The Fig-Eating Muses: A Note to Call. iamb. 1, 92-93

In Call. iamb. 1, 92-93 Hipponax is apparently placing one poet in opposition to the other scholars of the Museum; alone he chose “the Muses eating green figs”. In this article, I will defend the idea that this image is a reference to poverty, as is suggested by several textual parallels. I will argue finally that the poet hidden in these lines is Callimachus, who would introduce himself as the direct heir to his model poet. This fits well with a number of other references to foods associated with poverty found elsewhere in the collection of the Iambi and which similarly allude to Callimachus’ own condition of indigence