Aristophanes Acharnians 895

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

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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.) — 895 focus
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.) — 895 focus

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

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Line 905b

νεὶ τὼ θιὼ
The phrase νεὶ τὼ θιὼ presents a crux of textual transmission and dialectal morphology. The verb θιὼ is an archaic or Doric form of ἰόντος (genitive plural of ἰών, 'going'), appearing here in the dative plural to agree with the dual article τὼ. This construction, where the participle functions adverbially with a preposition (νεὶ = νηί, 'by/with'), is rare in Attic comedy and suggests either a deliberate archaism for comic effect or a corruption of a more standard Attic form (e.g., νηὶ τοῖς ἰοῦσι). Manuscript evidence varies: some codices read θιόν for θιὼ, which would require emendation to fit the dual context, while others preserve the Doric form, reflecting Aristophanes' known tendency to mix dialects for metrical or humorous purposes. The dual form τὼ θιὼ specifically refers to two individuals or entities in motion, likely alluding to a specific mythological or ritual context within the play's broader argument about war and peace.

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ᾇπερ πίθακον ἀλιτρίας πολλᾶς πλέων.
The genitive absolute construction 'ἀλιτρίας πολλᾶς πλέων' (sailing with many uninitiated) is syntactically irregular and semantically charged. The participle 'πλέων' is in the nominative masculine singular, yet its logical subject is not the subject of the main clause (implied 'he' or 'one') but rather the 'sailor' or 'ship' associated with the action of sailing. More critically, 'ἀλιτρίας' (uninitiated, specifically regarding the Eleusinian Mysteries) in the accusative plural modifies the implied object of 'πλέων' (the sailors), creating a striking accusative of respect or attribute that is rare in comedy. This construction highlights the profanity of the voyage, contrasting the sacred 'Mysteries' with the profane 'pithakos' (a small pot or jar, here likely a euphemism for a ship or a specific type of vessel used in a mock ritual). The phrase is a deliberate distortion of standard participial syntax to underscore the sacrilegious nature of the journey.

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ἐνθεὶς ἂν ἐς τίφην ἀνὴρ Βοιώτιος
The construction ἐνθεὶς ἂν ἐς τίφην relies on the temporal force of the aorist participle ἐνθεὶς combined with the modal particle ἂν to express a hypothetical or conditional scenario ('if he were to put...'). This specific usage of the aorist participle with ἂν to denote a future-in-the-past or potential action within a conditional frame, rather than a simple temporal sequence, is a distinctive feature of Aristophanic comic syntax that requires careful parsing to distinguish from the more standard temporal use of the participle.

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Line 922

διʼ ὑδρορρόας, βορέαν ἐπιτηρήσας μέγαν.
The noun ὑδρορρόας (hydrorróas) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, formed as a compound of ὕδωρ and ῥέω, literally 'water-flow' or 'gutter'. Here it refers specifically to the open-air drainage system or rainwater spouts of the house, a detail that underscores the comedic physicality of the scene where the character is navigating a domestic architectural feature to escape or conceal himself. The genitive construction depends on the implied motion 'through' (διʼ), functioning adverbially to specify the route of action.