A Spartan Story

Fr. 137c

.     .     .     .     .

         . . . . . . . . . . . .]τ.[

       . . . . . . . . . . .]κα.[

         . . . . . . . . . . .]ηβ.[. .].[

       .].ε.[ . . . . . . . . ].δ.[

         .] . .δ[ . . . . . . . .]. . .[

       . . . . . . . . .]εχα[.].σ. .[

         . . . .]. .[.]υδ' αυ.[. .]ζη[

       . .] . .τειη δ' ὑπεκυψ[

         .]. .ημεν μεγάλω καιπ[

       Σ]πάρτη δ[ί]ψιον ἄστυ γε.[

         πένθος ἐδάκρυσαν κει.[

       εὖτέ σφεων πόσιες τεκ[

         . . . . . .Ἀ]μυκλαίω κα[

       . . . . . . .]δ[. .].[.]. . . .κεδ[

         . . . . . . . . .]μ.ιχο[

 

    Fr. 137c (=SH 240) P.Ant. 113 fr. 2 (a) recto [image],
      Trismegistos 59409


    Lloyd-Jones and Parsons have suggested this fragment is about the foundation of Tarentum. When, after a long war, the Spartan women slept with the Helots and became pregnant, the resulting sons (known as the Partheniae) were considered illegitimate and after they failed in an uprising (apparently located in the temple of Apollo at Amyclae) they left Sparta to found Tarentum. It's location in the Aetia is unknown, but if the conjecture is right it would be similar to the Nuptial rites of the Eleans (frr. 76b-77a).

    Fr. 137c

    δίψιος -α -ον: thirsty; (of things) dry, parched

    δακρύω: weep, cry

    εὖτε: (adv. of time) when, at the time when; (adv. of comparison, = ἠΰτε) as, even as

    πόσῐς -ιος ἡ: drinking, drink, beverage; πόσιες = αἱ πόσεις (Nicander, Alexipharmaca 292)

    Ἀμύκλαι -ῶν, αἱ: Amyclae in Laconia, famous for worship of Apollo; Ἀμυκλαῖος, or Ἀμυκλαεύς, έως, ὁ: Amyclean; Ἀμυκλαῖον, τό: temple of Amyclean Apollo

    Article Nav
    Previous

    Suggested Citation

    Susan Stephens, Callimachus: Aetia. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-947822-07-8.https://dcc.dickinson.edu/callimachus-aetia/uf/spartan-story