Meropis

Meropis (Greek: Μεροπίς ) refers to a mysterious, by the ancient writers described Theopompus of Chios country that this, in its fragmentary surviving Claudius Aelianus work " tirade " mentioned ( FGrHist 115 F 75 ). It is the land of Merope ( poet "People") and lies beyond the world ocean ( Oceanus ). The residents there would be twice as big and twice as old as ordinary people.

Description

Theopompus in his narrative leaves the demigod Silenus of Two Cities report in Meropis: Eusebes ( Εὐσεβής, " place of the righteous " ) and Machimos ( Μάχιμος, "place of the warrior "). While the population of the pious city live in abundance, crops get without having to work the fields, and live happy and pious without any illness, people would already be born with weapons in the military town. Machimos constantly wage war and have subjected all the neighboring peoples. The people of Machimos possessed such an abundance of precious metals that gold is almost worth less to them than in the Mediterranean peoples the iron. Finally, ten million warriors had crossed by Machimos the ocean to attack the Hyperboreans. As if they had, however, learned that these were " the happiest people " on this side of Oceanus, they had nothing but contempt for them left and disdains therefore, even further towards.

Two major currents in Meropis be mentioned, the " river of pleasure " and " mourning river ". Along its banks are fruit -bearing trees grow in size high plane trees. The fruits of the " mourning river ' had on those who eat it, such that it verweine rest of his life, and finally give up the ghost in this state. Who but the fruits of the " river of pleasure " would cost, the forget everything he had loved before, he will gradually become younger and eventually end his life as an infant in the furthest corner of Meropis it also give a place called Anostos ( Ἄνοστος. " place of no return "). He was like a yawning abyss know, neither day nor night and 'm covered by a dull, reddish haze.

Reception

In the field of classical philology is of the few authors who have dealt with this subject, traditionally assumed a fictional character of the Meropiserzählung. Already J. H. F. Meineke, " Rector at Fürstl. Gymnasio to Quedlinburg, " was about 1787 in his translation of the texts from the Greek Aelians assume that it was there - as with all ancient reports of lost or countries beyond the Atlantic Ocean - a" fable ". He also looked Theopompus not as credible informant, but as " a [ s ] strong [en ] poet ."

Unlike recently argued his French colleague Pierre Vidal- Naquet, who likewise classifies the story of Meropis today's doctrine accordingly as fictional report to Theopompus but noted this was " anything but a negligible historian ". In a way he had plagiarized his story Plato's dialogue Critias and imitated him ironically. Also there are references to the dialogue the Statesman. Quite similar is also the opinion of the German classical scholar Heinz- Günther Nessel Rath, who explains to Theopompus narrative, it is neither a utopia nor serve them as a political allegory. Rather, it is to be understood as a mockery of Plato's Atlantis. The classical scholar Robert of Pöhlmann looked at the Meropiserzählung and the Atlantis report as examples of the literary genre of the ancient ' State of the novel '.

The ancient watchers Emil Forrer Orgetorix other hand, the concept of the, Meropisforschung ' coined as a branch of research putative old cultural contacts between Europe and America, went as an academic, outsiders ' assume that with Meropis was meant the American continent. Forrer, who followed an interdisciplinary view approach, which brought together aspects of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Ancient American, climatology, historical linguistics, ethnology and geography, hired even considerations for locating mentioned in Meropisbericht localities. For example, he identified " Anostos " with a volcano near San Salvador.

Today assumptions and models for historical and geographical interpretation of Meropiserzählung are primarily developed in international scientific field. In particular, in the context of diffusionistisch oriented Atlantis research, the possibility is discussed positive that the story about Meropis could have a hard historic core. Here, among other things, mostly the old, in the 19th century represented by Alexander von Humboldt and Robert Prutz adoption reference is made that the crews of Phoenician or Carthaginian ships could have gotten to American shores, whose statements were then in mythisierter form the basis of the reports of Theopompus, Plato and others. Such considerations, which bring Meropis and its inhabitants with America or Atlantis in combination, can be found as early as 1882 Ignatius Donnelly; more recently they are, inter alia, represented by the British historian Peter James.