Lekythion

Lekythion ( Greek  ληκύθιον "oil bottle", see Lekythos ) is the name of a catalectic trochaic dimeter according to the scheme

—◡— ◡ ˌ — ◡—

The name is derived from a quote from Aristophanes ( The Frogs 1208 ff.). In the conversation between Aeschylus and Euripides, the sentence ληκυθιον απωλεσεν ( lekythion apolesen “he lost the bottle”) is repeated several times, which is always part of the trimeter behind the main caesura . This parodies the formal smoothness that allows the use of the same formula over and over again. Due to the context of the text, the term Euripideum was sometimes used for the lekythion. The lekythion can be found, for example, in Alkman and Euripides; it also appears in the Asynartetes of Archilochus . Here it is behind a hemiepes .

In particular, with the Cretan dimeter in front , the verse is also known as the Euripideion .

literature

• Gero von Wilpert : Subject dictionary of literature. 8th edition Kröner, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-520-84601-3 , pp. 243, 460.