This is from Rouse’s Greek Boy. I don’t understand the the joke. Two friends come to the house during a storm. The one says: “ἰδού. ὠς ὀμοίω ἐστὸν τὠ ἀδελφὠ, οὐ γὰρ σῦκον σύκῳ ὁμοιότερον”, ὁ δὲ ἓτερος λέγει, “ἀλλ’ οὐχ οὓτως ὃμοιός ἐστιν οὕτος ἐκείνῳ, ὡς ἐκεῖνος τούτῳ.” The others laugh. I don’t get it. “Behold, how alike he is to the brother: for a fig is not more alike to a fig.” And the other one says, “But this one is not so similar to that one as that one is to this one.” I feel stupid. Help!
If both are alike one another, how can one be more alike the other, than the other is alike the first?
Thanks. That must be it. Perhaps I was overthinking it.
Charlie, Did you miss the duals? Not that it really makes a difference to the illogic of the joke.
[And English usage is tricky on “like” and “alike.”]
Thank you, mwh. I now see that I did not take account of the duals. I failed to notice that ὀμοίω is also dual. So I think I should translate “Behold, how alike the two brothers are.” This line really got me scratching my head. believe I confused “like” and “alike.” If I’ve got this right, the former is a preposition and the latter is an adjective. Let me try again. If A is like B and B is like A, then A cannot be more similar to B than B is to A. They are both alike. I think Winnie the Pooh and I are alike. Some days, I feel like a bear of very little brain.
The source, from a Hellenistic joke book, which Rouse has only lightly adapted:
Σχολαστικὸς ἀδελφοὺς διδύμους ἰδὼν θαυμαζόντων τινῶν τὴν ὁμοιότητα αὐτῶν· Οὐχ οὕτως, φησίν, ὅμοιός ἐστιν <οὗτος> ἐκείνῳ, ὡς ἐκεῖνος τούτῳ.
Scholasticus is the butt of the joke, as always, as he attempts to show off by making a pettifogging correction to the other onlookers who are amazed at the twins’ similarity. Philogelos had our type down.
Thank you, Joel. That’s very interesting. Now I’ll know who to turn to for these allusions in Rouse.