Search

The paper examines the text of the scholia, mostly non yet edited, on Euripides’ Hecuba in the manuscript Vat. gr. 1135 and its apographon, with the aim of placing it within the textual tradition. The analysis of some scholia allows ascribing the most part of this material to the scholarly exegesis of the twelfth century, shedding light on the state of the Euripidean scholia after the eleventh century, which is the period to which the veteres manuscripts date back, but before the Palaeologan age.

This paper aims to analyse the speech of the lawgiver in Book 4 of Plato’s Laws, the only one directly addressed to the citizens of the Cretan colony to outline their behaviour rules. This speech is examined not only for its ethical content but also for its argumentative structure. In particular, references to archaic gnomic poetry, which give the discourse great solemnity, are reviewed. In addition, the lawgiver’s mastery of rhetorical tools aimed at persuading citizens is emphasized. The lawgiver’s use of persuasion, further applied in all the preambles prefixed to the laws, seems to be an implementation of rhetoric as psychagogy outlined in the Phaedrus.

In this paper I analyse some different mythical narratives about the trial of Orestes after the matricide. Aeschylus’ Eumenides (458 B.C.E.) have canonised a single version of the myth, based on the judgement at the Areopagus Council and on the hero’s acquittal through Athena’s vote. As a matter of fact, other versions exist in and outside of Athens about the hero on trial (i.e. Eur. Or., El.; Theodectes Phas. fr. 5 Snell; Dem. 23.74), which reveal alternative assessments of Orestes’ vengeance act.

This paper offers a new interpretation of a passage from Theon’s progymnasmatic manual (120.13‑20 Sp.), which is traditionally included among Hermagoras of Temnos’ ‘fragments’ (T 17 W.). Based on the text preserved by Theon’s Armenian tradition and on the comparison with the parallel sources, the following conclusions can be drawn: (a) the ‘fragment’ consists of two sections, which must be considered separately; (b) while the first part can be prudently linked to Hermagoras of Temnos only, the second one is certainly attributable to him and – if correctly contextualised – may reveal some interesting details about his theory of argumentation.

The present paper focuses on three passages of Eugraphius’ commentary on Terence (Eugraph. Ter. Andr. 55; Ter. Eun. 81; Ter. Phorm. 231), of which it attempts to provide a more correct reading than that offered in the last edition of the work, published by Paul Wessner in 1908.

This paper is part of a larger project on how Livy represents the Elder Cato, from his entrance into the text in Book 29 to his last witticism preserved in the summary of Book 50, the longest biographical arc in this first third of Livy’s text. It views Cato through the lens of his relationship with objects, and with Livy’s narrative as an object as well. This paper focuses on one episode in the life of Livy’s Cato, the debate over the repeal of the Lex Oppia, and builds on previous scholars’ work to unite three arguments: 1) Livy weaves together textual space and Roman topography so as to emphasise the simultaneous marginality and centrality of this debate; 2) Livy’s Cato and Valerius fill Rome’s urban topography with images of things so as to draw attention via women’s bodies to the relationship between luxury and Rome’s imperium; 3) Livy uses this episode to make an argument about his own historical writing and its active relationship to the expansion of empire. This project focusing on Livy’s Cato is itself part of an even larger reexamination of how we read, and might read, Livy.

The paper focuses on several historical and textual problems that afflict the opening part of Nepos’ biography written by the Athenian general Conon. In the first chapter, the paper will underscore the encomiastic purposes that characterise this life. Then, the paper will analyse the use of the words praetor and praefectus made by Nepos in the Liber. This analysis is strictly connected to a textual problem that characterises the clause praefectus classis magnas mari gessit (Con. 1.1): here the paper suggests that the text of the manuscript tradition could be saved through textual and historical data. In the third and final section, the paper will try to explain which kind of honos, according to Nepos, Conon received after his military achievements on land and sea.

In Euripides’ fragmentary Hypsipyle (frag. 752‑69 K.) the seer Amphiaraus plays many and crucial roles: he first unwittingly causes Hypsipyle’s troubles, then becomes her saviour and prevents her execution; he also acts as a messenger of Opheltes’ death; finally, he is responsible for the recognition between Hypsipyle and her two sons. In Greek tragedy there is not another character who plays so many and so important roles in the same drama: Hypsipyle’s Amphiaraus is absolutely one of a kind, a product of Euripides’ late and experimental period of activity as a dramatist. This paper aims to analyse each of the roles played by the seer in this tragedy to evaluate the uniqueness and complexity of his dramaturgical function.

The paper offers textual notes, including new conjectures, on the scholia on the Alcestis of Euripides (Hyp. Alc. (a), schol. Alc. 1, 54, 55, 56, 59, 65‑7, 70‑1, 75‑6) and presents the first edition of an unpublished note on Eur. Alc. 65.

The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that Quirinus in Enn. ann. 100 Skutsch is to be identified with Romulus. In addition to the comparison with Ov. met. 14.849 ss., new arguments are presented: the comparison with Liv. 1.16.6 and the use of the verb venerari, which is connected etymologically with Venus, who is a deity related to Romulus and the origins of Rome.

This paper offers a preliminary study of MS Atheniensis EBE 1089, a neglected lexicographic and grammatical miscellany consisting of several different sections, to be dated between the 13th and the 15th century. Among other texts, this manuscript transmits Phrynichus’ Eclogue and Moeris’ Lexicon. After providing a survey of the contents of this codex, the first part of the article deals with some of its main material features, with a description of its different sections and the scribes who copied them. Additionally, it is argued that the codex as a whole was the product of a single ‘editorial’ project carried out by a certain Μᾶρκος, active in the middle of the 16th century. The second part of the article offers a philological analysis of the folios containing the lexica of Phrynichus and Moeris; that gave the occasion to develop some new thoughts on their texts and manuscript traditions.

The fifth Imago of Philostratus Minor, which portrays baby Heracles’ struggle against the snakes sent from Hera, appears to be inspired by two Pindaric works (Nem. 1 and *Pae. 20). This paper explores the possibility that some linguistic features of Philostratus’ ekphrasis can be borrowed (presumably by secondary source) from Panyassis’ lost Herakleia. By going against the communis opinio, it is suggested that this archaic exametric poem may have survived through Imperial Age, until the 2nd century AD, alongside other mythographic and poetic works about the Heracles’ saga.

The paper investigates the Fascist exploitation of Horatian poetry by analysing the speech held by Ettore Romagnoli in 1935 on the bimillenary of the poet’s birth. Romagnoli’s oration must sacrifice to the demands of the oriented reading of Horace’s work promoted by the regime themes and attitudes characteristic of the poet (the reflections on time and the precariousness of human life, the search for self-sufficiency and aurea mediocritas, the rejection of dogmatism). Instead, the intellectual who moves from a secluded position to full adherence to the new Augustan establishment is exalted, at the cost of historical and literary distortions.

This paper analyses “the force of things” (Bennett 2010, 1) in Aeschylus’ Niobe, in particular the function of two material props (in a broader sense): the tomb of Niobe’s children and her mourning veil. These will be examined through both textual evidence and visual representations of the myth. Aristoph. Frogs 911-20 (test. 120 R) describes Niobe as seated, veiled, and silent for half of Aeschylus’ play (cf. also Vit. Aeschyl. 5-6 = test. 1.19-23 R). With such a static plot, material props are crucial; from a cognitive, physical, and psychological point of view they deeply affect the main character, as well as the other characters (including the chorus) and the spectators, who experience Niobe’s feelings through her contact with the material medium. The physical and psychological relationship between Niobe and the tomb affects her communication with the other characters, her own perception of reality and her capability to act. The grave locks Niobe into her grief, preventing her from moving forward – and physically away from it – and even from communicating with the outer world. The mourning veil is the material expression of this interrupted relationship. It acts as a material barrier, preventing communication between Niobe and the other characters: it weakens her physical and cognitive perception of the world, as well as her capacity to act, ‘sealing’ the character in her silence. Moreover, the veil separates Niobe from the world of the living, entrapping her in an exclusive relationship with her dead children.

The paper sets out to analyse Eur. Hel. 818, and offers a fresh interpretation of the correct tradition to be accepted concerning it, with particular reference to the use of interpunction.

This paper examines how socio-political and cultural change is discussed in selected archaic and classical Greek texts (Thgn. 53-60, 287-92; Pherecr. fr. 155 K.-A.; Aristoph. Nub. 889-1023; Pl. Lg. 700a-701c). The analysis underlines the thematic, rhetorical and stylistic features and the moral preoccupations that are common to these sources. It is then argued that they all participate in an intertextual ‘discourse on change’. Furthermore, the article samples how close textual readings can be enhanced by the awareness that each single passage, as an instance of this tradition of discourse, is intertextually connected to the others.

The aim of this paper is to provide a new analysis of four latin fragments preserved on the verso of P. Gen. inv. Lat. 7 (2nd century AD). They have often been considered as an inventory of works of art linked to P. Gen. inv. Lat. 5, but content and palaeographical evidence indicate that they are two different texts. These four fragments contain two texts of mythographic content concerning Roman divinities and heroes, Egyptian mythology (the presence of Isis, Horus and Aegipan suggests a reference to episodes of the myth of Osiris), mutations of divinities and religious mysteries of Persephon, mentioned together with divinities and demigods traditionally linked to the underworld.

This article treats two anonymous epigrams (APl 62-3) preserved in the so-called Anthologia Planudea which, according to the lemma, were both inscribed on the same equestrian statue of the emperor Justinian I placed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Scholars have identified this statue with the one dedicated after a Persian victory and still surviving in the 8th century CE. The paper argues that not only do the two poems concern two different and separate objects, but also that just APl 63 could refer to a statue (and not necessarily the famous one accepted by most scholars), whereas APl 62 seems to allude to a smaller object belonging to the category of imperial luxury gifts.

Edipo all’alba is the first “Greek” tragedy by Pasolini: it was composed during the third year of his university education, but never made public until its posthumous collection in his complete works (most likely owing to the homoerotic content). Recent editions have proved to be damaging to the original because of several mistakes in copying and, as a result, to the precise comprehension of this composite play. On the basis of the last textual edition, just realised for the birth centenary, this paper tries to update the literature on Edipo all’alba shedding new light primarily on its ancient sources (Sophocles, Statius), which has been the least studied subject of the play.

This paper aims to discuss the genealogical contents and structure of the opening verses of Aeschylus’ Eumenides. Considering genealogies as mythical digressions ideologically orientated, I will outline those elements that do not appear elsewhere in traditions concerning the foundation of the Delphic oracle. By analysing the connections between the poetic imagery and the audience’s ritual and mythological competence, I will demonstrate how Aeschylus enhances Athens’ positive cultural role in the establishment of a panhellenic sanctuary such as Delphi. Thus, these opening verses allow us to observe the mechanisms of identity construction through mythopoesis.

This paper deals with the modern vulgata of Sophocles’ Oedipus rex 1025-6, where the conjecture τυχών (Markland) has replaced the transmitted text τεκών in almost all recent critical editions. On the basis of the dramatic context (particularly ll. 1016-46), I argue that the transmitted text is correct and that the ancient scholion on ll. 1025-6 provides evidence for this.

This paper is concerned with allusions to Plato’s Phaedrus in Aelius Aristides’ first and last orations dedicated to Smyrna before and after the destructive earthquake of 177-178 CE (Orr. 17 and 21 Keil). It focuses on the intertextual connection between Plato’s description of the Phaedrus setting and its role in stimulating philosophical reflection and Aristides’ use of these passages in order to praise Smyrna. It is argued that the landscape of Smyrna inspires Aristides with oratorical creativity, in the same way that the landscape of the Phaedrus is presented as an inspiration to both oratory and philosophical conversation.

In the opening scene of Lucian’s Menippus, the protagonist, after citing some Euripidean trimeters, explains that his metrical delivery is due to his recent meeting with Euripides (and Homer) in Hades; in these self-explanatory words Harmon detected a comic iambic trimeter (αὐτόματά μοι τὰ μέτρα ἐπὶ τὸ στόμα ἔρχεται). The paper aims to demonstrate that this metrical segment, far from being incidental, is not even a comic quote, as Harmon himself suggests, but rather a slip by Menippus, metrically rough precisely because it is not intentional; the literary meaning of this Lucianic verse is then investigated.

When a scholar writes a Latin preface for his Teubner edition, he uses a specific, philological lexicon, dating from the humanistic age. But how did this lexicon grow, what are its main sources? And, above all, to what extent does the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae help us to reconstruct the history of its emergence and evolution? My paper arises from a reflection on these and other relevant questions: a marginal research on ancient and late antique Latin philological lexicon.

The paper concerns some textual and exegetical problems in Stesichorean fragments. In fr. 1 ἔν τινι πέτρᾳ, ὡς is to be read for transmitted ἔν τινι πετραίῳ; the phrase probably refers to Amycus’ punishment, who according to some textual and iconographic sources was bound by Pollux to a tree or rock; in fr. 2a Ποδάργη means ‘swift-footed’ rather than ‘white-footed’, as shown by comparison with the proper nouns Ὠκυπόδη and Ἀελλόπους. In fr. 85 κούραις should be preferred to κόραις/κόρας, because it is closer to epic diction; in fr. 89 the silver-like basin implies a hospitality scene, but probably in a humble social context. In fr. 100.7 χρυσ[ολύρα, even if the feminine of the adjective is never used elsewhere, may be a suitable supplement; at v. 9 καλλιρόου (Σιμόεντος) is better than καλλιρόους (δίνας). At fr. inc. 270a one might restore τε]ύ̣-/ χεσι λαμπομέν[α τό]θ’. Finally, at fr. inc. 303a πυλαμάχε transmitted by Athenaeus may be right and seems to be echoed in the hapax θυραμάχος found in Pratinas.

The paper examines the presence of the so-called ‘Euripidean’ asynartete 2ia 2 trΛΛ in the lyrics of Euripides’ preserved tragedies (Hippolytus, Suppliant Women, Trojan Women, Phoenissae) with the aim to observe its function in each context and to establish if the two cola can actually form a single verse. The sequence 2ia 2 trΛΛ occurs as a (sometimes internal) clausula in iambo-trochaic contexts, where it emphasizes the rhythmical opposition, or in a mainly iambic context, where it produces a contrast effect. When there is synapheia between the two cola, they likely form an asynartete verse, whereas when there is dieresis, the asynartete nature of the sequence is doubtful, but can be supported by metrical-rhythmical and thematic considerations.

The article scrutinises Cae­sar’s De bello Gallico narrative through offering an exhaustive analysis of one of the most relevant narrative strategies the Cae­sarian storytelling relies on: the artful representation of Cae­sar’s intervention in battle. The paper firstly illustrates how the accounts of Cae­sar’s activities during the combat are always depicted, across the seven books, as the turning point of a difficult situation for the Romans. Moreover, the article clarifies that these scenes share not only the exceptional results achieved by the commander, but also significant similarities on the diegetic, stylistic and rhetorical level. On this basis, the article argues that such analogies are part of a narrative strategy operating whenever the text describes Cae­sar’s action in a combat. A stylistic and rhetorical investigation on four exemplary cases is undertaken (Gall. 2.15-28, 3.14-15, 6.8 and 7.87); these passages are representative of the De bello Gallico general trend in depicting the author’s efforts during a struggle. The enquiry reveals that the Latin text always presents a comparable sequence of events preceding and following the account of Cae­sar’s accomplishments in battle and that similar lexicon and rhetorical figures are employed to support Cae­sar’s self-presentation as infallible commander.

This paper focuses on Herodotus’ mention of Sappho in the Histories (2.134-5). Through the analysis of some of the extant sources on the involvement of her brother Charaxus with the hetaira Doricha/Rhodopis, it advances an interpretation of Sappho’s fr. 55 V as relevant to the affair. It then draws attention to Herodotus’ description of courtesans, in the same context, with the poetic term ἀοίδιμος. The adjective occurs only once in Homer, in the self-deprecating words that Helen speaks to Hector (Il. 6.354-8). Such Homeric echo might be understood as triggering an allusion to Sappho’s own treatment of Helen in fr. 16 V: Helen’s behaviour in that poem in fact closely matches no one other’s than Charaxus’ own. The possibility that Herodotus might be engaging with more than one Sapphic poem in this context finds a parallel in his engagement with Pindar’s poetry in 3.38, where, it has been argued, he ‘contaminates’ two distinct Pindaric intertexts (frr. 169a and 215 S.-M.). The contamination of thematically linked poems might in turn suggest, in both cases, sympotic reperformances as possible contexts for Herodotus’ reception of Greek lyric poetry.

Among the fragmentary plays of Aeschylus, the Lycurgeia has received particular attention from scholars in all periods, since it has been unanimously recognized as the literary archetype of the Dionysian tetralogy that inspired Euripides’ Bacchae. Handling the extant fragments nonetheless requires considerable effort, due to problems related to the citation technique employed by the testimonia as well as corruptions in the manuscript tradition over the course of the centuries. In this respect, one fragment (Aesch. fr. 60 R., test. schol. vet. Tr. Aristoph. Av. 276 a-b, II 3, 49 Holwerda + Suda μ1301 Adler) of Edonians, the first play of the tetralogy, is particularly difficult as a result of the apparently incurable corruption that afflicts it. Beginning from the textual assessment of Radt (TrGF III 181), the main purpose of this paper will be to shed new light on the editorial issues affecting this fragment, by offering both a fresh collation of the variant readings in the manuscripts of Aristophanes and a meticulous examination of the most significant conjectures by editors of Aeschylus. I offer a fresh critical text of the fragment, in an attempt to demonstrate how a more accurate evaluation of the manuscript tradition might help restore part of the (allegedly) genuine Aeschylean text. In addition, I undertake a broad examination of the most salient exegetical issues, along with a hypothetical reconstruction of the performance context of the fragment.

This paper aims at adding new pieces to the complex patchwork of knowledge on ‘shame’ in the ancient Greek world by analysing the meanings and the cultural framework of the terms αἰσχύνη and αἰσχρός in the Dialogue of the Melians of Thucydides. The contribution sheds light on the role played by the traditional concept of shame, mostly witnessed by the Homeric poems, in the elaboration of the concept made by the Athenians in accordance with the sophistic cultural climate of the second half of the fifth century BCE.

In 1971 Louis Holtz gave the editio princeps of a grammatical chapter about interjections, from the ms. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Lat. 7530 (=P), sec. VIIIex. (ff. 220v, 31 Sed illae in quibus exprimitur – 221, r, 18 aut uerentis ut pro pudor et reliqua). The paper brings a new witness, the ms. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Diez. B Sant. 66 (=B), sec. VIIIex. (pp. 124, 19 +ConLECTIONES VOCUM – 125, 17 ut pro pudor et reliqua), provides a new critical text of the chapter with an Italian translation, analyses connections with the Anonymus ad Cuimnanum in De interiectione and examines sources and parallels for the chapter.

This paper argues that Euripides’ Medea is characterised by μῆτις (cunning intelligence), and reveals significant analogies with Homer’s Odysseus, the πολύμητις hero: the plot of the tragedy itself seems to be modelled on the Cyclops’ adventure in the Odyssey; also, Medea’s tendency to deliberative monologues (as many as five in the drama) is to be considered a defining element of her μῆτις. This aspect of Medea’s character should be weighed in relation to her ‘spirit’, that is, θυμός (rage), especially since θυμός and μῆτις are seen as more or less polar opposites in the Homeric poems. Medea’s monologues in the tragedy (including her ‘great monologue’ at ll. 1021-80) are then analyzed on the basis of such assumptions.

This paper will discuss and describe the lexicographic work in the year 2020. Through the analysis of three verbs we will give a detailed and precise view of the questions, doubts and the method that is adopted in the construction of an entry in the ThlL.

The paper investigates Livy’s use of geographic and spatial references in his narrative of the Second Punic War, underlining the important role played by the ideal opposition between centre and periphery. Livy represents the Hannibalic War as an ebb-and-flow movement, developed over the whole decade: books 21-25 stage the attack launched by the world’s periphery towards its centre, while the Romans’ counterattack in books 26-30 is described as a projection of Rome’s power outside the borders of Italy.

Ammianus seems to recover some ethics- and character-related concepts from previous (i.e. classical) historiography, which are obviously reworked according to personal thought and narrative strategies. The paper analyses the expressions gravitas and prisci mores in some passages from Ammianus. These passages and the related terminology in the Res Gestae are then compared to Livy, Tacitus and other authors, previous and contemporary to Ammianus, in order to highlight how some concepts representing a specific kind of virtue in the late antiquity lexicon undergo transformations.

The aim of this paper is to analyse Hom. Od. 12.42-43 to show how Circe’s description of the danger posed by the Sirens can be related to Odysseus’ return to Ithaca. In fact, a literary and textual analysis, which also concerns the presence of similar motifs in the Iliad, will show how the unnamed νοστήσας, γυνή, and τέκνα alluded to by Circe can be typically associated to the characters of Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus such as they are portrayed when the hero returns to Ithaca.

This paper attempts a reconstruction of Aeschylus’ satyr-play Heralds. As the myth of Erginus’ heralds and their mutilation by Heracles is shown to be unconvincing on many grounds, it explores the possibility that the satyrs turned up or out as ‘heralds’, i.e. ‘sacrifice attendants’, in the Eleusinian preliminary sacrifice, sought by Heracles (polluted by the slaughter of the Centaurs) before his descent to Hades. To complete this conjectural picture, the potential topicality of such a plot is emphasised in relation to the genos of Ceryces and of Callias (II), who in the 480s was able to avoid ostracism. Moreover, a tragic trilogy is conjecturally set out as revolving around Ixion’s marriage, crime, purification, sacrilege, and around his son Pirithous (stepbrother to the Centaurs) joining the Calydonian boar hunt and thus having to do with Meleager (a figure linked, in many ways, to Heracles). As to topicality, it is suggested that the trilogy would thus cast a negative light on Thessaly. Finally, Aristophanes’ Clouds may contain allusions to this (hypothetical) tetralogy, and the so-called Dike-fragment may belong to Heralds.

The paper contextualises the occurrences of the iunctura castra sequi in three elegiac Latin poems (Prop. 2.10.19, Tib. 2.6.1 and Ov. am. 3.8.26), with the addition of two further passages (Verg. ecl. 10.23 and Lucan. 2.348): these latter ones, indeed, though belonging to different eidetic contexts, exhibit important links to characteristically elegiac topoi. In all of the passages under consideration, castra sequi reveals itself, so to say, as a marker of the crucial dichotomy between love and war, militia and amor, which can only find some sort of recomposition via the metaphorical plexus of militia amoris.

A good example of literature’s power to continuously rewrite geographic space by renewing inherited paradigms could be found in Prudentius’ Peristephanon, which provides a sort of re-mapping of the Western landscape in a martyrial perspective. My paper focuses in particular on the narration of Cassian’s martyrdom, providing a new in-depth analysis of Peristephanon IX. Firstly, the poet claims possession of the martyr’s place, Forum Cornelii, by dismissing its pagan past; then, in the ekphrasis of the fresco depicting the martyr, he enacts a complex itinerary of the gaze and elaborates a complex retractatio of the description of Juno’s temple of Verg. Aen. 1.446-465; finally, the introduction of a second-degree narrator provides an authoritative interpretation of the image, leading to appropriate devotion to the saint. The poem, thus, provides both an interesting example of integrated intermediality, and a reflection on the hermeneutical risks of unmediated viewing in a Christian scopic regime.

Recensione di Henrichs, A. (2019). Collected Papers. Vol. 2, Greek Myth and Religion. Edited by H. Yunis. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 606 pp.