Prolepsis’ V International Conference “Predicting, Anticipating, Foretelling” 21/12/2021

Palazzo del Rettorato, Sala Principe d’Acaja Sabrina Mancuso

Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen

Ominous oracle, exposure of the prince, slander of bastardy:

Sophocles’ Sons of Aleus as an embryonic version of Oedipus Rex

1. Introduction

Text 1.1 – Hyg. Fab. 101

Telephus, Herculis et Auges filius, ab Achille in pugna
Chironis hasta percussus dicitur. Ex quo uulnere cum in dies
taetro cruciatu angeretur, petit sortem ab Apolline, quod
esset remedium; responsum est ei neminem mederi posse
nisi eandem hastam qua uulneratus est. 2. Hoc Telephus ubi
audiuit, ad regem Agamemnonem venit et monitu
Clytaemnestrae Orestem infantem de cunabulis rapuit,
minitans se eum occisurum nisi sibi Achiui mederentur. 3.
Achiuis autem quod responsum erat sine Telephi ductu
Troiam capi non posse, facile cum eo in gratiam redierunt et
ab Achille petierunt ut eum sanaret. Quibus Achilles
respondit se artem medicam non nosse. 4. Tunc Vlixes ait,
Non te dicit Apollo sed auctorem uulneris hastam nominat.
Quam cum rasissent, remediatus est. 5. A quo cum peterent
ut secum ad Troiam expugnandam iret, non impetrarunt,
quod is Laodicen Priami filiam uxorem haberet; sed ob
beneficium quod eum sanarunt, eos deduxit, locos autem et
itinera demonstrauit; inde in Moesiam est profectus.
Telephus, son of Hercules and Auge, is said to have been struck by Achilles
in battle with Chiron’s spear. Since he was afflicted for days by the hideous
torment from that wound, he sought an oracle from Apollo as to what the
remedy might be. He was answered that no one could heal him but the
same spear with which he had been wounded. When Telephus heard this,
he came to king Agamemnon and on Clytemnestra’s advice kidnapped the
infant Orestes from his cradle, threatening to kill the child unless the
Achaeans healed him. But since the Achaeans had received an oracle that
Troy could not be taken without Telephus’ guidance, they readily
reconciled with him and asked Achilles to cure him. And to them Achilles
replied that he did not know the art of medicine. Then Ulysses said:
“Apollo does not mean you, but names the spear, author of the wound”.
After they had scraped the spear, he was healed. And when they asked him
to go with them to conquer Troy, they did not succeed, for he had Laodice,
daughter of Priam, as his wife, but in return for their help in curing him he
guided them and showed them places and routes; from there he departed to
Mysia.

2. Title
Text 2.1 – Od. 11.305-320
305 τὴν δὲ μέτ’ Ἰφιμέδειαν, Ἀλωῆος παράκοιτιν, After her I saw Iphimedeia, wife of Aloeus,
εἴσιδον, ἣ δὴ φάσκε Ποσειδάωνι μιγῆναι, who said that she had lain with Poseidon.
καί ῥ’ ἔτεκεν δύο παῖδε, μινυνθαδίω δὲ γενέσθην,  And she bore two sons, but they were both short-lived,
Ὦτόν τ’ ἀντίθεον τηλεκλειτόν τ’ Ἐφιάλτην,  godlike Otus and far-famed Ephialtes,
οὓς δὴ μηκίστους θρέψε ζείδωρος ἄρουρα that the zea-giving earth reared as the tallest,
310 καὶ πολὺ καλλίστους μετά γε κλυτὸν Ὠρίωνα·  and by far the most beautiful men after the glorious Orion.
ἐννέωροι γὰρ τοί γε καὶ ἐννεαπήχεες ἦσαν  For at nine years they were already nine cubits
εὖρος, ἀτὰρ μῆκός γε γενέσθην ἐννεόργυιοι.  in breadth and in height nine fathoms.
οἵ ῥα καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀπειλήτην ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ They threatened even the immortals in Olympus
φυλόπιδα στήσειν πολυάϊκος πολέμοιο.  to raise the din of impetuous war.
315 Ὄσσαν ἐπ’ Οὐλύμπῳ μέμασαν θέμεν, αὐτὰρ ἐπ’ Ὄσσῃ  They wished to pile Ossa on Olympus, on Ossa
Πήλιον εἰνοσίφυλλον, ἵν’ οὐρανὸς ἀμβατὸς εἴη.  Pelion with quivering foliage, so that heaven might be scaled.
καί νύ κεν ἐξετέλεσσαν, εἰ ἥβης μέτρον ἵκοντο· And they would have accomplished, if they had reached puberty.
ἀλλ’ ὄλεσεν Διὸς υἱός, ὃν ἠύκομος τέκε Λητώ, But the son of Zeus, whom lovely-haired Leto bore, slew them
ἀμφοτέρω, πρίν σφωϊν ὑπὸ κροτάφοισιν ἰούλους  both, before the down blossomed beneath their temples
320 ἀνθῆσαι πυκάσαι τε γένυς εὐανθέϊ λάχνῃ.  and covered their chins with blooming hair.
 Text 2.2 – Ael. NA 7.39 = Soph. fr. 89 Radt
39. Ὅσοι λέγουσι θῆλυν ἔλαφον τὰ κέρατα οὐ φύειν, οὐκ Those who say that does do not grow horns have no regard for witnesses
αἰδοῦνται τοὺς τοῦ ἐναντίου μάρτυρας, Σοφοκλέα μὲν who tell the contrary, like Sophocles, who said: “A horned doe came
εἰπόντα·νομὰς δέ τις κεροῦσσ’ ἀπ’ ὀρθίων πάγων roaming down from the steep crags”, and again: “lifting its nostrils and
καθεῖρπεν ἔλαφος·καὶ πάλιν ἄρασα μύξας καὶ the tynes of its horns the doe walked in peace”. And these things are
κερασφόρους στόρθυγγας εἷρφ’ ἕκηλος. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ what the son of Sophillus said in his Sons of Aleus.
τοῦ Σοφίλλουἐν τοῖς Ἀλεάδαις·

Text 2.3 – Hyg. Fab. 244

2. Telephus Herculis filius Hippothoum et Neaerae auiae suae Telephus, son of Hercules, killed Hippothous and the sons of his grandmother
filios [scil. occidit]. […] Neera. […]

Text 2.4 – Hyg. Fab. 243

4. Neaera Autolyci filia propter Hippothoi filii mortem [scil. se Neera, daughter of Autolycus, killed herself because of the death of her son
ipsa interfecit]. […] Hippothous. […]

Ἀλεάδαι Ἀλεάδες Ἀλευάδαι Ἀλωάδαι

Stob. 3.13.22, 3.41.4,
4.1.6, 4.24b.25,
4.24c.42, 4.31a.27
[without variants];
3.9.1, 3.12.3, 3.36.11,
4.13.22 [as variant]
Ael. NA 7.39.9
Hesych. s.v. ἐφυμνεῖς
Stob. 3.33.3 [without
variants]; 3.9.1 [as
variant]; 4.13.22
[perhaps as variant]
Stob. 3.12.3, 3.36.11, Stob. 3.9.1, 3.12.3 [as
4.13.22 [as variant] variant]
Clem. Alex. Strom.
6.2.10

3. Plot
Text 3.1 – Hor. Ars p. 95-98
95 et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri And in tragedy Telephus and Peleus mostly grieve
Telephus et Peleus, cum pauper et exsul uterque in the language of prose, when, in poverty and exile, either man
proicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba, throws aside bombasts and foot and half long words,
si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querella. should the lament touch the spectator's heart.

Text 3.2 – Soph. fr. 87 Radt

ὁ δὴ νόθος τις γνησίοις ἴσον σθενεῖ; - Will he, if he is a bastard, be as strong as the legitimate children?
ἅπαν τὸ χρηστὸν γνησίαν ἔχει φύσιν. - All that is good has a noble nature.

Text 3.3 – Soph. fr. 84 Radt

κοὐκ οἶδ’ ὅ τι χρὴ πρὸς ταῦτα λέγειν, And I do not know what should be said about these things.
ὅταν οἵ γ’ ἀγαθοὶ πρὸς τῶν ἀγενῶν When the noble men are defeated
κατανικῶνται· by the ignoble ones,
 ποία πόλις ἂν τάδ’ ἐνέγκοι; what city would endure this?

Text 3.4 – Alcid. Od. 69-82

Ἀλέῳ γὰρ τῷ Τεγέας βασιλεῖ ἀφικομένῳ εἰς Δελφοὺς
70 ἐχρήσθη ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅτι αὐτῷ ἔκγονος ἐκ τῆς θυγατρὸς
εἰ γένοιτο, ὑπὸ τούτου δεῖν τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσθαι.
ἀκούσας δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Ἄλεος διὰ τάχους ἀφικνεῖται οἴκαδε,
καὶ καθίστησι τὴν θυγατέρα ἱέρειαν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, εἰπών, εἴ
ποτε ἀνδρὶ συγγενήσεται, θανατώσειν αὐτήν. Τύχης δὲ
γενομένης ἀφικνεῖται Ἡρακλῆς στρατευόμενος ἐπ’
Αὐγέαν εἰς Ἦλιν, καὶ αὐτὸν ξενίζει ὁ Ἄλεος ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ
75 τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Ἡρακλῆς τὴν παῖδα ἐν τῷ νεῷ ὑπὸ
μέθης συνεγένετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ κύουσαν αὐτὴν ὁ πατὴρ ᾔσθετο
Ἄλεος, μεταπέμπεται τὸν τούτου πατέρα, πυθόμενος
πορθμέα τε εἶναι αὐτὸν καὶ δεινόν. ἀφικομένου δὲ τοῦ
Ναυπλίου δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὴν παῖδα καταποντίσαι. ὃ δὲ
παραλαβὼν ἦγεν αὐτήν, καὶ ὡς γίγνονται ἐν τῷ
80 Παρθενίῳ ὄρει, τίκτει Τήλεφον. ἀμελήσας δὲ ὧν ὁ Ἄλεος
αὐτῷ ἐπέστειλεν, ἄγων αὐτὴν ἀπέδοτο καὶ τὸ παιδίον ἐς
Μυσίαν Τεύθραντι τῷ βασιλεῖ. ὁ δὲ Τεύθρας ἄπαις ὢν τὴν
μὲν Αὔγην γυναῖκα ποιεῖται, τὸν δὲ παῖδα αὐτῆς
ἐπονομάσας Τήλεφον τίθεται υἱὸν ἑαυτοῦ, δίδωσί τε
Πριάμῳ αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ Ἴλιον παιδεῦσαι.
To Aleus, king of Tegea, who came to Delphi, it was prophesied by the god
that if he had an offspring from his daughter, his sons would have died by
the hand of his grandson. Aleus, after hearing these things, quickly
returned home and made his daughter priestess of Athena, saying that, if
she ever laid with a man, he would have killed her. Incidentally Heracles,
waging war against Augeas, comes to Elis, and Aleus welcomes him in the
temple of Athena. Heracles, after seeing the girl in the temple, laid with her
in drunkenness. When Aleus her father took notice of her pregnancy, he
summoned his [scil. Palamedes'] father, knowing him to be a seaman, and
a skilled one. Once Nauplius has arrived, he hands over his daughter to
him to be thrown in the sea. But he, after receiving her, takes her along,
and, when they were at Mount Parthenion, she gave birth to Telephus.
Nauplius, neglecting Aleus’ orders, took her and the child to Mysia and
assigned them to King Teuthras. Teuthras, being childless, makes Auge his
wife and, naming her child Telephus, adopts him and gives him to Priam
in Ilium to be educated.

Text 3.5 – Soph. fr. 88 Radt

τὰ χρήματ’ ἀνθρώποισιν εὑρίσκει φίλους, Money brings friends and honours to men
αὖθις δὲ τιμάς, εἶτα τῆς ὑπερτάτης  and indeed to those who sit
τυραννίδος θακοῦσιν ἀγχίστην ἕδραν.  at the nearest seat of the highest power.
ἔπειτα δ’ οὐδεὶς ἐχθρὸς οὔτε φύεται No one is therefore an enemy
5 πρὸς χρήμαθ’ οἵ τε φύντες ἀρνοῦνται στυγεῖν.  of money. His former enemies refuse to hate it.
δεινὸς γὰρ ἕρπειν πλοῦτος ἔς τε τἄβατα  For tremendous is the power of wealth to get to places both inaccessible
καὶ †πρὸς τὰ βατά†, χὠπόθεν πένης ἀνὴρ and accessible from which, however, a poor man
οὐδ’ ἐντυχὼν δύναιτ’ ἂν ὧν ἐρᾷ τυχεῖν. could not obtain the things he desires even if they came into his way.
καὶ γὰρ δυσειδὲς σῶμα καὶ δυσώνυμον  It makes even an ugly and hateful person
10 γλώσσῃ σοφὸν τίθησιν εὔμορφόν τ’ ἰδεῖν.  wise in speech and comely to look at.
μόνῳ δὲ χαίρειν κἀν νόσων ξυνουσίᾳ The rich man alone can
πάρεστιν αὐτῷ κἀπικρύπτεσθαι κακά.  rejoice even in living with diseases and can conceal his misfortune.

4. Tetralogy
Text 4.1 – Suid. 2.402 Adler, s.v. Σοφοκλῆς
[…] Καὶ αὐτὸς ἦρξε τοῦ δρᾶμα πρὸς δρᾶμα ἀγωνίζεσθαι, […] And he began to contrast play with play but did not compose any
ἀλλὰ μὴ τετραλογίαν. […] tetralogy. […]

Text 4.2 – IG II2 3091

Ἐ[πιχάρης χορηγῶν ἐνίκα] κωμωιδοῖς· E[pichares won as a choregus in comedy.
Ἐχφαντίδης ἐδίδασκε 〚․〛 Πείρας. Ecphantides directed 〚․〛 the Proves.
 Θρασύβολος χορηγῶν ἐνίκα κωμωιδοῖς· Thrasybolus won as a choregus in comedy.
Κρατῖνος ἐδίδασκε Βουκόλος. Cratinus directed the Cowherd.
5 Θρασύβολος χορη[γ]ῶν ἐνίκα τραγωιδοῖς· Thrasybolus won as a choregus in tragedy.
Τιμόθεος ἐδίδασκε Ἀλκμέωνα, Ἀ̣λφεσίβο[ιαν]. Timotheus directed Alcmeon, Alphesibo[ia].
Ἐπιχάρης χορηγῶν ἐνίκα τραγωιδο[ῖς]· Epichares won as a choregus in tragedy.
Σοφοκλῆς ἐδίδασκε Τηλέφειαν. Sophocles directed Telepheia.

5. Bibliography

5.1 Critical editions and commentaries

Adler A., Suidae Lexicon, Leipzig 1928-1938.

Avezzù G., Orazioni e frammenti, Roma 1982.

Barnes J., Musgrave S., Tragoediae Fragmenta Epistolae: Ex Editionae Josuae Barnesii Nunc Recusa, Vol. 2, Leipzig 1778-1788.

Boriaud J.-Y., Hyginus, Mythographus / Fabulae, Paris 1997.

Brunck R.F.P., Sophoclis tragoediae septem: cum scholiis veteribus, versione latina et notis. Accedunt deperditorum dramata fragmenta ,
Oxford 1808.

Garcia Valdés M., Llera Fueyo L.A., RodrÍguez-Noriega Guillén L., Claudius Aelianus de natura animalium, Berlin 2009.

Hemsterhuis T., Luciani Samosatensis Opera Graeci et Latine, Amsterdam 1743.

Kannicht R, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. Vol. 5.2: Euripides, Göttingen 2004.

Koehler V., Inscriptiones atticae aetatis quae est inter Euclidis annum et Augusti tempora, Berlin 1877-1895.

Lloyd-Jones H., Sophocles´ fragments, Cambridge 1996.

von der Mühll P., Homeri Odyssea, Basel 1962.

Preiser C., Euripides: Telephos. Einleitung, Text, Kommentar, Hildesheim 2000.

Radt S., Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. Vol. 4: Sophocles: Editio correctior et addendis aucta, Göttingen 1999.

von Schönberger O., Satiren und Episteln / Horaz, Berlin 1991.

6.2 Selected bibliography

Bates W.N., Sophocles, Poet and Dramatist, New York 19612.

Bowra C.M., Sophocles on His Own Development Author, The American Journal of Philology 61, no. 4 (1940), 385-401.

Brizi G., Il mito di Telefo nei tragici greci, Atene e Roma 9 (1928), 95-145.

Carden R., The Papyrus Fragments of Sophocles, Berlin 1974.

Carrara L., L’indovino Poliido, Roma 2014.

Carrara L., Distinguishing Satyric from Tragic fragments: Methodological Tools and Practical Results, in A.P. Antonopoulos, M.M.
Christopoulos, G.W.M. Harrison (eds.), Reconstructing Satyr Drama, Berlin-New York 2021, 253-281.

Carrara L., Le ‘sorelle’ di Alcesti: Una nuova-vecchia prospettiva sul quarto dramma nella tetralogia tragica, “Frammenti sulla scena” 2, no. 1
(2021) [in print].

Finglass P.J., Ancient reperformances of Sophocles, Trends in Classics VII 2 (2015), 207-223.

Finglass P.J., Sophocles, Cambridge 2019.

Fromhold-Treu M., Die Telephos-Trilogie des Sophokles, Hermes LXIX 3 (1934), 324-338.

Ganz T., The Aischylean Tetralogy: Attested and Conjectured Groups, The American Journal of Philology 101 (1980), 133-164.

Gantz T., The Aischylean Tetralogy: Prolegomena, The Classical Journal 74, no. 4 (1979), 289-304.
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Rezeptionsgeschichte, Stuttgart 1997, II 1, 276.

Jouanna J., Sophocle, Paris 2007.

Käppel L., Telephos, in Cancik H., Schneider H., Landfester M., Der neue Pauly. Enzyklopädie der Antike. Das klassische Altertum und seine
Rezeptionsgeschichte, Stuttgart 2006, XII 1, 93-94.

Kiso A., Sophocles, Aleadae: A reconstruction, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 17 (1976), 5-21.

Kiso A., The Lost Sophocles, New York 1984.

Lupi F., I ‘dimenticati’ Aleadi di Sofocle, tra testo e fortuna, in G. Zanetto, Teatro tragico greco. Ricostruzioni e interpretazioni, Pisa-Roma
2020, 35-53.

Ozbek L., L’Euripilo di Sofocle: i modelli intertestuali del fr. 210 R (P. Oxy. 1175, fr. 5) e un’ipotesi di datazione dell’opera, Zeitschrift für
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Pearson A.C., The Fragments of Sophocles, Amsterdam, Hakkert 19632.

Preiser C., Euripides. Telephos. Einleitung, Text, Kommentar, Hildesheim 2000.

Robert C., Beiträge zur Erklärung des pergamenischen Telephos-Frieses, Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 3 (1888), 45-65.

Robert C., Die griechische Heldensage, Berlin 1923.

Sommerstein A., Fitzpatrick D., Talboy T., Sophocles: Selected Fragmentary Plays, Vol. 2: Hermione, Polyxene, The Diners, Tereus, Troilus,
Phoedra, Oxford 2006.

Sommerstein A., Fitzpatrick D., Talboy T., Sophocles: Selected Fragmentary Plays, Vol. 2: The Epigoni, Oenomaus, Palamedes, The Arrival of
Nauplios and the Beacon, The Shepherds, Triptolemus, Oxford 2011.

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