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ἅσπερ Εὐκράτης ἔφευγεν εὐθὺ τῶν κυρηβίων.
The phrase τῶν κυρηβίων refers to the 'corybantes,' a group of ecstatic priests associated with the worship of Cybele. In the context of the *Knights*, the Sausage-Seller (Agonothetes) is comparing the behavior of the demagogue Cleon to the frenzied, drum-beating rituals of these priests. The term κυρηβίων is a plural genitive, indicating the source or direction of the action (fleeing 'from' the corybantes), which alludes to the chaotic, frenzied state that the character is supposedly escaping or perhaps ironically mimicking. This specific allusion to the corybantes is a deliberate rhetorical device, as the corybantes were known for their wild, ecstatic dances and drumming, which Aristophanes uses to satirize the perceived madness of political leaders.
270.
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ὡσπερεὶ γέροντας ἡμᾶς καὶ κοβαλικεύεται;
The verb κοβαλικεύεται is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanic comedy and is unique in the surviving corpus of ancient Greek literature. Derived from κόβαλος (a type of comic mask or a specific type of rustic dancer/actor), the verb denotes the act of acting the part of a kobalos or behaving in a grotesque, buffoonish manner. Its use here by the Chorus to describe the actions of the Sausage-Seller (or the Paphlagonian, depending on the specific staging context of this line) suggests a specific theatrical allusion to the physical, often acrobatic and degrading, movements associated with the kobalos character, rather than a generic term for mockery. The form is deponent in the present, though the root implies an active performance of a role.
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καὶ τέμαχος, οὗ Περικλέης οὐκ ἠξιώθη πώποτε.
The verb ἠξιώθη (aorist passive of ἀξιοῦμαι) here carries the specific sense of 'deem worthy of' or 'consider fit for,' a usage common in Attic prose but distinctively ironic in Aristophanic comedy. The sentence implies a hyperbolic contrast: the piece of meat (or perhaps the opportunity) is of such high quality or rarity that even Pericles, the preeminent statesman and patron of the arts, was never deemed worthy to receive it. This reflects the comic trope of elevating mundane or grotesque subjects to the level of high political discourse, while simultaneously mocking the perceived exclusivity or unapproachability of Periclean Athens.
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βλέψον ἔς μʼ ἀσκαρδάμυκτος.
The term ἀσκαρδάμυκτος (askar-damuktos) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanic comedy, coined by the poet to describe a specific type of coarse, obscene gesture (typically a middle finger or a similar hand sign) intended to provoke or mock. While the exact gesture is debated, the compound's construction (potentially from *askaros* meaning 'filthy' or 'unclean' and *damuktos* 'muted' or 'pressed') reflects Aristophanes' characteristic invention of 'word-magic' to convey physical vulgarity through lexical innovation. The imperative βλέψον (look at me) followed immediately by this noun creates a jarring syntactic juxtaposition that functions as a direct visual challenge, shifting the focus from the addressee's gaze to the speaker's own provocative posture.
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ᾗ σὺ πιστεύων ἀμέλγεις τῶν ξένων τοὺς καρπίμους,
The participle πιστεύων (trusting) is used in the dative of means or instrument with the verb ἀμέλγεις (milking), a construction where the trust is the mechanism by which the exploitation occurs. This is a rare syntactic usage for a participle of trust, which typically governs a dative of the person trusted or an infinitive, rather than functioning as the instrumental means of the main verb's action in this specific metaphorical sense.
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σοῦ μιαρώτερος, ὥστε με χαίρειν,
The phrase ὥστε με χαίρειν functions as an elliptical idiom where the main verb (e.g., 'go away' or 'leave me') is omitted. While ὥστε with the infinitive typically indicates result ('so that I may...'), here it serves as a fixed formula for dismissal, meaning 'so that I bid you farewell' or simply 'goodbye'. The construction relies on the implied verb χαίρειν (to bid farewell) taking the accusative of the person being dismissed, a usage distinct from the more common intransitive 'to be well' or the imperative 'χαῖρε'.
