Aristophanes Peace 819-921a

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

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Peace. 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

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

Translations (2)
Peace (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 819 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.) — 819 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 831

τὰς ἐνδιαεριαυερινηχέτους τινάς.
The string 'ἐνδιαεριαυερινηχέτους' is not a valid Ancient Greek word but a corrupted text resulting from a severe OCR or transcription error, likely conflating multiple distinct words (e.g., ἐν δαίῳ, ἑρμηνητέους, or similar) or representing a garbled rendering of the actual text. In the surviving manuscripts of Aristophanes' *Eirēnē*, no such compound exists; the passage likely refers to a group of people or objects with a specific descriptor, but the current form is a textual crux requiring emendation based on context and metrical constraints.

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Line 864

εὐδαιμονέστερος φανεῖ τῶν Καρκίνου στροβίλων.
The genitive plural Καρκίνου στροβίλων (Carcinus' whirlpools/spirals) is a rare metonymic construction where the personal genitive modifies an abstract noun referring to a specific stylistic feature of the author's work. Here, 'Carcinus' whirlpools' alludes to the convoluted, obscure, and overly complex diction for which the tragic poet Carcinus (the Elder) was notorious in the late 5th century BCE. Aristophanes uses this phrase to sarcastically suggest that the addressee will appear happier than the notoriously confused or muddled style associated with Carcinus, or perhaps that the addressee's fate will be more 'whirling' or confused than Carcinus's own, depending on the specific ironic reading of εὐδαιμονέστερος in this comic context. The construction relies on the audience's familiarity with the specific critical reputation of Carcinus, whose style was a frequent target of Old Comedy.

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Line 865a

ὄχημα κανθάρου ʼπιβὰς
The phrase ὄχημα κανθάρου ʼπιβὰς describes the protagonist Trygaeus mounting a dung beetle (καθάρου) as a vehicle (ὄχημα). This is a striking instance of Aristophanic comic hyperbole and bathos, elevating a lowly insect to the status of a heroic steed (cf. the 'horse' of the gods in other contexts) to satirize the grandeur of epic and tragic travel narratives. The verb ἐπιβαίνω with ὄχημα is technically correct for 'mounting a vehicle,' but the juxtaposition with the diminutive, lowly insect creates the specific comic effect central to the play's premise of a 'chariot' made of a beetle.

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Line 879b

τὸ δεῖνʼ εἰς Ἴσθμια
The phrase τὸ δεῖνʼ εἰς Ἴσθμια is a compressed elliptical construction typical of Aristophanic comedy, where the predicate is omitted for the sake of metrical brevity and humorous effect. The article τὸ δεῖν functions substantively as 'the necessity' or 'the imperative,' while the prepositional phrase εἰς Ἴσθμια (to the Isthmian games) implies the action of going or traveling there. This elliptical usage, where the destination serves as the entire predicative force of the 'necessity,' relies on the audience's immediate recognition of the Isthmian games as a major Panhellenic event requiring travel, and it exemplifies the playwright's tendency to collapse complex syntactic expectations into a single, punchy phrase for comic timing.

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Line 890

ταύτης μετέωρα καταγαγεῖν ἀνάρρυσιν.
The phrase καταγαγεῖν ἀνάρρυσιν presents a syntactic and semantic crux: καταγαγεῖν (to bring down) is transitive, yet ἀνάρρυσιν (a digging up or exhumation) is a noun denoting the act of raising something out. The construction implies a paradoxical or ironic 'bringing down of a digging-up,' likely functioning as a metaphor for the futility of attempting to retrieve something from the underworld or a deep pit, a common motif in Old Comedy. The verb ἀναρύττειν is rare in this context, and its nominalization here creates a deliberate tension between the direction of motion (up vs. down) that is central to the comedic effect of the passage.

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Line 899

παίειν ὀρύττειν πὺξ ὁμοῦ καὶ τῷ πέει·
The juxtaposition of πὺξ (with fists) and τῷ πέει (with the penis) creates a deliberate comic antithesis between the martial virtue of boxing and the absurdly passive or bestial act of genital masturbation. This pairing satirizes the Trachinians' supposed degeneration from heroic warriors into a caricature of effeminacy and laziness, contrasting the active, masculine violence of the fist with the passive, solitary pleasure of the phallus.

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Line 901

ἵνα δὴ κέλης κέλητα παρακελητιεῖ,
The sentence employs a complex trisyllabic wordplay on the root *kel-*, progressing from the noun *κέλης* (swift chariot, or metaphorically a swift person) to the plural *κέλητα* (swift ones) and finally the compound verb *παρακελητιεῖ* (will run alongside/compete with). This construction is a quintessential example of Aristophanic *onomatopoeia* and *etymological* play, where the phonetic similarity of the words enacts the very motion they describe: the rapid, repetitive, and competitive movement of chariots. The use of the future tense *παρακελητιεῖ* with the prefix *para-* emphasizes the act of running side-by-side in a race, a central motif in the play's celebration of peace and the return of the chariot to the charioteer, contrasting with the war chariots of the past.

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Line 905

περὶ ταῖσι καμπαῖς ἡνίοχοι πεπτωκότες.
The construction πεπτωκότες (perfect active participle of πίπτω) with ἡνίοχοι (charioteers) and the prepositional phrase περὶ ταῖσι καμπαῖς (around the threshing floors) describes a static state of being 'fallen' or 'collapsed' in a specific location. This usage of the perfect participle to denote a state resulting from a past action, rather than the action itself, is a classic example of the 'stative perfect' found in Aristophanic comedy to depict the physical exhaustion or defeat of characters. The phrase ταῖσι καμπαῖς (dative plural of καμπή, 'threshing floor') is a specific topographical reference to the rural setting of the play's climax, where the chorus and characters are gathered, contrasting the urban chaos with this rustic scene.