τοὐπὶ τῇ φακῇ μύρον (Sopater fr. 13, 1): Odysseus the Hedonist

Abstract

The paper advances a new interpretation of the proverb τοὐπὶ τῇ φακῇ μύρον (“the perfume in the lentil-soup”) as attested in Sopater’s single surviving fragment from his play Nekyia, where it is used to satirically describe Odysseus. Sopater’s tiny fragment (one line and a half) reveals a mere, albeit strong, satirical tone towards Odysseus; yet, the essence of this satire is left entirely unexplained. Instead of the common view that the proverb presently conveys a notion of incongruity (as it does in other texts), the paper argues that here we need to allow for (if not implement) an alternative interpretation, that of hedonism.

The argument in favour of this new interpretation is based on a number of ancient testimonies (including Aristotle’s) regarding both the proverb itself (provenance and gloss) and the later reception and misconstruing of Odysseus’ figure as a hedonist (as attested in ancient scholia on Homer, Athenaeus, and the comic tradition).