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==''Calydoniaca'' and ''The Abduction of Helen''== According to the ''[[Suda]]'', Colothus was the author of a ''Calydoniaca'' in six books, doubtless an account of the [[Calydonian Boar|Calydonian boar hunt]], ''Persica'', probably an encomium on emperor Anastasius composed at the end of the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Persian wars]], and ''Encomia'', or laudatory poems.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=748}} The Suda does not mention "The Abduction of Helen". All works mentioned in the ''[[Suda]]'' are lost, but his poem in 392 [[hexameter]]s on ''The Abduction of Helen'' (Ἁρπαγὴ Ἑλένης) is still extant, having been discovered by [[Johannes Bessarion|Cardinal Bessarion]] in [[Calabria]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=748}} The Abduction opens with an invocation to the nymphs of the Troad whom the poet asks for information about Paris as the originator of the Trojan conflict (1–16), followed by the account of how the gods attended the wedding of [[Thetis]] and [[Peleus]], how they forgot to invite [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]], who searched for retaliation throwing a golden apple amongst the gods (17–63); [[Hera]], [[Athena]] and [[Aphrodite]] all want to have it and [[Zeus]] orders [[Hermes]] to take the three goddesses to visit the handsome shepherd [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]], who should award the apple to one of them (64–79); the goddesses enhance their appearances before meeting up the shepherd, with Aphrodite launching a speech on her court of [[Erotes]] (80–100). Paris, more interested in playing the pipes than in taking care of his sheep, receives from Hermes the assignment to award the apple to the most beautiful goddess (101–30); submitting to his eyes, Athena offers him courage and victory in war, Hera to make him lord of all Asia, and Aphrodite, baring her breasts, the hand of Helen (131–65); Paris awards the apple to Aphrodite, who scorns Hera and Athena, and prepares his trip to Sparta to seduce Helen (166–200). The trip to Sparta begins with bad presages, but his fleet reaches Sparta without hazards and he sets towards the town on foot (201–46). Helen opens the door to him and, instantly attracted towards him, initiates a dialogue with him: Paris tells her that he is the son of [[Priam]], king of Troy, and that Aphrodite promised him to make him Helen’s spouse (247–302). Helen agrees to elope with Paris and they do so during the night (303–25). [[Hermione (mythology)|Hermione]] wakes up the following morning and searches for her mother, considering the possibilities that she got lost in the mountains or was drowned in the river (326–62). She falls asleep exhausted and sees her mother in her dreams telling her that she was abducted by the foreigner who visited them the previous day (363–79). Hermione calls her father to return, while on seeing the arrival of the couple from the walls of Troy, Cassandra sheds her veil and tears her hair (380–92). The anonymous writer in the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]] described the poem as "dull and tasteless, devoid of imagination, a poor imitation of [[Homer]], and [having] little to recommend it except its harmonious versification, based upon the technical rules of [[Nonnus]]",{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=748}} It has been more recently evaluated as a "short and charming miniature epic".<ref>Jasper Griffin, 2010, 'Greek Epic' in Catherine Bates, ed., ''The Cambridge Companion to the Epic'', p. 28.</ref>
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