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Χορός

εἶδες ὦ εἶδες ὦ πᾶσα πόλι τὸν φρόνιμον ἄνδρα τὸν ὑπέρσοφον,

οἷʼ ἔχει σπεισάμενος ἐμπορικὰ χρήματα διεμπολᾶν,

ὧν τὰ μὲν ἐν οἰκίᾳ χρήσιμα, τὰ δʼ αὖ πρέπει χλιαρὰ κατεσθίειν.
975

αὐτόματα πάντʼ ἀγαθὰ τῷδέ γε πορίζεται.

οὐδέποτʼ ἐγὼ Πόλεμον οἴκαδʼ ὑποδέξομαι,

οὐδὲ παρʼ ἐμοί ποτε τὸν Ἁρμόδιον ᾄσεται

ξυγκατακλινείς, ὅτι παροινικὸς ἀνὴρ ἔφυ,

ὅστις ἐπὶ πάντʼ ἀγάθʼ ἔχοντας ἐπικωμάσας
980

ἠργάσατο πάντα κακά, κἀνέτρεπε κἀξέχει

κἀμάχετο καὶ προσέτι πολλὰ προκαλουμένου

πῖνε κατάκεισο λαβὲ τήνδε φιλοτησίαν

τὰς χάρακας ἧπτε πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐν τῷ πυρί,

ἐξέχει θʼ ἡμῶν βίᾳ τὸν οἶνον ἐκ τῶν ἀμπέλων.
985

988

Χορός

οὑτοσὶ δʼ ἐπτέρωταί τʼ ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον ἅμα καὶ μεγάλα δὴ φρονεῖ,

τοῦ βίου δʼ ἐξέβαλε δεῖγμα τάδε τὰ πτερὰ πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν.

ὦ Κύπριδι τῇ καλῇ καὶ Χάρισι ταῖς φίλαις ξύντροφε Διαλλαγή,

ὡς καλὸν ἔχουσα τὸ πρόσωπον ἄρʼ ἐλάνθανες.
990

πῶς ἂν ἐμὲ καὶ σέ τις Ἔρως ξυναγάγοι λαβών,

ὥσπερ ὁ γεγραμμένος ἔχων στέφανον ἀνθέμων.

ἢ πάνυ γερόντιον ἴσως νενόμικάς με σύ;

ἀλλά σε λαβὼν τρία δοκῶ γʼ ἂν ἔτι προσβαλεῖν·

πρῶτα μὲν ἂν ἀμπελίδος ὄρχον ἐλάσαι μακρόν,
995

εἶτα παρὰ τόνδε νέα μοσχίδια συκίδων,

καὶ τὸ τρίτον ἡμερίδος ὄρχον, ὁ γέρων ὁδί,

καὶ περὶ τὸ χωρίον ἐλᾷδας ἅπαν ἐν κύκλῳ,

ὥστʼ ἀλείφεσθαί σʼ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν κἀμὲ ταῖς νουμηνίαις.

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.) — 971 focus

CHORUS

You see, citizens, you see the good fortune which this man owes to his prudence, to his profound wisdom. You see how, since he has concluded peace, he buys what is useful in the household and good to eat hot. All good things flow towards him unsought. Never will I welcome the god of war in my house; never shall he chant the
Harmodius
at my table;¹ he is a sot, who comes feasting with those who are overflowing with good things and brings all manner of mischief at his heels. He overthrows, ruins, rips open; 'tis vain to make him a thousand offers,
be seated, pray, drink this cup, proffered in all friendship,
he burns our vine-stocks and brutally pours out the wine from our vineyards on the ground. This man, on the other hand, covers his table with a thousand dishes; proud of his good fortunes, he has had these feathers cast before his door to show us how he lives.

DICAEOPOLIS

Oh, Peace! companion of fair Aphrodite and of the sweet Graces, how charming are thy features and yet I never knew it! Would that Eros might join me to thee, Eros, crowned with roses as Zeuxis² shows him to us! Perhaps I seem somewhat old to you, but I am yet able to make you a threefold offering; despite my age I could plant a long row of vines for you; then beside these some tender cuttings from the fig; finally a young vine-stock, loaded with fruit and all around the field olive trees, which would furnish us with oil, wherewith to anoint us both at the New Moons.

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.) — 971 focus

Chorus: Did you see, did you see, O whole city, the sensible man, the super-wise man,

Chorus: How he has fared, having borrowed commercial money to resell it,

Chorus: some of these are useful in the house, but others it is proper to eat lukewarm.

975

Chorus: Everything good is provided of its own accord in this respect.

Chorus: I will never welcome war home,

Chorus: Nor will Harmodius ever be sung even by me.

Chorus: You recline with us, since you have become a drunken man.

Chorus: whoever, having sung the song of victory, finds everyone in possession of all good things.

980

Chorus: She has wrought all evils, and turned them back and poured them out.

Chorus: and he fought and, while he was calling him on even more, he fought.

Chorus: Drink, recline, take this love-token.

Chorus: 'She touched the charcoals much more into the fire,'

Chorus: They pour out our wine by force from the vineyards.

985

Chorus: This fellow is winged for the dinner too, and indeed he thinks very highly of himself,

Chorus: and so these wings have cast off a sample of life before the doors.

Chorus: O Beauty of Cyprus and Graces, my dear friends, and Concord who shares my path,

Chorus: Since you have a beautiful face, did you really remain hidden?

990

Chorus: How could some Eros, having taken me and you, gather us together,

Chorus: just like the painted one holding a crown of flowers.

Chorus: Or perhaps you have come to think of me as a very old woman?

Chorus: But I think that, having seized you, I should still be able to strike you three more times;

Chorus: First of all, we would lead a long vine-dance,

995

Chorus: and then beside this [place] new calves of figs,

Chorus: and the third of the day's dance, this old man,

Chorus: and all over the field they will drive the oxen in a circle,

Chorus: So that you and I may be anointed by them on the new moons.

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

978. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-58

Line 978

οὐδὲ παρʼ ἐμοί ποτε τὸν Ἁρμόδιον ᾄσεται

The reference to 'Ἁρμόδιον' (Harmodius) invokes the famous dithyrambic and paeanic songs celebrating the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton, a cultural touchstone of Athenian democracy. The verb ᾄσεται (future passive of ᾄδω) is particularly significant here: in the context of the *Acharnians*, this is a direct allusion to the political song of the tyrannicides, which was traditionally sung at symposia and public festivals. Dicaeopolis's assertion that this song will never be sung 'by me' (οὐδὲ παρʼ ἐμοί) is a sharp, ironic negation of the democratic solidarity and revolutionary spirit associated with Harmodius, contrasting the peace he seeks with the militant patriotism of the Athenian past. This is not merely a lexical reference but a deliberate rhetorical device invoking a specific historical and political symbol to underscore the play's central tension between war and peace.

Aristophanes Acharnians 971-999

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

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Commentary

Line 978

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