Aristophanes Knights 942

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.) — 942 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.) — 942 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 943

ἀγαθὸς πολίτης, οἶος οὐδείς πω χρόνου
The phrase οἶος οὐδείς πω χρόνου is a striking example of an elliptical construction where the temporal genitive (or dative of time) 'χρόνου' functions adverbially with the superlative force of 'οἶος' (the only one), implying 'the only one in all time' or 'unrivaled in history.' This construction, while attested, relies on a specific rhetorical compression common in comic hyperbole but distinct from standard comparative syntax, requiring the reader to supply the implied 'in the span of' or 'of' to grasp the absolute nature of the claim.

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ἀνὴρ γεγένηται τοῖσι πολλοῖς τοὐβολοῦ.
The phrase τοὐβολοῦ is a colloquial contraction of τὸν ὀβολόν, the smallest silver coin in circulation. While the genitive case here functions adverbially to denote price or cost ('at the price of an obol'), the use of the accusative form in the genitive slot (or the perception of the oblique case as a fixed idiom) reflects the specific syntactic habits of Old Comedy, where the genitive of price often appears with the article in a way that blurs the distinction between the accusative of respect and the genitive of value. More significantly, the phrase as a whole is a well-known idiom for 'a cheap man' or 'a miser,' yet the literal syntax 'a man has become of the obol' (i.e., 'has become worth only an obol') relies on the specific economic context of the Athenian *deme* and the *demos* itself, where an obol was the daily wage for a laborer, implying a reduction of a citizen's status to the bare minimum of subsistence.

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δημοῦ βοείου θρῖον ἐξωπτημένον.
The phrase 'δημοῦ βοείου θρῖον' (the hair of a bullock's head) is a striking example of Aristophanic grotesque realism, where the poet reduces the 'hair' (θρῖον) of a sacrificial ox to a mere 'tuft' or 'scruff' to emphasize the meager and despicable nature of the food, contrasting with the grandeur of the sacrificial animal. The participle 'ἐξωπτημένον' (roasted) is used in a context where the cooking method is secondary to the insult, highlighting the lowly status of the meal served to the Demos.

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ψωλὸν γενέσθαι δεῖ σε μέχρι τοῦ μυρρίνου.
The phrase ἕως τοῦ μυρρίνου (until the myrrh) is a specific chronological marker referring to the end of the day, likely the time when myrrh was burned in the evening or the time of the 'myrrh' festival (perhaps related to the Anthesteria or general symposiastic closing), rather than a literal reference to the plant itself. The idiom relies on the cultural practice of burning myrrh at dusk, marking the transition from day to night activities.