Re: Trouble with Papyrus that bans divination
Posted: November 8th, 2015, 8:27 am
Clearly οἴομαι is deponent, not passive and should read something like "having suspected..." My phrasing was intended to be painfully literal to show the structure of the text, and especially the articular infinitive phrase. As for the precise nuance of the key vocabulary terms, that needs to be determined from context. It still strikes me as a text intended to warn people away from the practise without immediate punishment for involvement. Has anybody looked at the rest of the text?cwconrad wrote:1. [ἐντυχὼν πολλοῖ]ς οἰ̣[ηθ]ε̣ῖσιν μαντείας τρόποις ἐξαπατᾶσθ̣[αι]
2. [ε]ὐ̣θ̣[έως ἀναγκ]α̣ῖ̣[ον ἡγη]σάμην περὶ τοῦ μηδένα κίνδυνο̣[ν]
3. τῇ ἀ[νο]ί̣ᾳ α̣ὐ[τ]ῶν ἐπακολουθηση(* [actually infinitive ἐπακολουθῆσαι) σαφῶς πᾶσιν ἐνταῦθα̣
4. διαγ[ορ]ε̣ῦσαι εἴ̣ρ̣[γεσ]θ̣[α]ι̣ τῆς ἐπισφαλοῦς ταύτης περιεργίας.A slight rephrasing of Barry's version, after pondering some of the phrasing):Barry Hofstetter wrote: Having come upon many suspected to be deceived by various types of divination I deemed it immediately necessary, concerning the fact that, due to their ignorance, no risk follow clearly upon all there, to declare that they be kept/keep themselves from this dangerous pursuit...--οἰ̣[ηθ]ε̣ῖσιν, I think, is not passive but middle here, the Koine aorist of οἴεσθαιHaving found that several persons have suspected they are being cheated by various kinds of divination, I decided forthwith, so that no peril should arise because of their folly, to proclaim to all henceforth to refrain from this predatory sort of public nuisance.
--τῇ ἀ[νο]ί̣ᾳ α̣ὐ[τ]ῶν: presumably the reference is to the foolishness of those who are taken in by the τρόποι μαντείας
--ἐπακολουθηση(* [actually infinitive ἐπακολουθῆσαι): come about as a consequence
--ἐπισφαλοῦς: of an activity that "trips up (unsuspecting people)"
--περιεργία: being a busybody, bothering people for no good reason