Megalai Ehoiai

The Megalai Ehoiai (Ancient Greek: Μεγάλαι Ἠοῖαι, Greek pronunciation: [meg.á.laj ɛː.hoĵ.aj]) or Great Ehoiai^[1] is a fragmentary Greek epic poem that was popularly, though not universally, attributed to Hesiod during antiquity.^[2] Like the more widely read Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, the Megalai Ehoiai was a genealogical poem structured around the exposition of heroic family trees among which myths concerning many of their members were narrated.^[3] At least seventeen fragments of the poem are transmitted by quotations in other ancient authors and two second-century CE papyri,^[4] but given the similarities between the Megalai Ehoiai and Catalogue of Women it is possible that some fragments attributed to the Catalogue actually derive from the less popular Hesiodic work.^[5] Indeed most of the scholarly attention devoted to the poem has been concerned with its relation to the Catalogue and whether or not the title "Megalai Ehoiai" in fact referred to a single, independent epic.

Nature, relation to the Catalogue and authorship

The title of the poem stems from its use of the feminine formula ē' hoiē (ἠ' οἵη, Greek pronunciation: [ɛː hoȷ́.ɛː]), "or such as", which introduced heroines whose unions with gods and heroes played a major part in the heroic genealogies that were the ostensible focus of the Megalai Ehoiai.^[6] The sole surviving use of the formula comes in the introduction of the otherwise unknown Mecionice, mother of Euphemus:^[7]


ἠ' οἵη Ὑρίηι πυκινόφρων Μηκιονίκη, ἣ τέκεν Εὔφημον γαιηόχωι Ἐννοσιγαίωι μιχθεῖσ' ἐν φιλότητι πολυχρύσου Ἀφροδίτης	Or such as (ē' hoiē) shrewd Mecionice in Hyria, who bore Euphemus to the earth-moving Earth-shaker having mingled in the love of all-golden Aphrodite.

Unlike the Catalogue of Women, the Megalai Ehoiai was often cited without attribution or with skeptical periphrases like "the author of the Megalai Ehoiai says ..."^[8]

Content

It is not known how long the Megalai Ehoiai was, but, to judge from the Megalai ("Great") of the title, it had more than five books, the number which the comprised the Catalogue of Women.^[9]

Heracles

The death and apotheosis of Heracles was alluded to in the Odyssey and at least twice in the Catalogue,^[10] and a related scene was found in the Megalai Ehoiai. With sentiments reminiscent of Thetis' complaints to Achilles at Iliad 18.54–60,^[11] Alcmene bemoans her hero-son's fate:


ὦ τέκος, ἦ μάλα δή σε πονηρότατον καὶ ἄριστον Ζεὺς τέκνωσε πατήρ	O my child, in very truth you are the most toilsome and the best whom father Zeus has begotten^[12]

Argonautica

Doubtful and disputed fragments

Reception and reconstruction

Select editions and translations

Critical editions

Rzach, A. (1908), Hesiodi Carmina (2nd rev. ed.), Leipzig {{citation}}: External link in |title= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1967), Fragmenta Hesiodea, Oxford, ISBN 0-19-814171-8{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1990), "Fragmenta selecta", in F. Solmsen (ed.), Hesiodi Theogonia, Opera et Dies, Scutum (3rd rev. ed.), Oxford, ISBN 0-19-814071-1{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Hirschberger, M. (2004), Gynaikōn Katalogos und Megalai Ēhoiai: Ein Kommentar zu den Fragmenten zweier hesiodeischer Epen, Munich & Leipzig, ISBN 3-598-77810-4{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

Translations

Evelyn-White, H.G. (1936), Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica, Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 57 (3rd rev. ed.), Cambridge, MA, ISBN 978-0-674-99063-0 {{citation}}: |volume= has extra text (help); External link in |title= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). (The link is to the 1st edition of 1914.) English translation with facing Greek text of all the fragments in Merkelbach & West (1967) except for frr. 251(a) and 259(a).
Most, G.W. (2006), Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 57, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 978-0-674-99622-9 {{citation}}: |volume= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Most, G.W. (2007), Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue, Other Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 503, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 978-0-674-99623-2 {{citation}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

References

^ Abbreviated ME. On the meaning and significance of the title see Nature, relation to the Catalogue and authorship, below. Alternate Latin transliterations of the title are also occasionally used in modern scholarship: Megalae Ehoeae or Eoeae; occasionally the Latin translation of Megalai is also found: i.e. Magnae Eoeae.
^ Cingano (2009, p. 119).
^ Most (2006, p. lix), Cingano (2009, pp. 118–19).
^ These are "Hesiod" frr. 246–262 in the edition of record, Merkelbach & West (1967).
^ Cingano (2009, p. 120–1). In her recent edition of the Cat. and ME, for example, Hirschberger (2004) assigns to the ME eleven fragments which Merkelbach and West took to belong to the Cat. On some of these fragments see D'Alessio (2005c) and Doubtful and disputed fragments, below.
^ West (1985, p. 1); cf. Most (2006, p. lix).
^ ME fr. 253 = scholia on Pindar, Pythia 4.36c.
^ E.g. Scholia to Apollonius of Rhodes 4.58 = ME fr. 260, "in the Megalai Ehoiai it is said ..." (ἐν δὲ ταῖς Μεγάλαις Ἠοίαις λέγεται), Pausanias 9.40.6 = ME fr. 252, "the author of the epic Megalai Ehoiai also confirms ..." (μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ τὰ ἔπη τὰς μεγάλας Ἠοίας ποιήσας); cf. West (1985, p. 127).
^ Most (2006, p. lix).
^ Od. 11.601–2, Cat. frr. 25.17–33 and 229.6–13.
^ D'Alession & 2005a (189).
^ ME fr. 248 (trans. Most (2007, p. 263), his fr. 187a.)

Bibliography

Cingano, E. (2009), "The Hesiodic Corpus", in Montanari, Rengakos & Tsagalis (2009) (ed.), pp. 91–130 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (link).
Cohen, I.M. (1986), "The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women and Megalai Ehoiai", Phoenix, 40: 127–42, JSTOR 1088507.
D'Alessio, G.B. (2005a), "The Megalai Ehoiai: A Survey of the Fragments", in Hunter (2005a) (ed.), pp. 176–216 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (link).
D'Alessio, G.B. (2005b), "Ordered from the Catalogue: Pindar, Bacchylides and Hesiodic Genealogical Poetry", in Hunter (2005a) (ed.), pp. 217–38 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (link).
D'Alessio, G.B. (2005c), "review of Hirschberger (2004)", BMCR, 2005.02.31 {{citation}}: External link in |title= (help).
Hunter, R. (2005), The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Constructions and Reconstructions, Cambridge, ISBN 0-521-83684-0{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Leo, F. (1894), "Hesiodea", Ausgewählte kleine Schriften, vol. ii, Rome, 1960, pp. 343–63{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Montanari, F.; Rengakos, A.; Tsagalis, C. (2009), Brill's Companion to Hesiod, Leiden, ISBN 978-9004-17840-3{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Schwartz, J. (1960), Pseudo-Hesiodeia: recherches sur la composition, la diffusion et la disparition ancienne d'oeuvres attribuées à Hésiode, Leiden{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
West, M.L. (1985), The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Its Nature, Structure, and Origins, Oxford, ISBN 0198140347{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

External links

English translation at the Theoi Project, from the first edition (1914) of Evelyn-White (1936).

[1] Abbreviated ME. On the meaning and significance of the title see Nature, relation to the Catalogue and authorship, below. Alternate Latin transliterations of the title are also occasionally used in modern scholarship: Megalae Ehoeae or Eoeae; occasionally the Latin translation of Megalai is also found: i.e. Magnae Eoeae.

[2] Cingano (2009, p. 119).

[3] Most (2006, p. lix), Cingano (2009, pp. 118–19).

[4] These are "Hesiod" frr. 246–262 in the edition of record, Merkelbach & West (1967).

[5] Cingano (2009, p. 120–1). In her recent edition of the Cat. and ME, for example, Hirschberger (2004) assigns to the ME eleven fragments which Merkelbach and West took to belong to the Cat. On some of these fragments see D'Alessio (2005c) and Doubtful and disputed fragments, below.

[6] West (1985, p. 1); cf. Most (2006, p. lix).

[7] ME fr. 253 = scholia on Pindar, Pythia 4.36c.

[8] E.g. Scholia to Apollonius of Rhodes 4.58 = ME fr. 260, "in the Megalai Ehoiai it is said ..." (ἐν δὲ ταῖς Μεγάλαις Ἠοίαις λέγεται), Pausanias 9.40.6 = ME fr. 252, "the author of the epic Megalai Ehoiai also confirms ..." (μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ τὰ ἔπη τὰς μεγάλας Ἠοίας ποιήσας); cf. West (1985, p. 127).

[9] Most (2006, p. lix).

[10] Od. 11.601–2, Cat. frr. 25.17–33 and 229.6–13.

[11] D'Alession & 2005a (189).

[12] ME fr. 248 (trans. Most (2007, p. 263), his fr. 187a.)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

v t e Hesiod
Extant poems	Theogony Works and Days Shield of Heracles
Fragmentary poems	Catalogue of Women Megalai Ehoiai "Wedding of Ceyx" "Melampodia" "Descent of Perithous" "Idaean Dactyls" "Precepts of Chiron" "Megala Erga" "Astronomia" "Aegimius" "Kiln"