Callimachus · Iambs §6.1

Origin of the Imperfect Sacrifices to Artemis Kolainis

Passage 7 of 22 · Greek

Summary

Quoting Callimachus' verse, the text explains the ritual sacrifice of imperfect animals to the goddess Kolainis (Artemis) established by Agamemnon, alongside Euphronius' etymological commentary.

§6.1τὴν ὡγαμέμνων, ὡς ὁ μῦθος, εἵσατο, τῇ καὶ λίπουρα καὶ μονωπὰ θύεται. "Εὐφρόνιος δέ φησιν ὅτι ἐν Ἀμαρύνθῳ ἡ Κολαινὶς διὰ τὸ τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα θῦσαι αὐτῇ ἐκ τοῦ κηροῦ κριὸν κόλον· ἐπὶ ταύτης δὲ Καλλίμαχος λέγει· " τὴν κτλ.

"Whom Agamemnon, as the story goes, established; to her even tailless and one-eyed animals are sacrificed." "And Euphronius says that [the epithet] Kolainis in Amarynthus is because Agamemnon sacrificed to her a hornless ram made of wax; and about her Callimachus says:" Whom, etc.

Notes

6.1ὡγαμέμνων — A crasis of the article ὁ and the proper name Ἀγαμέμνων.
6.1εἵσατο — Aorist middle of ἵζω (or from ἕζομαι), meaning "established" or "founded" a temple or cult.
6.1διὰ τὸ ... θῦσαι — A causal construction consisting of the preposition διὰ and the articular infinitive (aorist active θῦσαι), with the accusative τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα acting as the subject of the infinitive.
6.1κριὸν κόλον — Meaning "a hornless ram." The adjective κόλος (hornless, docked, or mutilated) is presented here as an etymological explanation for the epithet of Artemis, "Kolainis" (Κολαινίς), according to Euphronius' theory that Agamemnon sacrificed a hornless ram made of wax.

Cite this passage

Callimachus, Iambs §6.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0533.tlg007.humanitext-grc1:6.1

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