McDonald, Marianne

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Does Euripides Call the Gods ?????????????????

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Does Euripides Call the Gods jaaKdpioi?MARIANNE MCDONALDIt is likely that Euripides never applied the term fiuKapios to the gods.iArguments, however, must be found to show why Page and Biehl arewrong when they translate fiaKoipios as an epithet of the gods in Antiope45 and Orestes 972, respectively.2Lexica and etymological dictionaries regularly describe /xa/capto? interms similar to those in Liddell-Scott : I, "mostly of men," and II, "ofstates, qualities, etc."^ MaKoipios is never given as an epithet of the gods.MaKap, on the other hand, is applied to both gods and men from the timeof Homer,'* and the lexica concur with Liddell-Scott's description of thisterm: "prop, epith. of the gods, as opp. mortal men."A brief look at the history of the term /xaKapios may help us understandEuripides' usage. The word is first found in the 5th century, in Pindar{P. 5, 46 Snell). The only other writers in the 5th century who use iiaKocpiosare Euripides and Aristophanes. In P. 5, 46, Pindar calls the victorious1 This claim was first put forward in my dissertation Terms for Happiness in Euripidesnow published in Hypomnemata 54 (Gottingen, 1978), 231 f., 238 f., 296, 301 f.2 D. L. Page, Select Papyri, Loeb Classical Library (1941, reprint London, 1970), III,66 f. Werner Biehl, Euripides' Orestes erkldrt (Berlin, 1965), 106, and Euripides Orestes(Leipzig, Bibl. Teubneriana, 1975), loi.3 Cf. P. Chantraine's entry under fioiKap: "Sens: 'bienheureux' en parlant des dieux,en ce sens souvent au pluriel (Horn., etc.), mais peut se dire d'hommes deja chez Hom. . ..Derives: [laicdpios 'bienheureux, favorise des dieux' (Pi., E., prose attique), dit deshommes, . . ." Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque (Paris, 1968), III, 659. For the-to? suffix, see E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik (Munich, 1953) I, 466, and A. Meilletet J. Vendryes, Traite de grammaire comparee des langues classiques, 4th ed. (Paris, 1968),389: "Le sufiixe a servi en effet a tirer des adjectifs de la plupart des themes nominauxexistants."4 See note 3; the references in Homer given by Chantraine are: "ui naKup ArpelSr){II. 3, 182), avSpos fiaKapos pour un homme favorise des dieux, qui est sans souci commeimdieu (//. 11, 68)."28 Illinois Classical Studies, IVcharioteer fiaKocpios for achieving fame after great toil. In other people'seyes he shares in a sort of divine glory. In this poem the king for whom heis driving the chariot is called /id/cap (20), as is the king's hearth (11). Alocal hero, Battus, an ancestor of the king, is also called /id/ca/) (94), as arethe gods themselves [Kpovihai jxaKapes, 118). One can see the ranking:gods, hero, king (all fxaKapes, "divine"), and then the victorious driver{fxaKccpios, "sharing in godlike glory"). It is understandable that thedriver would be on a level lower than a king, who is, of course, ftd/cap(e.g., //. 3, 182). De Heer says that fxaKapios may describe a person as"one who shares to a certain extent in the distinction of being />id/ca/5."5Aristophanes uses the term fjiaKapios in the same way as Euripides, inthat it usually describes men. Aristophanes also applies it unambiguously5 C. de Heer, MAKAP-EYAAIMQN-OABIOZ-EYTYXHS: A Study of the SemanticField Denoting Happiness in Ancient Greek to the End of the 5th Century B.C. (Diss. Utrecht,Amsterdam, 1969), 31. De Heer has no example oi iiuKapios as applied to the gods, andwhen "sense components" are given for each of these four terms (p. 57), fiuKapios sharesseven components with fiuKap; after component 7, de Heer states, "For fiuKap the samenumbers apply with the addition of 8: applied to the gods."Although de Heer's work is helpful in many ways, one must use it with caution. Intwo tables (pp. 108-151), he says that he includes all the occurrences of the words whichare the subject of his study, and then bases percentages on these occurrences (p. 58).However, he has omitted over 50% of the occurrences of these words in Euripides' frag-ments, and thus his percentages and statistical inferences are bound to be inaccurate. Thefollowing is a list of his omissions: Alcestis,€vtvx(i)v 1122, einvxoiv 11 58; Medea, evSalfiovas1025, evSai/j-ovoiTov 1 073; Hippolytus, oXfiov 626 (however, 625 f. are generally regardedas spurious); Hecuba, fvrvxfj 330, oX^lov 493; Heraclidae, evSaifiovoiTe 582, eiJTvxels 641;Andromache, oAjStov 100; Supplices, oX^tois 5, evSaifiovel 577; Electra, evSainovoirjs 231,evTVxol 1077, €v8ainovi^o€is 1291; Troades, evrvxovaa 45, evrvx'qaas 639, evrvxovvros 1162;Helena, evSaiftovias 953 (LP reading adopted by Kannicht, rejected by Murray) ; Iphigeniai.T., evTvxei 329, eiirvxearepois 352 (LP reading rejected by Murray), evTvxovoa 837,€VTVXoliJ,ev 841, evTVXOvno' 850, evSaifiova 1088, evrvx^ccs 1 121, ei5Tii;^etj' 1 183; Ion, curvxi'at?1505; Phoenissae, evSaiiMovoirjs 1086, eiVvxet? 1 163; {Cyclops, fjuxKap 459: read 495) ; Iphigeniai.A., evSaiixovetv I161; Bacchae, fiuKapios 1243.The following are the omissions in the fragments (Nauck) : evSaifiovet 45 ; eurux*'?47.2; evTVXovvra 99; evrvxetv 142.4; evrvxci, eirrvxoj 143. 1 f.; evrvxet 154.2; euTUXtSi' 262.3;evSaifjiOvei 273.3; evTvxel 285.12; tjvtvxovv 285.20; oAjSow 330.8; evrvx'qodvroiv 362.31;evTvxovvra 402.2; evrvxovaa 409. 1 ; evhaniovelv 461. 1 ; evrvx^i 463.4; ev^amovovvroiv 536;evTvx^'t'V 608.3; ^vTvxovvT€s 626.7; euSai/AOvet 661.I ; evrvx^iv 701; evrvx^i 730> evSaifiovlav745.2; evSaifjiovi^wv 778; evrvxavvras 901.5; evTvxovvra 1017; evrvxel IO25.1; evrvxovai1056; evTvxet 1056.3. Page, Select Papyri (1941 ; Loeb, vol. 3) : Antiope, evrvx^ 15; ficcKapicov45; evTvxi] 102; Hypsipyle, oXpiov 79; oAjSia 115; €vrvx<^s 128; evSaifiovol-qs 304; 305;evTvxlMoiv 324; Melanippe, oX^ios 7. Nova Fragmenta Euripidea, ed. C. Austin: Archelaus,evTvxTJoova[ 19.11; Erechtheus, 65, itaKupios . . . cvBalfiwv col. H, 17; evTVxv col. H, 18;evTvxfj col. V, 58. Also omitted are all the Alexander fragments; in addition to 45, 47.2,Snellfr.6.8.Marianne McDonald 29to the "blissful departed."^ Again, in his works, the gods are never calledfjiaKccpioi. In Euripides, fxaKoipios describes men 27 times, and 17 timesthings rather than human beings;'^ but these things can be easily associatedwith human beings (such as xeip, oIkoi, ydfxos).^ It is never applied to thegods.There are two late uses which may be mentioned here.(i) In Aristotle{EN 1 1 78 b 9) the gods are said to be fjLaKccpioi kuI evSalfioves becausethey engage in contemplative activity (eVepyeia OeujprjTiK'q) , which is saidto excel in bliss (jjLaKapioTrjs) .^ This predicative usage, however, is differ-ent from an attributive one.^** Authors previous to Aristotle do not evengo this far. (2) Epicurus, in Ep. I, 78; I, 81 ; III, 123, and Kvpiai 86$at i,links the term fxaKcipios with a<f>6apTos', in Ep. I the divine nature ofcelestial bodies is indicated, and to fiuKoipiov in Kvpiai Sd|at i describesthe nature of the gods. Since these authors postdate Euripides, their usagedoes not support the interpretation of fiaKocpios in Euripides as an epithetof the gods.6 Euripides does not use fiUKap unambiguously as an epithet for the dead, except inthe phrase "isle of the blest" {(lUKapcov . . . vrj<jov, Hel. 1677). MuKupios, however, is usedto describe and praise the dead hero Erechtheus (65, col. II, 17 Austin). Both terms areoften used ambiguously by Euripides, in cases where the person described is dead or willbe; but the person addressed takes the term as a simple one of praise. The divine departedare most likely these described in Aristophanes Ranae 85 (Agathon is said to have goneis (lUKapajv evwxiav). In his Tayr^viaral the dead are called fiaKapioi, because they takepart in a drinking feast, and a dead person is evSaifuuv, or ovk avidoerat, fr. 1.6-1 1 in A.Meineke, Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum (1857, reprint Berlin, 1970), II, 2, 1148.7 De Heer gives 41 occurrences of fiuKapios in Euripides (p. 146), omitting Antiope 45(Page), Erechtheus 65, and Bacchae 1243.8 The one possible exception is really no exception. In Bacchae 1171 O-qpa is calledHOKapiov by Agave. Her hunting is seen as a divine thing and, ironically enough, theprize "beast" is her own son. Thus in this case too the association is all too human.9 Professor Peter Colaclides was kind enough to point out a passage in Plato's Phaedrus(247 a 4) where fiaKcipios and evSaifjLwv appear in close connection with the gods and(lUKapios is specifically linked with deai (sights, a concrete form of detopla). He alsopointed out 250 b 6, where the vision (oijiis re km dea) of beauty is fiuKapla, seen awevSaip.ovi x°PV) ^"^^ ^^^^ is the most blest of the mysteries {fiaKapiwrdT-q tcov reXercov)and also evSaifiova (f)dafiaTa. Aristotle goes much further with his image of the gods asblissful from their contemplation; but he no doubt owes much to Plato for the initialimagery of happiness linked with the gods and with a vision of beauty and goodness.10 See note 3. In contrast to fiaKupioi, the majority of instances of (laKapes in Homershow it modifying Oeol; e.g., //. i, 406; 4, 127; 14, 143; naKupes describes the gods in anabsolute sense in Od. 10, 299. Eioripides has parallel instances (e.g., fr. 453.2; Med. 825),and he applies this term to the gods more than to human beings (see Termsfor Happiness[note i], 295). In El. 994, Hel. 1348, Ba. 378, 1339, and fr. 912.12 /xaKapes by itselfsignifies the gods; in all of the other cases where it refers to the gods, some word like dealappears.30 Illinois Classical Studies, IVPage, however, translates /na/cajptcur adevos ^poxoiai KaraSel [t6v ccSikov],at Antiope 45 f., as "The might of the blest gods binds down theunrighteous man in the meshes of a snare." ^^ Given 5th century (particu-larly Euripidean) usage, fiaKaplcuv is perhaps better translated "of theblest," referring to men, not gods. This is probably a general statementby the chorus which can be specifically applied to Lycus, an unrighteoustyrant whom Zethus and Amphion, two heroes (blest men?), have justovercome, thus enforcing divine justice (cf. Antiope 46 f,quoted below). 12There are parallels in Euripides which show a tyrant meeting with justdestruction. In fact, another Lycus, also a tyrant of Thebes, is slain by thehero Heracles for his evil deeds, and the comment is made by Amphitryonthat Lycus is entering the net of swords {^poxoiai 8' apKvojv . . .^L(f)rj(j)6poiai, HF 729 f ). The chorus see this as a just return for evil (734-774), and the gods {Oeoi, 771) punish mortals {^porovs, 775) for unjustdeeds (aSi'/coiv, 772), which is a parallel to /SporcDv 8' av Ti^yais [rjif?€<f>vyev dejov; o£ Antiope 46 f Both the situation and the imagery of thetwo passages are parallel.On the other hand, Wilamowitz' restoration p,aKa.]pL(jov is by no meansthe only possibility :i3 for instance, ay]plwv might be a better reading,appropriate to the hunting imagery (cf. HF 12 10, Kardaxede Xeovrosaypiov Ovfxov). There is another possibility too: Euripides often calls atyrant jxaKapio?, or if not a tyrant, someone who is powerful and wealthy, i**Many times he comes to a bad end as a result of his evil deeds. It wouldseem, in Euripides, that wealth and power are corrupting agents if theyare exclusive source of happiness (i.e., a reason why people are calledIxaKapioi) A^ Lycus was a tyrant who could be called fxaKoipios on account11 Page follows Wilamowitz in adopting the reading iJiaKa]pio}v here; Wilamowitz'complete reading is <f>oviois /xa/ca]piwv.12 The image of the net/snare is a frequent one in the Oresteia : Agamemnon's crimsonrobe becomes the net of his destruction (see Clytemnestra's speech, Ag. 1372 ff., andFraenkel, Page, ad 1382). In Euripides' Bacchae the net image describes Dionysus' snarefor Pentheus, and the term Ppoxos appears again {Ba. 1020 ff. ; cf. also 848).13 In dealing with the word-end -piojv, one may either interpret it as belonging to aword in close association with adevos, or as an independent genitive, modifying or asso-ciated with something omitted. If it is linked with adevos it may have either a positive ora negative meaning, depending on whether one regards the strength as coming from thegods/heroes or the wrongdoer. For example, the following words (all of which occur inEuripides) could belong in the positive category: aAc^Tjr^pto?, Kaipios, Kvptos, Xvn^pios,awTrjpios. In the negative category appear aypios, ^fj.epios, Oovpios, Xddpios, oXedpios. Forthe metrics involved, see J. K.aTnhitsis, VAntiope d^Euripide (Athens, 1972), iii, and H.J.Mette, Lustrum 12 (1967), 74.14 Termsfor Happiness, 296, sections I and III.15 Cf. HF 1425 f., ooTis be nXovTov rj adevos fjiaXXov <f>iX<uv / ayaOaiv treiiaaBai ^ovXerai, KaKu>i^povel.Marianne McDonald 31of his wealth and power, but he abused these resources and came to a badend : fiaKa]pLojv in Antiope 45 might refer to a class of tyrants who tookunjust advantage of their resources and were punished. Thus one mightread something like this: o 0eo? /xa/ca]pta»i' adevos ^poxoiat. /caraSei, "godbinds down the might of 'the blissful' in the meshes of a snare," (para-phrasing Page).The interpretation given fj.aKapiiov as "of blest heroes" may have someparallels in Euiipides, too. Agave describes Cadmus as p.aKa.pios becauseof the heroic deeds accomplished by his daughters {Ba. 1242 f); so alsothe prize "beast" is called p.aKdpLov {Ba. iiji, see note 8). Then the"hero" Dolon will be called p-aKapcos if he achieves the heroic tasks whichwill make him famous {Rh. igS).!^ In each of these cases tragic irony isinvolved; Amphion and Zethus are more trvdy heroic than these "heroes."Various solutions to ]ptcuv have just been suggested. The only solutionwhich is not possible, given Euripidean usage, is the one chosen by Page,namely translating /Lta/cajptoiv as "of the blest gods."Now let us look at the passage Orestes 971-975, as interpreted by Biehl,who seems to make the same error. The context of the passage also deals\vdth the downfall of a tyrant:j8e^a/ce yap jSe^a/cev, olxerai retcviovTTpoTTuaa yewa IJeXoTTOs 6 t' itrl fiaKapLOis^ijXos u)v TTOT oIkos'(f>06vos vtv etAe OeoOev, aT€ SvafievTjs <f>oivia975 if)rj(f)os iv TToAiTai?.973 C'^Ao? Musgrave: ^tjAojto? codd. olkols MusgraveBiehl translates p-aKapiois as "bei den seligen Gottern" (in I965),i'^while commenting (in 1975): " eVt . . . {^Ao? : nescio an tmesis sit (i.e.CTTt^T^Ao? ?) : o . . . eVt fJLaKapiois C'^Ao? a>v ttot' of/co?cod (rot?) p.aKapioisiTrl^rjXos a>v ttot' oiaco? {'domus, quae olim dis praeter omnes aemulanda erat')."If, however, one accepts Musgrave's oIkois for oIkos, the interpretationseems to be easier: the tyrant's house is described as once p.aKdpi.os (cf.TV. 365, TToXiv . . . fiaKapiajTepav) . A parallel passage may be found inOr. 4 f , which describes the fall of Pelops' father Tantalus, a man16 One must be careful in citing this as an example of Euripidean usage, because theRhesus may not be by Euripides: see Terms for Happiness in Euripides, Appendix II, pp.309-314. Compare, however, \V. Ritchie, The Authenticity of the Rhesus of Euripides (Cam-bridge, 1964), 345 ff.17 In a footnote (p. 8i), de Heer comments on Biehl's rendering, "this must be due tofaulty construing."32 Illinois Classical Studies, IVwho once was /xa/capio? : in both cases human happiness is regarded astransient.But with the transmitted reading oIkos one may find a suitable meaningfor CTTL jxaKaplois: "the house once envied for bliss," (Wedd; cm denotingthe grounds of the envy, fxaKaplois being used as a neuter substantive) ; ^ ^"la maison dont la felicite etait jadis un objet d'envie" (L. Meridier).!'One can understand why Biehl thinks Pelops' house might be a specialobject of envy (Cv^os) "in the eyes of the blest gods," in view of thefollowing line, <f)d6vos viv efAe Oeodev. But the image seems to becomestronger ifwe see iiaKapiois as representing the height from which the lineof Pelops fell, rather than as a simple parallel to line 973. Orestes 4 fF.describe this fall from bliss. (Compare the fxaKapioi rvpavvoi, El. 709 f,whom the masses come to admire and for whom disaster is imminent;once again these iiuKapioi rvpavvoi are from the line of Pelops. Thechorus tells of the tyrants' fall from bliss because of their evil deeds, andhuman weakness is opposed to divine might, 727-746.)There are other instances, too, where fxaKoipios (never jxaKap) describesthe powerful and wealthy in Euripides: Troades 11 70 (Astyanax) andOrestes 86 (Helen and Menelaus). In the former case Hecuba's use ispathetic (Astyanax is now dead). In her dirge she speaks of the happinesswhich might have been his and would have come from his youth, marriageand laodeos rvpawls, royal power which would have made him the gods'equal, thus fiuKoipios. However, she quickly adds, ci rt rcbvSe fx,aKdp(,ov( TV. 1 1 70) , speculating herself on whether externals such as marriage androyal power are true sources of happiness (influenced no doubt by herpresent experience) . 20In Or. 86 Electra's use offjuxKapios is ironic (as it is in Electro 1006, whenshe calls Clytemnestra's hand fxaKapla) . In both cases she is vividly awareof her lowly station in contrast to these royal beings (Helen, Menelaus,and Clytemnestra) , and she plots to destroy their "bliss" by murder.Murder seems to be a constant threat in Euripides to the fxaKapiot, andthere also seems to be a play on this word as an epithet for the dead. Thus,18 N. Wedd, Euripides, The Orestes (Cambridge, 1926), 121.19 Bude, 1959, translating F. Chapoutier's text: ^ijXos . . . oIkos. The majority of theeditors, however, adopt Musgrave's conjecture oikois, including G. Murray (19 13),A. S. Way (Loeb, 19 12), V. di Benedetto (Florence, 1965).20 See Terms for Happiness, 2 1 3 f. Ion too questions royal power as a source of happi-ness (Ion 621-632); if a man lacks peace and must always fear for his life, can this manbe called happy ? In both cases (Hecuba's and Ion's) (laKtipios seems to describe a manwho can be at peace and enjoy a life of ease and security, such as the gods enjoy, and atyrant does not fit this description.Marianne McDonald 33whenever Euripides uses fiaKapios to describe people elevated above man-kind because of their wealth and power, some sort of contrast is implied,and in most cases a fall has already occurred or is about to occur. Thequestion is raised also about the value of this type of happiness, possiblyon the grounds that it is not lasting; it is certainly not carefree. One thinksof the maxim which has haunted Greek literature since the Solon-Croesusconfrontation (Herodotus 1.30-32): do not call a man happy until hisdeath. 21In conclusion, fiaKccptos at Orestes 972 most probably refers to oIkos,not to "the blest gods" (Biehl) : "the house of Pelops, once an object ofenvy for its bliss." It is highly unlikely that Euripides was using {xaKocpios,in either Antiope 45 or Orestes 972, in such a strikingly novel fashion asPage and Biehl claim. If he used it as a synonym for /xa/cap as an epithetof the gods, it would be contrary to his own practice, and that of hiscontemporaries.University of California, Irvine21 See Termsfor Happiness, pp. 22-24.

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