Surveying the ancient biography and work of Terpander, Maarit KiviloFootnote ¹ has recently referred to an observation by Martin WestFootnote ² on fr. 2 Gostoli:

Following parallels in Simonides, Pindar and Aeschylus, West would locate Terpander's use of φρήν in the fifth century b.c.Footnote ³ While Kivilo realizes that this observation has serious implications for her attribution of fr. 2 to Terpander, whom she places in the early to mid seventh century, she does not make her own position clear. Other recent contributions by Antonia Gostoli,Footnote ⁴ Alexander Beecroft,Footnote ⁵ Luana Quatrocelli,Footnote ⁶ Carlo BrillanteFootnote ⁷ and Timothy PowerFootnote ⁸ have not taken up the issue at all. Kivilo's study therefore presents an opportunity to revisit this fragment. While I would not venture to suggest a date, I do hope to show that the particular use of φρήν in fr. 2 does not necessarily point to the fifth century.

The first comparandum to ἀειδέτω φρήν is Alcaeus fr. 308 Voigt:

Like ἀειδέτω φρήν, this is a variant of openings like ἀείσομαι or ἀρχώμεθ' ἀείδειν in early hexameter, where the modal function of the verb conveys the voluntative sense. Alcaeus and Terpander analyse the conventional phrase ‘Let me sing of N’ by expressing the voluntative not in a first-person verb in the future indicative or in the subjunctive but by introducing another term, θῦμος and φρήν, to convey the poet's desire to sing (similarly Ibycus fr. 151.10–12 Davies, PMG fr. adesp. 955.1). One might speak of an analytic form of the voluntative. Homer provides a parallel to the Alcaean θῦμος, for the singer Demodocus is said to possess the divine gift to ‘sing in whatever way his heart may stir him’ (ὅππῃ θυμὸς ἐποτρύνῃσιν ἀείδειν, Od. 8.45, compare 1.347 and Pindar Ol. 3.38). The Homeric θυμός, conceived as the seat of the will, is frequently the subject of a wish (for example ὅσον ἤθελε θυμός, Il. 9.177 = Od. 3.342, etc.), quite in keeping with the stimulus it gives to Demodocus and Alcaeus. But what of Terpander's use of φρήν in the same context? His φρήν is the source of song through which the poetic impetus is directed (‘Let my heart sing’); unlike the Alcaean θῦμος, it is not necessarily itself the impetus. This nuance may reflect a general distinction between θυμός and φρήν that is made by early epic. For while these two terms are in some senses interchangeable, epic φρήν does not assume the active motivational role of θυμός: hence the need for the poet to encourage his own φρήν to sing.Footnote ⁹ In any case, according to one common epic phrase the θυμός is located in the φρήν/φρένες (ἐν φρεσὶ θυμός, Il. 9.462, 19.178, Hes. Theog. 239, etc.) and so the two are often mentioned in the same breath (as in the phrase κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν, Il. 1.193, 5.671, Od. 15.211, etc.) Thus the φρήν/φρένες may indirectly partake of the voluntative function of the θυμός: for instance ἕλευ ὁπποτέρην σε ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θυμὸς ἀνώγει (Hes. Theog. 549), σοὶ δ' εἰ πλούτου θυμὸς ἐέλδεται ἐν φρεσὶν ᾗσιν (Hes. Op. 381). So it is not difficult to imagine how ἀειδέτω φρήν, as an analytic expression of the voluntative in analogy with θυμός, could have developed from epic usage. The φρένες, furthermore, is where the Muse has implanted the ways of song for the bard Phemius according to a famous Homeric passage that is not usually cited in connection with the fragment of Terpander (αὐτοδίδακτος δ' εἰμί, θεὸς δέ μοι ἐν φρεσὶν οἴμας | παντοίας ἐνέφυσεν, Od. 22.347–8).Footnote ¹⁰ In fact it provides a possible analogy: just as the Muse permits Demodocus to sing in whatever way his θυμός may stir him, and Alcaeus is impelled by his θῦμος to sing, so the Muse implants the φρένες of Phemius with the ways of song – and Terpander lets his φρήν sing. Hence the use of φρήν as the source of song does not necessarily point to the fifth century.