Ἀπεβίω γὰρ ὁ καλὸς Ἀχελῴου

Greek Learning Greek
1

Hello friends,

Here is a really interesting excerpt because it is the only time Achelous and Christ are mentioned together in antiquity (so far as I know).

The full passage is below, but I’m struggling with “Ἀπεβίω γὰρ ὁ καλὸς Ἀχελῴου” in particular.

“He ceases to live for the beauty of Acheloios…”

Full context:

Joannes Apocaucus, Epistulae et acta 2.1-5. (under the title: Τοῦ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν Γοριανίτην κυρὸν Νικόλαον.)

Ἔκειτό μοι τῷ ἐξώρῳ, τῷ σαπρῷ, τῷ παρηβηκότι, καὶ κατὰ πνεῦμα καὶ
νεωτέρου υἱοῦ καὶ συναδέλφου θεάσασθαι θάνατον. Ἀπεβίω γὰρ ὁ καλὸς Ἀχελῴου
κατὰ τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ μεγάλην παρασκευὴν καὶ ἐσταυρώθη ὥσπερ τῇ νόσῳ καὶ
συνετάφη Χριστῷ, κατ’ αὐτὴν καὶ αὐτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς χεῖρας παραθεμένῳ τοῦ
οὐρανίου πατρός· ἡμῖν δὲ τὴν ἑορτὴν εἰς πένθος μετέβαλε καὶ θρηνοῦμεν τὴν
ἀποδημίαν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ.

In my estimation this passage discusses someone’s untimely death and how the individual (Nikolas?) is now with Christ and in the hand of the heavenly father. But what on earth is that clause about Acheloios?!

2

It’s referring there to a θρόνος (=episcopal see?) attached to Naupactus.

3

He is sad because of the death of his “dear/good from Acheloos”.

4

Is this something to do with the death of the Bishop Άχελῴος Έυστάθιος?

For the Bishop Άχελῴος Έυστάθιος has ceased to live.

δ) Μία επιστολή του Ιωάννου Αποκαύκου - που μνημονεύει τον θάνα­ το του επισκόπου Αχελώου Ευσταθίου - μας βοηθά να ταυτίσουμε την έδρα της επισκοπής Αχελώου που ήταν αφιερωμένη στον Πρόδρομο: «Απεβίω γαρ ό καλος Αχελώου κατα την άγίαν και Μεγάλην Παρα­ σκευήν… ήμιν δε την έορτην εΙς πένθος μετέβαλεν. Διο ενθυμήθητι μεν δτι και αυτος τεθνήξll ποτε και δας '[c}J eEc}J και '[c}J βαπτιστή τού

5

Not his name. The bishop Ἀχελῴου Έυστάθιος. The bishop attached to the episcopal see of Άχελῴος. I don’t quite understand the modern Greek you’ve quoted, but it appears to say the same. “την έδρα της επισκοπής Αχελώου”.

6

This is all quite helpful. Thank you.

If I reverse the wording to incorporate the sense Tico mentioned, would it be “His dear friend from Acheloios ceases to live…”

Whatever the exact details it seems clear that the major theme here is “location” as opposed to any aspects of the mythos of Acheloios.

7

Gotcha–so the next excerpt I have (coincidentally) starts with Πρὸς τὸν Ἀχελῴου Εὐστάθιον, which I will render as Eustathius of Acheloios.

8

I would personally recommend against “rendering” anything for publication without learning more Greek. Here is my (by sight, with errors) understanding of the above:

Ἔκειτό μοι τῷ ἐξώρῳ, τῷ σαπρῷ, τῷ παρηβηκότι, καὶ κατὰ πνεῦμα καὶ νεωτέρου υἱοῦ καὶ συναδέλφου θεάσασθαι θάνατον. Ἀπεβίω γὰρ ὁ καλὸς Ἀχελῴου κατὰ τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ μεγάλην παρασκευὴν καὶ ἐσταυρώθη ὥσπερ τῇ νόσῳ καὶ συνετάφη Χριστῷ, κατ’ αὐτὴν καὶ αὐτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς χεῖρας παραθεμένῳ τοῦ οὐρανίου πατρός· ἡμῖν δὲ τὴν ἑορτὴν εἰς πένθος μετέβαλε καὶ θρηνοῦμεν τὴν ἀποδημίαν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ.

It fell to me – one past his prime, one old, one outside of youth – to see the death of his spiritual younger son and co-brother. For the fine one of Acheloios passed away during the holy and great preparation [Holy Friday?] and was in a way crucified by his disease and interred with Christ, by which [preparation/festival] Christ himself placed his soul into the hands of the heavenly Father. For us, our festival [Easter?] was changed into mourning and grieving for the passing away of our brother.

9

I won’t be adding the translations anymore–I’m just trying to understand it well enough. I appreciate you translating it for me though.

Currently, unless I have a trained classicist to do the fresh translations (and I will be seeking some–I just want to prepare the basic document first), the project will reproduce the ancient texts and have thematic links connecting them, as well as notes and commentary. This will be good enough for advanced Acheloios studies. When it was just Eustathius and the scholia missing I would have paid a professional, but now that I have full access to TLG there are so many Medieval authors that are untranslated–I am near 500 entries.

It is very exciting to find fresh material on Acheloios from late antiquity. I’m happy to share the document with you (or anyone) if you want to see more. Collaborators on this part are welcome too.