290

Eupolis

vaticentem non oportere in urbe nutri leonem, sin autem sit altus, obsequi ei
convenire
Profoundly shrewd is the advice of Aristophanes, who placed Pericles re-
turned from the dead f of the Athenians (“the leader of the Athenians” cod.
Γ : “the first man of the Athenians” Kapp : “for the Athenian people” Gertz)
in a comedy and had him prophesy that a lion ought not to be raised in a city,
but that if one is brought up there, it is best to follow its orders
Context One in a series of wise sayings by non-Romans, most of them pre-
served in other sources as well and all clearly drawn from a preexisting set of
rhetorical commonplaces.
Interpretation The primary reference is to Ar. Ra. 1431a-2, where Aeschylus,
when asked to offer advice in regard to Alcibiades, responds ού χρή λέοντος
σκύμνον έν πόλει τρέφειν· / ήν δ’ έκτραφη τις, τοΐς τρόποις ύπηρετεϊν (“One
shouldn’t raise a lion-cub in a city; but if someone brings one up, he should
adapt himself to its ways”; cf. A. Ag. 717-36). But Frommel 1826. 176-7 and
Silvern 1826. 47-53 took the mention of Pericles and a return from the dead to
suggest contamination from the plot of Demoi rather than a simple slip of the
pen on Valerius’ part. This is once again very weak evidence, but somewhat
stronger than the case for the relevance of [test. *vi] (n.).

test. *viii = adesp. com. fr. 64 (= Demoi test. 9 Telo)
Discussion Trendall 1959. 3 (A7); Sestieri 1960. 156-9 with pll. XL-XLII;
Trendall and Webster 1971. 140; Taplin 1993. 42 and pl. 16.16; Storey 1995—
1996. 139-41; Storey 2003. 169-70, 364-5; Telo 2003. 13-25; Revermann 2006.
318-19; Telo 2007. 28-33; Csapo 2010. 61-3 with fig. 2.5
Interpretation A Paestan bell krater attributed to Asteas by Trendall and
dated by Trendall and Webster to ca. 350 BCE; first associated with Demoi by
Taplin. On its main side, the vase depicts two figures, both dressed in skin-tight
actors’ costumes that extend to their wrists and ankles. A small dog located at
the bottom left is likely nothing more than decoration intended to fill empty
space. The first figure (to the left) is a beardless youth labeled ΦΡΥΝΙΣ, who
has a prominent, typically comic belly, buttocks and breasts. He is nude except
for a cloak, which is fastened at his neck with a brooch and which billows out
behind him; wears a pair of elaborate shoes; and has a victor’s olive crown
on his head. A comic phallus is visible. Phrynis holds a lyre drawn up beside
him in his left hand and a plektrum in his right hand, which hangs down and