AETIA: BOOK I

[AITInN A']
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(AGAINST THE TELeHINES)
(IN TELCHINAS)
(1 KNOW that) the Telchines,/J who are ignorant and
013' T]t fLot T'\X'vS' 7TtTpV{OVCJtv
aotSjj, no friends of the Muse, grumble at my poetry,
,-.., Ot"M'
V1JWS' ' "YVOVTO
OVCnS' OVK .1.'\
'l'U\ot, because I did not accomplish one continuous poem
,,,. .., \ .. Q _\[
tVKV OVx V atCJfLa Dt'Y/I'KS ' 'Y/ ,.,aCJU\ 'Y/
of many thousands of lines on . . . kings or . . .
]a, v 1ToMa's- TjvvCJa XtAtCJtV
5 heroes, but like a child I roIl forth a short tale.
5 ~ .... ]ovS' 'pwaS', [1T0S' S' 1Tt TVTOOV l'\[ tCJCJw
though the decades of my years are not few. And I
1Ta,S' T, TWV S' T'WV" SKas OVK o'\l')"YJ.
(say) this to the Telchines: " . . . race, who know
] Kat
\ T ,\XtCJtv
~ ,\ TOO'
yw
,.., ".1. ~,\
'l'V ov a
[ how to waste away your heart. . . . of few lines, but
'
] T'YJKtV
~ , ,
,/1Tap 1TtCJTa.tVOV, 10 bountiful Demeter b by far outweighs the long . . .,
]pTJY [0'\]tYCJTtX0S' ciMcl. KaO'Mt Alexandrian school ofpoetry) and of Mimnermus ofColophon
10 ] 1TO'\V Tt]V fLaKpTv .t1TVta 0CJfLOepPO[S"(jt c. 630 D.c.-he is supposed lo have introduced the ama
lory element into early Greek elegy) are compared with their
1 suppl. Vogliano. longer compositions and judred superior. The" bountiful
Demeter" could then be Philetas' narrative elegy D61Mter,
G The Telchines were described as inhabitants of Crete, which recounted the wanderings of the goddess; the name of
Rhodes, Sicyon, Ceas or Cyprus. They were said lo be the the long poem, with which it was compared, is losto The
first workers in metal, but of ill report as spiteful sorcerers. .. Large Woman" (1. 12) could be ,the Nanno, the famous
Callimachus calls his literary enemies Telchines, using the elegy of Mimnermus, named after the Lydian flute-girl he
word in the sense of .. spiteful backbiters." The Scholia is said lo have loved (cl. Asclep .Anth. Palo ix. 63), or even
Florentina to this passage (Pfeiff. i, p. 3) give some of their his historical poem Smyrneia. The IC4Tci M1I"Tclv [p.qal~?)
names; among them are those of Asclepiades and Posidip may possibly be the .. opera minora" of the poet. Many
pus, the famous Alexandrian poets (mainly known to us scholars, however, do not accept this interpretation and
through their epigrams in the Pala.tine .Antl.ology), and of believe that the short poems of Philetas and Mimnermus
Praxiphanes of Mitylene, a distinguished contemporary are in this passage compared with long poems of other
grammarian and philosopher, against whom Callimachus poets, which cannot be as yet identified. The .. Large
wrote (cj. fr. 460). Woman" may in this case be the Lyd6 of Antimachus.
e~a~po~=Law-bringing Demeter. (See also M. Puelma, .. Die Vorbilder der Elegiendichtung
According lo Pfeiffer's reading of the 8cholia Florentina in Alexandrien und Rom," M'U88'Um Helveticum, 11 (1954),
in this mutilatoo passage (11. 9 ff.) the short poems of Philetas pp. 101 f.)
of Cos (born c. 320 D.C. and in a sense the founder of the 5
4.
 CALLIMACHUS AETIA
-
TOW 8'J
f 8 - M'tJLVfpJLOS o-n
YOtV ., YI\VKVS.
\ , at KaTa, I\f7TTOV
\ , and of the two poems the small-scale . . . and not
the Large Woman taught that Mimnermus is a de
..... ] ~ JLf'y&'>':r 8' OVK e88aef J'VV7, lightful poet . . let the crane, delighting in the
. .J9v e7Tt EJp"rKas a7T' AlJl'rr'roto [7Tf[TOtTO blood of the Pygmies,a fly (far) from Egypt to the
15 land of the Thracians and let the Massagetae b shoot
a'fUlTt fivYJLawv ~80JL'vr y'pavos. their arrows from a great distance at the Medes;
15 MaaaaY'Tat Ka' JLaKpov Oi'aTfVotfV E7T' v8pa but poems are sweeter for being short. o Begolle, you
baneful race of J ealousy! hereafter judge poetry
M7j8ovJ' t;i[1]oov8fs] ~' w8f JLftXp6Tfpat.
by (the canons) of art, and not by the Persian chain,d
;AAfTf BaCTKav1]S ooOV Y'VOS' aMh o~ T'xvn
20 nor look to me for a song loudly resounding. It is
not mine to thunder; that belongs to Zeus." For,
,
KptVfTf. ]JL1]
' aXOtvlp
, fi fPCTwt
~ , aO'f't1]v'

T1]V .J..'
when 1 lirst placed a tablet on my knees, Lycian'
JLT/'O' <i7T' eJLfV 'Otq,8.Tf JL'ya l/Jo4J'ovaav aOto"v
Apollo said to me: " . . . poet, feed the victim to
be as fat as possible but. my friend, keep the Muse
,
20 TtK'TfCT (Jato t'poVTav
R - OVK fJLOV.
, _>\\' utOS.
aIVIa A , ..

25 slender. This too 1 bid you: tread a path which

carriages do not trample; do not drive your chariot
Kal YdP Tf 7Tpcfn.tCTToV e.wis e7T' 'O''\TOV lOT/Ka
upon the common tracks of others, nor along a wide
yowaaw, A7T6AAwv fl7TfV JLot AtKtOS' road, but on unworn paths, though your course be
" . . . . . . .. ] aot
'8'f . TO\ JLfV
(J'" ,
vos OTTt '7TaXWTOV The Pygmies, a fabulous race of dwarfs on the upper
Op'l/Ja,. nI]" Movaav S' wyafU '\f7TTaT/V' Nile, were said to have been warred on and destroyed by

25 '7TpOS S, afJ Ka, T6'O' vwya, Ta JL~ '7TaT'OVaw

cranes.
& The Massagetae were a Scythian people, to the east of
the Caspian Sea. Like the Medes, they were famous archers
and fought from a great distance .. trusting ther far-reaching
JLaea,
bows " (Herod. i. 214).
S' "tXJ'ta JL1] Ka(J'"0JLa o 1f Housman '5 supplement g.[ 'I1Io,,/a(s} is right, it would
Ta aT~tt'~tV.
'R fTfpWV
"
mean short poems.. ci'l8w" .. nightlngale" in the sense of
Sl4Jpov J'\]~v JL1]8' otJLOV ava 7T'\aTtv. d.Ucl Kf'\fV(JOVS poem is used by Callimachus in Epigr. i. l>.
d The Persian chain, the 8choenUJI, was a (Persian) land
, ,
aTp''7TTO ]
VS'. "
ft
I
Ka' CTTfWOTfP1JV '\ I
fl\aa~tS. measure used especialIy in Egypt; its length was variollsly
reckoned froro 80 to 60 stades.
Epithet of Apollo, explained in various ways: the wolf
JJ sur.P1. Housmsn. J2 p,jal(S) suppl. Rostagni. slayer, the Lycian god, or the god of light. We are also told
18 supp. e.g. L.: nito fort. pall'p}li'; Pr. 16 init. suppl. that: .. transfiguratus in lupum (ibIl'OP) cum Cyrene con
Pf.: !['1l1ovl&sl Housrosn. 18 suppl. Housroan. cubuit" (Serv. ad Yergo Aen. Iv. 111; cj. Schol. Lond. in
~4 8e"!'lU supp . Pf., n}}r Hu. SIl> e.g. suppl. Hu. Pfeiff. i, p. 1). Callimachus, who spent his early years in
26 11 codo 21 e.g. suppl. Hu. 28 suppl. re. Cyrene, must have learnt there how to read and write.
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 CALLIMACHUS AETIA

'TE'T'T'YW']'\
V EV' 'TO"A yap\ "0;:,
aEWO.LEV O\'~
O, "'YVV'IXOV

more narroW. For we sing among those who love

' '-1.'\ " "
30 the shrill ,"oice of the cicala" and not the noise of
30 0] OpV,..OV O OVK E'f'''''T]UaV OVWV.
Q N ,
the . . . asses." Let others bray just like the long
0'1p .LEV OVa'TEV'T' 1TavEtKE'\OV OyK~Ua''TO eared brute, but let me be the dainty, the winged
,\,\O', EY]c1 S' Et'T]V o~'\axv., 1T'TEPE'O, one. Oh, yes indeed! that 1 may sing living on
S6 dew-drops, free sustenance from the divine air; that
d: 1TCV'TW" iva yfjpa. iva SpUOV ~V .LEV aEtSw 1 may then shed old age, which weighs upon me like
1TPOtK'O]V EK st'T]' ~PO' E18ap 8wv,
the three-eomered island b upon deadly Enceladus.
3D av"O , 'TO'0;:," 0;:,' , Q , .. "

O EKOVO'.L', 'TO .LO' ,..apo. OUUOV E1TEU'T' But never mind! for if the Muses have not looked
'Tp,y'\WX'V O'\Oep vfjUO' E1T' 'EYKE,\Scp. askance at one in bis childhood, they do not cast him
from their friendship when he is grey.
OV V.LEU'.-] Movua' yap UOV' tsov O.Lan 1TaWa.
"0 EV'TO 'f''''ov
-1.'\ to Plato (Pha~dr. 259), is the favourite of the Muses, and in
.L'T,] "O~cp.
\ i:.
A
1TO"'OV' OVK a1TE
\ ' ,

Alexandrian poetry poet~ are compared to, or called after it

29 suppl. Hu. 32 suppl. Hu. 84 'lTpolK",lv Sclwl. (e.g. Theoc. i. 148; Posidip. Anth. Palo xii. 98, etc.). The
Theocr.: 'lTpWK'" Jv Th. Stanley. 37 init. suppl. Trypanis eicala was thought to sing continually without food or drink,
ex Callo Epigr. xxi. (xxiii L.C.L.) 5, ef. Call. Hym. iii. 64. or to subsist on a diet of air and dew; like the snake it was
believed to cast away old age together with its dry skin
The .. voice " of the cicala is frequently used in Greek The three-eomered island is Sicily, which Zeus is said
poetry as asimile for sweet sounds. The cieala, according to have hurled upon the giant Enceladus.

2
2 (fHE DREAM)
(SOMNIUM)
. . . when the bevy of Muses met the shepherd
1Io,.Lv, ,.,:fj'\a V.LOV'T'1Tap' txvwv O~o. i1T1TOV
Hesiod tending sheep by the foot-print of the fiery
horse" . . . (they told him?)... the birtb of
'Hu,Scp Movuwv u,.,.o. 'T' ~V'TtauEv
li Chaos . . . (at the water) of the hoof . . . that
.L]{v o XEO' YEVE 9f
causing evil to another a man causes evil to his oWD
] E1T 1T'Tprr. ~Sa[
heart. b
'TEVXWV W. rpcp 'T'O ep KaKov i1Tan 'TEVXEt.
appeared to Hesiod as he was tending his sheep. This
fountain is to be distinguished from the Aganippe, also in
The fountain Hippocrene on Mount Helicon. Accord Boeotia, mentioned by Callimachus in this part of the
ing to the myth it was ereated by the hoof of Pegasus, the Aetia.
winged horse of Bellerophon. It was there the Muses An adaptation of Hesiod, Op. 265.
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