Symphosius Riddle 84: Malum

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Sat 10 Sep 2022
Original text:

Nomen ovis Graecum, contentio magna dearum
Fraus iuvenis cincti, multarum cura sororum
Excidio Troiae vel bella cruenta peregi.

Translation:

The name for a sheep in Greek, the great contest among the goddesses,
The fraud of the belted youth, the care of many sisters,
The fall of Troy or cruel wars—I completed all this.

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Notes:

This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.

If you're researching/studying this collection, you should also consult this excellent new edition: T. J. Leary, ed. Symphosius: The Aenigmata, An Introduction, Text and Commentary. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Textual differences in that edition include:

  • line 2: cincti > functi
  • line 3 is different, drawing on another manuscript family: hoc volo ne breviter mihi syllaba prima legatur (Leary notes that the version above may stem from a gloss of this line, p. 215)


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