Alexander Nikolaev An Epic Party? Sober Thoughts on νηφέμεν (Archil. Fr. 4 W. 2 ) Abstract: This paper argues that the Aeolic inf. νηφέμεν, used instead of expected νήφειν at the beginning of the pentameter verse (where a contracted biceps is admissible), should be viewed as modeled on πινέμεν (Hes. Op. 592, construed with αἴθοπα οἶνον): the combination of the high-flown ending, best known from the epic dialect, with a root νηφ- that otherwise belongs to the colloquial language must have both produced a comic effect in the context of an invitation to get drunk on duty and served as an allusion to the midsummer picnic scene in Hesiod. Keywords: mock-epic, allusion, dialect forms, Archilochus, Hesiod, Homer DOI 10.1515/phil-2014-0002 ἀλλ’ ἄγεσὺνκώ˾ θωνιθοῆςδιὰ σέλματανηὸς 6 φοίτακαὶ κοίλ˾ ωνπώματ’ ἄφελκεκάδων, ἄγρειδ’ οἶνον ˾ ἐρυθρὸν ἀπὸ τρυγός·οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡμεῖς νηφέμεν ˾ ἐνφυλακῆιτῆιδεδυνησόμεθα. But come, make many a trip with a cup through the thwarts of the swift ship, pull off the covers of the hollow casks, and draw the red wine from the lees; we won’t be able to stay sober on this watch 1 . 1. Athenaeus, who quotes lines 6–9 of the fragment for the use of κώθων ‘cup’ has νήφειν μὲν in the last line, which Musurus emended into νήφειν ἐν, adopted by most subsequent editors. However, P. Oxy. 854 gives a different reading: even though the letters are mutilated for the most part 2 , the form clearly shows an accent on the second syllable, which must have been the main reason why Alexander Nikolaev: Boston University, Department of Classical Studies, 745 Commonwealth avenue, Boston MA, 02215 USA, E ˗ Mail: nikol@bu.edu 1 Here and in the passages that follow translations have been taken from the relevant volume of the Loeb Classical Library. 2 Digital images can be found at http://www.papyrology.ox.ac.uk. Philologus 2014; 58(1): 10–25