208 Part Two: Epigrams in Context
the epigram celebrating Niketas’ surgical handbook tells all future readers:
“Crown the composer of this text with flowers and plait a garland of musical
words”. In the last four lines of the epigram (vv. 31–34) the poet asks Niketas
to accept this book epigram benevolently as the first of many tributes to his
learning and wisdom. In the manuscript the epigram is followed by two more
poetical “tributes” to Niketas’ wisdom. As these two last epigrams are written
in a different handwriting to the first, and as there are also considerable
differences in style, language and metre, it is reasonable to assume that the
three epigrams were written by different authors^29. The first of these three book
epigrams is quite an elegant piece of writing: see vv. 15–23
oJko ̄n ™1n tiß eJqete¦n skel0n b1sin
qra7seiß te mhr0n, ™mbolën t0n spond7lzn,
czloáß änist)n kaò tele¦n dromhóöroyß
podalgi0ntaß, ™kro‰ß t0n œsc5zn
tñ ½e ̄ma desme¦n kaò krat7nein toáß pödaß
4llhn te to ̄ swmatoß ̧stwdh q6sin
qra7oysan eœß s7mphxin 3rmösai q6loi,
¢de skope5tz t‰ß graó‰ß t2ß eœkönaß
kaò p@san eÜr8seie t0n paq0n l7sin.“Therefore, if one wishes to set legs, femoral fractures and dislocated
vertebrae, to make the lame stand up and turn those who suffer from gout into
runners, to stem the flow of the humours in the hip-joints, strengthen the feet
and solidly join together all other bony parts of the body that are broken, one
may look at the pictures in this book and find a treatment for each injury”.
Par. gr. 1640 contains two historical works of Xenophon, the Cyropaedia
and the Anabasis. The manuscript (dating from c. 1320) derives, either directly
or indirectly, from a copy produced in the early tenth century, which was
presented to Leo VI^30. On fol. 123v, between the Cyropaedia and the Anabasis,
we find a long book epigram, which ends with the wish that the emperor may
live for many years to come^31. In another manuscript presented to Leo VI, the
dedication on the front page concludes with a strikingly similar wish for
longevity: there we read that Peter the Patrician, who donated a copy of
Theodoret of Cyrrhus’ Cure of Pagan Maladies to Leo VI on the occasion of his
Brumalia, hopes that his beloved emperor may live happily ever after^32. The
(^29) See SCHÖNE, Apollonius von Kitium, p. XV.
(^30) See A. HUG, Commentatio de Xenophontis Anab. codice C i.e. Parisino 1640. Zürich
1878, and MARKOPOULOS 1994a: 194–195.
(^31) Ed. MARKOPOULOS 1994a: 195 (vv. 27–30).
(^32) Ed. MARKOPOULOS 1994b: 33–34 (vv. 13–16).