DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0317
' When Oidipous died, his friends thought to bury him in Thebes. But the
Thebans, holding that he was an impious person on account of the misfortunes
which had befallen him in earlier times, prevented them from so doing. They
carried him therefore to a certain place in Boiotia called Keos and buried him
there. But the inhabitants of the village, being visited with sundry misfortunes,
attributed them to the burying of Oidipous and bade his friends remove him
brought him to Eteonos. Wishing to bury him secretly, they interred him by
night in the sanctuary of Demeter—for they did not know the locality. When
the facts transpired, the inhabitants of Eteonos asked the god what they should
do. The god bade them not to move the suppliant of the goddess. So Oidipous
is buried there, and'—adds Lysimachos—'the sanctuary is called the Oidipodcioni1
Demeter at Eteonos bore the surname Euryodeia^ and was certainly an earth-
goddess4. Oidipous, buried in her precinct with the honours due to a suppliant5,
would naturally be viewed as a beneficent chthonian power. In this capacity he
would almost certainly be anguiform. Indeed, P. Kretschmer has argued that
the name Oidipous, 'Swell-foot,' actually denoted a snake, being a euphemistic
1 W. Christ Geschichte dergriechischen IJtleratur° Miinchen 1911 ii. 1. 184.
2 Lysimachos frag. 6 (Frag. hist. Gr. iii. 336 f. Miiller) ap. schol. Soph. O.C. 91,
citing Arizelos, of whom nothing further is known (Frag. hist. Gr. iv. 340 Miiller).
3 Hesych. Ei'puoSeta ■ p.eya\dfi<poSos (so Musurus for fxeyaXafxcpeSa cod.), tcai 77 Arj/j.rjTT]p
ovtws ev ^.Kaprpeia (so M. Schmidt for 2/cap0ta cod.), teal 77 777.
4 Et. mag. p. 396, 24 ff. evpvodeia'...' airb x#oi>6s evpvodeirjs' (11. r6. 635, Od. 3. 453, 10.
149, cp. 1 r. 52), p.eya to eSos ^ow???, 0 ecrriv ebpacr/xa. £gti 5e iirLBeTov ttjs 777s.
Cp. schol. Od. 16. 1 [8'Apueiaios Fjvpvodias (W. Dindorf cj. E^puooeta?) /cai Ai6s Eustath.
i)i Od. p. 1796, 34 iureov be otl -yeveaXoyovai Aids fiiv /ecu EvpvoSias 'ApKe'icnov, which
presupposes a union of Zeus with the earth-goddess.
5 Similarly in the Attic version Oidipous at Kolonos UeTevev iv rip iepip tCcv deQiv
A7j/j.rjTpos Kal IloXiovxov 'Ad-qvas (Androtion frag. 31 (Frag. hist. Gr. i. 374 Miiller) ap.
schol. Od. 16. 271. The passage continues koI Ads. dybfievos < Se > inrb Kpeovros k.t.\.
But W. Dindorf, following J. T. Struve, corr. Kal /3/a ayo/mevos vivo Kpeovros k.t.X.).
Thebans, holding that he was an impious person on account of the misfortunes
which had befallen him in earlier times, prevented them from so doing. They
carried him therefore to a certain place in Boiotia called Keos and buried him
there. But the inhabitants of the village, being visited with sundry misfortunes,
attributed them to the burying of Oidipous and bade his friends remove him
brought him to Eteonos. Wishing to bury him secretly, they interred him by
night in the sanctuary of Demeter—for they did not know the locality. When
the facts transpired, the inhabitants of Eteonos asked the god what they should
do. The god bade them not to move the suppliant of the goddess. So Oidipous
is buried there, and'—adds Lysimachos—'the sanctuary is called the Oidipodcioni1
Demeter at Eteonos bore the surname Euryodeia^ and was certainly an earth-
goddess4. Oidipous, buried in her precinct with the honours due to a suppliant5,
would naturally be viewed as a beneficent chthonian power. In this capacity he
would almost certainly be anguiform. Indeed, P. Kretschmer has argued that
the name Oidipous, 'Swell-foot,' actually denoted a snake, being a euphemistic
1 W. Christ Geschichte dergriechischen IJtleratur° Miinchen 1911 ii. 1. 184.
2 Lysimachos frag. 6 (Frag. hist. Gr. iii. 336 f. Miiller) ap. schol. Soph. O.C. 91,
citing Arizelos, of whom nothing further is known (Frag. hist. Gr. iv. 340 Miiller).
3 Hesych. Ei'puoSeta ■ p.eya\dfi<poSos (so Musurus for fxeyaXafxcpeSa cod.), tcai 77 Arj/j.rjTT]p
ovtws ev ^.Kaprpeia (so M. Schmidt for 2/cap0ta cod.), teal 77 777.
4 Et. mag. p. 396, 24 ff. evpvodeia'...' airb x#oi>6s evpvodeirjs' (11. r6. 635, Od. 3. 453, 10.
149, cp. 1 r. 52), p.eya to eSos ^ow???, 0 ecrriv ebpacr/xa. £gti 5e iirLBeTov ttjs 777s.
Cp. schol. Od. 16. 1 [8'Apueiaios Fjvpvodias (W. Dindorf cj. E^puooeta?) /cai Ai6s Eustath.
i)i Od. p. 1796, 34 iureov be otl -yeveaXoyovai Aids fiiv /ecu EvpvoSias 'ApKe'icnov, which
presupposes a union of Zeus with the earth-goddess.
5 Similarly in the Attic version Oidipous at Kolonos UeTevev iv rip iepip tCcv deQiv
A7j/j.rjTpos Kal IloXiovxov 'Ad-qvas (Androtion frag. 31 (Frag. hist. Gr. i. 374 Miiller) ap.
schol. Od. 16. 271. The passage continues koI Ads. dybfievos < Se > inrb Kpeovros k.t.\.
But W. Dindorf, following J. T. Struve, corr. Kal /3/a ayo/mevos vivo Kpeovros k.t.X.).