Fr. 31c
τὼ]ς μὲν ἔφη· τὰς δ' εἶθαρ ἐμὸς πάλιν εἴρετο θυμός
notes
Fr. 31c Harder (= 31b Pf., = 35 Mass.) P.Oxy. 2263, fr. 1
col. II 9-10 [image], Trismegistos 59402
According to the diegesis, inhabitants of Epirus violated Artemis' sanctuary at Leucas, stole her crown, and replaced it with a mortar. The Leucadians subsequently replaced her crown but the goddess rejected it, preferring to keep the mortar, as a recollection of the event. Almost nothing is known about the incident, but a very similar event was related by the historian Herclides Lembus (2nd century BC), Excerpta Politiarum 45 Dilts, namely, that Molossians had plundered a sanctuary of Artemis in Cephallania and insulted the statue by removing its wreath and putting a mortar on its head. When the Cephallanians tried to replace the wreath it was found on the ground, rejected by the goddess.
Bibliography
Cappalletto, Pietro. 1995 “Le 'dee offese' nel primo libro degli Aitia di Callimaco,” Rendiconti 129:211-32.
vocabulary
Fr. 31c
εἶθαρ: at once, forthwith
ἔρομαι, Ion. and Ep. εἴρομαι, impf. (=aor.) εἰρόμην: to ask, inquire
scholia
Τὼ]ς μὲν ἔφη• τὰς δ' εἶθαρ ἐμὸς πά-
λιν εἴρετο θυμός τῆς ἐν Λευ-
καδίᾳ Ἀρτέμιδος τὸ ξόανον
ἐ]πὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς θυείαν ἔ-
5 χει δι' αἰτίαν ταύτην• Ἠπει-
ρῶται τ[.]ν.[.].η.[.]. . .η[.]. . .
κατατρέχοντες τὴν Λευκά-
δα ἐσύλων. ἐλθόντες δὲ καὶ
εἰς τὸ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν εὗ-
10 ρον τὴν θεὸν ἐστεμμένην
χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ• τοῦτον ἐπι-
χλευάσαντες ἀφεῖλον καὶ
τὴν θυείαν, ἐν ᾗ σκόρδα τρί-
ψαντες ἔφαγον, τῇ θεῷ ἐπέ-
15 θηκαν. ἐ̣πι.ν.[.]. . . δ' οἱ Λευ-
κάδι[οι]. . θ' ἡμ[έ]ρα[ν ἕ]τερον
κατεσκεύασαν στέφανον καὶ
ἀντὶ τῆς θυεία[ς] ἔθηκαν, ἀπο-
πεσόντα δ' αὐτὸν προσήλω-
20 σαν τῷ ξοάνῳ. πάλιν δὲ με-
θ' ἡμέ[ρας] τρεῖς ἐπιτιθεμέ-
νου κα[ὶ] . . με[ί]να[ν]το[ς.].ης
Thus she spoke and at once my heart
asked again The statue of
Artemis in Leucas
has a mortar on its head
for the following reason. The5
Epirotes . . .
overran Leucas and
looted it. And coming
to the temple of Artemis,
they found that the goddess was crowned10
with a golden wreath. Jeering, they took this
away and placed on the goddess
the mortar, in which they had
crushed garlic before
eating. . .The Leucadians15
made another
wreath and put it
on instead of the mortar and
when it had fallen off they nailed it
onto the statue. When20
after three days it again
was put on and...
translation
Fr. 31c
Thus she spoke and at once my heart asked again