STATIUS, THEB. 1 .72: IS JOCASTA DEAD OR ALIVE? 237
In his discussion of Phoin. 62, Mastronarde rejects the possibility that
here, where Jocasta is alive, Euripides would deliberately allude to
Sophocles’ pins (OT 1268f.). He points out that Euripides’ assumed
use of Sophocles’ fibulae (from Jocasta’s dead body) has been criti-
cised as a careless combination of inconsistent elements (Zieliński
1925), and that Fraenkel (1963) for the same reason considers the
verse an interpolation, since he cannot believe that Euripides is re-
sponsible for such inconsistency. To my mind, it is no coincidence
that Statius’ line 1.72 has been criticised on precisely the same
grounds, since Phoin. 62 is Statius’ point of departure for his combi-
nation of versions (A) and (B). Both poets, however, are far too so-
phisticated to be criticised for inconsistency. They rather invite us to
recognise their allusions and interpret the differences from the original
text thus referred to. As in this case, Euripides’ style is often remarka-
bly close to Seneca’s, and this ‘modern’ character may explain the
popularity of his plays in Neronian and Flavian poetry.^25
25 See Bremer 1983. For Statius being inspired by Euripides’ Phoinissai see also
my commentary (1994) on Theb. 7.470–563.