The Fight of Telephus: Poetic Visions behind the Pergamon Frieze

The paper focuses on the possible influence of archaic poetry on the Telephus frieze on the Pergamon altar. The traditional interpretation of the frieze has found the primary root of inspiration for the representation of the Telephus myth in epic and drama, but it is worthwhile to try to widen this perspective. The Archilochus elegy on the Telephus myth (P. Oxy. LXIX 4708), probably presents the most vivid representation of the cruelty and the terrible consequences of the battle between Telephus and the Argives. Moreover, a similar strong emphasis on the bloody effects of the duel of Telephus and Achilles in the Mysian battle is found in Pindar (Isthm. 5.41-42; 8.49-50). This vivid description of the Mysian battle is not common in epic and dramatic treatments of the same myth, and it seems to be a peculiarity of the elegiac and lyric tradition. It is, therefore, possible that the Archilochean and the Pindaric poems was known at the time of the construction of the Pergamon altar, intended for the celebration of the Attalids. One glimpse of the possible circulation of this poetic influence until even later is given by Philostratus, who provides a vivid representation of the Mysian battle, in words very close to those used by Archilochus and Pindar.