eul_wid: gmc-aa
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20335421 PDFMarkdown

On the Vicissitudes of Heimarmenē by Patrocles of Thurii

On the Vicissitudes of Fate, also known by the Greek title Apospasmata, is a work attributed to Patrocles of Thurii. The title Apospasmata translates as "Extracts" or "Fragments," and the composition is described as a verse drama. The work is unattested in standard scholarly sources and its manuscript tradition is unrecorded, leaving its status as a complete, fragmentary, or lost text unverified. Later catalogues indicate it consists of five passages, and its titular designation as a collection of excerpts suggests the content may derive from larger dramatic works. While the author's name and origin in the Greek colony of Thurii suggest a possible Hellenistic context, the work's specific content, character, and historical or literary significance remain entirely undocumented.

καὶ νῦν τὰ δεινὰ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ πόλλʼ ἔπη
εἰς ὧδε μικρὸν τεῦχος ἤθροισεν τύχη.
τί δῆτα θνητοὶ πόλλʼ ἀπειλοῦμεν μάτην
δεινοὺς ἐπʼ ἀλλήλοισι πέμποντες λόγους,
καὶ πάντα συννοοῦμεν ἐκπράξειν χερί,
πρόσω βλέποντες; τὴν δὲ πλησίον τύχην
οὐκ ἴσμεν οὐδʼ ὁρῶμεν ἀθλίου μόρου
περὶ τοῖν Διοσκούροιν