An Epic Source for Aristophanes' τρυγῳδία

This paper aims to demonstrate that the noun τρυγῳδία coined by Aristophanes can be connected to the passage of Iliad, Σ, 565-572. Another aim is to underline that the term τρυγῳδία displays a particular connotation in Aristophanes’ self-depiction, namely the connotation of the poet as a child. Firstly, I remark that the noun τρυγῳδία is an Aristophanic coinage, by analyzing the previous theories on this word and through a survey of the other attestations. Secondly, I shall discuss the passage in which Aristophanes employs the term for the first time (Ach. 497-500), especially connecting it with the previous scene in Acharnians, in which Dikaiopolis encounters Euripides and asks for elements useful for the poetical purpose of the ῥῆσις μακρά (Ach. 416). In this passage, I underline that τρυγῳδία comes after the scene in which Aristophanes depicts the autobiographical character of Dikaiopolis as dressed with σπάργανα, the swaddling clothes with which babies used to be dressed. This relevant point connects also the scene to Homeric poetry, for the presence of σπάργανα in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. I finally propose that the term τρυγῳδία reflects this characterization by recalling the Homeric passage (Σ, 565-572) of the child-aoidos during the celebration for τρυγᾶν. Through the survey of these lines, I argue that model is re-elaborated by Aristophanes, who bases his self-depiction as the poet of peace on the action of τρυγᾶν. More precisely, τρυγᾶν can be seen as the most joyful effect of Aristophanes’ διδάσκειν towards the Athenian audience. This result seems to be strongly connected to peace and the poetics of peace, in Aristophanes’ view