Πάνδαρος (fr. 38)

183

Either καρίς belongs in the passage but has dropped out, therefore, which
seems unlikely; or the discussion of καρϊδες brought this passage to mind,
and Athenaeus thought it worth quoting although not strictly relevant; or,
he believed (whether rightly or wrongly) that, like καρίς in these passages,
καριδόω has a long iota. The third alternative seems the most reasonable,
although the difficulty remains that the quantity of the iota is indeterminate
on the basis of the meter, something Athenaeus apparently ignored.
Interpretation Although a sexually explicit reading of the fragment is pos-
sible, a more literal interpretation is preferable (and leaves open the possi-
bility of sexual connotations being present and/or imputed to the lines by a
character). The basic content appears to be that one character (an old man or
someone otherwise incapacitated?) will no longer be bent over but will be
able to stand (or walk) upright, once he can lean on a woman who will bend
over so that she acts as a support for him. The woman could be his daughter
or, perhaps more likely, a slave or hetaira, especially if sexual connotations
are intended. Alternatively, the situation described might be metaphorical,
e. g. with the woman being a divine figure such as Health or Plenty, who will
prop up the man in whatever dire straits he faces. It is unclear whether the
situation, whatever its nature, is imagined as taking place imminently or at
some unspecified point in the future, and also whether will occur on stage or
off. At least two characters are on stage: the speaker and the addressee. The
woman, most likely a mute character, may be on stage as well unless the dis-
cussion concerns a hypothetical future situation. The issue of potential sexual
content remains difficult. Much of the vocabulary could be interpreted that
way, but the absence of context renders certainty impossible; for a cautionary
tale of the dangers of relying solely on vocabulary, see Henderson 1991. 246.
1 For the contrast, cf. Arist. HA 3.522bl8 ορθός έστηκεν, μικρόν έπικύ-
πτων.
έπικεκυφώς At Ar. Lys. 1003, the verb simply means ‘bend over’; at Ar.
Th. 239 and adesp. com. fr. 368 (cf. Antiph. fr. 27.18 [έπιπεφυκώς A; έπικεκυφώς
Meineke]; Ar. Ra. 425 έγκεκυφώς; Henderson 1991 §361) it means ‘bend over
so as to expose the anus’. Here the word could possibly refer to the phallus
and mean ‘limp’ as opposed to ορθός (‘erect’; cf. Henderson 1991 §10). For the
colloquial nature of the compound verb, see Austin-Olson 2004 on Ar. Th. 239.
ώ βέλτιστ(ε) Dickey 1996. 119-20 briefly discusses βέλτιστε in Aristo-
phanes and Menander and notes (p. 139) that it is often ironic or sarcastic.
Here, as at Alex. fr. 201.4; Philem. fr. 103.2; Posidipp. fr. 29.2, the phrase (+ έση)
fills the same metrical position as the type characterized as (ώ) πονηρέ σύ by
Griffith 1968 (cf. above on fr. 34.5).