Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §119.1

Euripides as Cupbearer and the Dancers of Apollo

Passage 124 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus, in a fragment from his *On Drunkenness*, relates that the poet Euripides once served as a wine-pourer for a group called 'the dancers' at Athens, describing their ritual dance at the temple of Delian Apollo and a surviving painting of them at Phyle.

§119.1Fr. 119 Θ. γοῦν ἐν τῷ περὶ μέθης φησί· "πυνθάνομαι δʼ ἔγωγε καὶ Εὐριπίδην τὸν ποιητὴν οἰνοχοεῖν Ἀθήνῃσι τοῖς ὀρχησταῖς καλουμένοις· ὠρχοῦντο δʼ οὗτοι περὶ τὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος νεὼν τοῦ Δηλίου τῶν πρωτ. . . τες Ἀθηναίων καὶ κατεδύοντο ἱμάτια τῶν Θηραϊκῶν.
At any rate, Theophrastus says in his *On Drunkenness*: "I for my part learn that even Euripides the poet served as wine-pourer at Athens for those called 'the dancers'; and these danced around the temple of Delian Apollo, being among the foremost of the Athenians, and they wore cloaks of the Theraean kind.
Ὁ δὲ Ἀπόλλων οὗτός ἐστιν ᾧ τὰ θαργήλια ἄγουσιν.
And this Apollo is the one in whose honor they celebrate the Thargelia.
Καὶ διασώζεται Φυλῇσιν ἐν τῷ Δαφνηφορείῳ γραφὴ περὶ τούτων. "
Moreover, there is preserved at Phyle, in the Daphnephoreion, a painting concerning these things."

Notes

  1. §119.1τῶν πρωτ...τες Ἀθηναίων — A passage containing a lacuna in the manuscript text. It is generally reconstructed as `τῶν πρώτων ὄντες Ἀθηναίων` ("being among the foremost of the Athenians") or `πρωτεύοντες Ἀθηναίων` ("being chief among the Athenians"), functioning as a participial phrase meaning "being among the leading Athenians."
  2. §119.1κατεδύοντο — The third-person plural imperfect middle of the verb `καταδύω`. From its literal meaning "to slip into," it is used in the middle voice with a transitive sense meaning "to put on" or "to wear," taking the accusative `ἱμάτια` as its direct object.
  3. §119.1ᾧ — The masculine dative singular of the relative pronoun `ὅς`, referring back to the antecedent `Ὁ δὲ Ἀπόλλων οὗτος` ("this Apollo"). It is a dative of interest (or honor), indicating that the Thargelia is celebrated "for" or "in honor of" this god.
  4. §119.1Φυλῇσιν — The archaic locative plural ending (-ῃσι/-(η)σι) of "Phyle" (Φυλή), an Attic deme, expressing the location "at Phyle."

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §119.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:119.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.