Chiara Di Serio
Abstract
Among the general elements that define myth, the temporal dimension is certainly recognized as a crucial one by many scholars. The purpose of this chapter is to examine this aspect further. Since the temporal element is closely connected to the foundation of cosmological order, this chapter will focus on the analysis of specific case studies that confirm the relevance of this connection. Four myths shall be examined, whose purpose is to establish: a) the origin of a constellation; b) the separation of humans from animals; c) the role of the poet; d) a ritual for Hera’s festival in Argos.
Introduction
One of the general features that fall within the definition of myth is its temporal dimension. It is worth dwelling on this aspect, which can become a useful tool on a heuristic level. Many scholars admit that there is a close correlation between mythical narratives and the past.1 Some agree that myth is a prototypical narrative2 that recreates the past of a given culture.3 In a more specific way, the concept of mythical time emerges from the studies of R. Pettazzoni,4 M. Eliade,5 K. Kerényi6 and A. Brelich,7 who defined a chronological dimension of the origins, when prototypical events take place, thus shaping history, i.e. founding reality. More recently, on the temporality of myths some considerations worth of interest are to be found in the critical analysis carried out by H. Haarmann (2015) within the historiography on this subject. The most significant elements are:
a. the mythopoetic experience reproduces the origins of the world;8
b. mythical tales are the rich heritage of human cultural memory;9
c. myth reworks human experience to construct knowledge of the world.10
As these statements presuppose in primis the construction of a cosmological order, they prove to be particularly appropriate to the Greek mythical heritage, which is rich in “narrative discourses” about the order of the cosmos and the human condition. Therefore, some interesting case studies are analyzed below, which confirm not only ideas already expressed by previous scholars on mythical time as a time of origins, but also Haarmann’s general observations in the context of Greek tradition.
The present analysis focuses on narratives from late mythographic texts,11 since, especially from the Hellenistic period, we have several collections of short “foundation myths” which, far from being merely antiquarian or erudite works, provide important evidence of a long and ancient legacy of beliefs well rooted in Greek culture and traditions. In some cases, mythographic repertories are also found in apologetic works of Christian writers – such as Clement of Alexandria12 or Tatian13 – who mention mythical tales only for the purposes of their arguments, and yet they constitute a rich and useful heritage for reconstructing the religious history of Greek civilization.14
In the myths discussed here the temporal dimension is quintessential to founding decisive elements of Greek cultural memory: a) the origin of a natural element; b) the separation between animals, mankind and gods; c) the role of poetry; d) a ritual in honor of Hera.
The Catasterism of Aetos
In order to illustrate how mythopoetic activity reframes the origins of the cosmos, it is useful to examine a myth that belongs to the genre of catasterisms,15 as they were called in ancient Greece. It is one of the many traditional stories on the origins of the constellations,16 in which the events narrated concern the birth of astral elements. According to the common definition,17 catasterisms belong to the aetiological literature, i.e. the genre that expounds the “causes” (αἴτια) of certain phenomena. But regarding the term aetiological, it should be pointed out that: a) the “search for causes” applies in general to all myths;18 b) tales about constellations are actually not too different from others in their narrative structure; c) the Greek tradition distinguished between different genres of mythography, identifying different categories of mythical narratives, depending on their content, such as genealogies, myths of metamorphosis, tales about animals, paradoxographies.
The first myth to be discussed is Eratosthenes’ tale on the constellation of Aetos (“Eagle”),19 where the eagle is the protagonist of many events: 1) this bird was attributed to Zeus when the gods distributed among themselves winged animals; 2) it also transported Ganymedes to Zeus to serve him as cupbearer;20 3) it reigns over the other birds;21 4) while the god was being chased by Cronus in Crete, the eagle transported him to Naxos, where he was raised;22 5) when the divine sovereign was to fight against the Titans, the eagle appeared as a good omen.23 Following these events, Zeus decided to place Aetos among the stars. In Eratosthenes’ text the motivation for the elevation of Aetos to constellation is indicated with the expression διὰ τοῦτο (“for this reason”). As J. Pàmias24 noted, this syntagm has an incisive value since it underlines very clearly the passage from mythical past to historical present.
In this narrative the eagle is a supernatural being that in mythical time is closely connected to the story of Zeus and the achievement of his power. In this regard, we should recall another mythical tale by Antoninus Liberalis,25 in which Zeus wished to incinerate the hero Periphas, because, thanks to his piety, he received from men the same honors due to the god.26 However, through the prayers of Apollo, Zeus transforms him into an eagle and grants him the privilege of being king of the birds, of guarding the divine scepter and being close to his throne.27
In Eratosthenes’ account the eagle works for the affirmation of Zeus’ sovereignty by fighting against the generation of pre-Olympian beings, and for the conquest of the god’s privileges, among which the designation of the divine cupbearer on Olympus is included. In the distant primordial time, as the stories about the eagle show, animals cooperate with superhuman beings. However, the eagle’s connection to Zeus continues into the historical era, as the myth founds the consecration of the eagle to the god.28 Eratosthenes’ narrative is placed in a remote time, when the constellation of Aetos did not exist and had still to be established in its current position in the sky. Differently, in their daily life the Greeks could observe it and also considered it the harbinger of violent storms, if it rose from the sea in the winter night sky.29 The function of the myth, besides fixing the presence of a natural element in the cosmos known by the Greeks, also establishes the usual behavior of the bird that flies straight towards the sun undisturbed by its rays.30 This last aspect precisely shows that Eratosthenes’ narrative is evidence of the Greeks’ reworking of their knowledge of the world.
Talking Animals
In the Greek mythical tradition, a significant example of the description of what happened in the “time of origins,” when things were qualitatively different from historical reality, is presented in Callimachus’ second Iambus, which reached us in fragmentary form and whose synthetical content can be found in the Diegesis:31
τἆλλα ζῷα ὡμοφώνει ἀνθρώποις, μέχρι κατάλυσιν γήρως ἐπρέσβευσεν ὁ κύκνος πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ ἀλώπηξ τὸν Δία ἐτόλμησεν μὴ δικαίως ἄρχειν φάναι. ἔκτοτε δὲ εἰς ἀνθρώπους μετήνεγκεν αὐτῶν τὴν φωνήν, καὶ λάλοι ἐγένοντο· Εὔδημος δέ, φησίν, τὴν κυνὸς ἔσχε, Φίλτων δὲ ὄνου, παρεπικόπτων τούτους, ἴσως δὲ καὶ Σαρδιανὸν εἶπε τὸν Αἴσωπον.
All animals spoke like humans, until the day when the swan went to the gods to ask for freedom from aging and the fox said that Zeus did not rule justly. Since then (Zeus) has transferred their voices to men and they have become chatty: Eudemos, the poet says, received that of the dog, Philton that of the ass, so introducing a bias against them. And similarly, the poet said that Aesop was from Sardis.
This tale focuses on a remote mythical age when animals had a voice. The qualitative difference from the historical dimension lies in the fact that animals and humans are described as living together and sharing the same language.32 The event that definitively determines the separation between primordial time and historical reality is the animals’ request to the gods to be freed from old age: this fact, on the one side, provokes the intervention of Zeus as guarantor of the natural order and of the structure of Greek society, and, on the other hand, it determines the impossibility of a condition where physical mutability does not exist. Following this event, humans start talking like beasts and become chatty. The myth ends with the foundation of an actual truth – that was familiar to Callimachus, the author of the iamb – when historical characters, such as Eudemos and Philton, start talking like animals.
As to the original linguistic unity of all living beings, we have a similar version of the same myth reported by Philo of Alexandria33 and included in a comment to the Biblical tale of the confusion of the languages. It narrates how in a remote time all animals had a common language; when they asked to be freed from old age and stay forever young in order to reach immortality, they were punished for their presumption and each of them started speaking a different idiom. It is worth remarking that the author, who is of Hellenistic culture, connects the Greek myth with the tradition presented in the holy text of the Genesis.34
Back to the Hellenistic culture, the anomalous original condition of promiscuity between beasts and humans is the subject of another tale by Aesop, where Zeus orders Prometheus to create both species on his behalf. When the god realizes that the animals were higher in number, he orders that some of them be transformed into humans, so that in the end only their bodies are human-like, but their instinct is animal.35
Last, regarding the same mythical theme, it is worth mentioning Babrius’ version that refers to the golden age, when not only all living beings, including animals and plants, but also the natural elements36 were able to speak;37 moreover, in that age mortals and gods shared a common existence.38 In this case too, primordial time has nothing to do with actual, historical life conditions, since it is totally unimaginable that all things can have a voice and that men can live together with the gods.39
Overall, the above-mentioned narratives belong to that series of stories that evoke the time when there was no separation between living beings, nor between immortals and mortals. In the common pattern of these tales, the primordial founding act refers to the creation of human language which is different from that of the animals and without which human society could not exist. At the same time, the condition of mortality of all living beings who must be separated from the immortal gods is established.
The Song of the Muses
Another example that illustrates how events that occurred in a remote and untimely dimension can mark the beginning of historical time is the story of the origin and the role of the Muses.
In the late version reported by Clement of Alexandria,40 the Muses are daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. In this narrative Megaclo was the daughter of Macar, king of the Lesbians, who was always at odds with his wife. For this reason Megaclo bought some handmaids from Mysia to help her mother, called them Muses (Mοίσαι according to Aeolic Greek) and taught them to sing old “ancient deeds” accompanied by the zither.41 Their music had the power of soothing Macar’s anger and Megaclo, as a sign of gratitude, erected statues for the Muses and ordered that they be venerated in all temples. This story follows the typical pattern of a sacred tale. The chronology is totally uncertain; it is a timeless time in which mythical characters, here specifically the Muses, are given their permanent features and tasks, in this case their ability to sing about past events. Such ability will then be accepted in Greek culture and the people will venerate and honor them in temples.42
From the time of the origins – as reported by Hesiod’s Theogony43 – the Muses sing hymns and delight Zeus’ mind on the Mount Olympos, saying “what is and what will be and what has been”;44 they possess an “immortal voice”45 to celebrate the race of the gods, from the beginning, when Gaia and Ouranos generated the early divinities, through Zeus and his offspring, up to the humans and the race of the Giants.46 In this myth, whose antiquity is undoubted, as demonstrated by Hesiod’s poem, the condition of primordial time is marked by the fact that the Muses sing of how life has developed, through the present, the future and the past,47 as it will permanently be in the historical dimension. Their voice gives permanent foundation to the world order according to which Zeus is “father of gods and men”48 and also “the foremost of the gods and greatest in power.”49 The Muses sing the supremacy of Zeus50 who defeated Cronus and assigned to the immortals their tasks and their roles.51 In this remote time the existential condition of immortals and mortals has not yet been determined and the Muses’ melody help fixing the definite order that will remain unchanged in the Greek culture.
In Hesiod’s myth, the foundation of the universal order, which will be decisive for the Greeks, does not stop with the stabilization of Zeus’ sovereignty, but it also includes the existence of the aoidoi and the citharists whose activity originated from the Muses themselves.52 In the mythical time, the subject of divine singing becomes paradigmatic and its perpetual validity is established, so much so that Hesiod claims that his work receives its inspiration directly from the Muses, who induced him to sing “what will be and what has been”53 and to write verses about the lineage of the immortals,54 by repeating what the goddesses had once done. Then the narration tells how the singers, who act as ministers of the Muses, have the task of celebrating the ancient men and gods.55 The goddesses, once they are invoked, can donate sweet tones that can alleviate sorrows and griefs.56
The meaning of the whole tale is clarified precisely by the institution of the aoidoi,57 as their role is to narrate myths that ensure the value of what ancient Greek society considers important. They are the main vehicle for preserving the cultural memory of the Greeks.
A Festive Ritual for Hera in Argos
To illustrate how myths constitute a reworking of human experience, we shall examine an interesting story, as preserved by the late mythographer Palaephatus.58 It tells how the Argives regularly celebrated a “solemn assembly” (πανήγυρις) in honor of Hera, the protectress of the city of Argos.59 During the feast, a chariot, drawn by a pair of white oxen, carried the priestess of the goddess from a sanctuary outside the city to the city temple. The story goes on to say that “once upon a time the days of the festival came,”60 but there were no oxen. So, the priestess devised a remedy: her two young sons were put in the place of the oxen to pull the cart. She then asked for a reward for them, and the goddess granted them eternal sleep.
However, Palaephatus draws on an early tradition; the earliest version of this myth appears in Herodotus,61 where the two young men are called Cleobis and Biton.62 It should be noted that in Palaephatus’ text, the word πότε (“once upon a time”) emphasizes very clearly that we are dealing with a distant past, a mythical time when decisive events took place. From a temporal point of view, it is remarkable that the tale takes place in an occasion when it was not possible to fully comply with the norm (νόμος in Palaephatus’ text) for the performance of the ritual. In the mythical time of the story, the need for oxen to be used in the ceremony for the goddess was not yet established; in the historical time, instead, the priestess of Hera has – in the text we read δεῖ – to be transported by oxen to the seat of the divinity, her temple. Therefore, in the mythical dimension the whole ritual is not yet fixed. But from the moment that the two young heroes offer themselves for the service to the priestess, the condition of the ritual becomes definitive, so that the typical scheme of the foundation myth appears to be respected: first the ritual in fieri, and then in action.
It should be noted that the mortal sleep given to Cleobis and Biton by the goddess is a determining factor, since not only does it constitute the best way to end life, which a god can grant to a mortal,63 but also it represents the fulfillment of the definitive, eternal condition of the two heroes, who are consecrated as superhuman beings to be worshipped in the cult. Evidence of their veneration by the citizens of Argos is given by Herodotus who speaks of the statues dedicated to them by the Argives at Delphi,64 and by Pausanias who speaks of their figures appearing on a relief.65 These two attestations are valuable, because they complete the religious context to which the two heroes belong: in fact, they clarify how the mythical story has its correspondence in the cult actions of the Argives through images consecrated to them.66 Literary sources, therefore, well document both the myth and the ritual established for the two superhuman beings.67 There is no doubt that the story first told by Herodotus, from which Palaephatus retains the fundamental elements, is the reproduction of a tradition that preserves the cultural memory of the Greek city of Argos.
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Notes
1
See the essential study of Vernant (1971) 93–124. Moreover, see Detienne (1981) 111–112; Bremmer (1987) 1–3; Graf (1985) 92–108; Tyrrell-Brown (1991) 15–16; Torrance (1994) 84; Doty (2000) 14–15; Finkelberg (2005) 10–12; Malkin (2011) 120–121; Clarke (2017); Johnston (2018) 8. See also the Preface to the present volume for an overview of significant landmarks in myth-history studies.
2
Vernant (1974) 210–212; Donald (1991) 215–216; Doty (2000) 51, 61–62.
3
In the works of Calame (1998) 133–138; (2006) 40–41 the exaltation of heroic past is discussed. See also Finkelberg on heroic age (2005) 167–176.
4
Pettazzoni (1947/1948) 104–116. Cf. Spineto (1996).
5
Eliade (1949) 390–392. Cf. Spineto (2015).
6
Kerényi (1951) 8.
7
Brelich (1966) 9–10.
8
Haarmann (2015) 2.
9
Haarmann (2015) 5.
10
Haarmann (2015) 5.
11
On Greek mythography in general, see the works of Henrichs (1987), Pellizer (1993), Higbie (2008).
12
See the Protrepticus.
13
See the Discourse to the Greeks.
14
Apologists often give allegorical explanations of Greek myths: cf. Kahlos (2012).
15
On the tradition of catasterisms in ancient Greece see Pamiàs (2019).
16
On the constellations and astrology in Greece, see Lorimer (1951); Condos (1997); Heilen (2002/2003).
17
Pamiàs and Zucker (2013) LXVII–LXIX; Pamiàs (2014) 202–203.
18
Brelich (1966) 11.
19
Eratosth. Cat. 30. See also the text of Hyg. Astr. 2.16 that reports, beside Eratosthenes’ one, two more mythical stories in which Aetos’ catasterism is founded. See the edition of Pàmias and Zucker (2013).
20
On the myth of the rape of Ganymedes, see Apollod. Bibl. 3.12.2; Strabo 13.1.11; Nonn. Dion. 10.309–320; 24.430–450; Verg. Aen. 5.252–257; Ov. Met. 10.155–161; Valerius Flaccus 2.414–415; Stat. Theb. 1.548.
21
Cf. Ant. Lib. Met. 6.
22
Cf. Hyg. Astr. 2.16.
23
Cf. Fulg. Myth. 1.20.
24
Pàmias (2014) 202.
25
Ant. Lib. Met. 6 in the edition by Papathomopoulos (1968).
26
See the commentary on the myth by Braccini and Macrì (2018).
27
Cf. Pind. Pyth. 1.6–7.
28
In Hom. Il. 24.310–315 the eagle is already Zeus’ favorite bird. See Santoni (2009) 226 n. 253. On the special link between Zeus and the eagle, see Ar. Av. 514; Apul. Met. 6.15. On the artistic production about Zeus’ eagle see Mylonas (1946).
29
Aratus Phaen. 314–315; Schol. Arat. Vet. 314.
30
See the observation in Eratosthenes’ edition by Santoni (2009) 226 n. 254, where the author quotes the passages of Arist. Hist. An. 9.34 620a and Ael. NA 2.26, in which an eagle forces its young ones to stare at the sun and kills those who have tears in their eyes.
31
See Callim. Ia. 2, ed. by Gallavotti (1946) 38. Cf. Callim. Ia. 2, fr. 192, Dieg. VI 22–32 in the edition by Pfeiffer (1949). The translation is by the author.
32
Cf. Xen. Mem. 2.7.13; Pl. Plt. 272 b-c. Some scholars who have analyzed this passage of Callimachus speak of a ‘Golden Age’ in which there was no clear distinction between animals and humans: Gera (2003) 29–31; Kleczkowska (2014) 97–108. Babrius Prol. 1.6–7 makes explicit reference to the Golden Age: see more below. Cf. the edition by Luzzatto-La Penna (1986).
33
Philo De confus. ling. 6.
34
Gen. 11.1–9.
35
Aesopus 323 in the edition by Chambry (1925/1926).
36
Babrius Prol. 1.6–7. In the Luzzatto-La Penna (1986) edition of the Babrii Fabulae Aesopeae we read: ἐπὶ τῆς δὲ χρυσῆς καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ζώιων / φωνὴν ἔναρθρον εἶχε καὶ λόγους ἤιδει (“in the golden age all living beings had a voice and could utter words”).
37
Babrius Prol. 1.7–11. In the Luzzatto-La Penna (1986) edition we read: ἐλάλει πέτρη καὶ τὰ φύλλα τῆς πεύκης (“stones and pine leaves could talk”).
38
Babrius Prol. 1.13: θνητῶν δ’ ὑπήρχε καὶ θεῶν ἑταιρείη (“A fellowship existed between the gods and men”). See Hes. Op. 108; 120. Cf. Pl. Phlb. 16 c; Porph. Abst. 4.1.2.
39
In this regard, see the study of Piccaluga (1996) 331–345.
40
Clem. Al. Protr. 2.31.1–4, ed. by Marcovich (1995). Clement claims that this tale is reported by Myrsilus of Lesbos: see FGrH 477 F 7a.
41
Clem. Al. Protr. 2.31.3: ταύτας ἐδιδάξατο ᾄδειν καὶ κιθαρίζειν τὰς πράξεις τὰς παλαιὰς.
42
As to the places where the Muses were venerated, see Paus. 1.19.5; 1.30.2. On their representations see Paus. 5.18.4; 8.9.1.
43
Hes. Theog. 36–40.
44
Hes. Theog. 38: τά τ’ ἐόντα τά τ’ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ’ ἐόντα. Strauss Clay (1988) 330 interprets this expression as the knowledge not only of eternal things, but also of mortal ones.
45
Hes. Theog. 43: ἄμβροτον ὄσσαν.
46
Hes. Theog. 44–50.
47
Not only do the Muses know the past, the present and the future, but their singing is prophetic too; cf. the mythical tale of Peleus and Thetis’ wedding, when their singing founded Achilles’ fatal death (Pind. Isthm. 8.56–58; Nem. 3.90; Cat. 64.305–306; 338–370). See Piccaluga (1980) 1749. As Semenzato (2017) 98–99 has noted, in the succession of present, future and past, the present dimension prevails and the Muses are omniscient.
48
Hes. Theog. 47: θεῶν πατέρ’ ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.
49
Hes. Theog. 49: φέρτατός ἐστι θεῶν κάρτει τε μέγιστος.
50
On the prerogative of the Muses’ singing, see Pironti (2012) 525–528. On their function to sing the order of things, governed by Zeus, see Baglioni (2016) 13–16.
51
Hes. Theog. 73–74.
52
Hes. Theog. 94–103.
53
Hes. Theog. 32: τά τ’ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ’ ἐόντα. According to Strauss Clay (1988) 330 the poet should only sing ‘eternal things’. See also Stoddard (2004) 80–81.
54
Hes. Theog. 33: μ’ ἐκέλονθ’ ὑμνεῖν μακάρων γένος αἰὲν ἐόντων.
55
Hes. Theog. 99–101.
56
Hes. Theog. 102–103.
57
On the function of the singing of the aoidoi, who receive their investiture from the Muses, there is a vast bibliography: see e.g. Arrighetti (1992) 45–63; Brillante (1992) 7–37; Pironti (2012) 526–527.
58
Palaephatus 50. See the edition by Stern (1996). Cf. Santoni (2000).
59
On the cult of Hera in Argos, see Pirenne-Delforge and Pironti (2016) 119–123.
60
Palaephatus 50: ἧκεν οὖν ποτε ὁ χρόνος φέρων τὴν ἑορτήν.
61
Hdt. 1.31. Cf. Paus. 2.20. 3; cf. 2.19.5; Plut. Cons. ad. Apoll. 58 E; 108 E-F; Suida s. v. Κροῖσος; Tzetz. Chil. 1.1.; Cic. Tusc. 1.47.113.
62
On the interpretation of this myth, see the work by Chiasson (2005).
63
Death without suffering as a reward from the gods is a theme well present in Greek literature: see e.g. Soph. OC 1224–1227; Thgn. 425–428.
64
Hdt. 1.31.5.
65
Paus. 2.20.3.
66
On the statues found at Delphi at the end of the nineteenth century and identified by some scholars as Cleobis and Biton, see Sansone (1991).
67
Chiasson (2005) has well identified the mythical-ritual context attested by Herodotus’ account, although in his study he speaks of a “legendary” story with mythical elements (see pages 42 and 60) and not explicitly of myth. But the whole structure of the story, in its different variants, can be interpreted as a real myth. This is confirmed by Plu. Mor. 108 E-F, where this narrative is associated with others, such as that of Trophonius and Agamedes, who are unequivocally heroes. On Trophonius, his myths and rituals, see Brelich (1958) 46–59.