Aristophanes Acharnians 626-718

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

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Card
← Previous Next →

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.) — 626 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.) — 626 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

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.

668. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-22

Line 668

οἷον ἐξ ἀνθράκων πρινίνων φέψαλος ἀνήλατʼ ἐρεθιζόμενος οὐρίᾳ ῥιπίδι,
The phrase ἄνθρακας πρινίνους (here in the genitive plural ἄνθρακων πρινίνων) refers to 'birch coals' or, more likely in this context, coals made from the wood of the birch tree (Betula), which were notoriously used in ancient comedy to represent the burning of a specific, often absurd, fuel source for magical or ritualistic purposes. The word φέψαλος is a hapax legomenon in the extant corpus of Aristophanes, appearing only here, and is generally understood as a type of small bird (perhaps a wren or a thrush) or, more plausibly in the context of the bird's frantic movement, a metaphorical or onomatopoeic term for a bird fluttering or twitching violently. The verb ἀνήλατ' (aorist of ἀνάλλω) is rare and specifically denotes the act of 'shaking off' or 'shaking oneself free' (often with a connotation of vigorous, almost convulsive movement), which is crucial for the comic imagery of the bird being goaded by the wind (οὐρίᾳ ῥιπίδι) into a frenzied state. The combination of these elements creates a vivid, albeit obscure, metaphor for the frantic, wind-driven movement of the character (or the chorus) that follows, relying on the specific, almost grotesque, imagery of a bird agitated by a birch-coal fire and a gust of wind.

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.

704. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-24

Line 704

ἐξολέσθαι συμπλακέντα τῇ Σκυθῶν ἐρημίᾳ,
The aorist infinitive ἐξολέσθαι functions as a complementary infinitive dependent on an implied verb of desire or command (likely ἤθελεν or ἔφη from the preceding context, where the Chorus or a character urges the Scythian to be destroyed or to destroy himself). The construction combines the middle/passive aorist infinitive of ἐξολέθριω (to destroy utterly) with the perfect participle συμπλακέντα (having been entangled/caught up), creating a dense causal-temporal clause: 'to be utterly destroyed having been entangled in the desolation of the Scythians.' The participle συμπλακέντα is particularly striking here; while its root implies physical entanglement (from πλέκω), in this context it metaphorically suggests being ensnared or overwhelmed by the 'desolation' (ἐρημίᾳ) of the Scythian steppe, a topos of barbarian otherness in Aristophanic comedy. The dative ἐρημίᾳ is not merely instrumental but locative-ablative, emphasizing the environment as the agent of entanglement.