hesiod, the homeric hymns, and homerica-第5章

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The　Ionic　School

The　Ionic　School　of　Epic　poetry　was；　as　we　have　seen；　dominated　by　the　Homeric　tradition；　and　while　the　style　and　method　of　treatment　are　Homeric；　it　is　natural　that　the　Ionic　poets　refrained　from　cultivating　the　ground　tilled　by　Homer；　and　chose　for　treatment　legends　which　lay　beyond　the　range　of　the　〃Iliad〃　and　〃Odyssey〃。　　Equally　natural　it　is　that　they　should　have　particularly　selected　various　phases　of　the　tale　of　Troy　which　preceded　or　followed　the　action　of　the　〃Iliad〃　or　〃Odyssey〃。　　In　this　way；　without　any　preconceived　intention；　a　body　of　epic　poetry　was　built　up　by　various　writers　which　covered　the　whole　Trojan　story。　　But　the　entire　range　of　heroic　legend　was　open　to　these　poets；　and　other　clusters　of　epics　grew　up　dealing　particularly　with　the　famous　story　of　Thebes；　while　others　dealt　with　the　beginnings　of　the　world　and　the　wars　of　heaven。　　In　the　end　there　existed　a　kind　of　epic　history　of　the　world；　as　known　to　the　Greeks；　down　to　the　death　of　Odysseus；　when　the　heroic　age　ended。　　In　the　Alexandrian　Age　these　poems　were　arranged　in　chronological　order；　apparently　by　Zenodotus　of　Ephesus；　at　the　beginning　of　the　3rd　century　B。C。　　At　a　later　time　the　term　〃Cycle〃；　‘round'　or　‘course'；　was　given　to　this　collection。

Of　all　this　mass　of　epic　poetry　only　the　scantiest　fragments　survive；　but　happily　Photius　has　preserved　to　us　an　abridgment　of　the　synopsis　made　of　each　poem　of　the　〃Trojan　Cycle〃　by　Proclus；　i。e。　Eutychius　Proclus　of　Sicca。

The　pre…Trojan　poems　of　the　Cycle　may　be　noticed　first。　　The　〃Titanomachy〃；　ascribed　both　to　Eumelus　of　Corinth　and　to　Arctinus　of　Miletus；　began　with　a　kind　of　Theogony　which　told　of　the　union　of　Heaven　and　Earth　and　of　their　offspring　the　Cyclopes　and　the　Hundred…handed　Giants。　　How　the　poem　proceeded　we　have　no　means　of　knowing；　but　we　may　suppose　that　in　character　it　was　not　unlike　the　short　account　of　the　Titan　War　found　in　the　Hesiodic　〃Theogony〃　（617　ff。）。

What　links　bound　the　〃Titanomachy〃　to　the　Theben　Cycle　is　not　clear。　　This　latter　group　was　formed　of　three　poems；　the　〃Story　of　Oedipus〃；　the　〃Thebais〃；　and　the　〃Epigoni〃。　　Of　the　〃Oedipodea〃　practically　nothing　is　known；　though　on　the　assurance　of　Athenaeus　（vii。　277　E）　that　Sophocles　followed　the　Epic　Cycle　closely　in　the　plots　of　his　plays；　we　may　suppose　that　in　outline　the　story　corresponded　closely　to　the　history　of　Oedipus　as　it　is　found　in　the　〃Oedipus　Tyrannus〃。　　The　〃Thebais〃　seems　to　have　begun　with　the　origin　of　the　fatal　quarrel　between　Eteocles　and　Polyneices　in　the　curse　called　down　upon　them　by　their　father　in　his　misery。　　The　story　was　thence　carried　down　to　the　end　of　the　expedition　under　Polyneices；　Adrastus　and　Amphiarus　against　Thebes。　　The　〃Epigoni〃　（ascribed　to　Antimachus　of　Teos）　recounted　the　expedition　of　the　‘After…Born'　against　Thebes；　and　the　sack　of　the　city。


The　Trojan　Cycle

Six　epics　with　the　〃Iliad〃　and　the　〃Odyssey〃　made　up　the　Trojan　Cycle　　The　〃Cyprian　Lays〃；　the　〃Iliad〃；　the　〃Aethiopis〃；　the　〃Little　Illiad〃；　the　〃Sack　of　Troy〃；　the　〃Returns〃；　the　〃Odyssey〃；　and　the　〃Telegony〃。

It　has　been　assumed　in　the　foregoing　pages　that　the　poems　of　the　Trojan　Cycle　are　later　than　the　Homeric　poems；　but；　as　the　opposite　view　has　been　held；　the　reasons　for　this　assumption　must　now　be　given。　　1）　Tradition　puts　Homer　and　the　Homeric　poems　proper　back　in　the　ages　before　chronological　history　began；　and　at　the　same　time　assigns　the　purely　Cyclic　poems　to　definite　authors　who　are　dated　from　the　first　Olympiad　（776　B。C。）　downwards。　　This　tradition　cannot　be　purely　arbitrary。　　2）　The　Cyclic　poets　（as　we　can　see　from　the　abstract　of　Proclus）　were　careful　not　to　trespass　upon　ground　already　occupied　by　Homer。　　Thus；　when　we　find　that　in　the　〃Returns〃　all　the　prominent　Greek　heroes　except　Odysseus　are　accounted　for；　we　are　forced　to　believe　that　the　author　of　this　poem　knew　the　〃Odyssey〃　and　judged　it　unnecessary　to　deal　in　full　with　that　hero's　adventures。　（12）　　In　a　word；　the　Cyclic　poems　are　‘written　round'　the　〃Iliad〃　and　the　〃Odyssey〃。　　3）　The　general　structure　of　these　epics　is　clearly　imitative。　　As　M。M。　Croiset　remark；　the　abusive　　Thersites　in　the　〃Aethiopis〃　is　clearly　copied　from　the　Thersites　of　the　〃Iliad〃；　in　the　same　poem　Antilochus；　slain　by　Memnon　and　avenged　by　Achilles；　is　obviously　modelled　on　Patroclus。　　4）　The　geographical　knowledge　of　a　poem　like　the　〃Returns〃　is　far　wider　and　more　precise　than　that　of　the　〃Odyssey〃。　　5）　Moreover；　in　the　Cyclic　poems　epic　is　clearly　degenerating　morally　　if　the　expression　may　be　used。　　The　chief　greatness　of　the　〃Iliad〃　is　in　the　character　of　the　heroes　Achilles　and　Hector　rather　than　in　the　actual　events　which　take　place：　in　the　Cyclic　writers　facts　rather　than　character　are　the　objects　of　interest；　and　events　are　so　packed　together　as　to　leave　no　space　for　any　exhibition　of　the　play　of　moral　forces。　　All　these　reasons　justify　the　view　that　　the　poems　with　which　we　now　have　to　deal　were　later　than　the　〃Iliad〃　and　〃Odyssey〃；　and　if　we　must　recognize　the　possibility　　of　some　conventionality　in　the　received　dating；　we　may　feel　　confident　that　it　is　at　least　approximately　just。

The　earliest　of　the　post…Homeric　epics　of　Troy　are　apparently　the　〃Aethiopis〃　and　the　〃Sack　of　Ilium〃；　both　ascribed　to　Arctinus　of　Miletus　who　is　said　to　have　flourished　in　the　first　Olympiad　（776　B。C。）。　　He　set　himself　to　finish　the　tale　of　Troy；　which；　so　far　as　events　were　concerned；　had　been　left　half…told　by　Homer；　by　tracing　the　course　of　events　after　the　close　of　the　〃Iliad〃。　　The　〃Aethiopis〃　thus　included　the　coming　of　the　Amazon　Penthesilea　to　help　the　Trojans　after　the　fall　of　Hector　and　her　death；　the　similar　arrival　and　fall　of　the　Aethiopian　Memnon；　the　death　of　Achilles　under　the　arrow　of　Paris；　and　the　dispute　between　Odysseus　and　Aias　for　the　arms　of　Achilles。　　The　〃Sack　of　Ilium〃　（13）　as　analysed　by　Proclus　was　very　similar　to　Vergil's　version　in　〃Aeneid〃　ii；　comprising　the　episodes　of　the　wooden　horse；　of　Laocoon；　of　Sinon；　the　return　of　the　Achaeans　from　Tenedos；　the　actual　Sack　of　Troy；　the　division　of　spoils　and　the　burning　of　the　city。

Lesches　or　Lescheos　（as　Pausanias　calls　him）　of　Pyrrha　or　Mitylene　is　dated　at　about　660　B。C。　　　In　his　〃Little　Iliad〃　he　undertook　to　elaborate　the　〃Sack〃　as　related　by　Arctinus。　　His　work　included　the　adjudgment　of　the　arms　of　Achilles　to　Odysseus；　the　madness　of　Aias；　the　bringing　of　Philoctetes　from　Lemnos　and　his　cure；　the　coming　to　the　war　of　Neoptolemus　who　slays　Eurypylus；　son　of　Telephus；　the　making　of　the　wooden　horse；　the　spying　of　Odysseus　and　his　theft；　along　with　Diomedes；　of　the　Palladium：　the　analysis　concludes　with　the　admission　of　the　wooden　horse　into　Troy　by　the　Trojans。　　It　is　known；　however　（Aristotle；　〃Poetics〃；　xxiii；　Pausanias；　x；　25…27）；　that　the　〃Little　Iliad〃　also　contained　a　description　of　the　sack　of　Troy。　　It　is　probable　that　this　and　other　superfluous　incidents　disappeared　after　the　Alexandrian　arrangement　of　the　poems　in　the　Cycle；　either　as　the　result　of　some　later　recension；　or　merely　through　disuse。　　Or　Proclus　may　have　thought　it　unnecessary　to　give　the　accounts　by　Lesches　and　Arctinus　of　the　same　incident。

The　〃Cyprian　Lays〃；　ascribed　to　Stasinus　of　Cyprus　（14）　（but　also　to　Hegesinus　of　Salamis）　was　designed　to　do　for　the　events　preceding　the　action　of　the　〃Iliad〃　what　Arctinus　had　done　for　the　later　phases　of　the　Trojan　War。　　The　〃Cypria〃　begins　with　the　first　causes　of　the　war；　the　purpose　of　Zeus　to　relieve　the　overburdened　earth；　the　apple　of　discord；　the　rape　of　Helen。　　Then　follow　the　incidents　connected　with　the　gathering　of　the　Achaeans　and　their　ultimate　landing　in　Troy；　and　the　story　of　the　war　is　detailed　up　to　the　quarrel　between　Achilles　and　Agamemnon　with　which　the　〃Iliad〃　begins。

These　four　poems　rounded　off　the　story　of　the　〃Iliad〃；　and　it　only　remained　to　connect　this　enlarged　version　with　the　〃Odyssey〃。　　This　was　done　by　means　of　the　〃Returns〃；　a　poem　in　five　books　ascribed　to　Agias　or　Hegias　of　Troezen；　which　begins　where　the　〃Sack　of　Troy〃　ends。　　It　told　of　the　dispute　between　Agamemnon　and　Menelaus；　the　departure　from　Troy　of　Menelaus；　the　fortunes　of　the　lesser　heroes；　the　return　and　tragic　death　of　Agamemnon；　and　the　venge