Apollo was the father of Greek oracles, but the mothers of Greek riddles were the nine Muses: Apollodorus writes that the Sphinx had learnt its aenigma from the Muses (Bibliotheca, 3.5.8); Alcaeus writes that the boys who propounded to Homer the griphos that was going to cause his death had been inspired by the Muses (Anthologia Graeca 7.1.1-2). Since Apollo and the Muses were children of Zeus, the similarity of prophetic and enigmatic language can be explained through mythological and genealogical reasons as well. After having shortly discussed how this shared pedigree affected their role in Greek culture, this paper will deal with the similarities between oracles and riddles, whose bonds were acknowledged by the compiler of Book XIV of the Greek Anthology. But it will also deal with their dissimilarities: oracles were given by Apollo through his priestess, while riddles were entrusted by the Muses without a go-between; oracles were considered to be the god's voice for a long time, while riddles soon became a human device (still inspired by the Muses, as riddles were always composed in a poetic form) to amuse a company of jolly banqueters.
Beta, S. (2013). Oracles and riddles ambo fratres: cultural (and family) relations between Oracula and Aenigmata. In Poetic Language and Religion in Greece and Rome (pp.199-206). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Oracles and riddles ambo fratres: cultural (and family) relations between Oracula and Aenigmata
BETA, SIMONE
2013-01-01
Abstract
Apollo was the father of Greek oracles, but the mothers of Greek riddles were the nine Muses: Apollodorus writes that the Sphinx had learnt its aenigma from the Muses (Bibliotheca, 3.5.8); Alcaeus writes that the boys who propounded to Homer the griphos that was going to cause his death had been inspired by the Muses (Anthologia Graeca 7.1.1-2). Since Apollo and the Muses were children of Zeus, the similarity of prophetic and enigmatic language can be explained through mythological and genealogical reasons as well. After having shortly discussed how this shared pedigree affected their role in Greek culture, this paper will deal with the similarities between oracles and riddles, whose bonds were acknowledged by the compiler of Book XIV of the Greek Anthology. But it will also deal with their dissimilarities: oracles were given by Apollo through his priestess, while riddles were entrusted by the Muses without a go-between; oracles were considered to be the god's voice for a long time, while riddles soon became a human device (still inspired by the Muses, as riddles were always composed in a poetic form) to amuse a company of jolly banqueters.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/11365/46478
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