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A Metrical Quotation in Julian's Symposium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Joel C. Relihan
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Extract

So the modern editions print the opening words of the work more popularly known as the Caesares. The Symposium begins with what I consider to be a playful encounter between the narrator and his interlocutor, in which the latter's expectations of seriousness in the myth which is to follow are frustrated. This playfulness has not been appreciated by Julian's commentators. I suggest that we have here a concealed trimeter which figures largely in the dynamics of this dialogue (the word δ⋯ is to be retained in Julian's text as necessary connective tissue):

γελο⋯ον οὐδ⋯ν σὐδ⋯ τερπν⋯ν οἶδ' ⋯γώ.

Type
Shorter Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1989

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References

1 Pétau's edition (Paris, 1630) prints οἶδ', but does not distinguish a quotation.

2 The use of οὐδ⋯ν οὐδ⋯ to connect adjectives may be abundantly paralleled in Plutarch: Alc. 20.8. β⋯βαιον οὐδ⋯ν οὐδ' ἰσχυρ⋯ν; Cim. 19.4, λαμπρ⋯ν οὐδ⋯ μ⋯γα; Cat. Mi. 53.3, ὑγι⋯ς οὐδ⋯ν οὐδ⋯ δ⋯καιον; De curiositate 521b, σπουδαῖον οὐδ⋯ν οὐδ' ⋯πιtau;ερπ⋯ς but Plutarch also preserves a quotation from Philemon's ⋯ 'Eπιδικαζ⋯μενος (F 23 Kock), quomodo adulescentes 35d: ἥδιον οὐδ⋯ν οὐδ⋯ μουσικώτερον | ⋯στ' ἢ δ⋯νασθαι λοιδορο⋯μεον φ⋯ρειν Cf. also Euripides, Tr. 733: οὐδ' αἰςχρ⋯ν οὐδ⋯ν οὐδ' ⋯π⋯φθον⋯ν σε δρ⋯ν.

3 There are instances of the close conjunction of the roots *γελ and *τερπ, some in a Symposiac context, some not. Most remarkable is a papyrus of a hymn to Aphrodite (Powell, , Coll. Alex., epica adespota 9, col. III, line 1Google Scholar): ⋯σστ[ρ]⋯ππτουςα γελᾷ τ[ε]ρπνοῖσι προσώποις. For symposiac parallels, cf. Plutarch, , Quaest. Conv. 622bGoogle Scholar, συμποσ⋯ου δ⋯ βασιλεĐς ⋯στεῖον ἆθλον ἂν κα⋯ γ⋯ρας προθε⋯η τῷ παιδι⋯ν ⋯ν⋯βριστον εἰσηγησαμ⋯νω κα⋯ τ⋯ρψιν ὠφ⋯λιμον κα⋯ γ⋯λωτα μ⋯ μώμου μηδ' ὕβρεων ⋯λλ⋯ χ⋯ριτος κα⋯ φιλοφροσ⋯νης ⋯ταῖρον Lucian, , Symp. 18Google Scholar, διαλιπ⋯ντων δ⋯ ⋯λ⋯γον, ὥσπερ εἰώθασι, τ⋯ν παρακομιζ⋯ντων τ⋯ ⋯ψα μηχανώμενος 'Aριστα⋯νετος μηδ‘ ⋯κεῖνον ⋯τερπ⋯ τ⋯ν εἶνδ⋯ κεν⋯ν γελωτοποι⋯ν εἰσελθ⋯ντα εἰπεῖν τι ἤ πρἶξαι γελοῖον, ὡς ἔτι μ⋯λλον οἱ συμπ⋯ται διαχυθεῖεν.

4 This verse is imitated by Chrysostom, John, Hom. in Matth. 6.7.99Google Scholar (MPG 57, p. 71), in a passage which condemns popular, comic, entertainments: ὅταν μ⋯ν γ⋯ρ βλ⋯σλ⋯σφημ⋯ν τι εἴπωσιν ἤ αἰσχρ⋯σ οἱ μῖμοι τ⋯ν γελο⋯ων ⋯κε⋯νων, τοτε πολλο⋯ τ⋯ν ⋯νοητοτ⋯ρων λελ⋯σι κα⋯ τ⋯ρπονται, ὑπ⋯ρ ὦν αὐτοĐς λιθ⋯ζειν ⋯χρ⋯ν, ὑπ⋯ρ το⋯των κροτο⋯ντες, κα⋯ τ⋯ν κ⋯μινον το⋯ πυρ⋯ς δι⋯ τ⋯ς ⋯δον⋯ς τα⋯της κατ⋯ τ⋯ς ⋯αυτ⋯ν ἕλκοντες κεφαλ⋯ς.

5 The word is found twice in satyr plays: Aeschylus, , Dictyulci (F 47a.813 Radt)Google Scholar, and Sophocles, , Ichneutae (F 314.369 Radt)Google Scholar; and is once attributed to Euripides (F 492 Nauck, possibly from the Melanippe Desmotis, though papyrus finds argue against this; see Webster, T. B. L., The Tragedies of Euripides [London, 1967], p. 150)Google Scholar. Naturally, given the popularity of Euripides as a source of quotation in Menippean satire generally and in the Symposium specifically (313c = Phoen, 119–20; 328d = F 417 Nauck; 331b = Andr. 693–4), it would satisfy expectations if this quotation were also from Euripides.

6 Austin, C., ed., Menandri Aspis el Samia I, Textus (Cum Apparatu Critico) et Indices, Kleine Texte 188a (Berlin, 1969)Google Scholar.

7 Somewhat akin to this device of comedy is the poet's rejection of comic themes to turn to serious topics: cf. Archilochus F 215 West, κα⋯ μ' οὔτ' ἰ⋯μβων οὔτε τερπωλ⋯ων μ⋯λει; Horace, , Epod. 11.1–2Google Scholar, ‘Petti, nihil me sicut antea iuuat/ scribere uersiculos amore percussum graui.’ But in these examples the poet claims only that his acknowledged comic gifts are now inappropriate.

8 Misopogon 337a–b begins with a series of references to, though not quotations from, Anacreon, Alcaeus, and Archilochus, as Julian ponders the proprieties of writing satire.

9 Eupolis F 391 Kassel-Austin: ἦ πολλ⋯ γ' ⋯ν μακρῦι χρ⋯νωι γ⋯γνεται μεταλλαγῆι | ‹τ⋯ πραγμ⋯των› μ⋯νει δ⋯ χρ⋯μ' οὐδ⋯ν ⋯ν ταὐτ⋯ι ῥυθμ⋯ι.

10 In Nee. 1, Menippus quotes H.F. 523–4; Hec. 1–2; F 936 Nauck; F 149 Nauck; his last quotation is an altered version of Od. 11.164–5 (substituting; ὧ φιλ⋯της for μ⋯τερ ⋯μ⋯). Menippus is clearly a comic character, dressed in Odysseus' hat and Hercules' lion skin, and carrying Orpheus' lyre (thus his success in returning from the Underworld); his amazed and impatient interlocutor demands that he stop speaking in verse: πα⋯σαι, μακ⋯ριε, τραγωδ⋯ν κα⋯ λ⋯γε οὑτωσ⋯ πωsimgav; ⋯πλ⋯ς καταβ⋯ς ⋯π⋯ τ⋯ν ἰαμβε⋯ων, τ⋯sigmav; ⋯ στολ⋯;

11 cf. Bartoňková, D., ‘Prosimetrum, Smíšený Styl, V Díle Julianově’, SPFFBU E 1819 (19731974), 225–40Google Scholar(Czech, with Russian and German summaries). At 95c Julian quotes Iliad 2.356 omitting the word δ⋯ to fit his own syntactical requirements: 'Aγαμ⋯μνων δ⋯ ὥρμητο 'τ⋯σασθαι ‹δ⋯› 'Eλ⋯νης ⋯ρμ⋯ματ⋯ τε στοναχ⋯ς τε' κα⋯ ⋯π⋯ τοĐς Tρ⋯ας ⋯στρ⋯τευε γυναῖκα μ⋯αν ⋯κδικεῖν ⋯θ⋯λων (Bartoňkova, p. 227).

12 The interlocutor of the Symposium is not to be confused with the neo-platonist Sal(l)ustius or Salutius (for the form of the name see Bowersock, G., Julian the Apostate [Cambridge, 1978], p. 125Google Scholar, who favours Salutius); this association has been refuted by Baldwin, B., ‘The Caesares of Julian’, Klio 60 (1978), 449–66, p. 452CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and we need not worry about this characterization of the interlocutor as a straight-man in the Symposium.

13 The parallel passages discussed below are given in the apparatus of Budé, Lacombrade's edition: L'Empereur Julien, Oeuvres Complètes, Tome II, 2e Partie (Paris, 1964)Google Scholar.

14 Commentators take these words at face value as proclaiming that Julian has no talent for comedy and will therefore tell a serious story full of philosophical edification. See Pack, R., ‘Notes on the Caesares of Julian’, TAPA 11 (1946), 151–7, p. 154Google Scholar, Baldwin, , art. cit. (n. 12), 449Google Scholar.

15 The interlocutor has in mind the context of the Aristotelian passage, in which fondness for amusement is a sign of weakness (1150b16–17: δοκεῖ δ⋯ κα⋯ ⋯ παιδιώδης ⋯κ⋯λαστος εὧναι, ἔστι δ⋯ μαλακ⋯ς).But is the narrator thinking of the passage before this, in which we are told that one can have sympathy for those who try hard to restrain their laughter but ultimately cannot (1150b8–12: ⋯λλ⋯ συγγνωμικ⋯ν εἰ ⋯ντιτε⋯νων…κα⋯ ὥσπερ οἱ κατ⋯χειν πειρώμενοι τ⋯ν γ⋯λωτα ⋯θρ⋯ον ⋯κκαγχ⋯ζουσιν, οἷον, συν⋯πεσε Eενοφ⋯ντω)?

16 I should like to thank my colleague David Sansone, and an anonymous reviewer of an earlier draft of this article, for their many helpful suggestions.