Descent of Perithous

The "Descent of Perithous" (Ancient Greek: Πειρίθου κατάβασις, Peirithou katabasis) is a fragmentary epic poem that was ascribed to Hesiod by the 2nd-century CE geographer Pausanias.^[1] The eponymous topic of the poem would have been the myth of Theseus and Perithous' trip to Hades seeking to win Persephone as bride for Perithous.^[2]

Along with the "Wedding of Ceyx" and Aegimus, the "Descent of Perithous" has been considered a poetic narrative by Hesiod that was Muse-inspired.^[3] During the expedition, Hades trapped the heroes by seating them in the "chairs of forgetfullness", and only Heracles could save them.^[2] The poem is narrated by the ghost of Meleager.^[4] One tentatively assigned papyrus fragment survives which includes a conversation between Meleager and Theseus.^[5] In this dialogue, the ghosts were talking about how Theseus and Perithous descended to carry off Persephone, a tale Meleager listened to with disgust.^[6] It is also proposed that this fragment belongs to the Minyas,^[7] and the existence of an independent Hesiodic poem on the descent of Theseus and Perithous is complicated by the fact that elsewhere Pausanias attributes the myth to the Minyas.^[8] The sheer number of Hesiodic papyri that have survived compared to those of other works of archaic epic, however, lends credence to the attribution to the Hesiodic corpus.^[9]

Select editions and translations

Critical editions

• Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1967), Fragmenta Hesiodea, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-814171-8.
• Merkelbach, R.; West, M.L. (1990), "Fragmenta selecta", in F. Solmsen (ed.), Hesiodi Theogonia, Opera et Dies, Scutum (3rd rev. ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-814071-1.

Translations

• Most, G.W. (2006), Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Loeb Classical Library no. 57, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-99622-9.
• Most, G.W. (2007), Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue, Other Fragments, Loeb Classical Library no. 503, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-99623-6.