Aeschylus, Eumenides 188 - · PDF fileFrom Museum Criticum (Pisa) XXV-XXVIII (1990-93), 65-66...
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From Museum Criticum (Pisa) XXV-XXVIII (1990-93), 65-66 MICHAEL HENDRY Page 1 of 1 http://www.curculio.org/aeschylus1.pdf Aeschylus, Eumenides 659 According to LSJ, Aeschylus 1 in the Oresteia provides the only instances of the agent-nouns κναφεύς, τροφεύς, and τοκεύς used as feminines 2 . The first two are juxta- posed in Kilissa’s pompous self-advertisement in Choe. 760 3 : κναφε κναφε κναφε κναφεὺς τροφε ς τροφε ς τροφε ς τροφεύς τε ταὐτὸν εἰχέτην τέλος. The third is found at the beginning of Apollo’s embryological argument in Eum. 657-61: καὶ τοῦτο λέξω, καὶ μάθ᾿ ὡς ὀρθῶς ἐρῶ· οὐκ ἔστι μήτηρ ἡ κεκλημένη τέκνου τοκε τοκε τοκε τοκεύς, τροφὸς δὲ κύματος νεοσπόρου τίκτει δ᾿ ὁ θρῴσκων, ἡ δ᾿ ἅπερ ξένῳ ξένη 660 ἔσωσεν ἔρνος, οἷσι μὴ βλάψῃ θεός. In comparing these two passages, I wonder whether τροφός is the second should not be altered to τροφεύς. Not only is the word feminine in Choe. 760 – if once in the trilogy, why not twice? – it is used there in a sort of rhyming jingle, and a similar effect might be in order here as well 4 : οὐκ ἔστι μήτηρ ἡ κεκλημένη τέκνου τοκε τοκε τοκε τοκεύς, τροφε ς, τροφε ς, τροφε ς, τροφεὺς δὲ . . . The word τροφός is of course quite common as a feminine. Its appearance in Eum. 659 would be easily explicable as a banalization: masculine τροφεύς has been corrupted to τροφός at Soph. Phil. 344 in three mss. (Dawe’s G γρ RT), and a feminine instance would have been that much more vulnerable. The sound of the following words κύματος ος ος ος νεοσ οσ οσ οσπόρου will not have helped, either. 1 Texts are quoted from D. PAGE (ed.), Aeschyli septem quae supersunt tragoediae, Oxford, 1972. 2 Some might wish to connect these usages to the reversal of gender rôles which is such a prominent theme in the trilogy. There seems to be nothing at all on genders in J.L. Perpillou, Les substantifs grecs en -εύς, Paris 1973. 3 As A. F. Garvie (after Dumortier) notes on κναφεύς: «the Nurse displays a certain vanity in using the term to describe her own more menial task of washing the baby’s σπάργανα» (Aeschylus, Choephori, Oxford 1986, ad loc.) 4 The two passages are not precisely parallel: one is the equation of two τέχναι, the other the redefinition of a biological function. Nevertheless, the juxtaposition of paired words in the first metron is striking.
Transcript of Aeschylus, Eumenides 188 - · PDF fileFrom Museum Criticum (Pisa) XXV-XXVIII (1990-93), 65-66...
From Museum Criticum (Pisa) XXV-XXVIII (1990-93), 65-66 MICHAEL HENDRY
Page 1 of 1 http://www.curculio.org/aeschylus1.pdf
Aeschylus, Eumenides 659
According to LSJ, Aeschylus1 in the Oresteia provides the only instances of the
agent-nouns , , and used as feminines2. The first two are juxta-
posed in Kilissas pompous self-advertisement in Choe. 7603:
.
The third is found at the beginning of Apollos embryological argument in Eum. 657-61:
, , , 660 , .
In comparing these two passages, I wonder whether is the second should not be
altered to . Not only is the word feminine in Choe. 760 if once in the trilogy,
why not twice? it is used there in a sort of rhyming jingle, and a similar effect might be
in order here as well4:
, , , , . . .
The word is of course quite common as a feminine. Its appearance in Eum. 659
would be easily explicable as a banalization: masculine has been corrupted to
at Soph. Phil. 344 in three mss. (Dawes GRT), and a feminine instance would
have been that much more vulnerable. The sound of the following words
will not have helped, either.
1 Texts are quoted from D. PAGE (ed.), Aeschyli septem quae supersunt tragoediae, Oxford, 1972. 2 Some might wish to connect these usages to the reversal of gender rles which is such a prominent
theme in the trilogy. There seems to be nothing at all on genders in J.L. Perpillou, Les substantifs grecs en -, Paris 1973.
3 As A. F. Garvie (after Dumortier) notes on : the Nurse displays a certain vanity in using the term to describe her own more menial task of washing the babys (Aeschylus, Choephori, Oxford 1986, ad loc.)
4 The two passages are not precisely parallel: one is the equation of two , the other the redefinition of a biological function. Nevertheless, the juxtaposition of paired words in the first metron is striking.
