38

Αγροίκοι (fr. 1)

particular drinking method in mind reinforces the impression of his ignorance
of symposia. The question of what manner of drinking the group addressed
are now prepared for suggests that other manners had just been employed
and thus that the larger scene contained a series of different sorts of drinking
arrangements.
1- 2 τίνα ... / ... τρόπον The wide separation, though unusual, is not
unparalleled; cf. Bato fr. 7.7 τίνα γάρ έχει, προς τής Άθηνάς, διαφοράν. For
the suggestion that hyperbaton can reflect ‘the language of everyday use’, see
Handley 1965 on Men. Dysc. 223f.; Gomme-Sandbach 1973 on Men. Dysc. 235
offer further examples in which the associated words are first and last in the
clause. The question itself is apparently typical; cf. Pl. Smp. 176a τίνα τρόπον
ράστα πιόμεθα;
παρεσκευασμένοι / ... νυν Phrasing the question in terms of completed
preparation rather than desire (e. g. ‘How might you wish to drink?’) together
with the temporal particle (implying a contrast with what has preceeded)
suggests that Speaker B has been making some sort of arrangement on
stage immediately before this fragment, παρασκευάζω is primarily prosaic/
colloquial vocabulary, rare in high poetry (e. g. A. Ag. 353; [A.] PV. 920); in
comedy it is often used of preparing for meals or symposia; e. g. Ar. Ach. 1089;
Pherecr. fr. 183; Alex. fr. 145.10; Philippid. fr. 28.1.
λέγετε A mark of impatience; e. g. Ar. Ach. 812; Nu. 786; Pl. Com. fr. 204.1;
Strato Com. fr. 1.6; Antiph. fr. 200.1 with Olson 2007. C13 ad loc. (where for
H12.2 readH11.2).
2- 3 (B.) τίνα τρόπον Speaker B echoes the interrogative used by his
interlocutor. An interrogative may be repeated either at the end of a lengthy
or complex question (e. g. Ar. Nu. 351) or when the speaker is in a state of high
emotion (e. g. Ar. V. 166; Ec. 1065); since neither is the case here, the repetition
indicates a second speaker. Such echoes often entail a switch to the indefinite
(e. g. Ar. Nu. 677; Av. 164), but the definite may be retained (e.g. Ar. Pax 847
with Olson 1998 ad loc.; Antiph. fr. 21.1); cf. Uckermann 1888; Kuhner-Gerth
1898-1904 11.517.
The tone of the statement (ήμεϊς κτλ.) is deferential and reinforces Speaker
B’s lack of expertise.
4-5 The reference is to a single cup (φιλοτησία κύλιξ [‘loving cup’]; cf.
Olson 2002 on Ar. Ach. 983; Arnott 1996 on Alex. fr. 59.1; Shilleto 1874 on D.
19.128) being passed around the circle. Each man drinks and then passes the
cup to the man on his right; after passing the cup, he speaks in honour of the
man now drinking. Praise of the drinker is a common feature of symposia
and underscores the extent to which drinking was conceived of as a ritualized
communal activity. E.g. Critias fr. B 6.2-7; Pl. Smp. 214c, 222e; Men. Dysc. 948