The Beginning of the Lycian and Greek Versions of the Létôon Trilingual: Syntax and Semantics

Abstract The “synoptic method” applied to the interpretation of the Letoon Trilingual has been of much value, since it allowed scholars to make sense of a large part of the Lycian version by using the parallel Greek text. However, this method may sometimes also have been misleading, particularly when it comes to the first sentence of the two texts, whose syntax and semantics may not perfectly match. The first issue concerns the protasis in the Greek text which does not have the same extension as in the Lycian one. Some scholars have argued this discrepancy is due to a mistake made by the translator or the engraver, but, as I will try to show, this explanation is rather unlikely. The semantics of the protasis will also be under scrutiny, in so far as its causal value has been subject of much discussion among historians. Establishing the role of Pixodarus in the establishment of the cult of two Carian gods depends largely on how this protasis is interpreted. In the last part of this paper, I will deal with ...