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I think sex is hilarious. So, apparently, does most everyone else, because we've been laughing about it for a long time. In colloquial English, we have a million expressions for "the dirty deed" and everything that comes close, and the Ancient Greeks appear to be no different. However, since ancient Greek isn't something we grew up with, sometimes those expressions are not so obvious, and it can be useful, and fun, to try to explain them more fully. In reading the Lysistrata, one expression that particularly enchanted me was kuna derein dedarmenhn, "to flay the flayed dog," in line 158. Even before I read Henderson's note, I assumed our heroine was talking about masturbation: the context, the graphic imagery of the flayed dog, as well as of the verb itself, and my instinct, in cases where the meaning is not immediately apparent, to assume to worst (or the best) all led me unswervingly to that conclusion. Henderson agrees with me that Aristophanes is talking about masturbation, and female masturbation at that, but while I saw the expression primarily as manual labor, he sees dildos involved. Henderson, in his commentary in the Lysistrata, says that Kalonike's response in the next line refers to dildos when she says, "That mimicry is nonsense,"� understanding that the "mimicry" she refers to is the false penis.� He follows his argument here with suggesting that kuna refers to either a masculine phallus, or to the leather (apparently notoriously durable) of which the dildo would be made. While I don't necessarily think that Lysistrata was suggesting masturbation specifically without a dildo, I am not inclined to agree with Henderson that the kuna dedarmenhn is a toy rather than genitalia. Instead, I would argue that just as kuwn suggests male genitalia in other places, its feminine version is in play, here. In fact, that appears to be part of the joke! Women talking about masturbation in the first place is funny, and the feminization of what was probably usually a masculine reference, made it all the stranger, and thus, funnier. And, in fact, Henderson corroborates my idea in The Maculate Muse, saying that kuwn could also stand for "cunt." � Further, the graphic nature of the expression, the image of raw meat, makes perfect sense as a representation of genitalia of either sex. And if kuna is referring to cunt, then the idea that Lysistrata is specifically recommending a dildo falls a little flat. The memimhmena that Kalonike is talking about could just as easily be the act of masturbation itself, as a poor imitation of sex, as opposed to the dildo as a poor imitation of a penis. The verb, to flay or skin, works best as an analogy to rubbing bare skin, and gets the feeling of repetitive friction, even further reinforced by the double use of the verb (derein dedarmenhn). Henderson also notes in his commentary that derein "can be used of male sexual excitation," but I take this to mean sexual excitement, in general, as opposed to specifying sex (although I find it unsurprising that it is more frequently used of men). Understanding that Lysistrata is, in fact, suggesting masturbation should Kalonike be "ignored" or "divorced" by her husband, why does she say it. Although it is certainly a fine response to the oversexed Kalonike, it's funny for a number of reasons. If a woman is divorced, or ignored, by her husband, her primary concern is most likely going to be her ability to survive, and Lysistrata, as the rational one, should recognize that. That the suggestion is coming out of Lysistrata's mouth is funny just because she's speaking it, and also because it's doubly teasing women for their ordering of priorities and their obsession with sex. It doesn't sound insulting, and Kalonike is certainly not insulted, only frustrated. But it's certainly funny, to the audience, and probably to Kalonike, too, if she weren't so preoccupied with the "seriousness" of her dilemma. Which, of course, makes it that much funnier.
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Contact me at ailiathena@yahoo.com Written October 13, 2003 at Oberlin College Last Updated April 19, 2005
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