28

Eupolis

the significance of the figure is reduced by the fact that many lines can accom-
modate both. Of the 15 complete, textually sound iambic trimeters that lack
either penthemimeral or hepthemimeral caesura, 14 (= 6% of the total of 234)
feature tetrahemimeral, octhemimeral caesura or both; in 10 of these cases,
medial caesura is also possible. The only exception to these rules is frr. 49
ήδη γάρ Άρίσταρχον στρατηγούντ’άχθομαι (—-1-^-), which
accommodates a personal name. The most important practical implication of
these observations is that partially preserved or textually problematic lines
of Eupolis should not be restored with medial caesura alone unless a personal
name is involved, and even then only as a last resort. That the same is true
of the fragments of other late 5th-century comic poets cannot be taken for
granted, but is a reasonable prima facie interpretation of the evidence.
Comparison with figures for the Aristophanic iambic trimeter calculated
by White 1912 reveal basic similarities but also a handful of seeming differ-
ences between the metrical practices of the two comic poets.

- Aristophanes uses long for short in the arsis of iambic metra (White’s “ir-
rational metra”) in the following proportions (White 1912 § 96, converted to
percentages to allow for comparison with Eupolis):

1
111 V
59.6%
68.2% 60.2%

Figures for Eupolis, by contrast, are:

1
111 V
54.3%
69% 50.7%

Eupolis’ lines thus appear to be notably more iambic, particularly in i and v.
This impression is supported by closer analysis of the metrical structure of
the fragments. Figures for Aristophanic iambic trimeters are as follows (White
1912 § 99, converted to percentages to allow for comparison with Eupolis):

1
11
111
IV
V
Iamb
25%
75%
25.4%
77.7%
35%
Tribrach
2.35%
10.9%
3.5%
12.5%
0.8%
Spondee
54.4%
58.6%
58.4%
Dactyl
5.2%
9.6%
1.8%
Anapaest
13.1%
13.7%
3.0%
9.8%
4.0%
Figures for Eupolis, by contrast,
are:
i
ii
iii
iv
V
Iamb
26.8%
80.7%
23.2%
83.6%
42.3%
Tribrach
2.9%
9.8%
4.6%
12.9%
0.7%
Spondee
48.6%
62.4%
47.6%
Dactyl
5.7%
8.8%
3.1%
Anapaest
14.6%
8.8%
2.3%
3.5%
6.6%