1 SIMONIDES, ANIUS AND ATHENS A NOTE ON PMG537 (KATEUKHAI ) * Ian Rutherford It would be surprising if Delos did not loom large on the mental map of anyone born on the island of Keos in the late 6 th century BC, and in fact the island seems to have been often mentioned in Simonides’ poems. Chief among these are the paeans, such as PMG519fr.55 (Poltera F103), which seems to describe the birth of Apollo. 1 And it also seems likely that Simonidean fragments dealing with the story of Theseus and the Dis Hepta story (PMG550-551; Poltera 242-3) come from a song (most likely a dithyramb, written for an Athenian audience) 2 which will have mentioned that Theseus stopped in Delos on the way back and set up the crane-dance. To the Delian dossier can be added a testimonial fragment ascribed to Simonides’ "Kateukhai" (“Prayers”), 3 which is a scholion on Homer, Od.6.164, where Odysseus likens Nausikaa to the palm tree he saw when he visited Delos (PMG537 = F301Poltera). * Thanks to Elena Chepel, Barbara Kowalzig, Filippomaria Pontani, Enrico Prodi and Lucia Prauscello. 1 See Rutherford.1990 and Poltera’s commentary ad loc. Misinterpreted in my opinion by Livrea.2012. Delos is a destination in PMG519, fr.70.1 (F107Poltera), PMG519fr.47, 2 (F112Poltera) and PMG519, fr.37.2 (F113Poltera). As for the Deliaka of Simonides to which Strabo is usually thought to assign the Memnon dithyramb (PM539, Poltera.2005 has argued that Σιμωνίδης ἐν Μέμνονι διθυράμβῳ τῶν Δηλιακῶν is a mistake for Σιμ⟦ωνίδ⟧ος ⟦ἐν Μέμνονι διθυράμβῳ⟧ δ’ (?) Δηλιακῶν, i.e. the reference is to the Deliaka of Semos of Delos; this is attractive, though it would be strange if a scribe to invented the Memnon dithyramb out of thin air. 2 Along the lines of Bacchylides, Ode17. Schneidewin thought it might be from an Epinikion, because Photius (Lex. s.v. περιαγειρόμενοι) explains the ritual of throwing leaves over a victor by citing Simonides PMG506 (Poltera***) and the mentioning Theseus and the Minotaur, but these seem to be different explanations separated by ἔνιοι δὲ. Poltera.2008:184 on F242 thinks its from the Hymn to Poseidon (agreeing there with Renault.1978, who thinks the Hymn to Poseidon was about Theseus as well, though a different episode) on the grounds that a) the sail in Simonides was φοινίκεον (PMG550); b) a scholiast on Euripides Medea says that in the Hymn to Poseidon Simonides says that the “Golden Fleece” was πορφοροῦν, i.e. dyed with sea-purple (PMG576 (= Σ E. Medea 5), and c) a scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes 4.176-7 says that Simonides sometimes called the fleece white, sometimes πορφυροῦν (also PMG576). Clearly Simonides is supposed to have had divergent views on the coloration of mythological animals and objects. Poltera thinks that the scholiast on the Medea was really talking about Theseus’ sail. But is it really safe to assume that the πορφυροῦν-fleece and the φοινίκεον sail are allomorphs of the same thing? For a possible resonance of Simonides’ fleece in Virgil, see Zanker.2016. 3 See below.