212

Πρωτεσίλαος (fr. 42)

tainment, cf. the wedding celebration arranged by Philip II for his daughter
in 336 BC (D.S. 16.91.4-92.5).
6-8 μέν.,.δέ The particles strengthen the contrast between the richness
of the surroundings and the barbaric nature of the feasters.
6-7 ύπεστρώσθαι / στρώμαθ’ άλουργή Although στρώματα can be
anything strewn (e. g. bedding, coverings for couches), here they are presum-
ably carpets or the like. Plu. Mor. 527b mentions στρωμνάς άλουργεΐς και
τραπέζας πολυτελείς as a sign of ostentatiousness; similarly at Lyc. 13.6 he
includes στρωμνάς άλουργεΐς with silver-footed couches, golden kylixes, and
associated items as objects banished from Sparta by Lycurgus. For further
discussion of the connotations of purple, see Blum 1998 (25-8 for discussion of
the adjective άλουργής in particular); Reinhold 1970. 22-8. In the mid-fourth
century, both άλουργής and άλουργός are acceptable forms of the adjective;
see Threatte 1996.11.295—6; IGII2 1514.12-13, 14 (nom. sing, άλουργός), 21-2
(dat. sing, άλουργεΐ).
μέχρι τής άρκτου The constellation Ursa Major; for thorough discussion,
see Kidd 1997 on Arat. 27. Or ‘to the north’?; cf. White 1987. 68-70.
8 άνδρας βουτυροφάγους Although butter was known to the Greeks
and used by them for medicinal purposes (Hp. Mui. 1.63 [VIII.130 Littre], 64
[VIII. 132 Littre]; both instances use the word πικέριον rather than βούτυρον),
it is mainly associated with barbarians (Hdt. 4.2; Hp. Morb. 4.51 [VII.584 Littre];
Arist. fr. 636; Plin. NH 28.133 butyrum, barbararum gentium lautissimus cibus·,
for the similar characterization of barbarian tribes as ‘milk-drinkers’, cf. Hdt.
1.216.4; 4.186.1; Seaford 1984 on E. Cyc. 136]). Statements occasionally found,
such as Casaubon’s comment ad loc., ‘Thraces poeta facit butyrophagos, cum
in Graecia vix butyri adhuc esset usus cognitus’, are basically correct in sug-
gesting that the Greeks did not use butter as a condiment, but potentially
misleading in implying that they lacked real knowledge of it (note that Hp.
Morb. 4.51 [VII.584 Littre] , for example, describes in detail the process of its
manufacture). The epithet, like ‘milk-drinking’ (e. g. Hdt. 1.216) characterizes
the Thracians as barbarians and more primitive than the Greeks; cf. Long 1986.
8-9; Cropp 1988 on E. El. 169.
9 αύχμηροκόμας Cf. on fr. 35.6 αύχμών. Kassel-Austin cite Anacr. PMG
422 Θρηκίην σίοντα χαίτην, although it is impossible to determine whether
that fragment refers to the phenomenon noted here. Dirtiness characterizes
the Thracians as non-Greek; cf. frr. 35.6; 59.1.
μυριοπληθεΐς The word occurs also at E. IA 571 in a corrupt passage
in a choral ode, the authenticity of which has been doubted (‘fortasse non
Euripidei’, Diggle), where it may have been used adverbially; it appears again
at Hid. 9.3 to describe the vastness of an army. For the force of μυριο-, cf.