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A UTHOR: 
 
 SUVERN, JOHANN 
 WILHELM 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 ESSAY ON "THE BIRDS" 
 OF ARISTOPHANES 
 
 PLACE: 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DATE: 
 
 1835 
 
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 Sttvom, Johann Wilhelm, 1775-1829. 
 
 Essay on "The Birds" of Aristophanes^ by J^V;. 
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 [l; 
 
ESSAY 
 
 ov 
 
 " THE BIRDS" OF ARISTOPHANES, 
 
 8T 
 
 J. W. SUVERN. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 W. R. HAMILTON, F. R. S. 
 
 «« « 
 
 The Birds' Is a singular performance, even among the eccentricities of 
 " Aristophanes, into which the poet has contrived to weave an innumerable 
 " quantity of aUusions, quaint fancies, and pleasantries, such as no person but 
 " himself, wc think, could have furnished. It is, however, amongst the least 
 " pleasing of the poet's performances, because it wants a central object, and 
 " notwithstanding what the commentators say about Deceleia, the scopiu 
 " dramatis is rather uucexUdn.'*-Quarterly Review, March, 1813. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 MDCCCXXXV. 
 
 / 
 
 i \ 
 

 '^ 
 
 <J 
 
 -> 
 
 1 • 
 
 ho 
 
 I 
 
 FKINTBD BT W. NICOL, 51, FALL-MALL. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This essay on « the Birds" of Aristophanes was read 
 in the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin on the 
 19th and 26th days of July, 1827, and the contents 
 of it soon became generally known to the hterary 
 pubUc in Germany. It was not, however, published 
 in the Transactions of the Society before the appear- 
 ance of their volume for 1830. 
 
 In the interval it had attracted the notice of some 
 of the learned author's contemporaries, and the reader 
 ^vill find his repUes to their criticisms in the appendix 
 to this volume. 
 
 In lajring the translation of the essay before the 
 Enghsh pubhc, the translator confines himself to the 
 expression of his own earnest conviction that Pro- 
 fessor Siivern has fully and completely succeeded in 
 proving the proposition he has advanced; and he 
 feels confident that, though some minor points may 
 be objected to, this conviction will be felt by all who 
 will take the trouble to read the essay, and to try the 
 truth of its contents by a frequent reference to t .c 
 play itself, and to the authorities quoted by the write; * 
 
 • Compare also tbc whole of the third section of the eightcet !h 
 chapter of Mitford's History of Greece. 
 
 *\ 
 
 + fl'19 
 
if' 
 
 The following table of the most remarkable events 
 connected with classical history, which occurred during 
 the time that Aristophanes was before the Athenian 
 public, as a comic poet, may not be unacceptable to 
 the reader 5 the details of the table are entirely taken 
 from Clinton's Fasti Hellenici. 
 
 -I 
 
 19 
 
 Play exhibited. 
 
 20 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 AatraXet^, 
 
 BaPv\u)viot. 
 iv d<mu 
 'AxapvuQ, 
 
 Ne^Xat. (a) 
 
 25 
 2ft f 
 
 Nf^lXat. (/3) 
 (tv acrra.) 
 
 1 
 'S. 
 
 6 
 
 O 
 
 U 
 ^ 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 U3 
 
 88—1 
 
 88—2 
 
 88—3 
 
 88—4 
 
 89—1 
 
 89—2 
 
 89—2 
 
 89—3 
 89- 
 
 427 
 
 426 
 425 
 
 424 
 
 423 
 
 Diotimos. 
 
 Eukles. 
 EuthydemoB. 
 
 Stratoklcs. 
 
 Isarchos. 
 
 S CO 
 
 Is 
 
 £5 
 
 422 Ameiniat. 
 
 422 Ameinias. 
 
 421 'Alkaios. 
 
 420 
 
 418 
 
 416 
 415 
 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 
 53 
 
 a 
 e 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 12 
 14 
 
 16 
 17 
 
 Public events, &c. 
 
 Re-conquest of Les- 
 bos. Surrender of 
 Plataia. Sedition 
 at Korkyra. Gor- 
 gias' first embassy 
 from Leontinoi to 
 Athens. 
 
 Lustration of Delos. 
 
 Sphakteria occupied 
 and surrendered to 
 Kleon. 
 
 Battle of Delion. 
 Amphipolis taken 
 by Brasidas. 
 
 Banishment of Thu- 
 cydides. Truce for 
 one year. 
 
 Deaths of Kleon and 
 Brasidas. Athe- 
 nian citizens com- 
 puted at 20,000. 
 
 Death of Kratinos. 
 
 Truce for 50 years. 
 
 Treaty with Argos. 
 
 Alcibiades commands 
 an Athenian expe- 
 dition into the Pe- 
 loponnesus. 
 
 Surrender of Melos. 
 
 Expedition sails to 
 Sicily. 
 
 'S 
 §S 
 
 32 
 32 
 
 35 
 35 
 
 38 
 
 41 
 
 Play exhibited. 
 
 •a 
 s 
 
 o 
 
 
 td 
 
 i 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 A 
 
 o 
 
 54 
 
 60 
 
 'AfiifudpaoQ. 
 
 'OpvtOff. 
 Kar dffrv. 
 Fnopyol ? 
 AvfftffTpdrtj. 
 
 Qi<TfiO(^opia!iovaai, 
 
 UXovrog. (o) 
 Bdrpaxoi. 
 
 91—2 
 91—2 
 
 92—1 
 92—1 
 
 92—4 
 
 93—3 
 
 414 Chabrias. 
 
 EKKXtiffidi^ovtrai. 
 
 UXovrog. (/3) 
 
 The KwtcaXoc and 
 the ' AioXoaiKutv 
 were exhibited 
 about this time 
 under the name 
 of Araros, son of 
 Aristophanes. 
 
 414 
 
 411 
 
 411 
 
 408 
 
 406 
 405 
 
 404 
 
 96—4 
 
 97—4 
 
 98—1 
 
 98 — 4 
 99—2 
 
 105—1 
 
 403 
 
 401 
 399 
 392 
 
 388 
 
 Chabrias. 
 
 Kallias. 
 Kallias. 
 
 Diokles. 
 
 Kallias. 
 
 Pythodoros. 
 
 Eukleides. 
 
 Xenainetos. 
 Aristok rates. 
 Demostratos. 
 
 Antipatros. 
 
 •a . 
 
 Oi m 
 
 a v 
 
 si 
 
 o o, 
 o 2 
 
 N CO 
 
 387 iTheodotos. 
 384 JDiotrephes. 
 
 382 
 
 Euandros. 
 
 359 Kallimedes. 
 
 o 
 
 -«S 
 
 a 
 
 O J, 
 
 >i a 
 
 Pablic ereDts, &c. 
 
 2 18 Second campaign in 
 I Sicily. 
 18 
 
 21 Government of the 
 
 I 400. 
 21 Termination of the 
 i History of Thucy- 
 I dides. 
 
 Alcibiades takes By- 
 I zantion. 
 Death of Euripides 
 Death of Sophokles. 
 
 Battle of Aigospo- 
 
 tamoi. 
 Athens taken by Ly- 
 
 sandros. Death of 
 
 Alcibiades. 
 Thrasyboulos drives 
 
 out the 30 tyrants. 
 Retreat of the 10,000. 
 Death of Socrates. 
 The Lacedaemonians 
 
 invade Corinth un- 
 der command of 
 
 Agesilaos. 
 Chabrias sails for 
 
 Kypros to assist 
 
 Euagoras. 
 Peace of Antalkidas. 
 Birth of Aristotle. 
 First campaign of 
 Olynthian w 
 Birth of Demc 
 nes. 
 
 Accession of PhiMn 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
a 
 
 ^ - <g , ^ ^T* "' ^ » .^m 
 
 I 
 
 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 or 
 
 " THE BIRDS" OF ARISTOPHANES. 
 
 Two Athenians come upon the stage, each with a bird on his 
 shoulder ; they are disgusted with the vices and follies of their 
 own country, and are in search of another. The oracle has 
 told them that these birds, a crow and a jackdaw, will be their 
 best guides to Tereus, who was once King of Thrace, and having 
 married Progne, daughter of Pandion, King of Athens, was, 
 according to the well known story, changed into a Hoopoe for 
 his cruelty to his wife, and to her sister Philomela. 
 
 The principal of these Athenians is called Peisthetairos, his 
 companion, Euelpides. 
 
 Having reached the abode of Tereus, or the Hoopoe, (Epops) 
 Peisthetairos, having opened his views to him, and gained his 
 good will, proposes to him a scheme by which the birds may 
 resume that dominion over the world which belonged to them 
 before the existence of the gods. Epops is pleased with the 
 project, and summons an assembly of the birds that it may be 
 laid before them. 
 
 The birds enter, and a selection of them form the choros of 
 the play. 
 
 They at first are very indignant at men, their natural enemies, 
 having been admitted amongst them, but are soon soothed by 
 the fluttering expressions of Peisthetairos, and the ambitious 
 views he opens to them. 
 
 He now lays before them the details of the scheme, the 
 advantages they will derive from it, and how easy it will be for 
 them to starve the gods, unless they come into their terms. 
 
 The birds address the spectators on the prospect opened for 
 the resumption of their old dominion, and on the increased hap- 
 piness which would accrue to mankind, if they would reject the 
 supremacy of the gods. 
 
 Vll 
 
 Peisthetairos and Euelpides having left the stage for a time, 
 return disguised as birds. 
 
 A consultation is held between them and Epops as to the 
 naming of the new city of the birds, which they agree shall be 
 called Nephelokokkygia, on the patron deity of it, and on the 
 possession of the ntXapyiKov, or citadel. 
 
 These points being settled, Peisthetairos gives direction to 
 the birds, how they are to proceed in the building of the city ; 
 and he sends for a priest for the performance of the necessary 
 sacrifices. 
 
 Whilst this is going on, a poet comes in to celebrate the 
 magnificence of the city, and the glory of the founder. He is 
 contemptuously dismissed with a cloak and tunic to cover his 
 
 rags. 
 
 A soothsayer succeeds him, with prophecies, but is ill-treated 
 by Peisthetairos : as are successively a surveyor, who wants to 
 measure and lay out the new streets, an 'EiriffKowocy or inspector 
 to see that all is in proper order, and a vender or promulgator 
 of decrees, to give them a code of laws. 
 
 The birds again chaunt the glories of their new existence, 
 and the good they will do to mankind. 
 
 On the return of Peisthetairos to the stage, which he had left 
 to look after the sacrifices, a herald announces to him that 
 the city is built, and describes how the birds had brought it 
 about. Another brings the news that a messenger from the 
 gods had been seen flying through the city, which turns out 
 to be Iris sent by Jupiter to mankind to bid them not leave off 
 their sacrifices. She is taken by a party of birds sent in pursuit 
 of her, and brought on the stage. 
 
 Iris denounces the vengeance of Jupiter on Peisthetairos. 
 
 Peisthetairos, when he had ordered the city to be built, had 
 sent a herald to the men to bid them no longer sacrifice to the 
 gods. 
 
 The herald being returned, compliments him, and having 
 enumerated the changes which had taken place among mankind 
 since the new order of things, he tells him that several persons 
 are coming from the men to be fledged, or plumed. 
 
 Immediately a great basket of wings of various sorts of birds 
 is prepared for the different characters. 
 
 The first who makes his appearance is a parricide, who 
 observes that birds kill their parents ; but Peisthetairos prevails 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 w 
 
VIU 
 
 
 on him to take a cock's wings, &c. &c. and go and fight the battles 
 of his country in Thrace. 
 
 He is followed by a dithyrambic poet, who wishes to become 
 a nightingale, and gives specimens of bombastic poetry. 
 
 A sycophant requests to be supplied with wings to enable 
 him to fly to and fro' between the islands and Athens, and thus 
 lay his informations against the rich with impunity. 
 
 Peisthetairos, indignant at the evil purposes to which the 
 wings are to be put, refuses them, and will receive no more 
 applications. 
 
 After some choral songs allusive to the preceding scene, 
 Prometheus comes slinking in under an umbrella, to avoid 
 being seen by Jupiter, and tells Peisthetairos that it is all over 
 with the gods, that they are nearly starved to death, and that 
 Jupiter has sent ambassadors to him to treat for terms ; but he 
 recommends him, on his old friendship for mankind, not to treat 
 but on condition that the sceptre of dominion be given up to 
 the birds, and that Jupiter give to him (Peisthetairos) his 
 daughter Basileia in marriage. 
 
 The three ambassadors make their appearance: Neptune, 
 Hercules, and Triballos. 
 
 Peisthetairos knowing the good appetite of Hercules imme- 
 diately prepares a dinner, and the prospect of it soon induces 
 the ambassador to come into his terms. Triballos, who seems 
 to know nothing at all about the business, sides with him, and 
 Neptune, who had opposed both the demands, seeing himself 
 .outvoted, at length gives in. 
 
 Hercules invites Peisthetairos to go mth them to Jupiter to 
 rf ci'ive his bride. 
 
 \ choral interlude follows allusive to gluttony and the art of 
 moating. 
 
 A. messenger enters descanting upon the splendour with which 
 i'el^thetairos is approaching on his car, accompanied by his 
 e Basileia. 
 
 'i he bride and bridegroom make their appearance, and are 
 ;ted by the nuptial songs and dances of the choros. 
 
 ij 
 
 It / 
 
 PROFESSOR SUVERN 
 
 ox 
 
 t€ 
 
 THE BIRDS" OF ARISTOPHANES. 
 
 
 When in the preface to my short essay on the 
 r,,pag of Anstophanes, I observed that we did not 
 yet kiiow the relation which the especial meaning of 
 all his works bore to their political and historical 
 Tr?,'""*' ^"^ particularly in view his comedy of 
 _iJl£jjrds." In this drama which I do not hesi- 
 tate at once to declare to be the most ing eninn. and 
 elal).)rate of aU the works, which have been preserved 
 to us, of this most inimitable comic writer, the sub- 
 ject matter IS so delicately inter^voven with its poeti- 
 cal dress, and is tlirougboutso little prominent and 
 striking, that we must not be surprised if the thread 
 by which the meaning of this airy tissue is to be un- 
 raveUed, has been easily overlooked or escaped notice; 
 nor that most persons see in the poem httle more 
 than the sportive and ingenious indulgence of a lively 
 Witty humour, and a gay volatile fanc)-, in which a 
 crowd of laughable_c.ircumstances, and every kind of 
 nonsensical absurdity are loosely connected, and ex- 
 posed in the course of an adventurous undertaking. 
 Itself the greatest folly of them all ; and which may 
 be only intended to show generally, what senseless 
 notions man can entertain. 
 
 I 
 
k. 
 
 '/ 
 
 r 
 
 f. 
 
 2 
 
 Professor Schlegel in his explanation of the play,* 
 gives this view of the subject in terms still more ex- 
 plicit : He represents the comedy as " The most in- 
 nocent buffoonery or farce, touching upon all subjects, 
 gods as well as men, but without entering deeply 
 into any, like a fanciful fairy-tale ; though not 
 without the philosophical purpose of taking as it 
 were from above a bird's-eye view of the universality 
 of things, our own representations being only true 
 when considered in a human point of view." This 
 is certainly the purest poetical conception of the 
 poem, nor am I at all inchned to dispute it ; I would 
 rather state it as a proof of the fine construction 
 and masterly perfection of the piece, in presenting 
 to us the possibility of forming and maintaining such 
 a simple and independent conception ; though when 
 we reflect on the prevaihng appUcation of the whole 
 of the old comedy to the life and manners, the say- 
 ings and doings of Athens itself, we must still doubt 
 whether it was equally the object of Aristophanes. 
 
 Those interpretations will certainly be more con- 
 formable to the known views of the poet, which 
 bring this drama also within the range of that ap- 
 plication ; and which further admit, that he purposed 
 to exhibit to the pubUc eye a view of the extreme 
 corruption, perversity, and vanity (like that of the 
 project of the birds) of the Athenian life and manners 
 in general ; particularly the licentiousness of the de- 
 magogues, and the light-heartedness with which the 
 people, ever intent only on the extension of their 
 dominion, and inflated by their prosperity, allowed 
 themselves to be carried away to new and adven- 
 turous schemes by the persuasive eloquence of this 
 
 » Lectures on the Art and History of Dramatic Writing, Part I. 
 p. 311, 313. 
 
 lU 
 
 4 
 
 class of men ; and either to enjoin them a complete re- 
 volution of moral habits and constitution, and even of 
 their whole style of thinking and living, or to con- 
 vince them that no safety could exist in a state a 
 prey to such mad folly I^ The truth of this view 
 is so far undeniable, as it was essential to the old 
 comedy, that no one of its productions could be con- 
 ceived, without a lively reference to the state of ex- 
 istence and of society in Athens ; and the supposi- 
 tion could only be considered extravagant, if it led 
 to the conclusion that Aristophanes had wished to 
 point out to his fellow citizens by means of " The 
 Birds," that nothing was left for them but to aban- 
 don their city and to build a new one elsewhere.^ 
 Nor can we indeed deny to this last notion of the 
 play, taken as it is from a general view of the Athenian 
 republic* (in conformity to which, the poet wished 
 to exhibit the gradual dissolution of the old prin- 
 ciple of the constitution into the arbitrary despotism 
 and will of one individual, and the absorption of 
 the national sovereignty in the sovereignty of one,) 
 that it is entirely founded, as well on the esoteric 
 history of Athenian life, as on the ideas ever 
 entertained by Aristophanes, and on the drama 
 itself. Nor is it impossible that the poet in 
 this work was conscious to himself of such a ge- 
 neral object, as well as of that which he had more 
 
 * The GramniHrinn in one of the old arguments of the play. Beck's 
 Comment, on the plays of Aristophanes, III. p. 359. 
 
 * Beck's preface to the " The Birds," p. 2. He has, however, 
 in other works witlidrawn this opinion. Compare Manso in the 
 Supplements to Sulzer, P. VII. p. 123. 
 
 * H. Th. Rottscher in his Dissertatio de Aristophanei ingenii prin- 
 cipio. Berlin, 1825, and more at length in the Essay entitled " Aris- 
 tophanes and his Times," p. 386, which was published after this 
 treatise had been completed. 
 
 11^ 
 
) 
 
 especially in view. But if, as is the case in tfic 
 present instance, indications which cannot be mis- 
 understood point directly to the supposition of a 
 special object, we must not be satisfied with having 
 established a general one; because the full under- 
 standing of the piece, as well in its own proper ex- 
 istence and form, as also in its indi\ddual attack on 
 the life and circumstances of the people and of the 
 republic, is only then possible, when we clearly un- 
 derstand the former, and when we perceive that the 
 poet has so linked together the two, and has melted 
 them so completely into one another, that it is dif- 
 ficult to say which was his primary, and which his 
 secondary object ; but from this alone can we form 
 a just appreciation of his art. It would therefore in 
 no way contribute to a scientific enquiry into anti- 
 quity, if we were to reject* all attempts to discover 
 the special reference of a comedy to something ex- 
 ternal and tangible; and least of all is there any 
 ground for such rejection in respect to the drama 
 now under consideration. 
 
 For in truth the artificial substruction, i. e. the 
 fable of the play, the fantastic project, into which 
 the birds allow themselves to l)e talked, namely, the 
 building up of the airy space between the earth and 
 the seat of the gods, in order to cut off all commu- 
 nication between the gods and men, with the view 
 of making both dependent upon the birds, and thus 
 to recover their old dominion over the world, does 
 in fact reign too predominantly over the whole pro- 
 gress of the story, to allow us to consider it, in re- 
 ference to the deep design, which is evident in all 
 the poems of Aristophanes, as the mere channel of 
 
 * KiUtscher Dissert, in Aristoph. p. 7'A. 
 
 1 
 
 Y 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 a general satire on tlie state and people of Athens. 
 All tlie incidents of the drama tend, first to intro- 
 duce the proposal of that project, then to make it 
 agreeable to the birds, who were at first violently 
 opposed to its authors, to carry through and con- 
 firm the resolution for its adoption, to make it known 
 to those who were interested in it, to superintend 
 its execution, to set aside the obstacles which in- 
 terrupted the sacrifices necessary for its completion 
 to develope its effects, which are becoming on all sides 
 apparent, and thus to bring about its final result; 
 so that the whole story in all its parts which are 
 admirably connected with one another, turns upon 
 this one enterprize. If now we reflect that the fable of 
 " The Acharnians," " The Peace," " The Lysistrata," 
 " The Ecclesiazousai," " The Frogs," fanciful as 
 they all are, possess also, each its historical sense, 
 which becomes evident in the progress of the several 
 stories, that " The Clouds," although tlie general 
 object of that drama be, hke that of " The Birds," 
 intelligible of itself, is still linked to certain definite 
 real events of the time, we cannot rest satisfied 
 vnth the beUef, that the story set forth in the con- 
 duct of this piece can have only a general, although 
 a political meaning; and we are the more forcibly 
 impelled to search after the design of the poet, in 
 the hopes of thereby being able to explain the most 
 important and essential features in the conduct of 
 the story, which though at first sight they may ap- 
 pear to be quite general, have still in all probability 
 their especial application. 
 
 The only attempt which has hitherto been made 
 to answer this question, is that which makes Aris- 
 tophanes to have had in view, as the foundation 
 of the story of " The Birds," the fortification of 
 
 t\^v / 
 

 Deceleia by the Spartans ; so that the poet may have 
 meant by the undertaking of the birds, either the 
 actual fortification, which cut off from the Athenians 
 all their continental alliances, or the counsel which 
 Alcibiades gave in Sparta to this effect, or merely 
 the prospective danger of such a plan.^ But the 
 first, viz., the actual fortification of Deceleia, is put 
 out of the question by a reference to dates ; as this 
 event took place in the third year of the 91st 
 Olympiad; whereas, "The Birds" was represented 
 according to the Didascalia in the second year of 
 that Olympiad." And this without taking into con- 
 sideration, that no real purpose could be answered 
 by a dramatic representation founded upon that fact ; 
 as the effect of the fortification of Deceleia was too 
 sensibly felt by the Athenians, for them to require 
 to be thus roused to oppose it. The advice of Alci- 
 biades also though given in Sparta in the second 
 year of the 91st Olympiad,^ could not have been 
 known in Athens when " The Birds" was exhibited 
 there. Moreover that event is quite insufficient to 
 explain the whole aUegory of " The Birds." In that 
 view the birds must have represented the Spartans, 
 which is quite at variance with all the characteristics 
 attributed to them in the piece. This supposition 
 is also belied by the fact, that the fortification of 
 Deceleia interrupted the communication of the Athe- 
 nians with the neighbouring continent only, whilst 
 it left open to them that by sea, whence they were 
 furnished with all their supplies.^ This event there- 
 
 « See the several authorities for these explanations in Beck's 
 Comment, on Aristoph. III. p. 36*1. 
 
 ' Thucyd. VII. 19, 27. Compare Morus on Xenophon's Hel- 
 lenics, 1. 1, 33. Beck, I.e. 
 
 •Thucyd.VI.91,93. Beck, 1. c. 
 » Beck's Preface to the Birds, 1. c. 
 
 fore would have been obscurely represented by " the 
 Birds," and the warning intended by the comedy 
 must have been quite uninteUigible to the people. " 
 In order then to explain the story of the piece, 
 and thereby to recover the key of it, we must evi- 
 dently set out with the question, whom are we to 
 understand by the parties impUcated in the enter- 
 prize? whom by the birds who undertake it? 
 whom by the gods, and by the men who are affected 
 by it ? On this will hang the other question respect- 
 ing the person of its author and conductor. 
 
 In the attempt which I am making to reply to 
 these questions, and thus to exjDlain the especial 
 sense of the drama as a whole, (since we are altoge- 
 ther without any positive notices in the antient 
 writers upon the subject) I can only establish such 
 a degree of conviction, as can be obtained from a 
 complete and exact comparison of internal signs with 
 historical evidences, and by a logical conclusion from 
 those premises. Here however a peculiar difficulty 
 immediately presents itself in the solution of the 
 principal question; for though the distinguishing 
 peculiarities of the three parties are visible enough, 
 and crowd upon us especially in the statements, ^th 
 which Peisthetairos first opens the project to the 
 Epops (v. 181-194, Ed. Dindorf.) and then explains 
 it to the birds (v. 550-5G9), yet these are afterwards 
 in many parts so intermingled with one another, that 
 they neariy disappear altogether, and thus the im- 
 port of each becomes obscured. 
 
 The birds are so depicted that we cannot h\it re- 
 cognize in them a picture of the Athenian people. 
 The departure of Peisthetairos and his companion 
 from Athens is signified by a flight, (v. 35. avfTr- 
 TofiefT^* Ik Trig narpiSog afiiftolv tto^oXv) that is, by 
 
 / 
 
8 
 
 I 
 
 something peculiar to birds. The first counsel with 
 which this personage opens his proposal to the Epops, 
 namely that the birds should no longer flutter about 
 with open beaks, Kex'^vonc (v. 166) reminds us most 
 pointedly of the propensity, so often declaimed against 
 by others as well as l)y Aristophanes, of a people ever 
 thoughtlessly gazing about with open mouths*® in 
 the assemblies ; for which the Athenians were wittily 
 nicknamed in the " knights" (v. 1 262) Kexyvaioi. In the 
 fickleness of the birds too, in their fondness for all 
 new and subtle refinements, (v. 255. sq. 317. sq. 321. 
 sq. 430 sq.) in their partiality for projects, which 
 however adventurous like that of Peisthetairos, flat- 
 tered their vanity and views of dominion, in the 
 reckless levity with which they admitted as citizens 
 foreigners and runaway slaves, (v. 760 sq.) in their daily 
 occupation from an early hour with laws and decrees, 
 (v. 1285 sq.) in the pride which their young men 
 took in beating and defying their parents, and in 
 other habits of the birds, he who is well acquainted 
 with the satire of Aristophanes, and the character of 
 the Athenians, can see only a direct satire upon this 
 people, and upon the follies and abuses peculiar to 
 them. Many single traits also, not directly derived 
 from the light existence and nature of birds, but 
 rather tacked on to them, as, for example, the con- 
 clusion of the form of Dedication of the city of the 
 birds, avToim Kai xioicri, (v. 877,) the transplanting 
 among the birds of the ^uXt; KiKpoirig (v. 1407), the 
 picturesque description which Trochilos makes of 
 his master the Epops, as of a citizen of Athens, 
 whose greatest treat is his porridge and gudgeons, 
 show distinctly that by the birds, by whom and 
 
 •» Acliarn.30. Equitt.62,396, 764,956, 1118. Vesp. 21. sq. Ran. 
 1016, sq. 
 
 amongst whom every thing is done, Aristophanes 
 meant to paint no other than his own fellow citizens ; 
 and the selection of the Minerva Polias, as the pa- 
 tron goddess of the new city of the birds, (v. 828. 
 sq.) and the taunts directed against the city (not in 
 the sense of the poet, but only put into the mouth 
 of Euelpides,) in which a goddess is clothed in the 
 armour of a man, and men become women, all this 
 makes it impossible not to see the connection be- 
 tween the undertaking of the birds, and Athens, 
 w^hose frequent epithet Xiwapov (v. 826) is given also 
 to the new city in the air.** 
 
 The project and proposals of Peisthetairos at 
 once announce the men as different from the birds ; 
 and if these are to represent the Athenians, the others 
 must have a distinct signification. For according to 
 V. 184 sq., when the birds shall have encircled the 
 horizon with a wall, and thus laid the foundation of a 
 city in the air between the gods and the men, the 
 birds are to reign over the latter as if these were 
 grasshoppers, and to starve the former like the in- 
 habitants of Melos. In v. 554 sq. the birds are to 
 claim back from Jupiter their old dominion, and if 
 he refuse it to them, they are to declare war against 
 him, and at the same time to send to the men a 
 herald who shall announce the sovereign dominion 
 of the birds, and demand their acknowledgement 
 of it. All this is done. Tlie herald on his return 
 (v. 1277 sq.) announces the readiness with which 
 mankind accede to the demand, and are resum- 
 ing the laws and manners of the birds from whom 
 they had seceded ; and he notifies the approaching 
 arrival of a large body of men, eager to be plumed 
 and admitted amongst the birds, and of these some 
 
 '• Aiirapal 'A^nvai. Spanhcim on " The Clouds," 299. 
 
10 
 
 of the chief deputies are forthwith admitted, (v. 1337, 
 sq.) 
 
 But here a good deal is predicated of men, and much 
 is attributed to them, which evidently belongs to, and 
 has reference to the Athenian people. Peisthetairos 
 and Euelpides, though in v. 30 sq. and v. 106 they 
 had emigrated from Athens, must according to v. 320 
 have come from the men. To the men are ascribed 
 the general faults of mankind, viz. falsehood and cun- 
 ning, (v. 158 and 451) eagerness for lucre and wealth, 
 base and selfish propensities, which are the springs of 
 all their actions, and upon which is grounded also the 
 plan for restoring their former state of subjection to 
 the birds. But other traits, such as their superstitious 
 respect for auguries, which makes them dependent 
 upon the birds (v. 499 sq. 708 sq.), and with which in- 
 deed the play opens, and the needy vermin who 
 present themselves at the sacrifice and as candidates 
 for admission into the city of the clouds, are derived 
 from the Athenians, (v. 904sq. 1021 sq.) Prometheus 
 who sneaks like a traitor from the gods to the birds, 
 boasts (v. 1545) that he was always well disposed to- 
 wards mankind; and Peisthetairos who has been 
 placed at the head of the birds, acknowledges the 
 compliment in the character of a man ; as in an earlier 
 part of the play (v. 610) Euelpides had also dropped 
 from the character of a bird into that of a man. 
 Thus birds and men seem here also to be blended 
 together in their signification. 
 
 The gods against whom the project of the birds is 
 peculiarly directed, and who are introduced as a 
 party decidedly distinct both from the birds and 
 from the men, are nevertheless as birdhke and as 
 human, as if there were no real difference between 
 them and the other two parties. Their descent from 
 
 t 
 
 11 
 
 the birds gives them a birdlike nature (v. 574 sq. 693), 
 they are Hke men, voluptuous, (v. 556) sensual, selfish 
 and greedy, (v. 1583 sq. 1606 sq. 1637) and cannot on 
 that account do without the men and their sacrifices, 
 (v. 190 sq. 1230 sq. 1516 sq.) ; they are therefore like 
 them dependent on the birds ; like men too they have 
 traitors amongst them, (v. 1494 sq.) their ambassadors 
 concern themselves very little about the common 
 weal, only look to their own personal advantage, 
 suffer themselves to be cajoled, have no common feel- 
 ing, and from all these motives give the advantage to 
 the opposite party, (v. 1565 sq.) Neptune ascribes the 
 choice of such ambassadors to the Athenian demo- 
 cracy, (v. 1570) which had been transplanted amongst 
 the gods, and which (see " the Acharnians" v. 61 sq.), 
 was frequently no less cheated by its ambassadors j 
 and according to the proof which Peisthetairos gives 
 to Hercules, that he could not hereafter be the heir 
 of his father Jupiter, (v. 1649 sq.) the laws of Solon 
 prevail in Olympus as well as in Athens. Here 
 then likewise characteristic traits, which in one 
 point of view are distinct from, nay even in oppo- 
 sition to each other, are again confounded together. 
 Indeed to complete the confusion, the birds them- 
 selves, in whom fundamental characteristics of the 
 Athenian manners and constitution are satirized, 
 have also such praiseworthy and excellent qualities, 
 that in many of these they are evidently brought 
 forward as models for the Athenians, as the beau 
 ideal indeed for the whole world, which is pictured 
 in the drama, consequently also for themselves* 
 The two emigrants apply to them, to escape from 
 the passion for traffic and litigation which prevails 
 in Athens, (v. 32, 110, 114 sq.) The licentious de- 
 sires, which they wish to have gratified, are strongly 
 
12 
 
 reproved by the Epops (v. 113); the birds live free 
 from care, without money and without falsehood 
 (v. 117 sq. 156 sq.), content with little food, and in 
 their leafy abodes ; (v. 159, 162 sq. 1078 sq.) and their 
 simphcity is contrasted with the cunning and roguery 
 of men. (v. 45 1 sq.) Tlie holy laws of old times pre- 
 vail amongst them, which men, and particularly the 
 Athenians fearlessly despise ; (v. 1353 sq.) Wisdom, 
 gentleness, and tranquillity reign in their city, a 
 praise which the Athenian was dou])tless disposed to 
 refer to his own. They raise themselves freely upon 
 the wing, and float afar over land and sea, looking 
 down upon the manifold follies of men ; (v. 1 1 8 sq. 
 1 158, 1 170sq. 1553 sq. 1694 sq.) and in the splendid 
 parabasis above all, the toilsome, feeble race of man, 
 x^ ^ in the depth of misery, is contrasted with the free, 
 light, and etherial family of the birds, (v. 685 sq.) There 
 they appear as original eternal beings, contemplating 
 immortality ; compared with them gods and men are 
 nothing, and their loveliest songs resound through 
 and enliven the universe. 
 
 No wonder then that this intricate confusion has 
 thrown a veil over the fundamental idea of the poem, 
 and has led to the opinion, that the author had 
 merely in view a general satire on mankind, on the 
 notions and relations of man, though with a special 
 reference to the Athenian people. We shall not 
 however be led astray by it, if we reflect on the 
 one hand, that such confusion is quite appropriate 
 and congenial to the roguish humour of comic 
 j poetry, which conceals its aim in the play of a per- 
 " ; \ petually shifting irony, and thereby makes a stronger 
 impression upon those who see through it; and on the 
 other, that we can easily distinguish what belongs to 
 each of the three divisions, as a party implicated in 
 
 13 
 
 the undertaking, from that which is extraneous to it ; 
 as for example in reference to the men, what belongs 
 to them as one of those parties, and what to them 
 as men; and in reference to the birds, what pro- 
 perly belongs to them as parties in the action, what 
 in virtue of the masks given to them, and what 
 as they compose the chorus. We must also take 
 with us, that the confusion which we observe, would 
 naturally proceed from the object of the comedy; 
 it being necessary, at the period at which " The 
 Birds" was brought out, that this object should be 
 to a certain degree concealed. Whilst at the same 
 time, with respect to the several parties engaged in 
 the action, without impairing their fundamental diver- 
 sity, it admitted of assimilating them in the course 
 of working out the parts, and thus of satirizing the 
 one by means of the others. The further develope- 
 ment of our subject will prove that this preliminary 
 exposition is well founded. 
 
 If we now feel assured that in the continuous 
 progress of the enterprize, to which the action is 
 directed, the birds mean the Athenian people, the 
 following question presents itself: what great under- 
 taking of this people is thus symboUcally portrayed 
 by the construction of a city in the air, with a high 
 wall taking in the whole horizon, begun and executed 
 by the people of the birds, in order so to separate 
 the gods from the men, that the latter may be obliged 
 no longer to acknowledge the sovereignty of the gods, 
 but that of the birds ; and that the gods losing their 
 influence over mankind, and having no other way of 
 receiving from them the tributary sacrifices, may be 
 reduced to despair, and thus, as in a state of siege, 
 be obliged by famine to capitulate with the birds and 
 
14 
 
 15 
 
 to restore to them the sovereignty which was originally 
 in their possession ? 
 
 We can only suppose some great warlike under- 
 taking, as that of the birds is directed against the 
 gods in a warlike sense, and as a holy war is to be 
 waged against them, if when the construction of the 
 city in the air is completed, they should refuse their 
 demands, (v. 555 sq. 1246 sq. 1588, 1591) The pur- 
 pose of this undertaking must resemble that of the 
 birds, and must mainly consist in tlie investing of a 
 powerful state, the rival of Athens, and in cutting it 
 oflf from others, over whom its influence and power 
 extended. It must have the same object for the 
 Athenians, as the undertaking of the birds has for 
 them, namely, to humihate such rival state and to 
 obtain for themselves an extended dominion. It 
 must be of a chimerical character, so that it may be 
 represented as frivolous and fantastical, such as none 
 but birds could have thought of; and it must have 
 seized upon and excited all minds, as the birds 
 were animated by their project. It must also be 
 contemporary with the production of the play, and 
 must have occupied the attention of every one at 
 the time. 
 
 Now all this coincides with no other than the great 
 Sicihan expedition, which took place in the first year 
 of the 91st Olympiad (B. C. 415), in reference, how- 
 ever, be it understood, to the ultimate object of it, 
 such as it floated in the imagination of Alcibiades 
 and of his more intimate companions. This object 
 was not Umited to Sicily alone, but pointed first to 
 the conquest of that island, and then to Italy, Carthage 
 and Libya, in order to get possession of the resources 
 of those countries, by which hitherto the Spartans 
 
 \ 
 
 had in part profited ;'2 ^nd thus by ruling over 
 the whole of the Mediterranean, as their own pro- 
 perty and dominion, to surround, and, as it were to 
 blockade the Peloponnesus, the seat and centre of the 
 power of their rivals ; by which means the Spartans, 
 and with them the Peloponnesian alliance, cut off 
 from all the rest of Greece, and deprived of all foreign 
 aid, might be compelled to resign the riyefiovia to the 
 Athenians. The other Greeks would be equally 
 forced to acknowledge the sovereignty of Athens, 
 and this state would be raised to the summit of 
 power. 
 
 Thucydides is our principal authority and voucher 
 for this contemplated extension and ultimate object 
 of the Sicilian expedition: and Plutarch and the 
 orators Aristides and Libanius coincide with the 
 historian. I shall hereafter adduce the two last 
 mentioned writers at a convenient opportunity. But 
 in Plutarch are two passages, in which he speaks 
 of the great extent of the Sicilian project. In the 
 one^^ he says, " Sicily was not considered as the ol)ject 
 " of the war, but merely as a point of departure 
 *^ {opfitiTiipiov) whence the struggle might be fought 
 " with the Carthaginians ; and Libya with the sea 
 " coast as far as the pillars of Hercules might also 
 " be occupied." In the other he says, still more 
 plainly, " Alcibiades ^^ looked upon Sicily, in relation 
 ^* to his plan, only as a beginning, not like others, as 
 " the object of the expedition ; and whilst Nicias 
 " endeavoured to dissuade the people from it by 
 ** the difficulty of conquering even Syracuse, Alci- 
 " biades, dreaming of Carthage and Libya, and with 
 " the accession of their resources, of Italy and 
 " Peloponnesus, which were now more than a match 
 
 •» Thuryd. XI. 7. •» Phitarch, Nic. 12. •* lb. Alcib. 17. 
 
/ 
 
 IG 
 
 " for them, only viewed Sicily as a viaticum of war 
 " (£>ogm)." The historian of the Peloponnesian war 
 does not indeed state, as Plutarch does, that these 
 extensive \aews and this ulterior object of the expedi- 
 tion were brought forward during the discussions; 
 but he observes that Alcibiades most earnestly recom- 
 mended the expedition, partly from a poUtical jealousy 
 of Nicias, and partly and especially (as the chief com- 
 mand was to be put into his hands) because he 
 hoped by it not only to conquer Sicily but Carthage 
 also, and if successful, to obtain for himself riches 
 and honour.** And Alcibiades, in the speech in 
 which he defends the expedition against Nicias, 
 indicates no more, than that the conquest of Sicily 
 would probably lead to that of the whole of Greece 
 by the Athenians.*^ Tliis reserve in a public harangue 
 was no more than prudent, as it behoved him, in 
 speaking of the enterprize which he wished to recom- 
 mend, to avoid a prematvire disclosure of the progres- 
 sive extension of it, which he had in contemplation, 
 lest it should appear visionary and impracticable; 
 and besides, there was no question as yet of renewing 
 the war with Sparta. But in the following year, 
 when Alcibiades had been recalled from the fleet, and 
 summoned to take his trial on the accusation of 
 having mutilated the statues of Mercuiy and of 
 having profaned the mysteries, (which, however, he 
 evaded and retired to Sparta,) he there, in order to 
 decide the Spartans to declare war against Athens, 
 
 '* Tliucyd. VI. 15. In the expression icai iXiriZtop SiiciXiav re ^i' 
 avTov Kai Kapxri^ova X^^/tff^ai. Grammatically, Alcibiades must be 
 considered as the subject to \ii\\^i<T^at : and we must with Bekker 
 take avTOii in the neuter gender, referring it to the preceding 
 
 aTpaTr]yTiaau ^ 
 
 '• Thucyd. VI. 18. Kat «V>a fj rOc'EXXa^ocruJv ««« Trpoffytvo^evwi', 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 17 
 
 an object in which the ambassadors of Corinth and 
 Syracuse had failed, unfolded to them without re- 
 serve the wliole extent of the plan, as it had existed in 
 his own imagination, and in that of his party. In his 
 speech to them on that occasion, he expressed himself 
 in the following terms :^^ " We sailed against Sicily, 
 *' in the first place, to subdue, if we were able, the 
 " Sicilians, after these the Italians, and then to 
 make an attempt on the empire of the Carthagin- 
 ians. If this should have succeeded, either in the 
 " whole, or in great part, it was then our intention, 
 " with this accession of power from the Greeks in 
 " those quarters, and taking into our pay many bar- 
 " barians, Iberians, and others, who are now consi- 
 " dered the most warlike in that part of the world, 
 " building many triremes in addition to our own, for 
 " Italy produces timber in abundance, to attack the 
 *^ Peloponnesus, and blockade the whole coast (rr)v Ilf- 
 XoTTovviiffov TTEfiii TToXiooKOvvTtg^) aud by simultane- 
 ous assaults from the land side,*** taking some of the 
 cities by storm, and putting a check upon others by 
 " contravallations, we conceived that we should soon 
 ** ])ring the war to a close, and extend our dominion 
 " over the whole of Hellas (rou ^vfiiravTog' EXXv^vikov.) 
 ** To faciUtate any portion of our undertaking, the 
 " countries beyond the sea would have abundantly 
 " furnished us with provisions and other necessaries 
 " of war, without your being able to go to their as- 
 
 " Tliucyd. VI. 90. sq. This is the principal passage on this sub- 
 ject. Luzac tlierefore (orat. de Socrate cive. p. 84.) ought least 
 of all to have overlooked it, particularly as Plutarch, if indeed, as is 
 probable, he followed Thucydides, in treating this subject, can only 
 have had this passage in view. 
 
 *" 'K^/Of>/xciic, as JJekker also reads, that is, from the Isthmus of 
 Coriatli. 
 
 iC 
 
 it 
 
 X6 
 
f 
 
 18 
 
 " sistance. You have now learned the views with 
 " which this maritime expedition was sent forth, 
 *' from the man who was best informed upon the 
 " subject ; and all the other commanders will follow 
 " in the same line, if they have it in their power/' 
 Having then shortly pointed out to the Spartans, how 
 near the danger was to them, when not only Sicily, but 
 Peloponnesus also was at stake, he advises them by 
 the fortification at Deceleia, to place a counter-check 
 in the country of the Athenians, and thus by prevent- 
 ing the execution of these projects, to break not only 
 their present but their future power. The Spartans 
 determined, upon reflection, to follow this advice, 
 and also to send succours to Sicily. Thucydides does 
 not express the smallest doubt, that such a project, 
 (of which it might perhaps have been said that it had 
 only been conjured up by Alcibiades, in order to ex- 
 cite the Spartans, by the impression which it would 
 necessarily produce, instantly to declare war against 
 the Athenians, and to vote for his proposals) had 
 been really entertained ; nor is it disputed in any of 
 the antient writers ; but on the contrary, it is alluded 
 to by others, to the same extent. Nor indeed was it 
 so totally unconnected with the earlier operations of 
 the Athenians in the Peloponnesian war, that even 
 these might not have led to it ; for the annual mari- 
 time expeditions around the coasts of the Pelopon- 
 nesus, which took place during the first half of the 
 war in pursuance of the advice of Pericles, so nearly 
 resembled a blockade of the country, with which in- 
 deed they were compared by Aristides,'^ that they 
 might easily have produced in fanciful minds, heated 
 
 " Aristidcs pro qnatuorv. 0pp. II. p. 142. Jcbb. "On ^t tiQ rrjv 
 TToXtfiiav airi€aivt {UeQiKXii^) Kai dvu^nOlaTtj ry irtXoirovviiani rt'iv 
 iroXiopjci'rtJ', oif Oiiirofuv «iV Xoyo»' j 
 
 19 
 
 by ambition and a thirst for military glory, first the 
 project of an uninterrupted blockade of the Pelopon- 
 nesus, and then the preliminary measures which were 
 necessary to arrive at that end. 
 
 Now, if we were to suppose this project to have 
 so far succeeded, as to have attained its full effect 
 according to the plan of Alcibiades ; if the Athenian 
 fleets had obtained the mastery of the Mediterranean, 
 and if the Peloponnesus had been blockaded both 
 by land and sea, the Spartans and their allies would 
 really have been in the situation of the gods in " The 
 Birds'' of Aristophanes, Le, in a state of siege, which 
 while it shut them out from all those minor states, for 
 the sovereignty over which they were contending with 
 the Athenians, {^vfiirav 'EXX^vticoi;) would have sub- 
 jected these without further effort to the Athenians, 
 and would have forced the Spartans, if they would 
 not expose themselves to a war of extermination, to 
 capitulate with their enemies, and to resign into their 
 hands the supremacy of Greece. 
 
 But even if the expedition against Sicily were an 
 ill advised undertaking, not only in reference to the 
 point at which it was aimed, but also as decidedly at 
 variance with the wise advice of Pericles,^® "that 
 " Athens should think more of strengthening and 
 defending her existing possessions, than on enlarg- 
 ing them ; and especially, with a view to success in 
 the Peloponnesian war,^* that she should seek only 
 " to tire out and exhaust her enemy, embarking in 
 " no hazardous enterprize whatever with a view to 
 
 *> Thucyd. II. 65. Kat o Ig SiiccXiai/ ttXovq ov roffovrov yvMHijg 
 itfiaprij^ia iiv irpog ovg lirtjetrav, k. t. X. 
 
 »» Thucyd. 1. 144. UoXKa U Kai dXKa f x^ k fXTrt'^a rov xepdffttrOai, 
 iiv WiXTjrt dpxhv Tf /i») tmKTd<r9ai ufia noXfuovvTig Kat Kiv^vvovg 
 avOaiptTOi'g fit) irpoffriOeoOai. 
 
 iC 
 
 u 
 
 it 
 
" conquest ;" and if on that account it had always 
 been rejected by that statesman,22 jn opposition to 
 the senseless current of popular opinion, which al- 
 ready in his time was setting in this direction ; if it 
 was an undertaking which, when it was afterwards 
 entered upon, appeared to the most prudent states- 
 men, as Nicias, to be under existing circumstances 
 in the highest degree dangerous f^ and withal, if it 
 was an enterprize which besides other favourable 
 combinations, required above all things the greatest 
 union at home f^ how much more hazardous and ex- 
 travagant does it appear, in the great extent in which 
 it was embraced by Alcibiades and his party, and 
 dependent as it was on the coincidence of so many 
 preliminaries, which were not to be counted upon, 
 and on arrangements, successes and results which 
 would require such an enormous expenditure of force! 
 Upon this subject Aristides, the Rhetorician, justly 
 says, " "I am persuaded you can alone, without aid, 
 " subdue the Peloponnesians one by one, or fill to- 
 *' gether ; then again you can conquer Sicily without 
 " difficulty, if you have only to contend with the 
 
 « riiiljircli. Peric. 20. ttoXXoic (t Kal SutXiai; 6 Uffepiog UtU'oij 
 ySfl Kal ?t.«T7ror/ioc t>u>c flxti', ov vtrripov kK^Kavaav ol vtpi rbv 
 'AXK^iiuh)V phToptG. 'lli^ r, KUi Tvpfnii't'.i icai Kapxnc^^^ '^^^oig 
 ovnpocovK UK iXrruoQ ha to /itytOoc riic viroKUfiiviK //yt/ioviac «f«* 
 ri)v n'poiav Tili^ irpaypuTwu. 'AXV u lltpucXiK' KaTHX^ rZ/r iKCpofu)v 
 ravrnv, icai TTipiUoTCTi Tt)v TroKvirpayiioavvnv K«i ni TrXilora rf/c 
 hwa^iioq trptrnv ilg <l>v\aK,)v Kal ^l^iauWurn tu»v virapxovruiv. 
 Comp. c. 17. init. Diodor. XII. 83. and imriicularly Arihlid. orat. 
 I'lat. H.Opp. ll.r. 124. 
 
 « Thucyd. VI. 9, U. Diod. XII. 83. 
 
 24 Thucyd II. 65. 
 
 2^ Aristid. orat. Sic. IT. Opp. 1. p. 38:^. comp- lM.crat do pace 29. 
 ' \\y ik rovr' dfporrvpn': ')X0»»', ''"'^ri nov TrpnnrtTtiiov r«»r iUKHi^v 
 ob Kparovvn^: 'IraXirrr Kai v««X.aj; Kai Rapx'I'" •'»•«!: "M^h»' Trpo*.- 
 
 21 
 
 " Si(!ilians. I say the same of Italy, that it cannot 
 " avoid falling into your hands, if you are at peace 
 " with all other states ; but if you must go to war at 
 " the same time with the Peloponnesians, and with 
 " the inhabitants of Sicily, Greeks as well as barbar- 
 " ians, and in addition to these, with those also of the 
 " continent beyond, who will not fail to come to their 
 *' assistance, I can no longer cherish this confidence, 
 " but I tremble at our visionary schemes ; this sub- 
 " sidiary war might easily become of more importance 
 " to us than the principal aifair, though we fancy that 
 " it will make Sicily, Italy, Carthage and almost the 
 " whole world subservient to us, and though we ex- 
 " pect vvdth the aid of their resources to draw a circle 
 " round the Peloponnesus; (7i/oi/rowc ^tvpo Ko/utrrain-tc 
 " T))v neAo7rovvi]a-oi; Trc/jcffrw^av,)'^ but to me, O 
 " Athenians, and let no one be offended with me for 
 " it, it does appear that we ought in the first instance 
 " to do just the contrary ; we should first sub- 
 " jugate the Peloponnesus, that with its assistance 
 " we may obtain the mastery over those remote 
 ** countries ; for we arc more likely to effect this, by 
 
 ^* I shall here {?lve the passage from Libanius, Apol. Socr.Opp. Ilf. 
 p. 47, VJ. sq. (Ileiske Edit.) because he evidently refers to preceding: 
 writers, and his expressions are explained by them. He says, 
 'AXX' £1 roiV (}(patpoiivTac ru>i' v7rapx<n'Uov HKTtirf, tuq yt xpofrOliKag 
 rrCJc ovK av tn-aroTrf ; 'EkJj'OC roivvv dhv, vxip tvv 'loriov (Us 
 v?l(Toi' fityaXtjv. 'ilpsx^n X/KtXirtr. fc7rtO»V;/Tf r 'iraXiag, iiXirifftv 'i^uv 
 Ai^vt)Vf iyvut irupu<TT7ii'ai ritXon'ovi'»/T.;f> r;}v t(nripav, iTrtOifiTjae 
 Xuffm Tov TToXf/iov TtXti KoXip, Kui TrpoffTTfffttv AaKthu^ovlon\ 
 icpo<tavli)(Tai:{Trpoav'iitfrac Bekker) rf/ :r<;X« Tt)v pi-'pnv. WapaffTTi' 
 vni UtXoTTovviitTiit Tt)v in-xipm' is implied also in the above quoted 
 passage from Aristides, and also in the following from Thucydides : 
 tjt^i; rn \]eXoTrovvqfTii> tfdXXoptv t;rixnp/,o-«)' k'crfutravrfg V<p,7Taaav 
 fiiu rt)v UtWtv frporTyn'ofdin)}' cvvaiuv ri7!v'EXXi)vi'H'y ttoXXovq h 
 Papfiapovg pinOvjaantroi, kui 'Ij^paQ kui uXXovr tCov iKtl ofioX/). 
 yov^h'ou; vvv filipjVtptov fia\tfnoraroiic. 
 
22 
 
 a 
 
 the previous subjugation of our neighbours, than 
 " to subjugate our neighbours by ill-timed and dis- 
 " tant attacks upon others." Notwithstanding these 
 arguments the great mass of the Athenian popula- 
 tion having no clear notion of what they were going 
 to undertake, even in reference to Sicily alone, and 
 knowing nothing of the whole extent and difficulty 
 of its ulterior object*' — the elders, in earnest confi- 
 dence of its success, and of the additional power it 
 would give to the state — the young from a love of 
 action and the force of imagination — the crowd from 
 a thirst after plunder and profit — all were so ardently 
 excited and captivated by the idea,*^ that they sat 
 together in the Gymnasia, in the market-places 
 and in the work-shops,*^ drawing upon the sand 
 plans of the island, of the surrounding sea, of its 
 position with respect to Carthage and Libya, con- 
 versing upon the subject, and disputing on the part 
 they were to act in it. The idea of the Sicilian ex- 
 pedition, with all the contingencies dependent upon 
 it, and the hope that it might be carried into execu- 
 tion, did indeed make such a deep impression upon 
 the Athenians, that its failure, and the series of misfor- 
 tunes which followed thereupon, could not eradicate 
 it from their minds; and the important victories 
 obtained by Alcibiades shortly before his return to 
 Athens, not only made them revert to it, but seemed 
 to convince them, that the conquest of Sicily, and every 
 thing else which they had expected from it, would 
 have taken place,if they had left the conduct of it in his 
 hands.3'* And as the expedition, which had set out 
 
 ^ Thucyd.VI. init. 
 
 2" Plut. in Alcib. 17 Nic. 12. compare Tliucyd. Vf. 24. 
 '» Plut. ill Alcib. 17 sjiys, iv ralg jraXataTpauj Koi Tolg i)utKVK\iotc> 
 Tr. 3« Plutarch, in Alcib. 32. 
 
 hi 
 
 23 
 
 the year before the production of our drama, was just 
 now at that period, when no unfavourable occurrence 
 could have changed the public opinion respecting it, 
 it still continued to be viewed with the most Uvely 
 interest; and it strikes us therefore at first sight 
 as most peculiarly fitted to be brought upon the 
 comic stage, as a project of thoughtless and volatile 
 birds,^' and thus affording, in an amusing form, a 
 serious warning to the people. Nor are we without 
 grounds for thhiking that Aristophanes was the more 
 disposed this way, as he had already directed his 
 raillery against the first Sicilian expedition in the 
 Acharnians, (v. 606) and in the Wasps ; (v. 896 sq. 
 911 sq.) and aware as he was of the disposition of 
 the people, he had not forgotten in the " Peace," 
 (v. 2, 50) to make the diemon Polemos launch out into 
 threats against that island. It would indeed have 
 been extraordinary, if a poet, whose comedies gene- 
 rally and severally have so decided a reference to 
 the Peloponnesian war, had omitted to make such 
 a great and important feature of that war, both in 
 its origin and purpose, the object of a special repre- 
 sentation. 
 
 This expedition then combines all the circum- 
 stances necessary for understanding the ground- work 
 of our drama ; and by a reference to it we easily 
 perceive who are intended by the birds, who by the 
 gods, and who by the men. The birds according to 
 the advice of Peisthetairos (v. 166) are no longer to 
 flutter about with open beaks ; that is, the Athenians 
 are no longer to waste their strength, thoughtless 
 and planless, in multifarious pursuits, but are to 
 
 '• Koviporoojv opriOu}r. Sopliorl. in Antig. 34:5. 
 
 y 
 
24 
 
 25 
 
 found one city {fiUiv nuXiv, v. 17i>, 550) timt is, ta 
 concentrate themselves witli all their might on one 
 fixed project.33 This city is to take in the whole 
 horizon ; and as Peisthetairos (v. 1 ?(> sq.) directs the 
 Epops to look down on the space to be occupied by 
 this city, so does Demosthenes, in " The Kni^^hts," 
 (v. 16*9) show to the sausage-seller the domain of the 
 sovereignty conferred uiK)n him, bidding him look 
 down from his sausage-table upon the islands around, 
 the commercial states, the merchant-ships on the 
 high seas, as far as Caria to the south and Chalcedon 
 to the north. If now instead of the horizon and the 
 atmosphere in the play (v. 179, 180 sq. 193, 551, 
 117^^, 1183 sq.) we represent to ourselves the ex- 
 panded sea, and instead of the city to be built, we 
 imagine the Athenian ships and fleets spread over it 
 the meaning of the allegorical picture will be so' 
 definite and satisfactory, that we shall not require 
 any more precise indications. If we observe, too 
 that from the outset, the ])lockade {(i>paU^\ v. 1 83) and 
 the circumvallation {infUTHxiKuv, v. 552) of the atmos- 
 phere are particularly dwelt upon, and that afterwards 
 the greatest importance is attached to the completion 
 of the wall, which is circumstantially announced, we 
 cannot hesitate to believe, that the city to be founded 
 means nothing else, than the fleets, which are to be 
 constructed from the resources of all conquered 
 countries, and to command the whole Mediterranean 
 sea, excluding everything, as if they were with a wall, 
 from this maritime empire, and especially shutting in 
 the Peloponnesus. Aristophanes may also have in- 
 
 »3 Compare Plutarch. Alcib. 17. K«f ^uaa, ;.,) ,ara f^ipoc ,.,;^i 
 
 i 
 
 tended to allude to the well known oracle of the 
 wooden walls, delivered in the Persian war, and to the 
 interpretation of it by Themistocles ; but a still more 
 striking resemblance to the picture selected by the 
 poet is found in the idea of actually carrying a wall 
 round the whole of Peloponnesus, which was enter- 
 tained in the Persian war ; for when the Peloponne 
 sians, at the second invasion of Mardonius, were for- 
 tifying the isthmus of Corinth, the Athenians advised 
 them rather ttj/oi anaaav UiXoirovvricrov TLix.ng irepL- 
 jSwXfTi;.^* And though in the construction of the wall in 
 the play, the poet may speak of hewn stones, of bricks, 
 of cement, of gates, and such like, no one will there- 
 fore, think of a real stone v/all with wooden gates, 
 but will readily conceive how all this belongs to the 
 conduct of the allegory, which he has adopted. 
 Aristophanes might fairly represent the Spartans 
 and Peloponnesians, together with the principal states 
 in alliance with them, as gods, as well on account of 
 their general importance, as for the superiority in the 
 balance of power, which was then leaning towards 
 their side, of which more hereafter; and he might 
 picture as men the other smaller dependent (jrreek 
 states collectively, because they were the object of 
 the struggle for dominion. And we thus clearly per- 
 ceive how, in the hands of the comic poet, the three 
 parties, which in their original import are separated 
 by strong lines of distinction, come, without any 
 illogical absurdity, to be confounded with one another 
 in the progress of the story. They are all in fact of 
 one stamp. They are all Greeks who act different 
 parts in the main plot only, and in the action, which 
 springs out of it ; but in the rest they resemble each 
 
 ^* Lysias. Rpitapli. V. 
 
 / 
 
 C- 
 
26 
 
 21 
 
 other; and they are all objects of one satire, in 
 reference to their dissensions, and to their other per- 
 versities and follies. 
 
 Thus then have we discovered the master-key of 
 the play ; and that it is so we shall further prove, as 
 we proceed in explaining the outlines of it and its 
 several details. But we must first observe that the 
 poet has not anxiously laboured, to carry through 
 this allegorical meaning, with a strict adherence to 
 consistency, in all the particular points, but has 
 only kept to it generally ; frequently in single parts 
 working up the individual picture of his choice in 
 its own proper colours, and without reference to 
 the original meaning, as, for example, in what has 
 been observed respecting the wall : and as he has 
 not scrupled to weave into it many subsidiary strokes 
 of wit, raillery and good humour, and has given 
 full scope to his own unbridled fancy, no less than 
 to his profound good sense, we must not expect, 
 from this explanation, a pedantic solution of every 
 particular feature, in the sense which we have given 
 to the whole drama. Should we, however, see here 
 and there in particular passages, more than the poet 
 may have implied, even this will be more satisfactory, 
 than if we had failed in pointing out the connection 
 between the really significative and essential parts of 
 the drama, and its original motive. 
 
 Now Aristophanes has so managed his subject, as 
 to exhibit the undertaking in all its forms, as a pro- 
 ject altogether sophistical, as essentially a chimerical 
 phantom, which none but a vain ambitious popula- 
 tion of inflammable, giddy and volatile men could 
 have been induced to pursue; and besides several 
 serious admonitions which are scattered about here 
 
 and there, he clearly shows the selfish views in which 
 it was conceived, and in the accomplishment of which 
 
 it is likely to end. 
 
 He opens his subject by conducting two travellers, 
 who declare that they have left Athens from a disgust 
 at the incessant traffic in justice, with which men, 
 judges as well parties, are there persecuted, (v. 31) sq. 
 109 sq.) into the presence of Tereus, who has been 
 changed into a Hoopoo, (Epops) in order to learn 
 from him, intimate as he is supposed to be with the 
 lives of men and birds, where to find a city in which 
 they may live quietly and pleasantly; (v. 115 sq.) 
 by means of this picture, the dazzling idea of the 
 enterprize in question is first suggested to the Epops. 
 (v. G2 sq.) Enraptured with the project, he forth- 
 with calls a general assembly of the birds, (v. 228) 
 soon succeeds in soothing the wrath, which this 
 admission of their human enemies amongst them had 
 at first excited, (v. 325, 369) and lays before them 
 the whole scheme, (v. 466 sq.) In this manner the 
 poet at once transplants the project amongst that 
 race and into that airy region, to which it naturally 
 belongs, and the action opens with a stroke of deep 
 irony. For whilst in fact he makes Peisthetairos 
 and Euelpides go over from the Athenians to the 
 Athenians, for these are denoted by the birds, he 
 proceeds most gravely, as if he were introducing them 
 to a totally distinct race, and into a perfectly un- 
 known country, far away from Athens, (v. 6 — 1 1 .) 
 and in a tone of the utmost good humour, he mixes 
 with his praises of Athens (v. 37- sq. 108) a light 
 harmless satire on abuses elsewhere severely attacked 
 by him ; as for example, on the eternal traffic in 
 law, and on the swarms of strangers admitted to 
 the civic rights ; (v. 31. sq.) and thus in fact he plays 
 
28 
 
 with the people, under the flattering disguise of a 
 jooetry, whose real meaning could not escape tlie 
 clear-sighted f^ nay, I think I can show, with the 
 highest degree of probability, that the scenery pointed 
 to Athens itself as the theatre of action. This is 
 directly indicated by the questions put by Peisthetai- 
 ros, (v. 301) when Euelpides shows him the owl 
 coming on with the other birds, Ti 0yc ; tic yXavK 
 'AOiivalC riyayt f^ and also by the words, lyKeXi)KU)g 
 tvOa^i, (v. 1455) the scene of the story is instantly, at 
 least in imagination, referred to Athens. This sup- 
 position is further strengthened by another and more 
 distinct and evident indication. Peisthetairos and 
 Euelpides are conducted by the raven and the jay, 
 whose warnings they are following, against rocks, 
 (v. 20.) through which there is no thoroughfare ; their 
 travelling therefore must come to an end, fronting 
 tliese rocks. Then Euelpides is told to knock at them, 
 as an Athenian would knock at a house door, to an- 
 nounce himself to the Epops ; upon which his servant 
 Trochilos (v. 6*1.) first comes forth, and then the 
 master himself, (v. 92.) when Trochilos has awaked 
 him (v. 81.) from his mid-day slumbers ; further on 
 the Epops retires by the same way into his thicket, 
 to call together the birds, (v. 204, 20J>) and afterwards 
 again comes forth from the same quarter; (v. 270) 
 
 w The ffo^oi, or htwi as lie sometimes calls them, thus, indeed, 
 fliittering the whole public with the compliment. E. g. Nube.*. v. 521, 
 526, Vespa;. v. 104!), &c. 
 
 ^^ The earlier critics marked this passage with an asterisk, sup- 
 posing the scene not to be in Athens, and as if it should be tK 'A^tjvuiv, 
 not lig 'A^rivag. But the Scholiasts rightly observe, ov Trpoffirohirai 
 ^t, on oi'K iv 'A^iivauj tu irpuyjiuTa^ i. e. Peisthetairos applied the 
 proverb generally without appropriating it to himself, or had for- 
 gotten that he was out of Athens. But the port purposely makes 
 him betray the truth. 
 
 29 
 
 here is his nest, (v. Gi I sq.) out of wliich he calls forth 
 his Progne. (v. (165) He introduces the two strangers 
 into it, (v, 6*19, 675) and comes out of it with them 
 when they have been plumed, (v. 801) Here we must 
 clearly figure to ourselves the face of a rock, towards 
 which the strangers advance, and in front of which 
 the action takes place ; and behind it is a wood. But 
 this rock, which at first sight appears to belong to 
 the external accessories of the poem, merely as part 
 of a wild scenery, can scarcely be without some pe- 
 culiar meaning. Let the reader remember that the 
 scenes of these dramas of our poet, which bore upon 
 the assemblies of the people, or in which they are 
 introduced, is laid near the spot in which those as- 
 semblies arc held, that is the Pnyx itself, the antient 
 seat of the Democracy, whose tenant or occupier is 
 properly called by Aristophanes, in the Knights, 
 (v. 43, compare v. 750-) A»ijuoc Trujcvtrjjc-'^' Now, 
 UiT(>ai in our author is often used for the Pnyx, 
 partly on account of the massive stone substruction 
 of its northern side against the rising ground on 
 wliich it leaned, and the long wall of large blocks of 
 stone which inclosed it to the south, partly from 
 tlie liigh rock out of which, according to the arrange- 
 ment of Themistocles, the finfia or orators tribune, 
 had been formed, partly also from the stone seats 
 for the people within this space.^ Thus when in 
 "the Knights" (v. 956.) Cleon himself is pointed 
 out by the figure on his seal ring, Xupog KExvviog 
 £7ri irhpag orjjui7yo/aa>r, the 7r£r(>a is evidently the stone 
 /3r/jua in the Pnyx, which is also to be understood of 
 
 3' Sec the Treatise on the Vt'ipat^ of Aristophanes, p. 19. 
 
 =»** ihi all this, sec Siliomann dc comit. Aih. p. 53. sq. Comp. 
 < haniller's Travels, p. (13. and Leake's Topography of Athens, 
 p. 10. sq. 
 
30 
 
 / 
 
 31 
 
 the Xi^og in " the Peace/' (v. (iSO) in " the Tliesmo- 
 phoriazousai," (v.530)and"theEcclesiazousai." (v. 87) 
 As this spot commanded a view of the port of Athens, 
 and of the sea,'^ we easily understand the comic al- 
 lusion made to it in the in\4tation already noticed, of 
 Demosthenes to the sausage-seller in " the Knights," 
 to mount upon his dresser, and look around upon the 
 sea, and the harbours and the islands beneath him. 
 In the same comedy, (v. 783.) where the sausage- 
 seller accuses Cleon of not caring how hard the seats 
 are, on which the people sit, (tTri Toiai irtTpaic ov 
 if^povTiZii <TK\r}p(oc ffc Ka^{}iJ.evov ovTcjg) and where he 
 even presents a soft cushion to Demos, allusion is made 
 to the seats of the Pnyx ; and when a few lines before 
 (v. 750) Demos announces his wish that an ecclesia 
 should be held in the Pnyx, (v. 7-l(>) in order to decide 
 the dispute between the two; (on which the sausage- 
 seller complains, that the old fellow, clever and slirewd 
 as he was at home, as soon as he finds himself seated 
 upon the stones, urav 8' ctti ravTijaX KaBt}Tai Trig wirpag 
 (v. 754.) gapes and yawns with his mouth open, as if 
 he was bolting figs;) and as Demos immediately 
 opens the sitting, we must necessarily, in this comedy 
 of "the Knights," imagine to ourselves a stone bench 
 placed upon the stage itself,^® to represent the Pnyx, 
 on which Demos takes his seat, as the people did in 
 the ecclesia. Thus, too, in the Drama of which we 
 are treating, an ecclesia is held of the republic of the 
 ])irds, who represent the people, and to which they 
 are called by the Epops, as the people in Athens were 
 by the herald, (v. 227 sq.) What, then, can be more 
 probable, than that the real place to which our imagi- 
 
 35 Plut. Themist. 1 9. 
 
 *'* Not in the orchestra, as Kaiinegcis'scr says ; see Die alte Ko- 
 miscliC Bi'ihne in Athcn. p. \7'J, 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 nation is to be carried, is pointed out by the wall 
 of rock in the back ground, representing the sub- 
 structions and walls of the Pnyx, behind which 
 are the Xox/in and v\r\ (v. 192, 204, 209) whence 
 the Epops comes forth, and whence the birds are 
 called upon the stage, as the citizens are summoned 
 to the assembly from their houses? On this spot 
 too the Epops, like the sausage-seller in " the 
 Kniglits," might be invited to cast his eyes around 
 far and wide ; and the sea visible from thence might 
 the more definitely be pointed out to him, as the 
 proper object of his survey. I shall here only make 
 a cursory reference to another passage of this comedy, 
 which will be quoted hereafter, and to which the ob- 
 servation I have just made is also applicable. 
 
 In pursuance of the poet's ironical fiction, the 
 strangers who have wandered so far from Athens, 
 that they can no longer find the way back to their 
 country, are really only conducted into the Pnyx; 
 thus the action is carried on in the very seat and 
 centre of the life of the Athenian people, though ap- 
 parently as remote from it as earth from heaven; 
 and thus even in external circumstances, it is ap- 
 proximated to the reality at which it was aimed, with- 
 out abandoning the fantastical character, which the 
 enterprize to be ridiculed must necessarily maintain. 
 
 But if the whole action of our drama be not a mere 
 gossamer airy fiction of poetry, and if it contain a 
 real historical substance, on which is founded the 
 import of the several parties that are implicated in it, 
 we may at once take for granted also, that the prin- 
 cipal personages are not mere creatures of the fancy, 
 but must be essentially historical. When then the 
 question arises, what is the poet's conception of the 
 
32 
 
 two emigrants, and especially of Peisthetairos, who 
 originates, conducts, and carries through the whole 
 action? what individual did the poet wish to represent 
 by him ? what motives to embody in him ? an 
 answer presents itself, based on this self-evident in- 
 duction, that he can have created the character only 
 out of the expedition ; and that it must bear a simi- 
 lar and equally intimate relation to such expedition, 
 with that which Peisthetairos bears to the under- 
 taldng of the birds. It is indeed very possible, and 
 even probable, that Aristophanes in drawing this cha- 
 racter has not merely had in his mind single indivi- 
 duals, but that he has concentrated in it the motives 
 and tendencies, which were the soul of the Sicilian ex- 
 pedition, in those with whom it originated ; and that 
 he has constructed into one general image the leading 
 characteristics of several persons who were of the 
 same opinion respecting it. But all these character- 
 istics meet together in certain prcmiinent indications, 
 which may be the more readily referred to particular 
 individuals, as they can be explained from them with- 
 out violence. 
 
 Now those characteristics are particularly striking 
 which point to Alcibiades. As Peisthetairos induces 
 the birds to adopt his project, so had Alcibiades per- 
 suaded the Athenians to the Sicilian expedition ; he 
 had defended, recommended, and carried it through 
 in i^resence of the people, and he had turned his own 
 liead and that of others, with respect to its ulterior 
 object; he is therefore considered as the proper 
 father of this undertaking,^* as Peisthetairos is the 
 
 -»' Diodor. XIII. 27, 31. comi.. XII, 84. TUuiyd. VI. 15. Tlut. 
 Akib. 17. Nic. 12. 
 
 I 
 
 33 
 
 author of that of the birds, and he was in reference 
 to it the UeKT^iTaipocy*^ a name intended to express 
 the influence which eloquence really had over the 
 historical undertaking, and which it here exercises 
 over that which is allegorical. He possessed too, 
 much of the sophistry of Peisthetairos, and he was 
 above all impelled by that selfish and ambitious 
 thirst for power, which displays itself in this per- 
 sonage in the second half of the comedy, which in 
 fine attains its object, and of which more will be 
 said in the proper place. Nor can we fail to perceive 
 a strong aflinity*^ between the part of Peisthetai- 
 ros, and the whole conduct and character of Alci- 
 biades, as well in essentials as in external cir- 
 cumstances in general ; and one might be tempted 
 simply to explain the one by the other. To this 
 however it must be objected, that Peisthetairos and 
 his fellow-traveller Euelpides are expressly called old 
 men, (v. 256, 320, 1401.) whereas Alcibiades, at the 
 beginning of the Sicilian expedition, was in the flower 
 of manhood. The sophistical character also is too 
 prominently brought forward in both, for us to con- 
 sider this as a subordinate quality, as it w^as in Alci- 
 biades, and not as a predominant and marked distinc- 
 tion in those to whom the poet alludes ; for they are 
 announced to the birds in three passages as sophists ; 
 first, (v. 318) they are both especially called cavil- 
 lers, XewToXoyKTra, a word which Aristophanes in 
 order to suit the metre, humorously decomposes 
 
 ♦' Schol. to " the Birds," i. irapa to irtiOiaQai. Voss, at v. 644, 
 translates the word after the example of Gothe, as Treufreund, or 
 faithful friend. But then he would have been called UiodtTmooi:. 
 
 *3 I here observe once for all the correctness of my view, on the 
 meaning of Peisthetairos, and " the birds" j^cncrally, in " J he Trea- 
 tise on the Clouds," p. 42. which was not yet quite clear to me wheo 
 I wrote it. 
 
 D 
 
 ^-r- 
 
34 
 
 into XcTTTw \oyi(TTa — as if he had said, " cavil lov- 
 ers ;" — then again, (v. 409) in the words ^e(vu) cro^ijc 
 a^' 'EXXaSoc, both are pointed out as sophists by 
 the epithet (To^fic> but most particularly is Peisthe- 
 tairos so designated in the praise bestowed upon 
 him in v. 427, though by the preceding question 
 of the chorus {irorepa fiatvofitvog ;) it is ironical : 
 he is there said to be o^arov cl^c (fipovifiog, and 
 again, ttukvototov KivaSog, 2o0c(r/ia, Kvpfia, Tgliifxay 
 franraXrifi oXov, to which expressions we may com- 
 pare V. 260 of " the Clouds," where Socrates uses 
 nearly the same words, when he details to Strep- 
 siades the advantages he will secure if he becomes his 
 scholar. In other passages, particularly v. 1271 sq. 
 and 1401, the sophistical cunning in the character of 
 Peisthetairos is especially brought for\\^ard and praised. 
 Witli this is also connected the characteristic of 
 petty sophistical vanity, which is interwoven with 
 that of ambition more peculiarly belonging to Al- 
 cibiades. Hence it becomes highly probable, that 
 Aristophanes has thrown into the character of Peis- 
 thetairos essential traits taken from some other in- 
 dividual besides Alcibiades, from one too who re- 
 sembled him in selfish views, but more vain, and in 
 whom sophistry was the most prominent feature. 
 He must have equalled him in eloquence, perhaps 
 surpassed him in sophistical subtlety, must have 
 been concerned too, though more remotely in the 
 Sicilian expedition, and at the time of the produc- 
 tion of " the Birds,'* he must have been an appro- 
 priate subject for the shafts of Aristophanic satire. 
 
 In announcing the solution of this enigma, I can, 
 for the present, only cursorily prove its correctness, 
 as far as the general characteristics, which have been 
 adduced, seem to require it, reserving the further de- 
 
 
 35 
 
 monstration of it to the explanation of the Drama in 
 its whole scheme. The historical personage, whom 
 in drawing the character of Peisthetairos the poet 
 may have especially had in his eye, along with Alci- 
 biades, seems to be Gorgias of Leontini.** This 
 Gorgias first came to Athens^^ at the head of an 
 embassy, (a^x*^P^^/^^*^"i^ Diod.) in the second year 
 of the 88th Olympiad, i. e. in the 12th year pre- 
 ceding the exhibition of " the Birds," in order to ob- 
 tain for his native city then depressed by a war with 
 Syracuse, assistance from the Athenians,^^ who weiC 
 related to the Leontines, a colony of the Clialcidians 
 of Eub(Ea.*7 As Gorgias succeeded in his object, 
 and as the Athenian people, dazzled by the novel 
 style of his eloquence,*^ resolved to send succours to 
 
 ** See A. in Appendix. 
 
 ** 1 entirely coincide with what Geel says, Hist. crit. Sophistarum 
 in act. nov. Soc. Traj. Bat. P. II. p. 17 sq. that Gorgias did not come 
 earlier to Athens, and particularly not in the 70th Olympiad. But I 
 take a different view of his second argument on this suhject : of this, 
 however, more hereafter. 
 
 *« Thucyd. VI. 3. and afterwards in c. 50. Kara Xvufiaxiav Kai 
 Xvyyivuav. Diodor. XII. 53. Aeovrlvoi XaXK^kujv fih^ ovrtg airoi- 
 Koif (Tvyyevilg U 'A^»;raiw»', compare c. 54, and c. 83. Twv \tovri- 
 VMV rt)v o-i'yyf I'fiai' 7rpo(ptpofiiuiov. I quote these passages here on 
 Account of a reference to " the Biids," wliich I shall touch upon in 
 
 the sequel. 
 
 *7 Diodor. XII. 53. Plato Hipp. mag. S- 4. and Heindorf in 1. 
 Pausan. VI. 17, 5. Wasse on Thucydides, III. 86. 
 
 " Diodorus, 1. c. Tima?us in Dionys. Hal. T. IT. p. 82, 39, and 
 Goller de situ Syracusarum, p. 267. Schol. Hermog. p. 6. 
 *E\^6vrot: Se Vopyiov eig rag 'A^r/vac, iinhi'iaTO Uil Xoyov, Kal 
 ci'fc^oKiftijfff Trdvvy uKTTt nv'iKa iinhiKVVTO \6yov 6 Fopyiag, topTi)v 
 dirpaKTOV iiroiovv A^nvaioL—^Eoprt) uTrpaKTog, must mean gene- 
 rally, a festival in which no business is done, public and private 
 affairs stand still, not as Goller translates— i«^<Twiiwa deorum festa. 
 Compare too Schneider on Xenoph. Conv. II, 26. In this last passage, 
 'ovrvjg ov (kaKoiievoi vvo rov oivov fit^miv, dW* civaTrei^ofievoi, irpbg 
 TO iraiyvioSitrrfpov di}>iK6fie^a,i]xe rrpbg to should be inserted before 
 fu^vHv, and no comma after di'ami'^ojtd'oi. The sentence is then 
 
y/ 
 
 3() 
 
 the Leontines, and dispatched for that purpose a 
 considerable fleet, and as this expedition was the 
 commencement of the projects of the Athenians 
 against Sicily, it was therefore Gorgias who gave to 
 this scheme, although on an earlier occasion, its first 
 impulse and Hfe ; and on that account he was fully 
 entitled to be placed in connection with this last and 
 greatest armament, one which was destined to cro^vn 
 by the glorious ends which it had in view, all that 
 had gone before it ; at the hands too of a dramatic 
 poet, who was bringing together all persons and 
 events, which however remotely, were yet intimately 
 connected with it. When the business of his embassy 
 was concluded, Gorgias of course returned home ;^® 
 but inconsequence of the invitation of the Athenians 
 who had been enchanted by his rhetoric*® and were 
 eager to study it, and attracted by the splendour and 
 profit which awaited him, he paid a second visit to 
 Athens, where he fixed his domicile ;" as did also his 
 brother Herodikos, who continued to reside there as 
 a celebrated physician. Plato, in the dialogue bear- 
 ing the name of Gorgias, speaks of him*^ as lodging 
 with the demagogue Callicles. With these two jour- 
 nies and his residence in Athens, are connected his 
 appearance at Olympia during the games, and the 
 
 complete, and the different members of it are to the following pur- 
 port, " We are not driven by wine to drunkenness, but are led to 
 sport and raillery by the power of eloquence.'* 
 
 ^ Diodor. 1. c. TtXof U irtinaQ rovg ASnjvaiovc <rv/i/iax»>«* ''o*C 
 Aiovrivoig, ovTog /i€V ^au/iaer^tic tv raig 'A^iivatg liri Tix^y pn^o- 
 
 piry T//V (IQ AlOVTlVOVQ tTTClVO^OV fTTOltfffaTO. 
 
 **> No other sense can be given to the words of the Schol. on Her- 
 mog. p. 6. KaTftTxov ^k avrov Iv 'A^/jroif, Tt)v ffv^fiaxiav nifiyPav 
 reff Ivry Aiovrivy. 
 
 " Plato Gorg. §. 4. Pha?dr. §. 2. and Heindorf in loc. 
 
 « Gorg. §. 2 and 82. 
 
 %x 
 
 37 
 
 pompous harangue*^ which he there deUvered, ex- 
 horting the Greeks to be on good terms with one 
 another and to unite against the barbarians, his 
 eulogy of the Elseans," his sojourning in Thessaly 
 particularly at Larissa and in other parts of Greece, 
 in order to exercise his profession as a rhetorician, to 
 give instruction, to extend his reputation, to add to 
 his great wealth," and finally his journey to Delphi, 
 where at the Pythian games he so delighted the as- 
 sembled Greeks by the brilliancy of his eloquence, 
 that by an unanimous resolution, a statue of him of 
 beaten gold, was erected in the temple of ApoUo.^^ 
 But Athens was the principal theatre of his art and 
 of his fame. Here from time to time he deUvered 
 epideictic harangues of such dazzUng splendour, that 
 in reference to the Larapadaphoria in the Kerameikos, 
 they were called AafiiraStg.^^ in a grand funeral 
 oration in honour of those who had fallen in battle,^^ 
 he flattered the Athenians with recollections of their 
 former glories, particularly of their victories in the 
 Persian wars, and thus excited them against that em 
 pire. He also offered in public, and on one occa- 
 sion at the great Dionysia, in the theatre, to speak 
 extempore on any subject which might be proposed 
 to him ; in private too, to answer every question put 
 to him ;*9 and he taught his art with such profit and 
 
 M Aristot. Rhetor. III. 14. 2. Philostrat. vit. Soph. I. 9, 2. 1. 17, 2, 
 and Ep. XIII. ad Jul. Aug. p. 919. Pausan. VI. 17, 5. 
 
 »* Aristot. Rhet. III. 14. 11. 
 
 » Plato Theag. p. 128. Menon. $. 1. Isocr. antid. p. 458. Bekk. 
 Cic. orat. 52. Pans. 1. c. 
 
 ^ See Appendix B. 
 
 ^ Schol. Hermog. I. c. Kai XanirdSag rovg \6yovg avrov divo/xaffav. 
 See Wesseling on Diodor. XII. 53. 
 
 *" Philost. vit. Soph. 1, 9, 2. Schol. Hermog. p. 412. 
 
 *® Philost. vit. Soph, prooem. p. 482. Cicero de or. 1. 22. Plato 
 Gorg. §. 2, and Heindorfs note. 
 
J 
 
 38 
 
 success, that he secured to himself a numerous party 
 of adherents f^ having for his scholars the richest 
 and most distinguished youths of the city, amongst 
 whom Critias and Alcibiades are expressly named. 
 And as we know that some of his countrymen, fugi- 
 tives from Leontini, besides the ambassadors from 
 Egesta, were present at Athens during the discussions 
 and resolutions which preceded the great Sicilian 
 expedition, and that they had considerable influence 
 on the decision,^^ it is not improbable that Gorgias 
 was there also. At least the violent and direct attack 
 upon him in "the Birds," (v. 1694 sq.) as of barbarian 
 descent, and as one roUing in wealth from the produce 
 of his tongue, justifies the opinion, that his career in 
 Athens was in full force at the period when the play 
 was represented. And that his reputation lasted much 
 later, even to his death at a very advanced age,^ is 
 sufficiently clear from the fact of Plato having writ- 
 ten his " Gorgias'* at all events long<^ after the date 
 of " the Birds" of Aristophanes. Gorgias was far 
 
 ^ Plato Hipp. rnaj. Philost. Vit. Soph. 1. 9, p. 4U2. Ep. XIII. ad 
 Jul. Aug. p. 919. 
 
 «' Tbucyd. VI. 19. Conip. c. 6 and 8. Plut. Nic. 12. Diodor. 
 XII. 83. 
 
 *' See the commentators on Luclun's Macrob. §. 23. 
 
 ® On this date sec Hardion in the Mem. do 1' Acad, des Inscrip- 
 tions, T. XV. p. 175. Stalbaum's Prolegg. in Plat. Phileb. p. XL. 
 Schleiermacher in the Introduction to Gorgias, p. 20. sq. From 
 the above cited anecdote of Hermippus, (Athen XI. p. 505. d.) i. c. 
 that when Plato, in allusion to the golden statue erected at Delphi, 
 in honour of Gorgias, had said, "Hkh yfiiv 6 kuXoq re rat xO^'^o^S 
 Popytac, he replied, alluding to the Gorgias of Plato, 'H kuXov yi ai 
 *A^tivai Kai vkov rovrov 'ApxiXoxov ivtjvoxnniv, it is at least clear, 
 that the Gorgias was written after the sophist's pompous display of 
 oratory at Delphi. In the passage of Athenieus, ut£ iviCqfitjfftv 
 A^fivaig is not, as Schweighacuscr translates it, nunAtkenas rcvrr' 
 sus fssef, but cmn Athenis commnrnretur. 
 
 39 
 
 advanced in years when this play was written, for he 
 was already growing old when he first came to Athens 
 as ambassador/^ and he was an old man, when after- 
 wards Isocrates in his youth attended his lectures 
 in Thessaly.^* From the hostile feeling which Aristo- 
 phanes bore to that sophistical eloquence which was 
 forchig its way into his country,^^ it is clear that 
 Gorgias could not have been an object of indifference 
 to him. Tlie sophist's first appearance before the 
 Athenian public, had been in the very year in which 
 the comic writer produced " The Babylonians,"^^ and 
 I think it not improbable, that this piece contained 
 allusions to him ; for in " The Acharnians," which 
 immediately followed " The Babylonians," the new 
 fangled style of oratory was vigorously assailed, as 
 well as in " The Clouds," and in " The Wasps ;" in 
 which last mentioned piece (v. 241) Gorgias is cited 
 
 •* Philost. Vit. Soph. 1. 9. p. 492. ^lakix^tig ^e *A^fivaiQ ijdri 
 yrjpdftKUiv. Olearius rightly understands this, with reference to the 
 expression of Diodorus, XII. 53. ovrog—htXix^e roig \.^T}va'toiQ 
 vepi rtJQ (Tv^naxiaQ as applying to Gorgias* first residence in Athens. 
 
 •* Cicero, orat. c. 52. Isocrates quum tamen audivissct in Thes- 
 salia adolesccns senem jam Gorgiam. 
 
 *» See Essay on the Clouds of Aristophanes, p. 24. sq. 
 
 •7 The fragment of " the Babylonians" in the Etymol. magn. r. 
 lyKivovfiivog. *Avi)p tIq yfjuv Icttiv tyKivovfievoc may readily be re- 
 ferred to Gorgias, in accordance with the special explanation, which 
 in my essay on the Vnpag, p. 42, I have given without emendation, 
 but which I now produce by the kindness of H. Jacobs, *P^rwj) tiKrj 
 rapciTriov Kal tjXTro^iKoJV — with reference (see Lectt. Stobens. p. 88.) 
 to the examples he had adduced in favour of the eiKr} rapdmov. I 
 had formerly conjectured it to be pijTopiKy rapdrrtov, &c. 
 
 I cannot understand how the correct explanation of the glossa 
 in the Etym. Magn. escaped me, which W. Dindorf has given in his 
 first Diss, de Aristoph. fragm. p. 60. Accordingly I give up the re- 
 ference of the fragment of " the Babylonians," to Gorgias, and con- 
 sider it to be more probable that Cleon was meant in the passage. — 
 (Subsequent note of the author.) 
 
40 
 
 by name, together with Phihppos, a sophist and 
 rhetorician, as his friend or pupil,*^ {^^iXi-mrov rov 
 Vopyiov) in company with whom he again appears in 
 " Tlie Birds." (v. 1694) Thus those traits of the cha- 
 racter of Peisthetairos, which we miss in Alcibiades, 
 or which in him appear to assume a different cast, or to 
 be less prominent, all these meet together in Gorgias. 
 He is the same old thorougli-paced, artful intriguer, 
 that Peisthetairos is, a conceited sophist, a trader in 
 oratory, grasping after glitter and notoriety : he is 
 connected with the Sicilian enterprize, partly by the 
 decisive influence which he had had on the first expe- 
 dition sent to that island under Laches, partly by the 
 share which his countrymen of Leontini had in bring- 
 ing about the second and greater one, (though we 
 cannot trace how much of this last belonged per- 
 sonally to him), and partly by the influence which 
 sophistical eloquence had upon both.^ Indeed in 
 respect to this last, the name of Uei(r^iTaipoc emi- 
 nently belongs to Gorgias, in preference even to Al- 
 cibiades. For this art (ij tov ird^tiv rixvn — to ird^fiv) 
 was exactly Gorgias' trade. Not only does he de- 
 scribe this art in Plato^® as the supreme good, and as 
 the most useful occupation in life, declaring himself 
 to be a master of it ; whilst Protagoras also in the 
 same writer,"* relates that he had often heard Gorgias 
 say, that it was the most excellent and best of all arts, 
 but principally because he was such a distinguished 
 master of it, had the Leontines sent him as their am- 
 bassador,72 when they first sought the aid of Athens. 
 And as this art, which seeks not for truth, but whose 
 
 « Schol. to " The Birds," 1701. Reines. obs. in Suidam, p. 268. 
 
 <» See Appendix C. '" Gorg. 16, 17. Hcind. 
 
 " Phileb. 136. Stallb. 
 
 »' Schol. Hermog.p. 6. Kal irlfiirovtri rbv Fopyiav irpoQ *A^rivmove 
 UQ liSora rb irii^ttv. 
 
 V ^' 
 
 41 
 
 whole and sole aim is the impression and triumph of 
 the moment, is not only practiced by Peisthetairos in 
 " the Birds," with the most brilliant success, but is 
 also, though not without a mixture of the poet's 
 irony, characteristically extolled by him; and as a 
 bitter attack is in reference to this art, made on Gor- 
 gias pointedly and by name in a very important pas- 
 sage, (v. 1694) as will be shown hereafter, (whilst on 
 the contrary the name of Alcibiades nowhere occurs), 
 one might almost be tempted to consider Gorgias as 
 the original, whom the poet meant especially to deline- 
 ate in the character of Peisthetairos. But on the other 
 hand as we have before observed, Peisthetairos pos- 
 sesses very many essential features which can only 
 be referred to Alcibiades ; and he as well as his com- 
 panion Euelpides, who are announced as coming from 
 Hellas, declare themselves expressly to be citizens of 
 Athens, (v. 33 sq. 108, 644 sq.) But Gorgias was a 
 
 foreigner. 
 
 It comes then to this : That we must take Peisthe- 
 tairos as a portrait altogether historical, but not cor- 
 responding to one particular individual; in whom 
 are amalgamated the principles, the motives, the pur- 
 poses and the qualities of perhaps several persons, 
 meeting and blended together on this one point, 
 though in other respects dissimilar; and amongst 
 these, first Alcibiades and then Gorgias are especially 
 prominent. The absolute and relative situations of 
 these two, the one the father of sophistry in Athens, 
 the other the greatest sophistical statesman, their 
 egotism, their exertions and their intrigues to direct 
 the Athenians against Sicily, were admirably suited 
 for the ground-work of a character, by which the poet 
 sought to represent the enterprize, the object of his 
 satire, in its air-built and sophistical nature, as en- 
 
42 
 
 gendered in the cloudy realms of vapour, which ac- 
 cording to " the Clouds," (v. 331 sq.) breeds sophists, 
 fortune-tellers, subtle refiners, and other good-for- 
 nothing people,"^ as floating in the airy regions of the 
 imagination, and as the quintessence of selfishness. 
 The management of Aristophanes in confounding the 
 elements of this character may ser\"e to throw light 
 on that of Socrates in " The Clouds."^* Yot there 
 also, in the character of Socrates are blended together 
 relations and distinctions of several real person- 
 ages, similar in some respects, dissimilar in others, 
 and coming into contact with one another by indivi- 
 dual affinities, so as to form one character, a dra- 
 matic one indeed, but not therefore the less histori- 
 cal ; only that in this instance, the distinctions are 
 greater and more important, and more in principle, 
 the resemblances on the contrary being in the forms; 
 and that in order to combine the historical and dra- 
 matic personages, the name and mask of a real in- 
 dividual are given to the latter : whereas to Peisthe- 
 
 '• Tliis passage iu " The Clouds" may be here cited. 
 St. Md Ai,* dW* bfiixXtjv icai Spoffov dvrdg t'lyovfiTjv Kai Kairvbv 
 
 livai, 
 Socr. Ov ya(t p.vL At* oltry ortt) irXiidTovQ avrai €u<TK0Vffi (To<j>i<Tr<Ji£, 
 ^oifgiofidvruQ, Jar()orfx*'«C» fftppayiSovvxapyoKo^iiTac, 
 KVK\i<ov re xoputv (/.(TfxuTOKafnrTaQf avSpaQ /itrewpo^cvaicac, 
 ovStv Sp&VTaQ toffKova* dpyovQ on Tavrag fiovffOKOtovffiv. 
 
 Str. Not I, so help me ! only I'd a notion 
 
 That they were fog, and dew, and dusky vapour. 
 
 Socr, For shame ! why man, these are the nursing mothers 
 Of all our famous sophists, fortune-tellers. 
 Quacks, medicine mongers, bards bombastical. 
 Chorus-projectors, and star interpreters. 
 And wonder-making cheats.— The gang of idlers, 
 "Who pay them for their feeding with good store 
 Of flattery, and mouth-worship. 
 
 Cumber famrs Trnnslafion. (TV.) 
 »■• See Appendix D. 
 
 43 
 
 tairos we cannot apply the mask of one definite 
 individual, i. e. we can as little consider him as 
 auroTTpoffwTTWc KWjLtwSoiivTa as ovo^atrri Kw/iw8ovvra, 
 nor was it at all times necessary to unite the latter 
 with the former. 
 
 We shall now also find Euelpides to be similarly 
 circumstanced with Peisthetairos ; he is the humour- 
 ous witty servant, something better than Xanthias in 
 " the Frogs ;'* of no use indeed to the conduct of the 
 fable, but criticising and assisting his master, much 
 in the manner of Sancho Panza, whilst by the simpli- 
 city of his persiflage and wit he enlivens the story, 
 and frequently becomes the organ of the poet's irony. 
 This character must surely in its import be inti- 
 mately connected with that of Peisthetairos ; and as 
 Euelpides is together with him expressly described 
 as a sophist, (v. 317, 409) whilst Peisthetairos says 
 (v. 3 10) that he has brought him as his aicoXou^oc, 
 we cannot be wrong in considering him a kind of 
 sophistical famulus. If then we keep in mind the 
 reference to Gorgias in the character of Peisthetairos, 
 we might presume, as Pausanias (VI. 17, 5) informs 
 us that Tisias accompanied Gorgias on his embassy 
 to Athens, that Aristophanes has, in the charac- 
 ter of Euelpides associated him with Peisthetairos 
 as his attendant; but Gorgias of Leontini, and 
 Tisias of Syracuse, cannot have been engaged in the 
 same embassy, on account of the hostile views to- 
 wards Syracuse, in which the Leontines sent Gorgias 
 to ask the aid of Athens ;"'^ nor indeed is this directly 
 implied in the passage of Pausanias ; and although, 
 according to that authority, the visit of Tisias to 
 
 7* Bonani Syracuse illustratac II. p. 209. Mongitori Biblioth. 
 Sic. U p. 168. 
 
44 
 
 y V 
 
 Athens may have been contemporary with that of 
 Gorgias/^ the relation in which the one stood to the 
 other would have been quite diiFerent from that of 
 Euelpides towards Peisthetairos. Tliis relation is 
 evidently a subordinate one ; and on that account also 
 it cannot express the relation of Tisias to Gorgias, as 
 the former, himself a pupil of Korax/7 had been Gor- 
 gias' teacher of eloquence.^^ But the case is quite 
 different with Polos of Agrigentum who was a scholar 
 of Gorgias/® and may perhaps have accompanied him 
 to Athens ; or if he did not go thither together with 
 his master, yet at any rate he travelled through 
 Greece, pursuing the same trade as he did,^® and seems 
 to have been long connected with him. Plato at 
 least associates him with Gorgias, in the dialogue 
 which bears this name, and though not a young man 
 at tlie time of the dialogue, he is there considered 
 and treated quite in a subordinate relation and as 
 junior to Gorgias. He is also here played upon in a 
 manner,®* or as the old critic describes these scenes in 
 Plato, turned into a buffoon or comic character.®^ 
 With this accords too the notice of the old anonymous 
 
 ^ Hardion is of tins upinion, Mem. de 1* Ac. des Inscriptions, XV, 
 p. 168. Pausanias only says, that Gorgias came to Athens ofiov, not 
 avv Tisias. It is doubtful, however, whether he was sent by the 
 Syracusans, as Hardion supposes, in order to counteract the proposals 
 of Gorgias. It may indeed be inferred from the words of Pausanias, 
 that a rivalry in oratory did exist between him and Gorgias, but not 
 that it extended to circumstances of a public or political nature. 
 
 ^ Heindorf on the Phaedrus of Plato, §. 129. Taylor Vit. Lysiae. 
 p. 1 10. note 13. Reiske. 
 
 '^ Schol. Hermog. p 6. Fopyiag Ss rig Aiovrivog — fia^tiTivii Tut 
 Stri^ (1. Tiffi^.) Kcii fitTti TO fia^tiv viroffTpfipti oiKa^e. 
 
 7'J Philost. Vit. Soph. 1. 13. p. 496. Suidas voc. HwXoc. 
 
 •« Plato Theag. p. 128. 
 
 ^' Plato Gorg. §. 38. Heind. Comp. Schleiermachcr in the Intro- 
 duction, p. 11. 
 
 '^ Dionys. Halic. Ep. ad Pomp. 1, 12. and Kriigcr on the same. 
 
 45 
 
 commentator on the rhetoric of Aristotle,^^ 6 ttCjXoq 
 fia^i^Tiig Koi iraig ijv rov Topyiov, The word TraTc here 
 evidently points to the dependent circumstances of 
 Polos, who in another place is called Topyiov awov- 
 macTTiKog,^ similar to that of famulus ; somewhat like 
 Chairephon in the " Clouds" in reference to Socrates, 
 as in " the Thesmophoriazousai," (v. 39 sq.) Agatho's 
 accomplished servant is in reference to him, and as 
 Kephisophon, in " the Acharnians," in reference to 
 Euripides, whose iraXg he is there expressly called, 
 (v. 395 compare 401) It may be too that the commen- 
 tator above cited derived from some comic writer his 
 designation of Polos as the ndlg of Gorgias.^^ Could we 
 now find in " the Birds" any closer allusion to Polos, 
 something like the Enthymeme of Herodikos,^^ Aiu 
 (TV TTwXoc £«, or like the allusion of Thrasymachos in 
 " the Clouds, "^7 we shoiild have every reason for con- 
 cluding that he was the archetype of Euelpides ; and 
 that Aristophanes on this account places him in the 
 same relation to his Gorgias in the part of Peisthetai- 
 ros, which Plato assigns to him with respect to the 
 real Gorgias. But the name Euelpides points also to 
 another affinity. Tlmcydides (VI. 21) says expressly, 
 that the younger citizens were enthusiastic for the Si- 
 cilian expedition from a desire of visiting distant 
 countries, koi IviXiri^eg ovreg <Tit)^{}fTi(T^ai, and where- 
 ever else this expedition is spoken of, allusion is al- 
 
 *® 'Yirofivtifia iig t))v ApiffrorkXavg 'P»;roptif^v. p. 47. 14. On 
 this Scholion see Geel, p. 173. 
 
 ^ Dionys. Halic. Judic. dc Lysia, p, 131. 
 
 8* See Appendix E. " Aristot. Rhetor. II. 23. 
 
 87 See note in Essay on "the Clouds," p. 13. v. 890,917. The 
 \6yog ^iKawg in this play, cannot as is supposed by Meier in the 
 Allg. Lit. Zeit. 1827, n. 119, p. 109. have wern the mask of Aris- 
 teides, which was incompatible with his going over to the demo- 
 cracy. This could only have suited the mask of Aristophanes himself. 
 
 A 
 
h 
 
 46 
 
 ways made to the hopes, by which tlie populace were 
 excited to it by Alcibiades.^ The credulous and 
 almost simple character of this populace, which Alci- 
 biades led as he pleased, of this crowd of hope-stricken 
 madmen, the poet seems to have designed to mark by 
 the name of Euelpides ; and thus to connect this cha- 
 racter still more with the peculiarities of Alcibiades 
 than with those of Gorgias, as they are both depicted 
 in Peisthetairos. But the situation of Euelpides as 
 a sophistical famulus, and the whole keeping of the 
 character, perfectly correspond to the two allusions, 
 namely, to that of the docile pupil, and to that of the 
 credulous and truckling pohtical faction; and the 
 conversion of Peisthetairos into a prattling black- 
 bird,^^ and that of Euelpides into the clumsy likeness 
 of a clacking goose, (v. 805) after their reception 
 amongst the birds, are well suited to the ready elo- 
 quence of the former, and to the simpUcity of the 
 latter, and not less so in the political, than in the 
 sophistical conception both of the one and the other 
 
 character. 
 
 These two supposed travellers then or emigrants, 
 now address themselves to the Epops or the Hoo- 
 poo. The pleasantry intended by the author in this 
 mask is easily understood from the exclamation of 
 Euelpides, who is astonished at the sight of it, and 
 
 w Plutarcli Nic. 12. nX»poc jXttiVi Kai Xoyotg TTQoliKp^ap^ivov. 
 Alcib. 17. TOP Tt l7ifiov litydXa iriiaaq tkiriUiv, Diodor. XII, S3. 
 Kai tCjv 'EX\i)vMv /i») ^vvafifvovg Krriffaa^ai rrjv yyf fioviav, t\7ri- 
 Zhv Ti)v ftsyiarnv tCjv Kara rr^v o'lKOVfiivftv vr}<Tutv irtpnroiijffaffBai. 
 XIII. 2. Olirwc airavTiQ /if/itrcwpiff/itvoe raiq IXiriaiv IK hoifAOV 
 KaraKXripovv yXiriZov Tt)v ^iKeXiav, k. t. X. 
 
 w It is evident from this expression that in the passage of Lucian's 
 " True Histor)^" 1. 29, where be speaks of KopatvoQ 6 Korro^twvoc, 
 the last word requires no change, as it is quite in accordance with 
 the poetic fiction of Aristophanes, that Coronos the son of the black- 
 bird should be then reigning in Nephelococcygia. 
 
 47 
 
 at the plumage and enormous top knot on the head 
 of the Epops ; (v. 94) rig 77 Trripwrng ; rig 6 Tpoirog 
 Trig TpiXotjiiag ; If we call to mind how often Aristo- 
 phanes dwells upon the large flaunting crests of the 
 generals and other commanding officers in the army, 
 we shall recognise in this enormous top knot a proof 
 that he selected the mask of the Epops in reference 
 to such appendage. Now there is no one whom 
 the poet so often ridicules^® for his monstrous mili- 
 tary crest as Lamachos, whom he handles most 
 roughly on other occasions, as a general fond of 
 war, and as opposed to his own pacific views.^* 
 And Aristophanes in " the Birds" would naturally 
 have him in his mind, because no less fiery and fool- 
 hardy than Alcibiades, he bore a prominent part at 
 the very beginning of the Sicihan expedition, in which 
 he was chosen to hold a chief command, along with 
 Alcibiades and Nicias.^^ Lamachos therefore could 
 scarcely have been omitted in a play of which this ex- 
 pedition was the object, and in which Nicias too is 
 not passed over, though mixed up with it in a very 
 different manner. And the probability that this mask, 
 which evidently points to a military commander, 
 bears especially the stamp of Lamachos, is further 
 strengthened by the question (v. 103) put by Euelpi- 
 des to the Epops, ** Where then are thy feathers ?'' and 
 by the answer to it, " They are moulting, as all birds 
 do in the winter," which are only quite inteUigible if 
 
 •** Passim, and in " the Acharnians" alone v. 567, 575, 585 sq. 
 965, 1074, 1104 sq. 1109, 1182. 
 
 »» Acharn. 270, 572 sq. 1069 sq. 1174 sq. Pac. 304, and the com- 
 mentators on this passage. 1270 sq. 
 
 ^ Plut. Alcib. 18. Kai yap 6 rplroq ffrparrjybc Actfiaxog yXiKi^ 
 •trpoiiKitiv ofHtiQ iSoKti ^tj^tv iirrov tlvai tov ' AXKiliiddov didirvpog Kai 
 ^iXoKivdvvoQ Iv Toiq ayStVi, 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 

 49 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 taken in allusion to that commander. Tliis answer, in 
 the true spirit of comedy, places us in the exact period 
 of time in which " the Birds" was exhibited, namely, 
 at the great Dionysia, towards the end of winter ; as is 
 also the case in the Thesmophoriazousai. (v. 1 and (*/) 
 But the further meaning of this moulting (TTTf/fi/oo/jucTr) 
 is soon explained by v. 284 sq. where the younger 
 Epops, who is also moulting, is compared to CalUas, 
 whose feathers had been plucked by the sycophants 
 and the women. Now Lamachos was frequently in 
 great pecuniary distress, which became especially 
 conspicuous on his acceptance of a command or stra- 
 tegia. Plutarch relates of him,^ tliat he was so ne- 
 cessitous, that at each new appointment, he charged 
 the people a small sum for his clothing, (tig ta^rJTag 
 Ku\ KjorjTTtSac tavTut) As Plutarch uses these words 
 on the occasion of the Sicilian expedition, we may 
 conclude that Lamachos did not depart from his 
 usual habits, when a command in it was con- 
 ferred upon him; and the poet has thus a very 
 appropriate opportunity for alluding to his poverty, 
 in the moulting of the elder Epops, which could 
 not fail of being understood by the Athenians ; who, 
 intimate as they were with the manner of Aristo- 
 phanes, would immediately recognise in the Hoo- 
 poo with the large crest the caricature of this 
 strategos ; and all the other circumstances charac- 
 teristic of Lamachos were at once placed before 
 their eyes ; for he had frequently been in the situa- 
 tion, on which (v. 114 sq.) Euelpides comphments 
 the Epops, namely, that of having, when a man, bor- 
 rowed money, as the two travellers had done, and 
 like them having omitted to repay it. This appears 
 
 ^ Plut Nic. 15. Comp. Alcib. 21. fin. Perizon. on /Elian II, 43. 
 
 most distinctly from the Acharnians, w^here Lamachos 
 is mentioned by name, and where, in consequence of 
 his debts, and his contribution to the public banquets 
 {Ipavovg) being in arrear, all his friends had lately 
 saluted him with the t^io-rw (cede bonis,) as if they 
 wxre emptying in the evening a night vessel into the 
 streets.^^ The next allusion too in the 11 /th line of 
 "the Birds," wherein the Epops is described as 
 having flown, when he became a bird, over land and 
 sea, becomes still more evidently a stroke at Lamachos 
 as a strategos, when we compare it with v. f>01 sq. of 
 the Acharnians, in which being then about eleven years 
 younger, he is expressly enumerated along with the 
 young fellows, who were ever running about from one 
 post to another, shirking the service and only cam- 
 paigning for a few days, and who in " the Frogs" 
 (v. 1014) are called SiaSpaaiiroXlTai, With these nu- 
 merous allusions it was impossible not to perceive that 
 in the mask of Epops the poet intended to pourtray 
 Lamachos, or rather this mask itself told its own story, 
 and that of Lamachos was not at all wanted.^^ In this 
 
 [** Acharn. 615 sq. 
 
 ouj vtt' tpdtfov T£ Kal xptioif Trponji^ Trork 
 o)(nnp aTcoiniTTpov tKxl-ovTfg tampaq^ 
 li-KavTiQ i^iffroj irapyt'ovv oe 0<\oi.] 
 9» The following passage from Aristeides' oration pro quatuorv. 
 Opp. II. p 123. shows that there were other means for recognising 
 the characters of the old comedy besides the name and the mask: 
 'A yap (TV cicciffKHQ T(p Xoyv, TavTa tTri tCjv tpywv fxtivog Sei^ag 
 trpoTipoQ fpaivtraiy iitar it fitiSiv TTpoa'i^tjKaq, ciW Iv rovroig iffTtjg, 
 irag rig av tvpiv U rutv upr]fitv<t)v. Tov Tltpik-Xta uxTirsp rovg cnrb 
 Tutv yviopifffinriov iv rolg Spafiaffiy on wliich passage the scholiast in 
 Frommel.p. 169, erroneously interprets yi/a>pi(r/iara, to be the marks 
 by which in Comedies exposed children were recognised ; whereas ot 
 airb tHjv yviopKT^UTuJv can only mean the characters, who are not 
 represented cither by name or by mask, but were readily recognised 
 by other tokens ; such was the rpavXiafiog or lisping, to which I 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 respect too the allusion to the great Sicilian armada, 
 which Wieland hi his Translation of " the Birds/* 
 had already perceived to be contained in the an- 
 nouncement made to the Epops by the two strangers, 
 that they come from the city where fair triremes 
 are, (v. 108) is very appropriately elicited by the 
 Epops. For the rest, this character of the Epops 
 is of no further use in the action of the play than to 
 introduce the strangers to the birds, and to mediate 
 between them, as ambassadors and other strangers are 
 usually introduced by a irpo^ivog, and as soon as 
 this ser\'ice is performed (v. 83?) he is very properly 
 dispatched to superintend the building of the wall, as 
 Lamachos also had gone away with the fleet. 
 
 In the introduction of the two strangers to the 
 Epops, Aristophanes has given us a trait which an- 
 nounces their sophistical practices and pursuits. The 
 servant Trochilos, frightened at their appearance, calls 
 out, (v. G2) "Oh poor me, they are bird-catchers;" and 
 Euelpides by his exclamation, "Why use such harsh 
 words ? why not fairer tones ?" implies that the ap- 
 pellation is disagreeable to him, and that he would 
 
 have alluded in my essay on ** the Clouds," p. 35. as one of the 
 yvupifffiara of Alcibiados in the part of Pheidippides, to which how- 
 ever was in all probability superadded the semblance of a mask. 
 Tliat this was the case is now clearly proved to me by v. 872 sq. 
 where Socrates complains that Pheidippides had pronounced the 
 word Kp'ffiato in such a silly and languishing tone. Ernesti here 
 rightly refers to Suidas' Glossa on xtiXccii/ ^uppvrjKomv : XtiXij 
 hippviiKora. KiXii^fif^^itva, ov avpitrrpa^^evay and we can only fully 
 understand the jest by fancying to ourselves a lisping pronunciation 
 oi Kpt^aiOy like that of Biwpoc and KopaKOi in " the Wasps." The 
 XavvuKTiQ avaTreKTTtjpia contrasted with the \ei\«Tiv SuppvtiKuaiv 
 evidently refers to the wide stretched jaws of the orator. 
 
 [riwc av ^la^oi tto^' oiVoc, dir6<pivlui' TiVi/c 
 *H KXijniv I] \(ii>i'U)«Jii' ai'aTrturTiinini' '^ Nubes 871] 
 
 51 
 
 have preferred some other. Now the eagerness of i 
 the sophists to get into their toils the youths of the 
 principal rich families, according to a very common 
 picture^^ of the seductive charms of love and friend- 
 ship, was frequently compared to a chase or hunt. 
 Plato,^7 carries this comparison to its fullest extent : 
 In the 2o0tcTr?c be explains sophistry to be ij t£xv»?c 
 oiKeiwTiKJig, XEt/owTtKilCj Kri]r£icr/c,^*)(>twrticr/c, K^oo^mpiag, 
 
 iSio^iipiag, fJLKT^apviKYi^y vopiffpaTonioXtKrig, 8oSo7rai- 
 ?fUTtK»ic, vewv wXoiKTiwv KOI crSo^wv yiyvo^tvY} ^iipa. 
 And it is said of Prodikos,^^ 'AvtxvtuE St ovTog tovq 
 ivwarpl^ag tC)v vfwv, icai rovg Ik. tCjv j^a^twv oikwv, 
 cue »<:ai TrpoKtvovg KtKT7)(T^ai raurij(,' rf/c ^iipag. This 
 gives us the real clue to the meaning of the word 
 opvi^o^pa, and explains why Euelpides quarrels with 
 it, for he would have preferred to it even (To<t>i(TTa. 
 It shows us also how characteristic are the eager de- 
 sires for feasting and fondling, the gratification of 
 which Euelpides and Peisthetairos (v. 128, 142) are 
 seeking for in the city they would wish to inhabit. 
 In the last cited passage (v. 139) Peisthetairos calls 
 himself Sr£/3Xo»vr8rjc. The commentators doubt as 
 to the meaning of this name, and have referred it to 
 a soothsayer, who accompanied the expedition to 
 
 ^ See particularly Plut. Akib. 4 and 6, Athen. V. p. 219, d and f , 
 about Socrates and Alcibiades. Xenoph. Mem 1, 2, 24. 11. 6, 8. 
 Schneider on the Convivium of Xenophon IV. 63. 
 
 97 Plat. Sophist. § 14, sq. and particularly § 17. Hcind. 
 
 98 Philost. Vit. Soph. I. 1, 12. p. 496. so also of Anthenion or Aris- 
 tion in Athen. V. p. 211 f. Hpog ro ooipiarivtiv iopnuat, iitipaKia 
 axoXaoriKd 3»;o£ua>v. Timon of Phlius applies this image to Pytha- 
 goras in Plut.'Numa.c.8. On Socrates, see Libanius Socr. apol. 
 Op. III. p- 40. 19. Reiske. o/iwc <pmv ('Avvroc) avrbv <ptvyHV fiiv 
 Toi^i artV«C, ^npfveiv H rrjv vtornra. Compare also Cresollius 
 Theat. Rhct. IV. 10. p. 429 sq. 
 

 Sicily. But his name was STtXjStSijCj^ and however 
 suitable to the play an allusion to the officiousness 
 of prophets and fortune-tellers might be, such allu- 
 sion, in connection with the context, and as a predi- 
 cate of Peisthetairos, would be indistinct and ill- 
 timed ; the more so, as Aristophanes has not for- 
 gotten to bring it for>vard in the right place, and in 
 the most open and appropriate manner. But if we 
 perceive the real persons, which are disguised under, 
 and yet pierce through the mask of Peisthetairos, 
 we immediately understand, that it is a name made 
 for the occasion which the SchoUast very properly 
 explains by w Xafxirpi ; and in which the comic poet 
 would have us recognise, not only the sophist, in the 
 midst of his splendid gloriole the reward of his elo- 
 quence throughout Greece and in Athens especially, 
 for his brilliant orations called Xa/iTraSac, but the de- 
 magogue also, as a lover of outward show and splen- 
 dour. It thus becomes an epithet in all respects appli- 
 cable to the character of Peisthetairos, as will be made 
 still more apparent when we come to the explanation 
 of the closing scene of the Drama. 
 
 The excellence of the great project is quickly per- 
 ceived by the Epops; and the instance adduced, 
 (v. 188) of the obstruction which the Athenians met 
 with in their joumies to Delphi, from the blockading 
 force of the Boeotians, seems the more appropriate 
 when we reflect on a blockade of others by sea as the 
 counter-recommendation, and at the same time on 
 the unfriendly relations now existing between Athens 
 and Boeotia ; and how the word tpopog applied (v. 1 92) 
 to the tax, which the gods are to pay to the birds out 
 
 ^ Plut. Nic. 2;i. Schol. Aiistoph. in Face lOIU. Compare Siobclis 
 oil Philochorus p. 63. and Meiucke's Qux»i. Scenic;c 1. p. 51). 
 
 53 
 
 of all the sacrifices made to them by the men, clearly 
 points out what is really meant by these sacrifices and 
 gifts'*^ whenever mention is made of them in the play. 
 The Epops immediately resolves (v. 1J)8) to join Peis- 
 thetairos in founding the city, if conformably to the 
 principles of the Athenian constitution it should be 
 agreeable to the whole birdhood. Aristophanes here- 
 upon puts the question into the mouth of Peisthetairos, 
 "who will propose the business to the birds?" in order 
 that in the answer to it by the Epops, " that he him- 
 '* self would make the proposition, for from his long 
 " residence amongst them, the birds understood his 
 " language,'* he might introduce his raillery on the 
 ready susceptibility of the Athenians, (who are sup- 
 posed to have been before barbarians, and in opposi- 
 tion to which notion Gorgias is afterwards (v. IJOO) 
 called a barbarian) for foreign sophistry, as if this had 
 taught them human speech : and the Epops' taking 
 the merit of it to himself, and to his long intercourse 
 with the birds, is only an ironical inversion of his re- 
 lation to the sophist comprised in the character of 
 Peisthetairos. 
 
 Tlie commonalty is now convened by the Epops, 
 as the Attic people were summoned according to their 
 Demoi ; the wtSaioi, or inhabitants of the plains,^^' 
 and amongst these the farmers and gardeners, 
 (v. 230, 239) the herdsmen, (v. 244, 249) the moun- 
 taineers, (^taicptot 210) and the sailors from the coasts. 
 (TrapaXioi 250 sq.) At first the birds come in singly, 
 then forming the chorus in procession (v. 295, 30^) 
 they crowd together into the Ecclesia as the people 
 did in Athens.^*'^ The introduction of the second 
 
 •00 Compare Cfi9 sq. of " the Wasps." 
 
 •o» Hcrodot. l.f/J. IMut. Solon. 13. 
 
 102 Tiie explanation which (v. 299} is given of the top-knot of these 
 
SI 
 
 Fipopfi nmontr«»t ihf liinlH, with tlic allusion to Kal- 
 liH<5, is not wit.lifiut itn point. ; for lie is moulting, 
 M<2 Knllifis, tlirn h yminj; and ricli man of fashion, 
 i«; phickefl by thr nyfophants ; for by these syco- 
 piiiuif':: wr nniF^t \\rrv iiii(l<'rst4iii(l so[)hists, and com- 
 pxiiiniifi of that, stamp, amongst whom Gorgias is 
 ^lOrrMMrdw (v. MilM) rnumorated by name; and by 
 tlitse, MM liaN Ikhii already notired, such opulent and 
 difttin^niNluMl y<»nn^;jLj;rnllrinon were entrapped. Even 
 the rieh Kallias, !he fhinl of his family bearing that 
 nfune. who at the time of *Mhe Birds," must have 
 bron Nfill vounij,"'* had been caught by them ; they 
 v*y^\ hnn a ^j-ood «leal o( money,'"'' and they formed 
 pavt of the xoeiety of tlatterers and parasites by whom 
 ho was surrounded, and wliom Kupolis has exposed 
 to vidieule in his miXjiksc^'^'^ and who, I am inclined to 
 bohe> <\ were also the obieets i^f the TaMiriorai of 
 
 t 
 
 Avis1op]\anes For la-; ijiw<Trrt/ are just that kind of 
 people wh<\ \\y a tVacuuMit oi Ku]>olis,''^ are called 
 platter and lAhle tricnds. o/ Tify) tayYivov koi inr' ofHV' 
 rov ^/Xo/. that is to say kuyXawc *^'^ flatterers. It is 
 o1o?>v Uwm llie frj^iicnt.s of this piece, thrit there was 
 a c*>n> ivial scene in it : and in one of Uit se frafrments 
 
 55 
 
 the parasites are evidently preparing to sing a song 
 in their patron's praise.'"" It is possible that Kal- 
 lias was this patron, for no one at that time w^as so 
 distinguished a protector of these sharks.'®^ How- 
 ever this may be, he is closely connected with the 
 range of representation in our drama ; he is a bird 
 caught in the snares of the sophistical fowder ; pos- 
 sibly he has left in them his feathers, and with hu- 
 morous irony, he is formally introduced to the repre- 
 sentative of sophistry, i. e. to Peisthetairos. 
 
 The announcement made by the Epops that subtle 
 doctors of the art of speech are arrived from mankind, 
 in which announcement, the expression {irpifivov 
 wpayiiiaTog iTEXo^piov 321) used in reference to their 
 proposal, strictly corresponds to the views expressed 
 by Alcibiades, and to his designation of the expedi- 
 tion against Sicily as the apxv (foundation) of the 
 whole project,'"^ (Plut. Alcib. 1?) makes the most 
 unfavourable impression upon the birds ; taking them 
 for bird-catchers,"" they are seized with mistrust of 
 them as of a race ever hostile to birds, since it first 
 came into existence (334 sq. 369 sq.;) they warmly 
 oppose their admission, and are ready to annihilate 
 
 "Iwrfls, m Uh t{ f\hy <^n t>if •^'c^vei \nif*n( nt if ihrr ware it af & pr©- 
 f^'fioa, («^ thf Cumnft for JWifchi -KKkc dwfll upcm thf iirifht? r 
 \fW>r\ wlu'ii)** the irmrillryot this n«ihtiirv r>r»aiTi(!iil, uud iroiti- 
 4i'hHy OTprfswts wh«t ,V-'»r>»y!n>< hh}^ in mtUvv wirit»uKD«wK, Srpl, c 
 
 "*^ Vox h< WRK hV\vi\ hiiil took nn nctrvr fmn m ptihlir uftuir^ in 
 t)u' hih'oimI ypwr ot thr 102. Ol. \enriph. Hoiha*. W. S;l mq. 
 
 "* \<»r> Cf*n\ 1. f». Boinrtorf on thr Thninti»l. of I'luUt, v .'. , uut. 
 f>rb<'i f»MSMUj;<»h in Moinpkr'fi QmiphI. Stu-u. 1. p. h^ m\. when the 
 niiChor frcHi* ot thi^ (:MHiH> fully anil HRniimiuh . 
 
 ^*** MeirM*k(' \. €. wn' uttui Liitnis on Cratinuk uiiii Luiiiiiih, p. 
 
 ^"' fMui. f»< i\m'Y. Hill. I'i Kiliilt. f». IHK. Wytt. JV)t>iiu>kf witii {rreat 
 
 »"7 Athen. XV. p. 677. c. 
 
 Tt ovv ffoioij/ifv; — x^avi^' H^uv X€Vic»)v Xa^tTv 
 
 Tlie patron of a parasite, commonly 6 rpf^wi', o irXovmog is also 
 called 6 htr-KOTi^q ; see the fragment of Krobylus in Athen. VI. p. 124. 
 b. as by the Romans he was styled dominus and even re.r. Terent. 
 Eunuch. III. 2. 43. Taubraanu on the Captivi of Plautus, I. 1. 24. 
 
 108 Heraclides Ponticus in Athen. XII. p. 537. b. ITotoi yap ob 
 KoXaKiQ, ri ri ttX^-^oc ovx traipt^iv irfoi avrbv ijffav ; Troiag di daird- 
 pag ovx virtpidtpa. Kttvotj ; 
 
 »"» Plut. Alcib. 17. 
 
 »o Schol on V. 320. '\ iroTTTivovai ytip avTovg tlvai bpvi^o^i)paq. 
 
 * 
 
56 
 
 them. In this warhke attitude of the birds, the poet 
 has well expressed the natural sound sense of the 
 people, resisting sophistry, and mistrustful of its in- 
 trigues. When, however, the two adventurers arm 
 themselves against the attack with cuhnar)^ utensils, 
 which must necessarily be formidable to the birds ; 
 and Peisthetairos answers the question put to him 
 (v. 358) by Euelpides, "What use could the jars, 
 XVTpai, be of to them ?*' by saying " Oh, the owl which 
 is amongst the birds, (v. 301) will take care not to at- 
 tack us.*' The explanation which according to the 
 scholiast, Euphronios gave to this passage, (v. 3(>1) 
 namely, because they were both Athenians, is certainly 
 not the right one. The meaning israther to be sought 
 for in the earthen xvrpai themsenres, which as well 
 as all other earthen ware, being notoriously excellent 
 in Athens, particularly when made of the potters* clay 
 of Colias,"* were ascribed to the invention of Miner- 
 va.^ '^ AVe often see them stamped on the Athenian 
 Drachma; ; these however, are not as Corsini"^ appre- 
 hends, to be taken simply as types of the manufacture 
 of Attica, but rather as the vessels which when filled 
 with oil, were given as prizes to the visitors at the 
 Panathensean games.* ^^ We thus see an immediate 
 
 •" Plut. de audit. Opp. VII. p. 441. Hutten. Athen. XI. p. 482. b. 
 
 "'' See the passage in Dissen's notes on Pindar. Nein. X. 36. 
 
 »'^ Corsini Fast. Att. II. p. 235 sq. 
 
 "^ Sehol. on v. 100.5 of " the Clouds." Schol. on Sophocl. (Ed. 
 Colon. 701. Schol. and Dissen on Pindar. 1. cit. Meursius Pana- 
 then. c. 11. These vessels are mentioned by Bockh. Corp. Inscr. 
 N. 33, 234, and 242. Eckhel vol. I. P. II p. 212. also believes the 
 vase on the coins was an oil jar ; he hesitates however in his opi- 
 nion, and thinks it may represent the vessel used at the feast of the 
 the X"*'-* But at this feast, as is observed by M. Uhdcn, there 
 were only vessels of wine ; and the xoJ'C ^ns cert.iinly of a different 
 shape from those on the coins. Considered as the Panathenaic oil 
 
 57 
 
 and close connection between the owl and the jars ; 
 and Peisthetairos implies that to spare them, she 
 will not attack himself or his companion, whilst on 
 the other hand, the birds (v. 36*5) are exhorted, first 
 of all, to smash to pieces the pot. 
 
 This singular and shrewd device to arm and defend 
 themselves with culinary instruments, gives an oppor- 
 tunity to the poet, by a stroke of raillery in the mouth 
 of Euelpides, (v. 86 1) to praise Peisthetairos for the 
 skill and military talent which had suggested it. Now, 
 says he, thou hast surpassed Nicias in arts, (fajxavatf:) 
 This word is here generally taken to mean the instru- 
 ments of siege, by the ingenious invention and suc- 
 cessful use of which Nicias is said to have distin- 
 guished himself on various occasions : and there is 
 nothing to be said against it. But if we bear in mind 
 that Peisthetairos is from the beginning extolled, not 
 only for his skill in strateg)^, but also for his sophisti- 
 cal cunning, (cu o-oc^wraTc) we must suppose that by 
 the expression junxaraic, in which he is said to sur- 
 pass Nicias, other arts also besides those of war are 
 to be understood. Nicias, in addition to his being 
 
 jar, this emblem together with the owl, cfuubines every thing which 
 can connect it immedijitely with Athens, i. e. the usual reference to 
 its patron deity in the bird dedicated to her, and the remembrance 
 of her holy festival by the vase invented by her. This vase too, im- 
 portant as it was in Athens, in reference to the gymnastic exercises, 
 and for other purposes, contained also the produce of the tree sacred 
 to Minerva and presented by her to the country, and it was itself a 
 production of Attic soil, and of Attic industry. 
 
 [Compare too these lines of Critias, in Athen. 1. p. 28. c. 22. 
 
 To** ck rpoxov yaiijQ rk Kafi'ivovT tKyovov ivne, 
 KXiivoraTov KipafioVf j^oZ/fft/iov oiKorofxav, 
 
 'H TO KaXbv MrtpaS-wrt KaTaffTti^raffa r.)<'»7r«ioi'. And Brandsledt 
 on the Campanari Vases. London, 1832.] 
 
 _i 
 
rrrr 
 
 
 58 
 
 the most powerful political adversary of Alcibiades,"* 
 was also the most conspicuous opponent of the Sici- 
 lian expedition, and not like the crowd who were the 
 dupes of Alcibiades, bewildered by vain hopes of 
 what it was to effect ;"^ yet was he already outwitted, 
 and in fact defeated by the counterplots and ambition 
 of his rival, even before the question had been de- 
 cided in the assembly of the people.* '7 These arti- 
 fices and intrigues, by which Alcibiades was able to 
 gain his purpose, and to maintain it against the 
 straightforward and unsophisticated Nicias, are prin- 
 cipally meant by the word firixavdig ; and it is very 
 remarkable that Euelpides, who is always full of hope, 
 at this very moment, even before his master had 
 made his proposal, thus heartily expresses his joy 
 that Peisthetairos had already beat Nicias in those 
 arts. In reference to this double sense of /uij ^avatc, 
 we may also compare v. 47^ of the Clouds, where 
 Socrates calls these new arts, which he would apply 
 to the instruction of Strepsiades, Kaivag iJi}\ava€;, 
 whereas Strepsiades takes the words in the sense of 
 engines for carrying on a siege. Now this laudatory 
 expression of Euelpides, whilst it ironically contra- 
 dicts the main purpose of the poet, gives us the 
 whole character personified in Peisthetairos, as a so- 
 ^phist, a politician and a general; and at the same 
 time Nicias is very ingeniously brought before our 
 eyes as his opponent, and as that of the undertak- 
 
 "^ Thucyd. VI. 15. 'AXKiCidhn 6 KXiiviov jSouXofjievoc rtp rt 
 Nixri^ IvavTiovff^ai, wv leai eg r'dWa ^id^opog rd woXiriKd, 
 
 "c Plut. Nic. 14. yiiKiav /ij/a-' vir' IXiriSuv iirap^evTa k. r. X. 
 
 *'■' "O yovv Ntrtrtc — av^wrdfxevog iirraro rtjg ftovXiig *AXKitidSov 
 rai ^iXori/iiai* vptv oXatg iKKXrjffiav ytvia^cu Karaoj^ovrog {jcrj irXtf^og 
 IXTriffi Kal Xoyoif irpo^u<pSrap}iivot', 
 
 * il 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 II' 
 
 59 
 
 ing ridiculed in the play. This personage could not 
 indeed have been omitted ; but as Aristophanes in 
 his ironical conduct of the whole project censures 
 it throughout, and sides with Nicias in exposing it, 
 he was necessarily interw^oven in the piece in the 
 slightest possible manner; and his negative influ- 
 ence is very delicately alluded to. We shall in the 
 meantime perceive how this course is further main- 
 tained, and particularly how the thread of the story, 
 as it depends on Nicias' personal ^dews of the expe- 
 dition, is carried on. 
 
 At the moment of making their attack, the l)irds 
 are checked Ijy the remonstrance of tlie Epops, 
 (v. liGG) that the strangers had done them no harm, 
 and were also relations S»'77£i^") and of the same 
 tribe with his wife. We understand this but imper- 
 fectly, if we^confine it to outward appearances only, 
 and to the recollection that Prokne, the wife of Epops, 
 was an Athenian born woman ; without recalling to 
 our minds also, that the Leontines who had been the 
 occasion of the first Sicilian expedition, and had some 
 influence on the second, were also kinsmen avyyevilg 
 of the Athenians, and had pressed their demands for 
 aid on the strength of this relationship. In reference 
 to this fact, and consequently to the Leontine portion 
 of the character of Peisthetairos, an evident allusion 
 is couched in the designation of the foreigners as 
 a-kin to the Athenian Prokne. 
 
 As the birds are now so far appeased by the 
 Epops, who shows the true adroitness of a demagogue 
 in the management of them by one or two common 
 places flattering to their understanding, (oi Go<j)ot 
 V. 37f>) that they refrain from the attack, and consent 
 in the first instance at least to give them a hearing, 
 (v. 381) it is again worthy of notice, that the two 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
Mte^iMi" 
 
 mm 
 
 60 
 
 strangers, according to the tactics of Peisthetairos, 
 (v. 38f; sq.) retreat behind their cuhnary utensils, as if 
 into their camp, and with the roasting spit in their 
 hands, cautiously advance, keeping an eye upon the 
 birds before them, and close to the pot's mouth. 
 This seems to me a trait of character quite appro- 
 priate to parasitical sophists, for whom birds were a 
 dainty morsel, and the pot an important utensil and 
 well known signal ; as amongst other examples, it 
 was for Chairephon, one of that tribe, who, according 
 to the comic writer Alexis,"^ used to take his stand 
 at an early hour in the morning, where the boiler was 
 placed for hire ; and as soon as the victualler had let 
 it out, he instantly learnt where there was to be a re- 
 past, and there presented himself an uninvited guest. 
 But in this play mention is frequently made of feast- 
 ing, and in the concluding scene we have the marriage 
 feast of Peisthetairos, who already (v. 127) had ex- 
 pressed his wish that he might be invited to such a 
 one every morning ; and on this occasion birds are 
 prepared as the principal dish. 
 
 When the recommendation of the strangers, who 
 are represented as very cunning, and shrewd fellows, 
 (v. 409,429) and that of their proposal which is to be a 
 measure unheard of before, and promising incredible 
 advantages, (v. 42 1 sq.) (an additional trait being inter- 
 woven with it, which is to strike the imagination as if 
 the piece were brought on the stage at a distance from 
 Athens, and even without the boundaries of Hellas,"'') 
 when this recommendation has at length induced tlie 
 assembly to give ear to them, and a formal truce is 
 concluded with them, (v. 438, 461) Peisthetairos pre- 
 pares himself for his harangue, as if for a feast of the 
 
 "8 Athen. IV. p. ICJI.f. 
 
 [119 Sivw ffo^f/c «^' 'EXXarot;. Av. 40y.] 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 61 
 
 ear, with which he is to entertain the birds, (v. 462, 
 465.)*^® This exhibition, although there is nothing 
 particular or unusual in the metaphor of a feast as 
 applied to an oration, has in this place a special appli- 
 cation ; inasmuch as the speech of Peisthetairos is 
 made for the insidious purpose of entrapping the 
 birds, and as Plato who entertained exactly the same 
 opinion that Aristophanes did, in regard to sophistry, 
 compares tlie art of persuasion (and especially in re- 
 ference to Gorgias)^''' with that of cooking ; and places 
 it together with sophistry in the category of KokaKtia. 
 Thus do these preliminaries seem to announce a 
 thoroughly sophistical harangue, which is to prepare 
 and introduce the alluring bait, with a sly calculation 
 of what it is to effect : and this Peisthetairos gives us 
 to understand from his very first words, (v. 465 sq.) 
 
 The speech itself paints to the birds in its open- 
 ing, and in the most lively colours, the picture of 
 grandeur and power enjoyed by them in former times ; 
 (v. 467, 5--) and by strongly contrasting these with 
 their present degraded state, (v. 523, 538)^^2 ^^ excites 
 in them such a painful feeling respecting it, and such 
 an eager longing after their pristine splendour and 
 happiness, that plunged as they are in the deepest 
 affliction, they pass into a tone of mind the very re- 
 
 *20 See on this passage Schomann de coniitiis p. 113 sq. 
 
 »*> Plato Gorcr. $ 41 sq. Heiiid. where we may observe that the /i^ 
 aypoiKoTtpov // to a\ti<rti: tiKtlv gives a hard blow to Polos in rctura 
 for his aXX' tiQ tu roiavra dytiv iroWi) dypoiKia tari rove \6yov£. 
 
 § 38. 
 
 >22 V. 479 and 480 have been misunderstood by the Scholiasts 
 and the more recent critics. Enclpides says to Peisthetairos, " Now 
 «* wilt thou be food for the birds' bill." (Compare v. 348) *• For 
 " Jove will not be in a hurry to give up liis sceptre to the woo<l- 
 peckcr" which in tlie sense of Aristophanes is as much as to say, 
 what an absurd and chimerical scheme I 
 
 [ 
 
■fc iT — I 
 
 G'2 
 
 verse of their indignation at the first reception of the 
 strangers. They see in Peisthetairos their saviour ; 
 they give themselves and their young ones completely 
 into his hands, and forthwith demand his counsel as 
 to the means of recovering their former empire. 
 
 (v. 539, 549.) 
 
 Now certainly even in the first harangues delivered 
 upon the subject of the Sicilian expedition, many se- 
 ductive, and false^'^*^ arguments were adduced, to 
 urge the Athenians to undertake it ; and Alcibiades 
 himself mentions in his subsequent speech, both the 
 dominion acquired by their ancestors, and that which 
 was to be obtained by the expedition. ^^^ Peisthe- 
 tairos' discourse doubtless refers to this circumstance 
 both in its general character and in its object. But 
 as no further striking resemblance runs through it, 
 Aristophanes does not appear to me to have borrowed 
 the matter, or much of the form of his harangue from 
 those speeches; but to have had also in liis view 
 another original which can be pointed out, and with 
 which we may discover more striking coincidences in 
 this respect. It is related of the funeral oration 
 spoken by Gorgias in Athens,^" « that it was com- 
 " posed with extraordinary ability and address ; 
 " (<To</)ia vTnp^aXXovmj) for as its object was to ex- 
 " cite the Athenians against the Medes and Persians, 
 " it made no mention of their union with the other 
 " Greeks, because it was addressed particularly to 
 " Athenians who thirsted for the sovereignty, which 
 " they could only obtain by putting forth all their 
 
 123 Thucyd. VI. 8. Ta re dWa tKayutyik rat ovk AXn^n. 
 »24 Thucyd. VI .17. Oi yctp Trarkpe<: iniiov—rt)v apxnv iKrfjfravro— 
 T»/vr€ dpxuv ovrtog kri^crap^a.— Kai ii^a T/ Tijc'E\\dcoi:—ird<TttQ 
 
 T(fi itKOTi np^Ofiev. 
 
 >-' Philcslmt. Vit Soph. 1, 13, 2. p. 413. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 €( 
 
 « 
 
 6*3 
 
 ** energies ; but on the other hand, it dwelt on their 
 " victories over the Medes, and by praising these to 
 " the skies, it showed to them that victories over the 
 barbarians demanded hymns, whilst those over the 
 Greeks called for dirges."*^^ The purport of this 
 speech, which, it may be observed, could neither be 
 considered as merely epideictic, nor was fit to have 
 been delivered over those who fell at Salamis*^^ ^as 
 exactly the same as that of Peisthetairos, namely, to 
 excite the Athenians against another people ; it dif- 
 fered only in the object against which the excitement 
 was to be created. Its dwelling on the praise of the 
 victories gained over the Persians is an additional 
 point of resemblance, which cannot be mistaken, to 
 the first part of the speech of Peisthetairos. For 
 what he says of the glorious bygone times of the race 
 of the birds, is evidently an allusion to the earlier 
 sovereignty or preponderancy of Athens in the time 
 of Miltiades, Themistocles, and Kimon, (when Per- 
 sians (v. 4 84 sq.) /Egyptians and Phoenicians (v. 503 sq.) 
 were frequently defeated by the Athenian fleets and 
 armies), and I think too, in the time of Pericles. 
 That the cock for instance formerly ruled over the 
 Persians, and the cuckoo over the Egyptians and 
 Phoenicians, can have no other meaning than the 
 name of the Median or Persian bird, in allusion to 
 the first of those facts, and the well known proverb 
 (v. 507) for the other ; and these contain no personal 
 allusions. The falcon too, iKTlvog, which in " the 
 Birds'* is frequently mentioned as the announcer and 
 
 "• Compare Isocr. Paneg. p. 95. Bek. "Evpoc 5* dv rig Ik filv tov 
 froXifiov TOV rrpbg rovg ftap(idpovg vfivovg TreTroirjfitvovgf Ik Sk tov 
 irp6g"EXKtjvag ^pijvovg t)fuv yiytvtj^ivovgf is evidently an allusion 
 of Isocrates to the oration of his master Gorgias. See A pp. F. 
 
 '"^ This is the interpretation given to it by Geel. p. 19, 25,33. 
 
■ V iiiT'wi 
 
 
 64 
 
 harbinger of spring, might from this circumstance 
 appear to be sufficiently explained as the sovereign 
 deity of the Greeks ; Aristophanes however but too 
 willingly indulges in allusion to names borne by 
 historical personages. Now it happens that Ictinus 
 was the name of the architect, who, under Pericles, 
 directed the construction of some of his most cele- 
 brated public buildings, such as the Parthenon and 
 the older temple in Eleusis.''« On these monuments 
 Pericles had expended the treasure which was at De- 
 los, besides other public monies of the Greeks ;^2a ^nd 
 he raised Athens by such embellishments, and at the 
 same time by a wise and vigorous extension of its 
 power, to be the capital of Hellas. As Aristophanes 
 in other places^=*» alludes to the extravagance of 
 Pericles in the expenditure of these monies, in con- 
 junction withPheidias the superintendent of his build- 
 ings, as being one of the causes of the Peloponnesian 
 war, as Pericles and his age could not be omitted in 
 the allegorical picture of the former splendour of 
 Athens, and as the Greek name for falcon is the same 
 with that of the architect Ictinus, there is every pro- 
 babihty that Aristophanes availed himself of this 
 accidental circumstance to mark a period in which 
 Athens did in fact maintain in the greatest splendour 
 the riyefiovia or preponderance over Greece. If there 
 had been any bird called Pheidias, he would in all 
 likelihood have chosen that. Moreover, as in the 
 funeral oration of Gorgias, some subjects of regret 
 were contrasted with the object of its eulogy, (although 
 as we may gather from the account of Philostratos, 
 
 128 Pint. Per. 13. Vitruv. VII. prcf. ^ 12, 16. Strabo IX. p. 31)5. 
 Paiisan. VIII. 41, 5. 
 
 1^ 'Ta Koiva TMv'EWiivtuif Xphlif^fn- Pint. Per. 12. 
 *•* Pac. GOa sq. 
 
 65 
 
 by his longer dwelling upon them, further misfor 
 tunes were obscurely hinted at), so in the harangue 
 of Peisthetairos, the picture of the present pitiable 
 state of the birds is contrasted with that of their 
 former sovereignty. This picture indeed does not 
 precisely correspond with the actual circumstances, 
 at the time when the play came out, of the poHtical 
 weight and credit of the Athenians, sunken though 
 they were by the defeats at Oropos and at Delion, and 
 by the advances made by the Spartans on the fron- 
 tiers of Thrace. (Thucyd. V. 14, 15) But we may ob- 
 serve, how the object of the speaker and his sophis- 
 tical character led to exaggeration, no less — indeed 
 rather more in this, than in the former part of his 
 speech, inasmuch as the impression was to be com- 
 pleted by it. The Athenians had in each case lost 
 considerably in poUtical importance. Other nations 
 had begun to regard them with little respect, cities 
 formerly dependent upon them had revolted ',^^^ and 
 the Boeotians in particular had so increased in arro- 
 gance, that they had not only taken possession of the 
 Athenian fortress Panakton (Thucyd. V. 3.) on their 
 own frontiers, by which they menaced Attica, and re- 
 fused to restore it to the Athenians, (notwithstanding 
 that this formed one of the stipulations of the peace 
 of Nicias, (id. v. 18) to which they did not accede,) 
 (id. V. 17) but they had even denounced the ten days' 
 truce which they had made with them ; (id. v. 32) 
 and though after the renewal of their alliance with the 
 Spartans, they made the fortress over to them, they 
 first razed it to the ground; (id. v. 36) so that when the 
 
 *3i See the passages from Diodor. XII. 75, Xcnopli. Mem. 111. 
 5, 4, and Diodor. XII. 72, cited in Bocckb's preface to the List of 
 Lectures in the University of Berlin for the Summer lialf year of 
 \S26, p. 9. note 3. 
 
SSS^^S"!" 
 
 X 
 
 66 
 
 Athenians were expecting to receive it from these last, 
 they learned that it was destroyed, (id. v. 39, 40) 
 If any thing could show contempt, it was treatment 
 like this ; and it is not impossible that Aristophanes, 
 when he represents to the birds, (v. 524) how their 
 enemies (the men) had not spared them even in the 
 sanctuaries (Iv rote Upoig), may have had especially 
 in view what the Athenian garrison in Dclion had 
 suffered at the hands of the Boeotians. Though this 
 event had taken place two Olympiads before the play 
 was acted, the memory of it would be still fresh in 
 Athens. It appears to me, however, that the poet 
 did not allude to external political degradation alone, 
 but also to the worthlessness exhibited at home ; and 
 that by the acts of injustice described (v. 526 sq.) as 
 committed by tlie bird catchers on the ])irds, he 
 has intended with bitter irony, and from the mouth 
 of Peisthetairos himself, who afterwards (v. 1579, 
 1584) practices in his own person against the birds 
 what (v. 581) he had represented as their greatest 
 outrage, to place before the people the dangerous 
 snares \^^th which they were threatened by the so- 
 phists. In '' the Knights'' indeed (v. 79-' sq.) he 
 calls the demagogues to account for oppressing the 
 people whom they crowded together in the city, in 
 language drawn from the habits of poulterers locking 
 the^irds up in their cages, and pinching and feeling 
 them for their eggs. But at the time of " the Birds," 
 this apphcation was quite lost. The people were now 
 the prey of demagogues of another kind, that is of those 
 formed in the school of sophistry, and of its teachers, 
 and were seduced by them into false and fatal measures 
 of policy, amongst which measures stood paramount 
 the SiciUan expedition. The delusive and tortuous 
 arts of sophistical eloquence are so often dcsiguated'^a 
 
 "a Amongst other fiuthoritics sec CresolUus Thcat. Rhct. 1 1 and 6. 
 
 67 
 
 by the different kinds of snares of the bird-catchers, 
 which Peistlietairos mentions, such as nets, and 
 amongst these the equivocal word v£(l>i\ai, (v. 528) 
 leashes, gins, traps, &c. that we may readily allow 
 that here also this designation is the closest and 
 most natural. I do not venture to decide whether 
 Aristophanes further on (v. 530, 538) merely meant to 
 represent in coarse and vulgar metaphors the abuse of 
 the people in general, as the fruits of sophistry ; or 
 whether he especially had in view, as in " the Clouds,'* 
 the KaraTTijyocTuvij, which was encouraged in the 
 schools of sophistry, and the corruption of the people 
 which proceeded from it. We might well conclude 
 for the latter interpretation, if we were to compare 
 the expression ^XiftaZovTeg (v. 530) with the wish 
 which Peisthetairos had announced in a former pas- 
 sage, (v. 188) and that which foUows, with the koI irpog 
 ToifToig T^c AvTifia\ov KaTairtiyofrvvriQ avaTrX/jdct, m 
 " the Clouds,*' (v. 1002) as well as with those in " the 
 Peace,** (v. 716, 885, 890) in reference to the Theo- 
 riai ; and if we observe that the duped birds, shutting 
 their eyes to the snares and nets which are laid for 
 them, at once entrust their young broods (rorrm) to 
 Peisthetairos ; (v. 547) as was the case too with Epops 
 himself (v. 196 sq.) who as soon as he had heard 
 Peisthetairos*s project, protests and avows its excel- 
 lence by those very nets and traps. This circum- 
 stance admits a ready application to the Athenian 
 youth, who were now entirely abandoned to the so- 
 phists, and had become their followers. '^^ The son 
 of Pisias (v. 766) row irarpog vtoTTiov, and the "Apewc 
 vsoTTog and vtoTTog SctrTrorr/c (v. 835) and many 
 
 '^ Pupils in reference to their ni.nstcrs arc often compared to 
 young birds, who receive their food from the beaks of their parents. 
 Wyltenb. on I'hit. de Audit, p. 48. A. 
 
68 
 
 other vapouring coxcombs exposed by name in the 
 course of the play, are birdlings of these voma. 
 
 In seeking for a direct manifestation of the peculiar 
 characteristics of Gorgias in the harangue of Peisthe- 
 tairos, we must not expect to find such a perfect parody, 
 as the lyric song in the Thesmophoriazousai presents 
 to us of the tragic and lyric poet Agathon, who also 
 had formed himself on the model of Gorgias ; here 
 the form was not so much to be attended to, as the 
 thoughts ; and an accurate imitation of the former 
 would have been tiresome and ridiculous; besides 
 that the affected and stiff manner of the rhetorician 
 could not have been directly transferred into a metri- 
 cal harangue, as it is in fact throughout and accurately 
 copied in the prose declamation of Plato.*** Still 
 there is much, in which we may recognize traces of 
 these pecuharities, such as antitheses, balanced 
 phrases, similar cadences, similar beginnings and 
 endings of periods; as for example (v. 477) Trponpoi 
 filv yrig, trpoTipoi 81 OiCov — gingling passages, as in 
 V. 478, a>c 7r/0£(rj3uraTaiv avriov ovTtov opOtJQ icrO' rj 
 ^atTiXda — accumulation of similar words and thoughts, 
 as in V. 4(>9, apxaiorepoi irpoTtpoi n — (v. 488) oinrw 
 8' t<TXV£ re Koi fxlyag ijv tote koI woXvg — (v. 555) Kav 
 Hlv /Li?) ^y, jLiTiS' iOcX/iay, fin^' ivOvg yvwmfiax^l^ry — 
 
 1" Sympos. p. 417 sq. Bekker. The observation that in this pas- 
 sage the words from ovrog St to vofi^at are imitated from Gorgias, 
 is in the Dissertation " De authentic^ declamationc, qua; Gorgiaj 
 Leontini nomine exstant. Auct. SchOnborn, (Vralisl. 1828; p. 25 sq. 
 Aristeides in his Q Fopyia Ke<pa\i) (Or. T. II. p. 93) must have had in 
 his mind the Topyiov K«{>a\i)v of Plato, (ib. p. 419) and not as his 
 Scholiast and Frommel, p. 154, observe, the passage in the fifth book 
 of the Iliad, 714, 'Ev Hrk yopyiiri K«l>a\i) Shvoio TriXwpov, though 
 this la&t might have prompted the words used by Plato. Gecl n»ay 
 be consulted for notices on the manner of Gorgias in general, but 
 Schouborn has analyzed it still more accurately, and has accompanied 
 his criticisms with examples. 
 
 69 
 
 (v. 586) ijv 8' i)ytI}VTai <Tt Otov, <t£ fiiov, <Tt Sc yifv, (re 
 Xpovov, (Tt riotrftSw. But these may also be re- 
 garded generally as the natural result of metrical 
 dislocation, or of the language itself, or of the rhe- 
 torical colouring of the speech; and it is in truth 
 superfluous to look for many examples of this kind. 
 There is, however, one trait which we cannot con- 
 sider in any other light than as a direct intentional 
 imitation of a rhetorical peculiarity of Gorgias. It 
 was peculiarly his practice to give the greatest weight 
 to the commencement of his speeches, and he sought 
 by the pomposity of expression, flattering to his 
 hearers, with which he began, at once to excite and 
 dazzle their imaginations. The beginning of his 
 Olympic oration is in this style ; 'Ytto ttoXXwv a^ioi 
 OavfjLutiiCTOai, u) avSpeg*'EWr}V£g ; and still stronger is 
 the exclamation at the opening of his panegyric on 
 the Eleans ; ''HXtc TroXtc fuSafjuwv."' This is hap- 
 pily caricatured by Peisthetairos, who (v. 465 sq.) 
 says that he had long been in search of some weighty 
 and bright oily word {/ntya kol Xapivov tirog ti) which 
 might harrow up the birds' souls ; and forthwith he 
 breaks out : " I am so deeply grieved for you who 
 " were once kings,'* and instantly he gains his object. 
 Gorgias probably had opened his funeral oration with 
 a similar inroad upon the hearts of the Athenians. 
 The far-fetched story of the genealogical descent of 
 the birds seems also a parody of the same speech, in 
 which Gorgias doul)tless had dived still deeper into 
 the fabulous times for the Autochthonia of the 
 Athenians ; as his scholar Isokrates did in his pane- 
 gyric, to prove to them that the Hegemonia was 
 their birthright. Moreover the pomposity and extra- 
 
 *^ Arlstot. Rhct. III. 14, where those abrupt exordia are called 
 arroKal^taXa. 
 
70 
 
 vagance of Peisthetairos* address, calculated for the 
 one object of insinuating himself into the good 
 opinion of the birds, are as characteristical of Gor- 
 gias, as his application to them of new theories 
 respecting cosmogony and theology; and the doc- 
 trine, that not the accredited gods, but the birds 
 were the true and original gods, clearly enough 
 betrays that Aristophanes is here putting words into 
 the mouth of a man, who busied himself, as did also 
 Gorgias, though after a different fasliion from other 
 Natural Philosophers, with ra fiirBiopa, and with me- 
 taphysics, and who set up different views from those 
 of the people on final causes, and on the government 
 of the world. We here see the beginning of a raillery 
 also against Natural Philosophy, which soon after- 
 wards in the parabasis (v. C85) breaks out in full 
 force, which reaches its highest pitch in the solemn 
 worship of the new bird-gods celebrated by Peisthe- 
 tairos, is again visible in v. 1000 sq. and 1M)1, 
 becomes identified with the character of Peisthetairos, 
 and essentially belongs to the mo\4ng principle of the 
 undertaking, which is ridiculed as a project hatched 
 by sophistry, and throughout sophistical. 
 
 In addition to these internal signs, which teach us 
 to recognize in the address of Peisthetairos a parody 
 of the speech of a sophist, of a speech of Gorgias, 
 and in truth of his funeral oration, there is, I think, 
 one external token which puts this last allusion 
 beyond a doubt. In the passage where the birds 
 begin to show a disposition to hsten to Peisthetairos, 
 Euelpides asks (v. 393) " but should we die in battle 
 " where shall we be buried ? " to which Peisthetairos 
 answers, " the Kerameikos will receive us, for in order 
 " to be solemnly interred, as in the people's cause, 
 " we will tell the strategoi that we fell at Omeai, 
 
 71 
 
 « fighting with the foe." This play upon th^ words 
 in reference to the contest, which was about to take 
 place near the abode of the birds, {opvm) and that at 
 6pvtal, is clear. But there must be another allusion 
 also in this passage. In the affair at Omeai (accord- 
 ing to the narrative of Thucydides, VI. 7) much Athe- 
 nian blood could not have been shed; but at the 
 next public interment it would appear that many 
 were declared to have fallen there, and as if they had 
 died for their country, received the honours of such 
 interment, and of the funeral oration delivered upon 
 the occasion: and to this I think the poet has 
 alluded. The events at Orneai took place one year 
 before the exhibition of " The Birds," and the oration 
 at the interment of those aUedged to have fallen on 
 that occasion, and of others who had died in battle, 
 must have been the last before the play came out. I 
 scarcely dare to offer it as a conjecture, whether this 
 may have been in truth the funeral oration of Gorgias 
 himself, although the expression of Philostratos that 
 Gx)rgias forbore to make mention in his speech of the 
 good understanding between the Athenians and the 
 other Greeks, because they thirsted for a dominion, 
 which they could not hope to reach, without great and 
 extraordinary exertion, might indeed lead to the con- 
 clusion that it was delivered about the time of the 
 Sicilian expedition. But as Aristophanes does put 
 the allusion to that funeral oration into the mouth 
 of Peisthetairos, and this too immediately before 
 he begins his address, it is natural to suppose that 
 the poet had akeady in his mind the harangue 
 which he was soon after to ridicule and in part to 
 parody : and if we rightly understand the course of 
 the whole address, we can scarcely fail to see that 
 
u 
 
 this early mention of the former was intended by the 
 poet as a direction-post to the latter. 
 
 Peisthetairos now lays his plan before the birds, 
 (v. 550) In a strict analysis of the measures^ by 
 which the birds, on its success, are to maintain their 
 sovereignty, many circumstances will occur which 
 merely serve to complete the allegory. But through- 
 out we shall not fail to recognize in it the moral ten- 
 dency of the system, which is to ensue upon the 
 completion of the great Sicilian expedition. Under 
 the dominion of Athens, which is then to take place, 
 the whole of Greece will pay to her their taxes ; a 
 representative and president on the part of Athens, 
 will be deputed to each considerable capital, whose 
 duty will be to take care that she receives her dues 
 out of whatever is sent to the other states from 
 their colonies, or from subordinate states immediately 
 dependent upon them. That these principal states 
 are implied by the gods (v. 564 sq.) I have already 
 observed, and further mention will be made of it 
 hereafter. We need only here be reminded, that 
 whenever sacrifices occur in the allegorical represen- 
 tation of the project in this comedy, they must always 
 be interpreted to mean " tributes or taxes." When 
 then Peisthetairos (v. 564) counsels the birds to ap- 
 point to each god a bird, oc koI apfioZv ^aO' tKatrrovy 
 this expression seems to point to an allusion, in perfect 
 accordance with the object of the measure, to the well 
 known Harmostai, whom the Spartans used to de- 
 pute to their dependent states. Such administrators 
 or magistrates were to be sent to the principal states 
 of Greece by the Athenians, when sovereigns of the 
 sea. Those that will not obey, their crops and cattle 
 will be plundered, after the modes so often practised 
 
 f'lt' , 
 
 i 
 
 73 
 
 in the Pelopttnnesian war. (577, 58 f) Those who 
 submit, their country will be protected, (v. 588) their 
 trade and commerce favoured, (v. 593) their naviga- 
 tion secured, (v. 596) and their prosperity and com- 
 forts increased in every possible manner. The course 
 of the transactions here laid down, had its archetype 
 in many an Athenian Ekklesia, where the people, 
 highly prejudiced against certain opinions and mea- 
 sures, hooted at first violently against the orators, 
 and interrupted them ; but when once silenced and 
 made attentive by a single word calculated to make 
 them reflect, and then caught by an artful narrative 
 and some flattering picture, they readily changed their 
 tone, and came into the opposite opinion with the 
 same warmth with which they had supported their 
 former views ; just as the birds now receive with joy 
 the overtures of Peisthetairos, (v. 62G) give them- 
 selves up entirely to his guidance, and are deter- 
 mined to execute his plan as far as their physical 
 powers are equal to it. 
 
 Peisthetairos now enters as the demagogue of the 
 birds, and Epops himself urges the instant execution 
 of what the people have resolved on. In the ex- 
 pression fiiXXoviKiav, for which Epops (v. 639) says 
 there is now no longer time, the allusion to Nicias is 
 too evident to have been overlooked, even so late as 
 when the scholiasts wrote. It has been in part 
 applied to the cautious character of Nicias generally, 
 in part to the lingering progress of the siege of Pylos, 
 as long as he conducted it, and in part to the scruples 
 by which he endeavoured to put off" the Sicilian ex- 
 pedition. This last allusion is the nearest in respect 
 to time, and is the better founded, as it agrees with 
 the gist of the whole play. But we shall only seize 
 it in its full and direct meaning, in reference to the 
 
\ 
 
 74 
 
 proposal of Pcisthetairos and the resolution of the 
 commons, when we compare the words of Epops 
 (v. 638) 
 
 icat fxriv jua tov Al\ o\f)(l vuora^tcv y* m 
 
 wpa 'oTiv Tjjutv ovSl fitWoviKiaVy 
 
 aW* wg Ta\i(TTa Sh ri 8/oav* 
 with the demand which Demostratos addressed to 
 Nicias, when the Sicilian expedition had already been 
 determined on ; and when (Nicias having attempted 
 to deter the people from the undertaking, first by re- 
 presenting generally its dangers and inexpediency, 
 and upon Alcibiades defending it, by the great ex- 
 pense of the equipment), it now only remained to 
 discuss the execution of it. This demand is thus 
 related by Thucydides, VI. 25. kol riXug iraptX^Mv 
 TiQ ru)v * A^i)vuio)v, Koi TrapaKoXiaag Toy NtKtav, ovk 
 £^tj ')(privm TTpoff^aaiZia^ai ovSt SiafiiXXtiv, aXX* tvav 
 t(ov airdvTOJv tJ8»j Xiyeiv i]VTiva avTtj wapafTKtviiv 
 'A^rjvaioi \pTi}(pi<y(i>vTai. The assumed allusion to De- 
 mostratos is rendered still more probable by the exe- 
 cration, with which Aristophanes assails him in the 
 Lysistrata (v. 391) for the eagerness with which he 
 urged on the Sicilian expedition. The same circum- 
 stance is mentioned also in two passages of Plutarch 
 (Nic. 12 and 14) ^Avaarag yap 6 ArifiofrrpaTog t^rjrov 
 NiKtav 7r/oo^a<T€(c Xiyovra iraiKTHVy and ovStig tri icat- 
 pog ^v Ti)g TToXX^c ivXa^iiag koi fuXXiirnwg, Aristo- 
 phanes' allusion to this speech of Demostratos is so 
 striking, that we almost hear him in the words of 
 Epops : and hence we may observe, that although 
 Epops is certainly not intended to represent Demos- 
 tratos, it furnishes another example of an historical 
 trait engrafted upon a dramatic character, with which 
 it is in other respects quite unconnected; and many and 
 still stronger instances of this description occur in the 
 
 
 fi 
 
 75 
 
 present, and in all the other dramas of Aristophanes. 
 In unison with the explanation of this allusion to the 
 opposition of Nicias to the Sicilian expedition, an 
 allusion which precisely coincides with v. 363 above 
 cited, and is best iUustrated by it, others likewise may 
 be pointed out, by means of which the poet has in- 
 terwoven into his picture the forebodings also, which 
 Nicias entertained respecting the enterprize in a reli- 
 gious point of view. It is well known that this com- 
 mander was of a religious, or rather of a superstitious 
 turn of mind. In reference to the undertaking, Tliucy- 
 dides touches indeed, though shghtly,upon his anxiety 
 for its uncertain issue ;^36 Plutarch also only observes 
 that Nicias, when once the business was determined 
 upon, and he was unable to decline the chief com- 
 mand, ought to have laid aside his extreme caution 
 and apprehension, and that constant puerile recur- 
 rence to former discussions, with which even after the 
 embarkation, he discouraged his colleagues in com- 
 mand, adding, that he never yet had been defeated 
 upon this subject in argument. But by the frequent 
 mention of his Deisidaimonia in the history of the 
 Sicilian expedition, we may easily believe that this 
 feeling must have been strongly expressed in his very 
 first efforts against it ; and this is confirmed by the 
 observation, with which Plutarch closes his life of 
 Nicias. " At length they gave credit to what Nicias 
 " had said, when they began to experience what he 
 '^ had so often foretold to them." Moreover other 
 celebrated men foresaw and predicted an unfortunate 
 issue to the expedition, and evil omens preceded it, 
 
 >3« Thucyd. VI. 9. Kal Trpbg fiiv rovg rpoirovg tovq vnirkpovg cks- 
 
 <^-\ 
 
76 
 
 which left a strong impression upon many. We may 
 then fairly consider the ominous sayings, which in 
 " the Birds," drop unintentionally from the origina- 
 tors themselves of the undertaking, as when Euel- 
 pides (v. 576) says 'O Zehg 8' vimv ov /B/ooi/n'/erac 
 TrifiTTH irrepoevTa Kepavvov ; and when Peisthetairos 
 (v. 824) mentions the Phlegraean fields, on which the 
 gods had laid prostrate the giants who would storm 
 the heavens, with whom too the exclamation of 
 Epops (v. 553) compares the bold stroke of Peisthe- 
 tairos, we may I say consider these also as forebod- 
 ings ^'37 and still more should we view, in the light of a 
 serious warning, the earnest advice of Iris, (v. 1238) 
 ''Q, fit'^ps, fiu)p£, jLirj ^eC>v KivH (ppivag k. t. A. In this 
 passage AiKvuviaig ^oXaiq used for Kepavvov ftoXaig is 
 said with an allusion, Avhich if it applies to the ship 
 struck by hghtning and bumt,'^^ (see Hesychios on 
 the Likymnios of Euripides) is quite appropriate to a 
 naval expedition. Her words too (v. 125D) 'H ^riv 
 
 '•" Though Peisthetairos here speaks as a sophist and freethinker, 
 he is unwittingly a proplict. 
 
 "• The old commentators did not clearly understand this allusion. 
 In the beginning of the scholia on this passage: 6 fiiv KaWi^axoQ 
 ypaiptov o'vTtog, AiKVfiviaig /3oX«7f 0,,at (sell. Aristophanes) Tavrrjc 
 r/'/e h^affKaXiag ov fxtfivrjTai. After <pq<Ti there is evidently an 
 omission of what Callimachus had written on the words of Aristo- 
 phanes. I once thought that the omitted words might have had re- 
 ference to the sophist and rhetorician Likymnios ; who like Polos 
 in Dion. Halic, judic. de Lys. p. 111. is called a ffwovmaffTtKoc of 
 Gorgias, (see on this Heindorf on the Phaidros of Plato, § 114. and 
 on this passage Kruger in Dion. Halic. historiog. p. 287.) and whose 
 fine, harmonious, but empty words (dvofiariov xpu^pm. Valchen. on the 
 fragments of Kallimachos, p. 285.) might well be called AiKVftviat 
 BoXni. We see too a picture nearly similar in the emffi uKpopoXi- 
 (Titfitpoi of Herodotus VIII. 64. This might indeed be possible in 
 another combination of words ; but as they stand here, an allusion 
 to Licymnius would have been too indirect, and at the same time 
 too subtle to have been adopted by Aristophanes. 
 
 77 
 
 <Tf TTaxxru Ti}q vfipeutg ovpog irariip — must be consi- 
 dered as an ominous threat, not indeed as to the issue 
 of the action in the play, but to that of the expedi- 
 tion it represented, quite in the spirit of Nicias, and 
 in conformity with the opinion of Aristophanes him- 
 self. If now we reflect upon the tendency of this piece, 
 and on the forebodings and warnings, which in refer- 
 ence to the opinion of Nicias on the Sicilian expedi- 
 tion, have been interwoven into it, we shall find it not 
 improbable that another play of our poet which first 
 appeared in the same year with " the Birds," but at the 
 Leneean festival,»39 and which was called " Amphiaraos," 
 
 after one of the seven chiefs against Thebes, cele- 
 brated for his prophecies of ill luck to himself and his 
 brother chieftains, may have referred to the same ex- 
 pedition, and to Nicias one of the commanders in it, 
 who in the same manner foretold misfortune for the 
 whole army, and for himself. Notwithstanding that 
 his extravagant Deisidaimonia presented a ready sub- 
 ject to the comic muse, yet many opportunities oc- 
 curred, to apply also to him what iEschylos^^« had said 
 of Amphiaraos, and to make the voice of solemn 
 warning speak most energetically under the mask of 
 pleasantry and raillery.*" 
 
 139 Argument of "the Birds." 'Etti Xa€ptov to Spafia Ko^nKtv iIq 
 dtTTv hil KaWKTrpdroV tig Si Aiivaui rbv Aiapidpaov iiiSa%t Sui 
 
 !*> Sept. c. Theb. 551, 560, 572, 604. 
 
 »» It might perhaps be objected, that " Amphiaraos" could not 
 have been a political drama, but must have had a personal tendency, 
 because Aristophaues had caused it to be represented by Philonides, 
 by whom, according to the Anonymus de Comoedia p. XXIX.Zi>*. 
 all his other personal comedies were represented, whilst those of a 
 political bent were conducted by Kallistratos, who acted the princi- 
 piU character, e.g. that of Peisthetairos in the " Birds." But this is 
 a matter of doubt, as Thomas Magister in his life of Aristophanes, p. 
 XXXIX. Lips, says just the contrary ; and as " ihe Wasps," clearly 
 
78 
 
 But in order to stamp Peisthetairos and Euclpides 
 as real associates of the birds, and to give them their 
 semblance, they arc to be plumed. Here Aristo- 
 phanes seems to have had in view the domicile of 
 Gorgias in Athens, and the eagerness of the Athen- 
 ians to appropriate to themselves the sophists of 
 other countries. The fable of ^sop, or rather that 
 of Archilochos,^^2 q{ the fox and the eagle, by which 
 Peisthetairos points out (v. C51 sq.) how ill it might 
 fare with him amongst the birds, from the natural 
 difference between him and them, exactly tallies, at 
 least with the sophistical part of his character, for 
 which he had already (v. 421)) been praised as the 
 cunning fox. {wvKvoraTov Kivadog) The pluming or 
 
 a political play, was conducted according to the didascalia not by 
 Cailistratos but by Philonides ; but here if with Meineke (Quaest. 
 Seen. II. p. 39. not.) we read hd. KaWiffrpurov for lia ^iXwvi^ov, 
 and if we take /3 tiv for StvnpoQ >/v, and if we ascribe a new play, 
 the ITpo«y(uv,to the comic writer Philonides, wc remove the grounds 
 which induced Kanngiesser (die alte komische Biihne p. 268 sq. and 
 Boeckh. Uber die Lenaien etc. Abh. der hist. phil. Klasse der Aca- 
 demic der Wissenschaften for 1816 and 1817, p. 72. Compare too 
 Corp. Inscrip. p. 351) to read the whole of the Didascalia in another 
 spirit, according to which Philonides, who set out as a poet contend- 
 ing for the prize, ends by being a successful and triumphant actor. 
 
 Besides it may be fairly asked, in what consists the difference 
 wiiich the above mentioned critics put forward between political or 
 demotic, and personal or individual dramas ? " The Knights" cer- 
 tainly if any are, is a political play, yet is it directed jigainst one in- 
 dividual, Cleon. " The Clouds * and ** the Frogs" too ridicule So- 
 crates and Euripides in person, but their tendency is by no means 
 limited to this, being intimately connected with the political exist- 
 ence of Athens. It is however possible, that one of these two actors 
 was more capable of imitating individuals, the other of representing 
 general characters ; and that on this account Aristophanes usually 
 selected the one or the other to perform the principal parts of lis 
 comedies, appears to be the purport of the observation of tl»e Anony- 
 mous writer, and of Tiiomas Majj^ister. 
 
 "' Uuschke in Matthix Miscell. pliilol. I. p. 12 sq. 
 
 79 
 
 feathering is brought about simply by tasting a root, 
 which the poet has doubtless imagined, in contrast 
 to the black rooted /uwAw, which prevents the meta- 
 morpliosis of Ulysses by Circe ;'^3 and as the poet so 
 frequently dwells, in the piece, on the invasion by 
 foreigners of the rights of Athenian citizenship, he 
 might wish to designate by this instant and magical 
 transformation into birds, the ease by which foreign- 
 ers were changed into Athenians. That something 
 in reference to that practice was represented on the 
 stage is evident from the raillery in the parabasis 
 which immediately follows, (v. 760) upon the easy 
 admission of run-away slaves and barbarians to the 
 rights of citizens, and to the Phratriai ; for, as we 
 shall hereafter see, the parts of the parabasis, and 
 the more considerable choral songs in the play, are 
 always strictly connected with the subject of the im- 
 mediately preceding scenes. 
 
 Tlie parabasis which appropriately fills up the 
 pause occasioned by the incorporation of the fo- 
 reigners amongst the birds in the nest of Epops, 
 is ingeniously interwoven with the action in general, 
 on the one hand by the Anapaests, (v. 6S5, 722) which 
 together with Peisthetairos's deduction of the royal 
 rights of birds, (v.4G8) comprise all cosmogonical and 
 theological systems, from Oq^heus to the latest so- 
 phists, typified by the mention of Prodikos,^^^ (v. GI)8) 
 and which by their pleasant irony and bantering tone 
 heighten the representation of the sophistical cha- 
 racter of the undertaking ; and again at the moment 
 when the action ceases, by the sudden and violent 
 address of the Epirrhema (v. 753, 7««) to the spec- 
 tators, charging them to come over to the birds and 
 live with them, as they will be readily received, and 
 
 »»^^ Od. X. 302 sq. *" Compare v. S61 of " the Clouds.'* 
 
 I 
 
80 
 
 as whatever the antiquated morals and laws of Athens 
 prohibited was sanctioned by their customs: and 
 finally by the satirical eulogy of wings in the Ante- 
 pirrhema. (v. 785, 800.) 
 
 When the two strangers, each in his own appro- 
 priate dress as a bird, and with them Epops have 
 returned upon the stage, they proceed in the first in- 
 stance to name the new city Nf^cXoKOfdcuyfa. This 
 Aristophanes in his irony makes the invention of 
 Peisthetairos, himself the originator of the visionary 
 undertaking, and he thus at once describes the whole 
 chimerical essence of this enormous senseless project, 
 as the work of mischievous puppies and conceited 
 fools, *^* whose object floats in the region of the air, 
 (v. 818) the true seat of all such fantastical vaporous 
 forms, and where are preserved the treasures of empty 
 rhodomontaders.^^^ But the questions as to the patron 
 deity of the new city, (v. 826 sq.) and who is to occupy 
 the citadel, (v. 832) for we need not observe that the 
 TTiXapytKov is an allusion to the 7rfcXa(rytic6v TH\og of 
 Athens,^*'' are as well as those respecting the name, 
 important points for the completion of the work. 
 To the second of these questions, i. e. who is to oc- 
 cupy the Akropolis, Epops answers, (v. 833) 
 "Opvig a^' i\fiC)v tou yivovq tov YiipaiKOV, 
 otTTTtp Xiyerai SfivoTaroc tivai Travra^^ovy 
 
 *^ Acharn. 598. KoKicvy'fg yi rpiii;, and the Scholia and coniinca- 
 tiitor? upon the passage. 
 
 1^^ We might compare this description with the feudal dominion of 
 of the Arcadian shepherd Mopsus at the Cape of Good Hope, in the 
 «* Fatal Fork" of Count de Platen— in which spiritual and witty 
 drama we almost see the dawn of a restoration of the comedy iif 
 Aristophanes. 
 
 J^'" MuUcr's History of the Hellenic Races, Tuit 1. p. 41G. Com- 
 ical c Kruse's Hellas^ Tart 2. p. 78 sq. 
 
 81 
 
 And Euelpides in his way thus compliments this 
 new seigneur du bourg, (v. 835) 
 
 wc 8' 6 ^eoQ iiriTt^dtiog oIkhv lirX ttet/owv. 
 In this passage, which Didymos on the authority of 
 the scholia, considered as an allusion to some hand- 
 some youth, Alcilwades is no less conspicuous, than 
 Gorgias becomes afterwards by a direct attack made 
 upon him towards the end of the piece ; and when 
 once kno^\^1, he is recognised in all these combined 
 traits. The expression of the Epops, " One of our 
 birds of a Persian race," is very extraordinary, 
 unless some one be meant by it who, an Athenian 
 by birth, affected foreign fashions in his whole mode 
 of life ; and such was Alcibiades, on whose early 
 estrangement in all his habits from the customs of 
 his own country, or wapavojULia Ig Trjv ciairav, as 
 Thucydides calls it, there is but one voice amongst 
 the antients.'^8 His long trailing purple robes"" 
 
 i« Thucyd. VI. 15. Lysias adv. Alcib. 349 Bekker. Pseudo-An- 
 dokid. adv. Alcib. p. 182. Plutarch. Alcib. 16. Athen. V. p. 220. \c. 
 
 »<» See the passages in the Essay on the Fnpag of Aristophanes, 
 p. 42. Buschke in Matthiae Misc. philol. II. p. 28. had already per- 
 ceived that the line in the Aijfioi of Eupolis, which I have quoted in 
 speaking of the fX^ftc of Alcibiades, must have meant something 
 trailing along, but he understood by it a hare's tail, and therefore as 
 Valckenaer has done, he conceived the allusion to be made to coward- 
 ice : but cowardice cannot well be applied to those at whom this ex- 
 pression was aimed, for the plxj/aaTrig Cleonyonus could scarcely 
 have been one of them. My explanation appears to me more satis- 
 factory, as it is based on a definite historical object. I think too, 
 that it is highly improbable that the Anfioi was first exhibited in the 
 third year of the 92d Olympiad, as Meyer assumes in the AUgera. 
 Lit. Zeit. 1827, May, p. 142 : for it is uncertain whether the frag- 
 ment in Athenajus HI. p. 316. c. on which this supposition is found- 
 ed, really applied to Theramenes. There were surely several states- 
 men, who changed sides according to circumstances. Kritias was 
 one of these. If it applies to such statesmen, Theramenes might 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 after the fashion of Persia attracted general notice, 
 when he went to Olympia ; on other occasions when 
 he travelled, a Persian tent had been presented to 
 him by the Ephesians ;^*® and to judge from the 
 manner in which he and Socrates converse upon 
 this subject in the first Alcibiades, (§ 35, 40) from a 
 conceit of being equal to the great king in his descent 
 from Jupiter, he seems at an early age to have at- 
 tempted in his exterior and in his habits of life that 
 same Medismos, which after his banishment he fully 
 developed during his residence at the court of Phar- 
 nabazos.**' The Persian or Median bird, as the 
 cock was notoriously called, was thus an image quite 
 appropriate to Alcibiades; and being introduced 
 (v. 275) with a lofty erect comb, instead of a tuft 
 as the other birds are, and having an extraordinary 
 outlandish appearance, this was probably meant for 
 him, as the second Epops was for Kallias, and the ica- 
 ra^ayac for Kleonymos. Alcibiades well deserved the 
 reputation Seivoraroc tlvai iravraxov *'A/o£Ci>c viorrog, 
 partly from his fiery temperament and warlike dispo- 
 sition, partly as the son of a brave warrior."* And 
 the exclamation of Euelpides, *' How fitted he is to 
 live upon the rocks," {oIkhv ctti ttct/owv) is best un- 
 derstood, if we recal to our minds what Aristophanes 
 
 have exhibited at an earlier period an ambiguous character. But 
 Alcibiades may have been more than all others the object of raillery 
 for his purple trailing robes, as he prided himself upon them in 
 public, and his foreign fashions excited suspicion before his banish- 
 ment. Nor can the prayer contained in the fragment refer to the 
 recal of Alcibiades to the chief command after his banishment, ns 
 there is no mention of a firj vdXiv apx^tv, but of a /iijicer' dpxnv» 
 Hence it is probable that the play was produced not long after the 
 death of Kleon, and " the Peace" of Aristophanes. 
 
 »5o Pseudo-Andokid. 1. c. Athcn. XII. p. 534. d. 
 
 1" Athen. XII. p. 535. e. 
 
 1*2 See the passages in Baehr on Plut. Alcib. 1. 
 
 83 
 
 had before said on the situation of the Pnyx, and 
 particularly when we compare the passage there cited 
 from " the Knights," (v. 95G) Aapog Ktxnvojg tn\ iri- 
 rpag Stifirjyopwv with that from "the Peace," (v. 680) 
 ooTig tcpaTti vvv tov Xi^ov tov \ tt) IIvvki. Since he 
 rules the Pnyx, that is the ekklesia, as the orator of 
 the people, and is as much at home there as the 
 A»i/ioc iruicyiVtjc himself, he is therefore equally fitted 
 to dwell upon the rocks of the Akropolis.*^ Here 
 we see clearly the real purpose of the Demagogia of 
 Alcibiades; and his intention to seize upon the 
 citadel of the chimerical city of the birds, is fully 
 implied in the eagerness for sovereignty, which is 
 imputed to him in the greeting he receives : Q vforri 
 SlffTTora. Of these ambitious projects he had been 
 accused in consequence of his general demeanour,^^* 
 and particularly after the affair of the 'E/ojuo»co7riSat,^^* 
 and after the profanation of the mysteries. For the 
 Akropolis was the seat of sovereignty at Athens un- 
 der a tyranny, as the Pnyx was under a Democracy, 
 and Peisistratos and the Peisistratidai kept posses- 
 
 »» Aristeides pro quatuorv. Opp. II. p. 199, says of Perikles, that 
 he laid no scheme to raise himself above his situation, although he 
 might have accomplished it easier than Peisistratos : but it was as 
 good as if he had been master of the Akropolis (aW i]V TrapairXrimos 
 Karkxovn rf,v aKpo-noXiv, for administering the laws, and benefiting 
 all indiscriminately. In this description there is a train of ideas rc- 
 tembling that which we perceive in Aristophanes. 
 
 iM Thucyd. VI. 15. Isocr. de big. p. 502 Bekker. Pseud- Andok id. 
 adv. Alcib. p. 176 sq. Plutarch. Alcib. 16. 
 
 »» Thucyd. VI. 27, 28, 53, 61. Plutarch. Alcib. 18. Compare Slui- 
 ter*» Lect. Andok. p. 53. According to tlie Scholiast on v. 7(iGy the 
 son of Pisias who is there attacked was one of the Hermokopidai. 
 Probably the Scholiast was thinking of the person who in the frag- 
 ment of Pherekrates (cited by Porson) in the Scholiast to v. 859, is 
 called MiXi/ff. Among the Hermokopidai there does indeed appear a 
 UkMroQ, Andokid. de Myst. p. 1 1 1 , but no WtXriQ. Hence this remark 
 of the Scholiast on v. 766 may have arisen from a confusion of names. 
 
i^rt»«**- 
 
 84 
 
 sion of it during their rule.^'^ All this taken together 
 leaves no doubt that a representation, which if it had 
 contained only one of the features here combined, 
 might have been considered as allusive to Alcibia- 
 des, must have had him for its main object. Nor is it 
 impossible that Aristophanes may have directly aimed 
 his shafts at the same individual in two other distinct 
 passages of " the Birds ;" in the first place, at v. 706, 
 where we may take the words b filv oprvya ?^ovg^ 
 besides their coarse and generally understood mean- 
 ing, in still nearer connection with Alcibiades, from 
 the fact commonly related of him, that the pilot An- 
 tiochos got into his good graces for having caught 
 and brought back to him a quail, which on his first 
 appearance in pubUc had flown out of his cloak :»57 
 and again at v. 816, when Euelpides says that he 
 would not stretch hemp ((TTrci/orrjv) under his bed, at 
 least as long as he could get girths ; and the navv ye 
 KHpiav t'xwv, may help the allusion to the stor}-, that 
 Alcibiades when he went to sea, as he had just done 
 on his way to Sicily, in order not to sleep upon the 
 boards, caused the common bed places to be cut away 
 and furnished with girths, KiipiatQ, upon which his 
 bed-clothes were laidJ^^ Both these anecdotes were 
 too public and well known not to be understood at 
 the slightest hint. Such allusions however are of no 
 importance whatever to the general subject. But on 
 the other hand, the incUnation of Alcibiades towards 
 tyranny was of the greatest consequence ; the people 
 of Athens, as Thucydides expressly observes, had 
 
 156 Herodot. T. 59. V. (M. 
 
 W Plutarch. Alcili. 10. 
 
 I'w Plutarch. Alcib. If*. [Perhaps too Aristophanes has introauced 
 this ridiculous and puuningr disavowal of T7r«(ir»/ in reference to the 
 buspctted Lukonismos of Alcibiades. Tr.] 
 
 85 
 
 never forgotten the times of Peisistratos, and always 
 entertained apprehensions, perhaps extravagant, of a 
 tyrant; but just at the time when ^* the Birds" was 
 acted they were in the most violent ferment of alarm 
 upon the subject. And as the inquiries respecting 
 the mutilation of the Mercuries and the profanation 
 of the mysteries had been discontinued previous to 
 the departure of the Sicilian expedition, merely to 
 remove with it the turbulent party of Alcibiades, 
 they were resumed after it was gone ; and on the cir- 
 cumstantial deposition of Andokides, several persons 
 were put to death as accomplices ; but the Salaminia 
 was dispatched to bring back Alcibiades who was one 
 of the accused : and v. 147 of '' the Birds" evidently 
 alludes to this last fact. Now, as throughout the 
 piece there does not appear the slightest allusion to the 
 result of this mission, which in truth was quite unex- 
 pected, and took a turn, which contrasted with the 
 views*^® in which it had been dispatched, presented 
 a])undant materials for letting loose the comic hu- 
 mour of the poet on the deluded people, and on the 
 runaway Alcibiades, it is evident that " the Birds" 
 must have been exhibited before the return of the 
 Salaminia. This is also probable from the circum- 
 stances of the time. The fleet sailed from the Peiroeus 
 in the middle of the summer of the 1st year of the 
 91st Olympiad.'^ However soon the inquiries were 
 renewed after this event, a considerable period must 
 have been occupied, according to the accounts of 
 Andokides and Plutarch, in the depositions and 
 
 ^^ Plutarch. Alcib. 21. Kat rtXog airttrrHXt n)v "SaXafiiviav irpbg 
 ttitToVf oif (ftavXiog avrb ye tovto Trpoara^aQ, fit) ^uiZt(T^cii, fiiiS* 
 uTTTiff^ai Tov (Ttt)fiaTO£y ciXXii Ttp fieTpi'it \oy'/> Kexpijff^ai KtXtvovrag 
 
 ClKoXoV^tiv tTTt rtjV KpifftV Klit ITti^tlV TOV ^flflOV. 
 
 "^' Thucyd. VI. :iO. 
 
6S 
 
 interrogatories, before the former made liis declaration, 
 and again before the Salaminia was dispatched, which 
 was after the execution of such of the accused as had 
 not ran away : and it took place as Plutarch ex- 
 presses it at last, (koi riXog) The Salaminia found 
 Alcibiades in Sicily, engaged in carrying on the 
 operations of the war at Catana.*** On the voyage 
 home the ships touched at Thourion. Here Alci- 
 biades made his escape, and the crew of the Sala- 
 minia remained there some time in search of him and 
 his companions, before they resumed their voyage to 
 Athens; and as soon as the vessel returned home, 
 Alcibiades was in his absence sentenced to death. '^^ 
 These events could not well have passed before the 
 expiration of the winter of the second year of the 
 9 1 st Olympiad, and in the month of March succeed- 
 ing, " the Birds" was exhibited. We must mark 
 well this exact period of time, (when the Salaminia 
 having been a considerable time absent on its mission 
 to bring back Alcibiades now held an enemy to the 
 state and called home to be tried for his life, was 
 not yet returned, and the public voice was still as 
 decidedly in favour of the expedition, as it was now 
 opposed to Alcibiades) in order to have a full com- 
 prehension of the poet's purpose, which was to repre- 
 sent this Sicilian expedition in its ultimate object, as 
 it floated in the imagination of Alcibiades, but at the 
 same time in a pla}'ful and joking manner, without 
 irritating the people, and as a purely fanciful chimcera, 
 as a thoroughly sophistical business, both in its ori- 
 ginal commencement, and in its latest details, con- 
 ducted according to the selfish and ambitious views 
 of Alcibiades, and likely to terminate in their accom- 
 
 »«> Thucyd. VI. 52 fin. 53 init. 
 »«- Thuc. VI. 63. Diodor. XIII. 5. 
 
 87 
 
 plishment. By these means the public mind was 
 prepared beforehand for the reception of Alcibiades 
 expected to return in the Salaminia. Tliis last 
 mentioned object of the poet's satire is developed 
 more and more in the character of Peisthetairos, 
 from the moment that Alcibiades is pointed out as 
 the future sovereign in Nephelocokkygia ; and it is m 
 constant and perfect keeping with the first half of the 
 action, in which his more prominently sophistical 
 elements, the charms and delusion of oratory, act 
 the principal part : thus is the character of this per- 
 sonage so well sustained, that the sophistical nature 
 of the undertaking, and the sufferings it is calculated 
 to bring upon the state, are throughout equally dis- 
 played ; the selfish demagogue, fatal to the liberty of 
 the people, is unmasked, and the vain sophist is held 
 
 up to ridicule. 
 
 The next undertaking of Peisthetairos, with which 
 the poet fills up the interval until the completion of 
 the enclosure-wall can be announced, is the religious 
 consecration, or dedication of the city, a ceremony 
 indispensable for completing the new estabhshment. 
 It cannot be necessary to enter into any excuse or 
 even defonce of the extravagant frivolity of this 
 solemn ceremony,^^ however much it may suit the 
 tone of ridicule, in which Aristophanes speaks of 
 
 163 I think some change is required in the designation made by 
 H Dindorf, of the characters in this scene. In the Aldine, Junta, and 
 other editions, variations also occur. The line 845, given to Euelpides 
 Voss has more correctly appropriated to the Epops. The reply of 
 Peisthetairos is merely an answer and repetition of his summons to 
 the Epops. On the other hand, the comic observations, with which 
 the lines 868, 872, 877, 880, interrupt the prayer of the priest, are 
 purely and solely suited to the character and part of Euelpides, who 
 ever chiming in with each prayer, and repeating them mechanically, 
 or tacking on to them his own observations, recals and enhances by 
 hi^i simplcncss the satiric raillery of the whole. 
 
 J. 
 
88 
 
 the gods in general, if we only observe, that at the 
 very outset, (v. 848, 862) mention is twice made, and 
 evidently not without intention, of sacrifices being 
 to be offered roTc Kaivolg Ocotc, and that in the 
 very first lines of the second parabasis which follows 
 this scene, (v. 1073) Diogenes of Melos the aOtoc is 
 conspicuously brought forward. This announces a 
 connection with those Kaivol ©cof, whom Socrates was 
 accused of having introduced, with the dethronement 
 of Jupiter as the god who governed the world, with 
 that installation of the vortex god Alvog in his 
 place, which in " the Clouds" is imputed to the 
 subtle schools of sophistry and to their founder, and 
 also with the private new-coined gods (icc^/i/Lca Kaivov) 
 of Euripides in " The Frogs" (v. 889); and it places 
 before us at once the true and profound design of the 
 poet ; namely, to satirize in the liveliest manner this 
 sophistical dethronement of the popular belief, by 
 the removal of the old gods from the government of 
 the world, and the raising up of the new bird-deities ; 
 and thus by the solemn mockery of a worship of 
 these new deities, the feathered kings and queens of 
 Olympus, to represent in its full absurdity and folly, 
 the sophistical nature of the undertaking and of its 
 advocates. Compared with the history of modem 
 times, we might consider it a prophetical satire upon 
 the dethronement of God in France, and the decree 
 for setting up reason in his place, which was equally 
 the child of false theory and pohtical frenzy. If now 
 we consider how intimately Alcibiades is mixed up with 
 the subject in all its bearings, we shall see in " the 
 Birds" how the view presented in " the Clouds," 
 and still earUer in the AairaXfTc, is logically followed 
 up in " the Birds;" and how a principle, first 
 attacked in those two comedies, is here developed 
 
 81) 
 
 and brought to a practical issue,^^^ which the poet 
 had foreseen at its first germ, and of which he had 
 given warning. The fruits of the school represented 
 in " the Clouds," and of its discipline or system of 
 education, appear in their maturity in " the Birds." 
 Here, in the spirit of that school,^65 ^ demagogue 
 plays with the people and their weaknesses, drives 
 them to the summit of presumption and folly, in 
 order to carry through an absurd project, which ter- 
 minates in the triumph of his own thirst for power 
 and glory. Out of tlie school in " the Clouds " there 
 grows up in " the Birds" a city of the clouds. For 
 Athens is ever in view as the central point of the 
 whole scheme, and that city is exhibited as converted 
 by sophistry into a Nephelocokkygia, as is particularly 
 observable in line 12G3 sq. Socrates himself is not 
 passed over, (v. 1553 sq.) and even the fondness for 
 horses and carriages, which in " the Clouds" is con- 
 nected with the sophistico-rhetorical education of the 
 youth, is here again brought forward in allusion to 
 the young people of this new city. (v. 1126 sq. 
 
 1442 sq.) ^ r ^i. 
 
 The poet has compressed into this part ot tne 
 action, which comprehends the middle of the play, 
 manyother circumstances bearing upon the Sicilian ex- 
 pedition and its equipment, well calculated to exhibit 
 the former in a ridiculous point of view. The sacrifice 
 
 .C5 iQ " the Kuights," Aristophanes produces in Kl eon himself the 
 pattern of a demagogue in the Kleonic style; but in "the Birds, a 
 Cgogue of the modern sophistical n^ould. Inther,pac,asl con- 
 cclure the demagogue is one in the true sense of the word, hke 
 Agorakritos in <* the Knights." That there were two ^^"^^^ZZ 
 this dramu, and one of them Eukrates, was not what I meant to imp y 
 in my Essay on the Vnpac. 1 make this observation m reference to 
 the AUg. Lit. Zi^ii. May, 1827, p. 126. 
 
\ 
 
 i 
 
 90 
 
 is interrupted by various personages, implying allu- 
 sions to the expedition, general and historical, and 
 partly, perhaps, personal. An epic minstrel comes 
 on, as unsubstantial as the kingdom of the clouds, 
 shivering like the city in the air, which he cele- 
 brates in his song, (v. 941 sq. 950 sq.) and in a style 
 as cold and declamatory as that of Gorgias.*^'^^ By com- 
 plimenting (v. 926) Peisthetairos with hues from an 
 ode of Pindar, addressed to Hiero, the founder of the 
 city of Aitna, he evidently lauds him as the father of 
 the SiciHan expedition and of the future conquest of 
 the island. Long, long before had he been praising 
 the new city; (v. 921) and thus he becomes one of 
 the many who, according to the historical notices 
 formerly adduced, had been long dreaming of Sicily 
 and its conquest, and who were now transported be- 
 yond all measure, by the expected realization of their 
 dream. Poetical effusions of such inspiration could 
 not have been wanting. Peisthetairos* astonishment 
 at the rapidity with which the poet had heard of the 
 new city, (v. 920, 957) becomes therefore a direct 
 irony on this expression of the voice of the people. 
 When the poet, in return for his panegyric, has been 
 provided with the jacket and waistcoat which he had 
 begged, and still shivering with cold, is driven away 
 with his song, a conceited Chresmologos, or sooth- 
 sayer steps in, with a pretended oracle of Bakis, which 
 under the appearance of an allusion to the defeat at 
 Omeai, (v. 9G7) points to an important spot on the 
 coast of Peloponnesus, to which ultimately the whole 
 expedition was to go ; and he parodies an oracle then 
 in general circulation, flattering to, and therefore prized 
 
 »66 The "^vxpov of Gorgjas is cenwired by all the old ihetorkiaiis, 
 and u also visible in his speeches which arc preserved. See the 
 citations in Gcel, 58 sq. 
 
 \1 
 
 91 
 
 by, the people, in which the greatness of Athens was 
 foretold under the image of an eagle soaring aloft in the 
 air ; »«7 an oracle which, not by a double but by a triple 
 application of the metaphor, (for aUroQ Iv vE(t>e\rim 
 may mean— 1st, an eagle among the clouds— 2dly, an 
 eagle in the city of " the Clouds"— 3dly, an eagle 
 in the net of the fowler) was in a truly oracular 
 manner equally portentous of good and evil. In this 
 way the poet has not merely ridiculed the eagerness 
 with which the Athenians practised divination, not 
 merely the mischief and charlatanry of the various 
 prophecies, by means of which, during the Pelopon- 
 nesian war, party spirit and selfishness pursued their 
 game, and to which Aristophanes was equally hostile 
 with Thucydides, who considers no other prophecy 
 of any importance, than that on the twenty seven 
 years' duration of the war (and which was fulfilled); 
 but the ridicule is also pointedly directed against the 
 crowds of oracles and other prophecies, which in 
 senses directly opposed to one another, and as each 
 party sought to work upon the people, made their 
 appearance, at the time when the SiciUan expedition 
 was in agitation, and as immediately ])earing upon it.^«^ 
 It is equally in keeping with the views of Aristophanes 
 on this state of things at Athens, and with the im- 
 patience of Peisthetairos at the frivolous objections 
 to his scheme, (v. 9G1, 965) that he sends the sooth- 
 sayer about his business, with a good beating, the 
 man himself being well suited to the occasion, as a 
 genuine vapourer and mist-gatherer. As soon as 
 
 w Bcrgler on " the KnighU," 1060. 
 
 '<» Pint Nic. 13. Con»pare Goeller de situ Syrac. p. 36. By 
 these observations, the judgment passed on Aristophanes' mode of 
 treating the oracles is somewhat ditforent from that in the Lssay 
 entitled '* Aristophanes and his times," p. 369. 
 
 \ 
 

 92 
 
 he has made his exit, enters a Geometrician who 
 offers to do what is necessary for laying out the new 
 city. (v. 999) Such people were every where em- 
 ployed, when allotments of land were to be measured 
 in conquered countries, of which the people were 
 one and all very greedy. Aristophanes' raillery is on 
 other occasions also pointed as well against this 
 greediness, as against geometry in its application to 
 it.^^^ But the mania for allotments of land was espe- 
 cially directed towards the fruitful island of Sicily, 
 and it was one of the strongest motives to the expe- 
 dition ; as by it every one hoped to obtain with httle 
 trouble fine estates on the rich soil which was to 
 be distributed amongst them.*'® It was, therefore, 
 natural that the art of surveying should have its 
 appropriate place in a representation which related to 
 this expedition ; at least it must make an offer of its 
 services for the admeasurements which might possibly 
 be wanted. Now the geometrician introduced by 
 Aristophanes bears the name of Meton ; and this is par- 
 ticularly deserving of our notice, as that mathema- 
 tician was personally concerned in the movements 
 which had preceded the expedition, and is said to have 
 declared his opposition to it in a very decided man- 
 ner. *7i Although, therefore, this designation of the 
 geometrician might be perfectly well explained, as an 
 
 '^ Nub. 202 sq. Vespae. 715, and the Scholiasts and more recent 
 commentators on both passages. Compare Boeckh's Political 
 (Economy of the Athenians, T. 1. p. 455 sq. 
 
 ^^^ Diodor. XIII. 2. Ovrwf airavrtQ fitfjurnopifffievoi toiq iXirimv 
 t^' iroifiov KaTaK\t]povv ■iiXiriKov Tt)v SticcXiav. Id. ib. c. 30. EbSai- 
 fxovtffraTOi yap ovrtq rati' 'EWi/vwv, rt/v ivTv^iaVj otairip ri ftapv 
 ipoprioVy oi) ^tpovreg, ti)v TctKuyH rtiXiKOvrtp hupyofifptjv Ttjv Sijc*- 
 \iav irreOvfiijffav KXtjpovxtiffni rovg IvoiKovt^rtuj tKtiP^pniroSi(Tafiti>oi. 
 Conip. Pac. 250. 
 
 ^''» Plutarch. Nic. 13, Alcib. 17. 
 
 5)3 
 
 emblematic individualizing of the generic character 
 by the name and person of the most celebrated 
 mathematician of his time,*^^ yet we may naturally 
 be tempted by the circumstance, to fancy it possible 
 that Aristophanes might have had him also per- 
 sonally in view. Meton's opposition to the scheme 
 was too public for Aristophanes to have been igno- 
 rant of it ; and as in a subsequent part of the play 
 he has introduced Socrates also, (who is known 
 to have been very conspicuous, together with Meton, 
 in opposing the expedition) with a similar or analo- 
 gous allusion, it is probable that he was un^villing 
 to pass by an opportunity of at least drawing the 
 pubhc attention to Meton likewise, by making the 
 surveyor personate him. The only objection to 
 the admission of a general and complete reference 
 of tliis personage to Meton himself, arises from 
 the different views which they severally took of 
 the expedition. Tlie dramatic Meton is its partisan, 
 and makes a tender of his good offices to assist it ; 
 the historical Meton was its declared enemy. As 
 such he partook also of the views of Aristophanes. 
 
 '72 Sec Essay on the Clouds of Aristophanes, p. 21. The apparent 
 confusion, there observed upon, in the words of Meton, disappears, 
 if in line 1002 the comma is put in its right place, i. e., after avutOtv, 
 and omitted after KafiirvXoVy which would thus be joined to Sia(5rjTijv, 
 The surveyor certainly made use of a rule and circle, in order to 
 arrange his plan for the laying out of the city, that the streets might 
 all lead from the centre to the circumference at equal distances, and 
 in straight lines, 1007. He first fixed his centre, then irpoaOiiQy 1001, 
 and irpoariOtiQi 1004 j he might also do it dviaOtv, as the building is 
 to fill the whole air. But he puts his circle in the centre: therefore 
 ti'OetQ, 1003. The words tVn o KificXog yti/»/roi aoi rirpdytjjvog are 
 not to be understood as implying a squaring of the circle, but of the 
 four angles, which M'ould be formed at the centre, that the whole 
 might be divided into four great quarters. There is, therefore, in 
 these words only an appearance, intentional indeed, of a contradic- 
 tion in terms. 
 
94 
 
 There would then only remain the possibility, that 
 the dislike of the comic poet to geometry in gene- 
 ral/^ (which with his prejudice against the sys- 
 tem of scientific education that had been recently 
 introduced, he shared with all the older genera- 
 tion of his fellow citizens,*^*) and most especially his 
 dislike to the surveyors of the expected allotments 
 in Sicily, who were all promoters of the expedition, 
 preponderated in the original design of the cha- 
 racter; but that the conduct of the real Meton 
 of history influenced the poet at its conclusion; 
 for Peisthetairos, as the originator and chief of the 
 expedition, ought in truth to have given a friendly 
 reception to the officious minister of his projects: 
 
 >73 The same is also expressed in the connection between the study 
 of geometry and the cloak- stealing related of Socrates in the clouds, 
 177 sq. for which, not on this account only, but because other similar 
 strokes are aimed at Socrates by the comic writers, I have shown 
 (Essay on " the Clouds," p. 17) that there must have been some 
 groundwork in fact; though the object of the anecdote 1 have 
 explained in the same manner as in the Essay entitled " Aristo- 
 phanes and his Age," where it is objected to. On the other hand 
 the raillery about measuring the jump of the flea by the flea's foot, 
 in which, in the Symposion of Xenophon, VI. 8, the Syracusaii 
 indulges against Socrates, seems to me to have arisen solely from 
 the well known passage in ** the Clouds," by which Aristophanes 
 means to ridicule indifferently all geometrical propositions and 
 researches ; and if the thing itself was said of the real Socrates, " the 
 Clouds" will seem only to have responded to the public voice in this 
 instance as in many others, in which he was abused ; as, for example, 
 in the sobriquet 6 ^povn<rr^c (Xenophon, I. c. 6). The question of the 
 Syracusan, however, in Xenophon, Eitt^ /lot, ir6<rovg xj/vWa vo^aQ 
 iftov airkxn ; is weak and absurd. It must evidently be read irooovg 
 -^vXXris irodag ifiov a7rtx"C» how many fleas' feet art thou from 
 me ? This will then agree with what is said in " the Clouds," where 
 Socrates, by a subtle refinement, has contrived to measure how many 
 of its own feet lengths a flea had jumped from Chairephon's eyebrow 
 to Socrates' head, in allusion at the same time to the dirty habits of 
 these philosophers. 
 
 *J* See especially Isokrat. Panath. p. 320 sq. Bekk. 
 
 95 
 
 whereas on the contrary it is quite in the order of things 
 that the person whose name and mask were those of a 
 violent opposer of the business, although he makes an 
 ofler of his services, should be thrashed and driven off 
 the stage by its patron. I vn\\ not, however, go be- 
 yond the bare possil)ility of this interpretation, as it 
 may also be, that this expulsion of Meton, incon- 
 sistent as it is with the dramatic character of Peisthe- 
 tairos, may have resulted from the combined view of 
 the expedition which the poet entertained in his own 
 person, and which is exhibited in his play ; and this 
 may be sufficient to explain it. The Episkopos or 
 inspector, and the Psephismatopolos or dealer in 
 decrees, who come in before the dedicatory sacrifice 
 of the new state is completed, (1021 sq. 1034 sq.) 
 are also persons who seek to profit by the expedi- 
 tion; and as this sort of people generally pushed 
 themselves into colonies and dependent states, which 
 they burdened with various charges and chicaneries, 
 there can be no doubt that they speculated also on 
 the Sicilian expedition, and followed it in great num- 
 bers. When then we see in this scene so many 
 individuals produced in strict connection with the 
 expedition, we may readily consider the prayers, 
 which are offered up in it for the welfare of Nephe- 
 locokkygia and of its inhabitants, as so many allusions 
 to the solemn consecration of the Sicilian fleet pre- 
 vious to its departure, by libations and vows for the 
 success of the undertaking.*'' On this occasion the 
 crews of the ships and the people on the beach 
 repeated the words previously proclaimed by the 
 herald ;*76 and it is possible that the comic poet 
 
 «7« Thucyd. VI. 32. Diod. XIII. 3. 
 
 *^* Thucy«!. 1 c. Ei*>x«c ^t tclq vofiiZofitvac rrpb rijg avayuyijg ov 
 Kara vavv tKayrriv ^y^xavrtg ^t virb KijpvKog kiroiovvro—KvveTrev' 
 
96 
 
 meant to parody this ceremony by tlie repetitions, 
 with which Euelpides chimes in with the prayers of the 
 priest. The poet evidently views the whole as some- 
 thing unholy, and as undertaken without the blessing 
 of the gods; hence the sacrifice is a poor and 
 meagre performance, the scraps of a consecration, 
 mere skin and bones ; (v. 892, 899 sq.) and it is so 
 often interrupted, that it cannot be completed, and 
 the priest is obliged to take himself off, in order to 
 produce a better and more perfect one. Altogether 
 it is clearly a mockery of the religious ceremonies 
 which preceded the expedition itself. 
 
 In the second epirrhematic parabasis, which occu- 
 pies the stage during the absence of Peisthetairos, 
 the very significative mention of Diogenes of Melos is 
 accompanied by another allusion, which is no less con- 
 nected with the contents of the preceding scene, and 
 the object of the play ; and which with that scene 
 forms a complete whole. The chorus, in order espe- 
 cially to signalize the day on which it enters on the 
 sovereignty, which it pretends will lead to the anni- 
 hilation of every thing hurtful, (v. 1073) proclaims 
 the reward of a talent for killing an atheist, and the 
 same for killing one of the long deceased tyrants. 
 This last might seem to be nonsense, or a mockery 
 of the idle dread of tyrants, (which in truth was 
 excessive in Athens, and which, as appears from 
 Aristophanes, was at this time abundantly abused, 
 for the purpose of blackening certain persons in the 
 eyes of the people,*^?) if the poet had not abready so 
 
 XOVTO h Kai b dWog ofiiXoQ 6 U rrj^ yfJQ rdv ri TroXtrwv rot tl tiq 
 dXXoc ivvovq Trapfjv. 
 
 '77 In many passages in " the Knights," particularly 236 sq. 
 258 sq. 475 sq. In " the Wasps" also 345, 474, 483, 507. Lysist. 
 619, &c. But the many irapiiai and dvpofiotriai ini Sikuiq Kai apxa?c 
 
 97 
 
 earnestly expressed himself against those sophistical 
 principles, which were leading to atheism, and against 
 that selfish thirst for power, which was sophistry's 
 twin sister. But as no one at that time had actually 
 elevated himself to the tyranny, when he proclaimed 
 the reward of a talent for any one who should there 
 kill TU)v Tvpavvwv riva, and, to disguise his meaning, 
 (irap* virovoiav) added the description twv TtOvriKo- 
 Twv, he could only have meant this ironically for 
 IfjufTTtJTwv ; thus pointing at his true purpose, in re- 
 gard to the public apprehensions respecting Alci- 
 biades and the oligarchical designs of his party ;''^ 
 and at the same time conceahng it in deference to that 
 party, by reminding them of the tyrants under whom 
 the city had suffered long before. This second allusion 
 comes indeed still closer to the description of Alci- 
 biades contained in v. 836 sq.; (w veottI Secnrora) 
 but the two together unite the elements which are de- 
 veloping themselves in the character of Peisthetairos. 
 The strophe and antistrophe (v. 1058, 1072, and 
 1088, 1101) seem to be harmless songs of the birds, 
 who have now attained the supreme power, who are 
 
 in the city, furnished the best opportunity for carrying on all sorts 
 of political schemes; and similar clubs were in fact made use of 
 against the freedom of the people. Thucyd. VIII. 54. Compare 
 Kruger on Dion. Hal. historiog. p. 362 sq. 
 
 *78 These oligarchs were after the sovereignty of the thirty, called 
 Tvpavvot, and particularly Kritias. See the passages adduced by 
 N. Bach, in Critia; tyranni carm. quae supersunt, p. 5. 
 
 [It is remarkable that Thucydides also, in his narrative of the 
 events of exactly this period in Athens, i. e. when after the de- 
 parture of the fleet for Sicily, enquiries were instituted into the 
 authors of the violation of the Hermai, and the profanation of the 
 myisteries, informs us that the severity with which the accused were 
 visited on this account was much heightened by a recollection of what 
 had happened to their forefathers in the time of the Peisistratidai, 
 i. e. the TtOvtiKorutv rvpdvvojv : and he immediately enters into a long 
 digression on the history of the death of Hipparchos. Tr.] 
 
 H 
 
i; 
 
 98 
 
 to protect the fields from the ravages of destructive 
 vermin, and who are to be content with little. It 
 is however remarkable that they boast so much of 
 killing and murdering ; particularly in the three lines 
 (1069-1071) where the words vv Ijuac Trripvyog, 
 equivalent to vw efxtj^ apx^c, are so general and so 
 strong, that they can scarcely have been without 
 some special purpose. But if we reflect on the 
 hard-heartedness with which the Athenians exercised 
 their sovereignty, the merciless manner in which on 
 all occasions they treated the antidemocratical party 
 in particular, their cruelty towards the mhabitants 
 of Mitylene, of Torone, of Mende, of Skione, of 
 Melos,»79 to which last the mention of Diagoras the 
 Melian (v. 1073) directly points our attention, and 
 then- late conduct towards the aristocracy of Argos ;^^^ 
 also that Aristophanes on other occasions in this 
 play alludes to such hard-heartedness, and to the 
 T/aoTToi yafiypwwx^^ of the new rulers, (v. 1306) we 
 the more readily understand both the irony, with 
 which he makes the birds extol the happiness which 
 will be the lot of those subjected to their dominion, 
 and the bloody exterminations which he foresees. 
 He then declares, by the tenor of the parabasis 
 which follows, whom they ought properly to per- 
 secute. 
 
 As Peisthetairos on his reappearance announces 
 (v. 1118) that the ceremony of consecration has been 
 auspiciously completed, the action may now proceed. 
 We may here observe that Euelpides, who during 
 the negotiations with the poet, the soothsayer and 
 the rest, acts a dumb part, seems not to come on 
 
 W Thucyd. III. 36, 50; IV. 3, 130; V. 32, 116. Comp. Isocr. 
 Panath. p. 331, Bekker. Diodor. XIII. 30. 
 »8o Thucyd. VI. 61. 
 
 99 
 
 again with Peisthetairos ; this character was only of 
 use up to the accomplishment of the project, and it 
 is now no longer wanted. At least there are no 
 visible traces of him in the further progress of the 
 story. A messenger puffing and blowing enters in 
 haste, to announce the completion of the building of 
 the wall, and by the expression to relx'^g eSwicoSoju//- 
 rai, (v. 1124) the poet transports us at once to the 
 final object of the undertaking, i. e. to the fleet in- 
 tended for the blockade of the Peloponnesos. The 
 thirty thousand cranes from Libya (v. 1136) who 
 bring the foundation stones for the wall, point in the 
 same direction. For the conquest of Libya and of 
 Carthage was to precede the last act of the expedi- 
 tion ; and the blockade of the Peloponnesos was to 
 be brought about by the aid of these countries, and 
 of the others which were to be conquered. This ex- 
 plains too the six hundred and more birds clothed in 
 panther skins, which Peisthetairos (v. 1250) threatens 
 Jupiter to send into heaven against him. These are 
 evidently Libyan troops to be introduced into the 
 Peloponnesos; for the Numidian cavalry^^* were 
 clothed in the skins of the panther, a native of that 
 part of the world.»82 ^^ length the announcement 
 (v. 1 159) that the wall is suitably provided with gates, 
 that these are barred and bolted, and that every 
 requisite for keeping a strict watch throughout the 
 whole circuit was in order and in progress, denotes the 
 really effective blockade and vigorous occupation of the 
 most important points. Others have before observed, 
 that Aristophanes in describing the breadth of the 
 walls (v. 1126) must have had in his mind that with 
 
 »" Strab. XVII. 3, 7. 
 
 »«» The commentators on Livy, XLIV. 18. and on Suetonius. Caliir. 
 18. 
 
t 
 
 98 
 
 to protect the fields from the ravages of destructive 
 vermin, and who are to be content with little. It 
 is however remarkable that they boast so much of 
 killing and murdering ; particularly in the three lines 
 (1069-1071) where the words vir tfiag wripvyogy 
 equivalent to vw Iju^c apxn^y are so general and so 
 strong, that they can scarcely have been without 
 some special purpose. But if we reflect on the 
 hard-heartedness with which the Athenians exercised 
 their sovereignty, the merciless manner in which on 
 all occasions they treated the antidemocratical party 
 in particular, their cruelty towards the inhabitants 
 of Mitylene, of Torone, of Mende, of Skione, of 
 Melos,»79 to which last the mention of Diagoras the 
 Melian (v. 1073) directly points our attention, and 
 their late conduct towards the aristocracy of Argos ;»8« 
 also that Aristophanes on other occasions in this 
 play alludes to such hard-heartedness, and to the 
 rpoTTOi ya/i^wvuxtC of the new rulers, (v. 1306) we 
 the more readily understand both the irony, with 
 which he makes the birds extol the happiness which 
 will be the lot of those subjected to their dominion, 
 and the bloody exterminations which he foresees. 
 He then declares, by the tenor of the parabasis 
 which follows, whom they ought properly to per- 
 secute. 
 
 As Peisthetairos on his reappearance announces 
 (v. 1118) that the ceremony of consecration has been 
 auspiciously completed, the action may now proceed. 
 We may here observe that Euelpides, who during 
 the negotiations with the poet, the soothsayer and 
 the rest, acts a dumb part, seems not to come on 
 
 179 Thucyd. III. 36, 50; IV. 3, 130; V. 32, 116. Comp. Isocr. 
 Panatb. p. 331 , Bekker. Diodor. XIII. 30. 
 »8o Thucyd. VI. 61. 
 
 99 
 
 again with Peisthetairos ; this character was only of 
 use up to the accomplishment of the project, and it 
 is now no longer wanted. At least there are no 
 visible traces of him in the further progress of the 
 story. A messenger puffing and blowing enters in 
 haste, to announce the completion of the building of 
 the wall, and by the expression to rcTxoc iSwrcoSo/ur/- 
 raiy (v. 1 124) the poet transports us at once to the 
 final object of the undertaking, i. e. to the fleet in- 
 tended for the blockade of the Peloponnesos. The 
 thirty thousand cranes from Libya (v. 1136) who 
 bring the foundation stones for the wall, point in the 
 same direction. For the conquest of Libya and of 
 Carthage was to precede the last act of the expedi- 
 tion ; and the blockade of the Peloponnesos was to 
 be brought about by the aid of these countries, and 
 of the others which were to be conquered. This ex- 
 plains too the six hundred and more birds clothed in 
 panther skins, which Peisthetairos (v. 1250) threatens 
 Jupiter to send into heaven against him. These are 
 evidently Libyan troops to be introduced into the 
 Peloponnesos; for the Numidian cavalry*^* were 
 clothed in the skins of the panther, a native of that 
 part of the world.^** At length the announcement 
 (v. 1 159) that the wall is suitably provided with gates, 
 that these are barred and bolted, and that every 
 requisite for keeping a strict watch throughout the 
 whole circuit was in order and in progress, denotes the 
 really efibctive blockade and vigorous occupation of the 
 most important points. Others have before observed, 
 that Aristophanes in describing the breadth of the 
 walls (v. 1126) must have had in his mind that with 
 
 M» Strab. XVII. 3, 7. 
 
 1^ The comraentatora on Livy, XLIV. 18. and on Suetonius. Calig. 
 18. 
 
100 
 
 which Themistokles enclosed the Peiraus, (Thuc. I. 
 93)asweUasthoseofBabylon.Theobservatioinsjust, 
 
 as far as regards the image which he has chosen ; but 
 in reference to its import, and within the range of the 
 poet's ideas, there was another and more appropriate 
 object, namely, the great Sicilian expedition. 1 he 
 zeal and animation with which the equipments and 
 manning of the fleet were conducted, its astomshing 
 extent, perfection, and splendour, which were the 
 wonder of strangers, and of all who crowded to have 
 a sight of it,^«3 were so much the more likely to be 
 in the poet's view, when he was metaphoncally de- 
 picting the extent, splendour, and magnificence, (koA- 
 XioTOv ip-iov Koi fitya\o7rp^wi(rraTOv, V. 1185) of the 
 Still greater work with which it was to be crowned 
 as the one was in truth but the commencement and 
 groundwork of the other. Peisthetairos' surpnse 
 that such a great work should have been so soon 
 finished, so that the account of it seems to him at 
 first to be a falsehood, (v. UGl) is not merely a cut- 
 ting reflection on the frivolity and rashness, with 
 which such a gigantic affair had been brouglit about 
 iit the fiction of the play, but is another mode of de- 
 signating the chimerical project itself by its appro- 
 
 priate name. rr ^ i,- i. 
 
 The wall is no sooner finished, than the effect which 
 it was to produce by the exclusion of the gods, begins 
 to show itself in the unsuccessful attempt to send 
 their messenger to the men, (v. 1170, 1266) to order 
 
 183 Thucyd.VI. 31. Oi dk Kivoi Kai 6 dXKog ox^o, Kard 3e«v 
 ^«v J.f l^i <i$.6xp€o>v Kai dm<rrov dtdvoiaV 7rapa<TK,Vf, yAp avrt, 
 
 roc iyiviTO, V errpanac, Trpbg ovg iirye<r«v, vmp^oXy. Compare 
 Diod. XIII. 2. 
 
 101 
 
 them to forward up to the gods the arrears of the 
 steam of sacrifices, (v. 1230 sq.) In order to explain 
 this, I must premise that many traits have been in- 
 terwoven into this scene, and with the description of 
 the building of the wall, which clearly show that the 
 allusion is to a naval expedition. I shall not lay 
 much stress on the fact, that the work is described 
 as exclusively the labour of fen and water birds : but 
 the numerous nautical images and expressions, the 
 noise of hewing the wood for the gates, compared to 
 that of a dock-yard (dxTTTf/o Iv vauTrijyiw, v. 1157) the 
 address to Iris, (irXdiov ^ Kwri, v. 1^03) the word 
 T/o«'/i/3oXov, (v. 1256) then again w icaraiclXcuffoi/, 
 (v. 1273) and woTT (v. 1391) appear to have flowed 
 naturally from the object the poet had in his mind, 
 into his allegorical representation ; or rather to have 
 been purposely admitted into it, in order to enable 
 us thereby to penetrate its meaning. In this view 
 we may perceive an allusion in the nautical metaphor 
 contained in the question rw Trripvye irdl vav^roXtTc ; 
 which in any other sense would not be noticed. But 
 the on 8' fixe 7rre/oa (v. 1 176) and the irTtpwrog ^^07- 
 ^oc (v. 1198) leave no doubt that Iris made her ap- 
 pearance with large wings upon her shoulders.*^ 
 Now the sails and oars of ships are frequently com- 
 pared to the pinions of birds, and these again to oars ; 
 and flpng is compared to rowing and saihng, and vice 
 versa.*** We may therefore fairly take the wings of 
 
 ^^ Comp. Boettiger on the painted vases of the Greeks, B. I. P. 2. 
 
 p. 112. 
 
 ^ See particularly Meursius and Potter on Lycophron, 24. Stan- 
 ley and Blomfield in the Glossary to the Prometheus of iEschylus, 
 468, and Blomfield in that to the Agamemnon, 551. The experi- 
 ment which the Argonauts made with the pigeon, which lost part of 
 its toil by the closing of the Symplegades, as their ship suffered af- 
 terwards in her stern, is founded on the common comparison of a ship 
 with a bird. Apollon. Rliod. 11. r>72, 601. ApoUod. I. 9, 22. 
 
102 
 
 103 
 
 Iris as symbolical of sails, or (according to the scho- 
 lia on V. 1203) of oars ; and this acceptation is, I 
 think, still more clearly pointed out, by the combina- 
 tion of wings with the nautical term in the question 
 Tw irripvye ttoT vavcTToXtiQ ; and the employment of 
 the word ttXoTov in the question already put to Isis, 
 (v. 1 203) ovofia Si cFoi t( Icrn, irXoiov rj kvvtj ; is refer- 
 able to the same source. The messenger must have 
 worn a Kvvri or helmet as a covering to her head, an 
 attribute given to the same goddess in the fragment 
 from the Inachos of Sophokles, preserved in the 
 SchohastJ^ Such a Kwri, or leathern helmet, with a 
 broad brim in front to protect the face from the sun 
 and rain, was worn on a journey, as by Ismene in the 
 CEdipus Koloneus of Sophokles, '^^ and it is therefore 
 a very proper attribute of Iris as well as of Mercury, 
 who may have brought it with him into Olympos, 
 from Arkadia his native land. Tliis covering for the 
 head was however in common use in Peloponnesos, 
 in Arkadia, and particularly amongst the Lacedemo- 
 nians, which last people especially wore it in war.*^ 
 As Iris* wings then denote a ship, so does her travel- 
 ling hat denote a Peloponnesian soldier, and thus is 
 explained the doubt of Peisthetairos, whether to call 
 her ttXoTov t} kuvj). The answer to the question as to 
 her name is "Ipig raxua, which he accepts as assent- 
 ing also to the ttXoTov, and implying by the epithet 
 roxfta, a fast sailer.*^® Then follows the question, 
 
 186 As amended by Toup. Ep. crit. p. 42. Lips. 
 
 ^ Oed. Colon, v. 314, and on the passage, Reisig, who quotes 
 the fragment of Kallimachus in the Scholiast with Naeke's happy 
 emendation not known to the Leipsick impression of the Laureutian 
 Scholia. 
 
 188 Valckenaer on the Adoniazousai of Theokritus, p. 345. Com- 
 pare MQller Hist, of the Hellenic Races, P. 3. p. 40. 
 
 *®* Schol. *E7r«t raxfiav avTi)v ilinv' avTai St at rptfipftg, uq av 
 
 II 
 
 111 
 
 UapaXog ?) ^aXapivia; now both these, as is well 
 known, were fast-sailing Athenian government pack- 
 ets. When then the poet puts these words into the 
 mouth of Peisthetairos, " Which of these two ships 
 art thou?" he imphes that under this disguise he 
 meant to be understood such a swift government 
 packet as might appropriately bear the name of Iris, 
 and the l7r(<T»j/uov, or rrapcKTripov^^ corresponding to 
 that name. It is clear then that undey the dis- 
 guise of this swift Iris is represented some swift 
 saihng packet belonging to the blockaded Pelopon- 
 nesian s, which has shpped through the blockading 
 squadron, and which is to visit the smaller states still 
 holding to them, and to summon them to pay up the 
 arrears of taxes and contributions and other obliga- 
 tions. The ship has reached the sea, which is covered 
 with the Athenian fleet, and being instantly detected 
 and chased by them, (v. 1 1 79 sq.) she comes to where 
 the scene lies, i.e. to Athens itself, where her voyage 
 is stopped, and she is sent back with a threatening 
 message to her employers. The wings of the deity, 
 the rustUng of her fluttering motion, (v. 1197) her 
 swift flight through the strange city and through 
 the air,*** (v. 1218) her chase by the birds of prey 
 (v. 1 179 sq.) that is by men of war and the troops on 
 board them, by whose rapid movements to and fro,' 
 the air, that is the sea, is put into commotion, the 
 Koliarchs and the Ornitharchs (v. 1212, 1215) by 
 which we are to understand the captain of the vessel 
 and others in command, the (rrvofjiai rpufifioXoVf^^ 
 
 viripiriStg ovffaif raxttai i)ffav. — Jul. Pollux 1, 83. Aiyoiro S' av 
 rax'tta vavQ cat raxwavrovva, 
 
 '» Scheffcr de milit. nav. p. 170 and 174. Ruhnken. de tutelis et 
 insignibus navium, in opusc. p. 267 sq. and 285. 
 
 "• \aoQ the air. Schol. and Spanheim's note on v. 424 of " the 
 Clouds." 
 
 ^^ [AVe may here suppose that Peisthetairos puts himself into the 
 
104 
 
 (v. 1256) by which words Peisthetairos threatens Iris 
 in her character of a ship with fixing her to the 
 ground, are so many traits which altogether belong 
 to the dressing up of the piece, but which at the same 
 time easily harmonise with the general purport of the 
 poet. Evpa^, TraraS, (v. 1258) may also be assumed 
 to be naval words of command. EvpaK is the equi- 
 valent of BK irXayiov, or TrXaytwc, obUquely; as it 
 occurs once and again in the wounds of Homeric 
 heroes ;^^ and joimng this with TraraS, the order 
 would be TrXayitog £7rt^f/o£<i^a£ koI iraTaarrHv, or to run 
 the ship's beak or head against the enemy's beam, 
 which was the most formidable mode of attack ; and 
 Peisthetairos would give this command, as if dis- 
 patching one of his squadron against Iris to force 
 her to an immediate retreat, in allusion to the words 
 already quoted, arvofiai Tpii/mfioXov. Besides this al- 
 lusion, it may also be understood as implying a real 
 blow given to the person. The exclamation w icara- 
 KlXevaov, with which the herald afterwards calls 
 upon Peisthetairos to order him as a ictXtucTTT/c or 
 pilot to stop, and the woir by which Peisthetairos 
 (v. 1894) bids Kinesias halt! appear to be further 
 echoes of the tone of command assumed towards 
 Iris. Peisthetairos' language (v. 1226) to the mes- 
 senger in defiance of the gods, expresses the pre- 
 tensions to the Hegemonia and sovereign autho- 
 rity, which were to be reahzed, in opposition to 
 the Peloponnesians, by the projected blockade. But 
 whilst Peisthetairos, as spokesman of the birds, 
 throws out threats, like those of the heaven-in- 
 vading giants, (v. 1246) and the docile birds are con- 
 gratulating themselves on having excluded the gods 
 
 attitude of Neptune, dextrA tridentem juculantis, so common on tbc 
 coins of Athens. Tr.] 
 ^^ Schol. on II. XI. 251. ApoUon. Lex. Homer, v. tvpul. 
 
 lO.'S 
 
 from their city, and deprived them of their A-ictims, 
 (v. 1263) the character of the sophistical atheist — 
 who cannot however help swearing by Jupiter at the 
 very moment when he is defaming him, as do also in 
 " the Clouds," (v. 1282) both the Jove denying Strep- 
 siades and Socrates himself, (v. 331) — and the main 
 feature of the expedition as the child of sophistry, 
 are steadily maintained; and the references to the 
 Athenians, who had evinced such a ready suscepti- 
 bility for the doctrines and principles of sophistry, are 
 never lost sight of. 
 
 Immediately after the dismissal of Iris, we perceive 
 the full effects, which the undertaking is producing 
 upon mankind. In the first place, the herald on his 
 return from the men, announces the highly favour- 
 al)le result of the summons addressed to them, 
 (v. 1271 sq.) They are so transported by their en- 
 thusiasm for the new city of the l>irds, and by their 
 admiration of its founder, that they not only instantly 
 adopt the manners of the birds and their whole 
 mode of life, but rush along in troops to get them- 
 selves clothed as birds, and to bestow a golden crown 
 of honour on Peisthetairos. The effect which the 
 event has produced amongst the men is described, as 
 if the most eager and zealous Ornithomania (v. 1 286, 
 1290) had driven away the Lakonomania, to which 
 the men had previously given themselves up. (v. 128 1) 
 This contrast of Lakonomania and Ornithomania 
 points clearly to political contrasts, and its mean- 
 ing is not left unexplained, the latter being in all 
 its points a most palpable and satirical imitation 
 of the manners and character of the Athenians. 
 For even in the apphcation of the agnomens, under 
 which they are to be incorporated, it is not merely 
 that these are derived from birds, and individuals 
 
 Vvl 
 
IOC 
 
 thus become direct objects of the satire, but this 
 satirical stroke itself is altogether taken from the 
 sneering and gibing habits of the Athenians, which 
 led them to detect the striking peculiarities of their 
 countrymen, and to give them appropriate nick- 
 names ;'^ of which so many examples occur in Aris- 
 tophanes, particularly in " the Birds." Again, in the 
 mention of the rpoiroi yajuiypwvvxig (v. 1306) there is a 
 severe allusion to the political robberies, which the 
 Athenians practised in no mild form upon their depen- 
 dent states. Athenomania thus becomes the contrast 
 properly intended by the poet to Lakonomania, just 
 as if in verse 1284, over opviOofiavovm, he had written 
 between the lines aOi]voiJiavov<Ti, which agrees with 
 the metre, and explains equally well the opviOofxavovv 
 in V. 1290. It is true, indeed, that manners and 
 usages only are cited as marks of these contrasts ; 
 but these must be considered as outward and visible 
 manifestations and consequences of poHtical attach- 
 ment to the one or the other side; as in " the 
 Wasps" also (v, 474 sq.) Lacedcemonian habits are 
 given as proofs of political Lakonismos. The expres- 
 sion iawKpcLTovv (v. 1282) deserves also particular 
 notice, implying as it does the summary of a rigid 
 Spartan-like life,^^* but containing also an allusion 
 to a spirit, which was opposed to the imdertaking 
 represented by this drama ; and Socrates is expressly 
 cited in history, together with Meton, as one of 
 the principal opponents of the expedition.*^ The 
 iittack made upon him in v. 1553 has a different 
 
 iM Compare Athen. VI. p. 242, b. sq. and particularly the fragment 
 from the Ulysses of Anaxandrides, p. 243, c. : 'Y/ittt; yap aXX^Xovc 
 aii xXeua^trf, k. r. X. 
 
 i9» Wythenbach. Plut. Moral, p. 244 sq. 
 
 »9« Plut. Ale. 17, Nic. 13. 
 
 107 
 
 application. The real purport therefore of the an- 
 nouncement by the herald, is that the state of 
 politics hinted at in v. 524 sq. and which we have 
 already explained, was completely changed, and that 
 the sovereignty of the Athenians over all the de- 
 pendent states of Greece had been substituted for 
 that of the Spartans. It is a matter of doubt, to 
 what period of time the Scholiast on the word 
 IXaKwvopavovv, (v. 1281) applies his observation tovto 
 Se iiire Sta to vir£pi\eiv rovg AaKMvag rut TToXI/xqi tote, 
 but it proceeded from a just application of the pas- 
 sage to political circumstances. However, according 
 to the fable of the play, the new empire of the birds 
 is their mundane dominion over all mankind, far 
 above the gods; and herein lies the close affinity 
 between the philosophical import of the drama, based 
 on an internal moral principle, and the political import 
 of it pointing to external circumstances. When then 
 the herald (v. 1278) assures Peisthetairos that he 
 knows not how he is honoured by mankind, and how 
 many fond admirers the city in the air, which he had 
 founded, had obtained for him, and when he an- 
 nounces a crowd of new arrivals requesting admission 
 into it, the deep rooted passion for sophistry, and the 
 extension of its principles and nature, are at once 
 proclaimed And when the same herald panegyrizes 
 over and over again the founder of such city for his 
 ^visdom and his magnificence, (v. 1271, 1272, 1274) 
 it is clearly a persiflage on the sophist represented 
 by Peisthetairos, whose character is employed by the 
 poet, as the point of union in which the two ten- 
 dencies of his drama are incorporated and combined. 
 The inexhaustible profusion of compliments ad- 
 dressed by this herald to the object of his praise, 
 with which he is quite out of breath, and is obliged 
 
108 
 
 to beg Pcisthetairos himself to bid him stop, the 
 universality of the fame of Peisthetairos, which rings 
 through the whole worid, and the crown of honour 
 which is presented to him in the name of the people, 
 (oi irdvTig Xc/jJ, V. 1278) are all so many fine and 
 pertinent strokes, to hold up to ridicule the vanity of 
 the sophist; and they are especially aimed at Gorgias, 
 to whom no sophist could at that time be compared 
 for extensive reputation, who had already been glori- 
 fied throughout Greece, and whom the greatest of all 
 honours, a golden statue at Delphi, yet awaited. It 
 almost seems that x\ristophanes had a presentiment 
 that he was destined to arrive at this distinction. 
 
 Immediately after the announcement of the herald, 
 samples of the species of men who are flocking towards 
 the city, appear upon the stage. When the chorus *'7 
 (v. 1332 sq.) has assorted and arranged the plumages 
 for singing birds, for birds of prey, (the /jiavTiKol) and 
 for the sea-birds, a parricide is introduced, who, 
 attracted by the proclamation in v. 7^7 sq. wishes to 
 be an eagle ; then a specimen of poets in the person 
 of the dithryambic poet Kinesias, so frequently ridi- 
 culed by Aristophanes, (v. 1372) who wants to be a 
 nightingale; and a young sycophant, (v. 1410 sq.) 
 who wishes to have the plumage of a bird of prey, a 
 hawk, or falcon, (v. 1454) in order to fly to and fro* 
 over the sea, to the islands, and back again to the 
 city, (1424 sq. 1454 sq.) and thus the easier to cheat 
 and pillage the subjects {^ivovg) by informations and 
 officious law-suits. By this we are to understand all 
 kinds of persons who, their whole nature being 
 
 , '*7 Porsun proposes to read irrtpvyutv instead of impdv in the 
 antistrophe, v. 1325; but this would be iuconsistent with lines 1306, 
 1307, 1310, 1311, 1330, and several others: besides it would then be 
 Mcrcssary to read r«i'<'« ttoXiv for rav ttoXcj', in v. 1313. 
 
 109 
 
 tainted by sophistical principles,*^^ feel themselves at 
 once, as it were, in a state of affinity with the under- 
 taking, are enthusiastic in its cause, and promise 
 themselves advantage from it; youths of that de- 
 scription, whom Plutarch and Diodoros in passages 
 already cited call veovg — rdig tXTrimv Iwrjpfi^vovg and 
 fiefitTe(M)pi(TiJiivovgy in conformity mth the expression 
 of our poet, (v. 1447 sq.) 'Ytto yap Xoywv 6 roue 
 lieiniT£(M}piKiTai 'EiraiptTai t avOpwirog. Moreover 
 these personages, and particularly the sycophant, 
 together with those who had before been intro- 
 duced, namely, the geometrician, the episkopos or 
 inspector, and the dealer in decrees, are specimens 
 of the sort of people, with which the Athenian 
 sovereignty, should the expedition succeed, was to 
 shower blessings upon the world. In his man- 
 ner of treating them, Aristophanes distinctly shows 
 himself at times in his own proper colours. He 
 advises the parricide, whom he does not consider as 
 incorrigible, not to beat his father, (v. 13G4) for the 
 birds beat their parents only so long as they were 
 little, but as soon as they are fledged, in obedience 
 to the antient laws,^^^ they support them; (v. 1351) 
 and he urges him instead of flying over the waters, 
 to enter the military service, and to join the war on 
 
 »»• See p. 25 sq. and 29 of Essay on" the Clouds:" and in respect 
 to the poets, compare v. 837 of " the Peace" and the commentators. 
 
 »w What is here said of the antient laws of the Storks, connected 
 with the fragment out of the UiXapyol of Aristophanes in the Scholia 
 on V. 1239 of " the Wasps," and compared with v. 1325 sq. and 
 1355 sq. of" the Clouds" and 1338 sq. of" the Wasps," proves that the 
 political education of the Athenians was the subject of the UtXapyoi: 
 but iu the Scholia here cited, we ought to read 'HpohKog, and not 
 *Apfi6Sioc : for Herodikos, and not Harmodios, had written a work in 
 several books entitled lLiOfi(t>^ovfiivoi,orKioiin>^ovfieva. Athen.XllI. 
 p 586, a. and p. 591, c. and Schwcighaeuscr in the Index auctorum. 
 •Ap/io^ioc lias crept in from the 'Apfiohog in the foregoing fragment. 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
no 
 
 ••' 
 
 1 
 
 the Thracian frontiers, (v. 13f>8) where in truth 
 several remarkable cities, which had deserted the 
 Athenian alliance, and amongst them the important 
 Amphipolis,2<^ had not yet been reduced to submis- 
 sion. This last advice is quite in the spirit of Nicias, 
 who counselled the Athenians,^*** instead of venturing 
 on their last ill-fated expedition against Sicily, rather 
 to secure their present possessions, and to reduce to 
 their authority the revolted districts of Thrace. Tlie 
 ridicule of Kinesias also, and the ignominious dis- 
 missal of the hardened sycophant, are not the off- 
 spring of the character of Peisthetairos, but of that 
 of the poet. But to describe this as a deviation 
 from that character, and as illogical, would betray 
 a very superficial view of the real nature of the old 
 comedy; in which the perpetual intermixture of 
 poetry with reality, puts into the mouths of the 
 actors allusions and witticisms, not immediately 
 springing from their characters, and admits of in- 
 terlocutory intrusions by the poet himself in the per- 
 sonages of his drama. This last is ever the case with 
 Aristophanes, when he is too much in earnest to 
 endure any longer his own irony; and the serious 
 tone which he then assumes, contrasted with his 
 irony, renders the latter more palpable, and heightens 
 its effect. Not to cite less important passages of this 
 description, some of which have already been noticed, 
 we have only to call to mind the Bacchus of " the 
 Frogs," who, an enthusiastic votary of Euripides and 
 of every laxity of principle, and who in the first half 
 of the piece is the avowed representative of degene- 
 rate tragedy, is at once elevated to its true spirit, and 
 begins to speak and judge Uke Aristophanes himself; 
 without our being able to see, by what means he has 
 
 «» Thuc. IV. 108. »» lb. VI. 10. 
 
 Ill 
 
 been converted, and is arrived at a better notion of 
 things. In the midst, however, of all this, the odour 
 of incense is again scattered abroad, as an offering to 
 the sophist and to his wisdom, (v. 1401) ^^a/oelvra 
 
 The dominion of the birds is now re-established 
 among the men ; and the credit of Peisthetairos is 
 every where extended, as of the clever, shrewd in- 
 ventor of the project which is based upon it. But in 
 the conduct of the story all depends upon how they 
 succeed against the gods, without whose humiliation 
 the dominion of the birds, even over the men, cannot 
 be secured. The further progress of the play can 
 therefore only receive its proper developement in re- 
 ference to them ; and it is advanced by the slinking 
 in of a disguised traitor (v. 1494 sq.) who informs 
 Peisthetairos of the sad way, in which the affairs of 
 the gods are going on. Famine has got in amongst 
 them, since mankind have ceased to sacrifice, and 
 the steam of sacrifices also can no longer penetrate to 
 them; (v. 1515 sq.) upon this a civil war threatens 
 to break out amongst them, and in order to put an 
 end to the scarcity, they determine to send ambas- 
 sadors to Peisthetairos, to conclude a treaty of 
 amity, (v. 1551 sq.) The intriguer advises him 
 not to give way, unless Jupiter will abdicate his 
 sceptre to the birds, and give Basileia in marriage to 
 Peisthetairos. The personage aptly chosen for this 
 character is Prometheus, equally in reference to the 
 subtle and provident circumspection, which is implied 
 in the character, as well as in the name, (v. 1511) 
 and also to his mythical intercourse with mankind in 
 the affair of his stealing fire from heaven, (v. 1545 sq.) 
 I have already observed on another occasion,^^^ that 
 
 S03 In my treatise on the historical character of the drama. Trans- 
 actions of the Academy of Sciences, 1825, hist, philoi. Class, p. 121. 
 
 y 
 
112 
 
 113 
 
 the representation of this personage in Aristophanes 
 appears to be a caricature of the Prometheus in the 
 satyrical play of iEschylos, which turned upon that 
 theft; and this would suffice for a superficial expla- 
 nation of the character and the scene before us. 
 But Aristophanes had many closer archetypes for this 
 character in the history of his own times ; as during 
 the course of the Peloponnesian war there is no siege, 
 no sudden attack, or coup de main, from the surprize 
 of Plataia by the Thebans to the taking of Athens by 
 the Spartans, in which either the partisans of the 
 aristocracy, or those of the democracy, according to 
 circumstances, (those I mean within the walls) — 
 ot KvjunrpcKTfTOVTeg, oi (jiiXoi tCjv eSoi, oi irpoii^ovrt^Qy 
 continually occur in Thucydides — did not hold corres- 
 pondence with the assailants, betraying to them the 
 position and places of their enemies, showing them the 
 ways and means of getting in, and thus seeking to se- 
 cure themselves against either event ; frequently also 
 by stirring up a revolt, (aracitaSoyrcc) hke the Tribal- 
 lian gods in the play, (v. 1520) they led the way to 
 this species of intercourse, and brought about the 
 surrender. Such being the invariable course of events, 
 it was sufficient of itself to lead the poet, to conduct 
 by means of a similar system of concert and intelli- 
 gence, the story of the undertaking which he exhi- 
 bits ; being that of an extensive siege and blockade, 
 the true nature of which, namely, a maritime blockade, 
 he here also points out, by the demand of the Tri- 
 ballian gods, that Jupiter should re-open to them 
 their harbours, (r ifnr6p\ avn^ynivay v. 1523) Here 
 this system of intrigue takes a direction suited to 
 the purport of the piece. In the earher part of the 
 drama, Peisthetairos had wheedled the birds, by repre- 
 senting to them, that he would procure for them the 
 sovereignty, (BaatXu'a, v. 167, 549) and he had 
 
 I * , 
 
 W 
 
 announced as the end of liis project, that he would 
 replace them on the throne as kings, (v. 562, 56*8) 
 But now, when he has got their affairs entirely into 
 his own hands, he is advised by the arch dissem- 
 bler, who knows well the distinction between the two, 
 to stipulate with Jupiter, the king of the gods, from 
 whom, according to Homer, all sovereignty pro- 
 ceeds, that he should give up the sceptre to the birds, 
 but Basileia to him, Peisthetairos, as a wife. (v. 1535, 
 TO (TKriTTTpov — ToXtTiv opvKTiv — KoX TTJv Ba<TtXeiav croi 
 yvvaiK tx^iv) And not to leave in the dark the real 
 meaning of the latter, Basileia is described as the 
 arbitress, of every thing by which the democracy in 
 Athens was governed, (v. 1538, rov Kepavvbv tow 
 Atoc, of which more hereafter) of every thing they 
 were in want of, (v. 1539, Trjv tv(iov\iav, tt}v evvofilav, 
 Tr)v <TU)(^poavvr)v) of the real groundwork and basis of 
 their power, {to. vuopia) of their finances and the pay 
 of the dicasts ; {rov icwXoic/otrijv, to. Tpuof^oXa) and in 
 order to render it still more farcical,''^**^ (in reference 
 to their crowding in and out of the assemblies) ^o* she 
 is said to be also mistress of wrangling and abuse; (rijv 
 \oiSop(avvA54l) Basileia is in short the epitome of the 
 substance and power of the Athenian republic.'^''^ Thus 
 the true meaning of the advice imparted to Peisthe- 
 tairos, is to leave to his republic of birds the external 
 marks of sovereignty, but to take to himself the real 
 power in the state ; and what is said of the nature and 
 
 ^"^ Schol. on V. 1541. Eif av^ijffiv ^e rtjc Ktofiiodiag rovro tprftrt. 
 *^ Ecclesiaz. 142. Kai Xoi^opovvTai y uxymp IfnrtTrujKoreg. 
 ^^ This interpretation exactly coincides with the contents of a 
 fragment of Tclekleides in Plut. Perikl. 16; in which this comic 
 writer says that the Athenians had given up to Perikles — 
 
 UoXaav ri <p6povQ, avruQ ri nokiiQy rat: fitv SeXv, rag ^ avaXveiv, 
 Aa'iva rci'xi; rd fiiv oiKoSofinVy ra Ss avra traXiv KarafiaWup, 
 27rov(?«c, difvafiiVf KparoQ, tipiivijVf ttXovtov t ivicayiOviavTt. 
 
 I 
 
11 J 
 
 extent of this power, is all referable to the Athenian 
 constitution. Hence it is clear that the story still 
 proceeds with a direct apphcation to Athens, and to 
 Athenian circumstances ; and Aristophanes begins to 
 develope the direction, which in its further progress 
 might be given to the Sicilian expedition. The 
 ground for this direction he took from the weU 
 known sentiments of Alcibiades, from his habits, 
 relations and connections, and from the public 
 opinion respecting him. We have already shown that 
 Alcibiades was suspected of antidemocratical views, 
 and of a desire to be sole ruler of his own country. 
 But this, his ambition, was viewed also, as in close 
 and direct connection with the Lacedcemonians. 
 For there was an ancestral hospitahty between the 
 family of Alcibiades and the house of the ephor 
 Endios in Sparta, in consequence of which he, as 
 well as his grandfather, had received the Lacedaemo- 
 nian name of Alcibiades.2o« That his wet-nurse was 
 a Lacedaemonian woman of the name of Amykla,207 
 may have arisen simply from such nurses being 
 generally in request at Athens, on account of their 
 healthiness, hardiness, and wholesome diet; but 
 amongst other circumstances, this was not lost sight 
 of by his adversaries. His grandfather had indeed 
 renounced the Proxeneia in Sparta, but he himself 
 had endeavoured to renew the connection by his 
 attentions to the Spartans taken at Sphakteria ; and 
 though he afterwards caused the miscarriage of an 
 embassy sent by Sparta to Athens to conclude a 
 treaty, he did it chiefly from jealousy of Nicias, and 
 from a feeling of slighted vanity.^®^ All this was well 
 
 »* Thncyd. VIII. 6 ; and the commentators on tlic passage. 
 207 Pint. Ale. 1. Schol. on Plaio. p 388, Bekker. 
 sw Thuc.V. 43sq.; VI. 89. 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 115 
 
 calculated to excite a suspicion, that he was inclined 
 to avail himself of the Lacedaemonians, who favoured 
 the aristocratical party, to secure the success of those 
 antidemocratical projects, which were always attri- 
 buted to him on account of his general conduct. 
 As, therefore, just at the time when the greatest 
 excitement existed against him in consequence of the 
 mutilation of the Mercuries, and the desecration of 
 the mysteries, shortly before the Salaminia was 
 despatched to bring him back from Sicily, a small 
 body of Spartans was advancing to the Isthmus, it 
 was thought that this movement had taken place at 
 his suggestion, and in concert with him, in order to 
 assist him and his fellow-conspirators in overturn- 
 ing the Athenian constitution.^®* Somewhat later, 
 after his escape, the Lacedaemonians did in fact 
 invite him to Sparta.^'" It might, therefore, easily be 
 presumed that Alcibiades, as soon as he had attained 
 his object in the Sicilian expedition, would have 
 availed himself of his good understanding with 
 Sparta, to overthrow the democracy in his native 
 country, and to set up and establish himself as 
 its master. Athens would then be the preponde- 
 rating state in Greece, and he would be her tyrant, 
 (v. 1508) and consequently the ruler of the whole of 
 Hellas. The republic would have been in nearly the 
 same circumstances, as she was under Peisistratos and 
 his sons in regard to the constitution of Solon. Every 
 thing would have gone on, as far as forms were con- 
 cerned, in the ordinary course. The Demos would 
 in appearance have been the monarch of Hellas, as it 
 is greeted in " the Knights ;" (v. 1330) but subjected 
 to the powerful hand and will of Alcibiades, as is 
 pointed out in lines 1538, 1543. It is this possible 
 
 »9 Thuc.VI. 61. 210 lb. VI. 88. 
 
116 
 
 and not improbable turn, which the success of the 
 Sicilian expedition would have given to the projects 
 of Alcibiades, that Aristophanes now lays before the 
 Athenians ; not that it is necessary to suppose, in 
 reference to the scene with Prometheus, that it 
 was intended that every thing, which this coun- 
 sellor advised Peisthetairos to do, had already been 
 prompted to Alcibiades by his Lacedjemonian friends. 
 There was no occasion for that. All these ambitious 
 thoughts and schemes essentially existed in Alcibiades 
 himself, ready to develope themselves according to 
 circumstances. In the drama they are only fully 
 announced^ by the opposite party, and they ap- 
 pear as the counsel of another, which Peisthetairos 
 adopts and follows up. But if Alcibiades had 
 completely succeeded in his expedition, he would 
 have really stood in the situation, in which Peisthe- 
 tairos is exhibited in this scene with Prometheus. 
 He would really have restored the sovereignty of 
 Athens ; this brilliant result would have exalted his 
 influence and his power in the state; the Lacedee- 
 monians would in all probability have preferred an 
 amicable treaty with him to a war of extermination ; 
 nor was it beyond the bounds of possibility, especially 
 under the exclusively aristocratical system of the 
 Spartan government, that he should have entered 
 into an alliance with them, on condition of their 
 acknowledging the Hegemonia of the Athenians ; 
 whilst they assisted him in the acquisition of the full 
 mastery over Athens, and secured him in the posses- 
 sion of it. The good friends who tendered their ser- 
 vices for this purpose are here represented by Pro- 
 metheus, whom Peisthetairos acknowledges as such, 
 immediately upon his disclosing himself, (v. 1501) 
 The ambassadors of the gods announced by Pro- 
 
 1 
 
 '( 
 
 117 
 
 metheus, make their appearance soon after he quits 
 the scene, (v. 15C5) These are Neptune, Hercules, 
 and one of the Triballoi. They come with full powers 
 to treat for the suspension of hostilities, and for 
 raising the blockade, (v. 1532, 1577, 1588, 1595) 
 However furious Hercules appears, (v. 1575) he is 
 soon calmed (v. 1587 sq.) by Peisthetairos' taking 
 him on his weak side; (v. 1579) and the prospect of 
 a good dinner induces him, (v. 1602) who is always 
 hungry, and is now half-starved, (v. 1604, 1691) to 
 accept without more ado Peisthetairos' proposals for 
 the restoration of the sceptre to the birds; (v. 1600) 
 whereas Neptune consents only, (v. 161 1) after the 
 advantages, which will thence accrue to the gods, 
 have been made quite clear to him. (v. 1606 sq.) 
 This part of the treaty is thus easily brought about 
 by the unanimity of the three ambassadors, (v. 1631) 
 The second condition, namely, that Basileia shall 
 be made over to Peisthetairos as a wife, meets 
 with greater difficulty; (v. 1634) this being a consi- 
 deration that regards him personally is distinctly 
 separated from the first condition, and forms the 
 subject of a special negotiation. On this occasion 
 too Hercules, seduced by the banquet which is pre- 
 paring for him, is quite ready to agree ; and it is only 
 when Neptune, who has decidedly rejected the claim, 
 (v. 1635) represents to him that it would be preju- 
 dicial to his own interests, (v. 1641) that he is made 
 to waver ; but Peisthetairos soon reasons him out of 
 his objection.^** (v. 1646, 1670) The promise of mo- 
 mentary advantage at once convinces him; (v. 1672) 
 and as the Triballian likewise gives in his accession, 
 (v. 1677 sq.) and Neptune recals (v. 1683) his nega- 
 
 '** lu the line lfi71, aWtav (iXiinov is not to be rendered *' like*. 
 ** one preparing to strike," but " like one who has been struck." 
 
tfl 
 
 118 
 
 tive, (v. IG7G) this condition also is obtained, and the 
 treaty is concluded, (v. 1685) On this Peisthetairos, 
 at the invitation of Hercules, (v. 1686) accompanies 
 the ambassadors to the seat of the gods, which was 
 till now in a state of siege, in order to effect the 
 execution of the treaty, and to receive Basileia in 
 
 marriage. 
 
 The characters who personate the plenipotentiaries 
 in this negotiation are important ; and he who would 
 understand the play of " the Birds*' would naturally 
 ask, why the poet has chosen for his purpose Hercules, 
 Neptune, and a TribalUan god. There is no difficulty 
 in answering this question, if we consider the point 
 of view, in which we have explained the rest of the 
 piece. These three ambassadors represent the Lace- 
 demonians with their principal aUies, against whom 
 the expedition ridiculed in " the Birds" is really di- 
 rected. Hercules, the national hero of the Dorians, 
 the ancestor of the kings of Sparta, in whom the 
 Peloponnesians and the Boeotians acknowledge a 
 common origin,^^- might represent both nations, con- 
 sequently also the Thebans, who, in the then state of 
 affairs, followed the fortunes of the Peloponnesians : 
 and the allegorical sense, in which he is here intro- 
 duced, may be compared to that, in which his 
 exploits were represented in conjunction with those 
 of Theseus, on the temple of this hero built at Athens 
 by Kimon a partizan of the Lacedeemonians. This 
 union of their respective national heroes was in all 
 probability intended as symbohcal of the recon- 
 
 2»2 Muller*s History of the Hellenic Races, vol. ii. p. 411, &c. 
 
 213 This is Kruse's view in his Hellas, Part II. p. 117. The unioa 
 of the two heroes might also admit of another explanation; as their 
 histories were interwoven with each other, their deeds have a certain 
 resemblance ; and Plutarch always represents Hercules as the proto- 
 
 ■;!■• 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 119 
 
 ciliation of the Ionian and Dorian races.^" The 
 gluttony of Hercules, of which it may be doubted 
 whether it belonged to the earlier histories of this 
 personage,*** or might not rather have been attri- 
 buted to him in consequence of the rude appetite of 
 his Boeotian kindred, was in either case frequently 
 turned to account as an object of national ridicule ;2>* 
 though, however well it was adapted to comedy, it 
 never ought to have been admitted even into the 
 narrative parts of a tragedy .^^^ This disposition, 
 I say, of Hercules is admirably made use of by 
 Aristophanes, as a dramatic motive for bringing the 
 negotiation to a conclusion ; and very differently from 
 the 'HpaKktig fnaTTovreg in other comic poets, whom 
 Aristophanes censures in " the Peace." (v. 741) As 
 Hercules is the representative of the continental aUies 
 of the Peloponnesians, Neptune is that of their mari- 
 time aUies, and more particularly of the Korinthians, 
 as patron of the Isthmian games : and it is remark- 
 able how the behaviour of Neptune in this scene 
 tallies with the conduct of that people during the 
 Peloponnesian war. For as the Korinthians were 
 always more violent against the Athenians than the 
 Lacedeemonians themselves, as they excited these last 
 to the war, refused to accede to the peace of Nicias, 
 
 type which Theseus endeavoured to imitate. But the Lakonismos of 
 Kimon decides in favour of the former view, to which his supposed 
 intention in uniting the two heroes is quite appropriate. In con- 
 formity with this symbolical interpretation, Aristeides also, Pauath. 
 0pp. I. p. 486, represents the friendship of Hercules and Theseus as 
 a pattern for imitation by those who acknowledged the same common 
 ancestors. 
 
 2" See Muller ut supr. p. 456. 
 
 2»5 See the commentators on v. 60 of " the Wasps," and Welcher 
 on the translation of " the Frogs,** p. 143. 
 
 2i« It need scarcely be mentioned that I here allude to the Alcestis 
 of Euripides, 757 sq. ed. Herm. 
 
 III 
 
120 
 
 and afterwards helped to persuade them to the re- 
 newal of hostilities, so is Neptune more difficult 
 about resigning the sceptre; and he is decidedly 
 opposed to giving up Basileia ; and he at last gives 
 his tacit consent to it, only because the two others 
 had outvoted him. It is plain that the barbarian 
 nations situated higher up to the north of Greece 
 are typified by the barbarian gods; (v. 1520, 1525) 
 and allusions are made to their situation in the words 
 avwOev (v. 1526) and avtj. (v. 1526, 153:^)2^7 The 
 Triballoi, a powerful people to the west of the 
 Odryssai,2»8 j^^d defeated and put to death ^'^ their 
 king, Sitalkes, an ally of Athens,*^" if not in strict 
 concert with, certainly to the advantage of the Lace- 
 daemonians, whose influence in those parts had been 
 greatly improved by Brasidas. The Illyrians also, 
 who are only mentioned by way of comparison, 
 (v. 1321) had abandoned Perdikkas, king of Macedon, 
 the friend of the Athenians, and had gone over to the 
 army of Brasidas.*^' The circumstances in which 
 these nations were placed, partly as friends of the 
 Lacedaemonians, and, partly at least, as enemies of 
 the Athenians, had now existed for some time ; and 
 there was thus a good ground for reckoning them 
 also amongst the besieged gods, and for making them 
 join in the demand of the Ifiwopia aviii^yiiivay for 
 they were equally with the others cut ofl^ from the 
 high seas, and straitened in their supply of provisions 
 
 ^^^ Schol. to 1. 1562. 'AvioHpu) Si fpmmv avrovQ oiKtlv wc rdy 
 'EXKijv(t}v avojTtpai oiKovffi Kai TToppojripui ol fiap(3apoi. 
 
 218 Thucyd. II. 96. Compare Popp. Proleg. in Thucyd. I. 2, 
 p. 406 sq. 
 
 2»9 Thucyd. IV. 101. 
 
 ^ lb. 11.29,95 sq. Aristoph. Achar. 141 sq.j and Elmsley on 
 V. 145. 
 
 »» Thucyd. IV. 124, 125. 
 
 121 
 
 by the blockade ; and they might thus be reduced to 
 have recourse to a araaig, i. e. to renounce their Pelo- 
 ponnesian friends. The god who personates them is 
 however with propriety represented as the most 
 insignificant of the three, and is associated with his 
 colleagues rather as a ludicrous character: perhaps too, 
 called by the name of Triballos, because a laughable 
 spectacle bearing that name, and which turned more 
 upon the rude, uncivilized state of the people,^^ than 
 on a play of words, had already been represented in 
 Athens.223 By these three ambassadors then are re- 
 presented the people of the continent of Greece and 
 the adjacent territories, who were connected with 
 the Lacedaemonians in hostihty to Athens. There is 
 thus a definite purpose in the choice of them, in con- 
 nection with the special object of the play, apart from 
 which such choice would seem accidental and arbi- 
 trary. Hercules indeed makes his appearance as the 
 hero of the Dorian race; but the conception and 
 treatment of the character are evidently more in 
 keeping with his Boeotian, and particularly his The- 
 ban connections, than with the Spartans. This ap- 
 pears in his Boeotian appetite, and equally so in 
 his alledged illegitimacy, (voOtia) which Peisthetairos 
 adduces in refutation of the arguments, by which 
 Neptune had attempted to make him his dupe, and 
 which voOua directly applies to his Theban descent. 
 This had already been hinted at in v. 558, and thus 
 are the several parts of the poem rendered consistent 
 with one another. The same may be said of the 
 mention of Neptune and Hercules in the fines imme- 
 diately following, V. 566 sq. and which certainly is not 
 without a purpose, as both are afterwards brought 
 
 222 isocr. Panalh. p. 380 ; also dc Pac. p. 227, Bekker. 
 
 223 See App. H. 
 
122 
 
 forward under similar circumstances. With respect 
 to Aphrodite, it is of little consequence whether this 
 goddess be there introduced for any one state in 
 particular, perhaps Cyprus, though this was at that 
 time of too little importance, or merely to increase 
 the number of examples. But Jupiter is always kept 
 in the background, as chief of the gods, from whom 
 the sceptre and Basileia are demanded : (554, 1535 sq. 
 IGOO, 1634 sq.) this is in reference to Sparta herself; 
 whether the poet had only in his eye the position of 
 the Lacedeemonians, as the leading state in the Pelo- 
 ponnesian aUiance, or whether he looked to the 
 peculiar relation, in which Jupiter, as the father of 
 Hercules, stood to the two kings of Sparta; on 
 which account they administered the office of priests 
 of Jupiter, the one that of Zivg AaKaSai/uwv, the other 
 that of Zevg ovpaviog,^* 
 
 But to come to the particular conduct and language 
 of the personages engaged in the scene before us, the 
 assertion made by Peisthetairos (v. 1596) to the am- 
 bassadors of the gods, that the birds had not begun 
 the war with them, is a direct imitation or repetition of 
 the frequent expostulations, which took place during 
 the Peloponnesian war, as to which party had been the 
 aggressor, the Athenians or the Lacedaemonians.^^* 
 And his representations of the advantage which a 
 ffu/ijuaxta or offensive and defensive aUiance (v. 1610) 
 with the birds, tav8i roue opvn txnn (n/ju/xaxouc, would 
 ensure to the gods, (v. 1616,''Erff)ov vvv tTi^AKOvcraff 
 ;;crov vfiag ayaflov noivGOfiiv) bear in the main a strong 
 resemblance to the poUtical views brought forward 
 by the Spartan ambassadors in Athens ;*^« the leading 
 
 22* Hcrodot.VI. 56. 
 
 225 Thucyd. IV. 20. UoXtfiovvTai niv yap acra^iuf vnortputv 
 
 apKavTtov. 
 
 S2« lb. Km (V Tovrti) ra tvovra ayaOd atcoirtiTt oaa lUbt; nvav 
 
 III 
 
 123 
 
 idea in their harangue having been to state the many 
 advantages which would accrue, if the Athenians and 
 Lacedaemonians could understand each other; as 
 then the rest of the Greeks being inferior to them in 
 power, would hold them in the greatest respect. On 
 that occasion, however, the two parties are supposed 
 to be on an equal footing ; but in the propositions of 
 Peisthetairos, the sovereignty of the Athenians alone 
 is in question, and the advantages to the Lacedaemo- 
 nians are thus humorously introduced under the 
 cloak of dramatic allegory : as if he had said, " You 
 " Lacedaemonians sit there shut up in the Pelopon- 
 " nesos, and being a continental power you cannot 
 " reach your distant allies ; but if you will contract 
 « such an aUiance with us Athenians, that whoever 
 " is bound by oaths to you, shall be also bound to 
 " us Athenians, as possessors of the Hegemonia, we 
 " shall be able to punish all who violate the com- 
 " pact, (v. 1613) we will collect for you the arrears 
 « of tribute, (v. 1621) and we will exact for you from 
 " those who are slow in paying, the penalty of a 
 « double contribution, by faUing upon them when we 
 " are least expected." (v. 1625) The observation 
 too of Hercules, (v. 1591) on the advantages to both 
 parties from a cessation of hostilities, :alls to mind 
 the identical declaration to that effect made by the 
 Spartan ambassadors above mentioned.227 This coin- 
 cidence, which is in unison with aU other testimonies 
 indicating that the relations between Athens and 
 Sparta are mainly alluded to in the play, cannot be 
 accidental. But the principal condition of Peisthe- 
 
 rifidv yap rat iVuiv ravra \ty6vTiov r6 yt dWo 'EXXi^m^v IffTt on 
 vTrodfiffTipov bv rd ^iyiffra rinrtffu. 
 
 227 Thucyd. IV. 20. 'H/iTi/ Si icaXwc. t^'^tp Trore, tx" a/i0anpotc »7 
 
 ^%n'aWay!i. 
 
 r^.'t 
 
124 
 
 tairos is after all, personal to himself; unless this 
 be granted, the war of extermination {hpog ttoAc/uoc, 
 V. 556) begins, and the threat, which had been 
 before held out to Iris, (v. 1246) is put in execution. 
 What is to be expected from him when he shall have 
 gained the sovereignty, we learn from the promise, by 
 which (v. 1672) he gains over the good will of Her- 
 cules, namely, that he would set him up as a tyrant, 
 and feed him with bird's-milk, of which Aristophanes 
 frequently makes mention, as of the greatest of 
 dainties. As under the great king many individuals 
 were estabhshed as tyrants in the Persian empire, so 
 the great potentate in Greece might raise his aUies 
 to that dignity; and, in case of need, Athenian 
 money and lands might be given to them in the shape 
 of pay, a most inviting prospect to a Theban aristocrat. 
 That Peisthetairos (v. 1584 sq.) should describe the 
 birds, which he has dressed for dinner, as ha\ang been 
 condemned to death for having revolted agabist the 
 democratical hirds^ must not be considered as any 
 contradiction of the antidemocratical spirit, which he 
 has displayed. This feehng is much too strong and 
 too generally evident, to be dissipated by a sohtary 
 expression of this kind. We should rather view it 
 as an allusion of Aristophanes himself to the execu- 
 tion of several individuals, accused of being accom- 
 plices of Alcibiades in the other crimes, and in the con- 
 spiracy against the democracy,228 shortly before the 
 exhibition of " the Birds ;" just as the declaration of 
 Euelpides, in an earUer part of the play, (v. 125) 
 against the aristocracy, is to be understood in the 
 light of a denial, on the part of the poet in his 
 private character, of the imputation of Aristokratis- 
 mos which was cast upon him. But in the mouths of 
 
 228 Thucyd.VI. (iO. 
 
 \\\ 
 
 125 
 
 Peisthetairos and of Euelpides both these expres- 
 sions must be taken not as true and sincere, but as 
 purely ironical. The cutting up of the antidemo- 
 cratical birds is truly dramatic, and as Peisthetairos 
 himself observes, (v. 1688) it is a very appropriate 
 preliminary to his marriage feast. 
 
 Nothing now is wanting for completing the story, 
 but that Peisthetairos, who had gone to Olympos to 
 receive from Jupiter the attributes of sovereignty, 
 should actually descend with them from thence, and 
 be represented surrounded by them, as the sole 
 sovereign in the new empire of the birds. After a 
 short delay this takes place in the concluding scene. 
 Here Peisthetairos makes his appearance on his 
 return from Olympos, announced by a messenger 
 sent in haste before him ; we must now fancy him as 
 a bridegroom on a car, like Jupiter, with whose mar- 
 riage ceremonies his own are compared,^^^ (v. 1733) 
 proceeding to his home dressed in his bridal robes, 
 (v, 1694) radiating in solar brilliancy, (v. 1709) sur- 
 rounded with the vapours of incense, and the smoke 
 of sacrifices, (v. 1715) with his young and beautiful 
 bride, Basileia, at his side, (v. 1537, 1634, 1675, 1713, 
 1724, 1713, 1753) brandishing in his right hand the 
 thunderbolt of Jupiter, (v. 1714) by which he has 
 acquired dominion over all things; (v. 1752) in 
 short, as the tyrant from henceforth (v. 1 708) of the 
 race of birds, whose happiness he had secured for 
 ever. (v. 1707, 1725) The chorus receive him (as the 
 fates sang of old, at the marriage of Jupiter and 
 Hera, v. 1731) with a bridal hymn, which he gra- 
 ciously accepts: (v. 1743 sq.) they then celebrate at 
 his command the fiery bolt, (v. 1749) the winged 
 spear, (v. 1714) with which Peisthetairos, in thunder 
 
 229 Schol. Ett' dxrifinroQ yiip rac vrifi^ag ayovmv. 
 
f 
 
 12G 
 
 and in lightning, is to shake the earth to its founda- 
 tions. He now invites the whole of the feathered 
 race to his marriage feast, (v. 1755) and assisting his 
 bride to alight from the car, he conducts her with 
 them to the banquet, (v. 1759) He has not indeed 
 discovered, but he has himself founded such a city, 
 as that which he went out to seek, and he is moreover 
 its sovereign ; and a marriage feast, such as Euelpides 
 wished to be invited to every day, in the ideal city 
 they were in search of, (v. 12J)) is actually cele- 
 brated with greater display and magnificence than 
 was to be expected. 
 
 Whilst this scene, which is so well calculated for 
 the effect upon the eye, closes the action in a man- 
 ner most appropriate to the allegorical story, it is 
 not less effective in completing it, and stamping the 
 seal upon its import, whilst it throws back additional 
 light upon the whole piece. For this purpose, not 
 only the marriage of Basileia is of importance, but 
 the thunderbolt of Jupiter also, which he brandishes, 
 which he has received together with Basileia, the 
 administratress of this jewel, (v. 1538) and which 
 be bears in place of the sceptre he had claimed for 
 the birds, of which sceptre nothing more is said, is 
 of equal moment ; nay, the meaning of this symbol 
 is still more essentially connected with the whole 
 story: but to understand it, we must call to mind 
 that Perikles, according to some, in consequence of 
 his great and powerful intellect, according to others, 
 for the magnificence with which he had embellished 
 the city of Athens, or for his despotic power in civil 
 and military affairs, but by the comic poets, especially 
 for the power of his eloquence,^" was called " The 
 Olympian;" and his tongue was compared to a 
 
 230 ^^ rijv duvortjra rov \6yov, Diodor. XII. 40. 
 
 I '27 
 
 thunderbolt, with which in thunder and in lightning 
 he ruled over Greece.^^* This is confirmed by Aris- 
 tophanes himself, who makes Dikaiopolis say in the 
 Acharnians, (v. 530) 
 
 *'H(Tr/oa7rr£v, IfipovTa, S»'V£Kvica Trjv 'EXXaSa. 
 It may not, therefore, be considered too bold, in a 
 play of the same poet, in the conduct of which 
 eloquence and its consequences act so essential a 
 part, if we view this golden thunderbolt, so remark- 
 ably celebrated by the chorus, which Peisthetairos 
 wields in his hand, and by which he henceforth 
 makes the earth to tremble, as the metaphor of the 
 old comic poets transformed into an allegorical em- 
 blem, and if we explain it to be the symbolical 
 expression of the power of eloquence, by which 
 Perikles had already ruled over Athens and Hellas, 
 and by which Peisthetairos is henceforth to rule over 
 the Athenian world of birds. The epode of the 
 chorus, which immediately precedes this scene, sig- 
 nally justifies such explanation, (v. 1694 sq. 1705) 
 Just at the critical moment when the comic art, 
 which has hitherto been indulging in a sportive vein, 
 has produced the most brilliant result, and is pre- 
 paring to celebrate her triumphs, the chorus vehe- 
 mently assail a tribe of people, that tucks every 
 thing into its belly with its tongue, that sows and 
 
 *** The principal passage is in Plut. Pericl. 8. Kalroi riveg dxo 
 riig Iv ry ■jrokireig, kuI raig ffrpaTtjyiaig ^vvdfitojg 'OXvfnriov avTov 
 
 irpo(rayoptv9nvai (Xkyovffi) at fisvroi KiOfnoSiai rwv tots hdaff- 
 
 KoXutv OTTOV^y re iroWaQ <cai fitTa. ycXwrof d<ptiK6TU)v ^wva? etg 
 avTuv tiri rtp Xoy(/i fiaXiffra rt)v trpoffownidv yevkaOai dtjXovffi, 
 (ipovr^v fikv avTov Kai affrpdirmv ore Srjfirjyopoiriy ^uvbv ^i Kspav- 
 vbv Iv ry yX^affy tpipiiv Xiy6vTU)v. See also Aristeid. pro Quatuorv. 
 T. II. p. 151. Compare the passages in Bergler and Elmsley on the 
 Acharn. 530 ; and Spalding on Quintilian, II. 16, 19. 
 
128 
 
 reaps ^idth its tongue, that plucks figs and gathers 
 grapes with its tongue, exposing by name Gorgias 
 and Philippos, whose designation as bar])arians by 
 descent, coupled with the eager and favourable 
 reception which Gorgias of Leontini had found at 
 Athens, presents at once the master-key to the re- 
 peated allusions in the play to the crowd of strangers 
 pressing to become citizens, and by whom the founda- 
 tions of the state were undermined.^^a The chorus 
 express bitter displeasure at the great credit which 
 that art had obtained, and the honour paid to it in 
 Athens, through the influence of such men, by the 
 observation that to them it was owing that throughout 
 Attica, according to a custom, 0>y the by universal) 
 the tongue of victims was especially oiTered in sacri- 
 fice. It is as if Aristophanes, in making the chorus 
 thus put forward the principle, which had hitherto 
 been working throughout the play, i. e. eloquence 
 and its organ, the tongue, immediately before its 
 conclusion, had chosen to mark it as one of the main 
 objects of his satire, and at the same time to throw 
 a preparatory light upon the concluding scene which 
 was to crown the whole. For as the thunderbolt 
 {Kepavvog) is the first named in the enumeration 
 (v. 1537) of the apparatus of a pohtical life in Athens, 
 as it afterwards really appears in the hands of Peis- 
 thetairos, and as every one knew what the comic 
 writers, and especially Aristophanes, understood by 
 that word, when they attributed a Kipavvog to Perikles, 
 and represented him as dealing around his thunder- 
 
 232 V. 10, 32 sq. with the Scholia, v. 762 sq. 1526 sq. To this also 
 arc to be referred v. 1013, 1016, by which Aristophanes implies that 
 all these adventurers should be expelled. It is evident from the 
 Scholia to V. 718 of " the Wasps" that C«vi|\fl<ruit were at times in 
 vogue at Athens. 
 
 129 
 
 bolts and his lightning, — and as the choral song aptly 
 designates this art and power of the tongue, as the 
 main spring of Athenian existence, it contains a 
 positive and direct explanation of the symbolical 
 meaning of that Kipavvog, which was forthmth to 
 be exhibited to the people, and to be appreciated 
 as the instrument of dominion. We are, therefore, 
 not to consider the concluding scene merely as the 
 triumph of the ambitious demagogue, but must un- 
 derstand it equally to refer to the sophistical and 
 rhetorical element in the character of Peisthetairos, 
 conformably to the whole course of the preceding 
 story. Other traits also point to what may be called 
 his glorification. Peisthetairos shines with a splen- 
 dour surpassing the rays of the sun, he is compared to 
 a bright glittering star, (v. 1 J09 sq.) and he is clothed 
 in his wedding garment, (v. lf>93) It seems that 
 he is exhibited to the public, his head adorned with 
 the golden crown of honour, which all nations had 
 acknowledged to be due to his talents, (v. 1274) and 
 invested with a purple robe, with which not only Alci- 
 biades, but Gorgias^^ also, used to appear in public. 
 In this splendour we see again the full meaning of the 
 word Stilbonides, which Peisthetairos had assumed 
 very early in the play. (v. 139) What then is thus repre- 
 sented, is the triumph of sophistical, no less than of 
 pohtical egotism ; and in the nuptials which are about 
 to be celebrated, (as is borne out also by the meaning 
 of the names) we witness the union of that persuasive 
 and sophistical eloquence, which had been so effi- 
 cient and so active from the beginning to the end of 
 the great enterprize, with sovereign rule. The eastern 
 splendour of the scene, to which also contribute the 
 indescribably delightful fumes of incense, which rise 
 
 2» iElian. Var. Hist. XII. 32. 
 
130 
 
 from the sacrifices offered by the men, at once holds 
 up to ridicule the vanity of the sophist, concealed 
 under the mask of Peisthetairos, and suits the lean- 
 ing of Alcibiades to these oriental habits. But the 
 Tain sophist is still subordinate to the equally, though 
 differently, vain pohtician ; and the former is absorbed 
 in the latter, when the poUtical demagogue has at- 
 tained the tyranny he aimed at ; and the Peisthetairos 
 who conducts Basileia home as his wife, and who 
 wields the thunderbolt of Perikles,^^ with which he 
 is to make the earth to tremble, and to deluge it with 
 torrents, (ojlij3/oo0o/»oi 0" a^a j3/oovTai, ic. t. X. v. 1750) 
 can only find his final and pre-eminent antitype in the 
 pupil of Perikles, and of sophistry, i. e. of Gorgias, 
 its arch-professor; and this was Alcibiades, whom 
 
 234 Besides this we may find another reference to Pcrikles in this 
 scene; which is in the comparison of the nuptial song, where the 
 chorus greet Peisthetairos and Basileia, with that which was sung 
 by the fates io"Hpa 'OXv^iiria at her marriage with Jupiter, (v. 1731) 
 For as Perikles was called the Olympian by the comic poete, Aspasia 
 was denominated by them his Hera (Juno) in consequence of the 
 great influence which she had over him. When Plutarch (Pericl. 24. 
 Compare Schol. on Plato, p. 391, Bekker) writes: 'Ev U raif 
 Kw/xv^inig 'O^0aXii re via Kal Mjiavtipa Kai viiXiv "Upa irpo- 
 noyopevtrai, Kpanvoc ^ dvTuepvc TraXXaie^v aurijv «p»;«v Iv 
 
 TOVTOig' ... 
 
 "Hpav rt 01 Aairatriav riicrti, 
 Krtt KararrvyofTvviiv ira\\aKi)v Kvvutmda, 
 he is only mistaken in saying that Kratinos had called her the concu- 
 bine of Perikles ; whereas in the passage quoted, whilst his Kara- 
 vvyoffvvtj, for which he is so bitterly arraigned, is called by that name, 
 Aspasia is on the contrary represented under the title of Juno, as his 
 wife, which she in truth was. But in the passage of " the Birds" we 
 are now adverting to, this reference is not expressed with sufficient 
 clearness to be at once admitted. In the mention of the Thunderbolt, 
 especially after what we have just said, we may easily call to mind the 
 K€pavvoij of Perikles, even though he be not expressly mentioned. 
 But the reference to Aspasia in the Olynjpian Juno can only be under- 
 stood, if her Olympian consort is already previously designated. 
 
 131 
 
 doubtless the comic poets had long before ranked 
 amongst the Peisistratidai, as they called the young 
 followers of Perikles,^^^ and who, as Perikles had done 
 before him, in stirring up the Peloponnesian war, 
 was now making the earth to tremble, and raising up 
 new storms by urging on the Sicilian expedition. This 
 personage now appears as the heir of his master's thun- 
 derbolt, that is of his eloquence and of his authority ; 
 and having derived from his undertaking the greatest 
 personal advantages to himself, in the consciousness 
 of his power, and with self-sufficient complacency, he 
 receives, and claims the homage of the world. He 
 returns home as sole ruler to Athens, which he has 
 metamorphosed into Nephelokokkygia, wherein so- 
 phistry bears tlie sway, and whose inhabitants, like 
 the light-hearted birds, acknowledging no longer the 
 supremacy of the gods, and fancying themselves the 
 gods of the earth, become the victims of a crafty, 
 inordinate, and triumphant egotism. This closing 
 scene, eminently calculated as it is to display the true 
 import of the story, thus completes a drama, all whose 
 parts are so perfectly connected and rounded off, that 
 perhaps in point of artificial construction, no other 
 piece of a similar description could be adduced as its 
 parallel. Tliis judgment can only be justified in the 
 point of view, in which our explanation has been 
 conducted. Under every other aspect, however we 
 may perceive in the work profound sense, fancy, wit 
 
 2^ Plut. Pericl. 16. Kairoi rt)v Suvafitv avrov (ratpiHg fikv 6 
 OovKv^iSriQ hijytirai, KUKorjOwg de rrapEiKJiaivovrnv o'l fctu/Kifcot, Tleur- 
 iffrpari^ag fitv vtovg rovg irepi avrbv iraipovg KaXovvng, k, r. X. 
 That Alcibiades would have gained his object, if the Sicilian expedi- 
 tion had succeeded, is rendered highly probable by the conduct of 
 the lower classes towards him after his return to Athens, when some 
 of them urged him to seize on the tyranny. Plutarch. Ale. 34. 
 
132 
 
 and humour, we are unuhle to give an equally satis- 
 factory account of the meaning, the necessity and the 
 logical succession of the several incidents employed 
 in its developement. 
 
 Something still remains to be said on the chorus, 
 and on their connection with the story of the piece. 
 They first appear on the stage in v. 29 1, 295, and not 
 cnrof)a8»|v, as one might suppose from their coming on 
 fluttering about with their wings (v. 29(1) like the 
 chorus in the Eumenides of .^schylos,^-^^ but in close 
 order. For the four single birds which make their 
 appearance from v. 2(>7 to v. 29.S, as has already 
 been noticed in the Scholia/^^^ do not belong to the 
 chorus, but are merely introduced as mutes, to give 
 occasion to the satirical remarks made upon them by 
 the three actors ; whereas it is clear from the excla- 
 mation of Peisthetairos, (v. 29 1) 'Q OoVaSov iux' 
 (,pag Haov (rvveiX^KTat vaKov 'Of>viwv ; and by that of 
 Euelpides, ^Qva?, "AttoXXov, tov vi^ovg, that those 
 who compose the chorus come on together. We 
 may observe also with the SchoUasts,*^^^ that the 
 number of masks or individuals in the comic chorus 
 is as clearly defined as their arrangement. From 
 v. 297 to V. 30 1, the four-and-twenty birds composing 
 the chorus are all separately named. This Peisthe- 
 
 ^ Vita yEschyli. p. 454, Schfttz. On the meaning of airopa^nv 
 compare Hermann dc clioro Eumen. diss. I. in Opubc. 11. p. 132. 
 
 •■»7 On V. 297. 'Atto tovtov t) rarrtpiO/iiimc tmv tig tov xopo*/ 
 avvruvovTiav TrpoffoiTroiv k^\ Iv niotrne XtifBkvrutv rCJv TrpoicaraXty- 
 
 aiviiiv. , , , 
 
 2:« On V. 2*^7. 'EvravOa (^f ti-pi/tnc «pt0/n/«Trtc ru fi Komrttrffnim 
 TrporroiTra, i^ lov 6 icw/iiicoc xopk frvmnrarau On Equitt. 589. 
 
 133 
 
 tairos, who is as yet unacquainted with them, is 
 incompetent to do, and it is therefore done by the 
 Epops, who in v. 271, 273, 277, 281, 288, 292, had 
 previously presented to the stranger those birds that 
 had come on singly, and as they passed in review, 
 with the requisite explanations; to him, therefore, 
 we must also attri])ute the naming of those, which 
 form the chorus in v. 297, 299, 300, and 301, as also 
 in V. 302, 303, 301. The birds are subsequently 
 divided into four troops, in each of which six are 
 named ; and from the question in v. 299, rtc ycip laO* 
 6 vTritrOtv avTrig-y as well as from the successive 
 naming of each of the first six, we are led to con- 
 clude that they followed each other one by one. 
 Thus the first troop enter Kara (rroixovg.'^^^ The 
 (TToXxot, as soon as they have entered, range close to 
 each other, and thus are formed the depth and 
 breadth, or the four cttoXxoi and six Z^ya of the comic 
 chorus. According to the scholia above quoted in 
 V. 589 of " the Knights," the chorus was composed 
 of male and female birds.^*® I confess I do not see 
 
 '^^ Julius Pollux, IV. 109, says of the tragic chorus only, that they 
 came on, either Kara Kvya, or Kara aroixovg. In the first case three 
 of the chorus always came on abreast, in the last, five, one after the 
 other. It follows of course that, in order to form the whole chorus, 
 iu the former case the five Kvyd always ranged one behind the other, 
 and in the latter case the three (troTxot ranged alongside of each other. 
 The same thing would take place in the comic chorus, only changing 
 the relative numbers, as we may conclude from the connection with 
 the tragical chorus in which Pollux mentions them. 
 
 "^ I use this expression not unintentionally, although the Scholiast 
 quoted describes twelve male and as many female birds, because the 
 same Scholia soon after contain the observation, that when the comic 
 choruses consisted of men and women, the men were always thirteen 
 in number; and thus is there a contradiction, which must be exi)lained 
 by coin paring together the Scholia of different commentators. But I 
 do not think with Bbckh (Grace, trag. princip. p. 70) that ihe first 
 interpretation is incorrect: for the female somi-chorus, iu the hyme- 
 
134 
 
 13 
 
 ;> 
 
 precisely tlie object of this arrangement, in reference 
 to the songs of the chorus, and that although some 
 melodies are capable of being divided into scmi- 
 choruses,^^* I can discover no trace of an appropria- 
 tion of them to different sexes, except in the hyme- 
 neal song at the conclusion ; the strophe of which 
 (v. 1731, 1736) might be sung by the male, and the 
 antistrophe by the female semi-chorus. 
 
 But perhaps this composition of the chorus re- 
 ferred to the arrrangement of the individuals, (so 
 that a (TToTxoc of male birds, alternated with a (jroixog 
 of female birds) and consequently to the dance, that 
 is to the avTKTToixCiv, or to the orchestic movement 
 of the ranks in opposite directions, something like 
 our minuet ; as in Xenophon,^^ Kallias begs Socrates 
 to send for him, whenever he practised dancing, in 
 order that he might be his vis-a-vis, i^iva o-oi avrio-- 
 TO£xw) and practise with him. This must also have 
 taken place with the choruses, as the same author**^ 
 
 nseal song towards the end of the play, had probably their own Kor)'- 
 phaeos with a female mask, as well as those choruses, composed 
 wholly of females, in plays of that description, and the 'AXicvoV, 
 associated by Biickh with the male birds, completes the number of 
 twelve female birds : for although Aristophanes says of this bird, 
 kKHvoai U y' aXr.vojv, yet the question which immediately follows. 
 Tig yAp i<r9' ovtriaOiv avTrjg\ shows that he meant by it the female 
 Halkyon: and that iKHvoai only refers to opviQ, The Scholiast is 
 therefore right in explaining KrjpvXog by the male Halkyon. 
 
 ^1 Thus I should conceive that as in the strophe 1470. 1472, and 
 in the antistrophe 1482, 1434, the thema was sung by the whole 
 chorus ; and then 1473, 1477, and 1485, 1489, by the first semi-cho- 
 rus; and 1490, 1493, by the second semi-chorus; so in the single 
 strophe 1553, 1555, it was sung by the whole chorus ; 1556, 1558, by 
 the first serai-chorus ; and 1559, 1561, by the second semi-chorus ; 
 and 1562, 1564, was sung by the whole chorus ; finally, in the epodos, 
 1694, 1696, were sung by the whole chorus ; 1697, 1700, by the first 
 semi-chorus ; and 1701, 1705, by the second semi-chorus. 
 
 «2 Conv. II. 20. =« Anab. V. 4, 12. 
 
 compares the drawing up of a l)ody of troops to the 
 avTKTTOiXHv of the chorus; temjerav uxnrep — ot x^/^^i 
 avTKTTOixovTeg a\\{)\oig. Hence it appears that the 
 (TToXxot of the choruses were formed also in columns, 
 in which two always danced opposite each other; 
 and we may thus imagine the ordonnance of our 
 chorus so arranged, that the male and female birds 
 danced opposite each other .^^ This may especially 
 have been the case during the hymenseal song, in 
 which the chorus, after falling back some paces, 
 (avaye, 1720) and increasing their distances, {^lex^) 
 — ^whilst at the same time the rear Zvya advanced 
 from behind through the interv^als, to the front, 
 (Tra/oaye)^^ and then closed in to each other— formed 
 a wide space {irapexe sc. x^P^^T^ ^^^ Peisthetairos 
 advancing with his bride : they then danced round 
 him in a circle (Tre/jtTrlred^f, 17^1) and sang the 
 hymenseal in semi-choruses moving in opposite direc- 
 tions to each other. 
 
 s« Tliis takes for granted that each of the four (ttoIxoi consisted of 
 birds of the same sex, which is most probable. In this respect it is 
 remarkable that the birds of the fourth ffrolxoQy as named by Aristo- 
 phanes, (v. 304) arc all females. That he has not also separated the 
 sexes of those in the three first, is no objection. In the first 
 and third at least, the majority is male, and the contrary in the 
 second. The rule then seems to b« observed, and the exceptions may 
 be attributed to the necessity of consulting the metre. In the rapidity 
 with which they come on the stage this deviation from the reality 
 would be unobserved. 
 
 ^ Uapdyeiv expresses an oblique march from rear to front. 
 Hutchinson on Xen. Cyrop. II. 3, 9. The choruses use also some 
 stratcgetical expressions. See 344 sq. 353. Compare J ungermann on 
 Jul. Pollux. IV. 106. Zvya and trrolxoi are military terms. Pol. I. 
 126. Aux^iv is also a military expression. Plut. Agesil. 18. Au<r- 
 Ti)(Tav yap avrdig ti)v (pakayya kox htax^v. 
 
 246 Athen. XIV. p. 622, c. 'Avaycr, ihpvxio^iav UouXts n? Gii^. 
 See also irapix^ in the same sense, Vesp. 949, and the Scholia and 
 Reiskc. In Vesp. 1326 and 1330, we have a different sense; after 
 av«x« (raise up!) and Trapcx^ (g»^'cl) we must understand T>)v^^a. 
 
13G 
 
 With respect now to the destination or real purpose 
 of the chorus, they perform their part (as far as tlicy 
 represent the frivolous and volatile people of Athens) 
 with unprejudiced natural common sense, and a just 
 feehng of distrust for the stranger, who is steahng in 
 amongst them, and whose admission into the com- 
 munity they prepare to repel with great vehemence ; 
 and with equal readiness their anger is appeased and 
 cooled by two or three crafty and ably applied sen- 
 tences. Tlien led away by the charms which every 
 novelty and subtlety have for them, and captivated ])y 
 sophistical flattery, with the splendour of their former 
 greatness, and sensibly alive to any thing which pro- 
 mises to extend their power and exalt their glory, they 
 are completely gained over for an adventurous project, 
 which, through their instrumentality. Ambition and 
 Thirst for command are carrying on for their own 
 selfish purposes. Thus the chorus become the 
 sport of those motives, and are the real and main 
 object of the satire and irony of the piece ; and to 
 such a degree do they continue so, till the very conclu- 
 sion of the drama, that in the honest extacy of their joy 
 for their imagined happiness, they receive with hymns 
 of praise the new tyrant, who is to gain all the advan- 
 tage from the undertaking, glorify the instrument 
 whose dupe they have hitherto been and wall continue 
 to l)e, and follow with shouts of jubilee, to assist at 
 a marriage, at which the dovv^ry is their own freedom. 
 But from this their general point of \Hew, the chorus 
 rise at times, in the course of the play, to their proper 
 choral character, especially in the parabasis, (v. (i7(>, 
 800, and in v. 1058, 1117) where, with the materials 
 which the action of the story provides, and from their 
 own views, as speaking under the mask of birds, they 
 again act their own part, and treat the public assem- 
 
 -- v^ 
 
 1.^7 
 
 bled before them, namely, the people of Athens and 
 mankind in general, entirely in the poet's own sense, 
 and with the most incomparable irony ; at the same 
 time in the beautiful song, parts of which are inter- 
 mingled here and there with the parabasis, the cha- 
 racteristic superiority and free spirit of the chorus 
 are manfully maintained. Nor can we fail to recog- 
 nize this real office of the comic chorus, never sinking 
 below, but on the contrary soaring with joyous 
 humour above the action, in the truly satirical songs 
 with which the intervals of the last scenes (v. 1 170, 
 1183, V. 1553, l5Gi, and v. 1694 and 1705) are filled 
 up. These songs all grow out of the sentiments and 
 incidents of the story. Each is, as it were, called 
 forth at its proper place by some special occasion ; 
 they are all likewise intimately connected with one 
 another, and may therefore be here considered toge- 
 ther. The leading idea brought out in v. 1470, on 
 which they all depend, is imphed also in v. 118 and 
 1058, and the amplification of it on this occasion 
 only furnishes specimens of the curiosities and re- 
 markable objects, which have been observ^ed, on their 
 excursions over land and sea, by the all seeing and 
 far-flying birds ; but which in fact are all found toge- 
 ther in Athens. The curiosity alluded to in the 
 strophe, (v. 1470, 1481) namely, the cowardly and 
 sycophantic Kleonymos, is introduced, with reference 
 to the earlier satire upon the same v. (289 sq.) as a 
 debauchee, by the sycophant who has just been dis- 
 missed, and who prefers his own infamous trade to 
 honest labour (v. 1432, 1 150) or to military service, 
 (v. 1421) The antistrophe (v. 1482, 1493) evidently 
 refers back to the mishap, which Euelpides tells us 
 in V. 493, he met with in the evening, when on his 
 
 d 
 
138 
 
 way to Halimous*^7 he had been attacked and beat and 
 robbed of his cloak, which is again alluded to in 
 V. 712. These three passages were very probably 
 grounded on some anecdote, which had occurred 
 during the winter preceding the exhibition of " the 
 Birds/'249 Ti^e strophe (v. 1553, 1550) is ostensibly 
 occasioned by the aKidSeiov (umbrella, v. 1508, 1550) 
 of Prometheus, who has just quitted the stage, and 
 the fabulous SKtaTroSfc with which it begins, allude 
 to the spindle-shanks of the philosophers, who were 
 more like ghosts than bodies, (and whose master, 
 Socrates, is consequently here represented as a Psy- 
 chagogue)2^^ and particularly those of Chairephon, 
 who is quoted by name, and who was of a pale and 
 haggard form.^*® But the whole of this strophe is 
 connected with the general satire of the play. For 
 the mention in it of Socrates has certainly nothing in 
 common with the lawKparoov (v. 1282) in which pas- 
 sage Aristophanes meant to imply that the philoso- 
 pher was adverse to the Sicilian expedition ; whereas 
 
 247 Euelpides, or whoever under bis name may have met with this 
 accident, was not, as Kruse (Hellas. T. 2, p. 214) seems to imply, 
 taking an evening walk to Halimous ; but we must suppose that he 
 lived there, and went to sup in the city, but having drunk too much 
 before tlie meal, he had fallen asleep, and being awoke by the crow- 
 ing of the cock, thinking it was morning, while it was still evening, 
 he wished to go home. As this was before supper-time, the accident 
 must have occurred in that season of the year when the days are 
 short; with this allusion we can also explain the passage (1481 sq.) 
 Xwpa ^poc avrtp ry aicorc^ iv ry Xvxvotv ip»|ft<'g» as meaning close to 
 the city wall, on the road to Halimous, which was not lighted in the 
 evening. Kapri irpoKvirTu t^w reixovQ- 
 
 *« [Perhaps some act of violence and outrage committed by 
 Alcibiades and his young companions. Tr.] 
 
 *»3 Compare Essay on " the Clouds." p. 69. 
 
 ^ Schol. Platon. p. 331, Bekker. Xatpt^wv ourog 6 Swicpartcic 
 
 131) 
 
 in this strophe, (v. 1 553, 1 5G4) viewing him as one 
 entangled in the principles of sophistical rhetoric, he 
 confronts him with Gorgias, the subject of the last 
 strophe ; and he produces as one of his followers his 
 famulus Chairephon, whom, in v. 1564, 1296, he twice 
 calls vvKTepig, (vampire) and had described in the 
 "Qpai as vvKTog iraig,^^ Chairephon is here, i. e. in 
 the "Q/oat, really the famulus of Socrates, for he comes 
 forth at the summons of Peisandros, as in v. 20 of 
 *' the Birds." Trochilos comes out when Euelpides 
 knocks at the abode of Epops. Chairephon was, 
 besides, a friend of Gorgias,^^^ and he had the 
 reputation of being a cunning parasite and icoXa^, 
 of which we have proofs in many fragments of 
 the old comic poets.**^^ In this view he is appro- 
 priately coupled with Peisandros, who evokes him, 
 and whom those comic poets brought upon the stage, 
 as they did also Kleonymos, on account of his glut- 
 tony.^* That Chairephon should fall upon the throat 
 (to XaTfuLo) of the slaughtered camel, to drink the blood 
 from it, serves to show his voraciousness, and in con- 
 nection with that, his unblushing and obtrusive 
 effrontery ; and at the same time to characterize him 
 as a Xat/ioc.^^* The connection is thus discovered 
 between this strophe and the following scene, in 
 which the gormandizing of Hercules is exhibited. 
 The satirical character of the chorus still continues 
 
 ^^ Scholiasta Platonis Clarkianus, p. 331. 
 
 '*' Platon. Gorg. 1. OtXoc yap fioi Fopyiac- 
 
 2" Sec particularly Athen. VI. p. 243 to 244, a. in which two whole 
 chapters are dedicated to Chairephon, and p. 245, a. Also IV. 
 p. 164, f. Compare IV. p. 135, e. and p. 136, e. ; also XIII. p. 585, e. 
 and Schol. Platon. 1. c. 
 
 *M Athen. X. p. 416, d. Compare Meineke Qusst. Seen. II. p. 21. 
 
 ^^ Meineke on Menander, p. 41. 
 
J 
 
 no 
 
 to rise in severity, and reaches its acme in the epode. 
 (v. 1694, 1705) We have akeady shown, how inti- 
 mately this passage is connected with the preceding 
 and concluding scenes. 
 
 Such then is the management of the chorus, by 
 which, as the people of the birds, they have become a 
 main object of the satire; whilst in their especial choral 
 designation, they have assumed an existence, which 
 hovering over the action of the story, not only looks 
 down upon it with satire and irony, but also pervades it 
 with cheerful songs. They are still at all times closely 
 connected with it; and by the disguise they throughout 
 maintain, and never for a moment forget, they are per- 
 petually interwoven with it: and this management 
 mainly contributes, to support throughout the poem, 
 the appearance of a playful effusion, which, without 
 any direct aim, scatters at random its light and easy 
 satire, and thus to conceal its historical application. 
 From all the foregoing observations we may now 
 easily see, what has induced the poet, by this manage- 
 ment of the chorus, by the whole allegorical disguise, 
 by the management of his principal character, repre- 
 senting no one definite indi\^dual, but evidently 
 engrafted upon more than one, and by other means 
 of comic ridicule in single instances, which, without 
 betraying him, spoke a language not to be misunder- 
 stood, to conceal the purpose he had in view. This 
 was done in reference to the people, whose enthu- 
 siasm for the enterprize which he laughs at, was as 
 yet any thing but cooled, and who required that it 
 should be treated, not in an irritating, but in a very 
 vague and bantering tone. All then that bears upon 
 this point has an enigmatical character. Less deli- 
 cacy was necessary in unmasking, by means of the 
 
 111 
 
 allegorical undertaking, the sophistical and ambitious 
 main- springs of the real one ; nay, this in truth was 
 the special object of the poet. But he was prevented 
 from making his allusions to Alcibiades more open 
 and more direct, in deference to this highly irritable 
 and dangerous character. When " the Birds " came 
 out, it was not knowTi, what had been the result of 
 dispatching the Salaminia for Alcibiades, how he had 
 himself received the summons, or how it had been 
 taken by the crew of the fleet devoted to a com- 
 mander, who was the soul of the expedition ; of a 
 fleet too, which had only been sent away, in order 
 that the prosecution against him might be set on 
 foot. If the suspicion of an understanding with the 
 Lacedaemonians had been previously excited against 
 him, it might well be apprehended that when he saw 
 that he was personally threatened with imminent 
 danger, he would really have set those springs to 
 work. That such apprehensions existed, is evident 
 from the very cautious instructions which were given 
 to the Salaminia. Nor, indeed, could it be foreseen, 
 what turn Alcibiades might give to affairs by his 
 eloquence, and by his still formidable party in Athens, 
 if he should surrender himself and come home to 
 plead his own justification. An open attack against 
 him must then in either case have been hazardous. 
 If these pohtical considerations did in fact restrain 
 the poet from speaking more undisguisedly, we can- 
 not but feel how essentially his comic humour and 
 finesse have contributed to the concealment of his 
 object; just as a wild girl, by running away and 
 hiding herself, tempts the youth to pursue and catch 
 her, and is then the most artful, when her ])ehaviour 
 appears to l)c the most unstudied. 
 
112 
 
 I flatter myself however, that from the point of 
 view thus established, I have now shown by this, I 
 think, unforced explanation of the drama, in its whole 
 course and in all its parts, that the disguise is not 
 impenetrable. The unity which, according to such 
 explanation, the entire poem exhibits, shows the 
 intellectual vigour and the art of the poet, which, 
 amidst the play of fancy, ever hold fast to the prin- 
 cipal idea, and give to it a perfect form, under the 
 appearance of the most arbitrary fictions. It links 
 together so intimately, general views of the Athenian 
 republic with the more immediate objects of the 
 play, that though the former are not its especial 
 drift, they are brought into broad day-light by the 
 able treatment of the latter ; and whilst the under- 
 standing is no less charmed and satisfied than the 
 imagination, the judgement is confirmed, which I 
 expressed at the commencement of the essay, that 
 this drama is the most artificially constructed of all 
 the works, which have been preserved to us, of our 
 inimitable comic poet. It is therefore entitled to 
 take a place, the tendency and importance of which 
 can no longer be a matter of indifference to the his- 
 torian or to the philologist, in that exoteric and 
 esoteric history of the portraiture of his time, which 
 is to be found in the works of Aristophanes, particu- 
 larly in that of his conception of Alcibiades ; an indi- 
 vidual of whom we may venture to affirm, that as he 
 was the most prominent poHtical character of his day, 
 who kept all minds on the stretch, and in a state of 
 anxious inquietude, who rose into notoriety with the 
 first dawn of the Aristophanic comedy, and sunk 
 with its gradual decline, so he must be considered as 
 a principal and leading personage in its representa- 
 
 143 
 
 tions, in its allusions, and in all its bearings. This 
 would no doubt appear more clearly if our poet's 
 works had come down to us in a less mutilated 
 state.2*fi 
 
 2W In developing the relation in which Aristophanes stood towards 
 the age in which he lived, the character of Alcibiades will demand a 
 very different degree of attention from that which has been paid to it 
 in the Essay entitled " Aristophanes and his times," p. 164 ; and it 
 will deserve to be treated much more in detail, than that of Kleon, 
 whose boisterous and coarse eloquence, as described by Aristophanes, 
 W{i8 utterly incompatible with the refined doctrines then coming into 
 vogue, and who is sufficiently well known by the principles he avows, 
 in the remarkable speech reported by Thucydidcs, III. 37 sq., on the 
 superiority of bad, but immutable, laws over better laws, which might 
 be changed, on the advantages of a low state of civilization, combined 
 with the love of order, over refined education with licentiousness, of 
 simple straight-forward men over men of deep penetration and pro- 
 found views in the administration of public affairs, and upon the 
 power of oratory over the passions of the Athenians. Now Kleon, 
 Eukrates, Hyperbolos and other demagogues of this description could 
 only be brought forward and elevated above the multitude, in 
 opposition to the accomplishments of Perikles, until the younger race 
 of the KaXoi k ayaOoi, that is of the highly educated class, (see 
 Welcher's Prolegg. in Theogn. XXIV. sq. and my Essay on the 
 riipaCf p. 47) was grown up, and could come into play. Their com- 
 mon, vulgar selfishness, a vice certainly not peculiar to the more re- 
 cent times in Athens, was undoubtedly, through the political weakness 
 of Nicias, the only one who stood up in opposition to them, produc- 
 tive of much mischief : but there was no cause for apprehension that 
 the whole system of Athenian civilization should be merged in theirs, 
 nor that the constitution should fall into the hands of demagogues 
 like them; and we may collect from the speech of Diotimos in 
 answer to Kleon, (Thucyd. III. 42 sq.) and from its effect, how little 
 reason there was to apprehend, that they could maintain themselves 
 against the more refined civilization which was daily gaining ground. 
 Alcibiades on the other hand, the representative in this respect of the 
 principle of that more refined egotism, which was supported by all 
 the arts of sophistical cunning, gave, from his youth upwards, occa^ 
 sion for this alarm ; and according to his own view, as well as the 
 opinions of Thucydides and Aristophanes, (see Essay on ** the 
 Clouds," p. 55, and on the Fi/pac, p. 43) as the city had not been 
 able earlier to check him and his party in their career, she would 
 have been reduced to the necessity of giving herself into his iiands, 
 
IM 
 
 as Rome did afterwards to the Crrsars, if she was desirous of main- 
 taining herself as she was, or of extending her foreign dominion. 
 Her inconsistent conduct towards Alcibiades, which was nothing less 
 than vacillation and inconsistency of principle, was the sole cause of 
 her destruction, as might easily be proved. We may therefore fairly 
 consider Alcibiades as the principal ol)ject of the attention of Aristo- 
 phanes ; and in reference to his character, as formed on the prin- 
 ciples in which he was educated, he should be compared with Euripides 
 rather than with Kleon, who has no affinity to him whatever. (Aris- 
 tophanes and his times, p. 235.) It is however no easy matter 
 to trace Alcibiades in the works of the poet which we possess ;♦ and 
 it can only be done by searching into particular plays, and into the 
 fragments of those which are lost. And if the philologist, whilst 
 he endeavours to develope general views from particular expressions, 
 and thus, as far as he is able, to obtain a more perfect and lively 
 perception of the traits by which these general views are depicted, does 
 not actually weep over the loss of these compositions, yet will he 
 scarcely be satisfied with being able to sketch out a picture of 
 the historical tendency of the poet in general from his remaining 
 works, and from what is there laid open to his view ; nor will he 
 think himself absolved from the more laborious task of searching 
 into them individually. (Aristophanes and his times, p. 48.) If we 
 could still read his AairaXflg, his Tagenistai, his IlfXapyoi, in a perfect 
 state, no one, who possesses anything beyond a general acquaintance 
 with Aristophanes, would doubt, that we should have a much clearer 
 insight into the poet's conception of Socrates, of the sophists, of the 
 education and formation of the youth of Athens ; and that we should 
 hv. able to form a more definite, and, in many respects, perhaps a 
 very different judgement respecting them. 
 
 * That this was a very general impression among the learned, only 
 a very few years ago, is evident from the concludinp* words of a note 
 in Mr. Mitchell's translation of the Acharnians. ** It is to be feared 
 " that Aristophanes himself shared in the general good-will towards 
 " the son of Cleinias ; at least no comedy has come down to us, in 
 " which he is treated with that severity, which a character so preg- 
 " nant with mischief so richly deserved." Tr. 
 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 )l 
 
In the foregoing translation, the reader will have observed that 
 an attempt has been made, in writing the proper names of 
 Greek persons and places, to adopt an orthography more 
 nearly approaching the Greek, than that wliich is generally in 
 use, and which is in almost all cases derived or copied from 
 the Latin writers. In this practice the German philologists 
 have set the example, and if other nations wonld consent to do 
 the same, and thus avoid the inconveniences and irregularities 
 arising from our various modes of writing Greek proper names, 
 many facilities would be given for the more ready perception 
 of the niceties of (ireek etymology. The exceptions to this 
 practice, which have been made in the preceding pages, are 
 chiefly in the cases of words with which the English eye or car 
 are so familiarized, that the change might have been considered 
 as too obtrusive. 
 
 N. B. It may be proper to inform the reader that some of 
 the articles contained in the following Appendix are intro- 
 duced from the notes annexed to the original essay, and that 
 the others are additional notices by the Author, occasioned by 
 the observations of Herr H. E. Foss on the essay itself, in the 
 interval between its being printed as a separate publication, 
 and its appearing in the volume of Transactions of the Royal 
 Academy of Berlin, printed in the year 1830. 
 
 r 
 
 APPENDIX A.— p. 3:>. 
 
 It was here my intention only to bring forward those 
 features of the life of Gorgias, whicli were of import- 
 ance to the explanation of " the Birds;'' but not to 
 give a critical history of it, as Geel, and more recently 
 Herr Foss, in his learned Commentatio de Gorgia 
 Leontino, (Hal. Sax. lSi>8) have attempted. In refer- 
 ence to the judgement passed on this part of my essay, 
 in pages 23, 2(> of that commentary, 1 have to observe: 
 
 1. That I give no credit to tlie futile observation 
 of the Scholiast of Ilermogenes, that the apxinpecT' 
 (iiVTtfc of an embassy, the virtual ambassador, might 
 have taken upon himself, not to return to his fellow 
 citizens to give them an account of his mission, but 
 would have preferred to remain in Athens, where he 
 w^as so well received, and was so well olf. This must 
 have appeared to the Scholiast himself to be a very im- 
 probable story, and particularly for the crafty Gorgias. 
 It was on this account that I accused the Scholiast 
 of coming to an inaccurate and hasty conclusion, by 
 which the two residences of Gorgias in Athens were 
 confounded together; and this supposition I still 
 prefer to the explanation of Herr Foss, that he, the 
 Schohast, knew nothing of Gorgias' return to his own 
 country. 
 
 2. 1 willingly grant to Herr Foss that in pages 
 36 and 78, 1 have spoken too strongly of Gorgias being 
 
1 4S 
 
 domiciliated in Athens ; I would merely imply that 
 he preferred this residence ; and this is quite con- 
 sistent with the express testimony of Isokrates, {wipX 
 avTiS. p. 158, Bekker) that he had no hxed abode, 
 TToXtv ovSifilav KaraTrayiiog oiKlKrag. I have no where 
 asserted that Gorgias ever became an Athenian citizen. 
 Herr Foss, p. 23 and 32, has here quite misunder- 
 stood me. \ \ r 
 3. From the manner in which the brother ot 
 Gorgias, the phvsician Herodikos, is twice men- 
 tioned in the Gorgias of Plato, once by Chairephon, 
 (not, as Herr Foss says, by Socrates) and again by 
 Gorgias himself, it is much more probable that he 
 was personally known to Plato, (as for Socrates or 
 Chairephon, that is nothing to the purpose) and that 
 consequently he had resided in Athens, than that he 
 was only known to him by hearsay. Sicilian physi- 
 cians were not such strangers in Athens. The comic 
 writer Epikrates, (Athenoeus, II. p. 59, f.) in the 
 fragment of a play, in which he laughs at other phi- 
 losophers as well as at Plato and his doctrine, ndi- 
 cules a physician ZiKiXag dno yag, and a troop of 
 young speculating philosophers, like the Phrontistai, 
 within the precincts of the academy. 
 
 4. Nothing positive can be said of the result of 
 Gorcrias' travels in Greece, or of the countries he 
 successively visited. Herr Foss allows that he was 
 not long absent from Athens, that he very soon 
 returned thither, that his several journies into the 
 other parts of Greece were made from that city, and 
 that he frequently returned to it. But when this 
 writer makes Thessaly the central point of Gorgias 
 residence in Greece, he seems to me, although it 
 cannot be denied that Gorgias did live there a consi- 
 derable time, and at different periods, to have said 
 
 149 
 
 too much : the latter supposition certainly follows 
 from the words of Isokrates, 1. c. BiaTpi\pac ptv irtfA 
 0(TTa\lav, but not the first. Athens, where he had 
 already been received with such enthusiasm, had 
 evidently many more attractions for him. No state 
 in Greece, by the forms of its political and judicial 
 constitution, by the character of the people, and the 
 disposition which prevailed amongst the youth of the 
 higher classes to study and admire the art of oratory, 
 offered so splendid and favourable a theatre for the 
 talents, the vanity and the avarice of Gorgias. That 
 he remained in Athens till his death, is not more in 
 my power to prove, than it is in that of Herr Foss, 
 p. 37, to show that he died in Thessaly ; but that he 
 lived there at an advanced age is incontrovertible 
 from what Athenajus says, XI. p. 505, that he was in 
 Athens after Plato had written his " Gorgias." A 
 short residence there on the part of this individual 
 is proved by neither of the passages quoted in p. 24 by 
 Herr Foss. The first out of the " Gorgias" of Plato 
 is only a proof that he travelled to other cities ; and 
 here, by the by, the words ov /lovov tvOaSe are of 
 great weight in favour of Athens. In the second 
 passage out of the " Menon" of Plato the declaration 
 of Menon may be clearly explained from his pecuUar 
 character. And from the third passage, in Atheneeus 
 we only learn that Gorgias was a great traveller. The 
 word iiri^iiiJitiv by no means involves the idea of a 
 short residence, as it was used for any residence in a 
 foreign country, and not merely for that of the 
 sophists. On the other hand, from the influence 
 which Gorgias had indisputably acquired over Attic 
 oratory, both oral and written, and particularly on 
 the rhetorical education of those distinguished per- 
 sons, who are expressly named as his pupils, and who 
 
150 
 
 certainly did not, like Isokrates, travel after him to 
 Thessaly, we have every ground for concluding that 
 he had become intimately acquainted with Athens 
 from a repeated and long residence within its walls. 
 
 5. We have no positive proof that Isokrates tra- 
 velled into Thessaly merely to hear Gorgias, for he 
 had made in his youth several journies into other 
 countries, and had resided there, as he says himself, 
 Epist. ad Jas. fil. p. 600, Bekker, a icai irportfiov 
 aWoOi TTov Mrpi^ov. If this however should have 
 been the case, we could not thence conclude that he 
 was the pupil of Gorgias in Thessaly about the 90th 
 or 91st Olympiad, and that Gorgias was, during the 
 whole of this time, absent from Athens ; still less, 
 if this also should be confirmed, that Gorgias was 
 not, as I have alledged that he was, residing in 
 Athens, and in great vogue, at the time of the exhibi- 
 tion of " the Birds." For here he had struck root, and 
 the journey itself of Isokrates shows a long course of 
 intimacy with him. Unless we admit this, the attacks 
 upon him by name in " the Wasps" and in " the 
 Birds" cannot be explained. 
 
 6. I do not think it likely that everything which 
 the Scholiast of Ilermogenes relates, on Gorgias' 
 splendid performances in Athens, and on their re- 
 sults, can be compressed into his first residence there. 
 Although the SchoUast does indeed contract into one 
 journey the whole of Gorgias* connection with Athens, 
 still his narrative is not inconsistent with distributing 
 it over different periods. I do not hov/ever deny that 
 all which is connected with the first impression which 
 he made, and particularly the comparison of his 
 harangues to the Lampadophoria, belongs to his first 
 visit; 
 
 APPENDIX B.— p. 37. 
 
 In Pausanias, X. 7? this statue is called IwixpvGog 
 thiov, but in Atheneeus, XI. p. 505, d. the word is 
 \pv(nj, and in Philostratos, Vit. Soph. I. 9, ^vcrovg, 
 and in Cicero de Orat. III. 32, we read non inaurata 
 statua sed aurea, as also in PUny, IV. 33, 2i, aurea 
 statua et solida. According to Bockh, there is no 
 contradiction between these expressions, as lirixpvcrog 
 is used of works, in which hammered gold plates are 
 laid on an interior model, and which may therefore 
 be also called xp^^^^^' ^^ the other hand, that 
 which was merely gilded was called KaTa-)(pv(yog, inau- 
 ratum, in contradiction to which Cicero calls the 
 statue of Gorgias aurea. Compare Bockh's Public 
 Gi)conomy of the Athenians, Part III. p. 282. Whe- 
 ther Pliny, by the word solida, meant to imply a 
 statue of massive gold, we need not enquire; but 
 probably in conformity with what is above said, it 
 was an avSpiag (T(l)Vf}}iXaTog, as statues of this kind 
 usually were. A distant allusion to this statue, only 
 placing it at Olympia instead of Delphi, appears also, 
 as Biickh observes, in the reward which Phaidros 
 (Plato Phffid. p. 23(>, b.) promises to Socrates for the 
 speech he was to deliver, (r^u/iZ/Xaroc tv OXvfnria 
 aTaOr)Tiy if indeed the statue in question was set up 
 earlier, and not just about the tnne when Plato com- 
 posed his Gorgias, whicli the passage from Hermippos, 
 
\ 
 
 152 
 
 adduced by Athenseus, 1. c. might lead us to think, 
 though it does not necessarily require it, particularly 
 as Hermippos is never much to be depended upon. 
 The probabihty indeed arising from the similarity of 
 the reward, for a performance similar to that of 
 Gorgias, appears to me to gain additional strength 
 from the preceding passage, p. 235, d. koI <toi iyw — 
 vwKTXvovfiai Xpv(Triv HKOva \<to fiirpriTOv iiQ AcX^ouc 
 dvaOiicreiv, ov jiovov IfiavTOv dWa koI ct/;v ; and on a 
 comparison of these two passages from the Phaidros, 
 we may well conclude that a XP^^ tiicwv might also 
 be a(j)VpiiXaTog» 
 
 t tl 
 
 APPENDIX C— p. 40. 
 
 Too little weight is here given to the fact, that 
 Alcibiades was also highly celebrated as a rhetorician. 
 Plutarch (comp. Alcibiadis cum Coriolano, § 3, et 
 Aristeid. cum M. Catone, § 2) applies to him what 
 Antipatros had said of Aristotle : irpog roig dXXoig 
 6 d\n)p KOI TO irdOeiv h\€v. Here then is a most 
 strict coincidence between him and Gorgias. In 
 addition to the name, there is also one expression 
 founded upon the character of the part, which seems 
 to point to Peisistratos. Only it is somewhat con- 
 cealed by its form, which has perhaps been occasioned 
 by the greater difficulty of the pronunciation ; Aris- 
 tophanes having changed to Peisthetairos that which 
 ought by the analogy of Utimava^ to have been llf/er- 
 liraipog. Nor can the fact that the names, Peisthe- 
 tairos and Euelpides, \vi\\ admit of being explained 
 by the characters given to them, be considered by 
 Herr Foss as inconsistent with their more special 
 reference. Other comic names are similarly circum- 
 stanced, as Triphales, Pheidippides. Aristophanes 
 had just as good grounds for these designations, as 
 when he gave the name of Euripides to the character 
 of Euripides, the name of Kleon to that of Kleon, 
 and the name of Socrates to the character of the 
 teacher of sophistical subtlety. 
 
 \ 
 
APPENDIX D.— p. 12. 
 
 Th e explanation of the character of Socrates in ^* the 
 Clouds," which Dr. Riitscher has now more fully 
 developed in his treatise on " Aristophanes and his 
 Age/* and which I had called in question in my essay 
 on that play, p. 7^? on seeing the brief statement in 
 which it first appeared, has not proved so convincing, 
 as to induce me to give up the opinion which I then 
 expressed. For even admitting the existence of that 
 relation to the individual character or subjectivity of 
 Socrates, which Dr. Riitscher supposes, an opinion 
 which, together with his other premises, I may for the 
 present pass over, it not being my intention to enter 
 now into a critical examination of his work, yet 
 Dr. Riitscher himself, and others who have written 
 upon this subject, allow that there exists a great dif- 
 ference ])etween this indi\adual character of Socnates 
 and that of the sopliists. [One of these premises 
 ho^v ever, which I would particularly allude to, is pas- 
 sive obcdie7ice ; but even if we can at all consider this 
 as a principle of whole ages and nations, from the 
 tiinc when man, seduced by reflection, renounced 
 his obedience to his great law-giver, in order to 
 equal him in wisdom, that is, since the commence- 
 ment of his race, yet is it certainly most inapplicable 
 to republican institutions, which naturally invite 
 men to discuss the merits of their laws and rulers.] 
 
 ISj 
 
 A system of thinking which is founded on funda- 
 mental principles of ethics, which must regulate 
 the conduct of every thinking being alike, rises above 
 the limits of finite individuaUty into the sphere 
 of the abstract mind itself; whilst on the other hand 
 he who regulates his own actions and those of 
 others by personal and accidental rules, varying 
 according to the circumstances of the moment, will 
 remain for ever lost within the narrow hmits of 
 his sensual nature, and becomes an egotist on prin- 
 ciple. This last was the system of the sophists, so 
 widely difierent in its principles from that of Socrates, 
 that in this point of view we cannot consider that 
 there was any similarity between the two. But the 
 peculiar method and principle of thinking, which was 
 adopted by the sophists, was closely connected with 
 their own peculiar sentiments and wishes ; their phi- 
 losophical egotism was founded on their moral selfish- 
 ness, and the former therefore invented a system of 
 dialectic and rhetorical technicalities, in order to assist 
 the latter, and to gratify the selfish desires both of 
 themselves and of others. It is known, and univer- 
 sally acknowledged, that the principles of Socrates 
 were diametrically opposed to these. Human and 
 divine right, morality and law, were venerated by 
 him : he appealed to them in public as well as in 
 private aflairs ; and he well knew how to unravel the 
 web of captious and rhetorical artifices, by which sel- 
 fishness endeavoured to palliate what was bad. In 
 this respect therefore he can still less be identified 
 with the sophists, and it is useless to speculate upon 
 any moral connexion between the two. Consequently, 
 even if Aristophanes had recognized in the Socratic 
 ])hilosophy that peculiar tendency, which is presumed 
 in the theory of Dr. Riitscher, (which, however, I 
 
 4^ 
 
y 
 
 156 
 
 strongly doubt) still this is no reason for introducing 
 him as the representative of the principle combated 
 in " the Clouds ;" and the profound justification of 
 it which he pretends to have discovered, falls to the 
 ground. Moreover, the principle against which the 
 play of " the Clouds" is directed, is not that of 
 abstract reasoning in general, but of reasoning applied 
 to the service of improper desires ; to which all the 
 common-place sophisms which occur in the play are 
 introductory; and their appUcation, as the antient 
 commentators have already remarked, is more rhe- 
 torical than philosophical; nor could it indeed be 
 otherwise, since it was by the instrumentality of rhe- 
 toric, that this principle first acquired in Athens a 
 dangerous influence in public and private affairs. 
 This appears clear, as well from the plan which 
 Strepsiades had formed, first, for pursuing his own 
 studies in the school of subtlety, and afterwards in 
 placing his son in it, as from the result originally 
 proposed as the object of the institution, and which 
 was afterwards accomphshed, viz. the teaching how 
 to turn right into wrong, and wrong into right ; and 
 still more so from the proofs which Pheidippides 
 exhibits of his proficiency in the art. 
 
 This justification therefore of the choice of Socrates 
 as the representative of sophistry, founded as it is 
 upon his supposed concrete individuality, (private 
 character and opinions) falls to the ground in which- 
 ever way we take it; and this admission may be 
 made without detracting from the historical veracity 
 of Aristophanes ; for we may easily conceive him to 
 have adhered to general historic truth, without repre- 
 senting every one of his comic heroes with perfect 
 historical fidelity to their known moral characters. 
 Those external reasons therefore which 1 have ad- 
 
 lif 
 
 ^ 
 
 \i 
 
 I 
 
 157 
 
 duced, alone remain, and these were evident and 
 palpable not only to the poet, but what is here more 
 to the purpose, to the people also; and there is 
 therefore no occasion to go in search of a more refined 
 explanation, which would have been uninteUigible to 
 the public, and could only have been understood by 
 those who were familiar with deep philosophical 
 researches. 
 
 Nor am I aware that I have contradicted, as 
 Dr. R. avers, the admission which I have made 
 in my essay on " the Clouds,'* of a certain formal 
 resemblance between Sociates and the sophists, and 
 which, I think, is sufficiently explained in pp. 5, 7, 
 1 1, ill). What I have said in p. 70 against the pre- 
 sumed essential affinity between the two cannot be 
 so understood. I have further to observe, that when 
 I am reproa(;hcd for having misunderstood the real 
 object of the poet of " the Clouds," I have only to 
 refer to pp. 30 and 7^ sq. of that essay, for a contra- 
 diction of this assertion, and for a proof that such accu- 
 sation is entirely to be attributed to the want of a 
 proper distinction between the purport of the play, 
 and its dramatic form, coupled with a misunder- 
 standing of the expression which I had used. Nor 
 do I see on what grounds Dr. Rcitscher supposes 
 (obs. 318, 358) that the chorus at v. 1025, H57 throw 
 off* their masks : the sentiments expressed in these 
 passages do not justify such an opinion. The clouds 
 had already divested themselves of their humid cover- 
 ing, before their entrance into the orchestra in female 
 forms ; but certainly not without some sensible mani- 
 festation of their real nature as clouds. (See v. 287, 
 325, 3 10, 355.) 
 
 > 
 
^^ 
 
 APPENDIX E.— p. 15. 
 
 My opinion on the characters of Peisthetairos and 
 Euelpides, and tlieir signification, is thus represented 
 by Herr Foss, p. 30 : " Under the name of the first 
 <' are combined, and exposed to ridicule, Alcibiades and 
 " Gorgias, (Alcibiadem et Gorgiam, uno Peisthetccri 
 " nomine comprehensos, simul derideri) and l)y that 
 " of Euelpides, in part Polos individually, and in part 
 " the turbulent young men of Athens are signified. 
 « (tum ipsum Polum turn ferocem juventutem Athc- 
 " niensem significatam esse)." In place of contra- 
 dicting this statement, I shall only recommend the 
 perusal, vnth ordinary attention, of my explanation of 
 the two characters, and especially of what I have said, 
 pp. 1 1 , 42, on that of Peisthetairos, and, pp. 15 and Ki, 
 on that of Euelpides, and that these should be com- 
 pared ^vith Herr Foss' statement, in order to decide 
 whether my meaning has been there correctly and 
 fully reported, or whether the whole point of view 
 from wliich the characters have been adjudged, and 
 my explanation given, has not been distorted by a 
 partial conception of it. If I acknowledge some 
 especial references to certain individuals, as promi- 
 nent in the general historical and political significa- 
 tion of these characters, (which I have not done m 
 reference to Euelpides ; for in p. AG I expressly admit 
 the absence of any definite application, or closer 
 
 f! 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 f)?* 
 
 reference to Polos) yet do I by no means pretend 
 that such in(Uviduals were directly represented iu 
 
 these characters. 
 
 However, even if my explanation had l)een rightly 
 understood, the assumption of Herr Foss, " that 
 " Gorgias and Polos have nothing whatever to do with 
 " the characters of Peisthetairos and Euelpides," 
 would still be incompatible with it. To prove this, it 
 must previously be shown that the general diaracter- 
 istic traits, on the accordance of which I ground, 
 p. .34, 1. 20, .SI, and pp. U, 12, the reference of Peis- 
 thetairos to Gorgias, (to speak only of him, as he is the 
 most important, and Polos is here in every respect 
 only an accessory) did in no way fit him. This would 
 be the first and most essential position, as these traits 
 run through the whole play, and might easily be 
 seized by every Athenian, even if he did not under- 
 stand all the particular allusions. Herr Foss however 
 has not taken this hne, but has only adduced three 
 generjil arguments against me, and then attacked single 
 points, in which I have seen allusions to Gorgias. 
 
 As to the first of these arguments, with whicli 
 Herr Foss (p. 35) connects a special observation on 
 pp. 3.3, 34 of the essay, namely, that the signs, which 
 I think point to Gorgias and Polos, may in part fit 
 other sophists equally with them ; this is so little 
 denied by me, that I characterize the part of Peisthe- 
 tairos rather as a symbolical embodying of the whole 
 sophistical principle in its pohtical tendency and opera- 
 tion. Many individuals may have been here combined 
 together. But is there any other sophist who can 
 be compared with Gorgias as the father and master of 
 the art of persuasive eloquence, and particularly in 
 Athens ? Is any other sophist more prominent than 
 Gorgias for vanity and briUiancy, or for his celebrity 
 
> 
 
 •i(;o 
 
 in this art throughout Greece ? Did any other 
 sophist than Gorgias exert his influence to excite the 
 first practical demonstrations of the Athenians against 
 Sicily ? The second of these arguments, namely, that 
 the points of allusion were so obscure and impro- 
 bable, that they could only liave been seized, even 
 by the Athenians, sharp-sighted as they were, after 
 long and difficult meditation, may be just in respect 
 to particular and insulated traits. But the funda- 
 mental features of the character, which I have above 
 enumerated, are so far from being obscure and unin- 
 telligible, that the application of the first can be diffi- 
 cult to no one, and the comprehension of the latter 
 must be easy to all, who are once made aware of the 
 leading idea of the play. Besides, the understanding 
 of comic allusions is always something subjective — 
 (i. e. it will depend on the feelings and opinions of 
 the spectators) — the people, which, as F. A. Wolf 
 once expressed himself, understood at half a twinkling 
 of an eye, and which laughed at the holding up of the 
 tip of a finger, as if afraid of being tickled, did not, as 
 Aristophanes complains, understand " the Clouds ;*' 
 and he himself asks for <to</)ouc and St^iovg OiaTag, 
 To the third argument, tliat one cannot see why 
 Aristophanes should have so studiously concealed 
 his purpose of holding up to comic ridicule Gorgias 
 and Polos, it might be answered, that this was an 
 immediate consequence of the mysterious veil which 
 was thrown over the main idea of the whole play, 
 the grounds for which I have explained, p. 143-4. 
 But this is not the case ; for the essential traits which 
 point to Gorgias are not so concealed ; and, as I 
 have observed, pp. 41 and 128, Aristophanes seems to 
 have wished to give the key for the understanding of 
 this view of the character, by an open attack upon 
 
 161 
 
 him by name just before the conclusion of the piece. 
 I say nothing positive of Polos, as in my essay I treat 
 Euelpides' reference to him as problematical, and I 
 consider him in the character of an apt sophistical 
 disciple and Famulus, a fit supplement to his master, 
 and as doing a good service in the play. 
 
 In respect to particular points, I would willingly 
 have waited to see, how what I have said in p. 26, and 
 particularly how my mode of viewing these individual 
 instances, are duly considered by the judges of my 
 essay, and by Herr Foss. I am glad to find that 
 in this explanation I agree with M. Spengel, who 
 does not deny the possibility of a reference to 
 Gorgias and Polos in " the Birds," and who very 
 properly judges that so accurate a description of the 
 foreigners was not necessary, in order to point them 
 out to the spectators, as Herr Foss requires ; and that 
 if the drawing of the character, and the impression, 
 which Aristophanes wished to produce, were in gene- 
 ral just, and enough to hint at the person, much 
 might be admitted under this mask, which in strict- 
 ness does not maintain the resemblance. This will 
 especially apply to Herr Foss* observations on the 
 lines 30, 40, 42, 108, 320, 366, of the play; and in 
 the course of my essay these are in great measure 
 replied to and explained. The same may be said 
 of the remarks on v. 114. As to what Herr Foss 
 notices on v. 13? sq. I could have anticipated it, by the 
 remark, that this trait is not so much borrowed from 
 Gorgias, as from other sophists. But as Gorgias is 
 expressly found in the society of the sophistical para- 
 sites of Kallias, i. e. the KoXaiccc, (Meineke, Qu. sc. 1 . 
 p. 53) I might here say " Noscitur a sociis." I 
 grant too, that well grounded objections may be raised 
 against many of these single points; and in accordance 
 
 M 
 
 / 
 
 J 
 
\ 
 
 16:2 
 
 with the foregoing explanation, I might give up several 
 of these insulated allusions, without in the smallest 
 degree detracting from my interpretation generaUy. 
 The careful reader, if he attend to the course of 
 my argument, will also find that I have endeavoured 
 to give to my interpretation the same loose and easy 
 keeping, particularly of passages which were not very 
 clear, which the poem itself possesses throughout ; 
 and that I was fully aware, that this cheerful and 
 volatile playfuhiess of the comic writer would be com- 
 prehended by a gay and hvely fancy, but that his airy 
 production must not be treated like a play-bill. I 
 shaU content myself with making this general reply 
 to Herr Foss* remarks, as they have anticipated the 
 publication of my treatise, and as many might other- 
 wise be misled by them. One single point which 
 appears to me of sufficient importance I shaU discuss 
 separately. 
 
 APPENDIX F.— p. 63. See also pp. 37 and 71. 
 
 Herr Foss, p. 65, is of opinion that the funeral 
 oration of Gorgias was only an epideiktic harangue, 
 because the eulogy of those who had fallen in any 
 particular battle could not have been committed to 
 one who was not an Athenian. That this oration 
 was delivered over those who had fallen at Orneai, I 
 have only proposed as a very problematical conjec- 
 ture ; and it may have been by no means confined to 
 them, but expressly extended to all who had fallen 
 in the field, within a certain period of time. But I 
 do not see why a foreigner, so distinguished as an 
 orator as Gorgias was, might not have been selected 
 to deUver this oration. Xenokrates, (Plut. Phocion, 
 29, fin.) one of the ambassadors sent by Antipatros, 
 was engaged on a much more important affair of the 
 city, and that at a time when it was a misdemeanour 
 to introduce foreigners among the chorus on the stage. 
 Plut. 1. c. 27. Neither Thucyd. II. 34, nor Plato in 
 the Menexenos, p. 234, assert that a foreigner could 
 not be chosen to make the funeral oration before 
 the BouXi?. The words of the former are avrip (not 
 iroXtTijc) vpm^voQ 'y the latter has alpeiaOat oarig, 
 K. T. X. Nor is there any ground for interpreting the 
 passage of Philostratos upon Gorgias' funeral oration, 
 which Herr Foss refers to all Athenian citizens who 
 had ever died in the wars, as if the speech must have 
 
1G4 
 
 had this very general and indefinite application. 
 That passage contains no general expression of the 
 kind, beyond the statement that it was the constant 
 practice ; ovg oi 'A©T|va7ot Sf^/uoaf^ 5vv l-rraivoig Waxpav. 
 On the contrary, as Philostratos says tlpijrai /utlv tiri 
 Toig Ik twv iroXifjuov irtGovai^ so does Plato, in the 
 Menexenos, express himself in general terms, tirX roiq 
 awoOavov(ri, notwithstanding that he is at the time 
 speaking of one particular public interment. Nor is 
 there any better ground for Herr Foss* interpretation 
 of the words o-o^t^ ^t vTrep^aXXovay KvyKUTat, as if 
 Gorgias availed himself of what was the proper object 
 of the speech, the praise of those who had fallen in 
 their country's cause, to pursue his own personal 
 object, to excite the Athenians against the Persians. 
 Philostratos, in the passage to which I refer p. 62 of 
 the essay, has shown clearly enough in what con- 
 sisted the art and address of Gorgias in the concep- 
 tion of this speech. This writer appears to me rather 
 to speak both of the oration and of its purpose, in 
 terms which make it impossible to take the latter 
 for a fiction, or to consider the former as less seriously 
 meant than that which was spoken at Olympia. 
 
 It is by no means my wish, as Herr Foss, p. 35, 
 alledges, to represent the speech of Peisthetairos in 
 " the Birds" as a parody on this harangue. Who- 
 ever will read p. 62 of the essay, can have no doubt 
 respecting my meaning. But whether Aristophanes 
 had also at the time this funeral oration of Gorgias 
 uppermost in his mind, is perfectly immaterial to my 
 explanation of the play in its general import. It is not 
 impossible also that many things may have occurred 
 to the poet, out of the speech which Gorgias had made 
 as ambassador from Leontini. But as to Herr Foss* 
 objections to my hypothesis, I can reply to the first, 
 
 IG5 
 
 what I have already said in the essay, that the very words 
 of Philostratos, apxnv ovk 3v KTijcraaOai fjirj to 8/oaoT?)- 
 piov alpovfjiivoig, seem to imply that Gorgias' fimeral 
 oration took place at a crisis when the Athenians had 
 a great enterprize in hand, like that of Sicily, (by 
 which they sought to revive their poUtical power, now 
 in its wane) on which account the orator does not think 
 it advisable, to urge them to unite with the other 
 Greeks. Further, the supposition of Herr Foss, that 
 Gorgias, in his speech, only praised the heroes of the 
 Persian wars, whose monuments were erected in the 
 Kerameikos, is based on an incorrect rendering of 
 Philostratos* words, rwv MijSticwv Tpoiraiwv, which 
 could never mean the victors themselves, but only the 
 victories they had gained, or the monuments raised 
 in their honour. The only sense in which I can under- 
 stand this passage in Philostratos, is that, whilst he 
 attaches to those trophies the eulogy of the victories 
 themselves, for which they were erected, and the 
 praise also of those heroes to whom they were 
 erected, he means to point out to them, from the fact 
 that trophies of this kind had been raised, and that 
 none had been raised for victories over the Greeks, 
 that they had cause for triumph only for victories 
 over the barbarians, but they should mourn for those 
 obtained over their own countrymen. If in fine Gorgias 
 speaks only of victories, but Peisthetairos of dominion, 
 this partly belongs (in respect to the dominion over 
 Hellas) to the references to the speeches made on 
 the occasion of the Sicilian expedition, and which are 
 adduced in pages 62, 63 of the dissertation, partly 
 (in respect to the dominion over the barbarians) to 
 the characteristic extravagances of this description 
 mentioned in the 65th page of the essay, which are 
 to be found in the teachers of eloquence, (com- 
 
\G6 
 
 pare Aristeid. Panath. p. 152, 10) and which were 
 pre-eminent in Gorgias. The observ-ation of M. 
 Spengel, to which I have above alluded, is applica- 
 ble to this, and to the other arguments of Herr Foss. 
 The comparison is too earnestly probed, as if paro- 
 dies of this nature were to be made with the copying 
 machine. The same is the case in respect to the 
 expression of the peculiarities of Gorgias in the speech 
 of Peisthetah-os, (F. p. 35 sq.) which I think I have 
 sufficiently explained in pp. 68, 69 of the essay. I 
 here only observe, in reply to Herr Foss, that the 
 exclamation of Gorgias, 'HXec TroXtc cvSaZ/xoiv, in the 
 opening of his Eleian speech, and in strict conformity 
 with the expressive words of Aristotle evOvg apx^rai, 
 is an exact counterpart of the /jieya koI \aptvov tirog, 
 which forms the commencement of that of Peisthe- 
 tairos, though neither the one nor the other bear any 
 resemblance to an exordium. 
 
 APPENDIX G.— p. 89. 
 
 Ox the new arrangement of the lines in the passage 
 of " the Frogs," 1431 sq. ed. Teubn. which relates 
 to Alcibiades, and which Dindorf proposes in his 
 edition of iEschylos, Lips. 1827, p. ix. sq. I beg, at 
 the private suggestion of Herr Dindorf himself, to 
 observe, first, that, as is shown by my essay on " the 
 Clouds," p. 47, I was well aware that the reading 
 riv 8' eicrpifpy rig is rendered " but if one has brought 
 up (a lion ;)" but I think this cannot be right, because 
 the subject to XP^ in the first of the three Hues, 
 which I maintain are closely connected with one 
 another, is not riva, but woXiv, understood in Iv 
 TToXti. The poet does not speak, and could not speak 
 of any individual bringing up a Hon, but that a whole 
 state ought not, publice, to bring up one, as Athens 
 had done in the case of Alcibiades. But I cannot 
 see how the first of the three Unes, Ov xp^ — Tpi<peiv, 
 should be interpreted as proposed by H. Dindorf, 
 
 and not the second and third, MaAtfrra pev 
 
 vTTfipiTtiv, as the converse might equally be assumed. 
 Nor is there any apparent necessity for connecting 
 these three lines with those which follow. The ques- 
 tion respecting Alcibiades is complete with them; 
 and this makes it improbable that, in case the fol- 
 lowing hues, which refer to some totally diiFerent 
 question, are out of place, those also should be dis- 
 
 /.^O 
 
 / 
 
168 
 
 turbed. They were in the same order as at present 
 in the earhest MSS. and give a very good sense, 
 which I have defended, and which I the more main- 
 tain, as (TK{ffivog is too frequently used for a lion's 
 whelp, (see, amongst others, iEHan Nat. an. VII. 47 ; 
 IV. 34 ; III. 21. Hom. II. XVIII. 319.) for us not 
 to take it as such here ; and it suits the gradation or 
 climax in the next line, agreeing too with iicTpa^ij, 
 the reading of all the MSS. But as to the lines 
 1437-1441, I am inclined to suppose after 1441, a 
 question put by Bacchus to Euripides, whether he did 
 not know some more serious, graver counsellor, one 
 who was more fit to be driven altogether out of the 
 city, (such as, perhaps, Ovroi fiev £ktu4>XoTvt' aV vfitiQ 
 8' ouK ixuQ^OTi av TiXhavTtg Stfuoalwg (rwSotfxtO' avi 
 compare 1450) to which the present line, 1442, 'E7W 
 filv o7Sa, &c. was the first answer. I think it more 
 likely that such a question may have been left out, 
 than that these, together with the lines 1552 and 
 1553, were not genuine, or than the alternative pro- 
 posed by Dindorf, for leaving out 1449 and 1450. Why 
 this last line should be omitted I can conceive no 
 reason whatever. It is to be observed that ^Eschylos 
 expresses his meaning on two foUowing occasions. 
 First, in 1458 and 1459, he declares the city to be 
 irredeemable. Then in 1460, Bacchus asks him to 
 find out some mode by which it may recover itself; 
 and by way of contrast to Euripides, who, in line 1442, 
 is ready at the instant to give the advice which is 
 asked of him, iEschylos wishes to put off the business 
 till his return to the upper world ; but on the beautiful 
 exhortation, in line 1462, to send blessings from the 
 lower world to his fellow-citizens, he does give his 
 advice. There is thus what may be called a paral- 
 lelism in the management of this question. 
 
 APPENDIX II. ~p. 223. 
 
 PiiOTirs, Lex. v. Tf)i(iaWoi. In the passage there 
 quoted from Demosthenes, adv. Conon. p. 1349, (ed. 
 Bekker) it is mentioned that certain vulgar and ill- 
 bred individuals went by the name of TpijiaXXol, A 
 few observations occur on the language of this Tri- 
 ]>allian ambassador; though it is of no further in- 
 terest, than as conducing to a more perfect intelli- 
 gence of all the comic notions of the poet, as these 
 were understood by the public of his time. What he 
 says in v. 1572, ^'E^eig uTpt/iag, is perfectly good 
 Greek : and it is equally clear that KaXain Kopawa, &c. 
 are Greek words purposely corrupted. 71ie same is 
 the case with Na/Bataar/ofu, v. 1615, and '2avvaKa 
 PaKTapiKpov(ra, V. 1628. This last word is evidently 
 compounded of BuKTupiov and Kpomo, and must be an 
 infinitive, as aavva can scarcely be anything but al, 
 and Kii must stand for koi. The dipthong av seems 
 to be a favourite sound with the Triballian, as he 
 uses it to drawl out Kopawa and f^amXivav. And 
 thus the expression 2£ koI ^awTapiKpovam (3oKa pot 
 being understood) seems a very appropriate answer 
 to the preceding question of Hercules. Hercules had 
 said "O Tp//3aXXoc, o\pu)Kuv ^oku (toi ; to which the 
 other replies, I should hke to give thee a good beat- 
 ing. And we must suppose that the Triballian had 
 provided himself with a ftaKTiiptov. N((/3«t(Tar/ytu also 
 
170 
 
 seems to be a compound of two words ^ va/3at(ra, 
 the infinitive of dva^alvtiv, and rptv for rpii^. This 
 infinitive too depends upon the question which has 
 been put by Neptune: Tt 8ai <n ^»ic; and the 
 answer is, that we three ambassadors (r/jtic ovrtg 
 Tj/Liac, V. 158i') should return, that is ilg tov ovpavbv, 
 (v. 1686) just as Neptune had said, v. 1636, amw^uv 
 oiKai' avOig. The comic humour of this part of the 
 play consists in always interpreting the words of the 
 Tril)aUian contrary to their meaning, just as is done 
 with Pseudartabas in " the Acharnians," v. 108 and 
 102. The language too of this last is in like manner 
 distorted. In hne 104, Ov Xfj;^c xpvao is evidently a 
 Greek gibberish. The same may be said of fine 100, 
 on which much useless pains have been bestowed 
 to explain it from the Persian. See Wolf on " the 
 Acharnians" of Aristophanes, p. 5 I. 'laprafiav t^apK' 
 ^vair«T(Tova( (rarpa is probably nothing else than'H priv 
 TOV kpraUpUv avairucrai nadpAv ; or, " It is in truth 
 " a dirty worn out subject, to ask Artaxerxes for 
 " money." This king, whose name is disguised by 
 the simple insertion of /lay, reigned in Persia at the 
 time of the exhibition of " the Acharnians ;" for he 
 died 01. 88—4. Thucyd. IV. 50; Diod. XII. 61. 
 
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