Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione Classica

In June 2010, a silver amulet, folded into a tubular container and measuring ca. 4.5 cm x 6 cm, was discovered south of the Roman baths in Sagalassos (Pisidia). It was found in a layer consisting of material from the early seventh century A.D. Inscribed on it is a charm directed against the maleficent influence of Selene, especially against the falling sickness thought to be caused by the moon. Six lines can be read as a coherent text comprising instructions copied from a manual that explain how to implement the charm. The remaining lines of the Selenis are magical signs (charakteres) and voces magicae.

Winged or not, sandals constitute an accessory which is associated with Hermes at least as often as his famous staff. In fact, his sandals accompany him almost all the time and they seem inseparable both from his character and his manner of locomotion. Going beyond the archaic Greek interest in objects, especially divine accessories, this article clarifies the way in which sandals came to be an integral part of Hermes’ equipment, showing that they are linked with his unique status as dieu passeur rather than his role as divine messenger.

Notes on some passages of P. Oxy. 2451: Pind. I. 3 and 4 are two different victory odes. Thematic similarities or repetitions of individual words between the end of one poem and the beginning of the next can also be found in the corpus of other lyric poets, especially Sappho. Only with the order transmitted in the manuscripts do the similarities and repetitions become clear: hence the order must be intentional. Finally the article suggests a reconstruction of the text of P. Oxy. 2451 Fr. 2, ll. 3-5.

At the end of the Phaidros, Socrates concludes his remarks about the criticism of writing by noting that he and Phaidros have amused themselves long enough in talking about speeches. These words evoke the concluding scenes of comedies (Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae and Clouds). A comparison with the exodoi of comedies shows that the end of Phaidros shares similar features with them. Starting from the παίζειν and the adverb μετρίως, other passages of the Phaidros and an instance from the Euthydemos are adduced to elucidate the end of the dialogue.

Three problematic passages in Nicander are examined. The authenticity of the end of Al. (616-628) is defended against both older and more recent attempts at deletion, since the problematic l. 617 can be given a new sense or is to be transposed after 622. The difficult lines Th. 433-442 on the poisonous poppy find a surprising parallel in Sappho, fr. 31 Voigt, which allows us to interpret Sappho’s erotic symptoms in medical terms. In Th. 60 the lectio difficilior is defended, revealing Nicander’s familiarity with Homeric philology.

According to the principle that the ‘sound’ produces the ‘form’, this article identifies two neologisms in -tor e in -trix (receptator / eruditrix) in Florus’ work, created under the influence of nomina agentis bearing the same suffix.

According to the Suda, Maximus of Ephesus, a theurgist and the teacher of the emperor Julian, should be identified with the author of a short astrological poem, the Περὶ καταρχῶν, while, according to Thomas Tyrwhitt, the execution of the same figure is described in the prologue of the Orphic Lithica. The attribution of the Περὶ καταρχῶν and the Orphic Lithica to the milieu of the Apostate seems to be confirmed by comparison of the language, style and content of the two poems, which highlights several similarities between the two texts, and by the identification of themes and interests - the importance of medicine, familiarity with theurgy and magic, centrality of Helios and Selene - that are reminiscent of the thought of the emperor Julian and his circle.

Anna A. Lamari, Narrative, intertext, and space in Euripides’ ‘Phoenissae’ - Fausto Montana

Menandro, Lo scudo. Introduzione, testo, traduzione e commento a cura di Paola Ingrosso - Gennaro Tedeschi

Claude Moussy (dir.), Espace et temps en latin - Victoria Rimell

Oronzo Pecere, Roma antica e il testo. Scritture d’autore e composizione letteraria - Giuseppina Magnaldi

Carmelo Salemme, Lucrezio e la formazione del mondo. ‘De rerum natura’ 5, 416-508 - Rosalba Dimundo