Aristophanes Birds 1720

Anonymous (Translator), ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr., ed. Whitney J. Oates, ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.

Birds. Aristophanes. Anonymous (Translator), ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr., ed. Whitney J. Oates, ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.. New York. 1938.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Birds (English) (Aristophanes. The Complete Greek Drama, Vol. 2. Anonymous, translator. O'Neill, Eugene; Oates, Whitney Jennings, editors. New York: Random House, 1938 (printing).)

Editions (1)
Ὄρνιθες Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 1720 focus
Translations (2)
Birds (OCR draft) Experimental (Anonymous translation, 1938 compilation; legacy Perseus source migration. Preserved separately from the revised canonical perseus-eng2 at the project owner's request.) — 1720 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.) — 1720 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

1730. mvp-tlg0019-tlg006-sanjaya-com-eng1-103

Line 1730

αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν Βασίλειαν.
The phrase 'τὴν Βασίλειαν' is an elliptical construction where the substantive noun is omitted. In this context, 'Βασίλειαν' functions as a substantive adjective referring to 'τὴν Βασίλειαν πόλιν' (the royal city) or, more likely given the play's plot, 'τὴν Βασίλειαν ἀρχήν' (the royal power/kingdom). This usage relies on the audience's immediate recognition of the specific political entity being established by the birds, rather than the standard grammatical expectation of an explicit noun following a definite article and adjective. The omission serves a rhetorical purpose, emphasizing the abstract concept of sovereignty as a tangible object to be possessed alongside the protagonist.