DOCSLIB.ORG

A New Epic Fragment on Achilles' Helmet?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A New Epic Fragment on Achilles' Helmet? Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 49 (2012) 7-14 A New Epic Fragment on Achilles’ Helmet?1 C. Michael Sampson University of Manitoba Abstract Edition of a small scrap from the Princeton collection containing fragmentary epic hexameters, ascribed to the cyclic Aethiopis of Arctinus or the Little Iliad on the basis of its contents, which most plausibly involve the death of Achilles (with possible echoes of that of Penthesilea). This small fragment from the Princeton collection preserves a lovely slop- ing oval hand whose uncials are roughly bilinear but tiny – typically in the vicinity of 3 mm tall. The uprights of kappa (ll. 5; 11) and iota (ll. 3; 7; 10) are occasionally adorned with a decorative serif, and the loops of omicron and rho are particularly small (a mere 1-1.5 mm), but the hand is otherwise consistent with the “formal mixed” style described by Turner, with narrow epsilon, theta, omicron, and sigma but comparatively wide and squat forms of pi, eta, nu, and mu.2 The label “formal,” however, is not exactly ideal; close parallels are found in the small, rapid hands of the latter half of the second century (occasionally termed “informal” by their editors), to which date and category I would assign this hand as well.3 So broad are the shapes of eta, nu, and pi, in fact, that they 1 I am happy to acknowledge the support of the American Council of Learned So- cieties and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the New Faculty Fellows award under whose auspices this research was undertaken, as well as the cooperation of Dr. Don Skemer, the Curator of Manuscripts in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Princeton University’s Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library. I note as well particular debts to Richard Janko and Jay Reed, my correspondence with whom in February and March 2011 produced a number of suggestions that were instrumental in shaping this article. For further criticisms and an important reading, I am grateful to the journal’s editors and its anonymous referee. Any errors that remain are my own. 2 Turner, GMAW2 22. 3 See, for example, P.Oxy. 15.1788. Similar scripts are found also in P.Oxy. 17.2078 (“a small sloping hand of an informal, rapid type”); P.Oxy. 17.2082; P.Oxy. 27.2452; and P.Mich. inv. 3 (C. Bonner, “A Papyrus of Dioscurides in the University of Michigan 8 C. Michael Sampson are potentially mistaken for one another: as regards the former two letters, the slope of the hand makes it difficult to distinguish whether the angle of the crossbar is horizontal or slightly diagonal.4 As regards eta and pi, moreover, where the upper portion of the letter is obscured, the letters are nearly identical; due to their respective squatness, where traces above the crossbar are abraded or invisible (as in l. 10), it is difficult to tell them apart. The text is written with the fibers (→). P.Princ. inv. AM 14601A H x W = 5.7 x 3.1 cm Oxyrhynchus (?) Late II CE – – – – – – – – – – ] . τηϲ̣ ̣ . [ ] . τηϲ̣ . [ ] . νηθην̣[ κ]ινηθῆν̣ ̣[αι ]ϲπαρεα̣ϲι ̣ . [ ]c παρέα̣ϲιν̣ ̣ [ ]τ̣ρυφα . [ ] τ̣ρυφάλ̣[εια ] . κα . απρο[ 5 ] . καλ̣ὰ προ[ ]μ̣οιο [ πολέ]μ̣οιο [ ]ϲαιακιδε̣[ ]c Αἰακιδε̣[ ]διοϲεγ̣χ̣[ ]διοϲ ἔγ̣χ̣[οϲ ]φ . [ ]φ . [ ]ε̣υε . ινοπα . [ 10 ϲκ]ε̣ύεϲ̣ιν οπα . [ ] . κ[ . ]αν . [ ] . κ[ . ]αν . [ ]φ [ ]φ [ – – – – – – – – – – (courtesy Princeton University Library) 1 ] . , trace of a horizontal at lower letter height along edge of papyrus as of α, δ 1 ϲ̣ . [, lower half of lunate letter as of c, θ, ε; fleck of ink at lower letter height 2 ] . , trace of a vertical on edge of papyrus 2 ν̣[, upright with diagonal (or horizontal) extending to right from apex, trace of ink at upper right as of ν, γ . 3 α̣, right side of triangular letter obscured by damage to fibers as of α, δ, λ Collection,” TAPA 52 [1922] 142-168). Dr. Don Skemer, the Curator of Manuscripts at Princeton, informs me that the majority of the Princeton collection is Oxyrhynchite, with regard to which possibility the fragment in question offers no contradictory evi- dence. (The collection’s descriptive inventory, for its part, states that the provenance is unknown, but given that this same inventory also erroneously dates the hand to the first centuries BCE/CE, we are at liberty to reevaluate.) 4 In line 2, for example, the letters can be distinguished only by observing the point at which the crossbar intersects the second upright. A New Epic Fragment 9 3 ι ̣ . [, upright with decorative serif at apex (cf. l .7); damaged fibers and a fleck of ink at lower letter height 4 ]τ̣, upper portion of vertical with horizontal cap extending to right as of τ, γ 4 . [, trace of ink at upper letter height above lacuna 5 ] . , fleck of ink at mid letter height on edge of papyrus 5 α . α, middle letter obscured by hole, fleck of ink at lower-left position, possis λ, vix τ, ι 6 ]μ̣, bowl-shaped stroke leading into descender as of μ, ωι; end of verse fol lowed by over 0.5 cm blank papyrus 7 ε̣ [, faint traces of lunate stroke with horizontal crossbeam as of ε, θ 8 γ̣χ̣ [, upright with horizontal cap extending to right; left side of intersecting diagonals; fleck at lower right as of γχ, γχ . , ιχ, ιχ . 9 ]φ . , papyrus obscured to right of φ; flecks of two letters’ width at upper- letter height; vertex at top as of α, δ 10 ]ε̣υ, right edge of two horizontal or diagonal strokes at mid and upper- letter height, respectively, as of ε, χ, κ, vix c 10 ε . ι, a difficult reading: upper portion of a lunate letter with damaged fibers at mid and lower letter height as ofϲ , ε, but resembling the vertex of two diagonals as of δ, α (cf. l. 3 for a comparably sharp-angled upper portion of c) 10 α . [, faint fleck at lower letter height adjacent to the tail of α 11 ] . κ, fleck at mid to upper letter height 11 ν . [, badly damaged fibers: traces of a round or lunate shape; faint flecks 12 ]φ, upper portion of the lengthy upright of φ (cf. l. 4; l. 9); fibers damaged at right. Numerous morphological and lexical details indicate an epic context: I reconstruct the Homeric verb παρέᾱϲιν (l. 3; first suggested by Richard Janko) as well as forms of the epic words for helmet (τρυφάλεια, l. 4) and weapon (ἔγχοϲ, l. 8),5 conjectures which are endorsed by the sure presence of an archaic genitive in -οιο (l. 6), and a form of the patronym Αἰακίδηϲ (l. 7). Of metrical features, the frequency of the double-short rhythm – either ⏑ ⏑ – (ll. 3, 4, 6,6 8) or – ⏑ ⏑ (l. 7) – is consistent with hexameters, a possibility which is confirmed 5 Although certain -μι verbs in Attic-Ionic also retain -ᾱϲι as a third person plural ending (e.g. ἴᾱϲι, διδόᾱϲι, τιθέᾱϲι, ἱcτᾶϲι), the form παρέᾱϲι is attested only in Homer (Il. 5.192; 14.299; Od. 13.247). On the ending, see the discussion in A.L. Sihler, A New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin (Oxford 1995) §430.5. Alternatives are few, and not inconsistent with an epic context: one might read the archaic adverb ῥέα, or posit a reference to the goddess of the same name. 6 The reading πολέ]μ̣οιο is, admittedly, a conjecture, but the other likely supplements (see app. crit.) are metrically equivalent. 10 C. Michael Sampson by Janko, who points out that the visible text is either metrically compatible with verse-ends (ll. 2, 3, 4, 6, 8), made compatible by means of minor emenda- tion (l. 7, 10), or readily supplemented by formulae or verse-ends known from Homer (ll. 5, 7, 10). The presence of blank space following the -οιο genitive, which might seem to belie the possibility of hexameters or elegiacs, is rather the indication of a very short verse.7 A visualization of the verses is helpful, and in the case of the substantial remains (some two-thirds of the verses), hexameters are easily posited. I include the likeliest supplements, conjectures, and corrections. ] . τηϲ̣ . [ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ κ]ινηθῆν̣[αι – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ]ϲ παρέα̣ϲιν̣ ̣ [ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ] τ̣ρυφάλ̣[εια 5 – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ ] . καλ̣ὰ πρό[cωπα – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – πολέ]μ̣οιο [ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ποδώκεο]c Αἰακίδα[ο͙ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ]διοc ἔγ̣χ̣[οc ]φ . [ 10 – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – cκ]ε̣ύε⟨ϲ⟩ϲ̣ιν ὀπάϲ̣[cαι ] . κ[ . ]αν . [ ]φ [ Because Achilles is the obvious candidate for the Aeacid mentioned in line 7, and because of the references to a τρυφάλεια (l. 4) and ἔγχοc (l. 8), the task of contextualizing the fragment necessarily begins from the assumption that we are dealing with one of his martial exploits. Admittedly, some nondescript battle at Troy or even his aristeia is possible, but the proximity of Achilles and a helmet is perhaps more significant. One thinks immediately of the Iliadic death of Patroclus, marked as it is by the unprecedented sullying of his friend’s divine headgear (Il. 16.789-800): it is entirely possible that the passage in ques- tion involves the death of Achilles himself. The presence of other anonymous figures (required by the plural verb παρέαcι at l. 3), as well as the possibilities of maiming or mourning (l. 5),8 war (l. 6), and chasing or devotion to armor 7 While scribal pause of this sort is common as a mark of punctuation, it is usually only a letter’s width or so. In this case, there are no further traces of ink on this line, which can only indicate verse end. 8 The formula καλὰ πρόϲωπα, if restored (l.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Pindar and Yeats: the Mythopoeic Vision
    Colby Quarterly Volume 24 Issue 4 December Article 3 December 1988 Pindar and Yeats: The Mythopoeic Vision Ann L. Derrickson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq Recommended Citation Colby Library Quarterly, Volume 24, no.4, December 1988, p.176-186 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Quarterly by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. Derrickson: Pindar and Yeats: The Mythopoeic Vision Pindar and Yeats: The Mythopoeic Vision by ANN L. DERRICKSON ROM THE Greece of Pindar to the Ireland of Yeats, 2,300 years canle Fcoursing down the riverbed of history, washing over the widening delta of poetry, leaving layers of political context and literary convention. Yet a shape emerges, despite the shifts of eras and of nations, a form fun­ damental to the lyric. Thinking about the two poets together, then, helps produce an understanding of what is basic to and defines the genre oflyric poetry. Its nature is not specifically a matter of theme but a relationship of reference; action serves to describe spirit. As in Yeats's phrase from "The Circus Animals' Desertion," the prime concern is "Character isolated by a deed." Because it is on this plane of human spirit that meaning distills from the works of Pindar and Yeats, their writing shares the label "lyric." For both poets the vital creative tension exists between a given occasion and its associated images, rather than between concepts of present and past or fact and fantasy.
    [Show full text]
  • Hephaestus the Magician and Near Eastern Parallels for Alcinous' Watchdogs , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 28:3 (1987:Autumn) P.257
    FARAONE, CHRISTOPHER A., Hephaestus the Magician and Near Eastern Parallels for Alcinous' Watchdogs , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 28:3 (1987:Autumn) p.257 Hephaestus the Magician and Near Eastern Parallels for Alcinous' Watchdogs Christopher A. Faraone s ODYSSEUS enters the palace of the Phaeacian king he stops to A marvel at its richly decorated fa9ade and the gold and silver dogs that stand before it (Od. 7.91-94): , ~,t: I () \, I , ")" XPVCHLOL u EKanp E KaL apyvpEoL KVVES l1CTav, C 'll I 'll ovs'" ·'HA-.'t'aLCTTOS' ETEV~" EV LuVL?1CTL 7rpa7rLUECTCTL oWJJ.a <pvAaCTCTEJJ.EvaL JJ.EyaA~TopoS' ' AAKWOOLO, a'() avaTOVS'I OVTaS'" KaL\ aYl1pwS'')',' l1JJ.aTa 7raVTa.I On either side [sc. of the door] there were golden and silver dogs, immortal and unaging forever, which Hephaestus had fashioned with cunning skill to protect the home of Alcinous the great­ hearted. All the scholiasts give the same euhemerizing interpretation: the dogs were statues fashioned so true to life that they seemed to be alive and were therefore able to frighten away any who might attempt evil. Eustathius goes on to suggest that the adjectives 'undying' and 'un­ aging' refer not literally to biological life, but rather to the durability of the rust-proof metals from which they were fashioned, and that the dogs were alleged to be the work of Hephaestus solely on account of their excellent workmanship. 1 Although similarly animated works of Hephaestus appear elsewhere in Homer, such as the golden servant girls at Il. 18.417-20, modern commentators have also been reluctant to take Homer's description of these dogs at face value.
    [Show full text]
  • RELIGION in HERODOTUS Jon D. Mikalson Although It Is Regularly Ignored, Dismissed, Or Disparaged by Both Ancient and Modern Hist
    CHAPTER EIGHT RELIGION IN HERODOTUS Jon D. Mikalson Although it is regularly ignored, dismissed, or disparaged by both ancient and modern historians, Herodotus explicitly offers also a reli­ gious explanation of the causes and outcome of the Persian inva­ sions. I In 499 BC a small force of Greeks, including Athenians, attacked Sardis, a principal city of the Persian empire, and in the course of the attack they accidently burned down the sanctuary of the goddess Cybebe (S.101- 102.1). When King Darius first heard of it, 'he took a bow, fitted an arrow to it, and shot the arrow into the sky. As he did, he prayed, "Zeus, grant me to take vengeance on the Athenians ... '" (S.lOS). It was the burning of Cybebe's sanc­ tuary that the Persians then used as an excuse for burning sanctu­ aries throughout the lands of hostile Greek cities for the next eighteen years (S.102.l; cf. 6.l0l.3 and 7.8.P).2 These included, after the Ionian Revolt, Apollo's temple and oracle at Didyma, and the sanc­ tuaries of all the revolting Ionian cities and islands of Asia Minor except Samos (6.l9.3, 2S, and 32). Later Datis on his way to Marathon in 490 burned the sanctuaries of Naxos and Eretria (6.96 and 10l.3). And in the second invasion Xerxes destroyed the sanctuaries in twelve Phocian cities, including Apollo's oracle at Abae (8.32.2- 33). Had he had his way, Xerxes would have had Delphi destroyed too (8.3S- 9).
    [Show full text]
  • The Ears of Hermes
    The Ears of Hermes The Ears of Hermes Communication, Images, and Identity in the Classical World Maurizio Bettini Translated by William Michael Short THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRess • COLUMBUS Copyright © 2000 Giulio Einaudi editore S.p.A. All rights reserved. English translation published 2011 by The Ohio State University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bettini, Maurizio. [Le orecchie di Hermes. English.] The ears of Hermes : communication, images, and identity in the classical world / Maurizio Bettini ; translated by William Michael Short. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8142-1170-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8142-1170-4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-8142-9271-6 (cd-rom) 1. Classical literature—History and criticism. 2. Literature and anthropology—Greece. 3. Literature and anthropology—Rome. 4. Hermes (Greek deity) in literature. I. Short, William Michael, 1977– II. Title. PA3009.B4813 2011 937—dc23 2011015908 This book is available in the following editions: Cloth (ISBN 978-0-8142-1170-0) CD-ROM (ISBN 978-0-8142-9271-6) Cover design by AuthorSupport.com Text design by Juliet Williams Type set in Adobe Garamond Pro Printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American Na- tional Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48–1992. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Translator’s Preface vii Author’s Preface and Acknowledgments xi Part 1. Mythology Chapter 1 Hermes’ Ears: Places and Symbols of Communication in Ancient Culture 3 Chapter 2 Brutus the Fool 40 Part 2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tomb of Olympias'
    THE TOMB OF OLYMPIAS' MACEDONICAIV2 (PLATE 3) Tr HE SITE of ancient Pydna on the west coast of the Thermaic Gulf seems never to have been precisely determined, and I am not aware of ,any serious discussion of the problem of the city's location since that of Leon Heuzey written in the fifties of the last century.3 It is quite certain, however, that Pydna was the first important city of the north of the Pierian Plain, today the plain of Katerini, for otherwise the town would not have given its name to the great battle between King Perseus and the Romans in 168 B.C.4 It is equally certain that Pydna was located directly on the coast.5 It is true that Diodorus (XIII, 49, 2) states that King Archelaus in 410 B.C. moved the city twenty stadia inland from the coast, but it is abundantly clear that the coastal site had been reoccupied by the fourth century, probably during the disturbed period after the assassination of Archelaus in 399.6 Archelaus' Pydna, or New Pydna as we may call it, is verv probably to be placed at, or near, the medieval and modern 1 I am very deeply indebted to Professor Benedict Einarson of the University of Chicago for suggestions and criticism. Professor Einarson is of course in no sense responsible for the argu- mentation and conclusions of this study. 2 The first two studies in this series have been published in Harvard Studies in Classical Phi- lology, LI, 1940, pp. 125-136. The third, " Cults of Thessalonica," has appeared in the Harvard Theological Reviezv, XLI, 1948, pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Divine Riddles: a Sourcebook for Greek and Roman Mythology March, 2014
    Divine Riddles: A Sourcebook for Greek and Roman Mythology March, 2014 E. Edward Garvin, Editor What follows is a collection of excerpts from Greek literary sources in translation. The intent is to give students an overview of Greek mythology as expressed by the Greeks themselves. But any such collection is inherently flawed: the process of selection and abridgement produces a falsehood because both the narrative and meta-narrative are destroyed when the continuity of the composition is interrupted. Nevertheless, this seems the most expedient way to expose students to a wide range of primary source information. I have tried to keep my voice out of it as much as possible and will intervene as editor (in this Times New Roman font) only to give background or exegesis to the text. All of the texts in Goudy Old Style are excerpts from Greek or Latin texts (primary sources) that have been translated into English. Ancient Texts In the field of Classics, we refer to texts by Author, name of the book, book number, chapter number and line number.1 Every text, regardless of language, uses the same numbering system. Homer’s Iliad, for example, is divided into 24 books and the lines in each book are numbered. Hesiod’s Theogony is much shorter so no book divisions are necessary but the lines are numbered. Below is an example from Homer’s Iliad, Book One, showing the English translation on the left and the Greek original on the right. When citing this text we might say that Achilles is first mentioned by Homer in Iliad 1.7 (i.7 is also acceptable).
    [Show full text]
  • Sophocles; with an English Translation
    G. E. Stechert & Co. Alfred Hafner New York u-c>«.^».^o \^-^^*cjr»vA ^ZA^>^\Ji THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY EDITED BY E. CAPPS, Ph.D., LL.D. T. B. PAGE, Litt.D. W. H. D. ROUSE, Litt.D. SOPHOCLES II SOPHOCLES WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY F. STORR, B.A. FOKMKULY SCHOLAR OF TRTNITV COLLEGE, CAMBRIUOS JN TWO VOLUMES II AJAX ELECTRA TRACHINIAE PHILOCTETES LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS MCMXTX JUL - 5 1943 First printed 19\X Reprinted 1919. CONTENTS fAOE AJAX <.r »,«..•* 1 ELECTRA • 121 TRACHINIAB 253 PHILOGTETES ,....=. 361 AJAX PA V.2 VOL. II ARGUMENT The arms of Achilles, claimed hy Ajax as the bravest warrior in the host, were through intrigue given to Odysseus, and Ajax vows vengeance both on the winner and on the awarders of the prize. Bid Athena, his patron goddess, whom his arrogance has estranged, sends him a delusion so that he mistakes for his foes the sheep and cattle of the Greeks. Athena, when the play opens, is discovered conversing with Odysseus outside the tent of Ajax J she will shotv him his mad foe mauling the beasts within. The mad fit passes and Ajax bewails his insensate folly and declares that death alone can wipe out the shame. His wife Tecmessa and the Chorus try to dissuade him, but he will not be comforted and calls for his son Eurysaces. The child is brought, and after leaving his last injunctions for his brother Teucer, Ajax takes a tender farewell. He then fetches his sword from the tent and goes forth declaring that he will purge himself of his stains and bury his sword.
    [Show full text]
  • An Intertextual Approach to Problems of Genre and Heroism in Statius’ Achilleid
    Appropriate Transgressions: An Intertextual Approach to Problems of Genre and Heroism in Statius’ Achilleid By Hanna Z. C. Mason A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Classics Victoria University of Wellington 2013 Abstract Statius’ second epic poem, the Achilleid, deals with a subject matter that is particularly problematic: Achilles’ early life, in which he is raised by a centaur in the wilderness and then disguises himself as a woman in order to rape the princess of Scyros. Recent scholarship has also pointed to other problematic elements, such as Achilles’ troublesome relationship with his mother or the epic’s intertextual engagement with elegiac and ‘un-epic’ poetry. This thesis extends such scholarship by analysing Statius’ use of transgression in particular. It focuses primarily upon the heroic character of Achilles and the generic program of the Achilleid as a whole. The first chapter focuses upon Achilles’ childhood and early youth as a foster child and student of the centaur Chiron. It demonstrates that the hero’s upbringing is used to emphasise his ambiguous nature in line with the Homeric Iliad, as a hero who is capable of acting appropriately, but chooses not to. Achilles’ wild and bestial nature is emphasised by its difference to the half-human character of Chiron, who might be expected to be act like an animal, but instead becomes an example of civilisation overcoming innate savagery, an example of what Achilles could have been. The second chapter discusses the ambiguities inherent in a study of transgression, in the light of Achilles’ transvestite episode on Scyros.
    [Show full text]
  • Two Notes on the Myth of Aeacus in Pindar , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 28:1 (1987:Spring) P.5
    HUBBARD, THOMAS K., Two Notes on the Myth of Aeacus in Pindar , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 28:1 (1987:Spring) p.5 Two Notes on the Myth of Aeacus in Pindar Thomas K. Hubbard T HAS LONG been recognized that Pindar could refashion, recom­ I bine, and sometimes totally replace traditional source-material in formulating the highly complex and detailed mythical narratives for which his odes are famous. l Although it is no longer so popular as it once was to reconstruct lost and unattested cyclic epics as sources for every detail in Pindar's mythology, it remains controversial to specu­ late just where Pin dar is innovating upon his sources and where he is not; nor is it always certain exactly what his sources may have been, given the scant remains of his predecessors and the frequent necessity of extrapolating from later evidence. More recent Pindaric scholar­ ship, intent on viewing all aspects of a poem's composition from the standpoint of its encomiastic program, has tended to minimize the importance of the mythical narrative generally (as a merely 'decora­ tive' or 'ornamental' component) and the poet's relation to his sources in particular.2 But this question is not an idle exercise in Quellenfor- I For discussion of various specific cases of mythological revision in Pindar see M. C. van der Kolf, Quaeritur quomodo Pindarus fabulas tractaverit quidque in eis mutavit (Rotterdam 1923); F. Domseiff, Pindars Sti! (Berlin 1921) 126f; G. Pini, "Correzioni di miti in Pindaro," Vichiana 4 (1967) 339-82; A. Kohnken, "Pindar as Innovator: Poseidon Hippios and the Relevance of the Pelops Story in Olympian 1," CQ N.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 Investigates the Extended Catalogue of Curses in Ovid’S Ibis in Relation to Both the Mythographic Tradition and Ovid’S Own Poetic Corpus
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Mythic Recursions: Doubling and Variation in the Mythological Works of Ovid and Valerius Flaccus Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/11r709mb Author Krasne, Darcy Anne Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Mythic Recursions: Doubling and Variation in the Mythological Works of Ovid and Valerius Flaccus by Darcy Anne Krasne A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics in the Graduate Division of the University Of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Ellen Oliensis, Chair Professor Anthony Bulloch Professor Christopher Hallett Professor John Lindow Professor Andrew Zissos Spring 2011 Mythic Recursions: Doubling and Variation in the Mythological Works of Ovid and Valerius Flaccus Copyright 2011 by Darcy Anne Krasne 1 Abstract Mythic Recursions: Doubling and Variation in the Mythological Works of Ovid and Valerius Flaccus by Darcy Anne Krasne Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Berkeley Professor Ellen Oliensis, Chair This dissertation explores the ways Latin poetry reworks the mythological tradition of which it itself is a part. I approach this broad topic primarily from the angle of mythological variation— that is, the competing and sometimes contradictory versions of individual myths which are an inherent component of the Greek and Roman mythological system. In Greece, myths and their variants played an important role in interfacing religion with politics. Through three “case studies” on the works of Ovid and Valerius Flaccus, I demonstrate different ways in which Roman poets, too, could utilize the pluralities of the tradition for their own poetic and political ends.
    [Show full text]
  • The Greek Anthology
    Iprescntct) to of tbc iJlntverait^ of Toronto bB Bertram 1R. 2)avi6 from tbc books of tbe late Xionel 2)avi6, Ik.C. THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY EDITED BY E. CAPPS, Ph.D., LL.D. T. E. PAGE, Litt.D. W, H. D. ROUSa, Lirr.D, THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY II THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY. Volume I. CHRISTIAN EPIGRAMS. CHRISTODORUS OF THEBES IN EGYPT. THE CYZICENB EPIGRAMS. THE PROEMS OF THE DIFFERENT AN- THOLOGIES. THE AMATORY EPIGRAMS. THE DJiDICATORY EPIGRAMS. Volume III. THE DECLAMATORY EPIGRAMS. Volume IV. THE HORTATORY AND ADMONITORY EPIGRAMS. THE CONVIVIAL AND SATIRICAL EPI- GRAMS. STRATO'S MU:<A P DERI LIS. Volume V. EPIGRAMS IN VARIOUS METRES. ARITHMETICAL PROBLEMS, RIDDLES ORACLES. ' MISCELLANEA. EPIGRAMS OF THE PLANUDEAN ANTHO- LOGY NOT IN THE PALATINE MANU- SCRIPT. THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY W. R. PATON IN FIVE VOLUMES II LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS MOMXIX First printed 1917. Reprinted 1919. CONTENTS PAGE BOOK VII. —SEPULCHRAL EPIGRAMS 1 BOOK VIII. —THE EPIGRAMS OF SAINT GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN 399 GENERAL INDEX . , 509 INDEX OF AUTHORS INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME . 515 GREEK ANTHOLOGY BOOK VII SEPULCHRAL EPIGRAMS The genuine epitaphs (tliose actually engraved on tomb- stones) in this collection are comparatively few in number. It would be easy to draw up a list of them, but I refrain from this, as there are too many doubtful cases. Those on celebrities are of course all poetical exercises in the form of on epitaphs, but a considerable number of those unknown the persons are doubtless the same. In order to appreciate (ireek sepulchral epigram as it was, we should have a selection of those actually preserved on stones.
    [Show full text]
  • Divine Genealogies: a Sourcebook for Greek and Roman Mythology
    Divine Genealogies: A Sourcebook for Greek and Roman Mythology E. Edward Garvin, Editor ©2015 What follows is a collection of excerpts from Greek literary sources in translation. The intent is to give students an overview of Greek mythology as expressed by the Greeks themselves. But any such collection is inherently flawed: the process of selection and abridgement produces a falsehood because both the narrative and meta-narrative are destroyed when the continuity of the composition is interrupted. Nevertheless, this seems the most expedient way to expose students to a wide range of primary source information. I have tried to keep my voice out of it as much as possible and will intervene as editor (in this Times New Roman font) only to give background or exegesis to the text. All of the texts in Goudy Old Style are excerpts from Greek or Latin texts (primary sources) that have been translated into English. Ancient Texts In the field of Classics, we refer to texts by Author, name of the book, book number, chapter number and line number.1 Every text, regardless of language, uses the same numbering system. Homer’s Iliad, for example, is divided into 24 books and the lines in each book are numbered. Hesiod’s Theogony is much shorter so no book divisions are necessary but the lines are numbered. Below is an example from Homer’s Iliad, Book One, showing the English translation on the left and the Greek original on the right. When citing this text we might say that Achilles is first mentioned by Homer in Iliad 1.7 (i.7 is also acceptable).
    [Show full text]