Πόλεις (fr. 240)

283

Note in addition
- Hsch. Θ 685 θρανίον· δίφρος ... καί λάσανα (“thranion: a stool ... also
lasana)
- Hsch. λ 352 λάσανα· χυτρόποδες ... καί τά βάθρα, τούς άφοδευτηρίους
δίφρους (“lasana: pot-stands ... also benches, stools for defecation”)
- Lex. Rhet. 204 Naoumides τά λάσανα· τούς χυτρόποδας (“lasana: pot-
stands”; taken by Naoumides to be a gloss on Ar. Pax 893)
- Phot, λ 106 λάσανα· χυτρόποδες κυρίως· ήδη δε καί τό παραπλήσιον, έφ’
ών αν τις ίπνόν έπιστήσειεν ή τι των τοιούτων καί τών όμοιων, έφ’ ών
έψεταί τι καί φρύγεται· καί έφ’ ών άπεπάτουν έλεγον. ούτω Φερεκράτης
(fr. 93) (“lasana: properly pot-stands; but now also a similar object, upon
which one might set a lamp, or something of this type or similar to it upon
which something is stewed and fried; they also used the word for what
they defecated on. Thus Pherecrates (fr. 93)”)
- Suda a 3246 άποβάθρας· καί τά λάσανα, ά λέγονται οί χυτρόποδες (“αρο-
bathras: also lasana, which are called pot-stands”) (~ β 325 ~ λ 133).
The scholion on Plutarch (glossing the crucial word in a story according to
which Antigonos responded to a bit of poetic flattery that referred to him
as “child of the Sun” by remarking “The man who fetches my lasana wasn’t
aware of that”) is of Byzantine date and is probably drawing on a lost source
directly dependent on Moeris (hence the error λάσανον for λάσαν’ in both).
Text The nonsensical ένεστι in Σ Plu. reflects the influence of dative έμοί at
the head of the line.
λάσανα rather than λάσανον (Moer. and Σ Plu.) is the proper form of the
word, and Raspe’s λάσαν’ has the further advantage of rendering the meter
easier.
Interpretation An explanation or justification of some preceding remark
(hence γάρ). έμοί is emphatic and draws a contrast with another person, who
e. g. owns a fancy couch or chair, whereas the speaker has almost nothing;
cf. Philocleon’s aggravated response when told that Tabes/Laches has nib-
bled the rind off the Sicilian cities at Ar. V. 926: έμοί δέ γ’ οϋκ έστ’ ούδέ τήν
ύδρίαν πλάσαι (“Whereas I don’t even have enough to mend a pot”); colloquial
English “He doesn’t have a pot to piss in”.134 Storey suggests that the line was
inspired by Ar. fr. 477 (quoted below; from Proagdn·, Lenaia 422 BCE), which

134 As Kassel-Austin note, despite the seeming echo at Men. Phasm. 42-3 τό δή
λεγόμενον, ούκ έχεις όπο[ι χέσηις] / ύπό τών αγαθών (“as the saying goes, ‘You’ve
got nowhere to shit’ because of your advantages”), the sense there is very different.