Τῇδε βακχεῖος βότρυς ἐπ’ ἦμαρ ἕρπει: un θαῦμα dionisiaco nel Tieste di Sofocle (fr. 255 R.2)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss a challenging case study concerning a fragment from one of Sophocles’ plays titled Thyestes (fr. 255 R.2). The text, transmitted to us as a quotation in a scholium to Euripides’ Phoenissae, concerns a prodigious vine, sacred to Dionysus, which grows on the island of Euboea. This particular plant is able to complete all the stages of its cultivation, from the apparition of the first shoots to the mixing of wine, in the course of a single day. After an examination of the fragment’s language, of its textual problems, and of the details of the prodigy, compared to a number of similar descriptions from other sources, the paper will investigate the possible role of the verses within the action of the original play. The absence of a known connection between the Pelopids’ saga and either the island of Euboea or Bacchic mythology makes a case for interpreting the verses as a metaphor for the number of events which can occur in a single day, if a god so wishes, resulting in the obtainment of a favourable result. The paper moves on to investigate what is known of the play’s contents in order to find a possible place in it for the series of happenings alluded to by the vine image. This might be found in the last known episode of Atreus and Thyestes’ myth, when the latter obtains his revenge over the former, starting off as a prisoner and working his way quickly up to ultimate, complete triumph.