Blog Post 2 - Annotation of Corrina, Sel. 1

Corinna Selection 1

“…the Kouretes^a

hid the goddess’s^b holy

infant^c in a cave^d, unbeknownst

to Kronos^e of the crooked counsels,

when blessed Rhea^f stole him

and from the immortals won

great honor.” That was what he sang^g;

and the Muses at once directed

the blessed ones^h to drop their secret

voting pebbles into the urns

of gleaming goldⁱ. They all rose up together,

and Kithairon^j won the larger number;

and Hermes^k speedily declared

shouting, that he had won the victory

which he desired, and with garlands^l…

…he was adorned

by the blessed ones; and his mind rejoiced.

But Helikon^m, in the grip

of cruel torments,

tore out a bare rock,

shaking the mountain, and groaning

pitiably he dashed it from on high

into innumerable stones…

a.  The Kouretes were semidivine beings who were appointed by Rhea to protect Zeus from his father Kronos. They concealed the infant by masking his cries with loud dancing.

b.  The goddess referred to is Rhea, the wife and sister of Kronos and the mother of Zeus. She is sometimes known as the “Great Mother”.

c.  The holy infant is Zeus.

d.  The Kouretes were appointed by Rhea to guard the infant Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Krete.

e.  Kronos is the husband and brother of the goddess Rhea and father of the holy infant Zeus. He is the king of the Titans, and apparently swallowed each child that Rhea gave birth to (except for Zeus) in fear that one would steal his throne.

f.  See note b.

g.  The verses describe a singing contest between two mountains in Boiotia: Kithairon and Helikon. The first song is missing, and the second concerns Zeus’ birth. Each mountain was traditionally associated with an ancient god or spirit, so Corinna likely refers to these personified versions of the mountains in the poem.

h.  The “blessed ones” are the Olympian gods.

i.  The Olympian gods were the judges in the singing contest between the two mountains.

j.  Mount Kithairon on the southwestern border of Boiotia. According to this poem, it was declared the winner of the singing contest against Helikon.

k.  Hermes, among many other things, was the god of athletic contests; while not necessarily a contest of athleticism, this association is perhaps why he is the god to declare the victor in this singing competition.

l.  Garlands were traditionally awarded to victors in both athletic competitions and poetic meets.

m.  Helikon is the tallest mountain in Boiotia.

            This fragment is contextually consistent with Corinna’s other verses, as the content is both mythical and involves her native Boiotia. As Greek Lyric explains, this poem describes a singing contest between two Boiotian mountains: Mount Kithairon and Mount Helikon. While it may seem that Corinna creatively personifies these mountains, it was apparently traditionally believed that each mountain had its own ancient bearded god; her treating them as men was therefore likely a reflection of this belief.

            The quotation marks surrounding the first lines of the fragment indicate that these are lyrics to one of the competitor’s songs, but it is unclear to which mountain they are attributed. Regardless, the lyrics deal with the story surrounding Zeus’ birth. Out of fear that one of his children would steal his thrown, Kronos, the king of the Titans, swallowed each child that his sister and wife Rhea gave birth to. Thus, when Zeus was born, Rhea appointed the Kouretes to hide the baby in a cave in Mount Ida in Krete in order to protect him from his father. The Kouretes, who were semidivine beings, were able to mask Zeus’ cries with loud dancing, and thus kept him concealed from Kronos.

            Following this song, the poem goes on to describe the voting process of the singing competition. The Olympian gods evidently served as the judges, casting their votes by placing a voting pebble into an urn representing either Kithairon or Helikon. Kithairon received more votes, so Hermes—one of the Olympian gods—declared him the winner. Kithairon was happy with his victory, and the gods adorned him with garlands, which were traditionally awarded to victors in both athletic competitions and poetic meets. Helikon, however, was disappointed by his defeat and tore a rock from his mountainside and smashed it to the ground. Overall, this poem displays the competitive nature often associated with the Ancient Greeks.

Resources used:

Greek Lyric

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_wreath

http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/zeus/stories/zeus-king-of-the-gods/

http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ourea.html

http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/OrosKithairon.html

http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/OrosHelikon.html

http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Kouretes.html

http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hermes.html