Epiphanies and Dreams in Greek Polytheism: Textual Genres and 'Reality' from Homer to Heliodorus PDF
Preview Epiphanies and Dreams in Greek Polytheism: Textual Genres and 'Reality' from Homer to Heliodorus
Michael Lipka Epiphanies and Dreams in Greek Polytheism MythosEikonPoiesis Herausgegeben von Anton Bierl Wissenschaftlicher Beirat: Gregory Nagy, Richard Martin Band 13 Michael Lipka Epiphanies and Dreams in Greek Polytheism Textual Genres and ‘Reality’ from Homer to Heliodorus ISBN 978-3-11-063636-9 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-063885-1 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-063916-2 ISSN 1868-5080 Library of Congress Control Number: 2021943148 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com To the ASCSA and BSA, most generous institutions of serene scholarship, and to their beautifulgardens. Foreword and Acknowledgements Thisbookistheslowlyripeningfruitofmyfascinationwiththerepresentationof communicatinggods in ancient Greek polytheism.Over more than a decade, it hasbenefitedfromthegenerousadviceofmanyscholarswhohavecommented ondifferentversionsofindividualchaptersatdifferenttimes:LuciaAthanassaki, Ewen Bowie, Frederick Brenk, John Dillon, Nanno Marinatos, Donald Mastro- narde,JohnMikalson,RobertParker,ChristopherPelling,SpyridonRangos,An- toniosRengakos,JörgRüpke,andBerndSeidenstickerarethosewhomIstillre- call.Iwholeheartedlythankthem˗andotherswhocontributedtothebook˗for their time and their instructive criticism. Two scholars in particular facilitated the publication of this book. Georgia Petridou,the(initiallyanonymous)reviewer,putatmydisposalherprofoundex- pertise and even greater generosity in sponsoring an approach that responded critically to ˗rather than continuing˗ her own contributions to the field. Even more,ImustthankAntonBierl,editorofMEP,whostoodbythebookunreserv- edly,devotedmuchtimetoscholarlyandeditorialdiscussions,wasalwaysreli- able, efficient, available and quick in his judicious responses, in a word, a πα- ράδειγμα φιλίας. As for the more technical aspects of the completed version of the book, Katharina Legutke, acquisitions editor of classical studies at DeGruyter, as wellasAnneHillerandUllaSchmidt,bothresponsiblefortheproductionproc- ess,sawthetextthroughthepressinaprofessional,unbureaucratic,andalways good-humored mood. In particular,Ulla Schmidt was extremely generous with hertimeandheracumen,inensuringtheswiftandaccuraterealizationofhun- dredsofcorrectionsinthenumerousproofs.Besides,BrianMcNeilcheckedthe English(andtherebyalsoitscontents).Brian’sastonishingefficiencyinreading throughlargeamountsoftextswithincrediblespeedandstillpainstakingatten- tiontodetailisonlymatchedbyhisevengreaterkindnessofreadingsimilarver- sionsagainandagain.Still,intermsofpatiencenoonecouldpossiblymatchmy wife, Elena,who for yet another decade bore my quirks and long absences in Athens with her characteristic stoic and caring resilience. Ihavetriedtoincluderelevantbibliographyuntil2020,withadeliberateem- phasis on more recent publications. But while Ithereby try to be as up˗to˗date andbalancedaspossible,Irefrainfromheapingupbibliographyforthebibliog- raphy’s sake.Given that the book covers a millennium of textual production in morethanadozengenres,noonewillexpecttofindafulldiscussionofallrel- evant approaches that scholars in the past have taken to individual issues. In- stead, I will give precedence to my own argument and respond primarily to https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110638851-001 VIII ForewordandAcknowledgements thoseapproacheswhicheitherreinforceoropposeit.AlthoughIhavetriedhard to read and sift most relevant bibliography, I am aware that, inevitably, I will havemissedsomeimportantcontributions.Still,despitethetruismthatthebib- liographyisenormous,letitbesaidthatomissiondoesnotautomaticallyimply ignoranceonmypart.Relevanceandfocusremaindebatablematters,especially when dealing with such an enormous bulk of textual material. My translations are mostly adaptations from existing translations or new translationsfromscratch.Preferably,duetoavailability,Irelyonthemostrecent Loebtranslations.Asfortranscriptionsofpropernames,Iprioritizelucidityover consistency.Thesameholdstrueofmyabbreviationsofancientsources.Mostof them are based on the 9th edition of Liddell & Scott (1940),while some follow the fourth edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary (2012); others are my own. I generally adhere to Latin or English,when referring to work titles, but in the caseoffragments,InormallyofferatranscriptionoftheGreektitles(withoutdi- acritics) because such aprocedure facilitates identification better than translat- ing the Greek title into Latin or English. Asforthenumberingoffragments,inthosecasesinwhichIfollowstandard editionssuchasPCGandTrGF,Idonotmarkthesourceeditionspecifically.For reasonsofconvenience(althoughnotsystematically),Isometimesrefertheread- er to the Loeb translations of dramatic fragments. Here,the introduction to the relevant plays is often very useful to get a quick idea of the highly conjectural contextsorcontents.WhereIquotefragmentsaccordingtolessstandardizedcol- lections, I mark the source by the surname of the editor,whose edition I use. Like its three precursors,this book was written on the second floor of the Davis Wing of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (= ASCSA), intheByzantineRoomoftheBritishSchoolatAthens(=BSA),andinthebeau- tifulgardensthatsurroundthem.Itiswithprofoundandlong˗overduegratitude that I dedicate it to these timeless havens of scholarlycontemplation. Contents Introduction 1 Epic 25 Iliad and Odyssey: Epiphanies 25 Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica: Epiphanies 33 Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica: Epiphanies 35 Iliad and Odyssey: Dreams 39 Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica: Dreams 43 Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica: Dreams 44 Comparative Aspects and Reality 46 Narrative Hymns 51 Disguised Gods 54 Undisguised Gods 56 Hymnic Parody: The Homeric Hymn to Hermes (4) 60 Narrative Hymns and Cult 63 Didactic Poetry 69 Hesiod’s Theogony 69 Parmenides 70 Callimachus’ Aetia 72 Sappho’s Lyric 75 Drama 79 Introducing the Plot 83 Concluding the Plot 91 Reversal Epiphanies 98 Fully Emplotted Epiphanies 100 Dionysus: Deus Praesentissimus 107 Zeus: Deus Absentissimus 120 Dreams in Drama 128 Historiography 137 Pre˗Imperial Period: Epiphanies 138 Imperial Period: Epiphanies 148 Dreams 151 Historical Biography 157 Epiphanies 158 X Contents Epiphanic Daimons 160 Dreams 162 Periegesis 165 Epiphanies 165 Dreams 169 Autobiography 173 Epigraphic Genres 181 Public Inscriptions 182 Private Inscriptions 196 Erotic Novel 203 Epiphanies 204 Dreams 207 Epiphanic Ecphrases 212 Epiphanization of Mortals 214 Homeric Imitations 216 Medical and Philosophical Treatises on Dreams 219 Neoplatonic Treatises 227 Plotinus 228 Iamblichus 229 Magical Recipes 233 ‘Mithras Liturgy’ 236 Conclusions 247 Generic Patterns 247 Reality and ‘Epiphany˗Mindedness’ 248 Epiphanies in the Lifeworld and Intentional Reality 249 Dreams in the Lifeworld and Intentional Reality 252 Divine Fiction Versus Piety and Religion? The Question of ‘Aetiologies’ 254 Bibliography 257 General Index 287 Index of Ancient Sources 299
The list of books you might like
