Descent of Perithous
The "Descent of Perithous"(Ancient Greek:Πειρίθου κατάβασις,Peirithou katabasis) is afragmentaryepic poemthat was ascribed toHesiodby the 2nd-century CE geographerPausanias.[1]The eponymous topic of the poem would have been the myth ofTheseusandPerithous' trip toHadesseeking to winPersephoneas bride for Perithous.[2]
Along with the "Wedding of Ceyx"andAegimus,the "Descent of Perithous" has been considered a poetic narrative by Hesiod that wasMuse-inspired.[3]During the expedition, Hades trapped the heroes by seating them in the "chairs of forgetfullness", and onlyHeraclescould save them.[2]The poem is narrated by the ghost ofMeleager.[4]One tentatively assignedpapyrusfragment survives which includes a conversation between Meleager and Theseus.[5]In this dialogue, the ghosts were talking about how Theseus and Perithous descended to carry off Persephone, a tale Meleager listened to with disgust.[6]It is also proposed that this fragment belongs to theMinyas,[7]and the existence of an independent Hesiodic poem on the descent of Theseus and Perithous is complicated by the fact that elsewhere Pausanias attributes the myth to theMinyas.[8]The sheer number of Hesiodic papyri that have survived compared to those of other works of archaic epic, however, lends credence to the attribution to the Hesiodic corpus.[9]
Select editions and translations
[edit]Critical editions
[edit]- Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1967),Fragmenta Hesiodea,Oxford: Oxford University Press,ISBN0-19-814171-8.
- Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1990), "Fragmenta selecta", inF. Solmsen(ed.),Hesiodi Theogonia, Opera et Dies, Scutum(3rd rev. ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press,ISBN0-19-814071-1.
Translations
[edit]- Most, G.W.(2006),Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia,Loeb Classical Library no. 57, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,ISBN978-0-674-99622-9.
- Most, G.W. (2007),Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue, Other Fragments,Loeb Classical Library no. 503, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,ISBN978-0-674-99623-6.
Notes
[edit]- ^Paus.9.31.5."Descent of Perithous" is the title used in the standard edition of the text (Merkelbach & West 1967), but no exact title is attested from antiquity. Pausanias instead describes the work's content in listing Hesiod's poems and their topics: "how Theseus together with Perithous descended to Hades" (ὡς Θησεὺς ἐς τὸν Ἅιδην ὁμοῦ Πειρίθῳ καταβαίη).Most (2006,p. lx) prefersDescent of Peirithous to Hades;Cingano (2009,p. 126) givesKatabasisof Theseus and Peithrous.
- ^abCingano (2009,p. 126).
- ^Bloom, Harold (2007).Homer, Updated Edition.New York: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 113.ISBN978-0-7910-9313-9.
- ^Gagarin, Michael;Fantham, Elaine(2010).The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, Volume 1.Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 432.ISBN978-0-19-517072-6.
- ^Most (2006,pp. lx–lxi).
- ^Miller, Dean (2014).Beliefs, Rituals, and Symbols of Ancient Greece and Rome.New York: Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. p. 149.ISBN978-1-62712-566-6.
- ^West (2003,p. 271).
- ^Paus.10.28.2;Cingano (2009,p. 126).
- ^Cingano (2009,pp. 128).
Bibliography
[edit]- Cingano, E. (2009), "The Hesiodic Corpus", in Montanari; Rengakos; Tsagalis (eds.),Brill's Companion to Hesiod,pp. 91–130.
- Montanari, F.; Rengakos, A.; Tsagalis, C. (2009),Brill's Companion to Hesiod,Leiden: Brill,ISBN978-9004-17840-3.
- Schwartz, J. (1960),Pseudo-Hesiodeia: recherches sur la composition, la diffusion et la disparition ancienne d'oeuvres attribuées à Hésiode,Leiden: Ε. J. Brill.
- West, M.L. (2003),Greek Epic Fragments,Loeb Classical Library no. 497, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,ISBN978-0-674-99605-2.