The huge differences characterizing the main editions of the Greek epic poets of the Archaic period are well known. The sparse amount of information available poses serious problems; so too does the lack of unanimous acceptance of the same methodological principles with respect to the attribution of a citation to a given author and poem. The case of the Telegony is typical: Bernabé lists five fragments,Footnote 1 Davies two (only one in common with Bernabé),Footnote 2 and West six (four in common with Bernabé, one in common with Davies, and one published by LivreaFootnote 3 ten years after the appearance of the editions of Bernabé and Davies). To alert the reader that the attribution of fragments 1 and 2 to the Telegony is conjectural and not based on ancient evidence, West attaches an asterisk to them.Footnote 4 My aim is to discuss both what certain scholars have taken as one (and, for exactly 110 years, the only)Footnote 5 of the two surviving lines from Eugammon's Telegony, that is fr. 1 (PEG 1, Bernabé = *1 West) = fr. 2 (Allen), and also what appears as fr. *2 in West's Loeb edition.
TELEGONY fr. 1 (PEG 1, BERNABÉ = *1 WEST) = fr. 2 (ALLEN)
The Athenaeus passage reads as follows:Footnote 6
Homer presents Odysseus as well as a greedy gourmand, when he says (Od. 7.215–18):
But let me eat my dinner, unhappy as I am.
For nothing is more shameless than the miserable
belly, which orders us to pay attention to it and gives us no choice,
even when we are worn out, and demands to be filled.
For in this passage Odysseus’ greed is shown to be excessive, and he offers an unnecessary sententious discussion of his belly; because even if he was famished, he should put up with the situation, or have eaten a modest amount. But his conclusion establishes his extreme greed and gluttony (Od. 7.219–21):
Since I feel pain in my heart; but my belly relentlessly
insists that I eat and drink, and makes me forget
all my sufferings, and demands to be filled.
Not even the famous Sardanapallus would have dared to say this. And although he was an old man,
he ravenously consumed boundless meat and delicious wine.Footnote 8
The attribution of the verse ἤσθιεν ἁρπαλέως κρέα τ᾽ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ to the Telegony is based on the following arguments:
(a) Metrical, dictional, and stylistic considerations strongly suggest that the verse is archaic.Footnote 9
(b) The phrase γέρων τε ὤν that precedes the citation of the verse in question in Athenaeus’ text shows that the narrator portrays Odysseus avidly eating enormous quantities of meat and sweet wine. Given that the only archaic poem in dactylic hexameter where Odysseus featured as an old man was Eugammon's Telegony, it is plausible that this verse does come from this epic poem.
However, there are arguments that can be raised against the attribution as follows. First, Athenaeus consistently cites (and sometimes even names) the authors of cyclic epics and other archaic poets as well.Footnote 10 A look at ‘Athenaeus’ in Bernabé’s Index Fontium shows that he quotes his cyclic or archaic epic source more than thirty times. For example, he names Eumelus or Arctinus as the poet of the Titanomachy (1.22c, 11.470b), and he refers to the poet of the Thebais (7.317a, 11.465e), the Cypria (2.35c, 4.137e, 8.334b, 15.682d, 15.682f), the Ilias Parva (3.73e), the Iliou Persis (13.610c), the Νostoi, and/or the Atreidôn kathodos (7.281b, 9.399a). Why would he then abstain from mentioning Eugammon and the Telegony, when he regularly does the exact opposite with respect to other cyclic poets?
Secondly, Athenaeus has clearly indicated to his readers that his quotations in 10.412b26–d16 are from Homer at the very beginning of this section (καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα δὲ Ὅμηρος πολυϕάγον καὶ λαίμαργον παραδίδωσιν ὅταν λέγῃ). In particular, he has included the verse under discussion within an Odyssean context, after giving two other citations from Book 7 of the Odyssey (215–8 and 219–21). When he changes context and author, he makes it perfectly plain by giving the author's name (10.412d17: Θεαγένης δ᾽ ὁ Θάσιος …). The fact that he does not follow this practice with respect to the line ἤσθιεν ἁρπαλέως κρέα τ᾽ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ strongly suggests that he regards it as Homeric and, in particular, as Odyssean.
Thirdly, the key point is that γέρων does not designate Odysseus’ old age but the disguised Odysseus, who quite often is called a γέρων (‘old fellow’) in the second half of the Odyssey (for example in 14.37, 14.122, 14.166, 14.386, 14.508, 18.21, 18.74).Footnote 11 Some of these uses of γέρων are attested within a context pertaining to excessive eating and drinking (in the hut of Eumaeus and in the episode with the glutton Irus).Footnote 12
Finally, given this, I would like to argue that, under the influence of the formulaic line ἥμεθα δαινύμενοι κρέα τ᾽ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ employed for Odysseus and the comrades five times in the Apologoi (Od. 9.162 = 9.557 = 10.184 = 10.477 = 12.30), Athenaeus deliberatelyFootnote 13 made one of his banqueters create a line reading ἤσθιεν ἁρπαλέως κρέα τ᾽ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ that sounds perfectly Odyssean.Footnote 14 Similar context had triggered and facilitated this display of knowledge and poetical virtuosity, since it emphasized the theme of gluttony, which was after all needed in this particular section of the Deipnosophistae, given that Athenaeus aimed at highlighting Odysseus’ excessive greed.Footnote 15 For Odysseus had been presented as a glutton in the very same Odyssean context that he was called a γέρων, namely in Eumaeus’ hut. In fact, it is possible that Athenaeus made one of the banqueters use the syntagma ἤσθιεν ἁρπαλέωςFootnote 16 that is employed in alternate lines in Od. 14.109–10 (ὣς ϕύθ᾽, ὁ δ᾽ ἐνδυκέως κρέα τ᾽ ἤσθιε πῖνέ τε οἶνον | ἁρπαλέως ἀκέων, κακὰ δὲ μνηστῆρσι ϕύτευεν),Footnote 17 where this diction had been employed by the narrator for Odysseus alone.
This line of thought even explains Athenaeus’ expression γέρων τε ὤν, which has misled a number of scholars who have treated it as an allusion to Odysseus’ old age,Footnote 18 a theme that could easily have been included in the time frame of Eugammon's Telegony.Footnote 19 Before facing the glutton Irus (Od. 18.21–2), Odysseus refers to himself in the following manner: μή σε γέρων περ ἐὼν στῆθος καὶ χείλεα ϕύρσω | αἵματος. We do not need to assume that Athenaeus changed the Homeric γέρων περ ἐών into γέρων τε ὤν. The standard use of γέρων for the disguised Odysseus in Book 14 (especially when Odysseus is described eating avidly) suffices for the argument presented above. The attestation of the phrase γέρων περ ἐών in an Odyssean context pertaining to the theme of gluttony (this time Irus’ gluttony) may have further facilitated the process that I described above.Footnote 20
Kaibel's laconic note ‘versus non Homericus’ in the critical apparatus of his edition of Athenaeus’ Deipnosophistae turns out to be quite ironic: the verse is not Homer's but is clearly Homeric, in the sense that I suggest above, and certainly not by Eugammon of Cyrene.
TELEGONY fr. *2 (WEST)
It is now more than ten years since Enrico Livrea suggested that Synesius’ letter 148 to OlympiusFootnote 21 contains a fragment from Eugammon's Telegony. Subsequently, M.L. West included it in his Loeb edition of Greek Epic Fragments.Footnote 22 In what follows, I intend to examine whether this attribution is correct.Footnote 23
In his letter to Olympius, Synesius presents the peaceful way of life and customs of the farmers and shepherds of the Cyrenaean hinterland.Footnote 24 The text to be discussed runs as follows (148.1–66):Footnote 25
Ἀπέλιπον τὴν τάξιν τῶν ϕόρων. τί γὰρ ἦν ποιεῖν, οὐδενὸς Ἑλλήνων τῶν τὴν Λιβύην ἐπῳκηκότων θέλοντος εἰς τὴν παρ᾽ ἡμῖν θάλατταν ἐκπέμπειν ὁλκάδας; καὶ σὲ δὲ ἀϕίημι τῆς συντάξεως· οὐδὲ γὰρ Σύροις ἐπιμελὲς καταίρειν εἰς τὰ Κυρηναίων ἐπίνεια. Λάθοι δ᾽ ἄν με τοῦτό ποτε καὶ γενόμενον· οὐ γάρ εἰμι γείτων θαλάττης οὐδ᾽ ἐλλιμενίζω συχνά, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνῴκισμαι πρὸς νότον ἄνεμον Κυρηναίων ἔσχατος, καὶ γείτονες ἡμῖν εἰσιν οἵους Ὀδυσσεὺς μετὰ τὴν Ἰθάκην τὸ πηδάλιον ἔχων ἐζήτει, μῆνιν Ποσειδῶνος ἐκ τοῦ χρησμοῦ
παραιτούμενος,
οἳ οὐκ ἴσασι θάλασσαν
ἀνέρες, οὐδέ θ᾽ ἅλεσσι μεμιγμένον εἶδαρ ἔδουσιν.
ἀλλὰ μὴ λόγον ἄλλως οἰηθῇς τὸ μηδὲ μέχρις ἁλῶν τοὺς δεῦρο κεχρῆσθαι θαλάττῃ, μηδὲ μὴν ἄναλα διὰ τοῦτο κατεσθίειν ἡγοῦ τὰ κρέα τε καὶ τὰ πέμματα. εἰσὶ ῾νὴ τὴν᾽ ἱερὰν ῾Ἑστίαν᾽, εἰσὶν ἠπειρῶται παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἅλες, ἀπέχοντες πρὸς νότον ἔλαττον ἢ πρὸς ἀπαρκτίαν ἡ θάλαττα. τούτους Ἄμμωνος καλοῦμεν τοὺς ἅλας. πέτρα δὲ αὐτοὺς ψαϕαρὰ καὶ τρέϕει καὶ κρύπτει, ἣν ὅταν ἀϕέλῃς ἐπιβεβλημένην ὥσπερ ἐϕελκίδα, ῥᾳστώνη πολλὴ καὶ χερσὶ καὶ σκαλίσιν ἀροῦν τὸ βάθος. τὸ δὲ ἀναχωννύμενον ἅλες εἰσίν, ἰδεῖν τε ἡδεῖς καὶ γεύσασθαι. ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως μὴ σοϕιστικὴν ἀπειροκαλίαν οἰηθῇς τὸ ἐπεξελθεῖν τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἁλῶν τῷ διηγήματι· ἥκιστα γὰρ τοῖς ἀγροδιαίτοις ἡμῖν προσιζάνει τὸ ϕιλότιμον πάθος. ἀλλὰ σὺ γὰρ ἀπαιτεῖς ἕκαστα παρ᾽ ἡμῶν τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν εἰδέναι.
Ἀνέχου τοίνυν ἀδολεσχούσης ἐπιστολῆς, ἵνα καὶ τῆς ἀκαίρου πολυπραγμοσύνης δῷς δίκην. ἅμα δὲ καὶ χαλεπὸν εἰς πίστιν τὸ ἑκάστοις ἀπότροϕον. οὐ ϕαῦλον οὖν ἔργον Σύρον ἀναπεῖσαι περὶ χερσαίων ἁλῶν, ἐπεὶ καὶ δεῦρο πράγματα ἔχω περὶ νεῶν καὶ ἱστίων καὶ θαλάττης ἀνακρινόμενος. οἶσθα γὰρ ὡς ἐγὼ καὶ ϕιλοσοϕῶν ποτε ἅμα ὑμῖν ἐθεασάμην τὸ χρῆμα τοῦτο τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ πρὸς Φάρῳ καὶ πρὸς Κανώβῳ τὴν μεγάλην λίμνην τὴν λαμυράν. καὶ εἵλκετο ναῦς, καὶ ἀνήγετο πρὸς οὖρον αὕτη, κώπαις ἐκείνη. ἐγελᾶτε οὖν εἰκάσαντος αὐτὴν ἐμοῦ ζῴῳ πολύποδι. οἱ δὲ διάκεινται τὰς γνώμας ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, ὅταν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπέκεινα Θούλης ἀκούωμεν, ἥτις ποτέ ἐστιν ἡ Θούλη, διδοῦσα τοῖς διαβᾶσιν αὐτὴν ἀνεύθυνα καὶ ἀνεξέλεγκτα ψεύδεσθαι. ἀλλ᾽ οὗτοί γε, κἂν προσίωνταί ποτε τὰ περὶ τῶν νεῶν ἢ δόξωσιν ἐκεῖνο γελᾶν, ἀνὰ κράτος ἀπιστοῦσιν ὅτι δύναται τρέϕειν ἀνθρώπους καὶ θάλαττα· τοῦτο γὰρ μόνην ἔχειν ἀξιοῦσι τὴν μητέρα γῆν τὸ πρεσβεῖον.
Ἐγὼ δέ ποτε αὐτοῖς ἀνανεύουσι πρὸς τὰ περὶ τῶν ἰχθύων, ἀναλαβών τινα κέραμον καὶ προσαράξας πέτρᾳ, ἔδειξα τῶν ἀπ᾽ Αἰγύπτου ταρίχη συχνά· οἱ δὲ ὄϕεων πονηρῶν ἔϕασαν εἶναι σώματα, καὶ ἀναθορόντες ἔϕευγον, τὰς ἀκάνθας ὑποπτεύοντες ὡς οὐδὲν ἠπιωτέρας τοῦ διὰ τῶν ὀδόντων ϕαρμάκου. καὶ ἔϕη τις ὁ γεραίτατος καὶ ἐν τῇ δόξῃ ϕρενῶν ἐπηβολώτατος, σχολῇ γοῦν περὶ ὕδατος ἁλυκοῦ πιστεῦσαι καλόν τι αὐτόθι τρέϕεσθαι καὶ ἐδώδιμον, τῶν πηγαίων τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ ποτίμων ναμάτων βατράχους καὶ βδέλλας γεννώντων, ὧν οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὁ μαινόμενος γεύσαιτο. καὶ εἰκότα γε ἀγνοοῦσιν.
οὐ γὰρ σϕᾶς ἐκ νυκτὸς ἐγείρει κῦμ᾽ ἐπιθρῷσκον
πελάγους, ἀλλ᾽ ἵππων χρεμετισμοὶ καὶ μηκάζον αἰπόλιον, καὶ προβατίων βληχὴ καὶ ταύρου μύκημα, πρώτης δὲ ἀκτῖνος ἐπιβαλλούσης τῶν μελιττῶν ὁ βόμβος, εἰς ἡδονῆς λόγον οὐδεμιᾷ παραχωρῶν μουσικῇ.
I have neglected the duty to pay tribute, but what could I do? Not one of the Greeks settled in Libya is willing to dispatch merchantmen to your sea. At the same time I release you from your contribution, for Syrians never take the trouble to call at the ports of the Cyrenaica, and if one did by chance come, I should never know of it. As a matter of fact, I do not live near the sea, and I rarely come to the harbour. I have moved up country to the southern extremity of the Cyrenaica, and my neighbours are such men as Odysseus was in quest of, when he steered from Ithaca, to appease the wrath of Poseidon, in obedience of the oracle:
‘Men, who know not of the sea, nor eat food mixed with salt’.
But do not think that I am exaggerating when I say that people here do not take to the sea, even for the purpose of getting their salt, nor yet suppose that thus they eat their meat and cakes unsalted. We have, I swear by holy Hestia, at a distance to the south less than that which separates us from the sea to the north, a native salt which comes from the earth and which we call Ammon's salt. It collects under a scab, as it were, of crumbling stone, and when this scab, which conceals it, has been removed, it is easy enough to scoop out the depths with one's hand or with a shovel, and the lumps that you may take up in this manner are salt, pleasant both to look at and to taste. Do not think it sophistical vanity on my part, this account of the salts found in this country. Rustic people such as we are the last to harbour vain glory. But you express a wish to learn from me about everything in my part of the world.
Therefore be prepared for a loquacious letter, that you may pay the penalty for your untimely curiosity. At the same time, what is foreign to anyone is difficult of credence. A Syrian will not easily acknowledge the existence of salt from the earth, very much as people here are hard to convince when I answer questions about ships, sails, and the sea. You may remember that once when I was studying philosophy with you, I looked out upon this very thing, the sea, and the great deep lake which stretches from Pharos to Canopus. One ship was being towed in; another was moving with all sails set; another was propelled by oars. You laughed at me when I compared this last one to a centipede. Now the people here are in the same state of mind as we ourselves, whenever we listen to tales in the world beyond Thule, whatever Thule may be, which gives to those who have crossed it freedom to lie about it without criticism or censure. Even if they admit what is told them about vessels, or only seem to laugh at it, at all events they stoutly refuse to believe that the sea too is able to nourish mankind. According to their idea, this privilege belongs to mother earth alone.
On one occasion, when they refused to believe in the existence of fish, I took a certain jar, and dashing it against a stone, showed them plenty of salted fish from Egypt, on which they said they were the bodies of evil snakes, sprang up and took to flight, for they suspected that the spines were as dangerous as the poison of a serpent's fang. Then the oldest and most intelligent of them all said that he found it difficult to believe that salt water could produce anything good and fit to eat, since spring water, excellent though it be to drink, produces nothing except frogs and leeches, which not even a madman would taste. And yet their ignorance is natural.
‘For the onrushing wave’ of the sea ‘awakens them not in the night’ – only the neighings of horses, the bleating of a herd of goats, the cry of sheep, or the bellowing of a bull; then at the first ray of sunshine the humming of bees, yielding the palm to no other music in the pleasure it gives.Footnote 26
I shall argue that the dactylic hexameter οὐ γὰρ σϕᾶς ἐκ νυκτὸς ἐγείρει κῦμ᾽ ἐπιθρῷσκον does not come from Eugammon's Telegony for the following reasons. First, when Synesius refers to what he considers a post-Odyssean adventure of Odysseus he uses one and a half lines from Od. 11.122–3 (= 23.269–70): οἳ οὐκ ἴσασι θάλασσαν | ἀνέρες, οὐδέ θ᾽ ἅλεσσι μεμιγμένον εἶδαρ ἔδουσιν. If Synesius knew the actual text of the Telegony, as is taken for granted by those who are eager to accept that the verse οὐ γὰρ σϕᾶς ἐκ νυκτὸς ἐγείρει κῦμ᾽ ἐπιθρῷσκον comes from this lost epic, he would not have referred to its content by an Odyssean verseFootnote 27 but with a verse of the Telegony.Footnote 28
Secondly, the use of the word πηδάλιον (‘steering paddle’, ‘rudder’) instead of ἐρετμόν (‘oar’) (εὐῆρες ἐρετμόν, Od. 11.121 = 23.268) covertly indicates that Synesius is hereby employing his general knowledge of the Homeric text with respect to this episode.Footnote 29 He is clearly operating on an Odyssean note, since it is very likely that he is mixing expressions such as πηδάλιον μετὰ χερσὶ θεούσης νηὸς ἔχοντα (Od. 3.281) with ἐν χείρεσσιν ἔχοντ᾽ εὐῆρες ἐρετμόν (Od. 23.268).Footnote 30 Conversely, if he wanted to substitute the Homeric word ἐρετμόν with a synonym that was widely employed in later Greek, he would have used κώπη, which he regularly employs in his Epistles.Footnote 31
Thirdly, before citing the dactylic hexameter in question, Synesius uses the phrase καὶ εἰκότα ἀγνοοῦσιν, which recalls the Odyssean expression οἳ οὐκ ἴσασι θάλασσαν (11.122 = 23.269) quoted at the beginning of his letter to Olympius (148.12). This may indicate that he is still within the Odyssean framework set by his initial reference to Homer and that he is, therefore, operating on an Odyssean note.Footnote 32
Fourthly, Livrea makes much of the violation of Naeke's rule,Footnote 33 which is regularly followed in the dactylic hexameter of the Hellenistic period, and argues that the verse is archaic. The diction of this line suggests otherwise. In particular, σφᾰς is only attested once in Homer (Il. 5.567: μή τι πάθοι, μέγα δέ σϕας ἀποσϕήλειε πόνοιο) as an enclitic that has probably replaced σϕε to avoid hiatus,Footnote 34 and is short in quantity. In the extant corpus of archaic Greek poetry it occurs one more time, in the beginning of the verse (Th. 34: σϕᾶς δ᾽ αὐτάς), and though it is long there, as in Synesius, it does not tell against our suggestion, since it is placed in proclitic position,Footnote 35 whereas in Synesius it is not. Conversely, since Synesius’ σϕᾶς is long, it is rather unlikely to have existed in an archaic verse. Of course, one cannot exclude the possibility that it is Synesius who has substituted an original σϕέας with synizesis by σϕᾶς, but other dictional issues strongly indicate that the verse is not archaic. In particular, neither ἐγείρω nor ἐπιθρώσκω ever occur with κῦμα as subject in the extant corpus of archaic Greek epic.
Fifthly, since Synesius’ ἐκ νυκτός recalls ἐκ νυκτῶν from Od. 12.286, it is worth examining the wider context of this Homeric hapax. Odysseus, who is with his comrades on the island of Thrinacia, suggests that they should depart immediately because Teiresias had specifically warned him not to eat the cattle of the Sun (Od. 11.107–15). Eurylochus argues that it is dangerous to sail away at night, when there are terrible winds that may destroy their ship. He suggests that they should stay ashore, eat what food is left in their ship, and depart at daybreak. Unfortunately, the next day Zeus sends menacing winds that do not allow them to leave the island. Problems arise when they run out of food. Finally Odysseus’ advice is rejected and, when he falls asleep, his comrades slaughter and eat the cattle of the Sun (Od. 12.279–396). Throughout this entire passage (and even before) emphasis is given to the sound made by the sheep and cattle on the Sun's island, both when Odysseus and his men first arrive (Od. 12.265–6: μυκηθμοῦ τ᾽ ἤκουσα βοῶν αὐλιζομενάων | οἰῶν τε βληχήν) and most tellingly when the comrades roast and eat them (Od. 12.395–6: κρέα δ᾽ ἀμϕ᾽ ὀβελοῖσι μεμύκει, | ὀπταλέα τε καὶ ὠμά, βοῶν δ᾽ ὣς γίγνετο ϕωνή). Likewise, Synesius’ dactylic hexameter is followed by his statement that the people who are ignorant of the sea are only awakened at night by ‘the neighing of horses, and the bleating of goats and sheep and the bellowing of bulls’ (ἀλλ’ ἵππων χρεμετισμοὶ καὶ μηκάζον αἰπόλιον, καὶ προβατίων βληχὴ καὶ ταύρου μύκημα). Seen from this vantage point, Synesius’ reference seems to be building on his general knowledge of HomerFootnote 36 and in particular of the Thrinacia episode, where equivalent themes were used. These observations indicate that he has probably made up this verse and that he is still operating with an Odyssean context in mind.Footnote 37 Since he is not citing anyone, he gives us this verse without indicating authorship.Footnote 38
Sixth, Synesius never mentions a Cyclic poet by name, nor does he ever cite another line from the Cyclic epics. This observation should not be confused with his knowledge of episodes featuring in the Cyclic epics, as Ep. 123.9–10 (Nostoi fr. 7 PEG 1, Bernabé = fr. 6 EGF, Davies = fr. 6 West) shows.
Seventh and finally, Livrea's suggestion is based on his belief that the episode of Odysseus wandering with an oar on his shoulder and his appeasement of Poseidon by means of sacrifices after arriving at a land where people are ignorant of the seaFootnote 39 would have been included in Eugammon's Telegony.Footnote 40 In my view, this is hardly the case, since (a) the episode is absent from Proclus’ summary of the Telegony, (b) Odysseus performs the sacrifices ordered by Teiresias after his return to Ithaca from his first journey to Elis and before his departure to Thesprotia, and (c) Odysseus’ journey to Thesprotia resulted from his Wanderlust.Footnote 41
Thus, when measured cumulatively, the evidence marshalled above strongly suggests that the dactylic hexameter of unknown authorship quoted by Synesius does not come from Eugammon's Telegony. Discomforting as it is, it may well be the case that not a single verse from this lost epic about Odysseus’ post-Odyssean adventures has survived the test of time.
APPENDIX
There are strong reasons for suggesting that the episode of Odysseus travelling to the land of the Thesprotians with an oar on his shoulder belonged to an older pre-Homeric Thesprotian tradition, but not Eugammon's Telegony.Footnote 42 Therefore, I shall try to explain my thesis in considerable detail.
The first argument is that the episode with the oar is not mentioned by Proclus.Footnote 43 Critics may argue that other details of the Telegony, such as Odysseus’ second son by Penelope (Ptoliporthes-Arcesilaus), are also left out by Proclus, whose version is after all a summary. There is, however, an important difference here: there are other features associated with this episode that, cumulatively valued, make it unlikely that the story of the ‘Sailor and the Oar’ would have featured in Eugammon's epic. In other words, the lack of any reference by Proclus to the episode with the oar must be seen within a reshaping of the content of an older Thesprotian oral tradition, which Eugammon and the Odyssey undoubtedly knew.Footnote 44 Clement's statement that ‘the Cyrenaean [poet] stole from Musaeus the entire Book on the Thesprotians’Footnote 45 may be a way of saying that a poetic tradition so old as to be attributed to a legendary figure such as Musaeus lies behind the Thesprotian section of Eugammon's poem. We shall return to this point later: for the time being, suffice it to say that there are reasons for emphasizing Proclus’ silence about such an important episode that – according to the Odyssey – functioned as the aetiology for Odysseus’ journey inland.
The second argument is that, in the Odyssey, Teiresias advises Odysseus to perform two sets of sacrifices: one for Poseidon (Od. 11.130–1) and one for the rest of the immortal gods (Od. 11.132–4). The former must include a lamb, a bull, and a boar (ῥέξας ἱερὰ καλὰ Ποσειδάωνι ἄνακτι, | ἀρνειὸν ταῦρόν τε συῶν τ᾽ ἐπιβήτορα κάπρον), and should take place in the land of the people who are ignorant of the sea, while the latter must be offered after Odysseus’ return to Ithaca (οἴκαδ᾽ ἀποστείχειν ἔρδειν θ᾽ ἱερᾶς ἑκατόμβας | ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσι, | πᾶσι μάλ᾽ ἑξείης). According to Proclus’ summary, Odysseus performs the sacrifices ordered by Teiresias after his return to Ithaca from his first journey to Elis and before his departure to Thesprotia (313–4 Severyns = § 118 Kullmann: ἔπειτα εἰς Ἰθάκην καταπλεύσας τὰς ὑπὸ Τειρεσίου ῥηθείσας τελεῖ θυσίας).
In order to avoid this obvious contradiction, scholars have come up with two suggestions. First, Merkelbach has argued that an original εἰς Ἤπειρον καταπλεύσας must at some stage have been changed into εἰς Ἰθάκην καταπλεύσας, since (according to his theory of Odysseus’ exile) Odysseus could not return to Ithaca after Elis.Footnote 46 This proposal has at least four serious flaws. First, why would this change occur in the first place? Was it a scribal error or a deliberate change? Both alternatives are clearly wrong: the former could not have been the case, since a change of Ἤπειρον > Ἰθάκην is palaeographically implausible. With respect to the latter, even if we assume that this was an emendation introduced by someone who wanted to bring the summary into agreement with Homer, it remains obscure why he would have introduced a change that would be in line with Homer with respect to the first set of sacrifices but against Homer as far as the second set is concerned. After all, there were two sets of sacrifices, both specified by Teiresias – one that would take place in the mainland and one in Ithaca after Odysseus’ return.Footnote 47 Secondly, the word Ἤπειρος is never employed by Proclus, nor is it ever attested in archaic epic, nor is it used before the classical period to designate a wide geographical area in the north-west of the Greek mainland,Footnote 48 of which Thesprotia is only one part.Footnote 49 Given that Proclus systematically uses the Homeric or archaic versions of place names, it is unlikely that he could have used the word Ἤπειρον instead of Ἰθάκην. Thirdly, it misinterprets the usus scriptoris, for Proclus employs the verb καταπλέω (‘sail from the high sea to the land’, ‘put into port’, ‘put in’, or ‘sail back’) only for arrival by sea at an island, so it is much more likely that here it designates a journey of return and arrival, namely Odysseus’ return to Ithaca.Footnote 50 Consequently, it is likely that Proclus would have used the participle ἀποπλεύσας and not καταπλεύσας, if he wanted to designate a sailing-away from Elis to Thesprotia.Footnote 51 Fourthly, Merkelbach's suggestion tries to solve one problem, but ends up creating another: since Teiresias spoke of two sets of sacrifices, if Odysseus is presented as going from Elis directly to Thesprotia (according to Merkelbach's argument) and performs Teiresias’ sacrifices there, then the second set of sacrifices will never be offered in Ithaca.Footnote 52
The second suggestion comes from West, in his edition of the Greek Epic Fragments, where he combines some information given by Pseudo-Apollodorus’ Epitome with Proclus’ summary of the Telegony.Footnote 53 He thus prints the following plot summary with respect to the passage in question: ἔπειτα εἰς Ἰθάκην καταπλεύσας τὰς ὑπὸ Τειρεσίου ῥηθείσας τελεῖ θυσίας. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰς Θεσπρωτοὺς ἀϕικνεῖται <καὶ κατὰ τὰς Τειρεσίου μαντείας θυσιάσας ἐξιλάσκεται Ποσειδῶνα, Ap.>. Thus, we have a summary where two conflicting versions are combined. Since it is, I think, obvious that the same sacrifices (specified by Teiresias) cannot be mentioned twice, we are faced with an insoluble problem. Pseudo-Apollodorus must be used with great caution, for although he may at times offer information that must have belonged to the Telegony, this should not make us forget that he is writing a mythological compendium and not the summary of a given epic poem.Footnote 54 Each piece of information that he gives us should, therefore, be judged on its own merit. A typical case is, for example, his complete silence about Odysseus’ journey to Elis, which was (beyond any reasonable doubt) part of the Telegony.Footnote 55
My third argument is that, since, according to Proclus’ summary, Odysseus performed the sacrifices specified by Teiresias in Ithaca, before his departure to Thesprotia, it becomes plausible that the purpose of Odysseus’ journey to Thesprotia was altogether different. The fact that Proclus does not mention the reason for this journey has caused a lot of head-scratching, but Ballabriga's claim that Odysseus’ wandering is a voluntary one and that it stems from his Wanderlust that is reflected even in the hero's false tales in the Odyssey (e.g. 14.244–6) seems to me plausible.Footnote 56 This scenario solves various problems, including Proclus’ clear designation of the reason for Odysseus’ journey to Elis (ἐπισκεψόμενος τὰ βουκόλια).Footnote 57 We may even argue that Proclus’ phrase ‘in order to visit his cattle’ explains why Odysseus went to Elis, not why he left Ithaca. In the case of Thesprotia, there was no need to do that, since Odysseus’ Thesprotian adventure had become so closely associated with Odysseus’ post-Odyssean fate that it hardly needed an explanation. In an older Thesprotian tradition, Odysseus may have died peacefully in Thesprotia ἐξ ἁλός (‘away from the sea’),Footnote 58 as Teiresias had prophesied in Od. 11.134. When the myth of Telegonus, which belonged to the typical story pattern ‘son kills his father by accident’, was added to the older Thesprotian lay and the expression ἐξ ἁλός was reinterpreted so as to mean ‘from the sea’,Footnote 59 Eugammon had to invent a reason for Odysseus’ departure from Thesprotia and return to Ithaca. This reason was Callidice's death, which allowed Odysseus to leave the throne to Polypoites, the son he had by her. It therefore becomes plausible that the Thesprotian episode acquired a novel function in Eugammon's Telegony, since it was used to create the necessary time lapse for two important developments or innovations introduced by Eugammon:Footnote 60 the coming of age of Polypoites and Ptoliporthes-Arcesilaus, the two sons Odysseus had acquired by Callidice and Penelope respectively. Both of them were of the utmost importance to the poet of the Telegony: the former would succeed to the throne in Thesprotia, the latter in Ithaca after Odysseus’ death, the double marriages of Telemachus with Circe and Telegonus with Penelope, and their transfer and subsequent immortalization in Aeaea.
Given this, Proclus’ reference to sacrifices specified by Teiresias to be offered in Ithaca before going to Thesprotia may be a relic of the older Thesprotian lay. Teiresias’ sacrifices had, in the course of time, become so intricately entwined with the Thesprotian episode that reference to them remained even when their prerequisite, the story of the ‘Sailor and the Oar’, was omitted. As Hansen has shown, the basic point of this story is its aetiological coda.Footnote 61 In the Telegony, there is no purpose or aim in Odysseus’ visit to Thesprotia. In Proclus’ summary, the sacrifices specified by Teiresias may have designated only the sacrifices to all the gods, namely only the second set of sacrifices ordered by Teiresias in the Odyssey. These sacrifices did not change place (since they were still carried out in Ithaca) but rather changed time. Odysseus’ second return to Ithaca (not after Elis but after Thesprotia) was caused in the Telegony by Callidice's death and had, therefore, been completely separated from the story of the ‘Sailor and the Oar’.Footnote 62 Another possible explanation is that, under the influence of the Thesprotian episode, Proclus mistakenly used the expression τὰς ὑπὸ Τειρεσίου … θυσίας, although he wanted to designate the sacrifices that Circe (10.521–5) had told Odysseus to perform in Ithaca (which are also mentioned in Ps.-Apollod. Epit. 7.34).Footnote 63 This scenario is further strengthened by the fact that both Circe's sacrifices and Teiresias’ were connected by their Underworld element, the former due to Hades and Persephone, the latter because Teiresias was in the Underworld. As suggested above, it was the influence of the Thesprotian adventure that facilitated Proclus’ mistake.