Callimachus' Tale of Sicyon ("SH" 238)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3939508 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Noel Robertson (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 1/2 |
| Pages | 57 |
| Publication date | 1999-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Phoenix (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1088123 |
| OpenAlex | W2317067536 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
A PAPYRUS SCRAP PUBLISHED IN 1967 gives the beginning of an episode from Callimachus' Aetia, Book One or Two, in which is named.' The ten lines partially preserved have so far proved more puzzling than enlightening, but it may be possible to advance the interpretation. I shall argue first that two material points in the papyrus text have been missed: the bird omen that Callimachus expounds is one peculiar to Sicyon, in which the hoopoe, epops, takes the place of the standard raven; and as named is not the city but the person so called, a hero of considerable standing (section I). Previous attempts to identify the story do not conform to these and other details, though they rightly insist on the hoopoe's evocative name (section Ii). The story will be one that is at least glanced at in Pausanias' account of early Sicyon, since Pausanias and Callimachus almost certainly draw on the same source, the Sicyonica of Menaechmus (section III). It appears to be the story of the earliest conflict between Sicyon and Argos, a story that was probably invented by Menaechmus, though he made use of some pre-existing details (section IV). Menaechmus like other local historians told stories of early days to explain the origin of shrines and festivals (section v). The story of the war with Argos led up to the foundation of an important shrine on the acropolis of Sicyon, which had formerly been associated with the hero Epopeus (section vi). In Menaechmus' aetiology Epopeus was replaced with the epops omen (section VII)
Art · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |