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Problems in Statius "Thebaid" VII-X

Author(s): P. T. EdenReviewed work(s):Source: Mnemosyne, Fourth Series, Vol. 47, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1994), pp. 233-235Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4432352.

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MISCELLANEA 233

5.497nam me praedonum manus hue appulsa tacentem 497abri pit et uestras famulam transmittit in oras.497 latentem Baehrens et Phillimore: licentum dub. Garrod

Hypsipyle explains to the Argives how she comes to be in their territory.Tacentem has justly aroused suspicion because there seems to have been nospecial reason for Hypsipyle to have remained silent while beingabducted. Latentem suites the situation much better. But the verb whichthe MSS usually confuse with tacere is tacere (in one or more MSS at77i.10.97, G?.10.321, G?.10.428, G?.12.67, 77i.12.729), and iacentem,'prostrate, cowering' (cf. especially 7?.11.18-19 templisque iacentiasurguntlagmina) would be very apt for a woman who has just describedherself as exanimis (493): it deserves adoption.Oxford, Forest Hill P.T. Eden

* I am grateful to Dr. J.B. Hall for his comments on an earlier draft of theseThebaid papers.

PROBLEMS IN STATIUS THEBAID VII-X(7.423; 8.268; 9.19; 9.769; 9.807; 10.216)

7.423haec audit Pelopea phalanx, sed bellicus ardorconsiliis obstat diuum prohibetque timeri. 423The Argive troops advance, too belligerent to heed the fearsome omens.With this (apparently unanimous) paradosis we have to understand Con-silia from consiliis as subject o? timeri, which is awkward and questionable.At Th. 12.352 timeri, which is undoubtedly wrong, is offered by all the

major MSS, and teneri, which is undoubtedly right, is offered only by codd.dett. Here too teneri would be preferable: 'and forbids it (the Pelopeanphalanx) to be restrained by them (the divine counsels)'.8.268sic ubi per fluctus uno ratis obruta somnoconticuit pacique maris secura iuuentus 268mandauere animas, solus stat puppe magisterperuigil inscriptaque deus qui nauigat alno.268 pacique Postgate: tantique ??: fideique ImhofAdrastus keeps solitary vigil while his men sleep, like a helmsman on a

ship at night. Mandauere animas badly needs a dative to complete its sense.Klotz suggested that somno 267 (ablative) might be made to do doubleduty. Garrod promoted Postgate's pacique to the text. But the originalreading may have disappeared through the dittography of a single letter,

Mnemosyne, Vol. XLVII, Fase. 2 (1994), ? E. J. Brill, Leiden

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234 MISCELLANEAconticuit, tantoque mari secura iuuentus 268mandauere animas,The sense of securas is often completed with a genitive {secura maris occursat 7?.9.335) and that may have generated the error here, as it apparentlydid at Ach. 1.684 it pelago {PQ1: pelagi EK) secura ratis.9.19et nunc ille iacet (pulchra o solacia leti )ore tenens hostile caput, dulcique nefandusimmoritur tabo; nos ferrum immite facesque, 19illis nuda odia et feritas iam non eget armis.19 inmite ?: mite ?: nunc ferrum mite Peyraredus: non ferrum mite

facesque? KoestlinEteocles stirs up his troops by dilating on Tydeus' monstrous can-nibalism. In line 19 the paradosis is indefensible; it is not possible to sup-ply pro telis habemus as its defenders recommend. But the remedy is simple:for nos read non. 'They do not have cruel steel and firebrands, they haveunarmed hatred and their savagery no longer needs weapons'. The logicalinterconnection between the three clauses is now perfectiy clear.9.769

figitur ile Lamus, flet saucius inguina Lygdus,perfossus telo niueam gemis, Aeole, frontem.te praeceps Euboea tulit, te candida Thisbemiserat, hune uirides non excipietis Amyclae, 769769 Erythrae Koestlin

Parthenopaeus wreaks havoc among the allies of Thebes. They cannothave included anyone from Amyclae in pro-Argive Laconia, and thispassage is perhaps the clearest warning we are given of the corruptionwhich may underlie seemingly healthy passages of the Thebaid. Erythrae,proposed by Koestlin, occurs at T'A.7.265 in Phorbas' Catalogue ofTheban Allies. I believe that the place-name corrupted here occursslightly later in the Catalogue, at Th.7.272 quos pinigeris Mycalesos in agris,and that here we should read

miserat, hune uiridis non excipiet Mycalesos 769'...green Mycalesos will not greet this man' {uiridis being pointful inreference to the evergreen pines). Anagrammatism played its part in thecorruption of mycale- to amycle: cf. Ach ?. 344 therapnis ?: pharetris ??\Silu.3.5.57 intracia M for Trachinia.

9.807acrior hoc iuuenem stricto mucrone petebatAmphion, cum se medio Latonia campoiecit et ante oculos omnis stetit obuia uultu. 807

Diana materialises on the field of battle to dissuade Parthenopaeus fromfurther fighting when he is being attacked by Amphion. To do this sheassumed the shape of Parthenopaeus' close comrade and guardianDorceus (808-11). But why did she bother to disguise herself at all if she

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MISCELLANEA 235had just stood full-face in her own guise 'before all eyes' (807) including,presumably, those of Parthenopaeus? I proposeiecit et ante oculos comitis stetit obuia uultu 807'...and stood before his (Parthenopaeus') eyes, confronting him, with thefeatures of his comrade' as Dorceus pre-eminently was (852-3 iamque miserraros comit?s uerumque uidebat/Dorcea). Vultu 807 seems guaranteed by uultu811, otherwise cultu might be considered (cf. the comparable situation at7%.11.477, and, for the confusion, Ovid Amores 3.6.47 cultu Pss\ uultu ?).10.216

ecqui aderunt, quos ingenti se attollere famanon pige?t, dum fata sinunt? 216The seer Thiodamas, inspired by a vision of Amphiaraus, urges theArgive chieftains to attack. The context requires him to say that heanticipates that they will all be eager to seize the opportunity to win glory.But the received text makes him say exactly the opposite: 'Will there beany present, who would not be irked to exalt themselves with immensefame, while the fates allow?' Whether or not it owes its origin to no-ctisimmediately below, non makes no sense with pigeat: substitute nunc. Theheroic ethos compelled chieftains to seek glory, so 215-6 must be a rhetoricalquestion {ecqui aderunt? = nulli aderunt, ut opinor), not a request forinformation.Oxford, Forest Hill P.T. Eden