Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
1. Space and time
"Although it is not known where our
codex was found, let alone where it was
originally manufactured, internal
evidence in the form of multiple
references to Hermopolis will naturally
raise the question of whether the codex
is from that city or region. It must be
emphasized that this is not a document:
these references in the poems, in the
strictest sense, can only suggest that the
poet himself have be familiar with the
city, not that this or any other
manuscript of the work (if there is any
other) is from that city. But there is at
least an a priori argument that poems
about Hermopolis would be more
popular in that city than elsewhere, and
there is certainly no evidence that this
collection of poems was widely
circulated." (Babcock, edition, p. 8)
! Map from Miguélez Cavero (2008)
"Paleographical considerations are said
to require composition of the codex
between 280 and 340. This is a very small window of time for a script that is paralleled in papyri from the
second half of the 4th century as well; see, for example, P.Cair. Goodsp. 15 (AD 362), P.Lips. 1.62 (AD
385), P.Lips. 1.37 (5 May 389), all from Hermopolis. We therefore cannot be that certain about the date
of the papyrus." (Ast, BMCR 2014.02.23)
2. Some figures*
Number of Literary "books" (200-400 AD):
Hermopolis: aprox. 70
Antinoopolis: aprox. 150
Aphroditopolis: 7
Panopolis: 25
Antaeopolis, Ptolemais, Lycopolis: none
Oxyrhynchus: aprox. 1600
III
IV
V
a) Total of books (literary and non literary)
Date Herm. Ant. Panop. Oxy.
AD I 1.9 % --1.1
10
II
12.3
3.8
4.3
39.5
III
13.7
17.1 10.5
33.5
IV
18.1
18.7 24.8
7.9
V
23.1
21.1 22.8
4.5
b) Literary books
Date Herm. Ant.
AD I 2.4 % --II
15.7
4.5
Panop.
1.3
3.6
Oxy.
10.1
40.9
15.3
13.8
21
20.3
17.1
19.4
12
27.7
22.5
33.2
6.8
4.3
c) Poetry books
Date Herm.
AD I 5
II
26
III
29
IV
29
V
51
Ant.
--9
27
25
27
Panop.
1
2
8
14
9
Oxy.
303
1024
775
156
119
D) Homer
Date Herm.
AD I 2
II
17
III
12
IV
8
V
21
Ant.
--7
14
13
9
Panop.
----6
6
---
Oxy.
134
498
452
90
59
* From LDAB = Leuven Database of Ancient Books: http://www.trismegistos.org/ldab/ (23/06/14)
1
Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
3. PSI I 17 (LDAB 6901)
Hermopolis, AD 03 (Orsini), 04 ex. / 05 in. (Dorandi) - Single sheet of papyrus, 10.2 x 18 cm
Page SP 117
2
Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
3
Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
Recto
Verso
4
Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
4. Rhetorical exercises in verse from Hermopolis
-PSI II 149 (LDAB 5791). Hermopolis, AD 3-4 (Pintaudi); Heitsch 33; MC 23.
-P. Ryl. I 17 (LDAB 5681). Hermopolis, AD 04 (2nd half, Page); Heitsch 25; Page SP 139; MC 34
5
Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
5. SH 968 = P. Schub. 11 (LDAB 5184). Hermopolis, AD 03
Cfr. Posidipp. *133 AB; Metrodorus 1
FGE (AP 9.360); Greg. Naz. Poemata
moralia 1.2.16.5 (PG XXXVII, pp. 779780); Auson. Ausonio, Ecl. 19 Green;
Epigr. Bobiensia 25-26; Julian of Egypt,
AP 9.446; Agath. AP 5.302. All texts are
collected in Guichard, Prometheus 33.2
(2007), pp. 97-114
6. A poetry collection from Antinoopolis?
P. Ant. I 17 (LDAB 5360) = MC 18.2 - Epic fragments - AD 03
P. Ant. II 56 (LDAB 5365) - Hexs. with stichometry - AD 03
P. Ant. III 119 (LDAB 5387) - Hexs. or elegiacs - AD 03
P. Ant. III 120 (LDAB 5398) = SH 76 - poetry fragment with scholia, quoting Antimachus - AD
03
P. Ant. III 116 (LDAB 5402) - hexameters with scholia - AD 03
P. Ant. I 16 (LDAB 5562) = TrGF II, 675 - Tragedy - AD 03/04 - (?)
6
Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
7. T. Kellis inv. D/2/46 (LDAB10674; MC
33). Edd. Hope - Worp (2006)
7
Poetic Geographies: Literary Contexts for the Yale Book of Epigrams
Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca) - London Conference - 5/9/14
8. Epigram papyri from Egypt (AD 200-400)
- P. Lips. 1445 Vo. (LDAB 9937). AD 275-299. Ed. Luppe, AfP 48 (2002), 197-206.
Unknown provenence. "We have no information about acquisition and origin of this papyrus. No entries
in the inventory book have been made. Also on the basis of the inventory number itself we can make no
conclusions on the original transport box. We therefore do not know what other Papyri, whose origin we
know, were bought with Inv. 1445." (R. Scholl, letter 18/06/14)
- MPER N.S. 3. 14. Arsinoites.
8
Conclusions (i. e. more questions)
Let us now return to our starting point, in other words, to the Yale book of epigrams. How does
it fit into all this? The first thing that springs to mind, simply by considering its format, is the
remarkable nature of this codex, in spite of the state in which it has survived to this day. If it
does indeed come from Hermopolis, it is the most extensive book of verse we have from this
region from the 3rd and 4th centuries, without considering, of course, the magnificent volume of
the Psalms from the middle of the 4th century published by Emmenegger (LDAB 3168). How
does it fit in with literary practice in the region? Paradoxically, in my opinion. On the one hand,
it is hard to believe these epigrams were written in Hermopolis, unless they are the work of a
completely unknown author, about whom we know nothing at all. None of the authors
mentioned by Photius in his Codex 279, and of whose work nothing survives, seems to be a
good candidate for the author of these epigrams. As you will remember, Photius describes a
book in his library that contained the work of authors in Upper Egypt in the 3th -4th centuries. It
is true that the authors mentioned as part of that codex are almost all epic and dramatic poets,
but I still think that an author such as the one of these epigrams would have been mentioned. Is
it possible that a poet about whom we know nothing, like the author of the epigrams to
Euprepius we saw under point 3 or the epigrams on the Leipzig papyrus under point 8, could be
the author of the epigrams? I do consider it possible, albeit fairly unlikely. It may also be the
case, of course, that the Yale book was not written or copied in Hermopolis, but was taken there
by a reader. We have well-documented cases of similar situations, such as that of P. Berol.
10559 a-b + 10558 (LDAB 5596), encomiastic poems about a teacher from Berytus, which, as
Cavallo explained, arrived in Hermopolis through the book trade, but were not written there.
Does all this reinforce the attribution to Palladas proposed by Prof. Wilkinson? Not necessarily.
I think the metric and stylistic aspects of the epigrams in the Yale codex are particularly close to
those of Palladas, to the same extent as the epigrams by Ammianus and Nicarchus are to those
of Lucilius, to give an example. I think the epigrams on the Yale papyrus are written in a genre
that Palladas used for many of his epigrams, namely, the scoptic epigram, and even more
importantly, using a tone that is very close to that of Palladas (as Ammianus and Nicarchus are
to Lucillius). Yet even the epigrams by Palladas that were transmited by the Greek Anthology
pose numerous problems of attribution. This is something I can personally vouch for, as I have
already changed the structure of the critical edition of Palladas I have been working on for some
years, in order to reflect those issues, and I am still not satisfied. Even today, I am still not sure
that all the epigrams featured in the Anthology under the name of Palladas can be attributed to
him, and I am becoming increasingly convinced that the corpus of epigrams attributed to
Palladas in the Anthology is interspersed with poems by other authors. All said and done, it is
hard to believe that no one else apart from Palladas and Gregory could have written epigrams in
the 3rd and 4th centuries, especially when considering that the genre enjoyed rude health in
inscriptions. We should remember, what’s more, that the two epigrams preserved on the Yale
papyrus that have been preserved in the Anthology have attribution issues. One of them is
anonymous in the manuscripts and the other has a speculative title by the so-called Corrector. It
should also be considered that we do not have any data, absolutely none at all, linking Palladas
to Upper Egypt. Why would Palladas write a book of epigrams that refers so often and in such a
detailed manner to the setting of Upper Egypt? What on earth brought Palladas, we might ask
colloquially, to Hermopolis? We could think of a few things, but they would be bordering on
pure fantasy. So I shall end here and invite you to ask any questions you might have, hoping
you will look kindly upon my brief survey of the local literature in Upper Egypt with so few
conclusions.