CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY > £, 1924 087 931 675 Cornell University Library The original of tinis bool< is in tfie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924087931675 THE COMEDIES OF ARISTOPHANES. A NEW AXD LITERAX TEANSLATION, FROM THE KEVISED TEXT OP DINDOHF, NOTES AND EXTEACTS rfiOlI TEE BEST METRICAL VEESIONS. WILLIAM JAMES HICKIE, SCHOLAR OF ST. JOBN'S COLLEGE, CAUBRISGE. VOL. I. THE ACHARNIANS, KNIGHTS, CLOUDS, WASPS, PEACE, AND HIKBS. LONDON : HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MDCCCLVIII. TRANSLATOE'S PREFACE. In the present English version of the Comedies of Aristophanes, the text adopted is that of Dindorf, as re- vised for the edition recently published by Didot, which it may here be observed is a great improvement on that contained in his Poetce Scenici. The translator's aim has been to render the very words of Aristophanes into English as closely and exactly as the idioms of the two languages admit, and in illustrating his author the most approved commentators and versions have been diligently consulted. Any other mode of proceeding would have been inconsistent with the profession of a new and literal translation. Loose paraphrases of difficult Greek authors, — of which the world has more than enough already, — ^would be any thing but new, while an at- tempt to improve the author by substituting modem conceits, or fanciful interpretations, whenever the quaint- ness or freedom of the original appeared likely to offend the reader, would be inconsistent with his professed ob- ject. He has endeavoured to give what Aristophanes actually wrote, as far as could be accomplished in English words, excepting in passages of extreme indeli- vi translator's preface. cacy, which are necessarily paraphrased. The obscurity which sometimes arises in the English text from a strictly literal rendering, has been obviated by explana- tory notes, and by extracts from English and German metrical versions, in which the thoughts are expanded and freely expressed. The metrical extracts are mostly taken from Frere, Walsh, Carey, and Wheelwright, and from the excellent German versions of Voss and Droysen. The latter of these has aiforded most valuable assistance throughout. That of Voss has been less available, being so absolutely literal as often to be more difficult than the Greek itself. Droysen, on the contrary, being ex- pressed in easy idiomatic language, may be understood by any one who can read German at all. In conclusion, it only remains to observe, that tluee of the plays now offered to the public, the Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusse, and Ecclesiazusffi, have never before appeared in English prose. W. J. H. St. John's Colhge. THE ACHAENIANS. DRAMATIS PERSONS. DIC^OPOLIS. HERALD. PETTANES. AMPHITHEtJS. AMBASSADORS. PSEUDARTABAS. THEORUS. CHORUS OF ACHARNIANS. WIFE OF DIC^OPOLIS. DAUGHTER OF DIC^OPOLIS. SERVANT OF EURIPIDES. EURIPIDES. LAMACHUS. MEGARIAN. ' DAUGHTERS OF THE MEGARIAN SYCOPHANT. BCEOTIAN. NICHARCHUS. ■ MESSENGERS. HUSBANDMEN. PARANYMPH. Scene. — At first the General Assembly, at the Pnyx ; afterwards the house of Dicaeopolis, in the country. THE AEGUMENT. This Comedy takes its name from the natives of Acharn^, who constitute the Chorus. In order of time, it is the first entire play which has come down to us. It was brought out in January, e. c. 425, 01. Ixxxviii. 4, at the Lensean feast of Bacchus, in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian war. It obtained the first prize, the Xetixai^oiievoi of Cratinus the second, and the 'Sov/iJivia of Eupolis the third. Musgrave and Scaliger, deceived by the cor- rupt reading, ^vdvjikvovQ, in the argument, have ascribed it to b. c. 437, although the play itself, vs. 266, mentions the sixth year of the war, and quotes the Philoctetes of Euripides, vs. 424; and although the archonship of this Euthymenes is referred to as a distant date, vs. 67. — See Clinton's Fast. Hell. p. 69, second edition. The plot is simply this : — Dicaeopolis, an Athenian citizen, but an Acharnian by birth, tired at the continuance and miseries of the war, determines, if he cannot persuade the Athenians to adopt his measures, to make a peace for himself and family. The Athenians, elated by success, and urged on by the factious demagogues of the day, refuse to hear of it. Dicaeopolis, therefore, despatches Amphi- theiis to Sparta, on his own account. A private peace is- concluded, and its happy results are enumerated with all the festivity and license conceded to the old Comedy. For the political importance of Acharna;, see Thucydides, book ii. c. xix. xx ; and for other par- ticulars, Anacharsis' Travels, vol. iv, 314, &c., octavo edition. As tending to elucidate many passages, it may be observed, that Acharnse abounded in charcoal works. This was the author's third play, the two preceding it, the AairaXttf (b. c. 427, under the name of Philonicles), and BojSuXwotoi (b. u. 426, at the Great Dionysia, under the name of Callistratus), not having come down to us entire. THE ACHARNIANS. Dic^opoLis (solus). How many things truly have I been vexed at in my heart ; and with how few have I been pleased, how very few, some four ! while the things I have suffered are countless. Come, let me see ; at what was I pleased that was worthy of exulta- tion ? I know at what I was gladdened in my heart when I saw it, — at the five talents which Cleon disgorged. How I was transported at this, and for this deed I love the Knights, for it was worthy of Greece ! But then again I suffered another woe, a tragic one ; just when^ I was gaping with expectation for -/Eschylus, the herald proclaimed, " Theognis,^ introduce your Chorus." You can't think how this agitated my heart ! But then again I was pleased, when at length Dexitheus en- tered, after Moschus,^ to sing a Bceotian strain. And this year I almost died, and stared my eyes asquint at the sight, when Chaeris strutted forward to chaunt the Orthian strain. But never at any time since I began to wash, have I been so tor- mented in my eyebrows by dust as now, when, the regular morning assembly being come, the Pnyx here is empty, while the members in the market-place gossip, and shift up and down to avoid the vermilion'd rope.'' Neither have the Prytanes arrived; and when they arrive too late, you can't think' how they will jostle each other for the first seat' rushing down in a body. But how peace is to be made, they take ' See Kriiger's Greek Gram. § 69, 17, ohs. 2. (Eng. Transl.) " A sorry tragic poet of the day. ' See Blaydes's note. * See Smith's Dictionary of Gr. and R. Antiq., art. " Ecclesia." '^ For the true sense of irug SoKt'ie, vide Monk ad Hippolyt. 440. Cf. Ran. 54 ; PI. 742. ° See Wasps, vs. 90. B 2 4 THE ACHARNIANS. 27—55. no heed. city, city ! While I, always coming first to the assembly, take my seat ; and there being alone, groan, gape, stretch and yawn,' break wind, puzzle, scribble, pluck my hairs, calculate, looking towards the country, anxious for peace, disgusted with the city, and longing for my own farm, which never at any fime said, " Buy coals," or " vmegar,' or "oil;" or knew the word "buy,"— but of itself produced all things, and the " buy " was absent. Now therefore I have come thoroughly prepared to bawl, interrupt, rail at the ora- tors, if any one talk of any thing but peace. But see here come our Prytanes at noon ! Did I not say so ? Exactly as I said, every man of them is jostling for the first seat. Herald, Amphitheus, Dic^opolis, Prytanes; Ambassadors. Her. Advance to the front; advance, that ye may be within the purified ^ ground. Amp. Has any one spoken yet ? Her. Who wishes to speak ? Amp. I. Her. Who are you ? Amp. Amphitheiis. Hek. Not a man ? Amp. No ; but an immortal. For Amphitheiis was son of Ceres and Triptolemus ; and of him was born Celeiis ; and Celeiis married my grandmother Phjenarete, of whom was born Lucinus ; and from him I, an immortal, am descended ; and to me alone the gods intrusted to make peace with the Lacedaemonians. Yet, immortal as I am, sirs, I have no travelling allowance, for the Prytanes grant ^ none. Her. Ho, Tipstaffs ! Amp. Triptolemus and Celeiis, will you allow me to be treated thus? ' aKopSivCiiiai. " Pandiculari vocant Latini, monente Foesio ad Hippocratem ; nostrates — To yawn and stretch. Vide nostrum Vesp. 642. Ran. 922." Elmsl. ' ^ See Liddell's Lex., voc. KaSrap/jM. ^ As was usual in Greece and Rome, as well as at the present day, vide Cic. in Pis. xiv. "Nonne sestertium eenties et octogies, quod, quasi vasarium (Nostrates 'plate-money,') in venditione mei capitis adscripseras, ex aerario tibi attributum, Romse in queestu reliquisti." 56-85. THE ACHARNIANS. 5 Die. Mr. Prytanes, you wrong the assembly in order! np tlie man to be led away,' who was wishing to make peace for us, and hang up our bucklers. [^Amphitlieus is ejected by force J\ Her. Sit down, and hold your tongue. Die. By Apollo, will I not, unless you bring forward a motion for peace. Her. The ambassadors from the king. Die. What king? 2 I am aweary of ambassadors, and their peacocks,^ and their quackeries. \Enter ambassadors gorgeously dressed out."] Her. Silence ! Die. Bah ! Ecbatana, what a dress ! Amb. You sent us to the great king, with a salary of two drachmae a day, in the archonship of Euthymenes.'' Die. Ah me ! the drachmas ! AiiB. And in truth we were worn out with wandering about in tents along the plain of the Cayster, being half killed with reclining luxuriously on our close carriages. Die. Why, did I get off well, who lay upon litter ^ beside the battlements ? AsiB. And being entertained with hospitality, we drank against our wills, from cups of glass and golden chalices, sweet unmixed wine. Die. O city of Cranaus ! perceivest thou the mockery of the ambassadors ? Amb. For the Barbarians esteem those only men, who have the greatest power to eat and drink. Die. While we consider wenchers and debauchees as such.^ Amb. Howbeit, on the fourth year we arrived at the palace ; but he had gone to ease himself, having taken an army ; and for eight months he eased himself upon the golden mountains. Die. When did the effects of the medicine wear off ? Amb. At the full of the moon : and then h^ returned home. ' " aTrdyovree, qui abduci jvieatia." Blaydes. ' See Kriiger's Greek Grammar, § 51, 17, obs. 12. (Engl.Transl.) ' Exposed for show at the new-moon feasts. See Petit. Leg. Att. p. 277 ; and the Birds, vs. 102. For the estimation they were held in at Rome, vide Hor. Sat. ii. ii. 23, &c. * Archon, b. c. 437, 01. iv. Ixxxv. ' Vide Thucyd. lib. ii. c. xiii. • " And we but libertines and debauchees." Wheelwright. 6 THE ACHAKNIANS. 84-105. Then he entertained us, and served up to us whole oxen from the baking pot. ^„, . ^ , Die. And who ever beheld baked oxen? What impostures ! Amb. And, by Jupiter, he served up to us a bird thnce the size of Cleonymus : ' its name was Cheat. Die. For this reason then you ' cheated' us in taking two Amb. And now we have brought with us Pseudartabas, the King's Eye. Die. Would that a crow would strike and knock thine out, ambassador. Hee. The King's Eye ! PSEUDAETABAS, THE KiNG's EtE. Die. King Hercules ! By the gods, man, do you look like a man of war, or, while doubling a promontory, are you look- ing out for a dry-dock ? A rowlock -leather you have, I ween, about your eye below. Amb. Come now, Pseudartabas, declare what the king sent you to say to the Athenians. King's Eye. lartaman exarx' anapissonai satra.^ Amb. Do you understand what he says ? Die. By Apollo, not I. Amb. He says the king will send you gold. Now say ' gold ' louder, and distinctly. King's Eye. Ou lepsi cruso chaunoproct' iaonau.* Die. O wretched me ! how distinctly ! ' Vide Vesp. 592. Av. 1476. ^ The ambassador is introduced using the Talkee-Talkee dialect, i. e. a sort of gibberish made up of Greek and Persian. In the same way Triballus in the " Birds," and the Scythian bowman in the " Thes- mophoriazusse." Bothe explains the words thus : " Ego nuper quidem cospipice denuo indtwere patria, i. e. reflorescunt denuo res Persarum, concussse olim cladibus Marathone, Plataeis et Salamine acceptis." Walsh's version gives it : " Him JvMeynow hegan to Pitohoney un^ zound." Droysen's: " Gut Freund Araxa vor die Sold faul Fische sein ! " A Greek scholar has suggested that this line, as uttered in the bad Greek of the Persian ambassador, originally stood in this form : IB' 'Apra^av /i Sj SIpl avar ■n-iar kfii adrpaTT, " Behold me, Artabas ! who am the faithful satrap of king Xerxes." The second word he thinks is confirmed by vs. 91, and for this use of ■TriuTog, he refers to Blomf. gl. Pers. vs. 1. Vs. 104 he illustrates from jEschines, Ctesiph. 20, 8. ' " No gettey goldey, charlatan Athinau." Walsh. 106—129. THE ACHAENIANS. 7 Amb. What, then, says he ? Die. Ask what he says? — he says the lonians are gaping fools, if they expect gold from the Barbarians. Amb. Not so ; he speaks of chaldrons ' of gold. Die. What 2 chaldrons? Truly you are a great impostor. But go to ; I will examine this man myself. Come now, tell me clearly, in the presence of this ambassador, lest I dip you in a .Sardian' dye ; will the great king send us any gold ? [^Pseudar- tabas gives a nod of dissent.'] Are we then heedlessly gulled by our ambassadors ? [^Pseudartabas gives a nod of assent.'] These fellows nodded assent at least in Greek, and they are certainly from this very country : jand of the two eunuchs, this here one I know, who he is — CI!&thenes, the son of SibjTtius. O thou who hast a hot-tempered rump shaven,'^ with such a beard as this, hast thou come to us dressed as a eunuch? But whoever is this? ({Surely it is not Straton ? Hee. Silence : be seated. The senate invites the King's Eye to the Prytaneum. \_Exeunt Pseudartabas and attend- ants.] Die. Is not this, pray, as bad as hanging ? And then do I, forsooth, tarry here? while the door never* restrains them from entertaining guests. I will do a dread and mighty deed. Where is Amphitheijs ? Amp. See, here he is. \_Enter Amphitheus.] ' Properly a Persian measure, = 45 piUifivoi. ' Comp. vs. 02. ' " For fear I take your measure for a suit of scarlet," Walsh, who adds in a note, " that is to say, beat you till your skin is nothing but a mass of red wales, or perhaps, flay you alive." * " This Clisthenes seems to have been in as bad odour as Cleo- nymus. The usual practice at this period was to clip the beard ; Clis- thenes and a few other young men were guilty of the abomination of shaving it with a razor. Hence he is continually sneered at as an effeminate, beardless youth, fit only to ply the shuttle amongst women. In the comedy of the Feaatresses he makes hia appearance on the stage as the close ally and confidant of the fair sex. v ss. 119, 120, are parodies, the first of Euripides, the second of Archilochus : ' Oh thou, that own'st a most hot-blooded heart ! ' With such a rump as this, thou ugly ape.' " Walsh. " How durst you, you baboon, with such a beard. And your designing wicked rump close shaved, To pass yourself upon us for a eunuch? " Frere. ' It may be as well to remark, that ovSkirori is always used with a present or future ; ovStiriiirort with a past tense. 8 THE ACHARNIANS. 130—150. Die. For me alone, and for my children, and my wife, take these eight drachmse, and make peace with the Lacedaemonians. But do you' send your embassies, and gape away. [_Exit Amphitheils.'] . Her. Let Theorus come forth, who has returned from Sitalces. Theorus. Theoe. Here am I ! Die. This is another impostor, who is summoned. Theoe. We would not have been a long time in Thrace — , Die. By Jove, you wouldn't, if you did not receive a long salary. * Theoe. Had not Zeus covered the whole of Thrace with snow and congealed the rivers, about the very time when Theognis^ here was contending for the prize. During this time I was drinking with Sitalces. And, in truth, he was marvellously fond of the Athenians, and of you he was a sin- cere lover, so that he was even in the habit of writing on the walls * " Pretty Athenians." And his son,* whom we had made an Athenian citizen, was desirous of eating Apaturian * sausages, and entreated his father to aid his country. And he swore with a libation, that he would lend his assistance, with so great a host, that the Athenians should exclaim, " What a swarm of locusts ^ approaches ! " ' This is addressed to the spectators. " The poet's own words in the Thesmoph. v. 170, are the best comment, — 6 J" au QkoyviQ ^vxpog Siv ^vxpmQ TroitX. " 'Twas singular this change of weather happened Just when Theognis here, our frosty poet, Brought out his tragedy." Frere. ' Athenian lovers were in the habit of scribbling the names of their mistresses on the walls, the bark of trees, &c., in this form : " Pretty Perictione," ''Pretty Aspasia," &c. In the above passage, and in Wasps, vs. 99, Aristophanes iJaro&'es this custom. ' The son s name was Sadocus. Vide Thucyd. lib. ii. 29 67. 95 101; iv. 101. I • > ' Vide Herod. lib. i. H7, tlal Sk iravrsg 'Iwwf, oaoi cnr' 'ASrivuiv yiynvaat, Kai 'ATTarovpia dyovai opTrjv. See also Matth. Gr. Gr. p. 995, and Neue's Sappho, p. 51. « Vide Aves, 185, 588. Vesp. 1311. For the ravages comraitttd by the locusts, see Kirby and Spence, vol. i. p. 212, letter vii. 151—173. THE ACHARNIANS. 9 Die. May I die the worst of deaths, if I believe one jot of this, which you have said here, except the locusts. Theor. And now he has sent you the most warlike tribe of the Thracians. Die. This is now evident. Theor. Come hither, you Thracians, whom Theorus brought. Thkaoian Odomanti. Die. What plague have we here ? Theor. A band of the Odomanti.' Die. What Odomanti? 2 Tell me, what means this ? How came the Odomanti to resemble lewd Athenians ? Theor. If one give them two drachmae as their pay, they will overrun with light-armed troops the whole of Boeotia. Die. Two drachmae to these lewd fellows ! With reason might our topmost rowers groan, the safeguards of the state. \_Thracians attack Dicaopolis and rob him.'\ Ah me, un- happy man, I am undone ! being robbed of my garlic by the Odomanti. Will you not lay down my garlic ? Theok. Wretched man ! Don't approach' these fellows when primed with garlic. Die. Do the Prytanes suffer me to be treated thus in my own country, and that too at the hands of Barbarians ? I forbid you to hold an assembly* for the Thracians on the subject of pay, and acquaint you that there is an omen from the sky,* and that a drop of rain has struck me. Her. The Thracians will retire, and present themselves the day after ^ to-morrow ; for the Prytanes' dismiss the as- sembly. [^Exeunt Theorus, Herald, S^c.'] ' " The Odomanti were a people contiguous to the Edones, and apparently intermixed with them, since Ptolemy describes Edonis, or Odomantia, as the same district." Cramer's Greece, vol. i. 303. ° See Kriiger's Greek Grammar, as referred to on vs. 62. ' For the construction, vide Kriiger's Greek Grammar, § 53, 7, obs. 5. (Engl. Transl.) * See Kriiger, § 67, 12, obs. 3. ' See Liddell s Lex. voc. iioarifiia. ' " Hesychius : ei'e tvjiv t'lQ Tpirrjv. Sic avpiov et clg avpiov dice- bant." Elmsl. _ . . n n . ' " Meminerint tirones \vea9ai fiiv rrjv tKKKriaiav, afieafiai 6i ti]i> fiovXijv Kal TO. SiKaaTJjpia. Vide Eq. 674. Vesp. 595. Eccl. 377." Elmsl. 10 THE ACHARNIANS. 171—202. Die. Ah me, unhappy man I what an olifl have I lost ! But here's Amphitheiis from LacedaemoD. Hail, Amphitheiis ! l^Enier AmpMiheusJ] Amp. Not yet, until I cease running ; for I am obliged to escape from the Acharnians by flight. Dig. What 's the matter ? Amp. I was hastening hitherward, bringing you a peace, but certain seniors of Acharnae got scent of me, sturdy old fellows, tough as oak, inflexible, Marathon men, stout as maple. Then all of them lifted up their voices — " Abandoned villain ! do you bring a peace, when our vines are cut?" And they set a gathering some stones into their cloaks. But I fled, while they pursued and bellowed. Die. Then let them bellow.' But bringest thou the afore- said peace ? Amp. Aye marry, here are three samples. These are for five years. Take and taste. Die. Bah! Amp. What 's the matter ? Die. They please me not, because they smeU of pitch and naval preparations.^ Amp. At least take and taste this, which is for ten years. Die. This too smells very sharply of embassies to our towns, as it were of delay amongst the allies. Amb. Well, this is for thirty ^ years, both by land and sea. Die. Dionysia ! These truly smell of ambrosia and nectar, and not to have in readiness provision for three ■'days; and they say openly, " Go where thou wilt." These I receive, I make libation with, and will drink up, bidding a long fare- well to the Acharnians. And I, freed from war and toils, will go within and celebrate the rural Dionysia.^ [_Exit Dicaopolis.'] ' Cf. Soph. Ajax, 961, ol S' ovv yEkiivrdiv. Krfiger, Gr. Gr. 5 69, 52, obs. 3. ' "Die. Don't like it; it won't do; There 's an uncommon ugly twang of pitch, A touch of naval armament about it." Frere. ' Vide Equit. vs. 1388.. * "When an Athenian army was sentout, thesoldiers were usually required to meet at a particular spot with provisions for three days." Walsh. " Vide Mus. Crit. Cant. vol. ii. p. 75. 203—241. THE ACHAENIANS. 11 Amp. Wliile' I will escape from the Acharnians. [Exit Amphithe'us.~\ Chorus. Cho. Follow, each of you, this way, pursue, and inquire after the man from all the travellers ; for 'tis worthy of our city to seize this fellow. But declare to me, if any one knows where in the world he that bears the peace has turned. He is fled away ; he is vanished and gone. Alas my years, Wretched man that I am ! In the days of my youth, when, beal-ing a load of coals, I followed Phayllus in the race, this truce-bearer would not have so easily escaped, when pursued by me ; neither would he have so nimbly slipped oif. But now, since at length my shin is stiffened, and the legs of the aged Lacratides are wearied, he is gone. He must be pursued ; for never let* him laugh at us, nor one who, by having escaped the Acharnians, old men as we are, made peace, O Jove and ye gods, with our foes, against whom, on account of my estates, hostile war is increased by me ; and I will not give over until, like a rush, I stick right into them sharp, painful, up to the hilt, so that they may never again trample on my vines. We must seek for the fellow, and look towards Ballene,^ and pur- sue him from land to land,'' until at length he be found : for I could not be surfeited with peking him with stones. Dic^oPOLis,^ HIS Daughter, and Wife. Die. Use no ill-omened words : use no ill-omened words. Cho. Silence, each of you. Did you hear, friends, the proclamation of silence ? This is the very person whom we are seeking for. Hither, each of you ; get out of his way ; for the man, as it seems, is coming out to sacrifice. Die. Use no ill-omened words : use no ill-omened words. ' See KrUger, Gr. Gr. § 69, 16, ohs. 3. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 54, 2, obs. 2. (Engl. Trans.) ' " Steering straight for Porto Pelto; For I should enjoy his groans Wonderfully, if we fell to Pelting him to death with stones." Wahh. * yriv ■ffpi yrje iXavvo/iai, JEich. P. V. 685. Cf. Theocr. xv. 122 ; xi. 59. ^ The scene here represents Dicseopolis and his family in the coun- try, celebrating the Dionysia. 12 THE ACHAENIANS. 242—283 Let the basket-bearer advance a little fonvard. Let Xanthias set lip the Phallus erect. Wife. Do you, my daughter, put down the basket, that we may commence the rites. Dadgh. Mother, reach here the soup-ladle, that I may pour some soup upon this pan-cake. Die. Well, now 'tis right, sovereign Bacchus, that I, hav- ing led this procession agreeably to thee, and having sacrificed with my household, should celebrate the rural Dionysia hap- pily, having been freed from military service ; and that my peace for thirty years turn out well. Wife. Come, daughter, take care that, pretty as you are, you bear the basket prettily, with a verjuice face. How blest the man who shall wed you, and beget upon you pussies to — stink no less than you, as soon as it is dawn. Proceed, and in the crowd take especial care, that no one secretly nibbles off your golden ornaments. Dig. Xanthias,' you two must hold the Phallus erect be- hind the basket-bearer, and I following will sing the Phallic hymn ; and do you, wife, look at me from the house-top. [_Ex- eunt wife and daughter.^ Proceed, O Phales, companion of Bacchus, fellow-reveller, roaming by night, friend of love and lechery : in the sixth year I address you, having come with delight to my township, having made for myself a peace, and being freed from troubles and battles and Lamachi.^ For it is far sweeter, O Phales, Phales ! having found a pretty wood- gatherer, Strymodorus' Thracian maid, purloining wood from Phelleus,' to catch her by the waist and lift her up, and throw her down and roll her in the grass. O Phales, Phales ! if with us you quaff your cups, in the morning, after your sick head-ache, you shall gulp down a bowl — of peace ; and my shield shall be hung up amidst the sparks. Cho. This is the very fellow, this : pelt, pelt, pelt, pelt ; strike, strike the wretch, each of you ; wiU you not pelt ? will you not pelt ? [ Chorus pelfs him.'] ' " Unum de duobus servis alloquitur." Dindorf, ' See Thirlwall's Hist. Greece, iii. p. 369. ' Leake (Dissertation on the Demi of Attica, p. 118) supposes that this mountain was probably no other than the highest ridge of the hills which extend from the plain of Marathon to that of Oropus. 284—320. THE ACHARNIANS. 13 Die. O Hercules ! what's this ? You'll smash my pitcher. Cho. Nay, rather, we will stone yoil to death, rascally fellow. Dig. For what cause, Acharnian seniors ? Cho. Do you asli this ? You are shameless and abomin- able, O betrayer of your country, who, having made a peace without us,' canst look me in the face. Die. But ye do not know wherefore I made the peace: hear me. Cho. Shall we hear you ? You shall perish ; we will overwhelm you with stones. Die. By no means, before you hear me; come, have patience, good sirs. Cho. I wiU. not be patient ; nor do thou utter a word to me, for I hate thee still more than Cleon, whom I wilP cut up into shoe-soles for the Knights. I'll not hearken to you uttering long speeches, who have made a peace with the Lacedaemonians ; but will punish you. Die. Good sirs, leave the Lacedaemonians out of the ques- tion ; and hear my peace, if I have rightly made it. Cho. How can you any more talk of "rightly," if once you have made peace with those, with whom neither altar, nor pledge, nor oath^ holds good ? Die. I know that the Lacedasmonians, against whom we are excessively vehement, are not the causes of all our troubles. Cho. Not of all, you villain ? Hast thou the audacity, pray, openly to say this to us ? Then shall I spare you ? Die. Not of all, not of all ; but I here, who address you, could prove abundantly that they have even been injured in some cases. Cho. This expression is dreadful and heart-troubling, if you shall dare to speak to us in defence of our foes. Die. And if I speak not what is just, and am not approved of by the people, I shall be ready to speak with this neck of mine over a chopping-block. Cho. TeU me, fellow-tribesmen, why spare we our stones, so as not to card* this fellow into a scarlet rag ? ' Soph. Aj. 511, ffoD fiovog, without thee. ' The poet kept his word, and to this we owe the comedy next in order of time. The Knights were brought out 01. 1, Ixxxix. b. c. 424. » Vide Eur. Andr. v. 444. Porson ad Med. 21. * Vide Eur. Med. v. 998. Nostr. Pao. 1173, 1175. 14 THE ACHAENIANS. 321—341. Die. How again a black burning coal has blazed up within you ! ' Will you not hear, will you not hear, pray,' O sons of the Acharnians ? Cho. Assuredly we will not hear you. Dig. Then I shall suffer dreadful things. Cho. May I utterly perish if I hear you. Die. By no means, O Acharnians. Cho. Be assured now that you shall die. Die. Then I will sting you ; for I will kill in turn the dearest of your friends, since I have hostages of you, whom I will take and butcher.^ [Seizes a hamper of charcoal, and dresses if up like a baby.] Cho. Tell me,^ fellow-tribesmen, what word is this, with which he threatens us Acharnians ? Has he shut up within a child of any of those present ? or at what is he embold- ened ? Die. Pelt, if ye will, for I will kill this one. I shall quickly know who of you cares at aU for coals. Cho. How we are undone ! this coal-basket is my fellow tribesman. But do not do what you purpose ; by no means, by no means ! Die. Be assured that I wiU kill him : * cry on, for I will not hear you. Cho. Will you then kill this my companion in age, the friend of colliers ? Die. But you did not just now give ear to me when I spoke. Cho. Well now, if it seems good to you, say that the Lace- daemonians themselves are dear to your mind ; for never will 1 betray this little coal-basket. Dig. First, then,^ empty your stones upon the ground. * " irebv, quneso, eodes, amabo, semper est in interrogatione, Eq. 52, 733. Nub. 35, 93, 820, 1502. Vesp. 8, 184, 836. Ach. 322, 609. Eccles. 376." Brunch's Indez. ^ This scene is a parody on a similar one in the Telephus of ^scliylus. Compare also Thesm. 690 foil. ^ " EiVe [loi ad plures dicitur supra 319. Vesp. 403. Pax, 383. Aves, 366." Dindorf. Cf. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 63, 4, obs. 1. ■* " Redde : utique hunc occidam: ejulate quantum lubet; nam ego nan auscuUabo. Elmsl. confert Nub. 209 ; Lys. 32, 499. Subauditur iffSt vel iffrc, quod exprimitur vs. 325." Blaydes. " The better reading seems to be vvv, as is usual with imperatives, Comp. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 69, 44. Hartung ad Eur. Iph. Aul. 139. 342—375. THE ACHARNIANS. 15 Cho. See ! they're on the ground ; and do you in turn lay down your sword. Die. But see that some stones are not lying in ambush somewhere iu your cloaks.' Cho. They have been shook out on the ground. Don't you see it shaking ? No excuses ; lay down your weapon ; since this is shaken with the whirl in the dance. Die. So then you were all of you going ^ to raise a war- cry, and the coals of Parnes all but met with their death, and that too on account of the unnatural conduct of their fel- low-tribesmen ; and under the influence of fear the coal-basket, like a cuttle-fish, squirted upon me abundant coal-dust. For it is a sad thing that the mind of men should be naturally harsh,^ so as to pelt and shout and be willing to hear nothing which offers half and half, while I am willing to say over a chopping-block all that I say in behalf of the Lacedaemonians ; and yet I love my life. Cho. Why then don't you bring out the chopping-block and state, you wretch, whatever is this weighty matter which you have in hand ? for an earnest desire strongly possesses me to know what you have in your mind. But place here the chopping-block and begin to speak, as you yourself deter- mined the punishment. \_Exit Dicaopolis, and re-enter with a chopping-block.'] Die. Lo, behold ! here is the chopping-block, and the man who is to speak, see here! as small as this ! Of* a surety I'll not fit myself with a shield, by Jupiter, but will speak in behalf of the Lacedemonians what seems good to me. And yet I greatly fear, for I know the humour of the rustics to be wondrous tickled, if any quack praise them and their city, right or wrong : and there unknowingly they are bought and sold.^ Of the elders again I know the mind, that they look ' Vide Plant. Aul. Act. iv. sc. iv. 30 ; and for the construction see Plato, Phaedon, p. 58. ' Elmsiey's interpretation of this passage is certainly wrong. It would require the verb to be in ihe first person. See Walsh, p. 118. ' See Liddell's Lex. voc. SfifaKiag. * Meaning, that he would not hunt for elegant figures of speech, but would rest on the justice of his cause. " Well, there it is. See, there 's the chopping-block ! And little I myself am the defendant." Frere. For similar expressions, vide Blomf. ad Choeph. 126. 16 THE ACHARNIANS. 376—403. to nothing else except vexing with their vote ; and I know what I suffered myself at the hands of Cleon, on account of my last ' year's comedy. For he dragged me into the senate-house, and calumniated me, and spoke lies against me, and roared like the torrent Cycloboros, and drenched me so that I almost perished altogether, getting into dirty quarrels. Now, therefore, in the first place permit me, ere I speak, to clothe myself like a most wretched man. Cho. Why shuffle in this way, and deal subtiUy, and con- trive delays ? Borrdw, for all I care, from Hieronymus ^ some helmet of Pluto dark with rough thick hair, and then exhibit Sisyphus's wiles, since this trial will not admit of any excuse.* Die. Then 'tis time for me to take a bold heart, and I must repair to Euripides. — Slave, slave ! [Knocks at the door.'] Servaht of Eukipides. Serv. op Eur. Who's that ? Die. Is Euripides within ? Serv. of Eur. Not within, he is within, if you have any sense. Dig. How within, and then not within ? Seev. of Eur. Rightly, old man. His mind, collecting scraps of poetry abroad, is not within, while he himself with- in is making tragedy with his legs lying up.^ Die. Thrice happy Euripides ! when your servant inter- prets^ so wisely. Call him out. Serv. of Eur. It is impossible. Die. Still you must; for I won't go away, but will knock 'The Babylonians, b. c. 426, 01. 3, Ixxxviii. See Clinton's Fast. Hell. p. 67. ^ Hieronymus, son of Xenophantes, was a sorry Dithyrambic j>oet. See the Scholiast on The Clouds, v. 349. For this use of ewKix see Kriiger's Greek Grammar, § 68, 19, obs. 2. ^K^^ie est praetextus sive excusatio qua utebantur in ius citati, quo minus ad diem se sisterent." Elmsley. ■* See Liddell's Lex. voc. ava^aSriv. " Anglice, with the Ugsup." Mlaydes. ' With his feet reposed on couch." Walsh. " In the upper spheres." Droysen. Cf. vs. 411. — " his outward man Is m the garret writing tragedy : While his essential being is abroad, Pursuing whimsies in the world of fancy." Frere 'rvoKpivinBai, interpretari, legitur in Vesp. 53." Blmsl. 403—4^4. THE ACHARNIANS. 17 at the door. Euripides, dear little Euripides,' hearken, if ever you did to any man. Dicasopolis of Collidae calls you Euripides {from within). Eur. I have no leisure. Die. Yet be wheeled out. Eur. It is impossible. Die. Yet, however, do. Eur. Well then, I will be wheeled out ; but I have no leisure to descend. \_Euripides is wheeled iw.] Die. Euripides ! Eur. What sayest thou ? Die. You make verses with your legs lying up, when you might with them down. No^ wonder you make your charac- ters lame. But why wear you the rags from tragedy, a piteous attire ? No wonder you make your characters beg- gars. Come, I beseech you by your knees, Euripides, give me some little rag from your old drama,' for I must speak a lengthy speech to the chorus ; and if I speak it badly it brings me death. EuK. What rags ? those in which ^neus here, the wretched old man, contended ? [Points to a suit of rags.'] Die. They were not incus's, but a still more wretched man's. Eur. The rags of the blind Phoenix ? Die. Not Phcenix's, no ; there was another more miserable than Phoenix. Eur. What ragged garments does the man require ? What ! do you mean the rags of the beggar Philoctetes ? ' Comp. Nub. 80, 222, 132, 746. 2 '^ Non sine caxisa, Anglice, rui wonder. Cf. Av. 915. Thesm. 921. Eccles. 245. PI. 404, 1166." Blaydes. " Bellerophon, Philoctetes, and Telephus, in the lost tragedies, which took their names from them, were represented by Euripides as lame. In the next twenty lines, the names of all those tragedies, in which Euripides had in- troduced distressed virgins or old gentlemen in reduced circum- stances, are maliciously recounted.'' Wahh. Cf. Ran. 842, 840, 106.3. Pax, 147. ' The allusion is to the Telephus of Euripides. " You're he that brings out cripples in your tragedies ; A'nt ye? You're the new poet, he that writes _ Those characters of beggars and blind people." Frere. 18 THE ACHAENIANS. 42,5—448 Die. No ; but of one far, far more beggarly than he. Eur. What ! do you wish for the squalid garments which Bellerophon, this lame fellow, wore ? Die. Not Bellerophon; yet he too, whom I mean, was lame, an importunate beggar, and the deuce at talking. Eur. 1 know the man — Telephus of Mysia. Die. Aye, Telephus: give me, I entreat you, his swad- dling-clothes. Eur. Slave, give him the rags of Telephus : they lie above the Thyestean rags, between ' those of Ino and Ms. Serv. Well ! take them. Die. O Jupiter, that seest through^ and beholdest all things on every side, grant me to dress myself like a most wretched man.^ [Puts on the old coat.'\ Euripides, since you have freely given me these, give me also those things which go with the rags — the little Mysian cap about my head. " For* to-day 'tis needful that I seem to be a beggar ; to be indeed what I am, but not to appear so." The spectators must know who I am ; but the chorus, on the other hand, must stand by like fools, that I may fillip them with quibbles.^ Eur. I will give it ; for you devise subtleties with a sa- gacious intellect. Die. Mayest thou be happy ! but to Telephus,^ what I wish him. Bravo ! How I am filled now with quibbles ! But still I want the beggar's stick. ' "A similar ellipsis in Av. 187, iv heired (I think) with phrases. I shall want the beggar's staff, though, notwithstanding." Frere. ' " Eu. Zum Henker nimm's ! du bist ein Fluch fiir dieses Haus ! Die. Beim Himmel ! du weisst nicht, wie du so oft auch uns gequalt ! Doch Herzenssusser Euripides, diess Eine nocli, Gieb mir den Scherben mit dem Schwamm zu wischen drin ! " Droyaen. ' " As if the sum and substance of his plays were contained in the tragic apparatus required for them." Wheelwright. =■ This verse is from the jEneus of Euripides. Walsh reads ov SoKuiv yi Koipavovg, and renders, " Albeit not thought to hate the chieftaincy." c 2 20 THE ACHARNIANS. 473—500. hor me." Ah me, unhappy ! how I am undone ! I have for- gotten that on which all my affairs depend. Sweetest and dearest little Euripides ! may I perish most miserably, if I ask for any thing any more, but one thing only, this only one, this only one. Give me the chervil you got from your mother.' EuK. The fellow becomes insolent : shut the door.^ [_'Ex- eunt Euripides and his slaved] Die. Heart of mine ! we must proceed sans chervil. Do you know how great is the contest you will soon have to en- counter, about to speak in behalf of the Lacedaemonians? Proceed then, my heart ! there is the starting-place ! Do you stand ? Will you not go, after having imbibed Euripides ? — I commend you. Come now, unhappy heart ! go there, and then, there offer your head, and say what seems you good. Dare : — go : advance.* Well done, heart ! \^Lays his head an the chopping-Mock.^ Chokus. Cho. What will you do ? What will you say ? Know now that you are a shameless and an iron-hearted man, who, having offered your neck to the state, alone are going to con- tradict them all. The man does not tremble at the cause. Come now, since you yourself make the choice, say on. Dig. Take it not ill of me, spectators, if, being a beggar,* I am yet about to speak amongst the Athenians on the subject of their state, in comic verse, for even comedy knows what is ' " Euripides' mother, as we learn from several passages of our poet, sold water-cresses at Athens. The aristocrat Aristophanes is always particularly unmerciful upon low-lived, vulgar people, who are base enough to live bj' their honest industry. See, for instance, 853—859." Walsh. ' See Liddell's Lex. voc. wr/icrog. ' Vide Dawes, Mis. Crit. p. 471, ed. Kidd. This translation and correction is Porson's. Shaksp. Cymbeline, act i. sc. i., " Take it, heart." The whole speech is a parody on Eurip. Med. 1237. " 'Tis well. Now forward, even to the place Where thou must pledge thy life, and plead the cause As may befall thee. Forward, forward yet ; A little more. I'm dreadfully out of spirits." Frere. " Wag's ! geh ! tritt hin ! Heil, Heil dir ! stolzes Herz ! " Droysen. A parody on the following lines in the Telephus, ixp fiot ip9ovri<7TjT' , dvSpts, 'EWiivav aspoi, d TTTuixas iiv TkrXriK iv taOXoXaiv Xlyto^. 501—533. THE ACHARNIANS. 21 right: and my words will be severe, but just. For Cleon shall not now ' calumniate me, that I slander the state in the pre- sence of strangers ; for we are by ourselves, and the contest is in the Lenreumj^ and as yet strangers are not present; for neither is the tribute come in, nor the ajjies from the states. But now we are winnowed ckan,}*^'r the sojourners I call the chaff of the citizens, "l hate the Lacedcemoni- ans exceedingly, and may Neptune, the god of Ttenarus, with an earthquake,' shake and throw down on all of them their houses ; for my vines have been cut down as well as yours. But, — for those who are present at my speechp^e friends, why do we thus accuse the Lacedaemonians p-TFor men of us, — I do not mean the state, bear this in mind, that I do not mean the state, but certain rascally fellows, base coin, unfranchised, and counterfeit, and alien-citizens, were in the habit of informing against the small cloaks of the Megarians :* and if any where they were to see a cucumber, or a leveret, or a sucking-pig, or garlic, or salt in lumps,' these were Me- garian, and were confiscated the same day. And these, in- deed, are trifles, and customary.^ But certain young men, drunk with playing at the cottabus, went to Megara and stole away the courtesan Simjetha ; and then the Megarians, ex- cited by their griefs, stole away in return two harlots from Aspasia ; ' and hence the beginning of the war broke out for all the Greeks from three strumpets. Then Pericles, the Olympian, in his ire, lightened, thundered, utterly confounded Greece, enacted laws, written like catches, " That the Megari- ans should neither remain in our territory, nor in our markets, ' " For Cleon shall not now asperse me, that, In strangers' presence, I malign the state." Wheeltoright. This is a good example of the force of ye, which is best expressed by emphasis. In Greek yt seems to be a substitute for our Italics. ' Vide Mus. Crit. Cant. vol. ii. p. 81. ' See Thuc. i. 128; iii. 89. Thirlw. Greece, vol. iii. p. 7 and 111. * As an explanation, vide Xen. Mem. Socrat. lib. ii. c. vii. § 6, Meyapkutv Sk oi frXeiarot, iipr], airb l^ttifiiSo-nottag BiaTpktpovrai. See also Walsh's note. ° See Liddell's Lex. voc. x°'>'^P°S- • " And these indeed were trifles, and the custom of the country. ' ' Walsh. ' The genitive 'Aavaaiac depends on avT-fJIicXf^""'- Cf. Find. 01. i. 98. Vesp. 1369. Eq. 1149. "The author represents her as though she had kept a brothel." Droysen. 22 THE ACHARNIANS. 534—563. nor on the sea, nor on the mainland.'" Then the Megarian-s, when now they were gradually famishing, entreated the Lace- dsemonians that the decree which had been made on account of the strumpets might be changed through their intervention; and we were not willing, though they often entreated us. And after this now there was a clatter of bucklers. Some one will observe, we ought not : but tell us what we ought to have done. Come, if some Lacedaemonian sailed out with his ship and informed against and sold a little Seriphian dog, would you have sat still at home ? Far from it, certainly. Most assuredly you would have launched immediately three, hundred vessels, and the city would have been full of the din of soldiery, of shouting about the election of a Trierarch, pay being issued, figure-heads getting gilded, piazzas groan- ing, provisions getting measured out, of wine-skins, of oar- leathcrs, of people buying jars, of garlic, olives, onions in nets, chaplets, sprats, flute-girls, and black eyes. And the dock- yard again had been filled with spars getting cut into oars, wooden pins sounding, bottom-oars getting furnished with thongs, boatswain's flutes, fifes, whistlings. I know that you would have done this, " and do we not imagine that Telephus^ will do the like? Then there is no sense in us."«^ 1 Sem. Chor.^ What, really, you rogue and blackguard? Have you the audacity to say this of us, you beggar ? And if any of us has been an infoi-mer, do you upbraid us with it ? 2 Sem. Chor. Yea, by Neptune, and he says too, what he does say, all justly ; and about none of them does he tell lies. 1 Sem. Chor. Then, if it was just, ought this fellow to mention it? But neither shall you dare to say this with impunity.* • " Gat Kriegsmanifeste recht im Trinkliedsstyl verfasst: ' Nioht zu Wasser und Land, nicht in Hafen und Markt, Nicht als Wandrer noch Gast, Nie suche noch finde sich hier ein Megarer Ruh noch Rast.' " Droysen. ' Another quotation from the Telephus. ' " Here the chorus separates itself into two division's, one op- posing Dicaeopolis, the other supporting him." Schol. * oKX oiiSi xaipiiv. Most editors now exhibit aXK' ovti. Cf. Vesp. 185. Ran. 843. Soph. Rex, 363. Phil. 1283. Dindorfj, who on vs. 784 has changed the old reading dXV oiSk into aXX' oixi, has here restored the old reading, for reasons best known to himself. 564—584. THE ACHARNIANS. 23 2 Sem. Chor. Hollo you ! whither are you running ? will you not stop ? Since if you strike this man, you yourself shall quickly be raised aloft ! ' 1 Sem. Chor. Ho, Lamachus ! thou who lookest lightning, help us, thou with the Gorgon crest, having appeared ! — Ho, Lamachus ! friend ! fellow- tribesman ! let every one as- sist with speed, if any there be a Taxiarch or engineer, for I am seized by the middle. Laiiachus. Lam. Wlience heard I the warrior cry ? Whither must I render assistance ? whither send in tumult ? Who roused the Gorgon from my shield's cover ? Die. {affecting to be terrified,') hero Lamachus ! what crests and cohorts ! Chor. O Lamachus ! has not this fellow for a long time been speaking evil of our whole city ? Lam. You there ! do you, you beggar, dare say this ? Die. O hero Lamachus ! yet pardon me, if, a beggar, I have spoken, and babbled any thing. Lam. What have you said of us ? Will you not tell ? Die. I don't know as yet, for I am dizzy in my head through fear of your arms. But, I entreat you, remove from me the bugbear.^ Lam. Very well! \Tums away the shield from him. \ Die. Now place it for me upside down.^ Lasi. There it lies. \JE'uts the shield upside down before him.'\ Die. Come now, give me the feather "* out of your helmet. ' A phrase from the Palaestra : see Walsh's note. Brunck's version (an adaptation of the language of Terence) has misled both Bothe and Blaydes : " Hands off there ! what are ye after? Leave him go ! I'll grapple ye else, and heave ye neck and crop." Frere. = See Pax, 473. " I can't. I can't remember; I'm so terrified. The terror of that crest quite turned me dizzy ; Do take the hobgoblin away from me, I beseech you." Frere. ' " To serve him for a basin to vomit in." Dindorf. * To tickle his throat with. 24 THE ACHARNIANS. 585—605. Lam. Here's a feather for you. Die. Now take hold of my head, that I may vomit, for my stomach's turned at the crests. Lam. Hollo you ! what are you going to do ? Are you about to cause a vomit with the feather ? Dig. Why, is it a feather ? Tell me, what bird's ? Is it a braggadocio's ? ' Lam. Woe for you, assuredly you shalP die. l^A scuffle, in which Lamachus is Jailed.^ Die. By no means, Lamachus ; for it is not a matter for such strength as yours. But if you are strong, why don't you give a proof of it ? for you are well armed. Lam. You say this of your general, you beggar ? Die. Why, am I a beggar ? Lam. Then what are you ? Die. Ask me who ? — a good citizen, no sticTder for office, but, since what time the war commenced, a son of Mars ; while you, since what time the war commenced, a Mr. Place- man. Lam. For they elected me. Die. Aye,^ three cuckoos. Therefore, being disgusted at this, I made peace, when I saw hoary-headed men in the ranks, but striplings, such as you,"* shirking the ser- vice ; ^ some in Thrace, with an allowance of three drachmse, Tisameno-Phaenippi ; « Panourg-Hipparchidae ; others with Chares ; others among the Chaonians, Gereto-Theodori ; ' " Vielleicht vom Gi-ossthugockelhahn ? " Droysen. 2 See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 68, 41, obs. 8, and § 65, 3, obs. 3. ' For the Agoranomi, vide Bockh's Public Economy of Athens, i. 67 ; ii. 49. " Ik AttrfMv. A. fictitious name, with an allusion to Lepreum, a town of the Peloponnese, a.TiA\nrpbg, mangy. Cf. Av. 149." Blaydes. " Und bestellt sind als Marktmeister dieses freien Markts Drei wohlgewahlte wackere Peitschen aus Lepreos." Droyaen. ' " Here let no base informer dare to come, Nor any other man from Quibbleford." Walsh. There is an allusion to ipaivttv, i. e. avKo^avTtXv. Cf. Av. 1694. » Vide Thucyd. lib. v. c. 18, 43—46. 30 THE ACHARNIANS. 727— 7ol. upon -which I have inscribed the peace, that I may set it up in the market-place open to view. [^Exit DiccBopolis.'] Enter Megakian and Daughters.' Meg. Market of Athens, hail ! beloved of the Megarians !. By the god of friendship, I longed for you, as for a mother. But, unhappy daughters of a miserable father, get^ up to the barley-cake, if any where you find it. Hear, pray ; let your bellies^ give attention. Whether do you wish to be sold,- or miserably starve ? Daugh. To be sold ! to be sold ! Meg. I also myself say yes. But who so simple as to buy you, an evident loss ? However, I have a certain Megarian device ; for I will dress you up as hogs and say I am bring- ing them for sale. Put on these hog's hoofs, and take care that you appear to be the oiFspring of a noble sow ; since, by Mercury, if you shall come home, you shall miserably ex- perience^ excess of hunger. Put on also these little snouts, and then enter thus into the sack. But take care that you grunt and cry coi, and utter the voice of the pigs of the Mys- teries.^ While I will call Dicseopolis, to see where he is.^ Dicaeopolis ! do you wish to buy some little pigs ? DlC^OPOLIS. Die. What ! a Megarian ? Meg. We have come to traffic. Die. How fares it with you V Meg. We are always hungering one against the other by the fire-side. * In the original, the Megarian, as well as the Boeotian who is afterwards introduced, talks in a very broad provincial dialect. This Mr. Walsh has represented by the medium of the Lowland Scotch, and Mr. Droysen by the doggrel German exhibited in the German " Punch." ^ " Dixit a/t^ar£ poeta, quia actores daiKBovrie Kara rijV ipx^rpav, km Tiijv (TKrivrjv Sid kKi/ioicwv avajiaivovai, teste Polluce, iv. 127." Elmsley in Auctario. ^ irnpd TrpotrJoBiaK, for irpoffsvErt rbv vovv. * Cf. Ran. 421. ' "An' raise sic noises as the haly pigs Bred to be killt i' the Muckle Mysteries." Walsh. « Comp. Soph. Ajax, 103. Hex, 926. Antig. 318. ' Cf. Eq. 7. Lys. 1002, 1072. 752—774. THE ACHARNIANS. 31 Die. By Jove, but that's jolly, if a piper be present. But what else are you Megarians about now ? Meg. Just what we are doing.' When I set out from thence, the committee were contriving this for the state, how we might most quickly and most miserably perish ! Die. Then you will soon get rid of your troubles. Meg. Certainly. Die. But what else is going on at Megara ? What is the price* of grain ? Meg. With us, of a high price, like the gods. Die. Do you then bring ' salt ? Meg. Have you not the command of it ? Die. Nor yet garlic ? Meg. What garlic ? — the heads of which you always grub up with a stake, like field-mice, whenever you make your inroads. Die. What then do you bring ? Meg. Why, pigs for the mysteries. Die. Ton say well : show them. Meg. But indeed they are fine ones. Take one up, if you wiU. How fat and sleek ! Die. What is this ? Meg. a pig, by Jove ! Die. What say you ? What country pig is this ? Meg. Of Megara. Or is not this a pig ? Die. It does not seem so to me. Meg. Is it not shameful ? See the incredulity of the man ! He says this is not a pig. But sooth, if you will, make a wager with me now for salt flavoured with thyme, if this is not a pig after the usage of the Greeks.'' Die. Yet at least it is a woman's.* ' " Id est 7rpaT7-o/i£v c\a di) jrparroiiEv. Cf. Eur. Heracl. 632. Ger- man! dicunt so so." Dindorf. ' iruig 6 airoQ livioQ. See Porson's Tracts, p. 152, ed. Kidd. ' Vide Bockh's Public Econ. of Athens, vol. i. p. 135. The sal mines were at Nisaea. * " This is maist shamefu' ! What an infidel He is ! He says this is nae pig ava ! Weel, an ye like, I'se wad some thymit saut. That this wee thing is ca'd a pig in Greek." Walsh. ' " i. e. mulieris. Sic Eurip. Hippol. 47*." Blaydes. " Die. Perhaps it may, but it's a human pig. Meg. Human! I'm human; and they're mine, that's all. 32 THE ACHAKNIANS. 774—803. Meg. 'Tis mine, by Diodes ! Whose do you suppose they are ? Do you wish to hear them speak ? Die. By the gods I do. Meg. Speak quickly now, piggy. Devil take you,' yon must not be silent. By Mercury, I will carry you home again! Daugh. Coi, coi. Meg. Is this a pig ? Die. Aye, now it seems a pig, but w^en grown up it will be a sow. Meg. Within five years, be well assured, it will be like to its mother. Die. But this one here is not fit for sacrifice. Meg. Why not ? How is it not fit for sacrifice ? Die. It has not a tail. Meg. For it is young : but when grown up to pig's estate, it will have a great thick red one. But if you like to bring it up, here's a fine pig for you ! Die. How similar this one is to the other. Meg. For it is of the same mother,^ and of the same father. But when it is grown fat and hairy, it wiU. be a very fine pig to sacrifice to Venus. Die. But pig is not sacrificed to Venus. Meg. Not a pig to Venus ? Yea, to her only of the gods. And the flesh too of these pigs is sweetest when it is pierced with a spit.^ Die. Can they feed now without their mother ? Meg. Aye, by Neptune, and without their father too. Dig. But what do they like best to eat ? Meg. Whatever you give them. Ask them yourself. Die. Pig! Pig! DAueH. Coi, coi. Die. Can you eat chick-pease ? Daugh. Coi, co'i, coi. Die. What then? Early* figs ? Whose should they be, do ye think? So far they're human. But come, will you hear 'em squeak? " Frere. ' Cf. vs. 924. Eccl. 1052, 1076. Av. 1467. PI. 456, 713. Vesp. 1033. » Cf. Soph. Ant. 509. ' Sc. j.Herm. Vig. n. 279. * " > A "pun on rpaytlr. " They surely come from Crunchham. ' " Wo sind sie denn her, die Ferkel? aus Essos scheint es fast. _ Doch unmoglich haben sie alle die Feigen hinuntergeschl^ckt^.^^^ * "Nicht etwa." Krnger. ' Cf. 815. Pax, 1261. Ran. 1229. « Cf. Pax, 275. Vesp. 142, 851, 1008. Eq. 111. ' Cf. vs. 41. Pax, 289, 516. Av. 354, 507. Ran. 318, 1342. Eur. Or. 802. Hel. 630. Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 51, 7, obs. 11. D 34 THE ACHARNIANS. 824—847. DiCjEOPOLIS. Die. Who is he that informs against you ? Clerks of the market, will you not exclude the informers ? What has come into your head, pray,' that you lay^ informations without a wick ? Inf. What ! shall I not inform against our foes ? Die. Aye, to your cost, if you will not run elsewhere and play the informer. [_jEadt Informer.'] Meg. What an evil is this in Athens ! Die. Be of good heart, Megarian. Come, take this gar- lic here, and the salt, at which price you sold your pigs, and fare thee well ! Meg. But to fare well is not in fashion with us.' Die. On my own head then be the impertinence. Meg. My little grunters, make the attempt, even without your father, to eat the cake to your salt,* if any one offer it. \_Exeunt omnes.]' Cho. The man is prosperous ! Have you not heard how the measure^ succeeds ? For the man will reap the benefit, sitting in the market-place. And if any Ctesias enter, or other informer, he shall sit down in tears. Neither shall any other man injure you by cheating you in the purchase of provisions. Neither shall Prepis wipe upon you his lewd- ness.^ Nor shall you jostle with Cleonymus ; but shall pass through with a clean cloak. And Hyperbolus, when he meets with you, shall not involve you in lawsuits. Nor yet, again, ' See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 56, 8, obs. 3. ' An untranslateable pun; as the words also mean, " why do you shine without a wick ? " " Denouncing is he ? Constables, Why don't you keep the market clear of sycophants? You fellow, I must inform you, your informing Is wholly illegal, and informal here." Frere. " Was plagt dich, Luchsaug, hier zu leuchten ohne Licht? " Vosa. ' On this play of words, vide Monk, Alcest. vs. 527. * On this use of iwl, see Donalds. N. C. p. 226. In Vesp. 495, there is a play on this phrase, (6\I/<,ivhv iiri TvpavviSi,) for the words are capable of two interpretations, "buy dainties with a view to a tyranny," and, " buy dainties as a relish to his tyranny." Cf. ibid. 498, and note on Eq. 707. ' For rb ^ovKivfia simply. Cf. Nub. 2. ° A parody on Eur. Baoch. 344, iirii" igo/jopgei n in vs. 826. ' " eepiWtv pro £v TrpctTTuv dictum videtur." Elmshy. " I 'se soon hae routh o' gear, sir." Walsh. But see Liddell's Lex. in voc. « Similar advice was given by Socrates to his friend Crito. This passage has been generally misunderstood. The general interpret- ation is, " Take and fling him where you please,— a sycophant iit for all purposes." " Doch nun, du Fremdling treu und bieder, Nun nimni ihn, trag' ihn, wirf ihn wieder Wohin du willst, Den Schuftsykophanten nieder! " Droysen. 955—981. THE ACHAUNIANS. 39 Die. And take care that you carry him with caution.. At' all events you '11 carry a shaky piece of goods. — Yet still up with it. And if you make any gain by carrying this mer- chandise, you '11 be a happy man, as far'' as informers are con- cerned. \_Exit Boeotian carrying the informer on his backS] Servant of Lamachus. Serv. Dicasopolis ! Die. What is the matter ! Why do you call me ? Serv. Why ? Lamachus requested you to let him have for this here drachma some of your thrushes for the feast of Pitchers. But requested you to let him have a Copaic eel for three di-achmas. Die. Who may this Lamachus be that requests the eel ? Serv. The dreaded one, he with the shield of tough buU's- hide, who brandishes the Gorgon, waving three over-shadow- ing crests. Die. I would not, by Jove, if even he were to give me liis buckler. Let him wave* his crests at salt-fish. But should he make a great din, I will call the Market-clerks. And I will take this merchandise for myself, and enter to the accompani- ment of thrushes' wings'* and blackbirds. \_Exeunt omnes.'\ Cho. You have seen, oli ! you have seen, city at large, the prudent man, the very wise, what articles of merchandise he is able to deal in, by having made peace ; of which some are useful in the house, others again are suitable to eat up warm. All good things are spontaneously provided for him. 'Never will I welcome War' to my house, nor yet shall he ever at my house chaunt " The Harmodius," seated as a guest ; be- cause he is a fellow quarrelsome over his cups, who, having ' " You '11 take a precious shaky hit of goods — But never mind. For if," &c. Walsh. " He's an unlucky commodity ; notwithstanding, If he earns you a profit, you can have to say, What few can say, you've been the better for him. And mended your affairs by an informer." Frere. 2 Cf. Kruger's Gr. Gr. § 68, 19, obs. 2. ^ See note on vs. 835. ' * " To the tune of thrushes' wings and blackbirds' pinions." Cf Liddell's Lex. voc. M, A. 5. W'o^A. ' War is here personified. 40 THE ACHARNIANS. 982—1000. made a furious assault upon us, possessed of every blessing, perpetrated all evils, and overturned, and squandered, and fought ; and, moreover, virhen I frequently invited him : " Drink, sit down, take this cup of friendship," — so much the more burnt our vine-props in the fire, and in our despite poured out the wine from our vines. * * * to a feast ; at the ' same time also he is highly elated, and, as a proof of his good fare, threw out these feathers ^ before his doors. Eeconciliation,^ companion of the beautiful Venus and the dear Graces, I never knew you had so fair a face ! Would'' that some Cupid, with a chaplet of flowers, like the^ one in the picture, would take and join together me and thee ! or, do you consider me peradventure a very old man ? Yet, if I gained you, I fancy I could add three things beside : first, I would plant a long row of vines ; then, near to this, some young suckers of young fig-trees ; and thirdly, I, this old man here, would plant a branch of the cultivated vine ; and about your whole estate olives round about, so that you and I may anoint ourselves from them at the New-moons. Herald. Hek. "0 yez, yez! according to our national^ customs ' There is a slight lacuna here ; some words necessary to the sense having dropt out. ^ Mitchell has translated Kuster's note — " It was usual for the vainer citizens of Athens, when they gave an entertainment, to hang up the feathers of hens or other birds before the doors, that passers- by, ' ex illo signo conjicerent lautius intiis coenari.' " ' " A beautiful courtesan now makes her appearance on the stage, but, as was always the case in the Grecian theatre with the fair sex, merely acts in dumb show. She appears in the allegorical cha- racter of Truce." Walsh. Cf. Pax, 719. " Wie so lang gedacht Ich nicht, wie schbn du hist voli Angesicht ! " Droysen, » " TTwg &v, utinam, EuKrtKwc. Cf. Eq. 16. Pax, 68. Thesm. 22. Soph. Rex, 765. Aj. 388. Phil. 794. Eur. Med. 96, 174. The aarist is usual in this formula, not the present." Blaydes. * It is said that a celebrated picture by Zeuxis in the Temple of Venus is here alluded to. ' "jaT-pf/iof, paternus, coming or proceeding from their fathers, especially inherited from, S^c, as raipoi, KTrjiiara, Seoi. -irarpiKhQ, what is proper to, what was founded or originated by them, as fxS'pa, fCKia, BanXda, ^ivog. varpioQ, what is peculiar to ancestors, what is national, especially iSri, vo/iot; yet also ttpd, kfiwupia, ^povniia." Kruger. 1001—1024. THE ACHARNIANS. 41 you must drink the Pitchers at the sound of trumpet ; and whosoever shall have first emptied kis Pitcher, shaU receive the wine-skin of Ctesiphon." i [Sxit Herald.^ Die. Slaves, women, did you not hear ? What are you about? Do you not hear the Herald? Boil, roast, turn, draw off the hare's flesh quickly, wreathe the chaplets. Bring the spits, that I may spit the thrushes. _ Cho. I deem you happy for your good counsel, but more, sir, for your present good cheer. Die. What then will ye say, when ye see the thrushes roasting ? Cho. I believe you say this also rightly.^ Die. Stir up the fire. Cho. Did you hear how cook-like and daintily and dinner- like he serves up to himself ? HUSBANDIIAJS'. HusB. Ah me, unhappy man ! Die. O Hercules ! who is this ? Hush. A miserable man. Die. Then go your own way.' HusB. My dearest sir, measure me out a particle of peace, if it be but for five years, for you only are possessed of peace. Die. What have you suffered ? HnsB. I am undone, having lost my two oxen.'' Die. Where from ? HusB. The BcBotians took them off from Phyle. Die. Thrice miserable wretch ! then are you dressed in white ? ^ ' " Erhalt den Schlauch, so rund wie Ktesiphona Bauch. " Droysen. ' "That's \rell spoken, too, according to my notion." Wheel- wright. '' Ach wohl, du sprichst ja nur zu wahr ! " Droysen. ' "Then keep it to yourself." Walsh. Cf. Nub. 1263 A v. 12. "Dann, o Freund, geh deines Wegs ! " Droysen, * " I'm ruinated. Quite and entirely, losing my poor beasts, My oxen, I lost 'em, both of 'em." Frere. ' That is^ as for a festival. Cic. in Vatin. c. xii. in fin. et c. xiii. " Cedo, quis unquam coen^rit a raq Traiiaviag x^P^f ^<'' f Xwv,) any more than " Neptune with the trident," by TloatiiSiv Tpiaivf. therefore, neither is the opposite possible. On the article before XlirraXog see Blaydes' note. " Zu Pittalos, zu hiilfekundigen Ilanden ! " Droysen. 1224_1234. THE ACHARNIANS. 49 Die. Carry me forth to the judges. Where is the king ? ' Pay me the wine-skin. Lam. An afflicting spear is fixed through my hones. Die. Behold this empty ! Huzza ! victorious ! Cho. Huzza ! then, victorious ! if, old man, you call so. Die. And moreover, too, I poured in pure wine, and quaffed it at one draught. Cho. Huzza ! then, noble fellow ; go with your wine-skin. Dig. Follow then, and sing " Huzza ! victorious ! " Cho. Well, for your sake, we will follow, and sing of you and of your wine-skin, " Huzza I victorious ! " \_£xeu?ii omnes.^ ' " He means the Archon Basileus, who presided at the Lena'an festival ! ' ' Droysen. END OF THE ACHARNIANS. THE KNIGHTS. DRAMATIS PEESON^. DEMUS, an old citizen of Athens, and in whom the Athenian people are typified. DEMOSTHENES, NICIAS, .Slaves of Demns, THE PAPHLAGONIAN, (Oeon,) Steward to Demus. SATJSAGE-SELLEK (afterwards Agoracritus). CHORUS OF KNIGHTS. E 2 THE ARGUMENT. This Comedy was performed at the Lensean Festival, in the Archonship of Stratocles, 01. Ixxxix. 1, in January, B. c. 424'. " In the eighth year of the war : Aristoph. Equit. 793, iroQ oyJooj/, computed from the hattle of Potideea, u. u. 432. The sixih year, mentioned Aristoph. Acharn., (vide a. 425,) was computed from the invasion of Attica, eight months afterwards." — Clinton's Fast. Hell. p. 69. . In the Acharnians, vs. 300, we have, (OS ^E/jLitrriKd cte KXtwi/os fiaWoVj ov KaTCLTifLUi Toia-iv I-TTTrEutri KaTTUfia-ra. In this Drama, which was the first represented in his own name, the Poet fulfilled his promise, and with the assistance of the Knights, who here constitute the Chorus, carried off the first prize, and showed the Demagogue to he ec ^^a aXKa jStatorarog rtuv TroXiroiv rt^ re 5^ju^ ■KapaTToKv iv Tif tots inBaviiTaTog, (Thucyd. lib. iii- 36,) for he still remained as great a favourite as ever. The second prize was ad- judged to Cratinus, for the Satyrs : the third to Aristomenes, for the Lamentations. As no artist would make a mask for the character of Cleon, Aristophanes was obliged to perform the part himself. In some measure to give an idea of the flushed and bloated countenance of that Demagogue, he smeared his face with lees of wine, and thus stood forth in the double capacity of Poet and Actor. A. W. Schle- gel (Dramatic Literature, p. 159) remarks, " He had the prudence never to name Cleon, though he portrayed him in such a way that it was impossible to mistake him. No one of his plays, perhaps, is more historical and political ; and its rhetorical power in exciting our indignation is almost irresistible : it is a true dramatic Philippic. However, in point of amusement and invention, it does not appear to me the most fortunate." To understand fully the historical allu- sions, it will he necessary to have a recollection of the affair of Pylos, as recorded by Thucydides, lib. iv. See also Thirlwall, Hist. Greece, iii. 235—244. As there is no plot, the Dramatis Personee will be a sufiicient explanation. THE KNIGHTS. (Scene — the front of a large house.) Demosthexes, Nicias. Dem. Alas ! alas ! for our misfortunes, alas ! alas ! May the gods miserably destroy the Paphlagonian,' the newly- purchased pest, together with his schemings ! For since the time that he entered into our family, he is always inflicting blows upon the domestics. NiC. {approaching cautiousli/). Aye, verily, may this pri- mate of Paphlagonians perish most miserably, together with his calumnies.^ Dem. O wretched man ! how are you ? Nic. Miserable, like you. Deji. Come hither then, that we may weep in concert a stave of Olympus.^ Dem. and Nic. Mumu, mumu, mumu, mumu, muniu, mumu.* Dem. Why do we lament to no purpose ? Ought we not to have sought some means of safety, and not* weep any more ? ' Either from his blustering eloquence, ira^XaJiov xal Kexpayuig, Pax, vs. 314, or from the consideration that Cappadocia and Paphla- gonia were the mart for slaves. ' For the omission of aiv, and the construction, vide Monk ad Hippol. vs. 1184, Elmsl. ad Med. vs. 165. " Dieser Erzpaphlago- nier. " Droysen. ' Olympus, the father of Grecian music, whose compositions, which Plato calls divine, retained the highest reputation in Plu- tarch's time, was a Phrygian. " A certain class of mournful songs was called after his name." Droysen. * These are expressed by the aid of the nasal organ, so as to give a longer intonation to the second v in each syllable. Cf. Plut. 895. ^ Comp. vs. 160. Aves, 1385. 54 THE KNIGHTS. 13—31. Nic. What sufeiy then can there be ? do you say. Dem. Nay, rather, do you say, that I may not quarrel with you. Nic. By Apollo, not I. But speak boldly, and then I also will give my opinion. Dem. "Would that thou wouldst say what I should say."' Nic. But the spirit's ^ not in me. How then, pray, can I ever speak it with Euripidean prettiness ? Dem. Nay, do not; do not; do not dose me with Eu- ripides.3 But find some way of dancing off from our master. Nic. Say now in a breath " Sert," pronouncing it in this way. Dem. Well now, I say it ; " Sert." Nic. Now after the " Sert," say " De." Dem. "De." Nic. Very weU ! Now first say " Sert " slowly, and then " De," bringing it rapidly after it. Dem. " Sert — de, sert, Desert." Nic. See ! is it not pleasant ? Dem. Yes, by Jove : but I fear this omen for my hide. Nic. Why, pray? Dem. Because the hide in such cases is apt to depart. Nic. It is best for us, therefore, in the present state of things, to go and fall before the statue* of some god. ' A quotation from the Hippolytus of Euripides. See note on Ach. 991. ^ " Nein, nein ! mir fehlt das rechte ' Vorwarts. ' " Droysen. Who adds, " The Greek word which I have translated Vorw'drts,—\yy no means a barbarism, but, perhaps, an interjection arbitrarily formed in imitation of the sound of a trumpet, — points out the character of Demosthenes very happily." Cf. Schlegel, Dram. Lit. p. 157. ^ Aristophanes never lets slip a hit at Euripides. Vide note on Acharn. vs. 478. " Nein, nein, o nein ! o mach nur keinen langen Kohl ! Such uns 'nen Abtritt lieber von unserm Herrn hinweg." Droysen. " Don't, don't, oh don't be-watercress my ears.' Invent some country-dance to dance away From this sad country ! " Walsh, The allusion is to a very indecent kind of dance in use among the Greeks. See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 48, 6, obs. 2 ; § 62, 3, obs. 12 ; and note on Lys. 740. * .ffischyl. Theb. 169, Ppirri iriaovaaq irpbg woXiaaoix'ov Btwv. The superstition, as well as the piety of Nicias, are both recorded by the 32—60. THE KNIGHTS. 55 Dem. Before what statue ? Pray, do you believe in gods ? Nic. I do. Dem. Where's your proof ? Nic. Because I am hateful to the gods. Is it not ' with good reason / do so ? Dem. You persuade me rightly. Nic. But we must look elsewhere.^ Dem. Will you that I state the matter to the spectators ? Nic. It would not be amiss : ' but one thing let us require of them, to show us by thei? countenances if they are pleased with our discourse and matter. Dem. I will now tell them. We have a master surly in his temper, bean-fed,^ passionate, Demus of the Pnyx, a crab- bed old man, somewhat deaf. He at the previous new^ moon bought a slave, a tanner of Paphlagonia, most villanous and most calumniating. This Leather-Paphlagonian, when he had fully learnt the old man's disposition, by fawning on our master, used to wheedle,^ cajole, flatter, and deceive him with tips of leather parings, using such words — " O Demus, when you have first tried one' cause, bathe, eat, gobble up, devour, take the three obols. Would you that I serve up supper to you?" Then, having snatched up what any of us may have V prepared, the Paphlagonian makes a present of this to our I. master. And lately too, when I had kneaded a Spartan cake | at Pylos, he somehow circumvented me most knavishly and filched it away, and served up himself what had been knead- ed by me. Us he drives away, and does not suffer any one else to wait on our master, but with a leather fan, when at supper, stands and drives away the orators.* And he re- faithful historian of the times, Thucyd. vii. 50, f/v yap ti Kal dyav Beiaafiif rt Kai Tif toiovtiji irpoaKiifitvos. For tov ^euiv, see note on Aves, 1265. ' " 1st das nicht genug ? " Droysen. ^ " Nein, nein ! erdenk 'nen andern Weg! " Droysen. ' See Herm. Vig. n. 82. ' Comp. Lys. 537, 690. Aves, 41. For i^yw, see note on Ach. 1027. ' The new moon being the time for sales. Comp. Wasps, vs. 169. « Comp. vss. 51, 66, 93. Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 59, 1, obs. 1. ' "Three obols was the pay for each sitting ; consequently it was the interest of the jurymen to try as few causes as possible at each sitting." Droysen. ' The word is peculiarly used in this sense. Comp. Athen. lib. xi. 56 THE KNIGHTS. 61—84. cites oracles, while the old man gets old-womanisli. And when he sees him grown spoony, he has devised his trick ; for he falsely accuses the household to their face, and then we are scourged ; while the Paphlagonian runs around the servants, and asks, confounds, takes bribes, using these words, " Do you see that Hylas' has been scourged through my influ- ence ? Unless you make a friend of me, you shall die to-day." So we make him presents ; otherwise, we are trampled upon and kicked by the old fellow eight times more than before.^ Now therefore, my good friend,- let us quickly consider to what road we must turn, and to whom.^ Nic. We had^ best turn to that " Sert-Eoad," my good sir. Dem. But it is not possible for any thing to escape the Paphlagonian's notice, for he overlooks all things himself: he keeps one leg at Pylos, the other in the assembly ; and when he has straddled thus far, his hinder parts are really and truly among the Chaonians,-^ his hands among the -iEtolians, and his mind with the Clopidae.^ Nic. Then it is best for us to die. But consider how we may die most manfully. Dem. How, pray, how can it be done, most manfully ? Nic. It is best for us to drink bull's blood, for the death ' of Themistocles is more preferable. p. 484, ed. Dindorf, vol. ii. p. 1085. Of course ro«£ pjjropae is irapk npocrSoKiav, for the jiies. " Mit seiner Fliegenklatscher steht Er bei Tafel hinter ihm, wehrt ihm fein die Redner ab.'" Drmjsen. ' The allusion is quite unknown. ° " And so we give him bribes ; for if we don't. We're sure to get from the old man directly Eight times as many kicks upon the rump." Wakh. ' " Wess' Weg's wir zwei uns retten kiJnnen unJ zu wem." Droysen. * " We'd better go by Sert-Street, my good sir." Walsh. ' A succession of puns on the words xo'J'w, to gape greedily/ after a thing, (Ach. 133, Av. 819,) aiVtoi, to ask for, (vs. 66, supra,) and kXutteum, to steal. We may therefore translate, " Has his rump at Gapewell, his hands at Askham, and his heart at Filchington." /A sally by surprise for " Cropidas." Vide Cramer's Greece, vol. ii. p. 396, " Cropia, a demus of the tribe Leontis." ' Cicero mentions the absurdity of this idea, de Clar. Orat. ad M. Brut. u. 43. Herodotus, speaking of Psammenites, lib. iii. c. 15, has, ai/xa ravpov iriiiv airkBavt Trapaxprjiia. 85—108. THE KNIGHTS. 57 Dem. No, by Jove, but pure wine to ' the good Genius ; for perhaps we may devise some good plan. Nic. " Pure wine," quoth'a ! Are your thoughts then on drinking?* How could a man devise any good plan when drunk ? Dem. Is it so, fellow ? You are a pourer forth ' of weak, washy twaddle. Have you the audacity to abuse wine for witlessness ? Can you find any thing more business-like than wine ? Do you see ? when men drink, then they are rich, they transact business, gain causes, are happy, assist their friends. Come, bring me out quickly a stoup of wine, that I may moisten my intellect, and say something clever. Nic. Woe's me ! What in the world will you do to us with your drinking ? Dem. What's good. Come, bring it forth, and I will lay myself down. \^JExit Nicias.^ For if I get drunk, I shall sprinkle all these with little schemes, and little notions, and little thoughts. [^Re-enter Nicias with a pitcher of wine and a cupJ] Nic. How fortunate that I was not caught stealing the wine from within ! Dem. Tell me, what is the Paphlagonian doing ? Nic. The slanderer having licked up some confiscated'' cakes, snores like a drunkard, lying on his back on his hides. Dem. Come now, pour in abundant pure wine as a libation. Nic. Take it now, and make a libation to the good Genius. Drain, drain the draught of the Pramnian god.* Dem. {taking a hearty draught). O good Genius ! the scheme is yours, not mine.^ " "Nein, lieber ungemischten Wein dem guten Geist." Droysen. ' " Dir ist 'a um das Trinken nur zu thun ? " Droysen. This is a more accurate rendering than mine ; I suspect, however, the true reading is irepi ttotov vovq iari aot ; For this use of ISoi, cf. vss. 3M, 703. Nub. 818, 872, 1469. Pax, 198. Lys. 851. Thesm. 206. ' " Ein Wasserkrugenhaselant." Droysen. * Vide Vesp. vs. 659. * Vide Athen. lib. i. p. 30, C, ed. Dindorf, vol. i. p. 69, tlval vdp iv '\Kap(fi ^Tjffl 'Sf/fioQ Ilpd^vov irsTpav Kal Trap ahry upog ^eya, a0 ou Tov UpdnviQv olvQV, ov Kai ^apfj-aKirrju rivaq KaXeiv. ' " O most worthy Genius! good Genius! 'Tis your genius that inspires me." Frere. Cf. vs. 1203. 58 THE KNIGHTS. 109—128. Nic. Tell me, I beseech you. What is it ? Dem. Steal quickly the oracles of the Paphlagonian, and bring them from within, while he sleeps. Nic. Aye,' aye, sir. But I fear that I shall find the Genius an evil Genius. [_JExit JVicias.'] Dem. Come now, I'll apply the stoup to my lips, that I may moisten my intellect, and say something clever.^ [^Re- enter Nicias with a bundle of papers.'] Nic. How mightily the Paphlagonian blows and snores, so that I escaped his notice in stealing the sacred oracle, which he used to guard with the greatest caution ! Dem. O thou most clever, bring it, that I may read it ! and do you qliickly pour in for me to^ drink. Come, let me see what there is then in here. O oracles ! Give me, give me the cup quickly. \_Drinks.'\ Nic. Well ! what says the oracle ? Dem. Pour me in another. \_Drinks.] Nic. Is " Pour in another " among the oracles ? Dem. O Bacis ! * Nic. What is it ? Dem. Give me the cup quickly. [^Drinks.] Nic. Aye, Bacis was in the habit of using the cup fre- quently. Dem. O rascally Paphlagonian ! it was this then that you were guarding against this long while, dreading the oracle abouf yourself ! Nic. Why? Dem. There is in here how he himself is ruined. Nic. Why, how ? Dem. How? 5 The oracle directly declares that first there ' Cf. Vesp. 142, 851, 1008. Ach. 815. Pax, 275. And for this use of oirwq iiri, see Soph. Rex, 1074, and note on Aves, 1494. ' This verse is bracketed by Dindorf as spurious. " Comp. vs. 706. Vesp. 616. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 55, 3, obs. 21. ■* " Bacis was an old Boeotian soothsayer, inspired by the Nymphs, upon whom were fathered all the current sayings of the period." Voss. Cf. Herod, viii. 20. /si- « Vide Elmsl. ad Med. vs. 1103. The hemp-seller here alluded to IS Eucrates. See on vs. 254. The sheep-seller, Lysicles. After the death of Pericles he married Aspasia, and through her influ- ence became an influential person in the state. He was killed in the autumn of 428, with four other generals. 129—153. THE KNIGHTS. 59 arises a hemp-seller, who shall be the first to hold the admin- istration of the state. Nic. This is one seller. What next ? Say on. Dem. After him, again, is to arise a second, a sheep-seller. Nic. These are two sellers. What must this one do ? Dem. Rule, until another' man more abandoned than he arise ; and after this he is destroyed. For the Paphlagonian leather-seller succeeds, the robber, the bawler, with the voice of Cycloborus. Nic. It is fated, then, that the sheep-seller perish at the hands of the leather-seller. Dem. Yes, by Jove. Nic. Ah me, unhappy ! Whence therefore can there be only one^ seller more? Dem. There is still one, with a wondrous trade. Nic. TeU me, I entreat you, who is he ? Dem. Shall I say? Nic. Aye, by Jove. Dem. a sausage-seller is the person who is to' destroy him. Nic. a sausage-seller? Neptune, whaf* a trade ! Come, where shall we find out this man ? Dem. Let us seek for him. Nic. But see, here he comes to market, providentially, as it were ! Dem. O happy sausage-seller ! hither, hither, dearest of men ; come up, you who have appeared a, saviour to our city and to us ! Sausage- Seller. S. S. What's the matter ? Why do you call me ? Dem. Come hither, that you may learn how fortunate you are, and how great is your bliss. [^Sausage-seller comes up.~\ Nic. Come now, take away his dresser, and expound^ unto ' For the proper meaning of erepoc in Aristophanes, see note on Lys. vs. 441. It must be observed that this is the statement of tlie Oracle, not the thought or statement of the speaker ; for then we should have had ykvr)Tm. ' " Wo treibt man nun noch einen einzigen Handler auf ? " Droysen. ' Comp. Pax, 614, 881. * See note on Lys. 967. > " Wie durch hbhere Schickung her zu Markt." Droysen. ' The reader will find the meaning of ivaSiSdlai well explained 60 THE KNIGHTS. 153—175. him the racle itself of the god, how it runs ; ' while I will go and watcJi the Paphlagonian. [_jExii JVicias.'] Dem. Come now, first lay down your implements on the ground, and then adore the earth, and the gods. S. S. Well ! what's the matter ? Dem. O happy, O wealthy man ! O thou who art to-day a nobody, but to-morrow immensely great ! O thou ruler of happy Athens ! ^ S. S. My good sir, why don't you let me wash my pud- dings, and sell my sausages, and not make game ^ of me ? Dem. O foolish man, what ■* puddings? Look here! Do you see the rows of people there ? S. S. I see them. Dem. Of all these you shall be alone the chief, and of the market-place, and of the harbours, and of the Pnyx, You shall trample on the senate, and humble the generals; you shall imprison, put under ward, and in the Prytaneum you shall — wench.^ S. S. What I? Dem. Aye, you ; and you do not yet see all. But mount up even upon this dresser here,^ and survey all the islands round about. \^ Sausage-seller mounts up upon his dresser. '\ S. S. I see them. Dem. What then ? the marts and merchant ships ? S. S. Yes. Dem. How then are you not greatly blessed ? Further now, turn your right eye to Caria, and your other to Chalcedon.' S. S. Shall I be blest if I squint ? by Blomfield in his Pref. to the Persa;, p. xxv. See also Liddell's Lex. in voc. ' For this formula, which modem German scholars call " antici- pation," see Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 61, 6, obs. 2. ' For this position of the article, cf. vs. 107, supra. Nub. 366, 1187,1465. Aves, 514, 1355. ^ " Statt zu verhohnen mich." Droysen, * See note on Lys. 1178. 'Previous demagogues had only been able to make it their dining hall ! « " Drum steig' einmal auf deine Wurstbank hier herauf." Droysen. ' " ' Carthage ' must be the true reading. The right eye to Carta, and the left to ' Chalcedon,' would not constitute a squint." Frere. The same remark is made by Droysen. 17e^201. THE KNIGHTS. 61 Dem. No ; but through you all these are on ' sale ; for you shall become, as this oracle here asserts, a very great man. S. S. Tell me ; why, how shall I who am a sausage-seller become a great man ? Dem. For this very reason,^ truly, shall you even become great ; because you are a knave, and from the market-place, and impudent. S. S. I do not consider myself worthy to have great power. Dex. Alas ! whatever's the reason that you say you are not worthy ? You seem to me to be conscious of something gentlemanly. Are you of gentle birth P^ S. S. No, by the gods, unless^ to come of blackguards be so. Dem. O happy in your fortune ! What an advantage^ you have for statesmanship ! S. S. But, my good sir, I don't even possess any education, beyond my letters, and them, to be sure, as bad^ as bad can be. Dem. This alone is an obstacle to you, that you do know them, even as bad as bad can be. For the character of popular leader no longer belongs to a man of education, nor yet to one good in his morals, but^ to the ignorant and abominable. Then don't neglect what the gods in their oracles offer you. _^- S. S. How, pray, does the oracle speak ? Dem. Well, by the gods, and ambiguously, in a way, and learnedly wrapped in riddles. " But when the leather-eagle with crooked claws shaU seize in his beak a serpent, a stupid fellow, a drinker of blood, just then^ the garlic-pickle of the Paphlagonians is at an end, while to the sellers of puddings the god grants great glory, unless they choose rather to sell sausages." ' " Das alles wird von dir dann ausverkauft." Droysen. ' " Deshalb ja eben wirst du grade der grosse Mann." Droysen. ' On this expression vide Dawes's Miscell. Crit. p. 452,>ed. Kidd. "This was a fashionable term at Athens. It corresponds to our 'gentleman,' 'one who mixes in good society.' The term com- prised the polite world, of a certain, not a popular, cast — the ' Ex- clusives,' the 'Tories' of Athens." Droysen. Cf. Nub. 101. * See note on Lys. 943, and for fiaKaptog, Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 47, 3, obs. 2. ' " Wie grossen Vorschub hast du zu deinem Beruf darin ! " Droysen. ' " Und das auch nur soso." Droysen. ' " Nur Ungebildete, nur Canaille kommt daran." Droysen. ' See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 69. 17. 62 THE KNIGHTS. 202—232. S. S. How then does this relate to me ? Instruct me. Dem. This Paphlagonian here is the " leather-eagle." S. S. Why is he " with crooked claws ?" Dem. It means, I ween, that he snatches and takes away ■with his hands curved.' S. S. But what's the import of the " serpent?" Dem. This is very clear ; for the " serpent " is long, and the " sausage " again is long : then both the sausage^ and the serpent are " drinkers of blood." It says, therefore, that the serpent shall immediately conquer the leather-eagle,^ unless it be cajoled with words. S. S. The oracles please me : but I wonder how I am able to manage the people. Dem. a very easy aifair ! Act as you act now ; jumble and mince together all state-affairs, and always win over the peo- ple to your side, coaxing it with little cookish words. But the other requisites for a demagogue you possess — a foul tongue, you are of vulgar birth, a low fellow ; you possess all things which are requisite for statesmanship. The oracles and the Delphic shrine conspire in your favour. Crown yourself then, and offer a libation to Dulness, and see that you punish the fellow.* S. S. And who will be my ally ? for the rich fear him, and the poor people are afraid of him. Dem. But there are a thousand brave knights' who hate him, who will aid you, and the well-born citizens, and of the spectators whoever is a clever man, and I along with them, and the god will^ assist you. And do not fear, for he is not represented by a likeness ; for, through fear, none of the mask-makers' was willing to make a likeness of him. Never- • See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 50, 11. Arnold, Gr. Ex. § 19. ^ That an admixture of blood does not necessarily oblige us to change the name of sausage into black-pudding, may be inferred from its modern successor in Germany. 3 " Wird den Lederaar Demnachst bezwingen, wenn er sich nicht beschwatzen I'asst." Droysen, * See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 54, 8, obs. 7. Cf. note on Lys. 316. " Dem Gott der Einfaltspinselei." Droysen. ^ For an account of the Knights, vide Biickh's Pub. Economy of Athens, vol. ii. p. 259, seq. ' See note on Vesp. 735. ' See Schlegel, Dram. Lit. p. 159. 233-254. THE KNIGHTS. 63 thekss, he will be certainly recognised ; for the audience is clever.' S. S. (in great fright). Ah me, miserable ! the Paphla- gonian is coming forth. Cleon. Cleon. By the twelve gods, you certainly shall not go un- punished, in that you have been long conspiring together against the democracy. What's this Chalcidian cup doing here ? You are certainly causing a revolt of the Chalcidians.^ You shall perish, you shall die, you brace of rogues. \_Satis- age-seller runs out."] Dem. Ho you ! why do you fly ? wiU you not stop ? O noble sausage-seller, do not betray the cause ! O ye Knights,^ support us ! NoVs the time ! Simon,* Panaetius, will you not ride to the right wing ? [^To the Saitsage-seller.'] The men are near ; come, resist him, and return to the charge again ! Their dust shows that they^ are approaching in a body. Come, resist, and pursue, and put him to flight. \_Enter Chorus of Knights.'] Cho. Strike, strike the villain, and troubler of the Knights, and publican, and sink, and Charybdis of plunder, and villain, and villain ; for I will use the same expressions many times. For this fellow was a villain many times in the day. — Come, strike, and pursue, and disturb, and confound, and detest him,^ for we do so ; and press on him, and shout aloud. But take care, lest he escape you, for he knows the paths by which Ejicrates fled straight to the bran.' ' See ScMegel, Dram. Lit. p. 158. ' " The Chalcidians did in fact revolt in the following year; their intentions were probably suspected at the time." Frere. ' Comp. 225. Kruger, § 57, 1, obs. 1. * For these characters, see Nubes, 351. Aves, 441. " Rechts schwenkt euch." Droyaen. ' "Dort der Staub zeigt, dass sie alle Mann bei Mann nahn kampfgesellt." Droyaen. See notes on Aves, 1407. Lys. 919. ' " Hate the rogue as we too hate him." Walah. ' " Aristophanes in his y^pac calls him the ' Boar of Melita,' pro- bably from his coarseness and bushy hair, for which he was also called ' Bear ; ' and because he belonged to the Demos Melita in the tribe Cecropis. He was a dealer in hemp and flax, whence he got the nick-name of arinira^, and a proprietor of mills, which en- 64 THE KNIGHTS. 255—272. Cle. {turning to the audience). Veteran Heliasts, clans- men of the three-obol-piece, whom I feed by bawling right or wrong, come to the rescue, since I am being beaten by conspirators. Cho. Aye, with justice; since you devour' the public goods before they are distributed by lot, and you press and squeeze those under account, seeing which of them is green, or ripe, or not yet ripe ; and if you perceive any of them to be an easy quiet man, and a gaper, you recall him from the Chersonese^ and seize him by the waist and lock him ;^ and then having twisted back his shoulder, you fall heavily upon him. And you observe, too, which of the citizens is a simple- ton, and rich, and no rascal, and fearing state-affairs. Cle. Do i/ou join in attacking me ? while I am beaten, sirs, on your account, because I was intending to deliver an opinion, that it is proper to erect in the city a memorial on account of your valour.* Cho. What^ an impostor ! what a supple knave ! You see how he fawns upon us as if we were old dotards, and cajoles us. But if in this way he be victorious, he shall be beaten in that ;' and if he dodge this way,* my leg shall strike him. abled him not only to grind and deal in bran, but also to fatten pigs. Aristophanes (vs. 129) calls him ffruTTTrcioTrwXi/c, because when com- pelled to render up his account, he had got off by means of his bran, i. c. had saved himself by paying a large penalty in meal, which he gave to the people." Suvern. He seems to have retained consider- able power up to the year 427. In the spring of this year his son Diodotus stood up in the assembly and opposed Cleon on the subject of the Milesians. In the spring of the same' year, Aristophanes, in his "Babylonians," represented the allies as slaves in the mill of Eucrates. ' " Des Volkes Habe schlingst du vor der Theilung weg." Droysen. 2 II Qj' Tjji.ace. Many Athenians possessed estates and resided there for a quiet life." Frere. ' A trick of the wrestling ring, whereby one leg (generally the left) is fast linked to the inside of an adversary's, either as prepara- tory to an attempt to buttock, or on failure of such attempt. * Alluding to the expedition to Corinth. ^ Comp. Lys. 80. Pax, 1045. ° " If you dodge and duck down frightened, Then the leg shall butt your phiz." Walsh. " Aber wenn er da driiben durchdringt, hiiben holen ihn Priigel ein, Und wenn er hier sich unterweg driickt, butzt er ah an meinem Bein." Droysen. 273—290. THE KNIGHTS. 65 Cle. O city and people, by what beasts am I punched in the belly ! Cho. What ! do you cry out, who are ever turning the city upside down ? [_Re-enter Sawsage-seller.'\ S. S. But with this shout I will first put you to flight. Cho. If, in truth, you conquer him in bawling,' you are a conqueror ; but if you surpass him in impudence, ours is the meed of victory.^ Cle. I inform against this fellow, and assert that he ex- ports broths^ for the Feloponnesian triremes. S. S. Aye,'' by Jove, and I inform against this man, that he ran into the Prytaneum with his belly empty, and then runs out again with it full. Dem. Yes, by Jove, bearing out forbidden exports, bread and meat at the same time, and sliced salt-fish, of which Pericles was never at any time thought worthy. Cle. You shall die forthwith. S. S. I will shout three times as loud as you. Cle. I will silence you with bawling. S. S. I will scream you down with screaming. Cle. I wiU calumniate you if you be general. S. S. I wiU beat your back like a dog.* Cle. I will harass you with impostures.® • Vide Acham. vs. 1227. Av. 1764. Veap. 596. ' It is from Athenaeus we are to gain our information ; vide lib. iii. p. 114, B., ttTTi Si Kai o TrvpaftovQt dprog 8id aj}vdfH)iv irsTTOfisvoQ Kal Ttixa avrig Tif a-qaajiiry uv. Again, lib. xiv. p. 647, C, avrai Si aSXa r'lBivTai raig vavvvxiot Tif liaypvirvfiaavri, i. e. in the Cot- tabus. Cf. note on Thesm. 94. ' The gist of the passage lies in the play on the word ?iuj«£v/jara. The audience expected fw/ita/iora, "spars for the sides of ships." Cf. vs. 1185. For the curious position of the article, cf. A ves, 824. ' " I denounce, then, and accuse him, for a greater, worse abuse : That he steers his empty paunch, and anchors at the public board ; Running in without a lading, to return completely stored !" Frere. » See Liddell's Lex. voc. KvvoKoirim. ' Most editors have mistaken this verb for the future of ■wtptatpioi, which would be irtpuupriaai ; and this singular oversight is found even in the excellent Lexicon of Liddell, who, under iripiaipsu, ren- ders it " to atrip one of a thing." Dr. Kriiger (under alpkia) remarks, " The future eXw is repudiated by the Attic writers. See Herm. Eur. Hel. 1297." wepuXui, therefore, must be the future of irepuXavva. " Will dir die Liigen schon verleiden." Droyaen. 66 THE KNIGHTS. 291—320. S. S. I will cut off your roads. Cle. Look at me without winking. S. S. I too have been reared in the market-place. Cle. I will tear you in pieces if you mutter at all. S. S. I will cover you with dung if you speak. Cle. I confess myself a thief, while you do not. S. S. Aye, that do I, by Mercury, who presides over the market-place, and perjure myself too, though men see it. Cle. Then you play the sophist in another's province, and I will impeach you to the Prytanes for possessing untithed puddings sacred to the gods.' Cho. O rascally and abominable, and bawler ! every land is full of thy audacity, and every assembly, and imposts, and indictments, and law-courts. thou mud-stirrer, and having disturbed^ our whole state, who hast deafened our Athens with thy bawling, and watching for the tribute-money, like tunny-fish, from the rocks above.' Cle. 1 know this affair, whence it has been long ago getting cobbled up.'' S. S. If you do not know shoe-soles, neither do I sausages ; you who cheatingly-cut-up and sold the hide of a diseased ox to the country people, with fraudulent design, so that it should seem stout ; and before they had worn it a day, it was greater than the foot by two spans.' Dem. By Jove, he did the very same thing to me too, so that I also afforded much mirth to my fellow-tribesmen and ' See Bockh's Pub. Ec. Ath. ii. p. 43. " Then, I find the simple fact is, You but copy my wise practice." Wahh. ' Km often joins words and things utterly dissimilar. See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 59, 2, obs. 3. ' " Watching for the tribute-monies From the hustings' marble block, As the fisher watches thunnies From the lofty beetling rock." Walsh. ' Und auf die Staatseinkunft vora Fels her wie ein Thynnenfischer passt." Droysen. ' See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 61, 6, obs. 2. * Frere supposes the allusion to be to some diplomatic artifice, by which Cleon had deluded and disappointed the country party, who were always anxious for peace. 321—338. THE KNIGHTS. 67 friends ; for, ere that I had reached Pergasse,' I was swimming in my shoes. Cho. Have you not, pray, from the first, displayed impu- dence,^ which alone is the guardian of orators? on which you relying, drain the wealthy foreigners, you the first ; while the son of Hippodamus^ melts into tears at the sight. But indeed another fellow much more rascally than you has showed himself, so that I rejoice, who wiU immediately put an end to you and surpass you, as he plainly shows, in villany and im- pudence and knavish tricks. [To the Samage-seller.2 But come, you who have been educated '' whence men arise, such as they are,* now demonstrate that " Modest Education " is nothing to the purpose. S. S. Well now, hear what sort of a citizen this fellow is. Cle. Will you not in turn permit me ? S. S. No, by Jove, since I too am a blackguard. Cho. If he do not yield in this point, say that you are also come of blackguards. Cle. Will you not in turn permit me ? S. S. No, by Jove. ' As Nicia8 was of Pergasas, not Demosthenes, it is clear the names have been confused. See Classical Journal, No. xi. p. 222, 223. The passage in Athenaeus is. lib. xii. p. 537, C., tov Si Niiciou ^ijiri TOV TIepyaafj6£v vXovtov rj rbv laxo/iaxov rivtg awdXtaav ; ^ A remarkable coincidence with the opinion attributed to the celebrated Danton. " Die ja unterm Rednerpack das Scepter fiihrt." Droysen. ' Archeptolemus. See Thirlw. Hist. Greece, ii. p. 367. For the participle, see Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 47, 9 ; § 51, 9, obs. 2. * " This metre, tetrameter-iambic, is always appropriated in the comedies of Aristophanes, to those scenes of argumentative alter- cation, in which the ascendency is given to the more ignoble charac- ter ; in this respect it stands in decided contrast with the anapaestic measure." Frere. For this use of Sij^os, see note on Lys. 919. " iVIan sieht schon." Droysen. " airoBfv = If airrjg ^ immediately. Comp. ^sch. Suppl. 101." Fritzsche ad Thesm. 87. ' The phrase oiVtp eiVi is used when we do not wish to speak openly. Vide Eur. Med. vs. 859, liW ifffjitv olov ifffiivj oi/K ipui KaKov, Cf. Hermann, Vig. n. 30. It is curious that it should have been so used by Shakspeare. Vide Othello, act iv. sc. 2, " He is that he is : 1 may not breathe my censure." F 2 68 THE KNIGHTS. 338-352. Cle. Yes, by Jove, you shall. S. S. No, by Neptune, but I will fight it out first, with respect to who shall speak first. Cle. Alas, 1 shall burst. S. S. But I will not permit you. Cho. Permit him, by the gods, permit him to burst. Cle. Relying' on what do you dare to speak against me? S. S. Because I too am able to speak, and to make a rich sauce. Cle. " To speak," quoth'a ! Finely,'^ upon my word, would you take up and properly handle a case which fell to you, so as to be torn in pieces raw.' But do you know how you seem to me to be circumstanced ? Like the mass.* If you have any where pleaded some little suit well against a resident-alien, babbling the live-long night, and talking to yourself in the streets, and drinking water, and showing yourself off, and boring your friends, you fancied you were a a dab at oratory — Fool for your folly ! S. S. By drinking what, pray, have you worked upon the city, so as now to be silent, having been talked down by you alone ? ' Comp. vs. 351. Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 17, obs. 4. '' " Freilich kommt so 'n Handel dir vor'» Messer, Roh reissst &a ihn wohl fcurz und klein und manschst je toller je besser." Droysen. ' iiHoanapaKTov is an example of the Accusativus Prolepticus, i. e. where an adjective is applied to a substantive, though the property expressed by it does not exist in the substantive till after the completion of the action expressed by the verb. See Sch'afer ad Soph. Aj. 402. Greg. Cor. pp. 539, 1047. Hermann, Append. Vig. p. 718. Opusc. iii. p. 221. Another example in Acharn. 1179. * " You're like the rest of 'em — the swarm of paltry weak pre- tenders. You've made your pretty speech, perhaps, and gain'd a little law-suit Against a merchant-foreigner, by dint of water-dinnking, And lying long awake o'nights, composing and repeating, And studying as you walk'd the streets, and wearing out the patience Of all your friends and intimates with practising beforehand: And now you wonder at yourself, elated and delighted At your own talent for debate — you silly, saucy coxcomb." Frere. 353—374. THE KNIGHTS. 69 Cle. Why, do you match any man against me ? who, immediately after I have devoured hot slices of the tunny- fish, and then drank besides a gallon of neat wine, wiU abuse like a strumpet the generals at Pylos. S. S. And I, after I have swallowed down a cow's paunch and a pig's belly, and then drank the broth besides, without washing, will throttle ' the orators, and terrify Nicias. Cho. Tou please me in the rest of your words ; but one part of your conduct does not please me, in that you will gulp down your broth alone. Cle. But you wiU not distract the Milesians, after having devoured a sea-wolf.* S. S. Nay, but when I have devoured ribs ' of beef, I will farm the mines. l, Cle. And I will spring into the senate and confound it with violence. S. S. And I will kick your rump instead of a foot-baU.^ Cle. And I will drag you out of doors, head foremost, by the crupper. Cho. By Neptune, i/ou shall drag me too, if you drag him. Cle. How I will fasten you in the stocks ! S. S. I will prosecute you for cowardice. Cle. Tour hide* shall be tanned. S. S. I will flay you for a thief's pouch.* Cle. You shall be stretched out on the ground with pegs. S. S. I will make mince-meat of you. Cle. I will pluck out your eye-lashes. S. S. I vdU cut out your crop.' ' Liddell renders this, to out-do in shouting: similarly Frere; while Walsh and Brunck, cut the speakers' weasands ; Droysen, mit Schreien achmoren. ' " You cannot make Miletus whine After a meal of salmon." Walsh. ' " Nein, hab' Ich Ribbspeer erst im Leib, so pacht' Ich Silber- kucksen." Droysen. * " I'll blow the wind into your tail, and kick you like a blad- der." Frere. " Ich aber reiss' den Arsch dir auf und stopf ihn dir wie Ge- darm voll." Droysen. ' Vide Mus. Crit. Cant. vol. ii. p. 664. Herod, lib. v. 25. • " Dich schind' Ich ab zum Diebesranzen." Droysen. ' Vide Av. vs. 1113. 70 THE KNIGHTS. 375^01. Dem. And, by Jove, we will put a skewer into his mouth, in cook's fashion, and then draw out his tongue from within, and examine his inside well and manfully, while he gapes, if it be pimply. Cho. It appears, then, there are other things hotter than fire ; and in our state words more shameless than the shame- less ; ' and the affair, then, not so trifling a one. But attack him, and twist him about ; do nothing in a small way : for now he is held by the middle. Since if now you hide^ him in the onset, you wiU find him a craven ; for I know his dis- position. S. S. Yet, nevertheless, this fellow, though he has been such a one during the whole of his life, then^ appeared to be a hero, when he reaped the harvest of another. And now he has bound in the wooden collar, and is drying, and wishing to sell those ears of corn which he brought from thence. Cle. I fear you not as long as the senate subsists, and the face of Demus'' remains stolid. Cho. What impudence he has for every thing ! and changes nothing of his present* colour ! If I do not hate you, may I become a sheep-skin of Cratinus,* and may I be taught to sing the songs in a tragedy of Morsimus.' ' See note on Vesp. 451. ' There is an allusion to Cleon's trade. See Liddell in voc. ' Eur. Ale. 978, k^t avrip ilvai SoKei. For the anacoluthon, see notes on Av. 535, 1456. " Such as here you now behold, all his life has he been known, Till he reaped a reputation, in a harvest not his own." Frere. The allusion is to the affair at Pylos. " Und da er stets derselbe Schuft ist heut' und gestern, hinten und vorn, Gilt er doch fiir einen Haupthahn, weil er arndtet fremdes Korn." Droysen. ' " Und der Mann, der heut das Volk spielt, drinnen so dusel- damlich sitzt." Droysen. ' Comp. vs. 564, infra. ' " I much question whether this can signify ' Una fe pellibus Cratini.' — L. Bos's emendation, iv T/Lparivov (Animadv. p. 8) seems to me to admit of no doubt." Porson in Censura. See note on vs. 1128. ' A tragic writer, grandson of iEschylus' sister. See Pax, 801. " Will Ich gleich Chorsingen lernen fiir des Morsimos Trauer- spiel." Droysen. 402-420. THE KNIGHTS. 71 O thou, who on every occasion, and in all cases of bribery,' settlest upon flowers, would that you'd disgorge the mouth- ful as easily as you found it ; for then would I sing only, " drink,2 drink, at the happy event ;" and I fancy the son of Julius, an aged ogler of wheat,^ being delighted, would cry, " lo Paean," and sing, " Bacchus, Bacchus !" Cle. By Neptune, ye certainly shall not surpass me in impudence ; or never may I be present at the sacrificial feast of Jupiter, who presides over the market-place. S. S. By the thumps, which I have many times,'' indeed, and on many occasions, endured from my childhood, and by the strokes of the knives, I fancy I shall surpass you in these, or to no purpose should I be grown to this size by feeding on finger-muffins.* Cle. On finger-muffins, like a dog ? O thou most villanous, how then, fed on dog's meat, shall you battle with a dog-faced baboon ? S. S. And, by Jove, there are other knavish tricks of mine, too, when I was a child ; for I used to deceive the butchers by saying such words, " Look, boys ! do you not see ? early spring is come. There's a swallow ! " They looked, and I in the mean time used to steal some meat.® ' I have followed Liddell (in voc. ^wpoWsof) in joining this word with trpayfiaai. " Saugst wie die Biene aus jeglicher Blume Geld." Droysen. ' This is from Simonides. Vide Poet. Gr. Min. vol. i. p. 393, ed. Gaisford. For ei9e, cf. vs. 619, and note on Lys. 940. ' A comic efRision, taken from II. xi. 38.5, TO^OTa, Xwj3tjt-jjp, fCEpa &y\ak, nrapdivoTriira. Cf. olvoTriirrjg, {v. I. ad Thesm. 393,) TratSoTr'nrriQ, (Hermeas ap. Athen. xiii. p. 563, E.,) yvvaiKoir'neris. " Der alte Blondkopfianger." Droy- sen. Who remarks in his note, " The character is not only unknown, but the name even is scarcely Greek. Many attempts have been made to emend the passage. Perhaps the true reading is 'IwXkoc, who is also mentioned by Thucydides, V. 19." Comp. note on vs. 1175. * Vide Elmsl. ad Heraclid. vs. 919. Heindorf ad Plat. Phaed. § 132. ' Before the invention of knives, forks, and napkin.s, the place of the latter (among the Greeks) was supplied -by soft muffins or the crumb of bread, and these were afterwards thrown to the dogs. " " Then there were other petty tricks, I practised as a child ; Haunting about the butchers' shops, the weather being mild. 72 THE KNIGHTS. , 421—140. Cho. O most clever meat ! . shrewdly did you plan be- forehand ! You stole before the swallows, as it" eating nettles.' ^S. S. And I used to escape notice too, when doing this. At any rate, if any of them were to see me, I used to hide it in my drawers, and deny it upon oath of the gods, so that an orator,* having seen me doing this, exclaimed, " This boy win certainly rule the people." Cho. Aye, he conjectured it well : but it is clear from what he drew his inference ; because you perjured yourself after stealing, and your drawers had the meat. Clb. I will make you cease from your impudence,-^Dr rather, I fancy, both of you : for I will issue forth against you, coming down^ now fresh and mighty, confounding at the same time both land and sea at random. S. S. And I will furl my sausages and then commit myself to the favouring waves,'' having bid you a long farewell. Dem. And I, if it leak at all, will watch the bilge-water. Cle. By Ceres, you certainly shall not go off unpunished, after having stolen many talents of the Athenians. Cho. Look sharp, and slack away the sheet ! ^ since now this north-easter is even blowing informations. S. S. I well know that you have ten talents from Potidaea. Cle. What then ? Will you take one of the talents, and hold your tongue ? Cho. The man would gladly take it. Let out your sail-ropes. ' See, boys,' says I, 'the swallow there !— Why summer's come, I say;' And when they turned to gape and stare, I snatch'd a steak away." Frere. Cf. Philem. Frag, cxiv., ^ fiiv xcXtSiiv ro Sspog, l"''V^, sc. tt/v jSovXijv. * " The whole of this is a quiz upon the Messengers' narratives in the Attic tragedians. For any one to sneeze on tlie right hand, was considered a most lucky sign. The Rapscallions, &c., are hu- morously elevated to the dignity of divinity." Walsh. ' This sentence is wrongly construed m every edition I have been able to consult, iiroppriTov being made to depend on eippaaa, which is plainly contra linguam. See note on Nub. 689. • It was the custom to burn only the thighs and fat. The rest was eaten by the people. It thus became the interest of the poorer Athenians to be very religious, inasmuch as the cost of these enter- tainments fell upon the wealthy citizens. To such an extent, in- deed, were these legalized robberies carried, that the sale of the skim of the victims formed a considerable item of the public reve- nue, under the head of skin-money [rb SepfiariKSv) . a 82 THE KNIGHTS. 657—690. the Senate inclined towards him. And I, just when I per- ceived I was overcome by the ox-dung, overshot him with two hundred oxen;' and advised to make a vow to sacrifice a thousand goats to Diana on the morrow, if sprats went at a hundred for the obol. Again the Senate looked eagerly at me. And when he heard this, being struck with astonishment, babbled nonsense ; and then the Prytanes and the Police be- gan to drag him out, while they stood and wrangled about the anchovies. But he besought them " to wait a short time, in order that you may hear^ what the herald from Lacedsemon says, for he has come treating of peace." But they all cried out with one mouth, — " Now do they talk of peace ? Aye, poor fool, since they have heard that anchovies are cheap with us. We don't want peace ; let the war go on." And they shouted that the Prytanes should dismiss the assembly. Then they leaped over the barriers in every direction. While I slipped out and bought up all the coriander-seed, and the leeks, as much as there was in the market : and then gave it gratis to them who were in want, as seasoning to the anchovies, and made presents of it. So they all praised me above measure, and caressed me to such a degree, that I have come, having gained over the whole senate for an obol-worth' of coriander- seed. Cho. Of a truth you have acted in every respect * as be- comes a man favoured of fortune. The villain has found another adorned with much greater rascalities and artM de- ceits and wily words. But take care that you contest what remains in the best manner possible ; and you know long ago that you have us as your friendly allies. ' " Gleich trumpft' Ich ihn mit hundert Rindern ab." Droysen. ^ See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 54, 8, obs. 2. ' Comp. Aves, 18. Thesm. 425. Ach. 962, and vs. 945, infra. * " With fair event your first essay began, Betokening a predestined happy man. The villain now shall meet In equal war, A more accomplish'd cheat, A viler far ; With turns and tricks more various. More artful and nefarious." Frere. " Alles hast du so voUendet, wie es nur kann ein Gliickskind." Droysen. 691—706. THE KNIGHTS. 83 S. S. Well now, see! here comes' the Paphlagonian, pushing a heavy wave, and disturbing and confounding, as if, forsooth, he was going to swaUow me up. A fig for his courage ! ^ Cleon. Cle. If I do' not destroy you, provided any of the same lies be in me, may I utterly fail in every way. S. S. I like your threats,* laugh at your empty bluster, dance a fling, and cry cuckoo all round. Cle. By Ceres, if I do not eat you up out of this land, I will certainly never survive. S. S. " If you do not eat me up ?" And neither will J, if I do not drink you up, and then gulp you down and burst after it myself* Cle. By the precedence which I gained at PylOs, I will destroy you. S. S. " Precedence," quoth'a ! How I shall behold you ^ after your precedence a spectator on the last bench ! Cle. By heaven, I will fasten you in the stocks ! S. S. How choleric you are ! Come, what shall I give you ' See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 50, 11, obs. 22. Monk, Ale. 138. Dawes M. C. 558. ^ Vide Theocrit. Idyll, xv. 40, /iop/tii, SdxvH Wttoc. Cf. Liddell's Lex. in voc. /lop/iti. ' " Wenn Ich dich da nicht kalt mache, hab' Ich ein Kornchen noch Des alten Lug und Truges, so hoi' micli gleich die Pest." Droyseji. ' " Mich vergniigt dein Drohn, dein Holtergepolter macht mir Spa.s3, Wie ein Bbcklein muss Ich springen, kr'ah'n wie ein Hahn dazu ! " Droysen. Cf. Nub. 174, 1240. Pax, 1065. Av. 570, 880. ' " Unless you eat me up ! No more will I, Unless I drink you up, and swiff you up, Until I burst myself." Walsh. Cf. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 54, 12, obs. 3. Harper's Tenses, p. 101. Cf. 400, 767, 769. Pax, 450. • " The right of seats, indeed ! Pshaw ! I shall see you On the last bench instead of on the first." Walsh. " Ei, wie will Ich dich noch einst Statt auf dem Vorsitz auf dem Hintersitze sehn ! " Droysen. a 2 84 THE KNIGHTS. 707—723. to eat? With what sauce would you like best to eat it? With a purse ? ' Cle. I will tear out your entrails with my nails. l_ S. S. I wiU tear with my nails your maintenancfe in the Prytaneum.^ Cle. I will drag you before Demus, that you may give me satisfaction. S. S. And I will also drag you and calumniate you more. Cle. But he does not believe you at all, you wretch, while . I laugh at him as much as I please. S. S. How completely you imagine Demus to be yours ! Cle. For I know with what pap he is fattened.^ S. S. And then, like nurses,* you feed him grudgingly. For you chew and put a little into his mouth, while you your- self swallow down three times as much as he. Cle. And, by Jove, by my dexterity I am able to make Demus fat or lean.^ S. S. And my posteriors are clever at this. Cle. You shan't fancy, my good sir, you're going to in- sult me in the Senate.^ Let us go to Demus. ' See note on Ach. 835. So Pax, 123, KoWvpav /teyaXiiv xai boi/- SvXov oi/zoi/ sir' airy, " a great roll ani^s^-sauce to it." '' Und was fur Zufcost hast du gern? Geldbeutelchens?" Droysen. '' " To tear with the nails, Ar. Eq. 709." Liddell in. voc. Others, cut off your maintenance ; which seems preferable. " Weg will Ich dir kratzen deine Portion in der Prytanei." Droysen. ' "Anticipation." See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 61, 6, obs. 2. " Ich weiss ja genau, womit er sich gerne p'appeln lasst." Droysen. * Vide Aristot. Rhet. lib. iii. 4. " Mr. Frere's version of this is singular: — " I can make them close, and hard, and dry, Or pass a matter easily, as I please." ' " You shan't be thought to have insulted me Before the senate." Walsh. " Nicht sollst du, guter Junge, denken, im Rathe mich Uberrannt zu haben." Droysen. For the aorist infinitive after Jokew, see Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 53, 6, obs. 9. That ov notx^vane is statutable Greek for firi fioixdays I do not believe. See, however, Viger, p. 198. Herm. not. Hi, 267. Jelf, § 741, obs. Kriiger, § 53, 7, obs. 4. Eurip. Ph. 1696. Arist. Aves, 193. 723—751. THE KNIGHTS. 85 S. S. There's nothing to hinder ' us. There, go, let nothing detain us. Cle. Q Demus ! come forth hither. S. S. O father, by Jupiter, pray come forth. Cle. Come forth, O dearest little Demus, that you may know how I am wantonly insulted. [ They both go and knock at Demus' door.^ Demus. Dem. Who are those that are bawling ? Will you not depart from my door ? You have torn down my harvest- wreath.^ Who's injuring you, my Paphlagonian ? Cle. I am beat on your account by this fellow here, and by these striplings. Dem. Wherefore? , Cle. Because I love you, Demus, and am your admirer. Dem. (turning to the Sausage-seller). Pray, who are you ? S. S. This man's rival in love, who have loved you this long time, and wished to do you a good turn, and so have many other gentlemen. But we are not able, on account oi tliis fellow. For you are like unto youths who have lovers : gentlemen you do not receive, but give yourself up to lamp- sellers* and coblers and shoemakers and tanners. Cle. For I benefit the people. S. S. Say now, by doing what ? Cle. Because I deceived the generals at Pylos and sailed thither and brought the Lacedaemonians. S. S. And I, while walking about,'' stole the pot from a workshop, while another was boiling it. Cle. Well now, Demus, convene an assembly forthwith, in order that you may know which of us two is better inclined to you, and decide between us, that you may love this one. S. S. Yes, yes, do decide between us, pray ! but not in the Pnyx. Dem. I can't sit in any other place. But you must come forwards to the Pnyx.^ ' See note on Aves, 463. ' Cf. Vesp. 399. ^ A hit at Hyperbolus. < " Und Ich, Ich ging von der Bude weg und schlenderte so Umher, und stahl 'nem andern den Topf vom Feuer weg." Droysen. ' " So to the Pnyx walk forwards instantly." Walsh. 86 THE KNIGHTS. 752—768. S. S. Ah me, miserable man, how I am undone ! for the old fellow, when at home, is the shrewdest of men, but when he takes his seat upon this here stone, he gapes ^ as if he were stringing figs. Cho. Now it behoves you to let out every rope,^ and to carry an impetuous spirit and arguments, admitting no escape, wherewith you shall overcome him: for the man is crafty, and devises efficient contrivances out of impracticable ones.* Wherefore take care that you go forth vehement and fresh* against the man. But be on your guard, and ere he comes up to you, do you first raise aloft ^ your dolphins, and put forward •your pinnace. Cle. I pray to our mistress Minerva, who rules over our city, that, if I am the best man towards the Athenian people, next to Lysicles,* and Cynna, and Salabaccho, I may, as now, dine in the Prytaneum, without having done any thing for it. But if I hate you, and do not fight for you, singly standing in the gap, may I perish, and be sawn in two, and cut up into yoke-straps.' ' See Liddell's Lex. in voc. E/iiroSil^di. " He gapes like little boys bobbing for figs." Walsh. " Doch sitzt er dort erst auf den Steinen, so sperrt er das Maul , Weit auf, als sollten gebratne Tauben hinein ihm ziehn ! " Droysm. Comp. vs. 422, supra. The usual rendering, " Like one stringing figs," would render the article indispensable. ^ See similar forms, ap. Liddell, voc. KaXiac. Cf. Eur. Med. 273. ' "Und macht Unmbgliches selbst am Ende doch noch moglich." * Comp. vs. 430, supra ; and see notes on Vesp. 29 ; Lys. 316. ^ See Thuc. vii. 41, and 62 ; Lucan's Phars. iii. 635. " The image is that of a merchant-vessel defending itself against the attack of a ship of war : the pinnace was interposed to break the shock of the enemy's prow." Frere. " Und zum Entern an Bord dich lege ! " Droysen. ' Tauntingly said, irapi irooaSoKiav, for " Pericles, Cimon, and Tbemistocles," with whom Cleon used to compare himself. The two last were noted strumpets, and Lysicles is the " Sheep-seller " mentioned in vs. 132. See note on vs. 831, infra. ' " That, even as now. If I'm truly your friend, unto my life's end, I may dine in the hall, doing nothing at all ! But, if I despise you, or ever advise you Against what is best for your comfort and lest ; 769—790. THE KNIGHTS. 87 S. S. And may I, Demus, if I do not love you, and do not admire you, be cut up and cooked in mince-meat ; and if you do not put faith in this, may I be grated down upon this dresser in an olio with cheese, and with the flesh-hook may I be dragged to the Ceramicus by my testicles. Cle. Why, how ' can there be a citizen, Demus, who loves you more than I do ? who in the fii-st place, when I was a senator, collected very much money in the treasury, by tor- turing some, strangling others, and begging of others ; not caring for any private man, provided I gratified you. S. S. This, Demus, is no way grand ; for I will do this to you. For I wiU snatch away and serve up to you other peo- ple's loaves.^ But I will first teach you this very thing, that he neither loves you, nor is weU-disposed towards you, except on account of this very thing, that he enjoys your fire-side. For he does not care about your sitting so uncomfortably upon the rocks, who fought to the death with the Persians at Ma- rathon for our country, and when victorious, permitted us to bepraise it mightily.* Not like me, who have sewed and brought you this cushion. Come, raise yourself, and then sit down at your ease, that you may not gall that which fought at Salamis.^ \_Slips a soft cushion under Demus.^ Dem. Man, who are you ? Are you a son of those well- known* descendants of Harmodius ! Certainly, indeed, this deed of yours is truly noble and patriotic. Cle. From what petty bits of flattery have you become well-disposed towards him ! S. S. For you also caught him with baits much less thaa these. Cle. Well now, I am willing to wager my head, if any Or neglect to attend you, defend you, befriend you, May I perish and pine ; may this carcass of mine Be withered and dried, and curried beside ; And straps for your harness cut out of my hide." Frfre. ' See Herm. ad Eur. Ale. 498. ' See Siivern on ths Tijpaf of Aristophanes, p. 162. ' "Uni mit herrlichen Siegen den Stoff uns gabst, die beliebtesten Phrasen zu drechseln." Droysen. * " This being a naval battle, the Athenian galley-men may very well be said to have fought, not with their hands, but their nether extremities." Walsh. ' See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 7, obs. 7. 88 THE KNIGHTS. 791^809. where there hath appeared a man who fights more for the people, or loves you more than I. S. S. Why, how love you him ? who, though you seehim dwelling for the eighth year' in the casks and crannies and little turrets, do not pity him, but shut him in and plunder his hive. And when Archeptolemus^ was offering peace, you scattered it abroad ; and you drive away the embassies from the city, slapping them on the buttocks, who make pro- posals of peace. Cle. Aye, that he may rule over all the Greeks ; for it is in the oracles, " that this man must some time or other act the Hehast in Arcadia at^ five obols a day, if he bide his time." At all events, I will nourish and tend him, finding out by fair means or foul, whence he shall receive the three obols. S. S, Not taking thought, by Jove, that he may rule over Arcadia, but that -you may plunder the more, and receive bribes from the cities ; and that Demus, by reason of the war and the mist, may not observe your knavish tricks,^ but through necessity, at the same time, and need, and pay, may gape at you. But if ever he return to the country and spend his time in peace,' and eat his toasted groats and re- gain his courage, and come to a conversation with oil-cake, he will perceive what blessings you swindled him out of by your system of pay ; and then he wiU come against you fierce and rough, searching for a pebble against you. Of which being aware, you impose upon him, and cheat ^ him by dreams about yourself. ' This reckoning is made from the battle of Potidaea, b. c. 432, at which period the Athenians were first engaged in actual service. When the Spartans invaded Attica, the country-people were driven into the town, and in their perplexity for house-room, were obliged to take up their quarters in the turrets on the walls. ^ After the surrender of the Spartans at Pylos. See Thuc. iv. 17—22,27,28,117. Thirl wall, Bis*. Greece, iii. p. 241. " This per- son must not be confounded with the son of Hippodeinus, vs. 327." Droysen. Comp. Siivern, Aristoph. TiJQag, p. 168. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 47, 17. * See Liddell, voc. leoSopdw. ' See Siivern's Essay on the Tifpaf of Aristophanes, p. 173. ° " And this you're aware of, and therefore you seek To chouse him by dream and by vision." Walsh. Cf. Liddell's Lex. voc. ^j/ttpoTroXEw. For the participle, see Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 51, 9, obs. 2. 810—823. THE KNIGHTS. 89 Cle. Is it not then, pray, a shameful thing that you should say this of me, and calumniate me before the Athenians and Demus, who have already, by Ceres, done far more good ser- vices to the state than Themistocles ? >^ S. S. " O city of Argos, hear what he says." ' Do you match yourself with Themistocles ? who made our city full, when he found it up to the brim, and in addition to this kneaded up the Pii-aeus beside for it while it was at break- fast,'' and having taken away nothing of the old, set before it new fishes. — But you sought to make the Athenians citizens of a petty town,^ by dividing the town '•' with a wall, and uttering oracles, you who match yourself with Themistocles ! And he is an exile from his country, while you wipe your hands on cakes of fine barley.* Cle. Is it not then a shameful thing, O Demus, that I should be called these names by tliis fellow, because I love you? Dem. Stop, stop,^ you fellow, and don't talk Billingsgate. For much too long a time and even now have you been acting underhand without my knowing it.' S. S. He is a most abominable fellow, my little Demus, and one who commits very many knavish tricks, whenever you " This hemistich, which is made up partly from the Telephus of Euripides, partly from his Medea, vs. 169, occurs in the Plut. vs. 601. See Dobree's note on it. ' " And kneaded it up the Piraeus beside For breakfast." Walsh. ' " The German Kleinstddter." Liddell. * " It was not an unusual step to divide a town into two by a wall of the same height as the external fortifications, and settle the men of each party in the portion allotted to them, when two factions were nearly equally balanced." Walsh. At the time of the great Reform Bill, a similar plan was canvassed by the " Men of Man- cliester " for dividing England, by running a wall from the Humber to the Mersey. For the article, see Hermann, Ale. 708. > Vide Athen. lib. iii. p. 114, F., ical roMirac icai «x'^^"°V' ""^ iaiiig avrri lariv r) e? axM^tiuiv KpiSuiv yivofiivri. It is also mentioned avv UirapoTe tiriwaaTOig, lib. vi. p. 269, D. See note on vs. 41*, supra. ' " Ja, Mann, hiir' auf! Schuftstreiche beriihre nun nicht mehr! Doch Ich glaube, du hast gar oft gar viel, ohne dass Ich es merkte, gemanschet." Droysen. ' 'EyKpvipias signifies " panis sJibcineritius," and is mentioned by AtheniEus, lib. iii. 112, B. Cf. note on Nub. 915. 90 . THE KNIGHTS. 824—846. yawn ; ' and he crops the stalks of those under account and swallows them down, and with both hands ladles out the public money. Clb. You shall not escape with impunity, but I will con- vict you of stealing thirty thousand drachma. S. S. Why do you make much ado about nothing, and make a splash, you wha are most abominable towards the Athenian people P^ And, by Ceres, I wiU prove,^ or may I not live, that you have received as a bribe more than forty miuEe from Mitylene. Cho. thou -who hast appeared the greatest advantage to all men ! * I envy you for your fluency of speech ; for if you shall attack him in this way, you will be the greatest of the Greeks, and alone will bear sway in the city, and rule over the allies, having a trident, shaking and disturbing,^ with which you wiU make much money. And do not let the man go, since he has given you a hold, for you will easily make an end of him, with such sides as yours. Cle. These matters, good sirs, are not yet come to this, by Neptune ; for I have wrought such a work, so as to curb my enemies every one,^ so long as any thing is left of the bucklers captured at Pylos. ' So Brunck and Walsh. Liddell, on the contrary, refers it to Xaafiam, and makes Cleon the nominative. " He insinuates that Cleon was in the habit of accepting bribes from those who had to give in their accounts, to get them passed without a strict examin- ation." Droysen. ^ " Whilst o Srjfiog 6 tS>v ' AQi}vaitiiVt or 6 'Adrjvaitov SijftoQt denotes the Athenian people, in contradistinction to any other people, (Demos, xviii. 181, foil.,) on the contrary, 6 SfijioQ twv 'A., and tUv 'A. 6 Sij- fioQ, are used, when ot?ier parties or individuals of the Athenians are to be thought of in opposition to these." Kruger. Cf. vs. 764, supra. ' There is no necessity to alter the reading to oiroJeiJw, with Walsh, (notes, p. 264,) for iinSil%u> occurs again in the same sense, Av. 483. " Allusion is made to forty minae which are said to have been received from Mytilene ; but this is mere satire. See Meier, de bon. Dainnat. p. 115. Cleon had received money from the islanders that he might reduce their tributes." WacJismuth. * Seemingly a quotation from some tragedy. * " Mit dem erschiitternd, wetternd du dir sammelst reichste Habe." Droysen. ' Comp. Pax, 106, 247, 542, 655, 870. Av. 1539. Plut. Ill, 206, 760, 1109. Ean. 161. Eccles. 217, 557, 719, 765, 1148. Thesm. 515, 550. 847—872. THE KNIGHTS. 91 S. S. Stop at your bucklers, for you have given me a handle. For you ought not, if indeed you love the people, purposely to have let them be dedicated together with the handles. But this, Demus, is a device, that, if you wish to punish this fellow here, it may not be in your power ; for you see what a troop of young tanners are with him ; and around these dwell sellers of honey and sellers of cheese. Now this body is leagued together ; so that if you were to snort with anger, and look ostracism,' they would pull down the buck- lers by night, and run and seize the entrances for importing your barley. Dem. Ah me, miserable man ! Why, have ^ they handles ? You rascal, how long a time you have been cheating me, deluding me in such a manner ! Cle. My good sir, be not led^ away by every speaker, nor think that you will ever find a better friend than I, who with my single hand put down the conspirators. And no con- spiracy arises in the city without my perceiving it, but I bawl out that instant. S. S. For you are circumstanced like those who fish for eels.* When the lake is still, they catch nothing ; but if they stir the mud up and down, they take. And you catch, if you disturb the city. But just answer me this single question : though you sell so many hides, have you ever^ given to this man here a sole from your private stock for his slippers, you who profess to love him ? Dem. Certainly not, by Apollo. S. S. Then have you perceived, pray, what sort of a fel- low he is ? But I have bought this pair of shoes for you, and give them you to wear. \_Gives him a pair of shoes.'] ' This is by no means the literal meaning of the phrase. See Liddell, voc. iarpaKivSa. ' "Have handles," means readi/ for use. Government shields had their handles taken off. that they might not be made use of for tumults, attacks on the democracy, &c. Droysen understands shields taken in battle and hung up as trophies. ' Cf. Soph. Rex, 917 ; Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 47, 6, obs. 4. * Droysen, who suggests that this may have been a cant phrase, quotes from an old German song, " Und keinen Tag wird 's ausgesetztj Herr, morgen wird ein Aal genetzt." > nSt, = ever. Cf. Ach. 610. Nub. 34,7, 370, 386, 766, 1061. Av. 1669. Plato, Polit. p. 493, D. 92 THE KNIGHTS. 873—893 Dem. I j udge you to be the best man towards the people of all I know, and very well disposed towards the city, and to- wards my toes. Cle. Is it not then, pray, a shameful thing that slippers should have so much power, and that you should have no re- collection of all the kind offices I have done you ? who put a stop to the lewd people, having utterly destroyed Gryttus. S. S.Ms it not then, pray, a shameful thing that you should watch them so,' and put a stop to the lewd people ? It must be that through envy you stopped them, lest they might be- come orators. And though you saw this man without a tunic at his time of life, you never at any time deemed Demus worthy of a sleeved-coat, though it were winter. But I pre- sent you with this one here. [ Gives him a coat.'\ Dem. Themistocles never once thought of such a device. And yet that device of his, too, was a clever one, his Piraeus. Yet, however, it does not appear to me to be a greater con- trivance than the coat. Cle. Ah me, miserable man ! with what jackanape's tricks you harass me ! S. S. Not so ; but as is the case with a man in liquor when nature calls, I am using your manners^ as I would your , slippers. Cle. You shall not surpass me in flattery, for I will put this on him besides. [Turning to the Saitsage-seller.l A plague take you, you rascal ! Dem. Bah ! will you not be gone, with a plague to you ? smelling most abominably of the tan-yard.^ S. S. And on purpose, too, was he for putting this around ' " 1st das denn etwa nicht zu toll, dass du so — podexkukest ? " Drot/sen. ' " 'Tis your own plan ; 'twas you began. As topers at a revel, Press'd on a sudden, rise at once, and seize without regarding Their neighbour's slippers for the nonce, to turn into the garden. I stand in short upon your shoes — I copy your behaviour, And take and use for my own views your flattery and palaver." Frere. " Wie wir beim Wein, wenn 's Wasser drangt, in fremde Schuhe schliirfen. So werd' Ich deine Kiinste doch als Schlurren gebrauchen diir- fen.** Droysen. ^ Comp. Vesp. 38. Acharn. 188. 894— 9U. THE KNIGHTS. 93 you, that he may smother you. And before this he plotted against you. Do you know that stalk of silphiura,' which became so cheap ? Dem. To be sure I know. S. S. On purpose this fellow was an^iious for it to be cheap, that you might buy and eat, and then the dicasts might kill each other ^ in the Helisea with fizzling. Dem. By Neptune, a stinkard also told this to me.'/< . S. S. Is it not the case that ye then became red with blushes with fizzling ? Dem. Aye, by Jove, this device was one of Pyrrandrus's. Cle. With what ribaldry you worry me, you villain ! S. S. For the goddess bade me conquer you with quackery. Cle. But you shall not conquer me. For I promise, Demus, to supply you with a bowl of pay to gulp down,* for doing nothing. S. S. But I give you a gallipot and ointment, to smear over the slight sores on your shins. [Presents them,.'\ Cle. I will pluck out your grey hairs and make you a young man. S. S. {offering a hare's scut). There, take a hare's scut ^ to wipe your two little eyes. Cle. After you have blown your nose, Demus, wipe i/our fingers upon my head. S. S. Nay rather, upon mine. Cle. Nay rather, upon mine. \JDemus bestows his dirty preference on the Sausaffe-seller.'] I vriU^ cause you to be a ' " Du weisst doch noch, wie neulich Die Silphionstengel mit einem Mai so billig wurden?" Droysen. Who adds in his note, " It seems not improbable that Cleon greatly promoted the trade with Cyrene, whence came the greater part of their silphium." = See notes on Nub. 689. Av. 1064. "'AmanoiDungwichto\A.me so." Walsh. Cf. Ran. 526. Plut.261. * The allusion is to the donations on festival day^ when the courts were closed, and the jurymen's pay suspended. Cf. note on Vesp. 525. » This present, as Siivern (Essay on the Tijpag of Aristophanes, p. 117) observes, is a piece of arch roguery, and alludes to Demus political opthalmia. ° " I'll make you captain, and I'll tip My gentleman a worn-out ship. 94 THE KNIGHTS. 912-945. trierarch expending your own money, with an old vessel, upon which you will never cease spending money or making repairs. And I will contrive that you get a rotten sail. Cho. The ' man is bubbling up. Stop, stop boiling over. We must drag from beneath him some of the firebrands, and skim off some of the threats with this here ladle. Cle. You shall give me proper satisfaction,^ being pressed down by my taxes, for I will exert myself that you may be enrolled among the rich.' S. S. I will utter no threats ; but I wish you the fol- lowing : that your frying-pan of cuttle-fish may stand over the fire frizzling, and that you, about to move a decree con- cerning the Milesians,'' and to gain a talent if you effect your object, may hasten to fiU. yourself with the^ cuttle-fish before you go to the assembly ; and then, before you've eaten them, may a man come to fetch you, and may you, wishing to get the talent, be choked with eating. Cho. Capital ! by Jove ! by Apollo ! by Ceres ! Dem. To me also he appears to be manifestly in other re- spects, too, a good citizen, such as no man has ever been for a long time towards the three-halfpenny mobocracy.^ While On which you'll be obliged to spend Your own good cash. There'll be no end To laying out your money on't. And making good whate'er it want. And I'll contrive, too, without fail. That you shall get a rotten sail." Walsh. ' " The fellow's bubbling up with ire. Don't, don't boil over on the fire ! Come, pluck away some sticks, and let's Make haste and ladle out some threats. ' ' Waish. ^ Vide Vesp. 453, Tax Vl^^v ^wfffrov koX-^v dlKrjv. ' See BiJckh's Publ. E. Ath. ii. p. 293. * " Comi). 361. The historical allusion I know not.'' Droysen. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 56, 5, obs. 5. " Gedenkst dir erst noch voU mit Fisch Den Wanst zu fiill'n, dann voll vom Tisch Zur Pnyx zu gehn." Droysen. " Properes sepiis te ingurgitare, priusquam in concionem eas." Brunclt, " " The worthiest that has been long since — the kindest And best-disposed to the honest sober class Of simple, humble, three-penny citizens." Frere. " Unsre Obolenleute." Droysen. Cf. vs. 682. Aves, 18. 946—966. THE KNIGHTS. 95 you, Paphlagonian, who say you love me, have garlicked me;' And now give me back my ring, as you shall no longer be my steward. Ole. Take it : but know thus much, that if you will not permit me to be overseer, some other again more villanous than I will appear. Dem. It is not possible that this ring is mine. At all events, the device appears different, unless " I do not see dis- tinctly. S. S. Come, let me see. What was your device ? Dem. a roasted olio of bull's fat.^ S. S. There is not this in it. Dem. Not the olio? What then ?< S. S. A gaping cormorant haranguing upon a rock.^ Dem. Alas, miserable man ! S. S. What is the matter? Dem. Take it out of the way : he had not mine, but that of Cleonymus.^ But do you receive this from me, and be my steward. Cle. Not yet, pray, O master, I entreat you, until you hear my oracles. S. S. And mine then. Cle. But if you accede to this fellow, you must become a mere hide.' S. S. And if to this man, you must become completely circumcised. Cle. But mine say that you must rule over* every country, crowned with roses. ' " In other words, used unfair means to excite my ill temper." Walsh. 2 See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 69, 4, obs. 6. Cf. vs. 238, 1497. ^ Cf. Vesp. 40. There is a play on the words Stj/ioe, people, and STjfibg, fat. * See note on Lys. 193. ' The " rock," of course, is the /3)j;ia of the Pnyx, and the " cor- morant " refers to Cleon's rapacity. Cf. Vesp. 35. Ach. 683. Pax, 680, and note on Thesm. 528. " " Cleonymus's emblem is a bird, to mark his cowardice.'' Frere. Cf. Ach. vs. 88. ' See Liddell's Lex. voc. ito\y&Q. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 50, 11, obs. 11, and obs. 12, and obs. 8. Brunck's version would require the article. " Den gesammten Erdkreis." Droysen. 96 THE KNIGHTS. 967—996. S. S. While mine, on the other hand, say, that with an embroidered purple robe and a diadem you shall pursue in a chariot of gold Smicythe ' and her husband. Dem. Well now, go and bring them, that this ^ man here may hear them. S. S. Certainly. Dem. And do you then bring yours. Cle. Very well.* S. S. Very well, by Jove : there's nothing to hinder you.* \^Cleon and the S. S. hurry out.'] Cho. Most sweet will be the light of day to all those pre- sent, and to those who are' coming, if Cleon perish. And yet I heard some very crabbed* old fellows disputing in the Law Exchange,'' that if this fellow had not become great in the state, there would not have been two useful utensils, a pestte' or a ladle. But this also I wonder at in his swinish musical taste ; for the boys who went to school with him say that he constantly adapted his lyre to the Dorian^ mode alone, and was not willing to learn any other. And then, that the harp- master,'" being enraged, gave orders to take him away, " since this youth is not able to learn any mode, except the Bribery- mode." {Re-enter Cleon and S. S., both heavily laden with papers.] ' " This is probably the Smicythus who is found in some inscrip- tions of this period. The poet gives his name a, feminine termination ill allusion to his propensities." Droysen. Comp. Nub. 690, 691. In Siwlti there is the same play on its two different meanings as iu Ach. 700. ^ oiToe = iyi). Cf. vs. 1098. Aves, 311, 1123. Nub. 141. Lys. 1087. Brunck, Frere, and Droysen, give this, verse to Cleon. ' The ordinary use of this word in replies. See vs. 121, 157. Ach. 434. Nub. 255, 825. Pax, 962. * See note on Aves, 463. ' " The allusion is to the allies, who will be coming in a couple of months to pay in their tribute." Droysen, = See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 49, 10, obs. 4. ' In the Piraeus there was a Sample-market or Exchange, where merchants met to exhibit their samples and transact business. Accordingly, the poet jestingly gives the old Heliasts a sample- market for their wares, i. e. for suits and actions — a sort of a " Law Exchange." See note on Lys. 557. » Vide Pac. 269. ' In Awpirrri there is a pun on SiSoov, a bribe. See note on Vesp 35. This is brought out more plainly in vs. 996. '» See Nub. 9B4. 997—1017. THE KNIGHTS. 97 Cleon, Sausage-seller, Demus, Chorus. Cle. There, see ! and yet I bring not all out ! - S. S. Ah me, how I want to ease myself, and yet I brino- not all out. ° Dem. What are these ? Cle. Oracles. Dem. All? Cle. Do you wonder ? By Jove, I have still a chest full. S. S. And I have an upper-room and two out-houses full. Dem. Come, let me see : why, whose in the world are the oracles ? Cle. Mine are Bacis's.' Dem. And whose are yours ? S. S. Glanis's, elder brother of Bacis. Dem. What are they about ? Cle. About Athens, about Pylos, about you, about me, about every thing. Dem. And what are yours about ? S. S. About Athens, about lentil-broth, about the Lace- daemonians, about fresh mackerel, about those who measure their barley unfairly in the market-place, about you, about me. — May this here fellow tumble and tread on his nose ! Dem. Come now, see that you read them to me, and that notable 2 one about me, with which I am delighted, " That I shall become an eagle ^ in the clouds." Cle. Hear now, and give me your attention. \_Unrolls his papers.']. " Son of Erectheus, take heed of the way of the oracles,* which Apollo uttered for you from the sanctuary by means of highly-prized tripods. He ordered you to preserve the sacred dog* with jagged teeth, who by snarling in your * Comp. vs. 123. Glanis, of course, is an impromptu invention on the part of the Sausage-seller. = See Kriiger's Gr. Or. § 51, 7, ohs. 7. Cf. note on Lys. 316. ' See note on Av. 978. It may be doubted whether Liddell's explanation (Lex. voc. aXtrog) be correct. * Cf. Eur. Med. 766. Hipp. 290. "Achte den Pfad der Orakel." Droysen. ' The same epithet is applied to Cleon in Vesp. 1034, and Pac. 741. " Kfktviii in Attic writers takes only an accusative with the infinitive : in Homer and Polybius occasionally « (fc^sfe with the infinitive." Kruger. 98 THE KNIGHTS. 1018—10^3. defence and barking dreadfully in your behalf, will provide you pay ; and if be do not this, he will perish. For many daws, through hatred, croak at him." Dem. By Ceres, I do not know what these things mean. For what has Erectheus' to do with jackdaws and a dog? Cle. I am the dog, for I howl in your defence, and Phoebus ordered you to preserve me, your dog. S. S. The oracle does not say this, but this here dog gnaws at the oracles, as he does your door^ For I have it correctly about this dog.^ Dem. Read it, then: but first I'll take a stone, lest the oracle about the dog bite me.* S. S. " Beware, Son of Erectheus, of the kidnapping dog Cerberus, who, fawning upon you with his tail, watching when you are dining, will consume your victuals, whenever you gape any other way : and he will often go secretly into your kitchen^ by night, like a dog, and lick clean your plates and islands." Dem. Far better, O Glanis, by Neptune ! ^ Cle. G-ood sir, hear, and then decide : — " There is a wo- man, and she shall bring forth a lion in sacred Athens, who in behalf of the people shall fight with many gnats, as if de- fending^ his whelps. Him do thou guard, having made a wooden wall and iron towers."' Do you know what these mean ? Dem. By Apollo, not I. Cle. The god clearly ordered you to preserve me. For I am in the place of the Hon to you. ' See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 48, 3, obs. 9. 2 " I've got the genuine truth about the dog." Walsh. " Sondern dieser Hund Benagt die Gotterspriiche gleich 'ner Gotterthiir. Ganz deutlich steht bei mir von dem Hund geschrieben." Droysen. ' " Meanwhile I'll pick a stone up for the nonce, For fear the dog in the oracle should bite me." Frere. * By the "kitchen " is meant the Prytaneum, and tciq vijmvQ is irapi irpoaSoKiav for rag xurpac;. Cf. Vesp. 904. ' " By Neptune, Glanis, you have beat him hollow." Walsh. * Join vtpi^tliriKiig. Cf. Horn. II. xvii. 313. ' See Thirlwall's Bist. Greece, ii. p. 294. 1014-1059. THE KNIGHTS. 99 IDeji. Why, how have you become " lion-like " ' without my knowing it ? S. S. One part of the oracles he purposely does not inform you of, which is'' the only iron wall and wood wherein Loxias ordered you to keep this fellow. Dem. How then did the god declare this ? S. S. He bade you bind this fellow here in the five-holed pillory.^ Dem. These* oracles seem to me soon about to be accom- plished. Cle. Do not believe him ; for envious crows croak at me. But love the hawk, remembering him in your mind, who bound and brought you the young ravens of the Lacedae- monians.* S. S. Assuredly the Paphlagonian hazarded this when he was drunk.* O foolish son of Cecrops, why do you consider this deed a great one ? " Even a woman can bear a burden, when a man may put it upon her;" but she cannot fight, for she would' be in a fright if she were to fight. -f~ Cle. But take heed of this — a Pylos in front of a Pylos, which he declared to you. " There is a Pylos in front of a Pylos." Dem. What does this mean, " in front of a Pylos ?"' ' Comp. Silvern, Essay on The Clouds, p. 73. ' " Was allein die eherne Mauer bedeutet und das Holz, Worin dir Loxias sorgsam ihn zu bewahren gebot." Droysen. " Aristot. Rhet. iii. x. 7, to firj livaa9ai rjavxtav dyiiv utt'o rffQ Tv\riq^ iv TTtvTeavpiyytft vofftf) SeSefikvov, Cf. Lys. 680. * " That prophecy seems likely to be verified." Frere. ' Vide Thucyd. lib. iv. 41, 'K-ofuaBivTuv Si rSiv avdpiSv oi 'ABijvaXoi i^ov\tv(jav Sia^oTg fikv aiiTOvg (jivXatraetVy k. t. X. « The reason why the poet uses the strong term ft£9u(70fie may be collected from Thucyd. lib. iv. 28, roTc Si 'AOrivatoie Iviirtni fiiv ti^ icai yiXuiTog ry Kou^oXoyi'^t avTov ; and from c. 39, xai Tov KXioivoe KOiTrtp fiaviwSrjs ovffa if iTrotr^^cTtc a-jri^rj. ' Siv is to be repeated with -xiaatro. See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 69, 7, obs. 4. The preceding verse is from the " Little Iliad." » " There was an ancient oracle, the words of which were, ' Pylos in front of a Pylos, And still there 's remaming a Pylos.' It is quoted by Strabo (p. 339) to prove the existence of three places of this name in the Peloponnese. Cleon appears to msmu- H 2 100 THE KNIGHTS. 1060—1083. S. S. He says he will seize the bathing-tubs in the bath. Dem. And I shall be to-day unwashed, for this fellow has stolen away our bathing-tubs. S. S. But this oracle here is about our navy, to which you must by all means give your attention. Dem. I attend : but do you read, how, iji the first place, their pay shall be paid to my sailors.' S. S. " Son of iEgeus, beware of the dog-fox, lest it de- ceive you, biting^ in secret, swift of foot, the crafty thief, cunning." Do you know what this is ? Dem. Philostratus the dog-fox.^ S. S. He does not say this ; but this fellow here is always asking for swift ships to levy tribute : these Loxias forbids you to"* grant him. Dem. How, pray, is a trireme a dog-fox ? S. S. How ? Because your trireme and your dog are swift. Dem. How, then, was " fox " added to " dog ?" S. S. He compared the soldiers to little foxes,^ because they eat the clusters of grapes in the farms. Dem. Well, where is the pay for these little foxes ? S. S. I will supply it, and that too within three days.^ But further, hearken to this oracle, in which the son of Latona ordered you to beware of CyUene,'' lest she deceive you ? Dem. What Cyllene? S. S. He rightly represented this fellow's hand as a " Cyl- lene," because he says " put into my bent hand."' ate, that he himself is the Pylos, who stands in front of the real Pylos to defend it." Walsh. ' " Yes, I'll attend— I wish it would tell me, how To pay my seamen their arrear of wages." Frere. " Vide Blomf. Gloss. Theb. vs. 379. ' So Xaipe). These, one would imagine, could not be very appetizing dainties, if they bore any resemblance to 102 THE KNIGHTS. 1107-1148. Dem. Make haste, then, with what ye are going to do ; for I will deliver the reins of the Pnyx to him, whichever of you, again, confers more benefits upon me. Cle. I will run in first. S. S. Certainly not, but I will. [Cfeow and the S. S. run off-'] Cho. O Demus, you possess a fine sovereignty, when all men dread you as a » |g«Ol Yet you are easily led by the nose, and you delight in being flattered ^ and cajoled, and gape open-mouthed at whoever happens to be^ speaking, and your mind, though present, is abroad.* Dem. There is no sense in your locks,* when you think me not to be in my sound senses. But I drivel thus on purpose. For I myself delight- to cry for drink every day, and wish to bring up a' thievish minister, and him, when he is glutted, I take up and strike. Cho. And in this way you would be doing well, if, as you say, very great prudence is in this habit of yours, if you pur- posely bring up these in the Pnyx like public victims, and then, when you have no food, sacrifice and feast upon one of these, whichever^ is fat. Dem. Observe me, if I cleverly overreach them, those who fancy they are wise, and that they humbug me. For I am al- ways watching them while stealing, pretending not to see them ; and then I compel them to disgorge again whatever their successors in North Lonsdale. The reading in the following verse seems singularly inapt. That tovi^iov bvTov can under any circumstances mean " roasted fish" I utterly disbelieve. See Krii- ger's Gr. Gr. § 50, 8. ' Cf. Ach. 635. Thuc. iii. 38. Aristot. Polit. ii. 12. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 50, 8, obs. 9, and § 50, 10, obs. 5. Cf. Monk, Ale. 710. Blomf. Gloss. Prom. 973. = See Ach. 399. " Und sitzend verlierst du dann den Witz in den Wolken." Droysm. ■* " Usually worn by young men of birth and opulence." Wahh. Cf. Ach. 580. Lidd. Lex. voc. Kojuaw. ' fif often = our indefinite article a. See vs. 400, which has been misunderstood even by Porson ; Av. 1292 ; Plato, Legg. p. 855, D. Shakspeare, Hamlet, act iv. sc. 2, " When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again." ° For this relative clause, see Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 51, 13, obs. 2. And for iraxie, see Vesp. 288. Pax, 639. llW-1170. THE KNIGHTS. 103 they steal from me, putting the ballot-box like a probe down their throats. [ Clean and the S. S. return.'] Cle. Begone to the devil out of the way ! S. S. Do you, you pestilent fellow ! Cle. O Demus, in truth I have been sitting ready long, long ago, wishing to benefit you.' S. S. And I ten times as long ago,^ and twelve times as long ago, and a thousand times as long ago, and very long ago, long ago, long ago. Dem. And I with waiting for you have been detesting you both thirty thousand times as long ago, and very long ago, long ago, long ago. S. S. Do you know, then, what you are to do ?' Dem. If I do not, you shall tell me. S. S. Start me and this fellow here from the starting-post, that we may confer favours on you on equal terms. Dem. I must do so. Begone ! Cle. Very weU ! Dem. Run ! S. S. I don't suffer him to cut in before me. [^Both run off".] Dem. Well, by Jove, I shall be mightily blest to-day by ray lovers, or I shall grow* conceited. [^Re-enter Clean and S. S.'] Cle. You see, I am the first to bring out a seat for you. S. S. Yet not a table ;^ but I am days and days before you. \^Demtts sits down.] Cle. See ! I am bringing you this barley-scone kneaded from the barley of Pylos. S. S. And I bread-spoons scooped out by the goddess with her ivory hand. Dem. {taking ane up). What^ a huge finger, then, you have, mistress ! ' " Dear people, I've been sitting here, prepared And anxious to do you good, for these three ages." Walsh. ' '' And I for these ten ages, and twelve ages, And for these thousand ages, ages, ages." Wahh. ' See Elmsley on Soph. Rex, 543. • " Zu verwiihnt." Droysen. ' " But not a table ; I'm the firsteat there." Walsh. ' See note on Vesp. 451. 104 THE KNIGHTS. 1171—1191. Cle. And I pea-soup of a good colour and excellent ; and Pallas fighting at the gates ' stirred it up. S. S. Evidently the goddess watches over you, Demus, and now she holds over you a pot full of broth. Dem. Do you think this city could any longer be governed, if she did not evidently hold her pot ^ over us ? i^ Cle. The scarer of hosts presented you with uiis slice of salt-fish. S. S. And the slaughter of a strong father sent you flesh boiled with broth,^ and a slice of tripe, and belly, and paunch. Dem. She did well in remembering the Peplus.* Cle. She of the Gorgon crest bade you^ eat some of this pancake, that we may row our vessels well.* S. S. Take now these also. \Hands him the tripe.] Dem. And what am I to do with these guts ? S. S. The goddess sent them you on purpose as belly-timber for the triremes;® for she manifestly watches over the navy. Take and drink a mixture o£ three parts water and two parts wine. \_He hands him a bowl of wine.] Dem. (drinks). O Jupiter, how sweet, and bow well it bears the three ! S. S. For Tritogenia mixed it three to two.^ Cle. Accept now from me a slice of rich'cheese-cake. S. S. But from me the whole* of this here cheese-cake. • In this there is an allusion to the affair at Pylos. " Die Pallas selbst, die Pyloskampferin, durchgeruhrt." Droysen. ^ Said irapd vpoaSoKiav for rijv x"P"- Cf. vs. 1296. Pax, 710. Av. 671, 1653. Soph.- El. 615. Thuc. i. 22, 76; ii. 18, 20, 49, 83, 93; iii. 11, 89; vi. 18; viii. 66, 68, 103. Herod, ii. 135; iii. 22, 35 ; vii. 3. Demosth. Mid. p. 510, E. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 54, 12, obs. 6. ^ " Imeig'nen Fett gehraten." Droysen. ' Comp. vs. 566, supra. For the construction, see Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 56, 8, obs. 1. ^ " The Gorgon-crested goddess bids you eat Of this ptilkd-fowl, to help us puU our galleys." Walsh. ' " Mit gutem Bedacht verehret es Zu Ribben fur deine neuen SchifFe die Giittin dir." Droysen. ' " Aye, the Threieian Pallas threeified it." Walsh. " Auch hat Tritonia ja besorgt die Drittelung." Voss. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 50, 11, obs. 5. 1192—1211. THE KNIGHTS. 105 Cle. {running to his basket). Well, you will have no means of giving ' hare's flesh ; but I shall. S. S. Ah me ! whence shall I have hare's flesh ? Soul of mine, now devise some low trick ! Cle. {holding up the basket). Do you see this, you poor wretch ? S. S. I care little. For, see ! yonder ^ people are coming to me ! Cle. WLat people ? S. S. Ambassadors with purses of money. Cle. {looking round). Where ? where ? S. S. What's that to you ? Won't you let the foreigners alone? {_Steals the hare's JlesL] My little Demus, do you see the hare's flesh which 1 am bringing to you ? Cle. Ah me, miserable ! Unjustly have you filched away what was mine. S. S. Aye, by Neptune,^ for you also did so to the prison- ers at Pylos. De5I. {lavishing). TeU me, I entreat you ; how did you contrive to steal it ? S. S. The device was the goddess's — the theft mine.'' Cle. But I ran the hazard. S. S. And I roasted it. Dem. {to Cleon). Be off! For* the thanks belong to him who served it up. Cle. Ah me,^ unhappy ! I shall be surpassed in impu- dence. S. S. Why do you not decide, Demus, which of us two is the better man towards you and towards your belly ? Dem. By the use of what proof, pray, shall I appear to the audience to decide between you wisely ? S. S. I will tell you : go and seize upon my chest in silence, ' Hare's flesh being considered a great delicacy, gave rise to the proverb, Iv wdat Xa-yi^otc ; vide Vesp. 709. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 50, 11, obs. 22 ; § 51, 7, obs. 9. Monk, Ale. 138. Dawes, M. C. 558. ' " Just as you did the prisoners at Pylos." Frere. See Kriiger's Or. Gr. § 69, 32, obs. 21 ; and for the pregnant construction of the preposition, ib. § 50, 8, obs. 17 ; and § 68, 17, obs. 3. ' Cf. Ran. 1+71. ' See note on Nub. 232. Comp. Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 67, 14, obs. 2. ' " Confound it, I shall be out-impudenced." Walsh. 106 THE KNIGHTS. 1212-1238. and examine what there is in it, and that of the Paphlago- nian ; and doubtless .you'll judge rightly^ Dem. Come, let me see ; what, then, is there in it ? S. S. (opening the chest). Do you not see that it is empty, dear little papa ? for I have set all before you. Dem. This chest is a friend of the people. S. S. At any rate, walk this way' also to that of the Paph- lagonian. [ Opens Clean's chest."] Do you see these ? Dem. Ah me, the number ' of good things with which it is filled ! What a prodigious cheese-cake he has stowed away ! while he cut off and gave me only this tiny bit. S. S. Such things, however, he used to do aforetime also ; he used to offer you a little of what he received, but used to set before himself the greater part. Dem. O abominable fellow ! did you deceive me then, in stealing these? "while! crowned you and^ made you pre- sents." Cle. I stole for the good of the state.' Dem. Quickly lay down the chaplet, that I may put it upon this man. S. S. Lay it down quickly, you knave ! ■• Cle. Certainly not, since I have a Pythian oracle, which mentions by whom alone I must be conquered. S. S. Aye, which mentions my name, and very distinctly. Cle. Well now, I wish to examine you by a test, if in any wise you shall agree ^ with the oracles of the god. And first I will inquire of you thus much : To what teacher's school did you go when a child ? S. S. I was taught with cuffs in the singeing-pits.^ Cle. How say you? How' the oracle affects my soul ! Well — What style of wrestling did you learn in the school of the gymnastic-master ? ' Comp. Ay. 143. For vs. 1219, see note on Av. 670. ^ " A manifest quotation from some unknown poet, who wrote in a provincial dialect." Walsh. ^ ' " I stole on principle for the public service." Frere. * " Non manum abstines, mastigiaf" Terent. Adelph. act v. ii. 6. Vide Facciolati in v. * See Schneidewin ad Soph. Aj. 431. * Athenian hogs were singed, not scalded. ' " The solemn verses of Cleon are taken from some tragic poet : at least they have a very tragic colouring." Droysen. 1239—1256. THE KNIGHTS. 107 S. S. When stealing," to forswear and look them in the face. Cle. " O PhoEbus,^ Lycian Apollo, what in the world will you do to me?" What trade had you when come to man's estate ? S. S. I sold sausages, and also ' wenched a little. Cle. Ah me, unhappy ! " No longer am I aught. Very slender is the hope upon which we ride."'' And tell me thus much : did you sell sausages, pray, in the market-place, or yat the gates ? * S. S. At the gates, where the dried fish is sold. Cle. Ah me ! the oracle of the god is accomplished ! " Roll within this wretched man."^ My chaplet, fare thee well! albeit' I leave thee unwUlingly. Some other one will take and possess thee : a greater thief he cannot be ; more fortunate, perhaps, he may.' \_Exit Clean.'] S. S. Hellenic Jove ! thine is the prize of victory. Demosth. Oh hail, thou splendidly victorious ! and remem- ber that by my means you have become a man. And I ask you a trifling favour, that I may be your Phanus, secretary of indictments.* ' " Zu stehlen, abzuschworen, frech ins Gesicht zu sehen." Droi/sen. ' According to the Scholiast, this verse is taken from the Telephus of Euripides. ' Comp. Kniger, Gr. Gr. § 69, 32, obs. 20. ' Cf. Soph. Aj. 12-15. Theoc. i. vs. 1. " Clearly a quotation from some tragedy. The whole of this scene is in a vein of burlesque tragic solemnity." Walsh. ' " Cleon purposely puts the question in such a manner that the Sausage-seller may, if possible, give the wrong answer, and so save Cleon." Droyaen. ' This verse is taken from the Bellerophon of Euripides. " Cleon summons the directors of the theatrical machinery, to have their artistic skill in readiness, and to wheel him into the house by means of the encycleraa." Droysen. Comp. Thesm. 265. ' See Lidd. Lex. in voc. Kai, ii, 2. 'A parody on Eurip. Ale. 179. " Nun lebe wohl, O Kranz, Ich scheid' ungern von dir ! O Kranz, ein andrer wird gar bald besitzen dich, Im Stehlen grosser nicht, vielleicht an Gliick denn Ich." Droysen. With otiK av we must supply the preceding verb in the optative. See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 62, 4, obs. 1, and § 69, 7, obs. 2. • " The metre of this line is redundant, (the first syllable of "tovof being long,) though Valerius (on Harpocration^ p. 228) and D'Orville (on Chariton, p. 5) quote it without suspicion. Amend 108 THE KNIGHTS. 1257^1278. Dem. Tell me, what is your name ? S. S. Agoracritus, for I was maintained by litigation in the market-place. Dem. Then I commit myself to Agoracritus, and deliver up this here Paphlagonian. Agoeacritus. Agor. Well now, Demus, I will tend you excellently, so that you confess that you have seen no man better than me for the city of the Gapenians.' [Exeunt Demus and Agora- critus.'l • Cho. What is more noble for people beginning, or for peo- ple concluding, than to sing of the drivers of swift steeds,^ — and with willing heart to give no offence to Lysistratus, or Thumantis the homeless? For this fellow, O dear ApoUo, ever hungers, touching thy quiver with copious tears at ivine Delphi, so as not to be miserably poor. To revile the wicked is in no wise invidious ; but it is an honour to the good, if any consider^ rightly. If there- fore the man, who must hear much abuse from me, had been known himself, I would not make mention of a man my friend.* But now every one knows ^ Arignotus, who knows it from Suidas, v. ^avoq. "Oiriaq laojiai aoi.'' Person in Cens. Pha- nus was a creature of Cleon's. See Vesp. 1220. ' See note on Acharn. 635. ' A parody upon a fragment of Pindar. Lysistratus was a poor poet. See Ach. See. Vesp. 787, 1308. Fragm. i. Thumantis was a prophet in similar circumstances. The former had managed to procure a lucrative appointment at Delphi. " Was schbneres kann zum Beginnen Oder zu Schlusse man singen, Als der schnell hin sturmenden Rosse Gew'altiger ! Auf Lysistratos nur nichts ! Noch Thumantis wieder mit Willen der heimathlose Mann zum Ziel des Hohns." Droysen. For the participles, see note on Lys. 556. ' See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 51, 13, obs. 12. * " Now if he, whose nasty penchant Must be satirized, had been Known himself, I would not mention One I love ; 'twould be a sin." Walsh. See Append, to Harper's " Powers of the Greek Tenses," and note on Av. 788. * See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 51, 10, obs. 11. 1279—1306. THE KNIGHTS. 109 either white, or the Orthian strain. He has, then, a brother, not akin to him in disposition, the vile Ariphrades.' But he even prefers this vileness. Now he is not only vile for I sJiould not even have heard of him, if he had been only this, nor yet most villanous, but he has also invented somethino- besides.2 For he employs himself in committing unheard-of obscenities, composing Polymnestean poems and associatino- with Oionichus.3 Whoever, therefore, does not detest such a fellow^ exceedingly, shall never drink out of the same cup with us. Of a truth'' I have oftentimes been engaged in nightly meditations, and have sought whence in the world Cleonymus feeds poorly. For they say that he,' feeding on the property of the rich, would not come forth from the cupboard ; while the others nevertheless used" to entreat him : " Come, lord, by thy knees, come forth and pardon the table." They say that the triremes came t9gether for a conference with each other, and that one of them said, who was more advanced in years, " Have ye not heard, ye virgins, these doings in the city ? They say that a certain person requires a hundred of us for Chalcedon, a rascally citizen, sour-tem- pered' Hyperbolus." And they sap that this appeared to the others to be shameful and not to be borne, and that one of them said, who had not come nigh man : " Thou averter of ill, he ' Comp. Eccl. 129. Vesp. 1280. Pax, 383. ' " ' Scamp,' however, he delights in — Yet he 's not a ' scamp ' alone ; — None would notice such a slight sin In this scamp-abounding town." Walsh. " But the wretch is grown inventive, eager to descend and try Undiscover'd, unattempted depths of filth and infamy." Frere. ' The first of these was a Colophonian harper. Both were ad- dicted to the same practices as Ariphrades. I have here designedly slurred over three verses, as the vices mentioned were too horrid to be even hinted at. " See Vesp. 1275. Polymnestes had been the author of some bawdy poems." Droysen. * " Oft hab' Ich in nachtlicher Stille Her mich und hln mich besonnen, Nachgeforscht tiefgriibelnd, woher so wie gar nichts Essen kann Cleonymos." Droysen. ' See note on vs. 1175, supra. « See Kruger's Gr, Gr. § 54, 12, obs. 6, and § 53, 10, obs. 3. ' See Thuc. viii. 73. 110 THE KNIGHTS. 1307—1326. shall certainly never rule over me ; but if I must, I will here grow old, rotted by wood-worms. Neither shall he rule over Nauphante, daughter of Nauson ; certainly not, ye gods, if indeed I also was constructed of fir and timbers ! But if this content the Athenians, I move that we sail to the Theseum,' or to the august goddesses,^ and sit as suppliants. For he shall not laugh at the city by being our commander. Nay, let him sail alone by himself to the crows, if he will, having launched the trays in which he used to sell his lamps. \B,e- enter Agoracrifus.^ ■ • Agor. You must use words of good omen, and close the mouth, and abstain from evidence, and shut up the law-courts, in which this city delights ; and the audience must chaunt the paean at our new successes. Cho. O thou light of sacred Athens, and protector of the islands, with what good news have you come, at which' we should fill the streets with the steam of burnt sacrifice ? Agor. I have boiled down'' your Demus, and made him beautiful from being ugly. Cho. Why, where is he now, O thou^ who inventest won- drous devices? Agor. He is dwelling in the violet-crowned,^ the ancient Athens. Cho. Would we could see him ! ' What sort of a dress has he ? What sort of a person has he become ? Agor. Such as when he used to mess with Aristides and Miltiades in olden time. Ye shall see him, for now there is a noise of the Propylsea getting opened. But shout aloud at ' Vide Porson in Censur. apud Mus. Crit. Cant. vol. ii. p. 119. Cf. Av. 337. Vesp. 250, 270. Thesm. 428, and vs. 654, supra. ' " They ca' them," said Mr. Jarvie in a whisper, " Davine Schie, ■whilk signifies, as I understand, men of peace ; meaning thereby to make their good will." Rob Roy. In allusion to the Fairies. Hence also " Robin Goodfellow." Corap. Shakspeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 2. ' Vide Monk ad Alcest. 1174; Nostr. Av. 1233. * There is here an allusion to the legend of Medea and .Slson. Cf. Siivern on the Tftpag of Aristophanes, p. 143. ' For the participle with interjections, of. Av. 174, 322, 1175, 1725. • Vide Acharn. vs. 637. ' See note on Ach. 991. Lidd. Lex. vZg, iii. 3 ; and for ttowq tiq, cf. vs. 1339. Nub. 765. Vesp. 550. KrUger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 16, obs. 3. 1327—1342. THE KNIGHTS. 1 1 1 the appearance of the ancient Athens, both wondrous, and much sung of, where the illustrious Demus dwells. Cho. O sleek,' and violet-crowned, and much to be envied Athens ! show to us the monarch of Greece, and of this land. \_Here the folding -doors of the Acropolis are thrown open, and Dermis is seen sitting upon a throne, gorgeously dressed in the fashion of the Marathonian times, and in all the bloom of yoM See Matthia, Gr. Or. § 449, 9. Jelf, § 872, g. 112 THE KNIGHTS. 1342—1363. for you, and alone ' provide for you ; " whenever any one used these preambles, you used- to clap your wings and crow, and hold your head high. Dem. What, I ? Agor. And then in return for this, he cheated you and went off. Dbm. What do you say ? Did they treat me thus, and I not perceive it ? Agor. Aye, by Jove, and your ears used to be opening and shutting again, just like a parasol. Dem. Had I become so senseless and doting ? Agor. And, by Jove, if two orators ^ were speaking, the one recommending to build ships of war, the other, on the contrary, to spend this in paying the dicasts, the one who spoke of the pay, having outstripped the one who spoke of the triremes, used to go his way.^ Hollo you ! Why do you hang down your head ? Will you not remain in your place ? Dem. In truth I am ashamed at my former faults. Agor. You were not to blame for this, — do not be con- cerned, — but those who deceived you in this. But* now tell me : if any lick-spittle advocate should say, " You dicasts have no maintenance, if you will not decide against this suit." Tell me ; what will you do to this advocate ? Dem. I will raise him aloft and cast him into the Pit, having hung Hyperbolus about his neck. ' " Ich sorge fiir dich, Ich rath' allein zu deinera Heil." Droysen. ^ It has been generally supposed that d ye, non interposito aliquo vocabuh, is scarcely a statutable construction in Attic Greek. See Herm. Vig. n. 280, 310 ; Append, p. 780 ; Person, Advers. p. 36 ; Mitchell's Knights, p. 278. But this opinion is not correct. See Pax, 712; Thuc. viii. 87 ; Demosth. Cor. § 256, § 294 (Bremi) ; Plat. Alcib. p. 143, C. ; Meno, p. 73, C, p. 74, C, p. 98, D. ; Xenoph. Cyr. iv. 1, 21. " £1 yi gives a prominence to the whole of the con- ditional clause, £1 — yi only to the word interposed." Kriger. ^ " Moreover, if a couple of orators Were i)leading in your presence ; one proposing To equip a fleet, his rival arguing To get the same supplies distributed To the jurymen ; the patron of the juries Carried the day." Frere. * See Lidd. Lex. in voc. wvi. Cf. note on Thesm. 646. 1364-1386. THE KNIGHTS. 113 Agor. This now you speak rightly and prudently.' But in other respects, come, let me see, tell me how you will conduct the government. Dem. In the first place, as many as row ships of war, to these I will pay their wages in full when they come into port. Agor. You^ have bestowed a favour on many smooth -worn bottoms. Dem. Secondly, no hoplite who has been enrolled in the list for service, shall be transferred to another list, through inter- est, but shall remain enrolled' as he was at first. Agok. This has stung Cleonymus' buckler. Dem. Nor shall any beardless fellow lounge in the market- place. Agor. Where then shall Clisthenes^ and Strato lounge? Dem. I mean these striplings in the perfume-market, who sit and chatter in this ^vise : — " Phseax' is a clever fellow, and has learnt shrewdly. For he is cogent, and conclusive, and clever at coining maxims, and perspicuous, and forcible, and admirably adapted for checking the uproarious.''^ Agor. Are not you, then, adapted for^ kicking the bab- bling ? Dem. No, by Jove, but I will compel all these to go a hunt- ing, having left off decrees. Agor. On theseconditions, then, take' this here folding-stool, and a stout youth who shall carry it for you. And, if any where you choose, make a folding-stool of him. ' See Kruger's Gr. Gr. § 57, 3, pbs. 7. ' See note on vs. 785, supra. ' See Kruger's Gr. Gr. § 53. 9, obs. 2. * See Ach. vss. 118, 122. "In Thesm. 573, he is introduced as ambassador to the women ; in Av. 831, he carries a weaver's shut- tle. He and Cleonymus are, as it were, the representatives of ef- feminacy. ' ' Wachamitth. ' An Athenian statesman, son of Erasistratus, better skilled in talking than in oratory. He was a rival of Alcibiades, and had managed to obtain a verdict in his favour in a capital prosecution. He was general a few years later. ' The whole of this sentence is a quiz upon the language of the Socratic philosophers, who greatly affected these forms in -ikAq. Walsh refers to the Sophist and Politician of Plato for examples. ' " Are you not kickative of babblativea ? " Walsh. ' Comp. vss. 949, 1187. Ran. 270. I 114 THE KNIGHTS. 1387—1408. Dem. Happy man, now I am reinstated in my pristine con- stitution ! ' Agor. You will say so, when I give you the thirty years' peace. Come hither, peace, quickly ! [Enter a beautiful girl in the character of Peace^ Dem. Much-honoured Jove, how beautiful ! By the gods,^ is it permitted to enjoy her ? Pray, how did you get her ? Agoe. Did not the Paphlagonian conceal her within, that you might not get her ? Now therefore I hand her over to you, to take with you into the country. Dem. But tell me what mischief you will do to the Paph- lagonian, who did this. Agoe. No great matter, except' that he shall exercise my trade. He shall have the exclusive sale of sausages at the gates, mixing dogs' with asses' flesh ; and when drunk he shall slang with the harlots, and shall drink the dirty water* from the baths. Dem. You have happily devised that of which he is worthy, to contend^ in bawling with the harlots and bath-men; and in return for this I invite you to the Prytaneum, and to the seat where that villain used to be. But take this here frog- green coat and follow ! And let some one carry him out to exercise his trade,^ that the foreigners whom he maltreated may ' behold him ! \Cleon is carried out, and exeunt omnes.^ ' " Ich gliicklicher Mann ! die alte Zeit kehrt mir zuriick ! " Droysen. For the construction, cf. Vesp. 144. ^ " Will you allow me to be-thirty-year her? " Walsh. " Mir ist 's erlaubt, die durch zu dreissigjahrigen ? " Droysen. According to Silvern, (Essay on the Tripas of Aristophanes, p. 162,) this present consisted of two beautiful girls. For the article with airovoai, see note on Av. 655. ^ " Nichts grosses weiter, als dass er mein Geschaft bekommt." Droysen, Cf. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 69, 4, obs. 5. * " Seifenwasser. " Droysen. ' Vide Vesp. 1481, where Sia in composition has the same force. ^ Comp. Thuc. iv. 34 ; viii. 87. END OF THE KNIGHTS. THE CLOUDS. DRAMATIS PERSONjE. STREPSIADES. PHIDIPPIDES. SERVANT OF STREPSIADES. DISCIPLES OF SOCRATES. SOCRATES. CHORUS OF CLOUDS. JUST Aoros. UNJUST Aoros. PASIAS. AMYNIAS. WITNESS. CH.aEREPHON. I 2 THE ARGUMENT. Strepsiades, a wealthy cultivator of the soil in the district of Cicynna, has been reduced to poverty hy tlie extravagance of his son. He has heard of the new and wonderful art of reasoning, by which the Sophists professed to make the worse appear the better cause ; and hopes that, under the tuition of Socrates, he may attain to such skill and dexterity of arguing as will enable him to elude the actions for debt, with which he is threatened by his creditors. All attempts to make him acquainted with the subtleties of the new philosophy are found to be vain ; and his son Phidippides is substi- tuted in his stead, as a more hopeful pupil. The youth gives rapid proof of his proficiency, by beating his father, on their next inter- view, and then attempting to demonstrate to him that this proceed- ing is right and lawful. The eyes of the foolish old man are opened to the wickedness of the new doctrines, and the imposture of their professors. He sets fire to the school of Socrates ; and the play ends, like most of our modern melodramas, with a grand con- flagration. This comedy -vias first represented at the Great Festival of Bacchus, (March, b. c. 423,) when Aristophanes was beaten by Cratiniis and Amipsias, through the intrigues of Alcibiades, who perceived himself aimed at in the character of Phidippides. Aris- tophanes was now in his twenty-first year. In consequence of this defeat, he prepared a second edition, which, we are told, was ex- hibited with an equal want of success the following year. But it is now well ascertained that the play we now have was the original first edition, with a new Address, and a few other unimportant alterations perhaps, and that it was never completed for the stage. At all events, it mentions Cleon (vs. 591 — 594) as still living, who died in the summer of b. c. 422, while the Address quotes (vs. 553) the " Maricas " of Eupolis, which was not exhibited till b. c. 421. Schlegel (Dramatic Lit. p. 156) remarks, " The most honourable testimony in favour of Aristophanes is that of the sage Plato, who transmitted the Clouds (this very play, in which, with the meshes of the sophists, philosophy itself, and even his master Socrates, was attacked) to Dionysius the elder, with the remark, that from it he would be best able to understand the state of things at Athens." THE CLOUDS. [Scene — the interior of a sleeping apartment : Strepsiades, Pkidippides, and two servants are seen in their beds: a small house is seen at a distance. Time — midnight.'] Strepsiades {sitting up in his bed). Ah me ! ah me ! king Jupiter, of what a terrible length the nights are ! • WiU it never be day ? And yet ^ long since I heard the cock. My domestics are snoring ; but they •would not have done so heretofore ! May you perish then, O war ! for many reasons ; because I may not even punish my domestics.^ Neither does this excellent youth awake through the night ; but takes his ease, wrapped up in five blankets. Well, if it is the fashion, let us snore wrapped up. \_Lies down, and then almost immediately starts up again.'] * " Hoc dicit : rb xpVf*^ ^^v vvktwv Toaov iaTiVf oaov dirtpavTov. Mirabundus, nescio hercle, inquit, qui fiat, ut noctes plane sint im- menssE." Uerm. See Liddell 3 Lexicon in voc. xp^fta. " O Konig Zeus, was ist doch eine Nacht so lang, Ohn' ende lang ! ob 's Tag denn gar nicht werden will ? " Droysen. ' See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 69, 39, obs. 1. ' or' must not be mistaken for on, which is never elided in the comic writers, art is often found in old Attic in the place and force of oTi. See Kiniger's Gr. Gr. § 54, 16, obs. 2 and obs. 3. " But my people lie and snore. Snore in defiance, for the rascals know It is their privilege in time of war. Which with its other plagues brings this upon us. That we mayn't rouse these vermin with a cudgel." Cumberland. Who adds in a note, " The Athenians had granted them certain exemptions for their services on board the fleet." Voss observes, " they were in the liabit of going over to the enemy, when too harslily treated." Cf. Pax, 451. 118 THE CLOUDS. 12—32. But I am not able, miserable man, to sleep, being tormented by my expenses, and my stud of horses, and my debts, through this son of mine, fie with his long hair,' is riding horses and driving curricles, and dreaming of horses ; while I am driven to distraction, as I see the moon^ bringing on the twentieths ; for the interest is running on. — Boy ! light a lamp, and bring forth my tablets, that I may take them and read to how many I am indebted, and calculate the interest. [^Enter boy with a light and tablets.'] Come, let me see ; what do I owe ? Twelve minae to Pasias. Why' twelve minae to Pasias? Why did I borrow them ? When I bought the blood-horse.* Ah me, unhappy ! Would that it had had its eye knocked^ out with a stone first ! Phid. (talking in his sleep). You are acting unfairly, Philo ! * Drive on your own course. Strep. This' is the bane which has destroyed me ; for even in his sleep he dreams about horsemanship. Phid. How' many courses wiU the war-jchariots run ? Strep. Many courses do you drive me, your father. — But what debt^ came upon me after Pasias? Three minae to Amynias for a little chariot and pair of wheels. Phid. Lead the liorse home, after having given him a good rolling. ' Comp. Equit. 580. Plut. 170. ' " Interest at Athens was paid at the end of the month.'' Droysen. ^ Tov = TivoQ 'iveKa. * " Sanbrennlinge." Voss. ° The commentators are divided in their readings and opinions, whether it should be IJtKOTrijv or i^exoTrri ; i. e. whether Strepsiades wishes his own eye or that of the horse to have been knocked out ; and whether there be » play of words between l/cicdjrrav and kott- irariav. See note on Lys. 940. Cf. Eccles. 938 " There is a further dispute, whether Philo be the name of a horse, of the charioteer of Phidippides, or of a rival in the race ; but there can be little doubt that the last is the right interpretation. " He ! Philon, falsch gefahren ! bleib in deinem Gleia! " Droysen. ' " Das ist'das Ungliick, das mich ganz zu Nichte macht ! " Droysen. " There 'tis ! that's it ! the bane of all my peace — He's racing in his sleep." Cumberland. ' " Wie viele Gauge machst du im Ringelrennen denn ? " Droysen. ' A burlesque upon the following fragment of Euripides, ri xP'"S l/ia fie • There is a play upon the double meaning of xp^os-' 33-58. THE CLOUDS. 119 Strep. O foolish youth, you have rolled me out of my possessions ; since I have been cast in suits, and others say that they will have surety given them for the interest. Phid. {awaking). Pray, father, why are you peevish, and toss about the whole night ? Strep. A bailiff' out of the bed-clothes is biting me. Phid. Suffer me, good sir, to sleep a little. Strep. Then, do you sleep on ; but know that all these debts will turn on your head. [Phidippides falls asleep again.] Alas ! would that the match-maker ^ had perished miserably, who induced me to marry your mother. For a country life used to be most agreeable to me, dirty, un- trimmed, reclining at random, abounding in bees, and sheep, and oU-cake. Then I, a rustic, married a niece of Megacles, the son of Megacles, from the city, haughty, luxurious, and Coesyrafied.* When I married her, I lay with her redolent of new wine, of the cheese-crate, and abundance of wool; but she, on the contrary, of ointment, saffron, wanton-kisses, ex- travagance, gluttony, and of Colias and Genetyllis.'' I will not indeed say that she was idle ; but she wove. And I used to show her this cloak by way of pretext, and say, " Wife, you weave at a great rate." \_Servant re-enters.] See. We have no oil in the lamp. Strep. Ah me ! why did you light the thirsty^ lamp? Come hither, that you may weep ! Sek. For what, pray, shall I weep ? ' " Demarchus, sive cogitatio de demarche, quem metuo ne a me pignus sumat, mordet me tanquam cimex aut pulex in lecto." Berg. See Becker's Charicles, p. 351. " uiipiKov non nisi tum adhibetur, ?imim quis optat, ut fuerit aiiquid, vel sit, vel futurum sit, quod non uit, aut est, aut futurum est. i!i(pt\ov davtiv, utinam mortuus essem ; at non sum mortuus. w^tKov firj Kvvj utinam ne viveremj at vivo. iai\ov jirl dOavarog iata9ai, utinam ne jfuturus aim immortalis ; at fu- turus sum." Hermann. Cf. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 54, 3, obs. 4. ' For the parentage and descent of this famous Coesyra, see Walsh's note, and Thirlwall, Hist. Greece, vol. ii. p. 69. * Colias was a name under which courtesans invoked Aphrodite. Genetyllis was also a name of Aphrodite, and may be compared with the "Venus Genetrix" of the Romans. See Liddell's Lex. in voc. Cf. Lys. vs. 2. ' " Aye, 'tis a drunken lamp ; the more fault yours ; Whelp, you shall howl for this." Cumberland. " Hiess Ich das Saufgeschirr dich brauchen ? " Droysen. 120 THE CLOUDS. 59—87. Steep. Because you put in one of the thick wicks. [ Ser- vant runs out.'] — After this, when this son was born to us, to me, forsooth, and to my excellent wife, we squabbled then about the name : for she was for adding 'nmoQ to the name, Xanthippus,' or Charippus, or Callippides ; but I was for giving him the name of his grandfather, Phidonides. For a time therefore we disputed ; and then at length we agreed, and called him Phidippides.^ She used to take this son and fondle him, saying, " When you, being grown up, shall drive your chariot to the city, like Megacles, with a xystis."*_ But I used to say, " Nay, rather, when dressed in a leathern jerkin, you shall drive your goats from Phelleus, like your father." He paid no attention to my words, but* poured a horse-fever over my property. Now therefore, by meditating the whole night, I have discovered one path for my course extraordin- arily excellent ; to which if I persuade this youth, I shall be saved. But first I wish to awake him. How then can I awake him in the most agreeable manner ? — How ? Phidip- pides, my little Phidippides ? Phid. What, father ? Strep. Kiss me, and give me your right hand ! Phid. There. What's the matter ? Strep. Tell me, do you love me ? Phid. Yes, by this Equestrian Neptune.* Strep. Nay, do not by any means mention this Equestrian to me, for this god is the author of my misfortunes. But, if you really love me from your heart, my son, obey me. Phid. In what then, pray, shall I obey you ? > " My wife Would dub her colt Xanthippus or Charippus, Or it might be Callippides, she cared not. So 'twere a horse which shared the name." Cumberland. ' Phidippides stands for Alcibiades, and Strepsiades for his uncle Pericles, who had himself been a pupil of Socrates, and involved in similar pecuniary embarrassments, 'in which he was assisted by the shrewd advice of his nephew, Alcibiades. Alcibiades' mother, Di- nomache, was a daughter of Megacles, of the family of the Alc- ma?onidae, from whom he inherited his passion for horses. See Siivernj Clouds, p. 46, foil, and 53, foil. ^ This was a long state robe for festal occasions. • "iinrtfiiiv, Dindorf, from "iwoq and epwc- ' Pointing to a statue of this deity near his bed. See Fritzsche, Thesm. vs. 748, who understands the passage in the same way. 88—109. THE CLOUDS. 121 Steep. Reform yom habits as quickly as possible ; and go and learn what I advise. Phid. Tell me now, what do you prescribe ? Strep. And will you obey me at all ? Phid. By Bacchus, I will obey you. Strep. Look this way then ! Do you see this little door and little house ? Phid. I see it. What then, pray, is this, father ? Strep. This is a thinking-shop' of wise spirits. There dwell men who in speaking of the heavens persuade people that it is an oven, and that it encompasses us, and that we are the embers. These men teach, if one give them money,^ to conquer in speaking, right or wrong. Phid. Who are they ? Strep. I do not know the name accurately. They are minute-philosophers,' noble and excellent. , Phid. Bah ! they are rogues ; I know them. You mean the quacks, the pale-faced wretches, the bare-footed fellows, of whose number are the miserable Socrates and Chaerephon.* Strep. Hold ! hold ! be silent ! Do not say any thing foolish. But, if you have any concern for your father's patrimony, be- come one of them, having given up your horsemanship.* Phid. I would not, by Bacchus, if even you were to give me the pheasants^ which Leogoras rears ! ' Or, as it is given by the translator of Siivern's Essay on The Clouds, the subtlety-ahop. " Das ist 'ne Denkanstalt von weisen Geistem, Sohn. Es wohnen drinnen Manner, die iiberzeugen dich, . Dass der Himmel eigentlich so 'ne Art Backhofen ist, " Der uns umwiJlkt rings, und wir Mensohen die Kohlen drin." Droysm. ' " De Socrate vere hoc dici non potuit, qui nunquam ab audi- toribus suis mercedem accepit. Sed hoc faciebant plerique alii sophistae." BiHtnck. ' " Ideengriibeldenker." Droyaen. • " This Cheerephon was a hanger-on of the philosopher, and appears to have been laughed at even by his fellow-scholars for the mad extremes to which he carried his reverential attachment. He was nicknamed ' Bat,' on account of his being a little, dark, dirty fellow." Walsh. Comp. Av. 156*. > Cf. vss. 409, 740. Mr. Walsh (quite as accurately) translates it by the slang word cut. , , ' ^ ' There is also an allusion to (rtiKO0avr?)c (^aivw) ; see note on Acharn. 726. Cf. Av. 68. " For these pheasants, (not horses m this passage,) see Av. 68." Droysen. 122 THE CLOUDS. 110—133. Strep. Go, I entreat you, dearest of men, go and be taught. Phid. Why, what shall I learn ? Steep. They say, that among them are both the two causes, — the better cause, whichever that is, and the worse : they say, that the one of these two causes, the worse, pre- vails, though it speaks on the unjust side. If therefore you learn for me this unjust cause, I would not pay to any one, not even an obolus of these debts, which I owe at present on your account. Phid. I cannot comply ; for I shjould not dare to look upon' the Knights, having lost all my colour. Steep. Then, by Ceres, you shall not eat any of my goods ! neither you, nor your draught-horse, nor your blood- horse ; ' but I will drive you out of my house to the crows. Phid. My uncle Megacles wiU not permit me to be with- out a horse. But I'U go in, and pay no heed to you.^ [^Exit Phidippides.] Steep. Though fallen, still I will not lie prostrate : but having prayed to the gods, I willgo myself to the thinking- shop and get taught. How then, being an old man, and having a bad memory, and dull of comprehension, shall I learn the subtleties of refined disquisitions ? — I must go. Why thus do I loiter and not knock at the door ? [^Knocks at the door."] Boy ! little boy ! Dis. {from within). Go to the devil ! Who is it that knocked at the door ? " Nor I, so help me Dionysus, our patron, though you bribed me With all the racers that Leogoras Breeds from his Phasian stud." Cumberland. ' A horse bearing the mark of the aanirl. ^ Cumberland has justly remarked, " If there is any thing in this scene open to critical reprehension, I conceive it to be, that the speakings of Strepsiades are of a higher cast here than in his suc- ceeding dialogues with Socrates ; where the poet (for the sake, no doubt, of contrasting his rusticity with the finesse of the philoso- pher) has lowered him to the style and sentiment of an arrant clown." — The French critics compare Strepsiades with the " Bour- geois Gentilhomme " of Molifere ; but the inconsistency of character spoils the parallel. Strepsiades appears in the opening of this play with a strong dash of the blufFness, humour, and snrewdness of John Bull ; but he soon degenerates into the stupidity and absurdity of the Pachter Feldkiimmel of German farce. 134-158. THE CLOUDS. 123 Strep. Strepsiades,' the son of PhiJon, of Cicynna. Dis. You are a stupid fellow, by Jove ! who have kicked against the door so very carelessly, and have caused the mis- carriage' of an idea which I had conceived. Stkep. Pardon me ; for I dwell afar in the country.' But tell me the thing which has been made to miscarry. Dis. It is not lawful to mention it, except to disciples. Strep. Tell it, then, to me without fear ; for I here am come '' as a disciple to the thinking-shop. Dis. I will tell you ; but you must regard these as mj's- teries. Socrates lately asked Chasrephon about ^ a flea, how many of its own feet it jumped ; for after having bit the eye- brow of Chaerephon, it leapt away on to the head of Socrates. Strep. How, then, did he measure this ? Dis. Most cleverly. He melted some wax, and then took the flea and dipped its feet in the wax ; and then a pair of Persian slippers stuck to it when cooled. Having gently loosened these, he measured back the distance. Strep. O king Jupiter ! what ^ subtlety of thought ! Dis. What then would you say, if you heard another contrivance of Socrates ? Strep. Of what kind ? Tell me, I beseech you ! Dis. Chaerephon the Sphettian asked him whether lie thought gnats buzzed through the mouth or the breech. ^ i.c-Dialmter. See vss. 434, 1455, 88. Cf. Silvern, Clouds, p. 41. " A citizen of the tribe of Acamaa." Cumberland. ' " Allusio ad Socratis matrem, quae obstetrix erat : ipse autem dicere solebat se eandem artem exercere, on rkxvriv tx" 'J')" Ma»<'- runjv, Kai Sid TavTt]Q iroid tovq vkovQ cnroriKTUv ra vorjiiara iv ry iav- Tuv ^vxy. Schol." Brunek. See Plato, Theaet. p. 149, foil. ' As Strepsiades himself pleads his rusticity in excuse for the unmannerly vehemence with which he had assaulted the door of the Phrontisterium, Mr. Mitchell might have spared us the fanciful note, in which he reminds Schiitz, " that Strepsiades is not a clown, but rather a country-gentleman, and that he approaches the door 61 Socrates with too deep a feeling of reverence to allow of any act of discourtesy on his part." ' See note on Equit. 1098. » See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 61, 6, obs. 2. " This flea's-foot geometry is noticed in Xenophon's Symposium ; perhaps in reference to this very passage, or to some anecdote, to which Aristophanes also may have had access." Welcker. * See note on Lys. 967. 124 THE CLOUDS. 159^183. Strep. What, then, did he say about the gnat ? Dis. He said the intestine of the gnat was narrow, and that the wind went forcibly through it, being slender, straight to the breech ; and then that the rump, being hollow where it is adjacent to the narrow part, resounded through the violence of the wind. Stkep. The rump of gnats then is a trumpet ! O thrice happy he for his sharp-sightedness ! ' Surely a defendant might easily get acquitted, who understands the intestine of the gnat. Dis. But he was lately deprived of a great idea by a lizard. Stkep. In what way ? Tell me. Dis. As he was investigating the courses of the moon, and her revolutions, then as he was gaping upwards, a lizard in the darkness dunged upon him from the roof. Strep. I am amused at a lizard's having dunged on I Socrates. Dis. Yesterday evening there was no supper for us. Strep. Well. What then did he contrive for provisions ? Dis. He sprinkled fine ashes on the table, and bent a little spit, and then took it as a pair of compasses and filched a cloak from the Pal»stra.^ Strep. Why then do we admire that Thales ?^ Open, open quickly the thinking-shop, and show to me Socrates as quickly as possible. For I desire to be a disciple. Come, open the door. — [ The door of the Thinking-shop opens, and the pupils of Socrates are seen all with their heads fixed on the ground, while Socrates himself is seen suspended in the air in a ■) The word is comic, says Passow, as if one should say, Darmsicht- igkeit for Scharfsichtigkeit, innersight instead of insight, " O zwei und dreimal seliger D'armenforscher du ! " Droysmi- ^ The commentators and critics have laboured in vain to discover sense or coherence in this speech. The explanation of Siiverri is ingenious. But Wieland has probably hit the truth, in supposing that the Disciple talks intentional nonsense, for the mere ]^easure of mystifying the absurd Strepsiades. The translation given in the text is that recommended by Hermann, Dobree, Dindorf, and Fritzsche. See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 57, ,3, obs. 1. ^ "Plautus, cap. ii. 2, 24: 'Eugepge! Thalem talento non emam Milesium : nam ad hujus sapientiam ille nimis nugator fuit.' Con- tra Av. 1010, ille, qui se simulat admirari sapientiam Metonis, dicit; dvBpuwog eaXijQ." Berg. On the demonstrative, see Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 7, obs. 7. 184—202. THE CLOUDS. 125 basket.2 O Hercules, from what country are these wild beasts ? Dis. What do you wonder at ? To what do they seem to you to be like ? Stkep. To the Spartans, who were taken at Pylos.' But why in the world do these look upon the ground ? ^Dis». They are in search of the things below the earth. "strep. Then they are searching for roots. Do not, then, trouble yourselves about this ; for I know where there are large and fine ones. Why, what are these doing,^ who are bent down so much ? Dis. These are groping about in darkness^ under Tartarus. Strep. Why then does their rump look towards heaven ? Dis. It is getting taught astronomy alone by itself. [ Turn- i np to th e pupils.'\ But go in, lest he meet with us. Strep. Not yet, not yet : but let them remain, that I may communicate to them a little matter of my own. Dis. It is not permitted to them to remain without in the open air for a very long time. [ The pupils retired] Strep, {discovering a variety of mathematical instru- ments'). Why, what is this, in the name of heaven?'' Tell me. Dis. This is Astronomy. Strep. But what is this ? Dis. Geometry. ' " Proprie non in Pylo capti sunt isti Lacedsemonii, sed in Sphacteri^ ; in qu^ insuW, jacente prope Pylum, in continent! sitatn et ab Athenn. munitam, plusquam quadringentos LacedEemoniorum Athenienses obsidione cinxerant tandemque expugnaverant, et ex iis fere trecentos captivos abduxerant. His autem Lacedasmoniis similes dicit esse philosophers illos, Cf. Equit. 759, 823, 1188. Lys. 1142. Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 69, 2, obs. 3, and index to Kriiger's Thucydides, yoc. rat. « " And I too am your Cloudships' most obedient, And under sufferance trump against your thunder. ' Cumberland. K 130 THE CLOUDS. 292—323. inclined to fart in reply to the thundering, so much do I trem- ble at them and am alarmed. And whether it be lawful, or be not lawful, I have a desire just now to ease myself. Soc. Don't scoff,' nor do what these poor-devil-poets do, but use words of good omen, for a great swarm of goddesses is in motion with their songs. Cho. Ye rain-bringing virgins, let us come to the fruitful land of Pallas, to view the much-loved country of Cecrops abounding in brave men ; where is reverence for sacred rites not to be divulged ; where the house that receives the initiated is thrown open in holy mystic rites ; and gifts to the celestial gods ; and high-roofed temples, and statues ; and most sacred processions in honour of the blessed gods ; and well-crowned sacrifices to the gods, and feasts, at all seasons ; and with the approach of spring the Bacchic festivity, and the rousings of melodious Choruses, and the loud-sounding music of flutes. Strep. Tell me, Socrates, I beseech you by Jupiter, who are these that have uttered this grand song ? Are they some heroine^ ? Soc. By no means ; but heavenly Clouds, great divinities to idle men ; ^ who supply us with thought, and argument, and intelligence, and humbug, and circumlocution, and ability to hoax, and comprehension. Steep. On this account therefore my soul, having heard their voice, flutters, and already seeks to discourse subtilely, and to quibble about smoke, and having pricked a maxim' with a little notion, to refute the opposite argument. So that now I eagerly desire, if by any means it be possible, to see them palpably. Soc. Look, then, hither, towards Mount Parnes ;* for now I behold them descending gently. ' See note on Ran. 299. "^ " i. e. the sophists, among whom Socrates is made to reckon himself: they being idle persons, and taking no part in state affairs." Schutz, ' Strepsiades would treat opinions (yvw/iag) as he would a sus- picious-looking haggis, and pricking them — not with a pin, but with a little notion {yviafxiiiifi) of his own, discover what was in them. Cf. Liddell's Lex. voc. vvaaui. * "Now called Casha; lying to the south of Attica." Dindorf. 32i— 339. THE CLOUDS. 131 Strep. Pray, where ? Show me. Soc. See ! there they come in very great numbers ■ through the hollows and tliickets ; there, obliquely. Stkep. What's the matter ? for I can't see them. Soc. By the entrance. {^Enter Chorus.'] Stkep. Now at length with difficulty I just see them. Soc. Now at length you assuredly see them, unless you have your eyes running pumpkins.^ Strep. Yes, by Jupiter ! O highly honoured Clouds, for now they cover all things. Soc. Did you not, however, know, nor yet consider, these to be goddesses ? Strep. No, by Jupiter ! but I thought them to be mist, and dew, and smoke. Soc. For you do not know, by Jupiter, that these feed very many sophists, Thurian soothsayers, practisers of medicine, lazy-longhaired-onyx-ring-wearers,^ and song-twisters for the cyclic dances, and meteorological quacks. They feed idle people who do nothing, because such men celebrate them in verse. Strep. For this reason, then, they introduced* into their verses " the dreadful impetuosity of the moist whirling- bright clouds ;"* and "the curls of hundred-headed Typho ;" and " the hard-blowing tempests ;" and then, " aerial, moist ; " " crooked-clawed birds, floating in air ; " and " the showers of rain from dewy Clouds." And then, in return for these, they swallow " slices of great, fine muUets,'' and bird's-flesh of thrushes." > "For the second avTai. see Soph. Gr. Gr. § 163, n. 2." Felton. Cf. also Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 50, U, 22, and § 51, 7, obs. 9. * " Xri/ife KoXoKvvraie, to have rheum-drops in the eyes, as thick as gourds." Mitch. Cf. Liddell's Lex. voc. Xrjudo). ' Voss has coined a similar German equivalent, Ringfingerigschlen- dergelockvolk. . ' The passages which follow are either quotations from the Dithy- rambic poets, or parodies and imitations of their extraordinary phraseology. Cumberland remarks : " The satire is fair : but per- haps the old clown is not strictly the person who should be the vehicle of it." j .> r^ i ' Bentleyand Herman render, " darting zigzag lightning . ielton, " Lightning-whirling." Others, " Light-averting." ' The pike, or the conger, according to Liddell's Lex. K 2 ■ 132 THE CLOUDS. 340—351. Soc. Is it not just,' however, that they should have their reward, on account of these ? Strep. Tell me, pray, if they are really Clouds, what ails them, that they resemble mortal women ? For they are not such. Soc. Pray, of what nature are they ? Steep. I do not clearly know : at any rate they resemble spread-out fleeces, and not women, by Jupiter! not a bit;^ for these have noses. Soc. Answer, then, whatever I ask you. Steep. Then say quickly what you wish. Soc. Have you ever, when you looked up, seen a cloud^ like to a centaur, or a panther, or a wolf, or a bull ? Steep. By Jupiter, have I ! But what of that ? * Soc. They become all things, whatever they please. And then, if they see a person with long hair, a wild one of these^ hairy fellows, like the son of Xenophantes, in derision of his folly, they liken themselves to centaurs. Steep. Why, what, if they should see Simon, a plunderer of the public property, what do they do ? ' " Und haben sie 's niclit um jene verdient ? " Droyaen. " And proper fare ; What better do they merit? " Cumberland. « See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 13, obs. 3. ' Person has referred to parallel passages in Shakspeare, Swift, and Cicero. To Dobree we are indebted for the following extract, from the Worthy Communicant of Jeremy Taylor: — "We some- times espie a bright cloud form'd into an irregular figure: when it is observed by vmskilful and phantastic travellers, looks like a cen- taure to some, and as a castle to others : some tell that they saw an army with banners, and it signifies war; but another, wiser than his fellow, says it looks for all the world like a flock of sheep, and fore- tells plenty ; and all the whije it is nothing but a shining cloud, by its own mobility and the activity of the wind cast into a contingent and inartificial shape." * See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 62, 3, obs. 11. ' So vs. 104, S>v b KaKoSaifiwv SuKpdri/e Kai XatpeipCiv. Of. 527. Lys. 819, v/iuiv Toif irovrjpove dvSpag. Shakspeare, Sonnets, " On whose tops the pinks that grow. Are of those that April wears." Cf. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 47, 9. For irnre' 8 ti, cf. Thesm. 248. Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 58, 4, obs. 5. 852—371. THE CLOUDS. 133 Soc. They suddenly become wolves, showing up his dis- position. Strep. For this reason, then, for this reason, when they yesterday saw Cleonymus the recreant, on this account tliey became stags, because they saw this most cowardly fellow. Soc. And now too, because they saw Clisthenes, you ob- serve, on this account they became women. Steep. Hail therefore, O mistresses ! And now, if ever ye did to any other, to me also utter a voice reaching to heaven, O all-powerful queens. Cho. Hail, O ancient veteran, hunter after learned speeches ! And thou, O priest of most subtle trifles ! tell us what you require ? For we would not hearken to any other of tlie present meteorological sophists, except to Prodicus ; ' to him, on account of his wisdom and intelligence ; and to you, be- cause you walk proudly in the streets, and cast your eyes askance, and endure many hardships with bare feet, and in reliance upon us lookest supercilious.^ Strep. O earth, what a voice ! how holy, and dignified, ' and wondrous ! Soc. For, in fact, these alone are goddesses ; and all the rest is nonsense. Strep. But come, by the Earth, is not Jupiter,' the Olym- pian, a god ? Soc. What^ Jupiter ? Do not trifle. There is no Jupiter. Strep. What do you say ? Who rains, then ? For first of all explain this to me. Soc. These, to be sure. I will teach you it by powerful evidence. Come, where have you ever seen him raining at any time without Clouds ? And yet he ought to rain in fine weather, and these to be absent. ' " A famous sophist, native of Ceos, and a disciple of Protagoras, founder of the title, whose writings were condemned to the nafties by decree of the Athenians : the fate of Prodicus was more severe, inasmuch as he was put to death by poison, as a teacher of doctrines which corrupted the youth of Athens. There was something pro- phetic in thus grouping him with Socrates." Cumberland. ^ " Sensus est: £t nobis freius supercilium tollis ; vel, gravitatem guaTidam etfastum vultupriB tefers." Kust. = Comp. vss. 817, 1187, 1465. Aves, 514, 1355. The3m.558. Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 50, 7, obs. 9, and obs. 10. * See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 17, obs. 12. 134 THE CLOUDS. 372-395. Strep. By Apollo, of a truth you have rightly confirmed this by your present argument. And yet, before this, I really thought that Jupiter pissed through a sieve. Tell me who it is that thunders. This makes me tremble. Soc. These, as they roll, thunder. Strep. In what way ? you all-daring man ! ' Soc. When^ they are full of much water, and are com- pelled to be borne along, being necessarily precipitated when full of rain, then they fall heavily upon each other and burst and clap. Strep. Who is it that compels them to be borne along ? is it not Jupiter ? Soc. By no means, but sethereal Vortex. Strep. Vortex? It had escaped my notice' that Jupiter did not exist, and that Vortex now reigned in his stead. But you have taught me nothing as yet concerning the clap and the thunder. Soc. Have you not heard me, that I said that the Clouds' when full of moisture, dash against each other, and clap by reason of their density ? Steep. Come, how am I to believe this ? Soc. I'll teach you from your own case. Were you ever, after being stuffed with broth at the Panathenaic festival, then disturbed in your belly, and did a tumult suddenly rumble through it ? *" Strep. Yes, by Apollo, and immediately the little broth plays the mischief with me, and is disturbed, and rumbles like thunder, and grumbles dreadfully : at first gently pappax, pappax ; and then it adds papapappax ; and when I go to stool, it thunders downright papapappax, as they do. Soc. Consider, therefore, how you have trumpeted from a little belly so small : and how is it not probable that this air, being boundless, should thunder loudly ? Strep. P'or this reason, therefore, the two names also. Trump and Thunder, are similar to each other. But teach me this, whence comes the thunderbolt blazing with fire, and ' " Wolf translates this by an epithet applied to the philosopher Kant by Moses Mendelsohn, — Du AUeszermalmer." Felton. ^ " Put a comma after oiijSpov, so that Si' dvaymiv may depend upon dvayKa(70tiJ(Ti." Walsh. ' Corap. vs. 215, and see note on Thesm. 520. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 7, obs. i. 398-421. THE CLOUDS. 135 burns us to ashes when it smites us, and singes those who sur- vive. For indeed Jupiter evidently hurls this at the perjured. Soc. Why, how then, you foolish person, and savouripg of the dark ages and antediluvian, if his manner is to smite the perjured, does he not blast Simon, and Cleonymus, and Theorus? And yet they are very perjured. But he smites his own temple, and Sunium, the promontory of Athens,' and the tall oaks. Wherefore ? for indeed an oak does not com- mit perjury. Strep. I do not know ; but you seem to speak well. For what, pray, is the thunderbolt ? Soc. When a dry wind, having been raised aloft, is enclosed in these Clouds, it inflates them within, like a bladder ; and then, of necessity, having burst them, it rushes out with ve- hemence by reason of its density, setting fire to itself through its rushing and impetuosity. Strep. By Jupiter, of a truth I once experienced this ex- actly at the Diasian festival ! I was roasting a haggis for my kinsfolk, and then through neglect I did not cut it open ; but it became inflated, and then suddenly bursting, befouled my very eyes with dung, and burnt my face.^ Cho. O mortal, who hast desired great wisdom from us ! How happy will you become amongst the Athenians and amongst the Greeks, if you be possessed of a good memory, and be a deep thinker, and endurance of labour be implanted in your soul, and you be not wearied either by standing or walking, nor be exceedingly vexed at shivering with cold, nor long to break your fast, and you refrain from wine, and gymnastics, and the other foUies, and consider this the highest excellence, as is proper a clever man should, to conquer by action and counsel, and by battling with your tongue. Strep. As far as regards a sturdy spirit,^ and care that makes one's bed uneasy, and a frugal and hard-living and savory-eating belly, be of good courage and don't trouble ' " Alluding to Homer, Od. r. 278, 'AX\' ore 'Zovvwv Ipov a^iKoiiiQ', aKpov 'AQrjviiJv." Kust, ^ " "The Greek haggis was roosted instead of being boiled; but m other respects it appears to have resembled its Ctdedonian successor very closely. There was the same necessity in both for " nicking " or ^' pricking," in order to let out the expanding air, as may be seen from the eloquent receipt in Meg Dod's Cookery Book." Walsh. ' See Kruger's Gr. Gr. § 68, 19, obs. 2. Cf. Ach. 386, 958. 136 THE CLOUDS. 422—442. yourself; I would offer myself to hammer on,' for that matter. Soc. Will you not,2 pray, now believe in no god, except what we believe in — this Chaos, and the Clouds, and the Tongue — these three ? Strep. Absolutely I would not even converse with the others, not even if I met them ; nor would I sacrifice to them, nor make libations, nor offer frankincense. Cho. Tell us then boldly, what we must do for you ? for you shall not fail in getting it, if you honour^ and admire us, and seek to become clever. Strep. O mistresses, I request of you then this very small favour, that I be the best of the" Greeks in speaking by* a hundred stadia. Cho. Well, you shall have this from us, so that hence- forward from this time no one shall get more opinions passed in the public assemblies than you. Strep. Grant me not to deliver important opinions ; for I do not desire these, but only ^ to pervert the right for my own advantage, and to evade my creditors. Cho. Then you shall obtain what you desire ; for you do not covet great things. But commit yourself without fear to our ministers. Strep. I will do so in reliance upon you, for necessity op- presses me, on account of the blood-horses, and the marriage which ruined me. Now, therefore, let them use me as they please. I give up this my body to them to be beaten, to be hungered, to be troubled with thirst, to be squalid, to shiver with cold, to flay into a leathern bottle,^ if I shall escape clear '■ " iTrixoKKiiitv is a proverbial expression, as Wolf says, like the German, for a man who submits to any thing, ' Er lasst auf sich Schmieden.'" Felton. " Ut ferrum iri me cudant." Brunck. "I can stand, like an anvil, the hammer." Walsh. " To forge to your purpose." Liddell's Lex. in voc. ' See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 62, 3, obs. 8. » See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 56, 11, obs. » Cf. Ran. vs. 91. ' "oaa is Attic for oaov, that is, fiovov, solum fantum." Brunck. " Cf. Eq. vs. 370. " For the construction, see Soph. Gr. Gr. § 185." Felton. Cf. also Kriiger's Gr, Gr. § 55, 3, obs. 7. " Now let them work their wicked will upon me ; They're welcome to my carcase ; let 'em claw it. Starve it with thirst and hunger, fry it, freeze it, 443—483. THE CLOUDS. 137 from my debts, and appear to men to be bolJ, glib of tongue, audacious, impudent, shameless, a fabricator of falsehoods, inventive of words, a practised knave in lawsuits, a law-tablet, a thorough rattle, a fox, a sharper, a slippery knave, a dis- sembler, a slippery fellow, an impostor, a gallows-bird,' a blackguard, a twister, a troublesome fellow, a licker-up of hashes. If they call me this, when they meet me, let them do to me absolutely what they please. And if they like, by Ceres, let them serve up a sausage out of me to the deep thinkers. Cho. This man has a spirit not void of courage, but prompt. Know, that if ^ you learn these matters from me, you wiU possess amongst mortals a glory as high as heaven. Stkep. What shall I experience ? Cho. You shall pass with me the most enviable of mortal lives the whole time. Stkep. Shall I then ever see this ? Cho. Yea, so that many be always seated at your gates, wishing to communicate with you and come to a conference with you, to consult with you as to actions and affidavits of many talents, as is worthy of your abilities.' [7b Socrates.'\ But attempt to teach the old man by degrees whatever you purpose, and scrutinize his intellect, and make trial of his mind. Soc. Come now, tell me your own turn of mind ; in order that, when I know of what sort it is, I may now, after this, apply to you new engines.'' Steep. What ? By the gods, do you purpose to besiege me? Soc. No ; I wish to briefly learn from you if you are pos- sessed of a good memory. Strep. In two ways, by Jove. If any thing be owing to Nay, flay the very skin off; 'tis their own ; So that I may but fob my creditors." Cumberland. ' " Passow and Pape, u. rogue that deserves the cat-o' -nine-tails." Felton. ^ See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 56, 11, obs. ' " a^ia = i^iioQ = ut tiu> ingenio dignum est. So Ach. vs. 8, a?iov ry 'EXXa^i. Cf. ibid. 205. avji^. iitra aav is a mere gloss upon vs. 470."- Bothe. * " By itrixavaq Socrates understands new arts and methods, but the old man warlike machines; hence his absurd question in the fol- lowing verse." Harles. 138 THE CLOUDS. 484-508. me, I have a very good memory ; but if I owe, unhappy man, I am very forgetful. Soc. Is the power of speaking, pray, implanted in your nature ? Strep. Speaking is not in me, but cheating is. Soc. How, then, will you be able to learn ? Strep. Excellently, of course. Soc. Come, then, take care that,' whenever I propound any clever dogma about abstruse matters, you catch it up imme- diately. Strep. What then ? Am I to feed upon wisdom like a dog ? Soc. This man is ignorant and brutish. I fear, old man, lest you will need blows.^ Come, let me see ; what do you do if any one beat you ? Steep. I take the beating ; ^ and then, when I have waited a little while, I call witnesses to prove it ; then, again, after a short interval, I go to law. Soc. Come then, lay down your cloak. Strep. Have I done any wrong ? Soc. No ; but it is the rule to enter naked. Strep. But I do not enter to search for stolen goods. Soc. Lay it down. Why do you talk nonsense ? Strep. Now tell me this, pray. If I be diligent and learn zealously, to which of your disciples shall I become like ? Soc. You will no way differ from Chserephon in intellect.'* Strep. Ah me, unhappy ! I shall become half-dead. Soc. Don't 5 chatter; but quickly follow me hither with smartness. Strep. Then give me firist into my hands a honeyed" cake ; for I am afraid of descending within, as if into the cave of Trophonius. I ' See note on.Lys. 316. ' " IchfiirchteGraukopf, dassduvieleHiebebrauchst." Droysen. An example of "Anticipation." See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 61, 6, obs. 2. iiy is the second person of the deponent form. . ' " TVTrToiiai^= potior me verierari." Dindorf. * Accasativiis respectus. See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 46, 4. ' See note on Ran. 299. ° " They threw a honeyed cake to the serpents in the cave of Trophonius, in order to pacify them." BeryUr. 509-532. THE CLOUDS. 139 Soc. Proceed ; why do you keep poking about the door ? [^Exettnt Socrates and Strepsiades.'] Cho. Well, go in peace, for the sake of this your valour. May prosperity attend the man, because, being advanced into the vale of years, he imbues bis intellect with modern sub- jects, and cultivates wisdom ! \_Turning to the audience.'] Spectators,' I will freely declare to you the truth, by Bac- chus, who nurtured me ! So may I conquer,^ and be ac- counted skilful, as that, deeming you to be clever spectators, and this to be the cleverest of my comedies,^ I thought proper to let you first taste that comedy, which gave me the greatest labour. And then I retired from the contest '' defeated by vulgar fellows, though I did not deserve it. These things, therefore, I object to you, a learned audience, for whose sake I was expending this labour. But not even thus will I ever willingly desert the discerning^ portion of you. For since what time my Modest Man and my Rake^ were very highly praised here by an audience, with whom it is a pleasure even to hold converse, and I (for I was still a virgin, and it was not lawful for me as yet to have children) exposed my off- spring, and another girl took it up and owned it, and you generously reared and educated it, from this time'' I have had ' "This is a very learned parabasis, and contains much that is worthy of perusal, and much that relates to the history of the old comedy." Kmter. "This address was written after the first edi- tion of the play had been damned." Wahh. ^ " The poet uses the aor. opt., because he refers to his hopes of vic- tory in a single case, una de re, i. e. the present dramatic represent- ation ; but in the same sentence he employs the present optative, (vofu!ioiiij]v,) because duration of time is to he expressed, — the con- tinuance of his fame as a poet." Felton. ' " Aristophanes declares this play to he the most elaborate of all his works ; but in such expressions we are not always to take him exactly at his word. On all occasions, and without the least hesi- tation, he lavishes upon himself the most extravagant praises ; and this must be considered a feature of the license of comedy." Sc/ileffel. * ^^ iiTT* avSp. (poor, judicibus imperitis pronunciantibus." Em. — The author's tact would unquestionably have prevented him from ap- plying so direct a censure to the audience; and we willingly agree in opinion with Dobree and Mitchell, that the sarcasm was aimed at successful rivals. So also Walsh. ' See Kriiger.'s Gr. Gr. § 47, 9. ' Alluding to his AairoXtTf. ' " Ja seitdem ist fest wie ein Pels mein Vertraun auf eure Huld." Droysen. 140 THE CLOUDS. 533—552. snre pledges of your good-will towards me. Now, therefore, like that well-known Electra,' has this comedy come seeking, if haply it meet with an audience so clever, for it wiU recog- nise, if it should see, the lock of its brother. But see how modest she is by nature, who, in the first place, has come, having stitched to her no leathern phallus hanging down, red at the top, and thick, to set the boys a laughing ; nor yet jeered the bald-headed,^ nor danced the cordax; nor' does the old man who speaks the verses beat the person near him with his staff, keeping out of sight wretched' ribaldry i- nor has she rushed in with torches, nor does she shout lov, lov ; ^ but has come relying on herself and her verses.^ And T, although so excellent a poet, do not give myself airs, nor do I seek to de- ceive you by twice and thrice bringing forward the same pieces; but I am always^ clever at introducing new fashions, not at all resembling each other, and all of them clever : who struck Cleon in the belly when at the height of his power, and could not bear to attack him afterwards when he was down. But these scribblers, when once Ilyperbolus has given them a handle, keep ever trampling on this wretched man and his mother. Eupolis, indeed, first of all craftily in- ' The allusion is to the means employed by .aSschylus in his CKoephorcB to bring about Electra's recognition of her brother Orestes, ^schylus had represented her as assured of her brother's arrival by having found a lock of hair at Agamemnon's tomb resembling her own. Euripides in his Electra sneers at this contrivance as improbable, and requiring a supernatural amount of cleverness and discernment. Aristophanes promises that his Muse shall be equally clever, and shall recognise their good-will if they only give this play the applause awarded to his Daitaleis. For the demonstrative, see Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 1, obs. 7. For the matter, see Schlegel, Dram. Lit. pp. 122, 128. ' ' Aristophanes was bald-headed." Droysen. ' " Nor does the aged gentleman, who Spouts the witty lines to you, Strike his friend with cudgel of oak, To conceal a stupid joke." Walsh. ' Exclamations, with which this very play opens. » The Scholiast has very justly found fault with these boasts of our poet ; and proved, from his own works, that he has been guilty of all the offences against decency and good taste which he repre- hends so freely in others. The justifications attempted by Schiitz and Suvern are lame in the extreme. " Liddell's Lex. voc. (Tojlt?o/tai 553—586. THE CLOUDS. 141 ■ troduced his Maricas, having basely, base fellow, spoiled by altering my play of the Knights, having added to it, for the sake of the cordax, a drunken old woman, whom Phrynichus long ago poetized, whom the whale was for devouring. Then again Hermippus made verses on Hyperbolus ; and now all others press hard upon Hyperbolus, imitating my simile of the eels.' Whoever, therefore, laughs at these, let him not take pleasure in my attempts ; but if you are delighted with me and my inventions, in times to come you wiU seem to be wise.^ I first invoke,^ to join our choral band, the mighty Jupiter, ruling on high, the monarch of gods ; and the potent master of the trident, the fierce upheaver of earth and briny sea ; and our father of great renown, most august iEther, life-supporter of all ; and the horse-guider, who fills the plain of the earth with exceeding bright beams, a mighty deity among gods and mortals. Most clever spectators, come, give us your attention ; for having been injured, we blame you to your faces. For though we benefit the state most of all the gods, to us alone of deities you do not offer sacrifice nor yet pour libations, who watch over you. For if there should be any expedition with no prudence, then we either thunder or diizzle small rain. And then, when you were for choosing as your general the Paphlagonian tanner, hateful to the gods, we contracted our brows and were enraged ; and thunder "* burst through the lightning, and the moon forsook her usual paths ; and the sun immediately drew in his wick to himself, and declared he would not give you light, if Cleon should be your ge- ' " Aristophanes refers to that very elegant passage of the Equites, vs. 864, which has often been imitated, according to our author, by other poets." Kuster. ^ "You'll be thought, and not without reason, Men of sense — till next year's season." Walsh. Who adds the following note: "That is to say, till the exhibition of fresh comedies in the next February and March, when your ' sense ' and judgment will be tested anew by having to decide upon their merits." ' "Dich, der du hoch in Himmel's Hiih'n Waltest der Gutter, Herrscher Zeus, Ruf Ich zuerst zum Festreihn." Droysen. , ' A quotation from the Teucer of Sophocles. 142 THE CLOUDS. 587—622. neral. Nevertheless you chose him. For they say that ill counsel is in this city; that the gods, however, turn all these your mismanagements' to a prosperous issue. And how this also shall be "advantageous, we will easily teach you. If you should convict the cormorant Cleon of bribery and em- bezzlement, and then make fast his neck in the stocks, the affair will turn out for the state to the ancient form again, if you have mismanaged in any way, and to a prosperous issue.^ Hear me' again, king Phoebus, Delian Apollo, who in- habitest the high-peaked Cynthian rock ! and thou, blest goddess, who inhabitest the all-golden house of Ephesus, in which Lydian damsels greatly reverence thee ; and thou, our national goddess, swayer of the asgis, Minerva, guardian of the city ! and thou, reveller Bacchus, who, inhabiting the Parnassian rock, sparkiest with torches, conspicuous among the Delphic Bacchanals ! When we had got ready to set out hither, the Moon met us, and commanded us first to greet the Athenians and their allies ; and then declared that she was angry ; for that she had suffered dreadful things, though she benefits you all, not in words, but openly. In the first place, not less than a drachma'' every month for torches ; so that also all, when they went out of an evening, were wont to say, " Boy, don't buy a torch, for the moonlight is beautiful." And she sayg she confers other benefits on you, but that you do not observe the days at all correctly, but confuse them up and down ; so that she says the gods are constantly threatening her, when they are defrauded of their dinner, and depart home not having met with the regular feast according to the number of the days. And then, when you ought to be sacrificing, you are inflicting tortures and litigating. And often, while we gods are observing a fast, when we mourn for Memnon or ' So Equit. 803, & Travovpyng = your knaveries. Demosth. Cor. P. 321, 4, olg tiirvxnKtaav Iv AtvKrpoig = their successes at Leuctra. ^ " Wird 's nach alter Weise wieder, wo ihr dummgewesen seid Euch zum Besten sich verkehren, mehren des Staats Gliick- seligkeit." Droysen. \ " This verse is constructed in imitation of the dithyramhic poets, whose compositions frequently began with these words; on this account, according to a Scholiast, they were called Amphi- anactes." Felton, * Governed by w^iKovaa. 623—647. THE CLOUDS. 143 Sarpedon, you are pouring libations and laughing. For which reason Hyperbolus, having obtained by lot tliis year to be Hieromnemon, was afterwards deprived by us gods of his ' crown : for thus he will know better that he ought to spend the days of his life according to the Moon. \^Enter Socrates.^ Soc. By Respiration, and Chaos, and Air, I have not, seen any man so boorish, nor so impracticable, nor so stupid, nor so forgetful ; who, while learning some little petty quibbles, forgets them before he has learnt them. Nevertheless I wiU certainly call him out here to the light.^ Where is Strep- siades ? come forth with your couch. Steep, {from within). The bugs do not permit me to bring it forth. Soc. iSIake haste and lay it down ; and give me your at- tention. [^Enter Strepsiades.'] Steep. Very well. Soc. Come now ; what do you now wish to learn first of those things in none of which you have ever been instructed ? Tell me. About measures, or rhythms, or verses ? Steep. I should prefer to learn about measures ; for it is but lately I was cheated out of two chcenices by a meal- huckster. Soc. I do not ask you this, but which you account the most beautiful measure ; the trimeter or the tetrameter ? Steep. I think nothing superior to the semisextarius.^ Soc. You talk nonsense, man. Steep. Make a wager then with me,'' if the semisextarius be not a tetrameter. Soc. Go to the devil! how boorish you are and dull of learning ! Perhaps you may be able to learn about rhythms. 1 For this anacoluthon, cf. Avea, 535, 1456. Lys. 560. Equit. 392. Horn. II. A. 478. .^ . , 2 " Said satirically of the school of Socrates, as if it were a d(ii of wild beasts." Emesti. " i. c. because the ^(lOvTiurripiov was dark and gloomy. Hence Strepsiades compares it to the cave of Tro- phonius." Schvtz. . rn, • > 3 " The Attic medimnus was divided into 48 chcemces. ihe iKTivi sextariw, or modius, was the sixth part of a medimnus, and contained 8 chcenices; therefore the ruiieKrkov, or semisextarius, = 4: chcemces. Brunck. * Cf. Ach. 772, 1115, 791. Hom. II. ^i- 485. 144 THE CLOUDS. 648—675. Strep. But wliat good will rhythms do me for a living ? Soc. In the first place, to be clever at an entertainment, understanding what rhythm is for the war-dance, and what, again, according to the dactyle. Strep. According to the dactyle? By Jove, but I know it. Soc. Tell me, pray. Strep. What else but this finger ? Formerly, indeed, when I was yet a boy, this here ! Soc. You are boorish and stupid. Strep. For I do not desire, you wretch, to learn any of these things. Soc. What then? Strep. That, that, the most unjust cause. Soc. But you must learn -other things before these : namely, what quadrupeds are properly masculine. Strep. I know the males, if I am not mad : — icptoc, rpdyoQ, ravpoQ, Kvii>v, dXficrpi/wv. Soc. Do you see what you are doing ? You are calling both the female and the male aXtKTpvuv in the same way. Strep. How, pray ? come, tell me. Soc. How?^ The one with 1/ou is dXeKrpvuiv, wad the other is d\cKTpvu)v also. Strep. Yea, by Neptune ! how now ought I to call them ? Soc. The one dXsKrpvaii'a, and the other dXtKTwp. Strep. 'AXeKrpvaiva ? Capital, by the Air ! So that, in return for this lesson alone, I will fill your KupSoiroQ full of barley-meal on all sides. ' Soc. See ! see ! ^ there again 's another blunder ! You make icapSoTroc, which is feminine, to be masculine. Strep. In what way do I make KapSoirog masculine ? Soc. Most assuredly ; just as i£ you were to say KXeuwuoQ. Strep. How, pray ? Tell me. Soc. KapSoTToc with you is tantamount to KXEuvvfiog. Strep. Good sir, Cleonymus had no kneading-trough, but • " It is very stupid of the rustic to reckon a cock among quad- rupeds ; Socrates, however, does not notice this, but censures what is more trifling." Bergler. ^ This is certainly wrong. Repeated questions are always in the relative (ottwc) form, as in 677. See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 17, obs. 3. An obvious emendation is STP. TTwc dry ; ^kp'. SQK. ottws; = See Herm. Vig. n. 235. 674—693. THE CLOUDS. 145 kneaded his bread in a round mortar.' How ought I to call it henceforth ? Soc. How ? Call it KapSoirri, as you call UworpaV;;. Strep. KapSoirri, in the feminine ? Soc. For so you speak it rightly. Strep. But that would make it KapSoirri, KXewvv fit). Soc. You must learn one thing more about names, what are masculine, and what of them are feminine. Sthep. I know what are female. Soc. Tell me, pray. Strep. Lysilla, Philinna, Clitagora, Demetria. Soc. What names are masculine ? Strep. Thousands : Philoxenus, Melesias, Amynias. Soc. But, you wretch ! these are not masculine. Strep. Ai-e they not males with you ? Soc. By no means : for how would you call to Amynias,^ if you met him ? Strep. How would I call ? Thus : " Come hither, come hither, Amynia ! " Soc. Do you see ? you call Amynias a woman. Strep. Is it not then with justice, who does not serve in the army ? ' But why should I learn these things, which we all know ? ' " Whether, in this obscure passage, the round mortar implies Sicily, as it does in Vesp. (924-, Br. ed.), I do not undertake to say; but in that case the meaning would perhaps be, that Cleonymus, through the interest of his patron Cleon, had obtained some ap- pointment in that island, where, like Laches, he had made con- siderable pickings." Mitch. " This line will serve to illustrate a principle in the Greek lan- guage little known and less noticed : when a finite verb and a participle are accompanied by an objective case of a noun, that objective case depends on the participle in preference to the finite verb. Mr. Walsh (note ad Acharn. p. 120, fin.) has grievously erred in this matter. Eur. Hippol. 659, rfiQ ang roX/iris e'lao/iai yeyev/ievoe. " The Greeks always refer the participle to the same noun asthe verb, even though the case of the noun will not suit the construction of the participle." Hermatm. Comp. Ran. 1176. ' " Instead of the usual oang, I have given iJTig from the Ra- venna MS., as suiting what has preceded, and very contemptuous." Hermann. " offTig fits Strepsiddes better, as he just before said rov 'Afi.'' Dindorf, " Soc. There, there ! you make a wench of him at once. Strep. And fit it is for one who shuns the field ; A coward ought not to be called a man." Cumberland, h 146 THE CLOUDS. 694—722. Soc. It is no use, by Jupiter ! Having reclined yourself down here — Strep. What must I do ? Soc. Think out some of your own affairs. Strep. Not here, pray, I beseech you; but, if I must, suffer me to excogitate these very things on the ground. Soc. There is no other way.' [_JExit Socrates.^ Strep. Unfortunate man that I am ! what a penalty shall I this day pay to the bugs ! ^ Cho. Now meditate' and examine closely ; and roll your- self about in every way, having wrapped yourself up ; and quickly, when you fall into a difficulty, spring to another mental contrivance. But let delightful sleep be absent from your eyes. Strep. Attatai ! attatai ! Cho. What ails you ? why are you distressed? Strep. Wretched man, I am perishing ! The Corinthians,'' coming out from the bed, are biting me, and devouring my sides, and drinking up my life-blood, and tearing away ray testicles, and digging through my breech, and will * annihil- ate me. Cho. Do not now be very grievously distressed. Strep. Why, how, when my money is gone, my complex- ion gone, my life gone, and my slipper gone ? And further- more in addition to these evils, with singing the night- watches,^ I am almost gone myself. ^Re-enter Socrates.^ ' Comp. Vesp. 1166. Pax, 110. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 68, 36, obs. 7. " " Curse it! What swingeing damages the bugs will get ! " Walsh. ' " Jetzt, Freund, studirt! jetzt meditirt ! Nimm den Verstand zusammen TJnd griible rastlos. , Doch schnell, wenn zu bunt es dir werden will. Spring ab und iiber Zu andrem Forschen. Feme nur Bleibe dem Auge der holde Schlaf." Droysen. * " He calls them Corinthians, with a play on their proper name, Kopug." Droysen. ' "Instead of the future 6Xw, the Attics occasionally use h\kai>>- the later writers pretty often." Kriiger. Brunck has mistaken it for ^present tense. ' The Athenian sentinels used to sing at their posts, in order to prevent their falling asleep unawares during their night-watches. • It would seem that a short choral ode has dropped out here." 723—742. THE CLOUDS. 147 Soc. Ho you ! what are you about ? Are you not medi- tating ? Strep. I ? Yea, by Neptune ! Soc. And what, pray, have you thought ? Strep. Whether any bit of me will be left by the bugs. Soc. You wiU perish most wretchedly. Strep. But, my good friend, I have already perished. Soc. You must not give in, but must wrap yourself up ; for you have to discover a device for abstracting, and a means of cheating. [ Walks up and down wfiile Strepsiades wraps himself up in the blankets.'] Strep. Ah me ! would, pray, some one would throw over me a swindling contrivance from the sheep-skins.' Soc. Come now ; I will first see this fellow, what he is about. Ho you ! are you asleep ? Strep. No ; by Apollo, I am not ! Soc. Have you got any thing ? Strep. No ; by Jupiter, certainly not ! Soc. Nothing at all ? Strep. Nothing, except what I have in my right hand. Soc. Will you not quickly cover yourself up, and think of something ? Strep. About what ? for do you tell me this, Socrates ! Soc. Do you, yourself, first find out and state what you wish. Strep. You have heard a thousand times what I wish. About the interest ; so that I may pay no one. Soc. Come then, wrap yourself up, and having given your mind play^ with subtilty, revolve your affairs by little and little, rightly distinguishing and examining. Strep. Ah me, unhappy man ! Droysen. " The genitive (ppovpae denotes time. See Soph. Gr. Gr. § 196. and Kiihner, Gr. Gr. § 273, 4." Felton. ' As Socrates is throwing (iTriPdWei) the lamb or sheep-fleeces (apvaKiSac) upon Strepsiades, the latter, before he is finally covered up, delivers himself of a wish, suggested by the equivoque in the words apvaKig and dpvrjfftg,'' Mitch. ^^ From these laTnh-fieeces know- ledge how to fleece. It is a common Greek idiom to express a wish in the form of a question," Felton. " O weh ! wer schafflt mir armen Kauz Aus diesem Locherkittel eine Lugidee ! " Droysen. ' See Liddell's Lex. in voc. "Slicing small your reason." Walsh. "Cutting the thought fine." Felton. This seems better to suit the following words, Kara uiKpov. L 2 148 THE CLOUDS. 743—768. Soc. Keep quiet ; and if you be puzzled in any one of your conceptions, leave it and go ; and then set your mind in mo- tion again, and lock it up.' Steep, {in great glee). dearest little Socrates ! Soc. What, old man? Steep. I have got a device for cheating them of the interest. Soc. Exhibit it. Steep. Now tell me this, pray ; if I were to purchase a Thessalian witch, aijid draw down the moon by night, and then shut it up, as if it were a mirror, in a round crest-case, and then carefully keep it — Soc. What good, pray, would this do you ? Steep. What ? If tlie moon were to rise no longer any where, I should not pay the interest. Soc. Why so, pray ? Strep. Because the money is lent out by the month. Soc. Capital ! But I will again propose to you another clever question. If a suit of five talents should be entered against you, tell me how you would obliterate it. Steep. How ? how ? I do not know ; but I must seek. Soc. Do not then always revolve your thoughts about yourself; but slack away your mind into the air, like a cock- chafer tied with a thread by the foot. Steep. I have found a very clever method of getting rid of my suit, so that you yourself^ would acknowledge it. Soc. Of what description ? * Steep. Have you ever seen this stone in the chemists' shops, the beautiful and transparent one, from which they kindle fire ? Soc. Do you mean the burning-glass ? * ' See Liddell's Lex. in voc. JuywS'pi^w. ■ " Nur still ! und kannst du mit der Idee nicht weiter fort, So lass sie fallen, geh hinweg ; dann wieder lass Den Verstand auf selbe jagden und halt die Beute fest." Droysen, Comp. Silvern, Clouds, p. 6. 2 Comp. Vesp. 6. Pax, 1215. Ean. 1047. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 2, obs. 8. ' Comp. Ran. 60, 289. Vesp. 530, 1186. Thesm. 76. Eccles. 349. Equit. 1324, 1339. Pax, 674. The sense of tiq in this construction may be expressed by our about. See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 16, obs. 3. * " The ancients sometimes used the crystal, or lapis specularis, for burning-glasses, which would be a correct enough translation in this passage. Glass itself may be alluded to here, for its use waa 769—787. THE CLOUDS. 149 Strep. I do. Come, what would you sfiy, pray, if I were to take this, when the clerk was entering the suit, and were to stand at a distance, in the direction of the sun, thus, and melt out the letters of my suit ? Soc. Cleverly done, by the Graces ! Strep. Oh ! how I am delighted, that a suit of five talents has been cancelled ! Soc. Come now, quickly seize upon this; Strep. What? Soc. How, when engaged in a lawsuit,' you could overturn the suit, when you were about to be cast, because you had no witnesses. Strep. Most readily and easily. Soo. Tell me, pray. Strep. Well now, I tell you. If, while one suit was still pending, before mine was called on, I were to run away and hang myself. Soc. You talk nonsense. Strep. By the gods would I ! for no one will bring an action against me when I am dead.^ Soc. You talk nonsense. Begone ; I can't teach you any longer. Strep. Why so?' Yea, by the gods, Socrates ! Soc. You straightway forget whatever you learn. For, what now was the first thing you were taught ? Tell me. Strep. Come, let me see : nay, what was the first ? * What certainly known among the ancients, perhaps as early as the time of Aristophanes. ' We find mention of burning-glasses as early as the time of Socrates ; and a number of lenses, more powerful than those employed by our own engravers, have been found among the ruins of Herculaneum.' St. John's Ancient Greece." Felton. ' -ivriSiKuv. Dindorf. I would prefer avTitUiav. " Wie wahrst im Process du dich gegen Kl'agers Forderung, Wenn du weisst, du musst verlieren, da aller Beweis dir fehlt?" Droysen. ' " Something appears to have been omitted after this verse." Droysen, 2 " on ri is merely ri, on ; and something must be repeated from the foregoing sentence. Here onv ri = W, urtrj ovk av fit SiSalaiQ- quid est, quod me docere amplius nolis ? ' ' Hermann. Cf. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 17, obs. 8. « "Say'st thou the first? The very first— what was it? Why, let me see; 'twas something, was it not, About the meal.— Out on it ! I have forgotten it." Cumberland. 150 THE CLOUDS. 788-817. was the first ? Nay, what was the thing in which we knead our flour ? Ah me ! what was it ? Soc. Will you not pack off to the devil, you most forgetful and most stupid old man ? Strep. Ah me, what then, pray, will become of me, wretched man ? For I shall be utterly undone, if I do not learn to ply the tongue. Come, oh, ye Clouds, give me some good advice. Cho. We, old man, advise you, if you have a son grown up, to send him to learn in your stead. Strep. Well, I have a fine handsome son, but he is not willing to learn. What' must 1 do ? ' Cho. But do you permit him F^ Strep. Yes, for he is robust in body, and in good health, and is come of the high-plumed dames of Coesyra. I will go for him, and if he be not willing, I will certainly drive him from my house. [ To Socrates.'] Go in and wait for me a short time. [^Exit.] Cho. Do you perceive that you are soon about to obtain the greatest benefits through us alone of the gods ? For this man is ready to do every thing that you bid him. But you, while the man is astounded and evidently elated, having perceived it, will quickly fleece him to the best of your power.' \_Exit Socrates.] For matters of this sort are some- how accustomed to turn the other way. \_Enter Strepsiades an d Phidippides.] Strep. By Mist,* you certainly shall not stay here any longer ! but go and gnaw the columns of Megacles. Phid. My good sir, what is the matter with you, father ? You are not in your senses, by Olympian Jupiter ! See Liddell's Lex. voc. n'tv, ii. 10. Hermann, Vig. n. 339, and note on Thesm. 630. ' See note on Lys. 884. ^ "Das leidest du so?" Broysen. ' "The order of the construction is this: ai U raxiiig cLTroXaipue on TrXeXdTov Siivaaai avSpog eKTrsTrXtiyfisvov Kai Where rain seldom falls. Perhaps Bergler is nearer the truth, in supposing the allusion to glance at the evil repute of the Egyp- tians. The aorist infinitive retains its proper force as a past tense m the construction of the accusative with the infinitive and an article, as vs. 268,, and after verba declarandi et putandi, as Vesp. 1422, 1447, and sometimes, as here, after /3ouXo/:jai. Cf. Ran. 673. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 53, 6, obs. 9. M 2 J 64 THE CLOUDS. 1131—1149 Strep. The fifth, the fourth, the third, after this the second ; and then, of all days what I most fear, and dread, and abominate, immediately after this there is the Old and New.' For every one, to whom I happen to be indebted,^ swears, and says he will ruin and utterly destroy me, having made his deposits against me; though I only ask what is moderate and just, — "My good sir,' one part don't take just now ; the other part put off, I pray ; and the other part re- mit ;" they say that thus they will never get back their money, but abuse me, as that I am unjust, and say that they will go to law with me. Now therefore let them go to law, for it little concerns me, if Phidippides has learned to speak well. I shall soon know by knocking at the thinking-shop. \Knocks %t the door. '\ Boy, I say ! Boy, boy ! [_Enter Socrates.'] Soc. Good morning,* Strepsiades. Strep. The same to you. But first accept this present ;* for one ought to compliment the teacher with a fee. And tell me about my son,'' if he has learned that cause, which'' you just now brought forward. Soc. He has learned it. Strep. Well done, Fraud, all-powerful queen ! Soc. So that you can get clear off from whatever suit you please. ' The last day of the month, to which Solon gave the name of the Ivij Kul via, as partaking of the light both of the old moon and the new. To Strepsiades it is a day of horror, as placing him in danger of legal proceedings by his creditors. ' " Da verschwort's denn jeder Glaubiger; alle, Kosten gleich Deponiren, sagt er, will er, mich jagen von Haus und Hof." Droysen. ' " Vortrefflicher, sag' Ich, press' michdochum das Siimmchen nicht ! Diess schiebe noch auf ! ja diess erlass mir! " Droysen. * Strepsiadem salvere juheo, in the language of Terence. ^ The promised bag of meal. There is an allusion to the contri- butions of the friends and pupils of Socrates towards the mainten- ance of their instructor. See Silvern, Clouds, p. 125. = "Accusativus de quo." See Mus. Crit. i. p. 532, and for this use of "Anticipation," see Kriiger, Gr. Or. 61, 6, obs. 2. Cf. vss 1155,1185. Ran. 432, 750, 932, 1454. Eccles. 1125. Soph. Phil. 573. ' " The antecedent of ov is not vibv, but \6yov. Strepsiades was very anxious that his son should learn the olSikoq Xoyof in order to defraud his creditors. This dji/coc \oyoQ had just before been brought on the stage as a person: to which circumstance those words, ov d^Tiue linriyaytQ, refer." Seager. So also Walsh, Droysen, and Felton. 1150—1182. THE CLOUDS. 165 Strep. Even if witnesses were present when I borrowed the money ? Soc. Yea, much more ! even if a thousand be present. Strep. Then I will shout with a very loud shout:' Ho! weep, you petty-usurers, both you and your principals, and your compound interests ! for you can no longer do me any harm, because ^ such a son is being reared for me in this house, shining with a double-edged tongue, my guardian, the pre- server of my house, a mischief to my enemies, ending the sadness of the great woes of his father. Him do thou run and summon from within to me. [Socrates goes into the house-l O cliiW •' O son ! come forth from the house ! hear your father ! ' [Re-enter Socrates leading in Phidippides.'] Soc. Lo, here is the man ! Strep. O my dear, my dear ! Soc. Take your son and depart. [Exit Socrates.] Strep. ■• Oh, oh, my child ! Huzza ! * Huzza ! how I am de- lighted at the first sight of your complexion ! Now, indeed, you are, in the first place, negative and disputatious to look at, and this fashion native to the place plainly appears, the "What do you say?" and the seeming to be injured when, I well know, you are injuring and inflicting a wrong ; and in your countenance there is the Attic look. Now, therefore, see that you save me, since you have also ruined me. Phid. What, pray, do you fear ? Strep. The Old and New. Phid. Why, is any day old and new ? Strep. Yes ; on which they say that they will make their deposits against me. Phid. Then those that have made them will lose them ; for it is not possible that two days can be one day.* ' See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 46, 5. Cf. Ach. 1201. For rapa, see Mus. Crit. i. p. 74. ' oIoc= oTi rotovToe. See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 51, 13, obs. 17 ; Jelf, § 804, 9 ; Matth. § 480, oba. 3. ' An adaptation of Hecuba's address to Polyxena. * Here the scene changes to the front of Strepsiades' house. * See Siivern, Clouds, p. 114. ' " Phidippides wishes to show that the ivti icai via, being two days, cannot be reckoned as one, therefore the words riiiipai Svo must be the subject, and not /it' rtjiipa. This would be contrary to his argu- ment. Nor can we urge in this place a Schema Pindaricum. Al- though that is found in Tragedy, (Hermann, Soph. Trach. 517,) it 166 THE CLOUDS. 1183—1204 .Strep. Cannot it ? l^HiD. Certainly not ; unless ' the same woman can be both old and young at the same time. Strep. And yet it is the law. Phid. For they do not, I think, rightly understand what the law means. Steep. And what does it mean ? Phid. The ancient Solon was by nature the commons' friend. Strep. This surely is nothing whatever to the Old and New. Phid. He therefore made the summons for two days, for the Old and New, that the deposits might be made on the first of the month. Steep. Why, pray, did he add the old day ? Phid. In order, my good sir, that the defendants, being present a day before, might compromise the matter of their own accord ; but if not, that they might be worried on the morning of the new moon. Steep. Why, then, do the magistrates not receive the deposits on the new moon, but on the Old and New ? Phid. They seem to me to do what the forestallers do : in order that they may appropriate the deposits as soon as pos- sible, on this account they have the first pick by one day. Strep, {turning to the audience). Bravo ! ye wretches, why do you sit senseless, the gain of us wise^ men, being blocks, ciphers, mere sheep, jars heaped^ together? Where- fore I must sing an encomium upon myself and this my son, is wholly abhorrent from the style of Aristophanes. Aristophanes wrote (vs. 1182) ykvoivr cLv, and (vs. 1133) ykvoivro." Fritzsclie. So good a scholar as Fritzsche ought to have known that the Greeks prefer to make the verb agree in number with the predicate, rather than with the subject. Herod, ii. 16, a'l Orj^ai A'tyvwrog haXiiTo. ' See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 63, 6. Matth. § 305. ' " ay appears also in theprotasis, when the speaker would express an inclination to assume a contingent realization. It corresponds to the opt. with civ in independent propositions. Only in this view \sHav,if perhaps, svmWar." Krvger. Cf. Aves, 1018. Harper, p. 90. Stallbaum, Plat. Men. p. 98, B. Hermann, Vig. n. 303, 287, ad Eur. Ale. 48. Reisig, Com. Crit. Col. p. 399. Bachmann's Anecd. ii. p. 371, 10. ^ Cf. Ach. 919. Kriiger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 2, ohs. 11. ' " The reader must bear in mind that the spectators sat in rows, one above another." Droysen. 120i-1230. THE CLOUDS. 167 on account of our good fortune. — "O happy Strepaiades ! ' how wise you are yourself, and how excellent is the son whom you are rearing!" my friends and fellow-tribesmen will say of me,2 envying me, when you prove victorious in arguing causes. — But first I wish to lead you in and entertain you. \_Exeunt Strepsiades and Phidippides.'\ Pasias. {entering with his summons-teitness). Then, ought a man to throw away any part of his own property ? Never ! but it were better then at once to put away blushes, rather than now to have trouble ; since I am now dragging you to be a witness, for the sake of my own money ; and further, in addition to this, I shall become an enemy to my fellowjtribes- man. But never, while I live, will I disgrace my country, but will summon Strepsiades — Strep, {from within). Who 's there ? \_Enter Strepsiades.] Pas. For the Old and New. Strep. I call you to witness, that he has named it for two days. For what matter do you summon me? Pas. For the twelve minse, which you received when you were buying the dapple-grey horse. Strep. A horse ? — Do ^ you not hear ? I, whom you all know to hate horsemanship ! Pas. And, by Jupiter, you swore by the gods too, that you would repay it. Strep. Aye, by Jove ! for then my Phidippides did not yet know the irrefragable argument.'' Pas. And do you now intend, on this account, to deny the debt? ' " ' O du gluckseliger Papa, Wie bist du selbst schon so klug, Und welchen Sohn hast du jetzt ! ' So preist mich bald Vetter, Freund, Gevattersmann." Droysen. Cf. Vesp. 1180. Lys. 845. Pax, 1125. ' " Accusativus de quo." See Mus. Crit. i. p. 532. ' " Sententia ergo est : ovk Akoviti avrov ciajSaXXovrdc f^, ov iravTig ifitig ytyvuj(rKtT( iiiaovvTarriv 'nririicriv •" Brunck. Dirtdorf's 3rd edition (printed by Didot) reads "Inirov ; ouk aicoitri, ov TravreQ vfitig tart fiiaovv^' iTr-TriKrjv. " Ich ein Pferd? Ihr hort 's doch, Ich, Von dem ihr wisst, wie Ich Alles basse, was Pferde heisst ! " Droi/sen, * "I grant you, in my folly I did swear ; But then my son had not attain'd the art Of the new logic unconfutable." Cumberland. 168 THE CLOUDS. 1231—1252. Strkp. Why, what good, should I get else from his in- struction ? Pas. And will you be willing to deny these upon oath of the gods ? Steep. What gods ? Pas. Jupiter, Mercury, and Neptune. Strep. Yes, by Jupiter ! and would pay down, too, a three- obol piece besides to swear. Pas. Then, may you perish some day,' for your impudence ! Steep. This man ^ would be the better for it, if he were cleansed by rubbing with salt. Pas. Ah me, how you deride me ! Strep. He will contain six choae. Pas. By great Jupiter and the gods, you certainly shall not do this to me with impunity. Strep. I like your gods amazingly; and Jupiter, sworn by, is ridiculous to the knowing ones. Pas. You will assuredly suffer punishment some time or other, for this. But answer and dismiss me, whether you are going to repay me my money, or not. Steep. Keep quiet now, for I will presently answer you distinctly. [^Runs into the hotise.'] Pas. (to his summons-iaitness). What do you think he will do ? Witness. I think he will pay you. \_Re-enter Socrates with a kneading-trough."] Steep. Where is this man who asks me for his money ? Tell me, what is this ? Pas. What this is ? a Ka'pSon-oe. Steep. And do you then ask me for your money, being such an ignorant person? I would not pay, not even an obolus, to any one who called the Kaplo-n-j} Kaploirog. Pas. Then won't you pay me ? ' " Ernesti says Iti is redundant, Attically ; Hermann translates it, Pereas etiam prater impiidentiam. Not so ; cnroXoio in means, pereas aliquandOf niogest du noch einmalzu Schanden werden," Fritzscke, Comp. Soph. El. 471. Eur. Hel. 57. jEsch. Prom. 518. ^ Cf. Plut. 1062. Pasias was, it seems, a corpulent man ; tliere- fore Strepsiades compares him to a wine-skin, which was usually rubbed with salt to keep the leather sweet. "Gutausgelaugetgab'er einen wackern Schlauch." Droysen. 1252—1273. THE CLOUDS. 169 Strep. Not, as far as I know. ' Will you not then pack off as fast as possible from my door ? Pas. I will depart ; and be assured of this, that I will make deposit against you, or may I live no longer ! Strep. Then you will lose it besides, in addition to your twelve minee. And yet I do not wish you to suffer this, because you named the icap?o7roe foolishly. [_Exeunt Pasias and witness, and enter Amynias.'\ Amtn. 'Ah me ! ah me \^ Strep. Ha ! whoever is this, who is lamenting ? Surely it was not one of Carcinus' deities that spoke.' Amtn. But why do you wish to know this, who * I am ? — a miserable man. Strep. Then follow your own path.' Amtn. harsh Fortune ! O Fates, breaking the wheels of my horses ! O Pallas, how you have destroyed me ! Strep. What evil, pray, has Tlepolemus ever done you ? Amtn. Do not jeer me, my friend ; but order^ your son to pay me the money which he received ; especially as I have been unfortunate. Strep. What money is this ? Amtn. That which he borrowed. Strep. Then you were really unlucky,' as I think. Amtn. By the gods, I fell while driving my horses. Strep. Why, pray, do you talk nonsense, as if you had fallen from an ass ? ' ' "Not if I know it; So bundle off directly from my door." Walsh. Cf. Eccles. 350. Thesm. 34. Pax, 857. Vesp. 1288. Thuc. vi. 25. Kriiger^Gr. Gr. § 55, 3, obs. 5. Hermann, Vig. n. 151, Append. p. 720. « Vss. 1259, 1264, 1265, 1272, are quotations from the Licymmus of Xenocles, the son of Carcinus, " Euphronius (ap. Schol.) in- forms us that these verses are from the Licymnius of Xenocles, and that they were spoken by Alcmena, when Licymnius had perished through the fault of Tlepolemus." Fritzsche. Cf. Thesm. 169, 440. Vesp. 1501. Ran. 86. » Comp. Pax, 1211. Lys. 354. . . . ,., • See Kriiger's Gr. Gr. § 51, 8. Other editions punctuate dif- ferently. * "So gehe deines Wegs." Droysen. ' See note on Equit. 1017. ' Comp. Plut. 390, 1035. , , .<, « " He plays upon the ambiguity of the words ; for it you write 170 THE CLOUDS, 1274—1296. Amyn. Do I talk nonsense, if I wish, to recover my money ? Strep. You can't be in your senses yourself. Amyn. Why, pray ? Steep. You appear to me to have had your brains shaken as it were.' Amyn. And you appear to me, by Hermes, to be going to be summoned, if you will not pay me the money.^ Strep. Tell me now, whether do you think that Jupiter always rains fresh rain on each occasion, or that the sun- draws from below the same water back again ? Amyn. I know not which ; nor do I care. Steep. How then is it just that you should recover your money, if you know nothing of meteorological matters ? Amyn. Well, if you are in want, pay me the interest of my money. Steep. What sort of animal is this interest ? ^ '^ Amyn. Most assuredly the money is always becoming more^ and more every month and every day as the time slips away. Strep. You say well. What then ? Is it possible ^ that you consider the sea to be greater now than formerly ? Pas. No, by Jupiter, but equal : for it is not fitting that it should be greater. Steep. And how -then, you wretch,^ does this become no way greater, though the rivers flow into it, while you seek to increase your money ? — Will you not take yourself off from my house ? Bring me the goad. \_Enter servant with a goad.'] airo vov, it will he from your senses, air' uvov viauv is said proverb- ially of an unskilful man, who cannot even sit an ass." Bergler. ■ ' " Gleichsam ein Erdstoss, will mich bediinken, traf 's Gehirn." Droysen, ' " He does not actually summon him, because he has no " bai- liff" with him, and therefore the notice would not hold good in law." Walsh. 3 "' What sort of animal is this same interest? " Walsh. " Was ist das fiir ein Geschopf ? " Droysen. ' " Nun, Lieber, dass mit jedem Monat, jedem Tag Die Summe Geldes gross und immer grosser wivd, Je lang und I'angere Zeit verfliesst." Droysen. Comp. note on vs. 1448. ^ Comp. vs. 1345. » " Oh thou miser ! That would'st stint the ocean, and yet cram Thy swelling coffers till they overflow." Cumberland. 1297-1327. THE CLOUDS 171 Amtn. I call ' you to witness these things. Steep, (heating Mm). Go ! whj do j'ou delay ? Won't you march, Mr. Blood-horse ? Amyn. Is not this^ an insult, pray? Strep. Will you move quickly ? [^Pricks him behind with the goad.^ I'll lay on you, goading you behind, you out- rigger ? Do you fly ? [^Amynias runs off.'] I thought I should stir you,' together with your wheels and your two- horse chariots. \_Exit Strepsiades.~\ Cho. What a thing it is to love evil courses ! For this old man, having loved them, wishes to withhold the money which he borrowed. And he will certainly meet with some- thing to-day,^ which will perhaps cause this sophist to sud- denly receive some misfortune, in return for the knaveries he has begun. For I think that he will presently find what has been long boiling up, that his* son is skilful to speak opinions opposed to justice, so as to overcome all with whom- soever he holds converse, even if he advance most villan- ous doctrines ; and perhaps, perhaps his father will wish that he were even speechless. Strep, {running out of the house pursued by his son). Hollo ! Hollo ! neighbours and kinsfolk and fellow-tribes- men, defend me, by all means, who am being beaten ! Ah me, unhappy man, for my head and jaw ! Wretch ! do you beat your father ? Phid. Yes, father. Stkep. You see him owning that he beats me. Phid. Certainly. Strep. O wretch, and parricide, and house-breaker ! » Comp. Ran. 528. Plut. 932. 2 Comp. Ran. 21. Plut. 886. Soph. Col. 883. = See on Ran. 268. * " Doch zuverl'assig diesen Tag Macht sieh nocli ein Ungemach, Das den Erzsophistennarrn Sender Harm, Fiir air die abgeschwornen Schulden Lasst die Strafe dulden. Ich glaube das, wonach er strebt mit aller Kraft, Er wird 's zu bald nur haben." Draysen. » See Kruger, Gr. Gr. § 51, 2, obs. 4, and § 25, 1 172 THE CLOUDS. 1328—1352. Phid. Say the same things of me again, and more. Do you know that I take pleasure in being much ' abused ? Steep. You blackguard ! Phid. Sprinkle me with roses in abundance. Strep. Do you beat your father ? Phid. And will prove, too, by Jupiter, that I beat you with justice. Strep. thou most rascally ! Why, how can it be just to beat a father ? Phid. I will demonstrate it, and will overcome you in argument. Strep. Will you overcome me in this ? Phid. Yea, by much and easily. But choose which of the two Causes you wish to speak.^ Strep. Of what two Causes ? Phid. The better, or the worse ? Strep. Marry, I did get you taught to speak against justice, by Jupiter, my friend, if you are going to persuade me of this, that it is just and honourable for a father to be beat by his sons ! ' Phtd. I think I shall certainly persuade * you ; so that, when you have heard, not even you yourself will say any thing against it. Strep. Well now, I am willing to hear what you have to say. Cho. It is your business, old man, to consider in what way you shall conquer the man ; for, if he were not relying upon something, he would not be so licentious. But he is em- boldened by something ; the boldness of the man is evident. Now you ought to tell to the Chorus from what the contention first arose. And this you must do by all means. ' See note on Thesm. 351. ' " So choose which of the Causes you'll defend." Wakh. So also Droysen. " Elige utrum ex duobus sermonibus me velis perorare.'" Brunck. If so, Aristophanes would have written PoiXei Xeynv fie, ' " You have learned the art with a vengeance, if this is the way you are going to apply it." Felton. " Certe te docendum curavi,jmtitiviSrig vpoaytov. TXiVKsXe ilpeapeig Tpeig Cod. Ravenn.