Title: Oὐ μόνον ἡ κυνηγία – on the complexity of the content of Oppian's Kynegetika
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2014, vol. 19, iss. 1, pp. [27]-40
Extent
[27]-40
-
ISSN1803-7402 (print)2336-4424 (online)
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/130046
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
Kynegetika (On hunting) by Oppian, a didactic poem in four books, was dedicated to the emperor Caracalla and depicts one of the most fashionable and luxurious entertainments in the Hellenistic and Imperial Period, namely hunting. However, the aforesaid work can not be treated simply as a "hunter's handbook". I intend to present the complexity and variety of its content and to demonstrate that Oppian based his work on the Hellenistic literature on hunting. In spite of the fact that Kynegetika was written during Caracalla's reign, in terms of its character and subject matter, it belongs to the Hellenistic tradition. This work abounds with historical facts and political allusions, expressed in a poetic and metaphorical way. The extensive descriptions of exotic animal species prove not only Oppian's erudition and sophistication, but also his references to the Hellenistic tradition of hunting for African animals that was initiated in the times of the Ptolemaic dynasty. These accounts illustrate contemporary knowledge in the area of zoology and natural history. Apart from hunting as an activity, this work also has many other dimensions. The aim of this presentation is to show the multifaceted character of Oppian's work.
Note
The Project The Eastern Mediterranean from the 4th century BC until Late Antiquity is realized within the International Ph.D. Projects Programme of the Foundation for Polish Science, co-financed by the European Union, Regional Development Fund within the frameworks of Measure 1.2 Strengthening the Human Potential within the Science Sector of the Operational Program Innovative Economy.
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[42] Mather, Maurice W. ‒ Hewitt, Joseph, W. 1910. Xenophon's Anabasis: books I‒IV. New York: American Book Company.
[43] Opelt, Ilona. 1960. "Zum Kaiserkult in der griechischen Dichtung." Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 103, 43–56.
[44] Schmitt, Wolfgang. 1970. Kommentar zum ersten Buch von Pseudo-Oppians Kynegetika. Münster: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität.
[45] Toohey, Peter. 1996. Epic lessons: an introduction to ancient didactic poetry. London: Routledge.
[46] Whitby, Mary. 2007. "The Cynegetica attributed to Oppian." In Swain, Simon – Harrison, Stefen – Elsner, Jas [Eds.]. Severan culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 125–134.
[2] Cary, Earnest. [Ed.]. 1925. Dio's Roman history with an English translation by E. Cary on the basis of the version of Herbert Baldwin Foster, vol. 8. London: Heinemann.
[3] Dakyns, Henry G. [Ed.]. 2007. Anabasis / Xenophon [online]. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide Library. Available from URL http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/x/xenophon/x5an/ [cit. 2014‒02‒07].
[4] Dakyns, Henry G. [Ed.]. 2007. Hellenica / Xenophon [online]. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide Library. Available from URL http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/x/xenophon/x5he/ [cit. 2014‒02‒07].
[5] Dindorf, Wilhelm [Ed.]. 1824. Iulii Pollucis Onomasticon. Leipzig: Kuehn.
[6] Duff, Arnodl M. ‒ Duff, John W. [Ed s.]. 1934. Minor Latin poets, vol. 1. London ‒ Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[7] Duff, Arnodl M. ‒ Duff, John W. [Ed s.]. 1934. Minor Latin poets, vol. 2. London ‒ Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[8] Fairclough, Henry R. [Ed.]. 2000. Virgil. Revised by G. P. Goold. London: Heinemann.
[9] Gow, Andrew S. [Ed.]. 1952. Theocritus. Edited with a translation and commentary, vol. 1. London: Cambridge University Press.
[10] Hibbert, Julian [Ed.]. 1827. The book of the Orphic hymns, together with the principal fragments of other hymns also attributed to Orpheus. The whole extracted from Hermann's edition of the Orphica. London: J. Hibbert.
[11] Mair, Alexander W. [Ed.]. 1921. Callimachus. Works. London: Heinemann.
[12] Mair, Alexander W. [Ed.]. 1928. Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus. London: Heinemann.
[13] Marchant, Edgar C. [Ed.]. 1920. Xenophon. Xenophontis opera omnia, vol. 5. Oxford Clarendon Press.
[14] Miller, Walter [Ed.]. 1914. Cyropaedia with an English translation by Walter Miller, vol. 1. London: Heinemann.
[15] Miller, Walter [Ed.]. 1914. Cyropaedia with an English translation by Walter Miller, vol. 2. London: Heinemann.
[16] Murray, August T. [Ed.]. 1924. Homer. The Iliad with an English translation in two volumes, vol. 1. London: Heinemann.
[17] Murray, August T. [Ed.]. 1924. Homer. The Iliad with an English translation in two volumes, vol. 2. London: Heinemann.
[18] Murray, August T. [Ed.]. 1925. The Odyssey, vol.1. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[19] Murray, August T. [Ed.]. 1925. The Odyssey, vol. 2. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[20] Olson, Douglas S. [Ed.]. 2006. The learned banqueters / Athenaeus, vol. 1. London ‒ Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[21] Papathomopoulos, Manolis [Ed.]. 2003. Cynegetica / Oppianus Apameensis. Paraphrasis metro soluta / Eutecnius Sophistes. München ‒ Leipzig: Saur.
[22] Paton, William R. [Ed.]. 1948. The Greek [Palatine] anthology, vol. 1. London: Heinemann.
[23] Sandys, J. [Ed.]. 1915. The odes of Pindar including the principal Fragments. London: Heinemann.
[24] Smith, Martin F. [Ed.]. 2001. On the nature of things / Lucretius. Indianapolis, Ind: Hackett Pub.
[25] West, Martin L. [Ed.]. 2003. Homeric hymns. Homeric apocrypha. Lives of Homer. London ‒ Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[26] Anderson, John K. 1985. Hunting in the Ancient World. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[27] Barringer, Judith M. 2001. The hunt in ancient Greece. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
[28] Bartley, Adam N. 2003. Stories from the Mountains, Stories from the Sea. The Digressions and Similes of Oppian's Halieutica and the Cynegetica. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
[29] Bowersock, Glen W. 1969. Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[30] Carney, Elizabeth D. 2002. "Hunting and the Macedonian elite: sharing with rivalry of the chase." In Ogden, Daniel [Ed.]. The Hellenistic world: new perspectives. London: Classical Press of Wales, 59–80.
[31] Cohen, Ada. 2010. Art in the era of Alexander the Great: paradigms of manhood and their cultural traditions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[32] Costanza, Salvatore. 1991. "Motivi callimachei nel proemio dei Cynegetica di Oppiano d'Apamea." In Monaco, Giusto [Ed.]. Studi di filologia classica in onore di Giusto Monaco, vol. 1. Palermo: Università di Palermo, Facoltà di lettere e filosofia, 479‒489.
[33] Easterling, Patricia E. – Knox, Bernard M. [Eds.]. 1985. The Cambridge history of classical literature, vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[34] Herzog-Hauser, G. 1924. "Kaiserkult." In RE, Suppl. 4., 806–853.
[35] Hollis, Alexander S. 1994. "[Oppian], Cyn. 2, 100‒158 and the Mythical Past of Apamea-on-the-Orontes." Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 102, 153–166.
[36] Hopkinson, Neil. 1994. Greek poetry of the Imperial Period. An Anthology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[37] Hughes, D. 2007. "Hunting in the Ancient Mediterranean World." In Kalof, Linda ‒ Resl, Brigitte [Eds.]. A cultural history of animals, vol. 1. Oxford: Berg, 47–70.
[38] James, Alan W. 1969. "Some examples of imitation in the similes of later Greek epic." Antichthon, 3, 77‒90. | DOI 10.1017/S0066477400003932
[39] Jones, Christopher P.‒ Bowersock, Glen W. [Eds.]. 1970. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius. Harmondsworth: Penguine Books.
[40] Luttikhuizen, Gerard P. 1999. Paradise Interpreted: Representations of Biblical Paradise in Judaism and Christianity. Leiden: Brill.
[41] Martínez, Sebastian ‒ Sánchez, Tomas, S. 2003. "Opiano, ¿un poeta o dos?" L'Antiquité classique, 72, 219‒230.
[42] Mather, Maurice W. ‒ Hewitt, Joseph, W. 1910. Xenophon's Anabasis: books I‒IV. New York: American Book Company.
[43] Opelt, Ilona. 1960. "Zum Kaiserkult in der griechischen Dichtung." Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 103, 43–56.
[44] Schmitt, Wolfgang. 1970. Kommentar zum ersten Buch von Pseudo-Oppians Kynegetika. Münster: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität.
[45] Toohey, Peter. 1996. Epic lessons: an introduction to ancient didactic poetry. London: Routledge.
[46] Whitby, Mary. 2007. "The Cynegetica attributed to Oppian." In Swain, Simon – Harrison, Stefen – Elsner, Jas [Eds.]. Severan culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 125–134.