Aristophanes Knights 335

ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.

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Knights. Aristophanes. ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.. New York. 1938.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

Knights (OCR draft) (English) (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Ἱππῆς Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 335 focus
Translations (1)
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.) — 335 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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ὠμοσπάρακτον παραλαβὼν μεταχειρίσαιο χρηστῶς.
The compound verb ὠμοσπάρακτον is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, formed from ὠμός (raw) and σπάρακτον (torn to pieces). While the participle παραλαβὼν implies 'having taken up' or 'received', the adjective functions as a substantive here, likely referring to a piece of raw, torn meat. The phrase serves as a grotesque metaphor for the state of the person being addressed (likely Cleon), suggesting he is a 'raw, torn-to-pieces' object to be handled. The imperative μεταχειρίσαιο (handle/treat) is in the middle voice, implying a reflexive or self-interested action, which fits the satirical context of the Knights where the Sausage-Seller is advising the Paphlagonian (Cleon) on how to manipulate the situation, or perhaps mocking his own readiness to be 'handled' by the mob. The construction is syntactically straightforward but lexically striking due to the rarity of ὠμοσπάρακτον and its specific application in this comic context.

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ὑπὸ σοῦ μονωτάτου κατεγλωττισμένην σιωπᾶν;
The noun σιωπᾶν is the accusative singular of σιωπή, but the ending -ᾶν (with circumflex) suggests a Doric or comic contraction of the expected Attic form σιωπᾶν from σιωπήν. However, the form is more strikingly attested as a Doric or poetic variant in the comic tradition, where the Attic third declension noun σιωπή (gen. σιωπῆς) appears in the accusative as σιωπᾶν under the influence of the first declension or through dialectal contraction. In Aristophanic comedy, such forms often serve metrical or comic purposes, and here they may be part of a deliberate archaizing or dialectal effect to mock or elevate the subject of the clause. The use of this form in a rhetorical question about being 'silenced' adds a layer of linguistic self-awareness to the passage, characteristic of Aristophanes' engagement with language itself.

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οἴνου χοᾶ κασαλβάσω τοὺς ἐν Πύλῳ στρατηγούς.
The verb χασαλβάσω (future of χασαλβάζω) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes and rare in the surviving corpus. It denotes a specific, coarse action of pouring or splashing, likely onomatopoeic in origin, here used to describe the pouring of wine over the heads of the generals. The form χοᾶ (from χέω) is an imperative aorist, but the syntax presents a crux: the construction 'χοᾶ [instrumental/locative of liquid] χασαλβάσω' implies a sequential or manner-based relationship that is syntactically compressed. The phrase 'τοὺς ἐν Πύλῳ στρατηγούς' refers to the four Athenian generals (Demosthenes, Nicostratus, Thrasylaus, and Epicles) who were trapped in Pylos during the Peloponnesian War, a specific historical reference that Aristophanes mocks by suggesting they be drenched with wine rather than honored, playing on the contrast between their military stalemate and the festive, drunken atmosphere of the symposium.

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τῶν πραγμάτων ὁτιὴ μόνος τὸν ζωμὸν ἐκροφήσει.
The construction τῶν πραγμάτων ὁτιὴ functions as a genitive of cause or respect governing the implied 'because' or 'in that' sense of ὁτιὴ (a dialectal or poetic variant of ὅτι ἦ or ὅτι ἔστι), creating a causal clause that explains the reasoning behind the preceding action. The use of ὁτιὴ here, particularly with the elision and dialectal coloring typical of Old Comedy, is syntactically distinct from standard Attic prose usage and requires attention to the specific rhythmic and metrical constraints of the iambic trimeter which may influence the particle's form.