Abstract

The exclamatory particle οὐᾶ, although attested only nine times between the first and the third century AD (and never before), also occurs twelve times in the „Vita Aesopi“, the archetype of which is dated between the first century BC and the first century AD. Almost all the occurrences of οὐᾶ are in recensio G, usually dated between the first and the second century AD; the other recensio, W (probably going back to the fourth century AD), on the other hand deliberately aims to eliminate the word οὐᾶ. Analysing in detail the use of this exclamatory particle in G and looking at the parallels (especially in Epictetus), we date G to the second century AD (probably its first half) and argue in support of the traditional view that it is extremely close - both chronologically and textually - to the lost archetype.