Katerina Oikonomopoulou Space, Delphi and the construction of the Greek past in Plutarch’s Greek Questions Abstract: This chapter explores the concept of relative/relational space in Plutarch’s collection of Greek Questions. It argues thatspace, rather than geography, provides a key vantage point from which we can interpret the collection’smain themes, and un- derstand the ways in which it attemptstolink the past with the present.The chapter identifieskey spatial experiences that are described within the Greek Questions’ aeti- ologies (such as land journey,sea voyage,colonisation, migration), and discusses their role in problematising specific aspects of social or political life in the early Greek past (which,within the work, spans mythical times, pre-polis and early polis history). It concludes thatthe Greek Questions aligns itself with attitudes to the Greek past found elsewhere in Plutarch’swritings(especiallyinthe Pythian dia- logues), and which are concernedespeciallywith the negative role civil strife, inter- state conflict and political fragmentation playedinGreek affairs. The chapter con- cludes with adiscussion of how the special role the enquiries assign to the Oracle of Delphi confirms this picture, giventhat Delphi seems to function as asortof hub, but not as apowerful panhellenic centre. The Greek Questions: spaceversus geography Plutarch’scollection of Greek Questions comprises atotal of 59 aetiological enquiries on the traditions of various Greek communities.The format of these enquiriesisstan- dard: almost all are introducedwith the interrogative pronouns τίς/τί…,and as arule they focus on the meaningofspecific terms or titles.¹ The formulation is such (the main verb ἐστί is usuallyimplied)thatitallows us to infer that the terms or titles in question wereinuse in various Greek citiesduring Plutarch’stime.For example, the question ‘Who is the πωλήτης (‘Seller’)among the Epidamnians?’ (Greek Ques- tions 29) implies that the title ‘Seller’ was usedofaperson in the city of Epidamnus duringthe High RomanEmpire.² The answer then explains the meaningofsuch terms or titles by tracing their origins back to local versions of mythical stories,or to events (such as migration and colonisation) that took place in the earlyhistory of the Greek city-states.Itispresumed thatPlutarch, in compilingthe collection, widelydrew on the Peripatetictradition of cities’ Constitutions,although it is also clear that,atleast in part,herelied on personal research into local customs and tra- Payen(1998) 40 –49;Preston (2001) 95–97. Halliday(1928)138–139;Payen (1998) 44;Boulogne(2002)411. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110539479-010 Brought to you by | University of Groningen Authenticated Download Date | 11/30/17 11:58 PM 108 KaterinaOikonomopoulou ditions.³ At anyrate, the lexicalfocus, and the role of aetiologyasameans of con- necting the past with the present (‘present’ understood as the imperial Graeco- Roman world in which Plutarch lived) are the most distinctive markers of the collec- tion as awhole.⁴ Another key feature, whose importance for the interpretation of the Greek Que- stions was first highlighted by Pascal Payen, is geography:indeed, Plutarch’ssample of Greek cities seems to have been deliberatelyselected so as to draw attentionto remoteorprovincial places,and at the same time underline theirgeographicaldif- fusion, across different regions of the Greek peninsula, the Greek islands, the Asia Minor coast,Southern Italy, and Cyprus.⁵ ForPayen, this diffusion is to be contrasted with the focus on the imperial city of Rome in the Roman Questions (a collection which, as he rightlyargues, is closelyrelated to the Greek Questions),⁶ and, among other things, puts the stress on the durability of centuries-old local Greek traditions (surviving mostlyoutside the centres of Hellenism), despite the eventual predomi- nance of imperial power in the wider Mediterranean region. In thischapter Ipropose that we payclose attention to the Greek Questions’ portray- als of space, rather thangeography. This is becausegeographical landmarks (rivers, roads, thecoast), despite thefact that they frequentlyfeatureinthe collection’sexpla- nations,are notpart of objectivedescriptionsofspace. Further,Plutarch does notexploit the geographical theme in order to achievesomesortofcohesivepresentation for the materialthat he has collected: he couldhavegroupedthe aetiologiestogether by region, for example, or employedthe theme of theland journey or seavoyage, along the course of which the different Greek cities or communities could have featuredasstops.⁷ Instead, the haphazardorder in which the different Greekcities or communities arediscussed encourages aperception of them as independent microcosms,each one with its own lin- guistic idioms,local culture, history, and religious life.⁸ In thiscontext,geographical landmarks arementioned because they areimportant to peoples’ or communities’ expe- riences of theplaces in which theyliveand act—experiences which encompasspast as well as present events.The explanations’ spatial references thus servetochart arich di- versity of economic,socio-political andreligious activities that shaped individual Greek communities’ cultural identityacrosstime. Contemporary cultural geographers utilise the notions of ‘relative/relational space’ in order to conceptualise this fluid relationship of people to spaces.The con- cept of relative space refers to one’ssubjective experience of space: depending on the type of activities he or she engages in, ahuman agent might perceive space(for ex- ample,distance) in different terms.The concept of relational space, in turn, refers to Giesen (1901); Halliday(1928)13–15. On the Greek Questions’ format,see Preston (2001) 95–97. Payen(1998) 49–54;Boulogne (2002) 183–185. Payen(1998) 39–40;see also Harrison (2000) and Boulogne (2002) 183–185. Cf. Hutton (2005a) 54–126, on Pausanias. Payen(1998) 49–54. Brought to you by | University of Groningen Authenticated Download Date | 11/30/17 11:58 PM Space, Delphi and the construction of the Greek past in Plutarch’s Greek Questions 109 the ways in which relations (what is meant by thatisthe full rangeofsocio-economic and culturalactivities of human agents) help shape the meaning and significance spaces carry on the collective level. Relative/relational space is thus contrasted to ab- solutespace,which is the space thatthe geographer can measure in objectiveterms, calculatingdistances,oridentifying and describingimportant landmarks.⁹ According to this model, an understanding of how,within the Greek Questions,space is per- ceivedand livedcan shed helpful light on the terms in which the collection concep- tualises keyaspectsofthe earlyGreek past (in terms of politics, society,economy, or religion), as well as clarify what kind of historical or cultural assessment of the early Greek world it might have invitedits imperial readers to make, consideringits differ- ences from their own imperial realities. Spatial experiencewithin the Greek Questions In the Tablebelow Ihaveattempted to make adistinction between different ways in which spaceappears to be experienced by theGreek communities which featurein the different aetiologies.Itshould be noted that thedifferent types of spatial experience that Idistinguish arebynomeans watertight, butinfact overlap: for example, as we will see, expulsions or migrations usuallyinvolve some kind of land journey or seavoyage. Preciselybecauseofthis,however,they help us conceptualise the multiple, intersecting ways in which spaceoperates as akey field of human activity within the collection. Types of spatialexperienceChapterswithin the Greek Questions Overland journey , , , , , , Seavoyage , , , , , , , , , , Migration , , , , Exileorexpulsion , , , , , , , , , , , Colonisation , , , , , Interstatewar and militaryexpeditions , , , , , , , , , , , , Privateand public space , Pre-polis formations (settlements κατὰ κώμας) , Religious spaces (shrines, burial grounds) , , , , , , , , , Trade, piracy,plunder,farming , , , , , , Let us consider some characteristic case-studies which will help illuminatesome of the main issues involved. My first example is Greek Question 2(291E–F, transl.F.C. Babbitt,Loeb): See Warf (2010); see also Thalmann (2011) 14– 41,onrelational spaceinApollonius of Rhodes.On other methodological approaches to spaceinancient Greek literature, see also Purves (2010), esp. 1– 23,Gilhulyand Worman (2014). On narratological approaches to spaceinPlutarch’s Lives,see Beck (2012)and in this volume. See also the Introductiontothis volume. Brought to you by | University of Groningen Authenticated Download Date | 11/30/17 11:58 PM 110 Katerina Oikonomopoulou Who is the ‘woman whorides on adonkey at Cumae’?(Τίςἡπαρὰ Κυμαίοις ὀνοβάτις;) Any woman taken in adultery they used to bringinto the agora and set her on acertain stonein plain sight of everyone. In likemanner they then proceeded to mount her upon adonkey, and when she had been led about the circuit of the entirecity,she was required again to take her stand upon the same stone, and for the rest of her life to continue in disgrace,bearing the name ‘donkey-rider’.Afterthis ceremony they believed that the stone was unclean and they used rituallytopurify it. Punishmentsfor adultery committedbywomen (usually death) aresomething of a topos in imperial Graeco-Romanmiscellanisticcompilations.¹⁰ Theparticularpunish- ment that is describedherereveals that,inthe close-knit communitiesthatcomprised theworld of theGreek city-state, privateconduct wasanobjectofintense