Hegemon's Thasian SatireἈπόσπασμα
Hegemon of Thasos Hegemon's Thasian Satire PDF
The Apospasma, or "Fragment," is a pioneering work of mock-heroic parody by the 5th-century BCE poet Hegemon of Thasos. Composed in the dignified dactylic hexameter of epic poetry, it applied the elevated Homeric style to trivial or absurd subject matter, creating a deliberate and humorous incongruity. Its ironic title presents the poem as a mere scrap from a larger, non-existent epic cycle. While the exact narrative content of the Apospasma remains obscure due to its fragmentary survival, it is understood to have involved the bathetic treatment of mundane events, such as a culinary mishap involving lentils. Ancient testimonies describe Hegemon performing the work publicly in Athens, where its comic effect was reportedly profound. The poem represents a sophisticated form of literary entertainment and critique, reliant on an audience deeply literate in Homeric conventions. Hegemon is credited by ancient authorities as a foundational figure in the genre of parody, and his work established a template that influenced later mock-epic poems like the Batrachomyomachia. Knowledge of the Apospasma depends entirely on secondary transmission, primarily through brief quotations and discussions in Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae, compiled centuries later.
| unit_1 | Ἐς δὲ Θάσον μ’ ἐλθόντα μετεωρίζοντες ἔβαλλον πολλοῖσι σπελέθοισι, καὶ ὧδέ τις εἶπε παραστάς· ‘ὦ πάντων ἀνδρῶν βδελυρώτατε, τίς ς’ ἀνέπεισεν καλὴν ἐς κρηπῖδα ποσὶν τοιοῖσδ’ ἀναβῆναι;‘ τοῖσι δ’ ἐγὼ πᾶσιν πυκινὸν μετὰ τοῦτ’ ἔπος εἶπον· ‘λῆμμ’ ἀνέπεισε γέροντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντ’ ἀναβῆναι καὶ σπάνις, ἣ πολλοὺς Θασίων εἰς ὁλκάδα βάλλει εὐκούρων βδελυρῶν, ὀλλύντων τ’ ὀλλυμένων τε ἀνδρῶν, οἳ νῦν κεῖθι κακῶς κακὰ ῥαψῳδοῦσιν· |
| unit_2 | οἷς καὶ ἐγὼ σίτοιο μέγα χρῄζων ἐπίθησα.‘ αὖθις δ’ οὐκ ἐπὶ κέρδος ἀπείσομαι, εἰς Θασίους 〈δὲ〉 μηδὲν πημαίνων κλυτὸν ἄργυρον ἐγγυαλίξω, μή τίς μοι κατὰ οἶκον Ἀχαϊάδων νεμεσήσῃ, πεσσομένης ἀλόχου τὸν ἀχάινον ἄρτον ἀεικῶς, καί ποτέ τις εἴπῃ σμικρὸν τυροῦντ’ ἐσιδοῦσα· ‘πῶς; φιλίων ὁρμὴν παρ’ Ἀθηναίοισιν ἀείσας πεντήκοντ’ ἔλαβε δραχμάς, σὺ δὲ μικρὸν ἐπέψω;‘ [para]Ταῦτά μοι ὁρμαίνοντι παρίστατο Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη χρυσῆν ῥάβδον ἔχουσα καὶ ἤλασεν εἶπέ τε φωνῇ· |
| unit_3 | ‘δεινὰ παθοῦσα Φακῆ βδελυρή, χώρει ’ς τὸν ἀγῶνα‘. καὶ τότε δὴ θάρσησα καὶ ἤειδον πολὺ μᾶλλον. |