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Κλέων

ταυτὶ μὰ τὴν Δήμητρά μʼ οὐκ ἐλάνθανεν

τεκταινόμενα τὰ πράγματʼ, ἀλλʼ ἠπιστάμην

γομφούμενʼ αὐτὰ πάντα καὶ κολλώμενα.

Χορός

οἴμοι σὺ δʼ οὐδὲν ἐξ ἁμαξουργοῦ λέγεις;

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

οὔκουν μʼ ἐν Ἄργει γʼ οἷα πράττεις λανθάνει.
465

πρόφασιν μὲν Ἀργείους φίλους ἡμῖν ποιεῖ,

ἰδίᾳ δʼ ἐκεῖ Λακεδαιμονίοις ξυγγίγνεται.

καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐφʼ οἷσίν ἐστι συμφυσώμενα

ἐγᾦδʼ· ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῖς δεδεμένοις χαλκεύεται.

Χορός

εὖ γʼ εὖ γε, χάλκεὐ ἀντὶ τῶν κολλωμένων.
470

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

καὶ ξυγκροτοῦσιν ἄνδρες αὔτʼ ἐκεῖθεν αὖ,

καὶ ταῦτά μʼ οὔτʼ ἀργύριον οὔτε χρυσίον

διδοὺς ἀναπείσεις οὔτε προσπέμπων φίλους,

ὅπως ἐγὼ ταῦτʼ οὐκ Ἀθηναίοις φράσω.

Κλέων

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αὐτίκα μάλʼ ἐς βουλὴν ἰὼν
475

ὑμῶν ἁπάντων τὰς ξυνωμοσίας ἐρῶ,

καὶ τὰς ξυνόδους τὰς νυκτερινὰς τὰς ἐν πόλει,

καὶ πάνθʼ ἃ Μήδοις καὶ βασιλεῖ ξυνόμνυτε,

καὶ τἀκ Βοιωτῶν ταῦτα συντυρούμενα.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

πῶς οὖν ὁ τυρὸς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς ὤνιος;
480

Κλέων

ἐγώ σε νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα παραστορῶ.

Χορός

ἄγε δὴ σὺ τίνα νοῦν ἢ τίνα ψυχὴν ἔχεις;

νυνί γε δείξεις, εἴπερ ἀπεκρύψω τότε

ἐς τὼ κοχώνα τὸ κρέας, ὡς αὐτὸς λέγεις·

θεύσει γὰρ ᾄξας ἐς τὸ βουλευτήριον,
485

ὡς οὗτος ἐσπεσὼν ἐκεῖσε διαβαλεῖ

ἡμᾶς ἅπαντας καὶ κράγον κεκράξεται.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ἀλλʼ εἶμι· πρῶτον δʼ ὡς ἔχω τὰς κοιλίας

καὶ τὰς μαχαίρας ἐνθαδὶ καταθήσομαι.

Δημοσθένης

ἔχε νυν, ἄλειψον τὸν τράχηλον τουτῳί,
490

ἵνʼ ἐξολισθάνειν δύνῃ τὰς διαβολάς.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ἀλλʼ εὖ λέγεις καὶ παιδοτριβικῶς ταυταγί.

Δημοσθένης

ἔχε νυν, ἐπέγκαψον λαβὼν ταδί.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

τί δαί;

Δημοσθένης

ἵνʼ ἄμεινον ὦ τᾶν ἐσκοροδισμένος μάχῃ.

καὶ σπεῦδε ταχέως.
495

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ταῦτα δρῶ.

Δημοσθένης

μέμνησό νυν

δάκνειν διαβάλλειν, τοὺς λόφους κατεσθίειν,

χὤπως τὰ κάλλαἰ ἀποφαγὼν ἥξεις πάλιν.

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.) — 461 focus

Cleon
Recovering his wits

Ah! by Demeter! I was not ignorant of this plot and these machinations that were being forged and nailed and put together against me.

Chorus
to the Sausage-Seller

Look out, look out! Come, outfence him with some wheelwright slang.

Sausage-Seller

465 His tricks at Argos do not escape me. Under pretence of forming an alliance with the Argives, he is hatching a plot with the Lacedaemonians there; and I know why the bellows are blowing and the metal that is on the anvil; it's the question of the prisoners.

Chorus

470 Well done! Forge on, if he be a wheelwright.

Sausage-Seller

And there are men at Sparta who are hammering the iron with you; but neither gold nor silver nor prayers nor anything else shall impede my denouncing your trickery to the Athenians.

Cleon

475 As for me, I hasten to the Senate to reveal your plotting, your nightly gatherings in the city, your trafficking with the Medes and with the Great King, and all you are foraging for in Boeotia .

Sausage-Seller

480 What price then is paid for forage by Boeotians?

Cleon

Oh! by Heracles! I will tan your hide.

He departs.

Chorus

Come, if you have both wit and heart, now is the time to show it, as on the day when you hid the meat in your crotch, as you say. 485 Hasten to the Senate, for he will rush there like a tornado to calumniate us all and give vent to his fearful bellowings.

Sausage-Seller

I am going, but first I must rid myself of my tripe and my knives; I will leave them here.

Demosthenes

490 Stay! rub your neck with lard; in this way you will slip between the fingers of calumny.

Sausage-Seller

Spoken like a finished wrestling coach.

Demosthenes

Now, bolt down these cloves of garlic.

Sausage-Seller

Pray, what for?

Demosthenes

Well primed with garlic, you will have greater mettle for the fight. 495 But hurry, make haste rapidly!

Sausage-Seller

That's just what I'm doing.

He departs.

Demosthenes

And, above all, bite your foe, rend him to atoms, tear off his comb and do not return until you have devoured his wattles. He goes into the house of Demos.

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.) — 461 focus

Cleon: By Demeter, these things did not escape my notice.

Cleon: The matters are being devised, but I knew it.

Cleon: Let's nail them all down and glue them.

Chorus: Alas! Do you say nothing except from a cart-maker?

Sausage-Seller: Then it does not escape my notice, in Argos, what you are doing.

465

Sausage-seller: on the one hand, he makes the Argives our friends as a pretext,

Sausage-seller: But there privately he meets with the Lacedaemonians.

Sausage-Seller: And these are the things that are naturally joined together.

Sausage-seller: I sing; for it is hammered upon the fettered ones.

Chorus: Good, good indeed, bronze instead of the glued ones.

470

Allantopōles: and men gather there again,

Ball-seller: And these things neither silver nor gold [will I accept].

Sausage-Seller: giving, you will persuade, neither by inviting friends,

Sausage-Seller: How I will not tell these things to the Athenians.

Cleon: Well then, I will go immediately to the council.

475

Cleon: I will tell of all the conspiracies of you all,

Cleon: and the nocturnal meetings in the city,

Cleon: and all the things that you swear together with the Medes and the king,

Cleon: And these things are being mixed up from the Boeotians.

Cheese-seller: So how is the cheese for sale in Boeotia?

480

Cleon: By Heracles, I am watching out for you.

Chorus: Come now, what mind or what soul do you have?

Chorus: Now, then, you will show it, if indeed you hid it then.

Chorus: into the mortar the meat, as you yourself say;

Chorus: for he will run singing into the council-chamber,

485

Chorus: how this man, having fallen there, will slander

Chorus: He will shout at all of us and the rooster.

Sausage-seller: But I am going. First, however, as I have the guts

Sausage-Seller: And I will put the knives here.

Demosthenes: Hold on now, anoint the neck with this,

490

Demosthenes: so that you may slip away from the calumnies.

Sausage-seller: But you speak well and like a wrestling trainer, these things.

Demosthenes: Hold it now, take hold of this and lift it up.

Sausage-seller: But what then?

Demosthenes: so that you may be better garlic-roasted in battle.

Demosthenes: and hurry quickly.

495

Sausage-Seller: I do this.

Demosthenes: now remember

Demosphenes: to bite, to slander, to devour the humps,

Demosphenes: And how, having eaten up the delicacies, will you come back again.

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

480. mvp-tlg0019-tlg002-sanjaya-com-eng1-21

Line 480

πῶς οὖν ὁ τυρὸς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς ὤνιος;

The phrase 'ἐν Βοιωτοῖς ὤνιος' presents a syntactic ambiguity regarding the predicate of the adjective. While the standard construction for 'being sold' is often the genitive of price or the dative of the agent (e.g., ὤνιος τινί), here the preposition 'ἐν' with the dative suggests a locative sense of 'for sale in Boeotia' or potentially a dialectal/colloquial usage specific to the comic context where the state of being available is tied directly to the location. This construction invites comparison with the more common 'ὤνιος εἰμί' or 'πωλεῖται', and the specific choice of 'ἐν' highlights the commodity's geographical origin as a defining characteristic of its market status, a rhetorical device common in Old Comedy to mock regional economic stereotypes.

494. mvp-tlg0019-tlg002-sanjaya-com-eng1-22

Line 494

ἵνʼ ἄμεινον ὦ τᾶν ἐσκοροδισμένος μάχῃ.

The vocative address 'ὦ τᾶν' is a distinctive Attic contraction of 'ὦ τῶν', functioning here as an emphatic, almost abusive interjection directed at the Demos. While the vocative plural of the definite article is grammatically standard, its usage in direct address to the Athenian assembly, particularly with the force of 'O you people!' in a context of severe criticism, marks a specific rhetorical strategy of Aristophanic personification. The speaker (the Sausage-Seller) addresses the Demos not merely as a collective noun but as a specific, personified character who has been 'scorched' or 'bruised' (ἐσκοροδισμένος) by the previous politician (Cleon), using a rare, coined verb (from σκόροδον, garlic, implying a harsh, pungent beating or scorching) to evoke the visceral physicality of political violence and the 'scorched earth' policy of the demagogue.

Aristophanes Knights 461

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

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Κλέων

ταυτὶ μὰ τὴν Δήμητρά μʼ οὐκ ἐλάνθανεν

τεκταινόμενα τὰ πράγματʼ, ἀλλʼ ἠπιστάμην

γομφούμενʼ αὐτὰ πάντα καὶ κολλώμενα.

Χορός

οἴμοι σὺ δʼ οὐδὲν ἐξ ἁμαξουργοῦ λέγεις;

Χορός

εὖ γʼ εὖ γε, χάλκεὐ ἀντὶ τῶν κολλωμένων.
470

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

πῶς οὖν ὁ τυρὸς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς ὤνιος;
480

Κλέων

ἐγώ σε νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα παραστορῶ.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ἀλλʼ εἶμι· πρῶτον δʼ ὡς ἔχω τὰς κοιλίας

καὶ τὰς μαχαίρας ἐνθαδὶ καταθήσομαι.

Δημοσθένης

ἔχε νυν, ἄλειψον τὸν τράχηλον τουτῳί,
490

ἵνʼ ἐξολισθάνειν δύνῃ τὰς διαβολάς.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ἀλλʼ εὖ λέγεις καὶ παιδοτριβικῶς ταυταγί.

Δημοσθένης

ἔχε νυν, ἐπέγκαψον λαβὼν ταδί.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

τί δαί;

Δημοσθένης

ἵνʼ ἄμεινον ὦ τᾶν ἐσκοροδισμένος μάχῃ.

καὶ σπεῦδε ταχέως.
495

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ταῦτα δρῶ.

Δημοσθένης

μέμνησό νυν

δάκνειν διαβάλλειν, τοὺς λόφους κατεσθίειν,

χὤπως τὰ κάλλαἰ ἀποφαγὼν ἥξεις πάλιν.

Current edition Perseus

Cleon
Recovering his wits

Ah! by Demeter! I was not ignorant of this plot and these machinations that were being forged and nailed and put together against me.

Chorus
to the Sausage-Seller

Look out, look out! Come, outfence him with some wheelwright slang.

Sausage-Seller

465 His tricks at Argos do not escape me. Under pretence of forming an alliance with the Argives, he is hatching a plot with the Lacedaemonians there; and I know why the bellows are blowing and the metal that is on the anvil; it's the question of the prisoners.

Chorus

470 Well done! Forge on, if he be a wheelwright.

Sausage-Seller

And there are men at Sparta who are hammering the iron with you; but neither gold nor silver nor prayers nor anything else shall impede my denouncing your trickery to the Athenians.

Cleon

475 As for me, I hasten to the Senate to reveal your plotting, your nightly gatherings in the city, your trafficking with the Medes and with the Great King, and all you are foraging for in Boeotia .

Sausage-Seller

480 What price then is paid for forage by Boeotians?

Cleon

Oh! by Heracles! I will tan your hide.

Chorus

Come, if you have both wit and heart, now is the time to show it, as on the day when you hid the meat in your crotch, as you say. 485 Hasten to the Senate, for he will rush there like a tornado to calumniate us all and give vent to his fearful bellowings.

Sausage-Seller

I am going, but first I must rid myself of my tripe and my knives; I will leave them here.

Demosthenes

490 Stay! rub your neck with lard; in this way you will slip between the fingers of calumny.

Sausage-Seller

Spoken like a finished wrestling coach.

Demosthenes

Now, bolt down these cloves of garlic.

Sausage-Seller

Pray, what for?

Demosthenes

Well primed with garlic, you will have greater mettle for the fight. 495 But hurry, make haste rapidly!

Sausage-Seller

That's just what I'm doing.

Demosthenes

And, above all, bite your foe, rend him to atoms, tear off his comb and do not return until you have devoured his wattles. He goes into the house of Demos.

Commentary

Line 480

Line 494

Stable identifiers

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Κλέων ταυτὶ μὰ τὴν Δήμητρά μʼ οὐκ ἐλάνθανεν τεκταινόμενα τὰ πράγματʼ, ἀλλʼ ἠπιστάμην γομφούμενʼ αὐτὰ πάντα καὶ κολλώμενα.

Χορός οἴμοι σὺ δʼ οὐδὲν ἐξ ἁμαξουργοῦ λέγεις;

Χορός εὖ γʼ εὖ γε, χάλκεὐ ἀντὶ τῶν κολλωμένων. 470

Ἀλλαντοπώλης πῶς οὖν ὁ τυρὸς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς ὤνιος; 480

Κλέων ἐγώ σε νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα παραστορῶ.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης ἀλλʼ εἶμι· πρῶτον δʼ ὡς ἔχω τὰς κοιλίας καὶ τὰς μαχαίρας ἐνθαδὶ καταθήσομαι.

Δημοσθένης ἔχε νυν, ἄλειψον τὸν τράχηλον τουτῳί, 490 ἵνʼ ἐξολισθάνειν δύνῃ τὰς διαβολάς.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης ἀλλʼ εὖ λέγεις καὶ παιδοτριβικῶς ταυταγί.

Δημοσθένης ἔχε νυν, ἐπέγκαψον λαβὼν ταδί.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης τί δαί;

Δημοσθένης ἵνʼ ἄμεινον ὦ τᾶν ἐσκοροδισμένος μάχῃ. καὶ σπεῦδε ταχέως. 495

Ἀλλαντοπώλης ταῦτα δρῶ.

Δημοσθένης μέμνησό νυν δάκνειν διαβάλλειν, τοὺς λόφους κατεσθίειν, χὤπως τὰ κάλλαἰ ἀποφαγὼν ἥξεις πάλιν.

Current edition Perseus

Cleon Recovering his wits Ah! by Demeter! I was not ignorant of this plot and these machinations that were being forged and nailed and put together against me.

Chorus to the Sausage-Seller Look out, look out! Come, outfence him with some wheelwright slang.

Sausage-Seller 465 His tricks at Argos do not escape me. Under pretence of forming an alliance with the Argives, he is hatching a plot with the Lacedaemonians there; and I know why the bellows are blowing and the metal that is on the anvil; it's the question of the prisoners.

Chorus 470 Well done! Forge on, if he be a wheelwright.

Sausage-Seller And there are men at Sparta who are hammering the iron with you; but neither gold nor silver nor prayers nor anything else shall impede my denouncing your trickery to the Athenians.

Cleon 475 As for me, I hasten to the Senate to reveal your plotting, your nightly gatherings in the city, your trafficking with the Medes and with the Great King, and all you are foraging for in Boeotia .

Sausage-Seller 480 What price then is paid for forage by Boeotians?

Cleon Oh! by Heracles! I will tan your hide.

Chorus Come, if you have both wit and heart, now is the time to show it, as on the day when you hid the meat in your crotch, as you say. 485 Hasten to the Senate, for he will rush there like a tornado to calumniate us all and give vent to his fearful bellowings.

Sausage-Seller I am going, but first I must rid myself of my tripe and my knives; I will leave them here.

Demosthenes 490 Stay! rub your neck with lard; in this way you will slip between the fingers of calumny.

Sausage-Seller Spoken like a finished wrestling coach.

Demosthenes Now, bolt down these cloves of garlic.

Sausage-Seller Pray, what for?

Demosthenes Well primed with garlic, you will have greater mettle for the fight. 495 But hurry, make haste rapidly!

Sausage-Seller That's just what I'm doing.

Demosthenes And, above all, bite your foe, rend him to atoms, tear off his comb and do not return until you have devoured his wattles. He goes into the house of Demos.

Commentary

Line 480

Line 494

Stable identifiers

Κλέων

ταυτὶ μὰ τὴν Δήμητρά μʼ οὐκ ἐλάνθανεν

τεκταινόμενα τὰ πράγματʼ, ἀλλʼ ἠπιστάμην

γομφούμενʼ αὐτὰ πάντα καὶ κολλώμενα.

Χορός

οἴμοι σὺ δʼ οὐδὲν ἐξ ἁμαξουργοῦ λέγεις;

Χορός

εὖ γʼ εὖ γε, χάλκεὐ ἀντὶ τῶν κολλωμένων.
470

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

πῶς οὖν ὁ τυρὸς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς ὤνιος;
480

Κλέων

ἐγώ σε νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα παραστορῶ.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ἀλλʼ εἶμι· πρῶτον δʼ ὡς ἔχω τὰς κοιλίας

καὶ τὰς μαχαίρας ἐνθαδὶ καταθήσομαι.

Δημοσθένης

ἔχε νυν, ἄλειψον τὸν τράχηλον τουτῳί,
490

ἵνʼ ἐξολισθάνειν δύνῃ τὰς διαβολάς.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ἀλλʼ εὖ λέγεις καὶ παιδοτριβικῶς ταυταγί.

Δημοσθένης

ἔχε νυν, ἐπέγκαψον λαβὼν ταδί.

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

τί δαί;

Δημοσθένης

ἵνʼ ἄμεινον ὦ τᾶν ἐσκοροδισμένος μάχῃ.

καὶ σπεῦδε ταχέως.
495

Ἀλλαντοπώλης

ταῦτα δρῶ.

Δημοσθένης

μέμνησό νυν

δάκνειν διαβάλλειν, τοὺς λόφους κατεσθίειν,

χὤπως τὰ κάλλαἰ ἀποφαγὼν ἥξεις πάλιν.

Cleon
Recovering his wits

Ah! by Demeter! I was not ignorant of this plot and these machinations that were being forged and nailed and put together against me.

Chorus
to the Sausage-Seller

Look out, look out! Come, outfence him with some wheelwright slang.

Sausage-Seller

465 His tricks at Argos do not escape me. Under pretence of forming an alliance with the Argives, he is hatching a plot with the Lacedaemonians there; and I know why the bellows are blowing and the metal that is on the anvil; it's the question of the prisoners.

Chorus

470 Well done! Forge on, if he be a wheelwright.

Sausage-Seller

And there are men at Sparta who are hammering the iron with you; but neither gold nor silver nor prayers nor anything else shall impede my denouncing your trickery to the Athenians.

Cleon

475 As for me, I hasten to the Senate to reveal your plotting, your nightly gatherings in the city, your trafficking with the Medes and with the Great King, and all you are foraging for in Boeotia .

Sausage-Seller

480 What price then is paid for forage by Boeotians?

Cleon

Oh! by Heracles! I will tan your hide.

Chorus

Come, if you have both wit and heart, now is the time to show it, as on the day when you hid the meat in your crotch, as you say. 485 Hasten to the Senate, for he will rush there like a tornado to calumniate us all and give vent to his fearful bellowings.

Sausage-Seller

I am going, but first I must rid myself of my tripe and my knives; I will leave them here.

Demosthenes

490 Stay! rub your neck with lard; in this way you will slip between the fingers of calumny.

Sausage-Seller

Spoken like a finished wrestling coach.

Demosthenes

Now, bolt down these cloves of garlic.

Sausage-Seller

Pray, what for?

Demosthenes

Well primed with garlic, you will have greater mettle for the fight. 495 But hurry, make haste rapidly!

Sausage-Seller

That's just what I'm doing.

Demosthenes

And, above all, bite your foe, rend him to atoms, tear off his comb and do not return until you have devoured his wattles. He goes into the house of Demos.