Pomponius’ Atellane comedy Lar familiaris (Prisc. Gramm. II 213) and the sexual neologism vaso (61 R3 = 57 F2)

Panayotakis, C. (2020) Pomponius’ Atellane comedy Lar familiaris (Prisc. Gramm. II 213) and the sexual neologism vaso (61 R3 = 57 F2). Rationes Rerum, 16, pp. 345-361.

Abstract

This article reconsiders a hitherto neglected fragment that Priscian (6, 21 = Gramm. II 212, 23 – 213, 6 Hertz) attributes to a play by the Atellane playwright Pomponius entitled Lar familiaris, “The Household-God”. First, it discusses the grammatical context of the fragment (concentrating on the noun lactes “small intestines”), the title of the play, and the content of the fragment (including the comic supplication of the unnamed speaker). It then focuses on the textual problems surrounding the sexual term uaso (OLD s.v. “one having a large male sexual organ”), which is otherwise unattested in extant Latin literature, and which is, in fact, Otto Ribbeck’s imaginative emendation in his attempt to make sense of the difficult manuscript readings in Priscian’s text. Finally, an emendation and a reading of the fragment are proposed, based on an entirely new examination of Priscian’s early medieval manuscripts.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Panayotakis, Professor Costas
• Authors: Panayotakis, C.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Classics
• Journal Name: Rationes Rerum
• Publisher: Edizioni Tored
• ISSN: 2284-2497