Helen in Egypt without eídolon: Stesichorus and the Nostoi (Returns) of Agias of Troezen’s in Herodotus 2.112-120

• Autor(a) principal: Campos, Rogério Gimenes de
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Codex : Revista de Estudos Clássicos
• DOI: 10.25187/codex.v9i2.40795
• Texto Completo: https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/CODEX/article/view/40795
• topic: Heródoto; Helena; Retornos; Estesícoro de Himera; Ágias de Trezeno; Herodotus; Helen; Nostoi (Returns); Stesichorus of Himera; Agias of Troezen

Herodotus, in the episode of the reign of Proteus, describes the stay of Helen in Egypt, a theme partiallyderived from Stesichorus of Himera. Even without quoting either Stesichorus or Helen’s eídōlon (idol), Herodotus presents a version to some extent similar to the stesichorean, as he states that Helen has never reached Troy, remaining in Egypt, retained by Proteus (Hdt. 2.112-120). Herodotus, in restoring Helen’s reputation through a rational narrative and a sophisticated interpretation of Homer, elaborates a version that takes in stesichorean elements, avoiding the explicit citation of Helen’s eídōlon (idol), and that includes an element coming from Agias of Troezen’s Nostoi (Returns), specifically Menelaus landing in Egypt after the sack of Troy. Our interpretation recalls Proclus’s summary (Procl. Chrest. 277-293) for Agia’s Nostoi and Dio Chrysostom’s indication (D.Chr.11, 40-42) of  other poetic traditions tied to the episode of Helen in Egypt, both signs of Herodotus’s proximity to these poets and to the Trojan Cycle.