| الوصف: |
This paper focuses on a passage from Theopompus’ criticism of Philip’s Companions (FGrHist 115 F 225a-c). In the first part, the author gives arguments for accepting χαμαιτύπους as Theopompus’ original, enlightening the meaning of the opposition the historian sets between this term and στρατιώτας. In the second part, the author detects both Homeric overtones and comic devices in Theopompus’ text: it appears that, by means of a ‘parody of epic’, Theopompus wanted to show that the seemingly heroic greatness of Philip II and his Companions did conceal behaviour of truly bestial depravation. In the third part, the author detects the function of the Homeric overtones on the basis of the historical context: Theopompus, writing after Chaeronea and on that time (338 BCE), contested both the myth of Philip as a ‘new Agamemnon’ and that of his Companions as ‘new Homeric heroes’, polemicising with those who supported Macedonia’s primacy over Greece and Philip’s ambitious plans for war against the Persians. The author also detects a common metaphor in F 225a-b and F 262 (ἀθλητὰς ~ ἀναγκοφαγῆσαι), suggesting that Theopompus saw Philip’s dedication to depravity and corruption as a political strategy, describing it as an ‘evil diet for depraved athletes’. Therefore, he provides a reconstruction of Theopompus’ general judgment on Philip, and draws conclusions about the relationship between ethics and politics, and also between literary knowledge and historical inquiry in Theopompus’ historical work. |
