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Sculpted Meanings, Talking Statues: Some Observations on Posidippus 142.12 A-B (=XIX G-P) Îαι εν Î ÏÎ¿Î¸Ï ÏÎ¿Î¹Ï Îηκε ÎιδαÏκαλιην
- American Journal of Philology
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 127, Number 4 (Whole Number 508), Winter 2006
- pp. 511-523
- 10.1353/ajp.2007.0009
- Article
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The aim of this paper is to contextualize Posidippus' Kairos epigram (=142 AâB) within the discursive strategies of representation enacted by Hellenistic ecphrastic poetry. From this perspective I will focus on the much-debated line 12 of the Kairos epigram, arguing for a possible metaphorical interpretation of καί á¼Î½ ÏÏοθύÏοιc θá¿ÎºÎµ διδακαλίην. This interpretation of line 12 sheds light also on Posidippus' involvement in the broader intellectual debates of his time and allows us to contextualize his epigram against the roughly coeval Epicurean reflection on the "right time."