Kallimachos, the Assyrian River and the Bees of Demeter Huxley, George Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Summer 1971; 12, 2; ProQuest pg. 211

Kallimachos, the Assyrian River and 
the Bees of Demeter 

George Huxley 

/\T THE END of his Hymn to Apollo (2.lOS:ff Pf.) Kallimachos says fi. that the god, having spurned Envy with his foot, declared: 

• 'A' ~,. , , \ \ , , \ \ , CCVpLOV 7TOTap.,oLO p,Eyac pooc, al\l\a Ta 7TOl\I\a 
\ , ~'\ \ \ ',/..' ",., ,/.. \ t/\ I\Vp,aTa YTfC KaL 7TOI\I\OV E-r VUaTt CVP-rETOV EI\KEL. 

110 A ~ "" , , \ \ "'" ,/..' '\ LJTfOL U OVK a7TO 7TaVTOC VOwp -r0PEOVC£ p,EI\LCCaL, 
3\" rl e I ')' , I 

al\l\ TfTtC Ka apTf TE KaL axpaaVTOC aVEp7TEL 
,'" 'c' ~ '\ ' \ R \" " , 7TwaKOC ES LEpTfC Ol\LYTJ I\Lt'ac aKpov aWTOV. 

In the scholia to line lOS we find: <' Accvptov 7TOTap,o 1,0: > T6V TWV 

IIEpcwv MYEL Tav KaAovp,EVOV EvcppaTTfv. Similarly, Wilamowitz1 com­
ments: <CAls der groBe FluB lutulentum jluens wird der Euphrat 
genannt-der Nil lag am nachsten, aber der war heilig." 

The identification of 'Assyrian river' in the Hymn with the Euphrates 
is, however, not obligatory. For in Greek ethnography there were 
also Leukosyroi, Syroi or Assyrioi in northern Asia Minor, who lived 
in Pontos, far from the mouth and some distance from the headwaters 
of the Euphrates. Sinope was one of their towns, and their territory 
extended along the coastlands of the Euxine at least as far eastwards as 
the mouth of the Thermodon.2 There are in fact positive arguments 
showing that Kallimachos has Pontic Assyrians in mind at the end of 
the Hymn to Apollo. He is known to have written IIEpi TWV KaTa rT]v 

, Actav 7ToTap,wv (fr.459)3 and to have mentioned the Halys and the Iris 
rivers (fr.501).4 But the strongest evidence for a river in contemporary 

1 Hellenistische Dichtung II (Berlin 1924) 86 n.l. 
2 See F. Jacoby on Hekataios, FGrHist 1 F 200-08 and Der kleine Pauly III (1969) 600-0l. 
3 The contexts of Kallimachos fr.506 ifJl.tcV Jl.€V IUpcatt, ifJl.tcv S' 'Accvptot and fr.505 ~ Jl.€V 

a17' 'Accvplwv ~Jl.€Sa17~ aTpaTlTj are not certain, and fr.506, with its awkward hiatus, may 
not even be by Kallimachos. Pfeiffer considers the possibility that 'our land's' in fr.505 means 
the Amazonian army. If it does, then the Pontic Assyria is intended in the line. 

4 = Etym.Gen. A,B s.v. "AAVC: the statement here that Kallimachos identified the Halys 
with the Iris is mistaken (see Pfeiffer on fr.501), but there is no doubt that Kallimachos 
discussed both these rivers of Pontic Assyria. 

211 



212 KALLIMACHOS AND THE ASSYRIAN RIVER 

poetry-a river that is silt-bearing, copious and Assyrian-is to be 
found in the Argonautika of Apollonios. 

In Argonautika 2.946-47 the heroes come to the Assyrian land where 
Sinope, daughter of Asopos, had settled. Later, after leaving the 
alluvial deposit at the mouths of the Halys and Iris,5 they arrive at the 
TTpoxoa{ of the Thermodon, whose peculiarities are described in a 
laboriously detailed digression, wherein the poet displays his geo­
graphical learning. 

975 

980 

A 1;:" " A , \ , ,~\ ., () 

Tep 0 OV TL~ TToTap.wv EVal\LYKLOC OVOE pEE pa 

TOCC' bTL yaL'av 'l7]CL TTapEg e{)Ev UVOtXa j3aAAwv' 
Ie;. ,t \ ~ I I " tf 

TETpaooc ELC EKaTOV OEVOLTO KEV, EL TLC EKaCTa 
'r '1;:"'" I ., \ , 

TTEp.TTa~oL. p.La 0 OL7] ET7]TVP.OC ETTI\ETO 7T7JY7]' 
t , "c' I I " I ~ 

7] P.EV T E~ 0PEWV KaTaVLCCETaL 7]TTEtpOVOE 

vVnJAwv, a TI.1>acLv ·Ap.a~6vLa KAE{EaOaL, 

€V{)EV o· alTTvTl.p7]V €7TLK{ovaTaL €VOO()L yaL'av 
, I AI.' 1 ,..,/.. I' 1\ () 

aVTLKpv' TW Kat, OL ETTLCTPV\f'0L EtCL KEI\EV OL, 
, , 1;:" "\ \ I;:' "\ \., I 1 \ 

atEL 0 al\l\votC al\l\7], OTTTJ KVpCEtE /LaI\Le-ra 
, 1 () \ A ~\ 1 .,., 0 

7]TTELPOV X a/LaI\YJc, ELI\KCETaL, 7] /LEV aTTW EV, 
• 1;:" 1\ \ 1 I;:' \ 1 1 " 

7] OE TTEl\aC TTOI\EEC OE TTOPOL VWVVP.VOL EacLV 
., • c J.. I • ~. , J.. I;:' \ ., I OTT7i[J VTTE~ a'!'VOVTaL. 0 0 ap.'!'aoov ap.p.Lya TTavpOLC 
TTl '''Ac \ .,. I " .llOVTOV EC SELVOV KVPT7]V VTT EpEV)'ETaL aKp7]V. 

The Thermodon has ninety-six diverging courses.6 It is tortuous 
and many of its branches are nameless. The poet does not know where 
they are drained off. The main course itself joins openly with a few of 
its streams and belches into Pontos the Inhospitable. This is a striking, 
but odd, digression. The theme is not elevated; and the description in 
lines 978 to 983 of the waters' courses is not lucid. €pEvYETaL or VTT­

EPEVYETaL. even without the unnecessary uXVYJv for UKp7]V in 984, leaves 
an unpleasant impression-the river belches into the sea. Similarly, in 
2.367 the streams of Halys OELVOV EpEVyovTaL: they do not simply roar, 

6 Arg.2.963--64:A€i1TOV ·A.\vv 1TOTap.6v, A€i1TOV 15' &:rXlppoov, [pLY I ~SE Kat 'Accvpl7JC 1Tp6xvCLV 

XBov6c. L'LP 963-5b note the ancient variant (it need not come from a 1TPOfKSOCLC): A€t1TOV 
·A' , 'A ." .'.' 1 , I 'A ' " , , B ' /\vv 1ToTap.ov, /\t"L1TOV 0 at\tp.vpEa xc.upav CCVpt1JC aVExovcav a1TO X ovoc. 

a H. Frankel, in his Noten zu den Argonautika des Apollonios (Munich 1968) 258-59, gives 
drawings of possible symmetrical arrangements of the 96 courses. It is important to remem­
ber, however, since the draWings do not make the point clear, that only one course (fed by 
a few of the smaller streams) leads into the sea. The others dry up or imperceptibly flow 
underground before the sea is reached-VrrEgar/>voVTat. Professor W. M. Calder III kindly 
drew my attention to Frankel's discussion. 



GEORGE HUXLEY 213 

they belch; for they, like the Iris, bear silt to form the 'AccvplYJc 

7TPOXVCLV XOOJJOC (964)1 in the land of Pont os that takes its name from 
the adjacent sea. 

In view of Apollonios' great emphasis on size and silting, the muddi­
ness and copious flow of Pontic Assyrian rivers looks to be a typical 
and well-known feature of them. As the Thermodon belches, so also 
do its neighbours the Iris and Halys deposit silt. Likewise the Assyrian 
river pointedly criticized by Kallimachos drags downstream 'filth of 
earth' and 'rubbish', and its flow is abundant; it is afLEyas pooc like the 
Thermodon of Apollonios, which spreads over the countryside 
(€7TtKLOJJaTat ). 

It is hard to believe, as M. T. Smiley pOinted out long ago,S that 
Kallimachos does not write with Apollonios' account of the Halys, 
Iris and Thermodon in mind. The identification gives point to the 
mention by Envy of 7TOJJTOC immediately before the 'Assyrian river' 
in Apollo's reply: 

• mO' 'A' \ \ ""'\ '0 l' o 'V O)lOC 7TOI\I\WJJOC E7T ovan a ptoC H7TEJJ, 
,JI " ~ , ~ ,~, ~I , , I~ {. 

OVK ayafLaL TOJJ aOLOOJJ oc ovo oca 7TOJJTOC aELOEL. 

Kallimachos means Pontic Assyria, and Apollo gently criticizes the 
geographical pretensions of Argonautika Book Ipo 

Smiley also supposed that the allusion to the Assyrian river was 
evidence for the alleged dispute between Kallimachos and Apollonios. 
Here he was on less certain ground. The ancient evidence for the dis­
pute is very thin; and the lost Ibis is the one work of Kallimachos in 
which Apollonios, it is alleged, was his principal enemy.n At the end 

7 G. W. Mooney, The Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius (repr. Amsterdam 1964) 206, 
correctly explains the three words as "the alluvial deposit at the mouths of these rivers 
forming Leucosyria." 

8 Hermathena 17 (1913) 288-90. Smiley's suggestion was summarily rejected by A. W. 
Mair in his Loeb ed. Callimachus and Lycophron (London 1921) 23. 

9 ov Toca Meineke, ovx Dca Reiske, and see Barber in CR 4 (1954) 229. ova' Dca is difficult to 
translate: perhaps, "I admire not a poet who sings a song not even as great in numbers as 
Pontos"-let alone a really extensive epic theme. 'Not even as great as the sea' is hardly to 

be expected here, for the sea is boundless. Dca may well be a hit at the pedantic precision 
of the ninety-six courses of the Thermodon. 

10 There is a valuable discussion of other points of contact between the Hymn to Apollo 
and the Argonautika by E. Eichgrun, Kallimachos und Apollonios Rhodios (Diss. Berlin 1961) 
167-69, but Eichgrun does not explore the Pontic context of the Assyrian river. He comes 
near to the truth when he considers (pp. 169-71) the rivers of Asia Minor that bear gold as 
well as mud and are choked with reeds. 

11 Suda s.v. Ka>J..{J1-axos (=T 1 pf.). Testimonia 23,39, 40, fr.381 and 382 add nothing 



214 KALLIMACHOS AND THE ASSYRIAN RIVER 

of the Hymn Kallimachos does allude to Apollonios, but the tone is of 
agreement to differ about poetical practice or of gentle reproof; there 
is no personal rancour. If rancour there was, it came later, after the 
Hymn had been written. 

We can now consider the bees in the Pontic context of Apollo's re­
marks. Melissai are priestesses, but here bees are bees, as in the 
Alexipharmaka of Nicander, where the creatures (450-51) 

P.VT/CeXP.EVOL Ll1JOL 7ToAvW7TEac ijvvcav op.7Tac 

f3 ' ()' "'()' ., OCKop.EvaL vp.a 7Tocn Kat av Ep.OEccav EpEtK7]V. 

Only the purest sources of water, Apollo says, are visited by bees who 
make honey for Demeter. Thus the god implies that Pontic honey 
made with water from the tainted Assyrian streams is not the best­
nor is it a giver of pure poetical inspiration. 

Pontos was well known for its honey. Aristotle singles out for men­
tion the bees who live beside the Thermodon and in Pontos (Historia 
Animalium 5.22.14). The Pontic bees are white and make honey twice a 
month. Those who live in Themiskyra by the Thermodon produce a 
thick honey with little wax. 

But there is another quality of Pontic honey, which Aristotle does 
not mention; it is sometimes poisonous. Xenophon's troops ate some 
near Trapezous and were for a while deprived of their senses 
(Anab. 4.8.20-21): Ta DE cp.~VT/ 7ToMa ~v aVT6()L, KaL TWV K7]plwv OCOL 
"A.., """ """",1.." I , " \ I E'f'ayov TWV CTpa'TLWTWV 7TaV'TEC a'f'pOVEC TE EyLyVOVTO KaL 7]P.OVV Kat KaTW 
"-' 'A ,. ()' '''-' '''- , " () '\ \' t , '\ , mEXWpEt aVTOLC Kat op OC OVoELC EovvaTO LCTac aI., a/\/\ 01. P.EV OI\LyOV 
'''-''-' ,/,. '''- () , , , t "-' \ , , t "-' , 

EU7]UOKOTEC C'f'oupa P.€ VOVCLV EqJKEcav, Ot OE 7TOI\V p.aLvop.EVOLC, Ot UE Ka£ 
• () J " ~\ ~I "\ t:/ ... I 

a7TO vnCKovnv. EKEtV'TO OE OVTW 7T0/\/\0£ WC7TEp Tp07T7]C YEYEVT/P.EVT/C, 
, \ \' 'i' '()' ~ "-' t "'() ""-" ,/,.' "-' , Kat 7T0/\/\7] 7]V a vp.La. TTJ 0 VCTEpatCf a7TE aVE P.EV OVOEtC, ap.'f'£ uE T7]V 

, I fI '..J...' I~"" I fI , 
aVT7]V 7TWC wpav aVE'f'pOVOVV. TpLTTJ OE KaL TETapTTJ aVLCTaVTO WC7TEp EK 

cpapp.aKo7TocLac. Pontic honey makes the healthy mad but cures epi­
leptics, according to the lIEpL ()avp.aalwv aKovcp.eXTwv (18), and the 
Pontic people called Sanni, reports Pliny (NH 21.45.77),12 called it 

certain. For doubts about the alleged quarrel see R. Pfeiffer, History of Classical Scholarship 
(Oxford 1968) 143, and Hermes 63 (1928) 341 (=Ausgewiihlte Schriften [Munich 1960] 132). 
See also H. Erbse, Hermes 83 (1955) 427. 

12 For other evidence of poisonous honey in Pontos, see J. Andre, Pline ('Ancien, Histoire 
naturelle XXI (Paris 1969) p.125. The honey has been traced to the blooms of Azalea pontica, 
"which grows in profusion in the valleys at the back of Trebizond": see H. F. Tozer and 
M. Cary, A History of Ancient Geography2 (Cambridge 1935) 118. The correct name of Azalea 



GEORGE HUXLEY 215 

maenomenon. Pliny adds that the madness was ascribed to the flower of 
the rhododendron. 

Kallimachos, however, would have connected the madness with 
the local waters. Apollo's judgement is thus re-emphasized by the 
mention of the bees in the Pontic context: those who seek inspiration 
for large, traditional epics from copious, impure sources are in danger 
of losing their critical standards. 

THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST 

April, 1971 

pontica is Rhododendron l/lteum, which is a different plant from, though akin to, Rhododen­
dron ponticum. Mr M. J. McGann kindly discussed these plants with me.