Il ritmo dei threnoi per Alcesti: i dattilo-epitriti di Eur. Alc. 435-475 e il kommos di Alc. 903-910 ~ 926-933 (e una somiglianza eschilea)

The article aims to provide some metrical interpretations of two lyrical sections of Euripides’ Alcestis. The first of them, the second stasimon, turns out to be an authorial threnos that echoes in style and metre the choral – specifically Pindaric – lyric. This is achieved using dactylo-epitrites, which are not frequent in tragedy. The techniques of modulation to aeolo-choriambic metres and the use of some ionic cells are also highlighted. These elements reveal a structural similarity with another lamentation, that of Aeschylus’ Suppliants. Finally, a metrical analysis of the kommos between Admetus and the Chorus is provided. This section remained highly uncertain in Parker’s edition.