Dear scholars, I’d like to make a little clarification about the drawing of “chenalopex” from the Artemidorus Papyrus.
In an interview by D. Messina (in the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”, January 14th, 2008, page 33), professor B. Kramer contests my reading proposal that “chenalopex” may be a transposition of the 17th century constellation “Anser et Vulpecula” by saying that the word “chenalopex” – a compound of two Greek words – did exist in antiquity. She’s perfectly right, but I never meant to deny this. As everybody knows, it was the name for the Egyptian goose. What I remarked is this: 1. In the “bestiary” on the “verso” of the papyrus there are many clues which induce to the idea of cosmographical suggestions and iconographies inspiring the drawings, first of all “astrokyon”, which is nothing but the star Sirius (or the constellation to which it belongs, Canis Maior). 2. The drawing of “chenalopex” is placed near “sthymphalis”; in cosmography the three constellations of Aquila, Cygnus, Lyra, which are located in the sky around the Vulpecula, are usually related to the Stymphalian birds. 3. So this is one of the cases in which the drawings from P.Artemid would seem to be inspired to cosmography as for both names and reciprocal position. Of course, this is an hypothesis which one can agree to or not. But I never said that the word “chenalopex” appeared for the first time in the papyrus as a translation of a Latin name (perhaps the journalist’s question was misleading). I just proposed that it was used there as a transposition, a reference to the constellation Anser et Vulpecula. [For details cf. «Quaderni di storia» 64, pp. 29-40; Il papiro di Artemidoro, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008, cap. VI]. I take the occasion to send my warm greetings to all subscribers! Stefano Micunco
