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Χορός

ἐξ οὗ γε χοροῖσιν ἐφέστηκεν τρυγικοῖς ὁ διδάσκαλος ἡμῶν,

οὔπω παρέβη πρὸς τὸ θέατρον λέξων ὡς δεξιός ἐστιν·

διαβαλλόμενος δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐν Ἀθηναίοις ταχυβούλοις,
630

ὡς κωμῳδεῖ τὴν πόλιν ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν δῆμον καθυβρίζει,

ἀποκρίνασθαι δεῖται νυνὶ πρὸς Ἀθηναίους μεταβούλους.

φησὶν δʼ εἶναι πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν ἄξιος ὑμῖν ὁ ποιητής,

παύσας ὑμᾶς ξενικοῖσι λόγοις μὴ λίαν ἐξαπατᾶσθαι,

μήθʼ ἥδεσθαι θωπευομένους, μήτʼ εἶναι χαυνοπολίτας.
635

πρότερον δʼ ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων οἱ πρέσβεις ἐξαπατῶντες

πρῶτον μὲν ἰοστεφάνους ἐκάλουν· κἀπειδὴ τοῦτό τις εἴποι,

εὐθὺς διὰ τοὺς στεφάνους ἐπʼ ἄκρων τῶν πυγιδίων ἐκάθησθε.

εἰ δέ τις ὑμᾶς ὑποθωπεύσας λιπαρὰς καλέσειεν Ἀθήνας,

ηὕρετο πᾶν ἂν διὰ τὰς λιπαράς, ἀφύων τιμὴν περιάψας.
640

ταῦτα ποιήσας πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν αἴτιος ὑμῖν γεγένηται,

καὶ τοὺς δήμους ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν δείξας ὡς δημοκρατοῦνται.

τοιγάρτοι νῦν ἐκ τῶν πόλεων τὸν φόρον ὑμῖν ἀπάγοντες

ἥξουσιν ἰδεῖν ἐπιθυμοῦντες τὸν ποιητὴν τὸν ἄριστον,

ὅστις παρεκινδύνευσʼ εἰπεῖν ἐν Ἀθηναίοις τὰ δίκαια.
645

οὕτω δʼ αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς τόλμης ἤδη πόρρω κλέος ἥκει,

ὅτε καὶ βασιλεὺς Λακεδαιμονίων τὴν πρεσβείαν βασανίζων

ἠρώτησεν πρῶτα μὲν αὐτοὺς πότεροι ταῖς ναυσὶ κρατοῦσιν,

εἶτα δὲ τοῦτον τὸν ποιητὴν ποτέρους εἴποι κακὰ πολλά·

τούτους γὰρ ἔφη τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πολὺ βελτίους γεγενῆσθαι
650

καὶ τῷ πολέμῳ πολὺ νικήσειν τοῦτον ξύμβουλον ἔχοντας.

διὰ ταῦθʼ ὑμᾶς Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὴν εἰρήνην προκαλοῦνται

καὶ τὴν Αἴγιναν ἀπαιτοῦσιν· καὶ τῆς νήσου μὲν ἐκείνης

οὐ φροντίζουσʼ, ἀλλʼ ἵνα τοῦτον τὸν ποιητὴν ἀφέλωνται.

ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς τοι μή ποτʼ ἀφῆσθʼ· ὡς κωμῳδήσει τὰ δίκαια·
655

φησὶν δʼ ὑμᾶς πολλὰ διδάξειν ἀγάθʼ, ὥστʼ εὐδαίμονας εἶναι,

οὐ θωπεύων οὐδʼ ὑποτείνων μισθοὺς οὐδʼ ἐξαπατύλλων,

οὐδὲ πανουργῶν οὐδὲ κατάρδων, ἀλλὰ τὰ βέλτιστα διδάσκων.

Acharnians. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1906.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Ἀχαρνῆς (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.)

Translations (2)

Acharnians (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; Liveright, 192?). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 628 focus

CHORUS

Never since our poet presented Comedies, has he praised himself upon the stage; but, having been slandered by his enemies amongst the volatile Athenians, accused of scoffing at his country and of insulting the people, to-day he wishes to reply and regain for himself the inconstant Athenians. He maintains that he has done much that is good for you; if you no longer allow yourselves to be too much hoodwinked by strangers or seduced by flattery, if in politics you are no longer the ninnies you once were, it is thanks to him. Formerly, when delegates from other cities wanted to deceive you, they had but to style you,
the people crowned with violets,
and at the word
violets
you at once sat erect on the tips of your bums. Or if, to tickle your vanity, someone spoke of
rich and sleek Athens ,
in return for that
sleekness
he would get all, because he spoke of you as he would have of anchovies in oil. In cautioning you against such wiles, the poet has done you great service as well as in forcing you to understand what is really the democratic principle. Thus, the strangers, who came to pay their tributes, wanted to see this great poet, who had dared to speak the truth to Athens . And so far has the fame of his boldness reached that one day the Great King, when questioning the Lacedaemonian delegates, first asked them which of the two rival cities was the superior at sea, and then immediately demanded at which it was that the comic poet directed his biting satire.
Happy that city,
he added,
if it listens to his counsel; it will grow in power, and its victory is assured.
This is why the Lacedaemonians offer you peace, if you will cede them Aegina ; not that they care for the isle, but they wish to rob you of your poet.¹ As for you, never lose him, who will always fight for the cause of justice in his Comedies; he promises you that his precepts will lead you to happiness, though he uses neither flattery, nor bribery, nor intrigue, nor deceit; instead of loading you with praise, he will point you to the better way.

English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) Experimental (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) — 628 focus

Chorus: from which time indeed our teacher has stood in the wine-press choirs,

Chorus: He has not yet gone to the theater to speak as if he were expert;

Chorus: being slandered by the enemies among the quick-counseling Athenians,

630

Chorus: How he mocks our city and insults the people,

Chorus: it must now be answered to the Athenians who have changed their minds.

Chorus: He says that the poet is worthy of many good things for you,

Chorus: Having stopped you from being deceived too much by foreign words,

Chorus: neither to be pleased by being flattered, nor to be shallow citizens.

635

Chorus: and before that, the ambassadors were deceiving you from the cities.

Chorus: first they used to call them violet-crowned; and when someone said this,

Chorus: Immediately, because of the wreaths, sit upon the very tips of your buttocks.

Chorus: but if anyone, having flattered you, should call Athens fat,

Chorus: Someone has found a way through the greasy ones, having slipped a fee around their necks.

640

Chorus: Having done these things, he has become responsible for many good things to you,

Chorus: and showing the people in the cities that they are democratically governed.

Chorus: Therefore now, bringing the tribute from the cities, we are taking it away from you.

Chorus: They will come wishing to see the best poet,

Chorus: Whoever has dared to speak the just things among the Athenians.

645

Chorus: Thus already a long way off the report of his daring has come,

Chorus: when the king of the Lacedaemonians was torturing the embassy

Chorus: He first asked them whether they held power with the ships,

Chorus: then which of the two would this poet say many bad things about?

Chorus: For he said that these men have become much better.

650

Chorus: And with the war, having such an advisor, they will greatly defeat him.

Chorus: Because of this, the Lacedaemonians are provoking you for peace.

Chorus: and they demand Aegina too; and as for that island,

Chorus: They do not care, but [they act] in order that they may take this poet away.

Chorus: but you, mind you, must never be let go; how they will mock what is just!

655

Chorus: He says that he will teach you many good things, so that you will be happy,

Chorus: not flattering, nor paying a wage, nor deceiving,

Chorus: neither acting cunningly nor acting deceitfully, but teaching the best things.

Commentary

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) focus

640. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-21

Line 640

ηὕρετο πᾶν ἂν διὰ τὰς λιπαράς, ἀφύων τιμὴν περιάψας.

The phrase διὰ τὰς λιπαράς is a synecdoche where 'the fat ones' refers to the wealthy oligarchic faction or the specific class of citizens who benefited from the grain subsidies (sitōnia) and other public distributions, rather than literally meaning 'fat people'. In the context of the Acharnians, this targets the political opponents who, despite the war's hardships, maintained their opulence, contrasting with the suffering of the rural farmers. The verb περιάψας (having put around) with τιμὴν (honor/price) implies the act of attaching a price tag or reputation to something, here suggesting the wealthy bought their way out of the war's burdens or secured their status through these subsidies.

Aristophanes Acharnians 628

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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