Aristophanes Knights 843

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.) — 843 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.) — 843 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 846

ἕως ἂν ᾖ τῶν ἀσπίδων τῶν ἐκ Πύλου τι λοιπόν.
The phrase ἕως ἂν ᾖ with the subjunctive expresses a future indefinite time clause ('until there remains'), a construction standard in Attic for temporal limits. The genitive plural τῶν ἀσπίδων functions as a partitive genitive dependent on the implied 'something' (τι) of the predicate, specifying the remainder of the shields. The specific reference to 'shields from Pylos' (τῶν ἐκ Πύλου) alludes to the capture of Spartan hoplites at the Battle of Sphacteria (425 BCE), where Athens seized a significant number of shields and helmets. The humor of the passage relies on the hyperbolic implication that the Spartan forces are so depleted that not even a single shield from that specific, famous defeat remains, or conversely, that the Athenian claim to victory is so absolute that the very existence of any remaining Spartan equipment is the only thing left to discuss.

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Line 854

καὶ τυροπῶλαι· τοῦτο δʼ εἰς ἕν ἐστι συγκεκυφός,
The phrase εἰς ἕν is a rare idiom for 'in one place' or 'together' (lit. 'into one'), which appears here to describe the crowd of cheese-sellers gathered as a single, chaotic mass. The verb συγκεκυφός (perfect passive participle of συγκεκύφω) is a hapax legomenon in this exact form within the extant corpus of Aristophanes, derived from κεκύφω (to be bent/curved), metaphorically describing the crowd as 'bent together' or 'huddled.' This construction emphasizes the physical density and the singular, unified nature of the mob, a typical Aristophanic exaggeration of the comic chorus or crowd scenes.

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Line 855

ὥστʼ εἰ σὺ βριμήσαιο καὶ βλέψειας ὀστρακίνδα,
The noun ὀστρακίνδα (ostrakinda) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes and a rare Atticism derived from ὄστρακον (pottery shard). In this context, it functions as a direct object of the verb βλέπειας, but its usage here is syntactically elliptical and semantically charged: it likely refers to the act of 'looking at' or 'considering' ostraka (shards) in the context of the Athenian ostracism procedure. The phrase thus evokes the threat of ostracism—a political mechanism used to exile prominent figures for ten years—without explicitly naming the procedure, relying on the audience's familiarity with the visual symbol of the shard as an instrument of political judgment. The use of the optative βριμήσαιο ('if you were to be fierce') and βλέπειας ('if you were to look') in a conditional clause with ὥστε ('so that') creates a hypothetical scenario where the speaker warns the addressee that his aggression will lead to him being scrutinized or targeted by the democratic process. The lexical choice of ὀστρακίνδα, rather than the more common ὄστρακα, adds a poetic and slightly archaic flavor, possibly signaling a deliberate allusion to the ritualistic nature of ostracism in the Athenian imagination.

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Line 859

ὅσον με παρεκόπτου χρόνον τοιαῦτα κρουσιδημῶν.
The compound verb κρουσιδημῶν is a hapax legomenon in the extant corpus of Aristophanes, formed from κρούω (to strike, beat) and δῆμος (the people). The construction is a vivid coinage suggesting the Paphlagon (the slave character) is 'beating the people' or 'pounding them into submission' through his flattery and manipulation. While the prefix κρουσ- appears elsewhere in comedy to denote violent or frantic action, its specific combination with δῆμος here creates a unique semantic nuance of physicalizing political oppression, requiring the audience to parse the portmanteau to grasp the metaphor of the demagogue as a physical batterer of the citizenry.

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Line 870

ταῖς ἐμβάσιν φάσκων φιλεῖν;
The phrase ταῖς ἐμβάσιν is a dative of means or instrument, but the noun ἐμβάσις (from ἐμβάλλω) is rare in the Attic comedy of this period, appearing elsewhere primarily in medical or technical contexts referring to 'putting in' or 'insertion'. Here, it likely functions as a colloquialism or metaphorical extension, possibly alluding to the act of bribing or 'inserting' oneself into political favor, a usage that sharpens the satirical edge of the clause. The construction is syntactically sound but lexically marked, requiring attention to its non-standard semantic field in this context.

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Line 873

ζεῦγος πριάμενος ἐμβάδων τουτὶ φορεῖν δίδωμι.
The verb ἐμβάδων is a hapax legomenon in the extant corpus of Aristophanes (and indeed in most of Attic comedy), appearing only here in the genitive plural. It is an adverbial form derived from ἐμβάς, meaning 'on foot' or 'walking', used here in the phrase ἐμβάδων φορεῖν to denote the act of carrying something while walking. The construction is syntactically irregular for the time, as the genitive of manner is rare in comedy and typically reserved for specific idiomatic expressions. This usage highlights Aristophanes' tendency to coin or repurpose words for metrical or comedic effect, particularly in the context of the character's boast about carrying a heavy load.

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Line 877

ἔπαυσα τοὺς βινουμένους, τὸν Γρύττον ἐξαλείψας.
The participle ἐξαλείψας ('having erased') is used metaphorically for the political act of ostracism or the formal removal of a name from the citizen lists, a usage attested in the context of the political struggles of the late 5th century BCE. While the verb can mean 'to wipe out' generally, here it specifically targets the political standing of Gryttos, a figure associated with the demagogic faction, illustrating the playwright's satirical conflation of administrative erasure with physical violence or death.