Aristophanes Knights 391

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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.) — 391 focus
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.) — 391 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 392

κᾆτʼ ἀνὴρ ἔδοξεν εἶναι, τἀλλότριον ἀμῶν θέρος.
The phrase τἀλλότριον ἀμῶν θέρος relies on a specific agricultural metaphor where 'summer' (θέρος) denotes the harvest, and 'alien' (ἀλλότριον) signifies produce belonging to another. The construction ἀμῶν θέρος is a striking genitive of possession that, combined with the preceding clause, implies the Sycophant has been validated not as a citizen-farmer but as a thief appropriating the community's yield, a pun on the literal 'harvest' and the metaphorical 'plunder' of the city's resources.

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οὐ δέδοιχʼ ὑμᾶς, ἕως ἂν ζῇ τὸ βουλευτήριον
The clause ἕως ἂν ζῇ τὸ βουλευτήριον employs a future indicative verb (here contracted as ζῇ) with ἂν to express a temporal limit that is contingent upon a future event. While ἕως with the subjunctive is standard for indefinite or future time, the combination with the future indicative (or periphrastic future) here emphasizes the certainty of the duration's limit rather than mere contingency. Furthermore, the personification of the βουλευτήριον (the Council House) as a living entity capable of 'living' (ζῇ) is a striking rhetorical device; it implies that the political body's institutional existence is the necessary condition for the safety of the citizens, a concept central to the play's satire on the fragility of democracy under the influence of demagogues like Cleon.