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On The Use of the Vocative in Alexandrian Epic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Giuseppe Giangrande
Giuseppe Giangrande
Affiliation:
University of London, Birkbeck College
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Extract

In the present paper I shall investigate how far the employment of the vocative in Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica and in Callimachus' Hymns i–iv complies with the Homeric usage as elucidated by Scott. For Apollonius, the relevant attestations have been listed, but hardly analysed, by Gildersleeve and Miller in A.J.P. xxiv (1903), 197–9; the Callimachean material has never been examined, as far as I know.

First of all, however, it will be useful to fill a gap in our knowledge and supplement Scott's data by surveying the use of the vocative in the Homeric Hymns i–v. My survey has led me to the following results:

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , May 1968 , pp. 52 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1968

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References

page 52 note 1 A.J.P. xxiv (1903), 192–6;Google Scholar cf. also, for post-Homeric developments, xxv (1904), 81–84 and xxvi (1905), 32–43.

page 52 note 2 Indeed necessary, as will soon become evident.

page 52 note 3 For statistical purposes, a group of several subsequent vocatives is treated as one vocative.

page 52 note 4 A.J.P. xxvi (1905), 32Google Scholar; cf. also Gilder-sleeve-Miller, , art. cit., p. 197Google Scholar. In contrast with Pindar (cf. Scott, loc. cit.) and other lyric poets (cf. PMG 953. 1Google Scholar), the vocative Moûσa is never accompanied by in the Homeric Hymns, nor, for that matter, in Aratus, (Phaen. 15 f.), Theocritus' epic verse (17. 1), Apollonius (cf. data in Gildersleeve-Miller, , art. cit., p. 198Google Scholar), Callimachus (as we shall see); cf. also Antimachus fr. i Wyss, with useful literature on Prooemia.

page 52 note 5 Cf., e.g.—quoting at random— in the Hymn to Apollo, Arist. Thesm. 972, or in the Ptolemaic version of the Paean Erylhraeus, 30–31, cf. Powell, , Coll. Alex., p. 138.Google Scholar For ‘hymnal formulae’ in literary texts cf. Allen-Halliday-Sikes, , Inlrod. p. xciiGoogle Scholar (e.g. , Theocr. 1. 144, Soph. Aj. 91).

page 52 note 6 Cf RAC s.v. Ebikkse, esp. 278.Google Scholar

page 53 note 1 Cf. Il. 24. 425,Google Scholar where Hermes, in the person of a young man, is addressed with by Priam (Scott, , art. cit., p. 192Google Scholar).

page 53 note 2 For such a switching from familiarity to loftiness in Homer cf. Scott, , art. cit., p. 194Google Scholar, with a fine analysis of Il. 24. 411 ff.Google Scholar; good observations on the use of , ibid.

page 53 note 3 For instance, the Homeric is used by Jason when speaking affably to one of his subordinates at 1. 1337; this latter addresses the hero respectfully, without , at 1. 1332, .

page 54 note 1 Much more numerous are the non- vocatives addressed to gods: list in Gilder-sleeve-Miller, , art. cit., p. 198.Google Scholar

page 54 note 2 Such was Apollonius' Arbeitsweise: rarities ‘which occur only once or twice in Homer are only found once or twice in Apollonius’ (Mooney, , Introd., p. 14).Google Scholar

page 54 note 3 On Apollonius': knowledge of the Homeric Hymns cf. Boesch, , De Ap. Rh. Elocut., pp. 3 ff., 39 ff.Google Scholar, with a useful collection of material.

page 54 note 4 For the Wortstellung cf. Thes., s.v. , 1980 A, and now Gow-Page, , Greek AnthoL., p. 179Google Scholar and 359 (e.g. A.P. 6. 267,Google Scholar). Cf. also A.P. 6. 109. 9Google Scholar, A.P. 7. 401. 7.Google Scholar

page 54 note 5 Cf. especially Lloyd-Jones, , JHS Ixxiii (1963), 85,Google Scholar for such hymnal modes of address.

page 54 note 6 Cf., for the imperative , Theocr. 1. 127 ff., ; for the relationship between the imperative and (e.g. Theocr. 1. 144 ) cf. Rumpel, , Lex. Theocr. s.v.Google Scholar For reversals of formulas and expressions in Alexandrian poetry cf. ‘Arte Allusiva and Alexandrian Epic Poetry’, C.Q. xvii (1967), 85 ff.Google Scholar, and C.R. xvii (1967), 22.Google Scholar For after imperatives (Thes., s.v., 1981 B–C.) cf. Paley, and Duchemin, on Eur., Ċyd. 52,616,659;Google Scholar for Callimachus cf. Lapp, , De Callimachi tropis… (Diss. Bonn 1965), pp. 39 and 47.Google Scholar

page 54 note 7 Cf. R-E, s.v. Hymnos, 166. 1–5.Google Scholar

page 55 note 1 On ‘die Geschlechter’ in Apollonius cf. Hiibscher, , op. cit., pp. 70 ff.Google Scholar, with good observations; cf. Ziegler, K., ‘Kallimachos und die Frauen’, Die Antike xiii (1937), 20 ff.Google Scholar, and now McKay, , The Poet at Play, (Leiden, 1962), p. 99.Google Scholar

page 55 note 2 Against used by the Apollonian heroines compare the vocative used by Penelope at Od. 4. 722.

page 55 note 3 It is worth noticing that the expression is used by Odysseus disguised as a beggar in the swineherd scene at Od. 14. 115 (cf. Scott, , art. cit., pp. 194 f.)Google Scholar

page 55 note 4 Here is the epic material relevant to Apollonius' formula: , Il. 1.158Google Scholar (cf. Scott, , art. cit., p.193Google Scholar); II. 16. 21, 19. 216Google Scholar, Od. 11. 478; Callim., Hymn, 5. 58Google Scholar

page 55 note 5 The ‘throwing off of reserve’ expressed by the ‘tone of the ’ tends to polarize towards either intense emotion (anger, impatience) or unlofty ‘familiarity’ (informal mode of address used by ‘common people’, such as servants).

page 55 note 6 The context shows ad abundantiam that Medea, to use the scholiast's words, was : (cf. 1029 , 1032 , etc.)

page 55 note 7 The pronouns are both emphatically placed.

page 55 note 8 It may be added that Apollonius (cf. Gercke, , Rh. Mus. xliv [1889], 136, n. 3Google Scholar) coined (or at any rate used) his by analogy with genit., cf. LSJ, s.v. , ii) on the model of the alternation (significantly enough, this alternation is present in Callimachus, cf. Pfeiffer onfr. 499).

page 55 note 9 The poet's obedience to the Muses is emphasized in Theocr. 22. n6ff. (cf. Cholmeley on Theocr. 16. 29, aptly praised by Fascher, , Eine sprachund religionsgesrh. Untersuch. (Giessen 1927), p. 29, n. 2: ‘the poet is the servant, by whose mouth the Muses speak’). In this connexion I should like to stress that there is absolutely no contradiction between Argon. 1. 22 and 4. 1383, as maintained by Gercke (on the question cf. Gow on Theocr. 22. n6ff., p. 398 and now especially Eichgrün, , Kallimachos und Apollonios Rhodios [Diss. Berlin, 1961 ], pp. 104 ff.Google Scholar). Incredible though it is, nobody appears to have seen that , when governing the genitive of an abstract, invariably mean ‘Verkiinder’, ‘narrator’, ‘purveyor’ (e.g. : attestations collected and explained by Fascher, , op. cit., pp. pff.)Google Scholar: Apollonios' (Arg. 1. 22) evidently falls within this clearly denned semantic type, and there is consequently no need to postulate a recantation on the part of Apollonius (Gercke) or to accuse the poet of not being consistent (Eichgrün).

page 56 note 1 Apollonius, who at the beginning of his poem had echoed Hymn. Hom. 32. 18 (cf. especially Boesch, , op. cit., p. 3Google Scholar), now closes the Argonautica with an allusion to another Homeric hymn, namely the end of the Hymn to Delian Apollo, where Homer addresses the Deliades ‘with a view to his own recommendation’ (cf. Allen-Halliday-Sikes, ad loc.): the motifs of sweetness of epic ( 1774 = 169) and of survival of such epic ( 1773f. 173: is clearly a future without CT, cf. van Leeuwen, Enchir.2 § 147) closely coincide (the nom. plur. , which is a Homeric unicum, Hymn. Ap., loc. cit., is also a unicum here in Apollonius and in Theocr. 16. 57 : in all the three attestations it means ‘carmen epicum’, cf. Rumpel, , Lex. Theocr., s.v. )Google Scholar. At the beginning of his poem, Apollonius, when drawing upon Hymn. Horn. 32. 18Google Scholar, had left out the detail of the divine nature of the Argonauts (his corresponds to Homer's ): now the Argonauts, at the end of the poem, appear as deified (: is elsewhere only used by Apollonius for deities, cf. 4. 984, 1333, 1411, and for the superhuman nature of the Argonauts cf. 4. 1389). Theocr. 16. 1–4 is in all probability a polemical reply to Apollonius: for other asides cf. Gercke, , art. cit., p. 129Google Scholar and Gow on Theocr. 7. 47 ff. Apollonius': (Arg. 4. 1773) is unnecessarily suspected by Fraenkel (in his apparatus): the expression is the pointed opposite of Homer's (Od. 14. 218; cf. Od. 21. 333, 24. 460), which Apollonius knew (Arg. 2. 458, 958, 3. 1006, fr. 12. 17 Powell), whilst (’) is a semantic variation on Homeric nouns denoting family relationship such as (Il. 9. 396Google Scholar), , (Od. II. 227); cf. Apoll. Rh. fr. 12. 17 Powell, Od. 24. 459 f.

page 56 note 2 At 1.616 , listed by Gildersleeve-Miller, is not a vocative, but an exclamation (cf. 2. 244 , Homeric formula) made by the poet, in a tragic tone: cf. Kuchenmüller, , Phil, reliq., Diss. Berlin, 1928, P. 53.Google Scholar

page 56 note 3 Also the oracles in Cougny 6. 208. 1 and 6. 277. 1.

page 57 note 1 The climax of this development will of course be reached in the Orphic Hymns. Cf. already Hymn. Horn. 27 (Artemis), 1–3.

page 57 note 2 (for the absence of cf. also fr. 203. 1 Pf.): cf. Ap. Rh. 4. 984 .

page 57 note 3 Just as Pindar implied a ‘special relationship’ with the Muse, cf. Scott, , art. cit., P.32.Google Scholar

page 57 note 4 On the compound cf. Bredau, , De Callim. verbor. invent., p. 15Google Scholar, and Cahen, op. cit., ad. loc.: it must, of course, be added that Callimachus is giving us, in Alexandrian fashion, his etymology of (cf. Allen-Halliday-Sikes, on Hymn. Horn. v. 22Google Scholar; further material in Thes., s.v. , 2102 A–B.).

page 58 note 1 These are, of course, Theocritean ‘hymnal formulae’ in epic tone (cf. Allen-Halliday-Sikes, , op. cit., p. xciiiGoogle Scholar); cf., conversely, the distinctly colloquial 15. 46. The stylistic use of the vocative in Theocritus, which is complicated by various factors, is being studied by my colleague, A. H. Griffiths.

page 58 note 2 Callimachus' use of this word is not strictly Homeric, as rightly noted by Kuiper, K., Studia Callim. i, p. 169Google Scholar, to whose quotations Soph. OT 1494 () might be added.

page 58 note 3 Cf., on the other hand, the non- vocative 4. 316, used where, as the context shows, no humility of approach is implied.

page 58 note 4 On this emotional mode of address in Homer cf. Scott, , art. cit., pp. 192 f.Google Scholar

page 58 note 5 The expression is, from the lexical point of view, not strictly Homeric: such ‘addresses to the inanimate’ are typical of tragedy, cf. Scott, , art. cit., pp. 35, 82Google Scholar. Also the word , which precedes in the line the vocative , is borrowed from Tragedy, cf. Kuiper, , op. cit., p. 137.Google Scholar

page 58 note 6 Once again, tragic influence is detectable in the choice of Callimachus' words: cf. Soph. Antig. 138, indicated by Kuiper, , op. cit., p. 138,Google Scholar and Scott, , art. cit., p. 82.Google Scholar

page 58 note 7 It is worth noticing that both here and at 4. 325 this feature occurs at the climactic end of a peroration. Here, the climax is emphasized by the emphatic preceding the imperative at 118 (on such function of cf. now Seelbach, , Die Epigr. des Mnasalkas … (Wiesbaden, 1964), p. 80Google Scholar; it is already a Homeric feature, cf. Chantraine, , Gramm. Horn, ii, § 226Google Scholar. Homer uses ; the tragedians prefer , cf. Thes., s.v. 1508 D ff.; on with and an imperative, as used here by Callimachus, cf. Rumpel, Lex. Theocr., s.v. 3) and by the iteratio (on which feature cf. Schneider, , Callim., ad 5. 41Google Scholar; it may be added that the iteratio of imperatival forms accompanied by a vocative was a hymnal formula, cf., e.g., Votum ap. M. Ant. v. 7, RE, s.v. Hymnos, 159. 4g, and Callim. H. 5. 4 ; on the ‘Wiederholung’ in general cf. RAC, s.v. Epiklese, 578).

page 58 note 8 Cf. Cahen, , op. cit., p. 152Google Scholar; for the text of the Callimachean line cf. Hermes xci (1963), 157 ff.Google Scholar

page 59 note 1 On cf. Rumpel, Lex. Pind., s.v. .

page 59 note 2 also occurs in Archil, 66. I Bgk., and Cercidas vii. io Powell. Theognis uses at 877 and 1070; Ibycus, in a lyric passage (317 b PMG), has (probable conjecture). Cf. also Cleanth. 7. 2 Powell. Meleager, in two passages whose tone is ironically serious, uses (Gow-Page 4094: ; such rhetorical -questions are frequent in Tragedy) and (Gow-Page 4510 f.: : typically tragic construction, cf. Scott, , art. cit., p. 81).Google Scholar

page 59 note 3 Cf. Kuiper, , op. cit., p. 125.Google Scholar

page 59 note 4 Cf. Gow on Theocr. 7. 47 (= vol. ii, p. 144) on Alexandrian ideas about the futility of ‘a Hellenistic poet vying with Homer’.

page 59 note 5 Such formal aspects of soliloquy (cf. Schadewaldt, , Monolog und Selbstgespräch (N. Phil. Unters. ii, 1926))Google Scholar have not yet been investigated. Cf. Rockel, , De allocutionis usu, Diss. Koenigsberg, 1884.Google Scholar The following material may be useful, in addition to Thes., s.v. 1948 A: Gow-Page 4082, 4104, 4110, 4634; A.P. 5. 131. 3, 47.5,263.4. Cf. also Eur. Med. 1056, Neophr. 2. 1 and 9 Nauck; Eur. Or. 466, Ale. 837.

page 59 note 6 On this genre cf. Scott, , art. cit., pp. 34 ff., 81 ff.Google Scholar

page 59 note 7 Cf. in particular Blass-Debrunner, , Gramm. neut. Griech. 11, § 146Google Scholar; further literature in Schwyzer, , Griech. Gramm. ii, p. 61.Google Scholar In her dissertation (The use of the Cases in Callimachus, (London, 1967)Google Scholar) my pupil, Miss M. F. Wakerley shows that Callimachus often uses with the vocative in his non-epic poetry (Iambi).

page 59 note 8 Art. cit., p. 195Google Scholar