8/12/2019 Manuello, Rec. a O. Olivieri, Miti e Culti Tebani Nella Poesia Di Pindaro
1/4
The Classical Reviewhttp://journals.cambridge.org/CAR
Additional services for The Classical Review:
Email alerts: Click hereSubscriptions: Click hereCommercial reprints: Click hereTerms of use : Click here
O. Olivieri Miti e culti tebani nella poesia diPindaro. (Filologia e Critica 89.) Pp. 244, maps.Pisa and Rome: Fabrizio Serra Editore, 2011. Paper,
76 (Cased, 152). ISBN: 978-88-6227-438-8(978-88-6227-439-5 hbk).
Patrick Manuello
The Classical Review / Volume 63 / Issue 01 / April 2013, pp 20 - 22DOI: 10.1017/S0009840X12002156, Published online: 01 March 2013
Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0009840X12002156
How to cite this article:
Patrick Manuello (2013). The Classical Review, 63, pp 20-22 doi:10.1017/S0009840X12002156
Request Permissions : Click here
Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/CAR, IP address: 193.43.103.135 on 21 May 2013
8/12/2019 Manuello, Rec. a O. Olivieri, Miti e Culti Tebani Nella Poesia Di Pindaro
2/4
T H E B A N M Y T H S A N D C U L T S
O L I V I E R I ( O . ) Miti e culti tebani nella poesia di Pindaro. (Filologia e
Critica 89.) Pp. 244, maps. Pisa and Rome: Fabrizio Serra Editore, 2011.
Paper, E76 (Cased, E152). ISBN: 978-88-6227-438-8 (978-88-6227-
439-5 hbk).doi:10.1017/S0009840X12002156
This volume (215 pages excluding the bibliography and indexes) provides a detailed exam-
ination of the presence of Theban cults and myths in Pindars works. Although this aspect
could seem obvious or banal for an author of Theban origin, O.s book deepens a problem
which scholarship has not studied enough. O. analyses Pindars corpus from the point of
view of a specific polis according to a geographical approach to Pindars world which
dates back to 1922, when Wilamowitz focussed on Boeotia (U. Von
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Pindaros [1922], pp. 1261). Since scholarship has clearly
demonstrated that Pindars odes, far from being a mere literary artefact, may contain pre-
cise allusions to different aspects of contemporary religious rites and ceremonies, O.s aim
is to investigate Pindars poems as a document of real cults and Theban traditions. The
book is divided into five dense chapters, each dealing with relevant myths connected
with Theban history. O. does not limit her research to Pindar, but critically presents the
non-Pindaric mythographic tradition, underlining and trying to explain the remarkable
differences. As the books structure suggests, O. approaches Pindars works thematically
rather than on the basis of the classification of extant compositions. This approach will
benefit both scholars of Pindar and those dealing with a wider range of related disciplines
(history, mythology, religion, archaeology). Although O. presents each problem exhaus-
tively and critically, the book is accessible to non-specialists as the texts discussed include
an Italian translation, and O. explains clearly the intricate legends and rites.
Chapter 1 discusses the myth of the founding of Thebes. Archaic and classical authors
testify to the existence of two complementary legends centred on Cadmus and the twins
Amphion and Zethus. The first, probably reflecting Theban tales, names Cadmus as the
founder, a hero who introduced new cults and was considered responsible for introducing
the Greek alphabet from Phoenicia. A problematic passage in the Nekyia in the Odyssey
(11.2605), however, ascribes the foundation of the city to Amphion and Zethus (263:
hoi protoi Thebes hedos ektisan heptapyloio). These apparently discordant versions (the
second one has Boeotian origins) were taken by the ancients (see Paus. 9.5.67) as repre-
senting two building phases (a hypothesis which seems to be confirmed by archaeology.
Cf. A. Dakouri-Hild, The House of Kadmos in Mycenaean Thebes Reconsidered:Architecture, Chronology, and Context, Ann. Brit. School Athens 96 [2001], 81122):
Cadmus was the founder of the Cadmea (the acropolis), whereas Amphion and Zethus
later built the lower part of Thebes surrounded by walls and doors.
O. observes that in Pindars extant works there is a clear preference for the myth of
Cadmus. He plays an important role as founder (Isthm. 6.75; Pyth. 8.47, 9.83) and
Pindar treats some thematic nuclei of his story: the wedding of Cadmus with Harmonia
(frr. 29, 70b; Pyth. 3.8995); the daughters of Cadmus and Harmonia (Ol. 2.2530;
Pyth. 11.17); the destiny of Cadmus after death (Ol. 2.6878). Concerning the other tra-
dition, although Pindar does not mention Amphion, a passage ofPaean 9 may allude to
both founding myths (line 44 Kadmou straton an Zeathou po[lin).Chapter 2 is concerned with two eminent prophets in Theban history: Tiresias and
Amphiaraus. If tragic poetry emphasises the role of Tiresias as prophet of the misfortunes
of the Labdacids, Pindar prefers to depict the blind prophet in connection with the glory of
T H E C L A S SI C A L R E V I E W20
The Classical Review vol. 63 no. 1 The Classical Association 2013; all rights reserved
8/12/2019 Manuello, Rec. a O. Olivieri, Miti e Culti Tebani Nella Poesia Di Pindaro
3/4
Heracles. In the firstNemeanfor Chromius of Etna Pindar, reminding the audience of the
story of the infant Heracles strangling the snakes sent by Hera (a legend not attested before
Pindar), describes the prophecy of Tiresias (lines 6072), who had been summoned by
Amphitryon, about the future of the child. The Pindaric Tiresias, who is different from
the Apollonian priest depicted by Attic tragedy, acts as prophet of Zeus in the sanctuary
of Zeus Hypsistus erected on the southern extremity of the Cadmea near the PylaiHypsistai. O. examines fr. 198b (two lines about the Boeotian spring Tilphussa), recon-
structing the context and persuasively hypothesising a connection with the death of
Tiresias. Regarding the presence of Amphiaraus, there is an interesting analysis ofPyth.
8.3860, an important and controversial passage which may contain an allusion to a
Theban cult of the prophet/warrior Amphiaraus.
Chapter 3 focusses on the Theban biography of Heracles. O. emphasises the signifi-
cance of Isthm. 4.6172b: Pindar is the only Greek author who takes a stand on
Heracles infanticide, exonerating the hero from blame. According to Pindar the eight
sons of Heracles are adult and have died in battle (line 63 chalkoaran okto thanonton).
Scholars are divided as to the origin of this story, but two not mutually exclusive hypoth-eses could account for it: Pindar deliberately modifies the myth in order to rehabilitate the
hero or simply reflects a peculiar Theban variant of the myth. The latter is more probable
considering that, as the passage suggests, this ode may have been composed and per-
formed during an important Theban festival connected with Heracles and his sons
(Heracleia).
Chapter 4 presents an exhaustive overview of the ambivalent and complex figure of
Dionysus, explaining the peculiarities of his representation by Pindar. The relationship
between Dionysus and Thebes is significant because, according to the dominant legend
(accepted by Pindar), he was born at Thebes and was conceived by Zeus and Semele,
the daughter of Cadmus. The topography of the cult of Dionysus and his mother includesthe Cadmean acropolis, where the god was worshipped as Cadmeius or Pericionius (sur-
rounded by columns), and the temple of Dionysus Lysius (Liberator) near the Proetidian
gate. Most allusions to Dionysus come from the Dithyrambs. O. analyses the Dionysian
digression ofDithyramb 2 (fr. 70b lines 523) composed for the Thebans probably after
470 B.C. The description of the celebration in honour of Dionysus on Olympus (line 6
Bromiou [tele]tan) could reflect a precise earthly ceremony, perhaps the nocturnal orgiastic
rite on Mt Cithaeron, and is emblematic for the understanding of the relationship between
Pindars poetry and real performance. This critical approach to Dithyramb 2 reveals the
assimilation of the Magna Mater to Demetra (of whom Pindar seems to have been a devo-
tee) at Thebes and, as a comparison with Isthm. 7.34 may suggest, the fact that Demetra
was worshipped on the Cadmea in a sanctuary close to Dionysius Cadmeius.
Chapter 5 describes the characteristics of the Theban cult of Apollo in Pindars poetry.
Outside the walls of Thebes, on the south-east side beyond the door of Helen and by the
river Ismenus, Apollo Ismenius was venerated in a sanctuary famous for its influential ora-
cle. The temple was the destination of the Daphnephoria procession and the receptacle of
the tripods offered to the god. O. clarifies the ritual of the Daphnephoria, comparing the
accounts of Proclus (Chrest. ap. Phot. Bibl. 321b 2332) and Pausanias (9.10.4) with
the fragment ofParthenion 2 (fr. 94b), and discusses other fragments dealing with the
rite of the tripodephoria (frr. 5760, 66). Pindars ninthPaean(A1 Rutherford), dedicated
to Apollo Ismenius and composed probably after the eclipse of 463 B.C., shows Pindar as
spokesman of the entire city in an effort to avert the consequence of the threatening
phenomenon. This dense chapter closes with a discussion of the cult of Apollo Ptoius
which includes a careful discussion of the fragments belonging to the so-called Hymn to
Apollo Ptoio (frr. 51AD).
T H E C L A S SI C A L R E V I E W 21
8/12/2019 Manuello, Rec. a O. Olivieri, Miti e Culti Tebani Nella Poesia Di Pindaro
4/4
This book is an excellent contribution not only to Pindaric scholarship but also to the
religious history of ancient Thebes.
State University of Sassari P A T R I C K M A N U E L L O
G R E E K M U S I C
H A G E L ( S . ) Ancient Greek Music. A New Technical History. Pp. xx +
484, figs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Cased, 65, US
$115. ISBN: 978-0-521-51764-5.doi:10.1017/S0009840X12002168
H.s subtitle, A New Technical History, could mean both that this book is an updated
history of ancient Greek music written from a technical perspective, and that this book
is a history of ancient Greek music that has updated the technical perspective that wasestablished one and one half centuries ago. What it does not make clear is that this is
an intricate history written somewhat from the inside out or from finish to start. If it did
not expound a brilliant empirical analysis supported by an ample scholarly apparatus
and unparalleled technical expertise, one might even call it a mystery, the resolution of
which is discovered only in the last few of its 453 pages of text. Those in a hurry may
want to start at the end and work backwards, chapter by chapter, until the assumptions
and conclusions proved or at least amply and forcibly argued by the end of the book
can be applied to what had seemed to be unsupported premises at the outset. Those not
in a hurry and who have previously attempted to penetrate not just the technical aspects
of ancient Greek music theory but also allof the several dozen musical fragments in the2001 Phlmann/West DAGM and remaining fragments of string and wind instruments
should begin at the beginning and savour the revolutionary approach H. applies to a
host of traditionally thorny problems and the irrefutable, persuasive or at least plausible
solutions he demonstrates and illustrates throughout the book. Indeed, H. has rethought
so many of the assumptions scholars have compiled and used since Bellermann in the
1840s, his book almost requires a commentary to help the unprepared reader comprehend
the importance of his contribution and how it fits into the history of scholarship in this rela-
tively arcane and somewhat forbidding field. Those of us who have been following H.s
contributions to this field (he has made important contributions elsewhere) over the past
decade or so have been eagerly anticipating this book, and it does surely offer a dazzling,compelling and comprehensive overview of ancient Greek music, music theory and
organology.
H. has demonstrated repeatedly that he has a command of both the material, mechan-
ical, and acoustical properties of ancient wind instruments, and the two prominent musical
notational systems schematised and discussed to a limited extent in our extant theoretical
sources and employed in our five dozen or so musical fragments. Fluent in handling the
latter and practised in the former, he has developed into what could be described as the
best ancient Greek musician since the dissipation of Greco-Roman culture. His facility
with the actual production of authentically reproduced Greek instrumental music has
enabled him to revolutionise the way modern scholarship understands the origins anddevelopment of ancient Greek music and music theory. While traditional and contempor-
ary scholarship in ancient Greek music has understandably established its preliminary
assumptions that the music that accompanied the poetry of Homer, Sappho, Pindar and
T H E C L A S SI C A L R E V I E W22
The Classical Review vol. 63 no. 1 The Classical Association 2013; all rights reserved
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]Top Related