Citation:

Abstract:

It is argued that Heyne’s emendation ἀπειρίτωι adopted at O. 6.54 in all modern editions of Pindar is unnecessary. The variant ἀπειράτωι transmitted in two mss. of the Vatican recension (Laur. 32.37, 32.33) should be interpreted not as a form of ἀπείρᾱτος ‘inexperienced’, but as a form of ἀπείρᾰτος ‘boundless’ (cf. [Hp.] Flat. 3.9 Jouanna): this reading provides the required sense and meter, gives an easy account of the corrupted variant ἀπειράντωι and allows restoring a phonic echo in Pindar’s text. Thanks to the recent progress in our understanding of nominal composition in Greek and Indo-European it has now become possible to offer a linguistic explanation of the form ἀπείρᾰτος and clarify its relation to πεῖραρ, ἀπείρων and ἄπειρος.