Praxilla’s Achilles (FR. 748 PMG ): Form and Content

Abstract

This paper focuses on Praxilla’s Achilles (fr. 748 PMG ), examining its form, its content, and the possible literary context in which the verse may originally have been embedded. The fragment represents a rare instance of an epic verse reused almost in its entirety (the adjective τεόν excepted), and appears to have dealt with the embassy episode of Iliad 9, perhaps within the framework of an invocation to Achilles or a dialogue (in the Underworld?) involving the hero.