26. Reading the Signifier* My essay on the freedom of signifiers in Plato’s Cratylus [1] was written as an extension of work on that dialogue that I had pursued with a group of researchers from the University of Tübingen who were defenders of Plato’s unwritten doctrine. At a colloquium focused on the theory of language, I had… Read more
27. The Mountain of Death: The Meaning of Celan’s Meeting with Heidegger* Todtnauberg Arnica, Augentrost, derTrunk aus dem Brunnen mit demSternwürfel drauf, in derHütte die in das Buch—wessen Namen nahms aufvor dem meinen?—,die in dies Buchgeschriebene Zeile voneiner Hoffnung, heute,auf eines DenkendenkommendesWortim Herzen, Waldwasen, uneingeebnet,Orchis und Orchis, einzeln,… Read more
Preface For Martin West In memoriam Herewith the next installment of my series of commentaries on early epic fragments (for details see the preface to the first volume, The Theban Epics, which appeared in 2014). The following volume, dealing with the Cypria, will be the longest so far, and the present volume easily the shortest, and it will be worth the while briefly to… Read more
Abbreviations of Frequently Cited Works ABV = J. D. Beazley, Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters (Oxford 1956). ANRW = H. Temporini, ed., Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt (Berlin 1972– ). ARV2 = J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, 2nd ed. (Oxford 1963). CB = L. D. Caskey and J. D. Beazley, Attic Vase Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston 2 (Oxford 1954); 3 (Boston 1963). Read more
Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] “We know less about this poem than we think we… Read more
Chapter 1. The Aethiopis and the Iliad The plots of many an epic have been reconstituted from alleged references and allusions in Homer (this is particularly true of the Thebais). The Aethiopis, however, occupies a special position among these. An examination of this position must take us into the realms of Neoanalysis—magical name and concept, which has seemed to some scholars to open the doors to important… Read more
Chapter 2. The Aethiopis and Art Under the rubric of art, of course, fall a vast number of books and articles covering a wide range of aspects. From the long list of works that deal with more than one category and are rich in bibliography I select for mention G. E. Lung, Memnon: Archäologische Studien zur Aithiopis (diss. Bonn 1912); E. Löwy, “Zur Aithiopis,” Neue Jahrbücher für das… Read more
Chapter 3. Commentary on Proclus’ Summary of the Aethiopis The question of a dating of the composition relative to the Iliad has been considered above (pages 3–24), where it was seen to be an exceedingly complex issue. As for an absolute dating, the epic has a traditional author (Arctinus) who in turn is assigned a traditional floruit. The inadequacy of such traditions is now generally recognized. … Read more
Chapter 4. Commentary on the “Fragments” of the Aethiopis F1 ὁ γὰρ τὴν Αἰθιοπίδα γράφων περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον φησὶ τὸν Αἴαντα ἑαυτὸν ἀνελεῖν. The author of the Aethiopis says that Ajax killed himself around the time of dawn. Σ Pindar Isthmian IV 58b Severyns (1928:325) suggests that the ultimate source of this fragment is Aristar-chus… Read more
Appendix. The Tabulae Iliacae In dealing with the possibility that artifacts such as Greek vases reflect and preserve versions of myths that feature in now-lost epics, one must sedulously avoid (as I have in chapter 2) using the word “illustration,” with its host of anachronistic and misleading associations. But there does exist a body of artifacts to which that term could less misleadingly be applied. These are… Read more
