1 Many thanks are due to the Reviewers of this article, to Véronique Dasen and the University of Fribourg where an early version of this paper was first presented as well as to Jaime Curbera and Stella Georgoudi for their precious advice.

2 See, among others, Podemann Sørensen 1984, Frankfurter 1995 and 2019, Ritner 1998, p. 1028, Sanders 2001 and 2004, Graf 2006, Johnston 2018, p. 68-75. Concerning the use of the term historiola, see Zellmann-Rohrer 2016a, p. 21.

3 For the application of the concept of the “echo” to historiolae, see Waller 2015, cf. Podemann Sørensen 1984, p. 10-12 (for ad hoc additions to known episodes and lack of mythical consistency in historiolae); regarding Egyptian material, see Pinch [2002] 2004, p. 100.

4 See Assmann 2001, p. 87-92 about the power of the words to visualize divine events in this-wordly actions according to Egyptian religious thought and practice, cf. Pinch [2002] 2004, p. 12.

5 See Borghouts 1978, p. ix-x; Baines 1991, p. 81-105, Frankfurter 1995, p. 472. This prevalence of mythemes over macro-narratives in Egyptian literature does not mean that Egyptian myths did not exist at all before the Middle Kingdom, see Goebs 2002 and Goebs, Baines 2018, p. 657-660 (re-evaluation of a radical view expressed mainly by Assmann 1997).

6 For the pragmatic dimension of mythic narratives, see, among others, Calame 2015 and 2017, p. 39-41.

7 Pulleyn 1997, p. 16-38.

8 However, short mythological exempla are found in various Greek literary genres, see Canter 1933.

9 Another possible case is the “Oltis historiola” in an early Sicilian curse-tablet, see Jordan et al. 2014, p. 231-236. The five persons targeted by this judicial defixio are cursed to be ineffective hος Ὄλτις ἐς τέλος ἰασα ἀπόλετο, hος ἀτέλεστος Ὄλτις ἀπόλετο ἐς τέλος ἰασα, hος Ὄλτις ἀτέλεστος ἀπόλετο, “as Oltis going to (or being at) telos was destroyed, as Oltis was destroyed going to telos, as Oltis, fruitless, was destroyed”. However, it is not clear if Oltis (a name unattested elsewhere, the feminine of Oltos) belongs to a local mythical tradition or refers to the woman buried in the grave where the tablet was placed. Either way, the sound effect Oltis-apoleto stresses the very idea of failure.

10 The so-called “Getty Hexameters” belong to a group of documents which transmitted the formula of Ephesia Grammata in various forms, originating not only from Sicily, but also from Crete, Egypt, Rome and dating from the early 5^th cent. BCE to the 4^th cent. CE. For attempts to reconstruct an archetype, see Janko 2013 and 2015.

11 IG IV² 2, 1012 (J. Curbera), cf. Papachristodoulou 2010 (ed. pr.), SEG LVIII, 313. The tablet was reused and contains two different texts, see Curbera 2015, p. 107-108 and Zografou 2021, p. 212.

12 For the possibility of reading the text as a unified composition rather than an anthology of spells (as per Faraone 2014), see Caliva 2015.

13 Regarding the language of this poetic as well as ritual text see: Bettarini 2012, Bremmer 2013, Janko 2013 and also Lucarini 2018 and Battezzato 2022. Some scholars insisted on direct influence from Euripidean tragedy or vice-versa. Even if they don’t need to point to tragedy or epic as per Battezzato 2022, p. 10, several “magical” documents clearly share the same poetic language, formulae and meter. Let us not forget that one of the most important ways of spreading mythic traditions was public performances of poetry usually linked to religious festivals.

14 “Clausal historiolae” are subsidiary to a directive utterance, through the formula “just as/so,” whereas the same formula is only implicit in the “historiolae proper”. For this categorization, see, among others, Frankfurter 1995, p. 468-469, Waller 2015, p. 272-273; cf. Franek, Urbanová 2019, p. 180-181 for the curse tablet in Aegina.

15 If we adopt Curbera’s reading of lines 1-3, ὡς Ἥφαιστος ἐδήσατο ματέρα τὰν αὑτοῦ δεσμοῖς κρατεροῖς, it seems as if the practitioner tried to add up the mythic examples of binding in a way strongly reminding the cumulative use of exempla in ancient Greek literature.

16 See infra, note 61.

17 Concerning Homeric verses in the Magical Papyri, see Collins 2008a, p. 211-236 and 2008b, p. 104-131, Faraone 2011, p. 191-203, Zografou 2013a, p. 176-187, Middleton 2014, p. 152-158, Zellmann-Rohrer 2016a, p. 29-32, cf. infra, note 24.

18 Such as in PGM XXIIa, 1-26, see also PGM IV, 466, 470, 474, 825, 830, 831-832, 833-834; cf. Heim 1892, p. 514-520 and Zellmann-Rohrer 2016a, p. 414-418 and 2016b.

19 PGM IV, 2145-2240.

20 See, for example, the Homeromanteion in PGM VII, 1-148.

21 GEMF 30 (= PGM VI+II), 30-38. Cf. PGM IV 939-940. See also Cesti GCS F10 (POxy 412) with Zografou 2020, p. 247-252.

22 I will not elaborate here on this; see Zografou 2013a, p. 176-177 (bibliographical summary).

23 See Collins 2008a, 2008b, Gordon 2020 arguing that the use of Homeric elements in the magical scrolls is rather independent of the original context and, also, Suarez 2011, Zografou 2013a and 2020, Maltomini, Chronopoulou 2019 investigating the possibility of a deeper connection between the Homeric text and its ritual uses. Cf. Johnston 2015, p. 54-65 for an overview of the role of Greek myths in the Magical Papyri.

24 See Cribiore 2005, p. 194-195. For later times, cf. Maravela 2018, p. 129-133 who mentions four ostraca with verses from Iliad 1 in the Monastery of Epiphanius.

25 For Il. 1, 36-37 as a passage to imitate in a cletic hymn, see Menander Rhetor, Division of Epideictic Styles, 335, 13-17, cf. Russell, Wilson 1981, p. 233.

26 Among others, Apion, Fragmenta de glossis Homericis (1^st cent. CE), fr. 122 (p. 143) Neitzel. For the corpus of ancient testimonies regarding Smintheus, see Trachsel 2019 and Palamidis 2019.

27 Chryses’ address to Smintheus forms the occasion for the telling of another narrative concerning Krinis, another priest of Apollo, in a passage of the Mythographus Homericus-MH Il. 1, 39 (P. Hamb. 3, 199, col. 2, l. 27-30).

28 Dio Chrysostom, Discourses 61 (Chryseis or Reading Homeric Silence).

29 Zellmann-Rohrer 2016a, p. 30.

30 Photius, Bibl. 190, 151a (Bekker).

31 Il. 1, 75 and 96 in P. Berol. P. 9873 = PGM XXIIa, 3 and 8. The translation of all Homeric quotations in this paper follows LATTIMORE 1951, slightly modified.

32 Birmingham, P. Harris inv. 303a (3^rd-4^th cent. CE), edited by Zellmann-Rohrer 2016a, p. 414. Though not Homeric, hexametrical oracles referring to Apollo on the occasion of an epidemic, such as the one mentioned in Lucian, Alexander or the False Prophet 36, also bring to mind the Homeric plague of Iliad 1, cf. infra note 74.

33 We are following here the recent edition and translation of P Londres I 47 (= PGM VI) + P. Berol. 5026 (= PGM II) as GEMF 30 in Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 361-381. See Appendix I-II.

34 See Chronopoulou 2019, p. 328-329, cf. Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 362.

35 Chronopoulou 2017a and 2017b, p. 19-22 as well as 2019, p. 325-328. Cf. Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 361.

36 Invocations to gods: GEMF 30, 6-27, 30-38, 40-57, 128-134 addressed to Apollo and Daphne/Laurel and 135-188 to Helios/Apollo. See Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 363 for previous editions of the hexametrical sections.

37 For the paleographical description of the papyrus, see Chronopoulou 2017b, p. 239-271, cf. Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 361-363.

38 GEMF 30, 16, 25, 27.

39 Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 376, n. 84.

40 Such as Helios, the Bear (Arktos), Aphrodite, Hermes, Sarapis, see García Molinos 2017, p. 231.

41 Cf. Zmyrna /myrrh in the Great Papyrus of Paris, see Zografou 2013c, p. 55-65 and Johnston 2018, p. 62.

42 For the adjective δεινή possibly attributed to Daphne, see Monaca 2011, p. 365, n. 21. See also the discussion about δ]α̣μάcα[ν]δρα of GEMF 30, 20 in Monaca 2020, p. 234-242 who associates the adjective with prophetesses’ names -Cassandra, Alexandra, Taraxandra. However, similar compounds are commonly attributed to Hecate-Selene : PGM IV, 2848; PGM VII, 696; SM I, 49, 40; SM II 57, 2. Cf. Blanco Cesteros 2017, p. 121-122, 135-137.

43 See Amandry 1950, p. 126-133; Motte 2019, p. 27-28; concerning Apollo and Daphne/laurel as well as the use of laurel branches in supplication, see also Blanco Cesteros 2017, p. 209, n. 182, 129-135. Laurel occurs in a variety of ritual practices : Sophron fr. 4 and 165 (Hordern 2004, p. 130), Theocritus II, 1, 23 with Gow 1950 II, 36, cf. Ogle 1910.

44 GEMF 30, 6-7, see Appendix II (i).

45 For the studies of M. Monaca, see supra, note 42. See Pausanias 10, 12, 1-5 and Diodorus Siculus IV, 66, 5-6. Pausanias, 10, 5, 5 mentions Daphnis, a nymph of Parnassus appointed by Gaia as promantis – for the meaning of this term, see Georgoudi 1998, p. 326-335.

46 Herophile/Daphne’s story, legendary though it be, seems to be based on real Sibyls and ideas about the origin of hexameter; see also Connor 2019 for similar legends.

47 Hymnic sections in GEMF 30: l. 6-19, 25-27, 30-38, 40-44, 48-50, 51-53, 128-134, 134-147. See among others PGM, vol. I, p. 244-246 and 248, Bortolani 2016, Blanco Cesteros 2017; cf. Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 363.

48 GEMF 30, 58-111, 112-127, 188-222, cf. Appendix I.

49 The recipe provides optional rituals, including coercive rituals (ἐπάναγκοι), in case the god does not reveal himself after the main procedure; among them, we encounter a ritual of lamp divination.

50 Akephalos is named in several places in the Magical Papyri, while various headless figures occur on gems. It is not possible to attribute a unified identity to all of them – generally understood on a background of Egyptian ideas about decapitated dead and gods as well of solar mythology. In the Magical Papyri, the god Bes, known from the dream-oracle in the necropolis of Abydos, but also concerned with the protection of the sleeper is called sometimes “headless god”: PGM VII, 233-235, VIII, 91-94, see Bortolani 2008, Zago 2013, Martín Hernández 2010. See also Faraone 2020 for the drawings used in divination rituals. Akephalos has been equally associated with Osiris with reference to the Egyptian mythology of dismemberment – PGM V, 96-171 – as well as with Seth-Typhon, especially on gems where we encounter a head of a donkey (Delatte 1914, p. 190-192; contra Preisendanz 1926). Regarding the specific drawing of GEMF 30, I have previously thought of an entity close to Bes – Zografou 2013b, p. 220; however, no mention is made of Bes in the text, whereas what seems most significant for the understanding of the ritual as a whole is the apollonian/solar elements, cf. Delatte 1914, p. 216-217, Bortolani 2008, p. 122-123 and Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 369, n. 50 with further bibliography.

51 Several parallels in other Magical Papyri: PGM I, 263-347; III, 282-314; V 370-439; VII 795-845; PGM XIII (103, 659, 1059).

52 For the Asklepieia, see Edelstein, Edelstein 1945, p. 318, 286-288 (T. 503, T. 505, T. 572); this role is based on even older beliefs about the effect of laurel on sleep and dreams, Ogle 1910, p. 303-304 Cf. Zografou 2013b, p. 217-221.

53 As for the object in Akephalos’ right hand, Delatte 1914, p. 216, sees a flower; one could also think of a whip, an attribute of Helios often depicted as a charioteer in the magical papyri (see GEMF 30, 135: κλυτόπωλε) or of a sort of prophetic rod or staff (see the A.C. on GEMF 30, 9); cf. PGM II, 98 (σκηπτοῦχε) and PGM III, 253 where Apollo is probably holding laurel twigs.

54 See Bortolani 2008, 123 (ramo di alloro) and Martín Hernández 2010, p. 492 who, moreover, considers this case as a typical case of a magical drawing visualizing the ritual instructions given by the text and representing a sort of “Apollonian make-up of Akephalos”. Of course, magical recipes tend to create correspondences rather than to use divine symbols in an unambiguous way; given the minimalistic stylization of the drawing, one cannot exclude that this is a palm branch (which occurs frequently in Egyptian funerary contexts).

55 GEMF 31/PGM I, 279-280.

56 In one of the alternative (lychnomantic) versions of the ritual, the drawing, wrapped in a rag, must be suspended over or placed underneath a lamp, see GEMF 30, 94-99. This instruction seems to be based on a principle that is often applied to the cases of dream-sending charms, according to which the practitioner may write on the wick the content of the dream he wishes to send. See, for instance, PGM XIII, 314-316, cf. Zografou 2010, p. 279-280.

57 See, among others, Meeks 1991.

58 Pinch 1994, p. 107. For the mythic motif of decapitated gods experiencing transformation through death, see Meeks 1991, p. 7-11. Concerning “reserve heads” as functionally equivalent to mummy masks, see Picardo 2007, p. 231, 251 and passim.

59 For the symbolic assimilation of head and sun through the conception of headrests, see Hellinckx 2001, p. 94.

60 In fact, Akephalos presents, instead of the head, five small identical shapes – perhaps stylized representations of concrete objects variously interpreted: traces of bleeding, feathers, flames, animal heads – Delatte 1914, p. 217 (traces of blood), Bortolani 2008, p. 123 (feathers) – which could possibly indicate some sort of transformed or multiple identity.

61 Podemann Sørensen 1984, p. 9-10; Frankfurter 1995, p. 459-460 following Ohrt 1935-1936, col. 1590-91 and Assmann 2001, p. 89: “The dramatic element in these cultic spells consists in the fact that they are uttered as divine speeches by priests who play the roles of the deities …“

62 Their metrical nature is questionable, see Blanco Cesteros 2017, p. 160-162 for a detailed analysis.

63 Πυθολέτα is unique, but sounds similar to other epithets of Apollo, such as Πυθοκτόνοc (Orphic Hymns 34, 4) and [Πυθ]ολετόκτυπε (PGM III, 234).

64 Possibly a solar epithet of Horus, see Blanco Cesteros et al. 2022, p. 367, n. 32.

65 So, I prefer, here, Eitrem’s correction φιλαίματε (of the papyrus’ φιλαίμαγε) instead of φιλόμαγε adopted in GEMF 30, 35.

66 In l. 36 χαρίεντ’ ἐπὶ βωμὸν ἔρεψα is a correction by the scribe himself of a very common type error (homoioarchon), marked on the papyrus with a pointed sigma (ͼ). The use of such a sign indicates a rather high educational level.

67 Cf. ei pote in a following hymnic section GEMF 30, 52 and 128 (hês pote…). See Scott Garner 1996.

68 Zografou 2020.

69 Homer, Il. 1, 454.

70 In Dictys Cretensis’, Chronicle of the Trojan War, originally written in ancient Greek perhaps in the 1^st cent. CE, Chryses carries with him the statue as well as other ornaments of Apollo (Ephemeris 2, 28).

71 See the following sub-chapter.

72 According to Gordon, Homeric verses in GEMF 30/PGM VI are treated as anonymized “raw material”, see Gordon 2020, p. 41-43. Cf. Blanco Cesteros 2017, p. 570.

73 Cf. the partial repetition of the same formulas in Il. 1, 452-456, in order, this time, to remove the plague which also disassociates its wording from the original goal.

74 See Busine 2005, p. 89-94; cf. Harper 2017, p. 101.

75 However, the Homeric epithet Smintheus in Il. 1, 39 is not repeated later in book 1 (in his second prayer, Il. 1, 452-456) ; moreover, it is not clear, if it is really a cultic epithet, see Palamidis 2019. For the archaeological context of the sanctuary see Özgünel 2015.

76 See Özgünel 2003, Genovese 2015 and Nalimova 2019, cf. Bouillot 2019, p. 144-172.

77 As described by Arrian, Anabasis 1, 11 7-8; 12, 1-2; Diodorus Siculus, 17, 18, 2-3; Strabo, 13, 1, 26; Plutarchus, Alexander 15, 2.

78 Ovid, Fasti 6, 425-426.

79 On Epideictic Speeches 440, 5-15 (II, 17, translation by Russell, Wilson 1981, p. 213).

80 See, for example, Bellinger 1961 A 331 (three-quarter view of the Smintheion within which there is the cult statue of Apollo Smintheus holding bow and patera over tripod), cf. Bellinger 1961 A 498, BMC 37.

81 Pausanias, 10, 12, 1-5.

82 It is even probable that this Herophile is connected with a certain Sibyl called Daphne, mentioned, as stated above, by Diodorus, see supra, note 45.

83 The association between Chryses and the Smintheion is in accordance with the way Chryses episode is sometimes illustrated. The upper zone of Tabula Iliaca Capitolina (Museo Capitolino 316) of 15 BCE presents a sequence of miniature carvings (accompanied by captions) illustrating Iliad 1 ; here, Chryses' prayers are depicted as taking place in front of an altar and temple which, as inscribed belongs to Smintheus. A similar temple also appears in the miniatures of the codex Venetus A of the Iliad (10^th cent. CE).

84 IMT SuedlTroas 562 (= IAlexandreia Troas 67), cf. Kajava 2009, p. 221, n. 54.

85 IMT SuedlTroas 556 (= IAlexandreia Troas 43), IG XII 2,519).

86 Robert 1929.

87 PGM III, 249-253 belonging to a larger hymnic section of a revelation recipe (PGM III, 187-262).

88 Servais 1967. Cf. Georgoudi 2022, p. 90.

89 See supra, note 43.

90 Mosaic from Neapolis (Nympharum Domus), Tunisia, in Nabeul Museum (330-340 CE), see Schefold 1986, p. 284, n^o 13 and Hajji 2011 (p. 96, cf. pl. X).

91 See, for example, Scholia in Euripidem (schol. vet.), Orestes 383, l. 3 (Schwartz) interpreting the expression ἱκέτης, ἀφύλλου στόματος, “suppliant of leafless mouth” in Orestes 383 through reference to Chryses plea: τὴν φυλλάδα ἱκετεύοντες προέτεινον, ὡς παρ' Ὁμήρῳ [Α 14] ὁ Χρύσης ‘στέμματ' ἔχων ἐν χερσίν,’ “the suppliants put forward the leafy bough, as in Homer (Il. 1, 14) ‘Chryses holding in his hands stemmata’”. Chryses plea in the Iliad is addressed to Agamemnon; however, the practitioner in GEMF 30, 134 presents himself as a suppliant of Apollo (σῷ ἱκέτῃ).

92 Scholia in Iliadem (scholia vetera) 1, 14a, 3 [D-scholia]. See Forbes Irving 1990, p. 261-263, for various versions of Daphne’s story in ancient authors.

93 See, for instance, GEMF 30, 7 (Φοῖβος στεφθείς τε κλάδ̣οισι).