“Venus and the knucklebones. A new interpretation of the basilicus iactus in Plautus, Curculio, 349-361”

Authors

  • Marco Vespa Hebrew University of Jerusalem

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54103/2282-0035/18660

Keywords:

basilicus, curculio, knucklebones, Plautus, play, venus

Abstract

By focusing on the challenging translation of the so-called basilicus iactus mentioned in Plautus’ play Curculio, this article attempts to provide a new contribution to the study of Latin play culture. On the basis of evidence from within the text, in particular regarding the dramatic identity of its protagonists and the narrative isotopies present, and thanks to evidence from outside the play, specifically from some ancient Greek cultic traditions, this research proposes to understand the expression basilicus iactus not as “king’s throw” but as “queen’s throw”, with an implicit reference to the goddess Venus implied by the knucklebones throw that took its name from the deity.

Author Biography

Marco Vespa, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Marco Vespa is a researcher in classical philology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He works on ancient Greek literature with a focus on the transmission of ancient zoological and medical traditions, comic theatre and II Sophistic. As part of the ERC Atlomy project, he is involved in the study of Aristotle’s Historia animalium in relation to the Greek medical knowledge; he is also a scientific collaborator in the ERC project Locus ludi dealing with play in the ancient world.

Published

2022-09-14

Issue

Section

Saggi