Aristophanes Knights 790

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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Knights. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1906.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Ἱππῆς (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.)

Translations (2)
Knights (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 790 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.) — 790 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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Line 792

καὶ πῶς σὺ φιλεῖς, ὃς τοῦτον ὁρῶν οἰκοῦντʼ ἐν ταῖς φιδάκναισι
The adjective φιδάκναισι (dative plural) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes and extremely rare in the entire corpus of Ancient Greek, occurring only here in the extant texts. While etymologically related to φίδις (snake) or φίδιον, its specific meaning in this context—referring to the 'snaky' or 'woven' reed mats used for bedding or flooring in humble dwellings—is clarified only by the scholia and the immediate context of the character's poverty. The dative plural here functions as a locative, indicating the squalid living conditions of the person being observed, contrasting sharply with the claim of friendship.

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ὡς τοῦτον δεῖ ποτʼ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ πεντώβολον ἡλιάσασθαι,
The verb ἡλιάσασθαι (aorist middle of ἡλιάω) is a rare comic neologism or specialized legal term meaning 'to be brought before the heliaia' (the popular court). Its formation from ἥλιος (sun, metonymy for the court, which sat in the open air) is a characteristic example of Aristophanic wordplay, conflating the etymological root of the court's name with the verb of sitting or judging, while the phrase πεντώβολον (for a fine of five drachmas) specifies the exact penalty for the charge of 'sophistry' or 'corrupting the youth' often levied against intellectuals in the late 5th century. The construction combines a future necessity (δεῖ... δεῖ) with a specific, likely ironic, legal outcome for the character Paphlagon (representing Cleon), projecting his current corruption onto a future trial where he will be fined rather than acquitted.

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καὶ χῖδρα φαγὼν ἀναθαρρήσῃ καὶ στεμφύλῳ ἐς λόγον ἔλθῃ,
The verb στεμφύλλομαι (here used in the form στεμφύλῳ ἐς λόγον ἔλθῃ, literally 'to come to speech on a steiphylon') is a rare hapax legomenon in this specific construction. While στεμφύλλον generally refers to the wild pomegranate (punica granatum) or its fruit, here it functions as a metonym for a specific type of rustic food or perhaps a specific setting associated with rustic simplicity and lack of sophistication. The phrase implies a transition from a state of fear (indicated by χῖδρα φαγὼν, 'after eating a chidra') to a state of rhetorical confidence, but the exact nature of the 'steiphylon' in this context is debated: some scholars suggest it refers to a specific dish made from the fruit, while others argue it is a reference to a specific type of meal or gathering. The use of this obscure term highlights Aristophanes' penchant for using rare and specialized vocabulary to create a specific comedic effect, contrasting the crude, rustic nature of the food with the sophisticated art of rhetoric.

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γνώσεται οἵων ἀγαθῶν αὐτὸν τῇ μισθοφορᾷ παρεκόπτου·
The verb παρεκόπτου (aorist imperative of παρεκόπτω) is used here in the specific political sense of 'to corrupt' or 'to pervert' (the public good or the citizen's judgment) through financial inducement, rather than its literal sense of 'to break in' or 'to interrupt'. In the context of the Demos's relationship with the Paphlagonian Sausage-Seller, this term encapsulates the central accusation of the play: that the politician has diverted the state's resources and the citizen's will through bribery (μισθοφορᾷ). The construction with the genitive of the quality (οἵων ἀγαθῶν) denotes the nature of the goods from which the corruption has occurred.

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ὦ πόλις Ἄργους κλύεθʼ οἷα λέγει. σὺ Θεμιστοκλεῖ ἀντιφερίζεις;
The vocative Ἄργους is an elliptical form of Ἄργους πόλις, a common but potentially confusing contraction in tragedy and comedy where the noun is omitted but the case ending implies it. More critically, the address 'O city of Argos' to the Athenian polis is a deliberate ironic inversion: the Demos (the Athenian people) is being addressed as if they were the citizens of Argos, a traditional rival of Athens and a city often associated in Old Comedy with cowardice or instability. This rhetorical device underscores the speaker's accusation that the Athenian Demos is behaving with the treachery or inconsistency attributed to Argos, while simultaneously questioning their capacity to recognize their own identity in the face of the Sausage-Seller's (or Paphlagon's) manipulations.

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καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἀριστώσῃ τὸν Πειραιᾶ προσέμαξεν,
The verb προσέμαξεν (aorist of προσμάσσω) is a rare hapax legomenon in this specific form within the extant corpus of Aristophanes. While the root μάσσω (to smear) is common, the compound προσμάσσω, meaning 'to smear upon' or 'to besmirch,' is employed here with a specific rhetorical force: it depicts the Paphlagon (the slave) as literally coating the Piraeus with his slanders or corruption. This usage transforms a physical action into a metaphor for the overwhelming nature of his political attacks, a technique characteristic of Aristophanic hyperbole where abstract political influence is rendered as a visceral, material substance.

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Line 819

κἀκεῖνος μὲν φεύγει τὴν γῆν σὺ δʼ Ἀχιλλείων ἀπομάττει.
The verb ἀπομάττει (from ἀποματτόω) is rare in Aristophanes and here carries a specific technical sense of 'fending off' or 'repelling' an attack, likely with a weapon or shield, rather than the more general 'driving away'. The construction with the accusative τὴν γῆν (the land/earth) as the direct object of 'fleeing' is a notable instance of the verb φεύγει taking a direct object denoting the territory being abandoned, a usage that emphasizes the totality of the flight from the physical space rather than just a direction. This syntactic pairing highlights the contrast between the enemy's total retreat from the land and the protagonist's active, martial defense of it.