"Come vino per la vampa". Alle origini di una similitudine (Hipp, Genit 4)

I this essay, I propose an in-depth examination of a complex comparison, hitherto largely unexplored, found in chapter 4 of Hippocrates' De genitura/De natura pueri, which concerns the representation of female and male pleasure. The image not only represents the roles of the female and male partners during sexual intercourse in a manner consistent with the Hippocratic author's idea of the existence of a female seed, but also draws on a literary tradition (based on Homer and lyric poetry, especially Sappho and Ibycus) that makes the topic of the “fire of love” one of its most successful and frequent metaphors, thus responding to the idea of love as violent and tempestuous affection, which needs wine (the analogue counterpart of the male seed) to be stirred up but at the same time also to be extinguished. This explains the use of the image of wine on the flame, which also has historical-religious implications in terms of sacrifice, in line with the concept, already conveyed by the myth of Pandora, of the bride as a victim on the altar of sexual intercourse marked by the prevalence of the male element.