VII.32.1 (113)

ID 849
Corpus Cicero: Ad Familiares
Reference VII.32.1 (113)
Reference 2 n/a
Date 01/03/50
Source Letter
Author Cicero
Addressee Volumnius Eutrapelus
Citation Greek Code Switch εὐτραπελία
Latin Context deinde εὐτραπελία litterarum fecit ut intellegerem tuas esse
Inter/Intra Sentential Intra
Function Code Switch Wordplay
Flagging
Syntactic/Grammatical Info
Context Pun (on Volumnius' name): Cicero recognises letter, addressed without a first name, to be from the senator Volumnius Eutrapelus by its "eutrapelous" quality.
Comments Shackleton Bailey: "'eutrapelia' defined by Aristotle as 'cultured insolence'. St Paul counted it as a vice, the Stoics as a virtue". Steel 1900: 405: "punning application of the Greek word". Shackleton Bailey: "The cognomen Eutrapelus was personal and descriptive, Volumnius being a well-known wit".