The Curious Case of Erysichthon

Abstract

The rejuvenation of once-adult figures in Hellenistic poetry is unique. This transformation is especially apparent in Callimachus, where it functions both as a metapoetic and a political strategy. In rejuvenating gods and other figures of the tradition, Callimachus is able to rewrite or reinvent the tradition, all while working in the court of the first three Ptolemies, who themselves were in the process of legitimizing their new, Greek reign in Egypt. Thus, Callimachus’ first four hymns, which include explicit and implicit references to the Ptolemies and various political events, focus on the birth and successful coming-of-age of the gods, while the final two hymns contain opposing, complementary inset narratives of mythic youths. In the fifth hymn, Bath of Pallas, Teiresias, the old seer of tragedy becomes a youth and in the sixth hymn, the Hymn to Demeter, Erysichthon, a father both before (in Hesiod) and after (in Ovid) Callimachus, is now a childless young man. This dissertation focuses primarily on the sixth hymn. Whereas the first five hymns include successful birth and maturation tales, the six hymn is distinct for narrating just the opposite. Within a frame celebrating a ritual of Demeter is the tale of Erysichthon, who, together with his man-giants, barges into the goddess’ sacred grove and attempts to chop down a tree. Disguised as the priestess Nicippe, Demeter is unsuccessful in changing Erysichthon’s evil behavior, and so, punishes the youth with insatiable hunger and thirst. From his entrance to the end of the narrative, Erysichthon regresses from man (φῶτα, 45) to child (παῖς, 56), and finally, to infant (βρέφος, 100). In this final stage, distraught at the financial consequences of his son’s ravening hunger, Erysichthon’s father wishes that Apollo had stricken down his βρέφος (96-110). Rather than pimping out his daughter for food (as in Hesiod and Ovid), Erysichthon lands at the crossroads, where he begs for filthy cast-offs from the feast (115). Although this dissertation will likely be restructured in future iterations, at present, it largely follows the progression of the narrative as Callimachus himself unfolds it (rather than e.g. by genre). I take mainly a socio-cultural approach to Erysichthon’s regression and examine each step through the lens of rites of passage. I begin with hunting, with which Callimachus is most clearly concerned in the Hymn to Artemis and especially the partner hymn of the Hymn to Demeter, Bath of Pallas, where the motif is a well-researched, clear example of a successful transition into adulthood through the marginal ground of the hunt. This is the foundation for my discussion of the negative inversion of this trajectory in the Hymn to Demeter, where I examine Erysichthon as failed “hunter” by exploring Callimachus’ allusions and manipulation of the literary tradition in two key passages: Erysichthon’s boar hunt and the lioness simile. The transition of Erysichthon from human to animal and the related, simultaneous regression from youth to infant occurs during the hunt, and it is from this perspective that I analyze Erysichthon’s destructive appetite. I argue that through his all-consuming hunger and thirst, Erysichthon slips into childhood or infancy, which the Greeks viewed negatively and regularly aligned with animals. The last chapter thus focuses on Erysichthon’s final metaphorical transition into brephos, a weighty term—for which, see the appendix, where I lay out the use and significance of all pre-Callimachean attestations—applied to both animals and newborns and most frequently, the child exposed at birth. In this final chapter (VII), I consider the implications of exposure and the related motif of abortion, and in doing so, suggest a new reading for the end of Callimachus’ Erysichthon narrative and the hymns as a collection.