Aristophanes Acharnians 1000-1068

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.) — 1000 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.) — 1000 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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ἀκούετε λεῴ· κατὰ τὰ πάτρια τοὺς Χοᾶς
The phrase 'κατὰ τὰ πάτρια' (according to ancestral custom) is a technical legal formula in Athenian procedure, often invoked in legal contexts to justify a course of action based on established precedent rather than statute. Here, it is deployed ironically by Dicaeopolis to frame his private peace treaty as a binding legal precedent, subverting the formal language of the Assembly. The juxtaposition of 'leōi' (to the public) with the invocation of 'patria' creates a specific rhetorical tension between the public sphere of the Assembly and the private, domestic sphere of the 'Choes' festival, which Dicaeopolis is about to celebrate.

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οὐδʼ ἂν στριβιλικίγξ· ἀλλʼ ἀπιὼν οἴμωζέ ποι.
The word στριβιλικίγξ is a hapax legomenon in extant literature, constructed as a compound neologism likely meaning 'a twisting, chattering noise' or 'a squealing pig,' playing on the onomatopoeic roots στριβ- (to twist/turn) and the suffix -ίγξ (associated with the throat or a cry). Its appearance here in the mouth of Dicaeopolis, who is mimicking a rustic or chaotic sound, exemplifies Aristophanes' technique of creating 'comic nonsense' words that evoke meaning through phonetic association rather than etymological precision.

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ἁνὴρ ἀνηύρηκέν τι ταῖς
The text presents a crux: the manuscript tradition is divided between ἁνὴρ (a dialectal or metrically lengthened form of ὁ ἀνήρ) and the more standard ὁ ἀνήρ. The reading ἁνὴρ is attested in some late medieval manuscripts but is widely regarded by modern editors (e.g., Sommerstein, Kock) as a metrical corruption or a scribal attempt to accommodate the iambic rhythm of the line, as the article is usually elided or elided with the following word in Aristophanic verse. The verb ἀνηύρηκέν (perfect active indicative of ἀνευρίσκω) is correctly parsed, but the syntax of the following phrase 'τι ταῖς' is problematic; 'τι' (neuter singular accusative) cannot govern the dative plural 'ταῖς' directly without a missing noun or a preposition, suggesting a lacuna or a severe corruption in the transmitted text where a noun like 'γυναιξί' (women) or a prepositional phrase was likely lost or misread.

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ἐς τὸν ἀλάβαστον κύαθον εἰρήνης ἕνα.
The phrase presents a striking and potentially ironic synchysis of the prepositional phrase ἐς τὸν ἀλάβαστον κύαθον (into the alabaster cup) and the genitive of quality or material ἕνα εἰρήνης (one of peace). The specific reference to a 'cup of peace' (κύαθον εἰρήνης) is a unique Aristophanic coinage or allusion. While the κύαθος was a standard shallow drinking cup used for mixing wine with water, here it is metaphorically transformed into a vessel containing the 'peace' itself, likely satirizing the absurdity of the peace negotiations or the trivialization of the treaty as a mere drink. The use of ἀλάβαστον (alabaster) further elevates the cup to a luxury item, contrasting the preciousness of the vessel with the potential fragility or fleeting nature of the peace it holds. This construction functions as a specific rhetorical device (metaphor) within the comic context of the play, where the peace with Sparta is being mocked as a trivial or deceptive offering.