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Χορός

εὐλογῆσαι βουλόμεσθα τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν, ὅτι
565

ἄνδρες ἦσαν τῆσδε τῆς γῆς ἄξιοι καὶ τοῦ πέπλου,

οἵτινες πεζαῖς μάχαισιν ἔν τε ναυφάρκτῳ στρατῷ

πανταχοῦ νικῶντες ἀεὶ τήνδʼ ἐκόσμησαν πόλιν·

οὐ γὰρ οὐδεὶς πώποτʼ αὐτῶν τοῦς ἐναντίους ἰδὼν

ἠρίθμησεν, ἀλλʼ ὁ θυμὸς εὐθὺς ἦν Ἀμυνίας·
570

εἰ δέ που πέσοιεν ἐς τὸν ὦμον ἐν μάχῃ τινί,

τοῦτʼ ἀπεψήσαντʼ ἄν, εἶτʼ ἠρνοῦντο μὴ πεπτωκέναι,

ἀλλὰ διεπάλαιον αὖθις. καὶ στρατηγὸς οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς

τῶν πρὸ τοῦ σίτησιν ᾔτησʼ ἐρόμενος Κλεαίνετον·

νῦν δʼ ἐὰν μὴ προεδρίαν φέρωσι καὶ τὰ σιτία,
575

οὐ μαχεῖσθαί φασιν. ἡμεῖς δʼ ἀξιοῦμεν τῇ πόλει

προῖκα γενναίως ἀμύνειν καὶ θεοῖς ἐγχωρίοις.

καὶ πρὸς οὐκ αἰτοῦμεν οὐδὲν πλὴν τοσουτονὶ μόνον·

ἤν ποτʼ εἰρήνη γένηται καὶ πόνων παυσώμεθα,

μὴ φθονεῖθʼ ἡμῖν κομῶσι μηδʼ ἀπεστλεγγισμένοις.
580

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

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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.) — 565 focus

Leader of First Semi-Chorus

565 Let us sing the glory of our forefathers; ever victors, both on land and sea, they merit that Athens , rendered famous by these, her worthy sons, should write their deeds upon the sacred peplus. As soon as they saw the enemy, they at once sprang at him without ever 570 counting his strength. Should one of them fall in the conflict he would shake off the dust, deny his mishap and begin the struggle anew. Not one of these generals of old time would have asked Cleaenetus to be fed at the cost of the State; 575 but our present men refuse to fight, unless they get the honors of the Prytaneum and precedence in their seats. As for us, we place our valor gratuitously at the service of Athens and of her gods; our only hope is that, should peace ever put a term to our toils, 580 you will not grudge us our long, scented hair nor our delicate care for our toilet.

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.) — 565 focus

Chorus: We wish to bless our fathers, because

565

Chorus: Men were worthy of this land and of the robe,

Chorus: those with whom, in a naval army, [they fight] with foot battles

Chorus: Everywhere always victorious, they have adorned this city;

Chorus: for indeed no one of them, having seen the enemies,

Chorus: He counted, but the anger of Aminus was straight away.

570

Chorus: but if they should fall somewhere upon the shoulder in some battle,

Chorus: That they would have denied having fallen, and then would have denied it.

Chorus: But I wrestled again. And not even one general

Chorus: asking Cleainetos for food before the meal.

Chorus: now if they do not bring the place of honor and the grain,

575

Chorus: They say he will not fight. But we demand that he fight for the city.

Chorus: to defend bravely without pay and to the native gods.

Chorus: and we ask for nothing at all except just this much;

Chorus: Once there was peace and we ceased from our labors,

Chorus: Do not grudge us that they celebrate and are not dried out.

580

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

570. mvp-tlg0019-tlg002-sanjaya-com-eng1-26

Line 570

ἠρίθμησεν, ἀλλʼ ὁ θυμὸς εὐθὺς ἦν Ἀμυνίας·

The clause ὁ θυμὸς εὐθὺς ἦν Ἀμυνίας relies on a colloquial elliptical construction where the preposition (likely ἐν or ἐπί) is omitted before the proper name. While 'to be' with a dative or genitive of person is common, the specific phrasing 'the temper was [at] Aminus' (implying Aminus was the source or location of the anger) reflects the comic poet's tendency to treat abstract nouns as concrete entities inhabiting specific locales. This construction is attested in later Greek prose but here serves a metrical and colloquial purpose, personifying θυμός as if it were a traveler arriving at a destination.

Aristophanes Knights 565

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

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Commentary

Line 570

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