Antisthenes' Literary Fragments: Edited with Introduction, Translations, and Commentary William John Kennedy A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Arts University of Sydney 2017 1 Statement of Originality This is to certify that the content of this thesis is the product of my own work, that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources used have been acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. William Kennedy, April 2017 2 For Eric 3 4 CONTENTS Preface 7 Acknowledgements 9 Abbreviations & Fragment Numbering 10 INTRODUCTION 1 Biography of Antisthenes 1.i Antisthenes' Reputation in Antiquity and Today 12 1.ii Literature Review 15 1.iii Life of Antisthenes 24 2 Antisthenes' Ideology 2.i Antisthenes' a Cynic? 34 2.ii Antisthenes' Philosophy of Excellence and Justice 47 2.iii Antisthenes and Protagoras 61 3 Antisthenes and the Development of Ethopoiia 67 4 Antisthenes and the Birth of Dialogue 4.i The Development of Socratic Dialogue 75 4.ii Antisthenes as Dialogue Writer 94 5 Antisthenes as Literary Critic 102 6 Dating and Titling of Antisthenes' Works 111 7 A Note on the Approach to the Texts 117 TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS Dialogica Varia (SD, CD, MD, ED) 120 Tragica & Homerica (TH) 146 Sympotica (Sy) 169 COMMENTARY Dialogica Varia (SD, CD, MD, ED) 174 Tragica & Homerica (TH) 221 Sympotica (Sy) 302 5 APPENDICES Appendix A - Antisthenes' Ajax & Odysseus 322 Appendix B - The Hippias Minor 330 Appendix C - Classification of the bombulios 333 Bibliography 337 Plate and Tables Plate 1 – Florentine Papyrus 113, column 2, lines 26-44 145 Table 1 – TH13 Comparison of Fragments Table 249 Table 2 – TH14 Comparison of Fragments Table 263 6 Preface This thesis deals with a significant portion of the most important fragments of Antisthenes. The closest companion of Socrates, Antisthenes was himself a major thinker and far-famed writer of the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC. A prolific author and an enormously influential figure in the fields of literature and ethical philosophy, the size of Antisthenes' output was matched only by his extraordinary creativity. As a result, in antiquity he enjoyed a stellar reputation. In modern times however, due largely to the inaccessibility of the fragments, he has been almost entirely neglected. As a collection, Antisthenes' fragments had never been translated in any modern language until 2011 (Spanish), had never been the subject of a commentary, nor, it turns out, had they even been edited with due care. Therefore, at the outset of this dissertation project, the intention was to produce an edition of all of Antisthenes' fragments, with translations, commentary and an introductory study. The first step was then to edit all the texts and produce translations. During this phase past editions of Antisthenes' fragments, and the best texts from which his fragments are sourced, were all consulted. It was surprising to discover how many fragments were untranslatable in the state they are printed in existing editions. Many required emendation to make sense of them, and in the process thirteen fragments were added to the corpus, and a further three fragments were significantly extended. It would be fair to say that while Antisthenes has occasionally been edited, he seems rarely ever to have been read. Once all of the fragments had been edited and translated, and the commentary was under way, it gradually became apparent that a full edition would turn out to be well beyond the acceptable length for a dissertation at The University of Sydney. Antisthenes was just so interesting and there was so much to say about his work that a decision had to be made to narrow the focus onto a naturally discrete portion of the fragments. Therefore it was decided to work on all the literary fragments (other than the Ajax & Odysseus, which had been discussed in detail in my previous dissertation: Kennedy 2011). The literary fragments are those that are not specifically philosophical and which show Antisthenes 7 contribution to Greek literary history. These fragments are in any case some of the most interesting, as they display Antisthenes' extraordinary variety and versatility. And to date, compared with his more philosophical fragments, they have been the most neglected. The literary fragments really throw positive light on all of Antisthenes' work and reveal pretty clearly that he needs a complete rethinking. It follows that a major goal of this thesis will be to demonstrate that Antisthenes, as a thinker, was at least as much a literary as he was a philosophical figure. Also, to show that in so far as Antisthenes was a philosophical figure, he was a Socratic through and through, holding ethical values consistent with the elite class he kept company with, and undeserving of his reputation as a founder of Cynicism. That reputation he only acquired in later antiquity, and yet it remains mostly unchallenged in modern scholarship. In demonstrating that Antisthenes was an important literary figure, this thesis will show that he played a seminal role in a range of literary innovations, including (but not limited to): the portrayal of character in prose writing; the development of dialogue form; and the deployment of a systematic method of literary criticism. In fact, a case can be made that Antisthenes was the first Greek writer of prose fiction. The genre of fiction he wrote, and which he used as a vehicle to convey his entire ethical programme, was dialogue. Amongst other innovations, he wrote dialogues interpreting Homer, and he deployed a greater variety of strategies in his dialogues than any of his contemporaries – e.g. including mythical characters and including himself as speakers. Antisthenes' great innovativeness, which others built on, was no doubt a contributing factor prompting ancient critics to level accusations of plagiarism against authors such as Plato and Aeschines of Sphettus. In short, Antisthenes was a Socratic philosopher and a major literary figure in his day, whose genre of choice was prose fiction, and more specifically prose dialogues. Antisthenes was known in antiquity as the equal of writers such as Plato and Xenophon and all of his work was part of a consistent and coherent programme. His thoughts therefore should not be considered as detached, discrete objects, and his achievements and contribution to literature and ethical philosophy should not be regarded as mere stepping- 8 stones to understanding someone else's thought. While Antisthenes was naturally a participant in the discourses of his time, his leading and innovative contributions to literature deserve to be considered in their own right. The intention is that this dissertation will provide a major step in that direction. Acknowledgements It is a great pleasure to thank those people who have helped make this dissertation what it is. All remaining misjudgements, errors and omissions are solely my responsibility. I wish to thank my examiners, in particular Andrew Ford and Elizabeth Irwin, for numerous helpful suggestions that have significantly improved the final dissertation. I am grateful to all of the academics of the Classics and Ancient History department at Sydney, and would especially like to mention Peter Wilson, Julia Kindt, Bob Cowan, Jelle Stoop, and Rick Benitez, who have all given me vital feedback, encouragement, and support. I would also like to thank the many friends whose company and conversation has sustained me over the course, including particularly Suzanne Bellamy, Paul Macovaz, Paul Touyz, Tatiana Bur, Gavin Molyneux, and my ever supportive fiancée, Mey Delvion. A few friends deserve special mention. Ben Brown, for his friendship and support at every turn, not to mention for introducing me to Classics, for which I owe him a substantial debt of gratitude. Adam Rowsell for good company, cricket conversations, being a splendid host during my weekly stays in Sydney, and for proofreading the final draft of this document. And my mother, Helen Small, for every kind of support imaginable, without which I would hardly have completed the project. Finally I wish to thank my supervisor, Eric Csapo, to whom this thesis is dedicated. It is impossible to imagine that I could have been more fortunate in my choice of mentor. His belief in my project, and the direction, enthusiasm, and support he has provided every step of the way has been extremely generous, not to mention inspirational. Billy Kennedy Braidwood 9 Abbreviations Agora Various editors. 1953- . Athenian Agora: Results of Excavations conducted by The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Princeton. Corinth Various editors. 1929- . Corinth: Results of Excavations conducted by The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Princeton. DC F. Decleva Caizzi. 1966. Antisthenis Fragmenta. Milan. Denniston, GP2 J. D. Denniston. 1954, 2nd. The Greek Particles. Oxford. FGrH F. Jacoby, et alii, eds. 1923- . Die Fragmente der greichischen Historiker. 4 parts. Berlin/Leiden. PCG R. Kassel & C. Austin, eds. 1983-95. Poetae Comici Graeci. 8 vols. Berlin. SSR G. Giannantoni. 1990, 2nd. Socratis et Socratorum Reliquae. 4 vols. Naples. Suda A. Adler. 1928-38. Suidae Lexicon. 5 vols. Leipzig. TrGF B. Snell et al., eds. 1971-2004. Tragicorum Graecorum fragmenta. 6 vols. Göttingen. TGL G. & L. Dindorf & C. Hase, eds. 1831-65. Thesaurus Graecae Linguae ab Henrico Stephano constructus. 9 vols. Paris. All other abbreviations for modern works and Latin authors follow those used in The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.), and abbreviations for Greek authors follow those in LSJ. Fragment numbering The fragments edited, translated and commented on in this thesis are arranged by category and numbered under the following classifications: SD Socratic Dialogues CD Contemporary Dialogues MD Mythic Dialogues ED Erotic Dialogues TH Tragica & Homerica Sy Sympotica 10 INTRODUCTION 11 1 BIOGRAPHY OF ANTISTHENES 1.i Antisthenes' Reputation in Antiquity and Today In antiquity, Antisthenes enjoyed an outstanding reputation as a thinker and as a prose stylist.