Humanitext Reader

Callimachus · Aetia §0.1-0.5

Ancient and Medieval Testimonies on the Work

Passage 1 of 7 · Greek

Summary

A collection of ancient and medieval testimonies and references concerning Callimachus' famous work Aetia (Causes). It mentions the mockery of the work, its literary setting (a dream dialogue with the Muses), its contrast with human-focused themes, and its difficulty as an educational text as well as its four-book structure.

§0.11.
1.
"Καλλίμαχος τὸ κάθαρμα, τὸ παίγνιον, ὁ ξύλινος νοῦς, αἴτιος ὁ γράψας Αἴτια Καλλιμάχου. " §0.22.
"Callimachus the scum, the plaything, the wooden mind; the one who wrote the Aetia of Callimachus is to blame." 2.
"Ἆ μέγα Βαττιάδαο σοφοῦ περίπυστον ὄνειαρ, ἦ ῥ’ ἐτεὸν κεράων οὐδ’ ἐλέφαντος ἔης.
"Ah, great and far-famed dream of wise Battiades, truly you were of horn, and not of ivory.
τοῖα γὰρ ἄμμιν ἔφηνας, ἅτ’ οὐ πάρος ἀνέρες ἴδμεν, ἀμφί τε ἀθανάτους ἀμφί τε ἡμιθέους, εὖτέ μιν ἐκ Λιβύης ἀναείρας εἰς Ἑλικῶνα ἤγαγες ἐν μέσσαις Πιερίδεσσι φέρων·
For you revealed such things to us as men did not know before, both concerning the immortals and concerning the demigods, when, lifting him up from Libya, you brought him to Helicon, carrying him into the midst of the Pierides.
αἱ δέ οἱ εἰρομένῳ ἀμφ’ ὠγυγίων ἡρώων. Αἴτια καὶ μακάρων εἶρον ἀμειβόμεναι. " Vv. 1-2 Suidas s. v. ὄνειαρ.
And they, answering him as he questioned them about the ancient heroes and the blessed ones, told the Aetia." Vv. 1-2 Suidas s.v. oneiar.
§0.33.
3.
"Non hic Centauros, non Gorgonas Harpyiasque Invenies: hominem pagina nostra sapit.
"You will not find Centaurs here, nor Gorgons and Harpies: our page tastes of man.
Sed non vis, Mamurra, tuos cognoscere mores Nec te scire: legas Aetia Callimachi. " §0.44.
But you, Mamurra, do not wish to know your own manners, nor to know yourself: read the Aetia of Callimachus." 4.
"Εὐφορίων ὁ ποιητὴς καὶ Καλλιμάχου Ἶβις καὶ τὰ Αἴτια καὶ ἡ Λυκόφρονος Ἀλεξάνδρα καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια γυμνάσιον εἰς ἐξήγησιν γραμματικῶν ἔκκειται παισίν. "
"The poet Euphorion, Callimachus' Ibis and Aetia, Lycophron's Alexandra, and works similar to these are set forth as exercises for grammarians' children to explain." 5.
§0.55. "καὶ τῶν μεγίστων Αἰτίων τὴν τετράδα. "
"And the four books of the greatest Aetia."

Notes

  1. ¦1¦Βαττιάδαο — Epic/Homeric genitive form (-ao) of the patronymic 'descendant of Battus' (Battiades), referring to Callimachus. Battus was the founder of Cyrene and ancestor of Callimachus.
  2. ¦2¦κεράων οὐδ’ ἐλέφαντος — An allusion to the gate of horn (true dreams) and the gate of ivory (false dreams) from Homer's Odyssey 19. Here, it praises Callimachus' dream (poetic inspiration) as being true.
  3. ¦8¦εἶρον — Third-person plural imperfect active of the verb eiro (to speak, tell). Though form-wise confusing with eiromai (to ask), here it serves as the main verb indicating the Muses telling the causes to Callimachus.
  4. §0.3ἐξήγησιν γραμματικῶν ἔκκειται παισίν." — The verb sapio takes an accusative meaning 'to taste of, smell of, savor of.' It indicates that the poem focuses on real 'human' matters rather than mythological monsters.
  5. §0.5τὴν τετράδα — A feminine noun meaning 'a group of four, tetrad.' It refers to the four-book structure of Callimachus' Aetia.

Cite this passage

Callimachus, Aetia §0.1-0.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0533.tlg006.humanitext-grc1:0.1-0.5

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