Hesperìa : 36, 2020
[Eumelo, la saga argonautica e dintorni : la documentazione papirologica]

The papyrus scraps resurface from the Egyptian sands to bring back to us the voice of an early epic poet who was interested in the Argonautic myth as well as in other legends which are key to Greek imagery. Is it possible to identify such a distant voice singing of prophecies, weddings, funeral games, sacrifices, and libations? Tales where Pelias, Jason, Medea, Mopsus, and Oeagrus are among the manifold characters; and Iphigenia, Agamemnon, and Achilles, as well as Chiron, Actaeon, and Dionysus play a significant role? Based on an articulated premise shedding light on questions of philological method and dispelling some preconceived opinions, this new essay investigates a coherent set of poetic fragments, both already known and of recent acquisition, and provides a scenario in which a prominent role ought to be recognized to Eumelus, the Hesiod' of the Corinthian-argonautic traditions. [Publisher's text]