Atreid ancestors in Alkaios

Gagné, Renaud

doi:10.1017/s0075426900002949

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Archilochus and Hipponax are cited from West (1989West ( -1991. On Alcaeus' attacks against Pittakos' paternity and ancestry, see Page (1955) 169-73; Gomme (1957) 255-57; Davies (1985); Yatromanolakis (2008); Gagné (2009) ; (2013) 210-26; Ferrari (2010). 2 Cf. Watkins (1995) 97-108.…”

Section: ῎υρραςmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcaeus, Pittakos ‘son of “Hyrras”’, and the Lesbian aristocracy, or ‘How to do things with words’

Dale

2023

J. Hell. Stud.

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This paper offers a reassessment of the representation of Pittakos, tyrant of Lesbos, in Alcaeus’ verse. I begin by examining the textual evidence for Pittakos’ father, Hyrras, before progressing to re-evaluate the evidence for the aristocratic clans of Lesbos as attested in the Lesbian poets. Building on this, and with reference to the patronymic/gentilic Arkheanaktidās seemingly used of Pittakos in Alcaeus, I relate the preponderance of patronymic forms found in Alcaeus’ verse to the iambic and comedic use of ‘characterizing’ patronymics in -(ι)δᾱς. I then argue that both ῎Υρρας and Ἀρχϵανακτίδας are to be interpreted via a cross-cultural and bilingual rhetoric of kingship, with the latter being in essence a calque of a Lydian intermediary of the Luwian designation ura- handawati-, ‘great king’, with ὔρρας and its derivatives in Alcaeus a nominalization of the Luwian adjectival stem ura-, ‘great’. This argument is then related to the increasing evidence for Lesbos as a central locus for Graeco-Anatolian cultural exchange. The end result is a comprehensive reassessment of historical reconstructions emanating from the texts of Sappho and Alcaeus, as well as a reassessment of Alcaeus’ poetic objectives in his attacks on Pittakos, ‘son of Hyrras’.

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Section: ῎υρραςmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcaeus, Pittakos ‘son of “Hyrras”’, and the Lesbian aristocracy, or ‘How to do things with words’

Dale

2023

J. Hell. Stud.

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“…A similar opinion is followed by Pippin Burnett (1983) 171 andCarlier (1984) 461, but regarded with scepticism by Liberman (2003) Rösler [1980] 186-191;Kurke [1994] 80-81), but shows the possible abusive context for mocking his marriage. 146 Gagné (2009) suggests that when referring scornfully to Pittakos' marriage with the Atreidai (i. e. the Penthilidai) in fr. 70 Alkaios was pointing to the legendary curse laid on the family of Atreus.…”

Section: Mytilenementioning

confidence: 99%

Basileus, tyrannosand polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece

Kõiv¹

2016

Klio

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The article scrutinizes the development of the forms of leadership in the Early Iron Age and Archaic Greece, questioning the traditional view that per sonal leadership as described in the Homeric epics (the ‚Homeric basileia') was the rule during the Early Iron Age, but was replaced in the Archaic period by col lective aristocracies, and by tyrannies as a principally new kind of monarchy. The article questions the strict distinction between the ‚constitutional' forms of government like basileia and oligarchy, and tyrannis as an illegal break of the con stitutional order. The Early Iron Age archaeology supplies no evidence for institu tionalised and permanent personal leadership, and the Homeric epic, presenting a controversial vision of an ostensibly distant past, cannot be accepted as a reli able guide to the sociopolitical order of the Early Iron Age. The terms basileus and tyrannos were used largely synonymously until ca 400, demonstrating that the Archaic Greeks did not distinguish between legitimate basileia and illegal tyrannis in their contemporary world. The evidence, including the halflegendary accounts concerning particular poleis, suggests that the more or less firmly established monarchies emerged from the eighth century onwards. On the other hand, it infers constant tensions between competing elite groups striving for power, and the consequent fluctuation of the forms of government in the Archaic. The situation could have been similar during the Early Iron Age, which suggests that Early Iron Age Greeks were familiar with both collective and personal lead ership. The emergence of tyrannies and collectively governed poleis can be seen as varying, alternative, ways of polity formation resulting from the quickening development and growing tensions from the eighth century onwards; the legiti macy of both depended on local circumstances. Tyranny appears not as a break of established aristocratic order, but as the monarchic form of elite leadership; the legitimacy of both depended on local circumstances. Tyranny appears as the monarchic form of elite leadership in the early polis, which proved, however, unaccept able in the long term as personal rule became increasingly regarded as an undesirable negation of consensual order.

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“…For a discussion of this fragment and the significance of Pittacus' marriage alliance with the house of Atreus (from which the Penthilidae claimed descent), seeGagné (2009).5 Though we should perhaps be cautious in accepting without question the statement of an allegorizing interpreter of Homer.…”

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confidence: 99%

Alcaeus on the career of Myrsilos: Greeks, Lydians and Luwians at the east Aegean-west Anatolian interface

Dale

2011

J. Hell. Stud.

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This paper examines the evidence for the life and career of the Lesbian tyrant Myrsilos. Following an examination of the ancient testimonia for Myrsilos in the text of Alcaeus and later sources, the name Myrsilos is then considered in relation to the Hittite royal name Muršiliš, Myrsilos as an alternate name for the Lydian king Kandaules and various toponyms in Lydia and Caria that appear to be derived from the same underlying name or title. The consequences of the distribution of these names is then considered in the cultural and historical context of the Aegean-Anatolian interface, with implications for early Lesbian history and cultural continuity from the Late Bronze Age down to the Archaic period.

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Atreid ancestors in Alkaios

Abstract: Abstract:Alkaios refers to Pittakos as one who has ‘acquired an Atreid wife’ in fragment 70 Voigt. This paper looks at the connotations of that statement in the text of the Lesbian poet, and its significance for the history of the Greek idea of ancestral fault.

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Alcaeus, Pittakos ‘son of “Hyrras”’, and the Lesbian aristocracy, or ‘How to do things with words’

Alcaeus, Pittakos ‘son of “Hyrras”’, and the Lesbian aristocracy, or ‘How to do things with words’

Basileus, tyrannosand polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece

Alcaeus on the career of Myrsilos: Greeks, Lydians and Luwians at the east Aegean-west Anatolian interface

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