Αγχίσης (fr·4)

51

Metre lambic trimeter.

5 — o|— o— o — o —
—— -l-<— x—>
Discussion Morelius 1553. 110; Grotius 1626. 638-9; Meineke 1840 III. 162—3;
Bothe 1844. 35; Meineke 1847. 575; Bothe 1855. 419; Herwerden 1855. 54;
Meineke 1857 V.clxxvii, 80; Herwerden 1876. 305; Kock 1884 11.137; Schmidt
1886-1887 III.49; Kock 1888 III.737; Crusius 1888. 611-12; Blaydes 1890a.
81; Bliimner 1891. 165-6; Kordellas 1894. 243; Blaydes 1896. 121; Pickard-
Cambridge 1900. 53,186; Herwerden 1903. 96; Crusius 1910. 80-1 (= Latte 1961
5.80-1); Edmonds 1959. 46-7; Webster 1970. 48; Kassel-Austin 1991 11.240;
Vogt-Spira 1992. 58; Sanchis Llopis et al. 2007. 240; Rusten 2011. 463
Citation Context The fragment is quoted in Athenaeus as part of a belated
answer to an earlier question (6.228d) as to whether people in the past owned
as many slaves as they did in Athenaeus’ own day. The quotation from
Anaxandrides is adduced as the second item, following Pherecr. fr. 10 and
preceding Posidon. FGrHist 87 F 8 (= fr. 60 Edelstein-Kidd), in a discussion
offering a general background to slavery, its nomenclature, and its origins.
Text In 3, Bothe’s πάντη in place of the paradosis πάντα is unlikely; the word
is used occasionally by Aristophanes, but then disappears from comedy aside
from Men. fr. 70 (where conjectured by Meineke; note Korte 1959 [fr. 64] ad
loc.y, [Men.] Mon. 688.
Interpretation The fragment as a whole has a generalizing, expository tenor,
but the vocative (1) indicates that it is part of a dialogue. The content is a
commonplace assertion of the unpredictability of life and of Fate’s overarching
control of it (cf. on 2, 5-6). The passage can be read as a philosophical medita-
tion urging acceptance of the working of Fate and one’s lot, but could also be
understood as lamenting the potential insability of the individual’s place in the
world. A third possibility is that this is meant as a warning to someone who
feels more secure in his position than is warranted. In any case, the passage
is best read as a response, whether in agreement or correction, to a previous
speaker’s comment on his place in life, possibly by adducing the proverbial
city of slaves (see on 1). Although the subject is applicable to various events
in Anchises’ life (e. g., a ‘rustic’ suddenly having an affair with a goddess, the
unexpected fall of Troy and the hero’s subsequent death in poverty and exile),