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This chapter considers how we might approach the intertextual relationship between two highly fragmentary texts, in this case Sophocles’ Judgement, a satyr play that dramatised the Judgement of Paris, and the epic Cypria in which that mythological episode featured. The exiguous textual remains of both works are taken as a prompt to consider intertextuality in its broader sense, namely the interrelationship of texts in ways that go beyond direct verbal allusion. The framework of possible worlds is employed to conceptualise the relationship between satyr drama and the world of epic and tragedy on which it draws, suggesting that the latter may be thought of as an actual world on which the alternative world of the former is predicated. Using this as a model of intertextuality allows us to examine the movements of the satyric plot as it opens up and closes down possibilities for radically alternative outcomes. In this reading of Judgement, we see Sophocles engaging with both the Cypria and that epic’s own intertextual network, with the satyrs acting paradoxically as both disruptors of the mythical tradition and a force that supports the story reaching its traditional conclusion.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the principal testimonia and fragments of Aristeas of Prokonnesos (archaic period), arranged as six extracts. His lost Arimaspeia, in three books of epic hexameters, told of his journey beyond the Black Sea in the company of Apollo and, some said, in the form of a bird or a disembodied soul. It took him to the Issedones, who told of peoples beyond them: the dangerous, one-eyed Arimaspoi, at war with gold-guarding griffins; the unreachable Hyperboreans, prominent in the mythical geography of the Greeks. The detailed chapter introduction examines Aristeas’ grounding in the Greek experience of the Black Sea, his wider importance across the colonial Greek world, including the far west, and his relationship to Pythagoreanism and Orphism in those parts. Scepticism about Aristeas developed much later; but he is best viewed as a respectable aristocrat from a respected polis (city-state).
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of testimonia and fragments of Hekataios of Miletos (late 6th–early 5th century BC), selected with a focus on geographical material and arranged as 111 extracts. The chapter introduction situates him within the context of the ‘Ionian Renaissance’, and identifies a determination to systematize the world and its place in the cosmos, as well as to rectify the mistakes of one’s predecessors. Characteristic of his two books is an interest in inland areas, not just coasts, and in a wide span of Europe and Asia–apparently based on personal observations–as well as a response to Homeric geography. His depth of coverage, as well as the choice of a clockwise ‘tour’ beginning in the western Mediterranean, were influential upon his successors.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the geographical testimonia and fragments of Mnaseas (active c.225–c.200 BC), arranged as 53 extracts. The chapter introduction reviews the evidence for his origin (Patara rather than Patrai) and date, and the structure of his geography (at least three books on Europe, followed by at least two on Asia and probably more than one on Africa or ‘Libye’). His work is characterized by a lively interest in mythology, including unique versions of some myths, to which he may have applied a rationalizing approach. The relative frequency with which he is cited suggests that his reputation was high.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of a geographically focused selection from the fragmentary writings of Eratosthenes of Kyrene (c.280–c.200 BC), arranged as 127 extracts. (Translations of passages from Strabo are adapted with permission from the work of D. W. Roller.) The chapter introduction emphasizes that the modern reception of Eratosthenes gives too much prominence to his measurement of the circumference of the Earth. Insofar as we can rely on the testimony of Strabo, our main source, a more important feature of his geographical work (which was only one part of a massive scientific and literary output) was the further elaboration of his predecessors’ notions of latitude and longitude. This he combined with descriptions of regions across the whole inhabited portion of the Earth, but based on topographical divisions rather than ethnic communities. A new map shows the key points in his division of western Asia into topographical units.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations relating to Menippos of Pergamon (active c.26/5 BC), comprising part of the surviving portion of the epitome (précis) made by Markianos (Chapter 34 of this volume) together with nine further testimonia and fragments. The chapter introduction reviews Menippos’ known Circumnavigation, which seems to have begun in the Black Sea and proceeded, untypically, anti-clockwise round the Mediterranean; his legacy in the work of Agathemeros (Chapter 29) and possibly Arrian (Chapter 27) and the Stadiasmos (Chapter 31); and our probable debt to him for first assembling the corpus of geographical texts which Markianos expanded.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the geographical testimonia and fragments of Eudoxos of Knidos (391/0–338/7 BC), arranged as 79 extracts. The chapter introduction identifies Eudoxos’ multiple areas of expertise and suggests that his original contribution lay particularly in the area of Earth measurement, including what may have been a novel concept of a central parallel of latitude for the inhabited portion of the globe. He did not follow Hekataios’ clockwise organization of material, and knew more about the eastern Mediterranean and adjacent lands than about other regions. Like Hekataios, however, he shows a lively interest in many aspects of human societies and history; he was perhaps aware of Airs, Waters, and Places (Chapter 5 of this volume). His text survived down to Byzantine times and was highly influential.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the principal testimonia and fragments of Skylax of Karyanda (late 6th century BC), arranged as fourteen extracts. Skylax, we are told by Herodotos, was recruited by King Darius of Persia to explore the Indus. The chapter introduction assesses recent studies that trace the echoes of his travel narrative in Philostratos’ Life of Apollonios (3rd century AD) and suggest that Skylax descended the Ganges to the east coast of India, perhaps voyaging as far as Taprobane (Sri Lanka). A specially drawn map indicates the area within which he most likely travelled.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments (mostly from Pliny the Elder) of various works by Augustus’ client king Juba II of Mauretania (active c.27 BC–AD 23/4), selected with a focus on geographical material. This is the first such collection of his geographical writings. The chapter introduction emphasizes his links with the former Ptolemaic dynasty through his queen, Kleopatra Selene (daughter of Mark Antony and Kleopatra VII), links which the royal couple kept up through iconography and patronage within their kingdom. Juba’s outstanding literary output can be seen as another reflection of this connexion, aimed at integrating Mauretania into the Greco-Roman cultural sphere and conferring distinction upon the kingdom. His geographical writing embodied travels and researches extending as far as Egypt and western Asia, and was based on a close appreciation of earlier writers including Agatharchides (Chapter 15 of this volume). His wide-ranging cultural and scientific interests are well represented in the extracts, particular highlights being the course of the Nile (believed to have its source within Mauretania), the fauna of the Canary Islands, and the discovery and naming of the plant family Euphorbiaceae, the spurges. A new map illustrates the range of Juba’s geographical interests, spanning the whole longitudinal range of the Roman empire south of the Mediterranean.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of the geographical writings of the philosopher Dikaiarchos of Messana (late 4th BC), arranged into 15 extracts. The chapter introduction identifies his innovative focus upon physical geography. A new map illustrates Dikaiarchos’ concept of a central parallel of latitude bisecting the inhabited portion of the world; in devising this, he may have been building upon Eudoxos of Knidos (Chapter 6 of this volume). He may have pioneered the measurement of the heights of mountains using triangulation, and the use of noonday shadows to estimate the circumference of the Earth, a technique which Eratosthenes famously took further (Chapter 12) and which in effect adopts the concept of a meridian of longitude.
This chapter presents a new, annotated translation (approximating English pentameters) of the anonymous iambic poem sometimes called (without any evidence) ‘Pseudo-Skymnos’ but here ‘the Nikomedean Periodos’ (127/6–74 BC). The surviving, first part of the poem, whose ‘journey’ is arranged clockwise from the western Mediterranean, takes us a little way into the Black Sea. For the next part, dealing with the Black Sea, we have 38 fragments, all but one of which are from the Pseudo-Arrianic Circumnavigation of the Black Sea (Chapter 36 of this volume). Of the remainder we have no trace. The chapter introduction revisits the controversy about the identity of the poem’s author: possibly Apollodoros of Athens, though that suggestion is less secure than has been thought (despite the claimed reading of Apollodoros’ name in a damaged passage of the manuscript); possibly the otherwise unknown Pausanias of Damascus (if he existed). The poem, dedicated to a king Nikomedes of Bithynia, displays the influence of Ephoros and Eratosthenes, as well as responding to Homer. Though innovative, the work had little influence (though the late antique Euxine, Chapter 36 below, repeatedly quotes from it) but remains an important source for scholars investigating Greek colonial foundations in the West. A new map indicates the ‘route’ followed in the poem.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of Hipparchos of Nikaia (active 162–128 BC), arranged as 46 extracts. The chapter introduction reviews Hipparchos’ wide-ranging and original achievements in mathematics, astronomy, and climatology, his rigorous (but occasionally over-sceptical) criticisms of Eratosthenes’ geographical work, and his development of superior models of climatic zones and latitude. Though not a geographer as such, his advances in the mathematical underpinnings of geography were influential.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of the much-travelled Poseidonios of Apameia (c.135–c.51 BC), selected for their geographical content and arranged as 75 extracts. (Translations of passages of Strabo are adapted with permission from the work of D. W. Roller, and a lengthy passage of Priscianus Lydus from the translation by I. G. Kidd.) The chapter introduction notes the bias introduced into our understanding of Poseidonios’ geography by the particular interests of Strabo and Athenaios, the commonest sources of extracts; and demonstrates Poseidonios’ achievement in integrating cosmology, philosophy, and geographical thought. Prominent advances made by his writing are in areas such as the tides, climatic zones, and the interaction of humankind with the natural environment.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the scanty testimonia and fragments of Skymnos of Chios (early 2nd century BC), arranged as eight extracts. The introduction reviews his outputs: works on Europe and Asia totalling at least 16 books, perhaps following an anti-clockwise sequence; possibly also on Libye (Africa). His work extends to Britain and the Black Sea, and evinces an interest in colonial origins, mythical geography, and botany. He has plausibly been identified with a known Skymnos of Chios alive in the 180s. His inclusion is justified because in the 17th century he was proposed as the poet of the Nikomedean Periodos (Chapter 17 of this volume), for which association there is, however, no manuscript evidence and which is impossible on chronological grounds.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of Timosthenes of Rhodes (active 282–246 BC), arranged as 37 extracts. An appendix contains a new translation of Aristotle’s discussion of the winds at Meteorologika, 2. 6. The chapter introduction addresses the difficulty of linking references to Timosthenes to the various book titles of which we have reports, but argues that we should not automatically divorce him from the Timosthenes who wrote about the Pythian Melody of Delphi. His distinctive contribution to geography was in assembling detailed navigational data, particularly specific local topography useful to ship-captains. Typically of literary writers, however, he enlivened his technical material with information about local cultures. His legacy was considerable, probably visible, for example, in the Roman-period Stadiasmos (Chapter 31 of this volume).
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of Pytheas of Massalia (active c.330–c.320 BC), arranged as 32 extracts. (Translations of passages from Strabo are adapted with permission from the work of D. W. Roller.) The chapter introduction observes the difficulty of assessing Pytheas accurately, given the dominance of Strabo’s testimony, to which alone we owe our knowledge of the criticisms of the Massaliote by Polybios, perhaps arising from class prejudice; but defends his reputation, as recent scholarship has tended to do, and relates him to contemporary activity in Aristotle’s Peripatos (Lyceum). Although Pytheas owed much to earlier Massaliote voyagers, he is an important and original figure, particularly for his application of mathematical astronomy to questions of latitude and the tides. A new map shows the key points in his travels around northern Atlantic coasts and the British Isles, including the possible locations of Thule.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of the much-travelled Artemidoros of Ephesos (active 104–100 BC), arranged as 167 extracts. (Translations of passages from Strabo are adapted with permission from the work of D. W. Roller.) This is the first complete collection of the remains of Artemidoros’ geographical writing since the mid-19th century. Extract 167 is a new translation of the so-called Artemidoros Papyrus of early Roman date, which probably preserves a damaged passage from his description of Iberia, but whose authenticity has been challenged (unconvincingly, in the present writer’s view). An appendix contains, for completeness’ sake, the so-called Munich fragment on the Nile, preserved in a 16th-century manuscript but no longer attributed to Artemidoros. The chapter introduction restores Artemidoros to his leading position among Hellenistic geographers, reflected in the frequency of citations by later writers; and argues that the distances within Iberia reported in the Papyrus are related to measurements in Roman miles. A new map shows the Iberian places mentioned in the Papyrus.
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the surviving passage of Isidoros of Charax’s Parthian Stations (written around AD 1–14), together with testimonia and fragments (mostly from Pliny the Elder) arranged as 21 extracts. The chapter introduction shows that Isidoros’ geographical work on the far east of the Roman world, commissioned by Augustus, was far more wide-ranging that the short text we have, which lists stathmoi (stations, stopping-points) within Parthia alone. Partly based upon Artemidoros, it is ‘the only surviving example in Greek of a type of record commonly found in Latin’. New maps show the western and eastern halves of this part of Isidoros’ itinerary, spanning from Mesopotamia to eastern Afghanistan.
This paper considers the various approaches one might take to commenting on a text as fragmentary as the Annals. I begin with some general remarks about fragments and look at their specific implications for Ennius. I then focus on some details from the two English language commentaries on the Annals to date, those of Otto Skutsch and his precursor, Ethel Mary Steuart. Comparing sample notes and larger structures in the two commentaries, showing how both commentators were seduced – to varying degrees – by a desire for completeness and copia, and how the poems that emerge from these commentaries differ. Though Steuart was rigorously trained in the same basic stable as Skutsch, her work is too far inferior – in accuracy and in sophistication of methodology – to his and to other available editions of the Annals to stand up against them. But it is also the work of a learned scholar with a different voice and a heterodox vision of the poem, a useful presence in a world where Skutsch’s Ennius may no longer be our Ennius.
The fourteen papers in this volume take advantage of advances in the study of Ennius’ Annales that have occurred in the generation since Otto Skutsch published his monumental edition and commentary on the poem, while also taking advantage of Jackie Elliott's recent provocation to question the most basic assumptions that underlie Skutsch’s work. The result is a collection of essays as diverse in their individual interests and objectives as we believe Ennius and his Annals also were. The essays are organized under four rubrics, namely (1)Innovation, (2) Authority, (3) Influence, and (4) Interpretation. An afterword reflects on the findings of the volume as a whole, with equal emphasis on new questions that the individual papers raise and on solutions that they propose, while raising additional points that should provoke further research.
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