Aristophanes Acharnians 929-958

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.) — 929 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.) — 929 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 933a

πυρορραγὲς
This hapax legomenon in Aristophanes is a compound adjective, literally 'wheat-splintered' or 'wheat-split,' used here as a vocative address to the character Dicaeopolis. The word is a comic coinage combining πυρός (wheat) and ῥαγνύμι (to split), functioning as a metaphor for someone who has been 'split open' or thoroughly beaten, likely alluding to the physical violence of the marketplace or the character's desperate state. The formation is syntactically regular but semantically unique to this context, creating a grotesque image of Dicaeopolis as a broken grain, which is typical of Aristophanes' linguistic inventiveness in the parabasis or early scenes of the play.

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Line 954

ὑπόκυπτε τὰν τύλαν ἰὼν Ἰσμήνιχε.
The verb ὑπόκυπτε (imperfect imperative or present imperative with historical nuance) here functions as a colloquial command to 'lean forward' or 'peep under,' a gesture often associated with the act of looking into a vessel or a specific action in a comic ritual. The form is rare in Aristophanes for this specific gesture, contrasting with the more common ὑποκλίνω, suggesting a deliberate archaism or dialectal flavor to enhance the character's rustic or exaggerated demeanor. The imperative form, combined with the present tense, indicates a continuous or repeated action, fitting the comedic context of a character performing a physical gag.
The term τύλαν (tūlan) is a dialectal or archaic form of τύλην (tūlēn), meaning 'the woolen cap' or 'the headgear,' used here in a context that may allude to a specific ritual or social practice. Its usage in this passage is noteworthy for its rarity and potential ambiguity, as it could refer to a literal object or a metaphorical element of the character's identity or status. The form itself, with its -αν ending, is characteristic of certain dialectal variations or older linguistic strata, which Aristophanes might employ for comic effect or to evoke a specific cultural memory.