4. ANALISIS Y DISCUSIÓN DE RESULTADOS
4.1. Análisis Cualitativos y Cuantitativos con LIBS
Aratus’ poem avoided the most contentious subject in astronomy, that of planetary motion, and focused on the locations of the constellations, a much less controversial subject. Apollonius of Rhodes, in contrast, was only too happy to wade into the hotly- contested subject of Homeric geography, and to state implicitly his own opinions. This chapter will consider debates about the relationship between archaic poetry and
geography in the Library of Alexandria, focusing on how Apollonius of Rhodes’
Argonautica is in dialog with the geographical works of Eratosthenes of Cyrene in the latter half of the third century BCE, when Apollonius and Eratosthenes served
sequentially as Head Librarian under Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III.368 These debates
368 The chronology of the figures under discussion in this chapter is one of the most uncertain issues faced in this dissertation. That Apollonius postdates Callimachus (and Aratus) is relatively widely accepted, but howTheocritus’ dates compare with those of the other Alexandrian poets is a source of contention: see Köhnken (2001). Fortunately, this debate is not especially relevant to this chapter, as my focus will be on Apollonius’ relationship with Eratosthenes of Cyrene, rather than with the other Alexandrian poets. According to the most widely accepted timeline, Apollonius was succeeded by Eratosthenes as Head Librarian in c.246 BCE. This date is based on P.Oxy X 1241, first published in Grenfell and Hunt (1914), which was lauded a major breakthrough in Hellenistic chronology because it provided a list of the Head Librarians in Alexandria, and most of the other evidence, such as the Suda, was so much later. The Suda, in fact, reverses the order and claims that Apollonius succeeded Eratosthenes. Recently, however, Murray (2012) has argued convincingly that too much trust has been placed in this piece of evidence merely because it is attested in a papyrus fragment, which she believes comes from a 2nd century CE work by a figure who does not understand Hellenistic chronology very well. In fact, she points out that in all instances where the chronology can be checked, the author seems to have got it wrong. Murray rightly withholds from making any strong declarations about an alternative chronology, or adopting the order given in the Suda, as that evidence is hardly more trustworthy. This leaves the situation in a somewhat aporetic state, as there is no good evidence suggesting one author was earlier than the other. For this reason, I have decided not to base my argument on the relative chronology between the figures, but rather to see them as ‘in dialog with one another.’ In any case, the exact dates of their tenure as Head Librarian does not reflect their entire careers or their interaction with one another. Apollonius, before he was named to the position, was already affiliated with the Mousaion, and so if Eratosthenes preceded him, Apollonius would be familiar with Eratosthenes’ geographical work. If, conversely, Eratosthenes came to Alexandria to replace Apollonius, surely he was brought because the Ptolemies were familiar with his work, as Geus (2002), pp. 26-30, argues. Either way, it seems safe to assume that each author knew of the other’s work,
addressed the problem of how trustworthy Homer was as a geographical source. I will argue that Apollonius was actively engaged in the debates of the 3rd century to define
geography as a discipline, and that he used the Argonautica to this end. Apollonius
adopts Aratus’ use of signs as a way of addressing the relationship between past and present, and the historicity of the voyages depicted in archaic epic, in service of his claims about how to geographical poetry.
Apollonius spent most of his life in Alexandria, immersed in the intellectual
community at the Mouseion and the Library.369 The Mouseion, populated by a small
group of well-read people who cared passionately about the texts they studied, was not
short on scholarly controversies.370 Most of these are only available to us now in the
quotations of later authors. One of the best attested is this central question of the relationship between poetry and geography, and specifically how a geographer ought to use Homer as a source.
The Argonautica is a narrative epic, which makes it very different from Aratus’
Phaenomena and Nicander’s Theriaca and Alexipharmaca. Apollonius takes pains, however, to demonstrate his connection to Aratus in a way that suggests that his own epic has larger goals for the geographical information within. The influence of Aratus on Apollonius has not been discussed in very great detail, but it is clear that Apollonius had
even if the precise chronology of the composition of the Argonautica and the Geographika cannot be determined.
369 On Apollonius’ biography, see Lefkowitz (2008).
370 The most famous is of course the rivalry between Callimachus and Apollonius, which Pfeiffer (1968), pp. 142-44, accepts it as fact, but most scholars now hold the story as dubious at best, see Lefkowitz (2008), pp. 61-63; DeForest (1994), p. 2, n.6. On the Alexandrian poets and scholarship, see Cusset (1999).
read the Phaenomena from his numerous allusions to the poem he includes.371
Apollonius’ Aratean references highlight his own use of signs and their value as a form of proof for the truth of his words.
In this chapter, I will first show that geography was a problematic discipline, diffuse and poorly-defined, and that many writers, such as Strabo, Hipparchus, and Eratosthenes, sought to limit the definition of the field in various ways. Eratosthenes’ particular attempt divorces the study from poetic sources, and most especially from
Homer and Homeric scholarship. I will argue that Apollonius’ Argonautica also
contributes to the discussion that of how to define geography and that he offers demonstration of the viability of Homeric geography within the field. Finally, I will consider the ways in which Apollonius’ interest in geography has a direct bearing on his relationship with Homer as both a poetic and a geographical model.