Books by Brian D McPhee
Mnemosyne Supplement Series 489, 2024
Apollonius represents a crucial link in the epic tradition spanning Homer and Vergil, but arresti... more Apollonius represents a crucial link in the epic tradition spanning Homer and Vergil, but arrestingly, his epic Argonautica rather begins and ends in the style of a Homeric Hymn. This book contends that Apollonius thus frames his poem as an innovative synthesis of both branches of his Homeric inheritance: an “epic hymn” that simultaneously commemorates its protagonists’ glorious deeds and venerates them in their religious capacity as divinized cult heroes. This study—the first-ever in-depth investigation of Apollonius’ profound engagement with the hymnic Homer—promises to reorient scholarly understandings of the Argonautica’s novel narrative strategies, its inclusive conception of heroism, and indeed, its very generic affiliations.
Articles and Notes by Brian D McPhee
Mnemosyne, 2024
Helenus' oracle in Sophocles' Philoctetes is commonly misunderstood as an unqualified revelation ... more Helenus' oracle in Sophocles' Philoctetes is commonly misunderstood as an unqualified revelation of an immutable future: the gods have fated Philoctetes to rejoin the Greek army at Troy. This has occasioned further misinterpretations of the play, especially as regards the "false ending", in which Neoptolemus and Philoctetes would appear to disregard the divine will in an act of conscious impiety by choosing to sail for Malis instead. This paper argues that the oracle should rather be understood as conditional, allowing Philoctetes either to assent or refuse to rejoin the Greek army in good conscience. In the absence of compulsion from the gods, Neoptolemus and Philoctetes feel free to make tragic choices of real gravity about their futures, and these choices reveal the duo's characters before Heracles appears and reverses their course.
Fervet Opus. Per i primi sessant’anni di «Vichiana», a cura di Crescenzo Formicola (Pisa: Fabrizio Serra), 2024
This note proposes that the opening words of Ovid’s Apollo and Daphne episode, Primus amor Phoebi... more This note proposes that the opening words of Ovid’s Apollo and Daphne episode, Primus amor Phoebi (Met. 1.452), conceal a sonic evocation of the Greek word ἀμορφοῖ. This bilingual wordplay foreshadows the way that Apollo’s ‘love’ ‘disfigures’ Daphne by precipitating her transformation into a laurel tree (as glossed in her prayer: «Destroy my beauty by changing it!» [mutando perde figuram, 547]) and thematizes the causal relationship between amor, loss of form/beauty (amorphôsis), and concomitant change into a new form (metamorphôsis) that typifies the experience of many other characters in the epic, including, above all, other victims of sexual violence.
Materiali e discussioni per l'analisi dei testi classici, 2024
This paper examines Apollonius’ use of etymological wordplay as a tool for commenting upon his ow... more This paper examines Apollonius’ use of etymological wordplay as a tool for commenting upon his own mythological narrative, focusing on the Argonautica’s Sirens episode as a case study. I especially investigate Apollonius’ allusion to the Neapolitan Siren Parthenope via the phrase παρθενίην δ᾽ ἐνοπήν (4.909), which, I argue, functions to validate the poet’s localization of the Sirens in the Tyrrhenian Sea and to confirm his novel notion that they were not born as avian-human hybrids.
Homer in Sicily, edd. Stamatia Dova, Cathy Callaway, and George Alexander Gazis (Siracusa: Parnassos Press), 2023
This paper surveys a mythological strain of προβλήματα Ὁμηρικά that arose as the fantastical loca... more This paper surveys a mythological strain of προβλήματα Ὁμηρικά that arose as the fantastical locales of Odysseus’ voyage were increasingly mapped onto the real-world geography of the Western Mediterranean. Briefly put, if the Cyclopes and other supernatural beings once inhabited Sicily and environs, why were these creatures no longer extant at these sites in the historical period? What had happened to them in the intervening centuries? The Odyssey does not record the ultimate fate of any of its hero’s monstrous foes, and yet they had evidently vanished from latter-day Magna Graecia—if they were ever real at all (cf. Eratosth. frr. 5–7 Roller). I argue that the tension between Odyssean myth and the “facts on the ground” at these sites engendered an array of mythopoetic responses, from scholars, poets, and local antiquarians, that sought to authenticate Homer’s narrative and explain the gap between myth and contemporary experience.
My analysis identifies two broad responses to the problem of Sicilian monsters. First are traditions invented to vindicate the localization of these Homeric creatures by identifying their etiological traces in epichoric topographies (e.g., Ov. Fast. 4.69–70); second are myths of extinction that account for the monsters’ disappearance from their Homeric settings by supplying narratives of their deaths (e.g., [Apollod.] Epit. 7.19). The first response betrays the same impulse in the reception of Homer that animates the αἴτια of Alexandrian epic, in which the old legends are corroborated by the still-visible σήματα and ὀνόματα left in their heroes’ wake. The extinction myths are generally less successful, in that they often introduce anachronism into the mythic tradition, and thus require clunky qualifications (e.g., Lycoph. Alex. 662–665). This study demonstrates the mythopoetic power of Homeric reception and clarifies some of the complex dynamics driving the tangled web of post-Homeric traditions surrounding Odysseus’ wanderings.
Ankara Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2023
This paper identifies a new instance of “reverse-genealogical characterization”—a literary techni... more This paper identifies a new instance of “reverse-genealogical characterization”—a literary technique whereby a well-known character’s distinctive traits are projected back onto their ancestor—in the Daedalion episode of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (11.289–345). It has widely been recognized that the episode’s sketch of the figure of Autolycus (312–315) alludes to some of the defining characteristics of that trickster’s grandson Ulysses, but I contend that Ovid’s depiction of Autolycus’ own grandfather Daedalion extends this process of genealogical foreshadowing back two generations further. In particular, I argue that the reciprocal pain and injury that typify Daedalion’s post-metamorphosis existence (aliisque dolens fit causa dolendi, 345) alludes to the Homeric etymology of “Odysseus” from ὀδυσσάμενος, as expounded by Autolycus himself in the Odyssey (19.407). The reverse-genealogical characterization of Autolycus and Daedalion jointly delineate Ulysses’ essential character and particularly highlight traits that undermine his sophistic self-presentation in the Judgment of Arms in Metamorphoses 13.
Rivista di filologia e istruzione classica, 2022
This paper argues that Apollonius Rhodius' simile comparing Jason to Apollo (Arg. 1, 307-311) all... more This paper argues that Apollonius Rhodius' simile comparing Jason to Apollo (Arg. 1, 307-311) alludes to Anan. fr. 1 West. Beyond its intrinsic interest in enriching the interpretation of Apollonius' simile, this allusion offers new evidence for the reception that Ananius--a minor poet at the margins of the iambic canon--enjoyed in the Hellenistic period.
Narratives of Power in the Ancient World, 2022
Introduction: Brains vs. Brawn? From his earliest emergence in Greek literature and iconography, ... more Introduction: Brains vs. Brawn? From his earliest emergence in Greek literature and iconography, Heracles has been a paragon of power in its crudest, most physical sense, as displayed in a dizzying array of stories dedicated to his feats of strength and prowess. 1 Still today, the exaltation of bodily brawn remains the primary meaning of the myth in the popular consciousness. In the realm of branding and advertising, Heracles' name (often in its Latinate form 'Hercules') has been attached to such products as cement and dynamite, and even to U.S. and U.K. military aircraft and warships. 2 Meanwhile, in Cinecittà and Hollywood, the hero has been assimilated to the model of the 19th-century circus strongman, as witness a long series of bodybuilders who have played the role since the 50s, from Steve Reeves to Arnold Schwarzenegger to Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson. 3
Classical Philology, 2022
Most of Conon’s Narratives is only available as abridged by Photius in the Bibliotheca, but epito... more Most of Conon’s Narratives is only available as abridged by Photius in the Bibliotheca, but epitomization has introduced many obscurities into Conon’s often-idiosyncratic stories. This paper examines one such obscurity in Conon’s Orpheus narrative (45), namely, his decapitated head’s discovery by the mouth of one Meles River—a unique mythological variant. Against scholarly uncertainty, this river can be confidently identified with the Smyrnean Meles, which connects meaningfully with the Orpheus myth both via its Homeric associations and by means of etymological wordplay. These interconnections testify to a level of literary sophistication in the Narratives that abridgment has tended to conceal.
Women and Power in Hellenistic Poetry (Hellenistica Groningana 26), 2021
Apollonius’ evocation of Homeric characters as allusive models is one of his best recognized tech... more Apollonius’ evocation of Homeric characters as allusive models is one of his best recognized techniques of characterization. As a rule, these models are both comparative and contrastive: a character’s departure from the Homeric paradigm is often more illuminating than its adherence to it; superficial similarities throw more serious differences into relief. This paper applies this approach to an analysis of Apollonius’ Medea, but it expands the pool of her potential ‘Homeric’ models to include the goddesses from the Homeric Hymns, a critical but understudied poetic corpus within the literary archaeology of the Argonautica. Just as a program of allusions to the Odyssey positions Apollonius’ Medea as a “Mephistophelean” Nausicaa, so I argue that Apollonius alludes to Homer’s other body of hexametric poetry in order to characterize Medea as a sort of chthonic inversion of the Olympian goddesses of the Homeric Hymns. Through a series of paradigmatic readings of allusions to the hymns to Athena (28), Demeter (2), and Aphrodite (5), I show that Apollonius stresses Medea’s awesome magical powers, which are literally godlike, but consistently portrays the effects thereof as far more destructive and violent than those of her hymnic antecedents.
Yearbook of Ancient Greek Epic, 2021
Against recent skepticism, this article proposes that Apollonius’s Argonautica alludes to the var... more Against recent skepticism, this article proposes that Apollonius’s Argonautica alludes to the variant traditions that regarded either the Argo or the ship of Danaus as the first that ever sailed. Both variants predate Apollonius, and the poet nods to each at different points in his epic. Most novel is my argument that the rare word Δαναΐς (1.137) constitutes a subtle allusion to the tradition that Danaus’s ship, the “Danais” (Δαναΐς, scholium ad Argonautica 1.1–4e), was the world’s first ship. Neither tradition jibes with Apollonius’s mythological chronology, but Danaus’s voyage nevertheless provides a resonant Greco-Egyptian exemplar for the Argonautic expedition.
Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 2019
AN ILIADIC INTERTEXT IN AENEID 8.560-567 BRIAND. MCPHEE A T AENEID 8.560-567, Evander mentions hi... more AN ILIADIC INTERTEXT IN AENEID 8.560-567 BRIAND. MCPHEE A T AENEID 8.560-567, Evander mentions his youthful triumph over
Classical Quarterly, 2019
Ovid Metamorphoses 2.219 conceals an allusion to Orpheus' birth from the union of Oeagrus and Cal... more Ovid Metamorphoses 2.219 conceals an allusion to Orpheus' birth from the union of Oeagrus and Calliope. Given the Muses' characterization in Ovid's epic, I argue that this union should be understood as yet another instance of the rape motif in the Metamorphoses.
Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, 2018
The elevated position of Poseidon in the divine hierarchy reflects his importance in Boeotian myt... more The elevated position of Poseidon in the divine hierarchy reflects his importance in Boeotian myth and cult, and Orion’s “regaining his own land” is part of Corinna’s ennobling depiction of this hero of Tanagra.
Histos, 2018
This paper advances a theological interpretation of the madness, downfall, and death of the Herod... more This paper advances a theological interpretation of the madness, downfall, and death of the Herodotean Cambyses, understood as divine retribution for the king's slaying of Apis, the supreme violation of Egyptian nomoi. The first section defines the scope of Cambyses' punishment more expansively than previous scholarship, from Smerdis' murder to Cambyses' anguished final days of restored sanity. The second section analyses Cambyses' unusual variety of madness as a sort of 'hyper-rationality' that, ironically, blinds the mad king to the 'madness' of the world. The king's ruin ultimately proves the moral of the Cambyses logos, that it is madness to deride nomoi, no matter how laughable they might appear.
Akropolis, 2017
This paper presents two notes relating to Jason’s prayer to Apollo before the launch of the Argo ... more This paper presents two notes relating to Jason’s prayer to Apollo before the launch of the Argo in Apollonius’ Argonautica (1.415–419). In both cases, I examine what may be termed the “subtextual” facets of the passage: textual data that are significant—productive of meaningful interpretation—and yet hardly apparent on a surface-level reading of the poem. The first note concerns the changing total number of crewmembers aboard the Argo, an evolving figure which Apollonius encourages the reader to track as the narrative progresses. The second proposes a new acrostic that “completes” the ΑΚΤΙΑ acrostic that Selina Stewart recently discovered in Jason’s prayer. In each case, I draw different conclusions from these subliminal data, which have ramifications for questions of gender and inclusivity in Jason’s crew and the role of the gods in the poem. Both readings, however, are a testament to the careful design and unity of purpose that runs through the epic.
Classical World, 2017
Because of the opposition of Ion’s Apollonian bow to Dionysian birds, the birds of Ion’s monody c... more Because of the opposition of Ion’s Apollonian bow to Dionysian birds, the birds of Ion’s monody can be read as portents that correct the misapprehensions giving rise to the tragic plot, that Creusa’s child was eaten by birds and that Ion is Xuthus’ son, conceived in a Bacchic revel. These unread bird signs underline human ignorance, and similar Dionysian bird imagery serves the same function in the scenes of attempted kin-murder, the zenith of human ignorance in the Ion. But the birds’ ambiguity also signals the interdependence of Ion’s Apollonian and Dionysian identities in his future position at Athens.
Classical Philology, 2017
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2016
Scholarly treatments of Jesus's sea-walking miracle frequently cite several parallel figures “wal... more Scholarly treatments of Jesus's sea-walking miracle frequently cite several parallel figures “walking on water” in Greco-Roman mythology, such as Poseidon, Orion, Euphemus, and Pythagoras. In fact, however, this “walking” terminology is inaccurate because, contrary to Adela Yarbro Collins and others, Greco-Roman mythology supplies no unambiguous example of a figure walking on water in the way that Jesus does in Mark, Matthew, and John. Rather, there are numerous examples—far more than have been recognized—of running, chariot-riding, and flying over water beginning as early as Homer's Iliad. Whereas Jesus's feat is presented as a sort of levitation miracle, water running and water riding are understood as a consequence of superhuman speed in the popular Greek conception of physics, with the idea ultimately based on the motion of wind over waves. Flying over water and other surfaces is associated in Greek thought with supernatural travel convenience; it requires speed and flying devices that are entirely foreign to the Gospel narratives. The few examples of Greco-Roman figures purported to walk on water just as Jesus does either have been misinterpreted or are idiosyncratic, Common-Era creations. This article argues that there are no actual Greco-Roman parallels to what Jesus does in the Gospels. Walking on the sea was more novel, more marvelous, and less immediately interpretable for non-Jewish audiences than has been assumed.
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Books by Brian D McPhee
Articles and Notes by Brian D McPhee
My analysis identifies two broad responses to the problem of Sicilian monsters. First are traditions invented to vindicate the localization of these Homeric creatures by identifying their etiological traces in epichoric topographies (e.g., Ov. Fast. 4.69–70); second are myths of extinction that account for the monsters’ disappearance from their Homeric settings by supplying narratives of their deaths (e.g., [Apollod.] Epit. 7.19). The first response betrays the same impulse in the reception of Homer that animates the αἴτια of Alexandrian epic, in which the old legends are corroborated by the still-visible σήματα and ὀνόματα left in their heroes’ wake. The extinction myths are generally less successful, in that they often introduce anachronism into the mythic tradition, and thus require clunky qualifications (e.g., Lycoph. Alex. 662–665). This study demonstrates the mythopoetic power of Homeric reception and clarifies some of the complex dynamics driving the tangled web of post-Homeric traditions surrounding Odysseus’ wanderings.
My analysis identifies two broad responses to the problem of Sicilian monsters. First are traditions invented to vindicate the localization of these Homeric creatures by identifying their etiological traces in epichoric topographies (e.g., Ov. Fast. 4.69–70); second are myths of extinction that account for the monsters’ disappearance from their Homeric settings by supplying narratives of their deaths (e.g., [Apollod.] Epit. 7.19). The first response betrays the same impulse in the reception of Homer that animates the αἴτια of Alexandrian epic, in which the old legends are corroborated by the still-visible σήματα and ὀνόματα left in their heroes’ wake. The extinction myths are generally less successful, in that they often introduce anachronism into the mythic tradition, and thus require clunky qualifications (e.g., Lycoph. Alex. 662–665). This study demonstrates the mythopoetic power of Homeric reception and clarifies some of the complex dynamics driving the tangled web of post-Homeric traditions surrounding Odysseus’ wanderings.