Cercopes
InGreek mythology,theCercopes/sərˈkoʊˌpiːz/(Greek:Κέρκωπες,plural of Κέρκωψ, from κέρκος (n.)kerkos"tail" )[1]were mischievous forest creatures who lived inThermopylaeor onEuboeabut roamed the world and might turn up anywhere mischief was afoot. They were two brothers, but their names are given variously:
- Passalus/ˈpæsələs/(Πάσσαλος) andAcmon/ˈækmən/(Ἄκμων)[2]orAclemon[3]
- Basalas/ˈbæsələs/(Βάσαλας) andAchemon/əˈkiːmən/(Ἄχημων)[citation needed]
- Olus/ˈoʊləs/(Ὤλος) andEurybatus/jəˈrɪbətəs/(Εὐρύβατος)[4]
- Candolus/ˌkænˈdoʊləs/(Κάνδωλος) andAtlantus/ətˈlæntəs/(Ἄτλαντος)[citation needed]
- Sillus/ˈsɪləs/(Σίλλος) andTriballus/trɪˈbæləs/(Τρίβαλλος)[5]
—depending on the context, but usually known as sons ofTheiaandOceanus,thus ancient spirits.
Mythology
[edit]They were proverbial as liars, cheats, and accomplished knaves.[6]They once stoleHeracles' weapons, during the time he was the penitent servant ofOmphaleinLydia.[7]He seized and bound them atEphesus[7]and punished them by tying them to ashoulder polehe slung over his shoulder with their faces pointing downwards, the only way they appear on Greek vases. Their mother, Theia, begged Heracles to let her sons go.[8]This particular myth is depicted on ametopeat Temple C atSelinus.According toPherecydes,the Cercopes were turned to stone.[9]
As monkeys
[edit]In another myth,[10]designed to explain their name ( "tail-men" in Greek),Zeuschanged the Cercopes intomonkeys.This story inspired modern zoologists to name the genus of monkeys depicted inMinoanfrescoes asCercopithecus.
Monkeys figure in four Minoan frescos atAkrotiri,most famously in the crocus-gathering Xeste 3 fresco, where the monkey's ritual aspect, attending an enthroned female, is interpreted byNanno Marinatosas servants of the divinity, acting as intermediary between humanity and the divine world.[11][12]Green monkeys appear in Crete itself in the "House of the Frescoes" atKnossos,[13]Monkeys are absent from Greek art. In Minoan art, it is assumed that they were exotic pets: "... the monkeys, which were imported to Crete, were pets that would have been placed where they could be seen and used by their owners, rather than simply abandoned in the countryside," concluded Shaw (1993).[14]When Greek mythographers attempted to account for the namePithecusae( “Ape Islands” ) given toIschiaandProcidaby theBay of Naples,where no monkeys had been seen within human memory, they were reduced to alleging that they must have been deceitful men whom Zeus punished by turning them into apes. When scholars attempted to account for this exotic image they have been forced to search farther afield:
The story of Herakles and the Cercopes has been interpreted as a reminiscence of Phoenician traders bringing apes to Greek markets. See O. Keller,Thiere des classischen Alterthums(Innsbruck, 1887), p. 1. The interpretation may perhaps be supported by an Assyrian bas-relief which represents a Herculean male figure carrying an ape on his head and leading another ape by a leash, the animals being apparently brought as tribute to a king. See O. Keller,op. cit.,p. 11, fig. 2.[15]
Clineidentified the monkey species in 1991[16]as guenons, orblue monkeys,which have bluish fur over their green skins. Scholars generally assume that the appearance of the blue monkey in Aegean iconography was due to the import of the actual animal from north Africa; they were iconic religious animals in Egypt
See also
[edit]Further references to theCercopescan be found by the following classical authors:
- Diodorus Siculus.Bibliotheca Historia.4.31.7.
- Nonnus.Westermann, A. (ed.).Mythographi Graeci.Appendix Narrationum, 39, p. 375.[full citation needed]
- Tzetzes, Johannes.Chiliades.ii.431, vv. 73 ff.[full citation needed]
- Zenobius.Cent. v. 10, Ovídio, Metamorphosis.book XIV, vv. 75–100.[full citation needed]
Citations
[edit]- ^CompareCecrops.
- ^Homerica, The Cercopes (from Suidas s.v. Kerkopes)
- ^Tzetz.Chil.v. 75.
- ^Suid.s. v.Eurubatos
- ^Schol.ad Lucian. Alex
- ^Lucian,Alexander the false prophet.
- ^abPseudo-Apollonius,Bibliothekeii.6.3.
- ^Sudias. Whitehead, David (ed.).Suda.Retrieved9 August2020.
- ^Frazer, James George(13 February 2016).The Library of Apollodorus.Delphi Classics. Footnote 176.ISBN9781786563712.
SeeScholiast on Lucian, Alexander 4,ed. H. Rabe.
- ^Smith, William, Sir, 1813-1893. (2000).A new classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography, mythology and geography: partly based upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology.Making of America.OCLC612127868.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^Marinatos, N. (1987). Hägg, R.; Marinatos, N. (eds.).The Function of the Minoan Palaces.Stockholm. pp. 124–130.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^Vanschoonwinkel, J."Animal Representations in Theran and Other Aegean Arts".Archived fromthe originalon 11 October 2008.gives a summary of the depiction of monkeys in Minoan and Theran art, with bibliographical references.
- ^Cameron, M.A.S. (1968). "Unpublished paintings from the 'House of Frescoes' at Knossos".BSA.63.pages 1–31 and figure 13.shows a restored image.[full citation needed]
- ^Shaw, Maria C. (October 1993). "The Aegean Garden".American Journal of Archaeology.97(4): 661–685, esp. 668–670.doi:10.2307/506717.JSTOR506717.
- ^Frazer, James George, Sir.Apollodorus, Library and Epitome.ii.6.3, note.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^Cline, E.H.(1991). "Monkey business in the Bronze Age Aegean: the Amenhotep II faience figurines at Mycenae and Tiryns".Annual of the British School at Athens.86:29–42.doi:10.1017/S0068245400014878.S2CID163960806.
References
[edit]- Graves, Robert,1955.The Greek Myths,section 136.c–d and references
- Probert Encyclopedia article on Cercopes
