282

Incertarum fabularum fragmenta (fr. 57)

procedure seems to have been required of the husband. For discussion of the
evidence, procedures, and related issues (most notably possession of the dow-
ry), see Cohn-Haft 1995; Kapparis 1999 on [D.] 59.51; Harrison 1968 1.38-44;
Stark 1989. 51 n. 198.
άπελθεΐν ο’ίκαδε A common trimeter ending; e. g. Ar. Ach. 84 άπήλθεν
ο’ίκαδε; Lys. 726 άπελθεΐν ο’ίκαδε; Ra. 1167 κατελθεΐν ο’ίκαδε; Alex. fr. 222.17
άπήλθεν ο’ίκαδε; Men. Dy sc. 133 άπελθών ο’ίκαδε.
3 ήτις έστΐ κοσμία γυνή The antecedent of ήτις, here γυνή, has been
attracted into the relative clause rather than remaining outside it as a dative,
its proper case (cf. Kuhner-Gerth 1898-1904.11.417-18; Alex. fr. 187.3-4 with
Arnott 1996 ad loc.\, although the construction is common, the word order is
more contorted than usual.
For a woman described as κοσμία, cf. Men. Georg. 42; Arist. Pol.
3.1277b23; Austin-Olson 2004 on Ar. Th 571-3; contrast Sem. fr. 7.4. For a
description of behaviour that makes a person κόσμιος, cf. Philemo fr. 4. Here
the main sense is ‘well-behaved’ in terms of fulfilling all her requisite duties
to her husband and household. Order is a primary requisite for a successful
household (e. g. Pl. Grg. 504a), and responsibility for it seems to have been
assigned to the wife (e. g. X. Oec. 8.3, 10, 17-23).
4 δίαυλος A race of two στάδια, i. e. a sprint the length of the stadium
and back; the word is often used metaphorically for a journey that involves
a trip out and back, e. g. A. Ag. 344; E. HF 1102; Alex. fr. 237 with Arnott 1996
ad loc. LSJ s.v. (followed by Arnott 1996 on Alex. fr. 237) state that the use
here is ‘of a wife’s return to her husband’. Logic would seem to dictate that
the word is used to describe the woman’s movement from her father’s home
to her husband’s (at the time of marriage) and then back again, rather than
the reverse; in any case, it is not apparent how a return to her husband could
be described as bringing shame, whereas an abandonment of him certainly
would (cf. E. Med. 236-7 ού γάρ ευκλεείς άπαλλαγαΐ / γυναιξίν).
έστιν ... έχων For the periphrasis, cf. A. Ch. 136 with Garvie ad loc.·, Ar.
Pax 334; Antiph. fr. 54.3; D. 20.152; Kuhner-Gerth 1898-1904 1.38-9; Thesleff
1954 §275; Bjorck 1940. 17-40.