Abstract

Among the remains of Archilochus is an iambic trimeter which is as mysterious as it is charming. Zenobius, who quotes it , says that it was written by Homer and used by Archilochus in his Epodes. If he is telling the truth, it must, as Bergk saw, come from the Margites. But its origin and original purpose need not now concern us. The important fact is that Archilochus used it, and we ought to be able to discover how he used it. What was his precise intention when he quoted or composed the line πλλ᾽ οδ᾽ λπη λλ᾽ χνος ν μγα, what was the contrast he drew between the Fox and the Hedgehog, and how did he make use of it? Zenobius gives two aids, but neither is so easy as it looks at first sight. First, he says that the proverb was used π τν πανουργοττων, and secondly he quotes as relevant some lines from the Phoenix of Ion of Chios about the hedgehog: λλ᾽ ν τε χρσ τς λοντος ᾔνεσα ἢ τς χνου μλλον οζυρς τχνας. ς ετ᾽ ν λλων κρεισσνων ρμν μθ, στρβιλος μΦ᾽ κανθαν ελας δμας κεîται δακεν τε κα θιγεν μχανος