Historia Apollonii regis Tyri

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Illustration from a medieval manuscript (Kloster Werden, around 1000).

The Historia Apollonii regis Tyri ("History of Apollonius, King of Tire") is an ancient novel in Latin , which goes back to Greek or Latin sources. Its author is unknown; the date is from the 3rd century AD.

Table of contents

The story begins in Antioch , where King Antiochus has an incestuous relationship with his daughter. In order to be able to keep her to himself, he poses a riddle to her suitors that they have to solve. If they fail, they will be executed. Only Apollonius, king of Tire , succeeds in solving the riddle: scelere vehor, maternam carnem vescor, quaero fratrem meum, meae matris virum, uxoris meae filium: non invenio . (I am led by crime, I enjoy the motherly flesh, I look for my brother, my mother's husband, my wife's son: [but] I cannot find [him].) The answer is the criminal relationship between father and daughter. Enraged sends Antiochus Apollonius continued and rushes him captors after which it killed to. Now the wandering of Apollonius begins. In a storm at sea he loses his belongings and then comes to the court of another king, where his daughter falls in love with him. The two marry and after the death of King Antiochus return to Antioch to take the throne. His wife dies on the journey after giving birth to their daughter Tarsia. Apollonius leaves his wife's body on the beach to be buried on land. But his wife is only apparently dead, is saved and becomes a priestess.

Apollonius drives on and leaves his daughter in the care of foster parents. After that he was lost for a few years. Tarsia grows up and one day is caught by pirates who sell her to a brothel owner . She manages to fend off the suitors and becomes the object of the desire of a young prince . Apollonius sails the world believing that his wife and daughter are dead. One day he comes to the city where Tarsia lives. She is sent to the ship to cheer him up, and the two recognize each other as father and daughter. By chance they come to the temple where Tarsia's mother lives as a priestess. The family is happily reunited and Tarsia marries the young prince.

Theories of origin

Since the origin of the Historia Apollonii is unclear, two theories have prevailed in Historia Apollonii research that try to trace the origin of the HA. The question is whether the HA is a translation of a lost Greek original or a Latin story.

The Greek original

In some Greek novels there are sentences that match passages from the HA. Some examples are analyzed below:

Examples

1) HA 1, 3-4

"... natura exerrat ..."

η του κοσμου φυσις αμαρτανει = The nature of the world order is absent / sins

Letter from Philostratus

οπου μεν γαρ τι ημαρτηθη τη φυσει ... = Because wherever nature was truly missing something ...

Chariton's novel "Chaireas and Callirrhoe of Syracuse" (One of the Greek sources)

ην γαρ το καλλος ουκ ανθρωπιον, αλλα θειον = Because beauty was not human, but divine.

2) HA 1, 4-5

"multi eam in matrimonium petebant" = ask / ask for the wedding

Longus Roman "Daphnis and Chloe" (Greek source)

προς γαμον αιτουντες αυτην

At Heliodoros (Greek source)

προς γαμον αιτωμεν

3) HA 1,4-5

Que dum ad nubilem pervenisset aetatem

At Heliodorus

Ηλθε και εις ωραν γαμου = It came in the time of the wedding

Similarities to the Greek novel

HA start: It is about a supernatural beauty of a girl whom all men want to marry. Later, Apollonius and Archistratus' daughter appear as lovers: the daughter experiences symptoms of lovesickness: insomnia, fatigue and inner restlessness. The couple are then happily united and are suddenly separated - Apollonius thinks his wife has died → corresponds pretty much to the plot in Chariton's romance novel .

Motives: odyssey, shipwreck, selling a girl to the brothel, maintaining chastity, happy union of the couple at the end.

Differences from the Greek novel

The language style of the inscriptions corresponds to that of the Latin inscriptions.

Romantic text contains quotations from works of Latin literature .

The Greek novel is about a bourgeois atmosphere, in the HA all come from the royal family.

In the great novel, the main heroes are young lovers, in the HA the protagonists change.

In the HA, Apollonius has suicidal thoughts when he believes his daughter is dead, in the Greek romance novel, one of the lovers' partners longs for death when he learns of the alleged death of the lover .

In Greek novels this love of the young couple is marked by intense passion , in the HA the erotic elements are greatly reduced - the oath of loyalty and the testing of loyalty are also missing in the HA.

A romance novel becomes a family and recognition novel in that it is primarily about the relationship between fathers and daughters. The incest passage is included as a necessary part of the overall storyline and serves as a negative example of a father-daughter relationship. Archistrates and Apollonius, on the other hand, are good fathers - but the main hero Apollonius does not play a role as a lover. It is therefore assumed that the HA has a predominantly Latin origin and not a Greek one.

The Latin original

In today's research it is largely assumed that the text goes back to a Latin original that was written in the 3rd / 4th centuries. Century was written. There are also other theories that the HA is a Christian text or a conglomerate of various short stories. However, these are neglected in research due to the thin line of argument. Elimar Klebs ( The story of Apollonius from Tire: A historical investigation , Berlin 1899) met with the greatest approval .

Theory of origin according to Klebs

Klebs takes the origin of the HA in the 3rd / 4th centuries. Century on. He wants to read the date of origin of the HA using the coin details. There are 3 different coin indications in the novel: "auri" c.8, "talenta auri" c. 10 and "sestertia auri" c. 25 Through the "sestertia auri", the date of origin can be extended to the 3rd / 4th Century. Because the calculation according to sesterces had not yet completely disappeared towards the end of the 3rd century. In addition, it corresponds to the usage of this century that the "sestertia" is given the addition "auri". From Constantine the Great onwards, the sesterces were dissolved in favor of the auri. That means that the Latin script appeared before Constantine in any case.

The following examples show why the HA should be of Latin origin:

The inscriptions : About them Klebs wants to see that the HA cannot be a translation from the Greek, but that it was freely designed by a Latin, since the forms and formulas are in the typical Latin inscription style. Example: "DM CIVES TARSI TARSIAE VIRGINI BENEFICIIS TYRII APOLLONII" - It is a hallmark of Latin that honorary inscriptions are kept in the dative, whereas in Greek it is in the accusative.

Facilities and buildings : The general Hellenistic-Roman culture is the setting for the story. It is noticeable that no Greek customs are mentioned. There are some indications of the story's Roman origins.

When Apollonius orders his born daughter to be taken in (c. 25 iussit infantem tolli), this is the Roman way in which the father recognizes a child and expresses the will to raise it.

The figures are honored by statues with honorary inscriptions, as happened countless times in Roman culture.

In high school, King Archistrates has fun playing ball, then he bathes and lets himself be rubbed off. Trimalchio behaves in exactly the same way ( Petron 27/28).

At the meal the king's daughter delights the guests with musical lectures. She sings and plays the lyre. It was also common in Roman times.

And like every noble man of the imperial era owns a library (testimony from Seneca, among others), so Apollonius also studies the philosophers and astrologers when he returns from Antiochus.

The general mourning that Apollonius' disappearance evokes is described as follows: "maeror ingens nascitur - tantus vero amor circa eum civium erat ut multo tempore tonsores cessarent, publica spectacula tollerentur, balnea clauderentur, non templa neque tabernas quisquam ingrederetur". This depicts public mourning as it was committed in Rome and in the Roman Empire by closing houses and shops, and by lifting the spectacles.

Towards the end of the story, the inhabitants of Tarsus call Apollonius to “te regem, te patrem patriae diximus!” Father patriae was known to have been a regular part of the imperial title since Augustus.

Language and style :

Distinctive language and style characteristics that speak for a Latin origin are presented here, although it is relatively difficult to draw conclusions about the original text, as it has most likely been distorted and corrupted over time.

Alliterations: Example: "mensas et ministeria", "non templa neque tabernas", "nudus naufragus" "casta caraque", ...

End rhymes in the form of inflectional rhymes: "qui cum luctatur cum furore, pugnat cum dolore, vincitur amore", "quaestionem regis soluisti, filiam eius non accepisti"

Play on words: "in artem incidit, sed non didicit", "non Apollonium sed Apollinem", "de arte tua nihil quereor, sed a rege Antiocho quaeror", ...

Further stylistic figures: Adding a compound word: "fugere quidem potest, effugere non potest" multiple times "scire" and "nescire" are placed next to each other.

Intertextuality: It is interesting to include the linguistic influences of Latin authors, especially those of the Augustan period, Virgil and Ovid. Because the strong similarity of different phrases or passages is perhaps what makes one believe most in a Latin original. Examples:

HA c. 18: "Sed regina [sui] iam dudum saucia cura Apollonii figit in pectore vultus verba, cantusque memor credit genus esse deorum nec somnum oculis nec membris dat cura quietem."

Virgil Aeneid 4,1 ff .:

“At regina gravi iamdudum saucia cura
Vulnus alit venis et caeco carpitur igni
Multa viri virtus animo multusque recursat
Gentis honos; haerent infixi pectore voltus
Verbaque nec placidam membris dat cura quietem. "

Furthermore the poetic description of the storm: HA c. 11 “Hinc Notus, hinc Boreas, hinc Africus horridus instat” → striking similarity to the description of the winds in Virgil

In the same place a passage from Ovid is inserted: HA c. 11: "Ipse tridente suo Neptunus spragit harenas" Ovid, Met. 1,260 ff .: "Ipse tridente suo terram percussit"

The HA as a Christian text

The frequent repetitions of "deus", ie "God" in the singular, are interpreted by some researchers as a direct allusion to the Christian God. In addition, the emphasis placed on maintaining virginity can be seen as a Christian element. But since the further argumentation is rather thin and the research has refuted this theory with enough counterexamples, one must probably assume that the novel from the 3rd / 4th Century AD and was only later provided with Christian elements, especially since the oldest existing manuscript of the Historia Apollonii dates back to the 9th century and it remains unclear what - possibly Christian - changes the text has taken over the centuries .

The riddles in the HA

Riddles play an important role in HA and span the whole story like an arc. Puzzles are also a popular stylistic device in many other ancient texts. The most famous example in classical antiquity is probably the riddle of the Sphinx in Oedipus . Puzzles serve as a different way of communication and allow characters to express something unspeakable. There are numerous puzzles of this kind in the HA, for example when Antiochus' daughter confesses to her nurse that her father had raped her. We find the central riddle in the HA right at the beginning: "Scelere vehor, maternam carnem vescor, quaero fratrem meum, meae matris virum, uxoris meae filium: non invenio." "I drive on crime, feed on the flesh of my mother, looking for my brother, the husband of my mother, the son of my wife. I do not find him "King Antiochus, who with his daughter incest drives, makes this puzzle the suitors of his daughter. If you know the right solution, you get it to your wife. We know this motif from various fairy tales: the suitors who cannot solve the riddle pay with their lives . There is also a lot at stake for the king because he would lose his power with his daughter. The formulation of the riddle does not seem to fit into the HA, however, because it rather suggests an incestuous connection between mother and son. It may have been borrowed from another text. At the end of the HA there are a number of other puzzles. They come from a puzzle collection from the 4th / 5th centuries. Century, Aenigmata , which was written by a Roman named Symphosius . The puzzles are all written in first-person form and deal with things such as pens, mirrors, wheels, ladders, rivers and fish etc. These puzzles are purely for entertainment.

The incest motive

Incest (Latin incestum "impure") is defined as an actual, heterosexual act between two or more members of the same core family . As a result, different constellations are possible: father-daughter incest (cf. Historia Apollonii), mother-son incest (cf. Oedipus myth ) and brother-sister incest (cf. Byblis myth ). Incest therefore represents a sexual relationship with blood relatives , the practice of which has always been forbidden by a corresponding law in almost every society and is punished with severe penalties. As a result, one can always speak of a universally valid incest taboo .

Different types of incest

Emergency isolation incest occurs when an in and for itself exogamous group is forced to endogamy as a result of unfavorable conditions (spatial or social isolation) . Endogamy: (Greek endo inside and gamos wedding) for example Lot's daughters, who attended their intoxicated father in order to raise children with him, because they were afraid that after the fall of Sodom they would no longer find men.

Dynastic incest can be traced back to Elamite rulers (ancient oriental people in the southwest of today's Iran), to the pharaohs in Egypt ( Ptolemies ), to the Incas , Mayas or to the kings of Hawaii . In this type of incest is the obligation of political or sacral significant persons / functionaries received an incestuous relationship must , for example, as the first and most important woman marry their own, own sister. Such commandments are connected with the idea of ​​a sacred kingship , as well as with the desire to legitimize one's own rule and to maintain it within the dynasty . for example Ptolemies in Egypt who saw themselves as direct descendants of a god . As members of the ruling house, they could not afford to connect with "normal, ordinary" people - here incest is the only alternative to get the "divinely pure blood".

Cultic-magical incest Committing the strictly forbidden incestuous acts represents a “magical catalyst” in cultic-magical incest, through which dangerous, magical powers are released. Only priests (or people with priestly functions) can release these powers in a form that brings salvation to the community, while unauthorized persons would only cause general disaster.

Incest in ancient cultures

Examples

  • old Peruvians , Incas (no incest prohibitions, motive: purity of the tribe preserved)
  • Persians : no bans. People who have emerged from such relationships were required for ministry.
  • Egypt: no obstacles to marriage - often: sibling marriages (especially among the Ptolemies ). for example Cleopatra: daughter of a sibling marriage and granddaughter of Berenice, who was also the niece and sister of her husband.

Greeks

According to the oldest custom and divine example, the Greeks allowed marriage to their own sister. In the reign of Solon (640-560), marriage between children and parents, as well as between siblings, was forbidden (Solon legislation).

Romans

The "incestum" has always been strictly forbidden among the Romans and was understood as criminal and immoral. The obstacle extended to the sixth degree of kinship, whereby after the first Punic War (264-241 BC) the ban was "loosened" - the result was an increase in incestuous connections in the upper class, with sibling marriage in particular was permitted by the Romans.

Prominent examples

  • Emperor Caligula marries his sister Drusila because he wanted to introduce sibling marriage in Rome based on the Ptolemaic model.
  • Emperor Claudius marries his niece Agrippina after he had the marriage between uncle and niece legitimized by the Senate (49 AD)
  • Nero is said to have felt sexually attracted to his mother Agrippina. (Suetone)
  • Emperor Tiberius married his stepsister

Statutory penalties

With the civilized peoples of antiquity we find a strong emphasis on punishments due to the universally valid incest taboo . Punishments practiced in Rome:

  • The blood-molesters caught in flagrante were overthrown from the Tarpei rock on the southern tip of the Capitol Hill . Additional atonement offerings were made to appease divine wrath .
  • Further punishments: exile (social death), forced suicide, blinding , burning alive, buried alive, death of both persons involved, drowning the criminals in the sea

Incest as a literary subject

Popular in numerous myths

Fairy tales: similar motif as in Historia Apollonii (father-daughter incest suggested)

  • Allerleirauh, Quedl the little dog, the saga of Hüfenberg

Father daughter relationships

King Antiochus and his daughter

Antiochus' love for his daughter is a false, perverted love. He is kindled in a passion and a love that are not right for a father. Since he cannot keep his lust under control, he enters the daughter's room and rapes her. The daughter wants to take her own life after this outrage, but is persuaded by her wet nurse to continue to be available to the father. The father is jealous and possessive and does not want to lose the beloved he found in his daughter. Therefore, he poses a riddle to all admirers of the daughter, the non-resolution of which means that he has her beheaded. The death by lightning, which hits both in the end, could be seen as a punishment from God / the gods. So this example becomes a warning.

King Archistrates and his daughter

This love is idealized. In contrast to the above, the relationship is one that is based on reciprocity: The two treat each other very respectfully and lovingly. The father in this relationship is very caring and even gives his daughter free will in choosing her husband.

Apollonius and Tarsia

This love is difficult to define. On the one hand, Apollonius leaves his daughter behind and in the lurch. On the other hand, it enables her to grow up “normally” - with mother and father. His love for her can be seen in his suicidal thoughts when he found out about her supposed death, as well as in his reaction to the recognition. (He can hardly believe it and is overjoyed.) The incest motive of the first relationship could reappear here when Tarsia is sent as a girl from the brothel to Apollonius to lure him out. But before it can come to that, there is recognition. This father also gives his daughter free will in choosing her husband.

Stranguillo and Tarsia

Stranguillo loves Tarsia like his own daughter. Far too late, however, he notices his wife's intrigue, who sees Tarsia as her daughter's competitor and who is planning Tarsia's murder. Stranguillo is deeply saddened by the alleged death of Tarsia.

Athenagoras and Tarsia

This relationship also works like a father-daughter relationship, not that of a pair of lovers. He takes care of her lovingly and takes on a protective role. Only when he learns that she comes from a royal family does he ask for her hand.

Christian and pagan elements in the HA

If one compares passages of the HA, there are many passages that show similarities with the Latin Bible , preferably the New Testament :

HA: scelerata cum in tormento esset Bible: (with Lukas) cum esset in tormentis

HA: per deum vivum te adiuro Bible: (Matthew) adiuro te per deum vivum

HA: salutis suae nuntium misit Bible: ego mittam nuncium salutis de te

It should also be noted that there are often not only similarities to the Latin Bible, but some parts must have been written or rewritten by Christians . This can be determined from the Christian vocabulary . If you take a look at the gods mentioned, it is noticeable that some parts are of Greek origin. So Neptune , Jupiter , Artemis , Diana etc. are named as well as the Christian God . The gods occur predominantly in the parts that partly contain Latin sentences or words that were partly translated literally from the Greek or borrowed from the Greek. Artemis plays a lesser role in the present Latin version than in the Greek.

Pagan elements The wife of Apollonius lives as a priestess of Diana, Apollonius is compared to Apoll.

Christian elements The preservation of virginity can be understood as Christian. The simple use of the word Deus (Latin God) is clearly of Christian origin.

Mixing pagan and Christian elements

The first god to appear is Neptunus . Apollonius sails from Tarsus to Pentapolis. The four winds storm and Triton blows the horn while Neptune twirls the trident . This is clearly pagan , but in the next dialogue, when Apollonius asks the fisherman for help, he admonishes him: "Ut si quando Deo favente redditus fueris natalibus tuis ..." Which means something like: "If one day you with God's will which yours will be reproduced ... ”The fisherman seems to have been Christianized by a later author. At the Archistrate's table, Apollonius sings and is compared to Apoll: “non apollonium sed apollinem”. Later Apollonius thanks God that he was accepted by the king: “agens deo gratias” Another Christian motif is the raising from the dead or the seemingly dead. The doctor anoints Apollonius' wife and she comes to life again. This Christian motif is immediately replaced by a pagan one: Apollonius' wife becomes a priestess of Diana . Meanwhile, Apollonius goes to Tarsus "under God's guidance" . Again, Christian and pagan motifs alternate, and the Christian God may be meant, because the word Deus is again used in the Christian sense. It seems very Christian that Tarsia keeps her virginity. Grace, charity and the suddenly disappeared desire of men can only be owed to the Christian God. At the crossing of Apollonius there is another storm , but unlike before everyone is praying to the Christian God. Be it just a coincidence or a seemingly unconscious proof of a later Christian author, all survive and arrive safely in Mutilene, where the feast of Neptune is being celebrated. When Tarsia complains to her still unsuspecting father after he had beaten her and pushed her away, what happened to her and what had happened to her, he recognizes her. It appears Christian in this paragraph and uses the expression “Aderit seine Deus creator omnium et auctor; Non sinit hos fletus casso dolore relinqui ", which means something like:" The God who created and called everything will help you, not in vain pain he will make you cry. "Here, too, there is an indirect message: The Christian God appears here as a loving good God who has a reason for everything and who will save the poor lost soul. Some time later she is rescued as if to prove it, because Apollonius recognizes in her his lost daughter.

In one of the riddles which Tarsia Apollonius poses, there is talk of an Amica Dei; one would think that the Christian God is meant here, but at the latest with the answer it becomes clear that it is not the Christian God that is meant, but Apollo. The Muses that Tarsia mentions also speak for Apollo and not for the Christian God. Apollonius sums up his story in which he tells that he gave his wife to the kingdom of Neptune and that Stranguillo was godforsaken. Here then the recognition, the poor soul is saved by the benevolent Christian God. Athenagoras, the young prince, asks Apollonius for the hand of Tharsia. As mentioned at the beginning, he uses the words “deum vivum te adiuro” (“by the living God I ask you”). In this part of history in particular, God is often spoken of as an individual. This may indicate that a Christian author has worked very thoroughly here. Apollonius finds his wife again in the temple of Diana. In a Christian sense, the story comes to an end when Apollonius also does something good to everyone who once did him good. Mostly Christian and pagan prayers or invocations of the gods alternate, sometimes come into direct contrast or complement each other: On the first crossing, Apollonius is shipwrecked, and Neptune is responsible. Everyone else dies. He is the only one who survives and is helped by a Christian. The Christian-oriented parts of the text in particular are mostly situations in which the Christian God does good and in which, thanks to his help, everything finds a happy ending . Among the pagan gods, Apollonius is an image of Apollo, his wife an image of Diana, Neptune the capricious, who kills and saves as he pleases.

Astrology in the HA

A passage in which astrology occurs directly is (6.11-13): "omniumque pene philosophorum disputationes omniumque etiam Chaldaeorum" ("the questions of wisdom of almost all philosophers and Chaldeans"). (The Chaldeans were an ancient people, lived near Babylon and were Semites . Their name is a synonym for astrologers , as they knew about astronomy .) Immediately after this mention, the journey of Apollonius begins. One could interpret it to mean that he left immediately after reading his horoscope .

Another important point is when Apollonius wants to pick up his daughter Tharsia again from Dionysia and Stranguillo. Dionysia says to him: (38. 2 - 3) “Crede nobis, quia si genesis permississet, sicut haec omnia damus, ita et filiam tibi reddidissemus” (“Believe us, if fate had allowed you, like you, you would have all this again get back from us, get your daughter back too ”). If Dionysia didn't know that Apollonius believed in fate , she wouldn't have said something like that. Apollonius' belief in fate and astrology is also evident in the vow not to cut his hair, nails or beard, and in the long absence of 14 years. People who believe they are under the spell of heaven want to break this curse through repentance, self-neglect and sexual abstinence. They are called Κάτοχοι, those who are bound. Tharsia also believes in fate. Tharsia says: (44.9) "O ardua potestas caelorum, quem e pateris innocentem tantis calamitatibus ab ipsis cunabulis fatigari" "O you high heavenly powers, you who, innocent me, haunt me from the cradle with such great misfortune." So you can see that in the Historia Apollonii there is a connection to astrology, which also raises new questions about the transmission of the text. Because the Christian Church was strictly against astrology and she tried to wipe out any influence of the same, be it by burning books or by Christianizing other believers.

Afterlife of the HA in the Middle Ages

The HA enjoyed great popularity in the Middle Ages , which can be concluded from the fact that in addition to the numerous copies, many translations and adaptations (with changes in content and form) were created during this time. The following are examples of this:

  • Gesta Apollonii (10th century)
  • Old English translation (10th century)
  • Old French Roman d'Apolonine (12th century)
  • Inclusion in Gottfried von Viterbo's Pantheon (12th century)
  • Danish ballad Kong Apollon af Tire (13th century)
  • Spanish Libro de Apolonio (13th century)
  • Carmina Burana No. 97 O Antioche (13th century)
  • Apollonius of Tyrland by Heinrich von Neustadt (14th century).
  • Admission to the Gesta Romanorum (14th century)
  • Folk books in different languages ​​emerged in the 15th century.

Pagan and ancient customs and rites that were unknown to the Middle Ages were partly left out in the adaptations and partly adapted to the time. Especially the arrangements from the 12th to 14th centuries often put the story in a courtly and knightly milieu .

Page with colored pen drawings from a medieval manuscript (Werden monastery, around 1000).

One of the oldest surviving manuscripts was created around 1000 in Werden monastery . In addition to the Latin text, the fragmentary manuscript also contains 38 colored pen and ink drawings, making it the oldest illustrated version of the story. It is now in the Hungarian National Széchényi Library . A facsimile edition was published in 2011.

Afterlife of the HA in the early modern period

At the transition to modern times and modern times, there are numerous arrangements in prose and in verse form or as drama . First of all, there are the “Gesta Romanorum”: there are dated editions from 1480, 4 in the 15th century and 5 in the 16th century. They all go back to a copy by the Wels Group. The first complete print including Apollonius was the first print of Zell, without the year.

Arrangements of the "Gesta Romanorum", piece 153:

  1. The German folk book by Heinrich Steinhoewel, Reutlingen 1471, is connected with the metric treatment by Gotfried von Viterbo.
  2. The Dutch People's Book, Delft 1493, taken from the Dutch version of the Gesta Romanorum “Die gheschienissen van Romen”, Gouda 1481, Delft 1483, Zwolle 1484.
  3. Oldest French version of the Gesta Romanorum, Paris 1521
  4. An English adaptation of the Apollonius story, which is essentially based on the Gesta Romanorum by Lawrence Twine, London 1576, London 1607.

The Dutch, French and English versions are based on Latin texts from the Gesta Romanorum. They are free transmissions that have no other purpose than to tell a strange story in an understandable and attractive way.

Further edits are:

Scandinavian
  • Danish folk book, 1600, 1627, 1731
  • Editing in Icelandic
  • Swedish folk book "Svenska Folksbökker", 1642, 1732, 1747, 1835.
Slavic

The basis of the Slavic arrangements is the Czech folk book from the 14th century. It has been partially translated into Polish and Russian.

Hungarian

Cluj 1591.

Spanish
  • Hystoria de Apollonio , based on the Gesta Romanorum, Saragossa approx. 1488.
  • Confision del Amante , translated from a Portuguese translation of Gower's “Confessio Amantis”. Juan de Timoneda, Patrañuelo, 1567.
French

Oldest known printed adaptation without a year: Apollin roy de Thire . In addition, some arrangements from the 16th century, some without a year, some later arrangements.

Italian

Istoria d'Apollonio di Tiro in Ottava rima (eight-liner). Numerous manuscripts and many prints up to the 18th century. The first edition was printed in Venice in 1486.

Greek

15th and 16th centuries but also later. They are heavily based on Italian.

German

The 3-stanza poem "The King Apollonius in the Bath" by Hans Sachs from 1553 is worth mentioning here.

English
  • Robert Copland Kynge Appolyn of Thyre , 1510
  • William Shakespeare , " Pericles ", London 1609
  • G. Wilkins "The painfull adventures of Pericles Prince of Tire", 1608 after John Gower. There are also later adaptations of the material.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the subject of the Historia Apollonii was first dramatically processed in the drama Pericles, Prince of Tire by William Shakespeare.

The story of the Historia Apollonii remains essentially the same, the most striking difference being the change in the title hero from Apollonius to Pericles. In addition, the story is embedded in a knightly world in which you measure yourself in tournaments, not in gymnastic competitions.

Shakespeare used two main sources: the "Confessio Amantis" by John Gower and the prose text "The Patterne of Painefull Adventures" by Laurence Twine. The poet Gower himself appears in the play: he is the act-separating chorus who explains scenes that are difficult to depict and evaluates the behavior of the characters.

The intention of the piece is probably to show morally good and reprehensible behavior, especially using the example of the title hero and his daughter, who, although heavily tested by fate, remain loyal to virtue and ultimately win over the often envious Fortuna.

The first print of the piece was published in 1609, numerous reprints indicate the great popularity of the work.

Historical origins

Today the work is hardly seen against an actual historical background, although certain references to places and people have a legendary character.

In the Middle Ages, the HA was increasingly read as a historical event , to be classified in the time of the Punic Wars (after 264 BC), on the other hand also as a copy or as an entertainment novel. For a historical background, there were actually several kings with the name Antiochus in Antioch at the time of the Punic Wars . This city was in 307 BC. BC, and was one of the centers of the Seleucid Empire . The story of Antiochus II in particular (reign 261 BC - 246 BC) could have influenced the HA , as he was poisoned by his first wife Laodike because he - to seal a peace treaty - took another wife would have. Laodike is said to have been the daughter of Antiochus II's father, Antiochus I , and a half-sister of Antiochus II.

However, Apollonius , King of Tire, definitely belongs in the realm of legends . Because the kingdom of Tire was already 332 BC. Conquered by Alexander the great and largely destroyed. After that, it never found its way back to its original meaning. The list of the kings of Tire ends in 332 BC. BC - there never was a king by the name of Apollonius before or after.

literature

expenditure

Late medieval and more recent Greek versions
  • Giorgos Kechagioglou (Ed.): Aπολλώνιος της Tύρου: Yστερομεσαιωνικές και νεότερες ελληνικές μορφές. Kριτική έκδοση, με Eισαγωγές, Σχόλια, Πίνακες λέξεων-Γλωσσάρια και Eπίμετρα. 3 volumes, Iνστιτούτο Nεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Mανόλη Tριανταφυλλίδη), Thessaloniki 2004.

Secondary literature

  • Elizabeth Archibald: Apollonius of Tire. Medieval and Renaissance Themes and Variations. Brewer, Cambridge 1991, ISBN 0-85991-316-3 .
  • Cecilia Braidotti: 'Quaestiones' e 'parabolae': gli indovinelli nella Historia Apollonii regis Tyri. In: Scholia. Rivista quadrimestrale di letteratura latina e greca. Vol. 4, No. 3, 2002, ZDB -ID 2011966-5 , pp. 9-19.
  • Petrus J. Enk: The Romance of Apollonius of Tire. In: Mnemosyne . Series 4, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1948, pp. 222-237, JSTOR 4427134 .
  • Niklas Holzberg : The ancient novel. An introduction. 3rd, revised edition. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-534-18769-5 .
  • Elimar Klebs : The story of Apollonius from Tire. A historical study of its original Latin form and its later adaptations. Reimer, Berlin 1899, ( digitized version ).
  • David Konstan : Apollonius, King of Tire and the Greek Novel. In: James Tatum (Ed.): The Search for the Ancient Novel. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1994, ISBN 0-8018-4619-6 , pp. 173-182.
  • Georgius AA Kortekaas: The Latin Adaptations of the "Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri" in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In: Heinz Hofmann: Groningen Colloquia on the Novel. Volume 3. Forsten, Groningen 1990, ISBN 90-6980-041-1 , pp. 103-102.
  • Georgius AA Kortekaas: Commentary on the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri (= Mnemosyne. Supplementum. 284). Brill, Leiden et al. 2007, ISBN 978-90-04-15594-7 ( review, English ).
  • Georgius AA Kortekaas: Enigmas in and around The Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri. In: Mnemosyne. Vol. 51, No. 2, 1998, pp. 176-191, JSTOR 4432827 .
  • Georgius AA Kortekaas: The story of Apollonius, King of Tire. A study of its Greek origin and an edition of the two oldest Latin recensions (= Mnemosyne. Supplementum. 253). Brill, Leiden et al. 2004, ISBN 90-04-13923-0 .
  • Peter Kuhlmann : The Historia Apollonii regis Tyri and their templates. In: Hermes . Vol. 130, No. 1, 2002, pp. 109-120, JSTOR 4477487 .
  • Carl Werner Müller : The novel hero as a puzzle solver in the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri. In: Würzburg yearbooks. (NF) Vol. 17, 1991, ISSN  0342-5932 , pp. 267-279, doi : 10.11588 / wja.1991.0.27636 .
  • Gareth Schmeling: Manners and Morality in the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri. In: P. Liviabelli Furiani, Antonio M. Scarcella (eds.): Piccolo mondo antico. Appunti sulle donne, gli amori, i costumi, il mondo reale nel romanzo antico. Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Naples 1989, ISBN 88-7104-507-6 , pp. 197-215.
  • Gareth Schmeling: Apollonius of Tire: Last of the troublesome latin novels. In: Hildegard Temporini , Wolfgang Haase (Hrsg.): Rise and decline of the Roman world . 2: Principate. Volume 34: Language and Literature. Volume 4: Wolfgang Haase (Ed.): Individual authors since the Hadrianic period and general information on the literature of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. (Continuation). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1998, ISBN 3-11-015699-7 , pp. 3270-3291.
  • Meinolf Schumacher : Introduction to the German literature of the Middle Ages. WBG, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-534-19603-6 , pp. 107-110.
  • Samuel Singer : Apollonius of Tire. Investigations into the survival of the ancient novel in later times. Niemeyer, Halle (Saale) 1895, ( digitized ).

Web links

Wikisource: Historia Apollonii regis Tyri  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Presumably the area of ​​the Pentapolis in the Cyrenaica is meant. See PJ Enk: The Romance of Apollonius of Tire. In: Mnemosyne Fourth Series, Vol. 1, Fasc. 3 (1948), p. 226
  2. ↑ COD. Lat. 4th
  3. ↑ Apollonius pictus. Egy illusztrált, késő antique regény 1000 körül. / An illustrated, late antique romance around 1000. Eds. Anna Boreczky and András Németh. Széchényi National Library, Budapest 2011, ISBN 978-963-200-600-0 .
  4. ↑ 'Apollonius pictus' facsimile published by National Széchényi Library
  5. ^ Apollonius pictus - egy késő antik kalandregény , communication from the Széchényi National Library (Hungarian).
  6. ↑ Robert Copland: Kynge Appolyn of Thyre. Enprynted in the famous cyte of London in the fletestrete at ye syne of the sonne by Wynkyn de worde. In the yere of our lorde. Mv and.x. [1510].
  7. ↑ As a different spelling of the title also often Kynge Apollyn of Thyre , so also in the private facsimile edition The romance of "Kynge Apollyn of Thyre. , Reproduced in facsimile by Edmund Wm. Ashbee, from the unique original, printed by Wynkyn de Worde , 1510, in the library of His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, KG