Thiodamas the Dryopian

Fr. 24

      σκῶλος ἐπεί μιν ἔτυψε ποδὸς θέναρ· αὐτὰρ ὁ πείνῃ

           θυμαίνων λάχνην στήθεος εἷλκε σέθεν 

      δραξάμενος· τὶν δ' ὦνα γέλως ἀνεμίσγετο λύπῃ,

           εἰσόκε τοι τρίπολον νειὸν ἀνερχομένῳ

5    ὠμογέρων ἔτι πουλὺς ἀνὴρ ἀβόλησε βοωτέων

           Θει]οδάμας· δεκάπ[ο]υν δ' εἶχεν ἄκαιναν ὅγε,

      ἀμφότερον κέντρον τε βοῶν καὶ μέτρον ἀρούρης·

           . . .]. . . ου ξείνων χαῖρε [. . . . . .]μενων

      . . . . .]η μέγ' ἀρητὲ προσ[. . . . . .]ς, αἶψα δ', ἄνωγα,

10       εἴ τι κα]τωμαδίης οὐλάδ[ος ἐστὶ]ν ἔσω

      τόσσο]ν ὅσον τ' ἀπὸ πα[ιδὶ κακὴν β]ούπειναν ἐλά[σσαι,

           δός μοι]· καὶ φιλίης [μνήσομ' ἀεὶ δό]σιος.’

      αὐτὰρ ὅ]γ' ἀγρεῖον κ[αὶ ἀμείλιχον ἐξ]εγέλασσε

                    ].ε . . . . . . .[                     ]τε βοῶν

15                                                   ].ε ταῦροι

                                                       ]ος·  

      οἵ κεν βρωσείοντες ἐμὸν παρίωσιν ἄροτρον 

                                                       ].ων 

                                                     Λέπαργε

       .             .             .            .            .

20  ἔκλυε ‹-›, τῶν μηδὲν ἐμοὺς δι' ὀδόντας ὀλίσθοι,

           Πηλεύς

       .             .             .            .            .

                 ἀδάμας 

 

Fr. 25

      δειλαίοις Ἀσινεῦσιν ἐπὶ τριπτῆρος †ἁπάσας†

 

Fr. 24 Harder (= 24 Pf., 26 Mass.)
  1-22 P. Berol. 11629 B verso [image], Trismegistos 98082
  7 Σ AR 3, 1323b
  17 Apollon. Lex. 125, 34 sqq.
  20-21 Σ BD Pi. N. 5, 25b

Fr. 25 Harder (= 25 Pf., = 27 Mass.) EtGen. AB α 1272

This aition is a doublet of the previous one about Heracles and the Lindian peasant. Now in the area of Trachis, Heracles was in need of food for his son (named Hyllus). Heracles approached the old man Thiodamas, who was plowing, and asked him for some. Thiodamas refused and Heracles killed him. Afterward, Heracles assumed the guardianship of Thiodamas' son (named Hylas). The story is also in Apollonius' Argonautica (1.1211–19), where Hylas is stolen away by water nymphs and Heracles, in distress, leaves the expedition of the Argonauts to search for him.

 

Bibliography

Barigazzi, Adelmo. 1976. ‘Eracle e Tiodamante in Callimaco e Apollonio Rodio.’ Prometheus 2:227-38.

Fr. 24

σκῶλος -ου, ὁ: a pointed stake, thorn

τύπτω: strike, beat

θέναρ -αρος, τό: sole of the foot

πείνη -ης, ἡ: hunger, famine

θυμαίνω: to rage, to be angry

λάχνη -ης ἡ: soft hair, down

στῆθος -εος τὸ: the breast, chest (of both sexes)

ἕλκω ἕλξω εἵλκυσα: pull, drag

σέθεν = σου (Homeric and lyric)

δράσσομαι δράξομαι ἐδραξάμην: to grasp

τίν: dat. or acc. of σύ (Doric)

ὦνα: poet. contr. for ὦ ἄνα > ὦ ἄναξ

ἄναξ ἄνακτος ὁ: lord, master

γέλως γέλωτος, ὁ: laughter

ἀναμίγνυμι or ἀναμίσγω: mix up, mix together

λύπη -ης, ἡ: pain, grief

εἰσόκε: until

τοι = σοι (dat. after ἀβόλησε)

τρίπολος -ον: thrice-plowed, thrice turned up

νειός -οῦ ἡ: new land, i.e., land ploughed up anew after being left fallow, fallow-land (Il.); νειὸς τρίπολος a thrice-ploughed fallow

ἀνέρχομαι, aor.  -ήλυθον or -ῆλθον: traverse (+ acc.)

ὠμογέρων -οντος, ὁ: an active old man, a man in early old age 5

ἀβολέω: το meet, encounter  (= ἀντιβολέω)

βοωτέω: to plow

δεκάπους, δεκάπουν: ten feet long

ἄκαινα -ης, ἡ: a thorn, goad

ὅγε (ὅ γε): the demonstr. ὅ, ἥ, τό intensified, and yet often employed where we should not only expect no emphasis, but not even any pronoun at all, as in the second of two alternatives, Il. 3.409, Il. 12.240, Od. 2.327. ὅ γε serves, however, to keep before the mind a person once mentioned (and perhaps returned to after an interruption), thus usually the very opp. of ὃ δέ, which introduces a new person in antithesis. (Authenrieth)

κέντρον -ου, τό: any sharp point, a goad

ἄρουρα -ης, ἡ: tilled or arable land, ground

ἀρητός -ον: (adj.) wished-for

αἶψα: quickly, suddenly

ἄνωγα: (old Ep. pf. with pres. sense) I command, order (esp. of kings and masters); (also of equals and inferiors) I advise, urge

κατωμάδιος -α -ον: from the shoulder, worn on the shoulder 10

οὐλάς, gen. οὐλάδος > οὖλος -η -ον: “wooly,” evidently referring to a pouch or bag of some sort

ἔσω: to the interior, inside

τόσσος -η -ον:  so much, so great (Ep. of τόσος)

βούπεινα -ας, ἡ: hunger 

δόσις -εως, ἡ: giving, gift, largesse

αὐτάρ: but, besides, moreover

ἀγρεῖος -α -ον: of the field or country; boorish

ἀμείλιχος -ον: implacable, relentless

ἐκγελάω: laugh out, laugh loud (Ep. aor. ἐξεγέλασσα h.Merc. 389, Theoc. 4.37)

ταῦρος -ου, ὁ: bull 15

βρωσείω: to be hungry

παρίωσιν > πάρειμι (εἶμι ibo): go past (pres subj act 3rd pl)

ἄροτρον -ου, τό: a plough

         .            .            .              .            .

ὀδούς -όντος, ὁ: tooth 20

ὀλισθάνω: to slip

 

Fr. 25

δείλαιος -α -ον: wretched, sorry

τριπτήρ -ῆρος, ὁ: pestle

Ἀσῐνεῖς -έων, οἱ: inhabitants of Asine in the Argolid

Fr. 24

because a thorn stung the sole of his foot; but he,

mad with hunger, pulled the hair from your chest

grasping it; and your laughter, lord, was mixed with pain,

until Thiodamas, still a mighty man in early old age, 

while ploughing, met you crossing the thrice-turned fallow 5

land; and a he had a ten-foot stick which was

both a goad for oxen and a measure for the field

       .           .           .           .           .             . 

 . . . greatly prayed for . . . but quickly, I bid (you),

if inside the bag on your shoulder there is 10

so much as to drive evil hunger away from my child

[give it to me]; and  I will [always remember] your friendly gift.

But he laughed in a boorish and [implacable] way

      .           .           .           .           .             . 

. . . whoever goes hungry past my plow 17

. . . Lepargus

      .           .           .           .           .             . 

Peleus <. . .> heard, of which may none slip through my teeth...20

 

Fr. 25

for the wretched Asineans...

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Suggested Citation

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