Palamedes, as inventor of board games: Zodiac and planetary correspondences in John Malalas’ Chronography (5, 9) and in early Hellenistic philosophy

Abstract

A passage of John Malalas’ (around 490-570) Chronography , a compendium of universal history, is noteworthy of being further analysed. The historian develops the correspondence between board-games and planetary movements on the grounds of cosmic sympathy. He establishes this set of astrologic ideas, when he accounts the myth of Palamedes. This hero of Trojan cycle was traditionally reputed as inventor of ludic tools such as pawns, dice and corresponding plays. Palamedes was also the clever hero par excellence in Byzantine times, as Anna Komnena, Eutimius Zigabenus, John Tzetzes show. Malalas’ narrative is very interesting. He does not recalls only the role played by Palamedes as primus inventor, but he also stresses the analogy between heavenly bodies on one side and chessboard, pawns, and the ‘tower’ used to throw the dice on the either. This metaphor is nothing new, Malalas did not find it in Justinian’s times. On the contrary, post-Aristotelian philosophy (Diodorus Kronus, Clearchus of Soloi) already came up with this notion, as we may infer from a quoting of Suetonius’ book On the games of Greeks. This work is lost, but 12^th century scholar Eustathius of Thessaloniki preserved Suetonius’ fragments concerning the astral correspondence of board-games in his Homeric commentaries. A long-dating tradition was, thus, active in astral theory of Ancient and Medieval times.