Homeric Hymn to Hermes 296

Τλήμονα γαστρὸς ἔριθον

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9328868
AutoresJoshua T Katz (Harvard University Press, autor de correspondencia)
Año1999
Volumen49
Número1
Páginas315-319
Fecha de publicación1999-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844
EditorialCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1093/cq/49.1.315
OpenAlexW2055604072
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas42
Referencias citadas10

Among the many parodic elements in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes is the day-old baby's fart-omen. As is well-known, sneezing was considered prophetic in the ancient world, and the humour of the scene comes from the immediately preceding fart and the fact that Hermes’ bodily emissions are deliberate (σɉυ... øρασσάμευoζ ‘contriving’). Apollo has, in fact, gone in search of his baby brother on the basis of a standard bird-omen (note 2131 ‖ oìωυɂυ and 215 ‖༐σσυμέυωζ, echoed exactly in the later passage) and confronted with Hermes’ signs, he recognizes that the crepitation is just as much an omen as the sneeze, witness the plural τoúτoιζ oìωυoîσι a few lines later (303). We may compare a passage in Aristophanes’ Knights (638—42) where the Sausage-seller reports that he took courage before speaking to the Council from a good omen: a man farted to the right, ༐κ δπξιâζ ᾤπέπαρδε (639). Aristophanes’ formulation suggests to me that the composer of the hymn may be intentionally setting up a play on words (or even the possibility for a slip of the tongue or mishearing): the only difference between the verbal form ༐πέπταδε ‘sneezed’ (aorist to ༐πι-πτάρυuμαι, -πταíρω and its near-homophone ༐πέπαρδε ‘farted’ (aorist to ༐πι-πρδoμαι) is the (cross-linguistically trivial) reversal of the liquid and the dental stop

Art · Hymn · Linguistics · Literature · Omen · Witness · Ancient Near East History · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy