Greetings
ἐλάινος
ὁ πᾶσι φί =
λητος
ἐλάινε
χαίροις
πολλὰ̣
ἀγαθώτατε
| Findspot: |
Smyrna, Basilica
(Agora.1)
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|---|---|
| Language: | Greek |
| Writing Style: | Graffito/incised |
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| Apparatus Criticus: | The first three lines may be rendered “Olive tree, dear to all,” while the last three lines can be taken as “Fare well for a long time, good sir.” But to find ἐλάινε in the vocative in line 4 is surprising. That suggests a personal name; such a name is listed by LGPN 3A.139 from CIL 4.597 (Pompeii) and 5B.132 from Miletos and Perge. It seems likely that a word-play on the identity is intended; if so, one could render the entire graffito as “The olive tree is dear to all; Mr. Olive, fare well for a long time, good sir.” |
| Bibliography: | Bagnall, R. S. et al., Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna (2016): 417. |
| Suggested Citation: | AGP-SMYTP0962, The Ancient Graffiti Project, <http://ancientgraffiti.org/Graffiti/graffito/AGP-SMYTP0962> [accessed: 09 May 2024] |
| Contributions: |
Editor: Roger S. Bagnall Principal Contributor: Roger S. Bagnall Last Revision: 2016-10-03 |
