Some Types of Scribal Error in Manuscripts of Pindar Young, Douglas Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1965; 6, 4; ProQuest pg. 247

Some Types of Scribal Error in 
Manuscripts of Pindar 

Douglas Young 

THE MEDIAEVAL PARADOSIS of Pindar's Odes offers some contrasts 
with the tradition of Aeschylus in the Oresteia, which I analysed 
recently in GRBS 5 (1964) 85-99. Whereas the Oresteia paradosis 

offers rather numerous examples of graphical confusions deriving 
from the uncial stage of transmission, the earlier extant manuscripts 
(veteres) of Pindar provide comparatively few indubitable instances. 
To be sure the oldest extant Pindar manuscript, B (Vat.gr.1312), 
though hard to date, even approximately, by its writing, seems to be 
nearly two centuries younger than M of Aeschylus; and the Pindar 
scholia derived from antiquity were substantially more bulky than 
those of Aeschylus: so that scholars of the eleventh and twelfth cen­
turies had more resources by which to amend the Pindar text, and in 
fact this seems to have undergone a good deal of contaminative correc­
tion. The veteres, with the possible exception of B, are all later in date 
than the activities of such scholars as the Tzetzes brothers and Eusta­
thius. Nonetheless, some uncial errors survive in them. 

As a basis for study of variants I took the group of manuscripts 
selected by Sir Maurice Bowra in his widely current edition, in which 
he followed largely the work of Schroeder: namely ABC D E G V, 
with less frequent citation of F I M N 0 P Q T and U. To Bowra's 
variants I added those given by A. Turyn, and a few of those noted 
by J. Irigoin in his Histoire du texte de Pindare (Paris 1952). 

Some uncial errors concern the round forms of epsilon, theta, omicron 
and sigma, EeOC. For example, at P 4.63 Bl offers 8vu€p6ov for the 
correct 8vuOp6ov, showing that a e had been misread as E. At N 7.6 
the correct {vy€vO' became in the Mss {vyov 0', in part probably from 
misreading of uncial E as 0, together with verbal associations. At 
P 3.80 B's €7Tlerat for €7Tlurat exemplifies misreading of round sigma C 
as uncial E. This happened, too, in POxy. 1614 at 0 6.90, €UUt] EECI. 
One or two variants among ancient Testimonia attest uncial confu-

2-G.R.B.S. 247 



248 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERROR IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

sions: at N 2.11 Crates's variant 8EpEtaV for OpEtaV may spring from 
misreading of round uncials; and at I 1.68 Chrysippus's aAaou1£ for 
aAAmat exemplifies the mistaking of A for A. 

The Pindaric paradosis, like the Aeschylean, manifests occasional 
confusion of sigma and gamma, which occurs in uncials but could also 
happen in some minuscule scripts, especially around A.D. 1300: e.g. 
P 1.10 Ka'TaaxoJLEVo~ ] Ka'TaYXOJLEVO~ plerique; N 3.5 aE8Ev ] YE8EV D; 
11.34 alaav ] alyav D; I 1.21 YEVO/-,EVOt ] aEVoJLEVOt D; N 11.18/-,EAtyoov-
7TOtat ] JLEAtaOOV7TOtat B. It may be noted that some of these are in the 
two less read and less edited books of odes, Nemeans and Isthmians, 
which had not been so much worked over by eleventh and twelfth 
century scholars. 

Some confusions of gamma, pi and tau are more likely to come from 
the uncial stage than the minuscule. At N 11.35 D has &v&'TWV for the 
correct avaywv. At N 7.33, for the manuscripts' yap I would read 7Tap 
(Hermann took 7Tapa from the scholia). At N 3.6 the development 
from 7Tpayos to D's 7TPW'TOS may have been through an intermediate 
uncial 7Tpa'TO~, with T for r. N 1.16 a7TE'ipE ] EyEtPE shows a double 
uncial confusion: round sigma was read as round epsilon, and pi as 
gamma. A somewhat rare uncial error appears at N 11.33 JLav ] ALav 
veteres. Here uncial M has been misread as AI, presumably after some 
fading of the ink. At P 2.78 B absurdly has 'TL o~ ol for 'TEAE8Et. On the 
whole, the scribe of B was a faithful copyist without ecdotic mentality; 
and the ultimate source of the corruption was probably somebody's 
misreading of uncial A as fj,. At I 8.77 D's curious xoa TTW may derive 
from Theiler's reading KOA7TC!!: if so, it is a case of uncial A being taken 
as A. I find astonishing the scarcity and dubiety in Pindar of examples 
of confusion among the uncial letters A fj, 1\ M N, which are so often 
sources of error in other traditions. At N 11.18 we find D has Aa£(SaA-
8EV'Ta for OatOaA8EV'Ta. This could be uncial error but may be ana­
grammatism. Again, types of alpha, delta and lambda are liable to be 
confused even in some minuscule writings. 

In considering errors caused in part by optical confusions in minus­
cule letter-forms, one must usually take account also of contributory 
influence from the copyist's thinking. Sometimes Hear" mistakes 
through errors in vocalisation operate simultaneously, e.g. where beta 
becomes upsilon, as at 0 2.86 Aa{3pot ] AaVpot A E prim.; 0 8.36 Aa{3pov ] 
Aavpov ACV; P 2.87 Aa{3pos ] Aavpo~ BDG; P 3.40 Aa{3pov ] Aavpov BE; 
P 4.244 Aa{3pO'Ta'Tav ] AaVpo'Ta'Tav E; N 8.46 7'E Aa{3pov ] 'TEAaVpOv B; 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 249 

N 7.32 &f3p6V ] Ctvpt,v D. In these beta becomes upsilon partly, or mainly, 
through the Byzantine assimilation in pronunciation of beta to the 
consonantalized upsilon in the diphthong, but there is also a graphical 
factor, through that form of minuscule beta that is often made like an 
upsilon with a final tail. This type of beta can also approximate to a 
form of kappa, confusion of which is partly responsible for the corrup­
tion at N 9.33, where KAE1TT€TCtt became D's f3AE1T€TCtL 

In some of the ill-formed minuscule hands of the Palaeologan 
renaissance one finds forms of beta and rho somewhat similar, whence 
perhaps the corruptions in D of O€VP' to O€vf3' at N 11.35 and of Ef3CtV 

to EPCtV at I 4.40. On the other hand, it is probably an <C ear" mistake 
whereby beta and mu are exchangeable, e.g. P 3.34 Botf3ta8o~ ] 

fLOtf3ta8os B; 09.8 fLEA€aaLV ] f3EAmatv E yp. V; N 6.51 KCtf3f3aS ] KCtfLf3as B. 
In the thirteenth century particularly a high gamma sometimes has 

a loop at the foot and resembles a form of minuscule delta in which the 
foot is skimpily written but the top is given a big flourish to the right. 
This graphical tendency may partly account for the corruption of 
oy' to 00' at a 10.45 (in 0) and P 2.41 (in E); but confusions of particles 
are common enough anyway. 

Exchangeability of a minuscule type of kappa with mu seems indi­
cated by N 3.9, D's aKas for afLa~; N 3.41, D's aTp€fL€'i for aTp€K€'i; 

N 10.4, D's KCtKpa for fLCtKpa. 

Resemblance of the type of nu on a leg to a rho may have influenced 
the corruptions at P 10.52 UAKCtp ] aAKav D Esup G and at 0 10.43 up' ] 

(Xv A. The minuscule nu not on a leg is often interchanged with upsilon, 
e.g. 16.9 KCtTCta1T€VO€tV ] KCtTCta1T€VO€tV D; N 10.47 OVT€ ] O~T€ D; N 11.20 
1Ta'Tpav T'] 1TCtTPCtVT' D; P 1.79 €~v8pov] EVVOpOV Cl; N 7.8 €~oogos] 
EVOOgO~ D; N 9.15 KCt1T1TCtvH ] KCt1T1TavH D; 17.51 €vCtV()ECt ] EvCtV()ECt D. 

Confusions occur of pi and tau, e.g. P 8.44 E1Tt1TPE1T€t ] €1TLTPE1TH DV; 
o 3.41TOt ] TOt D; N 9.241TCtfLf3LCf. ] TafLf3la D; N 9.38 mxp1Toolov ] TCtp1TO­
olov D; I 4.71 avCtT€,\,\ofL€vCt ] avCt1T€,\,\ofL€vCt D. One may also note con­
fusions arising from the combinations nn and TIT, as at 0 16.69 av' 

i1T1TOtat ] avl1TTotat A; P 4.201 EVL1TTWV ] EV i1T1TWV C prim.; N 9.22 t1T1T€LOtS] 

L1TT€LOtS D. There is a form of minuscule pi that is apt to look as if it 
starts with a ligatured sigma, and this can give rise to confusions, as 
at N 10.32 v1TaTov ] vaTCtToV D; N 7.26 E1TCtg€ ] Ea1Tag€ D. 

The ligature sigma+ tau may be mistaken for a simple tau, as at 
N 2.10 Ean ] En TV; N 9.47 OUK Ean ] oUKEn B. Conversely, a tau can 
give rise to the ligatured sigma+ tau, as at 0 2.70 ET€t'\CtV ] eaT€t'\Ctv 



250 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERROR IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

vett. An odd case is I 7.43, where Mss offer aUrTOS for atpos. An ill­
written sigma seems to have been misread as a delta at 17.36, where D 
has ~ATTt8w for EATTtaw. A phi turned into a theta at N 8.26 in D, with 
t/J&JJo£s for t/Jacpo£s. Theta can develop to sigma+ theta, as at 0 1.92 
KAdJELS] KAtaOEts E; N 7.93 wO' ] waO' B, though here there is also an 
element of trivialization. 

An interesting class of error comes from confusion of the ligature 
epsilon+ upsilon with a type of minuscule alpha, as at P 4.203 &gEtvoV ] 
EVgEtVOV CD; N 1.14 EVKapTTov ] &KapTTov D; N 5.27 gvvava ] gvvEliva B. 
Ligatures starting with alpha and epsilon can be confused, e.g. 0 11.8 
aYKE£Ta£ ] EYKE£Ta£ Mss; P 1.34 &pXOP.EVOVS ] ~PXOP.EVOVS C; P 8.6 Epfa£ ] 
apfa£ v. 

The use of a compendium for TTaTpt has caused an error at 0 10.86, 
where C wrote TTPLV, derived from the antigraph's TTpt, but later cor­
rected it. Errors can arise from an antigraph's abbreviation, e.g. at 
N 10.48, where D's AVKat must come from misinterpretation as an 
accent of the oblique stroke standing for the terminal -ov in the anti­
graph's writing of AVKawv; and at I 5.44, where the text's vaaov 
appears in D in the form VaaL. Here the antigraph's abbreviating 
stroke for -ov has been misread as an iota. 

There are a few examples of minor dittography, e.g. 02.63 {3tOTOV] 
{3tOTOVTOV C; P 8.67 £KOVT£ ] £KOVKOVTL G; N 10.69 ~cpopp.aOELs ] ~cpopp.a­
p.aBELs B; N 11.26 JvoaT7Ja' &vTL7TaAWV ] EvoaT7JaavT' &VTL7TaAWV D. 

A curious case is N 7.88, cpLA~aavT' ] cp£p.taavT' D. It recalls an error 
in the early tenth century Ms A of Theognis, at 1377, where we find 
CPLP.OV for cptAWV. It seems that the attachment of the minuscule lambda 
to the following letter made it look like mu. In order that this result 
should have been reached in D's cpLp.taavT', some ancestor must have 
made an itacist error, iota for eta, and the minuscule At had then been 
read as p.L. Here we have a two-stage corruption, which is compara­
tively rare in any paradosis, though would-be emenders frequently 
assume them. 

Aural confusions are common, arising from the copyist's mental 
self-dictation, concurrent with the process of interpreting the group 
of letters in his antigraph and writing it down in the apograph. Most 
of these "ear" mistakes affect vowels and diphthongs, and many of 
them are classifiable as itacism. Confusion of iota and eta is frequent, 
as at 04.13 iKEL ] ~KEL AD; 05.10 iKWV] ~KWV A; P 4.126 lKEV] ~KEV B; 
P 6.43 TTaptKE£ ] TTap~KEt DG; 03.45 p.w ] p.~v AB; P 6.54 Tp7JTOV ] TptTOV 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 251 

V prim.; 06.69 K'rtan ] KT~an N; 09.45 KTlaaaaOav ] KT~aaaOav pIer.; 
o 10.25 ExrtaaaTo ] EKT~aaTo C prim.; 0 13.83 KTlutv ] KTfjaw vett.; 
P 6.50 Tlv ] T~V D; N 4.35 OtYEfLEV ] 07]YEfLEV D. 

Iota and the sound H may be interchanged, as at N 7.25 lOEfLEV ] 

€UU/.uv Mss; N 6.20 Tpds ] TPL~ Mss. Iota and upsilon become confused, 
e.g. VLV ] VVV at P 6.19 (B) and P 9.6 (B corr. D Cl); P 3.21 CPVAOV ] cpLAOV 

E prim.; P 5.8 fLETaVLUEat ] fLETavVUEat E; P 5.112 OPVtgtV ] opvvgtV DC, 
and in due course ~vvgw <1>. Upsilon can become eta, P 8.41, V's 1}A7]{}OV 

from 1}AV{}OV. One finds confusion of Et, Ot, v, t, 7], Vt with some strange 
results, as N 9.4~ aoto~ ] aUoa D; P 9.36 KAVTtXV ] KAELTeXV pIer.; P 11.32 
KAELTaLS] KAvTaLS V; 07.48 a7TlJpOLS] a7TdpoLS A; 06.1 EUTELXEL] 

EVTVXEL C; P 5.85 EVOVKEWS ] EVOtKEWS E; P 10.52 XOLpaSos ] XEtpaSos V; 
N 1.17 Z7T7TaLXfLov] v7TaLXfLov D; I 6.23 atH ] ailEL Mss; N 7.47 7TOAV{}VTOLS] 

7TOAV{}VT7]S D; N 8.33 OfLOCPOtTOS ] OfLOCPVTOS B; N 9.23 EpELuafLEVOL ] 

EpvuafLEvoL D; N 9.24 VWYVLOV ] VEOy~ovS D; I 4.66 07TVLEt ] d7r~EL D; 
P 9.32 KEXElfLavTaL ] KExvjLaVTaL D; P 5.12 TOL ] n CV; P 5.12 SE TOL ] 

S' ETL BDEC; 17.440 TOt] on D. 
The assimilation in sound of at and E leads to further confusions, as 

N 10.2 VjLVELTE ] vfLvELTaL D; I 8.69 yEpaLpEn: ] yEpatpETaL D; P 2.4 
f3aaaawt ] f3aawt C; 03.17 aiTEL ] ETEt Dl; P 4.233 EOAEL ] alOAAEL Mss; 
o 10.73 7TapaUJvgE ] 7TapE87]gE ABO; 0 12.12 7TE8afLEL!fav ] 7Ta'i8' eXjLEL!fav 

A; 0 13.79 0' <f ] oat CD prim., S~ BC prim.; P 3.81 SalonaL ] SEonaL E; 
I 5.38 7TE860EV ] 7TatSo{}Ev D; N 3.75 alwv ] EWV B; KE ] Ka, at 0 1.82 
(C prim. E), 06.6 (A), 0 10.20 (pler.), P 3.111 (Cl V). 

Aural confusions in the sounding of consonants are fewer than those 
involving vowels and diphthongs; but they do occur, as at 0 13.7 
OjLOTPOCPOS ] OjLOTP07TOS pIer.; 0 9.2 KEXAaSws ] KEKAaSws A. There can 
be confusion of liquids, as in P 2.80 EpKOS ] EAKEOS Cl; P 4.65 fLEpOS ] 

fLEAOS C prim.; P 3.9 7Tp'V] 7TA~V E. Miscellaneous errors include 0 8.44 
{3apvyoov7TOV ] {3apvKTv7TOV A; N 11.26 afL7TAaKLOv ] afL{3AaKLOv B; 0 14.2 
KaAAL7TwAOV ] KaAAl{3wAov C prim.; P 4.24 aYKv pav ] ayyv pay D prim. E; 
o 11.16 EyyvaaofLat ] EYKvaaOfLat EO. 

Clusters of consonants were liable to be simplified by the scribes, 
thus: 0 1.53 A€AOYX€ ] A€AOX€ CENU; 0 2.87 7TaYYAwualq, ] 7TaYAwaala 

D, 7TaYKAwalaL C prim; 0 7.31 7TapE7TAay~av ] 7TapE7TAagav D; P 1.1 
cpoPfLLyg] cpoPI.Ltg D; P 3.22 7Ta7TTaLVEL ] 7Ta7Talv€L C; P 4.72 aKafL7TToLs ] 

aKafL7ToLs C; P 4.176 cpOpfLtYKTCtS ] CPOpfLLKTtXS BDEC; P 8.31 cp{}EYfLan ] 

OEYfLan E; P 12.31 a€A7TTLCf ] a€A7Tla B; N 9.52 {}€fLt7TA€KTOLS ] {}EfLL-

7TA€TOtS D; 12.8 apyvpw{}ELaaL ] ayvpwOELaaL D; 12.39 7TPOUE7TTVKTO ] 



252 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERROR IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

1TPOUE7TVK'TO D; I 4.63 1TOpO/LOV ] 1TOO/LOV D; 0 6.33 f1PECPO~ ] f1ECPO~ E; 
N 7.18 f1A&.f1€V] A&.f1€V D; I 5.361TP&'OOV] 1T(},Oov D; P 4.217 JK8,8&'UK7JU€v] 
E8,8&'UK7JU€ B. 

Less commonly a scribe might complicate further a consonantal 
cluster, e.g. 0 7.2 KaXA&"muav ] KayXA&"owav A; 0 12.18 a/L€pu€ ] 
a/L€p!fr€ N; P 4.14 aAmA&'K'TOV BG ] aAmA&'YK'TOV EV, aAmA€YK'TOV C; 
17.22 aiuxwl' ] aiux()wv D. 

Consonants specially liable to drop out were mu and nu, but they 
were about equally liable to intrude erroneously. For loss of mu con­
sider 0 8.44 1T€/LcpOEV ] 1T€CP()EV C; 0 9.73 €JLf1aA€l' ] €f1aA€V V; P 3.108 
a/LcpE1TOV'T' ] acpE1TOV'T' V; P 4.62 a/LcpavEV ] acpav€v C; P 10.27 a/Lf1a'To~ ] 
a/La'To~ V; N 8.30 aA€ g '/Lf1P0'T<tJ ] aA€ 6f1po'TW D; I 5.65 UV/L11'€/L!frOV ] 
UV/L11'€!frOV B. Contrariwise mu is added at 0 4.9 &f3plJLov ] &JLf3plJLov 

CEV; P 4.237 acpwv~'T<tJ ] u/LCPWV~'TW C; N 10.74 cppluuoV'Ta 1Tl'Oa~ ] 
cppluuov'T' u/L11'voa~ B; I 1.61€1Top€l' ] €/L1TOP€V B. 

Examples of the loss of nu are somewhat more numerous: 0 10.51 
VWVVJLvos ] l'wvvJLo~ (-01') vett.; 0 10.64 €v()Vl' 'TOl'Ol' ] €v()V'TOVOl' Mss; 
o 12.2 'I/LEpal' ] fI/LEpa pier.; 0 13.467Tol'nal' ] 7TOnal' BG prim.; P 4.27 
al'u1T(xuav'T€~ ] aU11'&.ual''T€~ V; P 5.33 ScfJS€K' Ul' SPO/LWl' ] SWO€KaopO/LWl' 
CEV, ovcfJO€Ka 0PO/LWl' BOG; P 5.40 Ul'OP'&'V'T' ] aop'&'v'T' CV; P 9.41 

u/LCPavOOl' ] a/LcpaSol' Mss; P 10.57' I11'11'OKAEal' ] , I11'11'oKAEa pier.; N 5.52 
?TUK'Tal' ] 11'VK'Ta D; N 6.41 Ul' ] eX V; N 7.65 1TE1TO'()'· €l' 'T€ ] 1TE11'O'()E 'T€ 0; 
I 4.7 ~v ] cL 0; I 8.69 UV V&.1TO~ ] Ul'&.11'O~ 0; I 1.25 011'0'T' EV ] 011'0'T€ Mss. 
At N 8.44 D offers 1Tlu'Tav, B 7Tlu'Ta, and perhaps one should read 
/LaU'T€V€L D€ Kat. 'TEP!frL~ €v OJLJLaUL ()Eu()aL 7Tlu'T' avo Aorist infinitive with 
av depending on a verb of wishing is found at Thuc. 7.61 and Ar. 
Nub. 1130. 

To compensate for their omissions of an occasional nu, the scribes 
insert one wrongly about as often, as at 0 1.59 u7T&'Aa/LOV ] a11'&'Aa/LvOv 
vett.; 010.80 11'vp7T&'Aa/L0l'] 7TVp7T&'Aa/LvoV C; 08.16 1Tpocpa'TOv] 1TpocpaV'Tov 
vett.; 0 9.65 tJ1TEpcpa'TOl' ] tJ1TEpcpal''TOl' V; P 2.51 €KaJL!fr€ ] €Kl'aJL!fr€ C; 
P 4.72 aK&./L11''TO'~ ] aKl'&'JL7TTOLS pier.; P 4.126 ' AJLv()&.v ] aJLvv()&'v B; 
P 10.17 KAvTaL/L~U'Tpa~ ] KAV'TaLJL~U'Tpas Mss; N 10.6 fY11'€P/L~U'Tpa ] 

{J1T€P/L~UTpa D; N 3.50 E()aJLf3€Vv ] €v OaJLf3€vv 0; N 4.77 11'&''TpaV iv' ] 
mX'Tpav VLV Mss; N 10.64 JJL~UaVT' ] JJLV~uavT' 0, JJLv~ua'T' B; P 10.54 
aAAO'T' ] aAAov 'T' E; P 11.39 JLE ] /LEV EF; P 4.198 UV'T&'vU€ ] av'T&'vvu€ 
C prim.; P 5.50 7T€'T0 V'T€UULV ] 7T€V'TOl''T€UULV E; I 7.41 €11'EtJL' ] E7T€l JLLV D; 
N 3.30 JL&'T€VE ] JLanEvE D. 

Omissions of whole words and longer passages are noted in Pindar, 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 253 

as in other authors. The book of Isthmian Odes is incomplete, an extra 
fragment of a further ode being found only in the manuscript D. 
Most of the omissions are of small words, for example 20 omissions of 
'T£ or T', 13 of Oe or 0',8 of Kat, and 14 of other particles; 17 of €V and 9 
of other prepositions; 9 of articles; 9 of pronouns. These figures are 
unlikely to be complete, because editors do not always report every 
trivial omission. For example, of the 13 omissions of Oe or 8' I do not 
find any in the Nemeans or Isthmians. But the relative frequency of 
omission of particular words or types of word is not likely to be 
seriously misleading. 

Connective particles are particularly liable to be omitted, especially 
'T£ or T', dropped 20 times: at 0 1.41 (pIer.), 0 1.79 (U), 0 1.87 (CN), 
o 2.83 (N), 0 5.7 (G), 06.17 (A), 0 6.43 (A), 0 8.77 (B), 0 10.43 (C), 
010.93 (GNO), 0 13.106 (G), P 2.41 (G), P 4.135 (B), N 1.56 (U), N 4.19 
(D), N 6.39 (B), N 7.22 (Mss), 14.15 (D), 14.77 (Mss), 18.41 (D). 

The 13 omissions of OE or 0' are at 0 2.2 (CDG), 0 2.5 (A), 0 4.6 (C), 
07.11 (A), 07.61 (N), 07.64 (N), 09.89 (A), 0 10.69 (EF), 0 10.76 (E), 
010.99 (Mss), P 3.39 (D), P 8.13 (V), P 11.54 (V). It may be noted how 
rarely these omissions occur in all our manuscripts: so that the con­
siderable totality of omissions must be seen in perspective. Taken as 
a whole, the Pindar paradosis for the Odes is sound and dependable. 
Schroeder correctly called it "satis bonam librorum Pindaricorum 
condicionem" (Preface to his third Teubner edition [1930]). 

The 8 omissions of KaL occur at 07.26 (A), 09.68 (D), 0 10.15 (EF), 
o 12.13 (0), P 2.50 CD), P 10.15 (EF), P 10.46 (E), N 1.30 (U). 

There are 4 omissions of ftEV, at 07.73 (B), 0 13.104 (G), P 1.22 (V), 
P 8.64 (V); 2 of yap , at 06.54 (C), N 3.3 (D); 2 of TOt, at 09.21 (A) and 
P 3.85 (CEV); one of <Xv at 0 11.20 (Mss); 3 of KE(V), at 0 1.109 
(CD), P 3.76 (E), P 10.29 (Mss); and 2 of yE, at P 3.98 (D) and 
N 10.33 (D). 

Haplography accounts for three omissions of €v: at 0 4.26 (AN), 
07.12 (pIer.), and N 3.38 (Mss). Fourteen unmotivated omissions of €V 
occur at 09.76 (CO), 09.86 (N), 0 10.82 (NO), 0 13.33 (E), a 13.47 (C), 
P. 2.65 (E), P 3.64 (vett.) , P 3.90 (E), P 4.16 (DG), P 4.223 (C), P 11.46 
(vett.), N 1.69 (Mss), N 3.72 (V), I 5.5 (D). €~ is omitted 4 times, at 
08.47 (B), 0 10.12 (G), P 1.70 (pIer.), P 10.30 (G); avv twice, at P 11.20 (V) 
and N 10.38 (Mss); and there is one omission of each of the following 
prepositions: a7T6 P 8.41 (V); €7Tl 0 8.84 (C); and ftETa 0 2.34 (E). 

Parts of the definite article are omitted thus: J at N 3.75 (Mss); 



254 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERRORS IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

TO P 8.93 (D) and 12.9 (Mss); TOV 16.32 (D); Tav 07.13 (C); ot P 9.109 
(V); Ta 0 13.98 (EG) and 0 14.6 (C). 

Pronouns omitted are: os 08.16 (BG); (1E 4 times, at 0 12.16 (pler.), 
P 2.66 (Mss), P 4.1 (E) and N 5.43 (Mss);fLLV N 10.34 (D); iv, by hap log­
raphy, at P 1.37 (Mss); TLS P 8.8 (V); and TL at 0 1.28 (B) and 0 8.77 (B). 

Monosyllabic words omitted are (!J at 0 14.13 (Mss), P 12.3 (D) and 
N 3.1 (BV); and XP~ at P 4.141 (Cl). 

Disyllabic words omitted are 0 10.97 (V) €{}vos; P 4.132 (E) )..oyov; 
N 11.41 (B) 1TAOVTttJ ; I 4.34 (B) IlKPOV; 06.45 (C) cnhov; P 1.44 (V) €~W ; 
P 2.59 (E) 1]OTj ; P 4.64 (pler.) WTE; 02.27 (E) c/>LAE'i; P 11.57 (pler.) €(1XEV; 
I 8.14 (Mss) fJ>.i1TELV. Uncertain disyllables are omitted at I 2.10 and 
I 6.36 by the Mss there. Haplography accounts for loss of IlAAOLS at 
11.47 in B before IlAAos, and for loss of €T' at P 10.69 (Mss). The other 
omissions are not obviously explicable. 

Trisyllabic omissions include: P 4.180 (BlDG) {}EfL€{})..OLS; P 12.7 
(vett.) ropyovwv; N 1.52 (vett.) c/>aayavov; 0 11.1 (V) a V{}pW1TOLS , by 
homoeoarcton; 06.51 (Gl) YEVEd:V; P 3.42 (F) fJapEtCf and P 4.231 (C) 
XPV(1€ttJ, both by homoeoteleuton; P 5.118 (Mss) ofLoia (for which the 
manuscripts have an inadequate stopgap, c1J); N 9.18 (D) al(1uxv; 
N 6.25 (Mss) 1TAEOVWV; 0 10.35 (V) 01TL(1{}EV; 0 11.10 (Mss) ofLotws; 
P 11.49 (V) 1]AEy~av. At N 6.17 the manuscripts omit a trisyllabic verb, 
perhaps amxYEv, which could have been lost by homoeoarcton. An 
uncertain trisyllable is omitted by all at N 9.17, and a quadrisyllable 
at N 10.84. 

Omissions of more than one word include: 0 2.58 (N) T~OE .dLOS; 
o 3.35 (N) (1VV fJa{}v{wvoLO; P 8.24 (D) 0' €XEL; I 4.2-3 (D) '/(1{}fLtOLS, 
flfLETEpas; and I 6.52 (D) OV alTELs. Two lines are omitted by D at 
N 11.22-23. 

In rough compensation some, and rarely all, of the Mss contain 
additions to the text. Most of these are of small words, in the same 
categories as those omitted. For example, there seem to be some 21 
additions of TE or T' ; 20 of 01 or 0'; 12 of €v; and 6 of Kat. The motiva­
tion of the addition is usually clear enough from the context; occa­
sionally it is to avoid hiatus at a place that the copyist did not realise 
to be a verse-end, where hiatus is licit. 

Additions of TE or T' occur at 03.94 (A), 6.55 (A), 6.68 (pler), 6.100 (C), 
7.10 (N 0), 8.47 (A), 9.80 (A), 10.9 (AC), 13.29 (0), 13.115 (Mss), 
14.5 (C); P 1.70 (DGV), 4.97 (E), 9.14 (E), 9.101 (vett.), 10.38 (D), 
10.58 (B); N 1.37 (Mss), 7.19 (Mss), 10.48 (vett.); 18.27 (D). 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 255 

The 20 additions of OE or 0' are found at 0 1.71 (vett.), 2.2 (AEV), 
6.72 (pIer.), 6.74 (Mss), 9.86 (D), 10.51 (C), 10.71 (Mss), 13.97 (Mss); 
P 2.72 (Mss), 2.89 (vett.), 3.105 (Mss), 4.55 (Mss), 4.179 (Mss), 8.43 (vett.), 
8.77 (vett.); N 1.4 (U), 3.72 (Mss), 6.8 (Mss); 8.37 (B); 15.54 (Mss). 

Six additions of Ka.t are seen at 0 1.108 (E), 9.57 (A); P 4.182 (E), 
5.69 (Mss), 8.88 (B), 10.5 (E). 

There are 5 additions of ye or y' : 0 6.50 (A), 6.100 (A); P 3.88 (Mss); 
N 3.53 (Mss); I 5.2 (Mss). Additions of f.LEv occur thrice: 0 4.28 (A), 
10.91 (vett.) , 12.5 (G). One finds yap added at 0 8.65 (A) and av at 
N 6.50 (Mss). 

The 12 additions of EV were noted at 02.61 (B), 2.62 (Mss), 12.18 (A), 
13.107 (B), 14.17 (Mss); P 1.35 (DEG), 3.102 (BDEG), 4.65 (BDG), 
8.28 (pIer.). 11.57 (Mss); N 1.63 (Mss), 3.46 (Mss). 

Seven other prepositions are found added, among them ES thrice: 
at 06.23 (B); P 4.129 (pIer.), 5.77 (pIer.). The other instances are: ava 

P 11.56 (DEGN); a7To 0 10.67 (B); EK I 8.58 (Mss); E7T{ 17.36 (Mss); 7Tapa 

03.9 (B); avv P 11.53 (Mss). Among articles and pronouns added are 
'TOV 0 13.18 (N); 'TWV 0 8.86 (C); 7"tS N 7.16 (Mss); 7"t 16.42 (Mss). 
Monosyllables added are <os P 1.32 (D); clJ N 9.31 (D); Zeus 0 7.49 
(Mss), clearly a gloss; 7Ta'is 02.77 (Mss), from the scholia; Xp~ P 11.42 
(Mss), to make sense after the misdivision at 41 of 'TO SJ: uov into 'TO 
S' E7"EOV. 

Disyllabic words added are 0 7.81 (G) 'Tav'Ta; 09.83 (A) aEL; 0 13.52 
(F) Mywv; 14.35 (vett.) 'TEA.OS; I 4.64 (vett.) Ott; 04.11 (D) Vf.LVOV; 08.9 (A) 
€XWV, the result of the scribe's taking the vocative &A.aos for an accusa­
tive; P 6.50 (Mss) 7TaaatS, an error through somebody's having inter­
preted oprAIL as the noun opya'is instead of the verb opyi!s. 

Trisyllables added include P 1.92 (Mss) 7TE'TaaatS; P 6.46 (Mss) 
a7Taaav (cf the addition of 7TaaatS four lines later); 0 1.73 (V) KaA.Ewv; 

o 2.62 (A) af.Lox8ov (a gloss); 0 13.107 (B) apa'To; 0 9.99 (A) f.LEf.LtK'TaL, 
after ayA.atawtv, by memory of 0 1.91. The quadrisyllable rHpaKA.€'Y]S 
is added at 0 10.25. In about half of these additions an ecdotic or a 
glossing mentality is clearly at work. The addition or substitution of 
glosses will be discussed later. 

The faithful but uncritical scribe of B has several double writings: 
of one word at N 9.33; 3 words at N 7.30; 4 at N 9.49 and 4 at N 9.53; 
7 at N 7.31f; and 16 at I 4.48. These are all in the less worked over 
Nemeans and Isthmians. 

Transpositions of word-order occur in the manuscripts, the great 



256 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERRORS IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

majority being of pairs of words immediately adjacent: these can be 
listed briefly by mentioning the words of the correct text, as editors 
reconstitute it, followed by the sigla of manuscripts that transposed 
the words. 0 3.29 EAacPov 07}AEtaV CN; a 6.82 Atyvpar; aKovar; Bergk, to 
avoid hiatus, as in the Mss; 0 7.93 EXEt OaAlar; A; 0 7.94 /LLfi. /Lolpo/­
pIer.; a 8.43 cPa.a/La AEYEt 0; 0 10.22 Travpol TWEr; DEGV; 0 10.35 
'ETrE£WV {3aa£AEVr; BDEGV; 0 10.79 vlKar; aYEpwxoV 0; 0 13.22 J,v SE ] 
S' J.v N; P 2.52 1TapESwK'· J,/LE SE ] 1TapESwKE S' J,/LE E; P 2.78 /La.Aa TOVTO 
CV; P 4.171 TPELs aKa/LaVTO/La.xa£ C; P 4.280 /LEyapov B&TToV Mss; 
P 5.23 aE /L-YJ Mss; P 5.70 "ApYEt TE ] T' apYEt V; P 6.44 vvv SE Mss; 
P 8.97 cPEYYos ETrEaTW Mss; P 11.34 YEpovTa gEVOV Vett.; N 6.27 aKo1Tov 
aVTa Mss; N 7.4 aSEAcPEav J,Aa.XO/LEV B; N 7.43 SE TrEp£aaU Mss; N 7.81 

8p60v V/LVWV pIer.; N 8.31 J,v 1ToAvcPOOPOLS Mss; N 10.48 XELPWV TE D; 
I 1.47 aAAo£s aAAos D; I 4.70 T€KE oi Mss; I 4.73 TEP/L' aEOAwv ] a€OAwv 
TEp/La Mss; I 7.8 7I"VKvaLS, TE£pEalao ] TEtpEalao 7I"VK£vaLs Mss; I 8.41 

XElpaS "ApE£ D. 
I 8.36 yovov avaKTa TraTpas TEKELV of the Mss should not be trans­

posed, with Ahlwardt, for the text will scan as a glyconic, either with 
double short base, or by lengthening the -ov of yovov, as Fennell allows. 

A few transpositions involve more than pairs of juxtaposed words: 
o 1.65 1TpofjKav viav a8avaTol oi] Oi1TpofjKav viav aOavaTOt vett.; P 1.42 

aocPo;' Ka;' XEpai] XEpai Kcxi aOcPoi C; P 9.24 1Tavpov €1Ti yAEcPa.POLS V1TVOV ] 
V1TVOV €1Ti {3AEcPapo£s 1Tavpov V; N 7.37 1TAayx8EvTEs S' ELS 'EcPvpav 
iKOVTO ] iKOVTO S' ELS • E</>vpav 1TAayxOEvTES Mss. At P 12.29 F and V ante 
COfT. write the phrase 7]TO£ aa/LEpov Sal/Lwv after the word xpovos, 
which is the eighth word later. 

Anagrammatism, or disordering of the letters of a word, may occur 
at any stage, in uncials or minuscules, as witness 0 1.57 av TOL Fennell ] 
Tav oi Mss; 0 8.46 TEpTaTOLS (Ahrens)] TETpaTo£s pIer., TETapToLS C; 
P 4.47 TETpa.TWV ] TETa.p-rWV E; 0 6.33 1TopaalvELV ] 1TpoaalvELV E; 
o 10.55 1Topaw ] 1Tpoaw vett.; 0 13.10 Opaav/LvOov ] OpaavOv/Lov C; 
P 4.232 KPOKOEV ] KPOKEOV pIer.; P 8.45 OaEO/Lat ] OEa.O/LaL DG. P 9.116 

aX7}aOL ] axol<nJ E; P 11.23 XOAov ] AOXov V; N 10.69 aVExaaaav ] av€axa­
aav D ; N 10.87 tm€VEpOEV ] lJ1T€pvE8EV B; N 11.30 E{3aAov ] €Aa{3ov B; 
N 11.42 oV-rws EOVOS ] oihw aOEvos Mss; I 6.36 KVP'YJaEv ] K7}pVaaE B; 
06.21 €1TLTP€I/JOVTt ] €1TLTEpI/JOVTt A; N 5.17 aTpEK-YJS ] aTEpK-YJS D; P 1.63 
€KYOVOL ] €YKOVO£ E; P 4.79 €K1TayAos ] J,K1TAayLOS C prim.; P 9.12 J,paTuv ] 
apETuv G; P 9.15 KAEEWaLS ] KEAEwaLs G; N 9.16 avSpoSa/LaJIT' ] avSpo­
/LaSavT' D; N 9.51 apYVpEa£aL ] apyvpalEa£ D. Particularly common are 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 257 

anagrams of the syllables Kap- and Kpa-: 0 13.16 KapotaLS ] KpaotaLS G; 
N 1.54 KpaoLa ] KapoLa Mss; 0 13.81 Kap7'aL7ToO' ] KpaTaL7Too' vett.; 
o 13.95 KapTVV€LV ] KpaTvvHv DEV; P 11.18 KpaT€pav] KapT€paV pIer.; 
I 5.31 KpaT€pot] KapTEpot BD; I 7.10 KapTEpa~ ] KpaTEpa~ D; I 6.38 

Kap'f'€pa{XILaV ] KpaT€pa{Xllav D; 0 1.97 awpt {3{OTOV ] allcfn{36rrrov A 
instantiates metathesis of sounds along with itacism and misdivision. 

Seven examples of anagrammatism affect proper names: 0 6.84 
lJTvp.cpaALs ] uTap.cpvA,,s E; 0 9.22 ' 07T()€VTOS ] o7TCfoVTOS E; 0 13.109 
lJLKVWV] UVKtwv E; N 6.45 cJ>AwvvTos] CPLAoiJvTos B; N 9.17 OlKA€Loa] 
lOKA€Loa B; N 10.24 OVALa ] aALov D corr.; N 10.61 AVyK€VS ] yAVK€VS D. 

Names are somewhat liable to be confused by the scribes, as at 
o 1.78 l' AALv ] aOAtv C; 03.38 ' Ep.p.€v{oeXLS ] €vp.€VLOatS A; 05.12 "QavLv ] 
oavov AEG; 06.29 Kpov{cp ] KPOVLWVt E; 06.99 lJTvp.cpaALWv ] uTvp.cpa­
ALoos 0; 0 6.100 ' ApKao{as ] apKeXoas C; 0 7.85 BotWTLWV ] {30LWTWV 
BEG, {3oLwTLa~ C; 07.93 ' Epanoav] EpauuLoav vett.; 09.112' IA,eXoa ] 
o;:ALeXoa AN; 0 10.17 "IAa ] lbAa ACE; a 10.66 MLolae€v ] JLTjola()€v A; 
o 10.70 lJap.os WALpo()tov ] uap.' (XALpO()tOV pIer.; 0 13.42 T€pt/JLf! e' ] 
Tlpt/JLEs pIer.; 0 13.109 AlaKLoav ] aloALowv N; 0 14.17 ' Auw7TLXoV ] 
auw7TLov E; P 1.62 llaJLcpvAov ] 7TaJLcpLAov V; P 1.65 ' Ap.vKAa~ ] aJLeXKAas 
V; P 1.72 Tvpuavwv ] Tapuavwv G; P 1.78 M~O€LOL ] p.ijOOt CDGV; P 3.34 
BoL{3LeXOOS ] P.OL{3LeXOOS B; P 4.49 MVKavav ] p.TjKvvav CD; P 4.160 cJ>PLgOS] 
cppvgos E; P 4.179 "EPVTOV ] €VPVTOV Mss; P 8.20 Llwpt€t ] OWP€t E; 
P 9.65' AptaTaWv ] apLUT€tOV E; P 9.106 "lpaua ] tpauuav Mss; P 10.16 
$ptK{av] cppvK{av E; N 5.12 ' Evoatoos ] €voato€os D; N 5.30' AKeXUTOV ] 
aKeXuTa D; N 7.29 Z€cpvpow ] {€cpvP€O D; N 9.13 'Ap.cptapij ] ap.cpteXpTjov 
Mss; N 10.48 AVKawv ] AVKa't D; N 10.56 eEpeX7Tvas ] eEpa7Tlas D; N 11.11 
, ApKEu{Aav ] aYTjuLAav B; I 5.33 E7T' EvpwTa ] E7T€pWTa D; I 7.15 Al­
y€toat ] alO€tUeaL D; I 8.74 ' AAKa()oov ] eXAKeX()ov D. 

Patronymic endings are apt to go wrong, as at P 5.28 BaTTtOaV ] 
BaTTLaOaV vett.; N 4.47 T€AaJLwvLCxoas ] T€AaJLwv{oas V; N 8.12 ll€Ao-
7TTjtaOat ] 7T€Ao7TTj{oat Mss; 16.38 ' AP.CPtTPVWVteXoav ] eXP.CPtTpVwvLoav B; 
18.56' ATp€LOatUL ] aTpEaOatat Mss. At N 6.31 Didymos had a variant, 
BovoLoaLUtV, for Bauutoatutv of the paradosis, which raises a query. 

Misdivision was a source of error, often accompanied by aural con­
fusions, as at 02.16 EV OLKf! T€ ] EVOtKa T€ DE; 04.11 KWJLOV ] Kat 6JJLOV C 
prim.; 06.51 OiYrrOT' EKA€Lt/J€tv] ovol7Tw TlK€v A€Lt/JHv A; 09.2 cpwva€v] 
cpwva €v BE prim. V prim.; a 9.16-17 eXp€TatU' I uov ] ap€Ta ts ruov Mss; 
o 9.112 Alav, uov T' ] alavTELov T' Mss; 0 10.55 oE uacpavES ] 0' ES 
acpavES CDE yp.; 0 13.98 €7TH 8~uw ] E7TL8~uw B; P 1.52 JLETa AauovTas 



258 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERRORS IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

Hermann], fLETaA(A)aa(a)OJlTas- Mss; P 3.6 TEKTOJla JlwSvJltas- I] TEKTOJl' 

avwSvvtas- pier.; P 3.27 7"<)aaa~s- ai:Ev] Tbaa' €aai:E B; P 3.114ywwaKofLEv· 

a ] ywwaKofLEva Mss; P 4.5 u-1ToSafLov ] a170 SafLov D; P 11.41 TO SE 

TEbV ] TO S' €TEbV veteres; P 12.25 (JafLCt. ] (}' afLa V; P 12.30013 17apCPvKTbV ] 

omra CPVKTbJl V; N 1.70 AaXbvT' ] Aaxwv T' V; N 2.12 'OaptwJla JlEta(Ja~ ] 
, , " A (J tt N 3 4' ']' 'V N 4 91 ' '] " wapLwv aJlELa a~ ve .; . fLEJlOJlT fLOVOV T ; . aV7"LTvx'l1 av 

T~S- T6XlJ Mss; N 6.62 17at, aE T' ] 17atS- £T' D; N 7.98 £fL17ESoa(JEJlEa ] 

EfL17ESa a(JEJlEa D; N 8.10 ava~ta~s- ] &v a~ta~s- Mss; N 9.41 Ev(Ja 'PEtas- ] 

£v(J' , APEtaS- Mss; N 1O.6117E8avya~wv ] 17ES' ao ya~wJl D, 17b8' aVya~wJl 

B; N 10.72(5' EKatOJIT'] (5EKEOJIT' Mss; N 11.26(57]p~bJlTwJl] (57]ptWJI TcLW B; 

I 3.19 aAAOT' ] aAAo~ T' aAAo~ T' B; I 7.20 €17ELTEV ] €17E~ T' EV B; I 8.52 

vEapCt.JI €(5E,gaJl ] JlE' aJlE(5E~gav Mss; 18.66 EaA6J1 yE ] Es- A6yov yE D. 

A large number of variants arise from scribal preferences in spelling 
and in the choice of dialectal variant forms. It is of little interest to 

detail such variants as those at P 1.85 KpEaaWJI, KpEtaaOJl, KpEtaaWJI, 

representing different attempts to interpret Pin dar' s original KPEI­
ION. Collators commonly neglect the Atticisations that appear in the 
manuscripts. Since Pindar was partly educated at Athens, one cannot 
be sure that he never used an Atticism. After all, it would be genuine 
Panhellenism to mix dialects, even if the lyric diction had long been 
dominated by Aeolic, Doric and West Greek influences. Some Ionic 
forms may be epicisms. On the other hand, hyperdorisms present 
some interest, e.g. 0 13.50 fLaTLJI NO; 0 13.67 cpWJlaaE Mss; P 1.20 

n(JaJla C; P 3.7 apwa B; P 4.270 iaTCt.p E; I 1.3 (JaaofLa~ D. Scribes are 
capricious in switching between shorter and longer forms of dative 
plurals, e.g. 0 7.34 xpvaEa~s- ] xpvaEa~at vett.; 0 7.57 aAfLvpo'is- ] aAfLv­

pOWt pier.; 0 8.26 17aJlTo(5a170'iaw ] 17aJlTo(5a170tS- pier. Dialect is more 
consistent in the papyri than in the mediaeval manuscripts. 

The scribes' tendency to normalize or trivialize is not uniform, and 
sometimes they slip in a more poetic or dialectally recondite form, 
e.g. an Aeolic participle in -ats- for -as-; G has -o/S. The bewildering 
variety of their practices may be illustrated by a more or less random 
selection of collation variants: 0 9.83 ~A(JoJl ] ijAv(JoJl vett.; P 3.99 
ijAV(JEV ] ~A(JEJI CV; 0 10.91 €p~aLS- ] pE~as- A; 0 11.10 17pa17t(5maLJI ] 

17pa17tatJl C; 0 10.36 aTEpEcp ] aTEppw NO; 0 10.24 (JEfLLTES- ] (JEfLLaTES- A; 

o 14.12 alEJlaoJl ] alwaoJl Mss; 0 14.5 iffLfLtv ] iJfLtJl Mss; P 1.92 E13Tpa17Aots-] 

E13Tpa17EAo~s- pier.; P 2.16 xpvaoxatTa ] xpvaoxatTas- vett.; P 2.49 TEKfLap ] 

TEKfLWP C VI; P 2.79 Exotaas- ] oxolaas- B; P 2.95 AaKTL~EfLEJI ] AaKTLa8E­

fLEJI CV; P 3.14 aKE LPEKbW!' BCV] aKEpaEKbW!. DEG: Pindar has the first 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 259 

form at I 1.7 and the second, Homeric, form at Paean 9.45. 0 13.44 

7ToMutv ] 7ToMwut D; P 7.7 7TOALW' ] 7TOALWUtV pIer.; P 4.51 AEXEUtV ] 
AEXI.WUL C; P 2.1 {1aOv7ToMfLOV ] {1aOv7TToMfLoV DG; 02.7 dp067TOAtV ] 

dp067TTOAtv AD; 04.20 cPtA67TOAtV ] cPtA67TTOAtv A; a 13.68 OI.KEV ] ol.XEV 
BGVt O€XOV E; 0 13.92 O€KOVTa, ] O€XOVTa, pIer.; 0 13.18 rat] at N; 
o 14.21 f1JEpuEcP6va~ ] 7TEpuEcP6va~ C: so D at I 8.60; P 1.50 f1JtAOKT~Tao ] 
cPtAOKT~TOV V, cPtAoKT~TOtO C prim.; P 3.57 aAwK6Ta ] EaAwK6-ra Mss; 
P 4.34 ytVWUKE ] ytyvWUKE BDG; P 4.58 7TVKtVaV ] 7TVKVaV E; P 4.4 aLE­
TWV] aETwv D; I 8.38 Z1JV~] OL~ D; 0 13.105 L1~] Ot~: so too at P 8.99, 
N 1.72, 4.9 and 10.56: 0 13.5 IIoTEtoavo~ ] 7TOTtOaVO~ EFG, 7Tou€toavo~ 
BC, 7TOUELOWVO~ N; P 4.89' E7TuxATa ] €cPuxATa vett. fere; P 4.101 Oapu~­
uaL~ ] Oapp~ua~ DEC; P 4.114 Kpv{1oa ] Kpv{18av vett.; P 4.169 (hap ] 
aVTap BCV; P 4.181 EVTVVEV ] EVTVEV pIer.; P 4.183 7TEc/>ptKovTa~ ] 7TEcPPL­
K6Ta~ D; P 4.228 dp6yvtav ] 0pyvLav Mss; P 4.245 7TEVT1JK6vTEpOV ] 
7TEVT1JK6vTOPOV BC; P 5.114 7ToTav6~ ] 7TT1JV6~ D; P 4.273 ai5TL~ ] ai50L~ 
CV; P 8.17 0fLaOEv ] oafLaOEv B; P 5.18 aloot6TaTov] alooduTaTov Mss; 
P 10.58 7TaAatTEpOt~ ] 7TaAatOTl.pOtS G; P 9.88 a~ ] aid pIer.; P 10.28 
,x7TT6fLEuOa ] ,x7TT6fLEOa vett.; P 11.33 OAEUUE ] ~AWE V; N 2.24 EVKM;: ] 
£VKA£€L Mss; N 3.19 lwv ] WV Mss.; P 9.8 TptTav ] TptT(Xrav BE; N 3.72 

TptTOV ] TptTaTov fere Mss; P 4.10 E{106fL~ ] E{18ofLcXra E; P 9.34 UKtol.VTwv 

UKLOVVTWV D; N 3.61 €YXEucP6pOL~ ] €YXEULc/>6pOLS B; P 8.16 EKaT6YKpa­
VO~ ] EKaTovToKapavos B, EKaTovTaKapavos rell. N 3.55 fLaAaK6XEtpa ] 
fLaAOaK6XEtpa Mss; N 3.60 ooptKTV7TOV] OOPVKTV7TOV D; N 4.3 OvyaTpES ] 
OvyaTl.pES Mss; N 6.27 TVXELV ] TETVXEtV B; N 6.30 €K6fLwav ] €K6fLLgav 
Mss; N 7.104 TETpaKt ] TETpaKtS Mss. N 10.5 KaTaFotKLuOEV ] KaTtfJ­

KLUO€V Mss; N 11.10owo€KafL1Jvov] ovwo€KafL1Jvov Mss. N 11.21 fL€yavX€t] 
p.€yaAavx€t Mss; I 1.1 lp.a] afLa B; I 1.26~v] ~€V B, ~s D; 15.58 EKVW'] 

EKVLg' vett.; I 4.26 'AwucP6pos ] EwucP6pos D; I 6.17 EU7T€UOat ] u7Tl.uOat 
Mss; I 8.64 EX€aV ] EX€VaV D; a 1.6 cPa€W6V ] cPa€tV6V D; a 1.12 uKa7TTov ] 

uKa7TTpov E prim. and PBerol. 17047; 0 6.93 uKa7TTcp ] uKa7TTPCP BD; 
o 1.88 UVVEVVOV ] gVV€VVOV A; 0 1.99 EV€K€V ] EV€Ka B; a 2.32 a€ALov ] 

,xAtov BE and POxy. 1614; 02.56 fLtV ] vtV AN; a 2.38p.6ptp.os ] P.6pULP.O~ 
pIer.; 02.69 EX€tV ] €Xl.fL€V C; 02.88 opvtxa] opvtOa AIV; 02.94 acP0o­
VI.UT€POV ] acP0ovwT€POV N; a 3.31 BopEa ] {1opl.ao A, {1opl.ov CN; 
a 3.18 maap6v ] UKL€p6v CD; 0 7.69 7TETOtaCtt ] 7TWOtUCtL A; a 7.75 
Tptxa ] TptxOa A; 0 7.92 Expaov ] EXP€OV A; a 8.53 EU€Tat ] EUU€Tat 
BDE; 0 9.46 dvvfLauO€v ] dv6p.auO€v pIer.; 0 6.16 TotoiJrov ] TOtoVTo B; 
a 6.20 uac/>I.ws ] uacPws EC; 0 6.67 ayvwuToV ] ayvwTov A; a 7.14 
€vOVfLaxav ] €VOUfLaxov A; 02.19 luAwv ] luOAwv pIer.; a 2.63 luAo~ ] 



260 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERRORS IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

EuOAoi CDV; P 1.84 EuAoLUW ] EuOAoLUW CD; N 7.35 flpu1:p,oV ] 7Tpuxpmo 

D; a 1.54 'OA.,)fL7TOV ] 6A.,)fL7TOLO V; 0 3.35 {3aOv'wvow ] {3aOv'wvov Mss; 
14.5 {3LoTOV ] {3LOV vett.; 18.16 {3LOV ] {3LoTOV Mss; N 7.87 EfLfLEvaL ] EfLfLEV 

vett.; 16.20 EfL/LEV ] ErvaL Mss; 18.32 E/L/LEV ] E/L/LEVaL D. So too A at 07.56. 

P 5.5 OEO/LOP' ] OE o/LOLP' Mss; N 6.14 a/L/Lop0<; ] a/LOLp0<; D: so too D 
and E at 0 1.84. P 4.239 JTaLpoL ] €TapOL vett.; 17.10 hapwv ] ETaLpwv 

Mss; P 8.59 ya<;] yaLas vett.; 07.75 yaiav] yav A; P 9.60 TaLl!-] y~ Jere 
Mss. N 7.8 7TEvTaEOAoLS ] 7TEVTaOAoL<; BD; I 6.72 aEOArrraLuLv ] aOA7j­

TaLULV Mss; P 3.46 vouovs ] vo.,)uovs BG; N 3.34 /Lovos ] /Lo.,)VD<; Mss; 
P 9.19 olKopLav] OlKovpLav pier.; N 5.20yovaTwv] yovvaTwv vett.; 09.56 

Kopav ] Kovpav vett.; P 9.13 KOl~pq, ] Kopa EV; P 10.41 OVAO/LEVOV ] 6Ao­

/LEVOV E; 06.17 oovpi ] oopi A; 0 12.6 Ta/LvOLuaL ] TE/LVOLUaL B; 0 13.57 
Ta/LVELV ] TE/LVELV EV; P 3.68 Ta/LVWv ] TE/LVWV Mss; a 3.36 E7TETpa7TEv ] 

E7TETPE7TEV pier.; I 1.48 TpacpEL ] TPEcpEL D; cppau iv became CppEG'iv at 
P 3.59 (Mss), P 4.109 (B) and 07.24 (pler.); omOEV became O'1T£UOEV at 
010.35 (ACDE), N7.101 (Mss) and N 3.31 (B prim. D); and at P 1.93 we 
find in most Mss 6mUOo/L{3poTov for 6mOofL{3poTOV. 0 9.110 avlpa ] 

avopa A; P 2.65 avopEuat] avopauL Mss; and conversely N 6.10 avopaGLv] 

aVSpEGULV Mss; P 9.6 EVEYKE ] EVELKE V; 0 3.15 EVELKEV ] EVEyKE E; 
P 3.104 7TJIoai] 7TVOLd CV; 08.7 a/L7TJIoav ] a/L7TVOLaV 0; P 3.52 7TEpLa7T­

TWV ] 7TEpa7TTwv CE; N 11.40 7TEPOOOLS ] 7TEPLOOOLS Mss. P 1.97 KOLvavLav ] 

Kowwvtav Mss; N 3.12 KowauofLaL ] KOLvwuofLaL Mss; 0 10.52apa] ap G; 
N 10.90 XaAKofLLTpa ] xaAKEofLLTpa Mss; 08.1 XPVuouTEcpavwv ] XPVUEO­

UTECPavWV A V; 0 3.12 yAEcpapwv ] {3AEcpapwv AC; P 9.24 yAEcpapoLS ] 
{3AEcpapoLs pier. UcpLUL(V) becameucpL(v) at 010.14 (A), 07.15 (AE), P 4.124 
(pier.); and conversely UcpL(V) became UCPLUt(V) at N 6.46 and N 11.7 
(vett.), P 5.59 (BE) and 09.47 CAC). 

Apocope caused the scribes some trouble, e.g. P 4.27 wU7TauuavTES ] 

avau7TauavTES DE; N 8.19 a/L7TJIEWV ] ava7TvEwv D; N 11.28 w07JGafLEvos ] 

ava07jua/LEvo<; Mss; I 6.61 ava 0' ] av 0' BD; 0 9.52 wa7TwTw ] a/L7TWTLv 

vett. ; P 1.79 7Tapa ] 7Tap vett. Contrariwise, 7Tap becomes 7Tapa at P 1.58 
and N 10.49 (Mss), 0 1.74 (C), 08.17 (AE), 0 10.25 (F). P 3.87 EYElIT' ] 

EylvETo CEV; P 6.28 EyElITO ] EYEvETO pier. 
Comparatives and superlatives are misapplied at 0 2.62 a7TovEuTE­

pov ]a7TovEuTaTov C; 07.26cpEp7aTov] cplpT€poV A; P 11.52/LaKpoTEpc.p] 

/LaKpoTaTc.p DG; N 1.11/L€yaAwJf ]/Lt:yLUTWV DV. 
Loss of augment sometimes occurs in Mss: 05.5 EYEpapEv ] YEpap€V 

pIer.; 0 6.78 ESwp7jUav ] oWP7juav pier.; 0 10.47 e07jK€ Byz. ] OijKE Mss 
(perhaps licit in syncopated iambic dimeter); N 10.70 7}Aau€ ] eAaUE D. 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 261 

More often scribes add augment: 0 1.26 E ~€A€ ] E ~€tA€ vett.; 0 1.74 
</>av1} ] €cpaV1] AE; 0 1.75 €l7TE] EEmE pler.; 02.81 (IEK'TOpa ucpaAE A and 
POxy. 2092] EK'TOp' EucpaAE pler.; 03.31 ZOE] elOE AB; 0 6.14 </>8Ey~a'T' ] 
Ecp(Uy~a'T' A; 0 7.40 EV'TEtAEV ] ivE-rEtAE A; P 2.41 aVOE~a'T' ] aVEOE~a'T' 
vett.; P 4.70 apxlx OEsa'TO ] apx' €OEsa'TO pler.; P 4.86 oV Y{VWUKOV ] OVK 
£yiVWUKOV B; P 5.84 i'oov ] €loov DEG; N 1.43 aV'T€WEv] aVhEW€ vett.; 
N 9.23 7Ttavav ] E7Ttavav Mss; I 8.64 U'TCXV ] EU'TaV Mss. 

Inflectional endings are liable to be changed, sometimes clearly 
under the influence of the context, but elsewhere from no discernible 
cause. A change of gender often results, as at 0 6.14 cpatotp.as ] cpaL­
otp.ovs EN; 0 6.17 ap.cp6'TEpOV ] ap.cpO'TEpa N; P 4.79 ap.cpO'TEpa ] ap.cp6-
'TEpOV pIer.; I 1.6 ap.cpO'TEpaV ] ap.cpO'TEpOLS D; 0 7 .81 KAELV~ ] KAELVW A; 
o 9.79 Sap.auLp.{3p6'Tov ] oap.auLp.{3p6'Tas B; 0 9.100 7T0AAol ] 7T0Av A 
prim.; N 11.6 7T0AAlx ] 7T0AAol B; 0 9.108 'TOV'TO ] 'TOV'TOV C; 0 10.58 
7TPW'TCf ] 7TPW'TOS B, 7TpW'Ta D; 0 14.22 vEav ] V€OV B; P 1.35 cpEP'TEPOV ] 
cp€p'TEpa DV; P 1.82p.Etwv ] P.ELoV C; P 2.79 {3a8vv ] {3a8v Mss; P 3.100 
&8av(X-ra ] &Bava'Tos E; P 5.122 P.EyaS ] p.Eya V; P 11.58 KpaTLU'TOv ] 

Kpa'TtU'Tav pIer.; N 8.18 7T0V'TtCf ] 7T0v-r{W D; N 9.8 av'Tlxv ] aV'T6V Mss; 
N 10.41 QUaLS ] QUUOLS D; N 10.78 av'T{os ] aV'T{a B; 17.36 €uxa-ratS ] 

€UXa'TOLULV D; P. 4.20 'TbV ] 'T~V B; 18.71 'T6V ] 'T6 D; N 3.68 'TaVOE ] 'TaSE 
D; P 6.21 'Tlx ] 'Tlxv Mss; N 2.2 'Tlx ] 'T6 TU; P 10.64 QU7TEP ] 07TEP E. 

One notes some examples of change from neuter plural to neuter 
singular or the reverse: 0 1.52 a7Topa ] a7T0pov vett.; N 3.45 Zua ] Zuov 
Mss; P 4.31 OE'i:7Tv' ] OEL7TVOV D; 0 7.45 a'TEKp.ap'Ta ] a'TEKp.ap'TOV Mss; 
P 10.63 a'TEKp.ap'TOV ] a'TEKp.ap'Ta 1. It is odd that dative singulars turn 
into plurals six times, and the contrary process occurs once: 0 7.79 
8Etp ] BEOLS A; 0 10.21 7TaAap.Cf ] 7TaAap.aLS AC; 0 10.41 a{3ovA{Cf ] a{3ov­

AlaLS vett.; N 4.37 €7TL{3ovAtCf ] €7TL{3ovAtaLS V; 0 10.62 app.an ] app.aatv 

B; P 10.27 av'Ttp ] aV'TOLS pIer.; N 10.8 {3EAEuLV ] {3EAE"i D. 
Confusion of the endings -OLS' and -0£0 occurs: 0 2.45 06P.OLS ] 06P.O£O 

A; 0 14.23 Evo6~OLS ] Evo6~O£O Mss; P 9.78 UOCPOLS ] uocpow B; I 1.5 
&ya8Los ] ayaBow D; P 1.667TOMp.O£O ] 7ToMpmuL Mss. Change of gover­
nance of a preposition is noted twice: 0 6.40 A6xp.as 1mb KVaV€as ] 
" (' 1 A0848"'TLJ- ']"'TLJ' , 1\0xp.aLS V7T0 KvaVEaLS ; . E7T lUUP.<fJ 7TOVTLCf €7T lUUP.0V 7TOVTLaV 

D prim. E. 
Other changes are too random to classify: 0 1.24 EvavopL ] €vavopoS' 

v.l. in ACN; 0 1.114 {3auLAEvuL ] {3aatAEV D; 02.27 ZEUS] ~EV G; 0 2.46 
EXOV'Ta ] EXOVTL pler.; 0 3.4 MOLua ] p.oLuat C; 0 3.42 aiootEu'Ta'Tov ] 
aioodu'Ta'Tos A; 0 5.4 Kap.apLva ] Kap.apwav vett.; 0 6.75 7TPW'TOLS ] 



262 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERROR IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

7TpO:yrOV B; 0 6.95 EOfYTav] EOfYTas A; 07.42 7TPWTOL ] 7TPWTOV C; 07.51 
7Tauav] TTauwv D; 07.76 p,OLpaS ] p,oLpav Mss; 07.86 €TEPOV ] ET/.POV A; 
08.47 EVLTTTTOVS ] EMTTTTOLS B; 09.43 KaTaflav7'€ ] KaTaflaVT'ES A; 0 9.85 
€pyov ] €pyov A; 0 10.13 TT6'\w ] TT6'\LS A; 0 10.25 flwp,wv ] flwp,cfJ BDG, 
flwp,ov C; 0 10.87 vE6TaTos ] vE6Ta7'L pIer.; 0 12.2 EVPVUOEV/" ] EVPVUOE­
v/.os CD prim.; 0 13.6 KaUL)'V1]Ta ] KauLYV7}Tat B; 0 13.31 7Tp6TEPOV ] 
7Tp6TEPOS CNO; 0 13.107 'ApKas ] &pKaUtV Mss; 0 13.115 T/.'\££' ] 
TE'\Eat B, T/.'\EtE pIer.; P 1.18 U'\tEPK/.ES ] U,\tEPKES C; P 1.23 aZOwv' ] 
aZBwvos V; P 1.45 p,aKpa ] p,aKpal C; P 1.66 opvtJp,€VOt ] OPVtJp,EVOV D; 
P 1.85 OlK7'Lpp,OV ] OlKTLPp,WV DV; P 2.28 TTo'\vyaO/.ES ] TTo'\vyaO/.os D 
carr. EG prim.; P 3.4 EVPVp,EoovTa ] EVPVp,EOOVTOS C; P 3.60 yv6vTa ] 
yv6VTas C; P 3.1067T0'\vs] 7TO'\'\OLS E; P 4.26 €p-T]p,wv] €p-T]p,ov E; P 4.180 
OEp,EOAoLS ] OEp,EO'\a pIer.; P 4.188 aWTos ] aWTov E; P 4.234 &vaYK~ ] 
&vaYKas pler.; P 4.255 &KTLVOS ] &KTLvas Mss; P 4.255 o'\flov ] o'\fl<p DG, 
o'\flov C; P 4.256 vt$KTES ] VVKTOS DEG; P 4.297 &TTaO,,",s ] aTTaOfj V; 
P 8.14 EK6VTOS ] EKOVT'ES B; P 8.32 p,Ot ] p,OV G; P 8.37 IO..€LTOP,axoLO ] 
K'\ELT6{'axov V; P 9.13 p,LxO/.vTa ] p,LX0€v7'L DGV; P 9.67 wKELa ..• 
TTpagLS ] wKELaL .•. TTpagELS DG; P 9.82 IJrrafYTwv ] uTTapTos E; 
P 9.105 o6ga ] o6gav Mss; P 9.125 NLKas ] vLKav V, vLKav D; P 11.30 

ac/>avTov ] ac/>CJ.VTos D; P 11.41 p,LUOOLO ] {'LUOciJ Mss; P 11.57 OavaToL' ] 
OavaTov pIer., OavaTov B; P 12.5 EVOOg<p MLO~ ] EVOOgOV p,Loa EF; P 12.27 
XOp€VTav] xopEvTal B; N 3.3 LlwpLoa ] OWpLOWV V; N 3.14 MVpp,LOOVES ] 
p,Vpp,LOOVOS V; N 3.29 EU'\OS (accus. pI.) ] €u'\ov BVsup; N 3.65 v{'vos] 
vp,vov D; N 4.11 v{'vov] vp,vov D prim.; N 4.17 aywvos] &ywva D; N 5.28 
TTOLKL'\OtS ] 7TOtKL'\OL D; N 7.1 7Tap€OpE ] 7Tap€OpOS D; N 7.6 7TOTp,lp ] 
7T6Tp,OS D; N 8.6 TToLp,lvEs ] TTOt{'EVOS D; N 8.24 '\aOa ] '\aOav D; N 11.35 
Xa'\KEVT/.a ] xaAKEvTlwv D; I 1.28 &OpOOLS ] &Opoovs D; I 1.61 <Hpoo6-
TOL' ] -qP080T<p Mss; 12.7 {'€'\tc/>B6yyov ] p,E,\Lc/>BoYYOL Mss; 15.61 v6<p ] 
vowv D; I 6.43 Ov{'cfJ ] Ov{'ov D; I 6.44 O€U7TEULaLS ] OEU7TEuLav Mss; 
I 6.46 TCPOE ] T6vOE D; I 6.61 p,aTpws ] {'aTpW€S Mss; I 8.38 TPL680 VTOS ] 
TpL680VTas D; 18.52 aVaKT€ ] avaKTa vett.; 18.71 YEvEa ] Y€VEO:V D. 

At a few places one can see scribes conflating variants that may have 
been in the relevant antigraph: a 13.52 KOpLVO<p ] KOPLVOOV NO, 
KOpLVOW.OV G; P 5.49 p,vap,-T];:' ] p,va{'-T]LOv CV, P,VYJ{'-T]LOV B, p,vap,-T]La D, 
p,v~{'Laov G; N 3.47 ucfJp,a-ra ] ucfJ{'an D, uw{'ana B; N 6.19 'IuOp,o'i ] 
luO~ B, lUOp,OLCP D; N 6.56 TTaVT'l ] TTavnos D, conflating TTaVT2 with a 
variant TTavTos; N 7.41 KT/.av· aywv ] KT/.aT· avaywv D, suggesting that 
his antigraph had KT/.'tXT· aywv. 

In the inflections of verbs a good many changes occur in tense, 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 263 

voice, or person: 0 1.109 KAd~€LV ] KAf:tgf:w CEV; 02.92 avod.uofLaL ] 

avod.uOfLf:V B; P 4.145 A€vUUOfLf:V ] A€vuUOfLaL V; 0 2.98 7T€pmErp€vy€V ] 

7T€ptrp€VY€L A; 0 3.27 O€gaT' ] O€t€T' G; 0 6.27 avamTvafL€V' ] ava-

7T€7TTafL€v' A; a 6.30 T€K€fL€V ] T€K€u8aL A lemma; a 6.32 EK€A€VU€V ] 

€K€AfVfV A; 06.53 €YK€KPV1TTO ] €KPV1TTETO A; 07.59 A.L1TOV ] AEL1TOV A; 
07.68 TEA€VTa8€v ] TEA€VTaUaV pIer.; 07.74 EXOV ] EXOVTL pIer.; 07.81 
EUT€rpavwuaTo ] EUT€cpavwTo GV; a 8.24 OWKplv€tv ] oWKpLVat A; 
08.55 f3aMTw ] f3aAA€TW A; 09.31 ifP€LO€ ] ijp€LU€ D; 09.33 EX€ ] EXEL 

E; 09.77 7Tapayopf:LTO ] 7Tapayope'i 0; 0 10.7 KaTaluxVJI€ ] KaTaWXVVEL 

vett.; a 10.16 UVYKWfLataT' ] avYKWfLa'€T' 0; a 10.78 E7TOfL€VOL ] EU7TO­
fL€VOL B; a 10.84 aVTLatEL ] aVTLa'€L C; 0 13.43 apWT€VUaT€ ] apWTEvua­

TO E; a 13.79 7TL8Eu8aL ] 7T€teea8aL pIer.; a 13.86 E7TaL'€V ] E7TaLt€ C; 
P 1.13 aTv'ov-raL] aTV'€TaL V, aTV'1JTaL DG; 07.42 ld.vaL€vJ lavaL BDV; 
P 1.597Tl8€o ] 7T€L8€0 vett.; P 1.80 KafLovTwv ] KafLvovTwV E; P 2.30 EX€ ] 
EUX€ vett.; 0 9.61 EX€V ] EUX€V CD; 1 8.32 D again; P 2.90 EAKOfL€VOt ... 

EVE7Tatav ] EAKOfL€VOS ... EV€7Tat€V BC prim. V; P 2.44 ovvfLat€ ] ovVfLa,€ 

CE; P 3.78 fL€A7TOVTaL ] fL€A7TOVTL CV; P 4.30 apXf:TO ] apXf:Tat pIer.; 
P 4.46 TlKT€ ] TlKTEL BEG; P 4.129 Tf:VXWV ] T€VtWV C; P 4.150 V€fL€aL ] 

V€fL€V e prim. V; P 4.207 MUUOVTO ] ALUUOVTt V; P 4.223 fLlgetv ] fLetaL 

CV; P 4.257 TEAA€TO ] TEAA€TE B, T€AA€TaL E; P 4.295 €Koou8aL ] €KOt­

oou8aL E; P 5.34 KpEfLaTat ] KpEfLaVTat CV; P 5.58 rp.,Jyov ] CP€Vyov vett.; 
P 10.71 K€LTat (schema Pindaricum) ] K€LVTat BEFG2V; P 11.21 7TOP€VU' ] 

7TOP€V' E corr. V; N 1.18 E7T€f3av ] E7T€f3a B; N 1.38 EYKaT€f3a ] EYKaT€f3av 

V; N 1.60 cppa'€ ] cppa,ero D; N 5.22 aeto€v] aeti5€t Mss; N 7.39 CP€P€L ] 

CP€P€V B; N 7.72 Et€7T€fLtPas ] Et€7T€fLtP€ D; N 9.3 71paUU€TE ] 71paUU€TaL 

D; 1 2.7 E71€pVaVTO ] E71EpvaTo B; 1 3.18 OdUT€LXOV ] i5duTtXov Mss; 
14.80 KWfLd.tofLaL ] KWfLa'ofLaL B; 15.13 aKovv ] aKOvU1J D; 15.57 KaTa­

f3P€X€ ] KaTEf3pax€ D; 16.53 KEKA€V ] K€KAf:T' Mss. 
Some changes of verbal inflection affect mood, including hac vice 

the infinitive and participle: a 1.100 uTEcpavwuaL ] UT€cpavwTaL B; 
o 2.2171EfL71V ] 71EfL710L c, 71€fLtPV A; 02.17 i5vvaLTo ] i5vvaTaL E; 06.102 
71apExoL ] 71apEXet GV; 06.69 KTluV ] KTlu€L B, KTLUOL E; a 6.76 710TL­

UTd.tV] 710TLUTatet ABEN; 07.42 8€fLf:VOL ] 8€fLEVaL 0; 08.11 EU71€T' ] 

EU71 1JT , G, EU7TOLT' D in litura; 0 8.88 a€toL ] a€t€L V; a 9.90 fLEV€V ] 

fLlvOL N; 0 10.100 a'tv1Jua ] alv~uas A; 0 11.4 7Tp&'UUOL ] 7Tpauuwv C; 
o 13.46 MY€LV ] Mywv E; P 1.45 afLeVuau8' ] afL€Vuea8' CEV; P 1.72 EXV ] 

EXOL CE; P 4.3 aiJgvs ] aiJtaLS C; P 4.9 aYKofLluaL ] aYKofLluat8' pler.; 
P 4.27 O€gaT' ] oEtaLT' D; P 4.56 ayaYEv ] ayay€ BD; P 4.217 EKOLOauK1J­

U€V ] EKoLoaUKowa E; P 4.234 o-rjuaLS ] ofjU€V BeV; P 4.264 €g€p€t!/;n ] 
3-G.R.B.S. 



264 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERROR IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

€,£p£{ifiat Mss; P 7.4 ovvp.a'£at ] ovvp.a'at Mss; P 9.21 K£pat'£v ] 
K£pa{'€LV E; P9.37 K€'ipaL] K€'iP€ B; P9.70ap.cpl1TH ] ap.cp E7T£ LV E; P 10.26 
ts'[J ] tOOL Mss; P 11.10 K€Aao~O'€T' ] K€AaOfjT€ Mss; P 12.8 oLa7TAE,atO" ] 
SLa7TAEgaO'f}' D; N 1.72 alv~O'ELV ] alv~O'EL B; N 7.13 o€op.€VaL ] oEop.at D; 
N 10.46 EgEAEYXELV ] EgEAEYXH D; N 10.56 vEp.oVTat ] vEp.ovTa D; I 2.26 
7T{TvovTa ] 7T{TVOVTO D; I 5.25 K Lpvap.Ev ] KLpvap.EvaL vett.; I 8.30 EpLO'av ] 
Ep{O'as D; 18.76 7TapEX€L ] 7TapEXELV D; N 5.36 7TpagELV ] 7TP&gOV D, per­
haps intending 7Tpagwv. 

Prepositions are apt to be interchanged by copyists, whether alone 
or in composition: P 4.94 avO: ] €7T!. B; P 2.28 Els ] E7T' E; 12.2 ES ] EV B 
(perhaps the Boeotian form, meaning "in" of motion); 0 10.13 E7T!. ] 

ap.cp't A; 0 13.106 E7T' ] V7T' C; P 8.89 E7T!. ] a7To E; 0 14.16 E7T' ] 1m' N; 
06.10 7Tap' ] EV A; 012.10 7Tapo: ] 7TEP!. C; P 1.587TO:p ] 7TEP!. C corr. V; 
P 5.37 7TEOO: ] p.ETa BCsup E; I 7.27 7TPO ] 7TPOS Mss; 0 9.34 7TpOS ] ES 

ACDE; 0 8.40 avopovO'E ] EO'OPOVO'E pler.; I 4.80 a7ToO'Ta,wv ] E7TLO'Toxa­
'wv D; P 4.145 acp{O'TavT' ] ap.cp{O'TaVT' pler.; P 8.86 a7TaopoL ] €7TaOpOL 
E; 0 13.99 E7TEO'O'ETaL ] a7TEO'O'ETaL E; 0 12.12 7TEoap.EL"'av ] 7TOTap.EL"'av 
Bsup; P 9.87 7TEpL{3aAAH ] 7Tapa{3aAA€L D; 0 13.54 7TP07TOAoLS ] 7TPOO'7TOAoLS 
csuPDV; 05.27 71POO'TLf}eis] 7TPOTLf}E{S C; 09.108 7TP0O'CPEPWV] 7TpOCPEPWV 
0; 02.67 a7TpoO'opaTov ] a1TpoopaTov CN. 

Though in general, as is well known, and exemplified by inflectional 
changes, the ends of words are more liable to be corrupted by scribes 
than the starts, yet there is a contrary tendency in regard to preposi­
tions dropped from or added to verbs and other classes of word. Loss 
is commoner than addition, as witness: 0 2.92 €VOPKLOV ] (5PKLOV C; 
o 8.40 avopovO'E ] OpOVO'E A; 0 9.58 avap7TaO'aLs ] ap7Taaas A V; P 1.26 
'1TpoO'LoEO'BaL ] lSEO'BaL V; P 4.25 E7TETOO'O'E ] ETOO'O'£ E; P 4.217 EKf,,­
SaO'K'Y/O't." ] oLSaO'K'Y/O'E CV; P 4.271 7TpoO'{3aAAoVTa ] {3aAAoVTa CV; 
P 5.107 l.7raLVEOVTL ] alVEOVTL vett.; P 10.32 €O'€MJwv] EAf}wv DG; P 10.60 
V7TEKVLgE ] EKVLgE Mss; N 4.61 EKCPEP€V ] ECPEPE D; N 7.12 EvE{3aAE ] €{3a>'E 
Mss; I 6.56 avay~O'aO'e' ] ay~O'aO'e' Mss; 18.3 aveyetpETw ] aYELpETW D; 
I 8.34 E7TaKovO'av Triclinius ] 7lKOVO'av D, defended by Farnell as a 
molossus responding to a choriamb. Examples of addition of a 
preposition in composition are: 0 10.87 7"C) 7Ta>.LV ] Tovp.7Ta>.LV vett.; 
o 10.93 7TvEvO'aLS ] €p.7TvEvO'as NO; P 1.45 aVT{vos ] EvavT{ovs C; P 4.285 
Ep{'W ] EgEpt,WV C; N 7.41 aywv ] avaywv D. 

Copyists are liable to error in both elision and non-elision. Some­
time they elide a vowel before an initial syllable where a digamma has 
been lost or where Homer allows hiatus and Pindar imitates Homer. 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 265 

One may cite 0 2.93 Y€ E,dwv ] y' ErEWV pIer.; 0 12.49 o€ iows ] 0' 
ZOtos vett.; P 11.62 rE avat ] r' avat vett.; N 7.5 E7Tt taa] E7T' Zaa vett.; 
N 9.44 0' oi ] OE ofvett.; 18.48 oEEa7TtpaLS] 0' Ea7TtpaLs D; 17.12 OVVEKEV 
op8CjJ ] OVVEK' opOijJ Mss. N 10.5 KaTaFotKwfJEV Schroeder] KaT<[;KLafJEv 
Mss is an example of contraction after loss of digamma. 

At 0 6.30 7Tai,o' lO7TAoKaf-L0v vett. and I 7.23 o· lO7TAoKapmat Mss, the 
elisions arose through loss of initial digamma, and, in light of the possi­
bility of resolved syllables in a strophic responsion, all is well if we 
read 7Ta'i8a lO7TAoKap.ov and O€ lO7TAoKap.OLat. 

Errors of non-elision include: 0 13.7 Taf-Lt' ] Taf-Ltat Mss; 0 13.52 
z/1€vaof-L' ] z/1EvaOf-Lat vett.; P 3.63 EvaL' ] EvaLEv vett.; I 2.40 lm€aTELA' ] 
tmtaTELAEv vett.; P 8.100 KayafJCjJ] Kat aya8ijJ vett. is an example of non­
crasis. 

Erroneous singling or doubling of consonants contributes some 
wrong words and unmetrical forms to the Pin dar paradosis, as P 4.7 
KTtaaw:v ] KrtaELEv BCV, whence KT~aELEV D; N 1.60 EKKaAmav ] 

EKcXAmav Bae UV; N 2.23 0' EV NEf-LECf- ] 0' EVEf-LEa D; N 5.52 XcXPLO'O'LV ] 
XcXPLO'W Mss; N 10.75 rtyywv ] rtywv D; 0 4.9 l7TOV ] i7T7TOV A Cae V; 
o 10.14 f-LEA€L ] f-LEAAEL BCV; 0 13.71 TOGa ] roaaa pIer.; P 3.25 Mjf-La ] 
Mip.p.a CD; P 4.71 aAoLs ] aAAoLs D; P 4.195 ap.ara ] ap.p.ara B; P 5.71 
lvaaa€v ] EtvvaaEv D. 

Iota adscript or subscript is neglected innumerable times by 
scribes, and they tend to drop iota elsewhere, as at P 6.33 oaLxfJds ] 
oax8E1S B. P 11.36 Xpovtlp ] Xpovlp pIer. P 12.97Tap8€vtoLs ] 7Tap8&oLs V; 
I 1.267TEvraOAtOv ]7TEvraOAov Mss; P 6.4vai:ov ]vaov MSS; P 8.4KAai8as] 
KAaoas B. I 4.66 07TVLEL ] 07TVEL B; P 10.2 p.aKaLpa ] f-LcXKapa E; 16.36 

OaLvvf-Ltvwv ] oavvf-Ltvwv D; 0 5.14 Vz/1LYVtOV ] Vz/1LYVOV pIer.; 0 13.107 
avaLO'awv ] avaaawv Mss. Metre is spoiled by loss of iota at 0 13.51 
~pwLaLS pIer.; P 4.220 7TarpwLwv vett.; P 5.33 7TarpwLav vett.; P 10.72 
7raTpcfJi:aL Jere vett.; N 10.66 7rarpwLcp Mss. 

In compensation scribes often add iota to a form or word where it is 
metrically or otherwise incorrect: 12.39 oairas ] oLaLras Mss; 06.77 
opos] OpOLS Mss; P 1.75 apEop.aL ] alptop.aL pIer.; P 5.123 cpLAWV] cpLMwv 

B; P 8.87 oeoayf-LtvoL ] O€OaiYf-LtvoL Mss; P 9.38 XAapov ] XALapov pIer.; 
P 9.52 V7TEP 7TOVTOV ] V7rEP7TOVTtoV DC; P 3.8 <PAeyva] cpA€YVLa BCEV; 
N 10.15 Evapev] aVELpe B; 0 14.19a] la C; N 8.11 Kpavaais] KpavaLa'is D; 
N 6.36 aSdlv ] ~owv Jere Mss; 0 1.23 l7r7TOxapf-Lav ] l7T7TtOxapf-Lav vett.; 
o 1.30 f-LELALxa ] f-LELMXLa Mss; 02.4 Ct.Kpo8wa ] Ct.KpoOLvLa C; 0 14.17 
Avocp ] AVSLCP Mss; P 11.25 €VVVXOL ] EVVUXLOL B; P 11.43 llVOOVLKcp ] 



266 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERROR IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

'TTvfhovtKCfJ pler.; P 11.55 ~uvX~ ] ~uvxt~ Mss; N 1.39 f3auti\Ea ] f3auti\ELa 
Mss; N 8.33 atp.:6i\wv ] atlwi\twv vett. 

1tIany scribal errors result from the addition of a single letter to a 
word, as at 02.63 SEKovTaL ] SEpKovTaL pler.; 04.31 (JalLaKL ] (JalLa Ka!. 

pler.; 0 10.94 ava7TauuEL ] ava7Ti\aUUEL ACFN; P 1.8 aYKvi\CfJ ] aYKVKi\w 
C prim.; P 1.61 KEtvav ] Ki\ELVaV CE; P 2.14 Evaxla ] EvavXEa DG; P 2.7 
ai\KTfjpa ] ai\EKTfjpa BE; P 3.48 ~VVaOVE!) ] ~VVaOVTE!) C; P 4.63 Svu(Jp60v ] 

ovua(Jp60v CI; P 4.202 TaXEtav ] TpaXELav CV; P 4.294 Kpav~ ] Kvpav~ 

DG; P 5.58 SEtlLaTL ] SEtYlLaTL D; P 6.51 7TpouEXETaL ] 7TPOuEPXETaL 
Mss; P 9.113 €i\ELV] Ei\(JELV pIer.; N 1.68 7TE<pvpuw(Ja,] 7TE<pvp~aw(Ja, V; 
N 3.53 f3a8vf.1:YjTa ] f3a(JvSlLfjTa BD prim.; N 8.25 aVTETaTaL ] aVTETaKTat 

D; 0 13.96 €KWV ] EtKWV vett.; P 9.106ILvauTfjpE!) ] 1L0vauTfjpES F.lrigoin 
(Histoire, 317) notes that the copyist of F was probably a monk. 

There are, in the sixteen manuscripts, numerous confusions in small 
words, but seldom in all the Mss at once; the rare usage of Ta at 
o 1.82, supported by Gregory of Corinth, being the Boeotian neuter 
plural = T{va, is trivialised in most Mss to Tt. 03.4 7TOL ] 7T'OV C; 0 4.8 
ai\i\a ] ai\i\' cL C; 0 6.70 av ] aVTtfJ pIer.; 0 8.39 av(JL ] av B; 0 9.106 aJLE ] 

aILE E, aILILE FGN corr., alLa ACN prim. 0, alLloa B, perhaps altering 
aILE in the direction of apa. 0 13.6 Tf!.] Tf!.SE pIer.; 0 13.107 ;~ ] EV ENO; 
07.20 TOLULV ] TOL VVV C, TO{VVV D prim.; P 2.39 aVTE ] Tav TE CV, av 7T'OTE 

D, av 7TOTE G; P 4.36 tv ] VLJI Mss; P 4.149 'TOUS ] ovs BDEG; P 4.1641LE ] 
UE B; P 4.259 €V(JEV ] €v(Ja E; P 5.10 TEaV ] €aV C, Eav V; P 6.38 S' <> ] SE 

DG; P 6.50 8!) ] OUOV B; 12.1 oX] OUOL Mss; P 8.6 <>ILW!) ] 07T'W!) B; P 8.53 

TVX~] Taxa V; P 8.77 v7T'Ep8E] V7T'EP V; P 9.105 €wv] TEWV vett.; N 7.25; 
TaV ] €aV Mss; N 7.71 ciJuEL] ciJuEtTE vett.; N 7.98 uv tv] u<pLV Mss; N 9.52 

alLa ] alL<P!. Mss; N 10.11 TOVTOV ] TOV Mss; N 10.15 TtfJ ] Tt ot Mss; 
11.24 ora TE ] ofs TE D; 12.19 T6(J, ] T6TE D; 14.27 Kav ] KElv B, K~V D; 
15.52 Ta TE ] 'TaSE vett.; 18.75 EV ] el D; 03.38 7Tf{- ] 7T'a'i BE, 1TOL A prim.(?); 
04.23 a7T'EP ] a'TE C; 0 10.8 f3a8v ] f3paxv AI; 0 1O.201T0'T!. ] 7TO'TE A; 
o 10.57 07TWS ] 07T'OV 0; 0 12.11 oi] EV 0; 0 13.10 K6pov ] KOVPOV E; 
o 13.61 EV ] av 0; 0 13.70 op<pv~ ] o<ppa CI; 0 13.82 EV(JVS ] EYYvs NO; 
013.106 TOVT'] 'T6 T' E; P 3.41 aILOV] EJLOV E; P 7.18vE~] VVV VI; P 8.67 

cLva~ ] ava~ E; P 8.73 7T6vCfJ ] Xp6vCfJ VI; N 1.32 EO ] ~ D; N 2.14 UE ] ua 
TUV; N 9.36 OVVEKEV ] (J' EVEKEV D; N 10.65 1Ta(Jov ] 1T6(Jov D; N 10.78 

7T6vCfJ ] 7T6v'TW D; N 10.80 'T6VSE ] 'T6v D; 15.6 SLa ] S!'s D; P 3.57 S,' ] S' 
CE; N 6.64 SL' ] 0' B; 0 12.18 SIS] SL' A; 15.30 EV ] 'TOV D; 15.63 VEOV ] 

,,60v D; 0 6.2 OTE ] 'TE C; P 3.24 'TOL 'Tav'Tav ] 'TOLaV'TaV I; N 4.7 KE ] 
7TEp Bsup V; N 7.62 ES ] ciJs D; 0 10.28 ciJs ] WU'T' A; P 1.91 WU7TEp] WUTE 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 267 

pIer. WTE becomes waTE at 0 10.86 (Mss) and P 10.54 (pIer.) and aTE at 
I 4.20 (B). TOTE becomes 7TOTE at P 2.89 (D) and T6T' becomes 7TOT' at 
12.6 (B). P 9.112 7TOT' ] T' V; N 9.13 7TOTE ] TE D; P 9.33 VtV ] J.LEv DC; 
N 11.17 J.LtV ] J.LEv Mss; 09.10 TO] 0 G; P 1.740] os E. 

Connectives are particularly liable to be confused, sometimes 
unexpectedly. DE or 0' became TE or B' at a 13.107 (C), P 11.28 (D), 
N 10.56 (D), and in CNO at 0 10.97, 13.3 and 13.29. It became ya.p at 
a 2.22 (A), Ka~ at 0 10.69 (A), yE at P 4.211 and P 3.36 in C, 0 at N 1.58 
(TU), and o~ at P 11.25 (vett.). o~ became DE at N 10.75 (Mss) and N 5.15 
(D). TE or T' became oJ or 0' at a 2.10 (ACD), 0 11.19 (EF), 0 13.37 
(CNO), 0 13.103 (CNO), 0 13.111 (0); yE at P 9.63 (E), and TOt at 
o 13.11 (B). ouoE became OVTE at 0 14.8 (Mss) and 18.62 (D). P 6.10 
OVTE ] ou pIer.; 0 11.21 Oi5T' ] ouo' A; 0 11.18 J.L~T' ] J.LTJo' Mss. J.LEv 
became J.LaV at P 4.50 (vett.), N 2.14 (vett.) and 0 13.104 (NO), J.L' avat 
o 2.25 (C), and oJ (by a polar error) at P 6.23 (V). J.La.v became J.LEV at 
N 10.29 (Mss), 0 13.104 (NO), N 9.39 (D), N 1.69 (TUV), and became 
Kat at I 4.37 (D). P 10.58 Kat] 1"£ vett.; P 4.277 Kat] 7} V; a 3.43 yE] SE 
AD; 0 13.65 yE ] TE C; 18.11 yE ] TE D. At I 2.24 (D) and P 4.87 (C) n is 
reported as becoming TOt. Conversely, TOL became n at 0 8.59 (BE). 
P 1.87 (E), and N 3.76 CD). TOL became TE at a 7.93 (A) and P 5.122 (V). 

Confusions of longer words are more interesting, and would be 
more disastrous if they occurred frequently in all the manuscript 
tradition at once-which, fortunately, rarely occurs in Pindar. A 
great many confusions involve only one letter, altered, dropped, or 
added, and a good many more only one syllable: a 7.61 a-J.L7TaAOV ] 
Cl.J.L7TEAOV 0; P 1.8 KaTEXEvaS ] KaTExeaas C2, perhaps explicable in terms 
of the scribe's subconscious feelings at the moment. P 4.179 TaXEES ] 

TaXEws V; P 8.48 7TPOTEPCf ] 7TOTEPCf C; P 8.75 KOpVaaEJ.LEV ] KTJpvaaEJ.LEV 

V; P 11.57 YAvKvTaTCf ] YAVKthan V; a 1.8 7ToAvcpaTos ] 7ToAvcpaJ.Los V; 
a 1.107 Kaoos ] KVOOS CE yp.; a 2.67 oKXEovn ] €KXEOVn AE prim. V; 
a 5.10 EUTJpaTwv ] EUTJAaTWv CD; a 6.63 xwpav ] xwpov pler.; a 6.83 
7TpoaEp7TEt ] 7TpoaD .. KEt G v.l.; 0 6.97 Bpaaaot ] BpavaoL Mss; a 6.98 
dTJpaToLS ] EUKpaTOtS ANIOI; a 6.105 aEt' ] OEt' ANO corr.; a 7.63 
dJcppova ] EJ.Lcppova V; a 11.19 €J.LCPVEs ] dcpVEs A; 09.14 KAEtVas ] KAEtTCXS 

A; 0 9.651J7TtpcPaTov ] lJ7TtPcPvTov A; 09.86 xapJ.LaL ] xapJ.La A; a 10.24 
aaJ.Lan ] aWJ.Lan D; a 14.9 TaJ.L{aL ] TLJ.L{aL T; a 14.16 EUJ.LEVEL] EUYEVEL 
V; P 1.43 EA7ToJ.Lat ] €AKOJ.LaL D; P 1.26 7TapLovTwV ] 7TapEovTwV C; P 3.6 
TEKTOV' ] TtKVOV B; P 4.238 ovvamv ] ovvafLtV E; P 5.31 gEVWOEtS ] gvvw­

BEts B; P 11.8 avV{fLEV ] avvEfLEv DG; P 11.8 0fLTJyvp,fa ] 0fLTJYEp,fa BE; 



268 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERROR IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

N 7.41 KT/.aT t ] KT/.avt B; N 11.4 7T/'Aa~ ] m)Aa~ B; I 4.40 7Talowuw ] 

1Talo£vuw D; 16.46 ,€LVOV ] K€LVOV D; I 8.3 1TPO(JV pOV ] 1TPO (JVJLOV D; N 2.5 
1TOAVVJLV?]TqJ ] 7ToAVJLV?]TW TV; N 8.16 N€JL€awv ] V/.JL€LOV Mss. 

A single syllable is affected in a good many other confusions of 
longer words: 0 1.104 KVpU.fJT€POV ] KaLptc.OT€pOV A; 01.113 aAAoloLUL ] 
aAAoLuL Mss; 0 3.25 wpJLaw' ] W pJLa A; 0 6.38 7T(xf)a~ ] 7Tlxf)ov~ B; 0 6.54 
a7T€LplTqJ ] a7T€LpcXvTqJ pIer.; a 6.101 a7T(:uKlJL~f)aL ] a7TwKfj~f)aL A, 
u,1T€UKacp(JaL 0; 06.103 €lJT€P1TfS ] €lJ1TP€1TfS EG; 0 10.20 ¢,JVT' ] CPWT' 

CE; P 2.24 €1TOLXOJL/.vov~ ] €1T€PXOJL/.vov~ V; P 3.58 €V/.(JKtJLtP€V] Jv/.UK'T)tP€V 
B; P 4.90 KpaL1TVOV ] T€P7TVOV C; P 4.157 TOLO~ ] TOtoVTO~ vett.; P 4.162 
f1€A/'WV ] f10vMwv D; P 4.184 1TaJL1T€L{)fj ] 7TaJL7TA'T)f)fj DE; P 8.20 IIap­

vauulo£ ] 1Tapvaulq. Mss; P 9.62 Xc1mo(J€v ] X· wn 1TO(J€V BEG; P 9.125 
1TT€pa ] 7Tapa V; P 11.24 oaJLa~oJL/.vav ] oaJLaAL~OJLlvav DGV; P 12.2 
ox(JaL~ ] oXOov~ V; N 1.25 €vf)€laL~ ] ~f)€laL~ D; N 5.20 €XW ] €~W BD; 
N 6.52 aKJLq.] alXJLq. Mss; N 7.3 €vcppovav ] €V~pou";vav D; P 9.62 f)a'T)ua­

JL€VaL ] (J'T)UcXJL€VaL EIG, (J7JKaJL€VaL E2DV, (JaKaJL€VaL B; N 10.60 aKJLq. ] 

alXJLq. Mss; I 1.47 €PYJLaULV ] apJLaULV D; I 4.58 aKaJL1TTo~ ] aKOJL1TO~ B; 
I 5.44 7TcXAaL ] 7TcXALV B; I 8.62 AIAL1TOV ] M1TOV Mss; 0 2.66 ao aKpvv ] 

aOcXKpvTOV A; 0 6.22 ~JLLOVWV ] ~JLLOVLOV N; 06.37 II v(JwvcXS' ] 1TV(JWV' C; 
o 7.11 ~w(JcXAJLLO~ ] ~wo~f)cXAJLLOV CNOac; 0 13.99 aJL~oTlpwf)€v] aJL~o­
T/.PW(JL 0; P 10.63 EvLaV'T6V ] JJLaV'T6V F prim.; N 2.15 TAa(JVJLO~ ] (JVJL6~ 
D; P 4.206 Al(Jwv ] M(Jwov vett.; 0 10.16 ' OAVJL1TLaSL ] OAVJL1Tla BC; 
o 2.76 JL/.ya~ ] ya~ Mss; 0 14.15 €1TaKOOLT€ ] J1TaKoo£ Mss; P 1.47 aJL­

JLvaU€L€V] «Xv JLVaU€L€V Mss; N 9.47 1TPOUW(J€v] 1TPOUW D,1TOPUW B; 12.22 
V€LJL' ] vWJLt Mss; 17.25 "Ap7J~] ap' D; P 5.36 SalSaA'] SaLScXAJLaT' Mss; 
P 1.12 KWJLqJ ] KWJLan C, where the majority reading is defended by 
H. Hohl, Responsionsfreiheiten bei Pindar (Diss. Koln 1950) 60-63. 

Finally, here are confusions where two or more syllables have been 
affected in disyllabic or longer words: 02.14 KOJLLUOV ] KOUJL'T)uov T; 
02.63 aKJLq.] aAKq. B; 02.69 EKaTlpw(J£ ] EKaT€pO€ C; 0 2.77 tJ1Tlp-ra­
TOV ] v7TaTov vett.; 0 3.32 f)avJLaLV€ ] OcXJLf1aw€ A; 0 5.26 KT€cXT€UUL ] 

KT€eXV€UL A; 0 6.91 aya~OlyKTwv ] a~Ooyywv A; 06.97 JLOA7Tal] 7ToAAa~ 

C; 07.57 f1/.v(JWLV ] V/~WL Q; 08.87 aywv ] €XWV A; 0 10.49 aVeXKTwv ] 
a(JaveXTwv C; P 1.26 7TPOO"LS/.u(JaL ] 7Tv(Jlu(JaL DEG; P 1.79 €UvOPOV ] 

€t)avopov E1; P 1.92 €VTpeX1TAoL~ ] EvTpa7TIAoL~ CI; P 2.43 avopauL ] av­
(JPW7TOLUL CV; P 2.59 KT€aTWUL ] KT€cXVOLUL CV; P 2.92 JL'T)Tlov-raL ] 

JL7JxavwvTaL B; P 3.76 1TOVTOV ] 1TOPOV CV; P 4.106 KOJLl~wv ] KaLvl~wv B; 
P 4.113 JLiya ] JL€Ta B, JLlya E prim., JL/.ua C prim.; P 4.213 d~VTeXTWV ] 

WKVTcXTWV BDEG; P 4.263 d~V'TcXTqJ ] o~vT6JLqJ CV; P 4.271 TpwJLaV ] 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 269 

TpavfLa C; P 5.52 aYAawv ] ayaOwv pler., ayavwv V; P 8.10 OeoofLeXTwv ] 
{hoao6Twv V, 8eoowTwv E; P 11.64 EVOOV ] ioos E; N 1.48 OEOS ] {3€AOS 
V prim.; N 1.72 vOfLoV ] o6fLoV BD, YeXfLov V; N 2.7 ev8v7TofL7TOs ] ev807Tov­
TOS D; N 3.39 aKfLav] aAKav B; N 7.29 dOV7TVOOV ] evOv7TopOV B; N 7.29 
1To}l1Tai ] 1TVoai B; I 4.80 a7TouTCl'WV ] E7TtUTOxa'wv D; 15.12 a/\7TVtUToV ] 
aV€A7TtUTOV BD; a 7.63 7TOA o{3oaKov ] 7TOA o{3vaaov 0; a 10.56 7TOAEfLoLO ] 
7TOA€fLLOV E; a 11.10 ofLolws ] C5fLwS c1jv CNO; N 1.62 KTavcfw ] KaTayJw 

TIU; 14.20 aVOl1a€V ] avOos D; P 4.158 afLrPmoAe'i] afLrPEA€'iv C; N 3.4 
fLeALyapvwv ] fL7] yapvwv D; P 4.255 a7TEpl-': ] 7TEP Mss, the product of 
two-stage corruption. The initial sigma was lost by haplography and 
the mu was then dropped to make a word, even though not a word 
adequate to the sense of the passage. A few of the foregoing confusions 
betray some degree of ecdotic mentality, or a glossing mind at work. 
At N 8.14, for rPEPWV, D writes rPtAwv, under the influence of rPtAas in 
the line above. At 17.28, where manuscripts offer afLovwv, the true 
reading is probably Thiersch's ana rPEpwv, from the scholiasts' 
EVavTlov tPEpwv, and the corruption may have resulted from the 
influence of afLoveTaL in the line above. At P 6.48, for 7J{3av, Eustathios 
has the variant V{3PLV, which may have emerged from the ecclesiastic's 
subconscious. 

Spelling blunders and miscellaneous confusions that result in more 
or less nonsense may be noted here and there in the sixteen manu­
scripts considered: they help to complete the picture of the scribes' 
propensities and general reliability or otherwise, which varies with 
individuals. a 1.27 KeKaofL€vov ] KEOfL€VOV N; a 1.34 fLeXPTVpes ] fLeXPTVPOL 
D (after £7TD\omoL); a 1.50 afLtPL oevTaTa ] afLrP" oevfLaTa V prim., 
afLrPloevpa Athenaeus; 0 1.86 ErPeXt/JaTo ] ErPEt/JaTo E; 0 2.53 oEoaLoaA­
fLEVOLS ] O(XLOaAfL€VOLS DEG; 02.65 TLfLtOLS ] TafLloLS B; 02.73 xepaoOev ] 
xpva6()ev DE prim. (under the influence of xpvaovn); 06.26 'OAvfL7Ttq. ] 

OAVfL BI; 0 6.40 KVall€as ] KVKEaVEas C; a 6.97 irP€P7TWll ] eVrP€P7TWV 0; 
o 6.103 ev()vv DE 7TAOOV KafLeXTwv ] EVOVVE 7TAOOV KafLaTwv 0' A; a 8.41 
lloaELoav ] 7Toaoav E; 09.2 KexAaows ] KeXAao7]S E; 0 9.14 EAeAl~wv ] 
iyxeAl~wv G, perhaps thinking of eels for lunch; 0 10.16 EV ' OAVfL7TLeXOL 

VLKWV ] EV OAVfL7TLOVLKWV A; a 12.19 AovTpa ] AovTpav A (NVfLrPUll pre­
cedes); 0 13.26 YEVOLO ] fLEVOLO B; 0 10.85 rP&'VEV ] rP&'va G, rP&.va~ E, 
cpeXvaLEv F, conflating the variants; 0 13.20 EVTEaaLV ] OllTEaL N; 0 13.72 
Eoogev] avoogEv E; 0 13.78 8afLaalcppova] oafLa~cppova 0; P 1.30 yalas ] 

yall1 D; P 1.69 aYl1 -rTJp ] aYLaT7] p DGV; P 4.25 E7TEToaaE ] E7Toaae BI; 
P 4.133 7TapEKoLVuO' ] 7TaaL KOLva()' BCI V; P 4.136 ipaamAoKeXfLov ] 



270 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERRORS IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

Aaat7TAOKap.ov Cl; P 4.158 Kvp.aLVEL ] Kpvp.aLvEL V; P 4.172 oOLOL] ovoL B; 
P 4.187 Jfis ] LaS B; P 4.216 OPVLV ] EPVLV B; P 4.227 7T~AaaaEv ] 7T~7TAaaE G; 
P 4.147 xaAKOTC)pOLS ] xaAKoT~poLaL BE, xaAKo7T~poLaL V; P 4.150 
v~p.EaL ] vUP.ES B; P 4.190 OW7TP07T€WV ] (lE07TPE7T€WV B; P 5.50 7TET<)V'T€a­
aw ] 7TE7TovTEaaw V, 7TEaaOV'T€aaw C; P 8.17 KEpavvijJ ] KEpKVVW D; 
P 10.36 YEA~] yaA~ D; P 5.91 aAE~LIL{1poToLs ] aA~LIL{1poToLs E; 0 6.103 
EVTEp7TES] EVEP7TES D; P 4.272 acpavpoT~pOLS ] c/>avpoTEpOLS CV; N 7.63 
7TOTLcPOpOS ] 7TOTLCPPOS D; P 8.82 KaKtX ] Kd.KTa B; P 11.14 TPLTOV ] Td.TOV 
V; P 12.25 AE7TTOV ] AEV7TTOV V; P 12.29 TEAEVTd.aEL ] TEAEUaEL D; N 1.63 
ai"SpoStKas ] avSpoStKas U; N 1.68 aV'TLd.~waw ] al'TLd.~waL U; N 3.66 
KEAaS€Wv ] KAaS€WV D; N 5.13 TtKT' ] TtKaT' D. 

Useful as it is for the text of the two later books of Odes, D offers 
rather many blunders along here: N 6.56 MYETaL ] p.€YETaL; N 3.80 
7ToTavoLs ] 7TETavoLS; N 5.23 p.~aaLS ] lLotaaaLS (MOLaaV had appeared at 
the line-start); N 7.12 aAKat ] atKa/.; N 7.95 7TELO€ILEV ] 7T€LO€P.LV; N 7.97 
Sva{1d.TWv ] Sva{1d.; N 7.103 aTpo7ToLaL ] aTpo7TaaL; N 8.2 7TapOEV7]toLs ] 
7TapOEvLoLa, ; N 8.6 alLc/>E7ToArwav ] ap.c/>E7ToA'TJav; N 8.38 YVLa ] yfja ; N 9.40 
ap.c/>' ] c/>'; N 9.45 OA{10V ] oAaov; N 10.43 oLv'TJpa"is ] olvopaLS; N 10.71 

~oAoEvTa ] ~LAoEvTa; N 10.72 Kp€(Jaovwv ] Kpaaovwv; N 10.73 aOEAc/>EoV] 
aAcPEov; N 10.88 OOlLoLa,V ] SOILEvaL; N 11.1 7TpvTavELa ] 7TpvTavELs; 11.25 
aa7TLOOOOU7ToLaLv ] aa7TLOoaw 7TOLaw; 18.41 aKlLtXV ] aEp.tXV; I 1.29 PE€OpOL­
aL ] pE€OpOaL; 14.70 vlous ] vlfjs; I 5.57 KaTd.{1pEXE aLy~] KaT€{1pax€aw; 
I 5.59 YVLOoalLaLS ] Y'TJooalLaLS ; I 6.52 eaaETaL ] eaa LTaL; I 8.16 TtX ] Taov; 
I 8.71 ac/>uKT<tJ ] agnJKTE. 

B shares some errors with D in these later odes: I 4.2 ec/>avas ] 
ec/>avES; I 5.32 tTrTTOaOas ] L7T7Toatas. B has also some slips of its own: 
N 11.35 xaAKEVT€a ] xaAKEwv TE; N 10.77 E7TLTELAOV ] E7TLTEAAOV; 16.61 
EVCPUAAOV ] EVcPUyAOV; I 7.6 OVP~TpOLS ] OEP€TPOLS; I 7.10 alL7TEIL~as ] 
aV7T€IL~as; I 7.19 ~vy€V ] ~EVY€V. 

The Pindar paradosis seems not to have suffered severely from the 
intrusion of glosses by addition or substitution. The additions of'TLS 
N 7.16, ZEUS 07.49, 7TaLS 0 2.77, XP~ P 11.42, OLt I 4.64, cX7Taaav P 6.46, 
7Td.aaLs P 6.50, 7TETaaaLS P 1.92, in all older Mss, and of tHpaKM'TJS 
o 10.25 in all but A, derive mainly from ancient editorial rather than 
strictly glossing activities. But at 011.15, for ZEc/>VptwV most Mss write 
TWV Em~EcPvptwv, clearly a gloss, just as at 0 10.13, where A and B have 
Em~Ec/>vptwv for ZECPVptwV. 

At 02.52, the true reading may be acppoavvav, supported by POxy. 
2092, and the manuscripts' ovac/>poauvav may derive from an old gloss 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 271 

on that. At 0 9.102, A's apEa8(u gets some support from Aristides's 
error aipE'ia8(u, and the reading aVEMa8aL of most of the veteres may 
derive from a gloss, EMa8aL, made compound by dittography from 
the end of the preceding word, wpovaav. 

Some individual Mss have gloss additions. At 0 4.11, D adds Vf.LVOV 
after KWJLOV. At 02.62, A writes rXJLoX8ov after a1TovEaTEpov. At P 8.92, 
Q adds XpbVlfJ after d>dylfJ. Among the confusions of longer words the 
main candidates for the status of substituted glosses are B's JL7Jxavwv­

TaL for JL7JT{ovTaL at P 2.92 and C's TpavJLa for TpWJLav at P 4.271. At 
P 4.71, P's OWJLo'is replacing aAOts is a clear example of gloss sub­
stitution. Not very doubtful is JLEPOS substituted for YEpaS at 0 7.68 
in A and C, and in B as a yp(acpETaL) variant. In T at 0 13.108 f3wJLos 

has been extruded by OLOS, a gloss on AVKa{ov. At 0 3.9, for 
1TPE1TOVTWS, B writes e~pwvos, plainly derived from a gloss on 
AlV7]aLoaJLoV 1TaLO, earlier in the line. At P 5.62, T writes for JL~ 

TaJL{rr- the curious mixture JL~ TtX TW JL{a, having wrongly copied in 
from its antigraph the article T0 added over TaJL{rr-. 

There are in the paradosis a few readings that look less like glosses 
than like possible author's variants. At 0 2.27, after the end of the 
strophe, we find the veteres offering the phrase CPLA€OVTt 8J: Mo'iaat. 

Aristophanes had athetized it, according to the scholiast in A, and it 
is clearly extra metrum. Either it arose from some reader's marginal 
noting of a parallel passage, or else it could have come from Pindar's 
original draft. In specifying the deities who showed affection for 
Semele he might have thought of starting his antistrophe with a 
reference to the Muses, and written down CPLA@VTt Mo'iaaL. He then 
abandoned that idea, and went on to write of Semele's sister Ino, with 
the words, at 28, MyoVTt 8' EV Kat (JaAaaarr-. Some later copyist of 
Pindar's holograph read the cancelled words, and copied them 
with the more or less automatic addition of a OE to avoid asyndeton. 
Whatever the source of the error, it is a proof of the conservatism 
of copyists that it should have survived past the age of the Tzetzes 
brothers. 

There is an interesting variant at N 5.52, where the better manu­
script B offers the text 

.... )" I VLKWVT apETav, ... 

D, independent and usually inferior, offers OL1TAbaV, which is hardly 



272 TYPES OF SCRIBAL ERRORS IN MANUSCRIPTS OF PINDAR 

likely to arise from mere scribal confusion of mind, though that can­
not be excluded. In the same ode, at 29, B offers 

.1. I '" , , '{; \' 'l'EVU'TaV OE 1TOL7J'TOV UVVE1TasE I\oyov, 

where D writes the perfectly possible variant avVl1T'\EgE. It could, of 
course, arise from corruption of ~YNETTA%E to ~NETTME in 
uncials, altered to avVl1T'\EgE. But perhaps D at 29 and 52 has Pindar's 
first thoughts, and B his corrections, on being informed of a further 
victory at Epidauros for which occasion the ode might have been 
revived. 

There is a curious group of variants at N 3.56, where Pindar tells of 
Cheiron supervising the marriage of Thetis. Recent editors print 

I ,/.. "" l' '\' \ VVp,'I'EVUE 0 av'TLS aYl\aOKOI\1TOV 

N7Jplos fJ,jya'Tpa, ••• 

ay,\aoKo,\1ToV appears in B in linea and, according to Turyn, perhaps in 
Dante correcturam. Also attested is ay,\aoKap1Tov by B supra, perhaps 
Dante correcturam (again according to Turyn), and by Triclinius. It 
could be derived from Kap1Tos (B), "wrist". D post correcturam offers 
ay,\aoKpavov, which would be a hapax, "with glorious head", in con­
trast to the Homeric epithet for her, apyvpo1TE~a, "with silvery foot" 
(or "slipper"). The less reputable manuscript V offers in linea ay,\ao­

Kapvov, a variant of D's final reading, and writes above the odd word 
ay,\aoKo,\voV. As candidates for author's variants perhaps we should 
take seriously ay,\aoKo,\1ToV and ay'\aoKap1Tov, which might have been 
Pin dar's first thought, in the sense "fair-wristed", later dropped 
because his hearers would be likely to take it in the sense "with 
glorious crops", which would not suit Thetis. 

Aristarchos is the authority for an interesting variant at P 3.43, 
where Apollo is rescuing the babe Asklepios from the cremation of 
Koronis. The paradosis offers us 

., ,/..' f3 ' "" , , ,-"" , -ws 'l'a'To' ap,an 0 EV 1TPW'TC.p KLXWV 1TaLO EK VEKpOV 

., 
ap1TaUE' •.• 

But the scholiasts say that Aristarchos read 'TPL'TcX'TCP' This would be, 
they claim, a paraphrase of Homer's verse about Poseidon, Ii. 13.20, 

" \ "'(: ", " ~'" w , 'TP'S p'EV opE!:,.a'T LWV, 'TO uE 'TE'Tpa'TOV 'KE'TO 'TEKp'Wp, ••• 

In fact, if Pindar were imitating that, he would rather have written 
'TE'TPcX'TCP: therefore the scholiasts' reference to Homer is probably 



DOUGLAS YOUNG 273 

erroneous. But they are right in remarking ian OE aEJLVOTEpOV Kat 
7TpETrov T~ Bdp TO eXl-'a Tip 7TpWTCp {3al-'an pvaaaBaL TOV 7Ta'ioa. Clearly 
Aristarchos's variant is less effective poetically. But whence did he 
derive it? It is an unlikely corruption for a scribe to make. Moreover, 
it raises a metrical question of responsion. The resolution is licit if 
what it is now fashionable to call" dactylo-epitrites" are really a type 
of Aeolic metre, polyschematist choriambics, which is indeed sug­
gested by the fact that both Pindar and Bacchylides admit in them the 
Aeolic colon called "Pherecratean." Perhaps the most likely solution 
is that Pindar first wrote TPLT(XTCP and later thought of the more 
sweepingly swift and hyperbolic 7TpWTCf!. 

In the third Nemean, at 75, Aristarchos supports B in reading: 
., ~ <;:>, " " €I\Cf- O€ KaL T€aaapa5; ap€Ta~ 

< t> II , " [ • I B].J.. ~ <;:>, , , , , o uvaTO~ aLWV €WV , 'f'POV€LV 0 €V€7T€L TO 7TapK€Lf-L€VOV. 

"And mortal life drives four virtues (like a chariot team), and bids 
us think thoughts appropriate to the time present." But D and V 
offer what may be an author's variant, < d> Wt.KpOS alwv, "a full life­
time, the full span of life." Neither BvaTo5; nor l-'aKpo~ is a probable 
copyist's error for the other. Farnell correctly defends the view that 
Pindar is thinking of the four virtues "of the old popular morality 
inherited by Plato, courage, temperance, justice, wisdom." Probably 
Simonides's TETpaywvov (fr. 4 Diehl, 37 = 542 Page) relates to the 
Pythagorean reformulation of the same traditional view that the 
perfectly virtuous man is a " square." Pindar's image of the chariot 
team of virtues anticipates in part Plato's image in the Phaedrus (246) 
of the soul's chariot pair. But what would be the point of Pindar's 
changing from BvaT05; to l-'aKpo~, if indeed he did so? It is rational 
enough to speak of a human life driving a team of virtues, but by 
changing to JLaKpOS Pindar gains emphasis for the thought that a full 
span of life is desirable to realize adequately all the four virtues.* 

THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS 

February, 1966 

* For helpful criticisms of a draft of this paper I am greatly obliged to Professor 
Kenneth J. Dover and Mr Nigel G. Wilson.