Aegimius (poem)

TheAegimius(Ancient Greek:Αἰγίμιος,Aigimios) is a fragmentaryAncient Greek epic poemthat was variously attributed toHesiodorCercops of Miletusduring antiquity.^[1]The "Aegimius"of the title was surely the son ofDorus,but the surviving fragments have nothing to do directly with this figure, and, despite his status astitle character,it cannot be inferred from the available evidence that the poem was primarily concerned with theDorianking.^[2]Instead other myths, such as those concerningIo,Theseus,and thegolden fleece,are found among the handful of fragments preserved in other ancient authors as quotations andparaphrases.^[1]

Content[edit]

Next to nothing is known of poem's overarching plot or structure^[1]aside from the fact that it was at least two books in length:Stephanus of Byzantiumand thescholiatoApollonius of Rhodespreserve fragments which they assign to "the second book of theAegimius".^[3]One of the fragments cited for book 2 relates the gruesome story thatThetiscast numerous of her children byPeleusinto a cauldron of boiling water to see whether they were mortal, before her husband intervened in the case ofAchilles.^[4]Other isolated fragments concern theGraeae(fr.295),Nauplius(fr. 297),Phrixus(fr. 299) and a rare Greek word for a "cool shady place" (ψυκτήριον,psyktērion) found in a context-less hexameter quoted byAthenaeus(Deipnosophistae11.109.503c–d = fr. 301):

ἔνθά ποτ' ἔσται ἐμὸν ψυκτήριον, ὄρχαμε λαῶν

One day my cool shady place will be here, leader of men

The small scraps of information found in these fragments represent most of our knowledge of theAegimius' content, but the poem's greatest points of literary historical interest are found in its treatments of the myths of Io and Theseus.

Authorship[edit]

If the story of Heracles' participation in Aegimius' battle with the Lapiths played a major role in theAegimius,it is possible the great hero's prominence in the poem contributed to its being attributed to Hesiod, for the remains of three other poems anciently credited to him—theShield of Heracles,Megalai EhoiaiandWedding of Ceyx—betray a preoccupation with Heracles.^[2]

Select editions and translations[edit]

Critical editions[edit]

Hesiodi, Eumeli, Cinaethonis, Asii et Carminis Naupactii fragmenta,Guil. Marckscheffel (ed.), Lipsiae, sumtibus Fr. Chr. Guil. Vogelii, 1840,pp. 347-51.
Hesiodi carmina,Johann Friedrich Dübner(ed.), Parisiis, editore Ambrosio Firmin Didot, 1841,pp. 47-8.
Rzach, A. (1908),Hesiodi Carmina(2nd rev. ed.), Leipzig{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1967),Fragmenta Hesiodea,Oxford,ISBN 0-19-814171-8{{citation}}: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,ISBN 0-19-814071-1{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

Translations[edit]

Evelyn-White, H.G. (1936),Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica,Loeb Classical Library,vol. 57 (3rd rev. ed.), Cambridge, MA,ISBN 978-0-674-99063-0{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).(The link is to the 1st edition of 1914.)
Most, G.W.(2006),Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia,Loeb Classical Library, vol. 57, Cambridge, MA,ISBN 978-0-674-99622-9{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Most, G.W. (2007),Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue, Other Fragments,Loeb Classical Library, vol. 503, Cambridge, MA,ISBN 978-0-674-99623-6{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

Notes[edit]

^^a ^b ^cMost (2006,p. lxi).
^^a ^bCingano (2009,p. 124).
^Cf.Merkelbach & West (1967,p. 151); these are Merkelbach and West's fragments 296 (Steph. Byz.s.v."Abantis" ) and 300 (schol. A.R. 4.816).
^Aegimiusfr.300 Merkelbach–West.

Bibliography[edit]

Cingano, E. (2009), Montanari; Rengakos; Tsagalis (eds.),The Hesiodic Corpus,pp. 91–130.
Evelyn-White, H.G. (1924), "A Peisistratean Edition of the Hesiodic Poems",The Classical Quarterly,18(3/4): 142–50,doi:10.1017/S000983880000700X,JSTOR 636108,S2CID 170747885.
Mitchell, L.G. (2001),"Euboean Io",The Classical Quarterly,51(2): 339–52,doi:10.1093/cq/51.2.339,hdl:10036/49253,JSTOR 3556513.
Montanari, F.; Rengakos, A.; Tsagalis, C. (2009),Brill's Companion to Hesiod,Leiden,ISBN 978-90-04-17840-3{{citation}}: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{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Sinclair, T.A. (1927), "The So-Called Peisistratean Edition of Hesiod",The Classical Quarterly,21(3/4): 195–8,doi:10.1017/S0009838800001312,JSTOR 636401,S2CID 171006705.
West, M.L. (1966),Hesiod: Theogony,Oxford,ISBN 978-0-19-814169-3{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
West, M.L. (1985),The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Its Nature, Structure, and Origins,Oxford,ISBN 0-19-814034-7{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links[edit]

Media related toAegimius (poem)at Wikimedia Commons

[Most_intro-1] Most (2006,p. lxi).

[Cing._124-2] Cingano (2009,p. 124).

[3] Cf.Merkelbach & West (1967,p. 151); these are Merkelbach and West's fragments 296 (Steph. Byz.s.v."Abantis" ) and 300 (schol. A.R. 4.816).

[4] Aegimiusfr.300 Merkelbach–West.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Hesiod
Extant poems	Theogony Works and Days Shield of Heracles
Fragmentary poems	Catalogue of Women Megalai Ehoiai "Wedding of Ceyx" "Melampodia" "Descent of Perithous" "Idaean Dactyls" "Precepts of Chiron" "Megala Erga" "Astronomia" "Aegimius" "Kiln"