Four Technopaegnia in Musaeus’ Hero and Leander

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses four newly discovered technopaegnia in Musaeus’s Hero and Leander. The author argues that they are interconnected and constitute a complex literary game that spreads almost over the whole poem. The characteristic elements of the technopaegnia discussed in the article are the apostrophes, their palindromic character, and the numbers 9 and 10. Based on the latter feature, the author tries to show that lines 1-10 hide references to the Pythagoreans’ teachings about the first ten numbers.