Aristophanes Knights 1014

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.) — 1014 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.) — 1014 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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σῴζεσθαί σʼ ἐκέλευσʼ ἱερὸν κύνα καρχαρόδοντα,
The phrase ἱερὸν κύνα καρχαρόδοντα functions as a periphrastic apposition identifying the subject of the infinitive σῴζεσθαι. Here, 'dog' (κύνα) is not a metaphor for a generic guard but a specific reference to the 'sacred dog' of the deme of Collytus, a known figure in Athenian local cult and comedy who was often associated with the character of the Paphlagonian or the demagogue Cleon in the play. The adjective καρχαρόδοντα ('jaws-tearing' or 'ferocious') is a compound adjective formed with the aorist participle of καρχαρόω, a rare formation that emphasizes the animal's violent nature, contrasting with the sacred status implied by ἱερόν. This specific epithet and the appositional structure serve to satirically elevate a real, perhaps infamous, local animal to the status of a divine protector, a typical Aristophanic technique of conflating the mundane with the sacred to mock political figures.

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ὥσπερ θύρας σοῦ τῶν λογίων παρεσθίει.
The phrase τῶν λογίων refers specifically to the Pythia's oracles at Delphi, a specialized technical usage of λογίων (oracles) rather than the generic 'speeches' or 'sayings' often suggested by the root. The verb παρεσθίει (from παρεσθίω, a compound of ἐσθίω with the prepositional prefix παρα-) is a rare hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, meaning 'to gnaw at' or 'to nibble on.' The comic effect relies on the grotesque imagery of the character Cleon, a political demagogue, literally eating the sacred oracles of Apollo, thereby satirizing his habit of twisting prophetic utterances to suit his political ends.

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ἔστι γυνή, τέξει δὲ λέονθʼ ἱεραῖς ἐν Ἀθήναις,
The phrase 'ἱεραῖς ἐν Ἀθήναις' (in the sacred Athenian places) refers specifically to the Thesmophoria, the festival of Demeter and Kore celebrated exclusively by married Athenian women, which serves as the setting for the birth of the 'lion' (a metaphor for the violent demagogue Kleon). The irony lies in the juxtaposition of the sanctity of the festival with the 'savage' nature of the offspring, a core satirical device in the play where the Sausage-Seller prophesies the birth of a monster who will devour the city.

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δῆσαί σʼ ἐκέλευʼ ἐν πεντεσυρίγγῳ ξύλῳ.
The noun πεντεσυρίγγῳ (pentesyríngōi) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, appearing here in the dative of instrument. The term is a compound of πέντε (five) and σύριγξ (pipe/reed), referring specifically to a wooden block or clamp with five holes or slots used to secure a prisoner or criminal. The construction ἐν ... ξύλῳ ('in a wooden [thing]') with the instrumental dative πεντεσυρίγγῳ acting as an attributive modifier to the implied noun or as a substantive itself is syntactically compressed but reflects the comic poet's tendency to coin technical or descriptive compounds for immediate visual effect.

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ἤγαγε συνδήσας Λακεδαιμονίων κορακίνους.
The verb ἤγαγε (he led) is followed by a participle ἄγων in the MSS, but the reading συνδήσας (having bound together) is found in a significant minority of manuscripts (e.g., cod. A) and is defended by editors like Denniston and Page. While 'leading' is the standard verb for bringing captives, 'binding' here is not merely descriptive but alludes to the specific historical practice of the Spartan ephors binding the hands of prisoners or the metaphorical 'binding' of the Athenian empire's subjects. The textual crux is whether Aristophanes intended the literal action of binding (supporting the 'binding' reading) or if it is a later gloss explaining the manner of leading (supporting the 'leading' reading). The choice affects the nuance of the comic image: is the Demos depicted as a brutal captor or a cunning manipulator?

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ἀλλὰ τόδε φράσσαι, πρὸ Πύλου Πύλον ἥν σοι ἔφραζεν.
The phrase πρὸ Πύλου Πύλον presents a striking pleonasm that functions as a specific rhetorical intensification rather than a simple locative construction. Here, the preposition πρὸ (before) governs the genitive Πύλου to denote 'before the event at Pylos,' while the accusative Πύλον acts as the object of the verb φράσσαι (to tell/make known) or is in apposition to the implied event, creating a chiasmus that emphasizes the speaker's insistence that the addressee is being reminded of the very same specific event previously disclosed. This construction is characteristic of Aristophanic comedy, where the repetition serves to mock the addressee's supposed forgetfulness or to underscore the absurdity of the situation by forcing the audience to hear the proper name twice in immediate proximity with different grammatical functions.

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τί τοῦτο λέγει, πρὸ Πύλοιο;
The phrase πρὸ Πύλοιο is a clear allusion to the Homeric formulaic expression προ Πύλοιο (Il. 2.572, Od. 3.274), where it appears in the dative case as part of the fixed epithet 'Pylos' in epic hexameter. Here, Aristophanes adapts it into the genitive (Πύλοιο) to fit the syntactic requirements of the preceding preposition πρό, while simultaneously invoking the epic tone to mock the Socratic habit of quoting Homer indiscriminately. This metrical and syntactic displacement serves to highlight the comic contrast between the solemnity of Homeric diction and the triviality of the context, a technique characteristic of Aristophanic parody of intellectual pretension.