Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper deals with the theme of the “unfinished” through the examination of some exemplary cases from
Greek literature in Late Antiquity. Alongside authorial practices impatient with the labor limae – such as
that of Damascius or Plotinus – or texts that now appear unfinished because of troubles in the manuscript
transmission, there are cases of incomplete texts that have been brought to perfection by other authors,
such as the Homeric Centos by Patricius completed by Eudocia, or the intercultural translation into epic
language of the Psalms by Pseudo Apollinaris. The second part of the paper focuses on poems that show
in- completeness or the lack of a final revision, arguing that they most likely convey a different aesthetic
concept of structure, one that also involves the participation of the reader, who is required to supplement a
superior, intellectual meaning.