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Niptra (Pacuvius)
the Niptra
also: Niptra, Niptris, the Niptra
A Roman tragedy by Pacuvius (the title meaning The Washing, after the Odyssean foot-bath scene) dramatizing the wounding and death of Ulysses. Cicero praises Pacuvius's restrained handling of Ulysses' pain over the more tearful version in Sophocles, quoting several of its lines.
Reading notes
- Tusculan Disputations §2.48 In the \textit{Niptra} that wisest of the Greeks
The Niptra ('The Washing') is a tragedy of Pacuvius dramatizing the death of Ulysses; 'that wisest of the Greeks' is Ulysses (Odysseus). Cicero praises Pacuvius's restrained handling of the hero's pain.