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Aethiopis

(492 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Αἰθιοπίς; Aithiopís, ‘Poem of the Ethiopian’). Lost epic in five books (no textual fragment extant) belonging to the  epic cycle. Its composition is attributed in late sources (p. 332 Kaibel, from the 1st cent. BC ; Proclus; Eusebius) to Arctinus of Miletus: since Wilamowitz [1. 345,353 f., 370 f.] this attribution has been regarded as speculation on the part of peripatetic literary researchers (Bethe [2. 63]; Davies [3. 99 f.]): the author and the exact date of composition are un…

Alcmaeonis

(404 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Ἀλκμαιωνίς; Alkmaiōnís, ‘Poem of Alcmaeon’). An early Greek epic, transmitted to us in three fragments of text, about  Alcmaeon, son of the Argive hero and seer  Amphiaraus, linking the Theban with the Trojan mythical cycle (Immisch [1], Bethe [2.134], Kullmann [3.143-151]). The author was probably unknown already in antiquity (he is described in our testimonia anonymously eight times as ὁ τὴν Ἀλκμαιωνίδα γεγραφώς, πεποιηκώς and the like). The epic appears to have originated after…

Gigantomachy

(376 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (γιγαντομαχία; gigantomachía, Plato and others, γιγαντία; gigantía, Philostratus; Gigantomachia Claudianus and others). Battle of the  Giants against the (Olympian) gods for the rule of the world, usually set in Phlegrae or  Phlegra (e.g. Aesch. Eum. 295; Eur. HF 1194; Ion 988) that was, in a second step, equated with the peninsula of  Pallene (e.g. Hdt. 7,123); won by the gods with the help of  Heracles (the role of Heracles probably mentioned for the first time in Hes. Theog. 954 [1. 41…

Amphiaraou exelasis

(162 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Ἀμφιαράου ἐξέλασις; Amphiaráou exélasis, Suda; Ἀμφιάρεω ἐξελασία ἡ ἐς Θήβας, Vita Homeri Herodotea ed. Wilamowitz 1929, 9,9 f.): ‘Expedition of Amphiaraus (against Thebes)’. A poem ascribed to Homer, since at least Hellenism (see above Vita Hom. Herod.), from which no fragment has been preserved, and the independent existence of which is doubtful. There are three possibilities from which one can choose: (1)  Amphiaraou exelasis (AE) was only another title for the (Cyclic)   Thebais (thus [1. 187 f.]); (2) AE was a larger epic withi…

Iliupersis

(327 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Ἰλίου πέρσις/ Ilíou pérsis, ‘The destruction of Ilius [= Troy]’). Lost part of an epic of the  Epic cycle; except for brief summary of its contents in the chrestomathia by  Proclus and in the epitome by  Apollodorus [7] of Athens and some testimonies there is only one literal quotation with eight hexameters [1; 2; 3. 96] available for reconstruction and dating. According to Proclus it consisted of two books, beginning with the discussions of the Trojans standing around the Wooden Horse in Troy (cf. Verg. Aen. 2,31-249). The Iliupersis thus takes up after the  Ilias…

Telegony

(496 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Τηλεγόνεια/ Tēlegóneia; Τηλεγονία/ Tēlegonía). Concluding part (2 bks.) of the Epic Cycle about Odysseus's (= O.) last phase of life following his return home to Ithaca and his death caused by his own son Telegonus (= Tel., 'the one born far away') whom he had fathered with Circe. In Antiquity, the T. was consistently attributed to Eugam(m)on of Cyrene (with scepticism: [3]). Correspondingly, the period of origin could be no earlier than the 6th cent. BC (the founding of Cyrene: 63…

Epic cycle

(1,142 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(ἐπικὸς κύκλος; epikòs kýklos). [German version] A. Concept ‘A circle or ring of epics’. Literary historical technical term, current not ‘only after Aristotle [and] before Callimachus’ [1. 359], but already before Aristotle [4. 93-95], who in An. post. 77b 32f. (= T 1, p.1 Bernabé = T *2, p.13 Davies) appears to assume knowledge of it. Reference to a book-title Τραγικὸς κύκλος ( Tragikòs kýklos; cf. Τραγῳδούμενα/ Tragōidoúmena), by Isocrates' pupil Asclepiades of Tragilus (prose book retelling in chronological sequence the myths treated by Attic tragedy) was…

Lesches

(260 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Λέσχης; Léschēs in Paus. also Λέσχεως; Léscheōs: probably an individual error [5. 311]). Aristotle's student Phaenias of Eresus [8. 18 fr. 33] introduced the name of this early epic poet, supposedly from Pyrrha (Lesbos), who lived before Terpander and is purported to have confronted Arctinus in a poetry agon. First named as the author of the Iliás mikrá on Homeric goblets ([9. MB 27 and 31]; 3rd/2nd cents. BC) and thereafter frequently by scholiasts and mythographers (by Paus. as author of the Ilíou Pérsis ): passages in [7. 2420f.]. The name was not necessarily…

Aoidoi

(516 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (ἀοιδοί; aoidoí, ‘Singers’, from ἀείδω, later ᾀδω ‘to sing’, cf. ἀοιδή, later ᾠδή ‘Ode’, ‘Song’). As a technical term of the language of the early Greek Epic, aoidoi is a designation and self designation of that professional group, which in pre-Homeric and Homeric times had the function of the poet (and at the same time, in better cases, of creative intellectuals). The social position, self-image, method of working, etc. of the aoidoi can be reconstructed from the images which Homer reflects in the Iliad (e.g. 24,720; 2,595-600) and the Odyssey (in the aoidoi

Homeridai

(129 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Ὁμηρίδαι; Homērídai). Special group of  rhapsodes (first mentioned in Pind. Nem. 2,1, c. 485/480 BC) that is said, according to late sources (schol. ad loc. Harpocration s.v., among others), to have traced itself back biologically directly to  Homer [1] in the first generation and after that was considered to be the ‘administrator of the legacy’ of the Homeric epics. Located in: Chios; best-known representative: Cynaethus. Homeric associations by this name (admirers rather than rhapsodes: Pl…

Cypria

(590 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (τὰ Κύπρια; tà Kýpria; also τὰ Κύπρια ἔπη; tà Kýpria épē, τὰ Κυπριακά; tà Kypriaká, αἱ Κυπριακαὶ ἱστορίαι; hai kupriakai historíai, its title derived from the dominance of Aphrodite = Cypris in the causality of the plot [3; cf. 9. 287]). This epic, a part of the  epic cycle, recounts in 11 bks. (according to Proclus) the history of Troy prior to the better-known Iliad ( Homerus [1]). Approximately 50 hexameters in 12 [1] or respectively 10 [2] frs. are extant; in addition there are short summaries in  Proclus and  Apollodorus, as well as nume…

Thebais

(397 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Θηβαΐς; Thēbaḯs). Title of numerous poetic accounts of the Theban cycle (Thebes [2] III.). Only the Latin T. by Statius [II 2] is entirely extant. We have fragments (1) of the 'Cyclic T.' (i.e. pertaining to the Epic cycle), (2) of the T. by Antimachus [3]. From the 'Cyclic T.' 8 testimonies and 10 fragments survive (in [1]), including 6 verbatim with a total of 20 hexameters. Still recognisable from the content are: (1) invocation of the Muse (Muse, invocation of the) with 'Argos' (not 'Thebes') given as the subject ma…

Naupactia

(244 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Ναυπάκτια ἔπη/ Naupáktia ép ē, also Ναυπακτικά/ Naupaktiká and Ναυπακτιακά/ Naupaktiaká). Early Greek genealogical epic of unknown authorship (about 20 citations by ‘the poet of the NE’ and ‘in the NE’; only once - Paus. 10,38,11, supposedly after Charon [3] of Lampsacus - by ‘the Naupactian Carcinus’), evidently composed in the 6th cent. BC, since already used by Pherecydes (about 500). What has been left (in [1]), are nine definitely attributed hexameters, as well as nine testimonies, mo…

Naumachius

(194 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Ναυμάχιος; Naumáchios). Author, otherwise unknown, of a hexametrical didactic poem (title unknown) addressing young women (παρθενικαί; parthenikaí) on the correct conduct of life and marriage, composed mid-4th cent. AD. 73 hexameters are preserved in Stobaeus (4,22,32; 23,7; 31,76), in three complete sections, two from the chapter Γαμικὰ παραγγέλματα (‘Marriage advice), one from the chapter Περὶ πλούτου (‘On wealth). The three sections originally formed a complete unit (printed as such in [2]). …

Ilias parva

(320 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Ἰλιὰς μικρά/ Iliàs mikrá, the ‘Little Iliad’). Lost part of the  Epic cycle. Except for short summaries in the Chrestomathia by  Proclus [2], the epitome by  Apollodorus [7], and a few testimonia, only seven direct quotations with a total of 26 hexameters [1; 2; 3. 95] are available for reconstruction and dating. According to Proclus, the work comprises 4 bks., the starting point apparently (in this, Proclus agrees with Aristot. Poet. 1459a 37-b 7 [4. 2411]) being the Hóplōn krísis (the decision on who deserves Achilles' armour). The opus must therefore h…

Theseis

(243 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Θησηΐς; Thēsēḯs). Title of numerous (exact number unknown) poetic reworkings of the Athenian Theseus legend. Aristotle [6] (Aristot. Poet. 1451a 16-22) speaks of "all those poets who have created an Heraklēḯs, a Theseis and similar poetic works." As with other mythical subjects the production of further variations on the theme, in accordance with contemporary tastes, continued in Greek and Latin until the Imperial period. As a rule we know only the authors' names [4. 1046], apart from two cases: (1) of an anonymous hexametric Theseis, which presumably came into…

Oechalias halosis

(170 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Οἰχαλίας ἅλωσις/ Oichalías hálōsis, “The capture of Oechalia”). Lost early Greek epos of the Heracles epics, relating the conquest of the city of Oechalia (probably [3]) by Heracles (= point of departure for Soph. Trach.). 1 fragment (Heracles speaks to Iole) and 3 attestations (= fr. 2-3 in [1] and [2]) survive, which admittedly are only about the correct localisation of the city and the number of children of its royal couple, Eurytus [1] and Antioche (or Antiope). Ascribed either …

Doloneia

(314 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Δολώνεια; Dolṓneia, ‘poem about Dolon’), a probably old (cf. e.g. Διομήδεος ἀριστείη already in Hdt. 2,116,11; further examples in [1. 148] term for the 10th book of the Iliad, in which the Trojan   Dólōn (a name etymologically derived from δόλος: ‘guile’, so perhaps ‘Foxy’, ‘Wily’, ‘Sneaky’ [2. 186]) plays a major role. In the night after the unsuccessful embassy to Achilles both the Achaeans and the Trojans send scouts into their opponents' camp: Odysseus and Diomedes come upon Dolon, take h…

Panyas(s)is

(788 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(Πανύασις/ Panýasis, rarely Πανύασσις/ Panýassis; also epigraphically attested in the form Πανύατις/ Panýatis (Syll3 45, I.52-54, Halicarnassus): originally a Carian name with the /s/-phoneme [1. 5f.] foreign to Greek ears). One of the four (or five) canonical Greek epic poets (Homer [1], Hesiod, [Peisander [6]], Panyassis, Antimachus [3] of Colophon). [German version] A. Life Born in 505/500 BC in Halicarnassus, where he died in 455/50, older cousin [1. 6] of Herodotus [1], of a distinguished aristocratic family that opposed the tyrant Lygdamis [3], who came to power c. 460; P.…

Rhapsodes

(749 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(ῥαψῳδοί/ rhapsōidoí). Professional reciters of (as a rule epic) poetry. The profession emerged in Greece in the 8th cent. BC as a consequence of the transition from speech to writing as a medium for the transmission of information (Literacy/Orality). [German version] A. Meaning and connotation The first component of the word is the stem of the verb ῥάπτειν/ rháptein, 'sew' (cf. modern Greek ῥαπτο-μηχανή/ rhapto-mēchanḗ, 'sewing machine'); the second element the stem of the noun ᾠδή/ ōidḗ (< ἀοιδή/ aoidḗ), 'song', in the role of object effected. The meaning is thus: 'he wh…

Titanomachy

(508 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Τιτανομαχία; Titanomachía). The battle of many years between the Olympic gods under Zeus against the Titans for world-domination. The cosmological-theological meaning of this invention is the revolutionary displacement of a primal state marked by the ('titanic') powers of nature through a regular ('civilized') world order (s., in contrast, Gigantomachy). The probably primeval subject that originated in the oral tradition was a popular source for literary and artistic adaptations d…

Phocais

(149 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Φωκαΐς/ Phōkaḯs). Lost Archaic epic about the city of Phocaea in Ionia in Asia Minor, probably part of a complex of early historical epics about regions and cities [4]. Attested only in a Life of Homer from the Imperial period (Vita Homeri Herodotea 16 = 10,3-7 in [3]): “the inhabitants claimed that the so-called P. had been composed by Homer in Phocaea”. Thus it seems that the author and time of composition were unknown even to later Phocaeans. No fragments survive. Possibly a so…

Oedipodea

(298 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (ἡ Οἰδιπόδεια/ hē Oidipódeia, also ἡ Οἰδιποδία/ hē Oidipodía and τὰ Οἰδιπόδια/tà Oidipódia). Lost early Greek epic belonging to the Epic Cycle, together with the Thebais and the Epigoni [2] part of its Theban section; it probably told the beginning of the legend of Thebes. According to IG XIV 1292 (= T 1 in [1], 1st cent. AD) it contained 6600 hexameters. Other than T 1, only one fragment (2 hexameters) remains, two late summaries of content and an extensive summary of the story of Oedipus, compiled from sev…

Rhianus

(552 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(Ῥιανός/ Rhianós) of Crete. Epic poet, writer of epigrams and Homeric philologist of the second half of the 3rd cent. BC. [German version] A. Life The only coherent source is an entry in the Suda consisting of only three sentences (according to [3. 781] they go back to Dionysius [18] of Halicarnassus). According to this R. comes from Bene (near Gortyn; exact ancient situation unknown) or Ceraea in Crete (Bene was probably his place of birth and Ceraea where he went to school: [8. 85]). R. is apparently said to have risen from being an attendant in a gymnasium with slave status to a grammatikós

Nostoi

(385 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Νόστοι/ Nóstoi, ‘homecomings’). A part of the Epic Cycle, this epic told in 5 books of the return home of the major surviving Achaean heroes of Troy (Agamemnon, Menelaus [1], Diomedes [1], Nestor [1], Calchas, Leonteus [1], Polypoetes, Oilean Ajax [2], Phoenix, Neoptolemus [1]). Preserved (in [1]): summary by Proclus, 4 testimonies, 11 cases of reliable evidence on content, including 5 1/2 hexameter. Content: Dispute between Agamemnon and Menelaus regarding the timing of the fleet's departure, which occurred after a delay: 1. Diomedes and Ne…

Melampodia

(174 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] (Μελαμποδία/ Melampodía). Early Greek hexametrical epic in at least three (fr. 277) books. Ancient testimonies ascribe it to Hesiodus, only Paus. 9,31,5 claims it is pseudo-hesiodic. Its origin lies in the 6th cent. BC, probably in Corinth [2. 59]. Ten fragments survive, eight of which verbatim, with 24 hexameters in all (fr. 270-279 in [1]). The author makes use of Homer, Hesiod and the Epic Cycle (Trojan and Theban legends including Alcmaeonis [2. 58]). He presents Greek early hi…

Minyas

(384 words)

Author(s): Dräger, Paul (Trier) | Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
[German version] [1] Grandson of Zeus (Μινύας; Minýas). M.' genealogy is very intricate [1. 129ff.; 2. 195ff.; 3]: grandson of Zeus, son or grandson of Poseidon, son of Ares or Aleus [1], grandson, great-(great-) grandson of Aeolus [1], father, son or brother of Orchomenus, father of Clymene [4], Persephone and the Minyades (the female members of the tribe of Minyans reduced to three [2. 204f.]). This lack of a fixed position in genealogy and of his own myths ([4. 133]; Apollod. 3,105 only mentions M. …

Homerus

(4,933 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle) | Pressler, Frank (Heidelberg)
[German version] [1] The poet Homer Homer (Ὅμηρος/ Hómēros, Lat. Homērus, French Homère, German Homer). Latacz, Joachim (Basle) [German version] I. Short definition Homer is the first poet of the European cultural area of whom works of a major scope are completely extant (around 28,000 hexametric lines in the Greek language), which have been received continuously in all parts of the world influenced by European culture since they were composed c. 2,700 years ago and which have exerted evident as well as covert influence on cultural development until the present time [11; 39; 17. 274]. La…

Homeric question

(7,185 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle) | Kurz, Gerhard (Gießen RWG)
Latacz, Joachim (Basle) I. General (CT) [German version] A. Structure of the Discipline (CT) The Homeric Question (HQ) can be divided into a question in the narrower and in the wider sense. In its most simple form, the HQ in its narrower sense reads: "are the Iliad and the Odyssey the works of one (possibly one and the same) poet or those of several poets?" Phrased like this, the HQ represented a specialist philological problem, mainly of the 19th cent., but with offshoots into the 1960s. - In its wider sense, the HQ asks: "what is the genesis…

Creophylus

(276 words)

Author(s): Latacz, Joachim (Basle) | Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim)
[German version] [1] Epic poet and one of the Homeridae (Κρεόφυλος; Kreóphylos). Appears in the ancient legend of Homer as one of the  Homeridai, either Homer's friend (Pl. Resp. 600b = [2. Test. 3]) or his son-in-law (schol. Pl. Resp. 600b = [2. Test. 4]). He originally stemmed from either Samos (thus Callim. Epigr. 6 = [2. Test. 7]; Str. 14,638 = [2. Test. 8]), or Ios (thus Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi p. 44, 28 Wil. = [2. Test. 2]; Vita Homeri Procli p. 26, 26 Wil. = [2. Test. 9]) or Chios (thus Suda = [2. Test. 6]; schol. Pl. Resp. 600b = [2. Test. 3]). Supposedly, he was the author of the

Epigoni

(430 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(ἐπίγονοι; epígonoi, ‘future generations’, ‘descendants’). [German version] [1] Second generation of successors of Alexander [4] the Great Second generation of successors of Alexander [4] the Great in regions of the former Alexandrian Empire. Regarding the term Epigoni, see  Diadochi and Epigoni. Eder, Walter (Berlin) [German version] [2] Early Greek epic Lost early Greek epic (only one hexameter certain to belong to it has survived, and that is the introductory verse: F 1 Bernabé = F 1 Davies, see below) which belonged to the Theban part of th…

Nestor

(1,290 words)

Author(s): Visser, Edzard (Basle) | Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) | Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(Νέστωρ; Néstōr). [German version] [1] Son of Nesleus Important figure in Greek mythology, particularly in the legend of the Trojan War. N. represents the aging warrior who has lost some of his former physical strength but due to his wealth of experience fulfills an important function in the group of leaders and in the Greek army. N. is the son of Neleus (thus his fixed epithet Neleid [Νηλεΐδης; Nēleΐdēs]) and of Chloris [4]. He has two brothers by the names of Chromius and Periclymenus, who are of no mythological significance, and a sister Pero who appears to h…

Epic

(6,829 words)

Author(s): Neumann, Hans (Berlin) | Latacz, Joachim (Basle) | Courtney, Edward (Charlottesville, VA)
[German version] I. Ancient Near East The convention in ancient oriental studies is to maintain a distinction between epic and myth in so far as the protagonists of each genre are concerned, even though, in respect of genre theory and style, this remains difficult and contentious [1. 145-153; 2. 1-24]: in epic the actors are (heroicized) people, whereas myths inhabit the realm of the divine. Sumerian epic literature is woven around the legendary kings of the 1st dynasty of Uruk: Enmerkar, Lugalbanda a…

Eumelus

(707 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne) | von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) | Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(Εὔμηλος; Eúmēlos). [German version] [1] Leader of the pherae. fleet against Troy Son of  Admetus and  Alcestis. He led (only) 11 ships from Pherae against Troy (Hom. Il. 2,711-715) [1]. Although he had the best horses (Hom. Il. 2,763-767), he did not win the chariot race at the funeral games for Patroclus, as Athena broke the yoke of his chariot (Hom. Il. 23,391-397). Achilles nevertheless awarded him a prize (23, 533-538). According to Apollod. epit. 5,5, he is said to have won at the funeral games for Ac…

Philology

(54,308 words)

Author(s): Landfester, Manfred (Gießen RWG) | Latacz, Joachim (Basle) | Schmitz, Thomas A. | Schmidt, Peter Lebrecht | Schwindt, Jürgen Paul (Bielefeld)
Landfester, Manfred (Gießen RWG) I. Greek (CT) A. Byzantine Philology (ca. 800-1453) (CT) [German version] 1. Terminology (CT) As the scientific study of the literature and language of Greek Antiquity, Byzantine philology, in the tradition of ancient Greek philology, meant primarily grammar, constitution of texts and explanation of texts. It was essentially humanistic, for it understood itself as a means for the linguistic, literary, intellectual and moral renewal of the present through texts from Antiquity. The…
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