Trygaeus
Oh! Peace, mighty queen, venerated goddess,
975
thou, who presidest over choruses and at nuptials, deign to accept the sacrifices we offer thee.
Oh! Peace, mighty queen, venerated goddess,
975
thou, who presidest over choruses and at nuptials, deign to accept the sacrifices we offer thee.
Servant
Receive it, greatly honored mistress, and behave not like the
980
courtesans, who half open the door to entice the gallants, draw back when they are stared at,
985
to return once more if a man passes on. But do not thou act like this to us.
Receive it, greatly honored mistress, and behave not like the
980
courtesans, who half open the door to entice the gallants, draw back when they are stared at,
985
to return once more if a man passes on. But do not thou act like this to us.
Trygaeus
No, but like an honest woman, show thyself to thy worshippers, who are worn with regretting thee all these
990
thirteen years. Hush the noise of battle, be a true Lysimacha to us. Put an end to this tittle-tattle, to this idle babble,
995
that set us defying one another. Cause the Greeks once more to taste the pleasant beverage of friendship and temper all hearts with the gentle feeling of forgiveness. Make excellent commodities
1000
flow to our markets, fine heads of garlic, early cucumbers, apples, pomegranates and nice little cloaks for the slaves; make them bring geese, ducks, pigeons and larks from
Boeotia
1005
and baskets of eels from
Lake Copais
; we shall all rush to buy them, disputing their possession with Morychus, Teleas, Glaucetes and every other glutton. Melanthius
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will arrive on the market last of all; they'll say, “no more eels, all sold!” and then he'll start groaning and exclaiming as in his monologue of Medea, “I am dying, I am dying! Alas! I have let those hidden in the beet escape me!”
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And won't we laugh?
No, but like an honest woman, show thyself to thy worshippers, who are worn with regretting thee all these
990
thirteen years. Hush the noise of battle, be a true Lysimacha to us. Put an end to this tittle-tattle, to this idle babble,
995
that set us defying one another. Cause the Greeks once more to taste the pleasant beverage of friendship and temper all hearts with the gentle feeling of forgiveness. Make excellent commodities
1000
flow to our markets, fine heads of garlic, early cucumbers, apples, pomegranates and nice little cloaks for the slaves; make them bring geese, ducks, pigeons and larks from
Boeotia
1005
and baskets of eels from
Lake Copais
; we shall all rush to buy them, disputing their possession with Morychus, Teleas, Glaucetes and every other glutton. Melanthius
1010
will arrive on the market last of all; they'll say, “no more eels, all sold!” and then he'll start groaning and exclaiming as in his monologue of Medea, “I am dying, I am dying! Alas! I have let those hidden in the beet escape me!”
1015
And won't we laugh?
Peace. Aristophanes. ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.. New York. 1938.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.