GRAGG. — THE GREEK EPIGRAM BEFORE' 300 B.C. 31 



every sepulchral inscription we find some such word as nodeivoi, ■ntvdo^, 



■nrifia, and such expressions as KOivoTa<f>^s 6d\afiOs (230), t6v dvdvKrjs koivov 

 ^(pcTe(j)6i'Tjs iraa-iv ddXafxov (220 a), a)\f(Tfi> f) (pdovfpa rols dyadotai Tv^rj (241)), 



fjLo7pav, Tiji fitra iraai ^porols ('2')i\) sliow the spirit of an ape for which 

 Tvxr] was a dread and too powerful goddess. 120 ^q these detached 

 phrases it may be worth while to add one complete poem : 



228- Ov ydfios ov8 vpevaios (ij.€iv[e] (x[e] tXij/xoi/j fioipa 

 d]Wd fjL€ eXei' [/(](i^[a]TOf \vyp6s deiKfXiou 

 iTp\v T:o\io[ii\p\oT\d(l)oio xpouov yrjpas TrpoaiKfadai 



K[a]l \[e!.]n(0 TTfvdos ndcriv ejioia-i (piKois • 

 "'0(r[<r]a 8 [e]xpi'' ipvatcos BvtjTrji Ttnibda ((piKfcrdai 

 7r[a\vTa p exovra eiXei' pdipa Tiix^is hvvdjjei. 



In only one epitaph of this century (245) is death a rest from toil — 



'ArajT-af | rjs yaias ttj'Kov aap' dveTravcre ttoucov. Elsewhere it is the horrot 

 of dying that is uppermost — t6u 'Aidav yap ovbe yrjpas olhe (f)i\('ivA^^ 



Yet as it was with the sixth and fifth centuries, so we find it with 

 the fourth. The general sentiment and point of view may change, but 

 the same varieties of epigram are handed on from age to age. Now, 

 as always, the short and simple epigram holds its own : 



226. Mvrjpa 8iKaio(rvvr]i koL aaxppoavi'Tii dperrji re 

 'Soocrivov ecTTrjaav Traldes dirocpdipfvov. 



266. 'AfT dyadwv epya)[v\ 'A[o-K]Xa7rte, tovctS' ai'^^rj^lel 

 avTov Koi naidcov Swpa Td[8 ] *Atni(f)iKosA^^ 



Others just as brief show greater elaboration : 



238.' 'Ef^nSe rfjv TrdxTrji apfr(^)? fTTi rippa poKovaav 

 ^avayopav Kanxfi ^ep(T€(f>6vT]s ^aXa/xoj.^** 



The subject-matter is diluted far more than in the fifth century. 

 Cf. 221, 235, 265, 273. 



The influence of rhetoric is very apparent. It appears most often, 

 as in the fifth century, in the use of antithesis ; but this figure, which 

 lends the earlier poems grandeur and loftiness, now becomes too 

 often frigid and lifeless. The phrases aapa peu . . . ^vx) 8e, dvrjTos 

 dOdvarov have bccome catch phrases, appearing in even the shortest 

 epigrams : 



231. H]S' fdavev npoXiTTovcra noaiv K(u pr]T[fpa creppr/V 

 KJal AcXeof dddvoTov (T(o(f)po(Tvvr)s [eXa^fv. 



^^^ Cf. 281 : dXXot tvxv Kpeicrawv AttiSos [i^]€(pdi'7]. 

 "1 Soph. fr. 275. 



"2 Cf. 225, 227, 234, 251, 252, 268, 270, 271, 284. 

 "3 Cf. 230, 231, 239, 243. 



