The story of Meropis is neither a utopia nor a political allegory; it is a parody of Plato's Atlantis, in a similar vein to the True History which parodied Homer's Odyssey.[3] Theopompos somewhat overstates many of Plato's aspects of the Atlantis myth.[according to whom?] While it is an Egyptian priest who is telling Solon the story of Atlantis according to Plato's Timaeus, it is an ipotane (a mythical half-man half-horse creature) who is telling the Meropis story to King Midas according to Theopompus's Philippica. Although Atlantis was incredibly big by Plato's account, Theopompus describes Meropis as even bigger, to make it completely absurd. Also, while the invading Atlanteans were beaten by Athens due to its perfect society, the Méropes (Μέροπες)—attacking with an army of ten million soldiers—attempt to conquer Hyperborea, but return in disgrace after realizing that the Hyperboreans were the luckiest people on earth and not worth looting.[4]
It has also been suggested that the story was meant as a criticism of Philipp II.[5]
While most describe Meropis as a fictional island, for a different point of view see Emil Forrer who considered the island might have been real.[citation needed] Meropis is also one of historical names of the Greek island of Kos, ruled by Merops.[2]
Geographyedit
Meropis is situated beyond the world-ocean (Oceanus). Its inhabitants, the Méropes, are twice as tall as other human beings and live twice as long. Theopompos describes three cities in Meropis: Anostos (Ἄνοστος, "Place of No Return"), Eusebes (Εὐσεβής, "Pious-Town") and Machimos (Μάχιμος, "Fighting-Town"). While the inhabitants of Eusebes are living in opulence getting neither hungry nor sick, the inhabitants of Machimos are in fact born with weapons and carry on wars steadily. The third city, Anostos, is situated on the outermost border of Meropis. It resembles a yawning abyss, does not have day or night, and is covered by cloudy, red fumes.
^ abWiniarczyk, M. (2005). "Theopompus' Meropis: History of Research and an Attempt at Interpretation". Meander (in Polish). 60 (3): 300–314. ISSN 0025-6285.
^HG Nesselrath (1998). "Theopomps Meropis und Platon". Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft 1: 4–7.
^HG Nesselrath (1998). "Theopomps Meropis und Platon". GFA 1: 6.
^Zaccaria, Pietro (2016). "Rediscovering Theopompos: Neglected Evidence of the Meropis". Aevum: Rassegna di Scienze Storiche, Linguistiche e Filologiche (XC): 51–70. doi:10.1400/242053.
Further readingedit
G. J. Aalders (1978). "Die Meropes des Theopomp". Historia. 27: 317–327.
Heinz-Günther Nesselrath (1998). "Theopomps Meropis und Platon: Nachahmung und Parodie" (PDF). Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft. 1: 1–8.
November 11, 2023
meropis, this, article, about, fictional, island, island, city, there, genus, moths, moth, machimos, redirects, here, ancient, warrior, class, machimoi, ancient, greek, Μεροπίς, fictional, island, mentioned, ancient, greek, writer, theopompus, chios, work, phi. This article is about the fictional island For the island of Kos and a city there see Kos For the genus of moths see Meropis moth Machimos redirects here For the ancient warrior class see Machimoi Meropis Ancient Greek Meropis is a fictional island mentioned by ancient Greek writer Theopompus of Chios in his work Philippica which is only fragmentarily maintained via Aelian 1 2 Meropis Philippica locationCreated byTheopompus of ChiosGenreParodyIn universe informationTypeFictional islandRace s MeropesLocationsEusebes Machimos Anostos Contents 1 Background 2 Geography 3 References 4 Further readingBackground editThe story of Meropis is neither a utopia nor a political allegory it is a parody of Plato s Atlantis in a similar vein to the True History which parodied Homer s Odyssey 3 Theopompos somewhat overstates many of Plato s aspects of the Atlantis myth according to whom While it is an Egyptian priest who is telling Solon the story of Atlantis according to Plato s Timaeus it is an ipotane a mythical half man half horse creature who is telling the Meropis story to King Midas according to Theopompus s Philippica Although Atlantis was incredibly big by Plato s account Theopompus describes Meropis as even bigger to make it completely absurd Also while the invading Atlanteans were beaten by Athens due to its perfect society the Meropes Meropes attacking with an army of ten million soldiers attempt to conquer Hyperborea but return in disgrace after realizing that the Hyperboreans were the luckiest people on earth and not worth looting 4 It has also been suggested that the story was meant as a criticism of Philipp II 5 While most describe Meropis as a fictional island for a different point of view see Emil Forrer who considered the island might have been real citation needed Meropis is also one of historical names of the Greek island of Kos ruled by Merops 2 Geography editMeropis is situated beyond the world ocean Oceanus Its inhabitants the Meropes are twice as tall as other human beings and live twice as long Theopompos describes three cities in Meropis Anostos Ἄnostos Place of No Return Eusebes Eὐsebhs Pious Town and Machimos Maximos Fighting Town While the inhabitants of Eusebes are living in opulence getting neither hungry nor sick the inhabitants of Machimos are in fact born with weapons and carry on wars steadily The third city Anostos is situated on the outermost border of Meropis It resembles a yawning abyss does not have day or night and is covered by cloudy red fumes References edit Fragments see FGrHist 115 F 75 a b Winiarczyk M 2005 Theopompus Meropis History of Research and an Attempt at Interpretation Meander in Polish 60 3 300 314 ISSN 0025 6285 HG Nesselrath 1998 Theopomps Meropis und Platon Gottinger Forum fur Altertumswissenschaft 1 4 7 HG Nesselrath 1998 Theopomps Meropis und Platon GFA 1 6 Zaccaria Pietro 2016 Rediscovering Theopompos Neglected Evidence of the Meropis Aevum Rassegna di Scienze Storiche Linguistiche e Filologiche XC 51 70 doi 10 1400 242053 Further reading editG J Aalders 1978 Die Meropes des Theopomp Historia 27 317 327 Heinz Gunther Nesselrath 1998 Theopomps Meropis und Platon Nachahmung und Parodie PDF Gottinger Forum fur Altertumswissenschaft 1 1 8 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Meropis amp oldid 1164697296, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
