Orphica (Argonautica, Hymni, Lithica)

...who were of the art of divination; Orpheus laments that it was the best of all arts, but had been destroyed by the vices of foolish and envious men. original Greek: τις ἔσαν τῆς μαντικῆς, Ὀρφεὺς ἀποδύρεται ὡς ἀρίστην μὲν ἔσαν τεχνῶν ἁπασῶν, ἀπολωλυῖαν δὲ κακίαις ἀνθρώπων ἀσόφων καὶ φθονερῶν.

Verse 81. Leonidas of Tarentum A Greek epigrammatist from the 3rd century BCE. (14) provides another example of ornamental epithets joined by a conjunction conjunction: a connecting word like "and". But in Euripides’ Phoenissae, verse 671, I marvel that critics have patiently endured such listless phrasing: where indeed a moisture reaches the fields of Dirce, greenery-bearing and deep-sown. original Greek: ἵνα γε νοτὶς ἐπέρχεται γύας Δίρκας χλοηφόρος καὶ βαθυσπόρος. Whoever diligently considers the various readings in that place will, I hope, agree with me in correcting it thus:

where the moisture
of the beautifully-flowing water
reaches the greenery-bearing fields
of the deep-sown earth.
original Greek reconstruction: καλλιπόταμος ὕδατος ἵνα τε / νοτὶς ἐπέρχεται γύας / χλοηφόρος / γᾶς βαθυσπόρου.

Those who understand the logic of poetic language will grasp why it should be written this way, and not as on the greenery-bearing, deep-sown earth original Greek: χλοηφόρῳ γᾶς βαθυσπόρῳ. In the Medea, verses 821–822 of Porson’s edition Richard Porson (1759–1808) was a famous English classical scholar known for his editions of Euripides., the reading suffers twice in this regard, with the verses even proceeding without proper rhythm. I consider it sufficient to set down the passage as it seems to me it ought to be written:

O happy children of the gods of old,
sons of Erechtheus, from a sacred
and unravaged land, gathering
most glorious wisdom.
original Greek reconstruction: ὦ τὸ παλαιὸν Ἐρεχθεϊδᾶν θεῶν / ὄλβιοι παῖδες μακάρων, ἱερᾶς χώ- / ρας ἀπορθήτας ἀποφερβόμενοι / κλεινοτάταν σοφίαν.

It is now apparent what the excellent reading of the Florentine manuscript, unravaged original Greek: ἀπορθήτας, signifies. And it is even more apparent if one considers the passage in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, verse 1536, which Porson emended according to these verses of Euripides. In the first two verses, the common reading is clearly an interpretation interpretation: in textual criticism, this refers to a simpler explanation that accidentally replaced the original complex poetic text.

91—94. Tzetzes cites these in his manuscript commentary on the Iliad, folio 8. a., with no variation, except that above original Greek: ὑπὲρ was wrongly written for liver original Greek: ἧπαρ. The context in which Tzetzes uses this passage shows that the Argonautica Another poem attributed to Orpheus, telling the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece. was unknown to him, or at least unknown when he wrote this. For he writes thus: For Orpheus was a contemporary... original Greek: ὁ δὲ γὰρ Ὀρφεὺς ὁμόχρονος ἦν