Kirk. The Riddle of The Lice

The Michigan Alcidamas-Papyrus; Heraclitus Fr.
56d; The Riddle of the Lice

Author(s): G. S. Kirk
Source: The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 3/4 (Jul. - Oct., 1950), pp. 149-167
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/637347
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THE MICHIGAN ALCIDAMAS-PAPYRUS; HERACLITUS
FR. 56D; THE RIDDLE OF THE LICE
?1
DURING the excavations of 1924-5 at Karanis a papyrus (Michigan 2745) of the

or early third century A.D. was discovered, and subsequently published
Winter ('A New Fragment on the Life of Homer', Trans. Am. Philol. Ass.,
120 ff. and pl. A), which under its single column has a subscribed title which
almost certainly be restored as 'Alcidamas, On Homer'.' The first fourtee
the papyrus give most of the story of Homer's death and the riddle that
which is common to all the extant Lives of Homer ;2 the remainder is a gener
of Homer and a profession of transmitting his works to posterity. The intere
discovery lies in the knowledge that it gives of a hitherto unrecorded work b
damas, the rhetorician and contemporary of Isocrates, and the new fuel that
vides for an old controversy about the origins of the work known as the Certam
first part of this article aims at both re-examining the value of the pap
reopening some of the old questions on the Certamen.
Before giving the text of the papyrus it may be helpful to recapitulate the
of the controversy, on which see also Winter, loc. cit. The Certamen consists
of Homer (similar in character and substance to the other Lives) into which th
part, the Contest of Homer and Hesiod or Agon proper, has been inserte
Life of Hesiod at the end; in its present form it must have been compi
Hadrian, whom it mentions (? 3). Nietzsche, Rh. Mus. xxv. 563 ff., adva
theory that the original source of the work was the MovaEdov of Alcidam
grounds that (I) the couplet a pXq pv t& tq fivaL 'x "Oovot c Pv aptarov, [I /vra
dKLUata rvhas 'A1Gao rTEppcaaL, which occurs in Certamen ? 7, was attributed b
to the Movadov; (2) the same work is mentioned in Certamen ? 14 as source of
about the fate of Hesiod's murderers. The comparatively early date of
least of the Certamen was proved by Mahaffy's publication in 1891 of a p
the third century B.c. (P. Petrie I. 25. I: Wilamowitz 45 f., Allen 225) containin
few variations, most of Certamen ?? 6-9, i.e. part of the Agon proper. H
x Winter's assertion that, in the subscribed

text of Homer, and Wilamowitz, in Vitae
title, ' AAKL8Ci avTos is a certain restoration', isHesiodi, Bonn, 1916; of these the second
Homeri et
perhaps not beyond dispute, although it is the sounder, although it omits both
is much
Tzetzes'
probably true. No other author whose name wasaccounts of Homer's death; references
areknown
composed of 3 or 4 letters before -Satzas is to it unless otherwise specified. The Certamen
to have written on Homer; but as K6rte is printed
ob- in full in both these editions, as in
serves, there is no other evidence for Rzach's
a special
edition of Hesiod, Teubner, 19o8. In the
edition
treatise by Alcidamas entitled TwEpL 'O~Ijpov, andof Wilamowitz the Lives are given
Westermann's
the lines from the Certamen are referred by original numbering: (I) Ps.-
Herodotus.
Stobaeus to his MovaEdov. It may be that this (II) Ps.-Plutarch, two versions. (III)
Proclus.
work was the source of the papyrus, and that the (IV) The anonymous Escurial Life,
copyist, writing half a millennium later
firstthan
version. (V) The anonymous Escurial Life,
Alcidamas, made the same sort of mistake
second as
and fuller version. (VI) The anonymous
those doxographers who gave the title 7rEptor Roman Life. (VII) The Life in
Muretan
Suidas,
QPaEows to any early philosophical work. taken in part from Hesychius. (VIII)
The
character of the MovacEov is a matter forThe Certamen. To these should be added the
dispute,
but it was clearly a heterogeneous work which
version preserved in two accounts of Tzetzes:
dealt not only with Homer. Chil. xiii, 626 ff. Kiessling and Exeg. in Iliadem,
p. are
2 The most recent editions of the Lives 37 by
Hermann, the former being in Allen's
T. W. Allen, in the fifth volume of theedition.
Oxford
150 G. S. KIRK
E. Meyer, Hermes, xxvii, 1892, 3
MovaEcov showed no more tha
couplet (TcvTrwov wtv tV 0bvat
and mentioned a perhaps com
Die Ilias und Homer, 400 f., ag
than Alcidamas, for another cou
SEF7Tvov Er7T ' ELAovoY flo3

-EKAvov pctoovras, o7TEL'7TO
occurs in a slightly different
Agon had been handed down b
century, while Wilamowitz co
gemischt aus Versen und Pros
Rh. Mus. lxiv, I9O9, 108-I9, and
agreed that Alcidamas was the
earlier material in its composi
exercises in improvisation, fro
closely to the view of Meyer
depended upon biographical poet
of Homeridae, and he even pro
Agon on the strength of an ex
Sapient. Conviv. I53 F.' The hyp
perhaps than the seventh cent
Ps.-Herodotean Life2 contains,
number of lines spoken by Hom
Allen says (op. cit. I8 f.), canno
Cycle.
The text of the Michigan papyrus is given below, in a version which does not
always follow Winter's. K6rte, Archiv f. Papyrusforschung, viii, 1927, 261-4, and
D. L. Page, in his additions to the Loeb Hesiod, revised edition 1936, 624-7, made a
x The relevant passage is as follows, according Lesches had a contest with Arctinus: Plutarch
to the edition of Paton and Wegehaupt, Teubner, had in any case doubted the authenticity of the
1925, and to Wilamowitz: ETEl . .. V rE 80a -WrV Amphidamas-passage at Erga 654 ff., and would
ywvoar-v [' OC1pov Kai 'Hado'ov] 7ToAAMv da7oplav not be particularly concerned over the accuracy
of Periander's story.
LErat a T0oo 370o KplVOVUtL TrapELXE, rpvTro 7 rp
2 The composition of this Life is dated by
Allen, op. cit. 16 ff., to about the time of Hadrian;
Wilamowitz, however, Ilias u. Homer, 415 f.,
suggested the end of the Hellenistic period. His
'Holooos KTA. Allen read <Js bI?(r AXrS,"3, after
Wyttenbach: but 0 (a reasonably good emended two chief reasons for this date are 'die lebendige
version of the archetype) is alone in giving eS'. hellenistische Rede' and a reference to the
baat is the reading of QhJ nwB, of which Q is Athenian archon-list in the last chapter of th
one of the two soundest MSS. QB also have Life, which, he holds, would not have been mad
lrpodflaAE tv: O has 7TpovfldAopEv, which supplies by anyone writing in Imperial times, whe
the authority for Allen's iwpovflaA' d pIv. The chronology was determined by Olympiads. Th
reading Oaat involves the omission of 'Ot,-pov first reason is very subjective, and the second
Kat 'Hao'Lov as a gloss: so Wilamowitz; cf. II. u. frail as it is, entirely leaves out of account th
Homer, 405. Thus Lesches becomes a fellow- deliberate archaization of ps.-Herodotus. On the
competitor; this, so far from being a difficulty, whole the Hadrianic period is much the mor
accords better with the introductory sentence of likely for the composition of this Life: thus ther
Periander, who is speaking: dKOVOpIEV 05t Kai 7Tpdo is no reason so far for dating the immediat
TaS a'4i6dpaviog Ta agS ElS XaAKI`a TWV 7o-7E common source of all the Lives (see below,
aoOf6Ov oa 80 OKLC7TaT 7OL7oaL avv AOov. The last p. I55, n. i) earlier than the beginning of the
four words suggest to me more than two com- Christian era.
petitors. According to Clement, Strom. I. 131. 6,
THE MICHIGAN ALCIDAMAS-PAPYRUS 151
number of fresh suggestions; like the present writer they were working
photograph and not the original. Possible restorations of 1. 20 are discus
OL SE OpWVT.[S a[V]rovT E 8tXELaaav ovSE [To]v

aY-rLXov oa EA[a]o[v] A[t]rro4Ea6' OUU OVK EAC3ov
bEpotLE[a]Oa o SE ov SvvaLevoos EVpeLV 70 AE
XOEv 7JpE-ro avrovS [lo -] AeyOLEV OL SE Ecbaaav E
5 r akELavr OxoLEro[L ayp]EvuaaL EV ovSEV Ka8O7
LLEVE]io [S]E ~[O]ELp[L]Ea[O]a TWo SE o bOELpWV OVS gAa

fov avarov Kaa[A]LTOLEV OUS 8 OUK EAaroV EV7
rTLS 7TpIfowTLv Eva7T oEpEEvY avatW'7)c6TELS oE
rUov L tavrE[to]v [o-n] Kraar KaT -ropo oU) aw TT [v
10o Cov 'qKEV T[oL]EL tELS EVTOV E7TLypatLJt]a To[S]E
EvOaS[E] rqv LE[p-fllV KEbaA-qV Ka-a yata KaAv
E avOpw o PwwV KOOv LaTO pa OrLOV Otyp[o]v

KaL av[a]VWpW OraAqov ovTOS oALOavEL Ka& TTE
wYv Eew 7rAEvpaY ov7wS baWrt ETeAelYr-qcEv
15 P7TEp 70TovTov LEV OvV ITOLECTraL T -Y apE-r7v wTOL
-7oo.e-V vtakAtrra 8' opwov 70TVS LrTOpLKOvS 0ay
,LaaOfEvovs O(i)4 pos yovv S&a rovro Kac (wv
Kac aIoaavYWv TETq~Vr?7a 7wapa waaw avOpw
voLe ravtrJ[v] ovv awrw rT -na~c~ xapev a
-quw v S at4pK[q]EPas- tVg7rajpjjs LST ow0VAOILE
VOWS 0fiAOKaA]Ewv TWY EAAqvcov EL TO KOLVOY

7rapaSo[c]Eov]
[AAKL]cqtaV-ros
25 7TEP Op~'qpov
7 evr romS for Ev o70m. Winter read cv> ToLs. 8 EvaITOEPELav K6rte, Page: e[v]0 aroEpew Winter.
15 rEpaaotlzEa for ro4Laootezv Page. 17 Ou-qpos Winter: os8yos Korte. Page agrees with K. that
8 not jI was written, but counts it a mere slip. 19 Tav'.7[S] K6rte. 20 awro&cs{[pev ay]cvos
Winter: aroS8Lo[vres 0ro yE]vos Page. 21 aK[plp]ELas Kbrte, Page: ay[XaT]Easa Winter. 22
0L[AoKaA]ELv Hunt.
The account of 11. i-I4 corresponds so closely with that in Certamen ? 18 that either
direct interdependence or a common source must be acknowledged: see p. 164 where
the two accounts are set out side by side. Grammatical errors by the copyist are
frequent: eAapLov for eAapot4ev (properly EAot/EV) in 1. 2, Ka'raALtotLe for KaraAtLTELV in
1. 7, KaAv/E for KaAvtrrEL in 11. 11-12 (so in the Herodotean Life), WaAqov for rqAov in
1. 13, opov for opcwv7Es in 1. i6. K6rte, in his sane and succinct account of the papyrus,
observes that there are seven instances of hiatus in these fourteen lines, some of them
extremely inelegant. Alcidamas, however, entirely avoided hiatus, and indeed in the
rest of the papyrus hiatus is absent. Kdrte draws the conclusion that 'Alkidamas in
dem ausgeschriebenen Stfick ein altes Volksbuch genau wiedergibt': but if this pas-
sage is not by Alcidamas there is a second alternative, that it is a later interpolation.
Before considering this question, 11. 15-23 must be examined. The Greek presents
serious difficulties; it is written in a tortuous and pretentious style which accords well
with what we know of Alcidamas' writings-Aristotle's criticisms in Rhetoric
'3. I4o6a seem to be well deserved. Lines i5-i6 and 19-20 defy any certain translation,
152 G. S. KIRK
and may call for emendation; even
and translations of the former pas
1. WTEpl oroToV EV OV TOCCLEU

translated: 'In regard to this, the
for ourselves.' Such a use of oLraoo
possible sense of TOLtj~TOiEV he
Hdt. 7. 184), which gives the som
then that he lays claim to his re
made'] in this respect [referring t
the first historian], especially sinc
ever, it is far more likely that 7To

2. Wept TOVTOV /J p 0V otev TOLEL
shall endeavour to make our repu
mere slip after TOLEa0atOL'. The m
gests, but certainly the sense give
3. 7TEPL r0o1)1) o6v rvqv dpErTv ITOLt-qoULE V (K6rte) or ... .-).vv aperov' 7V oL)odLEOa (I
am indebted to Mr. Page for this suggestion, as well as for other criticisms) :'on this
subject then we shall show our skill' or '. . . make our reputation for excellence'. The
assumption of some sort of reduplication of a form of wood0' is tempting, although
again it is not an obvious mistake as it stands.
Lines 19-20 are even more difficult and, unfortunately, more crucial. Page's
aro8sc8[vreS is clearly correct as against Winter's avo~LW [yLEv, which makes an im-
possible contrast with the aorist subjunctive of wrapaco[,tfEv] in 1. 23. Xapwv da7ro81T8vrE
should be taken together (as at Isoc. 6. 73: daro8o0vreg XEdpr cv El 7TETdvOaaw)": an
ingenious alternative suggested to me by Professor D. S. Robertson, that oroawLv
from. 11. 20-I should be understood with ravi-7[v] in 1. 19, giving the meaning (with
ay]wvos) 'publishing then this composition about his contest for the sake of general
culture [or amusement] let us hand on the other poetry [i.e. Iliad and Odyssey] for
aesthetic enjoyment', is vitiated by the lack of another example of dr1T'o8~~8W =
'publish'-also awrov must be read for awrw in 1. 19. The real difficulty of these lines,
however, is the filling of the gap between ao8s8p[vrE- and ]} vos.
(A) The was

Alcidamas solution of Winter
the source wasCertamen.
of the ay]w.vos, aided no doubt by
The translation inthe
thisassumption
case wouldthat
be:
'Giving him then this gratitude for the amusement [or 'cultural guidance': Tat8tas at
the period of this papyrus can represent either arrtila or rTarLElas] of his contest, let
us hand on with accurate memory the other poetry to those of the Hellenes who wish
to love the beautiful, to be a common possession.' The importance of the reading
dayvor is, of course, that if correct it finally establishes that Alcidamas mentioned an
account of a poetical contest in which Homer took part; it does not, however, estab-
lish that he wrote such an account himself, or even that he quoted it in full. Some of
the caution of Meyer and Wilamowitz must be retained. In any case the correctness of
the reading is highly problematical, as both Korte and Page have observed: d-c yvoq
must have had an article, which the copyist has dropped, and even with the article
the word-order is extremely difficult, with t70 dy63voQS separated by the participial
clause from the noun---r 7ra3(E)las-which it qualifies.

(B) Page in the Loeb text prints dro710o[vrES yed~]voS (strictly arro.o[vres To
y]vos')
him thusaahoi KcUplayful
for his i-v c'AA'rYv rro~loLw
entertainment; andKasA.,
forand translates
his origin therest
and the passage:
of his'Let us then thank
poetry,
let us hand them down . . .' However, although he claims that there is sufficient
space for all these letters, it appears that his reading would in fact involve over-
crowding. No less than seven letters must be fitted into the gap, yet now
the papyrus (which, although grammatically careless, is quite well writte
than five and a half, or at the most six, letters be fitted into a similar sp
six and a half letters from the first part of the word 7TopaKrov~ in 1. 16
because of its two iotas, which take exceptionally little room. It might b
the article might have been omitted here, as was postulated in the ca
thus leaving more than enough room for ye'vos; but such an omission
likely than that of the genitive article to escape the notice of the copyis
the occurrence of -i'v in the parallel phrase 7-rvv AA-qv 7olortv. The coup
and 7olqatLS, in the titles or text of late biographies (e.g. Tatian in Graec
TTEP1 yap q 7TOLucEoS o70 OlOp7pov yevovU 1E adroi KTA.) is not good eviden
connexion by Alcidamas. y'vos in such a phrase refers specifically to the
the subject: many scholars who might concede that Alcidamas handed
Contest part of our Certamen would hesitate to believe that the genealog
same transmission. A further objection to reading yevos is that it leaves
jAAqv in the air. This &AArjv requires that o ye'vos awdoi3 can in some se
as 7olrt-ns, and as by Homer himself, which is out of the question. Only
'and the poetry besides' is this difficulty avoided: but this implies a subo
7roi~as to yevos which is unlikely in the context, which is, after all, con
Homer as a otq7ro g. In short, the missing word or words must refer to
Homer's literary production if the first clause ends at &ro813ovrEg-w
means necessarily the case: cf. (A) above.
(C) Only because of the objections against both the above readings
pointing out, for the sake of completeness, the very slight possibility th
word might be alcvos. The clause -av7y-[v]' pom avr-o ?S laLas Xap"v
aL].voS avrov W-A.
for the cultural would
guidance of have to be translated
his generation thus: 'Giving
[i.e. the generation himgreat
of the thenepic
this gratitude
poets,
of which he was the chief representative], let us hand on with accurate memory the
rest of the poetry also [i.e. non-epic poetry].' (al'hv = 'generation, age', at e.g. Aesch.
Septem. 744; Dem. 18. 199). In this case the extract from Alcidamas would originate
in a work like the Movazlov which dealt with poetry in general and not only with
Homer: see p. 149, n. i, above. The objections against this reading are the omission of
an article, as in (A), and the highly unnatural word-order. These quite outweigh the
advantage of allowing JAA)qv to have its full natural emphasis.
None of the solutions suggested seems at all satisfactory, and a certain restoration
remains out of the question. Yet I will run the risk of going counter to the judgement
of Mr. Page, and declare that in my view (B) is as unlikely as any of the others. Indeed,
the acceptance of yevos would involve accepting the orthodox view that 11. 1-14 of the
papyrus were, if not composed, at least quoted by Alcidamas. This I am entirely
unwilling to do for the reasons which follow.
It has already been shown that the frequent hiatus in the first part of the Michigan
papyrus indicates that it is not by Alcidamas himself, but is either a quotation by him
from an earlier source or a later interpolation. Since Alcidamas in the second part of
the papyrus apparently mentions the Agon of Homer and Hesiod, and since there are
good reasons for believing that some account of an Agon existed before Alcidamas,
perhaps as a part of the Homerid biographical poetry, it might seem perverse even
to consider the likelihood of interpolation. But a consideration of the development of
thought in the papyrus-passage produces the impression of an underlying lack of
continuity between the part containing hiatus (11. 1-14) and the part which is free
from hiatus (1. 15-end). First, the transition from the factual account of the poet's
Of course the restoration -av-r7[v] is not certain; rauv-r[s] is an alternative, and may be slightly
preferable in the present case.
154 G. S. KIRK
death to the fanciful and airy pe
Secondly and more specifically, 7-ro
opvKTE9>) 70T' UTopLKOVS Oavtato1
out further explanation, that Home
as an historian. This is a view which
Homer; it is almost a paradox, an
by Alcidamas shortly before the
death now stands. Only so could
readers. Only if the reading 88-qyY
one which tends to the same conclu
roTro must then refer to some asse
1. 15. (In fact this possibility need
before Polybius, and then not qu
passage other than the story of the
1. 15. The probability is that the co
wept iorov to[v oE0v a separate pi
bility is enhanced by two other s
i. The language of 11. 1-14 appears
were a quotation by Alcidamas, the
century) but Kotv4. This is indica
followed in parentheses by the ea
required:
(a) cX8da --w = 'improvise' (Polybius, Diodorus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
Philodemus). The classical word, and that used frequently by Alcidamas himself in
w. -c7v 70So ypa7Tros Advovs ypadurwv, is a'roxeS&td'cow: here haplography with the
immediately preceding a3]rdv is a possibility, but such an inelegant juxtaposition is
unlikely to have been permitted by Alcidamas even in a quotation, or indeed to have
been perpetrated in the first instance.
(b) 'Atda (Aristotle twice, Strabo). ciAda is a still later form.

(c) GOEtpiotzat (Aristotle, Theophrastus, Apollodorus). Contrast etbdpag KaTa-
KTEtvovTag in Heraclitus fr. 56 (Diels), on which see below, ? 2.
(d) qaxiv in ovrwo qaav rE'EAdevrqTEV at 1. 14 smacks of post-Alexandrian scholarship.
2. It is strange that the Certamen, the Life part of which names well-known sources,
including Alcidamas, does not name Alcidamas as the immediate source for the story
of Homer's death, if this story really was associated with him at about the time when
the Certamen was written.
These special arguments for regarding the first part of the Michigan papyrus as
being later than Alcidamas are reinforced by certain general considerations. It is
really most improbable that a circumstantial prose biography of Homer should have
existed as early as the fifth century. The magic name Volksbuch, never very clearly
defined, does much to hide this improbability; conceivably the story of the riddle, in
association with Homer, was in popular circulation, although this is not proved by the
fact that Heraclitus knew of it over in Asia Minor; but the detailed and circumstantial
account of the papyrus smacks of the study rather than of the gymnasium or the forge.
The probability of a Homerid verse-biography at this date has already been conceded;
but that even the substance of the papyrus description was to be found there is dis-
counted by the fact that in the Herodotean Life, which seems to have made use of this
Homerid poetry, the lice-riddle is dissociated from it by being quoted in prose, while
the hexameter form is an appendage introduced by the words od 84' bacn pirpp ETELYv.
In the fifth century the interest in Homer as a man was very properly bound up with
interest in his poetry. The chief problems were his birthplace and the number of his
genuine works; the first gave rise to the genealogical speculations of the logographers,
the second to Pindar's story that the Cypria was a dowry for Home
Admittedly Thucydides did not scorn to retail a story of Hesiod's death; in
passion for inventing strange and unseemly deaths for famous people, wh
exemplified in a later period by the chapter of Valerius Maximus, 9. 12
mortibus non ordinariis', may have existed in a minor degree in the classi
although it cannot be doubted that the most bizarre and developed fic
order are the products of the Hellenistic taste. Admittedly, too, the li
associated with Homer as early as Heraclitus-although it was not then
connected with his death. But even though that story is pure fiction and c
had, like many of the other early mentions of Homer's life, any motive o
the Homeric poems themselves, yet in degeneracy of style it falls very sh
trivial and gratuitous details about the poet slipping on mud, falling on hi
so on. It is one thing if the Michigan papyrus tells us that Alcidamas men
perhaps quoted an account of a traditional Agon between the two great epi
is quite another when we are asked to believe that a story of Homer's deat
widely quoted by the Lives, sometimes verbatim, and which fits excellentl
intellectual atmosphere of the first century after Christ,' was in fact the
the end of the fifth century B.C. at the latest. Winter did not feel th
although he maintains some degree of caution (p. 125): 'On the evidence
have no right to maintain, as Nietzsche and Busse have done, that Alkidam
sole source for the entire Certamen; that is a view which is extremely imp
we are warranted in asserting that Alkidamas wrote an account, entitled s
"O[opov, which was the immediate source of the end of the Certamen.' Ho
exactly this assertion which is most difficult to accept; once it is acce
seems to be little to prevent one going the whole way and (if an Agon was
Alcidamas) assuming almost the whole of the Certamen to be rooted in the e
century B.C.
The combination of special and general considerations persuades me t
a powerful case for doubting the authenticity of 11. 1-14 of the Michigan
for supposing that Alcidamas made some generalization, now lost, ab
character as poet and historian to which rTEpl 'roirov (1. 15) and Ltd -oirro
and that in the second or early third century A.D. our copyist or his sour
that not enough had been said by Alcidamas about the material details of h
life, and having to hand the biography of the 6zTo'zvreza which was the m
all the Lives, interpolated a greater or lesser part of this biography b
consecutive sentences of Alcidamas. The major part of the roll may still ha
Alcidamas and thus little scruple would be felt in writing the title. Accord
theory the close similarity between the first part of the papyrus and the co
passage in the Certamen is due to their use of a common source of a c
earlier. The fact that one detail, that Homer died on the third day, is pres
Certamen but omitted by the papyrus is perhaps more easily explica
hypothesis.
The possible mention (see (A) on p. 152) of a contest of Homer in the sec
of the papyrus is made in a way which shows that Alcidamas may have tra
but at all events did not claim to have invented, the version of the Agon w
in the third century B.c. Petrie papyrus and also in the central section of th
'Giving to him then this gratitude for the irat-da of his contest' is not th
I This is the period plausibly suggested by
Lives except the special sources used by Hesy
Allen (Origins, 33) for the composition of they
chius; the worked in the second century B.C
rrdv77wIa or commentary which is the In theof
basis first
all century A.D. there was a revival both
the Lives. Aristarchus, Crates, Dionysius
of workof on Homer and of the Ionic dialect, i
Thrace, are the latest authorities named
whichin
thethe
Herodotean Life is written.
156 G. S. KIRK
man who has himself invented the
Allen, Origins, 22 ff., thought that
Agon (Certamen, ?? 8-9), which, ho
by Lesches. The plausibility of th
the former supposition is rendered
It is, however, extremely ingenio
the first rank, intended to pass a
epopoei, in particular on the amb
the fault he censured was the failu
stichus. ... We conclude that Alcidamas used the traditional contest between Homer
and Hesiod as a vehicle to convey criticism on badly composed verses of the heroic
corpus.' Allen supposes, therefore, that the initial lines or couplets here quoted by
Hesiod, and the lines added by Homer to complete the sense, were composed contin-
uously by their original authors, who failed to notice any difficulty or absurdity. This
supposition derives its strongest support from the fact that the first absurdity,
avXevas ITrTWy K-rA., was quoted continuously by Aristophanes, as already noted. The
context is as follows (Trygaeus is horrified that Lamachus' boy can quote nothing but
martial poetry): Peace 1279 ff.:
Hcats. AAa T' &?7" aow; ovb yap ELr r?LOL OL(YTU~t xalPEt.
Tpvyatol . ds OLt psatE V alvvvtho fo~iv Kpna, Kati' of r ~oavl
apgobrov 7tTpo-tOEvo Ka -r iT'0" i'crraa TacTacteOat.

H17. co fL 0 oLV allvvvro /o65v Kp&a, Kaxveva" 1"7,'ov
K CAvov 18P"ov-ra ' "E'TE At-LOv E'KO0'pECTEV.
tITwY until the next line difficult, for although he makes Trygaeus criticize these
lines, it is solely on the grounds aeLrov KEKOPT'ZVOL. Or perhaps he chose to ignore
the difficulty, and to pick on a different point for criticism by Trygaeus-a point
connected with the phrase first, thatov the continuaV, the unexpected introduction of
which is the main motive of the passage. The first of these two points may be strongly
in favour of the sort of alternative hypothesis to Allen's proposed by Busse (loc. cit.),
that the groups of lines cited in this part of the Agon were not composed continuously,
but were a heterogeneous collection of epic lines and phrases put together so as to
present and then resolve an apparent absurdity. To Trygaeus the words a s o pin
alconnevv cted witho p suggested some real epic description of a feast; the boy knew an
alternative version from a collection of riddles which may well have circulated in the
schools.? Further, if Aristophanes is able to overlook any apparent absurdity in this
case, yet some of the other examples cited in this griphic section of the Agon are so
I 'Giving to him' is not entirely clear: it is rather weak interrogation on ethical subjects.
probably to Homer as imagined author of the (iv) The recital by each poet of what he con-
moral pronouncements in the non-griphic parts siders to be his best passage. These sections may
of the Agon that gratitude is given. The Agon not all have been compiled at the same date:
consists of four sections different in character:
Wilamowitz, II. u. Homer, 403, plausibly sug-
(i) two straightforward questions by Hesiod, r1gested that (iii) is an addition.
SprTarov CEar flporotatv; and rt Ovyroav aptaLrovv 2 The argument that the impropriety of one or
otEaL E V cpEavva Eal; with replies by Homer, thetwo of the groups of lines made such a collection
unsuitable for school use, revived by Allen, was
second of which is Od. 9. 5-11 (ii) The griphic
section, of which the collection of delayed- disposed of by Wilamowitz, II. u. Homer, 400.
predicate paradoxes forms the main part. (iii) A
obviously liable to misinterpretation that they must have been noticed ev
most incompetent composer, had they been composed continuously: for e
oUoSo alvqp
ErpEOo, AEavapo's " ayatovi Ka'
OS7 Xa0E7TS a "AKCO'S
7aTfL EUTL
yvvatv.
Thus the evidence is in favour of Busse and against Allen, and this section of the Agon
should be considered to be a griphic collection of epic and rhapsodic phrases and for-
mulas.' That such a collection should be known in the fifth century or even earlier is
not surprising; for the riddle, in various forms, had appealed to the Hellenic min
from the time of its early employment by the Delphic oracle onwards. Heraclitus, for
example, not only preserved the lice-riddle which defeated Homer, but apparentl
modelled his normal style upon the oblique utterances of Apollo (although the con
nexion of this fragment with his own method is purely conjectural), fr. 93 Diels:
ava~ o; uavrtEtov Eac7-L Tl' .oo'EA'blS OoE AE'E"yEL OvrE KpVTTrE" aAAca cll LawEL. Hesiod fr
16o Rzach and Theognis 1229 f. are other examples of the yptos, but the best
evidence for the fifth century is Aristophanes, Wasps 20 f.: o0,8EYv 6pa ypl'ov
&atboPEL KAEc(A vouosb.-7r5s a 81;-l-POcEpELo 7a S 70Tts b UVCLra a S, A'YWv, TAnTal 701o ElE T y
drif'aAEv KTA.; The same after-dinner amusement is mentioned by Clearchus, in
Athenaeus 457 D.2
The main conclusions reached so far are, first, that 11. 1-14 of the Michigan papyrus
are not by Alcidamas, but are an interpolation, probably from the commentary on the
life of Homer which was the main source of the Life in the Certamen and the other
Lives; secondly, that the second part of the papyrus may have mentioned the Contest
of Homer and Hesiod, and that Alcidamas may have quoted from it; thirdly, that the
account of this contest existed before Alcidamas, as Busse and others have held, and
that Alcidamas was not even responsible for the compilation of the griphic section.
Mention has already been made of Heraclitus, fr. 56 Diels, which refers to the Riddle
of the Lice which Homer could not solve. This is the earliest extant version of the riddle,
and indeed the only one (if the first part of the Michigan papyrus is an interpolation)
before the time of the Lives, from the account of which it differs by not telling of the
subsequent death of Homer; by making his interlocutors simply boys, and not fisher-
boys or fishermen; and by giving their riddle in a prose form. The possibility arises
that this fragment of Heraclitus is not genuine, and that the lice-story is a late inven-
tion; this hypothesis would explain the fact that it does not occur between the time
of Heraclitus and the beginning of the Christian era. Bywater is the only scholar even
to have considered this possibility: in his edition of Heraclitus, p. 20 (n. on fr. XLVII),
he wrote, 'quae hic de Homero narrantur credunt ab Heraclito profecta Schuster aliique;
v. tamen Val. Max. ix. 12; pseudo-Plut. de vit. Hom. i. 4 .. .' Thus for Bywater the
fact that the lice-riddle story occurred in the Lives (see pp. 164-5, where their ver-
sions are set out side by side) was in itself enough to cast doubt on its ascription to
Heraclitus. Now it is true that many of the sayings attributed to Heraclitus call for
scepticism, but scepticism should lead to closer examination, if this is possible. So it
is perhaps worth testing this fragment rather thoroughly.3
I The contention of Certamen, ? 9, ad init.,

by W. Schultz in R.E., s.v. Ritsel, and K.
that the first line in each case was actually a
Ohlert, Rdtsel u. Gesellschaftsspiele der alien
Griechenz.
Hesiodic line, and the next line or lines Homeric,
need not be taken seriously; in fact ZarTv ouv d It is possibly of interest that my first close
acquaintance with the Lives of Homer-for one
vh trpTroS
KTA. [sc.a gloss.
looks like arLXOS] 'HatO'Sov, d 0 84' O g jpoV would scarcely read them for their literary merit
2 Comprehensive treatments of Greek riddles -was due to a similar doubt to Bywater's of the
158 G. S. KIRK
The fragment is quoted, with othe
(p. 242 Wendland). Hippolytus is
heresy (that Father and Son are t
pagan and worthless; in this chap
habitually used contrary predicat
be both hidden and manifest, som
sometimes on the other. The contex
as fr. 56 D are spaced: . .. [fr. 54 D]-EIr

ay-7vYrov avTov Kat aoparrov rnis 8atvu
pE .r0S, E r e70T0LS AEDYEL s -raWV VLs
opaTa o 7v aoprwv. * * , [gap in MS

Aoywv KcallTyOE paphlovs Eha7l7wr)in
FavEprv itiaparA77rtliwse 'y OtH
withte
avTwv EKE ClVOV TE yap cS 0
eaa EtV 7oEV Kav [Ka7]EAcPOLE
itiof.4a
ToS WfaVv, ....

H. Frinkel (vide Diels-Kranz, Vi.S
0avEpi v to be an addition, presu
there is nothing against the phra
especially in philosophical writings;
tion' required here, at Thucydid

the opposition yvu'es fyvowr.6 is
Further, it is most unlikely that Hi
for the following reason: his proof
with the citation of fr. 54 D and th
above. He then turned to the evid
visible was better than invisible; fr
immediately follows it must be quo
thus there is no doubt that Wendla
Thus in Hippolytus' eyes fr. 56 D is
visible against the obscure and in
interpretation on the fragment un
tegral part of it, for the remaining
kind of obscurity which can defeat
scarcely be likely to describlethe li

well with the paradoxical style of H
whole is far from supporting what
leading rti'v inavpduv persuaded
appears to be genuine.
On the other hand, it is perhaps surprising that the latter part of the fragment, th
lice-riddle, has not been more severely challenged in the past. It is worth stating the p
sible objections against its Heraclitean authorship, if only to dismiss them. The chief
specific difficulty (as opposed to the possible general antipathies mentioned in n. 3 on

p. 157) is the connexion TE ydp, which, without a following tE or Kai (as in e.g. Hipp
crates, Prognosis 20), is apparently not otherwise found before Aristotle: see Dennis-
genuineness of Heraclitus 56. One's instinct is Ito Diels, SBBerlin (phil.-hist.kl.) ix, 19o0,
put all such fictions about great figures in, 19oorf., held that Heraclitus was particularly in-
after, the Alexandrian period. That such doubts strumental in the formation of verbal substan-
cannot be lightly dismissed is shown by the tivesfact in -atS. Snell, Hermes, lxi. 377, observed
that
that they are held, not only by Bywater, but also by such substantives in H. are all words of per-
Professor D. S. Robertson and Mr. W. Hamilton. ception or learning.
ton, Greek Particles, 536, who does not cite our fragment. According to Bo
Eucken there are five such occurrences of rE yap in Aristotle which c
plained away. The pre-Aristotelian occurrences (Soph. Tr. 1019-20; Eu
Hdt. i. 3; Dem. 19. 159; Lys. 2. 17; P1. Rep. 522 B) are normally account
by emendation or as the result of anacoluthon and the consequent om
following rE or Kal. This might suggest that we should look for an author
Aristotle, probably Hippolytus himself, for the final sentence dKEFvov- E'p
is no ground for doubting the first, clearly Heraclitean, sentence on this a
it stands the anecdote of the riddle may not seem very relevant to Her
as a whole, although the abuse of Homer is typical; but supposing that
the first sentence was really thinking, not of the lice-riddle story, but of H
in wishing that strife should cease, then a greater relevance would be a
known that Heraclitus (for whom rrAEFLos, pts, were of course all-impor
Homer for this wish: Aristotle, Eth. Eud. H. I. 1235a25 ff. (V.S.5 22 A 2
KAE-ToS - TE vt - c - or 7 ao-,), QT2t 9 'p2s - ,, tE El, ,-r Cat ch,'Op,,wv rcuv o'
Is it not possible that this was the real point on which Homer was deceived
in Heraclitus' original version some such amplification followed the first s
fr. 56 D; but that Hippolytus, only knowing the first and most memorabl
(which contained the words valuable for his purpose, i.e. rTp&ss -rv yvcarw 7
filled in the quotation with the banal legend, common in his day, of anoth
philosophical failure by the wisest of men ? This attractive theory must b
account of another, and much more definite, linguistic point: Ka7aKTdEVW
an epic and Ionic verb. It is rare even in classical prose, and occurs b
Herodotus and twice in Xenophon, who occasionally used Ionic words.
late use of it, and it is certainly not the word which Hippolytus or any Pa
would employ; he would use, for OBipas~ KaTaKTEvOV7rE~, the verb OE6pl
occurs in all the Lives which describe the lice-riddle, and presumably in the
and which we do not find before the fourth century B.c. Hippolytus was n
deceptive archaization, and is therefore most unlikely to have written Ka7aK
deliberately even if he had thought of the word, which is still more impr
presence of this verb seems to be an inescapable proof that the second par
was written by Heraclitus, who, writing Ionic of a distinctly poetical
naturally use Ka7aKTEIVW. It is clear that the difficulty of -E ydp must b
otherwise than by the hypothesis of post-Aristotelian composition: either
error, or as an unintentional change in the course of transmission-the sug
the fragment was followed by another sentence, now lost, connected by Kat
Te, is not plausible, since the episode of the lice-riddle has the appeara
complete in itself. In any case the two linguistic arguments, with the
conclusions, cannot be counted as equal in value: the certain occurrenc
word which does not recur in the great mass of Greek writing after X
much stronger indication of early composition than the probable occ
combination of particles which might not be found elsewhere before Aris
composition. Further, the style of the whole fragment is archaic, e
strongly emphasized rhythms which are characteristic of many of Heracl
pronouncements where the original form is accurately preserved. And, if
sophical implications of the story are not at first sight profound,' yet
serves Heraclitus' purpose of showing Homer to be a fool. The riddle is
an easy one (especially, one might say, for a blind man), yet children knew
xvii,(Par-
I Although K. Reinhardt, for example 1936, 222) are right in making the ridd
menides u. die Geschichte der griechischen Philo-with the riddle in the whole of natur
analogous
sophie, 206, 214; Hermes, lxxvii. 27), i.e. and
that G.
all things are one from certain points
view.
Calogero (Giornale Critica della Filosofia Italiana,
16o G. S. KIRK
great man did not. In defau

be accepted as being an ac
?3
Neither Heraclitus fr. 56 D

the lice-riddle. In the 6drT?
asking of this riddle by th
which there are two distinc
E'XOLEY jv; or av3pes- dI' Mlp
to have taken place in Ios, b
tions have been advanced
mann (see below, p. 165), ta
how Arcadia comes to hav
tion. (2) J. Schmidt, De Her
by Wilamowitz, II. u. Hom
answer actually originated i
were likely to be lousy); t
aAdhLTopES is just a partial
circumstances of Homer's
proposed reading cdypi-q d'~
reading and aA-LropEs- an
manuscripts and is altogeth
(4) Ludwich, Rh. Mus. lxx
Arcadia the hinterland sta
referred it to the strongpo
45. 3 (Stephanus also wrote
Ludwich did not remark h
should think of any but t
view of Stephanus' knowled
Byzantium. He went on, h
der Dichter auf Ios seine
einen oder dem anderen A
answer has already been dis
the reference is to a prover
ii. 305. 5, according to wh

oVE'8oT'E 1elav VlK7V KEVK
rather than themselves. H
servants of others, have y
Heraclitus presumably did

confusing question, that of Homer's native city. n
vent either the lice-riddle or its connexion with 2 Heraclitus talked of vratSeg, without specify-
Homer. There may be a genuine clue to theing that they were fisher-boys. He of course was
primarily interested in the fact that Homer's
origin of this connexion in the common account
represented by Certamen, ps.-Plut. I, Proclus, interlocutors were mere children, and so failed to
Tzetzes, according to which the poet at some describe them any further. None the less the
stage in his wanderings consulted the Delphic fact that the boys had been out fishing is probably
an original and essential part of the riddle: it
oracle about his birthplace (or 7repL d&aaAdaS in
Proclus). The oracle accepted or invented the made the riddle much more difficult, because the
tale that Homer's mother came from Ios, andvictim naturally thought that the things which
may have conceded that Homer died there. were caught or not caught were fish, and so was
distracted from the true solution. The same
Delphi seems to have been a storehouse of riddles,
motive would apply in the case of hunters, if
and the lice-riddle may have been a convenient
means of changing the subject from a delicate andOpplropES is accepted: see below.
None of these explanations is really satisfactory: (2) is the

still most improbable that an anecdote uprooted from its pro
with the life of Homer would not be appropriately modif
attractive solution is to be found in Ludwich's suggested p
obscure and too devoid of point to be implicit in Homer's
correct to suppose that this question should itself be enigmat
be a riddle which provokes a riddle in return, and one which
was destined to be fatal. The riddle, whatever it is, is confine
the actual question j ' EXObLEv -r; is quite straightforwar
being a colloquialism. Is there then anything particularl
either in av8pes d ' ApKa8irjs 6g plP QpEO or in avSpes dar' Ap
first, no: hunters from Arcadia were presumably not uncom
known for its hunters from Atalante onwards; but in the se
Arcadia (by which must be meant only the well-known Arcad
and mountain-bound territory) is a contradiction in terms w
too subtle intellect as immensely humorous-compare th
intellectual tradition exercised by the Swiss Navy and Wi
of a riddle is that after propounding an apparent absurdity,
to resolve it. The reference in 'fishermen from Arcadia' mus
Catalogue of Ships where the Arcadians are said to have gone
one of the biggest fleets of all: II. 2. 603 ff.:
Of 8' XOV ApKa8t&)v Vd KvAAvrj7s pos al7n,
ATarvLov Tapa e'TlV ov, Li avEpEs ie'n/XleaXiaiTt
OL PcEVE'V -E Ve(tLQovT KaU %OpXQPkEVO 7TOAV'CL7)AOv
7PILTr'V
Ka% -e EXOV
T4Ey4E'V 2Tpartl7V r.E Kai 'W,.'ELoeaaav
Ka'l Mavrr.L"rl)v pa.ELVIV, 'Eviirrrv,
7 qA o'v -r' 7 EL"XOV Kac Happaaul4v evtlov-ro,
'rcv PX' AyKatoQo ra' Fi, Kpelov Aya7-raVwp,

E-7qVKOvra VEw 7TES 8 - VoA4 E'KaOT7)
ApKCa8ES- avopEs- 4/awov, 47Ttorua/E.voc 7TQAEtU'?EWv.
The paradox of a non-seafaring people having ships is resolved in the three lines that
follow (612 ff.):
airos- ycap uqot Sw OKEV a1vae dv8p(iv Ayapk4ww/.kvov
v "Ajas E'VA -Tovs rEpaav OTC otVoIa iTOVTOV
rATpetLq&s, E7T E 0l) o? GaoLOa ao'ya ra 4 LEaI E.qAE.

These three lines were athetized by Zenodotus, and probably for this reason are marked
with a diple in A (Venetus 454); 1. 612 also has a diple in Allen's papyrus2, of the
second century A.D. Certainly they are inorganic and have the appearance of being
an addition-perhaps only an afterthought, but more probably the product of a later
and more analytical age, that century perhaps which, Pisistratean recension or not,
produced a marked stabilization in the text of the two great epics. Strictly the para-
dox is not entirely removed by explaining that the Arcadians travelled in borrowed
ships, since to those who knew their Iliad it would be clear that the warriors must
have rowed themselves; as Thucydides I. 1o. 4 remarked, there can have been few
supernumeraries. Admittedly in only two cases is the number who went in each ship
specified: into each of their 50 ships went 120 Boeotians, while Philoctetes' contingent
from around Methone went 50 to a ship (2. 509 f. and 719 f.)-the latter being described
as both rowers and bowmen. In the case of other contingents we just learn that 'many'
went in each ship (e.g. 1. 6zo quoted above). But certainly no ship of even the eighth
century (assuming that the Catalogue in its present form is as late as this) had
4599.22 M
162 G. S. KIRK
anything like 120 rowers: on

equalled in the surviving G
therefore were exaggerated,
situation at Aulis, and may
Leaf, Commentary on the I
only inland people represen
some of the north Thessalian
11. 729 ff. Yet those norther
century Athenian, who may
had no outlet to the sea; whi
rural backwardness of its in
must immediately have spru
Athens had a large hand in
to the Arcadians is as early
Homeric Catalogue of Ships
lines is consistent with the
about the eighth century.
Arcadian contingent at Tr
'Homer', the poet who wor
which was eventually remov
The potentially griphic natu
compares it with the other
quality depends upon conte
vy)t K. / I ApKdI8ES- wv8pA
a;z7d ydp a1tv YW KEV .. . .C
solution became known, o
allusions which still challeng
to call a sailor an Arcadian
challenge of his knowledge o
In the instance under discuss
perhaps by advsper, since in
but this may be simply due t
ayElpas, which also helps to
by giving an explicit soluti
slightly altered form of 2. 61
7TEp vijas ~~SOKEV vae ~pw
clearly deserved everything
On external grounds then dA
textual evidence for and a
Certamen and Proclus have 0,
seen from pp. 164-5, where t
Allen, who virtually ignored
common, and supplied the
evidence supports the readin
view. Allen formed his judge
paring the sources which th
at once that the Lives are
common source, the d~ytvl
(which, however, does not n
By this method of assessmen
a very abbreviated account
although in spite of serious
version of the same. Allen therefore puts forward (Origins, 31) the follow
ship for the rest:
VI
Plut. Prod.
V Cert.
That this sort of stemma is to some extent deceptive is implied by Allen when he
says: 'Each stage has saved a little which the others lost; but the private gains of VI
are overwhelming.' The Lives did not simply copy from each other, for even the
later ones contain some material which the earlier ones omitted; thus they still had
access either to the archetype itself or, more probably, to rather full versions of the
archetype which we do not possess. Yet on other occasions a later Life will follow so
closely the selection and idiosyncrasies of an earlier one that it must be regarded as
using the earlier life as its main source, and merely supplementing it by reference to
a second version; this became necessary because of the unevenness of most versions-
e.g. VI preserves a full account of the theories of Homer's genealogy, birthplace, and
works, but deals with his death in a very scanty fashion. That Allen's treatment of his
chosen method is not exhaustive is shown, for example, by the fact that IV is described
as 'V less its quotations', and shown in the above stemma as entirely dependent on V;
while in fact the first part of IV records information (e.g. v~0d Iv Ka-7 tEv T7vaS Maiovog
KaL 'T YpvOo% and oL ydp Aloh~QAE 70 rv Aho, vl4povsT Kaho"aLV) which does not occur in
V, and is perhaps separately derived from VI. IV and V are different versions, the
latter being in general much the fuller, of a common hyparchetype, and it is better to
represent them as such.
On the following pages are set out the different extant accounts of the story of
Homer's death ;I although seriously abbreviated in VI and Hesychius, this story is more
universally reported than any other incident, and thus affords an excellent basis for
a comparison differing in kind from Allen's. A combination of the two methods may
give a truer picture not only of the original form of the story of Homer's death but
also of the interrelationship of the Lives as a whole. Ps.-Plutarch 2 omits the incident,
while the account of IV is very cursory and is set below that of V.
The following points may be noted (certain words and phrases in the parallel
passages have been printed in heavy type to facilitate comparison):
I. The most widely reported part of the story is the epitaph, also mentioned by
Pausanias; only Proclus omits it.
2. Hdt. gives a verbose account which differs in many details from the common
one; e.g. Homer is not alone on the beach, but accompanied by sailors and
townsfolk. This type of expansion is probably due to the author of Hdt. him-
self, as is the scepticism shown over the cause of Homer's death and the author-
ship of the epitaph. Such scepticism is in keeping with the attempt to imitate
the Herodotean style, although it was not entirely absent from the ti2ro't;wda,
and is exemplified in the introductions to VI and to Proclus, not quoted above.
3. Proclus, Hesychius, Tzetzes, are all sceptical about Homer's blindness; Tzetzes
I Other references to. the story: (i) a wall- the story after Heraclitus, and might point to a
painting at Pompeii, with the descriptions terminus ante quem for the rd'~rLY77 a. (ii) Valerius
OMHPOS and AAEIS, and a version of the Maximus, 9. 12.3. (iii) Tzetze's version of Homer's
fishermen's riddle (Kaibel, Epigr. Graeca, no. question and the reply (i.e. with dA&&ropes) recurs
Iio5)-this is the earliest dateable evidence for in the Anth. Pal. ix. 448.
164 G. S. KIRK
Ps.-Herodotus Certamen Michigan Papyrus Proclus

?? 34-6 ? 5 and ? 18 2754 (from Chrestomnathia I) Vita VI
rrnvEXen s -vil "lov, . . . i 6vra & KaT EIS T Epi 86 Tis u-rrTijs d&roaVEiV
... owv ip3 S TO 'Opipp iA pois Trepi T-iS aTrrrpi- -aiTo 6yos T-is q~pETral AyouaIv a v c -
KOraTrrXhiovT-l paacac l 8o0 acrro Truva6vaEo-i -roilorTo. aveXEiv paciv &LBXavXLV T re
paXaK< 53 EXEIV? ?Ki&S 5K riS EiT), T V 8r lueiLv aOTrr -r6v OE6v Xpwpiv ra, TrEta8TrME
TOO TrXoiou vKOlJpaTro i EC LV' Irpi d&ocpaXEia -raSE" S' 8iV Tv 0rtiv &XvA
rTij KUparTOOyfS 8&UVTC EOCTIV loS VO"V0 vfcOS5 . .. EoTtiV "IoS vfioo5 ... r' yVE-ro alv
EXV. . .. . "rv
Kai T-rV ~iK 8E vav-rIov
-rfS &dkk
T -rTio5 pavkiAv TraiScwv
pilhaai. viypa alvty- &dk&
qphagai. vioev
&ac' Trai8cAv
T XOPlEV a!- Nt ri 8E %-ro
AtTr6pECe',
rTwv f pbvowv -rrapa "T ... (18) Tiis 8 -rravl- Myoualv oiv airrb6 E &aa' o
'Opipct KoT-rTrrkc)aav y pEos AuVeEiCit5 6 Troitl- "lov rrEi'av-ra 8iarpiail aEcra. Kci
'rraiSes a&ifjes (is) "r6v "ri5 E5 "lov rEkhaEVuE Trp6S tiv T-rap' KpewU6'X,, "-r6qac Trt
"r6Trov Kdai Kpa'VrTES iK TOo Kpe~:4uXovK&KEi Xp6vov ypda'vrta 8E OiXadias ypapp
dKa-rioU TrpoCAEX06VTES 8~irpptE TrpEPTT'"rns AV &Acc0iv roolrcp Xapicao- c vo8sE
Trp6s arr6v r&8sE EITrOV' 1'8. Trbi SU r 0SeaX~ 5 Oat, 1riS v0v cb KpEoC- Vv Karra
"y ye-rE C vo0, -TraKOltaTrrE Kca')PEvoS rra8IwTS v rv ...o08E 6pv-VTES a6v qAou pTrEPpplT-rai. Ka0E- K
filProv, av &pa 81'vlCr0E &E ' a&XdOL S PXop cW a'S XE8iacaav "r6vE T6V OTi- 36p0EVOV BE Trli TIVO
8tayvavail &a' &v iplv paac T rvu6pEVOS" Xov? ?6a' EXacpov AXTr6- K'-rfis 0EaaapEvov &XLEiS
EiTr&IPEV. Kai TriS -rV &v8pES d&Tr 'ApKa8il& PoEo0' oC O' O0K E Xaov rrpoJEtTrEIV airroOI Kca
rrapE6vrcv oK1AEUE ' yEIV. Orpi~P'rTOpEs ' 'XOpiVV ; pEp6pEuea. dvaKpival TroiaSE TOiS
o i & EiTra"vfPaEisis & aca EiTr6VT-rV 8U EKEiVCOV 6 C8 Ou 8UVapEVOS ETrEIV'
EiXOPEV KarTEXiTrOpEV, B&a 6aC' ETXOEV AXTr6pEOa, EOpEIV r6 XEX0V fpETO &aVpES d&rr' 'ApKa8iT)
P1 Ei\XOpEV q)POPEV. O 0 60' 0o0XAolEVqEp6pEcea, a rois5 6 TI MYOLEV. Oi e Op1TropES ' EXOPIV
8C k L a &pw Ei'eLiv oI0 voiCas- T6 EXeV 8? paoav E?p aXlEiav -ri;
aLro6s flpE-ro ao-rois 6 TI A0 - oiX6pEvol daypEUIiat pEv lT-rroTvX6v-ra 8 a cr0av Eva
&oo' EAopEv XATr6po'a, yolEV. o0 6i (.cv iv oO8Ev, KaOllpEVO1 82 EiTrIV'
& 8' o0X XopEv qEp6- &AEia p~v a ypEo'at pViv, EtEpiEoa0ta , T&v 6i o(S iaopEv A\rr6pEoV',
paEcea. o0 8uvapE'vcov 86 Pe0Elpiuat 6Ki K8 a K V 0Elxpepv o0siXapov a:rro0 o0S 8' o0X XOlPEV qEp6-
-rTav TrapE6v-rcov yvavatl (pEstpv o05s Xapov Ka-ra- KaTaXi'rTOlEV O5 b OiK psEaCa.
-r& r0eiv-ra Sbiyicav-ro AXtrEiv, o0s EI i ONrK s Xapov Xapov EV roTS Trpip3CoIv O ifK ETriaOVrTOS SE
oi Trai8ES, "71 &AtIEOOVTES bv T-roi icpariotS q pEIV. vaTroqpEIv. A&vaRcvrI- abTroO 81EhiEOa T-6 ai-
oi8iv 8ibvav-ro XEsiv- va.LvflaOlS S E o0 OUei S TO I.rLaVTELOU, vtypa, 6'1r ~tr' iX0IEsiav
Ka"OlPEVOI B EV T-i yi) (oVTuEOU, -rTI r-ro TEO OTI B1 KTraoTapoqp C)arT KcTa-&aVTrE5 Ipap-rov,
q8EstpifOv'ro Kai 6"OUS 07C3 f KO1 -TOO ifOU, roOf Piov VKEV, TrO1Ei EiS qOiEptapEvoItS 6 oouVS
piv Ehapov -rTv qs0p&)v TrolEl -r6-rd roj -r'qo aCTrrO aU'rrTv Triypappa T-r68E lv EXapov T-rv q0EIpav
Ka-rTlTrov, 6oouo S p il p triypappa. &vaXcop&)v vO8E s-rTilv IEpfv KEqpa- a(TrOKTEiaV-rTES (TrOh\Ei-
8*ivarv-ro S olKOV 6rrEq)i- SE 'KEi0EV 6VTroSi TroO fV K iv KaT& yala KU&UX E Trovaiv, 6aot iS aCo~TjS
povro. 6 8 "Opirpos 6AIoacbv Kal -rEacov iwL KrT\. 8i(qvyov -roi-rovUS &TrOKO-
dKoOaaS -rTaTra EyE T-r r' Iv rrEUupcv TpLTrcioS, KKal vaXcop~ v otraXloo piouviv, orTo 8i ,KEiVOV
ETrEa -r&BE Troicov y&p s qoaaot, TEXEUvTx, Kai 6'vroS 6XO0a&VEl Kal TraECOV &eui .UaavTa auvvoOv
Trcrrapcov aiCpa'roS K- Ti-r&ql v IcV I~c or 8 -rb T6iri eupGv oTrCOS, qa- arrIvat, 70o0 XPM o
yEydaaoeE OjTE PCau- Triypappa -r68E- iv, i-rXEE"TflOEV. EVVOLGV GCFrp vovT-,
KATipcov O"Tr' &o-TrET pifa vM&BE Trv iEpfv KEqa- Kai oTco5S 6XtcevT-a TrEpt-
VEp6vrcov. AXlV KcTa yaia KaljTrEI Tri-rTaiaaIl Ac Kai 7pL-
bK B i -rS &rEVEiaS KTX. TcraToV -rEXEUTrclai.-&~AX
Tairrnls ouvvp T-r6v "OPnI- 86i raGra tiev iroXXAis
pov -rEXEUrTfcaa
rapTp& rb ICl yvcvai )pilbiv "Icp, o6i
-roTrcwv .XETLr
&TrEtpos oTr- ~tjqT'lao S, iv
S r0 wrap& "rv rramiov &PXS Si& -roor
0v, s otovrai lrve, -rTarra KarrEXc)(pta. u-
&AA,&
Anas 'rj8&
i iaa FaArbpfl
cLKLai. rTE-
v Ta 4,bv &8 rOL
cLrrI4'lvavTo, TOTrov
aLJroi 1OL
S. . . K.ai -r6 AEyETOV OKUv LV r T V 8LVOLGV
-r6E b rreyp aQ v lIfi-rat rrerrntlpaOL' T' -roaarTa
UoaTpov Xpo~vY oroAXXi, yap KaTrrEiEV 6aa Oi8OEi1
&S n )rE Troibancs iE- avepc-rrooS rcTro-rTE.
TTEWrCrKEE Kal ~iOavpC3E O
rr6 T-rrcvrcov, o* yap
'Opifpov io-riv"
v0&8E T-rv iEplV KEqa-
XfV KaTra yalat K&2WWEV
6v8p6v 5fpGcbOV KOOCIl -
-ropa OEiov "Op~pov.
Ps.-Plutarch I Hesychius
? 4 (in Suidas) Vita V Tzetzes
... ETrlpcA-ra -r6v eE6v ylpaiSE 8tO "Err

-riv()v E E i yovkcov Kai c v -r 1icp -rt0arr'atI,
Tr60Ev 6 86 &vcicv ruAbs K Wa V - rE
o"rrcrs" yov;s, 7" 84 & S& a ivov yop w
O'rTv "los vifico . . . iBT oIX fi'r~8i irltu- 'Op
&XXAA vtcv &v8pxv alviy- pias ' "rrapp -rv 608ca) - XoO aCrroO 6vros a c- "rVr lg TEAV BA 6 i Vp p Kri yE TyU? 4 K yiyP "S
pa yirAacat. p5v a&PX~era Kci "rrcc apd 0ta8aI XLetLS "TrapEPXo- &- uLKD hp X O yypt OL
pETral KcI ETEpOS Xprla- TO-ro iraTop'0l ruXA6). ptvouS, -TpOS 0S alev Vp6Tao " & vXOG 6l&PXErTO 'ST Xc6paS TiiS 'EAAxvor
p6b TOIo-rTOG" ltlytypa'rrTal 8' tv T-& v6pEs d6rrr' 'ApKiaGilg 7lycov 07ro0 TolCspcT EX6pEVOS EvripWS,
XP1E KC8I Caitpov T6(pcp aC TOO r T6E Tr 76 rOps, AL EXOpIV ES 8' 'ApKctGicntv EvIoEiS ri 0ro, Kpeo6Aou
KTr. iXEyEiOV, 8 " nrr% 7rV 7T; TrEP~TcrrCoo0v EpXETal Trli 'Tlv TrapaXiav.
PET- OO pTOXV SE Xp6- "'i7'r- v Cwo'eC Xp6vL TO?S 8 -rrTOKpliVCEras EiTrEV avSpc&Ai's 'ApKcB6E EXop'Tv T;
vov wlTAov iVSt E1PaSri t i iroAXX (ao'rpov) EsTEiV' ol ' 8rrrEKpif0lc0t-V o<rr@ "rrEpi (pEop v hovrEs
Kp6via, d~ycyv 8 o8rroS v0&68E "rv iEpaiv KEEpq- 6aa" EXOpEV hlwro- o5 o s EIhov oO)X EXouoiv, EXOUa 8' o0Cr rrEp EIXov,
&ynEa iTrrap'
lIK6O, ?XEV carols plOU-
ES IloV. AXv
KTrX. 7EpKcTr6
O .00yaict KX'Trr-TE1
8' 6 v-ro cbAir0o p2EO0, aaU' OlIX XOpEV
E KOI KEKpOUKCbS E15 "rr1TpcV
uorpE(pE Aurro6EvoS b voiaoS 0-OTO.
Evey ti n-rr wrpac KCXeE'6- iT6 85 ' Ey6pEV6V t-T KX0T i 1TjV SE GV Kli TEXEIT- 7PLTGLOS.
pEVOS 2eE0' TO c LELo T010:0Cro. TrEI18il y&p
-rrpooarrXov-rca, Jv tinr- o08iv a'cav iXovrES -r6-r"
0ETO El -r EXO EV. Oi SE i &XEiCa ?y0EP'iPov'O, Ki
o Xvi -rat 81r pEo o5 E yv ove OpioVK PtIV (b) Exeg. in Iliadem, p. 37
plriv,drrropiav
Trlv q0EIpfI3EOCaI 8'Si 0paS,
Trfil5 8& 86Elpcv qOVEOa0l
EXEIV, 0o EA5KCI
o 8 pI.l OVVO'KEI
iapov WrEpi 81 O8FTroai
rTv (bg5 tyiVETo,
'ApKcGiqv TwEPIVOaTcV
WEp
o"rcS &TrrEKpiVcVTOT ao' t aV rTi o0 of rt TrEpppEtV. TC707) PC(oico0V, &ALE0CL q'0ErplopC
hAopEV Xrro6pEOa,0 6caa' oC vocas S Tr AXEy6- TU~AoS, 6S ERotye 8OKEL, -T yi p ,
oOX EXopEv qEp6pEOOea, PEVOV wLT OAXL4EWOs &M,,oiSs 8e &K CVTr'CrYFTOs 'AX
aivlaO6pEvoI &is &xpa o0i iTEXETrEV iv "Ic, ri EIpflKE "70i'
piv EAXapov -r&v q0Etp&6V vIac. 0BcOayav 8' aor6v v8pEs d-rr' 'ApKcaGiqS 6ALX'Top
dTroK-rEIVVTrES KCrr0Xlrov, .EyGXorrpErrws ol '"lIfT-r t o 8 -ro0rCp &EKpIV'VT0ro' OOS pIV Ei[XO
oiS 8' o t aov -v "ri Xapd6cav-ES ?trri TC) "TrpaC 0o0 8' oiX EiXhopEV Ep6pOIEOC"' 0 Pp
iaoei-rt EppolEv. 6TrEp r6 iriypppa -rTOCrro Trap' 67r1 WEpi (pOElp&v iXEyOV 'TE0Vl
o, 8vlOEig OUpf3OXEIV 08r70 T COVTO5 it7 yEypop- Xpq Ou '1OTO 11r&atcL &dK11K
"Oprlpos S&t& 'vV IOu- pVOV Eis a"rr6v" 'ApKaicoG eyaooWpE:wS KrT8EV OUV
I.LOLV ETIE ueTTjTE, 8O6- ve68E.. . TEKT. K 1TKTX2. 'f i t rwtypapOUvat -r -r6 Cp o
4)aVTES 81 airT6v at o '1f-ra riypappt, 3 cJvros 'Opipov TOTOTro WETT
paLyahowpEl'rws 0ot16vE poaacv"
t-rrypccyv frro0 T-o Vita IV ved68E T-rv IEp&v KEC(htV KaT70 ycdi KcXA
"r76c9" -ElITrCEV 8E KaCi jpEiS pIitKp T71V0 EdETritTi WC
tve6rSE "rv Ipthv KEpa- p Bct 8"' ar6v tv 'I' TC tO T r ptov'
TiV Korr(7 ycatit KO1(072rE1 vVil'c S6L Ulirlv 01rO- 'ApKcari p~iv "OpipsE ao Xd2XEv 6o-rio
K-Tr. Kcap-rEplcavra -rEEv~o-cMal
6 7-r6 pV 'iXa 76l 1-r 'pc
7-r6 6 -rCav LALEwv a crr
rrpo-r~Ev. 6 plv ydp
ftr10 s if pETao
v8spEs drr' 'ApKtcGils
b,ilTopES, fi 1' XOCpV
71;
of 9 d8rrEKptvav'ro'
6aa' XhoPlEV AlT1rpCE0',
6aa' ox i;hoapev pEpI6-
pEo-ta.
trlytypaLrrat 8' tv Trc)
pVilacra a0rro0 o-rrcoS'
ve866E ... K"l7rrFIE KcrX.
166 G. S. KIRK
a specifically doubts one

doubts the whole story of
in suspecting the Homeric
be an insertion by Suidas, w
cause of Proclus' entire om
4. Hdt., Certamen, VI, corre

spite of the oracle.
5. The oracle, however, is
6. The name of Homer's ho
Tzetzes, and nowhere else in the Lives.
7. The non-fortuitous epithet 1EyaAoanpEnWs , of Homer's burial by the Ietans, is
preserved by Ps.-Plutarch, V, Tzetzes b.
8. An exceptionally detailed and similar account of the actual circumstance of
Homer's death-slipping on mud, falling on his side, dying on the third day, is
preserved by Certamen, Michigan pap., Proclus, Tzetzes a; except that the
Michigan papyrus omits -rp~ratos, Proclus omits 7TAEvpdv. Plutarch, IV, V, VI,
Tzetzes b, simply say he died through bewilderment or despair.
9. VI and Hesychius are very summary at this point and cannot be properly placed
by this comparison. But VI elsewhere represents a good version of the arche-
type, as Allen showed; and Hesychius is connected with IV and V by the
mention with them of the Pisistratean recension, otherwise neglected in the
Lives.
On the basis of these points, and of the results of Allen's method of comparison,
the following stemma may be constructed to represent a possible relationship between
the descendants of the i5ro4tLv-pa. The special points of contact are set against the
lines connecting the various Lives. It should be unnecessary to give the warning that
such an elaborate structure, built as it is mainly on purely mechanical similarities,
should not be taken too literally, especially since we do not know how long the
;,rodldqa itself or conjectured hyparchetypes such as X and Y survived. For example,
Proclus is shown as dependent upon Certamen, Hdt., VI, but he preserves one or two
facts (e.g. the gift of the OlXaAlas "AAwaws to Creophylus) which are not found in any
of those. Similarly Tzetzes seems to have used the Proclan account, but the mention
of TrAEvpdv,' omitted by Proclus, must go back either to Certamen or to a similar source;
while the theory rejected by Tzetzes b, that Homer was blinded by a vision of Achilles,
otherwise occurs only in VI. Further, it is impossible to account exactly for individual
selection and accidental omission; but in general the account of Homer's death seems
to have been handed on with as much precision as possible, and one does not expect
imagination to interfere greatly with this type of scholarship.
The chief result that emerges from the construction of the stemma is that Plutarch
1-2, IV, V, appear to depend on a different version of the 3Tod'rtwz a from that used by
Certamen, Hdt., VI: a version which failed to note that Homer's interlocutors were
fisher-boys, but which proved its independence of the extant 7raF&Es-versions and their
source by the preservation of pEyaAorrpEr6)s-, which is unlikely to have been invented
in the course of transmission. Plutarch I chooses to paraphrase Homer's question,
but IV and V have ~AhTropes. The problem now arises whether this was the reading of
Y, the symbol which I have given to the second hyparchetype, or whether it was the
invention of the immediate source of IV and V. The answer is given by Tzetzes. He
appears to have had access to both sides of the tradition, from both X and Y; on the
whole a (Chil.) follows the X side, b (Exeg.) the Y side, although b explains his Atrri
rv r/av 8ctv with rA4EvpLv occurs only in Tzetzes a, but may be simply an addition by Tzetzes for
both graphic and rhythmic effect.
as dependent on his remembering the oracle, as in Certamen-Michigan and P
At any rate his knowledge of Proclus, and probably the Certamen itself, can har
denied; therefore he knew the reading Oqp'4opES. Equally EyaAhorpE7-s in

that his aAvq-opEs there is not accidental, and even if he came across a Y-d
source for the death of Homer first, yet even in a he still keeps avSpEs &ALEtk 'A
His preference for this alternative suggests that he at any rate did not consider
sources to be contemptible; further, Tzetzes was a considerable scholar who
access to a large number of sources and might have had access to a hyparch
other than X and Y, in order to decide between the alternative readings.
!ralSE Homerid source ,AL'Cs LC&Er

[Fullest /yaAoTrpTwA g ETyaAoo7p7rCs
genealogy
etc.] atSE~
Charax ' LqAL7ropE

Porphyrius.
VI Certamen Hdt. Castricius
Plutarch I Plut. 2 IV V
Scepticism
Op77Tope epticism over epitaph
[Genealogy rpirarog
etc.] Creophylus Hesychius [Pisistratean recension]
Proclus Creophylus A'47ropeg

(+ OZxaAts a iavpav cyaAo-rpcirC9
Scepticism over
blindness.
Tzetzes a o Tzetzes b
Further speculation along these lines becomes barren
of transmission from O7pj7ropES to cd"AcropEg was no easie
versa; &Ar'TopEs admittedly does not occur elsewhere but
form for hexameters. The investigation of the relationshi
any value it may have as a complement to that undertaken
shown that aAugropE7s cannot be dismissed as easily as it
gives a much more attractive point than its rival it may r
G. S. KIRK.
TRINITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE.
xI am greatly indebted to Professor D.Hamilton

S. and Mr. H. Lloyd-Jones have been
Robertson for his guidance and criticism on all enough to advise me on special points.
kind
aspects of this paper. Mr. C. H. Roberts, Mr. W.

Kirk. The Riddle of The Lice

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The Michigan Alcidamas-Papyrus; Heraclitus Fr.

56d; The Riddle of the Lice

DURING the excavations of 1924-5 at Karanis a papyrus (Michigan 2745) of the

x Winter's assertion that, in the subscribed

SEF7Tvov Er7T ' ELAovoY flo3

OL SE OpWVT.[S a[V]rovT E 8tXELaaav ovSE [To]v

5 r akELavr OxoLEro[L ayp]EvuaaL EV ovSEV Ka8O7

LLEVE]io [S]E ~[O]ELp[L]Ea[O]a TWo SE o bOELpWV OVS gAa

E avOpw o PwwV KOOv LaTO pa OrLOV Otyp[o]v

voLe ravtrJ[v] ovv awrw rT -na~c~ xapev a

-quw v S at4pK[q]EPas- tVg7rajpjjs LST ow0VAOILE

VOWS 0fiAOKaA]Ewv TWY EAAqvcov EL TO KOLVOY

1. WTEpl oroToV EV OV TOCCLEU

ever, it is far more likely that 7To

however, is the filling of the gap between ao8s8p[vrE- and ]} vos.

(A) The was

clause from the noun---r 7ra3(E)las-which it qualifies.

(b) 'Atda (Aristotle twice, Strabo). ciAda is a still later form.

apgobrov 7tTpo-tOEvo Ka -r iT'0" i'crraa TacTacteOat.

I The contention of Certamen, ? 9, ad init.,

as fr. 56 D are spaced: . .. [fr. 54 D]-EIr

opaTa o 7v aoprwv. * * , [gap in MS

ToS WfaVv, ....

tion' required here, at Thucydid

scarcely be likely to describlethe li

specific difficulty (as opposed to the possible general antipathies mentioned in n. 3 on

great man did not. In defau

Neither Heraclitus fr. 56 D

ii. 305. 5, according to wh

Heraclitus presumably did

None of these explanations is really satisfactory: (2) is the

'rcv PX' AyKatoQo ra' Fi, Kpelov Aya7-raVwp,

rATpetLq&s, E7T E 0l) o? GaoLOa ao'ya ra 4 LEaI E.qAE.

anything like 120 rowers: on

Ps.-Herodotus Certamen Michigan Papyrus Proclus

... ETrlpcA-ra -r6v eE6v ylpaiSE 8tO "Err

a specifically doubts one

4. Hdt., Certamen, VI, corre

denied; therefore he knew the reading Oqp'4opES. Equally EyaAhorpE7-s in

!ralSE Homerid source ,AL'Cs LC&Er

Charax ' LqAL7ropE

Proclus Creophylus A'47ropeg

xI am greatly indebted to Professor D.Hamilton

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