Due questioni interpretative nelle Ecclesiazuse di Aristofane (vv. 1089-91, 1105-11)

In this article I discuss two passages in the scene in Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae (vv. 1089-91, 1105-11) during which three old Crones are quarrelling over a Young man, each appealing to the rules established by the new decree proclaimed by the women. As regards the first passage, I examine the two possible translations of βινεῖν . . . διαλελημμένον (1090), arguing in favour of “to fuck held in fetters” (Halliwell and similarly Sommerstein), against the translation “to fuck one by one” (Brunck, Marzullo, Paduano, Del Corno). I then analyze Andrea Capra’s 2010 translation hypothesis of lines 1105-11, regarding the decoration of the future tomb of the Young man. I point out that Capra’s idea that he refers to his own member as a substitute for the usual funeral lekythos must be rejected; the habitual interpretation which holds that he is referring to one of the Crones is still the most plausible.