Epitaph of Calethyce

Type of verse

• Type of verse: Dactílico (ritmo)
• Verse/line correspondence: No
• Prose/verse distinction: No

Epigraphic edition

Text divided into verses and metric signs

Siste gradum quicumque, precor, paulumque morare, lkk|l/l|lk/k|l/l|lkk|l~

[di]sces summisso carmina maesta sono: [l]l|ll|l||lkk|lkk|~

infelix primo flore sepulta soror, ll|ll|l||lkk|lkk|~

– – – – – –

5       mirum [‑ ‑ ‑] vivus, lx|[ln|ln|ln|lkk]|l~?

et bis ut undenos invida morte premor, lkk|ll|l||lkk|lkk|~

[‑ ‑ ‑ m]anibus aram [‑ ‑ ‑]ta in[‑ ‑ ‑] [ln]|lkk|l/x[|ln|lkk|l~]

[‑ ‑ ‑] funera nostra [- – -?] [ln|ln|l]||lkk|lk[k|l~] sed etiam [ln|ln|ln|ln|lkk]|lkk|l~

[‑ ‑ ‑]la quicumque vi[‑ ‑ ‑] [ln]|x/l|lk/x|[ln|lkk|l~]

10    [‑ ‑ ‑] cineri terra situsque [levis] [ln|l]kk|l||lkk|lk[k~]

[‑ ‑ ‑] miseris etiam solacia pra[estat – – – ?] [ln|l]/kk|l/kk|l/l|lkk|[l~]

[‑ ‑ ‑] laeta frequenter [ln|ln|ln|ln]|lkk|l~

infelix quod sum [‑ ‑ ‑] vide[- – -?] ll|ll|x||[lkk|lk]k|~ sed etiam ll|l/l|x[n|ln|lk]k|l[~]

– – – – – –

Translation

“Calethyce, twenty-two years old, (is buried here). Halt, whoever you are, I beg of you, and rest for a moment. You will hear a sad poem simply told1. My unfortunate sister has been buried in the flower of her youth (...) I was laid low by envious death at the age of twenty-two (...) an altar to the Manes (...) My death (...) whoever (sees it) (...): “may the earth rest lightly on your ashes” (...) (Offer) this consolation to the unhappy (...) Happily walk by here frequently (...), see how unhappy I am (...).”

Bibliography

Merchante, saec. XVIII, 42v. et 1771, 64v.; Gutiérrez Bravo 1771, 2, 409; Pérez Bayer 1782, 184v.; ex eis Hübner II 1094 (inde Bücheler, CLE 1195, cuius exemplum in linguam Hispanicam vertit Fernández Martínez 1998-99; Cholodniak 1904, 730; Ilewycz 1918, 73; Vives, ILER 5799–5800; Gil 1976, 573– 574; Vázquez Hoys 1982–1983, 128, 19; González Fernández, CILA II, 304); Martín Camacho, CLEB ES, SE7, qui in linguam Hispanicam vertit (HEp 2010, 287). – Cf. Sanders 1991, 470, 112; Hernández Pérez 2001a, 12–14, 47, 217, 220, 223, 243 et 293.

Apparatus

Versibus aliter diuisis Merchante. 1 Alethice Merchante, Aletyce Gutiérrez Bravo, Alethice González Fernández. – 3 sist]e Bayer; m[orare Bayer. – 4 regressum misso Merchante, Gutiérrez Bravo; moesta Merchante; s[ono Bayer. – 5 infoelix Merchante, Gutiérrez Bravo, [—]felix Bayer; palma Bayer; flore[ns] Cholodniak; soe-pulta Merchante, [—]uit[—] Bayer, González Fernández; sor[—] Bayer, González Fernández, In]felix p[ri]ma flor[ens aetate dol]or[em Cholodniak exempli causa suppl. – 6 [—] vivus tantum scripsit Gutiérrez Bravo, [—] mum [—] tantum scripsit Bayer, undecu]mum [annum ut vidi, orbant me fata parente] Bücheler exempli causa suppl. – 7 viva Merchante, Gutiérrez Bravo, VI Bayer, I Bayer; praemor Merchante, prem[—] Bayer, Cholodniak, González Fernández, premunt Bücheler, Cholodniak, González Fernández. – 8 non scripsit Gutiérrez Bravo; anirus Bayer; ara m[eis] Bücheler; M]anibus ara m[eis patroni hic es da]ta in [agris] Bücheler exempli causa suppl. – 9 omisit Gutiérrez Bravo, ossaque praeclaro] funera nostra [tenet] Bücheler exempli causa suppl. – 10 quicumque tantum scripsit Gutiérrez Bravo, González Fernández; vi[debit] suppl. Bücheler, [dicet praeteriens il]la(m) quicumque vi[debit] exempli causa suppl. Bücheler. – 11 dicatus sum cineri terra situsque quiesco Merchante, Gutiérrez Bravo, [Callityches] cineri terra sit usque [levis] exempli causa suppl. Bücheler. – 12 defecere misseris etiam solacia pia[—] Merchante, Gutiérrez Bravo, [flentibus hoc nostr]is (uel. hoc matris lacrimis) etiam solacia pra[estat] exempli causa suppl. Bücheler. – 13 interit laeta frrequenter Merchante, leta frequenter tantum scripsit Gutiérrez Bravo, González Fernández, et quod turb]a terit laeta freque[nter iter Bücheler exempli causa suppl. – 14 [—]oc quod tantum scripsit Bayer, carminis et decus h]oc, quod sum[mo tempore mortis] exempli causa suppl. Cholodniak. – 15 omisit Bayer, [sedibus hic pietas officiosa pietas] exempli causa suppl. Cholodniak. – 16 omisit Bayer.

Comentary

BAYER could no longer read ll. 11-12. 14. The readings of MERCHANTE and GUTIÉRREZ BRAVO are practically the same, but with a different arrangement. Given the notable differences between these two versions and BAYER’s, the two transcriptions are given together with the edition of the text.

Rhythm definitely dactylic, but with both hexameters and pentameters forming a correct distich; ll. 3-4, possible independent pentameters; l. 5, poorly constructed dactylic sequences. The loss of the stone makes it hard to be sure what the scheme of the epitaph was, but presumably there were pairs of distichs and a couple of independent pentameters in ll. 5 and 14, vid. Martín Camacho CLEB ES, 253-254. L. 1, Calethyce, with the erroneous forms <TH> for tau and <C> for kappa. L. 4, readings by Merchante and Gutiérrez Bravo force an enjambement which is odd for CLE; parallels for the proposed reading in CLE 471,6, CLE 1449. Summisso sono, as the complement to carmina maesta, refers to a simple style, close to natural speech, without artifice, cf. Plin. Ep. 3,13,4, Quint. Inst. 12,10,67 or CLE 485,1 and CLE 1823,4, as the complement to disces indicates reading in a low voice, cf. Quint. Inst. 1,8,1 and 11,3,45 or CLE 513,2-3 and CLE 1223,10. L. 5: primo flore topos of mors immatura, cf. CLE 472,1, CLE 1240,3. L. 6 vivus, perhaps referring to the brother of Calethyce (cf. l. 5, soror), also dead, buried and commemorated beside her, who was the one who took care of the details of the tomb while he lived, vid. Martín Camacho CLEB ES, 258-259.

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Photo author: J. Martín Camacho

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Author

• Author:J. Martín Camacho
• Last Update2024-02-26 23:37:37