98

Eupolis

. ικους (masc. acc. pl.) stewing (masc. nom. sing.) [....]. just now
τατε he stirred you

Meter The words (portions of several lines) scan -[····]· .
[·■·.]·[■]· -and are compatible with iambic trimeter.
Context POxy. 5160 col. i.19-29
] . ικους εψων
20 ....]. άρτίως τατε .
....].[.]. έκ{ε}ίνησεν σε
. ] . . . αίνίττεται ότι ό
αίπό]λος μέ[μ]εικται τήι
πα]νδοκευτρίαι· καλεΐ
25 μιγήν]αι κ{ε}ινήσαι
]δ . . . οδετου
] · τ[. ] . . ειατο
...].. α . έν τώι έργωι
] ....τει χύτρας
21-5 suppl. Luppe
. ικους (masc acc. pl.) stewing (masc. nom. sing.)
20 [....]. just now τατε .
he stirred you
. ] . . . he implies that the
goatherd has had sex with the
innkeeper-woman; he says
25 “to have sex” as “to stir”
]δ . . . οδετου
• ] · τ[. ] . . ειατο
...].. α . in the work
] .... τει cookpots (acc.)
Interpretation The comments in col. i.22-9 make it clear that the speaker
describes what the goatherd did with the innkeeper-woman inside with a
series of leering double-entendres, as if the goatherd were merely working in
her kitchen. Cf. e. g. the sexual/culinary puns at Ar. Pax 891-3.
-ικους is patently an adjective (cf. fr. 350 n.) and likely modifies the object
of εψων.
εψων For the verb, used of wet cooking of all sorts (e. g. boiling and
stewing), see Biles-Olson 2015 on Ar. V 238-9.
άρτίως is rare before the mid-5th c. (earlier at Sapph. frr. 98a. 10; 123),
when it comes to serve as a metrically convenient alternative for άρτι. Either
word would do here.