Friday, July 04, 2025
Inutile Lignum
Jeffery Henderson on Aristophanes, Lysistrata 110 (σκυτίνη ᾽πικουρία):
Newer› ‹Older
A play on the proverbial expression συκίνη ἐπικουρία, used of inadequate or unreliable help (so Σ): fig-wood was cheap and fragile, cf. Theokr. 10.45 σύκινοι ἄνδρες, and compare Hdt. 6.108 (of military aid) ἐπικουρίη ψυχρή, 'cold comfort'.Arthur Palmer on Horace, Satires 1.8.1 (inutile lignum):
The wood of the fig-tree was considered useless, because it was easily broken (εὔκλαστον), Schol. on Theocr. 25.248, quoted by Schütz; hence the proverb συκίνη ἐπικουρία = 'a broken reed': so σύκινοι ἄνδρες, Theocr. 10.45, 'good-for-nothing men': γνώμη συκίνη, Luc. adv. Indoct. 6.A.F.S. Gow on Theocritus 10.45 (σύκινοι ἄνδρες):
