ARGONAUTIKA

"That wasn't in the book!"

Finished Peter Green's phenomenal translation of the Argonautika by Appolonius Rhodius. The poem itself is fantastic, wedding a sort of tongue-and-cheek take on epic poetry with genuine emotional depth (see e.g. Medea). The splendid  translation, as well as the copious notes/commentary courtesy of Green, serve as fittingly snarky companions to the snarkiest epic poet of them all (although a number of typos in the commentary suggest that Green needs a new editor). I've shirked from bringing the poem up over the last few days I've been reading it just b/c of the sheer density of intertextual (bleh word) material in and around it (e.g. Appolonius' influences and sources, and his influences on all his successors). Too many directions to take. Sadly I'm not conversant in any of the insane amounts of scholarship on the Argonautika. I'll try and rectify that soon.

ARRIAN: NEITHER CONTRARIAN NOR MADAM LIBRARIAN

Always judge a book by its cover

Arrian (i.e. Lucius Flavius Arrianus "Xenophon," or Ἀρριανός) wrote the Alexandrou Anabasis (Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀνάβασις), published by Landmark as The Campaigns of Alexander. Arrian -- something of a fan-boy -- sought to emulate Xenophon, whom he name-drops repeatedly, both in style, mode and title, not to mention taking the name "Xenophon" itself as a preferred pseudonym. Almost in spite of himself, however, Arrian manages to create a unique work chronicling Alexander's romp across the Asian landmass. One interesting thing he does is incorporate material from differing sources (remember he wrote nearly four centuries after Alexander's death) and insert all of it in his own text, meaning certain events either play out in several different ways or certain statements contradict one another. This creates a neat sort of literary as well as scholarly effect. At times he draws attention to where his sources derive from (actually he opens, with rather audacious sobriety for a second-century A.D. work on Alexander, with a list of his principal sources (Ptolemy, Aristoboulos)) and considers their possible biases. Always fun to see a little rudimentary historiography. Probs his weakest pt, particularly in comparison to the Polybius (the Spielberg of classical historians), is his rather unclear descriptions of battles -- the Landmark annotations suggest this is a result of his sources being primarily firsthand and therefore muddled in the middle of a battle, a fortiori his crystal clear descriptions of the orders of battle. But Arrian's Greek is supposedly superb, so I'm looking forward to rereading it in the original at some pt in the near-ish future. Next up: Peter Green's translation of the Argonautika!

i. TAKING A GANDER AT ALEXANDER, ii. LINKS, AND iii. SANTA SIMIA (WITH KITTEN)

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Just finished Book IV of Landmark's Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander (Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀνάβασις). The account is terse and succinct except when it isn't, and Arrian goes soaring off into a flight of rhetoric and fancy, rather like my image of a business-like, no-nonsense Alexander occasionally succumbing to a wild storm of irrationality. Perhaps Alexander was a bottler of emotions as well as a drinker. Arrian may've more/less thought this as well, although he takes pains early on to emphasis Alexander's virtue.

Favorite moment #1. The Siege of Tyre was spellbinding.

Favorite moment(s) #2. Alexander's favorite seer Aristandros pops up almost at random through Book IV to prophecy and interpret omens. The sudden, offhand way he just interjects Aristrandros adds an almost comedic element to the narrative, "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"-style.

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Because who needs an excuse to post a link of vintage travel posters.

Fantastic interview with Gérard Diffloth (the god-, grand- and allfather of Austroasiatic language studies).

Also, thesis from a student at the Uni of Birmingham I may speed read at some pt. Because dreams.

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And, last but not least, Discarding Images posted the (16th century) illumination below. Gotta love the beatific expression on the monkey's face.

Santa Simia

POLYBIUS MEETS ABRAHAM VAN HELSING, OR NOT

Darius I stomping on Gaumata

Reading Waterfield's translation of Polybius' Histories and in V.43 he states that "Mithridates claimed to be descended from one of the seven Persian Magus-slayers." This evoked images of some  kind of multi-generational series of beturbaned Van Helsings hunting evil magi through decaying ziggurat-topped underground cities, in other words: I had no idea what this referred to (although, turns out I should've). I found an 1889 translation on the Perseus Digital Library by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh which gives the more normal "seven Persians who killed the Magus" and glossed it with a succinct "the false Smerdis," but even then I still didn't recognize the reference.

[For the curious, the original Greek phrase is: τῶν ἑπτὰ Περσῶν ἑνὸς τῶν ἐπανελομένων τὸν μάγον.]

The unfortunately named Shuckburgh also gives a reference to Herodotus 3.61-82. This passage presents a complicated story with that uniquely Herodotean blend of gravity and the bizarre. Severely truncated, the tale relates how a Magus -- Gaumata -- impersonated Smerdis (Gr. Σμέρδις, OP Bardiya), the brother of Cyrus, and ruled for nearly a year before being killed by a group of seven Persian nobles. It's far more complicated than that, so here's a link to the relevant bit on Perseus. Wikipedia also has some info on the Behistun Inscription which refers to Gaumata. And apparently "Mazda" (a la Ahura Mazda) is Avestan for wisdom, which just makes Miatas even more awesome.

So mystery solved. Although the more interesting mystery of why in heck Waterfield chose to use  "Persian Magus-slayers" isn't. Guess it sounds cool.

Also, Herodotus claims the Persians celebrate a festival called the μαγοφόνια ("massacre of the Magi") which was the "greatest holy day that all Persians alike keep" (ταύτην τὴν ἡμέρην θεραπεύουσι Πέρσαι κοινῇ μάλιστα τῶν ἡμερέων) and "while the festival lasts no Magus may go outdoors."

HISTORIES OF POLYBIUS: CARTHAGINIAN BABEL. AND 17TH CENTURY TAPESTRY

Enjoying Robin Waterfield's translation of the Histories of Polybius. Writes a real riproaring batte scene, I must say. Also, a fun little historical anecdote of linguistic interest: he mentions the enormous variety of languages spoken by the mercenaries in the Carthaginian army during the First Punic War, which made direct commands impossible and, as Waterfield renders it, causes a "complete jumble of uncertainty, distrust, and failed communication." Something about B.C.-era cosmopolitanism has always fascinated me.

Besides cinematic battle descriptions, Polybius cultivates a certain drily understated tone. Vide "So the lemboi sailed back home and King Agron received his officer's report of the battle. It afforded him enormous pleasure to think that he had defeated the arrogantly self-assured Aetolians, and he gave himself over to celebration, with so much drinking that he contracted pleurisy and died just a few days later." (79)

I recently read and enjoyed Waterfield's translation of the Anabasis which prompting me to read this. So here we is.

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Neat post over at the Getty tumblr. It's oh so proto-rococo, no?

UN PO' D'ITALIANO, A SMATTERING OF GREEK, AND VICO

First up, some more Italian gems grazie a Using Italian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage.

1.) la mangiasoldi - lit. money-eater, actually, a slot-machie.

2.) acquascooter - jetski. This word is awesome. Apparently there's a such thing as a "water-scooter," but if all English-speakers referred to jet-skis as acquascooters, the world would be a better place.

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Just a quick link to an interesting article on learning ancient Greek vocabulary, specifically how the unusually small number of high-frequency words makes the Wortschatz easier to learn at a beginner/intermediate level. He claims 1,100 lemmas make up 80% of lemmas in ancient Greek (comp. 80% of English = 2,200-2,300 lemmas). The article's doubly fantastic because it includes lists of the said lemmas w/ English definition (50% list and an 80% list). Once I get over my current Italian binge I may proceed to this, circumstances allowing --- though I could start memorizing 10/day while bagging ice. That shouldn't be hard.

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And, last but not least, a brief update on my current reading of Giambattista Vico's Scienza Nuova. In a nutshell, this book is awesome. It's on par with Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in that it weds artistry with analytical investigation to such an extent that you can't tell whether it's more poem or more treatise. Vico himself refers to it as "nostra mitologia istorica" and it's basically that: a grand cyclical vision of history across three ages and a final transition in which society reverts back to it's original (or slightly more advanced-than-original) state. But it's the vast amalgamation of stories, anecdotes, myths, legends and linguistic speculation that thrusts the Scienza Nuova into the realm of cosmic epic (like, we're talkin Ovidian, Tolkienian, Homeric, Joycean epic epic). And, lest we forget, Vico was one of the first to argue that myths could be a legitimate historical artifact: an idea that has grown especially fashionable of late (Robert Darnton (of the Great Cat Massacre fame) springs to mind as a fairly well-known example). He also has an interesting-looking bit on Homer in the third bird (Discoverta del vero Omero) but I haven't reached that point yet. More to come surely.*

Toodle pip!

*And of course if some of this sounds familiar, Joyce definitelyprobably used it as a framework for Finnegans Wake. I'll address that at some length eventually. Probablydefinitely.