Scholars and editors of Hellenistic epigram have often discounted the
authenticity of dialectal variance attested in the manuscript tradition, either privileging
the dialectal variant that conforms to the predominant dialect in the epigram
or even choosing to change attested dialect forms to produce a uniform coloring.
This article argues that the addresses to earth at lines 2 and 10 of Leonidas
of Tarentum Anth. Pal. 7.440 = Gow/Page, HE 11 were originally Doric. I show that
there are paleographic as well as literary grounds for the reading. In particular,
the presence of Doric forms at these two points in the epigram evoke the language
of tragic lament. The findings of this article have potentially significant implications
for the editing of dialectal mixture in the Greek Anthology.