Pind. Nem. 11.11: Ἀρκεσίλαν or Ἁγησίλαν? Considerations Around a varia lectio

Abstract

This article focuses on the varia lectio Ἀγησίλαν provided by cod. B instead of Ἀρκεσίλαν, for Pind. Nem. 11.11. Ἀγησίλαν is usually rejected as unmetrical (Henry) or corrected into Ἁγεσίλαν (Maas), but the comparison with other Pindaric proper names – such as Ἁγησίας, Ἁγησίδαμος and Ἁγησίμαχος – suggests that we print Ἁγησίλαν (Schroeder). This form would provide a metrical responsion between hemm and cho cr which is attested also in Aristoph. Vesp. 274 Æ 282. By adopting Ἁγησίλαν, we should infer that the father of Aristagoras of Tenedos, the young laudandus of Nem. 11, was named Agesilaos: if so, we could not exclude that Aristagoras’ brother was Theoxenus, the other ‘son of Agesilaos’ (υἱὸν Ἁγησίλα) praised in Pind. fr. 123 Maehl., as Schneider first suggested.