148

Νηρεύς (fr. 31)

1 ό πρώτος ευρών For the πρώτος εύρετής, see on fr. 10.2 εύρε; cf.
Wilkins 2000. 78 n. 111. For the metrical position, cf. Alex. fr. 152; 190; Eub. fr.
72; Men. fr. 18; cf. ό πρώτος είπών at Alex. fr. 27; adesp. com. fr. 859. Comic
cooks often claim originality for their work; cf. Alex. fr. 190; Euphr. fr. 1.
The fragments cited by Dohm 1964. 130 n. 1, however, while mocking the
conventional attribution of inventions, do not establish a wider connection
between cooks and inventions.
1-2 πολυτελές τμητόν μέγα / γλαύκου πρόσωπον While accu-
mulation of adjectives for comic effect is common in Aristophanes, it has little
place in straightforward exposition, as is the case here, a fact that has led to
emendation. Such extragavant language, however, is fitting in a catalogue of
food, particularly when the efforts of a famous cook are being described; cf.
Zacher 1886. 713. See on fr. 34.16 (cf. on fr. 42.37) for the possibility that this
is an example of enallage, and note Headlam 1902. 434.
πολυτελές ‘Costly’ or ‘extravagant;’ cf. Waanders 1983. 180. Generally
positive, the adjective is applied to a wide variety of objects, including food,
e. g. Dionys. Com. fr. 2.37-8; Athenio fr. 1.37; adesp. com. fr. 457 K. (not ac-
cepted by K.-A.). For the word’s occasional use with a negative connotation,
esp. Men. fr. 544.
τμητόν Large fish are regularly sliced (see on fr. 42.53), either by the
cook for preparation or simply purchased thus, although the procedure was
of course usually applied to the body; here the word must mean ‘cut off (from
the rest of the body)’. While forms of τέμνω as well as the noun τέμαχος are
common, the adjective τμητός is not; for its use for food, cf. Euthydem. SH
455.6 (of the oxyrhynchos fish); Antiph. fr. 131.9 (of cheese).
γλαύκου πρόσωπον Cf. Antiph. fr. 130.4 γλαύκου προτομή. Fish heads
are commonly eaten and often treated as a delicacy (e. g. Antiph. fr. 45; Anaxil.
fr. 20.1; Alex. fr. 159.4; Eub. fr. 109.4; Matro fr. 1.31, 53-5 [SH534] with Olson-
Sens 1999 ad locc.\, this seems to have been especially true for the glaukos (cf.
Sannyr. fr. 3; Sotad. Com. fr. 1.5; Amph. frr. 16; 35; Antiph. frr. 77; 130.4; Bato
fr. 5.16-8; Archestr. fr. 21 [SH 151]; Dohm 1964.108). The precise identification
of the glaukos is uncertain, and the word seems to have been used for at least
two separate fish. Here the reference is almost certainly to a shark or dogfish;
for general discussion, including attempts at a more exact identification, see
Arnott 1996 on Alex. fr. 115.8; Olson-Sens 2000 on Archestr. fr. 21.1 (SH 151);
Thompson 1947. 48; Micha-Lampaki 1984. 80-1. The use of πρόσωπον rather
than the more usual κρανίον (Antiph. fr. 77; cf. Amph. fr. 16), κεφαλή (Sotad.
Com. fr. 1.5; Amph. fr. 35), or κεφάλαια (Bato fr. 5.18; Archestr. fr. 21.1 [SH
151]) continues the reliance on extravagant language to describe Nereus’ dis-