In this article I consider five anonymous quotations in Stephanus of Byzantium. The first is very probably an overlooked fragment of early mythography. The other four are much less likely to be early, but theoretically could be and are included for the sake of completeness.
1
Eustathius, in his commentary on Il. 2.847 (p. 359.12), draws on a part of Stephanus of Byzantium's Ethnica missing from the latter's surviving manuscripts (3.85 Billerbeck):
Κίκονες δὲ Θρᾳκικὸν ἔθνος, πράγματα τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ παρασχόν, ὡς ἡ Ὀδύσσεια δηλοῖ. οὐ μακρὰν δὲ ἦσαν οὗτοι Μαρωνειτῶν, ὡς δηλοῖ κατὰ τὸν ἐθνολόγον ὁ γράψας οὕτως· ‘Εὐάνθης δ’ ᾤκησεν ἐν Κικονίᾳ ἵνα Μαρώνεια <πόλις> καλέεται.’
The Cicones are a Thracian tribe, who caused Odysseus trouble, as the Odyssey makes clear. They were not far from the Maroneitai, as according to the EthnologistFootnote 1 the author of these words makes clear: ‘Euanthes lived in Ciconia, where there is a city called Maroneia.’
Martin West, in reviewing this volume of Billerbeck's magnificent edition of Stephanus,Footnote 2 observed that the words in quotation marks are not those of Stephanus, as Billerbeck's translation suggests, but of someone he is quoting; he drew attention also to the Ionic open form καλέεται, and suggested that the author might be Hecataeus, who is of course quoted hundreds of times by Stephanus, mostly from the Milesian's Periodos but also from his Genealogies.Footnote 3 Stephanus also quotes many other early mythographers, especially Hellanicus, but also Andron of Halicarnassus, Antiochus of Syracuse, Armenidas of Thebes, Aristophanes of Boeotia, Damastes of Sigeum, Deilochus of Cyzicus, Herodorus of Heraclea, Menecrates of Xanthus, Pherecydes of Athens, and Scythinus of Teos.Footnote 4 Apart from the dialect form, the style and subject matter are at home in old mythography, and the probability is high that this is an unattributed fragment.
The old mythographers were much concerned with names, often drawing a link between a mythological figure and a present-day toponym; the locution ‘where there is a city (or other geographical feature or a people) called X’, sc. after the mythological character, is very common, often expanded by one word to ‘now called X’. We need to know what it is that is being so called (whether city, fountain, mountain, etc.), and a supplement such as <πόλις>, which I have added above, is indispensable.Footnote 5 The fragment probably continued ἀπὸ Μάρωνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ὃς τὴν πόλιν μετὰ ταῦτα ἔκτισεν or the like (‘after Maron his son, who later founded the city’); Maron, who gave Odysseus the powerful Ismarian wine, was son of Euanthes (Od. 9.197).Footnote 6 The new foundation was necessary after Odysseus sacked the Ciconian city of Ismaros (Od. 9.40–2). The abbreviation of the quotation is unlikely to be Eustathius’ doing; he was already working, as are we, with the epitome of Stephanus, though one in places somewhat fuller than the version now surviving in the manuscripts.Footnote 7
As it happens, Hecataeus probably did mention Maroneia. At μ81, Stephanus writes: Μαρώνεια· πόλις Κικονίας κατὰ τὴν ἐν Θρᾴκῃ χερρόνησον. ‘ἐν δὲ λίμνη Ἰσμαρίς, ἐν δὲ Μαρώνεια πόλις’ (Maroneia: a city in Ciconia, near the Thracian Chersonese.Footnote 8 ‘Therein there is Lake Ismaris, and a city Maroneia’). Since Meineke this quotation has been attributed to Hecataeus in his Periodos (FGrHist 1 F 159); the style is exactly like hundreds of other quotations where the attribution survives in Stephanus’ text, and Herodotus mentions the town at 7.109.1 in a passage that may owe something to Hecataeus.Footnote 9 If Eustathius’ quotation is from Hecataeus, we should guess it comes from the Genealogies rather than from the Periodos, not only because Maroneia would otherwise be twice introduced in passages which were presumably close to each other in the Periodos, but also because of the order of information: in the Periodos, the place is named first, and supplementary information such as an etymology follows;Footnote 10 whereas, in the Genealogies, the characters lead the way, and other information comes after, for instance where they lived, or some story about them.
Maron's association with the region and its wine is a primary datum in the ancient tradition. There is presumably a linguistic connection between Maron, the city Ismaros sacked by Odysseus, Ismarian wine and Lake Ismaris. The wine is mentioned by Archilochus (fr. 2 West2), contemporary with the Odyssey or even earlier on some datings. Maron is made a son of Dionysus by Euripides (Cyc. 141) and by Satyrus of Alexandria (BNJ 631 F 1), a son of Silenus by Nonnus (Dion. 14.99). He figures on the coins of Maroneia, probably implying a cult, for which there is other evidence.Footnote 11
It has been assumed that Euanthes, Maron's father in the Odyssey, with his speaking name, is Homer's invention,Footnote 12 but this is unlikely to be the case. In familiar fashion, Maron is a local figure who has been appropriated and Hellenized by the colonists. These were from Chios (Ps.-Scymnus 678), famous home of wine, where Euanthes was a son of Oenopion, son of Dionysus and Ariadne; some sources say that Euanthes was himself a son of Dionysus.Footnote 13 The colonists have brought Euanthes with them, and the genealogy allows them to pretend that the place had really been theirs all along.
Euanthes son of Oenopion is mentioned by Hesiod in the Catalogue of Women (fr. 238). The surviving fragments of this work represent a revision made in the early sixth century of Hesiod's original; though one can never be certain that any given detail stems only from this revision, the general structure and most of the details will be Hesiodic, which is to say contemporary with or older than the Odyssey. Euanthes next turns up in Ion of Chios’ Foundation of Chios, who drew on the local traditions of his own polis. Given these two data, it seems easier to suppose that Maron son of Euanthes was a construction of which the Odyssey was aware, rather than that Euanthes was a Homeric invention, subsequently adapted by the reviser of the Catalogue and the Chians, who made Homer's Euanthes a son of Oenopion. That Euanthes is a priest of Apollo in the Odyssey, not of Dionysus, fits this picture better too. As the scholia show, this oddity already puzzled the ancients. It is one of Homer's nods; if wine is at the bottom of all of this, it is a strange thing for an inventor of tradition to get wrong, and would constitute another thing that the Chians had to change in their adaptation.
Hecataeus was West's guess as to the author of the quotation in Eustathius, and this is possible. Though the fragments of the Genealogies are few, and its author sometimes offers idiosyncratic versions of myths, the genealogical framework of Greek mythology as established by the Catalogue is reflected in the Genealogies’ spread of topics. Hecataeus (fr. 19) actually quotes Hesiod (fr. 127), and criticizes one of his views in fr. 27 without naming him. The history of the Inachidai is attested in frr. 19–22, so he might well have found room for Europe, Minos, Oenopion and Euanthes. Oenopion figured in Hesiod (fr. 148 as well as fr. 238). Ion in his Foundation of Chios is obviously another possible author, however (frr. 1–3 EGM); though indications are scanty, frr. 2–3 suggest that his history included the overseas activities of the Chians. Yet another candidate—as suggested by J. Escher, RE 6.1 (1907), 846—is Hellanicus of Lesbos, who also wrote a Foundation of Chios (fr. 71 EGM). The one surviving fragment describes eventual colonists of Chios landing in Lemnos and mixing with, precisely, Thracians. On my reading of this fragment (EGM 2.516–17), these colonists are the ones sent out by Makar, the Homeric king of Lesbos (Diod. Sic. 5.81.7–8), and thus from a period of Chian history subsequent to that of Oenopion and his sons (which of course must precede Odysseus' arrival chez Maron). If so, the two groups of Thracians have, strictly speaking, nothing to do with each other, but it shows how a history of the island could range widely.
Pherecydes, who is cited half a dozen times by Stephanus, also comes into view. Oenopion's grandfather was Minos, who figures in Pherecydes, fr. 85. Frr. 142–4 concern Posthomerica (including Odysseus’ voyage), and fr. 87 treats Thasos in the northern Aegean. Fr. 148 relates the story of Ariadne, Oenopion's mother.
Though other early mythographers could theoretically be the source, these are the likeliest candidates; on present evidence, unfortunately, none can be identified with confidence as the author of the quotation in Stephanus, and the fragment must remain anonymous. But it is another addition to the tantalizing remains of early mythography.
About other fragments one cannot be so sure. In what follows, I examine briefly four other anonymous quotations in Stephanus’ epitome. Any one of them could in theory derive from old mythography or periegetic literature, but none contains a positive marker such as the dialect form καλέεται above and they are probably Hellenistic or later.
2
α191 (1.136 Billerbeck): Ἀλαλκομένιον· πόλις Βοιωτίας, ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀλαλκομενέως, ὃς καὶ ἵδρυσε τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν Ἀλαλκομενηίδα. οὐ γὰρ παρὰ τὸ ἀλαλκεῖν, ὡς Ἀρίσταρχος (p. 178 Lehrs)·3 ἦν γὰρ ἂν καὶ Ἀλαλκηίς· ἀλλ’ ὡς Θησεύς Θησηίς, οὕτως Ἀλαλκομενεύς Ἀλαλκομενηίς, ὥσπερ καὶ Βρισεύς Βρισηίς καὶ Νηρεύς Νηρηίς. ‘ἐκ τοῦ Ἀλαλκομενέως δὲ καὶ Ἀθηναΐδος τῆς Ἱπποβότου Γλαύκωπος, ἀφ’ οὗ τὸ Γλαυκώπιον καὶ Γλαυκῶπις.’ καὶ Ζεὺς Πολιεύς καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ Πολιάς. τὸ ἐθνικὸν Ἀλαλκομενιεύς καὶ Ἀλαλκομένιος, καὶ Ἀλαλκομενία ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ ἐκεῖ τιμᾶται. τοῦ δ’ Ἀλαλκομεναί Ἀλαλκομεναῖος.
Alalkomenion: a city in Boeotia, named for Alalkomeneus, who also established the sanctuary of Athena Alalkomeneis. Her epithet is not derived from alalkein, as Aristarchus said (for then we would find also ‘Alalkeis’); rather, as ‘Theseis’ is from ‘Theseus’, so is ‘Alalkomeneis’ from ‘Alalkomeneus’; also as ‘Briseus / Briseis’ and ‘Nereus / Nereis’. ‘From Alalkomeneus and Athenais the daughter of Hippobotos was born Glaukopos, after whom the Glaukopion is named and from whom the epithet Glaukopis derives.’ Also ‘Zeus Polieus’ and ‘Athena Polias’. The ethnic is ‘Alalkomenieus’ and ‘Alalkomenios’; and Athena Alalkomenia is honoured there. From ‘Alalkomenai’ one also derives ‘Alalkomenaios’.
The quotation,Footnote 14 which in the epitome has been left somewhat stranded in its surroundings, offers information in the simple style of old mythography, but, as Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca shows, the manner of presenting such genealogical information changed little over time. The euhemerism suggests a later date. An old mythographer would be unlikely to derive Athena's ancient epithet from a human, and ‘Athenais’ probably played a part in some rationalizing argument about the cult of Athena Alalkomenia. (The name is attested in the fifth and fourth centuries b.c.e., but is not particularly common; LPGN furnishes perhaps a dozen examples.) Moreover, the identity and origin of the ‘Glaukopion’ was a matter of learned Hellenistic discussion; see Hollis on Callim. Hecale, fr. 17.11.
3
β134 (1.368 Billerbeck): Βούβαστος· πόλις Αἰγύπτου, ἣν Ἡρόδοτος (2.59.1 et passim) Βούβαστίν φησι διὰ τοῦ ι. τὸ ἐθνικὸν Βουβαστίτης καὶ {ἡ πόλις} Βουβαστῖτις. ῾Βούβαστός τε πόλις καὶ ἱερὸν Ἀρτέμιδος᾽· καὶ νομὸς Βουβαστίτης. λέγεται καὶ Βουβάστιος παρὰ Θεοπόμπῳ (FGrHist 115 F 368).
Boubastos: a city in Egypt, which Herodotus calls ‘Boubastis’ with an i. The ethnic is ‘Boubastites’ and ‘Boubastitis’. ‘There is a city Boubastos and a sanctuary of Artemis.’ There is also a district Boubastites. In Theopompus it is called ‘Boubastios’.
One cannot do much with so short a quotation, but it would not be out of place in Hecataeus’ Periodos, which provided Herodotus with much raw material (at 2.137.5 he reports that ‘Boubastis’ is the Egyptian name for Artemis). Considering the vast amounts of lost periegetic literature,Footnote 15 however, one can hardly assign an author to these words.
4
θ8 (2.228 Billerbeck): Θάσος· νῆσος πρὸς τῇ Θρᾴκῃ, πόλιν ὁμώνυμον ἔχουσα, ἔνθα Τηλέφη ἡ τῆς Εὐρώπης θνήσκει μήτηρ. ἀπὸ Θάσου. ῑ δὲ γενεαῖς Ἡρακλέους καὶ Θάσος παλαίτερος, εἴπερ ἀπὸ Ἀγήνορος Προῖτος ἦν, Ἀγήνορος δὲ Βῆλος ἀδελφὸς ἦν, Βήλου δ’ Αἴγυπτος, οὗ Λυγκεύς, οὗ Ἄβας, <οὗ Ἀκρίσιος,> οὗ Δανάη, ἧς Περσεύς, οὗ Ἀλκαῖος, οὗ Ἀμφιτρύων, οὗ Ἡρακλῆς.’
Thasos: an island by Thrace, with a homonymous polis. Here Telephe the mother of Europe died. Derived from ‘Thasos’. ‘Thasos too was ten generations older than Herakles, if indeed Proitos was son of Agenor, and Belos was Agenor's brother; Belos’ son was Aigyptos; his was Lynkeus; then Abas, Akrisios, Danae, Perseus, Alkaios, Amphitryon and Herakles.’
I translate Billerbeck's text, but there is a problem. The relevant Proitos is everywhere a son of Abas, and Thasos is a son of Agenor in various sources.Footnote 16 Wilamowitz emended Προῖτος to πατρός, and Emil Jacobs emended to πρῶτος, but neither is completely convincing.Footnote 17 Both assume corruptions of very simple words to a name not immediately relevant and requiring some mythological knowledge. Furthermore, in the first emendation, ‘father’ is redundant after ἀπό, and the pleonastic expression is one Stephanus does not use elsewhere. In the second emendation, the word ‘first’ is somewhat otiose. It would be better perhaps to delete the name, or to suppose that it has migrated from a marginal note attempting to supply the missing name in the count of generations (one could also suggest <οὗ Προῖτος καὶ Ἀκρίσιος> in the lacuna, but it is a puzzle why Proitos would be mentioned at all. Perhaps in the original context further calculations involved him.) In any case, it is obviously necessary to the argument that Thasos—who married Telephe (also known as Telephassa)—be son of Agenor; the count of generations back from Herakles is eight not ten, and η is in fact found in MSS P and N.
Argument based on a generation-count was certainly possible in the fifth century, as some well-known passages in Herodotus attest (1.7, 2.142–5); in old mythography, Hellanicus comes first to mind.Footnote 18 However, there are other possibilities, and without some positive indication of an early date one is unwise to assume it. One possibility is that we are dealing here with a Hellenistic- or Roman-era chronographer. ‘Thasos too is eight generations older than Herakles’ may imply that the fragment was part of a fairly detailed chronological grid reconciling Greek and Near Eastern history. Another possibility is that the fragment comes from an historian (or, again, a chronographer) disputing Herodotus’ statement (2.44.4) that the Phoenicians came to Thasos five generations before Herakles. I suppose that Herodotus based his calculation on the fact that Perseus married Andromeda, daughter of Kepheus; the latter he identifies as son of Belos (7.61.3), which would make Thasos, who was coeval with Kepheus, five generations before Herakles (counting inclusively). When this anonymous historian writes that ‘Thasos too is eight generations older than Herakles’, we may suppose that he has already provided other indications of Herodotus’ chronological errors.
5
χ14 (5.78 Billerbeck): Χάλκη· πόλις Λιβύης. ‘μετὰ δ’ αὐτὴν πόλις Φοινίκων Χάλκη’.
Chalke: a city in Libya. ‘And after it, a Phoenician city Chalke.’
Meineke in his edition of Stephanus thought that the quotation was from Hecataeus’ Periodos, which is certainly possible, but again in the absence of further evidence one can hardly be sure. Billerbeck and Neumann-Hartmann ad loc. (see n. 2 above) suggest that the city could be identical with the Chalkeia of χ13 (the preceding entry), adding that the city may be associated with the copper mines near Siga mentioned by Strabo (17.3.11, p. 830.28). However, Stephanus’ Chalke (and perhaps, then, his Chalkeia) could be identical with Chalka in Pseudo-Scylax 111.5 (as already Müller, GGM 1.90, suggested).Footnote 19 In that case, the mines in question are not those in Strabo, since Pseudo-Scylax's Chalka lies somewhat east of Cartenna (where there were other copper mines: Barrington Atlas 30 B 4). As Shipley notes in his edition, there is little evidence that Pseudo-Scylax drew on Hecataeus.Footnote 20 The place denoted by αὐτήν is of course unidentifiable.
