CEG 564

[Φιλ]όστρατος Φιλοξένου
παῖ πατέρος σαυτοῦ πατρὸς ἔχων ὄνομα, |
καὶ παραμύθιον ἦσθα | παρωνύμιόν τε γονεῦσι |
Νεολλαρίων, δαίμων δέ σ’ ἀφείλετο πᾶ<σ>ι πο|θεινόν

Iambic dimeter for the deceased’s name and patronymic, pentameter followed by two hexameters for the epigram. Synizesis in Νεολλαρίων

Milesian Ionic alphabet with long-vowel notation. Name and patronymic of the deceased inscribed in larger letters. v. 2 παῖ lapis, παῖς Kirchner. v. 4 πᾶ<σ>ι: πατι lapis.

Philostratus, son of Philoxenus
O boy who bear the name of your father’s father,
you were a comfort to your parents and Neollarion for them,
but fate has taken you away, desired by all.

This is one of many examples of epigraphic epigrams from the 4th century that reveal significant similarities with classical elegies and their innovations, namely the alteration of the normal hexameter-pentameter stanzaic sequence, the adoption of metaphorical and allusive language, and greater formal refinement, thanks to the number and variety of rhetorical devices, with a particular preference for figures of sound. It is a conception of poetic creation as a game and virtuosity in the use of words: literary examples of this new way of composing elegies are frs 1 and 5 W. by Dionysius Chalcus or fr. 4 W. by Critias. In the case of CEG 564 the deceased’s name and patronymic, inscribed in larger letters, form an iambic dimeter (perhaps coincidentally) and are followed by an unusual sequence of a pentameter and two hexameters, strongly altering the standard elegiac couplet. In the opening pentameter, the formula πατρὸς ἔχων ὄνομα, usually indicating the father’s name, is cleverly adapted to indicate the grandfather, creating an internal anaphora with πατήρ and an alliteration of syllable πα- recalling πάππος and πάππας, the latter typical of infant speech (the deceased being a child). The alliteration recurs in the second verse in παραμύθιον and παρωνύμιος, emphasizing the familial dimension, also highlighted by ἀπὸ κοινοῦ construction of the two words with γονεῦσι: the child was a comfort to his parents who gave him the nickname Neollarion, while a general appreciation is mentioned only at the close. Syntactically, the three verses form a single period, but semantically the opening pentameter stands apart, continuing genealogical information after name and patronymic, while the two hexameters describe character and affections, thus justifying the unusual metrical sequence.

P.A. HANSEN, Carmina Epigraphica Graeca saeculi IV a. Chr. n. (CEG II), Berolini et Novi Eboraci 1989.

K. FLOWER SMITH, ‘Some Irregular Forms of the Elegiac Distich‘, AJPh 22.2, 1901, 165-194; A.-M. VÉRILHAC, Παῖδες ἄωροι. Poésie funéraire 1, Textes, n. 108, Athènes 1978.

Sepulchral epigram, classical elegy, irregular metrical structure, formal elaboration.

[Luca Bettarini]