APPENDIX C΄ ON DEPILATION: BODY COSMETICS IN CLASSICAL ...

ON DEPILATION: BODY COSMETICS IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY 557
preclassical times naturally called a dull, mat, lustreless white Ï¢ÎfiÓ,
at least not without some necessary qualification. And, conversely,
Ï¢ÎfiÓ was anything resplendent, even if much less than immaculate,
pure white in our sense, such as the chaff-heaps at threshing time
when then burned under the intense heat and sun of a Mediterranean
summer, or the dust setting on warriors during a close, violent combat
in similar conditions: Iliad, E, 499 sqq.:
ó˜ ‰’ ôÓÂÌÔ˜ ô¯Ó·˜ ÊÔÚ¤ÂÈ îÂÚa˜ ηْ àÏˇˆa˜
àÓ‰ÚáÓ ÏÈÎÌÒÓÙˆÓ, ¬Ù Ù ͷÓıc ¢ËÌ‹ÙËÚ
ÎÚ›ÓFË âappleÂÈÁÔÌ¤ÓˆÓ àÓ¤ÌˆÓ Î·ÚapplefiÓ Ù ηd ô¯Ó·˜,
·Q ‰’ ñappleÔÏ¢η›ÓÔÓÙ·È à¯˘ÚÌÈ·›Ø ó˜ ÙfiÙ’ \A¯·ÈÔd
Ï¢ÎÔd ≈appleÂÚı Á¤ÓÔÓÙÔ ÎÔÓÈÛ¿Ïˇˆ, ¬Ó Ú· ‰È’ ·éÙáÓ
ÔéÚ·ÓeÓ Âå˜ appleÔχ¯·ÏÎÔÓ âapple¤appleÏËÁÔÓ applefi‰Â˜ ¥appleappleˆÓ.
We need not illustrate our standard use of Ï¢ÎfiÓ according to
which snow, milk, bones, teeth, sails, flour, sugar etc. are white. I shall
merely indicate here some of the unexpected uses: brilliant, bright,
shining (Iliad, Ξ, 185: Ï¢ÎeÓ ‰’ qÓ ì¤ÏÈÔ˜ œ˜, where the scholia A
have: ÁÚ¿ÊÂÙ·È Ï·ÌappleÚfiÓ, which smells of Alexandrian, as much as of
critical nineteenth century, ingenuousness; Sophocles, Ajax 708,
Ï¢ÎeÓ Ê¿Ô˜); clear, translucent (Odyssey, ζ, 45: Ï¢Îc ‰’ âappleȉ¤‰ÚÔÌÂÓ
·úÁÏË; Î 94: Ï¢Îc ‰’ qÓ àÌÊd Á·Ï‹ÓË; Euripides, Andromache
1228: Ï¢ÎcÓ ·åı¤Ú· appleÔÚıÌ¢fiÌÂÓÔ˜); metallic, silvery (Iliad Ψ 267-
8: Ï¢Îe˜ Ϥ‚˘); and we should particularly notice the Ï¢ÎfiÓ as a
quality of clear, transparent water (Iliad, Ψ 282: ÏÔ¤ÛÛ·˜ ≈‰·ÙÈ
Ï¢Ρá, where Eustathius perceptively notes: ≈‰ˆÚ ‰b Ï¢ÎeÓ Ùe àÏÏ·-
¯ÔÜ Î·d ̤ϷÓ, a remark the point of which appears, e.g. from his note
to be adduced next; Odyssey Σ, 70: ÎÚÉÓ·È ‰’ ëÍ›˘ apple›Û˘Ú˜ Ú¤ÔÓ
≈‰·ÙÈ Ï¢Ρá, to which Eustathius remarks: Ï¢ÎeÓ ‰b ≈‰ˆÚ Ùe ÎÚË-
Ó·ÖÔÓ ÙÔÜÙÔ, ‰Èa Ùe à‚·ı¤˜. Ùe ÁaÚ ‚·ıf Ì¤Ï·Ó Ê·›ÓÂÙ·ÈØ he also
correctly explains this Ï¢ÎfiÓ as ‰È·˘Á¤˜, limpid, lucid, translucent, in
p. 1553.20 with reference to the present verse; Aeschylus famous zÓ
ÁÉ Î·d Ï¢ÎeÓ ≈‰ˆÚ in Supplices 23; Euripides, Herc. Fur. 573, ¢›Ú-
΢ Ù ÓÄÌ· Ï¢ÎeÓ ·îÌ·¯ı‹ÛÂÙ·È; notice further Callimachus,
Hymn. in Jovem 18-9: Ô鉒 \Eڇ̷ÓıÔ˜ / Ï¢ÎfiÙ·ÙÔ˜ appleÔÙ·ÌáÓ). In
fact Callimachus, fastidiously correct as he was, goes so far as to write:
Ï¢ÎeÓ ö·Ú, Ï¢ÎeÓ ‰b ı¤ÚÔ˜ (Hymn. in Cererem 124), where the
scholiast concisely observes: Ï¢ÎfiÓØ Ï·ÌappleÚfiÓ.