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PINDAR, ISTHMIAN 4.47

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2020

Nicholas Lane
Nicholas Lane*
Affiliation:
Ealing, London
*
njglane@yahoo.com
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Extract

      45 τόλμᾳ γὰρ εἰκώϲ
      θυμὸν ἐριβρεμετᾶν θηρῶν λεόντων
      ἐν πόνῳ, μῆτιν δ᾽ ἀλώπηξ,
      αἰετοῦ ἅ τ᾽ ἀναπιτναμένα ῥόμβον ἴϲχει·
      χρὴ δὲ πᾶν ἔρδοντ᾽ ἀμαυρῶϲαι τὸν ἐχθρόν.

46 θηρᾶν: Heyne

For he [sc. Melissus, the victor] resembles the boldness of loudly roaring wild lions in his heart during the struggle, but in skill he is a fox, which rolls on its back to check the eagle's swoop. One must do everything to diminish one's opponent.

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The Classical Quarterly , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , December 2020 , pp. 891 - 894
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
45           τόλμᾳ γὰρ εἰκώϲ
θυμὸν ἐριβρεμετᾶν θηρῶν λεόντων
ἐν πόνῳ, μῆτιν δ᾽ ἀλώπηξ,
αἰετοῦ ἅ τ᾽ ἀναπιτναμένα ῥόμβον ἴϲχει·
χρὴ δὲ πᾶν ἔρδοντ᾽ ἀμαυρῶϲαι τὸν ἐχθρόν.

46  θηρᾶν: Heyne

For he [sc. Melissus, the victor] resembles the boldness of loudly roaring wild lions in his heart during the struggle, but in skill he is a fox, which rolls on its back to check the eagle's swoop. One must do everything to diminish one's opponent.Footnote 1

The meaning of ῥόμβον (47) is discussed by some but not all commentators. It is generally explained as indicating either the circling motion of the eagle before it swoops,Footnote 2 or the swoop itself.Footnote 3 But the former would, implausibly, suggest that the eagle is put off from engaging the fox, as if Melissus’ opponent somehow failed to engage.Footnote 4 A circling motion at a distance would also be a strange object for a verb like ἴϲχω, which normally implies, from its primary sense, physical contact.Footnote 5 The phrase ϲυμπεϲεῖν … βαρύϲ (51), ʻheavy to fall in with', certainly suggests that Pindar has engagement in mind.Footnote 6 ῥόμβοϲ is therefore unlikely to mean any circling motion or related sound before the eagle swoops. If it is understood as the swoop itself, different problems arise. First, ῥόμβοϲ does not indicate the direct motion of an attacking swoop. It means motion like that of a bull-roarer (or the shape which the noun also describes) around a fixed point.Footnote 7 Second, it is a poor way of denoting the noise of an eagle swooping. Bull-roarers roar. Swooping eagles do not.Footnote 8 In fact, in the Classical period there is no evidence for the word ῥόμβοϲ being used of anything like an eagle's swoop. There are two other instances in Pindar. Ol. 13.93–5 (ἐμὲ δ᾽ εὐθὺν ἀκόντων | ἱέντα ῥόμβον παρὰ ϲκοπὸν οὐ χρή | τὰ πολλὰ βέλεα καρτύνειν χεροῖν) is sometimes cited in support of ῥόμβον here. While a superficial reading of that passage might suggest that ῥόμβοϲ refers to direct motion,Footnote 9 that would miss Pindar's pointed use of the adjective εὐθύϲ to highlight the need to straighten the shot or risk in becoming a poorly aimed volley. Thus ῥόμβοϲ, without the crucial addition of εὐθύϲ, suggests aimlessness, and not the direct motion of an eagle's swoop. The other instance, at Dith. 2.8–10 Maehler (ϲεμνᾷ μὲν κατάρχει | Ματέρι πὰρ μ⌊εγ⌋άλᾳ ῥόμβοι τυπάνων, | ἐν δὲ κέχλαδ[εν] κρόταλ᾽ αἰθομένα τε δαῒϲ ὑπὸ ξαν⌊θα⌋ῖϲι πεύκαιϲ), probably refers to the cymbals' motion around a fixed point and possibly also to their sound.Footnote 10 Neither instance demonstrates that ῥόμβοϲ is apt in the sense required here, because an eagle's swoop is unlike either a poorly directed volley of darts or the sound and motion of cymbals.

Having regard to the problems discussed above, I suggest that ῥόμβον is corrupt and that emendation to ῥοῖβδον should be entertained.Footnote 11 The lexicographers give διώκει as a meaning of the verbs ῥοιβδέω and ῥοιζέω, but no similar meaning is given by them to ῥόμβοϲ or its cognates.Footnote 12 ῥοῖβδοϲ and its cognates have both a dynamic and an acoustic quality and, although its use in a particular context may suggest that one or other aspect is dominant, the word clearly signifies both sound and motion, and there is no need to separate them out or emphasize one at the other's expense.Footnote 13 Unlike ῥόμβοϲ,Footnote 14 ῥοῖβδοϲ is also closely associated with avian movement and sound, especially when a bird is on the attack or in an agitated state.Footnote 15 ῥοῖβδοϲ is sufficiently physical and dynamic enough to provide a plausible object for ἴϲχει.Footnote 16 Whereas ῥόμβοϲ conveys the wrong sort of movement and a sound which eagles do not make, ῥοῖβδοϲ denotes precisely the right movement and noise to describe the attack which the fox fends off. What Pindar is referring to is the moment at which the eagle strikes, as it adjusts its wings with a flutter and folds them so that it can tear into the victim with its beak and talons while avoiding damage to its wings. By reading ῥοῖβδον a noun is introduced which aptly describes the sound and motion of an eagle swooping to attack the fox, and which avoids the problematic manuscript reading. Pindar uses the word ῥοῖζοϲ,Footnote 17 and there is no reason why he should not have used ῥοῖβδοϲ too.Footnote 18 ΡΟΜΒΟΝ (or Attic ΡΥΜΒΟΝ) and ΡΟΙΒΔΟΝ look and sound similar enough to have been confounded by a scribe.Footnote 19

References

1 The text and apparatus criticus are those of Snell, B. and Maehler, H., Pindarus (Leipzig, 1987 8), 147Google Scholar, with line-numbering adjusted to treat Isthm. 4 separately from Isthm. 3. The translation is that of Race, W.H., Pindar: Nemean Odes, Isthmian Odes, Fragments (Cambridge, MA and London, 1997), 167/9Google Scholar.

2 E.g. Dissen, L., Pindari carmina quae supersunt cum deperditorum fragmentis selectis ex recensione Boeckhii, 2 vols. (Gotha and Erfurdt, 1830), 2.556Google Scholar (although Dissen paraphrases quae reclinata aquilae impetum cohibet, which could suggest a different kind of motion); Mezger, F., Pindars Siegeslieder (Leipzig, 1880), 284Google Scholar; Fennell, C.A.M., Pindar: The Nemean and Isthmian Odes (Cambridge, 1899 2), 175Google Scholar; Thummer, E., Pindar: Die Isthmischen Gedichte, 2 vols. (Heidelberg, 1968–9), 1.175Google Scholar; Krummen, E., Pyrsos Hymnon: festliche Gegenwart und mythisch-rituelle Tradition bei Pindar (Berlin and New York, 1990), 91CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 E.g. Σ 77b (= A.B. Drachmann, Scholia vetera in Pindari carmina, 3 vols. [Leipzig, 1903–27], 3.234.7–10) ἐν δὲ ταῖϲ μηχαναῖϲ τεχνικὸϲ ὡϲ ἀλώπηξ, ἥτιϲ καὶ τῶν ἀετῶν τὴν ὁρμὴν καὶ τὸν ῥοῖζον δολερῶϲ ἀνακλινομένη πολλάκιϲ ἀνέκρουϲεν; Σ 77c (Drachmann 3.234.12–14) κατὰ δὲ τὴν μῆτιν ἀλώπεκι, ἥτιϲ ἀνακλινομένη ὑπτία πρὸϲ τὸ ἑτοίμωϲ ἀμύνεϲθαι, ἐπέχει τὴν τοῦ ἀετοῦ ὁρμήν, ὅταν ἐπιρομβῇ αὐτὴν βουλόμενοϲ ἁρπάϲαι; Bury, J.B., The Isthmian Odes of Pindar (London and New York, 1892), 73Google Scholar (artificially and unrealistically making the swoop a ʻcircling' one); Nisetich, F.J., Pindar's Victory Odes (Baltimore and London, 1980), 308Google Scholar; Privitera, G.A., Pindaro: Le Isthmiche (Milan, 1982), 67Google Scholar; Willcock, M.M., Pindar: Victory Odes. Olympian 2, 7 and 11, Nemean 4, Isthmians 3, 4 and 7 (Cambridge, 1995), 82Google Scholar. For indecision regarding these competing interpretations, cf. e.g. Slater, W.J., Lexicon to Pindar (Berlin, 1969), 462CrossRefGoogle Scholar, s.v. ῥόμβοϲ, who gives the meaning ‘any circling movement’, but then translates ‘swoop’ from the scholia's paraphrase.

4 On the wrestling analogy, see R.V. Ivanov, Pindar's Isthmians 3 and 4: Essays and Commentary (Diss., Cornell University, 2010), 150, referring to Σ 77c–81 (Drachmann 3.234.10–24): ‘This description suggests that a pankratist would lie on his back (ὑπτία) and defend himself against the strikes of the opponent (τὰ δὲ ἀμύϲϲουϲα), trying to tie up his arms, legs or head (τὰ μὲν ϲυλλαμβανομένη) presumably in an attempt to pull off a submission by means of a joint-lock or choke.’

5 ἴϲχει should indicate that the fox ‘checks’ the eagle as it attacks, not before. This is the only instance of ἴϲχω in the sense ʻrestrain' in Pindar. He uses ἔχω in a similar sense at Pyth. 4.75, Nem. 11.23, Isthm. 4.54 (with persons as object) and at fr. 232 Maehler (of preventing fate).

6 The πίπτω compound mirrors the eagle descending on its prey. A. Köhnken, Die Funktion des Mythos bei Pindar (Berlin and New York, 1971), 116 n. 126 notes the similarity between ἴϲχει (47) and ϲχέθοι (54, of Herakles holding Antaeus in the air). This further confirms that Pindar is referring to contact.

7 LSJ, s.v. ῥόμβοϲ II: ‘whirling motion, as of a bull-roarer’: cf. Eur. Hel. 1362–3, ῥόμβου θ᾽ ἑλιϲϲϲομένα | κύκλιοϲ ἔνοϲιϲ αἰθερία; Suda ρ 222 Adler, s.v. ῥόμβον: κίνηϲιν· ἢ κύλινδρον; Hsch. ρ 433 Hansen–Cunningham, s.v. ῥόμβοϲ: … δῖνοϲ. κῶνοϲ …; ρ 434 Hansen–Cunningham, s.v. ῥόμβῳ: περιφορᾷ, κινήϲει. That ῥόμβοϲ does not indicate direct motion should be obvious from its connection with ῥέμβομαι: cf. Beekes, R.S.P., Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2 vols. (Leiden and Boston, 2010), 2.1280Google Scholar, s.v. ῥέμβομαι and Hsch. ρ 206 Hansen–Cunningham, s.v. ῥέμβεται: πλανᾶται, γυρεύει. Anyone who has observed an eagle swooping will have been struck by its astonishing directness and speed.

8 Cf. Archyt. fr. 1 DK; Diog. Athen. 45 F 1.1–4 TrGF; Hsch. ρ 433 Cunningham–Hansen, s.v. ῥόμβοϲ: ψόφοϲ … ἦχοϲ; Gow, A.S.F., Theocritus, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1952 2), 2.44Google Scholar: ʻa muttering roar'; West, M.L., Ancient Greek Music (Oxford, 1992), 122Google Scholar: ‘demonic roaring noise’; T.J. Mathiesen, Apollo's Lyre: Greek Music and Music Theory in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Lincoln, NE/London), 172: ʻa whirling or rumbling'. These sounds are not those of an eagle swooping.

9 The only modern commentator to address the meaning of ῥόμβοϲ at Ol. 13.94 is Fernandez-Galiano, M., Pindaro: Olimpicas. Texto, introduccion y notas (Madrid, 1956 2), 323Google Scholar: ʻsustantivo verbal de ῥέμβω, con idea de algo que corre vibrando, agitándose o dando vueltas'. (Anac. fr. 501.8 PMG ἱέντα ῥόμ[βον is too fragmentary for any conclusions to be drawn about whether it would support its use here.) Kannicht, R., Euripides: Helena, 2 vols. (Heidelberg, 1969), 2.357Google Scholar glosses ῥόμβοϲ at Eur. Hel. 1362 (quoted above, n. 7) as ὁρμήν, but without explaining how something which indicates circular motion can also mean rapid forward motion. The lexicographers give ὁρμᾶν as a meaning of ῥοιζεῖν (e.g. Hsch. ρ 423 Hansen–Cunningham, s.v. ῥοιζεῖ), but ῥόμβοϲ is nowhere (except in the scholia here and at Ol. 13.94 [Σ 133d = Drachmann 1.383.10–12]) glossed as ὁρμή. That the scholia paraphrase ῥόμβοϲ as ῥοῖζοϲ and ὁρμή (Σ 77b and 77c, both of them quoted above, n. 3) suggests that they may not have read ῥόμβοϲ here at all.

10 Cf. van der Weiden, M.J.H., The Dithyrambs of Pindar (Amsterdam, 1991), 69Google Scholar (on Dith. 2.8–9 Maehler, ῥόμβοι τυπάνων): ‘ῥόμβοϲ is used for any circling motion, e.g. of an eagle (Pi. I. 3/4, 65), of javelins (O. 13, 94). It can also mean the kettledrum itself, cf. Ar. fr. 315 K.–A. ἴθι δὴ λαβὼν τὸν ῥόμβον ἀνακωδώνιϲον. The word ῥόμβοι indicates that the τύπανα were moved in the air, so that we should not think of our sort of drums.’ As to their sound, cf. n. 8 above. Race (n. 1), 303 focusses on motion, translating ῥόμβοι τυπάνων ʻwhirlings of tambourines', whereas S.L. Radt, Strabons Geographika, 10 vols. (Göttingen, 2002–11), 3.227 concentrates on noise translating ʻdas Getöse von Zymbeln', i.e. the roaring noise of the cymbals.

11 On the meaning of ῥοῖβδοϲ, cf. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U., Euripides Herakles (Berlin, 1895 2), 2.185Google Scholar (on Eur. HF 860): ʻῥοῖβδοϲ ist das durch heftige Bewegung hervorgebrachte Geräusch “Sausen”'; cf. also Hsch. ρ 417 Hansen–Cunningham: ῥοιβδεῖ· ῥοιζεῖ· διώκει· ῥοφεῖ and for further discussion cf. Tichy, E., Onomatopoetische Verbalbindungen des Griechischen (Vienna, 1983), 84–5 and 92–4Google Scholar.

12 Of the numerous meanings given for ῥόμβοϲ at Hsch. ρ 433 Hansen–Cunningham, where one would expect such a meaning to appear, none indicates attack.

13 There is a perceptible modern tendency to treat ῥοῖβδοϲ, ῥοῖζοϲ and their cognates in a binary way as indicating either sound or motion: so LSJ s.v. ῥοῖβδοϲ ʻany rushing noise or motion'; s.v. ῥοιζέω ʻrush or whirr through the air'. This is less apparent in the ancient lexica and scholia: cf. e.g. Phot. ρ 150 Theodoridis: ῥοῖζοϲ· ῥύμη· ἦχοϲ [= Suda ρ 275 Adler]; Σ on Aesch. Eum. 424 (= O.L. Smith [ed.], Scholia graeca in Aeschylum, 2 vols. [Leipzig and Stuttgart, 1982–93], 1.56.4) <ἐπιρροιζεῖ>] ἐπιβοᾷϲ, ἐπιβάλλειϲ; Σ on Soph. Ant. 1021 (= P.N. Papageorgiou [ed.], Scholia in Sophoclis tragoedias vetera [Leipzig, 1888], 266.19): ἀπορροιβδεῖ· ἀπηχεῖ, ἀφίηϲι; Σ on Soph. Trach. 568 (= G.A. Xenis [ed.], Scholia vetera in Sophoclis Trachinias [Berlin and New York, 2010], 150) (διερροίζηϲεν): μετὰ ἤχου ὥρμηϲεν. In some of these sources sound comes first and in others the dynamic sense.

14 ῥόμβοϲ and its related verbs are not used of birds anywhere else by Classical or Hellenistic authors.

15 E.g. Soph. Ant. 999–1004 εἰϲ γὰρ παλαιὸν θᾶκον ὀρνιθοϲκόπον | ἵζων ἵν᾽ ἦν μοι παντὸϲ οἰωνοῦ λιμήν, | ἀγνῶτ᾽ ἀκούω φθόγγον ὀρνίθων, κακῷ | κλάζονταϲ οἴϲτρῳ καὶ βεβαρβαρωμένῳ· | καὶ ϲπῶνταϲ ἐν χηλαῖϲιν ἀλλήλλουϲ φοναῖϲ | ἔγνων· πτερῶν γὰρ ῥοῖβδοϲ οὐκ ἄϲημοϲ ἦν; Ar. Av. 1182–3 ῥύμῃ τε καὶ πτεροῖϲι καὶ ῥοιζήμαϲιν | αἰθὴρ δονεῖται; Aratus, Phaen. 966–9 καί που κόρακεϲ δίουϲ †ϲταλαγμοὺϲ† | φωνῇ ἐμιμήϲαντο ϲὺν ὕδατοϲ ἐρχομένοιο, | ἤ ποτε καὶ κρώξαντε βαρείῃ διϲϲάκι φωνῇ | μακρὸν ἐπιρροιζεῦϲι τιναξάμενοι πτερὰ πυκνά; Ap. Rhod. Argon. 2.1247–53 καὶ δὴ Καυκαϲίων ὀρέων ἀνέτελλον ἐρίπναι | ἠλίβατοι, τόθι γυῖα περὶ ϲτυφελοῖϲι πάγοιϲιν | ἰλλόμενοϲ χαλκέῃϲιν ἀλυκτοπέδῃϲι Προμηθεὺϲ | αἰετὸν ἥπατι φέρβε παλιμπετὲϲ ἀίϲϲοντα. | τὸν μὲν ἐπ᾽ ἀκροτάτηϲ ἴδον ἕϲπερον ὀξέι ῥοίζῳ | νηὸϲ ὑπερπτάμενον νεφέων ϲχεδόν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔμπηϲ | λαίφεα πάντ᾽ ἐτίναξε, παραιθύξαϲ πτερύγεεϲϲιν; Nonnus, Dion. 26.203–4, οὐ μὲν ἀνακρούει Zεφυρηίδι ϲύνθροοϲ αὔρῃ | ὑμνοτόκων πτερύγων ἀνεμώδεα ῥοῖζον ἰάλλων; Manuel Philes, Περὶ ἀετῶν 57–8(8–9) τούτου [sc. ἀετοῦ] δὲ καὶ τὸν ῥοῖζον ἀκούσας δράκων | ἔπτηξε. In the corpus of Aesop's fables, both the eagle and the dove are described moving μετὰ πολλοῦ ῥοίζου or πολλῷ ῥοίζῳ: cf. Hausrath, A., Haas, H. and Hunger, H., Corpus fabularum Aesopicarum, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1959–704), 1.1.4, 1.2.39–40Google Scholar. The words are also used of things that fly like birds: cf. e.g. Aesch. Eum. 403–5 ἔνθεν διώκουϲ᾽ ἦλθον ἄτρυτον πόδα, | πτερῶν ἄτερ ῥοιβδοῦϲα κόλπον αἰγίδοϲ, | πώλοιϲ ἀκμαίοιϲ τόνδ᾽ ἐπιζεύξαϲ᾽ ὄχον (of Athena arriving like a bird); Arist. Hist. an. 535b26–8 Balme καὶ γὰρ οἱ κτένεϲ ὅταν φαίνωνται ἀπερειδόμενοι τῷ ὑγρῷ, ὃ καλοῦϲι πέτεϲθαι, ῥοιζοῦϲι, καὶ αἱ χελιδόνεϲ αἱ θαλάττιαι (of scallops ʻflying' just above the surface of the sea); Lycoph. Alex. 65–6 πύργων ἀπ᾽ ἄκρων … | ῥοιζηδὸν ἐκβράϲαϲα κύμβαχον δέμαϲ· (of Oenone throwing herself from the towers of Troy in grief); Lucill. Anth. Pal. 11.106.3–4 καὶ τάχ᾽ ἂν ἐρροίζητο δι᾽ αἰθέροϲ, εἰ μὴ ἀράχνῃ | τοὺϲ πόδαϲ ἐμπλεχθεὶϲ ὕπτιοϲ ἐκρέματο (of Chaeremon floating in the air in an accidental ὑπτιαϲμόϲ).

16 As the instances of ῥοῖβδοϲ, ῥοίζημα and ῥοῖζοϲ cited in n. 15 (of birds rending each other with their talons [Soph. Ant. 1103–4], agitating the air [Ar. Av. 1182–3] and even shaking a ship's sails [Ap. Rhod. Argon. 2.1253]) show.

17 Lobel's conjecture at Dith. 4(a).7 Maehler, where the papyrus preserves ]οῖζον. van der Weiden (n. 10), 167 (on Dith. 4[a].7 Maehler, ῥ]οῖζον ..[) comments: ‘in this context, probably of a fight between Hector and a Greek, ῥοῖζοϲ is best interpreted as the whirring sound of an arrow (cf. Il. 16, 361 [sc. ϲκέπτετ᾽ ὀϊϲτῶν τε ῥοῖζον καὶ δοῦπον ἀκόντων]), a javelin etc’. The swoop of an eagle could be described in terms similar to a whirring arrow, which would be a reason for considering ῥοῖζον as a possible alternative correction here. However, I suspect that it would have been much less likely than ῥοῖβδον to become corrupted to ῥόμβον.

18 The appearance of the cognate ῥοίβδηϲιϲ within a choral lyric passage of Euripides (IA 1086) provides support for this.

19 I am obliged to Roger Dawe, James Diggle and David Kovacs for commenting on an initial draft of this note, as well as to CQ's anonymous referee for salutary criticisms of the final draft.