It is possible to notice the role of the food in general and of the fish in particular in Greek comic fragments to persuade people from an erotic point of view. As Athenaeus (IX 402d) puts it: «the accounts of dinner parties offered by the comic poets provide more pleasure for one’s ears than one’s throat» (tr. Olson 2008). The metaphor is thus played on two levels: firstly, the lists of foods have the specific role to persuade people to take part in these comic gatherings; the food often hides double entendres for male and female genitalia or is explicitly aphrodisiac. Secondly, the comic fragments linked to the food show a wide range of sexual metaphors, which are the perfect surround for these descriptions. An example is Mnesimachus’ fr. 4 K.–A., the longest (together with Anaxandrides’ fr. 42 K.–A.) comic list of food at 65 lines. I will start from this fragment to show all the aspects that I have listed above (persuasive power of the food, metaphors linked to the food – fish and meat in particular – and the other sexual metaphors that stud the whole text), giving examples and loci similes from other comic fragments about the tantalizing power of food.
Food and Parties: Seduction, Erotic and Sexual Metaphors in Greek Comic Fragments
VIRGINIA MASTELLARI
2018-01-01
Abstract
It is possible to notice the role of the food in general and of the fish in particular in Greek comic fragments to persuade people from an erotic point of view. As Athenaeus (IX 402d) puts it: «the accounts of dinner parties offered by the comic poets provide more pleasure for one’s ears than one’s throat» (tr. Olson 2008). The metaphor is thus played on two levels: firstly, the lists of foods have the specific role to persuade people to take part in these comic gatherings; the food often hides double entendres for male and female genitalia or is explicitly aphrodisiac. Secondly, the comic fragments linked to the food show a wide range of sexual metaphors, which are the perfect surround for these descriptions. An example is Mnesimachus’ fr. 4 K.–A., the longest (together with Anaxandrides’ fr. 42 K.–A.) comic list of food at 65 lines. I will start from this fragment to show all the aspects that I have listed above (persuasive power of the food, metaphors linked to the food – fish and meat in particular – and the other sexual metaphors that stud the whole text), giving examples and loci similes from other comic fragments about the tantalizing power of food.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
