Leimonis

Fr. 94

     Τὸν νεκρ[]ν.[. . . . . .].τ[. . . .]υβατονιστιναευω   

 

Fr. 95

           . .[
      πατρο. .[
           δακρυσας.[
      αἰαῖ καὶ μαλ[                     ‘Ἵππου]
5        καὶ Κούρης’ α[   

    Fr. 94 Harder (= 94 Pf., = 197 Mass.) P.Mil.Vogl. I 18 col. III 25
       sq. [image], Trismegistos 59371

    The end of the line seems to have an error in it and defies articulation. If there is a corruption, Korte's ο]ὐ βατὸν ("not to be walked on, inaccessible") followed by Maas's εἴ τιν’ ἀκούω ("If I hear someone") suggests a line of approach.


    Fr. 95 Harder (= 95 Pf., = 198 Mass.) P.Oxy. 2170, fr. 2 [image], Trismegistos 59370

    Leimonis was the daughter of Hippomenes, the last descendent of Codrus of Athens. When her father discovered that she had been seduced, he closed her up in a stall with a horse that killed her. He then killed the man who had seduced her, tied him to a horse, and dragged him through the town. The cruelty of Hippomenes was legendary and is cited as the reason that the rule of the Codrids came to an end.

    Fr. 94

    νεκρός -ου, ὁ: corpse

    Fr. 95

    δακρύω: weep, shed tears

    αἰαῖ: ah! (an exclamation of grief)

    κούρη -ης, ἡ: young girl, girl (Ion. for κόρη)

    Fr. 95a Harder  (= Diegesis III 25-33 1, 101 Pf.) P.Mil.Vogl. I 18 col. III 25-33 [image], Trismegistos 59371

           Τὸν νεκρ[]ν .[. . . . . .].τ[. . . .]υβατονις

                   τιναευω         [. . . . . .]μ[.]νη.ενουσπως

                   αὑτοῦ πα[]δ[α Λειμ]ώνην φθαρεῖσαν λά-

                   θρα εἰς τὸν θ[άλα]μον [ς]υγκατακλείσας

    5            ἵππῳ διὰ το[ύτ]ο[υ] διέφθειρεν• ὅθεν Ἀθήνη-

                   σιν τόπο[ς] Ἵππου καὶ Κόρης• τὸν δὲ

                   συγγενόμενον αὐτῇ δόρατι παίσας

                   νεκρὸν ἐξέδησεν ἵππου, ὥστε κα-

                   τὰ τοῦ ἄστεος σύρεσθαι.

       

    The corpse...

         when his daughter Leimone

         was seduced, he destroyed her secretly in this way,

         closing her up in her room

         with a horse. Therefore in Athens

    5

         there is a place of "the Horse and Girl".

         And having beaten with a spear the man who slept 

         with his daughter, he bound the corpse to a horse, 

         so that it was dragged through the city.

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    Suggested Citation

    Susan Stephens, Callimachus: Aetia. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-947822-07-8.https://dcc.dickinson.edu/callimachus-aetia/book-4/leimonis