Ergänzungsspiel in the Epigrams of Callimachus

In one of the «Marvelous Things Heard» by pseudo-Aristotle (mirab. auscult 131) we learn of the following very dramatic incident: the Athenians are in the process.of building the shrine of Demeter at Eleusis when, all at once, they make an exciting and mysterious discovery. Something has been brought to light, closed in among the rocks. It is a stele — but a most unusual one, made of bronze. This immediately suggests an artifact of great antiquity, perhaps from the Heroic Age. The stele, moreover, is inscribed with an epigram, in the original sense of the word, that is with a metrical inscription. Its text reads s follows: Δηιόττη$ τόδε σήμα, «This is the tomb of Deiope». The question arises s to the identity of this Deiope. Some argue that it is most likely the wife of the legendary singer Musaios; others, however, claim that it must be the mother of Triptolemos. This thrilling tale offers us a clear Illustration of how epigrams were originally tied to a particular location. That is to say: inscriptions generally refer to specific objects or monuments in a given place, where people set them up at a given historical moment, and for a certain purpose. Further, since such inscriptions are usually public, we may assume that they belong to the conceptual framework of their given Community, share its assumptions and traditions, and may be readily understood by its members. The stele of Deiope, by contrast — inasmuch s it is buried amid the rocks — has apparently been dislodged from its intended place. More importantly, people evidently no longer know who Deiope is. This prompts them to speculate: assuming that the tomb was not originally here, but somewhere eise (they rnight say to themselves), it was still probably linked with Eleusis; and since its bronze material suggests great age, Deiope probably belongs to the mythical prehistory of the site. In other words, the readers sift through the