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Δικαιόπολις

εὐφημεῖτε, εὐφημεῖτε.

προΐτω σʼ τὸ πρόσθεν ὀλίγον ἡ κανηφόρος·

ὁ Ξανθίας τὸν φαλλὸν ὀρθὸν στησάτω.

κατάθου τὸ κανοῦν ὦ θύγατερ, ἵνʼ ἀπαρξώμεθα.

Θυγάτηρ

ὦ μῆτερ ἀνάδος δεῦρο τὴν ἐτνήρυσιν,
245

ἵνʼ ἔτνος καταχέω τοὐλατῆρος τουτουί.

Δικαιόπολις

καὶ μὴν καλόν γʼ ἔστʼ· ὦ Διόνυσε δέσποτα

κεχαρισμένως σοι τήνδε τὴν πομπὴν ἐμὲ

πέμψαντα καὶ θύσαντα μετὰ τῶν οἰκετῶν

ἀγαγεῖν τυχηρῶς τὰ κατʼ ἀγροὺς Διονύσια,
250

στρατιᾶς ἀπαλλαχθέντα· τὰς σπονδὰς δέ μοι

καλῶς ξυνενεγκεῖν τὰς τριακοντούτιδας.

ἄγʼ ὦ θύγατερ ὅπως τὸ κανοῦν καλὴ καλῶς

οἴσεις βλέπουσα θυμβροφάγον. ὡς μακάριος

ὅστις σʼ ὀπύσει κἀκποιήσεται γαλᾶς
255

σοῦ μηδὲν ἥττους βδεῖν, ἐπειδὰν ὄρθρος ᾖ.

πρόβαινε, κἀν τὤχλῳ φυλάττεσθαι σφόδρα

μή τις λαθών σου περιτράγῃ τὰ χρυσία.

ὦ Ξανθία, σφῷν δʼ ἐστὶν ὀρθὸς ἑκτέος

ὁ φαλλὸς ἐξόπισθε τῆς κανηφόρου·
260

ἐγὼ δʼ ἀκολουθῶν ᾄσομαι τὸ φαλλικόν·

σὺ δʼ ὦ γύναι θεῶ μʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ τέγους. πρόβα.

263

Δικαιόπολις

Φαλῆς ἑταῖρε Βακχίου

ξύγκωμε νυκτοπεριπλάνητε

μοιχὲ παιδεραστά,
265

ἕκτῳ σʼ ἔτει προσεῖπον ἐς

τὸν δῆμον ἐλθὼν ἄσμενος,

σπονδὰς ποιησάμενος ἐμαυτῷ,

πραγμάτων τε καὶ μαχῶν

καὶ Λαμάχων ἀπαλλαγείς.
270

πολλῷ γάρ ἐσθʼ ἥδιον, ὦ Φαλῆς Φαλῆς,

κλέπτουσαν εὑρόνθʼ ὡρικὴν ὑληφόρον

τὴν Στρυμοδώρου Θρᾷτταν ἐκ τοῦ Φελλέως

μέσην λαβόντʼ ἄραντα καταβαλόντα

καταγιγαρτίσʼ ὦ
275

Φαλῆς Φαλῆς.

ἐὰν μεθʼ ἡμῶν ξυμπίῃς, ἐκ κραιπάλης

ἕωθεν εἰρήνης ῥοφήσει τρύβλιον·

ἡ δʼ ἀσπὶς ἐν τῷ φεψάλῳ κρεμήσεται.

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.) — 241 focus

DICAEOPOLIS

Peace, profane men! Let the basket-bearer¹ come forward, and thou Xanthias, hold the phallus well upright.²

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS

Daughter, set down the basket and let us begin the sacrifice.

DAUGHTER OF DICAEOPOLIS

Mother, hand me the ladle, that I may spread the sauce on the cake.

DICAEOPOLIS

It is well! Oh, mighty Bacchus, it is with joy that, freed from military duty, I and all mine perform this solemn rite and offer thee this sacrifice; grant that I may keep the rural Dionysia without hindrance and that this truce of thirty years may be propitious for me.

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS

Come, my child, carry the basket gracefully and with a grave, demure face. Happy he, who shall be your possessor and embrace you so firmly at dawn,³ that you belch wind like a weasel. Go forward, and have a care they don't snatch your jewels in the crowd.

DICAEOPOLIS

Xanthias, walk behind the basket-bearer and hold the phallus well erect; I will follow, singing the Phallic hymn; thou, wife, look on from the top of the terrace.⁴ Forward!

DICAEOPOLIS

Oh, Phales,⁵ companion of the orgies of Bacchus, night reveller, god of adultery, friend of young men, these past six⁶ years I have not been able to invoke thee. With what joy I return to my farmstead, thanks to the truce I have concluded, freed from cares, from fighting and from Lamachuses!⁷ How much sweeter, oh Phales, oh, Phales, is it to surprise Thratta, the pretty woodmaid, Strymodorus' slave, stealing wood from Mount Phelleus, to catch her under the arms, to throw her on the ground and possess her, Oh, Phales, Phales! If thou wilt drink and bemuse thyself with me, we shall to-morrow consume some good dish in honour of the peace, and I will hang up my buckler over the smoking hearth.

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.) — 241 focus

Dikaiopolis: Hush, hush.

Dikaiopolis: Walk forward a little bit, you basket-bearer.

Dikaiopolis: Let Xanthias set up the phallus erect.

Dikaiopolis: put down the basket, daughter, so that we may make the first offering.

Daughter: Oh childless mother, bring the fire-tongs here,

245

Daughter: so that I may pour out the urine of this man.

Dikaiopolis: And indeed it is fine; O lord Dionysus

Dikaiopolis: I am most grateful to you for this procession.

Dicaeopolis: having sent and having sacrificed with the slaves

Dikaiopolis: 'Bring off the Dionysia in the country successfully.'

250

Dikaiopolis: released from the army; but the truce for me

Dikaiopolis: It is well to bring together the thirty triremes.

Dikaiopolis: Come now, daughter, that the basket may be beautiful and good.

Dicaeopolis: You will carry it, seeing [it], the thyme-eater. How blessed!

Dicaeopolis: Whoever will spy on you and do you a bad turn with milk.

255

Dikaiopolis: Do not fart any less than you, whenever it is morning.

Dikaiopolis: go forward, and watch out very carefully in the crowd.

Dikaiopolis: Let no one steal your gold.

Dicaeopolis: O Xanthias, you two have a straight thing to sell.

Dikaiopolis: The phallus is behind the kanephoros.

260

Dikaiopolis: But I, following along, will sing the phallic song;

Dikaiopolis: But you, woman, jump down from the roof for me. Come down.

Dikaiopolis: Falês, companion of Bakchios

Dikaiopolis: Let's go together, night-wanderer!

Dikaiopolis: adulterer, pederast,

265

Dikaiopolis: I said to you in the sixth year

Dicaeopolis: having come to the people with pleasure,

Dikaiopolis: having made a treaty for myself,

Dicaeopolis: of affairs and of battles

Dikaiopolis: and freed from Lamachos.

270

Dikaiopolis: for it is much sweeter, O Phales Phales,

Dicaeopolis: finding a wood-carrier stealing an hour-glass

Dikaiopolis: the Thracian woman, daughter of Strymodorus, from Phelleus

Dikaiopolis: having caught him in the middle, having lifted him, having thrown him down.

Dikaiopolis: 'Oh, you are really annoying!'

275

Dikaiopolis: Falês, Falês.

Dikaiopolis: If you join us, from a hangover

Dikaiopolis: At dawn he will drink up a bowl of peace;

Dikaiopolis: but the shield will hang in the drying room.

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

259. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-3

Line 259

ὦ Ξανθία, σφῷν δʼ ἐστὶν ὀρθὸς ἑκτέος

The form ἑκτέος is a rare Doric (or Boeotian) variant of the Attic ἑκτός, meaning 'sixth' (specifically here, the sixth day of the month, likely referring to the deadline for the *symmoria* or a specific tax payment, though the exact civic context is debated). The use of the Doric form in a character's speech (Xanthias is a slave) is a marker of his rustic or non-Attic background, a common Aristophanic device, but the morphological form itself is exceptionally rare in Attic comedy outside of this specific metrical and dialectal context.

273. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-4

Line 273

τὴν Στρυμοδώρου Θρᾷτταν ἐκ τοῦ Φελλέως

The phrase identifies a specific historical figure, 'Strymodorus' (Στρυμοδώρου), who is otherwise unknown to us but is here labeled 'the Thracian' (Θρᾷτταν). In the context of the play, this refers to a notorious Thracian archer employed by the Athenians. The genitive 'Στρυμοδώρου' functions as a patronymic, identifying the archer by his father's name, a common convention for identifying mercenaries or non-citizen soldiers in the 5th century. The reference to 'Phelleus' (Φελλέως) is a topographical marker; Phelleus was a deme of Athens located in the coastal region near the sea, which serves to locate where this specific Thracian archer was stationed or recruited from, contrasting with the more inland demes.

Aristophanes Acharnians 241-279

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

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Θυγάτηρ

ὦ μῆτερ ἀνάδος δεῦρο τὴν ἐτνήρυσιν,
245

ἵνʼ ἔτνος καταχέω τοὐλατῆρος τουτουί.

Current edition Perseus

DICAEOPOLIS

Peace, profane men! Let the basket-bearer¹ come forward, and thou Xanthias, hold the phallus well upright.²

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS

Daughter, set down the basket and let us begin the sacrifice.

DAUGHTER OF DICAEOPOLIS

Mother, hand me the ladle, that I may spread the sauce on the cake.

DICAEOPOLIS

It is well! Oh, mighty Bacchus, it is with joy that, freed from military duty, I and all mine perform this solemn rite and offer thee this sacrifice; grant that I may keep the rural Dionysia without hindrance and that this truce of thirty years may be propitious for me.

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS

Come, my child, carry the basket gracefully and with a grave, demure face. Happy he, who shall be your possessor and embrace you so firmly at dawn,³ that you belch wind like a weasel. Go forward, and have a care they don't snatch your jewels in the crowd.

DICAEOPOLIS

Xanthias, walk behind the basket-bearer and hold the phallus well erect; I will follow, singing the Phallic hymn; thou, wife, look on from the top of the terrace.⁴ Forward!

Commentary

Line 259

Line 273

Stable identifiers

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Θυγάτηρ ὦ μῆτερ ἀνάδος δεῦρο τὴν ἐτνήρυσιν, 245 ἵνʼ ἔτνος καταχέω τοὐλατῆρος τουτουί.

Current edition Perseus

DICAEOPOLIS Peace, profane men! Let the basket-bearer 1 come forward, and thou Xanthias, hold the phallus well upright. 2

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS Daughter, set down the basket and let us begin the sacrifice.

DAUGHTER OF DICAEOPOLIS Mother, hand me the ladle, that I may spread the sauce on the cake.

DICAEOPOLIS It is well! Oh, mighty Bacchus, it is with joy that, freed from military duty, I and all mine perform this solemn rite and offer thee this sacrifice; grant that I may keep the rural Dionysia without hindrance and that this truce of thirty years may be propitious for me.

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS Come, my child, carry the basket gracefully and with a grave, demure face. Happy he, who shall be your possessor and embrace you so firmly at dawn, 3 that you belch wind like a weasel. Go forward, and have a care they don't snatch your jewels in the crowd.

DICAEOPOLIS Xanthias, walk behind the basket-bearer and hold the phallus well erect; I will follow, singing the Phallic hymn; thou, wife, look on from the top of the terrace. 4 Forward!

Commentary

Line 259

Line 273

Stable identifiers

Θυγάτηρ

ὦ μῆτερ ἀνάδος δεῦρο τὴν ἐτνήρυσιν,
245

ἵνʼ ἔτνος καταχέω τοὐλατῆρος τουτουί.

DICAEOPOLIS

Peace, profane men! Let the basket-bearer¹ come forward, and thou Xanthias, hold the phallus well upright.²

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS

Daughter, set down the basket and let us begin the sacrifice.

DAUGHTER OF DICAEOPOLIS

Mother, hand me the ladle, that I may spread the sauce on the cake.

DICAEOPOLIS

It is well! Oh, mighty Bacchus, it is with joy that, freed from military duty, I and all mine perform this solemn rite and offer thee this sacrifice; grant that I may keep the rural Dionysia without hindrance and that this truce of thirty years may be propitious for me.

WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS

Come, my child, carry the basket gracefully and with a grave, demure face. Happy he, who shall be your possessor and embrace you so firmly at dawn,³ that you belch wind like a weasel. Go forward, and have a care they don't snatch your jewels in the crowd.

DICAEOPOLIS

Xanthias, walk behind the basket-bearer and hold the phallus well erect; I will follow, singing the Phallic hymn; thou, wife, look on from the top of the terrace.⁴ Forward!