Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

brill.nl/mnem

Thebaid 2.239, 2.729 and the Problem of Aracynthus

Jason McClure
University of Calgary, Department of Greek and Roman Studies, 2500 University Drive N.W.,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
jmcclure@ucalgary.ca
Received: October 2008; accepted: May 2009

Abstract
The first section of this paper examines an allusion to Propertius 3.15 at 2.239 of
Statius Thebaid. Here Statius refers to a certain Mount Aracynthus in the context
of the double marriage of Argia and Deipyle to Polynices and Tydeus. Invoked in
Latin poetry as we have it a scant three times, Statius Aracynthus recalls Propertius 3.15.42, where the mountain is the site of Amphions paean celebrating the
victory over Dirce, whose jealous pursuit of Antiope wrought her own destruction. Invoked in the midst of the wedding of Polynices, whose own jealousy over
Eteocles will bring about his downfall, Aracynthus casts a pall over the otherwise
idyllic description of the two brides and further hints at the doomed nature of
their union to the two exiles, Polynices and Tydeus.
The second section of this paper examines an implied reference to another
Aracynthus at 2.729. This second Aracynthus, however, is Aetolian and not the
Boeotian mountain of Propertius. Statius two Aracynthi draw us in to an obscure
debate, ancient and modern, concerning the location(s) of this (or these)
mountain(s) and may suggest something about his engagement with his literary
models.
Keywords
Statius, Propertius, Virgil, intertextuality, ancient geography

Thebaid 2.213-305 describes the wedding of the two exiles, Polynices and
Tydeus, to the sisters Argia and Deipyle, daughters of Adrastus, the king

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011

DOI: 10.1163/156852511X504971

J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

59

of Argos.1) The marriage is the result of Adrastus interpretation of an oracle of Apollo, which predicted the king would marry his daughters to two
men in the guise of wild beasts (1.494-7). Adrastus first encounter with
the heroes is of them trying to kill each other in a bloody rage on his doorstep (1.435-46). But it is only after noticing their attire a short while
laterPolynices wears a lion skin cape, Tydeus a cloak made from the
hide of the Calydonian boar (1.482-90)that he believes he has found the
fulfillment of the oracle (1.490-512). Accordingly, he offers Polynices and
Tydeus his daughters in marriage (2.151-72). The exiles readily accept the
prospect of having Adrastus as their father-in-law (2.173-90), both excited
to have the resources of Argos at their disposal.2) The wedding day arrives
and the two brides appear in all their glory. Commenting on their beauty,
Statius compares them to the goddesses Pallas and Diana (2.236-39):
non secus ac supero pariter si cardine lapsae
Pallas et asperior Phoebi soror, utraque telis,
utraque torva genis flavoque in vertice nodo,
illa suas Cyntho comites agat, haec Aracyntho;

The invocation of Aracynthus at the end of this passage recalls Propertius

Aracynthus of Elegiae 3.15.41-2, where Amphion sings of the victory over
Dirce:
prata cruentantur Zethi, victorque canebat
paeana Amphion rupe, Aracynthe, tua.

It also recalls Virgils Eclogue 2. Here Corydon, lamenting the fact that
Alexis has scorned him (2.19), defends his worth by noting how he is not
unsightlyhe just recently saw his own reflection (25-6)and that he
sings as well as Amphion:

1)

I heartily thank Peter Toohey and my anonymous referee for their excellent and insightful comments and suggestions.
2)
Adrastus promises to help reinstate both heroes to their homelands (2.197-200). Cf.
Dominik 1994, 47.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

canto quae solitus, si quando armenta vocabat,

Amphion Dircaeus in Actaeo Aracyntho.

25

Propertius and Virgil provide the only other instances of Aracynthus in

extant Latin poetry, and though there may have been others3) I suggest
Statius allusion here is intentional. This allusion poses questions of interpretation, and the solution of allusion for allusions sake will not go far
to help us (Zetzel 1983, 208).
Despite the oft-noted literary relationship between Statius and Virgil,
this paper proposes that Statius primary engagement in this context is
with the Propertian allusion.4) Propertius Aracynthus occurs in the context of a negative exemplum on the consequences of extreme jealousy:
Dirces destruction for her jealous pursuit of Antiope. The Statian allusion
to Propertius Dirce through Aracynthus anticipates the downfall of
Polynices, whose jealousy of Eteocles and obsession with the Theban
throne will lead to his own destruction.5)
Statius apparently is not finished with Aracynthus, and in the second
part of this paper I examine the potential allusion to another Aracynthus
some five hundred lines later at the end of Book 2 (2.729). It is the wellknown mountain on which Pleuron rests, and where Tydeus promises to
build a temple to Pallas (2.726-31).6) The problem lies in the fact that this
second Aracynthus is in Aetolia, while the Aracynthus of both Virgil and
Propertius, where Amphion leads his sheep and sings of his victory over
Dirce, clearly must be located somewhere in the Attic-Boeotian region.
The location of Aracynthus has long posed somewhat of a puzzle to modern and ancient scholars alike. With his allusion to another Aracynthus,
3)

As noted by Fairclough (1930, 42-3), Virgils line, could be reproduced word for word
in Greek and so may have been borrowed from a lost Alexandrian poet. See also Anderson,
Parsons, & Nisbet 1979, 144 n. 109, for the suggestion of a common source in Gallus for
both Virgil and Propertius.
4)
The focus on Virgil has in recent years been balanced by an examination of Statius relationship to other poets. For example, McNelis (2007) examines Statius relationship with
Callimachean poetics; Smolenaars (1994) Valerius as well as Virgil; though Ganiban (2007)
reexamines Statius engagement with the Aeneid.
5)
Virgils Amphion Dircaeus obviously evokes this punishment, but Propertius more
detailed engagement with the myth arguably makes the Propertian allusion more significant, and so will be the focus here.
6)
These sources are discussed below.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

intentional or not, Statius becomes the only writer yet recognized to

include two (apparently) different Aracynthi in a given text. Was Statius
aware of the controversy concerning Aracynthus, and so is engaged in an
elaborate literary game, or was he unaware of his second, inferred reference? Perhaps we have caught the poet out. Regardless, this discovery adds
to the debate concerning this elusive mountain and the nature of Statius
engagement with his models.

1.1

Jealousy and Its Outcome

Propertius Elegiae 3.15 is a warning to Cynthia concerning her jealousy

over a certain Lycinna.7) Propertius tells us that though he and Lycinna
were indeed lovers, this was his first love affair and occurred when he was
younger. He assures Cynthia (7-8) that he has spoken barely ten words to
Lycinna in the last three years:
Tertius (haud multo minus) est cum ducitur annus
vix memini nobis verba coisse decem:8)

Following this, Propertius promises Cynthia that she is his only love, and
that no other has bound him (9-10):
Cuncta tuus sepelivit amor, nec femina post te
ulla dedit collo dulcia vincla meo

7)

10

As the current argument centers on the mythological narrative, for simplicitys sake we
shall assume that the intended recipient was Cynthia, that Lycinna was a real person, and
that the poem comments on an actual occurrence in the poets life. Similarly, see Butrica
1994 and Macleod 1974, 92-3. Against this see Richardson 1977, 380, who argues that
we shall do well to think of the poem as a completely independent composition in which
neither Propertius nor Cynthia figures. Similarly, Butler and Barber (1933) suggest the
personal tone is mere frame for the myth; cf. Whitaker 1983, 27; Fedeli 1985, 469. Yardley
(1974, 434) goes a step further, suggesting Lycinna herself is a fiction: it is time for Lycinna
to be driven from Propertius biography, or, at least, only admitted with a question mark.
8)
I leave in the usual brackets around haud multo minus. For an alternative reading see
Butrica 1994, 136 n. 6.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

Though we are not told outright, Cynthia clearly is jealous and this jealousy has provoked the poets response in this poem. Propertius furthers
such a reading as he dives straight into a mythical exemplum on the
consequences of a vindictive jealousy by calling as witness Dirce at line 11
(Testis Dirce erit). Yet it is only after we have read the entire poem that the
summoning of Dirce is clearly shown to be a warning. Unless there is a
lacuna following line ten, such a reading at the point of Testis Dirce erit is
questionable given the context.9) Thus far we can only ask whether Dirce
will be a witness of how much Propertius loves Cynthia, or of how he has
not slept with Lycinna.10) Whatever the case, the point here is that Propertius now offers a version of the story of Dirce and her death at the hands
of the brothers Amphion and Zethus for her jealous persecution of their
mother, Antiope.
Propertius version contains elements of the different variations of the
Dirce story as found in Hyginus Fab. 7, Apollodorus 3.5.5, and Hyginus
Fab. 8. In Hyginus 7, Lycus has divorced Antiope for Dirce. To allay Dirces
fear that he still is sleeping with Antiope, Lycus has his slaves mistreat her.
Propertius seems at first to follow this version, though he augments it by
having Dirce undertake the persecution of Antiope of her own accord,
and out of jealousy (11-18):11)
Testis erit Dirce tam vano crimine saeva,
Nycteos Antiopen accubuisse Lyco.
A quotiens pulchros ussit regina capillos,
molliaque immites fixit in ora manus!
A quotiens famulam pensis oneravit iniquis,
et caput in dura ponere iussit humo!
Saepe illam immundis passa est habitare tenebris,
vilem ieiunae saepe negavit aquam.

9)

15

For the problem of testis Dirce erit and the various solutions see Butrica 1994; Fedeli
1985, 478-9; Camps 1961, 126-7.
10)
Though see Macleod 1974, 92, for whom there is no problem: As Dirce out of jealousy
maltreated her servant Antiope, so Cynthia her servant Lycinna.
11)
See Butrica 1994, 141, 147-8; Camps 1961, 128. In Apollodorus 3.5.5 and Hyginus
Fab. 8 Nycteus, Antiopes father, bound his brother, Lycus, to punish Antiope for having
been seduced by Jupiter. In Hyginus, Lycus gives Antiope to Dirce for punishment. Propertius context (jealousy over a previous relationship) suggests Hyginus 7.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

This jealous Dirce plays into Propertius program of portraying to Cynthia

the results of an obsessive and vindictive jealousy. Dirce is certainly
obsessed. Her insane jealousy, as Slavitt (2002, 172) calls it, leads her to
torture Antiope, and once she escapes (23-5), to pursue her. Antiope herself, though Dirce has not yet found her, understands the obsessive nature
of Dirces jealousy and fears her pursuit to the point of distraction:
Saepe vago Asopi sonitu permota fluentis
credebat dominae pone venire pedes.

After being rejected by Amphion and Zethus (29-30), Antiope has no real
recourse, and Dirce finally catches her up. Antiope is saved by the last
minute appearance of her sons, Amphion and Zethus, who through the
help of an old shepherd have recognized their mother and come to her
rescue (35-42):
natis est cognitus error
digne Iovis natos qui tueare senex,
tu reddis pueris matrem; puerique trahendam
vinxerunt Dircen sub trucis ora bovis.
Antiope, cognosce Iovem: tibi gloria Dirce
ducitur in multis mortem habitura locis.
Prata cruentantur Zethi, victorque canebat
paeana Amphion rupe, Aracynthe, tua.

35

40

Dirce is tied to a bull, whereupon she is dragged to her death and torn
apart.12) The result of her jealous pursuit of Antiope has been her destruction, and Aracynthus has become the location to celebrate her downfall.13)

12)
Hyginus Fab. 8; Apollodorus 3.5.5; Pausanias 2.6.2; Euripides Antiope F221, 223; the
Farnese Bull sculpture group famously portrays this punishment.
13)
As pointed out to me, Statius may recall Propertius poem again in Book 11 in the context of Oedipus remorse. Theb. 11.605 has tarda, meam, Pietas . . . Compare with Prop.
3.15.34 sera, tamen pietas.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

Dirce and the Wedding

Statius evokes the link between Dirce and Aracynthus at 2.239 to colour
the otherwise happy description of the sisters, and the sense of doom
inherent in the rest of the wedding scene is given a cause. The double marriage of Polynices and Tydeus to Argia and Deipyle is one of the more
important scenes for the plot of the Thebaid. It is this marriage that will
give Polynices access to Argive power for his doomed quest to regain lost
Thebes.14) The day begins with a brief description of the gathered throngs,
the display of ancestral masks, and the bridal party (2.213-29). Following
this the two brides make their appearance. The description (2.230-43) is
reverent, and their portrayal is often seen as idyllic, its details highly
reminiscent of an epithalamium:15)
ibant insignes vultuque habituque verendo
candida purpureum fusae super ora pudorem
deiectaeque genas; tacite subit ille supremus
virginitatis amor, primaeque modestia culpae
confundit vultus; tunc ora rigantur honestis
imbribus, et teneros lacrimae iuvere parentes.
non secus ac supero pariter si cardine lapsae
Pallas et asperior Phoebi soror, utraque telis,
utraque torva genis flavoque in vertice nodo,
illa suas Cyntho comites agat, haec Aracyntho;
tunc, si fas oculis, non umquam longa tuendo
expedias, cui maior honos, cui gratior, aut plus
de Iove; mutatosque velint transumere cultus,
et Pallas deceat pharetras et Delia cristas.

230

235

240

Typical of a marriage scene, Argia and Deipyle are ideally bashful and
majestic in their innocent beauty (2.230-4).16) Given that this wedding is
to serve as the source of Polynices ability to wage a doomed war for the
Theban throne, we are not surprised that terrible omens pervade. Follow14)

For a pessimistic reading of Polynices attitude to the marriage see Dominik 1994, 47.
Vessey 1973, 138; cf. McNelis 2007, 52-3.
16)
Compare the description of the two sisters with, for example, Statius Silvae 1.2, in
which he describes the marriage of his friend and patron Stella to Violentilla.
15)

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65

ing the apparently idealized description of the sisters there occurs the horrible sign of the shield falling from the temple of Pallas, followed by the
inauspicious trumpet blast from within, both of which occur as the two
sisters are approaching to carry out the ancestral rites of offering their
maiden tresses to the goddess (2.249-64). These dreadful signs are themselves immediately followed by the details of the origins of the cursed
necklace of Harmonia, which Polynices has given to Argia as a wedding
gift (2.265-305), and which Statius explicitly connects to the doomed
wedding.17) Thus ends the description of the ill-fated day.
It is not necessarily surprising that the descriptions of the two brides
are apparently idealized;18) there is no reason it must be any other way. Yet
it would do to recall that the falling shield, trumpet blast, and necklace of
Harmonia are, in a sense, only symptoms of a disease; they are not the
specific cause of the doom.19) The argument here is that the invocation of
Aracynthus recalls Propertius Dirce, and so alludes to the cause of the
omens.20)
Statius does not rely on the invocation of Aracynthus alone to suggest
the allusion to Dirce; rather, he provides two important elements that help
further suggest it. These are the characterization of Polynices, and the general presence of Dirce throughout the text, which keeps her story always
just beneath the surface.21)

1.3

Jealousy, Polynices and Dirce

The characterization of Polynices recalls Dirces jealous attitude to Antiope in Propertius 3.15, strengthening the allusion to the Theban queen
17)

2.265-7. McNelis 2007, 53.

See for example, Vessey 1973, 138; cf. McNelis 2007, 52-3.
19)
Even the necklace of Harmonia in a sense only foretells the impending disaster. Cf.
McNelis 2007, 53.
20)
Similar allusions occur elsewhere in the Thebaid. As Vessey (1973, 135) noted, Adrastus
allusion to Niobe, the Thebana mater who was cruelly deprived of her offspring . . . anticipates the fate of the other Theban mother, Jocasta.
21)
As a Theban epic, it is not surprising that Statius alludes to other Theban myths. I simply suggest that he employs the Dirce myth because of its aptness for his theme of familial
strife, envy, and vengeance.
18)

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

through Aracynthus at 2.239. In Propertius, Dirce was described as a

violent persecutor whose desire was not only to punish Antiope, but to
humiliate her. Dirces inability to let go her sexual jealousy, and her
obsessed pursuit of Antiope led to her own destruction. Polynices suffers
from a similar obsession.
Polynices jealousy over his brothers position is evident from one of his
first appearances in the epic. Before the appointed year of his exile is even
over, his jealousy and obsession are driving him mad (1.316-23):
tenet una dies noctesque recursans
cura virum, si quando humilem decedere regno
germanum et semet Thebis opibusque potitum
cerneret; hac aevum cupiat pro luce pacisci.
nunc queritur ceu tarda fugae dispendia, sed mox
attollit flatus ducis et sedisse superbus
deiecto iam fratre putat: spes anxia mentem
extrahit et longo consumit gaudia voto.

20

He wishes not only to see his brother leave humbled, but to see him deiectus,
and himself sitting proud above (sedisse superbus).22) This desire is similar
in scope to what Propertius Dirce did to Antiope:
A quotiens famulam pensis oneravit iniquis,
et caput in dura ponere iussit humo!

As Vessey (1973, 92) notes, Polynices superbia demands not only power,
but also the humiliation of Eteocles.23) This obsession with Eteocles and
the desire for revenge against a brother who won the throne purely by lot
recurs throughout the epic, and leads to a portrayal of Polynices that suggests he has become unhinged. He is portrayed as almost paranoid, obsessed
with who is for him and who against (2.316-21):
tunc quos excedens hilares quis cultus iniqui
praecipuus ducis et profugo quos ipse notarat
ingemuisse sibi per noctem ac luce sub omni
22)
23)

Vessey 1973, 92; Dominik 1994, 76, 81.

Cf. Dominik 1994, 81.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

digerit; exedere animum dolor iraque demens

et, qua non gravior mortalibus addita curis,
spes, ubi longa venit.

20

Polynices suffers from an obsessively driven desire for revenge (Dominik

1994, 80). But it is more than revenge. Or to put it another way, it did not
start as revenge. Jealousy has turned to hatred and an overwhelming desire
to destroy his brother. In one of his many Homeric metaphors, Statius
likens him to a defeated bull that hones his strength in secret, aching for
the day of vengeance (2.323-32):
veluti dux taurus amata
valle carens . . .
cum profugo placuere tori cervixque recepto
sanguine magna redit fractaeque in pectora quercus,
bella cupit pastusque . . . reposcit . . .
non alias tacita iuvenis Teumesius iras
mente acuit.

We should not see Polynices attitude as one only of a desire for power
frustrated. Jealousy is a distinct emotion for the Theban prince and should
be distinguished from his other mental states. As Vessey suggested (1973,
65-6), each of the main characters of the Thebaid could be assigned a basic
humour; to Polynices he allotted vengeance and envy. Dominik (1994, 47)
distinguishes between Polynices mental states, noting: [i]n response to
the curse of Oedipus the Furies set upon Eteocles and Polynices and infect
them with jealousy and hatred of each other and an insatiable desire for
power. Statius himself implies as much, describing the two brothers and
their desire for the throne in Book 1 (1.123-30):
atque ea Cadmeo praeceps ubi culmine primum
constitit adsuetaque infecit nube penates,
protinus attoniti fratrum sub pectore motus,
gentilisque animos subiit furor aegraque laetis
invidia atque parens odii metus, inde regendi
saevus amor, ruptaeque vices iurisque secundi
ambitus impatiens, et summo dulcius unum
stare loco, sociisque comes discordia regnis.

125

130

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

Strongly suggesting a further link between Polynices and Dirce, since her
jealousy is of a sexual kind, is the similarly sexual nature of his jealousy:24)
Polynices desire to return to his hereditary kingdom is linked with his desire
to regain the sinus matris, displaying his equally hereditary sexual yearning for
a return to the wombin Thebes, the family motto is not merely like father,
like son but like son, like son.25)

There is a sexual tension in Polynices response to his mothers arrival for

her embassy in Book 7, a hint of sexual violation (Hershkowitz 1994,
281):26)
Raptam lacrimis gaudentibus inplet
solaturque tenens

In her final attempt to dissuade Eteocles from the duel with his brother,
Hershkowitz (1994, 281) argues Jocasta reveals an awareness of her double
role as both mother and potential lover at 11.332-3:
Jocasta displays more of an awareness of her double role based on the singular
importance of her womb later on when, accosting Eteocles in a final, frenzied
attempt to stop the now unstoppable duel, she asks pointedly, quo deinde
redibit / victor? In hosne sinus? (Where then will the victor return? Into this
womb [or, vagina]?)

The sexual aspects of Polynices jealousy strongly tie him to Dirce. Statius
offers a further link between the two in associating the hero with the Theban queen by name.

24)
See Hershkowitz 1994, 274-5 for the general relationship between bull imagery, abundant in the Thebaid, and sexuality, which again relates to the sexual nature of Polynices
jealousy.
25)
ibid. 280.
26)
See Adams 1982 on the sexually charged vocabulary of Jocastas speech here. Smolenaars
(1994, 230), citing Adams, also notes the potential sexual nature of Jocastas wording at
7.499.

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1.4

69

Dirce in the Thebaid

Dirce haunts the Thebaid. References to her cannot be reduced to simple

geographical metonymy. Dirce and the adjective derived from it, Dircaeus,
occur twenty-five times throughout the text: Dircaeus fifteen times, Dirce
ten.27) Each instance rightly may be understood as a synonym for
Thebanus,28) but given the aptness of her myth to Statius theme each
occurrence potentially is imbued with a more direct allusion to Dirce herself. As Daniel Berman (2007) recently has noted, though Dirce often
appears as a simple and often ubiquitous topographical detail, there is a
narrative associated with her.29) In Latin Dircaeus as Theban or Boeotian
by metonymy first occurs in Virgils Eclogue 2 with his Amphion Dircaeus.30) Clausen (1994, 72) notes of Virgils use that Dircaeus is not simply, as in later Latin poetry, and especially Statius, equivalent to Thebanus,
for Amphion was intimately associated with Dirce: he and his brother
Zethus killed her. But neither is it simply equivalent to Thebanus in Statius, who invokes Dirce throughout his text and does so to intentionally
bring to mind the story of the Theban queen.
Statius leaves out any reference to Dirce in his catalogue of past Theban
woes as he debates where he ought to begin his epic and what should be its
limits (1.4-17). One reason he does so is that Dirces story will not be
passed over; Dirce will rise again and again to trouble the text. Naming his
theme of fraternal strife (1.33-4), Statius cites Dirce: caerula cum rubuit
Lernaeo sanguine Dirce (1.38), linking her not only with his epic, but also
recalling her bloody end by the juxtaposition of sanguine with Dirce. Of
the twenty-five occurrences of Dirce or Dircaeus, sixteen occur in the context of bloodshed and death.31) These associations with blood seem to
serve as a means of recalling Thebes bloody past, and perhaps the inescapability of the Theban heritage of familial destruction.32)
27)

Dirce: 1.38, 152; 2.322, 433; 3.663; 4.8, 374, 447; 12.115, 610. Dircaeus: 2.142, 610;
4.74, 770; 5.647; 6.907, 913; 7.564; 8.357, 438; 9.679; 10.466, 651; 12.5, 789.
28)
Clausen 1994, 72; Coleman 1977, 96.
29)
Berman 2007.
30)
Smolenaars 1994, 255.
31)
For Dirce associated with blood and death see also 4.374, 447; 12.115, 610. For Dircaeus: 2.610; 4.770; 5.647; 6.907, 915; 7.564; 8.438; 9.679; 10.466, 651; 12.789.
32)
Braund 2006, 262, 271; Zeitlin 1990; Hardie 1990, 230.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

Statius creates an association between Polynices and Dirce directly.

When the madness of the brothers caused by Tisiphone leads Polynices
and Eteocles to dispute over the rule of Thebes, Statius chooses to employ
the name of Dirce again. These brothers are engaged in an envious struggle
for Dirces barren fields: squalentia iugera Dirces (1.152). The brothers are
quarrelling over what amounts to a pittance,33) but in the context of their
bickering the reference to Dirce by name may anticipate the similarly
bloody downfall of the Theban princes.
Polynices is directly linked to Dirce herself at 2.142 with the epithet
Dircaeus, directly before Adrastus offers him and Tydeus his two daughters. This use evokes Virgils Amphion Dircaeus, recalling again the Dirce of
myth and does not simply serve as a replacement for Thebanus. The use of
Dircaeus heros seems to have a more sinister suggestion than Theban, perhaps evoking something along the lines of Dirce-like Polynices.34) This
reading would seem to be supported by Statius characterization of
Polynices above.
A third reference to Dirce involving Polynices again is telling of the
relationship between the two. With the wedding torches scarcely cooled,
Polynices is once again in a fit over his brothers rule and his bad luck
(2.306-13):35)
postquam regales epulas et gaudia vulgi
bisseni clausere dies, Ismenius heros
respicere ad Thebas iamque et sua quaerere regna.
quippe animum subit illa dies, qua, sorte benigna
fratris, Echionia steterat privatus in aula,
respiciens descisse deos trepidoque tumultu
dilapsos comites, nudum latus omne fugamque
Fortunae.
33)

310

Eteocles himself suggests this during Tydeus embassy (2.430-1).

Polynices is again called Dircaeus at 4.74; 6.913. Virgils Amphion may be seen as a
Dirce-like Amphion; his and his brothers punishment of the queen is similarly cruel to
what Dirce inflicted upon Antiope.
35)
2.306-13. From this it would seem that it is not the case that, as Bond argues (1985,
227), Acceptance into the kings family initiates a calm which lasts until his rage can be
expressed directly against Eteocles. In the intervening period Polynices never again shows
the intensity of emotion (described as furor, ardor, ira, rabies, and odium) which he has
displayed against Tydeus.
34)

J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

71

Dolor and iraque demens (2.319) take hold, and Polynices makes ready to
leave his new bride as he readies to join Dirce (2.321-3):
Talem sub pectore nubem
consilii volvens Dircen Cadmique negatas
apparat ire domos.

By metonymy Polynices is preparing to go to Thebes, but we may also see

him as knowingly going to his death: he literally is going to go to Dirce.
Polynices and Dirce are of a similar kind: souls consumed by a sexuallycharged, jealous rage whose pursuit destroys them both. Argia certainly
recognizes the dire consequences of Polynices obsessive desire to wrest
power from his brother. It is her speech (2.339-51) that dissuades Polynices
from venturing alone and that leads to the embassy of Tydeus.
Statius allusion to Propertius Aracynthus at 2.239 casts a shadow on
the idealized picture of the brides by drawing to mind the fields soaked
with the blood of Dirce. This link is reinforced through his characterization of Polynices as similarly envious and vindictive. Finally, the important role Dirce herself plays in the Thebaid and the association between
her and Polynices by name in contexts where Polynices expresses his jealousy suggests that in the invocation of Aracynthus we are reminded that
Theban fields will once again run with Theban blood.

2.1

The Problem of Aracynthus

We would now be willing to leave the matter, content with the Propertian
allusion. Statius, consciously or not, does not allow us. Some five hundred
lines later, he alludes to another mountain named Aracynthus. The problem is that, as we shall see, this Aracynthus is Aetolian. Yet Propertius
Aracynthus, though now unknown, must be a mountain somewhere in
the Boeotian region; it cannot, surely, be the Aetolian Aracynthus.36) Similarly, Virgils mountain is Attic (Actaeo Aracyntho). What are we to make
of all these mountains? The problem is no easier to solve since the location (or to some the very existence) of an Attic-Boeotian Aracynthus
seems to have been a notoriously thorny issue.
36)

Richardson 1977, 384.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

That there is a controversy among modern scholars concerning Aracynthus is clear from a brief survey. D.L. Blank (1998, 275) in his commentary on Sextus Empiricus, for example, implies that there were at least
three mountains named Aracynthus:
Aracynthus, on the other hand, is a more popular name: the most famous
Aracynthi are in Aetolia and Boeotia, but an Attic Aracynthus is also known
(Vibius Sequester, On Mountains I, Lutatius on Statius, Thebaid 2.239).

Blank goes on to remark that Vibius notes how some put Aracynthus in
Attica, some in Acarnania: Aracynthus, in Attica, quidam in Acarnania
dicunt.37) This makes at least four Aracynthi (Attica, Boeotia, Aetolia,
Acarnania). This seems rather doubtful.
Despite Sextus, whose trustworthiness we examine below, many commentators have doubted the existence of an Attic or Attic-Boeotian Aracynthus. These often revolve around Virgils and Propertius uses. As to
Virgils Attic Aracynthus, R.W. Garson (1971, 189) argues Virgil is mistaken in placing Aracynthus in Attica, and goes on to say that surely the
point is that in his hopeless soliloquy Corydon allowed himself the luxury
and comfort of fanciful exaggeration, even untruth . . . the misuse of Actaeo
[and subsequently, the mis-placement of Aracynthus] is more likely to be
Corydons than Virgils.38) Fairclough (1930, 42-3) argued Virgils line,
which could be reproduced word for word in Greek, was probably borrowed from a lost Alexandrian poet, and so [i]f there is a geographical
error here, I cannot see why it may not be fathered on the Greek poet,
whose verse Virgil reproduces; and anyway, Virgil was probably more
interested in the sound than in the meaning of the expression.39) The
neoteric rhythms of Virgils line also may suggest a link to Gallus.40)
Roland Mayer (1986, 51) puts the emphasis on Virgils use of Actaeo, and
has suggested that Virgil probably borrowed from Callimachus epic
Hecale, the first word of which is . Despite the problem as to

37)
38)
39)
40)

De flum. 221.1.
Cf. Clausen 1994.
See also Lee 1981.
Anderson, Parson, & Nisbet 1979, 144 n. 109; cf. Fedeli 1985, 491.

J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

73

where Aracynthus really lay, [t]hanks to that first word, Actaeus meant
Attic. Propertius mountain is given much the same treatment.41)
Some accept both Virgil and Propertius as correct. Coleman (1977, 97)
argues against a mistake in Virgil, to make Corydon look the buffoon or
otherwise, and suggests this Aracynthus may be a now unknown mountain
presumably in the same range as Mount Cithaeron. Richardson (1977,
384) suggests both Virgil and Propertius are referring to a prominence of
Cithaeron. Richardson incidentally, seemingly makes his claim based on
an erroneous translation of Actaeo: Aracynthus must have been the name
of a part of Cithaeron . . . Actaeons death is always set on Cithaeron. The
problem with this is obvious: Actaeon is a third declension noun, and no
such form (Actaeo) exists. As attractive as this may be, it seems more correct to say that although Actaeon is evoked by Actaeoa Dircaean Amphion
suggests this, it cannot be meant.
The readings that see the Attic-Boeotian Aracynthus as a part of Cithaeron seem the most plausible. For those who would deny an Attic-Boeotian Aracynthus do not account for, or perhaps dismiss, those sources that
support such a mountain. This seems to be the case for Camps (1961,
129), who in his commentary on Propertius 3.15 notes concerning Aracynthus that, aside from Propertius and Virgil, [t]he name Aracynthus
occurs elsewhere only with reference to a mountain in Aetolia. It seems
unlikely that Camps was unaware of the other sources that also put an
Aracynthus in the Attic-Boeotian region; rather, perhaps he simply
ignored them as unreliable, or themselves based solely on interpretations
of Virgil, and/or Propertius. Yet the sources for an Attic-Boeotian Aracynthus are not dismissed easily. The most important of these sources is the
reference made by Sextus Empiricus:
,
, , ,
, ,
.
.42)
41)

For example, Paganelli (1964, 114-5) notes Montagne dtolie, que Properce, avec
dautres potes, place tort en Botie et quil considre ici comme une des hauteurs du
Cithron. Cf. Richardson 1977; Fedeli 1985, 491.
42)
M. 1.257.6-258.1.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

Sextus says Aracynthus is an Attic mountain, and in the same line names
another, still known Attic mountain, Brilessus, an 1100m mountain in the
north-east of the Attic plain; and Akamas is indeed a promontory on the
northwest end of Cyprus. One temptation is to dismiss Sextus account as
being based on Virgils or Propertius localizing of the mountain. But surely
we cannot assign to a Greek Sceptic philosopher the notion that he relied
on Latin poetry for his Greek geographical knowledge.43) Besides, in the
context of his assignation of Aracynthus as an Attic mountain, Sextus
seems to take it for granted that there exists such a mountain. He argues
there is no special knowledge needed to make such simple statements of
fact, nothing , and that anyone could make such an easy statement. Referencing a specious mountain would not help his case. Sextus
may even have seen it. Throughout his works Sextus demonstrates a
detailed knowledge of the peculiar practices and traits of Egypt, Libya,
Athens, Alexandria, and Rome, which he could have acquired from travelling or living in these places or from some written source (House 1980,
231-2). One may perhaps infer from this that a general knowledge of
local geographies might be included in his detailed knowledge.44) We may
be able to dismiss Blanks assertion that Sextus Attic Aracynthus is different from the Boeotian Aracynthus of others as improbable, but we may
not easily dismiss Sextus statement that there was indeed a mountain
named Aracynthus somewhere in the Attic region.
There is also the account of Herodianus Grammaticus, who serves as the
source of Stephanus of Byzantium, both of whom place Aracynthus in
Boeotia:
<> ,
.

43)
As Sextus himself notes often, and specifically only a few paragraphs later, poets were
not to be trusted (for example, M. 1.296, 297). Though the context has more to do with
not trusting poetic statements concerning the gods, we may include with that just about
anything that is said in poetry. As my anonymous referee noted, Sextus seems to be showing the more or less standard impatience of the moral philosopher with the very kind of
philological debates that characterize the grammaticiand with which Statius is surely
engaging here!; cf. Senecas Ep. 88, especially 6-8.
44)
This is, admittedly, a broad inference.

J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

75

One reason that makes Herodians account hard to dismiss is that his
attribution of the mountain as Boeotian clearly is not due to any interpretation of Virgil or Propertius; rather, he cites the third century BC Greek
epic poet, Rhianos, who notes that Aracynthus was an epithet of Athena.45) The burden would seem to be on proving Herodian and Sextus
wrong. In the meantime we ought to accept that there does indeed seem
to have been a mountain named Aracynthus located somewhere in the
Attic-Boeotian region.
There are other sources for an Attic-Boeotian Aracynthus, though perhaps less reliable. Vibius was the author of an alphabetical list of geographical names that occurred in Latin poets. It seems likely, therefore, that his
Aracynthus is Attic because Virgils was.46) Servius likewise may be said to
derive his geography from the poetic context. On Virgils line he suggests
that Aracynthus must be in Boeotia: sane Aracynthus mons est Thebanus.47)
Though, as Coleman (1977, 96) noted, Servius gloss Thebanus may be
just an inference from the context. If it is, then Servius may have had no
idea where Aracynthus lay, and was relying on the context alone; though
he does note elsewhere that:
quamquam plerique Actaeo Aracyntho Atheniensi accipiant, non quod Aracynthus apud Athenas est, sed ut ostendatur rustici imperitia.

This may suggest, not only that the mountain was not near Athens, but
that some at least may have known where it in fact lay, otherwise they too
would be imperiti. Though it may also mean that they only knew there was
no such mountain near Athens, and not that they knew where it in fact
was.48)
45)

Interestingly, all three geographical features mentioned by Sextus are also mentioned by
Herodian. One can only speculate whether Sextus had Herodian in mind when he wrote
the above. What little we know of Sextus suggests he may have been a contemporary of
Herodian. Herodians dates were ca. AD 180-250. Sextus is generally placed sometime in
the late second, to early third centuries AD; see House 1980. Herodian certainly would
have been the kind of intellectual against whom Sextus wrote.
46)
Connington and Nettleship (1963, 38) note Vibius Sequester vouches for an Attic,
Steph. Byzant. for a Boeotian Aracynthus (but both statements are probably invented to
suit this passage); Vibius, perhaps, but for Stephanus, no. As noted his Aracynthus is
Herodians.
47)
2.24.3.
48)
The remaining sources refer to the still known Aracynthus. Pliny the Elder puts Aracyn-

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

We may conclude that the location of Aracynthus was just as problematic to the ancients as it is to modern scholars. There was a well-known and
accepted mountain named Aracynthus in southern Aetolia (or Acarnania,
depending on how one looked at the map?); but there was also a controversy over another such named mountain somewhere in the Attic-Boeotian
region, a controversy that cannot be pinned on interpretations of Virgils
or Propertius localizing.49) We may be able to dismiss the accounts of a
Vibius or Servius, but we cannot dismiss so easily Sextus and Herodianus.
Statius referencing of two Aracynthi, both apparently different, in Book 2
of the Thebaid seems to reflect the ambiguity surrounding this mountain.

2.2.

Statius Two Aracynthi

It has gone unnoticed that Statius refers to two mountains named Aracynthus in Book 2 of his Thebaid. The first at 2.239 is generally regarded
as following Virgil and/or Propertius.50) The reference to a second Aracynthus is subtle, and perhaps the reason it has gone unnoticed is that the
mountain itself is not named directly; rather it must be inferred. It occurs
in the context of Tydeus post-monomachia praise of Pallas (2.704-40). The
context is as follows: Tydeus has killed all but one of the fifty assassins sent
thus in Acarnania; but as Acarnania and Aetolia border each other, with the Pindus mountain range dividing them (of which Aracynthus is a part), we may suggest that there is no
real difference here, despite the fact Pliny does distinguish between the two areas: montes
clari in Dodone Tomarus, in Ambracia Crania, in Acarnania Aracynthus, in Aetolia
Achaton . . . (Nat. 4.6.12-3). Solinus (De Mir. 7.3 in Mommsens 2nd ed.) also places it in
Acarnania: Acarnania Aracyntho eminet. Dionysius Periegetes (Orbis Descriptio 431) also
puts it in Aetolia: , ,
. Strabo, as noted, placed it in Aetolia.
49)
Of course we may conclude that there was no problem at all; perhaps certain scholars
mention only the Aetolian one, others only the Attic-Boeotian one. Vibius is the only one
that seems to suggest somebody may be wrong.
50)
In Mozleys Loeb edition (1928, 412) Aracynthus is a mountain on the border of Attica.
Mulder (1954, 179) places Aracynthus in Boeotia. Lesueurs Bud translation (1990,130)
compromises and puts it between Attica and Boeotia. Melville (1992, 330) with notes from
Vessey follows Mozley: Cynthus is a mountain on Delos, sacred to Diana (Cynthia); Aracynthus a mountain in Attica, sacred to Pallas (Minerva). Shackleton Bailey puts it in the
Attic-Boeotian border region. Only a few offer reasons for their statements. Mulder, for
example, cites Stephanus of Byzantium, whose source is Herodianus Grammaticus.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

by Eteocles. Having commanded the lone survivor, Maeon, to return to

Thebes that he may relate the tale of Tydeus aristeia, Tydeus proceeds to
collect the weapons and armour of his foes. He places them on and around
a nearby tree in honour of Pallas (2.704-26). Finally, he promises to build
a temple to Pallas, should he make it home safe from the war now surely
brewing against Thebes (2.726-31):
at si patriis Porthaonis arvis
inferar et reduci pateat mihi Martia Pleuron,
aurea tunc mediis urbis tibi templa dicabo
collibus, Ionias qua despectare procellas
dulce sit, et flavo tollens ubi vertice pontum
turbidus obiectas Achelous Echinadas exit.

730

As noted by Strabo, Pleuron lay on the slopes of the Aetolian Aracynthus.51) That a reader could decipher this inference is not implausible as
the temple of Pallas at Pleuron was well-known. What does this second
reference to an Aracynthus mean, if anything?
The confusion surrounding the mountains location(s) and how many
there were may have allowed Statius to play with a double allusion. If we
go back to 2.239 for a moment, we notice there is a Leonine rhyme with
Cyntho at the caesura and Aracyntho at lines end.52) As such, we should
expect perhaps, given this marked link, that any reading of Aracyntho must
take into account a related or contrasting reading of Cyntho. Cynthus and
its relation to Diana would assuredly suggest that Aracynthus ought to be
read in relation to an Aracynthus that was linked to Pallas. The learned
reader, who was aware of the temple vowed to Pallas by Tydeus, could see
at 2.239 a proleptic reference to Tydeus vow at 2.726-31. This would, of
course, explain why the second Aracynthus at 2.729 is not explicitly
namedit already was at 2.239. This is an attractive reading. Yet the allusions to Propertius Dirce seem strong, suggesting the first Aracynthus was
51)
There were two Pleurons. The first was either sacked by Demetrius II in 234 BC during
the conflict between the Aitolian League and Macedonia, or as has been recently argued
by Lippman (2004), simply abandoned due to the threat of Demetrius, and was not in
fact sacked. Regardless, by Statius time Pleuron was a city that lay on the slopes of Aetolian Aracynthus. The name of this Aracynthus is now Zygo.
52)
I thank my referee for pointing this out to me.

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

also meant to be taken as the Attic-Boeotian mountain. Perhaps a parallel

reading is intended that evokes, at one and the same time, both Aracynthi.
The learned reader sees at 2.239 a reference to the temple of Pallas at Pleuron, but also the reference to the Attic-Boeotian mountain of Propertius
3.15 and Virgils Actaeo Aracyntho of Eclogue 2.
All this perhaps is far too convoluted and lacking in parallels to seem
probable. Yet, Statius may suggest this dual intention during his description of his second, inferred Aracynthus. For one, there is the shift from
Calydon to Pleuron as Tydeus hometown, which seems a conscious effort
to link the Aracynthus of 2.239 with Tydeus vow at 2.726-31. Second,
there is the use of the adjective Actaeas, which may recall the Actaeo Aracyntho of Virgil in the very context of linking the second Aracynthus to Aetolia.
As to the first point, it is worth noting that Tydeus embassy, which led
to his monomachia, was undertaken in hopes of returning Polynices to the
throne at Thebes. If this mission had succeeded, the next step was to reinstate Tydeus in Calydon (cf. 2.197-200). Calydon is the hometown of
Tydeus. In the tradition, Pleuron was sometimes considered a part of the
Calydonian kingdom, though it was its own city and was ruled by Agrius,
the brother of Oeneus, king of Calydon and father of Tydeus.53) That
Tydeus should refer to Pleuron as his home, a neighbouring city of Calydon, is not problematic, though it is striking, especially as he always refers
to himself, or is referred to by others, such as Adrastus, as from Calydon.54) In no other instance is Pleuron mentioned, while Calydon is mentioned fourteen times. Statius, however, does not actually change Calydon
to Pleuron as much as he combines the two separate cities into one.
Tydeus begins by saying he will build a temple on the heights of Pleuron
(2.727), and then notes that one hundred Calydonian virgins will tend
the temple (2.736), suggesting the two cities are at least part of the same
kingdom.
One could argue that Statius is at pains to include Pleuron so that he
may allude to the Aetolian Aracynthus specifically. The careful reader (and
the one versed in some geography, admittedly) could recall at this point
that Pleuron rested on mount Aracynthus. The Aracynthus from which
Pallas glides in 2.239 could seem to be the Aracynthus on which Tydeus
53)
54)

The Agreus of 8.441, called Calydonian Agreus (Calydonius Agreus) is a different person.
For example, 1.401, 453, 490, 669.

J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

79

promises to erect a cult to Pallas as his benefactress not five hundred lines
later (but still the Attic-Boeotian Aracynthus of Propertius and Virgil?). It
is the same Aracynthus from which Pallas may look down on Ionian tempests (Ionias qua despectare procellas dulce sit).
In the context of locating this second Aracynthus Statius uses the adjective Actaeas, the very adjective that put Virgils Aracynthus in Attica. Interestingly he does so a scant six lines after alluding to his second Aetolian
Aracynthus (2.736-40):
centum ibi virgineis votae Calydonides aris
Actaeas tibi rite faces et ab arbore casta
nectent purpureas niveo discrimine vittas,
pervigilemque focis ignem longaeva sacerdos
nutriet, arcanum numquam spretura pudorem.

One may suggest it is more than coincidence that Statius, having just
alluded to another Aracynthus, would then mention the very adjective that
localized Virgils Aracynthus in Attica. Of course, the adjective Actaeas may
only be meant to recall the most famous city associated with Pallas: Athens. In the context of Tydeus promised temple, the reference to Attica may
suggest Pleuron too will one day share a similarly famous association with
the goddess. Yet the use of Actaeas in this context seems to recall Aracynthus, and intentionally so.

Conclusion
Statius use of Aracynthus at 2.239 must surely allude to Virgil and Propertius and their uses of a similarly named mountain. That every single
commentator on Statius line has interpreted it this way suggests this, and
suggests the ancient reader probably saw this connection as well. I have
argued that Statius primary engagement is with the Propertian allusion
and its context within the tale of the downfall of Dirce, a downfall due to
the obsessive pursuit of vengeance due to a sexually-charged jealousy. In
the context of the wedding, the allusion anticipates the similar doom of
Polynices, who also is suffering from a sexually-charged jealousy, and whose
envious obsession with his brother and lust for power will lead to his death.
This allusion occurs in the context of the wedding of Polynices and Argia,

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J. McClure / Mnemosyne 64 (2011) 58-81

a wedding permeated with bad omens. As such, the allusion provides the
cause, of which the omens are only symptoms. Statius also employs Dirce
herself throughout the epic, often in a bloody context that only serves to
draw to mind the negative exemplum of her myth. Polynices is himself
linked to Dirce by name, further reinforcing the bond between the two
Theban royals.
Statius engagement with Aracynthus potentially goes beyond this. The
strong link between Cyntho and Aracyntho with their respective goddesses
suggests at the very same time that the reader may have also seen an allusion to Tydeus future vow to build a temple to Pallas on the Aetolian
Aracynthus, bringing into confusion a sure interpretation of the Aracynthus named at 2.239, or suggesting an intentional double meaning.
The reference to a temple of Pallas among the heights of Pleuron at the
end of Book Two also could have brought to mind the Aetolian Aracynthus. Despite the lack of parallels for such convoluted allusions, this reading is an attractive one. Perhaps if similar readings of other Statian allusions
are discovered, a surer reading of any possible intentions here may become
possible. In the meantime, the naming of Aracynthus at 2.239 seems anything but the simple invocation of a mountain.
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