AFRODITA DEMIURGA EN DANAIDES (FR. 44 RADT): ECOS PRESOCRÁTICOS EN ESQUILO*

Abstract

SVMMARIVM – Aeschyli Danaidum Fr. 44 haud pauca habet cum philosophia quae dicitur
praesocratica communia. Et Aeschylus et philosophi, prasertim Empedocles, aiunt omnia
viventia orta esse e coniunctione contrariorum per suasionem harmoniamque a Venere motam;
hoc tamen discrepant, quod masculinum et femininum principium diversis elementis
naturalibus consociant. Aeschylus praebet imaginem terrae imbre fecundatae, philosophi de
quattuor elementis loquuntur, quorum duo, ignis et siccitas, aequiparantur naturae virili.
In hoc opusculo demonstratur suasionem, id est πειθώ, a Venere creatam, principium philosophiae
cardinale esse; quod principium res humanas praecedit atque superat in tetralogia
Aeschylea Danaidum, perinde ac in ceteris Aeschyli tragoediis, ubi fabulae interpretationem
a poeta exhibitam confirmat.

ABSTRACT – The analysis of fr. 44 of Danaids aims to prove its relationship with the pre-Socratic
philosophy. Aeschylus and the philosophers, especially Empedocles, share ideas on the
union of opposites promoted by Aphrodite through persuasion and harmony as guarantors
of fertility and, therefore, of everything alive. The texts diverge, however, in the association
of the feminine and masculine to different natural elements. Aeschylus presents the image of
earth fecunded by the rain, whereas philosophers develop a more complex system, up to four
elements, of which fire and dryness are identified with virility. This study shows that persuasion
or πειθώ, work of Aphrodite, is a key philosophical concept that precedes and surpasses
the human sphere in the Danaids trilogy, as in other Aeschylean tragedies, where it reinforces
the playwright’s interpretation of myth.