ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ ΤΟΥ ΛΥΚΟΦΡΟΝΟΣ
A' Ροζοκόκη
Β' Σκέμπης
Recent years have witnessed a boom in scholarship on Lycophron, with magisterial editions, translations and book-length studies. In the light of this ever-growing enthusiasm, a 760-page-long volume devoted to the eclats d'obscurite of this controversial poem is a reason to be thankful. In the Introduction the Editors re-assess the current state of Lycophronic studies, sketching out the cultural and literary contexts of the Alexandra, and pin down all those factors that conduce to what they (and others) wish to term 'obscurity'. They aim to advance the debate over the [..] author's identity, to examine closely the poem's veil of obscurity, and to appreciate its richness from a literary perspective.
Section 1 contains case studies which explore cross-generic dialogues. Starting with Homer, the geographical construction of the Iliadic Catalogue of Ships reflecting the provenance of the gathered contingents exerts a formative influence on the catalogic middle section of the Alexandra which recounts the abortive nostoi of the heroes (Sens). To reverse the order of this arrangement is to lay focus on the places where the nostic trips are terminated and to epitomise the tense relation between epic and the Alexandra's tragic edge. Yet the reworking of passages stemming from epic and tragedy may also entail a shifting perspective that triggers a parodic stance towards established traditions (Kolde). In a similar vein, prologue and epilogue of the messenger speech are to be inscribed in tragic contexts. Apart from showing that outset and closure anchor in Prometheus Bound and Aeschylus' Agamemnon by means of internal twists and allusions, Looijenga argues for the prologue's meta-level that advertises the allurements of the main narrative. Beyond traditional approaches to intertextuality, Lycophron occasionally reconfigures the tradition. His rendering of Pindaric visualisations of heroes such as Ajax and Pelops conjures up an anti-hero image that displays a personal tinge in the way myths are treated (Gigante Lanzara). As for historiography, West's lucid treatment of Lycophron and Herodotus argues that, alongside individual episodes, the narrative techniques of digression, flashback and prophecy have a Herodotean basis.
Section 2 tackles issues of enunciative circumstances, discursive strategies, authorial attitudes and semantics that make up the poem's literary system. In an enthralling chapter, Cusset analyses the 'reflexive mirroring' that issues from the absorption of Cassandra's prophetic voice into the messenger speech and amounts to a well-honed 'putting into enunciation'. It is precisely this reflexive quality that provides new insights for a proper reading of the poem inasmuch as it resonates with the production of poetry. Taking her cues from the plasticity of the word within the context of orality, Kossaifl argues, in a rather hazy manner, for the poem's 'enunciative polyphony'. Lambin's musings on the function 'author', a category made fertile for Greek poetry by Calame in Identites d'auteur dans I'Antiquite et la tradition europeenne (2004), pp. 11-39, are a highlight of the collection. Lycophron enriches what falls within the Foucauldian category in so far as he cares to establish a relation with his readers that allows for a more profound access to his text than the limited one the Hellenistic posture of the erudite poet is willing to grant. The question of authorship is viewed in relation to scholarly practices: the re-semanticisation of hapax legomena through etymology employs exegetical principles familiar to Lycophron of Chalcis from his editorial work and thereby suggests him as author of the poem (Negri).
Section 3 comes to grips with linguistic matters from the exhaustive use of metaphor and metonymy to cryptic references and naming practices. Hurst, the scholar to whom the Alexandra owes its current appeal the most, turns to those 'bright', life-affirming moments in the narrative that break off the dim atmosphere imposed by the enigmas of Cassandra and steer the audience's mood. Pressing further on stylistics, the poem's syntax, in all its idiosyncrasy and subtle artistry, is on a par with its intellectually demanding content (Kalospyros). A probe into Lycophron's predilection for lexical rarities and morphological ingenuity shows that such lexemes serve the dialogue with other texts (Guilleux). Sistakou's piece delves into the narrative grounding of proper names which the burdened relation between name and identification brings about. When naming ends up solving riddles, the [..] amount of intellectual alertness required by the reader incidentally dramatises the narrative. Berra produces a thorough taxonomy based on ancient grammarians, scholia and testimonia to bring the extratextual references into this discussion.
Section 4 treats the significance of myth and religion. Renaud examines the way the Boeotian denomination of Orion as Candaon supports a recondite version of Iphigeneia's sacrifice. Lycophron does not fail to unravel his mythopoeic tenden cies, mostly by building on the post-Homeric tradition: details about Cassandra, the Trojan royal family and Aeneas provide the narrative upon which his myth shaping and myth-making leave their imprint (Wathelet). With regard to Calchas' Italian profile, Lycophron follows the thread of an ancient, diffused tradition and ascribes a new meaning to it, consonant with the cultural specifics of his time (Barbera/Russo). Local traditions are again to the fore in Decourt's piece, which treats Lycophron's take on the Thessalian cult system. Durbec notes how narratives about the death of Agamemnon and Hector bring the 'praise/blame' distinction into play so as to endorse hero cults.
The next section centres on mythical geographies and spatial configurations. Mari discusses the way in which mythological strings segue into aetiologies of female rites and thus forge Cassandra's gendered perspective. Mahe-Simon suggests an identification with Macedonian rulers of the wolf and the lion whose actions are destined to soothe the troubled relation of Europe and Asia. Faced with Apulian vase-paintings thematising this relation, Pouzadoux/Prioux credit bits of Lycophron's mythical stratum with an undercurrent of measured italocentrism. But still, the geopolitical agendas of Macedonian kingship and Chalcidean colonialism seem to fall back on references to Greek and Etruscan Giants (Massa-Pairault). The Thessalian kings' shipwreck on the shores of Libya picks up once more the intercontinental perspective to the extent that the list of Thessalian toponyms underpins the fate of these men (Bouchon). Trachsel studies the narrative setting in which the Trojan landscape is constructed, a site that stages the dramatic action and hosts the narrated events of the war. Rougier-Blanc scrutinises the literal and figurative language pertaining to architecture that generates an unmediated sense of inward and outward space.
The last section treats Lycophron's Nachleben, ancient and modern. The considerable impact that the Alexandra appears to have had on Augustan poets (Klein) and Byzantine writers (De Stefani/Magnelli, Paramelle) highlights its distinctive flair as far as literary conception, metrics and poetics are concerned. Two recent French translations, by Hummel and Lambin, are discussed by Chauvin. The Editors' final remarks are followed by six useful indexes.
This hefty collection of essays does justice to Lycophron's dense, overly allusive writing, calls attention to subject matter intrinsic in his poetry, and claims a canonical place for him among 'top-rank' Hellenistic poets. Despite the occasional unevenness in the thematic balance of individual sections - which is to be expected from conference proceedings - the volume does more than meet its programmatic ambitions; it shows how obscurity can make sense.
University of Erfurt MARIOS SKEMPIS
marios.skempis@uni-erfurt.de
ΣΗΜΕΙΩΣΕΙΣ
ΒΙΒΛΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ
https://www.politeianet.gr/books/9789609542630-rozokoki-alexandra-koralli-i-arnitiki-parousiasi-ton-ellinon-stin-alexandra-tou-lukofrona-kai-i-chronologisi-tou-poiimatos-diglossi-ekdosi-ellinika-agglika-302334Ροζοκόκη, Αλ. 2019. Η αρνητική παρουσίαση των Ελλήνων στην 'Αλεξανδρα' του Λυκόφρονα και η χρονολόγηση του ποιήματος, Αθήνα.
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