N. J. Sewell‐Rutter
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199227334
- eISBN:
- 9780191711152
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227334.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter considers some manifestations of inherited guilt, curses, and Erinyes in Sophocles, paying particular attention to his three Theban plays and his one Pelopid play, the Electra. Sophocles ...
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This chapter considers some manifestations of inherited guilt, curses, and Erinyes in Sophocles, paying particular attention to his three Theban plays and his one Pelopid play, the Electra. Sophocles is treated separately because he is a special case in the relevant respects. Aeschylus and Euripides, for all their differences, seem in interesting ways to stand rather closer to one another than either does to Sophocles. It is argued that Sophocles does not share the Aeschylean preoccupation with doubly motivated action and its bearing on mortal decisions. At the same time, he is no less concerned than his two counterparts with familial dysfunction and with supernatural causation. It is simply that his concern with these concepts is handled differentlyLess
This chapter considers some manifestations of inherited guilt, curses, and Erinyes in Sophocles, paying particular attention to his three Theban plays and his one Pelopid play, the Electra. Sophocles is treated separately because he is a special case in the relevant respects. Aeschylus and Euripides, for all their differences, seem in interesting ways to stand rather closer to one another than either does to Sophocles. It is argued that Sophocles does not share the Aeschylean preoccupation with doubly motivated action and its bearing on mortal decisions. At the same time, he is no less concerned than his two counterparts with familial dysfunction and with supernatural causation. It is simply that his concern with these concepts is handled differently
Bridget Martin (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781789621501
- eISBN:
- 9781800341371
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789621501.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book examines harmful interaction between the living and the dead in fifth-century BC Greek tragedy, i.e. how the living can harm the dead, and how the dead can harm the living in return. ...
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This book examines harmful interaction between the living and the dead in fifth-century BC Greek tragedy, i.e. how the living can harm the dead, and how the dead can harm the living in return. Tragedy contains some of the most fascinating and important stage-ghosts in Western literature, whether the talkative Persian king Darius, who is evoked from the Underworld in Aeschylus’ Persians, or the murdered Trojan prince Polydorus, who seeks burial for his exposed corpse in Euripides’ Hecuba. These manifest figures can tell us a vast amount about the abilities of the tragic dead, particularly in relation to the nature, extent and limitations of their interaction with the living through, for example, ghost-raising ceremonies and dreams. Beyond these manifest dead, tragedy presents a wealth of invisible dead whose anger and desire for revenge bubble up from the Underworld, and whose honour and dishonour occupy the minds and influence the actions of the living. Combining both these manifest and invisible dead, this book delves into the possibility of harmful interaction between the living and the dead. This includes discussions on the extent to which the dead are aware of and can react to honourable or dishonourable treatment by the living, the social stratification of the Underworld, the consequences of corpse exposure and mutilation for both the living and the dead, and how the dead can use and collaborate with avenging agents, such as the gods, the living and the Erinyes.Less
This book examines harmful interaction between the living and the dead in fifth-century BC Greek tragedy, i.e. how the living can harm the dead, and how the dead can harm the living in return. Tragedy contains some of the most fascinating and important stage-ghosts in Western literature, whether the talkative Persian king Darius, who is evoked from the Underworld in Aeschylus’ Persians, or the murdered Trojan prince Polydorus, who seeks burial for his exposed corpse in Euripides’ Hecuba. These manifest figures can tell us a vast amount about the abilities of the tragic dead, particularly in relation to the nature, extent and limitations of their interaction with the living through, for example, ghost-raising ceremonies and dreams. Beyond these manifest dead, tragedy presents a wealth of invisible dead whose anger and desire for revenge bubble up from the Underworld, and whose honour and dishonour occupy the minds and influence the actions of the living. Combining both these manifest and invisible dead, this book delves into the possibility of harmful interaction between the living and the dead. This includes discussions on the extent to which the dead are aware of and can react to honourable or dishonourable treatment by the living, the social stratification of the Underworld, the consequences of corpse exposure and mutilation for both the living and the dead, and how the dead can use and collaborate with avenging agents, such as the gods, the living and the Erinyes.
Edith Hall
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474414098
- eISBN:
- 9781474449502
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474414098.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter focuses on the literary depictions of the Erinyes as personifications of revenge in order to draw conclusions about the gendering of revenge in ancient Greek thought. It asks why the ...
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This chapter focuses on the literary depictions of the Erinyes as personifications of revenge in order to draw conclusions about the gendering of revenge in ancient Greek thought. It asks why the Greeks envisaged the supernatural agents of punishment as female, when acts of blood revenge were typically enacted by men against other men to preserve their honour and attack their enemies. Demonstrating how Erinyes’ gender derives from a variety of sources, including their association with chthonic, thanatological and maternal forces and their links to other mythological figures (such as the Gorgons and Harpies), the chapter argues that the furies should in fact be regarded as ‘transgender’.Less
This chapter focuses on the literary depictions of the Erinyes as personifications of revenge in order to draw conclusions about the gendering of revenge in ancient Greek thought. It asks why the Greeks envisaged the supernatural agents of punishment as female, when acts of blood revenge were typically enacted by men against other men to preserve their honour and attack their enemies. Demonstrating how Erinyes’ gender derives from a variety of sources, including their association with chthonic, thanatological and maternal forces and their links to other mythological figures (such as the Gorgons and Harpies), the chapter argues that the furies should in fact be regarded as ‘transgender’.
Sarah Iles Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520217072
- eISBN:
- 9780520922310
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217072.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
During the archaic and classical periods, Greek ideas about the dead evolved in response to changing social and cultural conditions—most notably changes associated with the development of the polis, ...
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During the archaic and classical periods, Greek ideas about the dead evolved in response to changing social and cultural conditions—most notably changes associated with the development of the polis, such as funerary legislation, and changes due to increased contacts with cultures of the ancient Near East. In Restless Dead, Sarah Iles Johnston presents and interprets these changes, using them to build a complex picture of the way in which the society of the dead reflected that of the living, expressing and defusing its tensions, reiterating its values and eventually becoming a source of significant power for those who knew how to control it. She draws on both well-known sources, such as Athenian tragedies, and newer texts, such as the Derveni Papyrus and an important sacred law from Selinous. Topics of focus include the origin of the goes (the ritual practitioner who made interaction with the dead his specialty), the threat to the living presented by the ghosts of those who died dishonorably or prematurely, the development of Hecate into a mistress of ghosts and her connection to female initiation rites, and the complex nature of the Erinyes, goddesses who punished the living on behalf of the dead. Restless Dead culminates with a new reading of Aeschylus’ Oresteia that emphasizes how Athenian myth and cult manipulated ideas about the dead to serve political and social ends.Less
During the archaic and classical periods, Greek ideas about the dead evolved in response to changing social and cultural conditions—most notably changes associated with the development of the polis, such as funerary legislation, and changes due to increased contacts with cultures of the ancient Near East. In Restless Dead, Sarah Iles Johnston presents and interprets these changes, using them to build a complex picture of the way in which the society of the dead reflected that of the living, expressing and defusing its tensions, reiterating its values and eventually becoming a source of significant power for those who knew how to control it. She draws on both well-known sources, such as Athenian tragedies, and newer texts, such as the Derveni Papyrus and an important sacred law from Selinous. Topics of focus include the origin of the goes (the ritual practitioner who made interaction with the dead his specialty), the threat to the living presented by the ghosts of those who died dishonorably or prematurely, the development of Hecate into a mistress of ghosts and her connection to female initiation rites, and the complex nature of the Erinyes, goddesses who punished the living on behalf of the dead. Restless Dead culminates with a new reading of Aeschylus’ Oresteia that emphasizes how Athenian myth and cult manipulated ideas about the dead to serve political and social ends.
Bridget Martin
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781789621501
- eISBN:
- 9781800341371
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789621501.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter considers the extent to which the tragic dead are capable of harming the living by examining both the autonomous actions of the dead and the agentive relationships they form with the ...
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This chapter considers the extent to which the tragic dead are capable of harming the living by examining both the autonomous actions of the dead and the agentive relationships they form with the gods, the Erinyes and the living in pursuit of revenge in the world of the living. This chapter is constructed around case studies, the two most important being the agentive relationships between dead Agamemnon and his son Orestes in Aeschylus’ Choephori, and between dead Achilles and the Greek army in Euripides’ Hecuba. This chapter emphasises the active role of the dead in the pursuit of revenge and their ultimate inability to enact such revenge autonomously or to retain control over its unfolding in cases of agentive action.Less
This chapter considers the extent to which the tragic dead are capable of harming the living by examining both the autonomous actions of the dead and the agentive relationships they form with the gods, the Erinyes and the living in pursuit of revenge in the world of the living. This chapter is constructed around case studies, the two most important being the agentive relationships between dead Agamemnon and his son Orestes in Aeschylus’ Choephori, and between dead Achilles and the Greek army in Euripides’ Hecuba. This chapter emphasises the active role of the dead in the pursuit of revenge and their ultimate inability to enact such revenge autonomously or to retain control over its unfolding in cases of agentive action.
Sarah Iles Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520217072
- eISBN:
- 9780520922310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217072.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
A look at information concerning what happened to the souls of those who died too young, who died violently, or whose bodies were left unburied; how they might suffer in the afterlife and ...
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A look at information concerning what happened to the souls of those who died too young, who died violently, or whose bodies were left unburied; how they might suffer in the afterlife and consequently avenge themselves against the living who were responsible for their plight. Also treated is information about how the living might protect themselves against these dangerous ghosts, especially when they were embarking on initiation into mystery cults, and the role of ritual experts in such protection. Included is discussion of the Derveni Papyrus, the mysterious demon named Empousa, further discussion of Hecate and a first discussion of the Erinyes. Maschalismos—dismemberment of a corpse in order to hamper its ghost—is also treated.Less
A look at information concerning what happened to the souls of those who died too young, who died violently, or whose bodies were left unburied; how they might suffer in the afterlife and consequently avenge themselves against the living who were responsible for their plight. Also treated is information about how the living might protect themselves against these dangerous ghosts, especially when they were embarking on initiation into mystery cults, and the role of ritual experts in such protection. Included is discussion of the Derveni Papyrus, the mysterious demon named Empousa, further discussion of Hecate and a first discussion of the Erinyes. Maschalismos—dismemberment of a corpse in order to hamper its ghost—is also treated.
Sarah Iles Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520217072
- eISBN:
- 9780520922310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217072.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
The first part of this chapter begins with a review of Hecate’s appearances in texts and archaeological finds, treating the goddess Enodia—who was often identified with Hecate—as well. It argues that ...
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The first part of this chapter begins with a review of Hecate’s appearances in texts and archaeological finds, treating the goddess Enodia—who was often identified with Hecate—as well. It argues that from the start, these goddesses were both boundary protectors, worshipped at the door or gate in order to keep ills such as demons and sickness out of houses or cities, and goddesses expected to help during birth. Hecate and Enodia were also concerned with the transitions of girls into successful female adulthood. The second part of the chapter reviews a number of rituals and myths connected with female maturation, in which unsuccessful females die and become demonic entities who persecute other girls during their transition to adulthood. A myth about Iphigenia turning into Hecate after her early death is one articulation of this pattern, as are stories connected with Helen and some lesser-known heroines. The connection between Hecate and Artemis (who was also a goddess charged with protecting girls until maturity) is examined in this light as well.Less
The first part of this chapter begins with a review of Hecate’s appearances in texts and archaeological finds, treating the goddess Enodia—who was often identified with Hecate—as well. It argues that from the start, these goddesses were both boundary protectors, worshipped at the door or gate in order to keep ills such as demons and sickness out of houses or cities, and goddesses expected to help during birth. Hecate and Enodia were also concerned with the transitions of girls into successful female adulthood. The second part of the chapter reviews a number of rituals and myths connected with female maturation, in which unsuccessful females die and become demonic entities who persecute other girls during their transition to adulthood. A myth about Iphigenia turning into Hecate after her early death is one articulation of this pattern, as are stories connected with Helen and some lesser-known heroines. The connection between Hecate and Artemis (who was also a goddess charged with protecting girls until maturity) is examined in this light as well.
Sarah Iles Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520217072
- eISBN:
- 9780520922310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217072.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter looks closely at the Erinyes and two related groups of goddesses, the Eumenides and the Semnai Theai, and at the relationship between the goddess Erinys and Demeter. The Erinyes acted on ...
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This chapter looks closely at the Erinyes and two related groups of goddesses, the Eumenides and the Semnai Theai, and at the relationship between the goddess Erinys and Demeter. The Erinyes acted on behalf of dead souls who were angry at the living, especially blood kin who had mistreated those souls, and also punished souls who deserved it after death. The role that the ritual practitioner Epimenides played in simultaneously quieting the restless dead after the Cylonian affair and establishing cult to the Semnai Theai is examined in this light. The chapter ends with a close reading of the end of Aeschylus’ Eumenides, arguing that it offers a new myth about the origin of the Athenian court system on the Areopagus, in which Athena plays the role of a goês, quieting the Erinyes who are angry on behalf of Clytemnestra’s ghost, and thus reiterating the new importance, in the fifth century, of maintaining good relationships between the living and the dead.Less
This chapter looks closely at the Erinyes and two related groups of goddesses, the Eumenides and the Semnai Theai, and at the relationship between the goddess Erinys and Demeter. The Erinyes acted on behalf of dead souls who were angry at the living, especially blood kin who had mistreated those souls, and also punished souls who deserved it after death. The role that the ritual practitioner Epimenides played in simultaneously quieting the restless dead after the Cylonian affair and establishing cult to the Semnai Theai is examined in this light. The chapter ends with a close reading of the end of Aeschylus’ Eumenides, arguing that it offers a new myth about the origin of the Athenian court system on the Areopagus, in which Athena plays the role of a goês, quieting the Erinyes who are angry on behalf of Clytemnestra’s ghost, and thus reiterating the new importance, in the fifth century, of maintaining good relationships between the living and the dead.
Daniel Ogden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199557325
- eISBN:
- 9780191745997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557325.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Archaeology: Classical
Chapter 7 considers the general associations of drakontes with the earth, the underworld and underworld powers, notably Hecate and the Erinyes. Of particular interest is the propensity of the ...
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Chapter 7 considers the general associations of drakontes with the earth, the underworld and underworld powers, notably Hecate and the Erinyes. Of particular interest is the propensity of the returning heroic dead to turn into the drakontes that move from beneath the earth to the surface and make themselves anew. Attica, ever proud of the autochthonous origins of its population, boasted a suite of foundational and protective anguiform heroes in Cecrops, Ericthonius, Cychreus and, as we contend, the lawgiver Drakōn. The following pair of chapters turns to the group of kindly anguiform deities that seemingly rises to prominence, at any rate qua anguiforms, and seemingly as a phalanx, in the late fifth century BC.Less
Chapter 7 considers the general associations of drakontes with the earth, the underworld and underworld powers, notably Hecate and the Erinyes. Of particular interest is the propensity of the returning heroic dead to turn into the drakontes that move from beneath the earth to the surface and make themselves anew. Attica, ever proud of the autochthonous origins of its population, boasted a suite of foundational and protective anguiform heroes in Cecrops, Ericthonius, Cychreus and, as we contend, the lawgiver Drakōn. The following pair of chapters turns to the group of kindly anguiform deities that seemingly rises to prominence, at any rate qua anguiforms, and seemingly as a phalanx, in the late fifth century BC.
Judith Fletcher
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781904675679
- eISBN:
- 9781781380581
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781904675679.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines the thematic role of oaths in Aeschylus's Oresteia and how oaths were related to the Erinyes (also known as Curses, and midwives to the oath-god Horkos). It also considers how a ...
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This chapter examines the thematic role of oaths in Aeschylus's Oresteia and how oaths were related to the Erinyes (also known as Curses, and midwives to the oath-god Horkos). It also considers how a series of flawed or failed oaths punctuates the action of the trilogy, eventually resulting in the establishment of the sworn tribunal of the Areopagus and giving rise to the sworn pledge of alliance offered by its first defendant, Orestes, to the Athenians of the future. The chapter discusses the recurrence of horkos throughout Oresteia, and also traces how the interconnection and evolution of oaths give meaning to the tragic events of the house of Atreus.Less
This chapter examines the thematic role of oaths in Aeschylus's Oresteia and how oaths were related to the Erinyes (also known as Curses, and midwives to the oath-god Horkos). It also considers how a series of flawed or failed oaths punctuates the action of the trilogy, eventually resulting in the establishment of the sworn tribunal of the Areopagus and giving rise to the sworn pledge of alliance offered by its first defendant, Orestes, to the Athenians of the future. The chapter discusses the recurrence of horkos throughout Oresteia, and also traces how the interconnection and evolution of oaths give meaning to the tragic events of the house of Atreus.
Daniel Ogden
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- August 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198830184
- eISBN:
- 9780191868542
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198830184.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
What was the significance of the term drakaina, the female-denoting reflex of the term drakōn? It is contended that, whilst the term could be applied merely to a creature that resembled a ...
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What was the significance of the term drakaina, the female-denoting reflex of the term drakōn? It is contended that, whilst the term could be applied merely to a creature that resembled a pure-serpent drakōn in all respects, save for being female, the concept it more typically evoked was that of a female anguipede, a creature with the lower half of a serpent and the upper half of a woman. Particular attention is given to the cases of the Echidna (in her various manifestations), Delphyne (the female reflex of the Delphic dragon), Harmonia, Hecate, the Erinyes, the Lamias (a complex case), and Campe. These female anguipedes, for all their numbers and their continuity, never seem to have occupied the centre-ground of Greek mythology, but ever to have been somewhat occluded. The greatest occlusion is in the visual realm: they have left very little impact on the iconographic record.Less
What was the significance of the term drakaina, the female-denoting reflex of the term drakōn? It is contended that, whilst the term could be applied merely to a creature that resembled a pure-serpent drakōn in all respects, save for being female, the concept it more typically evoked was that of a female anguipede, a creature with the lower half of a serpent and the upper half of a woman. Particular attention is given to the cases of the Echidna (in her various manifestations), Delphyne (the female reflex of the Delphic dragon), Harmonia, Hecate, the Erinyes, the Lamias (a complex case), and Campe. These female anguipedes, for all their numbers and their continuity, never seem to have occupied the centre-ground of Greek mythology, but ever to have been somewhat occluded. The greatest occlusion is in the visual realm: they have left very little impact on the iconographic record.
Eleftheria Ioannidou
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199664115
- eISBN:
- 9780191833380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199664115.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Chapter 2 examines plays that turn to Greek tragedy in response to collective predicament and catastrophe in the contemporary world. The discussion focuses on Steven Berkoff’s Greek, after Oedipus ...
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Chapter 2 examines plays that turn to Greek tragedy in response to collective predicament and catastrophe in the contemporary world. The discussion focuses on Steven Berkoff’s Greek, after Oedipus the King, Hélène Cixous’s La Ville parjure, ou le réveil des Erinyes (The Perjured City, or the Awakening of the Furies), and Martin Crimp’s Cruel and Tender, an adaptation of Sophocles’ The Women of Trachis. While in the first two examples the adaptation of tragic themes and patterns involves a critique of tragedy and its histories of reception, Crimp’s play challenges Western perceptions of tragedy in a more overt manner, resisting the polarizing discourses of tragedy reproduced by the mainstream media in the aftermath of 9/11. The rewriting of the Greek tragic texts in these plays provides a frame that challenges established definitions of tragedy and, at the same time, proposes a renewed more egalitarian understanding of tragedy.Less
Chapter 2 examines plays that turn to Greek tragedy in response to collective predicament and catastrophe in the contemporary world. The discussion focuses on Steven Berkoff’s Greek, after Oedipus the King, Hélène Cixous’s La Ville parjure, ou le réveil des Erinyes (The Perjured City, or the Awakening of the Furies), and Martin Crimp’s Cruel and Tender, an adaptation of Sophocles’ The Women of Trachis. While in the first two examples the adaptation of tragic themes and patterns involves a critique of tragedy and its histories of reception, Crimp’s play challenges Western perceptions of tragedy in a more overt manner, resisting the polarizing discourses of tragedy reproduced by the mainstream media in the aftermath of 9/11. The rewriting of the Greek tragic texts in these plays provides a frame that challenges established definitions of tragedy and, at the same time, proposes a renewed more egalitarian understanding of tragedy.
Dwayne A. Meisner
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190663520
- eISBN:
- 9780190663551
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190663520.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
After briefly describing the nature and provenance of the Derveni Papyrus (fourth century bc), this chapter introduces in the first section the Derveni author himself and his discussion of a ritual ...
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After briefly describing the nature and provenance of the Derveni Papyrus (fourth century bc), this chapter introduces in the first section the Derveni author himself and his discussion of a ritual in the first seven columns of the papyrus. The second section presents the Orphic poem that is the subject of the Derveni author’s commentary, through a detailed analysis of the poem and the attempts of modern scholars to reconstruct it. The third section argues that the central event of this poem’s narrative is Zeus and the act of swallowing, which has significant parallels in other Greek and Near Eastern myths. Whether Zeus swallows the phallus of Ouranos or the entire body of Phanes, this act of swallowing is the means by which he secures his position as king of the gods.Less
After briefly describing the nature and provenance of the Derveni Papyrus (fourth century bc), this chapter introduces in the first section the Derveni author himself and his discussion of a ritual in the first seven columns of the papyrus. The second section presents the Orphic poem that is the subject of the Derveni author’s commentary, through a detailed analysis of the poem and the attempts of modern scholars to reconstruct it. The third section argues that the central event of this poem’s narrative is Zeus and the act of swallowing, which has significant parallels in other Greek and Near Eastern myths. Whether Zeus swallows the phallus of Ouranos or the entire body of Phanes, this act of swallowing is the means by which he secures his position as king of the gods.