Fr. 79

Τεῦ δὲ χάριν.ο.[               κικλήσ]κουσιν 

    Fr. 79 Harder (= 79 Pf.) P.Mil.Vogl. I 18 col. I 27 [image],
       Trismegistos 59371

    This is an account of why Artemis is invoked at childbirth, the explanation for which links the aition with Apollo’s birth to Leto on Delos.

    Fr. 79

    κικλήσκω: = καλέω, poet. redupl., used only in pres. and impf.

    Fr. 79a Harder (= Diegesis I 27-36; 1.87 Pf.) P.Mil.Vogl. I 18 col. I 27-36 [image], Trismegistos 59371

         Τεῦ δὲ χάρον.ο.[                                  κικλήσ-]

              κουσιν     ἑξῆ[ς] φ[ησι γυναῖκας δ]υσ-

              τοκούσας τὴν Ἄρτε[μιν καίπερ ο]ὗ-

              σαν παρθένον ἐπ[ικαλεῖν, ὃτι. .]. .             

    5         τη ἀπεκυήθη, ἢ ὃτι δ[ιὰ ἐφημοσ]ύ-

              νην τοῦ Διὸς ἡ Εἰλείθυια [αὐτὴν] τοῦ-

              τ'ἔχειν ἔδωκεν ἐξ[α]ίρετον, ἢ δι-

              ότι τὴν ἑαυτῆς μητ[έρα ἐ]λύσατο 

              τῶν ὠδίνων ὅτε ἐπέτικτεν

    10      τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα.

     

    Why do they call. . .

         Next he says that women suffering in

         childbirth invoke Artemis although

         she is a virgin either because

         she was born, or that on account of an order 5

         from Zeus Eileithya gave her

         this honor to hold,

         or because she relieved her own mother's

         pain when she was giving birth to

        Apollo.10

    Fr. 79

    Why do they call . . .

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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/it/callimachus-aetia/artemis-goddess-childbirth