Ricerc@Sapienza

The article deals with some of the textual and exegetical problems of Hermippus fr. 63 K.-A., in which Athens is presented as the centre towards which all kinds of goods flow from the entire Mediterranean. This theme is attested also in other contemporary Athenian writers, and destined to great fortune in later authors. Among other things, the lesson ᾿Ιταλίας is defended (v. 6), and a transposition of v. 9 is proposed, thus restoring the sophisticated and often undervalued overall structure of these hexameters.

Babylonians is a lost play of ARISTOPHANES (Ar. frr. 67-100), produced by CALLISTRATUS (1) at the City DIONYSIA of 426 BCE. Its content, held to be insulting to the Athenian polis, is said to have provoked CLEON to attempt a PROSECUTION of Aristophanes (schol. Ar. ACHARNIANS 378; Life of Ar. 19-29 K-A). DIONYSUS was a character (Ar. fr. 75).