Aristophanes, Birds, ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart, 708

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Χορός

πάντα δὲ θνητοῖς ἐστὶν ἀφʼ ἡμῶν τῶν ὀρνίθων τὰ μέγιστα.

πρῶτα μὲν ὥρας φαίνομεν ἡμεῖς ἦρος χειμῶνος ὀπώρας·

σπείρειν μέν, ὅταν γέρανος κρώζουσʼ ἐς τὴν Λιβύην μεταχωρῇ.
710

καὶ πηδάλιον τότε ναυκλήρῳ φράζει κρεμάσαντι καθεύδειν,

εἶτα δʼ Ὀρέστῃ χλαῖναν ὑφαίνειν, ἵνα μὴ ῥιγῶν ἀποδύῃ.

ἰκτῖνος δʼ αὖ μετὰ ταῦτα φανεὶς ἑτέραν ὥραν ἀποφαίνει,

ἡνίκα πεκτεῖν ὥρα προβάτων πόκον ἠρινόν· εἶτα χελιδών,

ὅτε χρὴ χλαῖναν πωλεῖν ἤδη καὶ ληδάριόν τι πρίασθαι.
715

ἐσμὲν δʼ ὑμῖν Ἄμμων Δελφοὶ Δωδώνη Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων.

ἐλθόντες γὰρ πρῶτον ἐπʼ ὄρνις οὕτω πρὸς ἅπαντα τρέπεσθε,

πρός τʼ ἐμπορίαν, καὶ πρὸς βιότου κτῆσιν, καὶ πρὸς γάμον ἀνδρός.

ὄρνιν τε νομίζετε πάνθʼ ὅσαπερ περὶ μαντείας διακρίνει·

φήμη γʼ ὑμῖν ὄρνις ἐστί, πταρμόν τʼ ὄρνιθα καλεῖτε,
720

ξύμβολον ὄρνιν, φωνὴν ὄρνιν, θεράποντʼ ὄρνιν, ὄνον ὄρνιν.

ἆρʼ οὐ φανερῶς ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν ἐσμὲν μαντεῖος Ἀπόλλων;

Birds. 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

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

Translations (3)

Birds Perseus (Aristophanes. The Complete Greek Drama, Vol. 2. Anonymous, translator. O'Neill, Eugene; Oates, Whitney Jennings, editors. New York: Random House, 1938 (printing).) — 708 focus

Chorus

And what important services do not the birds render to mortals! First of all, they mark the seasons for them, springtime, winter, and autumn.

Does the screaming crane migrate to Libya , —it warns the husbandman to sow, the pilot to take his ease beside his tiller hung up in his dwelling, and Orestes to weave a tunic, so that the rigorous cold may not drive him any more to strip other folk. When the kite reappears, he tells of the return of spring and of the period when the fleece of the sheep must be clipped. Is the swallow in sight?
710

All hasten to sell their warm tunic and to buy some light clothing. We are your Ammon, Delphi , Dodona , your Phoebus Apollo. Before undertaking anything, whether a business transaction, a marriage, or the purchase of food, you consult the birds by reading the omens, and you give this name of omen to all signs that tell of the future.
715

With you a word is an omen, you call a sneeze an omen, a meeting an omen, an unknown sound an omen, a slave or an ass an omen. Is it not clear that we are a prophetic Apollo to you?
720

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.) — 708 focus

Chorus

And what important services do not the birds render to mortals! First of all, they mark the seasons for them, springtime, winter, and autumn. 710 Does the screaming crane migrate to Libya , —it warns the husbandman to sow, the pilot to take his ease beside his tiller hung up in his dwelling, and Orestes to weave a tunic, so that the rigorous cold may not drive him any more to strip other folk. When the kite reappears, he tells of the return of spring and of the period when the fleece of the sheep must be clipped. Is the swallow in sight? 715 All hasten to sell their warm tunic and to buy some light clothing. We are your Ammon, Delphi , Dodona , your Phoebus Apollo. Before undertaking anything, whether a business transaction, a marriage, or the purchase of food, you consult the birds by reading the omens, and you give this name of omen to all signs that tell of the future. 720 With you a word is an omen, you call a sneeze an omen, a meeting an omen, an unknown sound an omen, a slave or an ass an omen. Is it not clear that we are a prophetic Apollo to you?

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.) — 708 focus

Chorus: And for mortals, from us, the birds, the greatest things are.

Chorus: First we show the seasons of spring, winter, and summer.

Chorus: to sow, whenever a crane, croaking, moves into Libya.

710

Chorus: and then a rudder shows the shipowner, when he has hung it up, to sleep,

Chorus: Then let him weave a cloak for Orestes, so that he may not undress while shivering.

Chorus: And then after this, a snipe, appearing, declares another hour,

Chorus: When the time comes to shear the spring fleece of the sheep; then the swallow,

Chorus: When one must already sell a cloak and buy some leather.

715

Chorus: We are Ammon, Delphi, Dodona, Phoebus Apollo.

Chorus: for having come first to the birds, thus turn yourselves toward everything,

Chorus: both for trade, and for acquiring a livelihood, and for the marriage of a man.

Chorus: You believe that every bird is a seer and judge of all things concerning divination;

Chorus: Rumor is a bird for you, and you call the bird 'sneeze',

720

Chorus: a bird made of wood, a bird made of sound, a bird as a servant, a bird as a donkey.

Chorus: Are we not clearly oracles of Apollo to you?

Aristophanes Birds 708

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

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