Aristophanes Knights 595

ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.

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.) — 595 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.) — 595 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

607. mvp-tlg0019-tlg002-sanjaya-com-eng1-28

Line 607

εἴ τις ἐξέρποι θύραζε κἀκ βυθοῦ θηρώμενοι·
The construction ἐξέρποι (aorist middle optative of ἐξέρχομαι) combined with the present middle participle θηρώμενοι ('while hunting' or 'while being hunted') creates a syntactic tension regarding the temporal scope of the participle. While the optative in the protasis suggests a hypothetical or potential future scenario, the present tense of the participle implies an action simultaneous with the main verb's hypothetical occurrence. In the context of the Knights, where the Paphlagonian (Cleon) is depicted as emerging from a dark, subterranean pit, the participle likely functions not merely as a temporal marker but as a descriptive of the Paphlagonian's state as he is drawn out—simultaneously 'hunting' (i.e., preying on the demos) and being 'hunted' (by the Sausage-Seller's counter-aggression). This simultaneity underscores the chaotic, inverted nature of the scene where the predator becomes the prey.