Database of Byzantine Book Epigrams

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Type 31531

	Οὕτως Ἐπαφρόδιτος, ὡς λέγεις, γράφει·
	Γέλας δ’ ἐκλήθη τῷ πάχνην πολλὴν φέρειν,
	κλῆσιν ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἡ πάχνη ταύτην φέρει.
	Ὁ Πρόξενος δὲ σύν τισιν ἄλλοις λέγει
	Γέλωνος ἀνδρὸς ἔκ τινος Γέλαν πόλιν.
	Ἐξ Ἀντιφήμου δ’ αὖ γέλωτός τις λέγει·
	χρησμῷ μαθὼν γὰρ ὡς πόλιν μέλλει κτίσαι
	γελᾷ δοκήσας τῶν ἀνελπίστων τόδε·
	κλῆσιν ὅθεν τέθεικε τῇ πόλει Γέλαν.

Text source	M. Luzzatto, 1999, Tzetzes lettore di Tucidide: note autografe sul Codice Heidelberg Palatino Greco 252, Bari: 79-80
Text status	Text completely known
Editorial status	Not a critical text
Genre(s)	Author-related epigram Text-related epigram
Person(s)	Poet John Tzetzes (12th c.) - PBW: Ioannes/459/
Metre(s)	Dodecasyllable
Subject(s)	Thucydides (5th c. BC)
Tag(s)	Address to the author Reference to content of the book Scholium
Translation(s)	Epaphroditos writes the same thing, what you say; the Gelas was so named because it carries down much frost, for that is the name that frost has in those lands. But Proxenos and some others (Hellanikos) say that the city Gela was named after a certain man, Gelon. (Gelon was the son of Aitna and Hymaros; thus Theopompos.) Someone else says that it is from the laughter [gelos] of Antiphemos: learning from an oracle that he was destined to found a city, he laughed, thinking that it was unlikely. It was from this that he gave the name Gela to the city. Language English Source(s) A. Kaldellis, 2015, Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians, Abingdon and New York: 77 Così come tu dici scrive Epafrodito. Fu chiamato Gelas perché era ricoperto di molta brina gelata: questo è infatti il nome che ha in quei luoghi il termine πάχνη. Proxenos invece assieme ad alcuni altri (interl. con Manico) dice che la città di Gela è da un certo Gelon (nota marg. Questo Gelon è il figlio di Aetna ed Hymaros: così Teopompo). Un altro dice invece che viene dal riso (gelos) di Antifemo: saputo infatti da un oracolo che avrebbe fondato una città, si mette a ridere (gela) pensando che si tratti di cosa irrealizzabile; onde poi dette alla città il nome di Gela. Language Italian Source(s) M. Luzzatto, 1999, Tzetzes lettore di Tucidide: note autografe sul Codice Heidelberg Palatino Greco 252, Bari: 80
Comment	Text of Luzzatto (1999: 79-80) modified by DBBE.
Bibliography	Primary C. Hude, 1973, Scholia in Thucydidem ad optimos codices collata, New York: 330 Secondary A. Kaldellis, 2015, Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians, Abingdon and New York: 76-77
Number of verses	9
Occurrence(s)	[31539] οὕτ(ως) ἐπαφρόδιτο(ς) (ὡς) λέγ(εις) γράφει [1146-1155] HEIDELBERG - Universitätsbibliothek - Palat. gr. 252 [851-950] (f. 215r) (9 verses)
Acknowledgements	Creator(s) Anne-Sophie Rouckhout Contributor(s) Anne-Sophie Rouckhout The credits system has been implemented in 2019. Credits from before the new system was in use might be incomplete.
Identification	Vassis ICB 2005, 579: "Ioann. Tzetzes, Scholium in Thucydidem (6.4.3)"
Permalink	http://dev.dbbe.ugent.be/types/31531

Last modified: 2026-01-19.

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