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

ON DEPILATION: BODY COSMETICS IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY 563
(d) àappleÚ·ÁÌÔÛ‡Ó˘ àÓÙd ÙÔÜ appleÔÏ˘appleÚ·ÁÌÔÛ‡Ó˘ (Ôé is
evidently required and is preserved in R’s version: j «àappleÚ·ÁÌÔ
Û‡ÓË» àÓÙd ÙÔÜ «Ôé appleÔÏ˘appleÚ¿ÁÌˆÓ qÓ»).
(a) and (d) are clearly correct, clear as light. Aristophanes intermixed
(apple·Ú¤ÌÈÍÂ) in his idyllic description àappleÚ·ÁÌÔÛ‡ÓË, in order to
indicate that he considers it as a nice, pretty plant, a flower like the
others growing in an old-fashioned Á˘ÌÓ¿ÛÈÔÓ, especially one in a
sacred place (v. Scholia ad Nubes 1005). He means to extol the carefree,
easy-going life of keeping to you and your own, to things
beautiful and delicate away from the market-place and the assembly.
Do not be a meddler in things which are, at bottom, insignificant this
is his message. And from this fine stroke of Aristophanes the supreme
comic poet, Aristophanes the grammarian makes, as it seems, a stupid
mess, by inventing a plant specifically growing in the Academy! If
there was such a plant, it was spiritual and this was the point of the
poet missed by the grammarian. (Another such unexpected turn is
given a few lines below, „‹ÊÈÛÌ· Ì·ÎÚfiÓ (1019) in the end of an
enumeration of bodily features; with ÁÏáÙÙ· ‚·È¿ /ÁÏáÙÙ· ÌÂÁ¿ÏË
there, Aristophanes bridges the gap between the physical
characteristics and the final „‹ÊÈÛÌ· Ì·ÎÚfiÓ, by using expressions
which, though they have a perfect physical application, are nonetheless
obviously meant metaphorically). (c), at least, is pragmatic pedantry;
the âÓ \Aη‰ËÌ›÷· Ê˘fiÌÂÓÔÓ of Aristophanes is the coup de grâce.
After this introduction, there follows in Nubes (1009 sqq.) the
inimitable description of the opposite bodily characteristics which will
distinguish the young man corresponding to his choice of the type of
education he wants. Speaks the ¢›Î·ÈÔ˜ §fiÁÔ˜ addressing the
promising youth:
jÓ Ù·ÜÙ· appleÔÈFɘ êÁg ÊÚ¿˙ˆ,
ηd appleÚe˜ ÙÔ‡ÙÔȘ appleÚÔÛ¤¯F˘ ÙeÓ ÓÔÜÓ,
≤ÍÂȘ àÂd ÛÙÉıÔ˜ ÏÈapple·ÚfiÓ,
¯ÚÔÈaÓ Ï¢΋Ó, üÌÔ˘˜ ÌÂÁ¿ÏÔ˘˜,
ÁÏáÙÙ·Ó ‚·È¿Ó, apple˘ÁcÓ ÌÂÁ¿ÏËÓ,
applefiÛıËÓ ÌÈÎÚ¿Ó.
jÓ ‰’ ±appleÂÚ Ôî ÓÜÓ âappleÈÙˉ‡F˘,
appleÚáÙ· ÌbÓ ≤ÍÂȘ ¯ÚÔÈaÓ è¯ÚaÓ
üÌÔ˘˜ ÌÈÎÚÔ‡˜, ÛÙÉıÔ˜ ÏÂappleÙeÓ