Reading Epicharmus in Roman Egypt: POxy 2429 between scribal practices, grammatical erudition, and the influence of Atticism

This article is devoted to the study of POxy 2427 = Epich. fr. 113 K–A. The aim of the present paper is twofold. On the one hand, it will offer a re-assessment of diacritical signs, most notably the function of the στιγμαί supra lineam to indicate the emendation or the insertion of letters and lectional signs; the functions of the στιγμαί have not been sufficiently investigated after the editio princeps, and a renewed discussion can help us reconstruct some controversial passages and avoid inconsistencies. On the other hand, the paper will take into account the grammatical doctrines which may have influenced the scribes; special attention is paid to the norms of Doric accentuation and to the influence of Atticist lexicography. A few remarks on Epicharmus’ readership will close the paper.