust. Comm. Dion. Per. 66,9, without considering, as rightly argued by Jacoby (FGrHist IIIb 97), that Eustathius reproduced only his source, Stephanus, where, probably because of his excerptor, the quotations from Herodotus and Rhianus were mixed and out of place. 20 Cf. Paus. VIII 15,8f., 17,5, cf. also Inventory s.v. Achaia p. 472. 21 Cf. Inventory s.v. Arcadia p. 505. 22 Cf. Paus. VIII 10,5. For the liberation of Megalopolis, cf. Walbank 1984, 247; for the pro-Achaean policy of Megalopolis in the Cleomenian War (229/228-222 BC), cf. Polyb. II 55,8; see also Larsen 1971, 81-86; for Stymphalos being a member of the Achaean League until 219 BC, cf. Fine 1940, 13. 23 Cf. Plut. Cleom. 3,4. 24 Cf. St. Byz. β 119 Bill.; cf. also Et. Gen. β 175 L.-L. Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 319 source for Pausanias’ story about Boλίνη25. Boλίνη, probably located at Drepaneiko (2 km south of modern Drepano in Achaia), was settled after the dioikismos of Patrai in 279 BC and its subsequent defeat in the Celtic invasion (cf. Paus. VII 18,6)26. In addition, Patrai, where Boλίνη belonged, was one of the original twelve cities of Achaia and a member of the Achaean Confederacy prior to the time of Philip II and Alexander27. Furthermore, it is interesting to explore what historical allusions could be deduced from a thorough analysis of the cities Σκόλις in the third book (FGrHist 265 F 5 = fr. 15 Pow.) and Φαιστός in the fourth book (FGrHist 265 F 4 = fr. 14 Pow.) of Ἀχαϊκά. The polis named Σκόλις and its ethnic name Σκολιεύς referred to by Rhianus does not appear in any other source28, even if a mountain Σκόλις is mentioned in (VIII 3,10, 7,5) and it could be identified with the mount Olenos between Patrai and (West of the modern Tsoukaleika)29. The city of Olenos (like Boline mentioned above) is also attested as a member of the Achaean Confederacy before the time of Philip II and Alexander30. According to Pausanias’ account (VII 18,1), Olenos was abandoned due to “weakness” and its inhabitants were absorbed by Dyme, while according to Strabo (VIII 7,1) the city still existed in 280 BC31. The toponym Φαιστός is more difficult to identify since many cities claimed this name. According to Stephanus (φ 6 Bill.), Φαιστός is identified with the Peloponnesian located either in Pisatis (cf. Paus. VI 21,6) or in Arcadia (cf. Pherecyd. FGrHist 3 F 161) and particularly in (cf. Hdt. IV 148,4). What is more, (Hell. III 2,30) in combination with Herodotus (IV 148) referred to Phrixa as a Τριφυλὶς πόλις joining the Triphylian Confederacy with which, supposedly, it entered the Arcadian Confederacy in 369 BC32. In the late third and the early second century BC, the Achaean League further expanded its territories to include the region of Triphylia, promised to Achaia by Philip V as early as 208 BC33. Finally, a hexameter fragment ascribed to Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά by Powell needs to be re-examined (fr. 16 Pow.)34:

25 See also Kalkmann 1886, 134f. 26 See Inventory s.v. Achaia: Boline p. 477. 27 Cf. Polyb. II 41,7f.; for Patrai’s membership in the Achaean confederacy, cf. SEG XIV 375,9 (fourth century BC); see also Inventory s.v. Achaia: Patrai p. 483. 28 Cf. St. Byz. σ 214 Bill. 29 Cf. Billerbeck 2015, 197 n. 260; cf. also Inventory s.v. Achaia: Olenos p. 483. 30 Cf. Polyb. II 41,7 attested Olenos’ membership in the Achaean Confederacy of the fourth century BC. 31 Cf. also Polyb. II 41,7; that Olenos certainly had been abandoned by the second century BC. 32 See also Inventory s.v. Triphylia: Phrixa p. 545. 33 Cf. Eckstein 1987, 140f. n. 12. 34 Cf. St. Byz. α 320 Bill.; see also Powell 1925, 12. 320 SPANAKIS

Ἀνθήνηθεν ἵκοντο. They came from Anthene. The phrase was ascribed to Callimachus by Schneider (fr. anon. 296), though Pfeiffer did not include it in his edition of Callimachus. It seems to recall a formula known from the Iliad (III 233 Κρήτηθεν ἵκοιτο), subsequently found in Apol- lonius’ Argonautica (I 115 Ἀραιθυρέηθεν ἵκανεν), and, much later, in Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica (III 232 Λυκίηθεν ἵκανεν and XI 61 Σύμηθεν ἵκανον). It probably constituted the second hemistich of a hexameter, given the phrase’s sedes in Homer and Apollonius, and it must have been preceded by a prepositive (prob- ably a conjunction)35. Stephanus (α 320 Bill.) mentions that Anthene (or Anthana in the Doric form by Philosteph. FGrHist 3 F 8) is another name for Anthele36. However, Stephanus (α 316 Bill.) identifies a city Anthana with Anthene located either in Laconia or Arcadia. Stephanus’ Anthele or Anthene is the usual form of the Doric city-name An- thana, which is possibly a restoration in place of Methana37. (V 41,2) places Anthana, along with Thyrea, in Kynouria and says it was a Lakedaimonian possession in the fifth century BC38. However, in 338 BC Philip II gave Spartan territory to Argos, , Megalopolis and , aiming to weaken Sparta’s power39. Subsequently, Thyreatis (a part of the Kynouria), including settlements such as Anthana, was under Argos’ control and Shipley (2000, 376f.) presumes it remained as such. In the late third century BC Aratus of Sicyon, aiming to coun- ter the Macedonian influence on Argos, formed links with the rulers of Egypt (a main foe of the Antigonids) and managed to take Argos in 229/22840. Indisputably, the fragmentary verse Ἀνθήνηθεν ἵκοντο is difficult to contextualize. However, it could fit a historical context in the Ἀχαϊκά where Anthana, a former Spartan territory in Thyreatis, became attached to the Argive territory which was later (in the 230s) incorporated in the Achaean League.

2. Landscapes and local cults in Ἠλιακά Rhianus’ Ἠλιακά is an ethnographical hexameter poem concerning the ancient territory of Elis in the Peloponnese. The region was bordered by Achaia to the

35 It is also possible to place the phrase in the first hemistich: this would imply a violation of Meyer’s First Law, but no Hellenistic poet respects it without exception. 36 Cf. also Hdt. VII 176,2 Ἀνθήλης πόλιος, Et. Sym. α 913 L.-L.; see Billerbeck 2006, I 207 n. 467. 37 Cf. [Scyl.] 46, see also Inventory s.v. Lakedaimon: Anthana p. 578. 38 Pausanias (II 38,6) specifically places Anthana in Thyreatis. 39 For Philip’s settlement of the Peloponnese, cf. Polyb. IX 28,7; see Roebuck 1979, 131-150. 40 Cf. Polyb. II 47,2, 51,2, Plut. Arat. 11,2, 12,1-5, 15,1-3, 24,4 and Cleom. 19,4; see also Gruen 1972, 609-625. Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 321

North and North-East, by Arcadia to the East and South-East, and by Messenia to the South41. The poem consisted of four books whose content is largely unknown owing to its fragmentary survival. Unfortunately, nothing has survived from its second and fourth books; the first and the third books include only a few Arcadian and Laconian city-names, resembling in this the fragments of Ἀχαϊκά. Jacoby claimed that Ἠλιακά is a regional history, not a periegesis, given the remarkable absence of any explicit reference to Olympia42. On the other hand, Aristotle’s Πολιτεία Ἠλείων (fr. 52 G.), also fragmentary, offers important information about Ἑλλανοδίκαι, judges of the Olympic games selected from the region of Elis43. Rhianus’ Ἠλιακά, however, is considered to be the oldest general work about Elis since it is impossible to find a precise date for the indigenous historians Teu- palus (FGrHist 408), Echephylidas (FGrHist 409), and Komarchus (FGrHist 410); it may also predate the Ἠλιακά of Istrus the Callimachean (FGrHist 334). Again, as for the Ἀχαϊκά, is the main source of our fragments, along with the scholia to Apollonius Rhodius (FGrHist 265 F 6 = fr. 19 Pow.) and Choeroboscus in a dubious fragment (FGrHist 265 F 58 = fr. 58 Pow.). The scholia to Apollonius’ Argonautika III 1-5c transmit a hexameter ascribed to Rhianus’ first book of Ἠλιακά (FGrHist 265 F 6 = fr. 19 Pow.):

πᾶσαι δ’ εἰσαΐουσι, μιῆς ὅτε τοὔνομα λέξεις

all listen, when you shall say the name of one.

In the lines commented on by the scholiast Apollonius invokes Erato (Ἐρατώ), the Muse of lyric poetry and hymnal song and the protector of love and marriage (III 1): εἰ δ’ ἄγε νῦν Ἐρατώ, παρ’ ἔμ’ ἵστασο καί μοι ἔνισπε («come now, Erato, stand by my side, and tell me», transl. Race 2008, 217). Apollonius’ appeal to Erato in the proem of his third book matches his narrative of getting the Golden Fleece thanks to Medea’s love. Rhianus probably invokes the Muse in the proem of his Ἠλιακά following the Homeric model (Il. I 1, Od. I 1)44. However, the Cretan poet differs from Mimnermus (fr. 13 W.2 ap. Paus. IX 29,4), and Choerilus (fr. 2,1 Bern.), distinguishing between different forms and activities of the Muses, and attributes to one Muse a collective meaning. Rhianus claims that all the Muses will hear the poet’s invocation, and Apol- lonius here specifically addresses Erato to narrate Medea’s marriage to Jason. Furthermore, the poetic verb εἰσαΐουσι (‘to listen’, ‘to feel the effect of’) is

41 See Inventory s.v. Elis p. 489, cf. also Roy 2000; the boundaries changed with time, especially that with Arcadia. 42 Cf. FGrHist IIIb 221. 43 For information similar to Aristotle’s about Elis cf. also Hyperides (fr. 111 J.) and Aristodem. FGH III F 1c. 44 Cf. Meineke 1843, 202; see also Powell 1925, 12. 322 SPANAKIS frequently attested in the Hellenistic poets (cf. e.g. Ap. Rh. I 103, Call. Iov. 54, Theocr. 7,88), and later in Opp. Hal. III 293 al. Rhianus’ employment of the verb can be paralleled with Ap. Rh. III 1f. and it is more likely that the poet asks the Muse to hear his prayer and so help him to sing his song of Elis. On the other hand, the city of Λαπέρσα (FGrHist 265 F 7 = fr. 21 Pow.), mentioned by Rhianus in the first book of Ἠλιακά, is more difficult to contex- tualize. Stephanus’ entry on a city named Λᾶ (λ 1 Bill.) is essential in our un- derstanding of Λαπέρσα. The city’s earliest testimony is Il. II 585 οἱ τε Λάαν … ἀμφενέμοντο. The city was apparently located οn a high rock, thus the name Λᾶς (meaning ‘stone’) and its inhabitants Λᾶοι. According to Strabo (VIII 5,3), the Dioscuri conquered Las, which was named after them Λαπέρσα (Λᾶς and πέρθω, ‘conquer’)45. The Dioscuri were already invoked as τὼ Λαπέρσα by Sophocles (fr. 957,1 R.2) and similarly by Lyc. 511 τοῖς ἡμιθνήτοις διπτύχοις Λαπερσίοις. Lycophron also mentions a Ζεὺς Λαπέρσιος at v. 1369, identified as Zεὺς Ἀγαμέμνων by a scholium and honoured with a temple at the Attic deme of Lapersai (schol. Lyc. 1369b L.). Rhianus’ preference for the name Λαπέρσα, instead of Λᾶς, recalls the Spartan mythical origin of a city conquered by the Dioscuri, brothers of the Spartan Helen and protectors of the region of Laconia46. Shipley (2000, 384) points out that Las was an Eleutherolaconian city, where Philip V was repulsed (cf. Paus. III 24,6) and it remained Spartan after the battle of (222 BC). In the 230s, Cleomenes III revived Sparta and turned it into a considerable force in the Peloponnese and an important rival of the Achaean League47. Sparta’s relationship with Elis had always been one of rivalry (cf. the Elean war in 401/400 BC) reflecting a Spartan goal of annexing Elis and controlling the coastline of the North-West Peloponnese48. Accordingly, it would be understandable that Rhianus would mention Laconian places in the Ἠλιακά, recalling warfare and political involvement between Sparta and Elis from the earlier fifth century to his own time. Three cities named in a single hexameter of the first book of Ἠλιακά are all

45 Cf. also Hesych. λ. 311 L., Eust. Il. 1350,5s.; see also Billerbeck 2014, III 180. 46 According to Thucydides (VIII 91,2), Las is explicitly assigned to Laconia and its ter- ritory would have been bounded on the East by that of Gytheion, and on the West by that of Pyrrhichos. In addition, Thucydides (92,3) mentions naval activities in Las’ harbour, probably located in Vathi bay; see also Koch 1924, 763. For the boundaries with Gytheion, cf. Paus. III 24,6f., who delivers a different mythical version, according to which Las was a Laconian hero who asked for Helen’s hand (as one of her many suitors) and was killed by Patroclus; see also Stoll 1884/1890, 1902 s.v. Las; cf. Strab. VIII 5,4, [Scyl.] 46 (πόλις and λιμήν), see also Inventory s.v. Lakedaimon: Las p. 584. 47 Cf. Plut. Cleom. 4, cf. also Polyb. II 46,2-6. 48 For Elis’ alliances with Sparta in the Peloponnesian war, cf. Thuc. II 9,3, Xen. Hell. III 2,21-31, Diod. XIV 17,4-12, 34,1, Paus. III 8,3-6; for the imperial policy of Sparta against Elis in the Elean war, cf. Falkner 1996. Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 323 located in Arcadia close to the river Alpheus, though only speculations can be of- fered about their relationship with Elis (FGrHist 265 F 8 = fr. 20 Pow.)49:

Γόρτυν’ Ἥραιάν τε πολυδρύμους <τε> Μελαινάς

Gortys and and Melaena, rich in woods.

To begin with, Elis bordered Arcadia to the East and South-East50. Moreover, Γόρτυς was a member of the Arcadian Confederacy and one of the communities relocated by the League to Megalopolis in the 360s BC51. Additionally, the city became part of the Achaean League before 194 BC, as shown on a coin with pictures of Zeus Amarius and Panachaia found in the sanctuary of Asclepius52. In fact, an earlier date is possible, since Megalopolis joined the Achaean Confederacy in ca. 235 BC53. The Arcadian Ἡραία was synoecised from nine demoi, among them Μέλαιναι and Bουφάγιον54. The foundation of the city is assigned by Strabo (VIII 3,2) to Cleombrotus or Cleonymus in the fourth century BC (380-309) or at the late sixth and the early fifth century BC, if one replaces the name Cleonymus with that of the exiled Spartan king Cleomenes55. What is more, Pausanias (VI 10,4) reports that Ἡραία was the birthplace of the Olympic athlete Damaretus, winner in the first race in 520 BC and at the next Games. In Rhianus’ time the city was captured by Aratus and the Achaean League (236 BC)56. In addition, Mέλαιναι, located in the road between Ἡραία and Mεγαλόπολις, presumably suggests a link

49 Cf. St. Byz. μ 120 Bill. The three cities named in a single hexameter is also a stylistic delicacy employed elsewhere in Hellenistic poetry, cf. Call. Hec. fr. inc. 174 H. Gortys in Ar- cadian Cynouria (cf. Paus. VIII 27,4), located at a tributary of Alpheus named Gortynios, was founded by Gortys, son of (cf. Paus. VIII 4,8). Pausanias is considered to be the only source that classifies Gortys as a city (VIII 27,4), though the external collective use of the ethnic-name is found in a fifth century dedication of spoils at (Syll.³ 49), see also Inventory s.v. Arcadia: Gortys p. 512. Heraea, placed on the right bank of the river Alpheus, was founded by Heraeus, son of Lycaon (cf. Paus. VIII 26,1), though Strabo (VIII 3,2) attributes its foundation to Cleombrotus or Cleonymus. Melaenae – or Μελαινέαι in Pausanias (VIII 26,8); see also Jost (1985, 74 and 77) and Pikoulas (2010, 37-40) – is on the road between Heraea and Megalopolis (cf. VIII 26,8) near the torrent Bouphagus. 50 Inventory s.v. Elis p. 489. 51 Cf. Paus. VIII 27,4, IG V/2 1,40 (Arcadia 360s BC). See Moggi 1974, 91f. and Nielsen 1996, 132-134, about the relocation of Gortys to Megalopolis. 52 Cf. Martin-Metzger 1942, 286; for the late-archaic temple in honour of Asclepius, an adolescent in a statue by Scopas, cf. Paus. VIII 28,1; see Moggi-Osanna 2003, 425f. 53 Cf. Fine 1940, 131, Dengate 1967, 58, Walbank 1984, 250 and 256. 54 Cf. Strab. VIII 3,2, cf. also Inventory s.v. Arcadia: Heraea p. 513. 55 See Moggi 1976, 256-262; Burelli-Bergese 1985, 1095-1101; Moggi-Osanna 2003, 409. 56 See Walbank 1984, 449. 324 SPANAKIS of Ἡραία, Mεγαλόπολις and Mέλαιναι with ancient Olympia and the Olympic Games, a suitable context for Rhianus’ ethnographic Ἠλιακά57. The use of the epithet πολυδρύμους («with many woods», LSJ9 1438 s.v. πολύδρυμος) shows that the city was once rich in water, though deserted in Pausanias’ time (VIII 26,8)58. In his catalogue of Arcadian cities, Rhianus also included Νώνακρις (FGrHist 265 F 9 = fr. 22 Pow.), located West of Φενεός in northern Arcadia59. The springs of the were said to be placed near Νώνακρις and Φενεός. Cleomenes meant to collect the Arcadian chiefs to make them “swear to the Styx” (Hdt. VI 74,3-13). In addition, Callimachus (Mir. fr. 413 Pf.) mentions that the river’s water breaks all vessels except those made of horn (cf. Paus. VIII 18,5)60. Rhianus’ mention of may have related to the episode narrated by Herodotus about Cleomenes I and the springs of the Styx in the fifth century in a context of a narrative in- volving his grandson, Cleomenes III, in the third century BC. The Spartan king Cleomenes III managed to split the Achaean League into two parts, Arcadia and the older Achaean cities to the West and the cities of Sicyon, Argos and Corin- thos to the East61. In addition, Cleomenes III had seized the territories of Pallene and by 225 BC, acquisitions that brought him to the Corinthian Gulf and made him a serious threat to the stability of Peloponnese under the Achaean League’s rule62. Allusions to Sparta and the Laconian territory are further attested in the third book of Rhianus’ Ἠλιακά through the cult-title of , Λιθήσιος (FGrHist 265 F 10 = fr. 13 Pow.), at the Laconian Cape Malea, where a temple made of rocks honoured the god63. Jacoby (FGrHist IIIb 100) and Bölte (1928, 863f.) thought that Rhianus’ Apollo Lithesius was to be identified with Apollo Maleatis in Laconia, where a festival called Lithesia is attested64. Besides, the λίθος μέλας (FGrHist 265

57 Cf. Paus. VIII 26,8, see also Pritchett 1980, 252, where a road system connecting Heraea with ancient Olympia, Melaenae and Megalopolis is shown by the Tabula Peutingeriana. 58 Wilamowitz (1924, I 225) considered the expression a reminiscence of Callimachus’ πολυπτῶκές τε Μελαιναί (Hec. fr. 84 H.), while Jacoby (FGrHist IIIb 100) excluded such de­ rivation.­ Pfeiffer (1949, 256) agreed with Wilamowitz’s suggestion; cf. also Cameron 1995, 299f. 59 Cf. Hdt. VI 74,3-13, Paus. VIII 17,6; the city was possibly situated inside the territory of Pheneus in Theophrastus’ day (fr. 213B F.); see Meyer 1937, 860. 60 Αdjectives, derived from the city-name Nώνακρις are used as synonyms of Arcadia in Hellenistic poetry and later in Roman times (similar to Apia as Peloponnese in the first book of Ἀχαϊκά, FGrHist 265 F 1 = fr. 13 Pow.): Callimachus’ Νωνακρίνη Κα[λλιστώ (Aet. SH 251,15 = fr. 19,9f. Mass.), Lycophron’s Νωνακριάτης Τρικέφαλος Φαιδρὸς θεός (v. 680, an adjective for Hermes honoured at Nonacris), and Nonacrino (fr. anon. 33 Bl. = 8 Court., cf. also Hollis 2007). 61 Cf. Plut. Arat. 40. 62 Cf. Plut. Arat. 39; see Walbank 1984, 465f. 63 Cf. St. Byz. λ 64 Bill. 64 Cf. IG V/1 213,37, 54, 60 (Sparta, 431 BC); see also Billerbeck 2014, III 221 n. 124. However, Meineke (1843, 185) thought that Malea was not the Laconian cape, but the «moles Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 325

F 58 = fr. 58 Pow.) also ascribed to the Cretan poet needs to be reconsidered due to its possible link to Λιθήσιος and, of course, the cult of Apollo in Laconia65. An allusion to the cult of Apollo and his healing powers is strengthened by a similar context in Apollonius Rhodius (II 1172 εἴσω δὲ μέλας λίθος ἠρήρειστο ἱερός, «inside, a black stone stood fixed, a sacred one», transl. Race 2008, 205) and the scholia to Nicander’s Theriaca 37a,2 ἡ γὰρ Γαγὶς πόλις τῆς Λυκίας, ἔνθα ὁ λίθος οὗτος εὑρίσκεται· γίνεται δὲ πρὸς αἰγιαλοῖς μέλας τε καὶ χλωρός. Jacoby doubted that we could relate μέλας λίθος to Λιθήσιος Apollo, while Schneider (on Nicand. fr. 133,2) identified μέλας λίθος with Μελάμπυγος λίθος (cf. Hdt. VII 216) relating its context to Rhianus’ Ἡράκλεια66. However, λίθος μέλας seems to be more likely to be related to Lithesius/Maleates Apollo, the god of medicine and healing, than to . The cult-epithet Λιθήσιος derives from λίθος ‘stone’, ‘rock’ and Cape Malea, registered in Stephanus (λ 64 Bill.), is considered to be one of Maleates Apollo’s places of origin67. What is more, Μαλέας similarly echoes λίθος’ epithet μέλας, alluding to the healing qualities of Apollo. Similar hints can be traced in the scholia to Nicander’s Theriaca 37a,2 quoted above, and a black stone repels snakes in Lycia, motherland of Apollo68. The adjective μέλας also recalls Rhianus’ πολυδρύμους Μελαινάς (FGrHist 265 F 8 = fr. 20 Pow.), the Arcadian city near Megalopolis, where a temple of the healing god Asclepius is attested69. Accordingly, reconsideration of fr. 58 λίθος μέλας suggests a possible connection with Lithesius/Maleates Apollo and his cult in Laconia and a similar ritual context in the third book of Ἠλιακά. Finally, the genealogical fragment on Amythaon and Ἀμυθαονία (FGrHist ante Phaesti portum», meaning the Cretan city of Phaestus. He cited a tradition dating back to the Alexandrians and their interpretation of (III 296) ἐς Φαιστόν, μικρὸς δὲ λίθος μέγα κῦμ’ ἀποέργει. Zenodotus emended λίθος μέγα to Μαλέου λίθος (schol. Od. III 296c,1-d Pont.), claiming that the rocks before the gate of Phaestus were said to be built by Maleas of the Tyrrhenian Pelasgi; hence, Apollo Lithesius was assumed to be the Cretan Apollo and his temple was located on this rock of Malea at Phaestus. Eustathius (Od. 1128,34) remarks that Μάλεια and Μαλέας could have the same meaning. 65 The restitution of the fragment is due to Bekker (An. Gr. III 1182) with the conjecture of μέλας instead of μέγας. This was also accepted by Saal (1831, 57f.) and Meineke (1843, 202f.), who assumed that Rhianus could have changed the order of the expression in μέλας λίθος: for a similar emendation, cf. Theocr. 2,4; see Gow 1952, 37. 66 FGrHist IIIb 198; cf. also LSJ9 1095 s.v. Μελάμπυγος: «that is black in the bottom», a symbol of courage and prowess, an epithet of Heracles. 67 See Farnell 1896, 238; see also Wide (1893, 92), who relates Lithesius to Malea and the cathartic ritual of stone-worship. 68 Cf. schol. Nic. Ther. 37a,6. 69 Cf. Xen. Hell. VI 5,24; cf. also Paus. VIII 27,4, on an Arcadian district that Xenophon calls Μαλεατίς and that must have taken its name from a city or town Μαλέα, later known from Pausanias. Farnell (1896, 236f.) and Larson (2007, 98f.) mention the close relation of Apollo, Asclepius and Machaon as healing gods. 326 SPANAKIS

265 F 11 = fr. 24 Pow.) in the fourth book is the only explicit reference to a city within the Elean territory70. Ἀμυθαονία, near Pylos in ancient Triphylia, is traced back to its founder Amythaon, who is said to have moved from in Thessaly to Triphylia with his half-brother, Neleus71. Amythaon is also mentioned among the founders of the Olympic Games in Pausanias’ account (V 8,2), as well as his half-brothers, and . Elis, of course, was responsible for organizing the Olympic Games in the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus72. Hence, Rhianus was probably interested in narrating the establishment of the Olympic Games in a hexameter poem about its cradle, Elis (as perhaps too in FGrHist 265 F 8 = fr. 20 Pow. about Heraea, Melaenae and the ancient road leading to Olympia discussed above).

3. Continuity and change in Rhianus’ ethnographical poetry

A careful interpretation of the Ἀχαϊκά and the Ἠλιακά reveals that Rhianus may have aimed at offering a quite complete periegesis of Peloponnese, beginning with Achaia and Elis. However, his account of Achaia seems to be more detailed, including local myths and city-names, mainly within its territory (FGrHist 265 FF 3-5 = frr. 11, 14, 15 Pow.), while the ethnographical poem about Elis is rather a regional history than a periegesis, including as it does Arcadian (FGrHist 265 FF 8, 9 = frr. 20, 22 Pow.) and Laconian (FGrHist 265 FF 7, 10, 58 = frr. 21, 23, 58 Pow.) topography73. The fragmentary form of the poems undermines any attempt to elucidate their overall structure, the natures of their ‘epic’ narrative and description, their poetic style or the poet’s wider objectives, but the ethnographic mode emerges clearly from the scattered city-names and mythical references. The two poems, as the titles Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά indicate, belong indisputably to the literary genre of ethnography, treating a particular ethnos from mythological to historical times, albeit seldom right down to the writer’s own time74. Whereas Achaia (Ἀχαϊκά),

70 Stephanus of Byzantium (α 282 Bill.) transmits the fragment about the ancient city Amythaonia, attested only in Rhianus, as a district of Elis. The city was named after Amythaon, son of Kretheus, brother of Aesonas and , father of and seer Melampus. Cf. also Od. XI 235, 258, Diod. Sic. IV 68, [Apollod.] I 9,11, schol. Ap. Rh. I 121, 143 and IV 1781. (P. 4,125-127 ἐκ δὲ Μεσσάνας Ἀμυθάν· ταχέως δ’ Ἄδματος ἷκεν καὶ Μέλαμπος / εὐμενέοντες ἀνεψιόν) mentions Amythaon coming to Pelias’ house in Iolcus to claim the kingdom for Jason, son of his brother Aesonas. Furthermore, his family (the Amythaonidae) was well-known for its seers, such as Melampus and his descendants, the Melampodae; see also Stoll 1884/1890, 329 s.v. Amythaon. 71 Cf. Hellan. FGrHist 4 F 124b, schol. Il. II 591 E. 72 For the origins of the , cf. Yalouris 1998, 167-172; Nelson 2007; Hubbard 2007. 73 Cf. FGrHist IIIb 95, 225. 74 Cf. FGrHist IIIa 87-89; see also Cameron 1995, 297. Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 327

Elis (Ἠλιακά) and Messenia (Μεσσηνιακά) are all situated in the Peloponnese and the poems could be composed as a unity, it is unclear whether Mεσσηνιακά was a historical or an ethnographical epic75. Rhianus’ account of Achaia and Elis blends archaic epic narrative with a Hellenistic poetic style to create an ethnography presenting local myths, heroes, rare city-names and regional cults. Furthermore, it exploited the role of myth for the survival and continuation of the Greek identity through the ages. Particular myths were closely associated with specific regions from the Mycenaean Age to Pausanias in the second century AD and beyond76. Myth establishes the identity of a place, an ethnic group (ἔθνος) or a city through its eponymous hero (a person or a personified entity), who often had something named after him77. In the Hellenistic period, mythology still played an important role bridging the Archaic and Classical past with the Hellenistic present through the medium of genealogies. Scheer (2005, 216-218) notes that the past becomes significant when it is related to famous historical personalities or mythical heroes; poetic imagination replaced reality with a powerful and accept- able representation of the Greek past78. Rhianus of is a remarkable example of a Hellenistic poet and scholar who connects mythology with in contexts that allow allusions to the past to bear upon the present through legendary ancestries, such as Apia in the second book of Ἀχαϊκά and Lapersa in the first book of Ἠλιακά or Amythaonia79. Rhianus also follows a similar structure and mode in Θεσσαλικά (FGrHist 265 F 30b = fr. 25 Pow.), where he recalls different names of Thessaly through the mythic ages beginning with Deucalion and Haemon80. Αἱμονία is a poetic name of Thessaly (cf. Call. Aet. fr. 7,26 Pf. = 9,26 Mass., Ap. Rh. II 504, 507, etc.). Furthermore, it is intriguing to see how references or allusions to cult-sites, cult-epithets and festivals, along with the mythological frame, colour these poems81. Hellenistic religion involved continuity, as well as many changes that were different for Greeks living in different regions of the Hellenistic world. An interesting case

75 Cf. FGrHist IIIa 87; see also Pearson 1962, 417-423; Wade-Gery 1967, 289-302; Parker 1991, 25-47; Cameron 1995, 297f. 76 See Graf 2011, 211f. 77 Cf. Dowden 1992, 53-64. 78 For the work of the Alexandrians in recollecting and reconstructing the glorious mythical past, cf. Henrichs (1987, 242-277) and Sourvinou-Inwood (1987, 215-241), who pointed out the important role of myth for the continuation of the historical past; see also Higbie 2007, 237- 254; Griffiths 2011, 195-208. On the relationship between founding myths, history, and Greek identities, cf. Patterson 2010; Sweeney 2015. 79 See above pp. 315s., 320, 323. 80 For the tendency to change regional names, a topos in Hellenistic poetry (μετονομασία), cf. Hollis 1992, 278f. 81 For the interaction between myth and ritual as a form of communication, cf. Burkert 1979, 100-102; Versnel 1990, II 121f.; Dowden 1992, 73. 328 SPANAKIS of continuity mentioned in the third book of Ἠλιακά is that of Lithesius Apollo, who is probably to be identified with Apollo Maleatas (FGrHist 265 F 10 = fr. 23 Pow. and FGrHist 265 F 58 = fr. 58 Pow.). One of the most famous archaic Apol- line cults is that of the god defined as a guardian, an averter of evil, a healer, and protector of the city and its citizens82. In the fourth century BC Apollo, as a god of health and medicine, was closely related to his son, Asclepius; later Greek medicine owed something to Greek cult, though it was that of Asclepius rather than Apollo83. As a matter of fact, Gortys and Heraea (FGrHist 265 F 8 = fr. 20 Pow.) were important cult-cities of Asclepius, and Pan84. However, owing to the shortness of our fragments it is not clear whether Rhianus makes any explicit reference to ancient Olympia; a reconsideration of the Ἠλιακά suggests that he preferred allusive references to the Olympic Games, such those to Amythaon (FGrHist 265 F 11 = fr. 24 Pow.) and the cities Heraea and Melaenae (FGrHist 265 F 8 = fr. 20 Pow.)85. The sanctity of Olympia was respected and protected during the rule of the Hellenistic kingdoms. Many competitors also came from Egypt and Asia Minor, were all Greeks or Greek-speaking and lived in Hellenized cities that were part of the Greek world86. Historical and sociopolitical allusions to Rhianus’ own time seem to lie behind his references of mythical-heroic origins, city-names or landscapes in the Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά. In the proem of the second book of Ἀχαϊκά (FGrHist 265 F 1 = fr. 13 Pow.), Rhianus probably invokes as Ἀπιδανῆες, and it could be therefore be held that Rhianus introduced Apis as an appropriate foundation hero for a Peloponnesian periegesis87. However, the name Apia could also be seen to refer to the Achaean League’s revival and its control of almost the whole of the Peloponnese. Already in Homeric poems, the term ‘Achaeans’ applied to all the Greeks, though in later periods the term referred to the coastal region of the north-

82 Farnell (1896, 236) claims that Apollo Maleatas was clearly recognized at Epidauros and , as belonging to the cycle of health-deities. See also FGrHist IIIb 100 and IG V/1 213 (Sparta, 431 BC), 37 (Sparta, 2nd-3rd cent. AD), 54 (Sparta, 1st-2nd cent. AD), 60 (Sparta, 2nd cent. AD) for the festival of Lithesia in Laconia. 83 Cf. Farnell 1896, 241. For Asclepius’ importance on Greek cult, see Edelstein-Edelstein 1975. 84 See pp. 321f. 85 Callimachus’ also includes several episodes featuring sacred games: the Victory of Berenice, the stories of the Olympic victor Euthycles (frr. 84f. Pf. = 186f. Mass.) and the boxing champion Euthymus (frr. 98f. Hard. = 201f. Mass.); perhaps also the episode about Elean marriage rites, which opens with a reference to Zeus of Pisa and includes a Heracles myth related to the founding of the Olympic Games (frr. 76f. Pf. = 178f. Mass.); see also Krevans 2011, 127. Rhianus’ Amythaon seems to be a parallel to his precedent Callimachus’ Heracles and the myth related to the founding of the Olympic Games. See also above pp. 321-323. 86 Cf. Young 2004, 130f. 87 See above pp. 315f. Images of the Hellenistic Peloponnese in Rhianus’ Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά 329 ern Peloponnese between Sicyon and Patras88. However, in the third and second centuries BC the term ‘Achaeans’ was specifically used to refer to a κοινόν that included most of the Peloponnese and it was the last effort for Greeks to retain their independence and unity ahead of Roman dominance89. What is more, Rhianus’ geographical references in the two hexameter poems clearly reflect both continuity and change in the Greek social world in the Hellen- istic period. For example, city-names in the Ἀχαϊκά indicate that many towns or villages incorporated into bigger cities due to weakness, such as Boline (FGrHist 265 F 3 = fr. 11 Pow.) in the διοικισμός of Patrae, or disaster, such as Scolis (FGrHist 265 F 5 = fr. 15 Pow.), identified with Olenus: both cities were members of the Achaean Confederacy. Remarkable too in the Ἠλιακά are the examples of Gortys, Heraea and Melaenae (FGrHist 265 F 8 = fr. 20 Pow.). Gortys was part of the Achaean League as shown on a coin with pictures of Zeus Amarius and Demeter Panachaea90; Melaenae belonged to a συνοικισμός with Heraea and was located on a road near Megalopolis, also a member of the Achaean League. Finally, Rhianus’ concept of Greeks trying to maintain their identity in a world of warfare and sociopolitical change is also well established in the Θεσσαλικά, as well as in the Μεσσηνιακά. In the Θεσσαλικά thirty fragments mentioning the tribes (ἔθνη) of Molossians, Chaones, Thesprotians, city-names, and other Thes- salian place names, which we know were organized into συνοικισμοί or federal units, indicate that Rhianus was probably interested in reinforcing Thessalian identity and autonomy through the ages91. Similarly, in the Mεσσηνιακά, he bol- stered Messenian identity through his accounts of the Second Messenian war and the deeds of the hero Aristomenes in a Homeric-style narrative92. It is highly possible that Rhianus chooses places and myths that Greeks of the third century BC, and especially immigrants to Egypt or Syria and Italy, would enjoy reading because they reminded them of mainland Greece and of their Greek identity93. For example, in the Μεσσηνιακά (P. Oxy. 2552 A/B = SH 923,16-18 ].ετερην ξείνην διζ[ησόμεθα ... / ]εισιν ἐπὶ προτέροισ [θεμί̣λοις / ]...[] πυργωσομεθ[ π . “we will search for another foreign land … on the ancient foundation … to strengthen …”), the speaker, probably the Messenian Aristomenes

88 Hillen (2012, 4-24) discusses unity of the ethnic ‘Achaeans’ in the Archaic and Clas- sical periods. 89 McInerney (2013, 477-478) observes that preferred the term ἔθνος, instead of κοινόν, emphasizing the Achaean League’s genuine ethnic basis. 90 Zeus Homagyrios or Amarios Zeus was the cult all the federal members shared, in a shrine neighbouring , as well as that of Demeter Panachaia; see also Chamoux 2002, 205. 91 For the federal systems of Epeirus, cf. Cabanes 1976; Cuscuna 2006, 475-477; McIn- erney 2013, 467-468. 92 For the Messenian identity, cf. Castelli 1998, 3-50; Ogden 2004; Luraghi 2008, 6-14 and 83-100. 93 Cf. Burstein 2008, 59-77, for the Greek identity in the Hellenistic period. 330 SPANAKIS or his son Gorgo, invites the companions to abandon their homeland and to seek a new home. What is more, Rhianus’ reference to Ἄγυλλα (FGrHist 265 F 31 = fr. 48 Pow.), an Etruscan city (of Caere) with a Thessalian origin in the Θεσσαλικά, is a reminiscence of the spread of ‘Pelasgoi’ and their vicissitudes out of Thessaly.

4. Conclusion

It could be generally assumed that Rhianus’ fragmentary poems possibly lead scholars to theories and speculation about the poet’s true incentive to write a literary ‘tour’ about the peninsula of Peloponnese. However, the surviving refer- ences to toponyms, mythical heroes and city-names encourage a reconsideration of the fragments. A narrative of the glorious past could reflect the resurgence of the poet’s own time, and references of Peloponnesian territories could thus imply praise of the whole peninsula in the Hellenistic period. Rhianus’ poetry, albeit al- lusively, reflects the continuity, change, and evolution of the Peloponnese in the second half of the third century BC, a combination of the Homeric style with a Hellenistic colouring.

Univ. of Crete, Dept. of Philology M a n o l i s S p a n a k i s GR – 74100 Gallou, Rethymno [email protected]

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Abstract

This paper focuses on Rhianus’ fragments of the Ἀχαϊκά and Ἠλιακά, examining the fragments from new social and religious perspectives on the Peloponnese in the late third century BC. In the Ἀχαϊκά we find traces of federal unions (συνοικισμοί or διοικισμοί) and historical allusions to the revival of the Achaean League by Aratus of Sicyon in 251 BC. Additionally, the Cretan poet recalls local cults of Spartan or Arcadian landscapes in the Ἠλιακά and possible allusions to the ancient Olympia. Continuity and change, hinted at in these Peloponnesian poems, led to a redefinition of Greek identity in the context of mythical narrative and Homeric style.