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The Cyclops of Philoxenus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

J. H. Hordern
J. H. Hordern
Affiliation:
University College Dublin
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Extract

Philoxenus of Cythera's dithyramb, Cyclops or Galatea, was a poem famous in antiquity as the source for the story of Polyphemus' love for the sea-nymph Galatea. The exact date of composition is uncertain, but the poem must pre-date 388 B.C., when it was parodied by Aristophanes in the parodos of Plutus (290–01), and probably, as we shall see below, post-dates 406, the point at which Dionysius I became tyrant of Syracuse (D.S. 13.95–6). The Aristophanic parody of the work may well point to a recent performance in Athens, perhaps the first, and it is hard to identify any more significant reason for mentioning the poem. Previous accounts of the poem have concentrated on two main points, its supposed satirical purpose, and the possibly dramatic nature of its performance, but there has been no attempt to consider these two points in relation to each other, or to assess in detail the value of the source-material. I argue that although there is some evidence to support the satirical reading of the poem, the main value of this tradition is that it reveals Philoxenus' comic treatment of his subject, and that while the Galatea motif has previously been considered the essential element in this comic treatment, it was probably a small part of the plot, perhaps only briefly alluded to. Finally I provide reasons for doubting the prevalent view that the performance included dramatic elements.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , December 1999 , pp. 445 - 455
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1999

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References

1 This paper has a long history. In its earliest form (1995) it was read and commented on by Professor Parsons, P. J., DrWest, M. L., and DrHall, E., to whom many thanks. Parts of it were delivered to the Corpus Christi Classical Seminar in Oxford in Michaelmas, 1997Google Scholar; again, thanks are due to those who attended for their comments and suggestions. A final debt of thanks is owed to Professor C. Collard and CQ's anonymous referee.

2 See further Kugelmeier, C., Reflexe früher und zeitgenössicher Lyrik in der alien attischen Komödie (Stuttgart & Leipzig, 1996), 255–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3 The quasi-dramatic qualities of the Cyclops are accepted by Sutton, D. F., QUCC n.s. 13 (1983), 37–43,Google ScholarZimmermann, B., Dithyrambos: Geschichte einer Gattung (Göttingen, 1992), 127–8,CrossRefGoogle Scholar and West, M. L., Ancient Greek Music (Oxford, 1992), 364–6.Google Scholar

4 Cf. D.S. 15.6; Machon fr. 9 Gow; Sopater fr. 23 Kaibel; Cicero, Att. 4.6.2; Plu. Tranq. 12; Paus 1.2.1; Lucian. Cal. 14; Σ Ar. Pl. 179; Suda Φ 397; Joh. Tzetz.| in Pl. 290 pp. 83–4 Positano, etc.

5 Ed. Positano, L. M.Joh. Tzetzae commentarii in Aristophanem (Groningen & Amsterdam, 1960), 83.Google Scholar

6 The scholia vetera have been edited by Chantry, M., Scholia vetera in Aristophanis Plutum (Groningen, 1994).Google Scholar The scholia as recorded in PMG and Campbell's Greek Lyric vol. 5 (Cambridge, MA & London, 1993) are taken from Dübner, F., Scholia Graeca in Aristophanem (Paris, 1877),Google Scholar and are now out of date. I have therefore refrained from giving parallel references to PMG for these.

7 See also Wilson, N. G., Scholars of Byzantium (London, 1983), 193–4.Google Scholar

8 Risch, E., Wortbildung der homerischen Sprache (Berlin & New York, 1974 2), 138,Google Scholar tentatively derives Γαλατєὶα from γάλα, but we would expect Γαλακτ-єὶα if this were the case (cf. the formations γαλακτο-πότης, γαλακτ-ώςηϚ). The use of γαλα- as a first term is more ancient (cf. the old formation γαλα-θη-νός ‘young, tender’ ‘taking milk’), but we cannot explain the presence of tau (the suffix is -єιος/єια). γάλατος is occasionally found as a genitive in the documentary papyri (see Chantraine, P., Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque [Paris, 1990],Google Scholar s.v. γαλα), but this would not provide evidence for earlier formations on the stem.

9 Sanders, L. J., Dionysius I of Syracuse and Greek Tyranny (London & New York, 1987), 1–40,Google Scholar discusses in detail the hostile tradition relating to Dionysius, and presents Philoxenus' poem, together with much other material, in the context of the party opposed to Dionysius in Athens in the first half of the fourth century.

10 Webster, T. B. L., Studies in Later Greek Comedy (London, 1970 2), 20–1.Google Scholar

11 Arnott, W. G., Alexis: The Fragments (Cambridge, 1996), 141.Google Scholar

12 The text and most of the apparatus are Kassel's. I have omitted the less relevant parts of Kassel's apparatus, and included (ex. grat.) a suggestion by Susemihl.

13 Trans. Halliwell, S., The Poetics of Aristotle (London, 1987), 32–3.Google Scholar

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16 See Bywater, I., Aristotle's Poetics (Oxford, 1909), 116–17,Google Scholar and also xxxix-lx on scribal correction in the Renaissance manuscripts of the Poetics.

17 According to Phaenias, Argas was an author of obscene verse, and he was known to Plutarch as a writer of particularly bad nomes (Phaenias fr. 10 Wehrli, Plu. Dem. 4; cf. Ε Aeschin. 2. 99).

18 Holland, G. R., Leipziger Studien 7 (1884), 192ff.Google Scholar

19 Musso, O., Lo specchio e la sfinge: Saggi sul teatro e lo spettacolo antico e moderno (Florence, 1998), 73.Google Scholar

20 See Denniston, J. D., The Greek Particles (Oxford, 1954 2), 66–8.Google Scholar

21 Vahlen, ed.3 1885.

22 RVEΘ are the most important MSS for the scholia on Plutus; the scholion in the Aldine edition (p. 68 Chantry) clearly derives from one of these or from a similar text.

23 Bergk, T., Poetae Lyrici Graeci (Leipzig, 1853 2, 18673, 18824),Google Scholar suggested that from this part of the poem came a proverb recorded in Diogenes (7.82 = PMG adesp. 966 π⋯ρ έπί δαλòν έλθóν), who notes a Cyclops as the source (άπò οτ⋯Κύκλωποςςς ू μεταϕορά). However, the attribution is not certain, and Page did not include the fragment in the corpus. It is not mentioned in the first edition of Bergk (1843).

24 Bergk (n.23). Again, the passage is omitted from the first edition.

25 So Holland (n. 18), 192–6.

26 Melanippides: Marm. Par. Ep. 47; Suda, μ 454. Timotheus: Suda, τ 620. Telestes: Marm. Par. Ep. 65; Aristox. fr. 117 Wehrli; Plin. N.H. 35.36.109.

27 The evidence for soloists in the classical dithyramb is generally weak; Ba. 18 is the most widely accepted case of a dithyramb requiring a soloist, but there is no positive evidence for such a theory beyond the form of the poem. There is no definite statement that the dithyramb admitted soloists until [Arist.] Probl. 19.15, but the period to which this passage refers is unclear; it is likely to be the later fourth century. It would indeed be odd if such an innovation, had it occurred earlier, had escaped notice.

28 It is unclear whether the Marsyas referred to is Marsyas of Pella (late fourth century B.C.), or the younger Marsyas of Philippi.

29 Riginos, A. S., JHS 114 (1994), 105–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarHammond, N. G. L., by contrast, believes that the details 'are likely to be right'; see A History of Macedonia vol. 2 (Oxford, 1979), 257, n. 2.Google Scholar

30 In a late scholion in cod. Reg. (Parisinus gr. 2821: c. 1370) there is another direct reference to an actor: οΰτω γàρ πεποίηκε τòΚύκλωπος ύποκριτूν είσαγóμενον (p. 87 Chantry, ed. Scholia recentiora, 1996). The scholia in Reg. are derived from the works of Thomas Magister and the first Triclinian edition, and in cases such as this have little independent value.

31 Gomperz, T., Jahrb. f. klass. Philol. 133 (1886), 771–5.Google Scholar

32 Berglein, L. A., De Philoxeno Cytherio dithyramborum poeta (Göottingen, 1843), 35–6.Google Scholar

33 See Pickard-Cambridge, A. W., The Dramatic Festivals of Athens, rev. Gould, J. and Lewis, D. M., (Oxford, 1968 2), 177.Google Scholar

34 Zimmermann (n. 3), 127–8.

35 Argued unconvincingly by Comotti, G., QUCC n.s. 31 (1989), 107–17.Google Scholar

36 P. Maas, RE 9.391–92; Pickard-Cambridge, A. W., Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy (Oxford, 1962 2), 52–3.Google Scholar

37 Wescher, C. and Foucart, P., Inscriptions recueilliés à Delphes (Paris, 1863), no. 5.58, 11.Google Scholar