The scene described the launch of Argo by Apollonius Rhodius in the first book of the poem (I , 367-393) can be taken as a significant example of the poetic sensibility of the ancients were not entirely comparable, to that of modern poets. The sense of the vague, the indefinite, the poetic word that is searched more for evocation to describe in detail the facts and things - Common to many poetic works from, at least, from Romanticism and still characteristic of poetry according to the collective imagination - is ill-suited (or contrast) to certain tendencies of ancient Greek poetry (especially epic) on the use of technical language and detailed descriptions of craft and manual. While this scene may be of considerable interest to anyone involved in studying and reconstructing the material life of the greek people, on the other hand seem to be out of place in a context of literary criticism and (this is not negligible) may disappoint expectations of a reader who approaches for the first time in these texts. The question necessarily involves a review of what are our concepts of poetry, especially the well-known adjective "poetic." Without addressing philosophical questions that would lead us away, just remember, limiting the Italian poetry, the example of pasture and Montale. Pascoli, in fact, responded to a certain rigidity of poetic language, using terms related to traditional Italian folk tradition alive, precise vocabulary and dialect to describe plants, animals and agricultural tools (albeit in a poetic evocation of the symbol and another reality). Montale, not many years later made his own lesson in the pastures, the famous opera and programmatic The Lemons (vv. 1-10) says:
Listen to me, the poet laureate
only move between plants
whose names are rare: boxwood or privet acanthus.
him, for me, I love the roads to grassy
mezzo seccate agguantano i ragazzi
qualche sparuta anguilla:
le viuzze che seguono i ciglioni,
discendono tra i ciuffi delle canne
e mettono negli orti, tra gli alberi dei limoni.
I versi di Montale rappresentano, dunque, una precisa reazione ad una visione aulica della poesia e a alla concezione per cui ciò che è “poetico” deve essere separato dalla normale quotidianità non solo a livello tematico, ma anche linguistico. Ciò che delinea il poeta genovese in questo passo, dunque, va a toccare non solo aspetti della poetica novecentesca, ma può sviluppare interessanti riflessioni sulle modalità di ricezione moderna dei testi poetici greci.
Come giudicare, infatti, le frequenti scene tecniche che ricorrono nei poemi epici (sacrifici, navigazione, costruzioni,...), nelle Opere e i giorni di Esiodo o negli Inni omerici , soprattutto in relazione alle aspettative di un pubblico moderno? Una risposta a questo interrogativo si deve, in estrema sintesi, allo studioso anglosassone Eric Havelock, che considerò i poemi omerici una sorta di “enciclopedia tribale”, ossia opere che in assenza della scrittura proprio attraverso le numerose scene tipiche dovevano trasmettere l'intero bagaglio di conoscenze della comunità.
Più in generale, si può dire, e ciò è valido anche per i più antichi filosofi greci, che nell'età arcaica il metro (cioè la poesia) aveva una multi-function and, as such, was not necessarily felt as special tool to produce what we call "poetry." Through the hexameter, the elegiac couplets or Giambi, in summary, send messages and content (which today would be part of the prose) that went far beyond the pleasure of enjoying a work of modern art. However, this reading (which certainly can not be the only one) message allows an objective evaluation of ancient epic is not separated from the concrete purpose of the texts.
Although Apollonius Rhodius resume, centuries after flowering archaic epic, this kind of typical scenes, it is noted that in the Hellenistic period such as the scientifically advanced and now focuses on the gradual emergence of the composition / written transmission of texts (at least among scholars), was no longer required to epic poetry and the poet's task was no longer to preserve the entire culture of a people. The development of Alexandrian philology, so to speak, had established through his intense exegetical text of the Homeric poems and a whole line of products antiquarian studies had investigated in detail the uses, customs and traditions of the ancient Greeks. The choice to include in the poem of Apollonius tracks "technical", therefore, is not only a due tribute Homer and the ancient tradition of epic poetry, but corresponds to a way of understanding art (think also to the arts) that does not rule and does not consider "unpoetic" (just as in pastures and Montale) dwell on the scenes and everyday life of human life told through its various manifestations. Indeed, it is precisely this kind of scene that the Hellenistic poet can demonstrate its ability and can develop a kind of literary competition with the most ancient poets.
We see, therefore, in practice some aspects of the scene of the launch of Argo:
νῆα d epikrateos Argos ypothimosynῃsin
ezosan pamproton efstrefei endothen oplῳ
teinamenoi ekaterthen Iv 'fair araroiato gomfois
Duero and rothioio viin echoi antioosan. 370
digging d aipsa in breadth So long as perivallet the space,
ide Against proeiran through alos ossation approx
markers cheiressin epidrameesthai emellen,
aiei But prior chthamaloteron exelachainon
στείρης· ἐν δ' ὁλκῷ ξεστὰς στορέσαντο φάλαγγας· 375
τὴν δὲ κατάντη κλῖναν ἐπὶ πρώτῃσι φάλαγξιν,
ὥς κεν ὀλισθαίνουσα δι' αὐτάων foreoito.
ypsi d 'No.' where and where is metastrepsantes eretma
pichyion notable on skalmoisin Edison,
of D-epamoivadis αὐτοὶ ἐνέσταθεν ἀμφοτέρωθεν 380
στέρνα θ' ὁμοῦ καὶ χεῖρας ἐπήλασαν. ἐν δ' ἄρα Τῖφυς
βήσαθ', ἵν' ὀτρύνειε νέους κατὰ καιρὸν ἐρύσσαι.
keklomenos d ifse greatly large, ie he parasson
whom be a state vrisantes iῇ styfelixan eroῇ
neiothen spun from edris, for d errosanto podessin 385
proproviazomenoi, or d espeto Pelion Argo
rimfa will possess' the fourth ekaterthen epiachon aissontes ·
c. d 'competent' under keel stivarai stenachonto columns
trivomenai on NOT sfin aidni gall thin
vrithosynῃ · katolisthe d through alos. And the MIN afthi 390
ἂψ ἀνασειράζοντες ἔχον προτέρωσε κιοῦσαν·
σκαλμοῖς δ' ἀμφὶς ἐρετμὰ κατήρτυον, ἐν δέ οἱ ἱστόν
λαίφεά τ' εὐποίητα καὶ ἁρμαλιὴν ἐβάλοντο.
Questa scena è descritta dal poeta dopo che i compagni hanno scelto Giasone come comandante dell'impresa in seguito al monito di Eracle (vv. 345-347). Fanno parte del complesso rituale immediatamente precedente alla partenza, oltre al varo di Argo, il sorteggio dei banchi dei rematori (vv. 395-401), la costruzione di un altare ad Apollo sulla spiaggia (402-404) e la preghiera ed il sacrificio al dio (vv. 405-435) per ottenere una tranquilla navigazione. Fondamentale, prima di all reference to the Argo (Ἄργου ὑποθημοσύνῃσιν "), the legendary builder of the ship led by the goddess Athena itself (see I, vv. 18-19).
The situation described by the poet (a ship on the beach to be conducted at sea), and where the poet alludes linguistic expression " νῆα ... πάμπρωτον , "is narrated by Homer in Od ., IV, 780-783:
νῆα μὲν οὖν πάμπρωτον ἁλὸς βένθοσδε ἔρυσσαν,
ἐν δ' ἱστόν τε τίθεντο καὶ ἱστία νηῒ μελαίνῃ,
ἠρτύναντο δ' ἐρετμὰ τροποῖσ 'ἐν δερματίνοισι
πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν · ἀνά θ' ἱστία λευκὰ πέτασσαν ·
This is the step in which is told the start of the suitors of Penelope to waylay Telemachus, who had gone to ask for news of his father. Compared to its archaic, Hellenistic poet enriches the scene of new and more complex Details: The vessel is surrounded by ropes in order to strengthen their sea-keeping and, above all, meticulously describes the techniques needed to move the boat from the beach to the shore by a furrow dug along the bottom and along the path to follow, and the use of rollers on which slide Argo. In detail, it should be noted that the rope used to encircle the hull ( ἐυστρεφεῖ ... ὅπλῳ ) Hom recalls., Od ., XIV, 346 ( "ὅπλῳ ἐϋστρεφέϊ") while the term " γόμφος" (v. 369) is used by Apollonius nell'accezione Boat "cross" attested in Herodotus ( II, 96, 2) with respect to the construction of the Egyptian ships. With " δούρατα" (v. 370) the poet indicates the "beams" used for boats, use already documented in Hom., Od ., V, 370, while the neutral noun "ῥόθιο ν, used in the sense of" waves "seems to refer to Apollonius use a certificate in the texts Attic: Aeschl., Pr ., 1048; Eur IT ., 426, Thuc., IV, 10, 5.
Other nautical terms of Homeric ancestry ( Hom., The ., I, 482 ; Od ., II, 428 ) is to see 375: " στειρη" ("Hull"). The reference to the furrow by the Argonauts (v. 371) to the shore is a short but accurate feedback in a passage of ' Iliad (II, 153) in' expression "οὐρούς τ 'ἐξεκάθαιρον" ("cleaned up the grooves of the hulls"), used in reference to the Achaeans Agamemnon deceived by false speech and prepared to return home on board ships. Below (see 375) with "ξεστὰς φάλαγγας" il poeta indica dei rulli in legno levigati sopra i quali veniva fatta scorrere la nave (vv. 376-377). Di questo particolare tecnico si trova menzione (vv. 270-271) anche nelle Argonautiche Orfiche , testo anonimo di età tarda (IV-V sec.) che riprende il poema di Apollonio in chiave orfica. Altrettanto dettagliata è la descrizione della sistemazione dei remi: vengono rivolti verso l'alto (v. 378), e vengono fatti sporgere dagli scalmi di un cubito (v. 379).
Il termine nautico più significativo di questa porzione di testo è “ σκαλμός ” (“scalmo”), attestato nell' Inno omerico a Dioniso (VII, 42) e nei tragici (Aeschl., Pers ., 376; Eur., IT ., 1347; Hel ., 1598). Linguistically significant is the use of "πήχυιον" (v. 279 "cubit"), as evidenced earlier in Mimnermo (fr. 2, 3) and below the words "κατὰ καιρὸν", documented from Pindar ( I ., II, 22, fr. 123, 1, 127, 2) and Herodotus (I, 30, 8).
should also be observed:
's hapax absolute (v. 383) "παρᾶσσον", as explained by the scholiast adverb of time ("immediately"), used as the dual plural " βρίσαντε" (parallel to a similar use of the dual in ' Homeric Hymn to Apollo 456, 457 Apollonius himself and III, 206), the expression "ἐπὶ δ 'ἐρρώσαντο πόδεσσιν" (v. 385), perhaps an echo of Hes., Th ., 9 ("ἐπερρώσαντο δὲ ποσσίν) ; la forma a v. 386 “ προπροβιαζόμενοι”, hapax morfologico assoluto di “ προπροβιάζω”, verbo attestato unicamente in Eschine (III, 72) ed usato da Apollonio per descrivere l'avanzata degli eroi nella spiaggia; il termine nautico già omerico “ τρόπις” (“chiglia” Od ., V, 130); il sostantivo “ λιγνυς” (v. 389 "soot") documented in the theater attic (Aeschl., Sept ., 494, Soph., Ant ., 1127; Aristoph., Av ., 1241; Lys ., 319), the verb "ἀνασειράζω" (V. 391), used to indicate the action of "pulling back" to prevent the ship after the initial push forward motion could proceed too far into the sea, before Apollonius only attested in Euripides ( Hip ., 237) and a fragment of Aristophanes (561), the use of "λαῖφος" (v. 392) nell'accezione Boat "sailing" documented in ' Homeric Hymn to Apollo (v. 406) and tragedy (Aeschl., Suppl ., 723, Soph., Tr ., 561; Eur Med ., 524), the expression " λαίφεά τ 'εὐποίητα "(392" the sails worked well ") echo humerus" εἵματά τ 'εὐποίητα ( Od ., XIII, 369 as incipit of direction. See also Hes., Sc ., 64 and H. Hom., Ap ., 265); the end of Hesiod's ancestry ( Op ., 767) "ἁρμαλιά" ("stores").
But the skill of Apollonius, which is apparent from these observations vocabulary, you may especially appreciate the realism with which he describes the scene as a whole. Before our eyes, the heroes appear intent on pushing Argo into the sea, with all the effort that this action involves, you can hear the cries of incitement to Tifi (v. 383), and the noise generated by the sliding of the rollers of the vessel and the resulting soot emanating around (vv. 388-389). You see the ship enter the water and the movement of inertia that is stopped by a rope through the Argonauts (v. 391).
In Latin reworking ( Argonaut ) of Hellenistic poem, composed under the Flavian dynasty of Flacco, it is narrated the scene of the launch of the Argo, but the construction and decoration of the hull by Argo (I, vv. 121-148):
Fervere cuncta virum coetu, simul undique cernit
delatum nemus et docta resonare bipenni
litora. iam pinus gracili dissolvere lamna
Thespiaden iungique latus lentoque sequaces
molliri videt igne trabes remisque paratis 125
Pallada velifero quaerentem bracchia malo.
constitit ut longo moles non pervia ponto,
puppis et ut tenues subiere latentia cerae
lumina, picturae varios super addit honores.
hic insperatos Tyrrheni tergore piscis. 130
Peleos in thalamos vehitur Thetis; aequora delphin
corripit, sedet deiecta in lumina palla
nec Iove maiorem nasci suspirat Achillen.
hanc Panope Dotoque soror laetataque fluctu
prosequitur nudis pariter Galatea lacertis 135
antra petens; Siculo revocat de litore Cyclops.
contra ignis viridique torus de fronde dapesque
vinaque et aequoreos inter cum coniuge divos
Aeacides pulsatque chelyn post pocula Chiron.
parte alia Pholoe multoque insanus Iaccho 140
Rhoecus et Atracia subitae de virgine pugnae.
crateres mensaeque volant araeque deorum
poculaque, insignis veterum labor. optimus hasta
hic Peleus, hic ense furens agnoscitur Aeson.
fert gravis invito victorem Nestora tergo 145
Monychus, ardenti peragit Clanis Actora quercu.
nigro Nessus equo fugit adclinisque tapetis
in mediis vacuo condit caput Hippasus auro.
From a simple comparison between the Latin text and the original greek one can see how Flacco has reduced the importance of the technical descriptions nautical to give greater weight to ' ekphrasis scenes painted on the hull. Interestingly, however, the technical detail of the wax used to fill the cracks during the voyage they would enter the water in the hull.
P. Manuello
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