STUDIES IN CLASSICS Edited by Dirk Obbink & Andrew Dyck Oxford University/The University of California, Los Angeles A ROUTLEDGE SERIES STUDIES IN CLASSICS DIRK OBBINK & ANDREW DYCK, General Editors SINGULAR DEDICATIONS Founders and Innovators of Private Cults in Classical Greece Andrea Purvis EMPEDOCLES An Interpretation Simon Trépanier FOR SALVATION’S SAKE Provincial Loyalty, Personal Religion, and Epigraphic Production in the Roman and Late Antique Near East Jason Moralee APHRODITE AND EROS The Development of Greek Erotic Mythology Barbara Breitenberger A LINGUISTIC COMMENTARY ON LIVIUS ANDRONICUS Ivy Livingston RHETORIC IN CICERO’S PRO BALBO Kimberly Anne Barber AMBITIOSA MORS Suicide and the Self in Roman Thought and Literature Timothy Hill ARISTOXENUS OF TARENTUM AND THE BIRTH OF MUSICOLOGY Sophie Gibson HYPERBOREANS Myth and History in Celtic-Hellenic Contacts Timothy P.Bridgman HYPERBOREANS MYTH AND HISTORY IN CELTIC-HELLENIC CONTACTS Timothy P.Bridgman Routledge New York & London Published in 2005 by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 http://www.routledge-ny.com/ Published in Great Britain by Routledge 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN http://www.routledge.co.uk/ Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Group, a Division of T&F Informa. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data Bridgman, Timothy P., 1955– Hyperboreans: myth and history in Celtic-Hellenic contacts/Timothy P.Bridgman. p. cm.—(Studies in classics) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. I. Greek literature—History and criticism. 2. Literature and history—Greece. 3. Mythology, Greek, in literature. 4. Historiography-Greece. 5. Celts— Historiography. 6. Celts in literature. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in classics (Routledge (Firm)) PA3070.B75 2004 880.9'15–dc22 2004014066 ISBN 0-203-48765-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-58030-3 (Adobe e-Reader Format) ISBN 0-415-96978-6 (Print Edition) To my father Howard A.Bridgman II and to my mother Esther C.Bridgman who taught me the true meaning of dedication in both work and family, and whose support enabled me to pursue a discipline which has truly shaped my life. To my wife Sarah and to the late Julia Augusta for all their support, guidance and love. Contents List of Figures, Maps, and Tables viii List of Abbreviations x Series Editors’ Foreword xii Acknowledgments xiv Introduction xv SECTION ONE: THE HYPERBOREANS AND THE GOLDEN AGE Chapter One Inventing Mythical Greek Time 2 SECTION TWO: THE HYPERBOREANS AND HYPERBOREAN IDENTITY Chapter Two From the Beginnings to the Second Purification of Delos 20 Chapter Three From Herodotus to Antimachus of Colophon 35 Chapter Four The Fourth Century and Beyond 49 SECTION THREE: THE HYPERBOREANS AND THE CELTS: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY? Chapter Five Antimachus of Colophon 75 Chapter Six Heraclides Ponticus 87 Chapter Seven Hecataeus of Abdera 94 Chapter Eight Apollonius of Rhodes 104 Chapter Nine Posidonius of Apamea 112 Conclusion 117 Appendix 122 Notes 135 Select Bibliography 168 Index 183 List of Figures, Maps, and Tables Figures 5.1. Bronze Plaque from Carceri, Italy. Drawing by Marion Cox. 80 From The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade by John Boardman, published by Thames and Hudson, London and New York, 1988 5.2. Volute Mixing Bowl Found at the Vix Tomb (Côte d’Or, France), 82 about 530. Hellenic Workmanship, Châtillon sur Seine, Musée Archéologique. From Greek Bronzes by Claude Rolley, published by Sotheby’s Publications/Chesterman Publications, London, 1986 146 Photo 129 5.3. Frieze of the Figures on the Volute Mixing Bowl found at the Vix 83 Tomb (Côte d’Or, France), about 530. Assembled on site in the Celtic lands following an order set out in Greek letters. Châtillon sur Seine, Musée Archéologique. From Greek Bronzes by Claude Rolley, published by Sotheby’s Publications/Chesterman Publications, London, 1986 145 Photo 128 Maps 2.1. Summary of Ancient Hyperborean Lands 22 3.1. Site Plan of Delos from Bruneau (P) et Ducat (J), Guide de Délos, 37 Paris, 1965 and used by permission of the Ecole français d’Athénes. 3.2. Herodotus’ Hyperborean Gift Route 40 4.1. Callimachus’ Hyperborean Gift Route 56 4.2. The Hyperboreans According to Pliny (HN 4.26) 63 4.3. Pausanias’ Hyperborean Gift Route 66 5.1. The Golasecca World 79 7.1. Pytheas of Massalia’s Voyage 96 7.2. The Hyperborean Lands According to Hecataeus of Abdera 99 Tables 2.1. Aristeas of Proconnesus (table of peoples) 22 3.1. Aristeas of Proconnesus and Damastes of Sigeum (comparison of 47 tables of peoples) List of Abbreviations All abbreviations of periodicals appear as in L’Année Philologique, or other standard bibliographical works, except those listed below. All abbreviations of books and relevant reference materials appear in the bibliography at the end of this work. Abbreviations of Greek and Roman authors appear as listed in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1996. When page numbers do not appear at the end of a reference in a footnote, it should be taken that the note refers to the whole work. When a reprinting of a work is mentioned, it should be taken that the note refers to the latest edition mentioned. In spelling Greek names and titles of works, I have generally preferred the Latinized forms which have become part of English-speaking literary usage, but where a Latinized form seems to jar, I have kept the Greek one. AIISS Annali dell’Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Storici DossArch Les Dossiers de l’Archéologie FRGZ Festschrift des Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum KZ ZVS NAH Narbonne, Archéologie et Histoire TCAAS Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences WJ Wiener Jahresheft Series Editors’ Foreword Studies in Classics aims to bring high-quality work by emerging scholars to the attention of a wider audience. Emphasizing the study of classical literature and history, these volumes contribute to the theoretical understanding of human culture and society over time. This series will offer an array of approaches to the study of Greek and Latin (including medieval and Neolatin), authors and their reception, canons, transmission of texts, ideas, religion, history of scholarship, narrative, and the nature of evidence. While the focus is on Mediterranean cultures of the Greco-Roman era, perspectives from other areas, cultural backgrounds, and eras are to be included as important means to the reconstruction of fragmentary evidence and the exploration of models. The series will reflect upon the role classical studies has played in humanistic endeavors from antiquity to the present, and explore select ways in which the discipline can bring both traditional scholarly tools and the experience of modernity to bear on questions and texts of enduring importance. Dirk Obbink, Oxford University Andrew Dyck, The University of California, Los Angeles Acknowledgments This book began as a Ph.D. dissertation submitted in the School of Classics at Trinity College Dublin in the autumn of 2000. It was researched and written in Ireland and North America. The final product still bears the imprint of many generous individuals and institutions in these places from whose support, attention and advice the author has benefited greatly. I should like to thank my supervisor Professor Brian McGing for all his hard work, unending patience, attention and guidance. I am greatly indebted to Professors George L.Huxley and John M.Dillon for their extremely valuable input and advice. My special thanks also go to Professor Dirk Obbink who read my manuscript and approved it for publication in this series. I would also like to thank the secretary of the School of Classics Mrs. Vivian O’Rafferty for all her support and kindness during my time at Trinity. The following members of staff of the Berkeley Library at Trinity College Dublin were instrumental in helping me to locate the references I so urgently needed to complete my research: Ms. Sarah McDonald, Ms. Iris Bedford, Ms. Jane Moriarty, Mr. Donnacha O Donnchadh, Ms. Anne Walsh, Ms. Isolde Harpur, Ms. Rosemary Gleeson, Mr. Anthony Carey, Mr. James O’Keefe, Mr. James Wall, Ms. Kay O’Neill and Ms. Ann- Marie Keoghan. Special thanks to Mr. Philip Yockey, Ms. Sibylle Fraser, Ms. Elizabeth Diefendorf, Mr. Warren C.Platt, Ms. Ewa Jankowskg, Ms. Susan E.Marcin and other members of staff of the New York Public Library at 42nd street and 5th avenue, the Mid- Manhattan Library, The Butler Library at Columbia University, Ms. Deborah Caesar of the Stephan Chaney Library and the staff of the Bobst Library of New York University for being so kind and helpful and letting me use their facilities. A hearty thank you to the staff of the MacLennan Library at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and the State University of New York at Buffalo for letting me use their wonderful libraries. Thanks to Ms. Alice Alden for drafting the maps for this book. I would like to give very special thanks to my wife Dr. Sarah M.Bridgman for standing by me and for being a bulwark of support throughout the research and numerous drafts which led to the original thesis and this book.