Ταξίαρχοι (fr. 268)

385

Meter lambic trimeter.
—<-> -I-

Context POxy. 2740 fr. 2 col. 1.18-23 = fr. 268.35-40 K.-A.
35 ] φυλακήν είτ’ οΰ
]μον δήτ’ εγώ πορ-
]ς; αντί τοΰ χω-
ρίς ]ης. απλώς δπερ
οί Αττικ]οί άτεχνώς λέ-
40 γουσι]

37-8 suppl. Austin 38-40 suppl. Luppe

35 ] guard/watch. In that case, not[
]μον in fact I πορ-
]ς; in place of “apart
from ]ης. haplds: which
Attic authors say a-
40 technds

Interpretation There is room for 8-9 letters between 35 οΰ and 36 ]μον,
as also between 36 πορ and 37 ]ς. Kassel-Austin—apparently influenced by
Luppe’s πόρ[νης έρημο]ς, which cannot be fit into the end of an iambic tri-
meter210—present this as the end of one iambic trimeter line and the beginning
of the next: είτ’ ού —]μον δήτ’,γω / πορ[— — Χ]ς. It might be easier
to imagine a single line with penthemimeral caesura.
37 αντί is set off from what precedes it by an empty letter-space or two
and must accordingly be the beginning of the commentary on the preceding
lemma. Austin’s χω[ρίς] in 37-8 takes the genitive, which might be concealed
in 38 ]ης and be a gloss on 36-7 πόρ[ρω] followed by genitive ending in [-η]ς,
as at e.g. Ar. V. 192 πόρρω τέχνης. In that case, 38-40 απλώς κτλ must be a
separate note, the lemma for which is απλώς (= fr. 268k; thus Austin 1973;
Luppe 1980. 44).
είτ’ οΰ Cf. elsewhere in comedy line-initial είτ’ ού/ούκ/ούχ (e.g. Ar. V.
52; Ra. 21, 76; Pl. Com. fr. 1), είτ’ ούχί (e. g. Ar. Lys. 608; Amphis fr. 17.1; Alex,
fr. 264.3), είτ’ ουδέ (Ar. Ec. 335) and είτ’ ούκέτι (Men. Asp. 219).
δήτ’ adds emphasis to what must be a surprised or indignant question
(see Denniston 1950. 271-2, esp. 272 on the coordination with είτ(α)), and

210

Luppe 1980. 44 himself thought of iambic tetrameter catalectic (είτ’ ού[^ -]μον
δήτ’ έγω πόρ[νης έρημο]ς [-]).