Aristophanes Peace 1172

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

Peace. 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)
Εἰρήνη Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 1191-1304 focus
Translations (1)
Peace (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 1172 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

1176. mvp-tlg0019-tlg005-sanjaya-com-eng1-47

Line 1176

τηνικαῦτʼ αὐτὸς βέβαπται βάμμα Κυζικηνικόν·
The perfect passive participle βέβαπται, derived from βάπτω, is used here in a specialized comic sense meaning 'is drunk' or 'is intoxicated,' a metaphorical extension of the literal 'dipped' or 'dyed.' This usage relies on the audience's recognition of the 'dipping' metaphor for inebriation, a common trope in Old Comedy where the body is 'dyed' with wine. The specific qualifier Κυζικηνικόν (Cyzicene) refers to a renowned local wine from Cyzicus, famous in antiquity for its potency and distinct flavor, thereby specifying the source of the drunkenness with a geographical precision that heightens the comic image of the character being thoroughly saturated by this particular vintage.

1177. mvp-tlg0019-tlg005-sanjaya-com-eng1-48

Line 1177

κᾆτα φεύγει πρῶτος ὥσπερ ξουθὸς ἱππαλεκτρυὼν
The epithet ξουθὸς (red-haired) applied to the ἱππαλεκτρυὼν (cockerel) is a specific reference to the bird's natural plumage, but in the context of Old Comedy, it likely serves as a double entendre. While the primary sense describes the bird's flight, the adjective ξουθός was colloquially associated with cowardice or effeminacy in the Athenian imagination, and the phrase may subtly caricature the fleeing character (often interpreted as a specific political figure or a generic coward) by linking their flight to the stereotypical 'red-headed' trait of the bird, which was proverbial for its timidity.

1178. mvp-tlg0019-tlg005-sanjaya-com-eng1-49

Line 1178

τοὺς λόφους σείων· ἐγὼ δʼ ἕστηκα †λινοπτώμενος.†
The text presents a notorious crux at †λινοπτώμενος†, a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes and arguably the entire corpus of extant comedy. The participle literally denotes 'falling down in linen' or 'dressed in linen,' but its sense is obscured by the context of a character (the farmer Trygaeus) standing still while a giant beetle (the 'Peace') shakes the hills. The scholia suggest emendations such as λινώπτερος ('having linen wings') or λινωπτόμενος ('woven in linen'), but the most compelling interpretation, supported by the comic context of the beetle's shell, is that it describes Trygaeus's state of being 'shivering in linen' (a thin garment) due to the violent motion of the insect, or perhaps a pun on the beetle's 'linen-like' wing case. The word's rarity and the lack of a clear syntactic antecedent for its participle force the reader to rely on conjecture, making this a significant textual problem.