Αισχρά (Aischrd)
(‘The Ugly Woman’ [?])

Discussion Meineke 18391.369; 1840 III. 163; 1847. 575; Bothe 1855. 419; Kock
1884 11.137; Kassel-Austin 1991 11.241; Sanchis Llopis et al. 2007. 241
Title Euphro’s play is the only other of the same name, although in both
cases the meaning is disputed (see below). For Anaxandrides’ comedies named
after a non-mythological person, cf. Kerkios (?); Satyrias·, Sdsippos·, in general,
see Breitenbach 1908. For his plays named for a characteristic of a person, cf.
Eusebeis·, Mai[omenos vel -oi] (?).
Αισχρά or Α’ίσχρα? Meineke and Edmonds both hesitantly (‘nisi malis
Αισχρά Meineke) accept Αισχρά (‘Ugly Woman’ [or ‘Ugly Girl’]), as they do
for Euphro’s play of the same name; Kock and Kassel-Austin prefer Α’ίσχρα
(a woman’s name [9 exx. in LGPN; none Athenian]; cf. Breitenbach 1908.
167-8; Bechtel 1902. 49-51 for Α’ίσχρον and Α’ίσχριον; adesp. com. fr. 1152.7
with K-A ad loc. for the man’s name Α’ίσχρων), although Kassel-Austin print
Αισχρά for the name of Euphro’s play. The name occurs at Asclep. AP 5.181.9
(HE 928) and Call. Epigr. 50.1 (HE 1261), where Gow-Page 1965 claim that it
is descriptive in the case of slaves but perhaps otherwise apotropaic. For the
difference in accentuation and meaning, cf. on Agroikoi above; Alex. Πονήρα
with Arnott 1996 ad loc. (Meineke 18391.402 is mistaken to claim that Πονήρα
is also a woman’s name.)
In the absence of further information about the play, the best solution is to
accept the adjective Αισχρά; cf. Anaxandr. fr. 53.9 άλλ’ ελαβεν αίσχράν (‘but
he took [i. e. married] an ugly woman’); Philippid. fr. 29.1 αίσχράν γυναϊκ’
εγημας, άλλά πλουσίαν (‘You married a woman ugly but rich’).
Content Regardless of whether the title is a personal name or an adjective,
the feminine suggests that the play concerned a romance, presumably cul-
minating in a marriage. Various scenarios are conceivable: e. g. pursuit of a
woman, rightly or wrongly considered ugly and possibly a real or presumed
heiress; confusion engendered by mistaking the proper name Α’ίσχρα for the
adjective αισχρά (‘ugly’); or a comic inversion in which women pursue men
or ugly women become desirable. All are sheer speculation. The single frag-
ment offers little help other than suggesting that the action included a feast,
perhaps as part of a wedding, although there are numerous other appropriate
occasions as well.
Date Unknown. The quotation from Timotheus (fr. 6) might suggest that
the play is best dated relatively soon after the performance of that poem. But
the chronology of Timotheus’ works is unknown, and the date of his death