Aristophanes, Birds, Anonymous (Translator), ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr., ed. Whitney J. Oates, ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr., 611

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Pisthetaerus
Solemnly.

Far better, are they not? And firstly, we shall not have to build them temples of hewn stone, closed with gates of gold;

they will dwell amongst the bushes and in the thickets of green oak; the most venerated of birds will have no other temple than the foliage of the olive tree; we shall not go to Delphi or to Ammon
615

to sacrifice; but standing erect in the midst of arbutus and wild olives and holding forth our hands filled with wheat and barley, we shall pray them to admit us to a share of the blessings they enjoy
620

and shall at once obtain them for a few grains of wheat.
625

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.) — 611 focus

Πισθέταιρος

οὐ γὰρ πολλῷ;

πρῶτον μέν γʼ οὐχὶ νεὼς ἡμᾶς

οἰκοδομεῖν δεῖ λιθίνους αὐτοῖς,

οὐδὲ θυρῶσαι χρυσαῖσι θύραις,

ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ θάμνοις καὶ πρινιδίοις
615

οἰκήσουσιν. τοῖς δʼ αὖ σεμνοῖς

τῶν ὀρνίθων δένδρον ἐλάας

ὁ νεὼς ἔσται· κοὐκ ἐς Δελφοὺς

οὐδʼ εἰς Ἄμμωνʼ ἐλθόντες ἐκεῖ

θύσομεν, ἀλλʼ ἐν ταῖσιν κομάροις
620

καὶ τοῖς κοτίνοις στάντες ἔχοντες

κριθὰς πυροὺς εὐξόμεθʼ αὐτοῖς

ἀνατείνοντες τὼ χεῖρʼ ἀγαθῶν

διδόναι τι μέρος· καὶ ταῦθʼ ἡμῖν

παραχρῆμʼ ἔσται
625

πυροὺς ὀλίγους προβαλοῦσιν.

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.) — 611 focus

Pisthetaerus
Solemnly.

Far better, are they not? And firstly, we shall not have to build them temples of hewn stone, closed with gates of gold; 615 they will dwell amongst the bushes and in the thickets of green oak; the most venerated of birds will have no other temple than the foliage of the olive tree; we shall not go to Delphi or to Ammon 620 to sacrifice; but standing erect in the midst of arbutus and wild olives and holding forth our hands filled with wheat and barley, we shall pray them to admit us to a share of the blessings they enjoy 625 and shall at once obtain them for a few grains of wheat.

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.) — 611 focus

Pisthetaerus: Not for long?

Pisthetaerus: First of all, it is not a temple that we [have].

Pisthetaerus: They must build stone ones for them,

Pisthetaerus: nor to knock at golden doors,

Pisthetairos: But under the bushes and under the young birds

615

Pisthetaerus: They will dwell. But the dignified ones, again

Pisthetairos: The bird's olive tree

Pisthetaerus: The temple will be; and not in Delphi.

Pisthetaerus: nor even having gone to Ammon there

Pisthetaerus: We will sacrifice, but in the marshes.

620

Pisthetaerus: and standing with the cothurni, having them

Pisthetaerus: Let us pray to them for barley and wheat.

Pisthetaerus: stretching forth your hands to the good things

Pisthetaerus: to give some part; and this to us.

Pisthetaerus: It will happen right away.

625

Pisthetairos: They will throw in a few seeds.

Aristophanes Birds 611

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

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