DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52134#0126
122
Κιθαρίστρια (fr. 24)
accompany song, but there were also specialized versions for solo music. See
in general West 1992. 49-56, 62-4 (pl. 11-17 for illustrations); Maas and Snyder
1989. 53-78, 165-78; Vendries 1999. 55-67; Snyder 1979. 75-95.
Content of the comedy The sole fragment may indicate a musical perfor-
mance by a character (or a reference to a performance), but that is already
implied by the title. Wilson 2002. 62 noted a fourth-century efflorescence
of similar titles as a sign of contemporary interest in musicians, but little
substantial can be said about the plots of any of them. Moreover, the feminine
forms should probably be set apart, since the difference between kitharistes
and kitharistria, for example, is not merely one of gender but of status and
connotation. Some plays with feminine titles may have concerned a free-born
girl wrongfully sold into slavery and prostitution, but other possibilities (e. g.
the woman was the centre of a dispute) can not be excluded.
Date Unknown.
fr. 24 K.-A. (23 K.)
Poll. 10.172
βύσμα ... τούτο δέ βύστραν έτεροι κεκλήκασιν, ώς Άναξανδρίδης Κιθαριστρία
καί Άντιφάνης Όρφεϊ (fr. 178)
‘Busma’ (‘plug’) ... others call this ‘bustra’, as Anaxandrides in Kitharistria and
Antiphanes in Orpheus (fr. 178)
Metre Unknown.
Discussion Meineke 1840 III.171; 1847. 579; Bothe 1855. 422; Kock 1884.
11.143; Latte 1953 on Hsch. β 1348; Edmonds 1959 11.54—5; Kassel-Austin 1991
11.249; Sanchis Llopis et al. 2007. 250
Citation Context Pollux offers examples in which the name for an object
has multiple forms, usually the normal form and its diminutive (e. g. θύλαξ/
θυλάκιον). The citation of busma/ bustra is preceded by a discussion of various
words for ‘sack’ or ‘pouch’; discussion of parts of roofs and pegs follows.
Pollux cites this fragment and Antiph. fr. 178 for the form bustra as opposed
to busma, for which he cited Ar. fr. 310.2.
Interpretation The only two occurrences of βύστρα are in plays concerning
musicians; conceivably the word had some technical meaning pertaining to
music (e. g. part of an instrument), but more plausibly it indicates a hostile
reaction to the music and refers to plugs for the ears. For the stopping up of
Κιθαρίστρια (fr. 24)
accompany song, but there were also specialized versions for solo music. See
in general West 1992. 49-56, 62-4 (pl. 11-17 for illustrations); Maas and Snyder
1989. 53-78, 165-78; Vendries 1999. 55-67; Snyder 1979. 75-95.
Content of the comedy The sole fragment may indicate a musical perfor-
mance by a character (or a reference to a performance), but that is already
implied by the title. Wilson 2002. 62 noted a fourth-century efflorescence
of similar titles as a sign of contemporary interest in musicians, but little
substantial can be said about the plots of any of them. Moreover, the feminine
forms should probably be set apart, since the difference between kitharistes
and kitharistria, for example, is not merely one of gender but of status and
connotation. Some plays with feminine titles may have concerned a free-born
girl wrongfully sold into slavery and prostitution, but other possibilities (e. g.
the woman was the centre of a dispute) can not be excluded.
Date Unknown.
fr. 24 K.-A. (23 K.)
Poll. 10.172
βύσμα ... τούτο δέ βύστραν έτεροι κεκλήκασιν, ώς Άναξανδρίδης Κιθαριστρία
καί Άντιφάνης Όρφεϊ (fr. 178)
‘Busma’ (‘plug’) ... others call this ‘bustra’, as Anaxandrides in Kitharistria and
Antiphanes in Orpheus (fr. 178)
Metre Unknown.
Discussion Meineke 1840 III.171; 1847. 579; Bothe 1855. 422; Kock 1884.
11.143; Latte 1953 on Hsch. β 1348; Edmonds 1959 11.54—5; Kassel-Austin 1991
11.249; Sanchis Llopis et al. 2007. 250
Citation Context Pollux offers examples in which the name for an object
has multiple forms, usually the normal form and its diminutive (e. g. θύλαξ/
θυλάκιον). The citation of busma/ bustra is preceded by a discussion of various
words for ‘sack’ or ‘pouch’; discussion of parts of roofs and pegs follows.
Pollux cites this fragment and Antiph. fr. 178 for the form bustra as opposed
to busma, for which he cited Ar. fr. 310.2.
Interpretation The only two occurrences of βύστρα are in plays concerning
musicians; conceivably the word had some technical meaning pertaining to
music (e. g. part of an instrument), but more plausibly it indicates a hostile
reaction to the music and refers to plugs for the ears. For the stopping up of