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Chorus: often in the night-times

1290

Chorus: I have been born in worry,

Chorus: And he has inquired from where on earth Cleonymus eats badly.

Chorus: For they say that he is being reviled with the words of those who have [power].

1295

Chorus: They would not be able to get out of the jar; but they would still throw back missiles.

Chorus: Come now, O master, come from your knees, and come out and forgive the table.

Knights. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (English) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Ἱππῆς Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 1290 focus

Χορός

ἦ πολλάκις ἐννυχίαισι
1290

φροντίσι συγγεγένημαι,

καὶ διεζήτηχʼ ὁπόθεν ποτὲ φαύλως ἐσθίει Κλεώνυμος.

φασὶ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐρεπτόμενον τὰ τῶν ἐχόντων ἀνέρων
1295

οὐκ ἂν ἐξελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς σιπύης· τοὺς δʼ ἀντιβολεῖν ἂν ὅμως·

ἴθʼ ὦ ἄνα πρὸς γονάτων, ἔξελθε καὶ σύγγνωθι τῇ τραπέζῃ.

Translations (1)

Knights (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 1290 focus

Chorus
singing

1290 At times a thought weighs on me at night; 1294 I wonder whence comes this fearful voracity of Cleonymus. 'Tis said that when dining with a rich host, he springs at the dishes with the gluttony of a wild beast and never leaves the bread-bin until his host seizes him round the knees, exclaiming, “Go, go, good gentleman, in mercy go, and spare my poor table!”

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

1295. mvp-tlg0019-tlg002-sanjaya-com-eng1-106

Line 1295

φασὶ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐρεπτόμενον τὰ τῶν ἐχόντων ἀνέρων

The verb ἐρεπτόμενον (middle/passive participle of ἐρεπτάω) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, occurring here in a context of political slander. While the root suggests 'pecking' or 'nibbling' (like a bird), the middle voice with the accusative object τὰ τῶν ἐχόντων ἀνέρων (the things belonging to the men of power) creates a rare construction where the subject is portrayed as aggressively attacking the property or reputation of others through persistent, nagging criticism, rather than a direct physical assault. This usage transforms a biological metaphor into a specific technical term for the act of public impeachment or relentless legal harassment.

Aristophanes Knights 1290

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Line 1295

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