Ermippo, Φορμοφόροι, fr. 63. 6 K.-A.: un gioco etimologico sul toponimo Ἰταλία?

Hermippus fr. 63 is a catalog in 23 hexameters of goods imported to Athens since the city established its dominion over the seas in the 20s of the 5th century BC. Verse 6 focuses on the importation of πλευρὰ βόεια, “beef ribs”, into Athens from a region that the manuscripts identify as “Italy”, but many scholars correct to “Thessaly”. This article defends the manuscript reading, based on the hypothesis that Hermippus, by mentioning “beef ribs” as a typical Italian export product, is playing on the presumed derivation of the toponym Ἰταλία from an etymology linked to the notion of (young) bovine.