The article starts by reviewing the main evidence concerning Homeric influence on Sophocles’ poetry, in order to create an effective background for the analysis of the presumably most Homeric of his plays, the lost Ναυσικάα ἢ Πλύντριαι (Nausicaa or The Washerwomen). This play demonstrably dramatized the meeting between the castaway Odysseus and the Phaeacian princess as told in Odyssey VI; only three fragments survive (439-41 R.). The article suggests a Homeric hypotext coming from an early scene of that book – the laundry of Nausicaa’s maidens – for fr. 439 R., a hypothesis borne out by a new reading of the much-discussed verb of the line
Il bucato di Nausicaa. Una nuova lettura di Sofocle, fr. 439 R. (Ναυσικάα ἢ Πλύντριαι)
Laura Carrara
2022-01-01
Abstract
The article starts by reviewing the main evidence concerning Homeric influence on Sophocles’ poetry, in order to create an effective background for the analysis of the presumably most Homeric of his plays, the lost Ναυσικάα ἢ Πλύντριαι (Nausicaa or The Washerwomen). This play demonstrably dramatized the meeting between the castaway Odysseus and the Phaeacian princess as told in Odyssey VI; only three fragments survive (439-41 R.). The article suggests a Homeric hypotext coming from an early scene of that book – the laundry of Nausicaa’s maidens – for fr. 439 R., a hypothesis borne out by a new reading of the much-discussed verb of the lineI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
