RATIONES RERUM 26: Articolo Enzo Passa

Descrizione

Rationes Rerum 26

ENZO PASSA
Nel segno di Achille. Atotas, Pilemene e la Paflagonia (CEG 572)

A thorough analysis of the language displayed by the fourth-century BCE epitaph of Atotas (CEG 572) shows that it relies on conventional epic vocabulary and imagery to highlight the reputation of the deceased. However, since the text diverges from Homer in significant features, the conclusion may be drawn that it was the work of a well-learned Attic poet. In the second couplet (ll. 4-5), the leader of the Paphlagonians at Troy, Pylaimenes, is mentioned as Atotas’ remote ancestor. The reference to his death at the hands of Achilles is at odds with Homer’s account (Il. 5, 576-579) and is likely to come from an alternative version of the episode. There are grounds to suspect that this version was already widely known at the time of Hellanikos of Lesbos and was connected with the reshaping of both Pylaimenes’ ancestry and the role played by the Paphlagonians in the Trojan War.