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While contrary-to-fact conditions in Homeric narrative have already received considerable attention, those that occur in character speech, which potentially share some of the important and even metapoetic qualities as narrative conditions, have been understudied. This paper begins by offering a new classification of different kinds of counterfactuals that occur in direct speech, incorporating some of the methods of pragmatic linguistics. By building on this classification, it becomes possible to see new resonances in the way that Homeric characters speak and present themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the narrative significance of localization in Homer's Odyssey , in particular singular places that are associated with multiple spaces (identified here as dual localization). Our reading posits that spatial features hold narrative significance and, once uncovered, this resolves 'problematic' issues that may arise from spatial paradoxes. The chosen case study is the Odyssean land of the Ethiopians with its twin dual localization: (1) it is located simultaneously at the eastern and western peripheries of the world while also located singularly 'with Poseidon'; and (2) this peripheral localization contrasts with a later 'real world' setting in Egypt/North Africa. While this people's localization has been the subject of prior study, this paper presents a novel analysis: these localizations serve a characterizing function which, in turn, relates to the thematic function of Menelaus' embedded narrative as foreshadowing the primary narrative of Odysseus' nostos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Socrates’ problematic analogy of reading big and little letters in Book 2 of Plato’s Republic. The examination highlights a significant grammatical detail, which has been generally overlooked in contemporary Platonic scholarship: Socrates refers to the justice of the city as ‘doing one’s own thing’ (τὸ αὑτοῦ πράττων), in the singular, but the justice of the individual as ‘doing one’s own things’ (τὰ αὑτοῦ πράττων), in the plural. In terms of Socrates’ analogy, the big and little letters of justice are not, in fact, the same. Ultimately, the paper argues that Socrates’ analogy of reading big and little letters is intentionally problematic, intended to draw attention to this literal difference between the justice of the city and the justice of the individual. The paper concludes with a discussion of a few immediate implications of this grammatical detail for interpreting the argument of Plato’s Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the depiction of letters, epigraphs, and other texts in Iamblichus’ fragmentary Babyloniaka, primarily preserved by the ninth-century writer Photius in his Bibliotheca, and argues that they act as evidence for the novel’s own cultural and literary positioning. These texts, while superficially unconventional in their form and mode of transmission, in practice reiterate traditional anxieties about written texts found throughout Greek literary history. As such, this paper argues that these embedded texts act as mirrors to the novel’s own framing as a self-proclaimed Babylonian fiction constructed through imperial Greek linguistic and literary models. By considering the hitherto neglected depictions of letters and other texts within Photius’ summary of the Babyloniaka, this approach sheds new light on the literary allusivity and cultural framing of the now-lost novel and its later reception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses an overlooked quotation from Phaedrus’ Appendix Perottina in a grammatical miscellany by Godescalc of Orbais and makes a contribution to the textual history of Phaedrus’ fables; it also demonstrates once and for all, through irrefutable evidence, that the Appendix Perottina cannot be a humanistic forgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper suggests that Lucretius' Magna Mater interpretation (2.598-660) can fruitfully be approached through the lens of invective oratory. While this difficult passage of De rerum natura has long puzzled scholars, this article argues that in his interpretation Lucretius masterfully transforms the encomiastic topos of allegoresis into a powerful means of blame: the poet allegorically interprets various aspects of the cult of Cybele with a view to showing how religious convictions and customs go awry. When thus exposing the cult as impious, Lucretius ingeniously exploits several topoi of rhetorical hymns (nurture, propitiation, etc.) for the purpose of making his vituperation all the more compelling. Hence, on the reading advocated here, the Magna Mater interpretation is a carefully constructed invective against those aspects of the cult (of Cybele) which an Epicurean is bound to frown upon (providential illusion, divine punishment, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims, on the one hand, at contributing to the analysis of one of the most enduring stock-characters in Roman comedy: the comic soldier, in its Plautine manifestations in particular. On the other hand, it will shed light on a much more serious soldier: Telamonian Ajax, and his in some way unfortunate reception. Weaving a twofold discussion of such apparently distant figures, I will evaluate the possible echoes of the mighty warrior Ajax in the parodic processes enacted by Plautus' milites , as well as the role played in turn by these echoes in the Roman reception of Ajax himself. I will show how the Roman Ajax enhanced and developed comic nuances, which can be better understood through the trigger of Plautine memories and play a role in Rome's own reflection on everchanging criteria for measuring valour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the possible sources of the theories introduced in Phaedo 99b2-c6. It argues that Plato is primarily alluding to Aristophanes' Clouds and views held by Diogenes of Apollonia and Archelaus of Athens. But the passage, I also suggest, could serve another rhetorical function. By inviting us to reflect on whether and to what extent other natural philosophers fit the description of these theories, the text emphasises the gulf between Socrates and his predecessors. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of identifying these references for our understanding of the autobiographical passage in the Phaedo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the use of proximal deixis in Mercury's prologue to Plautus' Amphitruo. The study revolves around the referential ambiguity that characterizes proximal deictics such as here and this city , arguing that it contributes significantly to the blurred distinction between reality and fiction that is typical for Plautine theatre, and for his prologues in particular. The paper shows (1) that proximal deictics play a crucial role in Mercury's creation of and transition into the fictional world; (2) that their unique referential features during audience address enable Mercury to transform the spectators' surroundings in addition to his own; and (3) that their use underlines the similarity between Rome and fictional Thebes, which is subsequently connected to the Greek setting of Plautus' plays and their performance during Roman festivals. Moreover, the paper claims that Mercury partly relies on proximal deixis for the inductive effect of his prologue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines moral virtues and cult practice in Plato's Laws. It explores the symposium and the chorus and their potential to provide a recognisable cultural setting, in which the Magnesian citizens can test their responses to pleasurable and painful experiences and thus train their moral virtues. The challenge to this reading is to explain what additional input to moral habituation is provided by the religious aspect of these institutions. This paper draws attention to the relationship between the people and the patron gods of the respective institutions. It argues that the cult practices are designed to reflect the virtuous character of the traditional gods, who serve as the ethical role models for the worshipers. In this way, the worship of the traditional gods not only facilitates moral progress by exemplifying the objective of virtuous life, but also gives an egalitarian version of the ideal of godlikeness to its citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses problems of staging, address and word order in Greek tragedy to shed light on a controversial passage in Sophocles: Aj. 339-343. Ajax's cry within, ἰὼ παῖ παῖ (339), has been alternatively taken to refer to Eurysaces (as suggested by Tecmessa) or to Teucer (whom Ajax mentions at 342-343). The paper argues for Teucer and responds to three arguments against this view: (1) παῖ is not only acceptable, but also effective to address one's sibling; (2) the word order of 342, Τεῦκρον καλῶ , strictly implies 'It's Teucer I'm calling' (not just: 'I call on Teucer'), hence it cannot mark the move to a new addressee; (3) it is hardly possible for Ajax not to hear Tecmessa's 340-341: short interactions across the skēnē door may occur, and the parallel scene at Euripides, Medea 1270a-1278 suggests that Ajax most likely hears Tecmessa's words and corrects her wrong guess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although scholarship has identified multiple ironic elements throughout Theocritus' Idyll 18, his epithalamium for Helen, this paper offers a new perspective on Theocritus' ambiguity, his allusive puns, and his ironic comparisons that masquerade as generic hymeneal topoi. Additionally, the embedded aetiology of Helen's tree-cult has long eluded interpretation. This paper proposes a metapoetic reading for the plane-tree and its arboreal inscription. As a mise en abyme , it forms a metatextual link between the imagined internal reader and the external audience to reflect on the power of the author and the text over the reader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two problematic appellations of boy victors, παῖς καθαρός and παῖς κρίσεως τῆς Ἀγησιλάου , and the subdivision of boys in the Spartan festival Leonidea in inscription IG V.1 19. I propose several emendations to the edition of this inscription with the hope to correct a mistake and add two events into the athletic contest. I argue that age and birth were important criteria for the sub-classification of παῖδες , whereas physical development did not play a major role in the process. By means of adopting different categorizations in different games, Sparta memorialized its heroes, both warriors in the past Persian war and contemporary benefactors, innovated its traditions of athletic training and contests, and displayed its reputation of excellence in the Leonidea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Pl. 1.3, Apuleius provides an account of the genesis of the tripartition of philosophy, recalling its incorrect (but by then traditional) attribution to Plato. In doing so, Apuleius states that Plato showed that the three parts of philosophy do not fight each other, but on the contrary support each other with mutual aid. While the meaning of the passage is clear, the text has been long debated. The aim of this paper is to show that none of the texts printed so far is satisfactory, and to propose a new solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether a semantic parallel to the modern use of the word depression can be identified in ancient Greek. To that end, it retraces the development of the lexical family of the verb θλίβω , 'to press', and the abstract noun θλῖψις to gain the emotional and psychological meaning of 'pressure' or 'affliction'. An analysis of the collected data suggests that a similar valence may be found in Hellenistic and Imperial Greek. However, this development is disregarded by authors with greater stylistic ambitions. Even physicians such as Galen continue to use θλῖψις solely in a physical, concrete sense. Conversely, the conceptualization in the singular of the word de-pression is lacking in ancient Greek. An antecedent may be identified in the formation of the prefixed verb καταθλίβω and the derived noun κατάθλιψις , found only from Late Antiquity onward, but this retains a concrete valence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to revise previous findings concerning selected passages of Seneca's Phoenician Women (374-375; 610-613; 184-187; 314-315; 437-439; 631-632). In each of them, the unanimous reading of the MSS was replaced by conjectures which are now almost universally accepted by reputable editors and commentators. To justify these emendations, it was argued that the MS phrase did not make sense or was grammatically or stylistically incorrect; sometimes, the text was modified on the assumption that the author had imitated another poet when working on a particular line. In this paper, the passages are analysed in the light of Seneca's other statements and against the broader background of ancient literary tradition. The results show that the conjectures are based on unconfirmed assumptions or flawed premises and thus should be rejected in favour of the MS reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars typically distinguish at least two different Epicurean conceptions of truth: (1) an account that pertains to the truth of perceptions or impressions and (2) an account that pertains to the truth of opinions. This paper addresses the relationship between the truth of perceptions (and by extension: preconceptions and feelings), on the one hand, and the truth of opinions, on the other. It offers an account of what these determinations of truth amount to and how they interact with each other. In doing so, the paper rejects a propositional understanding of Epicurean truth. It instead argues that the Epicurean conception of truth can be explained by relying on images and their combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a collation and investigation of some manuscripts of Ioannes Pediasimus' scholia paraphrastica to the Hesiodic Aspis. The paper demonstrates that the editions currently used by scholars are based on an insecure textual foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the epigram of Herodicus (apud Ath. 5.222a). First it is examined as a piece of Greek literature—with a history, a number of imitators, a Greek intellectual and scholarly context, and the expressive resources of the Greek language. Several cruces are discussed, but the meaning of the final two words of the poem—θεόπαις Βαβυλών—is of particular importance. The internal syntactic structure of the compound adjective θεό-παις is analysed using comparative evidence from Greek. But the actual comparandum that is argued to be crucial for establishing its meaning is an epithet of Babylon found in Akkadian and Sumerian. The basis for the relevance of this is the existence of Akkadian texts in Greek script (the 'Graeco-Babyloniaca'), which are reviewed in full as part of the evidence for cultural contact in Hellenistic Babylon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to provide a new theoretical framework for the understanding of an otherwise controversial Homeric notion: kertomia. So far, all systematic treatments of this term have been based on the model of classical definition, and sought to find a set of essential criteria which would account for all its instances in Homer. Given its very wide application, to phenomena so diverse as gentle, off-record mockery in Il. 24.649-658, and playful teasing of insects in Il. 16.259-265, I argue that such an approach will never do justice to all its Homeric instances. My paper therefore seeks to provide a new way of describing this notion, making use of prototype theory developed by cognitive linguists. I argue that this theoretical framework is capable of accommodating all its diverse meanings without sacrificing the important nuances of any of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the etymologising of the names of Apollo in Plato, Cratylus and Plutarch, The E at Delphi. It is argued that the richness of the god's etymologies in these texts and in classical literature more generally suggests that a special connection was seen between the nature of Apollo and the practices of etymologising; this connection is in part owed to the similarities between etymologising and prophetic speech and practice and in part to the fact that ancient etymology reveals settled, unchanging truths about language, just as Apollo manifests the settled, unchanging order of the world. The paper sheds light not just upon ancient etymological practice from Homer onwards but also on certain conceptions of the nature of Apollo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite Plato's repeated criticism of both µῦθοι and mystery cults, Orphism/Pythagoreanism and the Eleusinian Mysteries feature frequently in his dialogues. This paper uncovers the reason why, and the context in which, Plato employs motifs and language associated with these cults. Prevailing explanations in scholarship are shown to apply in some instances but not others, and to be largely insufficient in providing an underlying reason for Plato's use of mystery cults in general. Through a detailed examination of various mystery motifs in the dialogues, this paper argues that Plato has simply borrowed from religion what he could not achieve with philosophy alone: emotional appeal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Ammianus Marcellinus' intertextual dialogue with epic tradition in his account of the Persian siege of Amida (Amm. Marc. 19.1-9). It adds to the stock of meaningful Vergilian allusions in the Amida episode, as well as examining significant allusions to Vergil's successors, Ovid, Lucan, and the Flavian poets. Epic offers both a verbal resource for the historian's richly varied prose as well as an effective generic vehicle to signify the scale of his personal experience of combat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Greek embassy visits Sicily to convince Gelon to support their cause against the Persian threat, Herodotus begins the Sicilian logos with the story of a man named Telines, an ancestor of the Deinomenid tyrants, Gelon and Hieron. This paper first argues that by resolving the stasis in Gela and securing the civic priesthood of the chthonic goddesses for his descendants Telines prefigures Gelon's rise to power as tyrant in Sicily. Next, it demonstrates that kingship and the priesthood of Demeter and Persephone are closely linked in Deinomenid ideology in epinician poetry, which provides a crucial backdrop for Herodotus' portrayal of Gelon. Finally, the paper examines subtle references to the cult of Demeter and Persephone in Herodotus' account and proposes that Herodotus' descriptions of the Deinomenids offer a cautionary tale in support of practices that uphold the boundaries between inherited priesthoods and political power in fifth-century Athens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In chapter 8.15 of his Facta et dicta memorabilia, the Tiberian author Valerius Maximus offers his readers a series of historical exempla which depict the grant of extraordinary honours to deserving individuals. Surprisingly, however, Valerius explains that he has no intention of engaging with any of the honours granted to the imperial family. While, so far, Valerius’ claim has not been called into question by modern scholars, this paper seeks to draw attention to the fact that the exemplary material collected by him shows clear parallels to a number of very specific honours granted to Octavian/Augustus. Although it is true that Valerius does not include the members of the domus Augusta among his exemplars in 8.15, the extraordinary honours he chooses to discuss are to be seen as clear precedents of honours granted to Octavian/Augustus and thus also serve to vindicate the creation of the Principate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sidonius is often the only source of information on his addressees. Following Dolveck’s stemma codicum of Sidonius’ Letters, the present contribution offers a timely reassessment of the manuscript tradition attesting the names of his addressees by using manuscript studies and onomastics as a tool for prosopography. The paper first examines the evolution of onomastics in the Late Antique West and Sidonius’ own name. These introductory remarks are closed by some considerations on what is commonly believed to be Sidonius’ epitaph and whether it bears the author’s name or that of his son Apollinaris. The contribution then analyses some of the most noteworthy case studies of diverging readings of names of addressees in his collection, questioning the prosopographical tradition. The survey shows that the popularity enjoyed by some names—rather than attested variants—in Sidonius’ prosopography is a remnant of prior editions and of their influence over the collective knowledge of the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the significance of the Greek value of sophrosyne as a rhetorical topos through the lens of Libanius' work, demonstrating that the theme of moderation was indeed a prime concern of the orator. I consider a notable instance (Oration 16, To the Antiochenes: On the Emperor's Anger) in which Libanius' engagement with this theme goes beyond the usual commonplaces of rhetoric. My intention is to offer another perspective on the renowned altercation between Emperor Julian and the city of Antioch. I argue that, as Julian understands the tensions between himself and Antioch in terms of sophrosyne , so Libanius responds by endowing the rhetorical trope of moderation with greater significance in Oration 16, presenting this value as the solution to the Antiochenes' predicament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Myth of Er, Plato describes the 'Spindle of Necessity', a contraption presenting the cosmos as guided by Sirens and Fates, and ascribes different colours to the planets (Rep. 616e-617a). This paper argues that Plato probably used astronomical data for that passage, but possibly gave them a metaphorical sense, and discusses the likelihood of his having used Mesopotamian sources. The second half of the paper studies receptions of and allusions to the image, with context-based astronomical, political, and metaphysical features. Cicero adjusted the image to contemporary astronomy, and to the political function of the cosmic structures in the Somnium Scipionis. His commentator Macrobius emphasizes empirical correctness, but possibly with metaphysical undertones. Apuleius' Metamorphoses alludes to the image in a portrait of Isis, perhaps to refer to her metaphysical role. Finally, Proclus interprets the Platonic passage as primarily metaphysical, and pointing to truths beyond astronomical phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper re-examines Hyperides' speech In Defence of Euxenippus as evidence for the role of divination in fourth-century BCE Athens. The oration recounts an occasion of oracular divination through incubation at Amphiaraos' sanctuary in Oropos, whereby the Athenian Assembly ordered individuals to undergo incubation to resolve an issue concerning land ownership. This paper argues that Hyperides' speech not only furnishes crucial evidence which broadens our understanding of divination beyond the famous oracle at Delphi, it also provides us with a valuable case study for the process of oracular consultation. The paper analyses the different stages of this process, including the selection of incubants, the nature of the dream received and the aftermath of incubation, demonstrating how the dream could be contested. It thereby sheds new light on the complexities of oracular transmission and interpretation, both of which are open to contestation as a result of the multiplicity of religious authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates why Tacitus dates the alleged appearance of the phoenix in Egypt during the reign of the emperor Tiberius to AD 34 in contrast to Pliny the Elder and Dio who date it to AD 36. It argues that the appearance of the phoenix had originally been invented as an omen not so much of the death of Tiberius, but of the succession of Caligula, and that a later source changed the date of this alleged appearance and cast doubt on its validity in order to deprive Caligula of an omen that had seemed to characterize his reign as a time of renewal. Tacitus then followed this source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new edition of Speusippus' fr. 57 Tarán (= 100 Isnardi Parente), transmitted by Philodemus' On Piety. The improved text sheds new light on the early Academy's debate on cosmology and theology and on the already known doxographical accounts (especially Aëtius') on Speusippus' view of who the Deity is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to examine three textual problems in Statius' Thebaid , book 5 (Hypsipyle's narration of the massacre in Lemnos). These textual issues have been previously approached by different scholars without taking into account each other's work. This paper conveys an overview and shows that some of these problems had already been clarified by ancient exegesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first unmetrical word of Leonidas, AP 6.4 requires emendation, not explanation. On the basis of a variant in Lucian, a new textual suggestion is made. The paper explores metrical and intertextual criteria for explaining the passage, but rejects them in favour of emendation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Pindar's craft imagery has long been appreciated, scholars have paid relatively little attention to technê in particular, focusing instead on the apparently more elevated, and more Pindaric, sophia. Concentrating on the odes that narrate the origins of specific technai (Pythian 12, Olympian 7, Olympian 13), this paper questions the dichotomy between technical and ethical knowledge in Pindar. Far from dismissing technê as mere banausic craft, as his critics often do, Pindar consistently presents it as a means of promoting civic and even cosmic order. I conclude with a discussion of Pythian 3, where Pindar makes explicit the metapoetics implicit in the previous poems and figures his own activity as a sort of technê. In this light, Pindaric sophia , as the practice of technê within ethical limits, emerges as a relationship of the individual to the cosmos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the convention of off-stage cries deployed in Greek tragedy and satyr play chiefly to represent violent events. Unlike other studies dedicated to this topic, it is primarily focused on the cries themselves and to a lesser extent on their context, both dramatic and theatrical. Using the familiar distinction between word and action, it begins with a simple question: how exactly does an off-stage cry represent a violent event taking place within? Examined first as textual phenomena the voices from within are found to acquire their meaning through the discourse of the characters, and not as cries per se. The performative approach, however, also brings their auditory dimension into perspective. Although the evidence is mostly circumstantial, its cumulative weight does suggest that the vocal qualities of the off-stage cries could endow them with meanings unaccounted for in the textual perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion of the political ramifications of Pythian 10 by drawing attention to two less studied features of the ode's mythical narrative: the glossing over of King Polydectes within Perseus' story, and the attribution of the rare appellation λαγέτας to Perseus. Additionally, it is argued that, as well as targeting a Thessalian audience, the ode sends a powerful political message to the other cities of the Delphic Amphictyony, in which Thessaly held a prominent place at the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews recent studies on metaphor theories applied to the classical corpus and argues that approaches from cognitive linguistics are essential for the re-interpretation of Greek and Latin texts. Its main focus are two monographs, Andreas T. Zanker's Metaphor in Homer and Tommaso Gazzarri's Theory and Practice of Metaphors in Seneca's Prose. The volume of collected papers on spatial metaphors in ancient texts edited by Fabian Horn and Ciliers Breytenbach proposes that the Lakoff-Johnson approach to cognitive metaphor is productive and that mappings from empirically accessible domains construct abstract concepts in spatial models of mental activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show how the Epicureans are part of and transform the originally Platonic ethical tradition of the assimilation to the divine (ὁμοίωσις θεῷ). We argue that a proper understanding of this tradition helps us to understand better the role that thinking plays in Epicurean ethics: Epicurus' emphasis on and reinterpretation of thinking allows him to reject more forcefully the claim that the best life is a life of unreflective pleasure (βίος ἀπολαυστικός). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymnestus (seventh century BC) is represented in Ps.-Plu. De mus. as the second composer of aulodic nomes and processional songs after Clonas. This paper argues that Polymnestus' nomes bore his name and that he did not compose either the orthian nomes or those ascribed to Clonas. Polymnestus' music continued to be known in the classical period; he was considered to be working in an innovative, but decent and sublime style. This does not fit well with the assertion of the scholia to Aristophanes, based on Ar. Eq. 1287 and Cratin. fr. 338 K-A, that Polymnestus composed obscene songs. An explanation for this incongruity is proposed: the expressions Πολυµνήστεια ποιεῖν and Πολυµνήστει ' ἀείδειν may be a pun which connected an Athenian named Polymnestus with his great Colophonian namesake. Thus it provides no information about the artistic heritage of Polymnestus of Colophon, but instead proves his fame in the classical period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the deuteros plous , literally 'the second voyage', proverbially 'the next best way', discussed in Plato's Phaedo , the key passage being Phd. 99e4-100a3. I argue that (a) the 'flight into the logoi ' can have two different interpretations, a standard one and a non-standard one. The issue is whether at 99e-100a Socrates means that both the student of erga and the student of logoi consider images ('the standard interpretation'), or the student of logoi does not consider images ('the non-standard interpretation'); (b) the non-standard one implies the problem of the hypothesis, a problem analogous to the problem of the elenchus; (c) there is a structural analogy between Descartes' ontological argument for the existence of God in his 5th Meditation and the final proof for the immortality of the soul in the Phaedo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I set out to study the distribution of some accentual types of two different word shapes in the Homeric hexameter: iambs and iambic ending words and dactyls and dactylic ending words. Following Nagy 2000 and 2010 and David 2006, I start from the idea that accent has a role in Ancient Greek poetry, which has been corroborated in Abritta 2015 by studying the distribution of trochaic ending words. In the sections corresponding to each word shape, after a statistical consideration of the distribution, I examine some literary uses of accentual types, which the poet places in the line apparently in order to produce a certain effect on the audience. The article is conceived as a first approximation to the study of accentual distribution in Ancient Greek poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]