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Χορός

οἱ γέροντες οἱ παλαιοὶ μεμφόμεσθα τῇ πόλει·

οὐ γὰρ ἀξίως ἐκείνων ὧν ἐναυμαχήσαμεν

γηροβοσκούμεσθʼ ὑφʼ ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ δεινὰ πάσχομεν,

οἵτινες γέροντας ἄνδρας ἐμβαλόντες ἐς γραφὰς

ὑπὸ νεανίσκων ἐᾶτε καταγελᾶσθαι ῥητόρων,
680

οὐδὲν ὄντας, ἀλλὰ κωφοὺς καὶ παρεξηυλημένους,

οἷς Ποσειδῶν ἀσφάλειός ἐστιν ἡ βακτηρία·

τονθορύζοντες δὲ γήρᾳ τῷ λίθῳ προσέσταμεν,

οὐχ ὁρῶντες οὐδὲν εἰ μὴ τῆς δίκης τὴν ἠλύγην.

ὁ δέ, νεανίας ἑαυτῷ σπουδάσας ξυνηγορεῖν,
685

ἐς τάχος παίει ξυνάπτων στρογγύλοις τοῖς ῥήμασιν·

κᾆτʼ ἀνελκύσας ἐρωτᾷ σκανδάληθρʼ ἱστὰς ἐπῶν

ἄνδρα Τιθωνὸν σπαράττων καὶ ταράττων καὶ κυκῶν.

ὁ δʼ ὑπὸ γήρως μασταρύζει, κᾆτʼ ὀφλὼν ἀπέρχεται,

εἶτα λύζει καὶ δακρύει καὶ λέγει πρὸς τοὺς φίλους,
690

οὗ μʼ ἐχρῆν σορὸν πρίασθαι τοῦτʼ ὀφλὼν ἀπέρχομαι.

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.) — 676 focus

CHORUS

We others, now old men and heavy with years, we reproach the city; so many are the victories we have gained for the Athenian fleets that we well deserve to be cared for in our declining life; yet far from this, we are ill-used, harassed with law-suits, delivered over to the scorn of stripling orators. Our minds and bodies being ravaged with age, Poseidon should protect us, yet we have no other support than a staff. When standing before the judge, we can scarcely stammer forth the fewest words, and of justice we see but its barest shadow, whereas the accuser, desirous of conciliating the younger men, overwhelms us with his ready rhetoric; he drags us before the judge, presses us with questions, lays traps for us; the onslaught troubles, upsets and ruins poor old Tithonus, who, crushed with age, stands tongue-tied; sentenced to a fine,¹ he weeps, he sobs and says to his friend,
This fine robs me of the last trifle that was to have bought my coffin.

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.) — 676 focus

Chorus: the old men, the aged, are blaming the city;

Chorus: for not worthily [of] those things which we fought at sea

Chorus: We are being cared for by you, but we are suffering terrible things,

Chorus: those who, having thrown old men into lawsuits

Chorus: Let us be mocked by young men of the orators,

680

Chorus: being nothing at all, but deaf and bewildered,

Chorus: for whom Poseidon is the staff of safety;

Chorus: And we have stood firm against the stone, shouting with old age,

Chorus: We do not see anything except the noise of the lawsuit.

Chorus: But that man, having practiced for himself to act as an advocate,

685

Chorus: Quickly, he hits, joining with the round words.

Chorus: And then, having dragged him up, he asks, setting up a trap of words.

Chorus: tearing Tithonus apart, and troubling him, and encircling him.

Chorus: But he shakes from old age, and then, having caught it, he goes away,

Chorus: then he unties [the cords] and weeps and says to his friends,

690

Chorus: If I ought to have bought a cloak for this, I am going away owing.

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

687. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-23

Line 687

κᾆτʼ ἀνελκύσας ἐρωτᾷ σκανδάληθρʼ ἱστὰς ἐπῶν

The phrase σκανδάληθρʼ ἱστὰς ἐπῶν describes a specific comic mechanism where the speaker (likely the chorus leader or Dicaeopolis) stands up to recite a 'trap' of verses, likely a mock-epic or iambic set-piece designed to entrap an opponent or expose their folly. The verb ἱστάναι here, in the context of 'setting up' verses, alludes to the physical act of standing (ἱστάναι) to deliver a formal or confrontational speech, a common stage direction in Old Comedy where the poet uses the 'standing' posture to signal a shift from casual dialogue to a more aggressive or formal poetic attack. The term σκανδάληθρον, a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, is a coined compound likely derived from σκανδαλίζω (to trip up) or σκανδαλῶν (a trap), referring to a 'verbal trap' or 'snare of words' intended to catch the listener off guard. This construction is significant for understanding the performative nature of Aristophanic poetry, where the physical staging of the speaker is intrinsically linked to the rhetorical strategy of the text.

Aristophanes Acharnians 676

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

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Commentary

Line 687

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