Tryphe

Tryphe ( Greek  τρυφἠ ) referred to licentiousness, softness, but also noble life until the 4th century BC. In the Hellenistic period the meaning changed to the positive and referred to the public display of Dionysian abundance and abundance, in particular certain forms of the self-stylization of Hellenistic kings.

In praise of the folly of Erasmus of Rotterdam , Tryphe belongs to the allegorical retinue of folly.

Archaic and Classical Times

Sybaris

The city ​​of Sybaris , located on the Gulf of Taranto and belonging to the Magna Graecia , was widely known in antiquity for its wealth and the inclination of the inhabitants to enjoy life and to display their wealth. The way of life of the Sybarites and Tryphe were almost interchangeable terms, so that even in antiquity, sybarite or sybarity became synonymous with “spoiled sissy” and “luxurious life of a lotter”.

Anecdotes related to this luxury life were called sybaritikoi logoi ("sybaritic stories"). Some examples of these anecdotes have come down to us in Athenaios:

• A sybarite tells how he broke himself just by watching a farm worker at work. One listener: "My ribs ache just from listening."
• A sybarite visited Sparta and took part in a communal meal there. The fare was meager and the bank was tough. The sybarite said: “I used to admire you Spartans for your bravery. Now I am no longer surprised by your courage to die, because even the greatest coward would rather die than end such a life. "
• A sybarite wanted to go to Croton and rented a ship for himself. The captain had to assure him that he would not be splashed with water. Then he wanted to persuade a friend to accompany him: "I have agreed with the captain that he will stay close to shore." The friend then: "What? I would hardly allow myself to be persuaded to take a land trip along the sea, let alone a sea trip along the country! "

In general, the sybarites seem to have been reluctant to travel. Some took pride in not leaving Sybaris in their lives. They were also said to take three days to complete a day's journey, even though they used the car. Incidentally, some of the streets in the area were covered.

As for health and its maintenance, it was considered healthy to drink plenty and to turn night into day. At least that is what the sybarite Smindyrides reports. Athenaios quotes a work on the pleasure ascribed to Chamaeleon of Pontus or Theophrastus , according to which Smindyrides had seen neither sunrise nor sunset in 20 years because he did not get up until the evening and went to bed early in the morning.

From the same Smindyrides Herodotus, he was one of the suitors who are Agariste, the daughter of Cleisthenes , tyrant of Sicyon , competed. According to Athenaios, he appeared to the bride's show with an entourage of 1,000 cooks and bird catchers.

It was also this Smindyrides that Aelian relates that after a night spent on rose petals he complained about the uncomfortable surface. The exaggeration of such stories suggests that existing narrative motifs, which in this case range from antiquity to Andersen's princess and the pea , have been transferred to a specific person or have been converted into "sybarite stories".

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Tryphe in Hellenism

Alexander's march through Carmania

Plutarch reports in his biography of Alexander that when Alexander's army passed through Carmania in southern Persia on their way back from India , this procession took the form of a Dionysian comos , i.e. the festive procession of a party. For seven days, the army went along constantly drinking and singing, accompanied by women uttering bakchian screams and the sounds of syrinx and flute. He himself, Alexander, would have sat with his companions on a float drawn by eight horses and would have drank in front of everyone the whole time. The authenticity of this story was, however, already doubted by Arrian .

The Dionysian state cult of the Ptolemies

With the Ptolemies in particular , Tryphe took the form of a state cult or state ideology as the ruler's self-portrayal.

This was also expressed in the nickname: Ptolemy III. and Ptolemy IV were nicknamed Tryphon . With Ptolemy VIII it appears as part of the official title.

The public portrayal of well-being also included obesity and a demonstrative effeminacy: in the portrayals of Ptolemaic rulers, their apparent obesity is noticeable. So also noted the Roman embassy of Scipio Africanus to Ptolemy VIII in 140/39 BC. The considerable waist circumference of the king, who also presented himself in transparent, effeminate clothing. What the Romans saw of the decline and decadence of the Egyptian dynasty was an indispensable part of the Ptolemy's role as a representative of the Dionysian ideal of wellbeing and splendor.

An anecdote from the reign of Ptolemy XII illustrates that cultivating a Dionysian lifestyle at the Ptolemaic court was not just a pleasure, but could also be a duty . about the philosopher Demetrius :

“For example, the Platonic philosopher Demetrius would almost get angry that someone told Ptolemy, who let himself be called Dionysus, that he did not drink wine and that he was the only one who did not wear women's clothes at the feast of Bacchus : and if he had not, since the king summoned him on the following day, had drunk wine in front of the whole world and danced with castanets in a Schemise of Tarentine flor, then it would have happened to him. "

- Lucian of Samosata : Against defamation

Festival procession of Ptolemy II.

The ruling tryphe found a particularly pompous expression in the famous pageant of Ptolemy II. It is described in a work by Callixeinos of Rhodes , which is lost, but the description is quoted in some length in the banquet of the philosophers of Athenaeus , there as an example of the The epitome of pomp and luxury.

This pageant took place in the 1970s of the 3rd century BC. In Alexandria .

On the one hand, since the description is of cultural historical interest and nothing would be so suitable to give an impression of what was understood by tryphe in Ptolemaic Egypt, which was also considered to be incredibly rich in ancient times, at least the beginning should be reproduced here :

“The procession was opened by Silenen , who acted as stewards, partly in purple, partly in scarlet robes. They were followed by groups of satyrs carrying gilded lamps made of ivy wood. Then came winged statues of Nike with golden wings, dressed in richly embroidered robes. In their hands they held incense burners nearly six cubits high. This was followed by a double altar, also almost six cubits high, almost completely covered with gilded vine and ivy leaves. After the altar appeared boys in purple tunics carrying frankincense , myrrh and saffron on golden plates . The boys were followed by a group of 40 satyrs whose bodies were painted partly purple, partly vermilion, and partly other colors.

Then two Silenians appeared: one carried a petasus and caduceus , the other a trumpet . Between them was a giant, dressed as a tragedian man the cornucopia of Amaltheia wore. He was followed by the allegorical figure of Penteris: another very tall woman of exceptional beauty who carried a garland of peach blossoms in one hand and a palm branch in the other. It was followed by the four seasons, dressed appropriately, and then came a golden altar between two tall censer. Then satyrs came again in purple robes adorned with wreaths of gilded ivy leaves. Some of them carried wine jugs, others goblets. Then followed the poet Philiscus, who was also the priest of Bacchus, and the Technitai , artists in the cult of Dionysus. These were followed by the Delphic tripods intended as prizes for the trainers of the competitors : the tripod intended for the trainer of the boys measured nine cubits, the one intended for the trainer of the men twelve cubits in height.

Then a wagon pulled by 180 men appeared. The chariot measured fourteen cubits in length and eight in breadth. On it was a larger than life picture of Dionysus with all the symbols of his power and his blessings, who poured libations from a golden cup . The carriage was followed by the god's priests and priestesses, members of the cult associations, bearers of the secret cult objects ( liqueurophores ) and several groups of maenads with loose hair who carried knives and snakes. The maenads were followed on a chariot by a statue of Nysa , eight cubits high, which, driven by a mechanism, rose from its seat, poured milk from a golden vessel as a libation and then sat down again. In her left hand she carried a thyrsos adorned with golden ivy and jeweled grapes.

The next section of the procession was dedicated to Dionysus as the god of wine. A wine press appeared on several carts, in which 60 satyrs were pressing while singing under the supervision of a Silenus. This was followed by a cart pulled by 600 men with a huge wineskin sewn from leopard skin, which could hold 3,000 liters of wine, which poured out of the hose onto the street. Then there was a silver cauldron on a wagon that held 600 gauges, richly engraved with depictions of animals. This was followed by a large number of other vessels and drinking utensils: mixing jugs, bowls and bowl stands, kettles, basins, wine presses, plates, tables, all made of gold or silver and partly decorated with jewels.

Special showpieces were also carried around on tables, for example a replica of the Semele's bridal chamber , in which the figures were clad in gold, jeweled tunics. A cave could be seen on a wagon, overgrown with ivy and yew. Two springs rose from the cave, one with milk and the other with wine. During the entire procession, pigeons were constantly fluttering from this cave. This was followed by depictions of the victorious Dionysus return from his campaign in India: first a statue of the god twelve cubits high that was carried by an elephant, then sections of maenads and satyrs, who were supposed to represent the army of Dionysus, and finally groups of chariots that were raised by all sorts of animals (elephants, goats, peacocks, buffalos, antelopes, wildebeests and even zebras). Then the booty of the campaign: Indian women and camels laden with incense and spices. Delegations from Ethiopia with gifts: ivory, ebony, gold and silver. Then hunters and dogs: 2400 dogs of different races, including Hyrcanic and Molossians . "

One can hardly measure the impression made on the contemporary viewer by this display of an incomprehensible wealth that is beyond human measure, next to which every modern spectacle fades to shabbiness. It was of course precisely the intention to overwhelm and, so to speak, to smother the viewer with impressions - it was the principle of Ptolemaic propaganda.

literature

• Adrian Stähli: The denial of lust. Erotic groups in ancient plastic. Reimer, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-496-01195-5 , p. 233 ff.
• Robert J. Gorman / Vanessa Gorman: The Tryphê of the Sybarites. A Historiographical Problem in Athenaeus. In: Journal of Hellenic Studies . Volume 127, 2007, pp. 38-60 ( online ).

Remarks

1. ↑ Athenaios Deipnosophistai 518c-522d. For the evaluation of the sections on Sybaris and Sybarites in Athenaios see in particular: Gorman / Gorman: The Tryphe of the Sybarites. JHS 127 (2007). Pp. 38-60.
2. ↑ Athenaios Deipnosophistai 6.105 (511c).
3. ↑ Herodotus 6.127.
4. ↑ Athenaios Deipnosophistai 12:58.
5. ↑ Aelian varia historia 9.24; also at Seneca de ira 2.25.2.
6. ↑ Kurt Ranke et al. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of fairy tales. de Gruyter, Berlin 1977. Vol. 10. Col. 1331 f.
7. ^ Plutarch vitae parallelae 67.
8. ↑ Arrian Anabasis 6.28.1 f.
9. ↑ See something [1] .
10. ↑ Diodorus Siculus Library 33, 28a, 1-2. Athenaios Deipnosophistai 12,549c. Plutarch moralia 200e - 201a. Junianus Justinus 38,8,8-11.
11. ^ Translation by Christoph Martin Wieland . Quoted from: Lukian Werke Vol. 3. Aufbau, Berlin 1974. S. 275.
12. ↑ Callixeinos of Rhodes cited in Athenaios Deipnosophistai 5, 197c - 203b [2] .
13. ↑ It is assumed that the pageant took place during the Panhellenic Festival, the Ptolemaia , founded by Ptolemy II . The Ptolemaia were celebrated every four years. The second (276/75 BC) or the third (271/70 BC) event would come into question.
14. ↑ One cubit is about three meters. The conversion is based on the Greek cubit (pechua) of 47.4 cm. See also Old Weights and Measures (Antiquity) .
15. ↑ "Huge" is relative. The man is said to have been four cubits, so just under 1.90 m tall.
16. ↑ "Penteteris" means "five years". Since the Greeks counted both the first year of the period and the first year of the following period in periods of several years, the four-year cycle of Ptolemaia is meant.