254.
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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.
283.
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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.
292.
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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.
326.
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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.
329.
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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'.
345.
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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.
352.
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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.
355.
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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.
360.
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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.
369.
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The verb θρανεύσεται is a rare future passive form derived from θρανεύω, a hapax legomenon in the comic corpus of Aristophanes (though attested elsewhere in later Greek with the sense 'to be drunk' or 'to be intoxicated'). In this context, it functions as a grotesque metaphor for the Paphlagonian (Cleon) being 'drunk' on his own power and corruption, a pun on the physical state of a drunkard and the moral state of a corrupt politician. The use of this specific, somewhat obscure verbal formation highlights the playwright's characteristic linguistic inventiveness in creating neologisms to mock his targets.
392.
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κᾆτʼ ἀνὴρ ἔδοξεν εἶναι, τἀλλότριον ἀμῶν θέρος.
The phrase τἀλλότριον ἀμῶν θέρος relies on a specific agricultural metaphor where 'summer' (θέρος) denotes the harvest, and 'alien' (ἀλλότριον) signifies produce belonging to another. The construction ἀμῶν θέρος is a striking genitive of possession that, combined with the preceding clause, implies the Sycophant has been validated not as a citizen-farmer but as a thief appropriating the community's yield, a pun on the literal 'harvest' and the metaphorical 'plunder' of the city's resources.
395.
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οὐ δέδοιχʼ ὑμᾶς, ἕως ἂν ζῇ τὸ βουλευτήριον
The clause ἕως ἂν ζῇ τὸ βουλευτήριον employs a future indicative verb (here contracted as ζῇ) with ἂν to express a temporal limit that is contingent upon a future event. While ἕως with the subjunctive is standard for indefinite or future time, the combination with the future indicative (or periphrastic future) here emphasizes the certainty of the duration's limit rather than mere contingency. Furthermore, the personification of the βουλευτήριον (the Council House) as a living entity capable of 'living' (ζῇ) is a striking rhetorical device; it implies that the political body's institutional existence is the necessary condition for the safety of the citizens, a concept central to the play's satire on the fragility of democracy under the influence of demagogues like Cleon.
400.
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εἴ σε μὴ μισῶ, γενοίμην ἐν Κρατίνου κῴδιον,
The curse 'γενοίμην ἐν Κρατίνου κῴδιον' (may I become a fart in Cratinus) is a rare instance of a specific, self-deprecating bodily function used as a metric of truth in a comic hyperbole. The 'κῴδιον' (little fart) is a diminutive of 'κῶδον' (fart), a term rarely attested in this diminutive form elsewhere in comedy, and here functions as a metaphor for a trivial, insubstantial, or embarrassing existence. The curse implies that if the speaker does not hate the addressee, he would wish to be reduced to a mere, fleeting emission from the body of Cratinus—a figure of high comic standing whose own plays were often the target of such invective. This is a unique example of a 'fart curse' (καταφυσμός) that relies on the specific cultural context of the comic rivalry between Aristophanes and Cratinus, where Cratinus was known for his 'wine-skin' persona and the physicality of his comedy.
