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Amycos Satyrykos

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Amycus punished, red-figured Lucanian hydria, end of 4th century BC, Cabinet des Médailles

The Amycos Satyrykos is a fragmentary satyr play by the fifth-century BCE Athenian dramatist Sophocles.

Content

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This satyr play almost certainly told the story of the Argonauts and their encounter with Amycus, an inhospitable king in Bithynia, who would challenge travellers to a boxing match before allowing them to draw water for their ships, and invariably killed his opponents.[1] However, upon landing, Polydeuces promptly challenged and defeated the king, and depending on the author, the Argonaut then either killed Amycos [2] or made him swear an oath on his life that he would no longer “maltreat strangers”.[3][4][5] Jebb believes another ending, which was related by Periander,[6] wherein Amycos was put in chains, would have been more suitable for a satyr play; unfortunately, it is impossible to say for certain which of these endings was used by Sophocles [7]

Date

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Unfortunately, no date more precise than the 5th century BCE can as yet be reliably ascribed to the writing or production of the play.

Extant Sources

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Fragments of the Amycos by Sophocles are only found in Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 9, 400B

References

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  1. ^ Jebb 2010 p. 71
  2. ^ Apollonius of Rhodes 2, 1-97
  3. ^ Theocritus 22, 27-134
  4. ^ Jebb 2010 p. 71
  5. ^ Lloyd-Jones 1996 p. 45
  6. ^ Schol. Apollonius Rhodos 2. 98
  7. ^ Jebb p. 71
  • Jebb, Richard C. et al. (2010) The Fragments of Sophocles, Vol. 1 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978-1-108-00986-7
  • Lloyd-Jones, Hugh (1996) Sophocles Fragments, Vol. 3 Loeb Classical library ISBN 978-0-674-99532-1
  • Apollonius of Rhodes 2, 1-97
  • Theocritus 22, 27-134
  • Schol. Apollonius Rhodos 2. 98