Volume 150 2022, fascicolo 2 2022 LOESCHER EDITORE TORINO OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311, AND ANANIUS FR. 1 WEST* Abstract: This paper argues that Apollonius Rhodius’ simile comparing Jason to Apollo (Arg. 1, 307-311) alludes to Anan. fr. 1 West. Beyond its intrinsic interest in enriching the interpretation of Apollonius’ simile, this allusion offers new evidence for the reception that Ananius – a minor poet at the margins of the iambic canon – enjoyed in the Hellenistic period. Keywords: Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica, Ananius, iambography, intertextuality. This paper identifies a previously unnoticed allusion in Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica to a fragment of Ananius, an Ionian iambic poet probably belonging to the sixth century B. C. E., whose work survives today only in a handful of quotations from other ancient authors1. After presenting each passage and establishing the connections between them, I conclude by offering an interpretation of Apollonius’ allusion and reflecting on what it can tell us about the state of Ananius’ reception in the Hellenistic period and beyond, which may have been greater than his scant survival to the present would imply. As Apollonius’ Jason marches from his home in Iolcus to the shores of Pagasae to begin his quest, the narrator compares him to Apollo with an epic simile (Arg. 1, 307-311): * I would like to thank Alastair Daly as well as the anonymous referees for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Any remaining errors are my responsibility alone. 1 Ananius’ language is Ionian; for more specific conjectures as to his homeland, see, e. g., West 1974, 88, 89 («a western and not an eastern Ionian»); Carey 2016, 135 («western Anatolia»); see further Degani 1984, 90 n. 33; and n. 67 below. Ananius was probably close in time to Hipponax, with whom he is often confused (see nn. 31, 45 below); he is usually regarded as Hipponax’s junior, but cf. Bossi 2003. For general overviews of the poet and his exiguous corpus, see Degani 1984, 25-28; idem 2005; Rotstein 2010, 40-41; Carey 2016, passim. RFIC, 150, 2022, 352-378 10.1484/J.RFIC.5.133959 OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 οἷος δ᾿ ἐκ νηοῖο θυώδεος εἶσιν Ἀπόλλων Δῆλον ἀν᾿ ἠγαθέην ἠὲ Κλάρον, ἢ ὅ γε Πυθὼ ἢ Λυκίην εὐρεῖαν ἐπὶ Ξάνθοιο ῥοῇσιν· τοῖος ἀνὰ πληθὺν δήμου κίεν, ὦρτο δ᾿ ἀυτὴ κεκλομένων ἄμυδις. 353 310 And as Apollo goes from his fragrant temple through holy Delos or Claros, or through Pytho or broad Lycia by the streams of Xanthus, so [Jason] went through the crowd of people, and a shout went up as they cheered with one voice2. I begin by analyzing this passage on its own terms, for this short simile occupies an important place in interpretations of the Argonautica. This simile has above all been read as a programmatic announcement of Jason’s special connection or even symbolic identification with Apollo, one of the Argonauts’ primary divine patrons3. The basis of the comparison is not specified4, but as the ancient scholiast already points out, one of its primary resonances is with Jason’s youthfulness, which matches that of the eternally ephebic god5. This accent on youth is doubly appropriate, first because the Argonautic quest partly functions as a mythic symbol of a young man’s initiation Text and translation of Apollonius are taken from Race 2008. See, e. g., Roux 1949, 39 («Jason est un héros apollinien, une sorte d’autre Apollon»); Carspecken 1952, 97 (on Jason as «a symbol for Apollo»); Phinney 1963, 44 n. 44 («Jason is the earthly counterpart of Apollo»); Collins 1967, 6 («Jason is Apollo’s counterpart on earth»); Levin 1971, 39 («Apollo’s human analogue turns out to be none other than Jason himself»); Pavlock 1990, 26 (Apollo as «a divine analogue for Jason»); Williams 1991, 300 («the god acts as a model for Jason in the epic»); Manakidou 1993, 127 («Apollon erscheint … oft als die göttliche Entsprechung Jasons»); González 2000, 279 (the simile «help[s] the audience intimately to associate hero and god, so that the latter is subtly called to mind by the former, even when absent»); Cuypers 2004, 44 (Apollo is «the divine model of [the poem’s] main hero»). For the place of this simile in a series of Apolline passages at the beginning of the poem, see, e. g., Paduano – Fusillo 1986, 125-127 ad loc. 4 Nelis (2001, 126-127), who himself sees a premonition of the poem’s archery motif in this simile (cf. Stanzel 1999, 252-253). For the ambiguity of the simile, see further Nyberg 1992, 119-120. 5 Σ ad Arg. 1, 307. N. B. that in the corresponding Apollo simile at 1, 536-541, the Argonauts are collectively compared to a chorus of young men (ἠίθεοι, 536) singing a paean to Apollo (Drögemüller 1956, 232). For the connection between these similes, see n. 8 below. 2 3 354 BRIAN MCPHEE into adulthood6, and second because the comparison with the beautiful god already suggests something of Jason’s erotic appeal, which will be critical to his success in retrieving the Golden Fleece7. This passage has also been read as a thematic counterpart to comparable similes both at 1, 536-541, in which the Argonauts are compared to a chorus worshipping Apollo8, and at 3, 876-886, in which Medea is compared to Artemis, Apollo’s sister9. The style of the passage is striking, especially because here we have the first instance in the Argonautica of what elsewhere I have called Apollonius’ ‘pious similes’, a distinctive subcategory of simile whose vehicle includes a series of alternative cult sites or other typical haunts favored by a particular god10. Apollonius often introduces 6 Nelis 1991, 100 n. 37; Hunter 1993, 84; Thalmann 2011, 60-61. For elements of ritual initiations in the Argonautic myth, see esp. Hunter 1988, 450-452. I thus disagree with DeForest’s fiercely anti-Jasonian interpretation of the simile, which she views as ironic because Jason has not yet accomplished anything to merit a heroic comparison with a god (1994, 49). Since the simile points to Jason’s ephebic status at the beginning of his adventure, it is only natural that he has not yet accomplished any great deeds. But for other ironic interpretations of the simile, see n. 77 below. 7 On the implicit connection here between youth, beauty, and hence the love theme, see Broeniman 1989, 68-76. The simile is very commonly read as an index of Jason’s beauty: see, e. g., Schellert 1885, 15; Kofler 1890, 51; Wilkins 1920, 166; Faerber 1932, 49; Kulessa 1938, 9; Hübscher 1940, 4; Herter 1944-1955, 341; Phinney 1963, 44-45, 122; Lawall 1966, 148; Collins 1967, 6 n. 11; Zanker 1979, 73 n. 76; Fusillo 1985, 270; Clare 2002, 177-178. N. B. also Vergil’s imitation at Aen. 4, 143-150, emphasizing the decus of Aeneas’ face (Hügi 1951, 40). For Jason as a ‘love hero’, see above all Beye 1969 and Zanker 1979. 8 The close connection between these similes is noted by, e. g., Clausing 1913, 43-44; Carspecken 1952, 96-97. Notably, Vergil reworks both of these loci (along with Arg. 2, 674-684) at Aen. 4, 143-150; see Nelis 2001, 135. 9 See, e. g., Newman 1986, 85; Broeniman 1989, 80-81; Nelis 1991, 102; Natzel 1992, 71 n. 139; Nyberg 1992, 119-120; Pietsch 1999, 236 n. 253; and Stanzel 1999, 267. Once again, Vergil had already perceived the complementarity of these similes and imitated them accordingly; see Nelis 2001, 133. 10 See McPhee 2020, 203-209, for a full discussion of these passages, which further include Arg. 1, 536-541 (in which the Argonauts are compared to a chorus worshipping Apollo); 3, 876-886 (Medea is compared to Artemis); 3, 1240-1244 (Aeetes is compared to Poseidon). Formally, this type of simile elaborates upon the Homeric precedent of Od. 6, 102-109, OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 355 alternatives into the vehicles of his similes to suggest the arbitrariness of any given comparison, as in the celebrated simile that likens Medea’s fluttering heart to a shifting sunbeam «as it leaps from water freshly poured into a cauldron or perhaps into a bucket» (Arg. 3, 757758: ὕδατος ἐξανιοῦσα, τὸ δὴ νέον ἠὲ λέβητι | ἠέ που ἐν γαυλῷ κέχυται)11. This mannerism has a rather different effect, however, in passages like Arg. 1, 307-311. The catalogue of Apollo’s alternative cult sites (Delos, Claros, Pytho, Lycia) «gives the simile a tone of prayer»12, for it is a common feature of Greek hymnody to invoke a god by listing several of their domains13. Such lists flatter the god by mentioning the places special to them and underscoring the great extent of their worship14; they can also be deployed to emphasize the devotee’s personal connection to the god in one of their local aspects, as in Chryses’ famous prayer to Apollo as ruler of Chryse, Cilla, and Tenedos near the beginning of the Iliad (1, 37-38)15. This device often serves the further practical function of summoning the god to come or to hearken to the prayer from wherever in the world they may happen to be16. Apollonius’ incorporation of this invocatory procedure into the style of his epic simile is typical of the pious persona that he crafts for his narrator throughout the Argonautica17; for example, the Apollonian narrator evinces the same kind of piety which is also one of the content-models for Apollonius’ Medea-Artemis simile (Hunter 1989, 193-194 ad Arg. 3, 876-877; idem 1993, 78 n. 14). 11 As Schellert (1885, 15 n. 2) notes, there is Homeric precedent for this device (e. g., Il. 2, 460; 4, 142). 12 DeForest 1994, 49. Cf. the older view that regarded these lists of cult places as «nur ausschmückende» or as pretexts for «das Prunken alexandrinischer Gelehrsamkeit» (Clausing 1913, 54). 13 See on this device, e. g., Bulloch 1985, 167 ad Call. Lav. Pall. 6065; Furley – Bremer 2001, 54-55. Miller (1986) refers to this element of a hymn as the god’s «geographical preferences» (e. g., pp. 52-53). 14 Adami 1900, 230. 15 Race 1982, 10 n. 18. 16 E. g., Il. 16, 514-515; Sapph. fr. 35 Voigt; A. Eu. 292-298; Ar. Nu. 269-273; fr. adesp. ap. Arist. Rh. 3, 8, 6 (1409a); Theoc. Id. 1, 123-126; Hippol. Haer. 4, 32, 3, 12-14 Marcovich; further examples in Adami 1900, 227-231; Ausfeld 1903, 524-525. 17 Cuypers (2004, 43) aptly summarizes the complexity of Apollonius’ narratorial persona as «an amalgam of (at least) the Homeric singer of epic, the hymnic and Pindaric singers of praise, the Herodotean historian, and the Callimachean scholar». 356 BRIAN MCPHEE in his refusal to divulge the secrets of certain mystery rites (Arg. 1, 915-921; 4, 244-252) or in his apology to the Muses for mentioning an unseemly myth (4, 982-986)18. Critics have indeed noted the hymnic style of Apollonius’ Jason-Apollo simile19, but its close resemblance to a hymnic fragment of Ananius has apparently gone unnoticed. The fragment begins as a more or less standard prayer to Apollo, but its final line hides an amusingly irreverent sting in the tail (fr. 1 West)20: Ἄπολλον, ὅς που Δῆλον ἢ Πυθῶν᾿ ἔχεις ἢ Νάξον ἢ Μίλητον ἢ θείην Κλάρον, ἵκεο †καθ’ ἱέρ’ ἢ† Σκύθας ἀφίξεαι. Apollo, you who are perhaps residing in Delos or Pytho or Naxos or Miletus or holy Clarus, come to your temple or you will end up among the Scythians21. Again, before analyzing this passage’s connections to Arg. 1, 307311, it will be helpful to explicate it in its own right. The rhetoric of the fragment follows the standard format of Greek prayers as found in so-called ‘cultic hymns’22: the god is immediately invoked in the vocative (1: Ἄπολλον) before an expansion by means of a ‘hymnic relative’ clause (1-2: ὅς – Κλάρον)23, and this clause prepares in turn for the concluding prayer of line 3, which is marked by the imperative ἵκεο («come»). As noted above, hymns commonly seek to win a god’s favor by listing, among other «powers and prerogatives»24, their various domains. In this case, however, the four occurrences 18 For the Apollonian narrator’s ‘hymnic voice’, see McPhee 2020, chh. 3-4, with further bibliography. 19 In addition to DeForest 1994, 49, see, e. g., Drögemüller 1956, 128; Broeniman 1989, 69 n. 159; Hunter 1989, 234-235 ad Arg. 3, 1240-1245. 20 For this interpretation of the fragment, which represents the scholarly consensus, see, e. g., Schmid 1929, 402 n. 12; Kleinknecht 1937, 89; Degani 2005, 76; Rotstein 2010, 204; Carey 2016, 132-133. 21 Text of Ananius is taken from West 1998; the translation is that of Gerber 1999 (who adopts the reading καθ᾿ ἱρὸν ἤ in line 3). For the textual problem in line 3, see Degani 2005, 76. 22 See, e. g., Race 1982, 28-31; Miller 1986, 1-2. Ananius’ brief prayer lacks a ὑπόμνησις, or «reminder» (e. g., of past services to the god) meant to persuade the deity to grant the request. 23 For such clauses, see Norden 1956, 168-176. 24 Miller 1986, 1. OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 357 of the disjunctive conjunction ἤ («or») in lines 1-2, together with the inferential particle που («perhaps», 1)25, show that the speaker means to ask Apollo to come from whichever cult site at which he is currently in residence26. The text of the fragment’s last line is uncertain, but it seems that the speaker introduces a final pair of alternate destinations, which parallels the series of alternate points of departure from which Apollo may begin his journey in the first two lines27. The first option (ἵκεο †καθ’ ἱέρ’) evidently summons the god to the temple at which the speaker is presumably located – a typical prayer in ‘cletic’ cultic hymns, which request the deity’s presence among his or her worshippers28. Should Apollo refuse to comply, however, the god is threatened with another, much less desirable destination, namely, Scythia (ἢ† Σκύθας ἀφίξεαι), where, it is implied, he is sure to meet with a barbarous reception29. The joke might be paraphrased, 25 Apollonius does not use it in Arg. 1, 307-309, but που is common in his disjunctive similes, including in another such ‘pious simile’ with an Apolline vehicle (1, 537). On this use of the particle, see Cuypers 2005, 42-43. Possibly Ananius has picked it up from a Homeric model for a prayer to Apollo of this type, namely, Il. 16, 514-515. 26 For ἔχω used of temporarily «occupying» a space, LSJ (s.v. A, I, 3) cites Od. 23, 46; S. OC 37; E. HF 4. A good example of this verb’s usage to denote a god’s «being in residence» at a cult site is h. Dem. 356. 27 For the ironic contrast between Scythia and the Apolline cult sites listed in lines 1-2, see Kleinknecht 1937, 89. 28 See Men. Rh. 335, 4 Race. 29 Gerber (1999, 503 n. 3) interprets this threat specifically as «a jocular reference to the risk of being scalped by the Scythians» (likewise Degani 2005, 76); for Scythian scalping, see, e. g., Hdt. 4, 64, 2-3, with Corcella in Asheri et al. 2007, 629 ad loc.; Bohak 2005, 218-219. But cf. Skinner (2012, 70 n. 60), who suggests that the final phrase may be «merely a reflection of the geographical remoteness of Scythia having attained a proverbial quality» (cf. Kleinknecht 1937, 89). In this case, the unpleasantness of this destination would lie only in the lengthiness of the trip thereto; cf. Hermes’ complaints about the distance to Calypso’s island in Od. 5, 99-104. The precise import of the reference to the Scythians must depend on how Ananius and his audience conceived of this people in his (strictly unknown) time and place. For comparable subverted prayers in Hipponax, see Degani 1984, 27-28; Kantzios 2005, 148; Rotstein 2010, 204. Apollo’s going to Scythia may be meant to parody his regular visits to the Hyperboreans, but I doubt the assumption sometimes made (e. g., Bolton 1962, 189 n. 14; Sandin 2018, 21) that Ananius means to identify these two peoples. 358 BRIAN MCPHEE «Come to me, Lord – or go to hell!» «Answer my prayer – or good riddance!» vel sim. Before turning to the connections between this fragment and Apollonius’ Jason-Apollo simile, it is worth noting the likelihood that Apollonius would have been familiar with this poem30, given both the fragment’s transmission history and Apollonius’ own interests in ἴαμβος. The first line of Anan. fr. 1 West is quoted in the flogging scene of Aristophanes’ Frogs. As he is beaten by Aeacus, Dionysus involuntarily yelps out a pained «Apollo!» Then, to disguise this less than godlike reaction, Dionysus appends to his oath the remainder of the fragment’s first verse (658: Ἄπολλον, – ὅς που Δῆλον ἢ Πυθῶν᾿ ἔχεις), adding that he was simply reciting a line of Hipponax that had popped into his head (660-661). The scholiast (ad 661), however, claims that in his distress, Dionysus has actually confused Hipponax with Ananius, to whom this poem should really be attributed31. The scholiast then quotes lines 2-3 of Ananius’ poem32. Aristophanes’ quotation of Ananius is highly suggestive for the state of the iambographer’s reception in the Classical period. For the joke to work as the scholiast understands it – that is, Dionysus is represented as so befuddled with pain that he mixes up two kindred iambic poets – Aristophanes must have expected a significant portion of the Athenian theater-going public of 405 B. C. E. to be able to recognize a quotation of our fragment and, indeed, to associate it so strongly with Ananian authorship that they could laugh at its misattribution to Hipponax. But even if the scholiast’s interpretation is wrong and, say, Aristophanes (or his source) genuinely did mix these poets up33, it is still telling that Aristophanes could put Anan. fr. 1, 1, in As Thomas (1986, 174) notes, one precondition for the recognition of an allusion is that «the model must be one with whom the poet is demonstrably familiar». 31 Indeed, ancient sources often do appear to confuse Ananius with his more famous counterpart; see, e. g., Anan. frr. 1-3, and n. 45 below. Degani (1984, 27; 2005, 76), reviving a hypothesis of Welcker (1817, 109), proposes that Hipponax and Ananius could have circulated together in antiquity in a collection of choliambic verse, which circumstance would explain their close association and, in some cases, confusion; see further West 1998, 34; Rotstein 2010, 40-41. 32 On this fragment’s transmission, see further Degani 1984, 26-27; idem 2005, 76; Rotstein 2010, 201-203. 33 So Welcker 1817, 76; Degani 1984, 27; idem 2005, 76; Bossi 2003, 27; cf. Rotstein 2010, 202-203. 30 OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 359 Dionysus’ mouth. Not only must Aristophanes himself have known this snatch of ἴαμβος34, but he must have thought it plausible to portray his (admittedly bibliophilic) Dionysus as having memorized it. For comparison, Aristophanes repeats this joke type a few lines later, with the flogged god crying out «Poseidon!» and again retroactively recasting his outburst as another poetic recollection (Ran. 664-667). This time, the scholiast tells us, Sophocles’ Laocoon is being quoted (fr. 371 Pearson). It may be doubted whether Ananius was just as familiar to the comic audience as Sophocles was, but the evidence from Aristophanes does indicate at least some level of diffusion of this fragment in late fifth-century Athens35. It is the scholiast’s testimony, however, that is particularly valuable for establishing the probability of Apollonius’ knowledge of our fragment in third-century Alexandria36. Alexandrian scholarship established a canon of just three iambic poets, namely, Archilochus, Semonides, and Hipponax, and these were the poets we know to have received new critical editions and commentaries in this period37. Ananius did not make the cut38, but he was evidently read by at least some Alexandrian scholars. For instance, another of Ananius’ fragments (6), a lexicographical citation in a Homeric commentary (ad Il. 7, 76) preserved on a late first-century B. C. E. papyrus (P. Oxy. VIII 1087, ii, 56-57), must reflect Hellenistic scholarship39. Ananius’ 34 Aristophanes’ acquaintance with Ananius is not terribly surprising, given the kinship between ἴαμβος and Old Comedy (Kleinknecht 1937, 89). Other traces of Ananius’ influence on the comic poets can be seen in fr. 5 West (= Epich. fr. 51 Kassel – Austin) and, possibly, in the appearance of his curious oath ναὶ μὰ τὴν κράμβην («by the cabbage») in Epicharmus (fr. 22 Kassel – Austin), Teleclides (fr. 29 Kassel – Austin), and Eupolis (fr. 84, 2 Kassel – Austin), unless it was simply proverbial (Novokhatko 2015, 74). 35 Knox in Edmonds – Knox 1929, xiv; Parke 1985, 121-122. 36 On Apollonius’ date, see n. 83 below. 37 See the overview in Carey 2016, 122-123. For the evidence that Alexandrian editions, if not commentaries, were also produced for other iambic poets, see ibid. 125-126. 38 N. B., however, that Ananius replaces Semonides in the canon drawn up by Tzetzes (praef. ad Lyc. Alex. p. 2, 18-19 Scheer). Nevertheless, Ananius certainly belongs to the periphery rather than core of the iambic canon (Rotstein 2010, 28). Carey (2016, 123-124) speculates that Tzetzes’ list could be based on a late Hellenistic source. 39 On the scholium in question, a compilation of ‘paronymous’ words, see Hunt 1911, 100-101; Lundon 2011, 168 with n. 51. 360 BRIAN MCPHEE other four fragments (frr. 2-5) are all preserved by Athenaeus; it has been thought that he accessed these through a Hellenistic intermediary, if he did not read Ananius directly40. The Aristophanic scholium (ad Ar. Ran. 661) that provides the full text of fr. 1 likely has its ultimate source in an Alexandrian philologist such as Timachidas of Rhodes or even Aristarchus himself41. Indeed, the issue of the correct attribution of this fragment may have significantly raised its scholarly profile, as the work of the minor poet Ananius had to be sorted from that of the canonical Hipponax. There is thus strong evidence for an acquaintance with Ananius among at least some Hellenistic philologists. Apollonius, as a scholar of such stature as to succeed Zenodotus as head of the Royal Library of Alexandria, would have had been in prime position to access Ananius’ poetry42. What is more, he very likely would have had the inclination to read Ananius, too. Apollonius’ interests in ἴαμβος are clear: he is known to have written a treatise on Archilochus43, and his lost Canobus (frr. 1-3 Powell) was written in choliambics44, a meter associated especially with Hipponax but sometimes also with Ananius45. It should thus come as no surprise if we discover an allusion to 40 Carey 2016, 124. Bowie (2000, 132) argues for the likelihood that Athenaeus consulted Ananius directly. 41 So Carey 2016, 124-125. 42 For an overview of Apollonius’ scholarly output, see Pfeiffer 1968, 140-148; Montana 2020, 183-184. The fragments and testimonia are collected in Michaelis 1875, 16-23, 40-56. For the evidence of Apollonius’ philological scholarship from his own poetry, see, e. g., Michaelis 1875, 23-40; Erbse 1953; Giangrande 1967; idem 1970, 56-61; Livrea 1972; Nelis 1992; Rengakos 1994; idem 2008. 43 Fr. 22 Michaelis (= Ath. 10, 451d). For allusions to Archilochus in Apollonius’ poetry, see, e. g., Degani 1973, 86 n. 15; Acosta-Hughes 2010, 51. It is also likely that Apollonius alludes to Callimachus’ Iambi; see, e. g., Cameron 1995, 251-253. 44 This poem seems to have treated the death of Canobus, Menelaus’ helmsman, who was bitten by a poisonous snake at the mouth of the Nile that now bears his name. On this poem, see Krevans 2000 (esp. 76-78, 8283); Sistakou 2008, 339. Curiazi (1979) proposes Apollonian authorship for an anonymous choliambic fragment. An invective epigram against Callimachus has also been attributed to Apollonius (fr. 13 Powell = AP 11, 275), but his authorship thereof is doubtful; see, e. g., Rengakos 1992, 62-63; Cameron 1995, 227-228. For the resurgence of (chol-)iambic poetry in the third century B. C. E., see, e. g., Degani 1984, 40-56; Kerkhecker 1999, 6-8. 45 According to Heph. Ench. 5, 4 (p. 17, 1-3 Consbruch = Hippon. OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 361 an iambic poet like Ananius in Apollonius’ own poetic output. With this background in mind, I now turn to the points of contact between Anan. fr. 1 and Arg. 1, 307-311. There are, in a word, strong parallels in terms of subject matter, rhetoric, and diction that connect Apollonius’ simile to Ananius’ fragmentary prayer. First is the matter of content: both passages concern the same god, Apollo, as he travels from his various cult sites46. Second, the rhetorical organization and style of both passages is identical, as each casts the god’s cult sites in a disjunctive list punctuated by ἤ, which is repeated in hymnic fashion47. We can appreciate the strength of the stylistic parallels between Apollonius’ simile and Ananius’ prayer all the more clearly in comparison with a passage that scholars commonly adduce as a potential model for Arg. 1, 307311. The following lines commence the Pythian portion of the major Homeric hymn to Apollo (179-181)48: ὦ ἄνα, καὶ Λυκίην καὶ Μῃονίην ἐρατεινήν καὶ Μίλητον ἔχεις ἔναλον πόλιν ἱμερόεσσαν, αὐτὸς δ᾿ αὖ Δήλοιο περικλύστου μέγ᾿ ἀνάσσεις. 180 O Lord, Lycia too is yours, and lovely Lydia, and Miletus the beautiful town by the sea; and you again, none other, are the great lord of wavewashed Delos49. test. 13 Gerber), some attributed the invention of the choliambic meter to Hipponax, but others to Ananius. The Tractatus Harleianus (p. 16, 6-13 Studemund = Anan. test. 2 Gerber) rather gives the choliambic meter to Hipponax and assigns the ischiorrhogic to Ananius. 46 There is a degree of oppositio in imitando, however, in that Apollonius imagines Apollo as leaving his temple (ἐκ νηοῖο, Arg. 1, 307), whereas Ananius’ speaker calls Apollo to his temple (ἵκεο †καθ’ ἱέρ’, fr. 1, 3) – though presumably the god will be coming there from one of his other temples in Delos, Delphi, etc. 47 For this «ritual repetition» of ἤ, see DeForest 1994, 43. 48 This parallel is cited by Wellauer 1828, 20 ad A. R. Arg. 1, 306; Mooney 1912, 90 ad 1, 307; Campbell 1981, 6 ad 1, 308-309; Vian 2002, 64 n. 2; Vasilaros 2004, 178 ad 1, 309. Degani (2005, 76) independently cites h. Ap. 179-181 as a comparandum for Anan. fr. 1; see also Bulloch 1985, 167 n. 2. 49 Text and translation of the Homeric hymns are taken from West 2003. 362 BRIAN MCPHEE As in the Argonautica simile, the hymnist lists four of Apollo’s chief sanctuaries, with Lycia and Delos overlapping both lists. It is also notable that two lines later, the hymnist describes Apollo’s traveling to Pytho (183: πρὸς Πυθώ), another site included in Apollonius’ list, and both poets use the same verb of motion to describe the god’s progress (Arg. 1, 307: εἶσιν – h. Ap. 182: εἶσι). This passage may well figure among Apollonius’ models for Arg. 1, 307-31150, but it is nevertheless striking how much stronger the parallels between Apollonius and Ananius are, in several respects. I would point particularly to their mutual focus on Apollo’s travel from a litany of cult sites, the fact that both of their lists begin with Delos51, and especially the style of each passage: whereas the Homeric hymn connects its Apolline cult sites conjunctively, with καί and αὖ, the disjunctive style of Anan. fr. 1, with ἤ, offers a precise match with Apollonius’ simile. 50 In particular, the Homeric hymn could be the source for Apollonius’ inclusion of Lycia in his list (though cf. Il. 16, 514-515). Notably, whereas Ananius names only cities and islands holy to Apollo (Delos, Pytho, Naxos, Miletus, Claros), the hymn also includes whole regions sacred to him (Lycia, Maeonia). Apollonius seems to split the difference between these two approaches, offering one line devoted wholly to islands and cities (Arg. 1, 308: Delos, Claros, Pytho – all mentioned in Ananius) and sequestering the region of Lycia to its own line (309). N. B., however, that the diction of Arg. 1, 309, is rather a pastiche of Iliadic phrases; see Campbell 1981, 6 ad loc. 51 This is not the most surprising parallel, because as Apollo’s birthplace, Delos is fitting at the head of such a list. I have found Delos in this initial position in at least fourteen passages in other Greek authors: Pi. Pae. fr. 52b, 96-102; orac. ap. Ephor. FGrH 70 F 150 (= Str. 8, 6, 14 = Paus. 2, 33, 2); Plb. 25, 3, 2; D. S. 5, 77, 6-7; 18, 4, 5; Plu. Mor. 724b, 1130a; Luc. Salt. 38; P. Berol. 6870v, 1-5; Aristid. Or. 1, 363; Ath. 4, 172f-173e; ΣD ad Il. 5, 422, 16-17 van Thiel; Eust. ad D. P. 444; App. Anth. c. 4, n. 27 (vol. 3, p. 394 Cougny). But Delos does not always appear first when mentioned alongside other Apolline sites; in fact, it is perhaps equally common for Delphi to receive pride of place. In addition to h. Ap. 179-181, cf. the following twenty-three loci: Pi. P. 1, 39; Ar. Av. 869, Th. 331-334; Men. fr. 134 Körte – Thierfelder (though cf. the wording at Zen. 6, 15); Call. Aet. 18, 7; Ap. 1-4 (for the plants here as symbols of Delphi and Delos, see Williams 1978, 16); A. R. Arg. 1, 418-419; 1, 536-537; 4, 1704-1705; Philoch. FGrH 328 F 75; Plu. Mor. 385b-c; Themist. Ep. 8, 67 Hercher; Luc. Alex. 8, Sacr. 10; Paus. 10, 12, 5; Max. Tyr. Or. 41, 1, 16-24 Trapp; Athenagoras Leg. 17, 4; Aps. Rh. 1, 77 Patillon; Him. Or. 68, 8; Theodoret Graec. affect. cur. 10, 3; 10, 46; Hist. eccl. p. 200, 10 Parmentier – Scheidweiler; Lexica Segueriana p. 299, 8 Bekker. OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 363 But most decisive, to my mind, are the marked lexical parallels (besides the repeated use of ἤ) constituted by the particular Apolline cult sites that both Ananius and Apollonius choose to mention. Fully three of the four locales named in the Argonautica occur in Anan. fr. 1, and notably, Apollonius groups all of them together in a single line: Delos, Claros, and Pytho (Arg. 1, 308). Such a grouping of Apolline domains may seem unremarkable, but in fact, TLG searches yield no pre-Apollonian parallel other than Ananius for the collocation of this trio of sites. Delos and Delphi, as the homes of Apollo’s two most famous cults, make for a common enough pairing52, but it is Claros that makes this grouping stand out, as a brief excursus on its historical and literary fortunes will make clear53. Claros is never mentioned in Apollonius’ primary epic models, the Iliad and Odyssey; elsewhere in early ἔπος, it appears as Apollo’s sanctuary only in the shorter Homeric hymn to Artemis (9, 5), which bears all the hallmarks of a local composition54. In the century before Apollonius’ time, the site’s profile was beginning to rise: the oracle was supposed to have played a role in the resettlement of Smyrna, and in the late fourth century B. C. E., construction began on a new Doric temple of Apollo, planned on a massive scale (though never completed)55. Just possibly, the oracle’s burgeoning prosperity in the early Hellenistic period put it on Apollonius’ radar, as it were, whence its inclusion in his simile’s list of Apolline cult sites56. E. g., cf. already the two halves of the major Homeric hymn to Apollo. For further passages that join Delos and Delphi, see the previous note. 53 In general on this oracle, see Parke 1985, 112-170. 54 See, e. g., Allen et al. 1936, 389; Parke 1985, 121. Claros is also mentioned at h. Ap. 40 in a list of locales that would not receive Leto to give birth to Apollo. The organization of the passage is such, however, that it might initially appear to catalogue Apollo’s numerous domains (see Miller 1986, 31-33). Claros seems to have figured in the lost epic Epigoni (fr. 3 Bernabé), in a section relating how Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, settled at the site; and Hesiod may also have mentioned it as the setting for the contest of Calchas and Mopsus (fr. 278 Merkelbach – West; cf. Nostoi arg., lines 7-9 Bernabé). As these passages both have to do with seers, they likely do reflect an Archaic-era awareness of Claros’ status as an Apolline oracle (Parke 1985, 115, 126). 55 Parke 1967, 122, 138; idem 1985, 126-130. For an overview of this temple and its oracle, see Moretti et al. 2014, with earlier bibliography. 56 This is the implication of Williams (1978, 66 ad Call. Ap. 70) and 52 364 BRIAN MCPHEE But inscriptional evidence reveals that Claros’ real heyday arrived only much later, in the second century C. E.57; and in fact, there are strong indicators in the literary record that it only became common to reckon this oracle among Apollo’s major cult sites in precisely that time period58. Passages that offer lists of Apolline cult sites (as, e. g., in prayers or cultic hymns) appear already in the earliest Greek literature (e. g., Il. 1, 37-38; 16, 514-515); and, in a related vein, passages that, for whatever reason, enumerate the most prominent (usually Apolline) oracles in the Greek world (e. g., Hdt. 1, 46, 2-3) become increasingly frequent over time, eventually constituting something of a minor topos in early Christian apologetic literature59. Besides Anan. fr. 1 West and A. R. Arg. 1, 307-311, I have found twenty-four such loci in Greek authors60 that include Claros in their catalogue of Stephens (2015, 93 ad Call. Ap. 70) vis-à-vis a reference to the cult in Apollonius’ contemporary Callimachus. 57 See, e. g., Parke 1967, 137-141; idem 1985, 142-170; Nilsson 1974, 475-478. Parke speaks of «the great flowering of the oracle in the second century» (1967, 138), while Nilsson even refers to «das früher unbedeutende Orakel des klarischen Apollon» (1974, 475), observing, «[S]eine große Zeit sollte erst im 2. Jahrhundert n. Chr. kommen» (108). 58 Parke (1985, 148-149) notes this phenomenon and gives a handful of citations at 249 n. 10. 59 I have split these references into a few different categories, which appear spread over this and the following notes (60-61). I cannot claim to have prepared an exhaustive list, but from before the time of Apollonius, see, e. g., h. Ap. 179-181; Pi. P. 1, 39; S. OT 897-904; [E.] Rh. 224-225; Hdt. 1, 46, 2-3; cf. perhaps Simon. 519 fr. 55 PMG. Apollonius himself has three other such passages (Arg. 1, 418-419; 1, 536-537; 4, 1704-1705), the first and last of which are likely modeled on Call. Aet. fr. 18, 7. My impression based on this survey is that, before the Imperial period, Apollo’s most commonly invoked local associations are with Delphi, Delos, and Lycia – precisely the other three sites mentioned in Arg. 1, 307-311. 60 I have excluded Roman authors from this count because Claros only enters Latin literature in the Augustan period, via a learned epithet for Apollo at Verg. Aen. 3, 360. This timing corresponds to a contemporaneous restoration of Apollo’s temple at Claros, perhaps with patronage from the imperial family (see Parke 1985, 133-135); the oracle’s fame in the Roman world subsequently increased again when Germanicus visited the shrine in 18 C. E., shortly before his death (Tac. Ann. 2, 54; see Bömer 1958, 10 ad Ov. Fast. 1, 20). Claros first appears in a Roman catalogue of Apolline cult sites at Ov. Met. 1, 515-516; further examples include Val. Fl. 3, 299; Stat. Theb. 8, 195-202; Amm. 19, 12, 15; Claud. rapt. Pros. 1, OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 365 Apolline cult sites or of oracles61. This is a relatively high number of passages, but their chronological distribution is arrestingly lopsided: all of them but two date from the second century C. E. or later62. To be sure, the survival of ancient literature across the centuries is too uneven to allow for rigorous statistical analysis63. Nevertheless, these data do support the contention that Claros was not typically counted among Apollo’s most notable cult sites until centuries after Apollonius’ day and age, and thus magnify the significance of the site’s common appearance in both Ananius and Apollonius’ catalogues. Now, Ananius likely mentioned Claros because he was himself an Ionian. Indeed, it is notable that his catalogue of Apolline cult sites 135-136. Latin lists of this type that do not mention Claros include Hor. carm. 3, 4, 61-64; [Verg.] Culex 13-17, Aetna 5-6; Stat. Theb. 1, 696-702. 61 Eight of these passages group together Delos, Delphi, and Claros (among other sites), just as we find in Ananius and Apollonius. These include Luc. Alex. 8; Paus. 10, 12, 5; Himer. Or. 68, 8; Theodoret Graec. affect. cur. 10, 3; 10, 46; Nicetas Magister Ep. ex Hell. 11; Eust. ad D. P. 444; and, with some probable emendations, App. Anth. c. 4, n. 27 (vol. 3, p. 394 Cougny). Sixteen other passages of this type include Claros, but lack Delos and/or Delphi: Call. Ap. 70; Lyc. Alex. 1464-1465; Luc. Alex. 29, 43; D. Deor. 18, 1; D. P. 437-446; Aristid. Or. 2, 42-44; Max. Tyr. Or. 8, 1-2; Cels. ap. Origen Cels. 7, 3; Clem. Al. Protr. 2, 11, 1-2; Philostr. VA 4, 1; 4, 14; Ep. 1, 5; Porph. ap. Eus. PE 5, 16, 1; Them. Or. 334a; John Chr. Homil. 4, 8, 10-11 Piedagnel. See also Anacreont. 12, where the inspiration of the seers at Claros is adduced alongside other types of divine madness. 62 One of these passages, Lyc. Alex. 1464-1465, most likely postdates Apollonius; see Hornblower 2015, 31-32, 36-39. The other, however, comes from Apollonius’ own contemporary Callimachus. In his Hymn to Apollo, the speaker mentions ‘Boëdromius’ and ‘Clarius’ as local epithets for Apollo (69-70) in a brief priamel capped by ‘Carneius’, the god’s title in Callimachus’ native Cyrene and its colonial precursors, Thera and Sparta (71-80). A cursory glance at the relevant passages will show no substantive parallels between A. R. Arg. 1, 307-311, and Call. Ap. 69-80 in comparison with Anan. fr. 1. 63 See Hartmann 2020, 174-175, for these and other obstacles to the statistical analysis of ancient texts. Such an analysis would also have to find a way to account for confounding literary-interpretative factors – for instance, do Callimachus, Apollonius, and Lycophron include Claros in their lists just because the oracle’s profile was rising in the Hellenistic period, or could some more artistic reason have motivated their choice (e. g., a desire to mark an allusion, to advertise their learning by referencing a relatively obscure cult, vel sim.)? 366 BRIAN MCPHEE begins with the god’s most famous Panhellenic sanctuaries, at Delos and Delphi, and then proceeds eastward via Naxos64 to its τέλος in a pair of Ionian sites, namely, Miletus and Claros65. This sequencing, particularly given Claros’ relative obscurity in the greater Greek world at this time66, points to the poet’s geographical proximity to these sites67. Indeed, the fact that of the six toponyms in this fragment, Ananius deigns to dignify Claros alone with an epithet (2: θείην Κλάρον)68, may suggest that he hailed from this area specifically69. Be that as it may, the upshot of these observations is that Ananius seems to have had a compelling contextual reason to include Claros in his catalogue, namely, its local salience – but Apollonius did not. In light of these considerations, and particularly in combination with the other strong parallels in form and content connecting these passages, Anan. fr. 1 becomes the obvious source for Apollonius’ inclusion of Claros, out of all the possible candidates, in his catalogue of Apolline cult sites at Arg. 1, 307-31170. 64 This site’s inclusion in Ananius’ list likely reflects his sixth-century horizons (see n. 1 above). This prosperous Archaic polis began constructing a monumental temple, likely consecrated to Apollo, at Palatia on Naxos shortly after 530 B. C. E. (Lambrinoudakis 2002, 7-10), and had previously made notable dedications to Apollo at Panhellenic sanctuaries, including the Colossus of the Naxians on Delos and the Sphinx of the Naxians at Delphi. 65 On the geographical arrangement of the passage, see Adami 1900, 229-230. 66 Cf. Miletus, which, e. g., Herodotus describes as the jewel of Ionia in the period before the Ionian Revolt (5, 28). (N. B. that in the same place he describes Naxos, which also figures into Ananius’ list, as premier among the islands at that time; see further n. 64 above). 67 For this reason, I incline toward Carey’s view that Ananius lived in western Asia Minor (see n. 1 above). See further n. 69 below. 68 N. B. that in his imitation at Arg. 1, 308, Apollonius varies his model by transferring an epithet meaning «holy» from Claros to Delos (Δῆλον … ἠγαθέην). 69 So Crusius in RE 1, 1, 2057, 41-47. If this speculation is right, then Apollonius’ inclusion of Claros in his list could function as a kind of homage to his poetic model; similarly, perhaps, cf. Köhnken 2003, 212-213, on a possible Apollonian tribute to Callimachus by way of that poet’s homeland, Cyrene. 70 Incidentally, it is also clear to see why Apollonius would have chosen to incorporate Delos, Delphi, and Claros, but not Naxos or Miletus, from Ananius’ list. Delos and Delphi, in the fragment’s first line, and OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 367 Lists of a god’s various domains represent a more or less standard feature in the rhetoric of cultic hymns – indeed, it is precisely the familiarity of this trope that enables Ananius to parody it so effectively in fr. 1. Consequently, it will always be possible that if more ancient Greek literature were extant, we would find other potential models for Arg. 1, 307-311, in cultic hymns to Apollo that have not survived. But given Apollonius’ professional interest in iambography and the substantial parallels between the passages in question – including the collocation of Delos, Pytho, and Claros, which occurs nowhere else in surviving Greek literature until the latter site’s efflorescence in the second century C. E. – the conclusion that Apollonius is alluding to Anan. fr. 1 deserves our strong consideration. As a potential confirmation of my argument, I would appeal to a possible ‘two-tier allusion’ to Ananius via Apollonius in Dionysius the Periegete71. In a passage that reworks elements of Apollonius’ simile72, the Dionysian speaker describes Apollo’s habitual travel to Delphi, «freshly arrived from Miletus or Claros» (446: ἢ ἀπὸ Μιλήτοιο ἢ ἐκ Κλάρου ἄρτι βεβηκώς)73. Once again, this particular constellation of Apolline cult sites may seem unassuming, but on closer inspection, the pairing of Miletus with Claros turns out to be incredibly rare: the only earlier example in all of Greek literature is none other than Anan. fr. 1, 2 (ἢ Μίλητον ἢ θείην Κλάρον), and besides the scholia and paraphrasis to Dionysius, only one, much later passage shows the same pairing74. Claros appears in Apollonius’ simClaros, at the end of the list and with unique ornamentation, naturally stick out in the mind, whereas the unadorned Naxos and Miletus in the middle of the sequence are inevitably less memorable. 71 For the term ‘two-tier allusion’, see Hinds 1987, 151 n. 16. Here I may note a more tenuous example than Dionysius’: Vergil’s imitation of Apollonius’ simile at Aen. 4, 143-150, includes a Scythian people, the Agathyrsi, among Apollo’s worshippers (146) – a nod to the Scythian punchline of Ananius’ fragment? But cf. Nelis 2001, 135. 72 See Lightfoot 2014, 362-363 ad D. P. 441, 446. 73 Text and translation from Lightfoot 2014. 74 This passage is Tz. H. 13, 468, 102, which lists the sites in the reverse order (Claros – Miletus) and in an unrelated context. Cf. also Σ ad Luc. D. Mort. [77] 10, 1 (p. 255, 19-20 Rabe) and particularly Paus. 7, 5, 4, which refers to «two unfinished sanctuaries of Apollo, the one in Branchidae, in Milesian territory, and the one at Clarus in the land of the Colophonians» (δύο δὲ οὐκ ἐξειργασμένα Ἀπόλλωνος, τό τε ἐν Βραγχίδαις τῆς Μιλησίας καὶ ἐν Κλάρῳ τῇ Κολοφωνίων) (text and translation from 368 BRIAN MCPHEE ile (Arg. 1, 308), but Miletus is present only in Apollonius’ model. By adding Miletus back in, it is as if Dionysius wants to register his awareness of Anan. fr. 1 as the original underlying his own model in the Argonautica. If we can now take the probability of an Apollonian allusion to Ananius as established, an important question still remains: what would it signify for our interpretation of Apollonius’ simile? After all, one criterion for the recognition of an allusion requires that it «be susceptible of interpretation, or meaningful»75. But it is prima facie surprising that the reverent Apolline simile at Arg. 1, 307-311, should be adapted from a parodic prayer in an iambic poet. Why would Apollonius evoke Ananius’ «mock prayer»76 in such an apparently pious context? How do we square the tonal dissonance between alluding text and model text? One answer to these questions might hold that the iambic echo in Apollonius’ simile functions as a subtle means of deflating Jason in the superficially glorious scene of his departure; and this interpretation could in turn be integrated with several critical readings that, for various reasons, regard Jason’s comparison with Apollo as ironic77. I prefer, however, to see a more specific point to this allusion, which in my view constitutes another good example of Apollonius’ learned style of humor78. I would propose that the Ananius intertext is only Jones 1933). Pausanias’ phrasing highlights a certain incongruity in Ananius and Dionysius’ shared diction that further cements the connection between them: Miletus, as a polis that controls a satellite oracle (Branchidae/Didyma), is not strictly parallel to Claros, a satellite oracle under the control of a nearby polis (Colophon). In other words, it would be more logical to pair together the two poleis (Miletus – Colophon) or the two oracles (Branchidae/Didyma – Claros), but both Ananius and Dionysius opt for the less natural pairing of Miletus – Claros. 75 Thomas 1986, 174. 76 Rotstein 2010, 40. 77 I have mentioned DeForest’s view in n. 6 above. Others have seen the simile as conventionally heroic in itself, but only to be subverted immediately thereafter by Jason’s frustrated encounter with Artemis’ priestess Iphias (Beye 1969, 41-42; Nelis 1991, 98) and, a bit later, by other unbecoming incidents at Pagasae (Levin 1971, 46; Beye 1982, 82-83, 88; Pike 1993, 30-31; Green 2007, 205 ad Arg. 1, 306ff.; cf. Hunter 1988, 442). See further Schwinge 1986, 94-95. 78 Apollonian scholars often remark on the poet’s dry, ironic wit (e. g., Fränkel 1957, 18 n. 12; idem 1968, 272-273; Beye 1982, 31-32), which fre- OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 369 too applicable to Jason’s situation, for the hero really is setting out on an expedition to the ‘barbarian’ East, and on an itinerary that will even bring him past the Scythians themselves (Arg. 4, 320). Indeed, Scythia held a particularly important place in the geography of the Argonautic myth as the site where, in some versions, Medea murdered her brother Apsyrtus – perhaps as early as Sophocles’ Scythians79. A first-time reader of the Argonautica might expect that this is the Scythian episode foreshadowed by the Ananius allusion, though in the event, Apollonius’ Apsyrtus will actually be murdered on one of the Brygean Islands in the Adriatic. But in any case, the destination held out as a satirical threat in Ananius’ parodic prayer has become ironically actualized in the tenor of Apollonius’ simile: Jason sets out on a heroic quest to regions that would be hostile even to his divine analogue Apollo. In sharp contrast to the confidence that Jason expresses in his crew’s safety and their ultimate success in the scene immediately preceding his departure (Arg. 1, 300-302), the allusion to Ananius reminds us of the danger that Pelias has plotted for Jason on his «very arduous voyage … among foreign people» (1, 16-17: ναυτιλίης πολυκηδέος … ἀλλοδαποῖσι μετ᾽ ἀνδράσι). Apollonius’ intertextual joke would work even better if the identification of Colchis (the actual goal of the Argonauts’ quest) with Scythia was already current in his period. Colchis and the Colchians are regularly subsumed under the label ‘Scythian’ in later Greek and Roman literature, including both the Apollonius scholia and Valerius’ Argonautica. For instance, one of the scholiastic prolegomena to the Argonautica (B, a [p. 3, 14 Wendel]) has Pelias sending Jason off «to Scythia» (εἰς τὴν Σκυθίαν) to retrieve the Golden Fleece80. quently involves learned references; see, e. g., Campbell 1971, 417 n. 1; Giangrande 1977, 279-283; and, for a good recent example, Schollmeyer 2017. For humor in Apollonius’ similes, see, e. g., Hunter 1993, 131, 133-134. 79 See Pearson 1917, 185-187. 80 For further citations from the Apollonius scholia, see the Scythian entries in the indices in Wendel 1935, 371; Lachenaud 2010, 574. For other Greek examples, see, e. g., Timonax FGrH 842 F 2-3 (discussion of the Colchians in a work of Scythian ethnography); Chariton 2, 9, 4; Lib. Prog. 11, 3. (Timonax has sometimes been regarded as one of Apollonius’ sources [Robert 1921, 800], in which case the Colchian-Scythian equation would indeed predate the Argonautica; but Dowden (2014), in his bibliographical essay in BNJ 842, rather dates the historian to the 1st cent. B. C. E. or 1st cent. C. E.) 370 BRIAN MCPHEE Likewise, Valerius refers to the Phasis as «Scythian» (Scythici … Phasidis) already in the second line of his epic81. It is unclear if Greeks of the third century B. C. E. like Apollonius would have been familiar with this (popular?) usage82, but we can at least say that for Greeks of this era, Colchis was indeed conceptually associated with neighboring Scythia. For instance, in his rationalistic Argonauts, Apollonius’ contemporary Dionysius Scytobrachion83 distinguishes the Colchians from the Scythians as separate peoples, but Dionysius also connects them closely, making the Scythian king both Aeetes’ son-in-law and Phrixus’ ἐραστής (ap. D. S. 4, 47, 5)84. Thus even if ‘Colchian’ was not yet interchangeable with ‘Scythian’ for Apollonius, the physical and conceptual proximity of these peoples still serves to deepen the resonance of Apollonius’ allusion to Ananius’ facetious Scythian threat. In conclusion, I hope to have demonstrated three broad points: first, that Anan. fr. 1 West would have been available to Apollonius in third-century B. C. E. Alexandria, and that, moreover, his scholarly and poetic interests in ἴαμβος make his familiarity with this text likely; second, that the connections between this fragment and Arg. 1, 307-311, are extensive and unusual enough to discount the possibility of merely coincidental echoes (e. g., because of a mutual reliance on common hymnal rhetoric); and finally, that Apollonius’ allusion to Ananius is interpretable as a typical example of his learned brand of humor. I would like to close this paper by observing that, if these For Valerius’ use of Scythicus and related terms for Colchis, see, e. g., Spaltenstein 2002, 278 ad Val. Fl. 1, 745. For other Roman instances of this usage, see, e. g., Ov. Met. 7, 406-407; Sen. Med. 527-528. 82 What pre-Apollonian evidence for this identification I have been able to find is tenuous at best. Presumably Moses of Chorene 3, 4, our source for test. iiib of Euripides’ Peliades, does not preserve the playwright’s terminology when he relates that Medea followed Jason from «the province of Scythia» (Scythia provincia) to Thessaly (text and translation from Collard – Cropp 2008). The fragments of Sophocles’ Scythians reveal that that Argonautic play was not set at Colchis; see n. 79 above. See also n. 80 above on Timonax. 83 Dionysius belongs to the middle of the third century (Rusten 1982, ch. 6), if not earlier (cf. D’Alessio 2000, 100-102). Apollonius’ precise date remains contested; for a good overview of earlier arguments, see Murray 2014, 247-248. Murray herself uses astronomical data in the Argonautica to fix a precise date for the poem’s composition in 238 B. C. E. 84 See Rusten 1982, 118. 81 OFF TO SCYTHIA: APOLLONIUS ARG. 1, 307-311 371 arguments are correct, then Apollonius’ allusion provides a valuable supplement to the evidence considered above for the state of Ananius’ reception in the Hellenistic period. It demonstrates that a third-century Alexandrian scholar-poet was reading – and, more tellingly, could expect his learned readers to catch an allusion to – an iambic poet largely excluded from the process of canonization. Indeed, one of these learned readers, Dionysius the Periegete, may even have caught Apollonius’ allusion to this minor poet as late as the Hadrianic period. Intertexts represent a much more slippery type of evidence than explicit testimonia and quotations in other ancient authors like Athenaeus85. Nevertheless, the Apollonian and Dionysian allusions for which I have argued offer exciting hints of a wider Hellenistic- and Imperial-era readership for Ananius, at least in certain learned circles, than we might otherwise have guessed; and the case of Ananius may hint, in turn, at the possible fortunes enjoyed by other non-canonical authors more generally. Brian McPhee Bibliography Acosta-Hughes 2010 = B. Acosta-Hughes, Arion’s lyre. Archaic lyric into Hellenistic poetry, Princeton 2010. Adami 1900 = F. Adami, De poetis scaenicis graecis hymnorum sacrorum imitatoribus, Leipzig 1900. Allen et al. 1936 = T. W. Allen – W. R. Halliday – E. E. Sikes, The Homeric hymns, Oxford 19362. Asheri et al. 2007 = D. Asheri – A. Lloyd – A. Corcella, A commentary on Herodotus Books I-IV, ed. by O. Murray – A. Moreno, with contributions from M. 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