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

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."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".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.

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
⌊μητέρα μητρὸς⌋παισ]ὶν ἄγοντο
⌊ἀζαλέην τε καὶ ὀπταλέην σφετέροισι⌋ τέκεσσι
⌊τεθνάναι⌋

then when they had put away their desire for equal banquet
] mother's mother [ ] they led [to the children,
dry and roasted to their own children
to die [

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.

Editions and translations

Critical editions

• Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1967),Fragmenta Hesiodea,Oxford,ISBN0-19-814171-8{{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,ISBN0-19-814071-1{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

Translations

• Most, G.W. (2006),Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia,Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 57, Cambridge, MA,ISBN978-0-674-99622-9{{citation}}:|volume=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{{citation}}:|volume=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

Bibliography

• Cingano, E. (2009), "The Hesiodic Corpus", in Montanari; Rengakos; Tsagalis (eds.), pp. 91–130{{citation}}:Missing or empty|title=(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{{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).
• West, M.L. (1961), "Hesiodea",The Classical Quarterly,11(3–4): 130–45,doi:10.1017/s0009838800015469,S2CID246875859.