[146] μιάνθην, a form which has not been satisfactorily explained. Buttmann took it to be a dual for “ἐμιάν-σθην”, but the middle termination is out of place. The terminations “-α^ν, -εν, -υ^ν” of the 3rd pl. are lengthened only in arsis in H. and that but rarely, cf. Od. 5.481, Od. 9.413, Od. 16.358. On the other hand, as they represent an older “-αντ, -εντ, -υντ”, they were once long, and the termination “-ην” for “-εν” is in fact found in Doric inscriptions of the 2nd century B.C., while a relic of the quantity remains in the Doric accentuation “ἐλέγον”. But in the complete absence of analogous cases we cannot draw conclusions from Doric to Epic, and must leave the problem unsolved. See G. Meyer Gr. § 534, van L. Ench. p. 294, Schulze Qu. Ep. p. 426, H. G. § 40.
