26

Άμφις (Amphis)

ίεροσύλοις νόμον φανεϊται τιθέμενη;), Din. 1.53 (είτ’ ού δεινόν, ώ Αθηναίοι,
εί... ’ίσχυσεν άν τό -ψεύδος τής αλήθειας μάλλον); see also S. OC 418, Pl. Ap.
28b, Tht. 149a; Pin. 865b; Luc. Cat. 13, Lib. Decl. 12.31, etc.
It is noteworthy that in Comedy (especially - though not exclusively -
during the Middle and New periods) this emotionally charged usage of εΐτα
(and είτ’ ού) occurs accumulatively and resembles the vehemence displayed
in rhetorical speeches (cf. the aforementioned examples). Both the orators
and the comic playwrights use this expression to capture and retain the au-
dience’s attention. Just as in the rhetorical texts, in several comic passages
είτα is employed in order to introduce a strong rhetorical question that is
expressed within an intensely emotional atmosphere - in the manner of a
stylistic tour de force. Herewith the speaker usually embarks on a soliloquy,
where he argues vigorously and passionately in favour of an opinion (which
often features a certain degree of exaggeration) - in a way analogous to and
reminiscent of the orators exposing the details of an argument or a situation;
e.g. Men. Dysc. 153-154 είτ’ ού μακάριος ήν ό Περσεύς κατά δύο/τρόπους
εκείνος (was not that well-known Perseus blessed in two ways? - cf. Handley
1965: 158-159); Alex. fr. 44 είτ’ ούχ άπάντων έστί τό μεθύειν κακόν (is not
then getting drunk the biggest evil of all? - cf. Arnott 1996: 154); Amphis fr.
17.1 είτ’ ούχίχρυσούν έστιπράγμ’ έρημία; (is not then solitude golden?) andfr.
36.1 είτα προς θεών (so then, by the gods)· Aristopho fr. 11.1-2 είτ’ ού δικαίως
έστ’ άπεψηφισμένος/ύπό των θεών τών δώδεκ’ εικότως <τ’> "Ερως; {well,
was not Eros rightly and reasonably disfranchised by the twelve gods?)·, Antiph.
fr. 101.1-2 είτ’ ού δικαίως είμί φιλογύνης έγώ/καί τάς εταίρας ήδέως πάσας
εχω; (so am I not right to love women and enjoy all hetairai?); cf. Antiph. fr.
157; Alex. fr. 145; Men. fr. 508.1 and Her. 7; etc. The pattern is also present in
Aristophanes, e. g. Ach. 312, Nu. 860 and 1214, Ra. 21, fr. 102.1, etc.; cf. van
Leeuwen (1898) 46 (on Ar. Nu. 226). Reinhardt (1974: 106-109) notes that not
all the είτα-clauses are the same; e.g. in Amphis fr. 1 the speaker begins with
a generic statement / a personal belief, whereas elsewhere (e. g. Men. Dysc. 153)
the speaker sets off with a mythological example drawing on the sanction of
the mythological tradition.
lb εύνοϊκώτερον The neuter εύνοϊκώτερον refers to the hetaira. The
use of a neuter complement with masculine or feminine subject is common;
cf. Kiihner & Gerth (41955) i.l §96. The adjective εύνοϊκός is unexpected when
it comes to describing a hetaira. Hetairai can be many things, but are nowhere
described as being εύνοϊκαί (favourable, well-disposed). In fact, the adjectives
εύνοϊκός/εϋνους are generally atypical terms in a sexual context. Furthermore,
this is the only instance of the term εύνοϊκός within the comic register. Even
outside Comedy the adjective εύνοϊκός is very rarely used (in the fourth cen-