New Verses on Adonis - Reed - Art

8/10/2019 New Verses on Adonis - Reed - Art

1/8

New Verses on Adonis

Author(s): J. D. ReedSource: Zeitschrift fr Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Bd. 158 (2006), pp. 76-82Published by: Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn (Germany)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20191152.

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2/8

76

New Verses

on

Adonis

Among

the latest

Oxyrhynchus

papyri

is

a

fragmentary

elegiac

poem

containing

at

least three

myths

that

involve

metamorphoses:

Adonis,

Delos,

and

Narcissus.1

The

two

that

share

a

side

(Adonis

and

Delos)

show

a

catalogue-poem

format;

that

is,

one

myth,

retailed in

a

few

lines,

follows

another with

no

transitional

or

framing

material

(this

does

not

exclude the

possibility

of

a

broader frame in the

lost

parts

of the

poem:

for

example,

a

narrator

within

a

larger

narrative).2

This

format

suggests

an

origin

in the

Hellenistic

period

or

later:

compare

the

catalogue

elegists

-

like

Hermesianax, Phanocles,

and

Alexander of Aetolia

-

and

curse-poetry

of the

early

3rd

century

B.C.E.

The

papyrus

itself

shows

a

Coptic

uncial hand from the 6th

century

B.C.E. It shows

bad surface

damage,

especially

in

the lines

on

Adonis.

Its

editor,

W.

B.

Henry,

notes

that

among

the authors of

metamorphosis

literature known

to

us

by

name,

the

fragments

are

not

inconsistent

with

the

few

known facts about Parthenius'

Mexajiopcpcoceic

(Supplementum

Hellenisticum 636-7

=

fr.

24

Lightfoot), though

we

do

not

know

whether that

work

was

in

verse,

and if

so,

in

what

metre.

We have

no

extant

passage

of

Parthenius

that

includes

more

than

one

metamorphosis

(one,

in

elegiacs,

occurs

in

SH

640

=

fr.

28

Lightfoot;

the

work

it

came

from

is

unknown).

The

relatively straightforward,

standard

poetic

diction

here

is unlike

Parthenius'

ornate,

recherch?

style.3

Of other writers of

metamorphic

poetry,

Theodorus

(Hellenistic

or

earlier)

is said

to

have included in his

Mexajiopcpcoceic

Adonis'

mother's

transformation

into the

myrrh

tree

(SH

749),

if

not

Adonis'

own

story;

Theodorus'

poem

was

known

to

Ovid

(SH

750),

and

Henry's

objection

that he

was

less

likely

than

Parthenius

to

have

been

copied

in the 6th

century

is untestable.

We

do

not

know the

metre of Theodorus'

Mexocjiopcpc?ceic.4

It is of course

always possible

that the new

fragment

attests a

metamorphosis-themed

section of

an

elegiac

poem

on

other matter.5

The

present

discussion focuses

on

the

couplets

on

Adonis

(from

the

fragmentary

opening

through

line

6),

with

a

view

to

placing

this

version

in the

known

history

of the

myth.

The

papyrus

does

not

name

Adonis,

but its

preserved

details

point

to

his

story,

in

particular

the

mention of

an

alternation,

the

conjunction

of

Aphrodite

and

Persephone,

and the

apparent

metamorphosis

from blood.

My

comparanda

are

intended

to trace to

their earliest

attestations

the several motifs

found

here,

and thus

to

problematize

them;

that

is,

to

suggest

their

history

and avoid the

sense

of

a

standard

myth.

I

provide

a

text

and

translation

(supplements

are

Henry's),

a

commentary,

and

finally

a

summary

overview.

Text

(p]lX,OJLl8l?[

]

[]0C??,l^[

][][][][

?'aMM

1

P.

Oxy.

4711.

Plates

II

and

III

contain

images.

2

Few

will

prefer

the

argument

that

we are

dealing

with

anthologized

excerpts.

A

forthcoming

paper

by

Hans Berns

dorff

intriguingly

argues

for

a

late

collection

of

mythographical epigrams

of

a

di?g?ma

type.

Note,

incidentally,

that

it is

quite

uncertain which

side

came

first.

3

Compare,

for

example,

his

epithet

Kavco7cixr|c

for Adonis

in

SH

654

=

fr.

42

Lightfoot

(Adonis may

also have

to

do

with

SH

641

=

fr.

29

Lightfoot;

cf.

below

on

line

5).

4

SH

752

=

Suda

9

152 Adler

attests

a

poet

Theodorus who

wrote

various

things

in

hexameters,

including

poetry

on

Cleopatra

in

hexameters .

SH

753-4

attest

a

pre-Hellenistic

poet

Theodorus. Whether either of these

(or

the Theodori who

wrote

the

Meleagrian

A.P.

6.282

and

K?vaiooi:

SH

755-6)

was

the author

of the

Metamorphoses

is unknown.

5

G.

O.

Hutchinson,

ZPE 155

(2006)

71-84,

discusses the

relationship

between the

surviving

sections of the

narrative,

as

well

as

their

original

lengths.

In

general

Hutchinson

explores

the

narrative

style

of

the

poem

(which

he characterizes

as

tightly

written and

densely

learned ),

especially

in

comparison

with

Ovid's

Metamorphoses

(including

the

possibility

that

Ovid

was

influenced

by

this

poem).

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/8

New

Verses

on

Adonis

11

Ki)7i]pi5i

?A,

[ ]

vei?Oi

epce[(p?vTi.

5

oi)]vojLia

?'

au

tcotIocJijx?

yeke

n

[

a]{\\aii

?'

dcn?poc[i](p

kocXov

?0aX[^8 qnrcov.

(?)

Laughter-loving

...

(?)

turning

around

...

in alternation

...

to

Cypris

...

down below

to

Persephone

...

But... his

name

to

a

river ...,

and

by

means

of

his

ambrosial blood

a

beautiful

[?plant

bloomed].

Commentary

1.

cp]iXo|Li?i8[:

Aphrodite

must

have been mentioned

here;

(pi?,o|4iei?r|c

is her

epithet

from

earliest

times.

M. L.

West

suggests

restoring

the usual

poetic

form

with

-jj|i-

(Henry

ad

loc),

which

would

suggest

-

even

compel

-

the

epic

line-ending, always

nom.,

(p.

A(ppo8ixr|

(the

preserved

form

of the

word would end

with

the fourth

foot).

The

epithet

(usually

interpretable

as

laughter-loving ,

but

note

Hes. Th.

200)

is

not

found

in

other

extant treatments

of

this

myth,

but cf. the

smiling Aphrodite

of

Theoc. 1.95

with

Daphnis'

rebuke

to

her about Adonis

at

109-10.

Ironic

here

(if

laughter-loving

is the

sense),

before

a scene

of her

grief.

2.

]oce?i?[:

Henry,

noting

eXiccoo

at

//.

17.281-3 used

of

a

hunted

boar

rounding

to

bay,

suggests

a

participle

of

the verb

here,

specifically

8^i^[?|iev-.

The

blood

in line 6 indicates that the boar-hunt

that

killed

Adonis

had

a

part

in this version

(no

other

bloody

death of Adonis is known

from

mythology). Perhaps

then

Karcpjoc 8?ii^[?|Li8VOc,

with

a

verb

( killed,

attacked vel

sim.)

in the

first

hemistich.

The

myth

is first

possibly

attested around

400

B.C.E.;

first

certainly

in the Hellenistic

period:

see

Hermes

124

(1996)

381-2. Since in

existing

versions

Aphrodite

is

far

away

from

the

scene

of

Adonis'

death,

her

epithet

in

the

foregoing

line

probably

does

not

attest

her

presence

at

the

boar

hunt.

The

description

of

the hunt

may

have been confined

to

this

line alone

(the

narrative concision of the

rest

of the

fragment

would

support

this

possibility).

3.

oc|uoi?ai[:

This

word

must

have denoted

Adonis'

alternation,

the

exchange

of him

between

two

goddesses.

One thinks first of

an

adverbial

form,

perhaps

a

neuter

a|ioi?aiov

(ajuoi?aicoc

is

rare

and

prosaic).

The

traces

of

the

last

letter

are

more

consistent

with

iota than

with

delta,

thus

ruling

out

an

adverb like

ajioi?aoic.

Alternatively

one

could

try

an

adjectival

form

going (predicatively)

with

Adonis

or

the

goddesses,

or

in

some

such

phrase

as

ewficiv

ajioi?aiTici.

The

myth

of

Adonis'

alternation

between

Aphrodite

and

Persephone,

evidently

based

on

a

Mesopotamian

myth

of

Tammuz,

goes

back

to

Panyassis

fr.

27 Bernab?

=

[Apollod.]

3.14.4

(see

ClAnt

14

[1995] 330-32).

In

Hellenistic

poetry

the

motif

is

exploited

at

Theoc. 15.136-42

(cf.

TAPA 130

[2000]

336).

4.

K?>7t]pi8i

?A

[ ]:

After

the

goddess's

name

(an

inevitable

supplement)

Henry

prints

?e??l8c[9ai]. This form is attested only by Hesych. ? 420 (?e?^eoGou- n??,eiv. (ppovxi?ew);Henry

corrects

the

accentuation

to

yield

a

perfect

inf.,

noting,

however,

that Latte

ad. loc.

perhaps rightly

suspects

a

scribal

error

for

jLiejLi?A,8G0ai.

Henry's

bold

conjecture,

if

correct

(see

below

for

further

doubts),

would

nicely

suit

the

sense

of

the

passage,

balancing

the

primary

sense

of

caretaking

(as

in

Panyassis'

version of

the

myth,

where

Adonis

is

a

baby)

with

the erotic

sense6

(the

blood in line

6

indicates the

hunting myth,

thus

that Adonis

is

grown

and

a

love-object).

An

infinitive would

most

obviously

point

to

indirect

discourse

(with e.g.

?iyoDciv

in

3:

they

say

that

Adonis

is

an

object

of

concern

to

... );

alternatively,

it

could

be

epexegetic

with

a

verb in

3,

or

dependent

on some

expression

like it

was was

ordained.

The

reading

?e?A,ec0ai,

however,

entails textual

problems.

The

traces

after

-pi?i

constitute the

squared-off

lower end of

a

vertical;

then

a

trace

that is less

distinct, higher,

and

rather close after the

6

For

the erotic

sense

of

uiAxo

and

its

cognates

see

Sappho

fr. 163

Voigt

(cf.

Ar. Ec.

972;

also

905),

Ib.

PMG 217

(imitated

by

Pi. fr.

95)

and

288,

Pi. P.

10.59,

A. Ch.

235,

Men. Pk.

214,

Ap.

Rh.

3.4,

Heliod.

Aeth.

3.3.23,

Aristaenet.

Ep.

2.5.

Compare

Lat.

cura

(TLL

IV. 1474-5

s.v.

cura

II.B.1).

Cf. R.

Hunter,

Theocritus:

Encomium

of

Ptolemy

Philadelphus

(Berkeley

2003)

on

Theoc. 17.46.



4/8

78

/.

D.

Reed

first

(these

two

are

the

traces

of

Henry's

initial

beta,

which he

does

not

dot);

then

a

gap

followed

by

a

squared-off

trace

on

the

line;

then

a

clear

BA;

and

finally,

before the

large

gap,

the

lower

left-hand

arc

of

a

rounded letter

touching

the

right-hand

tail

of lambda

(cf.

-?,o-

in line

1).

Specks

follow,

possibly

representing

the

right

side

of

this last letter

or

the

left side of the

next.

The first

two

traces

are

inconsistent

with the

putative

loss,

through

damage

to

the

papyrus

surface,

of the

lower horizontal of

a

beta

(which

in

extant

betas

in

this

text

runs

leftward and

downward,

slightly

past

the

left

vertical,

cutting

it

off

at

its

tip).

The

digital image

shows

no

continuity

of ink

here,

no

damage

to

the

papyrus

surface between

the

traces

(which

looks well

preserved),

and

no

signs

of

damage

to

the

tip

of

the

left

trace,

which is

cleanly squared

off.

Historically,

it is

implausible

that

the

ink of the horizontal

was

removed

with

these results.

The

dotted

epsilon

that

Henry

prints

between his

two

betas

is

not

invited

by

the

papyrus;

the

trace

on

the line that

represents

it could

as

well

be the lower

tip

of

an

upright

as

of

an

epsilon,

and

the cross-stroke

is

anything

but visible

(only

a

couple

of

specks

can

be

seen

there).

Stylistically,

the

unexampled,

oddly

formed

?e?AecOai

would

be

the

only

such recherch?

term

in

this

text's

basic,

straightforward poetic

diction.

To

avoid hiatus after

final

iota,

the first letter

of

the word

needs

to

be

a

consonant.

Gamma

or

tau

seems

ruled

out

by

the

dearth

of

Greek

words

with

y-?A,-

or

x-?A,-

(and

tau

by

the

fact

that

no

horizontal

is visible

at

the

upper

left,

or

is

provided

with

enough

room

there);

rho would

run

too

far

below

the line.

The

two

initial

traces

are

too

close

together

for

this text's

N

or

n. A

consonant

that

does

answer

is

kappa

(for

the

stout,

straight

vertical

compare

especially

the

kappas

in 14

KaAf|v

and

verso

fr. 1.10

a7ce%0aip8GK8):

perhaps

we

should

read

koci

(the

alpha being

entirely

lost),

followed

by

a

word

beginning ?A,-.

The

Kai

in line

7,

for

example,

would

map

on

to

these

traces

well.

Kai

would

moreover

ease

the

syntax;

although

asyndeton

would

not

be

prohibitively

harsh,

one

expects

a

conjunction linking

Aphrodite

with

Persephone

here. The

?A,-

word

could be

a

modifier

going

with

Adonis

(e.g.

?ArjOeic?

but eta does not fit the traces well) or with Persephone. In the latter case, one might think of the

Homeric

adjective

?Aoeupii

(basically

bristling )

in the

sense

grim,

forbidding ,

or

perhaps

in the

late-attested

sense

solemn,

dignified

(LSJ

s.v.

3;

used,

in

verse,

of the

planet

Venus

at

Pseudo

Manetho

6(3).

129

Koechly).7

Alternatively

we

might

be

dealing

with the loss of

a

locative

expression

parallel

to

vei?Oi

(producing

chiasmus);

but

the

difficulty

of

finding expressions

that match the

traces,

particularly

BA

(some

toponym?),

suggests

that if

any

such

was

in the

text,

it

was

in the

previous

line,

e.g.

i)7i?p08v

or

?v

'OAt)|i7cc? ending

at

the

caesura

before

ajioi?ai-.8

Likewise

the

main verb

was

probably

in

the

previous

line,

e.g.

7iapa|ii|iv8i

at

line-end.

Thus,

purely

exempli gratia:

ime]p0?v

aôi?ai[ov

Tcapa|i?|xvei K?rcJpiSi

K[a]i

?Xoc[\)pfi]

vei?Oi

Oepc?[q>?vTi,

he abides

in

alternation

with

Cypris

above

and with

solemn

Persephone

below .

vei?0i: The first three, perhaps four

letters

are

tolerably

clear. The

term

occurs

in reference

to

the

Underworld

at

Ap.

Rh.

1.63,

255

vei?Oi

ya?r\c.

Not found

in

a

pentameter

elsewhere,

but

cf.

Greg.

Naz.

Carm.

quae

spectant

ad alios

(Migne

37.1453.10)

O?yôjiai

o?pav?cov,

v?i?0?v

?K

KpaS?r|c.

5.

oi)]vo|ia:

No other

supplement

seems

possible.

Cf.

e.g.

Ov. Met. 6.399-400 inde

[from

the

tears

of

Marsyas'

mourners]

...

Marsya

nomen

habet,

Phrygiae liquidissimus

amnis.

5'

a\>:

Common

in

epic

for

transition,

here

moving

from

the

consequences

for Adonis

to

those

on

earth.

7co?[a]|Lico:

A

river

-

or

the

river ,

if it

was

already

mentioned

(perhaps

with

more

detailed

setting

and

as

an

etiological

motivation

of

the

story).

Only

nOT is

clear;

it is

followed

by

a

gap

that

is

rather

wide

to

have contained

only

the

alpha

portion

of

the

loopy ligature

used for AM in this

text

(cf.

3

above

7

The

synonymous

ceuvr|

is

a common

epithet

for

goddesses

in the

Orphic

Hymns, including Persephone

at

[Orph.]

H.

29.10,71.2;

see

G.

Ricciardelli,

Inni

Orfici

(Milan

2000)

303-4.

?â?spfi

baneful also

suggests

itself,

but

seems

too

strong

for

the

sense

here,

is

infrequent

in

poetry,

and

is less suited

to

the

traces.

8

Such

an

expression

would

not

necessarily

indicate whether

Adonis

spends

his time with

Aphrodite

in

the world of

mortals

or

in heaven.



5/8


6/8

80 J.D.Reed

x?

x?Xzx

x[?

( [he

left]

his

name

to

both

the

river and the

rite ).11

The barb

at

the

top

of the first vertical

after

epsilon,

described

by Henry

as a

left-pointing

finial ,

is

consistent with

iota

in

this

text

(cf.

e.g.

4

KU7c]pi?i, 6 a]?|xa-).

The

last

visible letter

on

this line is

a

pi,

followed

by smudges

at most

of the

next.

6.

a]?jLiaxi

8'

ocjLi?poc[i]cp

KaX?v:

The

first

two

visible letters

are

fairly

certain. The final

traces

of

this

phrase

are

AMBPOC,

then

a

gap,

then Q

followed

by

a

vertical that

verges

onto

another

gap.

Only

the

apexes

of

the

two

letters

after the

gap

are

preserved; they

are

probably

consistent with AA

(the

first

is

hardly

identifiable;

the

second

is

not

obviously

like other

lambdas

here,

and

alpha

and delta also

suggest

themselves),

and

a

form of

Ka?xSc

is

the

most

obvious

reading.

Of all words

with

-tjiax-,

aijxa

fits

the context

best

by

far.

This

word,

if

our

text

followed

a

known

myth,

must

either relate

to

the

reddening

of

the River Adonis from

Adonis' blood

(see

on

line

5

above)

or

introduce the flower

that

grew

from

it. The

probability

of the

reading

Ka?,ov

recommends the

latter

(see

below

on

Ka?xk

as

epithet

for

a

plant),

and it

will furthermore be noted that the

epithet

has

associations

not

only

of

immortality,

but

of

fragrance.

One

recalls in the latter

connection

the

fragrant

nectar

with which

Venus

changes

Adonis' blood

into

the

anemone

at

Met.

10.732

(nectare

odorato),

and

generally

the

fragrance

of

flowers;

in

the

former,

the

nectar

and

ambrosia

with

which deities

anoint

their

dead favorites

(Adonis

himself

at

Nossis

AP.

6.275.4).

Note

apparently

ap?poxoc

in

verso

fr.

1.6

(possibly

in the

myth

of

Narcissus,

himself

changed

into

a

flower);

Adonis himself has the

epithet

ajx?poxoc

in

[Orph.]

H.

proem.

41 and 55.26. Most

immediately

the

ambrosial

quality

of the

blood

might

be referred

not

only

to

the

fragrance,

but

to

the

perennial

reappearance

of the

flower.

The

flower-metamorphosis

in this

myth

is

very

scantily

attested

before

Ovid,

Met.

10.728-39.

In

Nie.

fr.

65

=

I Theoc. 5.92F

Nicander said

that

the

anemone

grew

from the

blood

of

Adonis

(perhaps

in his

Heteroioumena)',

Adonis

and

anemones are

also

legible

in the

very

fragmentary

P.

Hamb. II 201

=

SH

902.16-18

(2nd

century

B.C.E.).12

Bion Adonis 66 has

Aphrodite's

tears

for Adonis

produce

the

anemone,

while Adonis' blood

produces

the

rose

(as

later

at

Philostr.

Epist.

1,

Servius

Auctus

Eel.

10.18).

A

fragmentary

version

of

the

myth

from

a

Roman-era

papyrus,

Heitsch 6.3.6-7

A]?covi?oc

/

[...]

?pircvoov,

would

suit either the

anemone,

the windflower

(through

wordplay

with

?p?rcvoov,

blowing strongly :

LSJ

s.v.;

cf. Ovid's

etymology

at

Met.

10.738-9),

or

the

rose

(with

?p?rcvoov

in the

sense

very

fragrant ;

cf.

e.g.

Theoc. 18.40

cx?(pavcoc

...

??i)

rcv?ovxac).

Our

text

did

not

necessarily

identify

the

plant.

The

striking

thing

here

is the immortal blood of

an

emphatically

mortal

being.

There is

firstly

a

pun ( bloodless

blood ?):

see

A.

Kleinlogel,

Po?tica

13

(1981)

269-72,

discussing

the instances

in the

Iliad,

which

are

about

Aphrodite's

lack of

blood

(she

has

ichor

instead).

The

parallel

Henry

cites,

[Orph.] Lithica 652-3 6r| pa x?x' aji?pocioio Kax?i?o|Li?vai (pop?ovxo / a?jiaxoc cox?i?fi0?v ?i?

xpa(p?pTyv

pa9?|iiYY?c,

is also about

a

deity's

blood

(Uranus').13

Bion Adonis

22

mentions

Aphrodite's

holy

blood

(tep?v

aijxa);

this is

part

of the

poem's

humanization

of

Aphrodite

and assimilation of her

11

The

word

is

rare

in the

sing,

in this

sense;

LSJ

s.v.

ziXoc

I

6

cite Aesch. fr. 387

Radt.

The

traces

are

less well suited

to

xeX,?Tfl.

Any

mystic

connotations

of the

term

would

not

refer

to

actual

practice,

as

far

as

we

can

tell;

P.

Lambrechts,

Over

griekse

en

oosterse

mysteriegodsdiensten;

de

zgn.

Adonismysteries

(Brussels 1954)

decisively

rules

out

the

possibility

of

true

mysteries

of Adonis

in

extant

testimonia,

while

noting

that in

literary

(particularly

Christian)

treatments

the Adonia

can

approach

that

status.

12

The

myth

may

go

back

to

a

Near

Eastern

counterpart

of Adonis:

H.

Lewy,

Die

semitischen

Fremdw?rter

im

Griechi

schen

(Berlin

1895)

49;

J. G.

Frazer,

Adonis

Attis

Osiris,

vol.

1

(London3

1914)

226;

W.

F.

Albright,

History,

Archaeology,

and Christian Humanism (New York 1964) 172-3. In Greek mythology plant-metamorphoses first appear

in

abundance

in

the Hellenistic

period:

P. M.

C.

Forbes

Irving,

Metamorphosis

in

Greek

Myths

(Oxford

1990)

129.

13

A

suggestive

connection,

recalling

the

possibility

that the

blood

here

refers

to

the

myth

of

the

reddened river rather

than

to

the

flower-metamorphosis:

the

Lithica

passage

involves

a

metamorphosis

of

Uranus' blood

-

illustrating

its death

lessness

-

into

a

stone that

in

water

dissolves

into blood

again;

that recalls Philo of

Byblos

FGrH 790

F

1

=

Euseb.

P.E.

1.9.29,

who makes the blood

of

Uranus,

not

Adonis,

stain the river

near

Byblos

(i.e.

the River

Adonis).

Cf.

A. I.

Baumgarten,

The

Phoenician

History

of

Philo

of

Byblos:

A

Commentary

(Leiden 1981)

211-13.



7/8

New Verses

on

Adonis

81

to

the dead Adonis. What

this

new

text

does

defacto

is to

invert Bion's

trope

and divinize Adonis

-

this

could

be

set

against

the

background

of Hellenistic

Adonis-cults,

like the

Adoniac eranos-societies

of

Rhodes and theCarian

coast

(see

TAPA 130

[2000]

340

n.

101);

I think

also of

Phanocles

fr. 3 Powell

as

I

discuss it ibid. 342-3.

?BaX[ke:

Henry's

conjecture

seems

likely

for

a

flower-metamorphosis, though

it involves textual

problems.

The

cross-stroke

of

the

theta ,

unmistakably

a

round

letter,

is

represented only

by

a

short

line of

ink-specks

that

are

higher

than the

cross-stroke of

the

only

other thetas

we can

usefully

compare

in this

text

(recto

fr.

3.2, 3;

verso

fr.

1.10).

After the first

two

letters the

papyrus

shows

a

tall,

blurry,

haystack-shaped

letter

that

does

not

obviously

resemble the

copyist's

other

alphas:

the

left

part

of

the

letter lacks

alpha's

characteristic

loop

or nose

(an

upright

letter is

not

ruled

out);

moreover

at

the bottom

we

find

a

clearly

defined,

squared-off tip

of

a

horizontal

stroke

going

far

leftward

(below

the line of the

previous

letters)

that

would

be consistent with

a

beta

or

delta

(but

a

compound

in

v?o?-

or

v?o8-,

necessarily preceded

by

a

trochee-shaped

word

in

-o

and followed

by

some

disyllabic

-

at most

-

word

at line-end, seems ruled out). The

alpha

is followed

by

the

edge

of the

papyrus

with

smudges,

atmost,

of the

upper

part

of the

next

letter. As

to

sense,

the

imperfect

tense

is

less than

ideal;

and

finally,

dat.

aijicxxi

is

a

little odd with

a

verb

grew,

flourished whose

subject

is the

plant

(one

expects

?K

too

a?jLiocToc

vel

sim.

in

this

context).

The

traces

encourage

us

to

try

?oik?

(or

-?v)

and

read

ajijiaxi

8'

a(i?poc[i](p

koKov

?oik[e,

and

the beautiful

[flower]

was

like his

ambrosial blood

(i.e.

in

color)

-

the

ellipsis

of

an

explanation

for

the

growth

of the flower

might

not

be

felt

as

harsh,

considering

the

familiarity

of the

myth;

indeed

the flower

might

have been

mentioned

at

the

introduction of the

Adonis

story,

motivating

an

etiology.

But the horizontal beneath

iota would still be

unexplained.

Ka?ov

...

[cpirc?v:

This

phrase

is used

in

a

plant-metamorphosis

at

Heitsch 6.1.17

(cf.

above;

the

poem

repeatedly

uses

(pDiov

of

metamorphosed plants).

Moreover,

to

fill

out

the

line-end,

cpuxov

seems

the only metrically suitable noun, agreeing with Ka?ov, with the sense plant or flower . But

conceivably po?ov

(as

in the

tradition first attested in

Bion).14

Ka?oc

is

not

merely

ornamental

here,

but

most

appropriate,

as

being

the

standing

epithet

of

Adonis

(first

attested

in

Nossis

AP.

6.215A,

Theoc.

15.127;

see

J.

D.

Reed,

Bion

of Smyrna

(Cambridge

1997)

on

Bion Adonis

1,

adding Procop.

Gaz.

Ep.

69,

Ov.

Met.

10.522 and

Aug.

Civ.

6.7

formosissimus):

in the flower

persists

the

sum

of Adonis'

nature.

What

remains

of Adonis is

a name

and

beauty,

apparently surviving

in

a

river

(and/or

a

ritual?)

and

a

flower.

Etiology

and

metamorphosis

combine,

as

often in

Ovid,

whose

Metamorphoses

show the

same

metaphorical principle

of of

mapping

an

end

onto

a

beginning,

measuring change

against

continuity.

If

the narration

was

much

longer

than the

present

fragments,

the lead-in

to

Adonis' death

was

probably

told

in

more

leisurely

fashion than the

rest.

We

should then

imagine

a

tale

of love

between

Aphrodite

and

Adonis,

culminating

in

his

swiftly

related demise and its

results: such

a

narrative

would be in

the

Hellenistic

style

(and

is

paralleled

by

Ovid's

version of

the

myth).

Etiological

mention

of

the

river

or

the flower

or

both could have

introduced

the

story.

We

have

not

discovered

here

a

wholly

new

version

of the

Adonis

myth,

but rather

several

already

attested

motifs combined

in

a

new

way

(as

is

typical

of

the

treatment

of

this

myth,

which

is

most

commonly

found

in

brief,

often ornamental

references).

Adonis' death in

a

boar

hunt,

which

probably

goes

back

to

the

late 5th

century,

was

certainly

part

of the

passage,

as was

his

alternation between

Aphrodite

and

Persephone,

which

is

first

attested in the

early

5th

century

but descends

from his much

older

Mesopotamian

counterpart

Tammuz. Our

text,

in

fact,

is

significant

for

reconciling

these

two

myths

(the

alternation and the

hunting

death),

since

they

do

not

normally

go

together.

The

earliest

version of the

exchange

between the two

goddesses

(Panyassis

fr. 27

Bernab?)

makes

no

mention of his

death,

and

evidently

treats

him

as

still

a

child;

and

versions

that

treat

his

death

do not

commonly

follow

14

This

supplement

has

also

occurred

to

Hutchinson

(n.

5

above).



8/8

82

/. D.

Reed

it

by

an

exchange.15

This

poem

did

not

necessarily

elaborate

on

the

rivalry,

erotic

or

otherwise,

between

Aphrodite

and

Persephone

over

Adonis.

If

3-4-

are

reconstructed

correctly,

then this

poem

conceives of

Adonis

as

still

alternating,

implicitly laying

the

etiological

foundation for the

yearly

rite

of lamentation

(somewhat

as

in

Theocritus

15.137-42).

What

is

brought

out

(by

the

paradoxical

ambrosial

blood )

is

the

question

of his

mortality

or

divinity: shifting

between

the

Underworld

and

Heaven,

he

has both and

neither. And

on

earth

he

achieves

immortality

after

a

fashion,

in

earthly

things

that

reappear every year.

An interest

in

etiology

and

geography,

reminiscent of

the

poetic style

of the 3rd

century

B.C.E. and

later,

comes

out

in the

apparent

reference

to

a

river named

after

Adonis. The flower that

grew

from his

blood is also

a

Hellenistic

feature,

and that

myth

is first attested

in

the Hellenistic

period.

The

early

Hellenistic

period

also

furnishes

our

one

example

of the

use

of Adonis

in

catalogue

poetry :

Phanocles

fr. 3

Powell.

The

stories

in

our

new

poem

share links

beyond

a

metamorphosis.

Adonis and Delos have

to

do

with

the

love of

a

deity

for

a

mortal;

Narcissus loves

his

own

beauty

(verso

fr.

1.11

nJopcpfjc

fip?aaxo

c(p?X?pr|c).

Adonis and Narcissus

both

involve

a

flower-metamorphosis.

All

three lend

themselves

to

etiological

treatment.

The

stories

seem to

be mournful:

one will note

Adonis'

death

and

Narcissus'

weeping

([?]?,o(pupaxo

and

Kka]vcaxo);

Delos' troubles also

qualify

for this theme

(note

recto

fr.

4

??aKpi);

fr. 3

oi)?A)0p

might

perhaps

represent

a

form of

no\)X\)Qpr\voc).

One

is

reminded of

the

catalogues

of

painful

mythological

events

and

personal

sorrows

in

Euphorion,

for

example.

Thematic

links between stories

narrated close

together

cannot

but have

pointed

up

the

common

elements

(in

the Adonis

poem

the love

story,

the

flower,

and the

tragedy)

and

at

the

same

time

helped

emphasize

the

differences between

the

myths.16

Ann Arbor

J.

D.

Reed

15

Another

myth

that involves

a

dispute

over

the dead Adonis

between

his

lover

Aphrodite

and

Persephone

is that

preserved

in Aristid.

Apol.

11.3

Geffcken,

Cyril

Comm.

Is.

2.3

(70.441

Migne),

and

elsewhere. On

the

various

ways

extant

treatments

reconcile

the

myths

of Adonis' death

and afterlife

see

Reed

in

J.

F.

Miller

et

al., eds.,

Vertis in

usum:

Studies

in

Honor

of

Edward

Courtney (Beitr?ge

zur

Altertumskunde

161,

Leipzig

2002),

219-22.

16

I

owe

thanks

to

Dirk Obbink for

providing

me

with

a

digital

image

of

the

papyrus,

and

to

him and Susan

Stephens

for

their observations.

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New Verses on Adonis - Reed - Art