Un nomos atopos? Gli Efori e i baffi degli Spartani: nota esege tica a De sera num. vind. 4.550B

Abstract

At De sera num. vind. 550B, among the examples of atypical laws, Plutarch cites the ban issued by the Spartan Ephors to let the whiskers grow. Witness of this prescription is Aristotle (fr. 539 Rose), specifically mentioned by Plutarch at Cleom. 9.3, where the latter again refers to the odd Spartan law: the text of the biography, however, shows how the same nomos, held as atopos in the aforementioned passage of the treatise, has indeed a precise motivation for Plutarch. Here we propose to discuss some of the ecdotic and exegetic doubts raised by a comparison between the two texts, and further consider the third witness of the Aristotelian quote, Plu. fr. 90 Sandbach.