Source edition
Euclid. Euclidis Opera Omnia, Volume 8. Menge, Heinrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1916.
Source data
Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This short poem (epigram) presents an algebraic riddle addressed to geometers, featuring a mule and a donkey comparing the amounts of their respective loads. In the work, the two animals carrying heavy burdens converse with each other, asking the reader to determine the original quantity of each load based on how the ratio changes when a portion of the load is transferred from one to the other. It is a work that expresses a classical mathematical puzzle in poetic form, combining brevity with intellectual amusement. Additionally, the end of the text includes philological notes in Latin regarding the transmission history of the epigram and the collated manuscripts.
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