frr. 398-403 K.-A.
Paraphrases, summaries and the like

163

fr. 398 K.-A. (366 K.)
Ath. 1.2c-3a
πάντα δέ ταΰτα μόνον έξευρεϊν έκ παλαιών ψηφισμάτων καί δογμάτων τηρήσεως,
έτι δέ νόμων συναγωγής οϋς οΰκέτι διδάσκουσιν, ώς τά Πινδάρου <ό> κωμωδιοποιός
Εϋπολίς φησιν, ήδη κατασεσιγασμένα ύπό τής των πολλών άφιλοκαλίας
οΰκέτι Kaibel : έτι Ath.BCE ό add. Ath.B : om. Ath.CE κατασεσιγασμένα
Schweighauser: κατασεσιγασμένων Ath.BCE
(Athenaeus says that Larensius) recovered all this information personally by examining
ancient decrees and ordinances, as well as by collecting laws they no longer teach, as
the comic poet Eupolis says in reference to the works of Pindar, which have now been
condemned to silence by the popular lack of good aesthetic judgment
Discussion Meineke 1839 11.482
Assignment to known plays Associated by Meineke with Heildtes fr. 148
(also preserved by Athenaeus), which discusses the contemporary preference
for Gnesippus over Stesichorus, Aleman and Simonides.
Citation context From the Epitomator’s version of the internal narrator’s
opening description of Larensius, the host of the dinner party (or dinner par-
ties) at which the conversations described in the Deipnosophistae took place.
Larensius has just been said to have excellent control of both Latin and Greek,
and to be deeply knowledgeable about religious and political affairs; what is
described here is the source of the latter sort of learning. A description of the
vast holdings of Larensius’ personal library follows.
Text That all three Epitome manuscripts read κατασεσιγασμένων (retained
by K-A.) leaves little doubt that the word was fully written out—or at least
unambiguously abbreviated—in their common ancestor. But an abbreviated
κατασεσιγασμν may nonetheless lurk in the background, and it seems odd to
describe a lack of interest in obscure legal documents as reflecting a failure of
popular taste, hence Schweighauser’s emendation, which makes the participle
agree with τά Πινδάρου rather than with νόμων.
Interpretation At the very least, Eupolis must have said either that Pindar’s
poems were no longer taught or that this neglect was due to a lack of popular
taste; probably he said both. Pindar was still active in the mid-440s BCE, but