In Aristophanes’ Clouds (lines 855-864) the protagonist of the play, Strepsiades, remembers to have given his son Phidippides, still a child, "a little cart" (hamaxis) during the Diasia festival. Aristophanes' testimony seems to contradict a significant volume of information, primarily of iconographic character, which seems to associate the gift of carts not with the Diasia festival but with the Anthesteria. Reviewing literary and iconographic sources with a comparative approach, this contribution demonstrates that the hamaxis mentioned by Aristophanes cannot be understood as the wheeled toy cart received as a gift and used by children during the Anthesteria, but rather as a miniature model if not as a candy.

Dolcetto o carretto? Alcune questioni di carattere esegetico tra Anthesteria e Diasia

Marco Giuman
2023-01-01

Abstract

In Aristophanes’ Clouds (lines 855-864) the protagonist of the play, Strepsiades, remembers to have given his son Phidippides, still a child, "a little cart" (hamaxis) during the Diasia festival. Aristophanes' testimony seems to contradict a significant volume of information, primarily of iconographic character, which seems to associate the gift of carts not with the Diasia festival but with the Anthesteria. Reviewing literary and iconographic sources with a comparative approach, this contribution demonstrates that the hamaxis mentioned by Aristophanes cannot be understood as the wheeled toy cart received as a gift and used by children during the Anthesteria, but rather as a miniature model if not as a candy.
2023
Hamaxis; Aristophanes; Clouds; Iconography; Attic festivals; Diasia; Anthesteria
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Dolcetto o carretto Alcune questioni di carattere esegetico tra Anthesteria e Diasia.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: versione editoriale
Dimensione 875.59 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
875.59 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11584/398223
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact