400

Eupolis

the κρόκη was raised and trimmed, and thus as time passed the amount of it
gradually decreased, hence the image in E. fr. 282.11-12 όταν δε προσπέση
γήρας πικρόν, / τρίβωνες έκβαλόντες οϊχονται κρόκας (“but whenever bit-
ter old age falls upon them, they disappear (like) tribdnes losing their woof-
threads”; of athletes).
2 στατήρ (cognate with ϊστημι in the sense “put on a scale, weigh”)
was used in Athens as a generic term for gold—i. e. electrum—coins produced
by other states or cities (LSJ s.v. II; cf. frr. 99.87; 123; 162.2 n.; 247.1 with n.).
The evidence that the word referred in addition to a particular unit of weight
(LSJ s. v. I) is otherwise primarily inscriptional (IG I3 387.42 and 400.32, 38,
46 (temple inventories from Eleusis); 1411-12 and 1415 (official measures of
weight from the Athenian Agora)); cf. [Arist.J Ath. 10.2; Lang, in Lang and
Crosby 1964. 2-5.
είχε For the verb in this sense, cf. Ar. Pl. 715 όπάς γάρ είχεν ούκ όλίγας
(“for it contained numerous holes”; of a robe); Philonid. fr. 9 τα καταχύσματα /
αύτοΐσιν δξος ούκ εχει (“the sauces for them contained no vinegar”); Diph.
fr. 42.35-6 δξος ή φακή / ούκ είχε (“the bean soup contained no vinegar”);
LSJ s.v. εχω A.1.12a “of Measure or Value” (although all the references there
are much later).
ναι μά τον Δία Cf. fr. 99.110 ναι μά Δία. * at Men. Asp. 167; Dysc. 437.
ναι μά τον Δί(α) (—with elision — <>), ναι μά Δί(α) with
elision — also e.g. Epich. fr. 71; Ar. Ach. 88; Eq. 280), νή τον Δί(α) (—
with elision —e. g. fr. 268h with n.; Pherecr. fr. 157.1; Ar. Nu. 483; Antiph.
fr. 177.3) and νή Δί(α) (—with elision —e.g. fr. 192dd = fr. 192.130;
Ar. Eq. 27; Antiph. fr. 69.8) are metrically convenient variants224 of a bland,
colloquial oath common in comedy and in prose authors (e.g. X. Mem. 2.6.4;
4.3.3, 8.5; Pl. Phd. 60c; Cra. 408b; Is. 3.24).225 In comedy, at least, when μά τον
Δί(α) (<^—oo, with elision <>—<>) or μά Δί(α) (^^, with elision are not
accompanied by ναι, the sense is always negative (“(No), by Zeus”), even when

224 νή τον Διόνυσον (—x; e.g. Ar. Nu. 519; V. 1474; Av. 171) is probably to be
thought of as part of the same system, ναι τόν + divinity is used in Attic only by
dialect speakers (Ar. Ach. 730, 742, 774, 779, 798; Lys. 206, 988).
225 Simple oaths such as these, simply using the god’s name, are absent from the tragic
poets except in satyr play (e.g. S. fr. 314.118 μά Δία; E. Cyc. 9 ού μά Δί’, 154 ού μά
Δί’, 586 ναι μά Δί’), although more complex oaths employing the same introductory
particles abound (e. g. A. Ag. 1432 μά τήν τέλειον τής έμής παιδός Δίκην; S. ΕΙ. 1239
μά τάν Άρτεμιν τάν άεί άδμήταν; fr. 957.2 νή τούς έν Αργεί καί κατά Σπάρτην
θεούς; Ε. Med. 1059 μά τούς παρ’ Άιδηι νερτέρους άλάστορας; Ph. 1006 μά τόν
μετ’ άστρων Ζήν’ Άρη τε φοίνιον).