Volume 152, Issue 1 - 1

This article replies to an attempt by P. J. Finglass (The Ending of Iliad 7, Philologus 150, 2006, 187–97) to cast doubt on the authenticity of Il. 7. 466–77, by addressing his arguments on Homeric technique and language, and placing the passage within the broader social and economic contexts of the epic world.

The athetesis of a substantial part of Antigone's ‘endlessly disputed’ final speech is re-affirmed against recent defenders, but with differences in detail, especially as to line 904 and the interpolator's presumable motive(s). More also is said about the anapaests which conclude the episode.

Sophocles' Philoctetes is peculiar in three ways: There are no female characters, the Chorus as a dramatis persona is closely involved in the plot, and there is a deus ex machina . This paper attempts to interpret these peculiarities as elements of the play's special poetical design. Sophocles demonstrates the great difficulty of reintegrating the protagonist who, suffering from his wound, is expelled on Lemnos. As will be shown, the special dimension of Philoctetes' trauma can be analyzed in terms of a concept commonly referred to as ‘peer rejection’ in social psychology. Furthermore it will be possible to give meaning to the absence of female characters and to the Chorus' vital role in the plot (supporting the intrigue). Both of these features emphasize the protagonist's isolation. The deus ex machina , however, functions as an external party who is able to help to overcome the trauma.

Sixteen iambic trimeters from the pseudo-Euripidean tragedy Peirithous , very probably a work of Critias, contain a dialogue between Heracles, who descended into Hades, and the ianitor Orci Aeacus. The constitutio textus of Critias′ fr. 1 Sn.-K., of which a critical apparatus is provided based on the autopsy of all the known manuscripts, is worthy of consideration: In contrast to the choice made by most scholars, it is better to leave the lectio tradita ϑεοῦ at l. 7. As regards the problematical l. 14, the emendation ἀνήνυτόν γ′ ἔδωκεν ἐξηνυκέναι is suggested. The scene of Heracles′ meeting with the doorkeeper of the underworld must have been well known and was probably parodied by Aristophanes in his Frogs , as many scholars agree. It may also however have been alluded to by Lucian in Nec . 8, as the adverb τραγικῶς seems to indicate.

This paper offers several new interpretations of passages from Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae . The following lines are discussed: 910, 982, 984, and 1187b. At line 910 I defend a phallic reading rarely acknowledged by most scholars. Line 982 is interpreted as a prayer to the gods rather than as a choral self-exhortation. At line 984 I read an ironic allusion to the attested practice of fasting by dramatic choruses. Here I also append a new interpretation of Frogs 376 in view of its similarity to this passage. Finally I defend the authenticity of line 1187b, usually omitted by editors as a parepigraphe , arguing inter alia that it continues the comic imagery of line 1187 which had depicted the Scythian's phallus as an unfaithful wife.

To the fragments included in Wehrli's edition of Clearchus' On the Ways of Life , the most important work of the peripatetic philosopher, three additional fragments should be added. The order of the fragments, which is important for the reconstruction of the work, should also be modified. The form of the work was dialogic, following the model of Aristotelian dialogues. As for its content, the central notion was that of luxury, while the central exegetic model was: glut – hybris – catastrophe. It belongs to an entire tradition of works bearing the title Peri bion in which the Peripatos played an important role, and in the context of which it must be understood. Important to Clearchus' particular interest in that subject was Aristotle's teaching of ethos . It was to various collections of material by Aristotle and the Peripatetics that Clearchus also owed the varied material (historical, anecdotal, ethnographic etc.) that was included in the eight books of the work. The discussion ‘on the ways of life’ is related to the question about the ideal of philosophical life, that is to say the matter of vita contemplativa or activa , and constitutes a response to the central philosophical question of the Hellenistic period: “Which kind of life is the best one (i.e. leads to happiness)?”

In the present paper I have tried to demonstrate that the priamels with which Callimachus embellishes his hymns to Zeus and Delos are built on a carefully and cleverly designed ring-compositional structure, more complex and intricately fashioned in Zeus , through multiple interwoven priamels, of a simpler form but very sophisticatedly allusive in Delos . In both sections under discussion there is a parallelism between the gods evoked (Zeus, Apollo) and Ptolemy Philadelphus, more explicit in Zeus , more veiled in Delos; in both priamels, moreover, Callimachus makes use of the idea of fortification, a characteristic motif related to god and ruler as well. The sophisticated reader is invited to appreciate the fine rhythm created by the successive chiasms in the priamel of Zeus , overtly culminating in the king's praise, and challenged to recognise the clues hinting at the notion of interrelation and interdependence between the poet, Apollo and Ptolemy in the priamel of Delos . The examination of these passages reveals once more Callimachus' skill in his material's organisation, his elegance of style and his unwearying zest for a literary accomplishment as rich and interesting as possible.

Our aim in this paper is threefold. First, we will set out a few broad observations on the use Apollodorus makes of the word 'Ελλάς in the surviving books and epitomes of the Bibliotheke , noting that his usage is restricted and that this restriction has larger implications for the overall structure of the work (I). Second, we will show that in one case (1. 47) the word has been widely misunderstood in the available translations and that the example provides a glimpse at Apollodorus' sources (II). Third, we will argue that in another case (1. 74) there has been an error in textual transmission and the word does not, in fact, occur at all (III).

Basilius from Caesarea had tried in succession of Origenes to connect the short biblical text of Genesis with the huge scientific heritage of antiquity (first of all Aristoteles and Theophrast). Ambrose of Milan has transposed these homilies written in Greek into Latin sermons, which transformed and extended his main-source in order to adapt the material found in Basilius to Roman thought and to the postulates of western culture and audience in such a manner that he rhetorically uses the principles of the so-called Second Sophistic. This transformation will be explained by an analysis of a passage in the seventh homily concerning the creation of the animals in the sea. The Ambrosian translation or better the Bishop's free adaptation will be compared with the literal translation of Eustathius, a translator approximately contemporaneous.

(I) At 2. 88 abeuntibus should be read for the impossible a tergibus of OQG; Voss' popular conjecture a tergo ibus is likewise untenable. (II) The phrase tempore puncto at 2. 263, 456 and 1006 should be emended to tempori' puncto; at 4. 214 paruo tempore should be read; at 6. 230 more serious corruption has taken place and we ought to read et liquidum facit aes aerumque in tempori' puncto . (III) The elision of an iambic word at 4. 741 is indefensible; read equi forte humanae for equi atque homines casu of OQ. (IV) At 5. 849 we should not defend the sole instance of Lucretian synaphia but rather write debere occurrere rebus for rebus concurrere debere . (V) At 6. 742 we should reintroduce the technical phrase e regione loci , reading loci quod for ea quod loca , and at 743 Struve's remigium should be read for a number of strong reasons. (VI) At 6. 762 the various conjectures involving pote or potis for the mss' nonsensical poteis should be rejected on linguistic and semantic grounds; in place of Munro's repetitive forte his I suggest primum his . (VII) Finally, 6. 1109 should be seen as a stark interpolation, not only because of its geographical and argumentative inappropriateness but also owing to the stylistic anomalies of atque at the close of 1008 and usque ad opening 1009. Nine other conjectures, in Lucretius and other authors, are offered throughout the paper with far briefer argumentation.

Juvenal's twelfth satire is underrated. The present article starts by endeavouring to solve a crux in ll. 54–55. It then attempts to show that l. 29, which is generally condemned as insipid, is in fact a witty burlesque of Virgil. Finally attention is drawn to some acoustic finesses.