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Πισθέταιρος

θύοντες εὐξώμεσθα τοῖς πτερίνοις θεοῖς.

Ποιητής

Νεφελοκοκκυγίαν τὰν εὐδαίμονα

κλῇσον ὦ Μοῦσα τεαῖς ἐν ὓμνων ἀοιδαῖς.
905

Πισθέταιρος

τουτὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ποδαπόν; εἰπέ μοι τίς εἶ;

Ποιητής

ἐγὼ μελιγλώσσων ἐπέων ἱεὶς ἀοιδὰν

Μουσάων θεράπων ὀτρηρός,

κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον.
910

Πισθέταιρος

ἔπειτα δῆτα δοῦλος ὢν κόμην ἔχεις;

Ποιητής

οὔκ, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἐσμὲν οἱ διδάσκαλοι

Μουσάων θεράποντες ὀτρηροί,

κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον.

Πισθέταιρος

οὐκ ἐτὸς ὀτρηρὸν καὶ τὸ ληδάριον ἔχεις.
915

ἀτὰρ ὦ ποιητὰ κατὰ τί δεῦρʼ ἀνεφθάρης;

Ποιητής

μέλη πεποίηκʼ ἐς τὰς Νεφελοκοκκυγίας

τὰς ὑμετέρας κύκλιά τε πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ

καὶ παρθένεια καὶ κατὰ τὰ Σιμωνίδου.

Πισθέταιρος

ταυτὶ σὺ πότʼ ἐποίησας; ἀπὸ ποίου χρόνου;
920

Ποιητής

πάλαι πάλαι δὴ τήνδʼ ἐγὼ κλῄζω πόλιν.

Πισθέταιρος

οὐκ ἄρτι θύω τὴν δεκάτην ταύτης ἐγώ,

καὶ τοὔνομʼ ὥσπερ παιδίῳ νῦν δὴ ʼθέμην;

Ποιητής

ἀλλά τις ὠκεῖα Μουσάων φάτις

οἷάπερ ἵππων ἀμαρυγά.
925

σὺ δὲ πάτερ κτίστορ Αἴτνας,

ζαθέων ἱερῶν ὁμώνυμε,

δὸς ἐμὶν ὅ τι περ

τεᾷ κεφαλᾷ θέλῃς

πρόφρων δόμεν ἐμὶν τείν.
930

Πισθέταιρος

τουτὶ παρέξει τὸ κακὸν ἡμῖν πράγματα,

εἰ μή τι τούτῳ δόντες ἀποφευξούμεθα.

οὗτος, σὺ μέντοι σπολάδα καὶ χιτῶνʼ ἔχεις,

ἀπόδυθι καὶ δὸς τῷ ποιητῇ τῷ σοφῷ.

ἔχε τὴν σπολάδα· πάντως δέ μοι ῥιγῶν δοκεῖς.
935

Ποιητής

τόδε μὲν οὐκ ἀέκουσα φίλα

Μοῦσα δῶρον δέχεται·

τὺ δὲ τεᾷ φρενὶ μάθε Πινδάρειον ἔπος —

Πισθέταιρος

ἅνθρωπος ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀπαλλαχθήσεται.
940

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).) — 903 focus

Pisthetaerus

Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged gods.

A Poet enters.

Poet

Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns.

Pisthetaerus

What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who are you?

Poet

I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of the Muses,

as Homer has it.
910

Pisthetaerus

You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long?

Poet

No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the Muses, according to Homer.

Pisthetaerus

In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! But, poet, what ill wind drove you here?
915

Poet

I have composed verses in honor of your Nephelococcygia, a host of splendid dithyrambs and parthenia worthy of Simonides himself.

Pisthetaerus

And when did you compose them? How long since?
920

Poet

Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honor of this city.

Pisthetaerus

But I am only celebrating its foundation with this sacrifice; I have only just named it, as is done with little babies.

Poet

Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town of Aetna thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices,

make us such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest. He puts out his hand.
930

Pisthetaerus

He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some present. To the Priest's acolyte. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off and give it to this clever poet. Come,

take this fur; you look to me to be shivering with cold.
935

Poet

My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of Pindar's on your mind.

Pisthetaerus

Oh! what a pest! It's impossible then to get rid of him!
940

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.) — 903 focus

Pisthetaerus

Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged gods.

A Poet enters.

Poet

905 Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns.

Pisthetaerus

What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who are you?

Poet

I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of the Muses, 910 as Homer has it.

Pisthetaerus

You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long?

Poet

No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the Muses, according to Homer.

Pisthetaerus

915 In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! But, poet, what ill wind drove you here?

Poet

I have composed verses in honor of your Nephelococcygia, a host of splendid dithyrambs and parthenia worthy of Simonides himself.

Pisthetaerus

920 And when did you compose them? How long since?

Poet

Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honor of this city.

Pisthetaerus

But I am only celebrating its foundation with this sacrifice; I have only just named it, as is done with little babies.

Poet

925 “Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town of Aetna thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices, 930 make us such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest.” He puts out his hand.

Pisthetaerus

He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some present. To the Priest's acolyte. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off and give it to this clever poet. Come, 935 take this fur; you look to me to be shivering with cold.

Poet

My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of Pindar's on your mind.

Pisthetaerus

940 Oh! what a pest! It's impossible then to get rid of him!

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.) — 903 focus

Pisthetaerus: Let us sacrifice and pray to the winged gods.

Poet: The Happy Cloud-Cuckoo-land.

Poet: Muse, close with your hymns' songs.

905

Pisthetaerus: What sort of a thing is this? Tell me, who are you?

Poet: I, a shooter of the song of honey-tongued verses,

Poet: diligent servant of the Muses,

Poet: according to Homer.

910

Pisthetaerus: And then, really, being a slave, do you have long hair?

Poet: No, but all of us are the teachers.

Poet: Attentive servants of the Muses,

Poet: according to Homer.

Pisthetaerus: You don't have a year of vigor and the little bag.

915

Pisthetaerus: But why, O poet, have you come here?

Poet: he has composed songs for the Cloudcuckooland.

Poet: your many and beautiful circles

Poet: both maidenly and in the manner of Simonides.

Pisthetaerus: Did you do this? When did you do it?

920

Poet: Long, long ago I have been calling this city.

Pisthetaerus: I am not just now sacrificing the tenth of this,

Pisthetaerus: And shall I even now give it a name just as to a child?

Poet: but a swift report of the Muses

Poet: just like the splendor of horses.

925

Poet: but you, father, builder of Etna,

Poet: you who share the name of the sacred groves,

Poet: give me whatever.

Poet: Do you wish to behead her?

Poet: willingly give me the song.

930

Pisthetaerus: This will cause us trouble,

Pisthetaerus: unless, giving something to this man, we escape.

Pisthetaerus: You, however, have a tunic and a cloak,

Pisthetaerus: Take off your clothes and give them to the poet, the wise man.

Pisthetaerus: Take the spleen; you certainly seem to be shivering to me.

935

Poet: this, though, I do not love unwillingly.

Poet: the Muse accepts a gift;

Poet: But you, learn the Pindaric word with your mind—

Pisthetaerus: One of our men will not escape.

940

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

919. mvp-tlg0019-tlg006-sanjaya-com-eng1-59

Line 919

καὶ παρθένεια καὶ κατὰ τὰ Σιμωνίδου.

The phrase κατὰ τὰ Σιμωνίδου is a genitive of the author's name used adverbially to mean 'in the manner of Simonides' or 'according to Simonides'. This construction is a specific instance of the genitive of source or manner, often found in comedy to evoke a specific stylistic or thematic association. Here, it likely alludes to Simonides' reputation for composing elegant, perhaps even sentimental, poetry, contrasting with the crude or pragmatic nature of the chorus's situation. The use of the definite article τὰ before the genitive is characteristic of this idiomatic usage in Attic comedy, where it functions as a neuter plural substantive meaning 'the things of' or 'the style of'.

926. mvp-tlg0019-tlg006-sanjaya-com-eng1-60

Line 926

σὺ δὲ πάτερ κτίστορ Αἴτνας,

The vocative address to Zeus as 'father' and 'founder of Aetna' relies on the specific mythological tradition (found in Hesiod and Aeschylus) that Zeus buried the giant Typhoeus beneath Mount Aetna after the Titanomachy. In the context of Aristophanes, this is a deliberate, hyperbolic inversion: the characters are attempting to found a new city in the clouds, and they invoke the very god who founded the most famous subterranean prison for a giant as their 'architect' (κτίστορ). This creates a comic irony where the divine founder of a chthonic dungeon is asked to found a celestial utopia, highlighting the absurdity of the birds' project.

938. mvp-tlg0019-tlg006-sanjaya-com-eng1-61

Line 938

τὺ δὲ τεᾷ φρενὶ μάθε Πινδάρειον ἔπος —

The phrase Πινδάρειον ἔπος functions as a generic designation for a 'Pindaric verse' or 'epinician ode' rather than a specific citation, yet Aristophanes here alludes specifically to the famous opening of the Second Pythian Ode (1–2), where Pindar urges the soul to 'learn' (μάθε) the nature of the divine. The use of the imperative μάθε with the dative φρενὶ (mind/heart) mirrors Pindar's own didactic tone, but Aristophanes subverts the high seriousness of Pindar's exhortation to the birds by applying it to the absurd project of building Cloudcuckooland. This intertextual play relies on the audience recognizing the specific Pindaric echo of learning from the mind/soul, transforming a moment of lyrical gravity into comic instruction.

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Πισθέταιρος θύοντες εὐξώμεσθα τοῖς πτερίνοις θεοῖς.

Ποιητής Νεφελοκοκκυγίαν τὰν εὐδαίμονα κλῇσον ὦ Μοῦσα τεαῖς ἐν ὓμνων ἀοιδαῖς. 905

Πισθέταιρος τουτὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ποδαπόν; εἰπέ μοι τίς εἶ;

Ποιητής ἐγὼ μελιγλώσσων ἐπέων ἱεὶς ἀοιδὰν Μουσάων θεράπων ὀτρηρός, κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον. 910

Πισθέταιρος ἔπειτα δῆτα δοῦλος ὢν κόμην ἔχεις;

Ποιητής οὔκ, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἐσμὲν οἱ διδάσκαλοι Μουσάων θεράποντες ὀτρηροί, κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον.

Πισθέταιρος οὐκ ἐτὸς ὀτρηρὸν καὶ τὸ ληδάριον ἔχεις. 915 ἀτὰρ ὦ ποιητὰ κατὰ τί δεῦρʼ ἀνεφθάρης;

Ποιητής μέλη πεποίηκʼ ἐς τὰς Νεφελοκοκκυγίας τὰς ὑμετέρας κύκλιά τε πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ καὶ παρθένεια καὶ κατὰ τὰ Σιμωνίδου.

Πισθέταιρος ταυτὶ σὺ πότʼ ἐποίησας; ἀπὸ ποίου χρόνου; 920

Ποιητής πάλαι πάλαι δὴ τήνδʼ ἐγὼ κλῄζω πόλιν.

Πισθέταιρος οὐκ ἄρτι θύω τὴν δεκάτην ταύτης ἐγώ, καὶ τοὔνομʼ ὥσπερ παιδίῳ νῦν δὴ ʼθέμην;

Ποιητής τόδε μὲν οὐκ ἀέκουσα φίλα Μοῦσα δῶρον δέχεται· τὺ δὲ τεᾷ φρενὶ μάθε Πινδάρειον ἔπος —

Πισθέταιρος ἅνθρωπος ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀπαλλαχθήσεται. 940

Current edition Perseus

Pisthetaerus Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged gods.

Poet Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns.

Pisthetaerus What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who are you?

Poet I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of the Muses, as Homer has it. 910

Pisthetaerus You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long?

Poet No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the Muses, according to Homer.

Pisthetaerus In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! But, poet, what ill wind drove you here? 915

Poet I have composed verses in honor of your Nephelococcygia, a host of splendid dithyrambs and parthenia worthy of Simonides himself.

Pisthetaerus And when did you compose them? How long since? 920

Poet Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honor of this city.

Pisthetaerus But I am only celebrating its foundation with this sacrifice; I have only just named it, as is done with little babies.

Poet Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town of Aetna thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices, make us such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest. He puts out his hand. 930

Pisthetaerus He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some present. To the Priest's acolyte. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off and give it to this clever poet. Come, take this fur; you look to me to be shivering with cold. 935

Poet My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of Pindar's on your mind.

Pisthetaerus Oh! what a pest! It's impossible then to get rid of him! 940

Pisthetaerus Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged gods.

Poet 905 Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns.

Pisthetaerus What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who are you?

Poet I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of the Muses, 910 as Homer has it.

Pisthetaerus You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long?

Poet No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the Muses, according to Homer.

Pisthetaerus 915 In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! But, poet, what ill wind drove you here?

Poet I have composed verses in honor of your Nephelococcygia, a host of splendid dithyrambs and parthenia worthy of Simonides himself.

Pisthetaerus 920 And when did you compose them? How long since?

Poet Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honor of this city.

Pisthetaerus But I am only celebrating its foundation with this sacrifice; I have only just named it, as is done with little babies.

Poet 925 “Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town of Aetna thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices, 930 make us such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest.” He puts out his hand.

Pisthetaerus He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some present. To the Priest's acolyte. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off and give it to this clever poet. Come, 935 take this fur; you look to me to be shivering with cold.

Poet My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of Pindar's on your mind.

Pisthetaerus 940 Oh! what a pest! It's impossible then to get rid of him!

Commentary

Line 919

Line 926

Line 938

Stable identifiers

Πισθέταιρος

θύοντες εὐξώμεσθα τοῖς πτερίνοις θεοῖς.

Ποιητής

Νεφελοκοκκυγίαν τὰν εὐδαίμονα

κλῇσον ὦ Μοῦσα τεαῖς ἐν ὓμνων ἀοιδαῖς.
905

Πισθέταιρος

τουτὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ποδαπόν; εἰπέ μοι τίς εἶ;

Ποιητής

ἐγὼ μελιγλώσσων ἐπέων ἱεὶς ἀοιδὰν

Μουσάων θεράπων ὀτρηρός,

κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον.
910

Πισθέταιρος

ἔπειτα δῆτα δοῦλος ὢν κόμην ἔχεις;

Ποιητής

οὔκ, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἐσμὲν οἱ διδάσκαλοι

Μουσάων θεράποντες ὀτρηροί,

κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον.

Πισθέταιρος

οὐκ ἐτὸς ὀτρηρὸν καὶ τὸ ληδάριον ἔχεις.
915

ἀτὰρ ὦ ποιητὰ κατὰ τί δεῦρʼ ἀνεφθάρης;

Ποιητής

μέλη πεποίηκʼ ἐς τὰς Νεφελοκοκκυγίας

τὰς ὑμετέρας κύκλιά τε πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ

καὶ παρθένεια καὶ κατὰ τὰ Σιμωνίδου.

Πισθέταιρος

ταυτὶ σὺ πότʼ ἐποίησας; ἀπὸ ποίου χρόνου;
920

Ποιητής

πάλαι πάλαι δὴ τήνδʼ ἐγὼ κλῄζω πόλιν.

Πισθέταιρος

οὐκ ἄρτι θύω τὴν δεκάτην ταύτης ἐγώ,

καὶ τοὔνομʼ ὥσπερ παιδίῳ νῦν δὴ ʼθέμην;

Ποιητής

τόδε μὲν οὐκ ἀέκουσα φίλα

Μοῦσα δῶρον δέχεται·

τὺ δὲ τεᾷ φρενὶ μάθε Πινδάρειον ἔπος —

Πισθέταιρος

ἅνθρωπος ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀπαλλαχθήσεται.
940

Pisthetaerus

Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged gods.

Poet

Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns.

Pisthetaerus

What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who are you?

Poet

I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of the Muses,

as Homer has it.
910

Pisthetaerus

You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long?

Poet

No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the Muses, according to Homer.

Pisthetaerus

In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! But, poet, what ill wind drove you here?
915

Poet

I have composed verses in honor of your Nephelococcygia, a host of splendid dithyrambs and parthenia worthy of Simonides himself.

Pisthetaerus

And when did you compose them? How long since?
920

Poet

Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honor of this city.

Pisthetaerus

But I am only celebrating its foundation with this sacrifice; I have only just named it, as is done with little babies.

Poet

Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town of Aetna thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices,

make us such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest. He puts out his hand.
930

Pisthetaerus

He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some present. To the Priest's acolyte. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off and give it to this clever poet. Come,

take this fur; you look to me to be shivering with cold.
935

Poet

My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of Pindar's on your mind.

Pisthetaerus

Oh! what a pest! It's impossible then to get rid of him!
940

Pisthetaerus

Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged gods.

Poet

905 Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns.

Pisthetaerus

What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who are you?

Poet

I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of the Muses, 910 as Homer has it.

Pisthetaerus

You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long?

Poet

No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the Muses, according to Homer.

Pisthetaerus

915 In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! But, poet, what ill wind drove you here?

Poet

I have composed verses in honor of your Nephelococcygia, a host of splendid dithyrambs and parthenia worthy of Simonides himself.

Pisthetaerus

920 And when did you compose them? How long since?

Poet

Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honor of this city.

Pisthetaerus

But I am only celebrating its foundation with this sacrifice; I have only just named it, as is done with little babies.

Poet

925 “Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town of Aetna thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices, 930 make us such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest.” He puts out his hand.

Pisthetaerus

He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some present. To the Priest's acolyte. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off and give it to this clever poet. Come, 935 take this fur; you look to me to be shivering with cold.

Poet

My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of Pindar's on your mind.

Pisthetaerus

940 Oh! what a pest! It's impossible then to get rid of him!