Amycos Satyrykos
The Amycos Satyrykos is a fragmentary satyr play by the fifth-century BCE Athenian dramatist Sophocles.
Content[edit]
This satyr play almost certainly told the story of the Argonauts and their encounter with Amycus, an inhospitable king in Bithynia, who would challenge travellers to a boxing match before allowing them to draw water for their ships, and invariably killed his opponents.[1] However, upon landing, Polydeuces promptly challenged and defeated the king, and depending on the author, the Argonaut then either killed Amycos [2] or made him swear an oath on his life that he would no longer “maltreat strangers”.[3][4][5] Jebb believes another ending, which was related by Periander,[6] wherein Amycos was put in chains, would have been more suitable for a satyr play; unfortunately, it is impossible to say for certain which of these endings was used by Sophocles [7]
Date[edit]
Unfortunately, no date more precise than the 5th century BCE can as yet be reliably ascribed to the writing or production of the play.
Extant Sources[edit]
Fragments of the Amycos by Sophocles are only found in Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 9, 400B
References[edit]
- Jebb, Richard C. et al. (2010) The Fragments of Sophocles, Vol. 1 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978-1-108-00986-7
- Lloyd-Jones, Hugh (1996) Sophocles Fragments, Vol. 3 Loeb Classical library ISBN 978-0-674-99532-1
- Apollonius of Rhodes 2, 1-97
- Theocritus 22, 27-134
- Schol. Apollonius Rhodos 2. 98
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