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NONNUS' ‘YOUNGER LEGEND’: THE BIRTH OF BEROË AND THE DIDACTIC TRADITION*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 October 2017
Extract
The forty-first book of Nonnus' Dionysiaca takes as its central theme Beroë, the sea nymph identified with the city of Beirut in Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon). Nonnus associates Beroë closely with Amymone. She is pursued sexually by both Dionysus and Poseidon, with the latter proving victorious, a story which Nonnus recounts in the next book of his poem. In Book 41, however, the narrative focuses upon the foundation of the city and Beroë’s birth. Nonnus initially dwells on Beirut's geographical setting and its first inhabitants, before turning to the birth of Aphrodite, who is said to arrive first at Beirut, not Cythera or Cyprus as in other accounts (Nonnus, Dion. 41.97–119).
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Footnotes
*
For helpful comments and criticism on earlier drafts of this article I am grateful to the participants of a workshop held at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, especially Prof. G. Agosti and Prof. A. Vergados, as well as to Dr Christos Simelidis and the anonymous referee of Greece & Rome. Translations are mine unless otherwise stated.
References
1 Nonnus, Dion. 41.10–11, with the invocation of the Muse. See Geisz, C., ‘Narrative Digression in the Dionysiaca ’, in Accorinti, D. (ed.). Brill's Companion to Nonnus of Panopolis (Leiden, 2016), 180Google Scholar. Amymone is elsewhere the daughter of Danaus, who sleeps with Poseidon after he saves her from a satyr (e.g. Apollod. 2.1.4).
2 Both locations appear in the account of her birth in Hes. Theog. 195–200. On Aphrodite's birth, see more below.
3 The text of Nonnus is that of the Budé edition, Chuvin, P. and Fayant, M.-C., Nonnos de Panopolis. Les Dionysiaques, Chants XLI–XLIII (Paris, 2006)Google Scholar. Translations are adapted from Rouse, W.H.D., Dionysiaca, Volume III. Books 36–48 (Cambridge, MA, 1940)Google Scholar.
4 See Chuvin and Fayant (n. 3), 12–13, who point to the frequency of the term πρῶτος (‘first’) in this passage, whether by itself or in compounds.
5 At the end of the book, Aphrodite consults Harmonia and the prophetic tables of the universe concerning Beroë; these tables again reveal that Beroë is the oldest city: πρωτοϕανὴς Βερόη πέλε σύγχρονος ἥλικι κόσμῳ (‘first-appearing Beroë was the same age as and contemporary of the cosmos’; Nonnus, Dion. 41.364).
6 Nonnus uses this adjective four times in this book (of Beroë also at 41.66, 364; of Aion at 41.84), but only once elsewhere, at Par. 2.55.
7 Nonnus mentions Cassiopeia as rival of the Nereids elsewhere in the Dionysiaca (25.134–7, 43.165–8). The standard version of the myth in Greek literature has Poseidon punish Cassiopeia for vying with the Nereids in a beauty contest (e.g. Sophocles' Andromeda [frs. 126–36]; see [Eratosth.] Cat. 16), but in an eastern version of the myth, preserved in mosaics at Paphos and Apamea, Cassiopeia is the victor of the beauty contest; in the Apamea mosaic, Poseidon is, in fact, the judge of the contest. See Balty, J.-C., ‘Une version orientale méconnue du mythe de Cassiopée’, in Kahill, L. and Augé, C. (eds.), Mythologie gréco-romaine, mythologies périphériques, Colloques internationaux du CNRS no. 593 (Paris, 1981), 95–106 Google Scholar; Daszewski, W. A., ‘Cassiopeia in Paphos: A Levantine Going West’, in Karageorghis, V. (ed.), Acts of the International Archaeological Symposium ‘Cyprus between the Orient and the Occident’ (Nicosia, 1986), 454–70Google Scholar; Bowersock, G. W., Hellenism in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, 1990), 50–1CrossRefGoogle Scholar. With the latter version in mind, the point may be that Thetis fears that Beroë, like Cassiopeia, will vie with her in beauty and win. Poseidon's appreciation of Cassiopeia's beauty as judge is comparable to his amorous role in the Beroë/Amymone myth.
8 See also Bajoni, M. G., ‘A propos de l'aition de Beyrouth dans les Dionysiaques de Nonnos de Panopolis’, AC 72 (2003), 198 Google Scholar: ‘un mythe récent pour une ville très ancienne, mais un poète savant tel que Nonnos peut bien déclarer récent un mythe vieux même de plusieurs siècles’ (‘a recent myth for a very ancient city, but a poet scholar such as Nonnus may well declare recent even a myth several centuries old’).
9 Chuvin and Fayant (n. 3), 20. On Nonnus' use of local mythology, see Chuvin, P., Mythologie et géographie dionysiaques. Recherches sur l'oeuvre de Nonnos de Panopolis (Clermont-Ferrand, 1992)Google Scholar.
10 On so-called ‘window allusions’ see Thomas, R. F., ‘Virgil's Georgics and the Art of Reference’, HSCPh 90 (1986), 171–98Google Scholar; in the imperial poet Dionysius Periegesis, Hunter, R., ‘The Periegesis of Dionysius and the Traditions of Hellenistic Poetry’, REA 106 (2004), 218 Google Scholar.
11 Translation from Race, W. H., Pindar. Olympian Odes. Pythian Odes (Cambridge, MA, 1997)Google Scholar.
12 Translation from Hunter, R., Apollonius of Rhodes. Argonautica Book IV (Cambridge, 2015)Google Scholar.
13 See Hunter (n. 11), 218–19, on the ‘very rich mythical tradition’ on which Apollonius draws for these stories: the scholia point to Aristotle's Constitution of the Corcyraeans for Demeter's connection to the island, and another unknown source in which Demeter's hidden sickle gives it form. See also Thalmann, W. G., Apollonius of Rhodes and the Spaces of Hellenism (Oxford, 2011), 178 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
14 The claim that Cypriots lie about Aphrodite's origins is reminiscent of the beginning of Callimachus' Hymn to Zeus (1–10), where the poet discusses alternative birth stories of Zeus in Arcadia and Crete, before citing the paradoxical statement of Epimenides (himself from Crete) that Cretans are always liars (Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, 8). The motif of lies about divine birth stories goes back to the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus, 2–6, where the poet proclaims that those who say that Dionysus was born in Thebes are liars (ψευδόμενοι, 6). On Callimachus' allusion to this hymn, see M. Depew, ‘Gender, Power and Poetics in Callimachus’ Book of Hymns', in Harder, M. A., Regtuit, R. F., and Wakker, G. C. (eds.), Hellenistica Groningana. Callimachus II (Leuven, 2004), 119 Google Scholar. The anonymous referee reminds me that Aratus, Phaen. 30–1 (εἰ ἐτεὸν δή, ‘if truly’) also alludes to Epimenides' statement (and possibly Callimachus' hymn) in his account of Zeus' birth; see Kidd, D., Aratus' Phaenomena (Cambridge, 1997), 184–5Google Scholar.
15 Beroë’s birth by Aphrodite also becomes a poetic birth. The metaphor of giving birth to poetry and song was well established in Greek literature from the fifth century bc and was also known in Latin poetry. See Harder, A., Callimachus. Aitia Vol. 2 (Oxford, 2012), 54 Google Scholar, on Callim. Aet. fr. 1.20; and Nünlist, R., Poetologische Bildersprache in der frügriechischen Dichtung (Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1998), 314, n. 10CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
16 See Hadjittofi, F., ‘Res Romanae: Cultural Politics in Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica and Nonnus' Dionysiaca ’, in Baumbach, M. and Bär, S. (eds.), Quintus Smyrnaeus. Transforming Homer in Second Sophistic Epic (Berlin, 2007), 374, n. 78Google Scholar, who compares Or. Sib. 3.787–95 and Verg. Ecl. 4. See also Chuvin and Fayant (n. 3), 20–2. For all its baroque inversion, the scene is perhaps also reminiscent of Aphrodite inciting animals to mate on her way to seduce Anchises in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, 69–74.
17 Translation from Kidd (n. 14).
18 There has been uncertainty about proper name and adjective here (= Dion. 6.102): Παρθένος ἀστραία or παρθένος Ἀστραία? Compare Accorinti, D., ‘Note critiche ed esegetiche al canto 41 delle Dionisiache di Nonno di Panopoli,’ ByzZ 90 (1997), 358 Google Scholar, with Chuvin, P., Nonnos de Panopolis. Les Dionysiaques, Chants VI–VIII (Paris, 1992)Google Scholar, 144, for Παρθένος ἀστραίη. But, despite 41.335 (=12.94) Παρθένος ἀστερόεσσα (‘starry virgin’), ambiguity may be the very point. One might well capitalize both, as editors have at Ov. Met. 149–50: Uicta iacet pietas, et Uirgo caede madentis, / ultima caelestum terras Astraea reliquit (‘Piety lies vanquished, and the Virgin Astraea, last of the immortals, departs the bloodstained earth’).
19 Chuvin (n. 18), 144, on Dion. 6.102, compares both Aratus and Maximus (Astrologus) 291: Ἀστραίη κούρη σταχυηϕόρος (‘Astraea, corn-bearing maiden’). See also pseudo-Hyg. Astronomica 2.25. A case could be made here for knowledge of Ov. Met. 1. 149–50 (see above, n. 18; a similarity noted by Accorinti [n. 18], 358); compare the translation of Ovid by the Byzantine scholar Maximos Planudes (c.1260–1305) νικιθεῖσά τε κεῖται ἡ Εὐσέβεια, καὶ ἡ παρθένος Ἀστραία τὴν γῆν αἵματι ῥαινομένην ὑστάτη τῶν θεῶν καταλέλοιπεν. Hardie, P., Rumour and Renown. Representations of Fama in Western Literature (Cambridge, 2012), 224–5Google Scholar, recently entertained the idea that Nonnus was familiar with Ovid, pace Knox, P. E., ‘Phaethon in Ovid and Nonnus’, CQ 38 (1988), 536–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For a cautious survey of possible influence of Latin poetry on imperial authors, see Gärtner, U., ‘Πιερίδες τί μοι ἁγνὸν ἐϕωπλίσσασθε Μάρωνα: das griechische Epos der Kaiserzeit und die Bezüge zur lateinischen Literatur’, in Schubert, P., Ducrey, P., and Derron, P. (eds.), Les Grecs héritiers des Romains (Geneva, 2013), 87–146 Google Scholar. Virgil, who is influenced by Aratus in his depiction of Justice, calls her Virgo at Ecl. 4.6 and Iustitia at G. 2.473–4. On Aratus and Virgil, see Nelis, D., ‘ Georgics 2.458–542: Virgil, Aratus, and Empedocles’, Dictynna 1 (2004), 1–21 Google Scholar; Gee, E., Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition (Oxford, 2013), 39–48 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
20 See Bajoni (n. 8), 200–1. The Virgin also has a wider significance in the Dionysiaca as representative of the harvest (cf. 12.94, 42.297); see Vian, F., Nonnos de Panopolis. Les Dionysiaques, Chants XI–XIII (Paris, 1995), 64 Google Scholar.
21 See Chuvin and Fayant (n. 3), 20–1; Hadjittofi (n. 16), 374.
22 See Schiesaro, A. ‘Aratus’ Myth of Dike’, MD 37 (1996), 18–19 Google Scholar; Kidd (n. 14), 217–20; Fantuzzi, M. and Hunter, R., Tradition and Innovation in Hellenistic Poetry (Cambridge, 2005), 240 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Faulkner, A., ‘The Female Voice of Justice in Aratus’ Phaenomena’, G&R 61 (2015), 77–8Google Scholar.
23 Translations from Kidd (n. 14).
24 On Aratus' extensive engagement with Hesiod and the didactic tradition, see Fakas, C., Der hellenistische Hesiod. Arats Phainomena und die Tradition der antiken Lehrepik (Wiesbaden, 2001)Google Scholar; Fantuzzi and Hunter (n. 22), 224–45; Van Noorden, H., Playing Hesiod. The ‘Myth of Races’ in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge, 2015), 168–203 Google Scholar (also 14 on ‘cross-referencing and fusion’ of Hesiod's works in reception). On Empedocles, see Gee (n. 19), 22–35; Faulkner (n. 22), 83–5.
25 On Aratus' Dike as Muse, see Gee (n. 19), 33–4.
26 For the four elements or ‘roots’, see fr. 12 Inwood, B., The Poem of Empedocles, revised edition (Toronto, 2001)Google Scholar, and for the formation of men and gods from the roots fr. 25.54–6 (with commentary on pp. 77–8). For Empedocles' golden race, see frs. 122 and 123, where Cypris is queen (with commentary on pp. 63–4).
27 Cf. PGM, Hymn 1.14 (P XII 244–52 Preisendanz, fourth century ad).
28 Simplicius, a principal witness of Empedocles, certainly had access to much of his poetry in the sixth century ad. For imperial poetic reception of Empedocles in the context of the myth of races, see Oppian Hal. 2.664–88, who inventively has Dike return to consort with men under the peace of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. He perhaps echoes and inverts Empedocles' fr. 122. 1 Inwood (2001) οὐδέ τις ἦν κείνοισιν Ἄρης θεὸς οὐδὲ Κυδοιμὸς (‘They had no god Ares or Battle-Din’) with οὐ γάρ τι πάλαι πρέσβειρα θεάων / οὐδε μετὰ θνητοῖσιν ἔχε θρόνον, ἀλλὰ κυδοιμοί / δυσκέλαδοι καὶ θοῦρος Ἄρης ϕθισήνορος ἄτης… (‘For not long before the venerable goddess [Justice] did not even have a throne among mortals, but noisy battle-din and rushing Ares of man-destroying calamity…’, 665–7); cf. Bartley, A. N., Stories from the Mountains, Stories from the Sea. The Digressions and Similes of Oppian's Halieutica and the Cynegetica (Göttingen, 2003), 45 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Although much earlier than Nonnus, P. Strasbourg gr. Inv. 1665–6, containing fragments of Empedocles' On Nature, is evidence that an edition of the philosopher was circulating as late as the first century ad in Panopolis. See Martin, P. and Primavesi, O., L'Empédocle de Strasbourg (P. Strasb. gr. Inv. 1665–1666). Introduction, édition, et commentaire (Berlin, 1999)Google Scholar; Inwood (n. 26); Janko, R. ‘Empedocles, On Nature I 233–364: A New Reconstruction of P. Strasb. Gr. Inv. 1665–6’, ZPE 150 (2004), 1–26 Google Scholar.
29 The evocation of Aratus' astral poem is also generally appropriate to the progression of the poem, as Aphrodite goes on to consult seven cosmic tablets which correspond to planets.