The Eleven Comedies, Volume 2

103

Thucydides, son of Milesias, when accused by Pericles, could not say a word in his own defence. One would have said his tongue was paralysed. He was banished.—He must not be confounded with Thucydides the historian, whose exile took place after the production of 'The Wasps.'

104

When the judges were touched by the pleading of the orator and were decided on acquittal, they said to the defending advocate, "Cease speaking, descend from the rostrum."

105

There were two urns, one called that of Conviction, the other of Acquittal.

106

Meaning, that he had at first produced pieces under the name of other poets, such as Callistrates and Phidonides.

107

Eurycles, an Athenian diviner, surnamed the Engastromythes ([Greek: muthos], speech, [Greek: en gastri], in the belly), because he was believed to be inspired by a genius within him.—The same name was also given to the priestesses of Apollo, who spoke their oracles without moving their lips.

108

Some poets misused their renown as a means of seduction among young men.

109

Cleon, whom he attacked in 'The Knights,' the first Comedy that Aristophanes had produced in his own name.

110

Cynna, like Salabaccha, was a shameless courtesan of the day.

111

The lamiae were mysterious monsters, to whom the ancients ascribed the most varied forms. They were depicted most frequently with the face and bosom of a woman and the body of a serpent. Here Aristophanes endows them with organs of virility. It was said that the blood of young men had a special attraction for them. These lines, abusive of Cleon, occur again in the 'Peace,' II. 738-42.

112

Socrates and the sophists, with whom the poet confounds him in his attacks.

113

He likens them to vampires.

114

The third Archon, whose duty was the protection of strangers. All cases involving the rights of citizenship were tried before him. These were a frequent cause of lawsuit at Athens.

115

'The Clouds' had not been well received.

116

Aristophanes lets it be understood that the refusal to crown him arose from the fact that he had been too bold in his attack.

117

To perfume their caskets, etc., the Ancients placed scented fruit, especially oranges, in them.

118

The pastimes of love.

119

At Marathon, where the Athenians defeated the Persian invaders, 490 B.C. The battle-field is a plain on the north-east coast of Attica, about twenty-seven miles from Athens.

120

A favourable omen, of course. The owl was the bird of Athené.

121

An allusion to Cimon's naval victories.

122

The Cyclades islands and many towns on the coast of Asia Minor.

123

The tribunals.

124

The six last Archons presided over the civil courts and were styled Thesmothetae (see above).

125

Magistrates, who had charge of criminal cases.

126

Built by Pericles. Musical contests were held there. Here also took place distributions of flour, and the presence of the magistrates was no doubt necessary to decide on the spot any disputes that might arise regarding this.

127

This, says the Scholiast, refers to magistrates appointed for the upkeep of the walls. They were selected by ballot from amongst the general body of Heliasts.

128

The demagogues and their flatterers.

129

The battle of Artemisium on the Euboean coast; a terrible storm arose and almost destroyed the barbarian fleet, while sparing that of the Athenians.

130

A mantle trimmed with fur.

131

A rural deme of Attica. Rough coats were made there, formed of skins sewn together.

132

An effeminate poet.

133

He compares the thick, shaggy stuff of the pelisse to the intestines of a bullock, which have a sort of crimped and curled look.

134

An Attic talent was equal to about fifty-seven pounds avoirdupois.

135

He grumbles over his own good fortune, as old men will.

136

Lamia, the daughter of Belus and Libya, was loved by Zeus. Heré deprived her of her beauty and instilled her with a passion for blood; she is said to have plucked babes from their mothers' breast to devour them. Weary of her crimes, the gods turned her into a beast of prey.

137

Theagenes, of the Acharnian deme, was afflicted with a weakness which caused him to be constantly letting off loud, stinking farts, even in public—the cause of many gibes on the part of the Comic poets and his contemporaries.

138

He had been sent on a mission as an armed ambassador, i.e. as a common soldier, whose pay was two obols.

139

The [Greek: pankration] was a combined exercise, including both wrestling and boxing.

140

All these names have been already mentioned.

141

Each time Philocleon takes up the song with words that are a satire on the guest who begins the strain.

142

King Admetus (Euripides' 'Alcestis') had suffered his devoted wife Alcestis to die to save his life when ill to death. Heracles, however, to repay former benefits received, descended into Hades and rescued Alcestis from Pluto's clutches.

143

A famous epicure, the Lucullus of Athens (see 'The Acharnians').

144

A parasite renowned for his gluttony.

145

A town in Thessaly.

146

Because of his poverty.

147

Four lines in 'The Knights' describe the infamous habits of Ariphrades in detail.

148

That is, it ceases to support it; Aristophanes does the same to Cleon.

149

Referring to Lysistratus' leanness.

150

A tragic actor, whose wardrobe had been sold up, so the story went, by his creditors.

151

He enters, followed closely by the persons he has ill-used, and leading a flute-girl by the hand.

152

Meaning his penis.

153

Dardanus, a district of Asia Minor, north of the Troad, supplied many flute-girls to the cities of Greece.

154

Pointing to the flute-girl's motte.

155

He tells his son the very story the latter had taught him.

156

The name of the baker's wife.

157

Or Agoranomi, who numbered ten at Athens.

158

The disciple of Socrates.

159

Lasus, a musician and dithyrambic poet, born about 500 B.C. in Argolis, was the rival of Simonides and thought himself his superior.

160

Ino, the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Being pursued by her husband, Athamas, whom the Fury Tisiphoné had driven mad, she threw herself into the sea with Melicerta, whereupon they were both changed into sea-goddesses.—This is the subject of one of Euripides' tragedies.

161

A famous town in Magna Graecia, south coast of Italy.

162

A celebrated physician.—Philocleon means, "Instead of starting an action, go and have yourself cared for; that is better worth your while."

163

The dances that Thespis, the originator of Tragedy, interspersed with the speaking parts of his plays.

164

A verse borrowed from an unknown Tragedy.

165

As was done in the stadia when the races were to be started.

166

The ancients considered it a specific against madness.

167

Phrynichus, like all the ancient tragic writers, mingled many dances with his pieces.

168

Tragic poet. His three sons had also written tragedies and were dancers into the bargain.

169

Carcinus, by a mere transposition of the accent ([Greek: karkívos]), means crab in Greek; hence the pun.

170

Carcinus' sons were small and thin.

171

The third son of Carcinus.

172

Meaning, the three sons of Carcinus, the dancers, because, as mentioned before, Phrynichus often introduced a chorus of dancers into his Tragedies.

173

Carcinus himself.

174

The Greek word is [Greek: triorchoi]—possessed of three testicles, of three-testicle power, inordinately lecherous; with the change of a letter ([Greek: triarchoi]) it means 'three rulers,' 'three kinglets.'

175

Euelpides is holding a jay and Pisthetaerus a crow; they are the guides who are to lead them to the kingdom of the birds.

176

A stranger, who wanted to pass as an Athenian, although coming originally from a far-away barbarian country.

177

A king of Thrace, a son of Ares, who married Procné, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens, whom he had assisted against the Megarians. He violated his sister-in-law, Philomela, and then cut out her tongue; she nevertheless managed to convey to her sister how she had been treated. They both agreed to kill Itys, whom Procné had born to Tereus, and dished up the limbs of his own son to the father; at the end of the meal Philomela appeared and threw the child's head upon the table. Tereus rushed with drawn sword upon the princesses, but all the actors in this terrible scene were metamorphised. Tereus became an Epops (hoopoe), Procné a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, and Itys a goldfinch. According to Anacreon and Apollodorus it was Procné who became the nightingale and Philomela the swallow, and this is the version of the tradition followed by Aristophanes.

178

An Athenian who had some resemblance to a jay—so says the Scholiast, at any rate.

179

Literally, to go to the crows, a proverbial expression equivalent to our going to the devil.

180

They leave Athens because of their hatred of lawsuits and informers; this is the especial failing of the Athenians satirized in 'The Wasps.'

181

Myrtle boughs were used in sacrifices, and the founding of every colony was started by a sacrifice.

182

The actors wore masks made to resemble the birds they were supposed to represent.

183

Fear had had disastrous effects upon Euelpides' internal economy, this his feet evidenced.

184

The same mishap had occurred to Pisthetaerus.

185

The Greek word for a wren, [Greek: trochilos], is derived from the same root as [Greek: trechein], to run.

186

No doubt there was some scenery to represent a forest. Besides, there is a pun intended. The words answering for forest and door ([Greek: hul_e and thura]) in Greek only differ slightly in sound.

187

Sophocles had written a tragedy about Tereus, in which, no doubt, the king finally appears as a hoopoe.

188

A [Greek: para prosdokian]; one would expect the question to be "bird or man."—Are you a peacock? The hoopoe resembles the peacock inasmuch as both have crests.

189

Athens.

190

The Athenians were madly addicted to lawsuits. (Vide 'The Wasps.')

191

As much as to say, Then you have such things as anti-dicasts? And Euelpides practically replies, Very few.

192

His name was Aristocrates; he was a general and commanded a fleet sent in aid of Corcyra.

193

The State galley, which carried the officials of the Athenian republic to their several departments and brought back those whose time had expired; it was this galley that was sent to Sicily to fetch back Alcibiades, who was accused of sacrilege.

194

A tragic poet, who was a leper; there is a play, of course, on the Lepreum.

195

An allusion to Opuntius, who was one-eyed.

196

The newly-married ate a sesame cake, decorated with garlands of myrtle, poppies, and mint.

197

From [Greek: polein], to turn.

198

The Greek words for pole and city ([Greek: polos] and [Greek: polis]) only differ by a single letter.

199

Boeotia separated Attica from Phocis.

200

He swears by the powers that are to him dreadful.

201

As already stated, according to the legend, accepted by Aristophanes, it was Procné who was turned into the nightingale.

202

The son of Tereus and Procné.

203

An African bird, that comes to the southern countries of Europe, to Greece, Italy, and Spain; it is even seen in Provence.

204

Aristophanes amusingly mixes up real birds with people and individuals, whom he represents in the form of birds; he is personifying the Medians here.

205

Philocles, a tragic poet, had written a tragedy on Tereus, which was simply a plagiarism of the play of the same name by Sophocles. Philocles is the son of Epops, because he got his inspiration from Sophocles' Tereus, and at the same time is father to Epops, since he himself produced another Tereus.

206

This Hipponicus is probably the orator whose ears Alcibiades boxed to gain a bet; he was a descendant of Callias, who was famous for his hatred of Pisistratus.

207

This Callias, who must not be confounded with the foe of Pisistratus, had ruined himself.

208

Cleonymus had cast away his shield; he was as great a glutton as he was a coward.

209

A race in which the track had to be circled twice.

210

A people of Asia Minor; when pursued by the Ionians they took refuge in the mountains.

211

An Athenian barber.

212

The owl was dedicated to Athené, and being respected at Athens, it had greatly multiplied. Hence the proverb, taking owls to Athens, similar to our English taking coals to Newcastle.

213

An allusion to the Feast of Pots; it was kept at Athens on the third day of the Anthesteria, when all sorts of vegetables were stewed together and offered for the dead to Bacchus and Athené. This Feast was peculiar to Athens.—Hence Pisthetaerus thinks that the owl will recognize they are Athenians by seeing the stew-pots, and as he is an Athenian bird, he will not attack them.

214

Nicias, the famous Athenian general.—The siege of Melos in 417 B.C., or two years previous to the production of 'The Birds,' had especially done him great credit. He was joint commander of the Sicilian expedition.

215

Procné, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens.

216

A space beyond the walls of Athens which contained the gardens of the Academy and the graves of citizens who had died for their country.

217

A town in Western Argolis, where the Athenians had been recently defeated. The somewhat similar word in Greek, [Greek: ornithes], signifies birds.

218

Epops is addressing the two slaves, no doubt Xanthias and Manes, who are mentioned later on.

219

It was customary, when speaking in public and also at feasts, to wear a chaplet; hence the question Euelpides puts. The guests wore chaplets of flowers, herbs, and leaves, which had the property of being refreshing.

220

A deme of Attica. In Greek the word ([Greek: kephalai]) also means heads, and hence the pun.

221

One of Darius' best generals. After his expedition against the Scythians, this prince gave him the command of the army which he left in Europe. Megabyzus took Perinthos (afterwards called Heraclea) and conquered Thrace.

222

All Persians wore the tiara, but always on one side; the Great King alone wore it straight on his head.

223

Noted as the birthplace of Thucydides, a deme of Attica of the tribe of Leontis. Demosthenes tells us it was thirty-five stadia from Athens.

224

The appearance of the kite in Greece betokened the return of springtime; it was therefore worshipped as a symbol of that season.

225

To look at the kite, who no doubt was flying high in the sky.

226

As already shown, the Athenians were addicted to carrying small coins in their mouths.—This obolus was for the purpose of buying flour to fill the bag he was carrying.

227

In Phoenicia and Egypt the cuckoo makes its appearance about harvest-time.

228

This was an Egyptian proverb, meaning, When the cuckoo sings we go harvesting. Both the Phoenicians and the Egyptians practised circumcision.

229

The staff, called a sceptre, generally terminated in a piece of carved work, representing a flower, a fruit, and most often a bird.

230

A general accused of treachery. The bird watches Lysicrates, because, according to Pisthetaerus, he had a right to a share of the presents.

231

It is thus that Phidias represents his Olympian Zeus.

232

One of the diviners sent to Sybaris (in Magna Graecia, S. Italy) with the Athenian colonists, who rebuilt the town under the new name of Thurium.

233

As if he were saying, "Oh, gods!" Like Lampon, he swears by the birds, instead of swearing by the gods.—The names of these birds are those of two of the Titans.

234

Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, King of Thebes and mother of Heracles.—Semelé, the daughter of Cadmus and Hermioné and mother of Bacchus; both seduced by Zeus.—Alopé, daughter of Cercyon, a robber, who reigned at Eleusis and was conquered by Perseus. Alopé was honoured with Posidon's caresses; by him she had a son named Hippothous, at first brought up by shepherds but who afterwards was restored to the throne of his grandfather by Theseus.

235

Because the bald patch on the coot's head resembles the shaven and depilated 'motte.'

236

Because water is the duck's domain, as it is that of Posidon.

237

Because the gull, like Heracles, is voracious.

238

The Germans still call it Zaunkönig and the French roitelet, both names thus containing the idea of king.

239

The Scholiast draws our attention to the fact that Homer says this of Heré and not of Iris (Iliad, V. 778); it is only another proof that the text of Homer has reached us in a corrupted form, or it may be that Aristophanes was liable, like other people, to occasional mistakes of quotation.

240

In sacrifices.

241

An Athenian proverb.

242

A celebrated temple to Zeus in an oasis of Libya.

243

Nicias was commander, along with Demosthenes, and later on Alcibiades, of the Athenian forces before Syracuse, in the ill-fated Sicilian Expedition, 415-413 B.C. He was much blamed for dilatoriness and indecision.

244

Servants of Pisthetaerus and Euelpides.

245

It has already been mentioned that, according to the legend followed by Aristophanes, Procné had been changed into a nightingale and Philomela into a swallow.

246

The actor, representing Procné, was dressed out as a courtesan, but wore the mask of a bird.

247

Young unmarried girls wore golden ornaments; the apparel of married women was much simpler.

248

The actor, representing Procné, was a flute-player.

249

The parabasis.

250

A sophist of the island of Ceos, a disciple of Protagoras, as celebrated for his knowledge as for his eloquence. The Athenians condemned him to death as a corrupter of youth in 396 B.C.

251

Lovers were wont to make each other presents of birds. The cock and the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest.

252

i.e. that it gave notice of the approach of winter, during which season the Ancients did not venture to sea.

253

A notorious robber.

254

Meaning, "We are your oracles."—Dodona was an oracle in Epirus.—The temple of Zeus there was surrounded by a dense forest, all the trees of which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; both the sacred oaks and the pigeons that lived in them answered the questions of those who came to consult the oracle in pure Greek.

255

The Greek word for omen is the same as that for bird—[Greek: ornis].

256

A satire on the passion of the Greeks for seeing an omen in everything.

257

An imitation of the nightingale's song.

258

God of the groves and wilds.

259

The 'Mother of the Gods'; roaming the mountains, she held dances, always attended by Pan and his accompanying rout of Fauns and Satyrs.

260

An allusion to cock-fighting; the birds are armed with brazen spurs.

261

An allusion to the spots on this bird, which resemble the scars left by a branding iron.

262

He was of Asiatic origin, but wished to pass for an Athenian.

263

Or Philamnon, King of Thrace; the Scholiast remarks that the Phrygians and the Thracians had a common origin.

264

The Greek word here, [Greek: pappos], is also the name of a little bird.

265

A basket-maker who had become rich.—The Phylarchs were the headmen of the tribes, [Greek: Phulai]. They presided at the private assemblies and were charged with the management of the treasury.—The Hipparchs, as the name implies, were the leaders of the cavalry; there were only two of these in the Athenian army.

266

He had now become a senator, member of the [Greek: Boul_e].

267

Pisthetaerus and Euelpides now both return with wings.

268

Meaning, 'tis we who wanted to have these wings.—The verse from Aeschylus, quoted here, is taken from 'The Myrmidons,' a tragedy of which only a few fragments remain.

269

The Greek word signified the city of Sparta, and also a kind of broom used for weaving rough matting, which served for the beds of the very poor.

270

A fanciful name constructed from [Greek: nephel_e], a cloud, and [Greek: kokkux], a cuckoo; thus a city of clouds and cuckoos.—Wolkenkukelheim [Transcriber's note: So in original. The correct German word is Wolkenkuckucksheim] is a clever approximation in German. Cloud-cuckoo-town, perhaps, is the best English equivalent.