Apollonius and Callimachus on Heracles and Theiodamas: A metapoetical interpretation

Abstract:

Apollonius of Rhodes’ digression on Heracles and Theiodamas (Arg. 1.1211-20) alludes to Callimachus’ version of the story in his Aetia (fr. 24-5 Pf.). This article provides a metapoetical interpretation of the intertextual contact. The ways in which both poets deal with Heracles reveal the similar but different reactions of these “Callimachean” poets to the heroic-epic literary tradition.