Wedding of Ceyx

The "Wedding of Ceyx" (Ancient Greek: Κήυκος γάμος, Kḗykos gámos) is a fragmentary Ancient Greek hexameter poem that was attributed to Hesiod during antiquity. The fragments that survive imply that the subject of the poem was not simply the wedding of a certain Ceyx, but Heracles' arrival at, and involvement in, the festivities. For this reason Merkelbach and West suppose that the poem should be regarded "as a member of that group of epics and epyllia that dealt with exploits of Heracles, like the Aspis and the Capture of Oechalia."[1] The identity of the Ceyx whose marriage was the titular scene of the poem has been a matter of dispute. Merkelbach and West initially identified him with the ill-fated groom of the similarly ill-fated Alcyone: they were turned into birds for the hubris they showed in referring to one another as "Zeus" and "Hera".[2] Given the poem's apparent focus upon Heracles, however, it is more likely that this Ceyx was actually the king of Trachis who was a nephew of Amphitryon, the great hero's stepfather.[3]

The poem appears to have been popular for the witticisms and riddles uttered at the banquet. One famous riddle is preserved, although incompletely so, by a papyrus scrap and ancient quotations:

⌊αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δαιτὸς μὲν ἐίσης⌋ ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο      ⌊μητέρα μητρὸς⌋     παισ]ὶν ἄγοντο ⌊ἀζαλέην τε καὶ ὀπταλέην σφετέροισι⌋ τέκεσσι ⌊τεθνάναι⌋	then when they had put away their desire for equal banquet      ] mother's mother [     ] they led [to the children, dry and roasted to their own children to die [[4]

According to West, the "children" here are the flames whose mother would be wood. The "mother's mother" is the acorn, which is being roasted in the fire.[5]

Editions and translations

Critical editions

• Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1967), Fragmenta Hesiodea, Oxford, ISBN 0-19-814171-8.
• Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1990), "Fragmenta selecta", in F. Solmsen (ed.), Hesiodi Theogonia, Opera et Dies, Scutum (3rd rev. ed.), Oxford, ISBN 0-19-814071-1.

Translations

• Most, G.W. (2006), Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Loeb Classical Library, no. 57, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 978-0-674-99622-9.
• Most, G.W. (2007), Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue, Other Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, no. 503, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 978-0-674-99623-6.

Notes

1. Merkelbach & West 1965, p. 302.
2. Merkelbach & West 1965.
3. D'Alessio 2005, pp. 183–5, 192–5.
4. The translation is that of Most 2007, p. 281.
5. West 1961, pp. 142–45.

Bibliography

• Cingano, E. (2009), "The Hesiodic Corpus", in Montanari; Rengakos; Tsagalis (eds.), pp. 91–130 Missing or empty |title= (help).
• D'Alessio, G.B. (2005), "The Megalai Ehoiai: A Survey of the Fragments", in R. Hunter (ed.), The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Constructions and Reconstructions, Cambridge, pp. 176–216, ISBN 0-521-83684-0.
• Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1965), "The Wedding of Ceyx" (PDF), Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 108: 300–17.
• Montanari, F.; Rengakos, A.; Tsagalis, C. (2009), Brill's Companion to Hesiod, Leiden, ISBN 978-90-04-17840-3.
• Schwartz, J. (1960), Pseudo-Hesiodeia: recherches sur la composition, la diffusion et la disparition ancienne d'oeuvres attribuées à Hésiode, Leiden.
• West, M.L. (1961), "Hesiodea", CQ, 11: 130–45, doi:10.1017/s0009838800015469.