Epiphanies and Dreams in Greek Polytheism: Textual Genres and 'Reality' from Homer to Heliodorus

330 Pages·2021·1.548 MB·English

by  Lipka, Michael

Michael Lipka
Epiphanies and Dreams in Greek Polytheism
MythosEikonPoiesis
Herausgegeben von
Anton Bierl
Wissenschaftlicher Beirat:
Gregory Nagy, Richard Martin
Band 13
Michael Lipka
Epiphanies and
Dreams in Greek
Polytheism
Textual Genres and ‘Reality’ from Homer to Heliodorus
ISBN 978-3-11-063636-9
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-063885-1
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-063916-2
ISSN 1868-5080
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021943148
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet
at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
To the ASCSA and BSA,
most generous institutions of
serene scholarship,
and to their beautifulgardens.

Foreword and Acknowledgements
Thisbookistheslowlyripeningfruitofmyfascinationwiththerepresentationof
communicatinggods in ancient Greek polytheism.Over more than a decade, it
hasbenefitedfromthegenerousadviceofmanyscholarswhohavecommented
ondifferentversionsofindividualchaptersatdifferenttimes:LuciaAthanassaki,
Ewen Bowie, Frederick Brenk, John Dillon, Nanno Marinatos, Donald Mastro-
narde,JohnMikalson,RobertParker,ChristopherPelling,SpyridonRangos,An-
toniosRengakos,JörgRüpke,andBerndSeidenstickerarethosewhomIstillre-
call.Iwholeheartedlythankthem˗andotherswhocontributedtothebook˗for
their time and their instructive criticism.
Two scholars in particular facilitated the publication of this book. Georgia
Petridou,the(initiallyanonymous)reviewer,putatmydisposalherprofoundex-
pertise and even greater generosity in sponsoring an approach that responded
critically to ˗rather than continuing˗ her own contributions to the field. Even
more,ImustthankAntonBierl,editorofMEP,whostoodbythebookunreserv-
edly,devotedmuchtimetoscholarlyandeditorialdiscussions,wasalwaysreli-
able, efficient, available and quick in his judicious responses, in a word, a πα-
ράδειγμα φιλίας.
As for the more technical aspects of the completed version of the book,
Katharina Legutke, acquisitions editor of classical studies at DeGruyter, as
wellasAnneHillerandUllaSchmidt,bothresponsiblefortheproductionproc-
ess,sawthetextthroughthepressinaprofessional,unbureaucratic,andalways
good-humored mood. In particular,Ulla Schmidt was extremely generous with
hertimeandheracumen,inensuringtheswiftandaccuraterealizationofhun-
dredsofcorrectionsinthenumerousproofs.Besides,BrianMcNeilcheckedthe
English(andtherebyalsoitscontents).Brian’sastonishingefficiencyinreading
throughlargeamountsoftextswithincrediblespeedandstillpainstakingatten-
tiontodetailisonlymatchedbyhisevengreaterkindnessofreadingsimilarver-
sionsagainandagain.Still,intermsofpatiencenoonecouldpossiblymatchmy
wife, Elena,who for yet another decade bore my quirks and long absences in
Athens with her characteristic stoic and caring resilience.
Ihavetriedtoincluderelevantbibliographyuntil2020,withadeliberateem-
phasis on more recent publications. But while Ithereby try to be as up˗to˗date
andbalancedaspossible,Irefrainfromheapingupbibliographyforthebibliog-
raphy’s sake.Given that the book covers a millennium of textual production in
morethanadozengenres,noonewillexpecttofindafulldiscussionofallrel-
evant approaches that scholars in the past have taken to individual issues. In-
stead, I will give precedence to my own argument and respond primarily to
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110638851-001
VIII ForewordandAcknowledgements
thoseapproacheswhicheitherreinforceoropposeit.AlthoughIhavetriedhard
to read and sift most relevant bibliography, I am aware that, inevitably, I will
havemissedsomeimportantcontributions.Still,despitethetruismthatthebib-
liographyisenormous,letitbesaidthatomissiondoesnotautomaticallyimply
ignoranceonmypart.Relevanceandfocusremaindebatablematters,especially
when dealing with such an enormous bulk of textual material.
My translations are mostly adaptations from existing translations or new
translationsfromscratch.Preferably,duetoavailability,Irelyonthemostrecent
Loebtranslations.Asfortranscriptionsofpropernames,Iprioritizelucidityover
consistency.Thesameholdstrueofmyabbreviationsofancientsources.Mostof
them are based on the 9th edition of Liddell & Scott (1940),while some follow
the fourth edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary (2012); others are my own.
I generally adhere to Latin or English,when referring to work titles, but in the
caseoffragments,InormallyofferatranscriptionoftheGreektitles(withoutdi-
acritics) because such aprocedure facilitates identification better than translat-
ing the Greek title into Latin or English.
Asforthenumberingoffragments,inthosecasesinwhichIfollowstandard
editionssuchasPCGandTrGF,Idonotmarkthesourceeditionspecifically.For
reasonsofconvenience(althoughnotsystematically),Isometimesrefertheread-
er to the Loeb translations of dramatic fragments. Here,the introduction to the
relevant plays is often very useful to get a quick idea of the highly conjectural
contextsorcontents.WhereIquotefragmentsaccordingtolessstandardizedcol-
lections, I mark the source by the surname of the editor,whose edition I use.
Like its three precursors,this book was written on the second floor of the
Davis Wing of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (= ASCSA),
intheByzantineRoomoftheBritishSchoolatAthens(=BSA),andinthebeau-
tifulgardensthatsurroundthem.Itiswithprofoundandlong˗overduegratitude
that I dedicate it to these timeless havens of scholarlycontemplation.
Contents
Introduction 1
Epic 25
Iliad and Odyssey: Epiphanies 25
Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica: Epiphanies 33
Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica: Epiphanies 35
Iliad and Odyssey: Dreams 39
Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica: Dreams 43
Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica: Dreams 44
Comparative Aspects and Reality 46
Narrative Hymns 51
Disguised Gods 54
Undisguised Gods 56
Hymnic Parody: The Homeric Hymn to Hermes (4) 60
Narrative Hymns and Cult 63
Didactic Poetry 69
Hesiod’s Theogony 69
Parmenides 70
Callimachus’ Aetia 72
Sappho’s Lyric 75
Drama 79
Introducing the Plot 83
Concluding the Plot 91
Reversal Epiphanies 98
Fully Emplotted Epiphanies 100
Dionysus: Deus Praesentissimus 107
Zeus: Deus Absentissimus 120
Dreams in Drama 128
Historiography 137
Pre˗Imperial Period: Epiphanies 138
Imperial Period: Epiphanies 148
Dreams 151
Historical Biography 157
Epiphanies 158
X Contents
Epiphanic Daimons 160
Dreams 162
Periegesis 165
Epiphanies 165
Dreams 169
Autobiography 173
Epigraphic Genres 181
Public Inscriptions 182
Private Inscriptions 196
Erotic Novel 203
Epiphanies 204
Dreams 207
Epiphanic Ecphrases 212
Epiphanization of Mortals 214
Homeric Imitations 216
Medical and Philosophical Treatises on Dreams 219
Neoplatonic Treatises 227
Plotinus 228
Iamblichus 229
Magical Recipes 233
‘Mithras Liturgy’ 236
Conclusions 247
Generic Patterns 247
Reality and ‘Epiphany˗Mindedness’ 248
Epiphanies in the Lifeworld and Intentional Reality 249
Dreams in the Lifeworld and Intentional Reality 252
Divine Fiction Versus Piety and Religion? The Question of
‘Aetiologies’ 254
Bibliography 257
General Index 287
Index of Ancient Sources 299