Acta Ant. Hung. 51, 2011, 223–246 DOI: 10.1556/AAnt.51.2011.3–4.3 0044-5975 / $ 20.00 © 2011 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest IOANNIS M. KONSTANTAKOS EPHIPPOS’ GERYONES: A COMEDY BETWEEN MYTH AND FOLKTALE Summary: The fragments of Ephippos’ Geryones include a long description of a huge fish cooked by Geryones in a correspondingly oversized casserole (fr. 5). This kind of description is amply paralleled in folktales from around the world concerning gigantic objects. Stories of this type were widely diffused al- ready in antiquity, both in Greece and in the Near East. It is likely that Ephippos’ passage was inspired by the popular narrative tradition of his time. Comparison with the folktale material helps understand the context of fr. 5 and its function in the play. Various traditional elements of Geryones’ myth (his gigantic size, herds of oxen, far-off island, and the cup of Helios used to reach it) are comically reflected in Ephip- pos’ text, intermingled with folktale motifs. As usually in folk tradition, the description of the giant fish may have been a false tale. It would doubtless stimulate the appetite of Heracles, the central hero of the play, and incite him to travel to Geryones’ land; but the hero would be finally disappointed of the huge meal he expected (a common motif in Attic comedy). Fr. 3 from the same play indicates that “Heracles losing his meal” was a recurrent Leitmotiv in the plot. Key words: Greek comedy, folktales, gigantic creatures, Heracles, parody of myth 1. EPHIPPOS FR. 5 AND THE FOLKTALE TRADITION Ephippos’ comedy Geryones presumably belonged to the genre of “mythological bur- lesque”, which enjoyed great popularity on the Athenian comic stage from the early 4th century until the 340s. 1 As indicated by the title, the subject-matter of the comedy 1 On mythological burlesque in Attic comedy see NESSELRATH, H.-G.: Die attische Mittlere Ko- mödie. Ihre Stellung in der antiken Literaturkritik und Literaturgeschichte. Berlin – New York 1990, 188–241; CASOLARI, F.: Die Mythentravestie in der griechischen Komödie. Münster 2003; KONSTANTA- KOS, I. M.: Comedy in the Fourth Century I: Mythological Burlesques. In The Oxford Handbook of An- cient Comedy. Ed. A. SCAFURO – M. FONTAINE. Oxford – New York (forthcoming) with further bibliog- raphy. All comic fragments are cited from the edition of KASSEL, R. – AUSTIN, C.: Poetae Comici Graeci. Vol. I–VIII. Berlin – New York 1983–2001.