12

Eupolis

Discussion Bergk 1838. 334-5; Meineke 1839 II.548-9; Kock 1880. 339;
Edmonds 1957. 417 n. g; Storey 1995-6. 137-41; Storey 2003. 140, 174, 333,
347, 365; Telo 2007. 637-8; Storey 2011. 237
Assignment to known plays Assigned to Aiges by Bergk (cf. frr. 17-18), to
Chrysoun Genosby Meineke and to Demoiby Storey, and tentatively associated
with Heildtes by Telo.
Citation Context An Atticist gloss preserved in the common source of
Photius and the Suda commonly designated Σ".
Text The text of 1 is defective, and Toup’s <νϋν> effectively brings out the
contrast with άρχαΐον in 2.
In 3, the Suda’s τον τρόπον is flat but not impossible; of the proposed
emendations, dual τοϊν τρόποιν rather than plural των τρόπων more effec-
tively picks up άμφότερ(α) at the beginning of the line. Early editors made
unsuccessful attempts to convert the words that follow in the Suda (παν
τό συμβησόμενον επί λόγον άγων καί βαστάζων) into additional verses of
Eupolis.
Interpretation At least two characters are addressed (note pl. βούλεσθε in
1) by (A.), who offers them a choice between two alternatives: they can learn
about either modern music or the ancient style. (B.) proposes making the
decision himself on the basis of his own preferences (note emphatic έγώ),
and tells (A.) that in order to do so he will need to hear about both. Whether
this is his right as leader of the group or hints at a conflict to come is unclear;
but aye δή in 1 (n.) perhaps suggests that (A.) is growing weary of (B.)’s
trouble-making or the like. In addition, (B.) rejects the choice (A.) has offered
and says that he will need to learn about both the old and the new music before
he decides between them, έρεΐς (“say” not “sing”) in 3 makes it clear that (B.)
does not imagine (A.) performing music (i. e. as part of a symposium-education
or -preparation scene, as at Ar. V. 1174-1264, esp. 1224-49; Pl. Com. frr. 46-7;
Antiph. fr. 57; Anaxandr. fr. 1), but instead expects (A.) to describe the two
styles and presumably the differences between them.2 άκούσας in 3 must
accordingly mean “hear about” rather than “listen to”, with άμφότερ’ from
the beginning of the line supplied as its object. (The genitive τοϊν τρόποιν
depends on what follows). Since 3 echoes 2, the easiest interpretation is that
the same sense should be given to άκούειν there: it is not that (A.) proposes
a performance and is rebuffed, but that he is from the first planning to offer
instruction on a topic to be determined. For (A.)’s intellectual pretensions,

2

Edmonds advocates instead for recitation, i. e. of epic poetry or the like.