GRAGG. — THE GREEK EPIGRAM BEFORE 300 B.C. 17 



very early epigram 1, where, however, the language indicates plainly 

 that the verses were inscribed on a tond). Almost always wo lind some 

 word meaning " dead " (e. g. 6avui>, <pdifi€vos). In dcdicatijry inscrip- 

 tions we may expect to find the name of the dedicator,** the name of 

 a divinity, a verb of dedication. In 24 the last clement is lacking, but 

 it must have been sufiiciently evident from the place where the stone 

 was set up that it was a dedicatory oflering. 



'AaTu>i> ^nX(X lofTfi)!', rro'Kir'jn^e ttotvi 'Addva, 

 ^fjLiKpov Kill naidoiV fJ-vfifj. ('x'"' ^^^ TTuXis. 



For these reasons, then, we are justified in refusing to assign to this 

 early period any epigrams preserved in ]\ISS. only, which would require 

 for the explanation or completion of their meaning any words on the 

 stone e:rtra metrnm. In the case of dedicatory epigrams the informa- 

 tion given in the verses may be supplemented hy inferences drawn from 

 the places where the stones were set up. So we sometimes miss the 

 verb of dedicating, as in 24. This is especially likely to be the case 

 when the dedicatory offering takes the form of an honorary statue.*^ 

 The epigrams of the fifth century show that the verb of dedicating was 

 regularly omitted in inscriptions for such statues. 



Of the epigrams preserved only in MSS. the great majority were 

 intended to be inscribed. We observe in them the same stages of 

 development as in the inscriptions, although in neither case does 

 fuller development necessarily indicate later date.** 53 is as severely 

 simple as any verse carved on stone. 



Upa^ayopas riiSe 8a>pa Beo'n dvtd>]Ke AvKalov 

 vlos • fnoiijcrfv 8 epyov Avn^ay6piis. 



19 expresses with greater elaboration, but with no greater charm, the 

 same sentiment as 11. The very fact that of the epigrams attributed 

 to illustrious poets some are as brief and severe as the inscriptions, 

 while others are more elaborate, may serve as an indication at least 

 that they are correctly attributed. 49, Archilochus's iinicojiore, nato 

 dl due petall soli, could hardly be simpler. 



** In 42 the words 6 Kipafievs take the place of the name of the dedicator. The 

 appearance of the name itself below is due to the fact that the same man was both 

 dedicator and potter. In other words Ni^cii/xaxos does not repeat the name of the 

 dedicator, but adds, in a separate inscription, the name of the jiotter. Cf. also n. 63. 



68 45. Cf. 61, 62. Cf. p. 22. 



** For exam])le 1, probably the oldest elegiac inscription, is one of the longest and 

 most elaborate. 



VOL. XL VI. — 2 



