Source material for the study of the Arimaspeia is a collection of primary texts, ancient art and archaeology relevant to the study of the Arimaspeia, an ancient Greek narrative poem that told the story of a man whose soul temporarily detached from his body while he lay comatose and, aided by the god Apollo, flew in a northeast direction to the outer edge of the flat earth, encountering realistic countries and peoples, mythical monsters, and an earthly paradise where an isolated nation of people lived without normal human troubles. The Arimaspeia had important influences on ethnography, geography, history, cosmology, philosophy, religion and mythical iconography from the Greek Classical period through the Hellenistic and Roman periods and into the formative first centuries of Christianity.
This collection aims to go beyond previous collections of testimonials and fragments of the Arimaspeia by providing a fuller collection, including texts not attributed to the Arimaspeia but apparently influenced by it, as well as texts that provide context helpful for understanding the fragments of the Arimaspeia. Where relevant, the collection also provides the textual context of fragments and testimonials. New translations are provided for most Greek and Latin primary texts.
The author of this project, Thomas A. Warner, is currently a senior undergraduate student in the Greek and Latin program of Hunter College of the City University of New York. The first phase of this project was completed during the summer of 2024 with funding from a Raab Presidential Fellowship. Additional material will be added from time to time.
Expert comments and corrections are greatly appreciated and can be sent through my Academia.edu profile page.