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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 April 2015
At Euripides' Heraclidae 630, an anonymous character arrives onstage to report the arrival of Hyllus' army, and returns at 928 accompanying the defeated Eurystheus. He is generally identified by editors as a therapōn, following the dramatis personae of the hypothesis. Mastronarde briefly challenges this assumption, stating that ‘he is a soldier, not a servant’. There are, however, four reasons to identify the character as neither a soldier nor a therapōn, but as Hyllus' herald. Although none of these reasons is conclusive on its own, the cumulative weight of the evidence is compelling. This identification contributes to the structural coherence and thematic development of the play, and gains special significance from the play's interest in the representation of absent characters.
An earlier version of this paper was delivered at the 2013 APA in Seattle, Washington.
1 Parallels for the return of an anonymous character include the Spy at Aesch. Sept. 369, the Old Tutor at Soph. El. 660 and 1326, the Guard at Soph. Ant. 384, the Tutor at Eur. Med. 1002, and the Nurse at Eur. Hipp. 433 and 601. Note that these recurrent characters are not generic servants, but figures with specified roles.
2 Mastronarde, D.J., Contact and Discontinuity (Berkeley, 1979), 96Google Scholar n. 64. Military service is implied both in his description of troop deployment and at 678–9: ἀλλ᾽ εἶμ᾽· ἐρήμους δεσπότας τοὐμὸν μέρος | οὐκ ἂν θέλοιμι πολεμίοισι συμβαλεῖν. The distinction between slave and soldier may not be as clear-cut as appears as first glance. Hunt, P., Slaves, Warfare, and Ideology in the Greek Historians (Cambridge, 2002)Google Scholar has argued for the under-documented importance of the unfree in classical Greek warfare, and there may be a Euripidean parallel if the old messenger in Helen is a slave (that is, if lines 728–33 are genuine), as he is described as having served παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα (734–5).
3 There is a tendency to assume that all anonymous servants in tragedy are slaves (cf. Dickey, E., Greek Forms of Address [Oxford, 1996], 232Google Scholar), partly because of the fluid terminology used for the unfree (cf. e.g. Wrenhaven, K., Reconstructing the Slave [London, 2012], 9–10Google Scholar and bibliography). However, on the logistical difficulty of ascertaining slave status in Greek sources, see Sommerstein, A., ‘Slave and citizen in Aristophanic comedy’, in id., Talking about Laughter (Oxford, 2009), 136–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 136–8.
4 This possibility was brought to my attention by Mark Griffith. The Heraclidae generally and Hyllus in particular are sometimes associated with Thessaly in mythology (e.g. Ephorus, FGrHist 70 F 15 on Hyllus' adoption by Aegimius; Diod. Sic. 4.58.6 on the Heraclidae retreating to Thessaly after Hyllus' death). The Athenian audience was aware of the Thessalian Penestae, who are mentioned at Ar. Vesp. 1270–4, and the scholiasts on this line explicitly derive the name from a son of Heracles. Demosthenes (13.23, 23.199) even states that the Penestae fought as cavalry at Eion. However, I am not convinced that Euripides is using this term in a technical sense here (cf. Ducat, J., Les pénestes de Thessalie [Paris, 1994], 33Google Scholar). There is no mention of a Thessalian link in any extant source before the fourth century. In our play Euripides includes only Trachis and ‘Achaean towns’ (193–4) in the wanderings of the Heraclidae, and makes no mention of the provenance of Hyllus' army; nor is there any cavalry mentioned in the descriptions of the battle, which we might expect if the Thessalian link were implied.
5 Of approximately two dozen speaking servants in Euripides (excluding non-generic slaves such as nurses and tutors), only two introduce themselves as servants: the servant of Capaneus (Eur. Supp. 634) and the servant of Orestes (Eur. El. 766). It should be noted, however, that both of these servants are, like the penestēs in Heracl., messengers who are initially unrecognized, and then greeted as ὦ φίλτατ[ε].
6 In six other cases across the three tragedians, heralds are identified upon arrival by choruses or other characters using the term kērux, who call attention to their approach: Aesch. Ag. 493, Eum. 566; Soph. Trach. 227–8; Eur. Heracl. 49, Supp. 396–7, Tro. 230–1. The identification of the Egyptian herald in Aesch. Supp. is, as I argue elsewhere, exceptionally and deliberately delayed. Heralds do use the term kērux and its cognates in connection with themselves, but only obliquely (much as ordinary servants indicate their servitude). For example, the herald in Ag. invokes Hermes kērux as his patron (515), and Talthybius in Tro. uses the term in reference to his past interactions with Hecuba (236).
7 Compare e.g. Hecuba's announcement of the second appearance of Talthybius at Tro. 707 (τόνδ᾽ Ἀχαιϊκὸν λάτριν, ‘this Greek lackey’).
8 There are no explicit references to the kērykeion in extant tragedy; however, kērykeia are included in the list of props suitable for male actors in Poll. Onom. 4.117.5–6.
9 Cf. Tro. 415, where Talthybius calls himself ‘a poor man’ (πένης).
10 Compare also Cassandra's general criticism of heralds at Tro. 424–6: ἦ δεινὸς ὁ λάτρις. τί ποτ᾽ ἔχουσι τοὔνομα | κήρυκες, ἕν ἀπέχθημα πάγκοινον βροτοῖς, | οἱ περὶ τυράννους καὶ πόλεις ὑπηρέται; (‘This lackey is clever. Why are they called “heralds”, these objects of hatred for all mortals, who are merely servants hanging around kings and cities?’)
11 Cf. Wilkins, J. (ed.), Euripides: Heraclidae (Oxford, 1993)Google Scholar, ad 646ff., who notes particular parallels between Alcmene's speech and Iolaus' address to Eurystheus' herald at 23, 39, 58, 64, 66.
12 This could be made clearer in performance through the careful inflection of Iolaus' lines: θάρσει, γεραιά, μὴ τρέσῃς· οὐκ Ἀργόθεν | κῆρυξ ἀφῖκται πολεμίους λόγους ἔχων (654–5). The enjambment of κῆρυξ might suggest a slight stress upon Ἀργόθεν as the real focus of the negation: ‘no Argive herald has come, bearing an enemy's words’.
13 E.g. Dickin, M., A Vehicle for Performance: Acting the Messenger in Greek Tragedy (Lanham, 2009), 1Google Scholar; S. Perris, ‘What maketh the messenger? Reportage in Greek tragedy’, in A. Mackay (ed.), ASCS 32 Selected Proceedings (2011, ascs.org.au/news/ascs32/Perris.pdf), passim.
14 Cf. Yoon, F., The Use of Anonymous Characters in Greek Tragedy (Leiden, 2012), 22–4CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
15 His first report is no less official for being informal; the stichomythic format is not common, but it is paralleled in Talthybius' initial report of the distribution of captives at Tro. 235–78.
16 A similar observation underlies Mastronarde's identification of the penestēs as a soldier. It will be evident that I follow the current majority attribution of lines 961–74 to the penestēs and Alcmene rather than L's attribution to Alcmene and the chorus; see bibliography at Allan, W. (ed.), Euripides: The Children of Heracles (Warminster, 2001)Google Scholar, ad 961–74, especially the exception Davidson, J., ‘Two notes on Euripides' Heraclidae’, Athenaeum 84 (1996), 243–7Google Scholar. It surprises me that this attribution has very rarely been contested on the grounds of the incongruity of a servant or slave having the authority to challenge Alcmene's resolve (e.g. Burnett, A. ‘Tribe and city, custom and decree in Children of Heracles’, CPh 71 [1976], 4–26Google Scholar, at 11 n. 12). I wonder, however, whether an early editor gave these lines to the chorus for this very reason, thinking it unlikely that an individual slave could be so direct; something similar seems to have happened at the end of Helen (cf. Stanley-Porter, D.P., ‘Who opposes Theoclymenus?’, CPh 72 [1977], 45–8Google Scholar and bibliography; contra e.g. Allan, W. [ed.], Helen [Cambridge, 2008]CrossRefGoogle Scholar, ad 1627–41).
17 It is also worth noting that no slave in tragedy uses this vocative to a free person, as the penestēs does to Iolaus at 688; it is used in prose and tragedy to imply deference and/or impatience between people of equal social status (cf. Dickey [n. 3], 159). In comedy, however, cf. Ar. Eq. 494 and 1036.
18 The comic elements of this scene are undeniable, although their purpose and effect are disputable. I am persuaded by C.W. Marshall's argument, made at the 1995 joint meeting of CACW/CAPN in Banff, that the scene serves as a tribute to the comic Heracles, in parallel with similar tributes to other aspects of Heracles in the play.
19 Cf. Dionysus' and Xanthias' alternation of servant and hero costumes and roles at Ar. Ran. 492–673. The case of Hermes in Aristophanes may also suggest that heralds in comedy are conventionally more servile than in tragedy.
20 E.g. Taplin, O., Pots and Plays (Malibu, 2007), 129Google Scholar; Allan (n. 16) and id., ‘Euripides in Megale Hellas’, G&R 28 (2001), 67–86Google Scholar; Wilkins (n. 11), xxxii; M. Schmidt, in LIMC s.v. Herakleidai, A.a.3; Trendall, A. and Webster, T.B.L., Illustrations of Greek Drama (London, 1971)Google Scholar, III.3.21; Greifenhagen, A., Frühlukanischer Kolonettenkrater mit Darstellung der Herakliden (Berlin, 1969)Google Scholar.
21 Greifenhagen (n. 20), 14.
22 E.g. Taplin (n. 20), 129: ‘here he has actually laid hands on Iolaos. The painting suggests that he might even have started dragging him away by force’; Allan (n. 20 [2011]), 77: ‘his aggressive grabbing of Iolaus’ throat … evokes the extreme and … uncommon violence of Euripides' opening scene'; Wilkins (n. 11), xxxii: ‘the aggressive gesture against Iolaus’ throat … identifies the herald of Eurystheus'; Schmidt (n. 20), 725: ‘der sitzende Iolaos vom Boten des Eurystheus, Kopreus, bedrängt wird.’
23 Contrast Policoro 35302 (in e.g. Taplin [n. 20], 127), generally agreed to be a representation of the opening scene.
24 Greifenhagen (n. 20), 9.
25 Lucanian examples include Denver AN 108 and Naples Stg. 35 (in e.g. Trendall, A., The Red Figured Vases of Lucania, Campania and Sicily [Oxford, 1967]Google Scholar, vol. 2, Plates 3.1 and 4.1 respectively).
26 See e.g. Ruvo, Museo Jatta 36955 (n.1.32) (in e.g. Taplin [n. 20], 69) and various representations of the death of Aegisthus (see LIMC s.v.). It should be noted that there are comparatively few (and virtually no Lucanian) published parallels for physical contact in non-erotic, non-pursuit scenes; it is therefore necessary to generalize from other styles.
27 Compare e.g. the young man comforting the mourner on Bari 1535 (in e.g. Trendall [n. 25], Plate 18.2, although Taplin [n. 20], 168–9) suggests that he is ‘keeping her under guard’), and Hermes restraining a young armed Amphion or Zethus on Melbourne Geddes Collection A 5:4 (in e.g. Taplin [n. 20], 190–1).
28 The silence of the scholiasts on this character contrasts sharply with their energy in providing names and information for other anonymous characters such as ‘Kopreus’ and ‘Makaria’ in this play, implying that no indication of the penestēs' identity survived to their time.
29 The only other extant tragedy that stages two heralds is Eur. Supp. (395–597), in which one of them remains conspicuously silent; most other plays in which a herald appears also make use of a generic messenger.
30 See the bibliography in Allan (n. 16), 21–2.
31 See n. 11 above.
32 This comparison is of course encouraged regardless of how the penestēs is dressed. Cf. Yoon (n. 14), 69–70; the reappearance of the penestēs in an unexpected reprise of his earlier role as unsuccessful challenger draws our attention to the similarity in age and intractability of the two named heroes, while highlighting the dissimilarity of our responses to their positions. We are also encouraged to compare the fates of Iolaus and Eurystheus, both old men led offstage by the reluctant penestēs, but to very different fates.
33 Lloyd, M., The Agon in Euripides (Oxford, 1992), 76Google Scholar.
34 E.g. De Jong, I., ‘Three off-stage characters in Euripides’, Mnemosyne 43 (2001), 1–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 2; Wilkins (n. 11), xiii; Allan (n. 16), 27.
35 Cf. Yoon (n. 14), 22–4.
36 If the penestēs is portrayed as unusually young, like the beardless herald on the column-krater (cf. Goblot-Cahen, C., ‘S'habiller et se déshabiller en Grèce et à Rome [II]: Le héraut entre l'éphèbe et le satyre’, Revue Historique 642 [2007], 272–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar), then the contrast with the aged heroes is even more pronounced.
37 Contrast the elaborate descriptive speeches given by ‘military’ messengers, such as the Spy in Aesch. Sept. (375–652), pre-battle, and the messengers in this play (799–866) and Eur. Phoen. (1090–1199) and Supp. (650–72), post-battle.
38 Other traditions may also suggest a similarly prosaic characterization of Hyllus; for example, in Ps.-Apoll. Bib. 2.8, Hyllus' literal interpretation of a prophecy that the Heraclidae should return to the Peloponnese after the ‘third harvest’ leads to disastrous consequences, and is later criticized by the oracle.
