Aristophanes Acharnians 773

Acharnians. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (English) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Ἀχαρνῆς Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 719-835 focus
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.) — 750 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.) — 750 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

773. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-31

Line 773

αἰ μή ʼστιν οὗτος χοῖρος Ἑλλάνων νόμῳ.
The phrase Ἑλλάνων νόμῳ ('by the law of the Hellenes') is a hyperbolic legal fiction central to the play's comedy. Dicaeopolis is not merely stating a custom but invoking a 'law' that does not exist in reality; the humor derives from the absurdity of applying a pan-Hellenic legal standard to a trivial domestic dispute over a piglet, thereby satirizing the tendency of Athenian litigants to fabricate or exaggerate legal precedents to win their cases.