Aristophanes Peace 879b

Peace. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (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)
Εἰρήνη Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 922-1126 focus
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.) — 868 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.) — 868 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

879b. mvp-tlg0019-tlg005-sanjaya-com-eng1-28

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.