The Weekend Papyrus 5-28-2021

[Barry Hofstetter]

P.Oxy 3.528. A bit longer than some of the other ones we've looked at, a letter from Serenus to his sister (and likely wife) Isadora. There are a lot of spelling variations, some of which are marked in the notes below. Note that more than once υ is substituted for οι. Yes, and the Greek is certainly not the best!

1 Σερῆνος Είσιδώρᾳ [τῇ ἀδελ-
2 φῇ καὶ κυρίᾳ πλαῖστ[α χαίρειν.
3 πρὸ μὲν ποντὸς εὔχομ[αί σε ὑγιαί-
4 νει〈ν〉 καὶ καθʼ ἑκάστης [ἡμέρα]ς κα[ὶ
5 ὀψ〈ί〉ας τὸ προσκύνημά σου πυῶ
6 παρὰ τῇ σε φιλούσῃ Θοήρι. γινόσκειν
7 σε θέλω ἀφʼ ὡς ἐ{κ}ξῆλθες ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ
8 πένθος ἡγούμην νυκτὸς κλέων
9 ἡμέρας δὲ πενθῶ〈ν〉. ιβ Φαῶφι ἀφʼ ὅτε
10 ἐλουσάμην μετʼ ἐσοῦ οὐκ ἐλουσάμην
11 οὐκ ἤλιμ〈μ〉ε μέχρει ιβ Ἀθύρ, καὶ ἔπεμ-
12 σάς μυ ἐπιστολὰς δυναμένου λίθον
13 σαλεῦσε, οὕτως ὑ λόγυ σου καικίνη-
14 κάν με. αὐτῇ{ν} τῇ ὅρᾳ ἀντέγρα-
15 ψά συ καὶ ἔδωκα τῇ ιβ μετὰ τῶν
16 σῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἐσ{σ}φραγιζμένα.
17 χωρεὶς δὲ τῶν σῶν λόγων κὲ γρα-
18 μ〈μ〉άτων ὁ Κόλοβος δὲ πόρνην με πεπύ-
19 ηκεν, ἔλεγε δὲ ὅτι ἔπεμσέ μυ. φάσειν
20 ἡ γυνή σου ὅτι αὐτὸς πέπρακεν τὸ ἁλυ-
21 σίδιον καὶ αὐτὸς κατέστακέ με ε[ἰ]ς τὸ
22 πλῦν· τούτους τοὺς λόγους λέγεις ἥνα
23 μηκέτι ⟦φ⟧πιστευθῶ μου τὴν ἐνβολ[ήν.
24 ἐδοῦ ποσά{ρ}κεις ἔπεμσα ἐπὶ σέ. ἔρχῃ [εἴτε
25 οὐκ ἔρχῃ δήλοσόν μυ. [

On the verso

26 ἀπόδος Εἰσιδόρᾳ π(αρὰ) Σερήνου.


2. l. πλεῖστ[α.; 5. l. ποιῶ.; 6. l. γινώσκειν.; 8. l. κλαίων.; 11. l. ἤλειμ〈μ〉αι . . . ἔπεμψας; cf. ll. 19 and 24.; 12. l. μοι . . . δυναμένας.; 13. l. σαλεῦσαι . . . οἱ λόγοι σου κεκίνηκαν.; 14. l. ὥρᾳ.; 15. l. σοι.; 17. l. καί.; 18. l. πεποίηκεν.; 19. l. μοι.; 22. l. πλοῖον . . . ἵνα.; 24. ε of εδου corr. from ο. l. ἰδοῦ ποσάκις.; 25. l. δήλωσόν μοι.; 26. l. Ἰσιδώρᾳ.

[Daniel Semler]

I've run over it quickly now and will look more on the thankfully, given the length, long w/e. But a quick question. Do you Barry, or anyone else know of a decent treatment of epistolary greetings and farewells that treats common letters as well as higher register material ? I have a study of Paul's but that's rather specific. I'd like to get a broader view of that topic. I will search some stuff up later myself but thought to ask quickly while I have it in mind.

Thx
D

[Barry Hofstetter]

I've run over it quickly now and will look more on the thankfully, given the length, long w/e. But a quick question. Do you Barry, or anyone else know of a decent treatment of epistolary greetings and farewells that treats common letters as well as higher register material ? I have a study of Paul's but that's rather specific. I'd like to get a broader view of that topic. I will search some stuff up later myself but thought to ask quickly while I have it in mind.

Thx
D

I'm sure something like that exists, but I'm not familiar with any particular study.

[S Walch]

Hi Daniel,

You could try this book by Stanley Stowers, Letter Writing in Greco-Roman Antiquity (Google Books link).

It looks at all sorts of letters in general, but should have some discussion concerning the pre and post letter greetings.

There's also this rather excellent Open Access(!) book on De Gruyter: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/ ... 26953/html

The opening address and farewell greetings are discussed on pages 114-120.

[Daniel Semler]

Hi Daniel,

You could try this book by Stanley Stowers, Letter Writing in Greco-Roman Antiquity (Google Books link).

It looks at all sorts of letters in general, but should have some discussion concerning the pre and post letter greetings.

There's also this rather excellent Open Access(!) book on De Gruyter: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/ ... 26953/html

The opening address and farewell greetings are discussed on pages 114-120.

Thank you - I've downloaded the DeGruyter - looks really interesting. I'll see about Stowers once I've had more of a look at this one.

Thx
D

[Barry Hofstetter]

Yes, great finds. The text for download looks quite good. I have 40,000 other things going at the moment, but I do plan to have a good look at it.

[S Walch]

Also just found this by Peter Head: Epistolary Greetings in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri

[Daniel Semler]

Also just found this by Peter Head: Epistolary Greetings in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri

Hilarious - this one I downloaded a short while ago and promptly forgot that I had ! Time to read it I guess.

thx
D

[Barry Hofstetter]

Walch, when I start my dissertation, I'm going to be best friends with you...

[S Walch]

I've basically just ransacked the Bibliography in Peter Head's paper, and have found the following:

The Letters of Claudius Terentianus and the New Testament (Downloadable PDF of the Tyndale Bulletin)
A Study in Greek Epistolography: The Form of the Ancient Greek Letter
Greek and Latin Epistolary Formulae: Some Light on Cicero's Letter Writing
Women’s Letters from Ancient Egypt, 300 BC– AD 800

I've ordered Stanley Stowers' Letter Writing in Greco-Roman Antiquity (I too am quite fascinated by this subject), and will see if I can find any of the items mentioned in his Bibliography.