M.A. Harder, J.J.H. Klooster, R.F. Regtuit, G.C. Wakker (eds.) Women and Power in Hellenistic Poetry (Hellenistica Groningana 26), 95-120. Leuven (Peeters), 2021
This paper argues that Callimachus portrays his Victoria Berenices as a metaphorical bride-price ... more This paper argues that Callimachus portrays his Victoria Berenices as a metaphorical bride-price (ἕδνον) for Berenice, his victorious patron qua ‘bride’. By reviewing the usage of ἕδνον I challenge the established view that the word means ‘gift’ at the Victoria’s opening; instead I show how Callimachus adapts a Pindaric discourse of epinician exchange as marriage to forge a new metaphor of his poem as his laudanda’s ‘bride-price’. I then demonstrate how bridal imagery throughout the Victoria, including Heracles styled as a bride, bolsters Callimachus’ metaphor. I argue that the entire poem portrays Berenice as a patron qua bride sought after by many competing ‘suitors’ at court, and that Callimachus hereby lays claim to a distinguished position as Berenice’s only poet. I close by suggesting that Callimachus’ poem offers Berenice the bride-price of the status of eternal bride.
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This paper examines these questions with the help of the court poet Callimachus’ Coma Berenices, his elegy celebrating the lock’s catasterism and Conon’s subsequent ‘discovery’. Scholars discussing the Coma have commonly assumed that this fantastic charade demanded the entire court’s cooperation and coordination (e.g. West 1985: 63 n. 14; Koenen 1993: 90; Gutzwiller 1992: 362-3). Recently, for instance, Van Oppen de Ruiter (2015: 112) suggests that Conon and Callimachus presented the constellation jointly to the queen. I argue, however, that a closer reading of the Coma reveals the poet’s agonistic attitude towards the astronomer. In fact, Callimachus positions himself as a rival agent of change responsible for re-anchoring Conon’s invention in his Aetia and thereby securing its place in literary and cultural memory.
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This paper examines these questions with the help of the court poet Callimachus’ Coma Berenices, his elegy celebrating the lock’s catasterism and Conon’s subsequent ‘discovery’. Scholars discussing the Coma have commonly assumed that this fantastic charade demanded the entire court’s cooperation and coordination (e.g. West 1985: 63 n. 14; Koenen 1993: 90; Gutzwiller 1992: 362-3). Recently, for instance, Van Oppen de Ruiter (2015: 112) suggests that Conon and Callimachus presented the constellation jointly to the queen. I argue, however, that a closer reading of the Coma reveals the poet’s agonistic attitude towards the astronomer. In fact, Callimachus positions himself as a rival agent of change responsible for re-anchoring Conon’s invention in his Aetia and thereby securing its place in literary and cultural memory.