Cucumbers in Praxilla’s “Adonis” fragment (fr. 747)

Abstract

Praxilla of Sicyon (floruit ca. 450 BCE) records Adonis’ response to a question posed to him in the Underworld. He is asked by his companions below what he misses most from his former life on earth. His answer is preserved by Zenobius (early 2nd c. CE), and includes the sun, moon, and stars as well as apples, pears, and cucumbers. Zenobius condemns Adonis’ response, saying, “anyone who lists cucumbers and the rest alongside sun and moon can only be regarded as feeble-minded”. Using comparative material from both Greco-Roman and ancient Jewish sources, this paper considers what we know about the cultural context of cucumbers in the ancient Mediterranean and argues for a shift in blame from Adonis to Praxilla herself for composing such “nonsense”.