Bacchylides 15: Troy in Athens

Abstract This chapter argues that Bacchylides 15, which narrates part of the embassy of Menelaos and Odysseus to Troy, discusses matters of fundamental concern to the city of Athens through a twin engagement: through performance, with the cult of Athena; textually, with Homer and Solon, both poets regarded as Athenian cultural treasures at the time of Bacchylides' composition. Performative and textual engagements, taken together, opens the way for a more excursive exploration of issues relating to Athenian cult and performance culture, and the issue of the security of poleis that the poem addresses, by way of the implicit parallel drawn between Athens and Troy, the site of the poem's narrative.