It is well-known among philologists that trifidate stemmata are generally rarer than
bifidate ones. However, whenever Greek authors in Greek manuscripts were also transmitted
by translations into oriental languages based on Late Antique manuscripts, even though the
Greek tradition is bifidate, the translations constitute a third branch. This can help textual critics
discern correct readings from the false ones, almost as if the tradition was trifidate. This article
offers several examples, chiefly from works of Aristotle and Galen, but also of Artemidorus.
