LA PROFEZIA DI ANFI LITO DI ACARNANIA (HEROD. I,62,4)

In this paper the Herodotean passage on the prophecy is analyzed which announced to Peisistratus his forthcoming victory against the Athenians (HEROD. I,62,4). The prophecy, uttered by the soothsayer Amphilytos the Acarnanian in hexametric verses, runs as follows: ἔρριπται δ’ ὁ βόλος, τὸ δὲ δίκτυον ἐκπεπέτασαι | θύννοι δ’ οἰμήσουσι σεληναίης διὰ νυκτός. Many scholars have tried to interpret this couplet, but they still haven’t got satisfactory results. The greatest difficulty lies in the apparent contradiction between Amphilytus’ oracular pronouncement and the actual course of the battle: Amphilytus seems to say that Peisistratus will defeat the Athenians only if he attacks at night; but Peisistratus wins right because he attacks at daylight. The hypothesis backed up in this paper is that the word nuvx is to be meant as «disappearance», «absence»; therefore the expression «νύξ of the σελήνη», or «νύξ of Σελήνη» (i.e. the goddess Selene) may be equivalent of «daylight». This may sound rather artificial, but it does not weaken the hypothesis backed up in this paper; on the contrary it strengthens it, because all the ancient oracular production is purposely based on far-fetched images and on the reversal of the basic meaning of the words.