Victim of the Muses: Poet as Scapegoat, Warrior and Hero in Greco-Roman and Indo-European Myth and History

  Compton, Todd M. 2006. Victim of the Muses: Poet as Scapegoat, Warrior and Hero in Greco-Roman and Indo-European Myth and History. Hellenic Studies Series 11. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_Compton.Victim_of_the_Muses.2006.


Appendix C: Themes

Pharmakos themes

1. Ritual pollution.

  1. 1a. Crime of hero. Pharmakos. Aesop (imputed). Archilochus (imputed). Hesiod (imputed or actual). Socrates (imputed).
  2. 1a1. Criminal impiety. Aesop. Socrates (imputed)
  3. 1a1a. Theft of sacred things. Pharmakos. Aesop (imputed).
  4. 1a1b. Parricide. Oedipus.
  5. 1a1c. Incest. Oedipus.
  6. 1b. Crime against hero. Androgeus, Aesop. Archilochus. Hesiod. Socrates. Homer.
  7. 1b1. Inhospitality. Androgeus. Aesop. Hesiod. Homer.
  8. 1b2. Murder. Androgeus. Aesop. Hesiod. Ibycus. Stesichorus.
  9. 1b3. Deceit.
  10. 1b3a. False accusation. Aesop. Hesiod. Socrates.
  11. 1b3b. Ambush. Androgeus. Hesiod.

2. Communal disaster.

  1. 2a. Communal disaster causes hero’s expulsion or death, e.g. “plague of shame.” Androgeus. Aesop (at Samos). Oedipus.
  2. 2a1. Plague. Oedipus.
  3. 2a2. Famine. Oedipus.
  4. 2a3. War. Aesop (Samos). Aglauros. Codrus. Tyrtaeus.
  5. 2a4. Psychological plague (“plague of shame,” destructive verbalizing). Aesop. Archilochus. Socrates.
  6. 2b1. Plague. Aesop. Archilochus. Hesiod.
  7. 2b2. Famine.
  8. 2b3. War. Aesop.

3. Oracle, often prescribing remedy for disaster. Androgeus. Aesop. Archilochus. Hesiod

4. The Worst. Ritual pharmakos. Cf. Codrus in disguise.

  1. 4a. Poverty. Archilochus. Homer. Tyrtaeus.
  2. 4a1. Beggar. Homer.
  3. 4a2. Poor or scanty food. Hipponax.
  4. 4b. Slave. Aesop. Archilochus (slave parentage). Phaedrus.
  5. 4c. Criminal (see 1a–1b above). Aesop (imputed). Hesiod (imputed).
  6. 4d. Ugly/deformed. Aesop. Hipponax. Sappho. Simonides. Tyrtaeus. Aeschylus. Euripides. Socrates. Marsyas. Thersites.
  7. 4e. Foreigner. Androgeus. Aesop. Hesiod.
  8. 4f. Poison imagery. Archilochus. Hipponax. Socrates.
  9. 4g. Animalistic. Aesop. Socrates. Marsyas.

5. The Best.

  1. 5a. Sacred. See 23. Aesop. Archilochus. Sappho. Hesiod. Homer. Socrates.
  2. 5b. Salvation, salvation imagery. Aesop (Samos).
  3. 5c. Victorious. Androgeus. Aesop (in riddle contest). Hesiod (in riddle/poetry contest). Tyrtaeus (in war).
  4. 5d. Athlete. Androgeus.
  5. 5e. Royal. Androgeus. Codrus. Aglauros.
  6. 5f. Wisest. Aesop. Archilochus. Socrates.

6. Peripety. Androgeus. Codrus. Aesop. Socrates. Oedipus.

7. Trial, unjust. Adverse judgment by public meeting. Aesop. Archilochus. Homer. Aeschylus. Euripides. Socrates. Marsyas.

8. Voluntary (exile or death).

  1. 8a. Ambivalent volition. Aesop. Socrates. Cicero.

9. Procession. Aesop?

  1. 9a. Blows. Pharmakos. Hipponax.

10. Expulsion.

  1. 10a. Exile. Archilochus. Hipponax. Homer. Sappho. Alcaeus. Theognis. Aeschylus. (Euripides?) Naevius. Cicero. Ovid. (Phaedrus?) Juvenal.
  2. 10b. Death in distant country. Aesop. Hesiod. Ibycus. Homer. Theognis? Euripides.

11. Death (cf. 1f). Aesop. Hesiod. Seneca. Petronius. Lucan.

  1. 11a. Stoning. Pharmakos. Aesop. Hipponax. Aristophanes (theme in poetry).
  2. 11b. Thrown from cliff. Pharmakos. Aesop. Sappho. (Oedipus.)
  3. 11c. Poisoning. Socrates.
  4. 11d. By sword or knife. Androgeus. Hesiod. Cicero.
  5. 11e. Hanging. Charila. Iambe. See vitae of Archilochus and Hesiod.
  6. 11f. Unjust. Androgeus. Aesop. Hesiod.

12. Sacrifice. Aesop.

  1. 12a. Death at a cult site. Aesop. Sappho. Homer. Hesiod. Aeschylus. Euripides. Orpheus.

13. Hero cult. Androgeus. Codrus. Aglauros. Aesop. Archilochus. Hesiod. Homer. Sappho. Theognis? Tyrtaeus? Aeschylus. Euripides. Socrates. Orpheus.

  1. 13a. Immortality of hero. Aesop (cf. 23d).
  2. 13b. Bones transfer. Hesiod.
  3. 13c. Tomb struck by lightning. Euripides.

Legendary scapegoat themes

14. Royal. Euripides. See 5e.

15. Youth, virgin, as scapegoat. Aglauros. Euripides.

16. Evil eye. Polykrite. Aesop.

17. Fatal, saving gift. Codrus. Polykrite. Aesop. Socrates. Cf. 4f.

18. Divine persecutor-patron. Aesop. Homer. Hesiod. Socrates. Ovid. Marsyas. Thamyris.

Athlete–hero, related to above themes (see 5c–d)

19. Madness of hero. Sappho. Tyrtaeus. Aeschylus. Heracles.

20. Murderer. (See 1a3, 1b2.)

21. Imprisonment. Aesop. Socrates. Naevius. Phaedrus?

Themes of Poets, related to above themes

22. Blame poet as hero/poetry/satirical themes. (See 1a4, 2a4.) Aesop. Archilochus. Hipponax. Sappho. Alcaeus. Theognis. Euripides. Aristophanes. Socrates. Callimachus. Naevius. Cicero. Ovid. Phaedrus. Juvenal.

  1. 22a. Killing through blame. Aesop. Archilochus. Hipponax. Callimachus.
  2. 22a1. Hanging. Archilochus. Hipponax. Hesiod. Alcaeus.
  3. 22b. Exiling through blame. Alcaeus. Demosthenes. Cicero.
  4. 22c. Animal fables used for blame. Aesop. Archilochus. Hesiod. Socrates. Phaedrus.
  5. 22d. Artist satirizing artist. Hipponax. Sappho. Aristophanes. Callimachus.
  6. 22e. Curse as theme. Aesop. Archilochus. Hipponax. Homer. (Sappho.) Alcaeus. Theognis. Aristophanes. Socrates. Callimachus. Ovid. Horace.
  7. 22f. Defensive topos. Archilochus. Hipponax. Alcaeus. Callimachus. Horace.

23. Poet is sacred, superhuman. (see 5a above)

  1. 23a. Consecration of poet (often by theophany, with physical gift). Aesop. Archilochus. Hipponax? Homer. Hesiod. Stesichorus. Aeschylus. Callimachus. Socrates. Naevius. Marsyas.
  2. 23b. Association with Muses. Aesop. Archilochus. Hesiod. Homer.
  3. 23c. Animal helper. Hesiod. Arion. Ibycus.
  4. 23d. Resurrection. Androgeus. Oedipus. Aesop. Hesiod. Epimenides.
  5. 23e. Immortality through poetry. (Cf. 13a.) Archilochus. Sappho. Homer. Naevius.

24. Conflict with political leaders. Aesop. Archilochus. Hipponax. Homer. Hesiod. Alcaeus. Theognis. Euripides. Aristophanes. Socrates. Naevius. Cicero. Ovid. Juvenal.

25. Agōn , contest. (See 5c, victorious; 7, trial, unjust.)

  1. 25a. Riddle-poetry contest. Oedipus. Aesop. Homer. Hesiod. Aeschylus.
  2. 25b. Music contest. Marsyas. Thamyris. Pan.
  3. 25c. Poetry or drama contest. Aeschylus.

26. Poet as soldier. (See 2a and 2b.) Aesop. Archilochus. Alcaeus. Theognis. Tyrtaeus. Aeschylus. Socrates. Naevius. (Achilles, Heracles: soldier as poet.)

  1. 26a. Martial paraenesis as poetic theme. Archilochus. Alcaeus. Theognis. Tyrtaeus. Solon.

27. Exile as poetic theme. (Archilochus.) (Hesiod.) Alcaeus. Theognis. Cicero. Ovid. Seneca.

28. Wolf imagery, linked to exile. Hero. Alcaeus.