The Development of the Epyllion Genre Through the Hellenistic and Roman Periods 9780773475328, 077347532X

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EPYLLION GENRE THROUGH THE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PERIODS

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EPYLLION GENRE THROUGH THE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PERIODS

Carol U. Merriam

Studies in Classics Volwne 14

The Edwin Mellen Press Lewiston•Queenston•Lampeter

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData Merriam, Carol U. The development of the epyllion genre through the Hellenistic and Roman periods / Carol U. Merriam. p. cm. - (Studies in classics ; v. 14) Includes bibliographicalreferences and index. ISBN 0-7734-7532-X 1. Epic poetry, Classical-History and criticism. 2. Greek poetry, Hellenistic-History and criticism. 3. Literary form. I. Title. II. Series. PA3022.E6 M47 2001 880'.09--dc21 00-050097 This is volume 14 in the continuing series Studies in Classics Volume 14 ISBN 0-7734-7532-X SC Series ISBN 0-88946-684-X A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Copyright © 2001 Carol U. Merriam All rights reserved. For information contact The Edwin Mellen Press Box450 Lewiston, New York USA 14092-0450

The Edwin Mellen Press Box67 Queenston, Ontario CANADA LOS lLO

The Edwin Mellen Press,Ud. Lampeter, Ceredigion,Wales UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8LT Printed in the United States of America

For Anton

Studiesin the Epyllion; TheBackPoot of Epic TABLEOFCONTENTS Preface by R.S.Kilpatrick

Introduction

vii

.

Chapter I: Alcmena's Story (Theocritus, /dyl/ 24)

1

.

25

Chapter 2: Europa's Adventure (Moschus' Europa) .

51

Chapter 3: Culmination of the Form (Catullus 64)

75

Chapter 4: The Final Stages (The Latin Epyllion)

127

Conclusion

159

Bibliography .

163

Index of passagescited .

171

General index .

179

vii

PREFACE R.S Kilpatrick

Towards the end of the second century C.E., Athenaeus of Naucratis completed a lengthy literary symposium called Doctors at Dinner (ileurvooocpu:mxi). Among the scraps of information he records on ancient literature is a use of the diminutive "epyllion"(2.65a) to signify a Homeric miniature epic. In modem times "epyllion" has supplied a technical term for the Alexandrian mini-epic in Greek (and later Latin) hexameters, appearing first in the work of Haupt (Opuscula ,1855). Fordyce uses it with some misgivings (1961) in his Catullus-commentary (1961) : The term has a certain convenience, but it is misleading in so far as it obscures the fact that the technique of story-telling was essentially the same in 'miniature epics' (like Callimachus' Hecale) and in Narrative elegies (like his Aetia) and in the narrative parts of hymns (like his hymn on the Bath of Pallas). Present understanding of a genre regularly referred to as the "epyllion" has been further shaped by the work of Jackson (1913), Perutelli (1923), Crump (1931), Allen (1940), Perotta (1979) and Gutzwiller (1981). The real deficiencies in our understanding of the elusive epyllion are clearly revealed by Professor Carol Merriam's fine monograph.

viii As Professor Merriam points out, the responses to the ancient epyllion have

included attempts to discredit not only the use of the term, but the very existence of the literary form to which it has been applied for a century and a half. She establishes beyond reasonabledoubt that there exists a definabletype of ancientpoetry with clear and distinctivecharacteristics,and fitting a designationby the long-establishedterm, epyllion. There are, she demonstrates,shorter narrative hexameter poems and parts of poems and sections of poems in Greek and Latin, beginning with Theocritus and continuing in an unbroken tradition through Ovid, which taken as a group do constitute a sub-genreof narrative epic. It excludes grand traditional themes of epic such as battlefield, megaron society, extended journey, and centrality of the male hero. (Selection of events for the Hellenistic epyllion may also be inspired, for instance, by Homer's domestic scenes in Odysseus' palace on Ithaca, or even the panels on Achilles' shield, which represent aspects of the peaceful and productive domestic life the hero must forgo to preserve his honour.) The epyllion gives us wives and mothers and the children who will one day grow up to be heroes. Merriam finds the characters who most typically influence the events of the epyllion to be, in

fact, women at home within their own women's world in that heroic age of myth. In the major genres of epic and tragedy, however, important female characters must make their marks in a man's world. Q.E.D. We have as unmistakable sub-genreof poetic narrative deserving a name not recorded in ancient literature, but for which "epyllion" is available, and well established in modem usage. In this poetic tradition, Merriam finds "women with a strong domestic base, taking action on their own initiative which strongly affects this domestic milieu and the characters therein." Such women tell their stories, while the traditional male characters become "furniture."

Among the defining elements borrowed by the epyllion from epic, for example, is the "prophecy" -- hopeful or ominous. (Prophecies in the lliad, for

ix example, are real, dynamic events which supply the impetus to the static episodes of heroic battle.) Such prophecies, writes Merriam, always come from "an unimpeachably reliable source, so that both the character and the reader can confidently accept the heroine's good fortune as guaranteed in perpetuity." Another is the use of inset tales and the ecphrases, devices familiar to us from the culminating achievement of the epyllion in Latin, Catullus LXIV. The epyllion fills in the gaps in the myths ... by letting the stories of the collateral events surround the great epic exploits of gods and heroes. Merriam searches first for the narrative antecedents in Homer and Apollonius of Rhodes and in such Hellenistic epyllion-fragments as Callimachus'

Hecale,

whose heroine is old and poor, living in a thoroughly domestic and humble setting.

In Chapter 2 the focus moves

to Theocritus' Heracliscus,"Little Heracles",

celebrating the courage, devotion, and leadership of the hero's mother Alcmena, and to two poems ofMoschus, his Megaraand Europa.There is also a clear downplaying of the male heroes. In the Heracliscus,Alcmena responds to a threat in the night to her child from the snakes of Hera and to a strange light in the nursery with decisive maternal energy and courage. Amphitryon, on the other hand, we catch dithering in a parody of an epic arming scene. Merriam shows that in contrast to Pindar's version of the story, where nobles of Thebes rush to help, in Theocritus the slaves do their duty. Loving description is given of children's bedtime routines and later education, and to the women's spinning and weaving. Amphitryon's baldric is "newly-woven," a creation of women's hands. A prophecy of the fame of mother and child is supplied by Teiresias.

Moschus' Megara examines the effects ofHeracles' exploits on others, in a dialogue between his wife and mother. His Europa begins with a dream: the girl is instructed to await her destined lover, Zeus, in a meadow. Of course she just does. Epic motifs include the description and origins of an heirloom flowerbasket with its

X

pictures. As in Horace's imitation ( Ode 3.27), there is a prophecy to hearten Europa.

Chapter 3 addresses the intricacies best-known of the ancient epyllia, Catullus LXIV, complete with ecphrasis, double story, focus on the concerns and life of women, and a great prophecy (the career of Achilles), in the context of a moral condemnation of the fallen state of the poet's world. Chapter 4 discusses the epyllia of Catullus' contemporaries and the pseudo-Vergilian Ciris, and finally Vergil's Aristaeus episode (Georgics 4) and Ovid's incorporation of the form in his

Metamorphoses. It is to be hoped that this Professor Merriam's definitive study of the development and unique shape of the ancient epyllion may lay to rest much of the scepticism about the very existence of this distinctive Hellenistic genre of narrative verse, and about the appropriateness of the term itself. Had Athenaeus himself been a little more forthcoming, he might have solved the riddle of the epyllion for us.

r11pamcoµevae\ 0100mc6µevot.

1

Studiesin theEpyllion: TheBackDoorof Epic Introduction

There is no such thing as an epyllion. This, at least, is what some scholars would have us believe.

In any examination of this genre it is necessary to

acknowledge that there has for many years been a controversy surrounding the name, and indeed the very existence of the genre itself. The use of the tenn "epyllion" to indicate a specific genre, the brief epic in Alexandrian or neoteric style, seems to have gained currency in the nineteenth century, with the work ofM. Haupt 1 and R. Merkel.2 There have since been attempts to discredit the tenn as describing a specific genre. In 1940, W. Allen 3 condemned the continuing use of the tenn by modem scholars to denote a specific poetic genre as used by particular ancient poets. Allen's reasons for this condemnation were twofold. Firstly, he used the history of the tenn to demonstrate that, to the ancients, no such genre actually existed. According to Allen, since the ancient scholars did not apply the term to a specific genre, the specific genre to which modern scholars apply it cannot exist. Secondly, Allen

1

De Catuili carmineLXIV (Berlin, 1855)

2

P.OvidiusNaso: Tristiumlibri Vet Ibis (Berlin, 1837)

3

"The Epyllion: A Study in the History of Literary Criticism", TAPA 71 (1940) 1-26.

2 rejects the term because no two modem scholars can seem to agree on the exact qualities which define the genre. Still, although it has been suggested that the term "epyllion"was not used by ancient poets and scholars to designate the genre to which we now apply it, the word is useful in describing a particular species of short epic, essentially a sub-genre of the traditional epic. Like the traditional epic, the epyllion is a poem in epic metre (dactylic hexameter) narrating a story based in mythology, containing gods and heroes and relating episodes from their adventures. The most obvious distinguishing feature of the epyllion is its length, which rarely exceeds 400 lines, and never goes beyond 900 lines, or the length of a single book of a standard epic. The physical size of the poem is the obvious source of the genre's label, which literally means "little epic".4 But a number of other elements can be seen as common to most of the epyllia which still remain to us, and from a study of these we can understand the characteristics which seem to have guided the ancient poets in their creation of epyllia. Chief among these characteristics we will find a specific type of central character featured in the epyllion, and with the characters we will find a specific group of settings appropriate to the action of the genre. Mechanically, we will find within most extant examples of the genre the device of the digression or the inset tale, told usually throughthe use of an ecphrasis, or description of a work of art. And beyond character, setting, and mechanics, we will find within most epyllia an acknowledgement that the story does not end with the end of the current short poem. Usually the author of an epyllion will include some sort oflook into the future of the main characters of his poem. And so, although the epyllion is clearly descended from the traditional heroic epic and has much in common with the parent genre, as produced by Homer, Vergil or even Apollonius, there are major stylistic and thematic differences. For while the epic traditionally tells the tales of heroic action in war or on great quests, the epyllion exists to fill in 4

Indeed, it is the size alone which seems to have mattered when ancient authors and critics actuallyused the label "epyllion".In the six instanceswhen the word is fowid used by ancientauthors, the title seems to indicatemerely a small poem. Only Athenaeusapplies the word specificallyto an epic poem, the Epichlides, which he attributesto Homer.

3

the gaps in the myths. It does this by telling the stories of the collateral events swroundingthe great epic exploits of gods and heroes. In many ways, the epyllion presentsa "back-door''view into the heroic myths. The views which it presents,and the way in which it presents them, are the subjects of this study. Many scholars in this century have attempted to analyse the genre, and discover the "formula" which determinesthe epyllion. One of the first scholars of this centuryto write on the epyllion,C. N. Jackson,Sposited that a main attribute of the genre is that it is actuallya mixtureof the attributesof a numberof genres. Thus Catullus 64, according to Jackson, mixes epic characteristicswith those of both elegy and epithalarnium;the Aristaeusepisode of Vergil's 4th Georgie is a mixture of epic with elements of lament poetry; the Ciris of the Appendix Vergiliana combines epic with lyric and the Cu/ex epic with pastoral elements. Jackson also notes that the charactersof the epyllionare usually gods and heroes acting as if they were ordinary mortals -- normal human characters,accordingto Jackson, are very rare in the epyllion. While he does seem to studiouslyavoid describingor defining the epyllionor its characteristics,instead treating it almostas a "non-genre",Jackson does have some interestinginsights into the nature of the epyllion. Jackson'smost importantcontributionis his division of the epyllion into Greek and Latin versions (as is implied in the title of his paper) and into two streams, the "heroic" and the "romantic". The heroic epyllion is limited to the Greek stage of the epyllion's development,and extant examples are limited, accordingto Jackson, to Theocritus' Idylls 24 and 25, which both feature Heracles. The unpopularity of the heroic

epyllionJacksonassignsto its reminiscenceof the "unpopularand antiquatedheroic epic".6 The romanticepyllionis by far the more commonand important,and features epic mannersand language,divinemachinations,invocations,cataloguesand similes, brought to the aid of a romantic story which usually tells of a woman's unrequited

s C.N. Jackson, "TheLatinEpyllion," HSCP24(1913)37-50. 6

Jackson, "The Latin Epyllion"41.

4

love and its results. Jackson believes that the influence of Apollonius Rhodius and his portrayal of Medea upon the romantic epyllion was considerable. The division of the genre into separate Greek and Latin traditions is the basis of A. Perutelli's study,7 in which he attempts to establish and discuss "una distinzione dell'epillio latino da quello greco".8 This basic distinction between the two types of epyllion is basic to Perutelli's examination of the genre, as he limits most of his work to the latin epyllion alone. This distinction is, in my opinion, a function of the development of the genre from Hellenistic to Roman, and acknowledgement of this development is crucial to the understanding of the trends and traits involved in the epyllion. G. Perrotta 9 also notes a number of characteristic traits of the Hellenistic epyllion. These include the brevity and rapidity of the narration, as well as the tendency of the epyllion to open directly on a scene of the action and to end just as abruptly, still within the actual narrative. Perrotta also notes that many of the Hellenistic epyllia open with a particular distancing formula, which may be considered equivalent to the "Once upon a time" formula familiar from fairy tales. Lastly, Perrotta mentions the "bourgeois" tone of the extant epyllia, by which the exploits of traditionally heroic characters are placed in a more normal, domestic, middle-class setting. M. M. Crump, author of the most comprehensive study of the epyllion in this century, 10 attempts a complete, descriptive definition of the epyllion, which spans all stages of the genre's existence. She details what she considers the exact characteristics of the genre. By Crump's definitions, the epyllion is a short narrative poem, not exceeding 500 lines, focussing upon some little-known episode in the life 7

A. PERUTELLI, La Narrazione Commentata: Studi sull 'Epillio Latino (Pisa, 1979).

8

Perutelli,La Narrazione 18.

9

G. Perrotta, "Arte e tecnica nell'epillio alessandrino," Alene e Roma 4 (1923) 213-29.

10

M. M. Crump, The Epyllionfrom Theocritus lo Ovid(Oxford, 1931).

5 of a hero or heroine. The later Alexandriansand the Romans tended to prefer love stories and to focusespeciallyupon the heroine'sproblems. The style of the epyllion is usuallystrictlynarrative,but it may includedescriptivescenes,and it occasionally verges upon the dramatic,so that direct speech (at least one long speech is common) plays an importantrole. Contraryto Jackson,Crump writesthat the charactersof the epyllion are almost exclusively human. While a god may occasionallyappear, no particularemphasisis placed upon divinityas opposedto humanity. Crump believes that it is this lack of emphasis on any god's divinity which distinguishesan epyllion

from a hymn. Crump believes that the single most important feature of the epyllion is the digression from the main narrative stream, which often takes the form of an ecphrasis, but may be a story told by one of the characters in the main story. The connexionbetweenthe digression and the main story usually lies in the parallelism of the stories told, but the details often contrast. It is also possible, writes Crump, that two completelycontrastingstoriesbe linkedthroughthe digression. Here Crump

apparently has Catullus 64 in mind. Much of what Crump posits is reasonable, although it does seem necessary to acknowledgerather more of a development in the genre than Crump allows for. K. Gutzwiller produced the century's second major study of the genre,11 wisely limiting her attentions to the Hellenistic epyllion only, in recognitionof the significantvariationswhichlater authorsmade in the genre. While Gutzwillerdoes not go as far as did Crump in limitingparticipationin the epyllion'saction to human characters,she does note that all of the genre'sactive characters,who are drawn from the heroic and mythologicaltraditions, operate on a common level which is limited to that of the middle class humanity of the Hellenisticperiod. The most important features which Gutzwiller sees in the Hellenistic epyllion are the lightening of the tone to the humorousor semi-humorous,and the phenomenallyunheroic behaviour 11

K. Gutzwiller, Studies in the Hellenistic Epyllion: Beitrage zur Klassischen Phi/ologie l 14 (1981).

6

of traditionallyheroic characters. Gutzwiller views this subversion (or inversion) of traditional epic ideals as extending to include in the epyllion the same domestic and humorous qualities which appeared in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, which she considered a contributing ancestor of the Hellenistic epyllion. It is obvious that all of these previous authors have contributed much to the current state of scholarship on this controversial genre. My own study draws much from their work, but also focuses especially on the development of specific characteristics of the genre. It is clear that one of the main areas in which the epyllion usually differs from its parent genre, the epic, is in the characters whom it features. The epyllion is unique as a genre in that is tends to concentrate upon lesser characters, unexpected heroes such as babies, kidnapped boys and, most noticeably, women, rather than the gods and heroes of traditional epic. The importance of characters in the epyllion can be discovered through an analysis of the speech and action in the poems: only the characters truly important to the poem, only the characters whom the poet perceives as central, either speak or are spoken of in the epyllion. Similarly, only the central characters in the epyllion actually act within the events narrated in the poem. The mQ.S1important characters in the

epyllia can be identified by their effectiveness in

controlling the actions of others. Given these criteria for determining the central characters in the epyllion, it can be clearly seen that the genre tends to concentrate upon marginal, unheroic characters in general, but on female characters in particular. The female characters, as they take over the action of myth and legend, are particularly striking in the epyllion. They are the models for all of the unheroic characters in these short epics, and it is tempting to consider the epyllion the "women's forum" of the epic genre. This is not to say that llQ epyllia featured male characters, or even characters of a traditionally heroic cast. Naturally some epyllia can be found in which female characters are rare or completely absent. But these poems themselves are rare, and must be considered exceptions to the general run of the genre. And even in epyllia

7

which do feature male charactersat the heart of the action. this action still is usually controlled, or at the very least greatly influenced, by female characters and goddesses. And in those epyllia featuring traditional heroes (such as Theocritus' epyllia featuring Heracles), these heroes' stories are told from the viewpoint of the women or otherwise marginal characters in the heroes' lives. More commonly, however, the women take the heroic role themselves, becoming the centre of attention. Specifically,the epyllion "fills in the gaps" of heroic myth by showing what the female characters were doing while the heroes were carrying out their better-knownexploits. The distinction of having female central characters may not at first seem so significant. Homer did, after all, include women in his epics, some of them very prominently.12 But these women are actually all in supporting roles, acting peripherally to the male world of action and adventure. Thus although Helen is, naturally, an important figure in the lliad, as the original cause of the war, she is personallyrelegatedto the edges of the action.13 Priam will not even allow Helen the blame for causingthe war: ou 1:iµoi aidTJ iooi, 8eoi vu µoi ainoi eioiv ("I do not blame you; to me the gods are to blame", lliad 3.164). As well, in the Odyssey, Helen is again absolvedof any guilt or responsibilityfor the beginning of the Trojan war, as Penelope blames the gods rather than Helen herself: ouoe ICEV 'ApyeiT) 'Elev11, au)~ eicyeyaoia,

12

The subject of women in Homer's epics is vast and complex, with a bibliographyto match. I mean to give only the briefest of summaries of the topic here, by no means attemptinga thorough discussion of the topic. The interested reader might consult the following: K. Atchity and E. J. W. Barber, "Greek Princes and Achaean Princesses: The Role of Women in the Homeric Poems," in CriticalEssays on Homer ed. K.Atchity(Boston, Mass., 1987); L.E.Doherty,Siren Songs: Gender, Audiences and Narrators in the Odyssa(Ann Arbor, 1995); M.A.Katz, Pene/ope's Renown: Meaningand Indeterminacyin the 001,tS(Y(Princeton,1991); V. Pedrick,"The Hospitalityof Noble Womenin the Oizyssey,"Helios 15 (1988) 85-101. There are, of course, many other relevant works on the subject, and more appearing every year. 13

E. Gregory ("Unravelling Penelope: The Construction of the Faithful Wife in Homer's Heroines," Helios 23 [1996] 5), however, views the role of Helen in the Iliad (and Penelope in the Oizyssey)in a completelydifferentway:"In essentialways, both the Iliad and the Odysseyare stories about their leading ladies."

8 cxvap\ 1tap' cxllooo1t«;>eµiy11 cl>\AOtT}t\ Ka\ EllVTI, ei t11a11 c5µ\V (U)t\c;cxp11io1 utec; •Axa1wv ~cµeva1 ot1Covae4>il11vec; 1tatpia' cµellov. tT)Va· ,i tO\ pc~a\ 8eoc; wpopev cpyov CXE\Ktc;·

For Argive Helen, born of Zeus, would never have mingled in love with a foreign man, if she had ever thought that the warlike sons of the Achaeans would bring her back again to the beloved homeland. Some god drove her to this shameful work. Odyssey 23.218-222

For rather different reasons, both Helen herself and her husband Menelaus also attribute Helen's behaviour to divine control, rather than human will: citT}Vae µEtCOtEVOV,,;v 'A4>poait11oox',OtE µ'iiyaye KEiOEcl>il11c; um)1tatpiaoc; ai11c;(Odyssey 4.261-262: ''I was grieving the madness that Aphrodite inflicted on me, when she led me away from my beloved homeland"); ICEAEOOtµeva\ae

0

'cµEAAEaaiµv,oc; TpEOO\V e~OUAEtOriooc; 6pc~a\ (Odyssey 4.274-275: "You were called by some daimon, that planned to extend glory to the Trojans"). Helen is seen, throughout the Homeric corpus, as a tool of the gods, rather than a woman who could be responsible for such great events as the Trojan War. In her main scenes in the lliad, Helen is seen weaving (as at Iliad 3.125-6) or providinga domesticbackgroundfor Paris (as when Aphroditebrings Hector from the battlefie41to the bedroom in book 3, or Hector finds them there together in book 6). Even when Helen does venture from the bedroom to the walls of the city, to sit on the ramparts with the Trojan councillors,overlookingthe battlefield,her sole role seems to be that of audience and commentator, reciting the glories of the Greek heroes. And although she is the prize offered for the duel between Menelaus and Paris (lliad 3.136-8), Helen is really of little more importance to the fighting itself

9

than Briseis is to the parallel conflict within the Greek camp.14 The other mortal

women who figuremost prominentlyin the Rimi,Andromacheand Hecuba.are also importantchieflyas accessoriesfor Hector, and are especiallyfeatured as mourners for him at the end of the epic (lliacipµa1eov ot01 Peleoo1 8e~a1 oioi:euoac; t1t' 'Ii,oov1 · i:ov o' &voic.> 'ICE\vt}c; evveoino1v ec; 'Ellcioa Kwac;CXV~EIV

16 We two must go to Cypria, and prevail upon hertbat she tell her child to strike the daughter of Aetes, with all her knowledgeof magic, with those arrows, that she might fall in love with Jason. For then with her assistance he will bring the fleece back to Greece. 3.25-9 Aphrodite, and the works of Aphrodite, are obviously essential to the success of Jason's mission. This has actually been clear throughout the poem, as Aphrodite's influence has been seen from the earliest adventures. Aphrodite herself is even given a central place on the cloak which Athena gave to her favourite hero, and is depicted admiring herself, using Ares' shield as a mirror (l.742-746). 24 The implication of the scene is certainly that the influence of Aphrodite is to count as much as that of any other god in this epic, thus changing the dynamic of epic markedlyfrom the traditional epic of the past. Aphrodite's influence and effect has already been demonstrated as, although Athena has herself been snubbed by the Lemnian women, it is for their offences against Aphrodite that the Lemnian women have suffered: e1te\ XOAOt'iv µe taxeiai imep 1t6vto10 4>€po1ev ev8ev6' eic; •Iawl1Covitvap1t~aoa1 ciellai,

c5cj>pa o'ev 64>8alµoio1v eleyxeCac; 1tpo4>€pouoa µV110 tµn i6tT}t\ 1te4>uyµ€vov Or may the swift storm winds seize me, and carry me across the sea to Iolchus, so that I may shame you before your very eyes with how you escaped because of my help. 3.1113-1116 Both the poet and his characterherself consider Medea essential to the final success of Jason's mission,from actuallyassistingin procuringthe fleece,to making possible the heroes' return home to Greece. A.R.Dyck27actually considers book 4 of the

Argonauticato be framed by Medea's first aristeia(dealing with the serpent which guards the fleece)and her final one (killing the giant Talos who guardsthe island of

Crete). The Argonauticaof Apollonius obviously shares many characteristicswith the epyllion, which developed at roughly the same time. The focus on goddesses who control the action, and female characterswho usurp the heroic role, is the most obviousof the sharedtraits. Other traits which could be found in the epyllionare less suitablefor the Argonauticabecause it is an epic, albeit a short one. Because of its greater length, there is simply a larger scope for action in Apollonius' poem.

27

"On the Way from Colchis to Corinth: Medea in book 4 of the Argonautica," Hermes 117 (1989)468

19 Partly because of the length of the epyllion, and partly because of the focus on heroes who could be considered less than heroic, the scope and setting for the action of the epyllionare rather more limitedthan those appropriateto the traditional epic. Unlikethe epic (includingApollonius'Argonautica), the epyllionis not played out on the battlefield or on the sea. Rather, the authors' focus on female characters resultedin a focus on the domesticsphere,the homesteadand the city, as areas where women are normally active. The use of the domestic setting for the epyllion is another way in which this genre seems to ''fill in the gaps" in mythic narrative. The heroes of traditional epic were little concernedwith the functioningof the householdand homesteadwhilethey were active heroes. However,the household and the city were the normal locations for the lives of women in epic. Penelope is never seen outside her house in the

Odyssey,and Andromachein the Iliad leavesher own home within Troyonly to meet her husband within the walls of the city of Troy itself.28 In theIliad, only Helen has actually left her husband's home and city. Not only does she regret this move, she is also considered a"bad woman" because of it. It seems to be recognised in the Iliad, and the Odyssey,that the home and thecity are the appropriate settings for the

women of noble houses. In the epyllion, especially in the Hellenistic examples still extant, women rarely venture beyond the bounds and concerns of their own homes. This concern with the domesticsetting on the part of the authorsof epylliais made manifestin the presentationof specificdetails about the domestic lives of the characters,especially those details pertainingto eating and sleepingarrangementswithin the house. These earlier epyllia were essentially domestic stories of homes and families, and of women managing the lives of these homes and families. This concentrationupon women and the limiting of the setting of the epyllion to spheres where women

28

H. H. Monsacre(Les Lannes d 'Achille: Le heros, la femme et la so,effrance dans la poesie d'Homere[Paris, 1984}103)notes that Hecuba,too, is boundby the walls of Troy, fromwhich she supplicatesHector to withdrawfromthe battle, and from which she mourns his death.

20 traditionally functioned resulted in a subversion of heroic ideals as they were displayed in traditional epic. Many traditions of the heroic world are parodied or made subservient to the needs and realities of the feminine, domestic setting of the epyllion. This focus upon domestic lives is one of the traits which is transformed somewhat through the development of the genre. In a later stage of the genre's development, it seems that these central female characters move out from their original domestic settings, and

set

off in search of their own adventures. They

become far more like the male heroes of epic adventures, abandoning their original domestic setting for excitement and adventure. But these adventures do end in a return to a somewhat transformed domestic setting.

In the epyllion, a prophecy generally plays a very important role in the life of the heroine, and foretells good fortune for her and her family. This prophecy, whether sought or not, recalls the fact that, in other genres, male heroes were accustomed to consult oracles and sooth-sayers. Thus such heroines as Theocritus' Alcmena, when they are shown as receiving reliable prophecies from more than usually dependable sources, are again given the roles of heroes, hitherto reserved al.mostexclusively for male characters. They seek to know the future, and, although the epyllion essentially focuses upon one specific event in the heroine's career, it also ends with a look forward into her future life, highlighting her compliance with the appropriate roles prescribed for women, as wives and mothers. This prophecy always comes from an unimpeachably reliable source, so that both the characters and the reader can confidently accept the heroine's good fortune as guaranteed in perpetuity. The unfortunate heroines of the epyllion in its later stages are denied the comfort of such prophesied good fortune. Rather, the poems in which they are featured end abruptly, leaving the heroine trapped in the midst of her desperate adventure with no hope of better things to come. These heroines have already done violence to their appropriate spheres, and no prophet is needed to reveal their sufferings for their sins.

21

The prophecyis one of the ways which the authorsof the epylliaseemto have developedto compensatefor the restriction of the size of their genre. It also serves to establish the heroine's story more firmly in the context of myth as a whole. One of the most telling featuresof the epyllion in all of its incarnationsis the presence of a secondarystory included in the context of the main narrative, and this seems to serve the same function in the genre as the prophecy did: it expands the scope of the poem beyond what its length really allows, and it establishes the heroine's position in the mythic world. An essentialcharacteristicof this secondary story is that it features a main character other than the one featured in the principal narrative. This inset tale, or digression, is always firmly linked with the main narrative,andhas a nwnber of elements in commonwith it The two may have some characters in common, as in the Ciris, or some common themes linking the two stories, as in Theocritus 24. It is also possible for the inset tale to tell a story essentiallysimilar to that featuredin the framing narrative with different characters, as a way of foreshadowingthe events still to come in the original story. This is the case in Moschus' Europa. All of these inset stories, like the main narratives of the epyllia, focus upon female characters, with male heroes and gods acting on the sidelines of the story. The methods of integrating this secondary story into the poem are various. One common method is through ecphrasis,a descriptionof some art work connected with the charactersof the main narrativeandtheir lives. The secondarytale can also be introduced through a story told by one of the main characters, or through a prophecy given to one of them. Like the epyllion itself, this use of the inset tale in such a poemreaches its zenith in Catullus' 64th poem. In this poem, the inset story expands beyond all known limits to take on life as an epyllion in its own right The original, framing narrative, that of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, seems to follow the original pattern of the genre and featurea woman chiefly concerned with the preservationof

home, family and children. The internal story, Ariadne's abandonment, features a

22 woman who sets out in search of her own adventures, and ends up destroying her own home and family, and those of Theseus as well. In this inset tale, the heroine is given extraordinarydestructivepowers, which few women have enjoyed in any genre other than the epyllion. These powers, for good or evil, which are given to the female characters, are the real mark of the epyllion in all of its manifestations. Callimachus' Hecale seems to have been among the first, if not tM first, of the Hellenisticepyllia Unfortunately,it exists only in fragmentsand is thus not really suitable for detailed study. But among the fragments we can find many of the characteristictraits of the other Hellenistic epyllia If the relative importance of the characters in the poem can indeed be judged by the amount of speech they are given by thepoet, then,judging by the fragments of the Heca/e,Hecale herself is meant to be the hero of the poem, instead of the great hero Theseus, whose Marathonian Bull adventure is supposedlynarrated. But, among theextant fragments, Theseus himself rarely speaks,29 while Hecale speaks through most of the fragments. And as a hero, Hecale is far from heroic. Not only is she a woman, and thus by definition unheroic. She is also old, and the old are a group rarely seen in epic narrative, and she is poor; the poor are all but invisible in the world of epic. The basing of the action in the domestic sphere, rather than on the battle field, is also a feature of the Hecale, as many of the fragmentsdescribe and narrate the arrangements the old woman makes to house and feed her guest. It is through this domestic and humble setting that Callimachus showed the power of his heroine, as she arranges the entire setting as she wishes, and no disagreementor deviation from her wishes is seen, at least in the remaining fragments. There seems to even have been a digression included, or at least another narrative inset into the story of the old woman's last days, as Callimachus does insert

29

Theseus seems to speak only in fragment 253, when he tells Hecale of his mission, and in fragment262, when he asks who has died.

23 at least a brief narrativeofTheseus' killing of theBull ofMarathon.30 Other minor digressionsprobablyincludedthe story of Theseus' conception and his discovery of his paternity (as is suggested by fragments 235 and 236), and Hecale's own autobiography,which is found in fragment 254. Naturally it is not possible to examine every extant example of the epyllion in detail, and I have had to carefully select those which I will feature in this study. Naturally, I have chosen those which most clearly demonstrate the generic characteristics which I consider central to the epyllion, while also considering any possible development of the genre through time. Thus the present study will focus firstlyupon Theocritus'Idyll 24, the so-calledHeracliscus,which featuresHeracles' mother Alcmenain thecentralheroicrole. Manyof the characteristicsof the epyllion may also be found in other Idylls in the Theocriteancorpus,such as Idylls 13 and 25, and these will be noted rather more brieflyin the chapteron the Theocriteanepyllion. Moschus, another of the Greek bucolic poets, produced what must be considered the second stage in the developmentof the genre, and as an example of this I will examine his Europa in detail. The Megara, which is included in the collection of Moschus' poems as Moschus N, will be mentioned for reasons of comparison,as it has many of the characteristicsof the genreas shown in the Europa and in the Theocriteanepyllia. I considerCatullus' 64th poem to be a masterpieceof the genre, and to hold a specialplace in the epyllion's development This is largely because, in this poem, the inset story, about Ariadne's abandonment, expands from being a simple digression from the main story, about Thetis' marriage to Peleus. The Ariadne narrativebecomesalmost an epyllion in its own right, equal in size and importance to fh:eframing story. Catullus 64 also seems almost Janus-like, in that the Thetisnarrative looks back, and has a great deal in common with the Hellenistic epyllia, 30

Fragments258 and 259 (Pfeiffer)are obviouslytaken from a narrativesequenceabout the actual killing of the bull: 811p0ci~ t,•uva

olicov twx811, "But

. the palace was filled with

Zeus was alert to all her plan.

light", 21-2), also serves to enhance Alcmena's heroic reputation in this poem, at the

expenseof Amphitryon's. While Amphitryonmust be wakened by hiswife to go and investigate the disturbances in the house, and dawdles until the time for action is past, it is Alcmena herself who is first roused by the light and the noise of the children, and who attempts to send Amphitryon about his appropriate duties. We should also note that the light fades, not when Amphitryonhas armed himself to meet the attack, or when Heracles has finished his work with the snakes, but when Alcmena and the Phoenician slave woman between them have roused the men of the house sufficiently to deal with the emergency. Gow suggests, in his note on line 22, that this supernatural illumination, divinely provided to aid a hero's work in his own house, recalls the light which Athena provides for Odysseus and Telemachus in Odyssey 19. Alcmena's surprise at the light flooding her house (i\ OUVO£€\~

onVUIC't~

rtp( 1tOU,oi t,t te tO\XOV

6

Gow ("Theocritus'/tzy//XXIV:Starsand Doors," CQ 36 [1942) 104-10)believesthat the detail of the sword 011a pegmayrecall the fact that Odysseus'bow is also kept hanging on a peg(OPaUe~1ea8ap~ cixep f!p1yeveC~; "Do you see how the walls are lit up? They show as plainly as ifit were day, and yet it is the dead of night!" 38-39)

is expressedin tenns that reflect Telemachus'wonder at the supernaturallight which Athena provides in the armoury:•

"wxcitep, ~ µeyu 8uOµu t66' ocj>8ulµoio1vopwµu1.. fµ1t11~µo'Ltoixo1 µeycipwv 1eulai te µeo66µa'L eUcin vai te 001eo\1eu\i>lt,60'cxovte~ cj>aivovt'ocj>8alµoi~w~ ei xupo~ ai8oµevo10. Father, here is a great wonder that my eyes see. Always it seems that the chamber walls, the fine bases and roof timbers of fir, and the high columns sustaining them shine in my eyes, as if on fire. Odyssey 19.36-9

Given this similarity, we can again perceive the epyllion poet giving to his heroine the role and attributes of the epic heroes, Odysseus and Telemachus. Like Odysseus,Alcmenais the one who is helped by the divinelyprovided light, and, like Odysseus, Alcmena is preparing to rid her house of a pestilence which threatens domestic peace and stability. At the time that the alarm is raised in the house, a Phoenician grinding woman rouses the household slaves to meet the emergency: "avotate,

6µwe~

talaoicj>pove~· ai>tatei" ("Up slaves! The master's calling!", 50). In this Theocritus effectively lowers the tone of the poem from the heroic and epic mode. The languagewhich this slave woman uses is notably colloquial, especially her use of the word auto~ in referenceto her master. The colloquialismis appropriateto the character of a household slave. Aristophanes uses the word in the Clouds, when a

8

As Gow (Theocrilll.s, on lines 22 and 38) suggests.

31 slave speaks thus of Socrates (Clouds 219). Menander also uses the word with this meaning at Samia 256 and 258. The word is not used meaning "the master" outside of comedy.9 The appearance of this comic and lowly expression is particularly striking as it follows upon the old woman's addressing of her fellow slaves as -ralaoi4>povec;, or "stout-hearted ones", an adjective usually restricted to epic heroes. It would not, in "serious" poetry, be applied to slaves. The most telling point about this shout, however, is that Amphitryon has not yet spoken; only Alcmena has. And so, in this house, the mistress is obviouslyconsideredthe master! This is in accordance with the general confusion of roles in the poemitself: the great hero Heracles is only a baby, the slaves stand in as heroes, the mistress is the master and the master simply does as he is told. The use of the slaves to respond to the night's alarms is also a loweringof the heroic tone of the story from the previous versions. In Pindar's rendition, it is not the household slaves but the chief citizens and heroes of Thebes who come to the assistance of Heracles' father: -raxi>Oe KaOµeic.>vuyo\ xal1etfoic;u8p6oi oi>v 01tlo1c; eOpaµov ("And the Cadmean chiefs in their bronze armour ran quickly thronging", Nemean1.79-80). Theocritus is again emphasising the marginal, nonepic characters of the story by using slaves insteadof the noblemen of the town. He does this again by having the Phoenician slave woman (whose tasks consist only of grinding grain) join Alcmena in raising the alarm. That it is a female slave who rouses the household to assist the master and save the children again illustrates the importance of female characters in this house and in this poem. Just as it was Alcmena who roused Amphitryon and sent him to see to the children, it is again a woman who sends the other slaves to join the rescue mission. Theocritus makes no mention of the Phoenician woman herself rushing to the bedroom, and Alcmena apparently stays safely in her bed until all is again secure.10 9

As noted by Gow (Theocritus, on line SO.)

10

Stern ("Theocritus' Idyll 24" 358) believes that the specific mention of a Phoenicianslave woman who grindsfor the household is meant to recall the grinding woman in Odyssey20.10Ssqq,

32

The distance between Theocritus' scene and epic norms is clear from the beginningof the poem. /dy/124 opens upon a seemingly normal domestic scene of a mother putting two bathed and fed children to bed. At first sight it may not seem to matter that the names Heracles and Alcmena have been attached to two of the charactershere portrayed. The only hint that the scene belongs to the heroic and epic mythologicalworld is found in the one rather incongruousdetail, that Alcmena puts the childrento sleep in a shield of which Amphitryonhas despoiled Pterelaus.11 The use of the shield as a cradle for the children not only sets the scene securely in mythological times, where shields are common property. It also emphasises the values of the epyllion in giving priority to the domestic world over the heroic. This priority is clear not only throughthe fact that the great Heracles, hero of the labours, is here the infant hero of a bedtime scene, but also in the diminishing of Amphitryon'sepic accomplishments. The killing of Pterelaus, and the war in which it was accomplished, were among the few great heroic feats for which Alcmena's husband Amphitryonis known.12 And yet the spoils which he acquired in this fight on behalf of Alcmena'sown family13 are not displayed as reminders of his heroism. Rather, they are taken over for domestic use, as a cradle for her children. Heroism and heroic feats do not carry the weight here that they normally would in the world whose prayer gives an omen to Odysseus. It should be noted that in the Odyssey there are at least a dozen womenwho grindthe grain for the palace, whileTheocritusmentionsonly thisonein the house of Alcmena and Amphitryon. Theocritus gives Amphitryon only one such slave, portraying his household as a more ordinary bourgeoisestablishmentof the Hellenisticera, than a hero's palace of the epic age. In this I opposeH. White("Doors and Stars in Theocritus'Idyll 24," Mnemosyne ser.4, 30 (1977] 135-40), who believes that Theocritus wishes to emphasisethe grandeur of Amphitryon's house. 11

Gutzwiller(Studies, 12) recalls the only other instancein Greek literature in which a child is shown lying in a shield, that is, the infantAstyanaxat Euripides' Troiades I 140sqq. 12

Amphitryon'slimited heroic exploits are noted by Apollodorus (Il.iv.5-8) and are mentioned by Pansanias (IX.xvii.3). 13

Amphitryonkilled Pterelausand the sons ofTaphius in order to avengeAlcmena'sbrothers, the sons ofElectryon (ApollodorusII.iv.6). This wasthe task he wasrequiredto perform in order to win Alcmena. Althoughthey were marriedbefore Amphitryonset out on his expedition, it seems that the marriage was not to be commmroateduntil the task wascompleted ([Hesiod] Scutum 14sqq).

33 of traditional epic, but are made subservient to purely domestic concerns, as the productsof Amphitryon'smilitaryexploitsare useful only as they serve the products of Alcmena'slabours. The descriptionof the domestic detail, how the children are bathed and fed and put to bed, and the detaileddescriptionof the bed, is reminiscentof the Hecale of Callimachus. Callimachus describes the hospitality extended to Theseus, includingwhere Hecalemakes him sit (fragment240), the blanket she gives him to replace his wet clothing (frag.241),the fire she builds (frag.242) and the food she prepares (frag.248,251). Callimachuseven emphasises,as Theocritusdoes and as we will find Moschus doing in the Europa, the sleeping arrangementswithin the house in the story: le~oµcu ev µoxcit·1el101116eµoi eonv e.01µ11(frag.256: ..I shall sleep in the comer. A couch is ready for me there"). One other significant descriptive detail of the domesticityso prominent in Alcmena's home is the descriptionof the harness upon which Amphitryon's sword hangs as veotlootoo

"newly-woven",(44). This is unusual, since a proper hero's

baldricshouldbe made of leather(as in Rimi 1.304 and 23.825)or of metal, perhaps backedwith leather(as in Odyssey11.610).14 The fact that Amphitryon'ssword-belt is woven,that is, the product of women's work in his own household,15 strengthens his identificationwith the domesticand female worlds, rather than the heroic world of epic equipment and action, which we would expect to be his proper place. It seems customaryfor the authors of epyllia to include within their poems some look forwardin the heroine'slife, usuallyin the form of a prophecy,foretelling somethingof her futureadventuresand happiness. This prophecy,like the insettales 14 15

This wasalso noted by Gow (Theocritus, on line 44).

Weaving,of course,is the naturalfunctionof womenin epic. Helen is shownweavingin Iliad 3, and Penelope'sweavingtrick in the Odyssey is justly famous. The place of such work as weaving in the livesof epic womenis briefly discussedby M.I. Finley in The Worldof Odysseus(New York, 1954)72-3. C. G. Thomas("Penelope'sWorth:LoomingLarge in Early Greece,"Hermes116[1988) 257-64) believes that the ability to weave demonstratesthe woman's status, and thus elevates the household,showingit to be one in which"secondary" skills, not contributingdirectlyto survival,are valued.

34 which are also often found in epyllia,usually includes many points of contact, where details found in the main narrative are echoed in the secondary section or story. In Idyll 24, Alcmena's consultation of Teiresias provides the opportunity for such a

prophecy. This consultation scene seems a rather low-key version of the famous consultations of Teiresias in the Odyssey and Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus. Teiresias, like Alcmena and Amphitryon, lives in Thebes, and although a consultationof the great prophet could be a frighteningand terrible undertaking,this scene in Theocritus'poem could also be simply a mother's appealfor help to a near neighbour. As were Amphitryon's martial exploits and spoils, the grand and potentiallyhorrific traditions of theepic, in the consultationof the great prophet, are made part of a normal and generally hannless domestic scene. The concern with the actions of non-heroic characters, and the female appropriationof the active and heroic roles in the epyllionare obvious in this portion of Theocritus'poem,where it is Alcmena who takes the part of a hero in consulting the prophet. In this she recalls the actions of Achilles, who forces Calcbas to speak in Iliad 1, of Odysseus in Odyssey l l and of Oedipus in the Oedipus Tyrannus. Alcmena'sactions also contrast with the consultationscene in Pindar'sversion of the story, where it is Amphitryon himself who meets with Teiresias: yeitova f,'

e1C1CciA.eoev A1oc; u11Jfotou 1tpocl>ci'tCXV~oxov, /op86µaV't\VTe\peoiav (Nemean 1.80-1: "He summoned the peerless prophet of the most high Zeus, his neighbour, seer of true visions, Teiresias"). Theocritus' Amphitryon shows no such initiative, leaving this, as everything else, to his wife. Alcmena's opening address to Teiresias, in which she warnshim not to be afraid to reveal whathe knows, recalls both theIliadicconsultation,in which Calchas fears Agamemnon's reprisals should he reveal the truth about Apollo's anger (Iliac/ 1.74-83), and the situation in Oedipus Tyrannus, where Teiresias himself must be goaded by anger at Oedipus into revealing the cause of Thebes' troubles (316-462). Similarly, in Sophocles'Antigone, Teiresias reveals to Creon the horrors that lie in

35

store, but Creon refuses to heed the warnings {988-1090). In her adoption of the heroicrole, Alcmenahere revealsherselfas infinitelymore sensibleand realisticthan either of Sophocles'kings, since she announcesher willingnessto accept whatever lies in store for her family: ' ... µ116'ein 8eo\ voeovn 1tov11p6v, «i66µev6c; µe 1Cpu1t1:e. lCpoveOV't1t0Ei>pu-rou,

18

Gow (1950, on line 99) notes the connexion of pigs with purification. As well, shoats were used in the purifying process at the Eleusinianmysteries. Please see W. Burkert, Greek Religion (Cambridge Mass., 1985)286. 19

One important note of realism which is manifest in Theocritus' description of Heracles' educationis that all of the hero's tutors are mortal. The fantasticelement which allows Achilles and Jason (Pindar[Nemeanl.43sq, 53sq]describesthe centaur'stutelageof both these heroes, along with Asclepius.)to receivetheir heroic trainingfrom the centaur Chiron has no place in this more realistic, essentiallymiddle-classworld in which Heracles is growing up.

40

61tlcxµcxxeiv6e i>1toKcioto~.

('"Heracles was taught to drive a chariot by

Amphitryon, to wrestle by Autolycus, the shoot the bow by Eurytus, to fence by Castor"). In this section of the poem. as well, the poet seems to be payingattention to

the margins of heroic life, rather than the epic exploits for which Heracles will be known. For the hero is still here portrayed as a young boy, of the type which rarely

appearsin epic. In addition, his tutors are old men, too old to participate in fighting or advising. Although old men, like Priam or Nestor, are found in the lliad, there is an essentialdifferencefrom Theocritus'portrayalof the aged heroes. Those Homeric heroes who are past their fighting prime are always portrayed as advisors, as in the case of Nestor, who plays the same role for the Achaeans that Priam and the other elder Trojans play for the Trojan anny (lliad 3.l 45sqq). But an active Homeric hero is never seen to grow old. Ifhe is not killed in the fighting in his heroic prime, he at least dropsout of sight before he begins to decay and lose his heroic status. Hector and Achilles and their ilk are never condemned to teach their trade to the next generation,as has happenedto the heroes who teach their special skills to Theocritus' Heracles. The very great age of each of Heracles' tutors is emphasised in the poem, and with it thefact that they are no longer the greatest at their respective arts. Thus Heracles is taught by-

(yepwv) Linus (105), by Amphitryonwho had~

been

the best of charioteers,until age caught up with both him and his chariots ( 124), and by Castor, who had in hisyouthbeenthe best of the semidivine fighters (132-3). 20 All of these retired former heroes are exactly the sort of teachers whom, were they availablein the area, a mother like Alcmena would procure to teach her exceptional son, but none of them are the kind of men, or at least at the stage of life, which is commonly found in the heroic epic. Theocritus is using the look into the future of

20

Stern ("Theocritus' Idyll 24" 359-60) takes the emphasis placed upon the weakening of Heracles'mortalinstructorsas yet anotherindicationof the contrast to be found in the poembetween the mortal and divine aspects of Heracles. All of the tutors, according to Stem, do their best for Heracles,but because of their mortality,their skills are not equalto the task of instructingthe future god.

41

a great hero to emphasisethe existenceand importanceof the old and the very young men, who are seldom seen in the context of heroic action. Theocritus' list of the subjects taught to the young Heracles differs significantlyfromthe standard heroiccurriculumas mentionedin the Iliad. Phoenix' training of the youngAchillesemphasisedboth speakingand fighting,to the apparent

exclusionof all else (Iliad9.443). Hectoris more specificwhen boasting to Ajax of his own accomplishments,which seem to be typical of those expected of an epic warrior:

CXtl'tUp tywv E'Oo{acxµaxru; ,'fivapoK'tCXO\CXc; ,e· ota· t1t'ap10,epu Vc.>µflOCX\ Pwv ota 1t1t\ ae~\CX, aCcxleriv,'tOµ01 ion 'tCXACX'VplVOV 1toleµiCe1v. µ68ov \1t1tc.>V 6>1CE\CXc.>V. otacxa t1tCXl~CX\ 1

otacxa•ev1o,cxaCnOrit µel1teo8cx1'Aprii. For I know well manslaughteringbattle; I know how to turn to now the right, now to the left the ox-hide tanned into a shield that protects me in fighting; I know how to storm my way into the struggle of the flying horses; I know how to dance in the grim fields of Ares. lliad7.237-41

The curriculumthroughwhich Alcmenaputs Heracles,however,is more appropriate to the trainingof a Hellenisticgentlemanthan of a hero destined for epic labours. It

should be noted that it is a knowledgeofletters and literature, in particular,that the typicalHellenisticmother in Herodas'third Mime attemptedto have taughtto her son in her eagerness to make a gentleman of him. The contemporaryreality of the education given to a wealthy young Hellenistic Greek has, in Theocritus' poem, almost completely overshadowedthe epic traditions of a hero's education such as that Achilles or Jason would have received. It is obviously the mother's taste in

42 educators,and her ambitionsfor her son, which governsthe training which the young hero receives. It is probablethat AmphitJyon,who himself teaches the boy to drive a chariot, would have wanted a more traditional heroic training for his (supposed) son. It may at first seem odd that it is Heracles'mother,ratherthan Amphitryon,who supervises the young hero's training.21

But Alcmena's control over Heracles'

educationis in accordancewith her prominencethroughoutthe poemand her control of the affairsin her house. And the mother seemsto have decidednQt to give her son the training that would fit him for the world of epic adventure which his father favours. Rather,Heraclesis to have a generaleducation,fittinghim for a kind of life whichan epic hero wouldnot even recognize. Indeed, it seemsas if Heracleshimself is being reduced, changed from a traditional type of hero such as we would expect to see into a more refined, gentlemanlyhero.22 The traditional epic style of hero is not of such great importancein the era of the epyllion. The last extant scene of ldy/124 continuesthe picture of the rearingof young Heracles,with a brief descriptionof his life at home,23 placingthe hero in the context of a domestic setting seldom found in traditional epic. The ending of the Odyssey,

21

Gow (Theocrihlson line 134)thinks it odd, and Stem ("Theocritus'Idy/124" 359) "surprising" that it is Alcmena rather than Amphitryon who arranges Heracles' education. But H. White (TheocritusXXIV: A CommenJary[Amsterdam, 1979}on line 134) finds it just another example of Theocritus' "humour",exemplifiedin his attempts to reduce the hero to the norms of contemporary bourgeois society. White (TheocrihlsXXIV) accepts Herodas' third mime as presentingthe typical Alexandrian customs, according to which a mother would mange her son's education. Stern ("Theocritus' Idyll 24" 359-60) views Alcmena's involvement here, along with the increasing decrepitude of the boy's instructors,as yet further proof of the inadequacyof the mortally oriented educationhe is given as a preparation for divinity. 22

F. T. Griffiths (Theocritus at Court [Leiden, Brill, 1979] 91-92) believes that Theocritus deliberately portrays Heracles as "cultivated sportsman, athlete at the training table, complaisant husband of Hebe ... the perfect gentleman"as tribute to Ptolemy. 23

This short sketchofHeracles at home alludes to a number of the best known characteristicsof the hero, illustratingthe earliest manifestationsof these characteristicsin his life. The skin of the Nemean lion, Heracles' trademark dress, is here alluded to in the lion's skin upon which the young Heraclessleeps. His prodigiousappetite, which Aristophanesmentionsespecially in the Frogs, and which Euripidesuses as a typicallyHeracleantrait in the A/cestis, is here represented by the specific descriptionsof the mealswith whichAlcmenasustains the young hero. As noted by Gow (1950) on line 137, this also recalls Epichannus frag. 21, and Callimachus'Hymn 3.146.

43

of course, depicts Odysseus' return to his normal domestic setting, but due to all of the "mopping-up"which is required upon his return, normalcy is not re-established within the scope of the poem. A comparable scene from epic is found in Phoenix'

reminiscences about Achilles' infancy, in the embassy scene: "1tollciK\ µo, 1ecxi;ioeuocxc; en\ 01:116eoo\X\1:WVa/ otvov rt1t0Plu,wv ev vrpnin itleyewn" ("Many times you soaked the shirt on my body with wine you would spit up in the troublesomenessof your childhood",lliad 9.490-1). The only other scene in the lliad which even approachessuch domesticity is the brief farewell scene between Hector and Andromachein book 6, which is somewhat overshadowed by the certain doom which hangs over Troy. The final scenes ofTheocritus' poem, however, present an optimistic look at the future of Heracles, avoiding any mention of the battles and fearful adventureswhich lie ahead. The young hero's future seems secured through the efforts of his mother. The poet's choice of a hero for his poem seems to indicate a different, nonepic approach to narrative poetry. The choice of a woman, even the mother of a great hero, as the main characterof the poem has caused Theocritusto limit the scope

of his story to the domestic sphere. Theocritushas thus concoctedan epic-stylepoem in which the woman's world is of prime importance. Alcmena'simportancehas been

pointed out throughout these pages, and it is of particular interest that it is she who is most positively identified with a traditional hero. Amphitryon, who seems to be endowed with the instincts of a more traditional epic hero, is actually portrayed as a rather ineffectual character, unable or unwilling to deal with the domestic situation in an effective manner. The characteristics of an epic hero, in particular Odysseus, are appropriatedfor Alcmenaand applied to her specificallyunheroiccircumstances. The traditionaltype of hero, like the whole of the heroic tradition,is being subverted and almost parodied in this, a completely different sort of epic with a completely different sort of hero and adventure. As has been noted, the epyllion need not be limited exclusively to poems concentrating upon women. Many of the same traits can be found in Theocritus'

44 other poems. We may find some of these same narrative and generic characteristics, for example, in Idyll 13, in which Theocritus reduces yet another episode from Heracles' life from the heroic to the (almost) ridiculous. We should note that Idyll 13 does not begin as an epyllion, but rather as something along the lines of an epistle,24 since it begins with a direct address of a contemporary, Nicias:

'tov ''Ep'tC£ µ6vo\, e'tEX',

Ooxitµiv

w,eoo1eeuµe,, N\K\C£(1: "Love was not born, as it

seems, for us alone, Nikias''). This would not appearan appropriate introduction to a story about Heracles! But after this address to Nicias, Theocritus launches into a straightforward narrative, using the story of Heracles' love for Hylas as a mythological example of the sufferings of love. 25

Theocritus' 13th Idyll also focuses on a marginal character in Heracles' life (in this case, his young lover Hylas), and, as previously noted, ends up making the great hero Heracles look far less than heroic. In fact, in Idyll 13, Heracles' heroic reputation is greatly damaged by his desertion of the Argo, to the extent that his fellow travellers berate him as a deserter. Theocritus' intention in Jdy/113 seems to be to portray an unheroic Heracles, distracted from his heroic duties by petty and

frivolous concerns, as the introduction to the poem indicates that Heracles, like any

24

D. Mastronarde(Theocritus' idyll 13: Love and the Hero," TA.PA 99 [1968) 272-90) defines the poemas "explicitly ... a didactic epistle on the subject oflove". 25

Propertius uses the same technique in his narrative elegy on Hylas (elegy 1.20), which is presented as a lesson for Gallus, so that he will learn to keepan eye on his own young Hylas: Hoe pro continuo te, Galle, monemusamore, (Id tibi ne vacuo defluat ex animo) saepe imprudentifortuna occurrit amanti For the sake oflasting love, Gallus, we warn you (may it not slip from your empty mind) Often misfortunescome to an unwitting lover · Propertius 1.20.1-3 As P. Pinotti ("Sui rapporti tra epillio ed elegia narrativa nella letteratura latina del I secolo a.er.," GIFC 30 (1978) 1-27) has noted, there are in fact many similarities between the epyllion and the narrative elegy, such as Propertius is producing. It seems clear that Propertius is deliberatelyusing Theocritus' poem as a model for his own. Pinotti notes, in fact, that the Hylas stoty descends in a direct line from Apollonius throught Theocritus to Propertius.

45 mortal, can be blinded by the sufferingsof love.26 Theocritus' intentionto reduce Heracles' status from heroicto comic or patheticis clearwhen we considera roughly contemporaryversion of the same story, in Apollonius' Argonautica 1.l200sqq. 21 Apollonius deliberatelyavoids mention of the love-relationshipbetween Heracles and Hylas, which Theocritus emphasises, by referring to Hylas repeatedly as the hero's "page" or "servant". Apollonius emphasises insteadthat Heracles' driving emotion is anger: X6µevoi; 6'el«TI'!V xaµci61i; Pcilev (Argonautica 1.1263: "Raging, he threw the tree to the ground").

Indeed, in Idyll 13 we can in fact find some of the emphasis on female characters which was so obvious in Idyll 24, as, when Hylas goes away from the group of heroes who are gathering on the beach, he encounters what might be considereda parallelgroup,of Nymphs,gathered in the water: u6an 6' ev µioo Nuµ,a1 xopov ctpd(ovto

("There was a gathering of Nymphs dancing in the

middle of the water", 13.43). Clearly the poet here is showing what else goes on when heroes are doingtheir heroicb\lsiness,and that somethingelse includeswomen (nymphs)dancing. The power of these nymphsis indicated,as they are describedas "dread goddesses"(6e,va\ 8ea\, 44), and it is in fact these nymphs who create the action of the poem, as they grab Hylas and drag him into the water (46-54). These femalecharacters, like Alcmena in Idyll 24 and Hera in the same poem, effectively

26

Mastronarde("Theocritus' Idyll 13" 279) states that "Theocritusis questioning,even denying the possibilitythat theepic charactermayremain heroicwhen he is in love". Griffiths (Theocritus at Court, 96) also notes that, in the Hy/as, the author makes an "attempt ... To deflate the characters'

heroic pretensions". 27

Critical opinionremains divided as to the relativechronologyof the two poems.Gow (p.231) supports the theory first put forward by Wilamowitz (U. Von Wilamowitz-Moellendort:Die Textgeschichte der griechischen Bulco/i/cer: Phi/o/ogische Untersuchungen 18 (19061), that "Theocrituswrites with bis eye on Apollonius". More recently,M. Pulbrook ("The Hylas Myth in Apolloniusof Rhodesand Theocritus,"MaynoothReview8 (1983]2S-31) has again emphasisedthat Apollonius' versionof the story must have come first It seemsmost likelythat Theocritusknew of Apollonius'versionand deliberatelyrecalledit in his ownpoem,to emphasisethereductionin SlatlD'e of the hero, and to demonstrate could have been includedin the story. If Apolloniuswrote first,then Theocrituswasvery obvious in his intentionto focus upon marginal charactersand events in the Heraclesstory.

what•

46 controlthe action of the poem, while going about their lives independentlyof great heroic actions. Their desiresare what

create the

effectsand events of the poem, and

they actually end up controllingthe life of Heracles, one of the greatest of heroes. The power of the nymphs is downplayedin Apollonius' version of the Hylas story. Although in that epic one of the nymphs does indeed grab Hylas and drag him into the spring, the heroes of the Argo do not believe this. Rather, they blame the abduction on pirates (clearly perceived as male) or wild animals: ou ycxp"ilcu;, 1ep11vT)v6e Kl~v, 060't«p eyw ucx(EOICOV CXµTIX1tvooocx; / ~ µ'f:ta(}e icpaaCTlvicECV11c; 1t66oc;("Who was the foreign woman I saw while sleeping? How desire has seized my heart!" 24-25). And despite her confusionas to the meaning of the dream, Europa is sure that it does indicate some adventure will soon come to her. Her assurance may be due to the phenomenon

8

The dreams which Zeus sent to lo and their similarity to Europa's dream were also noted by Schmiel("Moschus' Europa 267) and by N. Hopkinson(A Hellenistic Anthology [Cambridge, 1987] 201). 9

Europa is not to be blamed for her confusion, given the highly symbolic nature of her dream. Even Atossa, whom Aeschylus portrayed in the Persae as an infinitely more experienced and intelligent woman than Moschus' Europa seems to be, resorted to the Persian elders for help in interpreting her dream. The fact that Europa's dream is symbolic rather than literal indicates a deparna-efrom the practiceof the Homericpoems,in whichdreams are usually literal and explicit (as pointed out by E.R.Dodds, The Greeks and the J"ationa/ [Berkeley, 1951] I04-7).

56 which Vaughn10 noted, that "Greek and Roman poets often considereddreamsbefore midnight deceitful, and dreams before dawn truthful."11 Europa knows that her dream before waking is pushing her towards some action, some adventure, and she seems to accept this gladly. Europa thus is prepared to play in her own abduction,12 in contrastto previous heroines,who were prepared only to help the heroes or please the gods in the stories in which they appeared.

The most telling contrast with Moschus' Europa is

Persephone,who was abducted unwillingly by Hades: •cip1t~uc; t,•cii1eooouvex\ XPOOCO\O\V

oxo101v/,iy'ol4>upoµcvriv. ("Hesnatchedup the Wlwillinggirl in his

golden chariot, and carried her lamenting away", Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 1920).13 Europa's dream again demonstrates the importance that female characters have in the epyllion in controlling the action of the poem. This influence is especially clear from the fact that it is Aphrodite who controls the entire story of Zeus' infatuation with and abduction of Europa. It is, in the first place, Aphrodite who begins the story by sending the dream to Europa: Eupw1t111to-reKo1tp1c;ex\

16

Vaughn (Megara 76)

11

Vaughn (Megara 76) uses this phenomenon to explain why there can be no interpretation of Alcmena's dreamin the Megara: it began before midnight and ended before dawn: therefore we cannot tell whether it is truthful or not. 12

13

Also noted by Schmiel ("Moschus' Europa 268).

In spite of this difference Schmiel does use Persephone and her fate as analogies for Europa's adventures. In lightof Persephone'sfate, Schmielbelievesthat Europa'sapparentlyinexplicabledesire to go and pick flowers with her friends upon waking indicates a willingness on her part to have an encounter similar to Persephone's. He expects that Europa is aware of Persephone's fate and the circwnstances surrounding it, and that she can actually learn from the other girl's experience. Gutzwiller(Studies66) is another who connects Europa'sdreamwith the events to follow in the poem, as it symbolisesher departure from her home. Gutzwillerdoes put a somewhatstrongerpsychological significance onto the dreamthan is actually necessary, emphasising the "conflict between the two motherfigures"andEuropa's "wishfor freedom andescape". These emotionalstates are not apparent in Europa's conduct or in Moschus' description of the girl at any time. Still in this psychological mood, Gutzwiller will continue to see sexual innuendo and double entendre throughout the poem, particularly in the flower and bull scenes.

57 y luKUv111eev ove\pov ("The Cypriangoddessonce sent Europa a sweet dream",1). It should be noted that, throughout the poem, the gods do what they can to assist in one another's love affairs. Examples of this co-operation include Hephaestus' manufacture of the flower basket for Poseidon to give to Libya: µeya 8aoµa,/ OVA,Pun 1t6pe c¾>povO't'ec;lexoc; 'Evvocnyafou µeyav 1t6vov 'Hcxfo-ro,o/

,i\ev (38-40: "a great marvel, a great work ofHephaestus, which was a gift to Libya when she went into the bed of the Earthshaker."). And on the basket Hephaestus depicts Hermes' slaying of Argus, which aided Zeus in his pursuit of lo (55-7). Poseidon's assistance to the bovine Zeus in crossing the sea with Europa (l 16sqq) also demonstrates this divine co-operation. Yet it is clear that Aphrodite's sending of the dream to Europa is not just a favourdone for Zeus. It is Aphroditeherself who also causes Zeus' infatuation with the girl, after she has gone to the meadow: 11yap 6'flKpovi6ric; we; µlV cl>pcioa8'we; e6lfl't0 8uµov ccvfo.o,o,vimo6µ118e\c;Peleeoo, Ku1tplooc;,TiµouVT}6uva'ta\ Ka\ Z11vaooµciooa\ No sooner did the son of Cronos see her, than his heart was troubled, and he was felled by shots from Aphrodite, who alone can conquer even great Zeus. 74-6

Rather than merely assisting in Zeus' affairs, Aphrodite appears herself as the architect of some intricate plot of her own. It appearsthat Aphrodite is actually manipulatingZeus in order to arrange Europa'sadventuresand final status, as Athena manipulatedNausicaa in order to arrangeOdysseus'affairs satisfactorily. The power of Aphroditeto controlevents in narrativeis a common Hellenisticphenomenon.and may be one of the traits which the epyllion owes to Apollonius' Argonautica. We should note that the charactersin the Megaraalso acknowledgethe power of female deities, as Megara prays to Artemis

CAp.eµl, 811.lu'tepno\ µeya Kpefoooa

58

yuvcn~i: Megara31: "O, Artemis, great goddess pitying women"). Characters of the epyllion at this stage in its development acknowledgethe power of goddesses, and seek to use it. The apparentresult of Europa'sdream and its confusionis her plan to go and pick flowers with her friends.14 She almost immediately dismisses her fear and confusion which result from her dream, and goes to gather her friends for the expedition:

w~ehtoiia' ilcx~6' e1te6i,e8'

etcxipcx~

11l11ecx~ oiitecx~ 8uµTjpecx~ei>1tcxtepei~ 'ttlO\Vcx16puvo1to ,cp6cx1tpoxo'fia1vavcxupv i\ 61t6t' &Kle1µwv~ eu1tvocxJ..eip1'fV\ KOl>f)'l KO\µVCX1t0 Kot6µatOI; 1ep61eovenve, ; "from his mouth he blew out a crocus"), while in the Homeric

Hymn to DemeterPersephone is tricked by a wondrous flower which is created as a snare for the girl: ov oe oolov 1ealu1ewn,a, 1eoupn/raia . /8auµaotov yavQ(,>vta(8-10: "a wondrous flower, which Gaia made to grow as a

61

trick for the lovely-eyedgirl''). Sappho used a purple flower, trodden by shepherds on a mountain, as a symbol of lost virginity infrag. 105LP:

otcxv1:cxv uci1e1v8ov ev oppeo11to(µevec;6e n~ ~ev/ 1euave11µetcx tno1 6eµa~ mioa1., 6e

ycU.a1en/et66µeva, xpuoeo1.01.1eepciao11eoo1ciao1eov ("not one of them was dark.Theywereall milkywhite and sportedgoldenhorns"). These,too, arespecial cattle, associatedwith a special girl, the daughterof a god. And since Zeus could obviouslynot becomethe sort of bull thatis put to workformortals,he must become the sortof creaturekeptby such immortalsas Helios. Thepleasantaromawhich the

bull exudes (91-2) and the musical notes of his lowing (98-9) emphasise the uniquenessof the creature, and Moschusnotes that this bull is as much beyond the ordinaryrun of bulls as Europa is beyondthe ordinaryrun of maidens: oux oto~ ota8µoi~ ev1.epPeta,, oi>6eµev oto~ 6>A1Ca 61.atµ11ye1oupv ei>1eaµ1te~ cipotpov, oi>6'oto~1to(µvn~E1t1. P601Ceta1., oi>6eµev oto~

toon~ti>1to6µ118e'\~ epue1.1tOAuoptov &1t11v11v He was not the kind of bull that stands eating in stables, or the kind that pulls a ploughand ploughsa furrow,or even the kind that grazes

with a herd or pulls a heavy wagon. 80-83

The implication is that neither is meant for ordinary purposes, and that their experiencesare to be linked. This is reinforcedby the fact that, as soon as Europa's impending loss of virginity is mentioned (72-3), Moschus introducesZeus for the first time (74). The domesticsettingin which Europa begins her adventureis made clear in

the first scene of the poem, where Europa is identified in her family context

64

(~£v11eo1,;alc11ae 1t66eoo\V tcl>' cxlµupa; paive Ktleu8a/ V11XOµevn i.1~ ai;alle ~1oc;1tpo1t«ipo18e1t000\\V, y1186ouvoc;a•u1tepotaµa npCo'tee pooo68e &lcj>Cc;. Ever forward, until he was travelling over sea with its wide waves the god kep going with his hoofs, as safe in the water as the fins of a dolphin 115-7 Europa'sjourney is made that much easierby the apparentease and naturalnessof her ride. The key to this differencebetweenEuropa'sjourney and Io's seemsto lie in the degree of willingness of the woman involved. As we have seen, Europa, though puzzledby her circumstances,is willingto acceptwhateverher dream may herald.27 It is, after all, Europa'sown suggestionthat the girls should attempt to ride the bull:

27

As Schmiel ("Moschus' Europa268) notes, Europa's advancesto the bull when it appearsseem to indicate a willingness to experiment I cannot, however, agree with Schmiel that Europa is fully aware of the possibility of abduction, and actually hopes to be carriedoff.

70

'6eu8', ttdpu1. cj)0.1.u1.1eu\ 6µ11.l1.1eec;, ocj)p' tx\ t4>6e t,6µevu1. tUUP1pcx µcv vcxuc; µEVC1Ct1l['JtOV 8TJo&cx ~'i.