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Χορός

ὦ σοφώτατοι θεαταὶ δεῦρο τὸν νοῦν προσέχετε.
575

ἠδικημέναι γὰρ ὑμῖν μεμφόμεσθʼ ἐναντίον·

πλεῖστα γὰρ θεῶν ἁπάντων ὠφελούσαις τὴν πόλιν,

δαιμόνων ἡμῖν μόναις οὐ θύετʼ οὐδὲ σπένδετε,

αἵτινες τηροῦμεν ὑμᾶς. ἢν γὰρ ᾖ τις ἔξοδος

μηδενὶ ξὺν νῷ, τότʼ ἢ βροντῶμεν ἢ ψακάζομεν.
580

εἶτα τὸν θεοῖσιν ἐχθρὸν βυρσοδέψην Παφλαγόνα

ἡνίχʼ ᾑρεῖσθε στρατηγόν, τὰς ὀφρῦς συνήγομεν

κἀποιοῦμεν δεινά, βροντὴ δʼ ἐρράγη διʼ ἀστραπῆς·

ἡ σελήνη δʼ ἐξέλειπε τὰς ὁδούς, ὁ δʼ ἥλιος

τὴν θρυαλλίδʼ εἰς ἑαυτὸν εὐθέως ξυνελκύσας
585

οὐ φανεῖν ἔφασκεν ὑμῖν, εἰ στρατηγήσει Κλέων.

ἀλλʼ ὅμως εἵλεσθε τοῦτον. φασὶ γὰρ δυσβουλίαν

τῇδε τῇ πόλει προσεῖναι, ταῦτα μέντοι τοὺς θεοὺς

ἅττʼ ἂν ὑμεῖς ἐξαμάρτητʼ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον τρέπειν.

ὡς δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ξυνοίσει ῥᾳδίως διδάξομεν·
590

ἢν Κλέωνα τὸν λάρον δώρων ἑλόντες καὶ κλοπῆς

εἶτα φιμώσητε τούτου τῷ ξύλῳ τὸν αὐχένα,

αὖθις ἐς τἀρχαῖον ὑμῖν, εἴ τι κἀξημάρτετε,

ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον τὸ πρᾶγμα τῇ πόλει συνοίσεται.

Clouds. 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

Νεφέλαι (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.)

Translations (2)

Clouds Perseus (Aristophanes. The Comedies of Aristophanes, Vol. I. Hickie, William James, translator. Bohn: London, 1853.) — 575 focus

Chorus.

Most clever spectators, come, give us your attention; for having been injured, we blame you to your faces. For though we benefit the state most of all the gods, to us alone of the deities you do not offer sacrifice nor yet pour libations, who watch over you. For if there should be any expedition
575

without prudence, then we either thunder or drizzle small rain. And then, when you were for choosing as your general the Paphlagonian tanner, hateful to the gods, we contracted our brows and were enraged; and thunder burst through the lightning; and the Moon forsook her usual paths; and the Sun
580

immediately drew in his wick to himself, and declared he would not give you light, if Cleon should be your general. Nevertheless you chose him. For they say that ill counsel is in this city; that the gods, however, turn all these your mismanagements to a prosperous issue.
585

And how this also shall be advantageous, we will easily teach you. If you should convict the cormorant Cleon of bribery and embezzlement, and then make fast his neck in the stocks, the affair will turn out for the state to the ancient form again, if you have mismanaged in any way, and to a prosperous issue.
590

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.) — 575 focus

Chorus: O most wise spectators, pay attention here.

575

Chorus: For having been wronged by you, we accuse you openly;

Chorus: for the greatest number of all the gods, benefiting the city,

Chorus: You sacrifice not to the gods, nor do you pour libations to us alone,

Chorus: We, who watch over you. For if there should be any exit

Chorus: If we are not with understanding, then let us either thunder or sprinkle dust.

580

Chorus: then the tanner Paphlagon, who is hostile to the gods

Chorus: When you were choosing a general, we were growing our eyebrows.

Chorus: And we are doing terrible things, and a thunderclap has been split apart by lightning;

Chorus: the moon has gone out of the roads, but the sun

Chorus: having immediately drawn the lamp wick to himself

585

Chorus: He said that he would not make himself manifest to you, if Cleon were to be general.

Chorus: But still you chose this man. For they say that he is a bad counselor.

Chorus: to be present to this city, these things, however, [are] to the gods

Chorus: whatever things you might have erred in, to turn them for the better.

Chorus: But when we have also made this clear, we will teach it easily:

590

Chorus: If we catch Kleon the thief, having taken bribes and committed theft.

Chorus: then gag this man's neck with this piece of wood,

Chorus: Again, for you to the original, if you have committed any error at all,

Chorus: The affair will be brought to a better state for the city.

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

588. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-41

Line 588

τῇδε τῇ πόλει προσεῖναι, ταῦτα μέντοι τοὺς θεοὺς

The sentence presents a crux regarding the syntactic construction of the infinitive phrase 'προσεῖναι' with the dative 'τῇδε τῇ πόλει'. While the dative of advantage is standard, the specific verbal construction here, coupled with the abrupt particle 'μέντοι' and the ellipsis of the main verb or subject (likely 'δοκεῖ' or 'ἐστίν' implied from the preceding context of the Clouds' speech), creates a syntactic ambiguity characteristic of Aristophanic colloquialism. The phrase functions as a gnomic or rhetorical assertion where the 'μέντοι' introduces a concessive or adversative turn that is syntactically loose, suggesting the speaker is interrupting a formal argument to pivot to divine will, a feature often debated in the transmission of the text where some editors emend the case of 'πόλει' or the position of 'μέντοι' to clarify the intended logical relationship.

Aristophanes Clouds 575

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

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Commentary

Line 588

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