Wedding of Ceyx
The "Wedding of Ceyx"(Ancient Greek:Κήυκος γάμος,Kḗykos gámos) is afragmentaryAncient Greekhexameterpoem that was attributed toHesiodduring antiquity. The poem did not only deal with the wedding of its titular protagonist, but alsoHeracles's actions.
Contents
[edit]The fragments that survive imply that the subject of the poem was not simply the wedding of a certainCeyx,butHeracles' arrival at, and involvement in, the festivities. For this reason Merkelbach andWestsuppose that the poem should be regarded "as a member of that group ofepicsandepylliathat dealt with exploits of Heracles, like theAspisand theCapture of Oechalia."[1]The identity of the Ceyx whose marriage was the titular scene of the poem has been a matter of dispute. Merkelbach and West initially identified him with theill-fated groomof the similarly ill-fatedAlcyone:they were turned into birds for thehubristhey showed in referring to one another as "Zeus"and"Hera".[2]Given the poem's apparent focus upon Heracles, however, it is more likely that thisCeyxwas actually the king ofTrachiswho was a nephew ofAmphitryon,the great hero's stepfather.[3]
The poem appears to have been popular for the witticisms and riddles uttered at the banquet. One famous riddle is preserved, although incompletely so, by apapyrusscrap and ancient quotations:
⌊αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δαιτὸς μὲν ἐίσης⌋ ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο |
then when they had put away their desire for equal banquet |
According to West, the "children" here are the flames whose mother would be wood. The "mother's mother" is the acorn, which is being roasted in the fire.[5]
Editions and translations
[edit]Critical editions
[edit]- Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1967),Fragmenta Hesiodea,Oxford,ISBN0-19-814171-8
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:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1990), "Fragmenta selecta", inF. Solmsen(ed.),Hesiodi Theogonia, Opera et Dies, Scutum(3rd rev. ed.), Oxford,ISBN0-19-814071-1
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Translations
[edit]- Most, G.W. (2006),Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia,Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 57, Cambridge, MA,ISBN978-0-674-99622-9
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has extra text (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Most, G.W.(2007),Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue, Other Fragments,Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 503, Cambridge, MA,ISBN978-0-674-99623-6
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Notes
[edit]- ^Merkelbach & West 1965,p. 302.
- ^Merkelbach & West 1965.
- ^D'Alessio 2005,pp. 183–5, 192–5.
- ^The translation is that ofMost 2007,p. 281.
- ^West 1961,pp. 142–45.
Bibliography
[edit]- Cingano, E. (2009), "The Hesiodic Corpus", in Montanari; Rengakos; Tsagalis (eds.), pp. 91–130
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(help). - D'Alessio, G.B. (2005), "TheMegalai Ehoiai:A Survey of the Fragments ", in R. Hunter (ed.),The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Constructions and Reconstructions,Cambridge, pp. 176–216,ISBN0-521-83684-0
{{citation}}
:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1965),"The Wedding of Ceyx"(PDF),Rheinisches Museum für Philologie,108:300–17.
- Montanari, F.; Rengakos, A.; Tsagalis, C. (2009),Brill's Companion to Hesiod,Leiden,ISBN978-90-04-17840-3
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:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Schwartz, J. (1960),Pseudo-Hesiodeia: recherches sur la composition, la diffusion et la disparition ancienne d'oeuvres attribuées à Hésiode,Leiden
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:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - West, M.L. (1961), "Hesiodea",The Classical Quarterly,11(3–4): 130–45,doi:10.1017/s0009838800015469,S2CID246875859.