Plutarch, Quaestiones Graecae, ed. William W. Goodwin, 43

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[43]

Question 43.

Why is the city of the Ithacans called Alalcomenae?

Solution.

It is affirmed by most, that it was because Anticlea in the time of her virginity was forcibly seized upon by Sisyphus, and brought forth Ulysses. But Ister the Alexandrian hath acquainted us in his memoirs, that Anticlea was married to Laertes, and being brought to a place about the Alalcomeneum in Boeotia, was delivered of Ulysses; and therefore Ulysses called the city of Ithaca by the same name, to renew the memory of the place in which he had been born.

Quaestiones Graecae. Plutarch. ed. William W. Goodwin. Boston. 1874.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Greek Questions (English) (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. II. Goodwin, William W., editor; Chauncy, Isaac translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.)

Editions (2)

Αἴτια Ἑλληνικά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 43 focus

301d

πόθεν ἡ τῶν Ἰθακησίων πόλις Ἀλαλκομεναὶ προσηγορεύθη;

διὰ τὸ τὴν Ἀντίκλειαν ὑπὸ Σισύφου βιασθεῖσαν ἐν τῇ παρθενίᾳ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα συλλαβεῖν· ὑπὸ πλειόνων δʼ ἐστὶν εἰρημένον. Ἴστρος δʼ ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς ἐν ὑπομνήμασι προσιστόρηκεν, ὅτι τῷ Λαέρτῃ δοθεῖσα πρὸς γάμον καὶ ἀναγομένη, περὶ τὸ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς¹ ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίᾳ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα τέκοι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνος ὥσπερ μητροπόλεως² ἀναφέρων τοὔνομα τὴν ἐν Ἰθάκῃ πόλιν οὕτω φησὶ προσαγορεύεσθαι.³

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ἑλληνικά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 43 focus

[43] πόθεν ἡ τῶν Ἰθακησίων πόλις Ἀλαλκομεναὶ προσηγορεύθη; διὰ τὸ τὴν Ἀντίκλειαν ὑπὸ Σισύφου 10 βιασθεῖσαν ἐν τῇ παρθενίᾳ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα συλλαβεῖν· ὑπὸ πλειόνων δʼ ἐστὶν εἰρημένον. Ἴστρος ¹ δʼ ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς ἐν ὑπομνήμασι προσιστόρηκεν, ὅτι τῷ Λαέρτῃ δοθεῖσα πρὸς γάμον καὶ ἀναγομένη, περὶ τὸ Ἀλαλκομένιον ² ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίᾳ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα 15 τέκοι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνος ὥσπερ μητροπόλεως ³ ἀναφέρων τοὔνομα τὴν ἐν Ἰθάκῃ πόλιν οὕτω φησὶ προσαγορεύεσθαι. ⁴

Translations (1)

The Greek Questions Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 43 focus

[43] For what reason was the city of the Ithacans called Alalcomenae?

Because Anticleia, while yet a virgin, was violated by Sisyphus and conceived Odysseus. This is related by several authorities¹; but Ister² of Alexandria in his Commentaries has in addition recorded that when Anticlea had been given in marriage to Laërtes and was being conducted to his home, she gave birth to Odysseus near the Alalcomenium in Boeotia. And for this reason, as though referring the name to that of a mother-city, he states that the city in Ithaca acquired its name.

Plutarch Quaestiones Graecae 43

ed. William W. Goodwin

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Question 43.

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