Michael McOsker (University of Cologne)
Demetrius Laco, On Poems II (coll. 63-5) is our only source for Alcaeus fr. 358 Voigt. Only the top part of this text (PHerc. 1014) survives. (Unfortunately, we have no way of determining the original height of the papyrus.) Its damaged and darkened condition has hindered attempts to read it, but much progress has recently be made both via infrared photography (for improved readings) and a better understanding of the early history of the collection (which allowed us to read its pieces in the correct order).
In the poem, Alcaeus reflects on a younger male erōmenos who is not, or is no longer, interested in him, as well as on the (ab)use of wine for consolation. Demetrius quoted the poem in extenso: we have almost three and a half couplets in col. 63, spread over ten lines; the end is marked with punctuation written on the papyrus. More must have been quoted in the lost bottom of column 62, at least three and a half couplets more couplets (depending on the amount of text missing).
Editors have long recognized that col. 65 contains glosses on the fragment in col. 63 because of close verbal correspondences, but the material in col. 64 has not be used in the same way, in part because a mistaken reading by Wilhelm Crönert in the early 20th century set scholars on the wrong path. He read the Ionic θώρηκι for the correct θώρακι, which made Wilamowitz conjecture that the material in this column was a citation of Democritus (298a D.-K.). This led to various attempts to find the material’s source, and scholars lost sight of the fact that this material too (whatever its source) is glossing Alcaeus’ poem. Crönert and Wilamowitz understood the situation, but—probably because Wilamowitz had promised an edition—they never exploited the insight. To date, this material has not been used effectively to reconstruct the poem.
In this paper, I will use that material to try to reconstruct the content of the poems’ lost and to shine light on Demetrius’ goals in this section of his work. New readings in coll. 63-5, as well as the surrounding material, reveals that the poem is advice and that the lovesickness described at its end might be an example rather than the theme of the whole poem, which dealt with not just love and alcohol, but also trustworthy friends, anger, and calm more broadly.
Demetrius’ interest in the poem is not just related to its vocabulary but also rhythmic or metrical elements, though the discussion of those is mostly lost.