Notes

Epicaste

“And I saw the mother of Oedipodes, beautiful Epicaste, who did a monstrous thing in the ignorance of her mind, wedding her own son; and he, when he had slain his own father, wedded her; and soon the gods made these things known among men. Nevertheless, in lovely Thebes, suffering woes, he ruled over the Cadmeans by the dire designs of the gods; but she went down to the house of Hades, the strong warder, making fast a deadly noose from the high ceiling, caught by her own grief; but for him she left behind countless woes, all that a mother’s Furies bring to pass.

Eustathius on Homer, Odyssey 11.277

It should be recognized that many people have hanged themselves out of grief and that according to the ancient account the daughters of Lycambes did so because of Archilochus’ poetry, since they could not bear the onslaught of his gibes. For the man was skilful at insulting, and hence “you have stepped on Archilochus” is a proverb with reference to those who are adept at such gibes, as if one were to say that you have stepped on a scorpion or snake or painful thorn.