Αίγες (*POxy. 5160)

97
fr. d = POxy. 5160 col. i.16

]η συντυχία
fort, ή συντυχία
circumstance/mischance (nom.)

Meter The words scan—— and are thus compatible with iambic trimeter.

Context POxy. 5160 col. i.16-18
16 ]η συντυχία· έν
π]οιμήν αίπόλωι
....]. ων μιμείται
17 [π]οιμήν αίπόλωι ed. pr. : οϊμην αίπόλων Luppe
16 ]ν circumstance/mischance (nom.)· έν
.... sh]epherd (nom.) goatherd (dat.)
....]. ων he/she/it imitates
Interpretation συντυχία is primarily poetic vocabulary (e. g. Sol. fr. 13.70;
Thgn. 590; Pi. P. 1.36; E. HF 766 (lyric); Ar. Av. 543-4; in Herodotus at e. g.
1.68.2; in Attic prose only at Pl. Phdr. 248c) and must be the end of a gloss,
given the half-stop that follows. Perhaps sarcastic, given what appears to be
the aggressively rude character of fr. e (n.). μιμείται in col. i.18, by contrast,
is common in glosses.
μιμείται ought to take an accusative, hence Luppe’s οϊμην αίπόλων (“he
imitates a goatherds’ song”) in col. i.17 for ed. pr.s [π]οιμήν αίπόλωι (“shep-
herd (nom.) goatherd (dat.)”; printed here). But οϊμη is rare, exclusively poetic
vocabulary and thus out of place in a late, prosaic gloss, and Luppe offers no
suggestion as to how the word συντυχία and the idea of a goatherds’ song
might be connected, [π] οιμήν is almost the only other supplement possible.67
But how the dative (if correct) is to be integrated into the syntax is unclear.

fr. e = POxy. 5160 col. i. 19-21
. ικους εψων [....]. άρτίως τατε ·[···.]·[·]· έκ{ε}ίνησεν σε
άρτίως scripsi: fort, άρτι ώς

67 ]οιμην might also be the end of a first-person singular optative verb (another word
from the text), but this only makes the text more difficult to understand, while still
leaving us without an object for μιμείται.