Hypereides: Verteidigungsrede für Euxenippos gegen Polyeuktos wegen Landesverrats– Zur Frage der Datierung

Abstract Hypereides' In defence of Euxenippus against Polyeuctus upon his indictment for treason was dated by its first editor Churchill Babington to the year 334 BC, while the second editor, Domenico Comparetti, places the possible date of composition almost ten years later, to the period between 330 and 324 BC. According to Comparetti, the orator could only have quoted the expression ‘Molossia is mine’ from the letter of Alexander's mother Olympias to the Athenian people at the time when Olympias was already ruler of the territory in question, i.e. after the death of her brother in 331 BC. This date has been accepted as the factual date of composition for over 150 years, so editors have adapted several emendations and alternative interpretations to this view. This study argues that the speech should be dated to 334/333 BC according to the surviving, clearly interpretable text and that any emendations are therefore superfluous – Churchill Babington was right.