Κρησέρα
sieve
Translated by Catharine Roth30 Jan 2001Vetting: high3 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] the covering of baskets.1 It is perforated. Aristophanes [writes]: "but now we are not looking for a sieve".2 He says this because [the character is speaking] to an old woman.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Κρησέρα· τὸ περιβόλαιον τῶν κοφίνων. ἔστι δὲ διερρωγός. Ἀριστοφάνης· ἀλλ' οὐχὶ νυνὶ κρησέραν αἰτούμεθα. τοῦτο δὲ λέγει ὡς πρὸς γραῦν.
Betacode
*krhse/ra: to\ peribo/laion tw=n kofi/nwn. e)/sti de\ dierrwgo/s. *)aristofa/nhs: a)ll' ou)xi\ nuni\ krhse/ran ai)tou/meqa. tou=to de\ le/gei w(s pro\s grau=n.
Notes (2)
- 1LSJ entry at web address 1. ↩
- 2Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae 991 (see web address 2); the scholia there supply the gloss here. But what does their explanation actually mean? J. Taillardat, Les Images d'Aristophane (Paris 1965) 51-3 argues that the old woman here has white hair -- rather than a white face (van Leeuwen ad loc.) -- like a flour-covered sieve. Ussher ad loc. rejects both, in favour of a sexual double entendre; her vagina is like a perforated old sieve; but kresera is not included amongst the culinary-inspired terms for the female sexual organs recognized by J. Henderson, The Maculate Muse (New Haven 1975) 142-4. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Neighbouring entries
Revision history3 revisions · last 18 Mar 2013
- upgraded link — Catharine Roth
- more keywords; tweaking — David Whitehead
- augmented note; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Catharine Roth