greek epic fragments. from the seventh to the fifth centuries bc (loeb classical library).pdf

8/15/2019 Greek Epic Fragments. From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC (Loeb Classical Library).pdf

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THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARYFO U N D ED BY JAMES L O EB 1911

EDITED BY

JEFFREY H E N D E R S O N

GRE E K EPIC FRAGMENTS

LCL 497


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C O N T ENT S

Preface v i i

Abbreviations and Symbols ix

Introduction 2

Select Bibliography 36

THE THEBAN CYCLE

Oedipodea 38

Thebaid 42

Epigoni 54

Alcmeonis 58

THE TROJAN CYCLE

Cypria 64

Aethiopis 108

The Little Iliad 118

The Sack ofllion 142

The Returns 152

Telegony. Thesprotis 164

POEMS ON HERACLES AND THESEUS

Creophylus, The Capture of Oichalia 172

Pisander, Heraclea 176

Panyassis, Heraclea 188

Theseis 216

GENEALOGICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN EPICS

Eumelus (Titanomachia, Corinthiaca, Europia) 220


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C O N T E N T S

Cinaethon 250Asius 254

Hegesinous 262Chersias 264Vanais 266

Minyas 268

Carmen Naupactium 274

Phoronis 282

UNPLACED FRAGMENTS (mostly ascribed to "Homer") 286Comparative N umeration 299

Index 309

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PREFACE

I n the ol d Loeb Classical Library edi tion by H . G. Ev ely n-

White, w hich originally appeared i n 1914, the poems andfragments of Hesiod were coupled w i t h the Homeric

Hymns and Ep igrams, the remains o f the Ep ic Cycle and

other poems associated w i th H omer s name (includ ing the

Battle of Frogs and Mice), and the Contest of Homer andHesiod. This materi al is now be ing d istri buted across three

new volumes, each of w h ich w i l l contain a considerableamount of add itional matter. I n the present one the section d eal ing w i th the Ep ic Cy cle has been expanded to take

i n more or less al l the remain s o f early epi c down to and i n cluding Panyassis.

Dealing w i th fragmentary w orks is never as satisfactory

as hav ing comp lete ones. The fragments o f the earl y epi cs,however, are i n one w ay more rew arding than (say) those

of the lyr ic poets. This is because most of them are ci ted fortheir my thologi cal content rather than to il lu strate somelexical usage, and often thi s helps us to b u i l d u p an id ea ofthe larger w hole. For most of the poems of the Ep ic Cycle,

at least, w e are able to get a fai r notion of thei r stru ctu re

and contents.

I have ed i ted and arranged the texts accord ing to my

ow n ju dgment, bu t rel i ed on existing edi tions for informa

tion about manu scrip t readings. The nature of the Loeb

v i i


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ABBREVIAT IONS ANDSYMBOLS

CAG M . H ayd uck and others, Commentaria i nAristotelem Graeca (Berl i n , 1882-1909)

CEG P. A . H ansen, Carmina Epigraphica Graeca(Berlin and N ew York, 1983-1989)

CQ Classical QuarterlyFGrHist Fel ix Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griech

ischen Historiker (Berlin and Leid en, 1923-1958)

FHG Carolus et Theodorus Müller, FragmentaHistoricorum Graecorum (Paris, 1841-1873)

GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies

HSCP Harvard Studies in Classical Philology JHS Journal of Hellenic StudiesLIMC Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Clas-

sicae (Zurich and Muni ch, 1981-1999)Mus. Helv. Museum HelveticumNGG Nachrichten der Gesellschaft der Wissen

schaften zu GöttingenOCD 3 The Oxford Classical Dictionary, t h i r d edi

tion (Oxford, 1996)PMG Poetae Melici Graeci, ed . D . L . Page (Ox

f o r d , 1962)

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A B B R E V IA T ION S AND SYMBOLS

PMGF Poetarum Melicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. M . Davies (Oxford , 1991)

RE Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (Stuttgart, 1894-1980)

Rh. Mus. Rheinisches Museum SVF H . von A r n i m , Stoicorum Veterum Frag

menta (Leipzig, 1903-1905)TAPA Transactions of the American Philological

Association ZPE Zeitschrifi fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik

[ ] words restored where the manuscript isdamaged

H J letters deleted by scribe

editorial insertion{ } editorial deletiont t corruption i n text* (attached to a fragment number ) uncertain

attribution

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G REEK EPIC FRAGMENTS


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I N T R O D U C T I O N

they met the Cadmean army at Gl isas, five miles northeast

of Thebes. Aegialeus was k i l l ed by Laodamas, the son of

Eteocles,9

bu t the Thebans w ere rou ted and fled back tothe city. Thei r seer Teiresias adv ised them to abandon i t,and a stream of refugees departed. H e w ent w i th them asfar as Ti lphusa, w here he d ied. Some o f them w ent andfounded Hestiaea i n Thessaly , others settled among the

Encheleis, an I l l y r i an tri be. The v ictorious Epi goni sackedThebes and captured Teiresias' daughter Manto, whomthey sent to Delp h i as a thanks offer i ng to Apol lo (fr. 4).She ended up at Claros in Asia Minor, and established

Apollo's sanctuary there. The famous seer Mopsus was saidto be her son.

Herodotus (4.32) expresses doubt about Homer's authorship o f the Epigoni, and a scholiast on Aristophanes(fr. 1) ascribes it to Antimachus, presumably meaningAntimachus of Teos, a poet w ho was supposed to have seena solar eclipse i n 753 BC .1 0 On the strength of this a versequoted from Antimachu s of Teos may be assigned to theEpigoni (fr. 2), and w e may also infer that the epic contained a portent i n w h ich the sun tu rn ed dark. The i nterest

i n Claros wou ld be appropriate for a poet from nearbyTeos. Bu t he p robably w rote long after the eigh th century .

AlcmeonisWe may guess that the major event narrated i n thi s poemwas Alcmaon's mu rd er of his mother Eri p hy l e for hav in g

sent Amphiaraus to his doom. Thi s made a natu ral sequel

9 He was the only one of the Epigoni to lose his life, as his fa

ther had been the only one to escape with his in the earlier con

flict.

10 Plutarch, Life of Romulus, 12.2.

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The Trojan Cycle

The Trojan cycle compri sed eight epics includ ing the Iliadand Odyssey. For the six lost ones w e are fortunate to possess p lot summaries excerpted from the Chrestomathy ofProclus; that for the Cypria is found i n several manuscriptsof the Iliad, wh i l e the rest are preserv ed i n a single manu script (Venetus A ). For each epic Proclus states its place i nthe series, the number of books i t contained , and an author's name.

I t is disputed whether the Proclus who wrote the

Chrestomathy was the famous fifth-century N eop latonist(as was bel iev ed at any rate by the si xth centu ry ) or a gram

marian of some centuries earlier.14 I t makes l i tt le p racti cal difference, as agreements w i t h other mythographic

sources, especial ly Apollodorus, show that Proclus was reproducing m ateri al of Hell eni sti c date.

H i s testimony is i n some respects defectiv e. I t appearsfrom other evidence that Ajax's suicide has been e l iminated from the end o f the Aethiopis, and the w hol e sack ofTroy from the en d of the Little Iliad, because these events

were inc lud ed i n the next poems i n the series. Ev id ently he(or rather his Hellenistic source) was concerned to pro

duce a continu ous, non repeti tiv e narrativ e based on theCy cl ic poems rather than a comp lete account of thei r i n d i

vidual contents. There are other sign ificant omissions too,

1 4

He is the Neoplatonist in the Suda's life of Proclus (fromHesychius ofMiletus). For the other view see Michael Hillgruber,"Zur Zeitbestimmung der Chrestomathie des Proklos," Rh. Mus.133 (1990), 397-404.

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as the fragments show. I t is attested, for instance, that theReturns contained a descent to Hades, bu t there is no h int

of i t i n Proclus. I t is p robably l egitimate to f i l l out his sparesummary w i th some details from the parallel narrative ofApollodorus, and so I have done, giv ing the add itions between angle brackets. Caution is needed, as Apollodorushas sometimes incorporated material from other sourcessuch as tragedy.

CypriaThe ti tl e means "the Cyp rian epic" and imp l ies that i t camefrom Cyprus. I t was usually ascribed to a Cypr iot poet,Stasinus or Hegesias (or Hegesinus); there was a story , apparently already known to Pindar, that H omer composed i tbu t gave i t to Stasinus as his daughter's dow r y .15 N othin g is

known o f thi s Stasinus, or ind eed of the other poets namedi n connection w i th the Cycle such as A rctinus of Mi letusand Lesches of Pyrrha.

The poet set himself th e task o f tel l i ng the origin of theTrojan War and al l that happened from then to the pointwhere the Iliad begins. The resulting w ork lacked organicunity, consisting merely i n a long succession of episodes.Many of them were trad i tional, and are al luded to in theIliad. But the Cypria must have been composed afterthe Iliad had become we l l established as a classic. Thelanguage of the fragments (especially fr. 1) shows signs oflateness. The poem can hardl y be earl ier than the secondhal f of the sixth century.

1 5 See the Testimonia. Herodotus (at fr. 14) argues against

Homers authorship without indicating that there was any other

named claimant.

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translation to the White Island is post-Iliadic, as are the

Amazon and Ethiop interventions. The Odyssey poet

knows of Mem non (4.188,11.522), the battle for Achi l l es'body, the Nereids' and Muses' laments, and the funeralgames (24.36-94), but he shows no awareness of thePenthesilea episode, which was perhaps the last add i tionto the structure. She first appears i n artistic representations around 600 BC.

The Amazonia l i sted before the Little Iliad and Returnsin the H esychian Life of Homer was presumably the sameas the Aethiopis, not a separate work.

The Little IliadThis poem , ascribed to Lesches from Py rrha or My ti l ene i nLesbos, is ci ted by A ri stotle together w i th the Cypria to i l -

lustrate the episodic nature of some of the Cy clic poems.Bu t i t had a more coherent stru ctu re than may appearfrom Proclu s' summary. I t began w i th the Achaeans facinga cri sis: w i th Achi ll es and Ajax both dead, how w ere they to

make fu rther progress against Troy? Odysseus' capture of

the Trojan seer Helenu s unlocked the i n formation theyneeded. They l earned of three essential steps that they hadto take. They had to br ing Heracles' bow to Troy; that

meant fetchi ng Phi loctetes from Lemnos, and i t l ed to the

death of Paris, the man whose desire for H el en had causedand sustained the war. They had to br ing Neoptolemus

from Scyros to take A chi l l es' p lace; he was able to defeatthe Trojans' new champion Eurypy lu s and end thei r capa

b i l i t y of fighting outside thei r walls. A n d they had to stealthe Pal lad ion, the d iv ine image that p rotected the city .

Wh en all that was accomp li shed , i t remained to breach

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the Trojan defences. The bu i ld ing of the Wooden Horseprovided the means to achieve this. The epic concluded

w i t h an account of the sack.The Odyssey poet shows an extensive acquaintance

w i t h the subject matter of the Little Iliad,16 and must haveknown, i f not that v ery poem, somethi ng qu i te simi lar. The

Iliad poet knew the Phi loctetes story (2.716-725), and o fcourse some version of the sack of Troy ; the passages referring to Achilles' son Neoptolemus, however, are suspect(19.326-337,24.467). TheLittk Iliad may have been composed about the th i r d qu arter of the seventh century .

The Sack of IlionThis poem, ascribed to the same poet as the Aethiopis,gave an alternative account of the sack that d iv erged i n

some details from that i n the Little Iliad. I n Proclu s' summary of the Cy cle the correspond ing por tion of the LittleIliad is suppressed i n favor of the Sack.

As he represents it, Arctinus' poem began w i t h theTrojans w ond er i ng w hat to do w i th the Wooden Horse,

the Achaeans hav ing apparently departed . Thi s has beenthought an implausible po int at which to take up the

story; bu t i t correspond s remarkably w el l to the song of

Demodocus described in Odyssey 8.500-520, and w e mayagain suspect that the Odyssey poet knew an epic sim il arto the Cycl ic poem as curr ent i n the classical period .

1 6 Ajax's defeat over the armor (11.543 ff.); Deiphobus as

Helen's last husband (compare 4.276, 8.517); Neoptolemus andEurypylus (11.506 ff., 519 f.); Odysseus' entry into Troy disguisedas a beggar (4.242 ff.); Epeios' building of the horse (8.492 ff.).

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The ReturnsThe Odyssey poet was also famil iar w i th "the retu rn o f the

Achaeans" as a subject of ep ic song (1.326,10.15), and hecomposed h is ow n epic against that background . H is references to the other heroes' returns are in fair agreementw i t h the content of the Cycli c Returns. The Cy cli c poem ,on the other hand, seems to have made only one bri ef a l l u sion to Odysseus' return (N eop tol emus' path crossed w i th

his at Maronea)—no doubt because a separate Odysseywas already curr ent.

Many o f the heroes had uneventful homecomings. Themajor retu rn stories w ere (a) the drow ning of the Locri anAjax as p un i shment for his sacrilege at Troy , and (b) themurder of Agamemnon w hen he arrived home, followed

after some years by Orestes' revenge. There was no p lace

i n th is story for Menelau s, w hose return had therefore tobe detached from his brother's and extend ed u n ti l just af

ter Orestes' deed. The return of the tw o Atreid ai formed

the framework of the w hole ep ic: i t began w i th the d ispute

that separated them, and ended w i th Menelaus' belated

return. A thenaeus i n fact cites the poem as The Return of

the Atreidai.Of the other stories incorporated in it, the death of

Calchas at Colophon is connected w i t h the foundation ofthe oracle at Cl aros ,17 w h i le N eoptolemus' journ ey to the

Molossian country im p l ies the legends of his founding a

kingdom there and the claims of local ru lers to descend

1 7 Compare Epigoni fr. 4. The poet's interest in this regionlends some color to Eustathius' belief that he was a Colophonian,though other sources attribute the work to Agias of Troezen.

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familiar from the stories of H i ld ebrand and Hadubrand,Sohrab and Rustum, and others.19 H is use of a sting ray

spear made for a somewhat forced ful f i lment of th e prophecy about Odysseus' death from the sea. The ending i nwhich everyone marr ied each other and l iv ed happi l y everafter was pure novelette.

The author of this confection is identif ied as a Cy-renaean active i n the 560s. That seems corroborated by theinformation (fr. 4) that Odysseus' second son by Penelopewas cal led Arcesilaus. I n its Dori c form, Arcesilas, thi s wasa dynastic name of the Battiad kings o f Cyrene; Arcesilas I Iwas reignin g i n the 560s. By g iv ing Odysseus a son of thi sname Eugammon was lending credence to a claim that theBattiads w ere descended from Odysseus. The Thesp rotianpart of his story, w hich may have existed earlier, was l ik e

wise constructed to bolster the pretensions of a local nob i l i t y . 2 0

Poems on Exploits of Heracles

Myths of Heracles may go back to Mycenaean times.21 At

any rate poems about his deeds were current before 700BC. Hesi od was famil iar w i th them , as appears from a se-

1 9 See M. A. Potter, Sohrab and Rustem. The Epic Theme of a

Combat between Father and Son (London, 1902).2 0 Clement's allegation that Eugammon stole it from Musaeus

(see the Testimonia) may imply that it had some independent currency under another name. Pausanias (at fr. 3) cites a Thesprotis,

hut this may be identical with the Telegony.21 See M. P. Nilsson, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythol

ogy (Berkeley, 1932), 187-220.

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ries of allusions i n the Theogony (287-294, 313-318, 327-332, 526-532; compare also 215 f., 334 f., 518), and there

are many references to h im also i n the Iliad and Odyssey.Heracles' fight w i th the Hyd ra is already represented on aBoeotian fibula of the late eigh th or early seventh century .Considerably earlier is a terracotta centaur w i th a kneewound, foun d at Lefkand i i n Euboea and dating from thelate ten th century : i t is perhaps to be connected w i th thestory of Heracles shooting Chiron i n the knee.22

The early poems may in most cases have been concerned w i th single exploits, as i n the Capture of Oichaliaattributed to Homer or Creophylus and the pseudo-Hesiodic Shield of Heracles and Wedding of Ceyx. But themyth of Heracles' subjugation to Eury stheus, w ho laid aseries of tasks on h im, presupposes narrativ es i n w hich

his successful accomplishment of all these tasks was described, and thi s my th is already al lu ded to i n the Iliad andOdyssey. 23 There must therefore have been a poem or poems covering "the Labors of Heracles," even i f i t is uncertain how many or w hich Labors were i nclu ded .2 4

The only archaic epic on thi s subject that surviv ed to be

read by A lexand rian scholars was the Heraclea of Pisanderof Cami ru s. (Clement mentions one Pisinous of Lindosfrom w hom, he alleges, Pisander's poem was p lagiari zed,

2 2 Apollodorus 2.5.4; M. R. Popham and L. H. Sackett,

Lefkandi i (London, 1980), 168-170, 344 f., pi. 169, and frontis

piece. 2 3 Iliad 8.362-365,15.639 f., 19.95-133; Odyssey 11.617-626.2 4 The number varies in later accounts. The tally of twelve is

not documented earlier than the metopes on the temple of Zeus atOlympia (around 460 BC) and perhaps Pindar fr. 169a,43.

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but thi s may have been no more than a v ariant attri bu tion

found i n some copies.) I n the second qu arter of the fifth

century Panyassis of Halicarnassus, a cousin or uncle ofHerodotus, wrote a much longer Heraclea; thi s may becounted as the last p rod u ct of the ol d epi c tradition, as

Choerilus' Persica, from the late fifth century, representsa self-conscious search for new paths, and Antimachu s'

Thebaid even more so. Both Pisander and Panyassis are i n cluded i n a canon of the five major ep ic poets, first attested

i n its comp lete form by Proclu s bu t perhaps A lexand rian i nor ig in .2 5

"Creophylus," The Capture of OichaliaCreophylus of Samos appears i n Plato and v arious later authors as a fr iend of H omer's w ho gave h im hospi tali ty and

was rewarded w i th the gift of th is poem; the effect of the

story was to v ind icate as H omer's a w ork generally cur ren t

under Creophy lu s' n ame.26 H owever, Creophy lu s seemsnot to have been a real person bu t the fictitious eponym

of a Samian rhapsodes' g u i l d , the Creophyleans, one of

whom, Hermodamas, was said to have taught Pythago

ras.27

Oichalia was the legendary city of k ing Eu ry tu s .2 8 I ts

2 5 See Quintilian 10.1.54. The other three in the canon are

Homer, Hesiod, and Antimachus. The absence of Eumelus,

Arctinus, and the other Cyclic poets is noteworthy.2 6 Callimachus, Epigram 6 Pf., inverts the relationship, saying

that it was really by Creophylus but became known as Homer's.2 7 See Walter Burkert, Kleine Schriften I: Homerica (Got-•ingen, 2001), 141-143; Filippo Cassola, Inni omerici (Milan,

1975), xxxvii. 2 8 Iliad 2.596, 730; Odyssey 8.224; [Hesiod] fr. 26.28-33.

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location was di spu ted i n antiqu ity , some p lacing i t i n Thes-saly (as i n the Iliad), some i n Euboea (as i n Sophocles'Trachiniae), and others in the Péloponnèse (Arcad ia orMessene). Pausanias (in fragment 2) implies that Cre-ophylus' poem favored the Euboean claim, bu t Strabo(also i n fragment 2) ind icates that i t was ambivalent.

Heracles visited Oichalia and was entertained by

Eurytus, bu t presently a qu arrel arose betw een them andHeracles was dr iven away, perhaps after w inn ing an ar

chery contest i n which Eurytus' daughter Iole was theprize. Heracles then stole Eurytus' horses, k i l l ed his sonIphitus when he came look ing for them , and finally attacked Oichal ia, sacked i t, and took Iol e by force. The storypossibly continued, as in Sophocles' play, w i th Heracles'wife Deianei ra send ing h im the poisoned robe that k i l led

h i m .2 9

PisanderTheocri tu s, i n an ep igram composed for a bronze statue of

Pisander, celebrates h im as the first poet to tel l the story ofHeracles and al l hi s Labors. The fragments of the p oem

show that i t dealt not on ly w i th the Labors performed at

Eurystheus' behest but also w i th other exploits such asHeracles' encounter w i t h Antaios and his assault on Troy .I f the Suda's statement that i t was i n tw o books is correct, i twas qu i te a compact work.

The same source tel ls us that some dated Pisander earl ier than Hesi od (presumably on account o f Hesiod's refer

ences to the Heracles myths), w h i l e others p u t h im i n the

29 For the various versions of the legend see Gantz, EarlyGreek Myth, 434-437.

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m id seventh century. The only real clue is that he represented Heracles as w earing a l i o n skin and armed w i th abow and a clu b. I n art he is portrayed i n thi s garb only fromabout 600; before that he is shown l ike a normal hoplite,w i t h shield, spear, and sword.

PanyassisPanyassis' Heraclea was mu ch more extensive, a w ork ofsome 9,000 lines, d iv ided i nto fou rteen books: the longest

of pre-Alexandrian epics after the Iliad, Odyssey, andAntimachus' Thebaid. The length is accounted for by anample narrative style w hich had room for some leisurelydialog scenes (see fragments 3, 13, 18-22).

The Nemean L ion was mentioned i n book 1 (fr. 6), adr ink ing session which may have been that w i th the centaur Pholos i n book 3 (fr. 9), and the crossing of Oceanus,presumably to Erythea to get the cattle of Geryon, i n book5 (fr. 13). The Geryon exploit usually comes towards theend of the Labors for Eury stheus; i f thi s was the case inPanyassis, the impl ication w i l l be that a large por tion of hispoem was taken up w i th adventures recounted after theconclusion of the Eury stheus cycle. But we have l i ttl e r e l i

able evidence as to the sequence of episodes. I n default ofi t, i t is conv enient to take Apol lodorus' narrativ e as a guid ei n order ing the fragments, though his pri ncip al source appears to have been Pherecydes, w ho w rote a few years after Panyassis and introdu ced complications of his ow n . 3 0

Besides the Heraclea, Panyassis is said to have com-

3 0 The three modern editors of Panyassis, Matthews, Bernabe\

and Davies, all differ in their numbering of the fragments, and I

have not felt it necessary to follow any one of them.

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posed an elegiac poem i n 7,000 lines on the legendary colonization of Ionia. As w i t h simi lar lon g antiqu arian elegies attributed to Semonides (Samian Antiquities) andXenophanes (Foundation of Colophon, Colonization ofFlea), there is no clear trace of the poem's cur rency or i n fluence i n antiqu ity , and some dou bt remains as to whetheri t ever real ly existed.

Theseis

Aristode i n his Poetics criticizes "all those poets w ho havecomposed a Heracleis, a Theseis, and poems of that k i n d "for their mistaken assumption that the career of a singl ehero gives unity to a myth ical narrativ e. We have ju st tw o

citations from an epic refer red to as "the Theseid," no au

thor being i dentifi ed.Theseus is an Attic hero w i th onl y a margin al place i n

the older epic trad ition. H e and his famil y are unknow n to

the Iliad except i n in terpolated lines (1.265, 3.144). TheOdyssey mentions the A ri adne story (11.321-325; compare Sappho fr . 206), and the Cycli c poems incorp orated

the tale that Theseus' sons Acamas and Demophon w ent tofight at Troy for the sole pu rpose of rescu ing thei r grandmother A ethra, w ho had been captu red by the Di oscu riand enslaved to H el en .3 1 Bu t Theseus' emergence as a sortof Attic Heracles, w ho overcame a series of monsters andbrigands and had various other heroic achievements to his

credit, appears

on artistic ev id ence to have occur red on ly

31 Cypria fr. 12*; Little Iliad fr. 17; Sack ofllion Argum. 4 and

fr. 6; compare Alcman PMGF 21, and the interpolation at Iliad

3.144.

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around 525 BC . 3 2 I t p robably reflects the cir cul ation of anepic Theseis at thi s tim e, perhaps the work from w h ichour citations come. But a Theseis is also ascribed to oneN icostratus, w ho l iv ed i n the fourth century.3 3

G E N E A L O G I C A L A N D A N TI Q U A R I A N

EPICS

Pausanias tel l s us that, w ish ing to settle a poi n t of my thi calgenealogy, he read "the so-called Ehoiai and the Naupak-tia, and besides them al l the genealogies of Cinaethon andAsius ."34 The Ehoiai, that is, the pseud o-H esiod ic Catalogof Women, was the most w idely cu rr ent of the early poemsthat dealt w i th this k ind o f subject matter, and an obv iousplace to turn for in formation of the sort that Pausanias

wanted. There was also a Great Ehoiai under Hesiod'sname. Bu t d i ere w ere various other poems of thi s categorydating f rom the fifth century BC or earlier, some of themascribed to particu lar authors, others anonymous. They

w ere not w ide ly read, bu t they existed. The quanti ty is sur

prising. The exp lanation is to be sought, not i n the archaic

Greeks' in satiabl e urge to w r i te verse, bu t rather i n the desire of clans and cities to constru ct a p reh i story for them selves, or to mod i fy cur ren t assumptions about thei r p rehistory. Sometimes the citizen ship of the poet is refl ectedi n the emphasis of the poem. Eumelu s is creatin g a p reh is-

3 2

See Emily Keams and K. W. Arafat in OCD 3

s.v. Theseus.3 3 Diogenes Laertius 2.59. The choliambic Theseis of Diphilus(schol. Pind. Ol. 10.83b, uncertain date) was presumably a burlesque.

3 4 Paus. 4.2.1 =Cinaethon fr. 5.

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ated w i th Eumelus, even i f many authors p refer to cite

them w ithout an author's name.3 6 As they are bou nd to

gether by certain l inks of subject matter, they may be consid ered as formin g a sort of Corin thi an epi c cycle tran sm it

ted under the name "Eumelu s," and kept together under

that name, whether or not they are i n fact by one p oet. I t

may be that Eumelu s' name was remembered i n connection w i th the processional and then attached to the epicsbecause no other name of a Corin thi an p oet was available.

TitanomachyThis poem was d iv ided into at least tw o books (fr. 14). Thew ar i n w h ich the younger gods defeated the Titans must

have bu lk ed large i n i t, bu t the fragments show that i t had a

wider scope. I t began w i th some account of the earl ier gen

erations o f gods (fr. 1). Both this d iv ine genealogy and theaccount of the war d iv erged from Hesiod's Theogony.

The p oem shows points of contact w i th the Corinthiacai n the interest shown i n the Sungod (fr s. 10-11) and i n themany -handed sea d eity A igaion or Briareos (fr . 3); see fr s.

16-17. The p rom inence of the sons of Iapetos (frs. 5*, 7*)may also be signi ficant i n v i ew of Ephy ra's connection w i t hEpimetheus i n the Corinthiaca (fr. 15). I t appears that theTitanomachy supp lied the d iv ine p reh i story to the Cor inthian dynastic hi story .

CorinthiacaThis composi tion was valued more for its content than for

its poetry , and the poetic text was largely di sp laced from

3 6 For the Titanomachy Athenaeus mentions Arctinus as a

claimant besides Eumelus. On these works see my study listed in

the Bibliography.

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circulation by a prose v ersion, sti l l u nd er Eumelu s' name,

that told the same story i n w hat was perhaps felt to be

a more accredited format. Hence Clement can associate Eumelus w i t h Acusilaus as a prose writer who used

material of the Hesiodic type, and Pausanias can referto the Corinthian History, using a form of title thatdefinitely suggests a prose work. I t may have been froma preface p ref i xed to the prose v ersion that he obtained

his bi ograph ical details about Eumel u s.37 Fragments 17

and 21, however, and 16 if rightly assigned to Eumelus,

show that some people st i l l had access to the poetic v ersion.

The work was concerned w i t h the ori gin s of Corinth

and the h i story of its ki ngship, bu t i t also took account of

i ts western neighbor Sicyon. These cities rose to p romi

nence only after about 900 BC , and they had no stand ingi n traditional epic myth; they are hardly mentioned in

Homer. Mythical h istories had to be constru cted for them

i n the archaic per iod. For Corinth the first step was to

identify i t w i th the H omeri c Ephy ra, the city of Sisyphus,

which lay "in a corner of the A r g o l i d " (Iliad 6.152) but

whose location was not firmly established. The name wasexplained as being that of an Oceanid nymph w ho was the

first settler i n the area of Cori nth (fr. 15). She was mar r i edto Epimetheu s, w ho i n H esiod is the husband of the first

woman, Pandora.

The royal line was traced from Helios, the Sun god,

who had been awarded the site i n a d isp ute w i th Poseidon(fr. 16*), down to Sisyphus and Glaucus. We do not know

how m uch fu r ther the tale w ent. I t can hardly have omit-

37 Clem. Strom. 6.26.7; Paus. 2.1.1 (fr. 15).

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their name imp l ies; the Bacchis from w hom they claimeddescent was a son o f the god .3 9

Secondly, Amphion and Zethus (fr. 30) have a directconnection w i t h Sicyon, as there was a tale that their

mother Antiope, a daughter o f Asopus, had been abductedfrom Hy r i a i n Boeotia by the Sicyonian Epopeus, and that

he was actually thei r father .40 Epopeus p layed a part i n the

narrative of the Corinthiaca, and an Antiope figured thereas hi s grandmother, the consort of H el ios.

I t seems l ikely that fr . 29, as i t deals w i t h anotherdaughter of Asopus abducted from Hyr ia , shoul d also beassigned to the Europia. This A sop id is Sinope, the epo-n y m of the M i lesi an colony on the Black Sea, fou nded (to

ju dge by the archaeological ev idence) i n the m i d seventh

century . The interest i n this area parall els the A rgonautic

element i n the Corinthiaca. 41

There is, then, some reason to treat the Titanomachy,Corinthiaca, and Europia as a group , apart from theircommon attri bu tion to Eumelus. That they w ere real ly the

work of an eigh th-centu ry Bacchiad is exclu ded on chro

nological ground s. The Titanomachy is not l ikely to ante

date the later seventh century, as the motifs of the Sunschar iot and his floating vessel are not attested earl ier thanthat. The Corinthiaca must date from sometime after thefoundation o f the I sthmian Games (582) and probabl y af-

3 9 Sch. Ap. Rhod. 4.1212/1214a.4 0

See Paus. 2.6.1̂ 1, who quotes Asius (fr. 1); Apollodorus3.5.5.4 1 Alternatively, if fr. 29 is from the Corinthiaca, the two po

ems are linked by the interest in Asopids abducted from Hyria.

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ter the first Greek settlement in Colchis (mid sixth cen

tu ry) . Orpheu s and the race i n armor (fr. 22*) are also late

elements. As for the Europia, i f the Sinope fragment isrightly assigned to i t, that poem too refl ected a fairl y ad vanced stage i n Greek penetration of the Black Sea, i n th iscase after about 650.

Cinaethon, Asius, and Others

Among hi s texts of first recourse on questions of my thi cal

genealogy Pausanias names the poems of Ci naethon andAsius, and the Naupaktia. N one of these was w idely read i nthe Roman per iod, and for Cinaethon and Asius Pausaniashimself is the source of nearly a l l the fragments. Ci naethon

is described as a Lacedaemonian, bu t w e can say nothi ng

else about h i m ; Eusebius' dating to 764/3 BC is of no morevalue than any o f the other datings assigned to epic poets

by ancient chronographers. There is a puzzl ing rand om

ness i n the tid es occasionally associated w i t h Cinaethon:Oedipodea, Little Iliad, Tehgony. The actual fragmentscannot be ascribed to any of these. They are from a genea

logical w ork w hich contain ed (app ropriately for a Spartanpoet) in formation about descendants of Agamemnon and

Menelaus, but also about Cretan figures and about the

children of Med ea and Jason.Asius of Samos seems somew hat more a figure of flesh

and blood. H e has a father's name as w el l as a city , and he

does not appear among the claimants for authorsh ip of anyof the Cycl ic poems. H i s genealogies showed a healthyconcern w i t h the hi story of his nativ e island (frs. 7, 13),

though they also took in heroes from Boeotia (frs. 1-4),

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Phocis (fr. 5), A etol la (fr. 6), the Péloponnèse (frs. 8-10),and A ttica (fr. 11). Besides hexameter poetry , Asius is also

quoted for an enigmatic elegiac fragment.42

We have one fragment each from tw o obscure poetswhom Pausanias had fou nd qu oted by an earl ier author,Call ippus of Corin th, and who w ere no longer cu rrent i n

his own time. These w ere H egesinous, author of an Atthis(the fragment, however, concerns Boeotia), and Chersias

of Orchomenos. Call ippus was a w r iter of the early imper i a l p er i od , perhaps an ep ideictic orator rather than a

historian. I t is often maintained that the tw o poets andtheir fragments, w h ich he qu oted i n w hat was perhaps an

oration to the Orchomenians, w ere his ow n inv en tion s.43

There seems no strong ground for the suspicion; i f he hadwanted to forge testimonies of o l d poets, he w ou ld surely

have come u p w i th verses of a less h umd r um character.Chersias' existence at least is recogni zed by Plutarch, w homakes h im a contemporary of Periander and Ch i l on andan interl ocu tor in the Banquet of the Seven Sages (156e,163f); he alludes to some incid ent w hich had caused h i m tofa l l out of favor w i th Periander. This may be a novelistic

fiction, bu t some record of a poet Chersias seems to l i e beh ind i t.

4 2 Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry (Loeb Classical

Library), p. 426.4 3 Carl Robert, "De Gratiis Atticis," in Commentationes

philologae in honorera Th. Mommseni scripserunt amid (Berlin,1877), 145-146; Felix Jacoby, commentary on FGrHist 331 (I I IBSupplement, 609).

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Anonymous Poems

The "Naupactus epic" (Naupaktia or Naupaktika), al though regu larl y ci ted by its ti tl e alone, or w i th the phrase

"the author o f the Naupaktika," is not whol ly anonymous,as Pausanias tell s us that Charon of Lampsacus, an authorof abou t 400 BC , ascribed i t to a Naupactian named Car-cinus, whereas most people cred i ted i t to a Mi lesian. He

implies that the ti tle was not accounted for by any parti cu lar concentration on Naupactian matters. That being so,

the title wou ld imp ly a poem that was current in the

Naupactus area or beli eved to originate from there.4 4

Pausanias describes i t as bei ng "on w omen," w h ich suggests a structure similar to that of the Hesiodic Ehoiai,w i t h a succession of genealogies tak ing thei r starting poi n tfrom variou s heroines. But i t contained at least one amplenarrative of the heroic type: the story of the Argonauts.

More than hal f of the fragments come from the scholia toApollonius Rhodi us, w h ich contrast details of Apol loni us'

narrative w i t h that of the ol der poem. I t is a sign of

Naupactian interest i n the northw est that Jason was repre

sented as migrating to Corcyra after the death of Pelias (fr .9). This was no doubt the Corcyraean legend of the time,

as was the affiliation to Jason of the Epirotic figureMermerus .4 5

The Phoronis told of Phoroneus, the first man i n A rgiv emyth, and his descendants. The A rgi v e focus is clear i n fr.

4, less so i n other fragments, such as those on the Phry gian

4 4 The clearest parallel is the title Cypria; perhaps also

Phocais and I liad, Little I liad.4 5 See the note to the translation.

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Kouretes and Idaean Dactyls (2—3). I t is not apparentwhether the poem told of I o s journey to Egypt and her

progéni ture of an Egyptian famil y that eventually retu rnedto Argos. That story was related i n another anonymous

poem, the Danais or Danaides. This is classified here as agenealogical rather than a heroi c (single-episode) poem

because of the natu re of the my th, w h ich leads on in elu cta-b l y to the Danaids' slaughter of their bridegrooms, the

sons of Aegyptus, and the dynasty that descended from theone w ho was spared, Lynceus. The remarkable l ength ofthe poem , reported as 6,500 verses, also suggests a broadscope. Li ke the Phoronis, i t found occasion to speak of theKou retes (fr. 3), and of my th about the gods (fr. 2) whose

relevance to the Danaid saga is obscure.Also assigned to this section are the fragments of the

Minyas. The Miny ans w ere the legendary inhabi tants ofOrchomenos, and the poem may perhaps have begun w i th

genealogies cov er ing that part of Boeotia; there w ere noparticular myths about the Minyans as such,46 or about

their epony m Miny as. The fragments, however, come exclusively from an account of Theseus' and Pi ri thou s' de

scent to the underwor ld, and of various people w hom theymet there or observed und ergoing puni shment. H ow thi s

was connected w i t h Miny an matters is enti rel y obscure.

I t may be that the Minyas was the same as the poemon the descent o f Theseus and Pir i thous to Hades whichPausanias (9.31.5) mentions i n hi s li st of poems that some

people (wrongly, i n his v iew ) attri bu ted to H esiod . I f theyw ere tw o d i fferen t poems, then the papy rus fragment here

4 6 The identification of the Argonauts as Minyans was a secondary development.

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S E L E C T B IBL IOGRAPHY

Editions

Kinkel , Gottfried. Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta.Leipzig, 1877.

Al len, Thomas W. Homert Opera, v. Oxford Classical Texts,1912.

Bethe, Erich. Homer. Dichtung und Sage. Zweiter Band(as below ): 149-200.

Matthews, Victor J. Panyassis of Halikarnassos. Text andCommentary. Leiden, 1974.

Bernabe\ A lbertus. Poetas Epici Graeci, pars i . Leip zi g,1987.

Davies, Malcolm . Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. Göttingen, 1988.

General

Davies, Malcolm . The Epic Cycle. Bristol, 1989.Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. A Guide to Literary

and Artistic Sources. Baltimore, 1993.

Huxley, G. L . Greek Epic Poetry from Eumelos to Panyas sis. London, 1969.

Rzach, Alois. "Kyk los," i n RE xi (1922): 2347-2435.

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Severyns, Albert. Le cycle épique dans l'école d'Aris-tarque. Liège and Paris, 1928.

Welcker, F. G. Der epische Cyclus, oder die homerischenDichter. Bonn, i 2 1865, i i 1849.

Theban Cycle

Bethe, Erich. Thebanische Heldenlieder. Leipzig, 1891.Robert, Carl. Oidipus. Geschichte eines poetischen Stoffs

im griechischen Altertum. Ber l in, 1915.

Trojan Cycle

Bethe, Erich. Homer. Dichtung und Sage. Zweiter Band:Odyssee. Kyklos. Zeitbestimmung. Leipzig and Berlin,

1922.Gr i f f i n , Jasper. "The Epic Cycle and the Uniqueness of

H om er ,"/H S 97 (1977): 39-53.Kul lmann, Wolfgang. Die Quellen der Ilias (Hermes E in

zelschritten, 14). Wiesbaden, I960.

Monro, D . B. "H omer and the Cy cli c Poets," i n Homer's

Odyssey, Books XIII-XXIV (Oxford, 1901): 340-384.

Eumelus

Marckscheffel, Gui le lmus. Hesiodi, Eumeli, Cinaethonis,

Asii et Carminis Naupactii Fragmenta. Leipzig, 1840.

West, M . L . "'Eumelos'.- a Cor i nthi an Epic Cycle?" JHS122 (2002).

W i l l , Edouard. Korinthiaka. Recherches sur l'histoire etla civilisation de Corinthe des origines aux guerresmédiques. Paris, 1955.

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T H E THEBAN CYCLE

ΟΙΔΙΠΟΔΕΙΑ

TESTIMONIUM

IG 14.1292 ü 11 = Tabu la Il iaca Κ (Borgiae) p . 61 Sadurska

τ]ην Ο ί8ιπό8βιαν την ύπο Κιναίθω νος τον [Λακεδαι

μονίου λίγομένην π€ποίήσθαι παραλίπόν]τ€ς, έπων

ονσαν >Fx, νποθησομίν θηβαΐδα [

[ΑακεΒαίμονίον - παραλιπόν]τες e.g. suppl. Wüamowitz.

FRAGMENTA

1 Paus. 9.5.10-11παιδας Se έζ αυτής ον Βοκώ οί γενέσθαι, μάρτυρι Ό μη-

ρωι χρώ μενος, ος έποίησεν έν Ό δνσσείαι (11.271-274)·

"μητέρα τ Οΐδιπόδαο ïèov, καλήν Έπικάστην, I η μέγα

ίργον (ρ(ζίν άϊδρείηισί νόοιο I γημαμίνη ωι vUr δ δ' ον πατέρ' έζεναρίξας I γήμεν άφαρ δ' άνάπυστα θεοί θέσαν

άνθρώ ποισιν" πώς ονν εποίησαν άνάπνστα άφαρ, ei 8η

τέσσαρες έκ της Έπικάστης έγένοντο παίδες τωι Ο ίδί-

ποδι; ΐζ Έ,νρυγανείας της 'Ύ πέρφαντος έγεγόνεσαν

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T H E T H E B A N CYCLE

OEDIPODEA

TESTIMONIUM

Borgia plaque

. . . passing over t]h e Oedipodea, which [they say was composed] by Cinaethon the [Lacedaemonian] i n 6,600 verses,we w i l l p u t down the Thebaid [ . . .

FRAGMENTS

1 Pausanias, Description of Greece

That he had children by his mother, I do not believe; w i t

ness Homer, who w rote i n the Odyssey, "A n d I saw Oedipus'

mother, fair Epicaste, w ho unw ittingly d i d a terrible thing i nmarrying her own son, who had lolled his father; and the gods

soon made i t known among people." How d i d they soon makei t known, i f Oedipus had four chil dren by Epicaste? N o, theyhad been born from Euryganea, the daughter of Hyperphas.

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T H E B A N C Y C L E

δηλοΐ δε και 6 τά επη ποιήσας ά Οΐδπτόδια ονομάζονσι.

Cf. Pherec. fr. 95 Fowler; Apollod. Bibl. 3.5.8; schol. Eur. Phoen.13, 1760.

2* Asclepiades FGrHist 12 F 7a

"εστι δίνουν έπιγης και τετράπον, ού μία

φωνή,και τρίπον, άλλάσσει δε φνην μόνον, δσσ έπι

γαΐαν

ερπετά κινείται καιάν' αιθέρα και κατά πόντον.

άλλ' οπόταν πλείστοισ-ιν έρειδόμενον ποσϊ

βαίνηι,

5 'ένθα μένος γυίοισιν άφανρότατον πέλει αϋτοΰ."

Ath. 456b; Anth. Pal. 14.64; Argum. Aesch. Sept., Soph. Ο . Τ., Eur.Phoen.; schol. Eur. Phoen. 50; schol. et Tzetz. in Lyc. 7.

Variae lectiones: 1 φωνη] μορφή 2 ψυήν] φνσιν3 κινείται] γίνηται, γίνονται και άν'] ανά τ'

4 πλείστοισιζ;] τρισσοίσιν, π\ εόνεσσιν έρειδόμενον] επειγόμενον 5 /ueVos] τάχος.

3 Schol . Eu r. Pfroen. 1760

άναρπάζουσα δε μικρούς και μεγάλους κατήσθιεν, εν οϊς

και Αΐμονα τον Κρέοντος παΐδα . . . οιτην Οϊδιττοδίαν γράφοντες ο̂υδείς ούτω φησί̂ περι της %φιγγός·

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T H E B A N C Y C LE

άλλ' ίίτι κάλλιστοι» τε και ίμεροεστατον άλλων

παΐδα φίλον Κρείοντος άμύμονος, Αΐμονα δΐον.

Cf. Apollod. Bibl. 3.5.8.

ΘΗΒΑΪΣ

TESTIMONIA

IG 14.1292 i i 11, see above.

Paus. 9.9.5

έποιήθη δε ες τον πόλεμον τούτον και επη θηβαις. τά

δε επη ταύτα }ίαλλΐνος άφικόμενος αυτώ ν ες μνήμην

εφησεν "Ο μηρον τον ποιήσαντα είναι· Κ,αλλίνωι δε

πολλοί τε και άζιοι λόγου κατά ταΰτά έγνωσαν, εγώ

δε την ποίησιν ταΰτην μετά γε Ίλ ιάδα και τά επη τά

ες Ό δυσσεα επαινώ μάλιστα.

Ps.-Herod. Vita Homeri 9

κατήμενος δέ εν τώι σκντείωι, παρεόντων και άλλων,

την τε ποίησιν αΰτοΐς επεδείκνυτο, Ά μφιάρεώ τε την

έζελασίαν την ες Θ ήβας, και τους ύμνους τους ες

θεούς πεποιημενους αντώι.

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T H E B A I D

But also the handsomest and loveliest of a l l , the dear son ofblameless Creon, noble H aemon.2

THEBAID

TESTIMONIA

Borgia plaque, see above.

Pausanias, Description of Greece

There was also an epic composed about this war, theThebaid. Cal l inus in referr i ng to thi s epic said that Homerwas its author, and many w orthy critics have agreed w i th

Calhnus. I my self rate thi s poem the best after the Iliadand the Odysseus epic.

Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of HomerAs he sat in the cobbler's shop, w i th others also present, hewou ld p erform his poetry for them , Amphiaraus' Expedition to Thebes, and the Hy mns that he had composed tothe gods.

2 Sophocles makes Haemon the fiance' of Antigone.

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T H E B A I D

FRAGMENTS

1 The Contest of Homer and Hesiod

Homer, after his defeat i n the contest, w ent about reciting hispoems: firstly the Thebaid (7,000 lines), w hi ch begins

Sing, goddess, of th i rsty Argos, fr om where the lord s

2 Athenaeus, Scholars at Dinner

Oedipus cursed his sons on account of cups, as the author ofthe Cyclic Thebaid says, because they set before him a cupthat he had forbi dden. These are his words:

But the h ighborn hero, flaxen-haired Polynices, firstly setbeside Oedipus the fine silver table of Cadmus the god ly ;then he filled his fine gol d cup w i th sweet w ine. Bu t w henhe became aware that his fathers precious treasures hadbeen set beside h i m , some great evi l inv aded his heart, andat once he l aid d read ful curses on both his sons, w h i ch the

div ine Eriny s d i d not fa i l to note: that they should notd iv ide thei r patrimony i n fri end shi p , bu t the tw o of them

ever i n battle and stri fe . . .

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THEBAN CYCLE

3 Schol. Soph. Oed. Col. 1375

ol irepl 'EreoKXea KO.1 TloXwelK-qv, 6Y êdov.

4*

"ASpTjo-TOf pÀkiynpvv

Plat. PTiaeoV. 269a

TI Sè TOV pt\ iy7)pvv "ASpacrrov oLoueûa r) «ai LTe/ai/cXta,

et aKovo-etav &v vvv Sr) r)jLt£tç Strjt/xev raw TrayKaXûje

TtXynpÂTOiV, KTX.

5 Apol lod. Bi M 1.8.4

'AX#ataç Sè àiroOavovaris eyqp,ev Otveùç Tlepifioiav rr jf

'\ TTTTOV6OV. TWÔTI)V Sè ô /ièv ypâupaç TTJV ®T;ySa't8a 7roX«-

46

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T H E B A I D

3 Scholiast on Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus

Eteocles and Polynices, who customarily sent their fatherOedipus the shoulder as his portion from every sacrificial

animal, omitted to do so on one occasion, whether fromsimple negligence or for whatever reason, and sent h im ahaunch. H e, i n a mean and thoroughly ignoble spirit, bu t all

the same, laid curses on them, considering he was beingslighted. The author of the Cyclic Thebaid records this as

follows:

When he realized it was a haunch, he threw it to the

ground and said , "Oh , my sons have i nsultingly sentH e pray ed to Zeus the k ing and to the other immortals that

they should go down into Hades' house at each other's

4*

Adrastus the honey-voiced

Plato, Phaedrus

How do we imagine the honey-voiced Adrastus or even Peri cles would react, i f they could hear of the wonderful rhetoricaldevices we w ere just going through, etc.

5 Apol lodorus, The Library

When Althaea died, Oineus marr ied Periboia the daughter of

Hipponoos. The w riter of the Thebaid says that Oineus got her

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μηθε'ισης Ώ λένου λέγει λαβείν Ο ίνέα γέρας- Ησίοδος δε(fr. 12 M.-W.) . . . έγεννήθη δε εκ ταύτης Ο 'ινει Τυδενς.

6

άμφότερον μάντίς τ αγαθός και δουρι μάχεσθαι.

Pind. Ο Ι 6.15 επτά δ' έπειτα πνραι νεκρών τελεσθέντων Ύ αλαϊονίδας I ε'ιπεν έν θήβαισι τοιούτον τι επος- "ποθέω στρατιάς

όφθαλμον εμάς, I άμφότερον μάντ'ιν τ αγαθόν και δονρι μάρνασθαι." Schol. ad loc. 6 Άσκληπιάδης φησι ταύτα είληφέναι έκ της κνκλικής θηβαιδος.

Versum heroicum restituit Leutsch; item CEC 519.2 (Attica, s.iv).

7* Schol. Pind. Nem. 9.30b

διαφορά δε έγενήθη τοις περί Άμφιάραον και "Κδραστον,

ώστε τον μεν Ύ αλαον ύπο Αμφιάραου άποθανεΐν, τον δε"Αδραστον φυγείν εις Χ ικνώνα . . . ύστερον μέντοι συν-

εληλυθασι πάλιν, έφ' ώι συνοικήσει τήι 'Έιριφύληι 6

Αμφιάραος, ΐνα ε'ί τι

μέγ' έρισμα μετ' άμφοτεροισι γένηται,

αύτη διαιτάι.

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THEBAID

as a prize from the sack of Olenos, whereas Hesiod says . . .From her Tydeus was born to Oineus.

6

(Amphiaraus), both a good seer and good at fightingw i t h the spear.

Pindar, Olympian Odes

Then after the seven dead were hallowed on the pyre, theson of Talaos3 at Thebes said something l ike thi s: " I miss myarmy's seeing eye, both a good seer and good at fighting w i ththe spear." Scholiast: Asclepiades (of Myrlea) says Pindar has

taken this from the Cyclic Thebaid.

7* Scholiast on Pindar

A quarrel came about between Amphiaraus and Adrastus,

with the consequence that Talaos was kil l ed by Amphiarausand Adrastus fled to Sicyon ... But later they came to terms, i tbeing p rov id ed that Amphiaraus should marry Eriphy le,4 so

that i f any

great d ispute should arise betw een the tw o of them,

she would arbitrate.

3 Adrastus.4 Adrastus' sister.

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T H E B A I D

to bestow the immortality on his son.7

Some manuscripts add "The story is in Pherecydes"; in one a

late hand adds "The story is in the Cyclic writers."

10 Pausanias, Description of Greece

And this Asphodicus in the battle against the Argives killed

Parthenopaeus the son of Talaos, according to what theThebans say; the verses about Parthenopaeus' death in the

Thebaid make Periclymenus the one who slew him.

11 Scholiast on the Iliad

Poseidon fell in love with Erinys, and changing his form into ahorse he had intercourse with her by the fountain Tilphousa in

Boeotia. She conceived and gave birth to a horse, which was

called Arion because of its supremacy.8 Copreus, who was

king at Haliartus, a town in Boeotia, received him from Posei

don as a gift. He gave him to Heracles when the latter stayed

with him. Heracles used him to compete against Ares' son

Cycnus in a horse race at the shrine of Pagasaean Apollo,

which is near Troezen,9 and won. Then Heracles gave the foal

hi turn to Adrastus, and thanks to him Adrastus alone was

saved from the Theban war when all the others perished. The

story is in the Cyclic poets.

7

Diomedes.8 The name suggested aristos, "best."9 Perhaps an error for "Trachis." Heracles has Arion in his fight

against Cycnus in pseudo-Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 120. It is

mentioned as Adrastus' steed, a byword for swiftness, at II . 23.346.

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Paus. 8.25.7-8

τήν δε Δήμητρα τεκείν φασιν έκ τον Ποσειδώνος θνγα-

τέρα ... και ΐππον τον Άρίονα ... επάγονται δε έζ Ίλιάδος

£7τη και έκ θηβαίδος μαρτύρια σφισιν είναι τοΰ λόγου,

έν μεν Ίλιάδι (23.346-347) ες αυτόν Άρίονα πεποιήο-θαι-

. . . εν δε τήι θηβαιδι ώς Άδραστος εψευγεν έκ Θ ηβών

ειματα λνγρά φέρω ν


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E P IG ON I

Pausanias, Description of Greece

They say that Demeter bore a daughter by Poseidon . . . and

the horse A r i on . . . A nd they adduce verses from the Iliad andfrom the Thebaid as evidence of thei r tale, saying that i n theIliad it is w ri tten of A r i on h imsel f. . . and i n the Thebaid thatAdrastus fled from Thebes,

his clothes i n sorry state,10 w i t h A r i on the sable-

haired.

So they want the verse to hint that Poseidon was father to

A r i o n .1 1

EPIGONI

1 The Contest of Homer and Hesiod

Homer, after his defeat i n the contest, w ent about reciting his

poems: firstly the Thebaid . . . and then the Epigoni (7,000lines), which begins

But now , Muses, let us beg in on the younger men .

(For some say that this too is Homer's work.)

1 1 Because "sable-haired" is usually an epithet of Poseidon.

Later poets hint at Arion uttering prophetic speech at the Games

for Archemoros at Nemea (Propertius 2.34.37) or when Adrastus

fled from the war at Thebes (Statius, Thebaid 11.442). Theirsource may be Antimachus, but it is possible that the motif ap

peared in the Cyclic epic; compare the speech of Achilles' horse

Xanthus in I liad 19.404 ff.

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Schol. Ar. Pac. 1270, "νυν ανθ' όπλοτέρω ν ανδρώ ν άρχώ -

μεθα"

αρχή δε τώ ν Επιγόνων Αντιμάχου.

2 Clem. Strom. 6.12.7

Αντιμάχου τε του Ύ ηίον ε'ιπόντος

εκ γαρ δώρων πολλά κάκ' άνθρώ ποισι πελονται,

Αγίας έποίησεν (Nosti fr. 7).

3* Phot., Et. Gen., Suda s.v. Ύενμησ'ια

περί της Ύ ενμησίας αλώ πεκος ο'ιτά θηβαϊκά γεγραφη-

κότες Ίκανώς Ίστορήκασι, καθάπερ Αριστόδημος (FGr

Hist 383 F 2)· έπιπεμφθήναι μεν γάρ υπό θεώ ν τό θηρίον

τούτο τοις Καδμείοις, διότι της βασιλείας εζέκλειον τους

άπό Κάδμου γεγονότας. Κέφαλον δε φασι τον Αηϊόνος,

Αθήναιον όντα και κννα κεκτημένον δν ουδέν διέφευγεν

τώ ν θηρίω ν, ώ ς άπέκτεινεν άκω ν την εαυτόν γυναίκα

ΤΙρόκριν, καθηράντω ν αυτόν τώ ν Καδμείω ν, διώ κειν την

άλώ πεκα μετά του κυνός- καταλαμβανόμενους δε περί

τον Ύ ενμησόν λίθους γενέσθαι τόν τε κννα καϊ την

άλώ πεκα. είλήφασι δέ ούτοι τόν μνθον εκ τού επικού

κύκλον.

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THEBAN CYCLE

4 Schol. A p . Rhod . 1.308b

oi δε την ®ηβαιδα γεγραφότες φασίν δτιυπό τω ν Επι

γόνω ν άκροθίνιον άνετέθν Μαντώ ή Teipecriou θυγαττηρ

εις Δελφούς πεμφθεΐσα- και κατά χρ-ησμον Απόλλω νος

εξερχόμενη περιέπεσε 'Ρακίω ι τώι Αέβητος υ'ιώ ι, Μυκη-

να'ιω ι τό γένος, και γημαμέντη αύτώ ι (τούτο γαρ περιείχε

τό λόγιον, γαμεΐσθαι ώ ι αν συναντήσει), έλθούσα εις

Κολοφώ να και εκεί δυσθνμησασα έδάκρνσε διά την τής πατρίδος πόρθτησιν διόπερ ώ νομάσθτ) Κλάρος άπό τω ν

δακρύω ν, έποίτησεν δε 'Απόλλω νι ιερόν.

5 Herod. 4.32

άλλ' 'ΐίσιόδω ι μέν έστι περί 'Ύπερβορέω ν είρημένα (fr.

150.21 M.-W.), έστι δε και Ό μήρω ι έν 'Έ /πιγόνοισι, ει δή

τώι έόντί γε "Ο μηρος ταύτα τά έπεα έποιησε.

Α Λ Κ Μ Ε Ω Ν Ι 2

1 Schol. Eur. Andr. 687και 6 τήν 'Αλκμαιω νίδα πεποι-ηκώ ς φησι περί τού Φ ώ κον

ένθά μιν άντίθεος Ύ ελαμώ ν τροχοειδέϊ δ'ισκω ι

πλήξε κάρ·η, ΐΙτρΧεύς δέ θοώ ς ανά χείρα

τανύσσας

άξίνηι ενχάλκω ι έπεπλήγει μέσα νώ τα.

1 μιν Schwartz: κεν codd.

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ALCMEONIS

4 Scholiast on Apolloniu s of Rhodes

The writers of the Thebaid14 say that Teiresias' daughterManto was sent to Delphi by the Epigoni and dedicated as atithe; and she went out in obedience to an oracle of Apolloand encountered Rhakios the son of Lebes, a Mycenaean byblood. She married him—this was part of the oracle, that sheshould marry the first man she met—and went to Colophon,

and there, overcome by sorrow, she w ept for the sack of her

native city. Hence the place was named Claros, from hertears.15 And she established a shrine for Apollo.

5 Herodotus, History

But Hesiod has mention of the Hyperboreans, and so does

Homer i n the Epigoni, i f Homer really composed this poem.

ALCMEONIS

1 Scholiast on Euripides

A nd the author of the Alcmeonis says about Phocus:

There god li ke Telamon h i t h im on the head w i th a w heel-shaped d iscus, and Peleus qu ickl y raised his arm above hishead and struck him in the middle of his back w i t h abronze axe.16

1 4 Assumed to be an error for the Epigoni, unless this is here

taken to be part of the Thebaid.1 5 The implied etymology is from Mao, " I weep."1 6 Phocus (ancestor of the Phocians), Telamon, and Peleus

were the three sons of Aeacus. After the murder Telamon went tolive on Salamis and Peleus to Thessaly.

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2 A th . 460b

καϊ 6 τήν Άλκμαιωνίδα δε ποιήσας φησίν

νέκνς δε χαμαιστρώτον επι τείνας

ενρείης σ-τιβάδος προέθηκ αντοισι θάλειαν

δαΐτα ποτήρια τε, στεφάνονς τ επί κρασίν

έθηκεν.

3 Et. Gud. s.v. Ζαγρενς

6 μεγάλως άγρενων, ώς-

"ποτνια Τή, Ζαγρεν τε θεών παννπερτατε

πάντων",

6 τήν Άλκμαιωνίδα γράφας έφη.

Cf. 'Έ,κλογαίδιαφόρω ν ονομάτω ν, Anecd. Ο χ. ίί 443.8.

4 Apo l l od . Bibl. 1.8.5

Τυδευν δε άνήρ γενόμενος γενναίος εφνγαδενθη κτείνας,

ώς μεν τίνες λέγονο-ιν, άδελφόν Ο ινέως Άλκάθοον, ώς δε

ό τήν Άλκμαιωνίδα γεγραφώς, τούς Μ έλανος παιδας

έπιβονλενοντας Ο 'ινεΐ, Φ ηνέα Έίυρναλον 'Ύ πέρλαον Άντί-

οχον Έώμήδην Χ τέρνοπα αάνθιππον Χ θενέλαον.

5 Strab. 10.2.9

ό δέ τήν Άλκμεωνίδα γράφας 'ϊκαρίον τον ΐΐ-ηνελόπης

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A L C M E O N I S

2 Athenaeus, Scholars at Dinner

The author of the Alcmeonis says too:

A n d laying the bodies ou t on a broad pal l et spread on the

ground, he set before them a ri ch banquet and cups, and

put garlands on thei r heads.

3 Etymologicum Gudianum

Zagreus: the one w ho greatly hunts, as the writer of the

Alcmeonis said:

"Mistress Ear th , and Zagreus hi ghest of a l l the

gods."17

4 Apollodorus, The Library

Tydeus grew into a gallant man, but was forced into exile

after k i l l i n g , as some say, Oineus' brother A lcathous, bu t asthe writer of the Alcmeonis says, the sons of Melas, who

were p lotting against Oineus: Pheneus, Eury alus, H yperlaus,Antiochus, Eumedes, Sternops, Xanthippus, and Sthenelaus.

5 Strabo, Geography

But the w ri ter of the Alcmeonis says that Icarius, Penelope's

1 7 The etymologist falsely explains Zagreus' name from za-"very" and agreuein "hunt." I n Aeschylus (frs. 5,228) he is a god ofthe underworld. The line perhaps comes from a prayer in whichAlcmaon called upon the powers of the earth to send up his fatherAmphiaraus.

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πατρός ν'ιεις γενέσθαι δύο, 'Αλνζέα καΐ Αευκάδιον, δννα-

στεύσαι δε εν τήι'Ακαρνανίαι τούτους μετά τον πατρός.

6 Schol. Eu r. Or. 995

άκολονθεΐν άν δόξειεν τώ ιτην 'Αλκμαιω νίδα πεποιηκότι

εις τά περί την άρνα, ώς και Διονύσιος ό κνκλογράφος

φησί(15F7). Φ ερεκύδης δέ(fr. 133Fow ler) ού καθ' Ειρμού

μήν'ιν φησι την άρνα ύποβληθήναι άλλα Αρτέμιδος, ό δέ

την 'Αλκμαιω νίδα γράφ ας τον ποιμένα τον προσαγα-

γόντα τό ποίμνιον τω ι'Ατρέί Αντίοχον καλεί.

7 Philod. De pietate Β 6798 Obbink

κα[ί της έ]πί Κρόνου ζω [ής εύ]δαιμονεστά[της ού]σης, ώς έγραφ [αν 'Ή .σί]οδος καιό την ['Αλκμ]εω νίδα ποή[σας,

και] Σοφοκλής κτλ. (fr. 278 R.).

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A L C M E O N I S

father, had tw o sons, Alyzeus and Leucadi us,18 and that theyruled w i th thei r father i n Acamania.

6 Scholiast on Eur ip id es, Orestes

Euripides would appear to be following the author of the Alcmeonis i n regard to the story about the l amb,19 as Dio-nysius the Cyclographer also says. Pherecydes says that i t wasnot from Hermes' w rath that the lamb was put into the flock,

but from Artemis'. And the w r i ter of the Alcmeonis calls theshepherd w ho brought the lamb to Atreus Antiochus.

7 Philodemus, On Piety

A nd the l i fe i n the time of Kronos was most happy, as [Hesi ]odand the author of the [Alcm]eonis have w ri tten, and Sophoclesetc.

1 8 Mythical eponyms of the Acarnanian town Alyzea and thenearby island of Leucas.

1 9 A golden lamb was discovered in Atreus' flocks, and on the

strength of this he claimed the kingship. His brother Thyestes seduced his wife and got possession of the lamb, but was banished.The story may have been told i n the Alcmeonis as a parallel toEriphyle's fatal betrayal of her husband.

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T H E TROJAN CYCLE

Κ Τ Π Ρ ΙΑ

T E S T I M O N I A

Ael. V.H. 9.15

λέγεται δε κάκεΐνο προς τούτοις, ότι άρα άπορων

έκδούναι την θυγατέρα ("Ο μηρος) έδωκεν αύτήι προί

κα έχειν τά έπη τά Κυπριά- και ομολογεί τούτο

Π ίνδαρος (fr. 265 Sn .-M.).

Cf. Hesych. Mil. Vita Homeri 5; Tzetz. Hist. 13.631̂ .

Arist. Poet. 1459a37, see below, Testimonia to the Little

Iliad.

Merkelbach-Stauber, Steinepigramme aus dem griech

ischen Osten 01/12/02 (de Halicarnasso)

45 έσπειρεν ΐΐανύασσιν έπων άρίσημον άνακτα, Ίλιακώ ν Κνπρίαν τ'ικτεν άοιδοθέτην.

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T H E TROJAN CYCLE

CYPRIA

TESTIMONIA

Aelian, Historical Miscellany

This too is said in addition, that when Homer had no

means of giv ing his daughter i n marr iage, he gave her theepic Cypria to have as her dowry; and Pindar agrees onthis.

Aristotle, Poetics: see below , Testimonia to the Little Iliad

Halicarnassian i nscri ption (second century BC)

(This city ) sowed the seed of Panyassis, famous master ofepic verse; i t gave b i r th to Cypri as, the poet of Trojan ep ic.

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TROJAN CYCLE

Phot. Bibl. 319a34

λέγει δε (Πρόκλος) και περί τίνω ν Κυπρίων ποιη μάτων, και ώς οι μεν ταντα εις "ϊ,τασινον άναφέρονσι

Κύπριον, οι δέ 'Ή γησΐνον τον Έ,αλαμίνιον αύτοΐς

έπιγράφονσιν, οι δε "Ο μηρον γράφαι, δούναι δε νπέρ

της θνγατρός Στασίνωι, και δια την αυτόν πατρίδα

Κύπρια τον πόνον έπικληθήναι. άλλ' ού τί-

θεται ταύτηι τήι αίτίαι, μηδέ γαρ Κύπρια προπαροζυ-

τόνως έπιγράφεσθαι τα ποιήματα.

Schol. Clem. Protr. 2.30.5, "Κυπριακά ποιήματα"

Κύπρια ποιήματα είσιν τά τον κύκλου- περιέχει δέ

άρπαγήν Ελένης, ό δέ ποιητής αυτών άδηλος- εις γάρ έστι των κυκλικών.

Schol. Dion. Thr. i.471.34 Hilgard, see the Testimonia to theMargites.

ARGUMENTUMProclus, Chrestomathia, suppleta ex Apol lod. epi t. 3.1-33

επιβάλλει τούτοις τά λεγόμενα Κύπρια εν βιβλίοις

φερόμενα ένδεκα, ών περί της γραφής ύστερον έρον-

μεν, ίνα μή τον έζής λόγον νυν έμποδίζωμεν. τά δέ

περιέχοντα έστι ταντα-

1 Proclus was wrong. Kypna was proparoxytone, being theneuter plural adjective, "Cyprian," agreeing with poiemata orepea, "verses." The Halicarnassians, however, to appropriate the

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TROJAN C Y C L E

(1) Ζεύς βουλεύεται μετά της θέμιδος1 περί τον

Τρωικού πολέμον. παραγενομένη δέ 'Έρις ενωχονμέ-

νων των θεών έν τοις ΤΙηλέως γάμοις νεΐκος περί κάλλους έν'ιστησιν 'Αθηναι, "ΐΐραι και Άφροδίτηι- α'ί

προς Άλέξανδρον έν "ΐδηι κατά Διός προσταγήν ύφ'

'Έ,ρμού προς την κρίσιν άγονται. και

προκρίνει την Άφροδίτην έπαρθείς τοις 'Έλένης

γάμοις Αλέξανδρος, έπειτα δέ Αφροδίτης νποθεμένης

νανπηγεΐται. Κπηζαμένον νανς Φ ερέκλον Αρ.> καί

"Έλενος περί των μελλόντων αντοΐς προθεσπίζει. καϊ

ή Αφροδίτη Αίνείαν σνμπλεϊν αντώι κελεύει, καί Κασσάνδρα περί των μελλόντων πρόδηλοι.

(2) έπιβάς δέ τήι Αακεδαιμονίαι Αλέξανδρος

ζενίζεται παρά τοις Ύ ννδαρίδαις, και μετά ταύτα έν

τήι %πάρτηι παρά Μ ενελάωι •

και Έλένηι παρά τήν εύωχίαν δίδωσι δώρα ό Αλέξαν δρος, και μετά ταύτα Μ ενέλαος εις Κρήτην έκπλεΐ

, κελενσας

τήν 'Έλένην τοις ξένοις τά επιτήδεια παρέχειν, έως αν

άπαλλαγώ σιν. έν τούτωι δέ Αφροδίτη συνάγει τήν

'Έιλένην τώι 'Αλεζάνδρω ι. καί μετά τήν μ'ιζιν τά

πλείστα κτήματα ενθεμένοι νυκτός άποπλέονσι.

χειμώ να δέ αντοϊς έφίστησιν Ή ρα, καί προσενεχθείς

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CYPRIA

(1) Zeus confers w i t h Themis about the Trojan War.

As the gods are feasting at the w ed d ing of Peleus, Strifeappears and causes a d ispute about beauty among A thena,Hera, and A phrod i te. On Zeus' in stru ction H ermes

conducts them to Alexander on Ida for adjudication.

A lexander, excited by the p rospect of u n ion w i th

Helen, chooses Aphrodite. A fter that, at Aphrod ite's i nstigation, ships are bui l t


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T ROJ A N C Y C L E

Σιδώνι ό Αλέξανδρος αίρει την πάλιν. και άποπλευσας εις "Ιλιον γάμους της Ελένης έπετέλεσεν.

(3) έν τούτωι δέ Κάστωρ μετά Πολυδευκους τάς

"Ιδα καί Λυγκέως /3ονς ύφαιρούμενοι έφωράθησαν.

και Κάστωρ μεν ύπό τοί "Ιδα αναιρείται, Αυγκεύς δε

και "ΐδας ΰπό Πολυδειίκους. και Ζευς αύτοΐς ετερη-μερον νέμει την άθανασίαν.

(4) και μετά ταΰτα τ Ιρις άγγέλλει τώι Μενελάωι τά

γεγονότα κατά τον οίκον ο δέ παραγενόμενος


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CYPRIA

carried to Sid on, A lexander takes the city. A nd he sailed off to I l i o n and celebrated a w edd ing w i th Helen.

(3) Meanw h i l e Castor and Polydeuces w ere caughtstealing the cattle of Idas and Lynceus. A nd Castor waski l led by Idas, but Lynceus and Idas were k i l l ed byPolydeuces. A nd Zeus awarded them immortali ty on alternate days.

(4) A fter thi s, I r is brings Menelaus the news of w hat hashappened back home. H e goes and conferswi th his brother about the exp ed ition against I l i o n . AndMenelaus goes to Nestor, and N estor i n a d igression relates to h im how Epopeus seduced the daughter of Lycur-gus5 and had his city sacked; also the story of Oed ipus, and

the madness of Heracles, and the story of Theseus andAriadne.

(5) Then they trav el round Greece assembl ing the leaders. Odysseus feigned insanity , as hed i d not w ant to take p art i n the expedi tion, bu t they foundh im out by acting on a suggestion of Palamedes' andsnatching

greek epic fragments. from the seventh to the fifth centuries bc (loeb classical library).pdf

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