The Herme-Neutics of Χοιροκομεῖον in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata

Abstract

The following paper discusses the meaning of the word χοιροκομεῖον and its function in a passage in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata 1073. Although its semantics became obscure as early as the time of Pollux, it almost certainly originally referred to a wicker-work pigpen. The fact that in the Aristophanic passage under discussion the Spartan delegates are said to be wearing it around their thighs suggests that the author meant it to be an obscene joke based on a stereotype according to which, unlike the Athenians, the Spartans were very likely to become sexual objects for other males. Within the reconstruction proposed below they wore χοιροκομεῖα in order to protect themselves from penetration. This element, combined with the other aspects of the visual characteristics of the Spartan delegates, namely erect phalli and long beards, made them similar to the herms of Hermes.