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A HOMERIC AMBIGUITY
1) For a full review of evidence and theories see Zwicker's art. 'Sirenen'
in RE III A (1927), 288-308. See also G. K. Gresseth, The Homeric Sirens,
TAPA 101 (1970), 203-18.
2) W. B. Stanford, The Ulysses Theme2 (Ann Arbor 1968), 124, implies
that the song's sweetness in itself might have been enticement enough for
some, or that a Roman might have turned more readily at an offer of power
than knowledge. Cicero (de fin. V 18, 49) saw the offer as geared to Odysseus'
nature: vidit Homerus probari fabulam non posse, si cantiunculis tantus vir
irretitus teneretur ; scientiam pollicentur ... ; but at the same time he describes
the Sirens' usual lure as curiosity: ut homines ad earum saxa discendi cupidi-
tate adhaerescerent.
3) G. Germain, The Sirens and the Temptation of Knowledge (in G. Steiner
& R. Fagles, Homer. A Collection of Critical Essays [Englewood Cliffs 1962],
91-97) works from the association of iand i,the bee, to link
these creatures to the widespread cult of bees as sources of knowledge and
inspiration. Certainly there are enough terms suggesting bees to make the
idea plausible: their name, their , the meadow of flowers in
which they live; perhaps the hypnotic quality of their song is related to the
drone of the bee (note , 326: i should
refer properly to the swarming of bees), and we should not forget that
Odysseus uses wax (beeswax?) to protect his crew from hearing. The Sirens
are presumably not envisioned as winged (else they could pursue their
victims), but something of the old association with bees remains. The
Thriae whom Apollo offers to Hermes (h. Hom. Merc. 552-563) are even
more clearly in this tradition. In the Eastern traditions which Germain
cites, the associations with both knowledge and death are prominent.
4) Note the opening verses of the poem, where three points are made
about Odysseus: his wanderings, how much he learned about others, and his
sufferings at sea: each of these, incidentally, points to a possible meaning
of ooo.
5) See Lauffer's exhaustive treatment of etymological problems in his
article 'Pytho', RE XXIV (1963), 569-580. It seems likely that the place
426 MISCELLANEA
was called Pytho before any Apolline association: hence the aetiology to
link the place-name to Apollo.
6) Cf. G. E. Dimock, The Name of Odysseus in Steiner & Fagles (above,
n. 3), 106-121 (originally in The Hudson Review 9.1 [Spring 1956], 52-70).
See further L. Ph. Rank, Etymologiseering en verwante verschijnselen bij
Homerus (Assen 1951), esp. 52 ff.
7) I should like to thank my colleague W. R. Schoedel for his helpful
suggestions on this note.
NOTES ON EUNAPIUS 1)