Friday 24 September 2021

Two unsolved riddles

 The Anthology's fourteenth book is composed of riddles and puzzles. Many of the puzzles are mathematical and I would be at sea without the helpful notes supplied by W. R. Paton in his old Loeb edition. Paton also presents solutions for many of the riddles, but some remain unsolved. Here are two such. Good luck, and please let me know if you get anywhere with them.

14.28

From sea I draw a fishy parentage;
A single contest guarantees I come
To celebrate the Dionysia;
And when I ventured to the stadium,
And made my body slick with olive oil,
With my own hands I slew Demeter’s son.
A second point of note: that I emit
A multitude of Giants from each side,
And they are hauled away by many hands.

14.39

The one who calls me island will not lie:
Aptly he fixed my name into the midst
Of many rushing waters speaking clear.

 UPDATE: the excellent Armand d'Angour has worked these out! See guest post




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