Agariste’s Betrothal: the adaptability of a cautionary tale
Agariste’s Betrothal: the adaptability of a cautionary tale

Summary/Abstract: The difficulties entailed by confidence in the basic historicity of Hdt.’s story of Agariste’s betrothal (6.126–30) are highlighted and its antecedents considered.The details of the rival suitors are puzzling; little is said about their personal qualities, and they do not come from the leading cities of archaic Greece; however, some are said to have kinsmen notable in some way, and we get the impression that Hdt. drew on a much fuller narrative. The thoroughness of Kleisthenes’ selection procedure recalls the situation depicted in heroic legend, when succession to the kingship comes by marriage to the king’s daughter (as with Menelaos and Helen). Rivalry between the two leading competitors, the Alkmaionid Megakles and the Philaid Hippokleides, provides the climax to the tale. Hippokleides ruins his prospects by an ill-judged display of exuberance in dancing at the symposium where Kleisthenes is to announce his choice; his nonchalant response to rejection became a catchphrase. This tale gained an unexpected interest when a close parallel was pointed out in a bird fable included in the Jataka tales, a collection of stories of the Buddha’s previous lives. The transmutation of this Indian fable into an episode of Greek history is a fascinating illustration of the influence of Indian culture on Greek, anthropomorphization being facilitated by the increasing interest in metempsychosis apparent from the sixth century onwards. Hdt. appears to have condensed a much fuller composition in which Agariste’s betrothal provided a framework for a cycle of varied stories, the tales relevant to the two Athenians providing an introduction (125) and a climax (129). It should not be assumed that this must have been a written composition. Hdt.’s work presupposes a pre-existing Greek storytelling tradition, an important part of the oral culture destined to suffer devaluation with increasing literacy.

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