Aristophanes Birds 1470

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

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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).)

No corresponding passage available

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.) — 1470 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.) — 1470 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

1474. mvp-tlg0019-tlg006-sanjaya-com-eng1-90

Line 1474

ἔκτοπόν τι Καρδίας ἀ-
The fragment presents a textual crux regarding the reading of the place-name. While the majority of the manuscript tradition (A) reads Καρδίας (Genitive of Κάρδιος), some editors and papyri suggest a corruption or alternative reading related to the island of Cardia in the Propontis or a specific local reference. The adjective ἔκτοπον ('out of the way' or 'strange') modifies the omitted noun (likely ἔθος or a similar abstract noun implied by context) in a way that suggests a specific, perhaps obscure, geographical or cultural reference to the Cardians, which Aristophanes uses for comic effect. The abrupt ending ἀ- (likely the start of ἀπό or ἀντί) complicates the syntactic reconstruction, requiring careful attention to the metrical constraints of the iambic trimeter and the specific dialectal forms used in the comic dialogue.

1481. mvp-tlg0019-tlg006-sanjaya-com-eng1-91

Line 1481

ἀσπίδας φυλλορροεῖ.
The phrase 'ἀσπίδας φυλλορροεῖ' (shields are shedding leaves) is a striking example of Aristophanic comic hyperbole and neologism. The verb φυλλορροέω is a hapax legomenon in this context, coined by the poet to describe the act of shedding leaves like a tree. Here, it humorously suggests that the shields are so old, rusted, or perhaps so covered in moss that they are disintegrating naturally, or it may be a satirical allusion to the shields of the Scythians (who were often depicted with leather or hide coverings) turning into foliage, thereby undermining the martial dignity of the Athenian hoplites. This construction relies on the audience recognizing the absurdity of inanimate objects shedding leaves, a metaphor for decay or the trivialization of war.