Un nuovo frammento della Helenes Apaitesis di Sofocle dalla tradizione etimologico-grammaticale?

This article discusses the attribution of a jambic line quoted by Choeroboscus and the Etymologica (Magnum and Genuinum) for the rare, and late, verbal form ἤμην (‘I was’) as coming from a play titled Helenes Apaitesis (The Demand for Helen’s Return) by Euripides: παρ’ Εὐριπίδῃ ἐν Ἑλένης ἀπαιτήσει. Since a similar, but not identical, line occurs in this poet’s Helen (v. 931) and since Euripides is not known to have written a play called Helenes Apaitesis, the common opinion is that the late-antique and byzantine sources are actually quoting E. Hel. 931 in a slightly corrupted form and mistakenly referring to the source-play as ἐν Ἑλένης ἀπαιτήσει instead of ἐν Ἑλένῃ. Starting from the observation that a play Ἑλένης ἀπαίτησις is securely attested (albeit today almost entirely lost) for Sophocles (frr. 176-180a in Radt’s edition), this article suggests giving the ἤμην-line back to this play. It offers some explanation for the genesis of the attribution error in the indirect tradition and investigates possible contexts in which this line might have occurred in Sophocles’ lost play on the demand for Helen’s return.