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Kinesias: Now I will fly up to Olympus with light wings;

Kinesias: I fly from one road to another, being careful—

Pisthetaerus: This business needs wings like a burden.

1375

Kinesias: with fearless mind and following a young body—

Pisthetaerus: We embrace the poplar-scented Kinesias.

Pisthetaerus: Why do you, with your crooked foot, walk in circles around here?

Kinesias: I wish to become a clear-voiced nightingale.

1380

Pisthetaerus: Stop singing, but tell me what you are saying.

Kinesias: Being winged by you, I want to soar upwards.

Kinesias: as I emerge from the clouds, to receive new things

Kinesias: wind-swept and snow-bearing flights.

1385

Pisthetaerus: For wouldn't one take aim from the clouds?

Kinesias: Our art is therefore hanging from here.

Kinesias: for the brilliant things of dithyrambs are becoming

Kinesias: airy, dark, and blue-lit.

Kinesias: and wing-shaker. But you, listening, will soon go.

1390

Pisthetaerus: Not at all, I certainly am not.

Kinesias: by Heracles, you certainly!

Kinésias: For I shall divide all the air with you.

Kinesias: statues of birds

Kinésias: of the sky-runners

Kinesias: of long-necked birds —

1395

Pisthetaerus: I laid an egg.

Kinesias: having been deceived by the salt-dodger

Kinesias: Let me go with the breaths of the winds.

Pisthetaerus: By Zeus, I will certainly put an end to your breaths.

Kinesias: sometimes going southward toward a road,

Kinesias: at that time, however, drawing near to the body with the north wind

1400

Kinésias: cutting through the windless furrow of the aether.

Kinesias: you have contrived a charming and wise thing, old man.

Pisthetaerus: for do you not rejoice having become wing-fluttering?

Kinesias: You have done this to the cymbal teacher,

Kinesias: Am I always a fighter for the tribes?

Pisthetaerus: Do you want to teach, and so stay with us?

1405

Pisthetaerus: A chorus of flying birds for Leotrophides.

Pisthetaerus: The Cecropian tribe?

Kinesias: You are mocking me; you are obvious.

Kinesias: But I certainly will not stop; be sure of this,

Kinesias: before I, having been winged, have run through the air.

Birds. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (English) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Ὄρνιθες Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 1373 focus

Κινησίας

ἀναπέτομαι δὴ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον πτερύγεσσι κούφαις·

πέτομαι δʼ ὁδὸν ἄλλοτʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλαν μελέων —

Πισθέταιρος

τουτὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα φορτίου δεῖται πτερῶν.
1375

Κινησίας

ἀφόβῳ φρενὶ σώματί τε νέαν ἐφέπων —

Πισθέταιρος

ἀσπαζόμεσθα φιλύρινον Κινησίαν.

τί δεῦρο πόδα σὺ κυλλὸν ἀνὰ κύκλον κυκλεῖς;

Κινησίας

ὄρνις γενέσθαι βούλομαι λιγύφθογγος ἀηδών.
1380

Πισθέταιρος

παῦσαι μελῳδῶν, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι λέγεις εἰπέ μοι.

Κινησίας

ὑπὸ σοῦ πτερωθεὶς βούλομαι μετάρσιος

ἀναπτόμενος ἐκ τῶν νεφελῶν καινὰς λαβεῖν

ἀεροδονήτους καὶ νιφοβόλους ἀναβολάς.
1385

Πισθέταιρος

ἐκ τῶν νεφελῶν γὰρ ἄν τις ἀναβολὰς λάβοι;

Κινησίας

κρέμαται μὲν οὖν ἐντεῦθεν ἡμῶν ἡ τέχνη.

τῶν διθυράμβων γὰρ τὰ λαμπρὰ γίγνεται

ἀέρια καὶ σκότιά γε καὶ κυαναυγέα

καὶ πτεροδόνητα· σὺ δὲ κλύων εἴσει τάχα.
1390

Πισθέταιρος

οὐ δῆτʼ ἔγωγε.

Κινησίας

νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα σύ γε.

ἅπαντα γὰρ δίειμί σοι τὸν ἀέρα.

Κινησίας

εἴδωλα πετεινῶν

αἰθεροδρόμων

οἰωνῶν ταναοδείρων —
1395

Πισθέταιρος

ὠόπ.

Κινησίας

τὸν ἁλάδρομον ἁλάμενος

ἅμʼ ἀνεμων πνοαῖσι βαίην.

Πισθέταιρος

νὴ τὸν Δίʼ ἦ ʼγώ σου καταπαύσω τὰς πνοάς.

Κινησίας

τοτὲ μὲν νοτίαν στείχων πρὸς ὁδόν,

τοτὲ δʼ αὖ βορέᾳ σῶμα πελάζων
1400

ἀλίμενον αἰθέρος αὔλακα τέμνων.

Κινησίας

χαρίεντά γʼ ὦ πρεσβῦτʼ ἐσοφίσω καὶ σοφά.

Πισθέταιρος

οὐ γὰρ σὺ χαίρεις πτεροδόνητος γενόμενος;

Κινησίας

ταυτὶ πεποίηκας τὸν κυκλιοδιδάσκαλον,

ὂς ταῖσι φυλαῖς περιμάχητός εἰμʼ ἀεί;

Πισθέταιρος

βούλει διδάσκειν καὶ παρʼ ἡμῖν οὖν μένων
1405

Λεωτροφίδῃ χορὸν πετομένων ὀρνέων

Κεκροπίδα φυλήν;

Κινησίας

καταγελᾷς μου, δῆλος εἶ.

ἀλλʼ οὖν ἔγωγʼ οὐ παύσομαι, τοῦτʼ ἴσθʼ ὅτι,

πρὶν ἂν πτερωθεὶς διαδράμω τὸν ἀέρα.

Translations (2)

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.) — 1373 focus

The Parricide departs, and the dithyrambic poet Cinesias arrives.

Cinesias
Singing.

“On my light pinions I soar off to Olympus ; in its capricious flight my Muse flutters along the thousand paths of poetry in turn ...”

Pisthetaerus

1375 This is a fellow will need a whole shipload of wings.

Cinesias
Singing.

“... and being fearless and vigorous, it is seeking fresh outlet.”

Pisthetaerus

Welcome, Cinesias, you lime-wood man! Why have you come here twisting your game leg in circles?

Cinesias
Singing.

1380 “I want to become a bird, a tuneful nightingale.”

Pisthetaerus

Enough of that sort of ditty. Tell me what you want.

Cinesias

Give me wings and I will fly into the topmost airs to gather fresh songs in the clouds, 1385 in the midst of the vapors and the fleecy snow.

Pisthetaerus

Gather songs in the clouds?

Cinesias

'Tis on them the whole of our latter-day art depends. The most brilliant dithyrambs are those that flap 1390 their wings in empty space and are clothed in mist and dense obscurity. To appreciate this, just listen.

Pisthetaerus

Oh! no, no, no!

Cinesias

By Hermes! but indeed you shall.

He sings.

“I shall travel through thine ethereal empire like a winged bird, who cleaveth space with his long neck ...”

Pisthetaerus

1395 Stop! Way enough!

Cinesias

“... as I soar over the seas, carried by the breath of the winds ...”

Pisthetaerus

By Zeus! I'll cut your breath short. He picks up a pair of wings and begins trying to stop Cinesias' mouth with them.

Cinesias
Running away.

“... now rushing along the tracks of Notus, now nearing Boreas 1400 across the infinite wastes of the ether.”

Ah! old man, that's a pretty and clever idea truly!

Pisthetaerus

What! are you not delighted to be cleaving the air?

Cinesias

To treat a dithyrambic poet, for whom the tribes dispute with each other, in this style!

Pisthetaerus

1405 Will you stay with us and form a chorus of winged birds as slender as Leotrophides for the Cecropid tribe?

Cinesias

You are making game of me, that's clear; but know that I shall never leave you in peace if I do not have wings wherewith to traverse the air.

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

1377. mvp-tlg0019-tlg006-sanjaya-com-eng1-89

Line 1377

ἀσπαζόμεσθα φιλύρινον Κινησίαν.

The verb ἀσπαζόμεσθα is here used in the sense of 'to greet' or 'to welcome' a person, rather than the more common 'to embrace' or 'to kiss'. In the context of the Birds, the chorus of birds is addressing the human character Kinesias (or a figure associated with him), and the use of the present middle/passive form with a personal object is characteristic of this specific usage in comedy, where the physical act of greeting is metaphorically extended to a verbal welcome or a mock embrace in the presence of the audience. This usage is distinct from the more formal or ritualistic uses found in tragedy or epic.

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

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Current edition Experimental

Κινησίας ἀναπέτομαι δὴ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον πτερύγεσσι κούφαις· πέτομαι δʼ ὁδὸν ἄλλοτʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλαν μελέων —

Πισθέταιρος τουτὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα φορτίου δεῖται πτερῶν. 1375

Κινησίας ἀφόβῳ φρενὶ σώματί τε νέαν ἐφέπων —

Πισθέταιρος ἀσπαζόμεσθα φιλύρινον Κινησίαν. τί δεῦρο πόδα σὺ κυλλὸν ἀνὰ κύκλον κυκλεῖς;

Κινησίας ὄρνις γενέσθαι βούλομαι λιγύφθογγος ἀηδών. 1380

Πισθέταιρος παῦσαι μελῳδῶν, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι λέγεις εἰπέ μοι.

Κινησίας ὑπὸ σοῦ πτερωθεὶς βούλομαι μετάρσιος ἀναπτόμενος ἐκ τῶν νεφελῶν καινὰς λαβεῖν ἀεροδονήτους καὶ νιφοβόλους ἀναβολάς. 1385

Πισθέταιρος ἐκ τῶν νεφελῶν γὰρ ἄν τις ἀναβολὰς λάβοι;

Πισθέταιρος οὐ δῆτʼ ἔγωγε.

Κινησίας νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα σύ γε. ἅπαντα γὰρ δίειμί σοι τὸν ἀέρα.

Κινησίας εἴδωλα πετεινῶν αἰθεροδρόμων οἰωνῶν ταναοδείρων — 1395

Πισθέταιρος ὠόπ.

Κινησίας τὸν ἁλάδρομον ἁλάμενος ἅμʼ ἀνεμων πνοαῖσι βαίην.

Πισθέταιρος νὴ τὸν Δίʼ ἦ ʼγώ σου καταπαύσω τὰς πνοάς.

Κινησίας τοτὲ μὲν νοτίαν στείχων πρὸς ὁδόν, τοτὲ δʼ αὖ βορέᾳ σῶμα πελάζων 1400 ἀλίμενον αἰθέρος αὔλακα τέμνων.

Κινησίας χαρίεντά γʼ ὦ πρεσβῦτʼ ἐσοφίσω καὶ σοφά.

Πισθέταιρος οὐ γὰρ σὺ χαίρεις πτεροδόνητος γενόμενος;

Κινησίας ταυτὶ πεποίηκας τὸν κυκλιοδιδάσκαλον, ὂς ταῖσι φυλαῖς περιμάχητός εἰμʼ ἀεί;

Πισθέταιρος βούλει διδάσκειν καὶ παρʼ ἡμῖν οὖν μένων 1405 Λεωτροφίδῃ χορὸν πετομένων ὀρνέων Κεκροπίδα φυλήν;

Κινησίας καταγελᾷς μου, δῆλος εἶ. ἀλλʼ οὖν ἔγωγʼ οὐ παύσομαι, τοῦτʼ ἴσθʼ ὅτι, πρὶν ἂν πτερωθεὶς διαδράμω τὸν ἀέρα.

Cinesias Singing. “On my light pinions I soar off to Olympus ; in its capricious flight my Muse flutters along the thousand paths of poetry in turn ...”

Pisthetaerus 1375 This is a fellow will need a whole shipload of wings.

Cinesias Singing. “... and being fearless and vigorous, it is seeking fresh outlet.”

Pisthetaerus Welcome, Cinesias, you lime-wood man! Why have you come here twisting your game leg in circles?

Cinesias Singing. 1380 “I want to become a bird, a tuneful nightingale.”

Pisthetaerus Enough of that sort of ditty. Tell me what you want.

Cinesias Give me wings and I will fly into the topmost airs to gather fresh songs in the clouds, 1385 in the midst of the vapors and the fleecy snow.

Pisthetaerus Gather songs in the clouds?

Cinesias 'Tis on them the whole of our latter-day art depends. The most brilliant dithyrambs are those that flap 1390 their wings in empty space and are clothed in mist and dense obscurity. To appreciate this, just listen.

Pisthetaerus Oh! no, no, no!

Cinesias By Hermes! but indeed you shall.

He sings. “I shall travel through thine ethereal empire like a winged bird, who cleaveth space with his long neck ...”

Pisthetaerus 1395 Stop! Way enough!

Cinesias “... as I soar over the seas, carried by the breath of the winds ...”

Pisthetaerus By Zeus! I'll cut your breath short. He picks up a pair of wings and begins trying to stop Cinesias' mouth with them.

Cinesias Running away. “... now rushing along the tracks of Notus, now nearing Boreas 1400 across the infinite wastes of the ether.”

Ah! old man, that's a pretty and clever idea truly!

Pisthetaerus What! are you not delighted to be cleaving the air?

Cinesias To treat a dithyrambic poet, for whom the tribes dispute with each other, in this style!

Pisthetaerus 1405 Will you stay with us and form a chorus of winged birds as slender as Leotrophides for the Cecropid tribe?

Cinesias You are making game of me, that's clear; but know that I shall never leave you in peace if I do not have wings wherewith to traverse the air.

Commentary

Line 1377

Stable identifiers

Κινησίας

ἀναπέτομαι δὴ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον πτερύγεσσι κούφαις·

πέτομαι δʼ ὁδὸν ἄλλοτʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλαν μελέων —

Πισθέταιρος

τουτὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα φορτίου δεῖται πτερῶν.
1375

Κινησίας

ἀφόβῳ φρενὶ σώματί τε νέαν ἐφέπων —

Πισθέταιρος

ἀσπαζόμεσθα φιλύρινον Κινησίαν.

τί δεῦρο πόδα σὺ κυλλὸν ἀνὰ κύκλον κυκλεῖς;

Κινησίας

ὄρνις γενέσθαι βούλομαι λιγύφθογγος ἀηδών.
1380

Πισθέταιρος

παῦσαι μελῳδῶν, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι λέγεις εἰπέ μοι.

Κινησίας

ὑπὸ σοῦ πτερωθεὶς βούλομαι μετάρσιος

ἀναπτόμενος ἐκ τῶν νεφελῶν καινὰς λαβεῖν

ἀεροδονήτους καὶ νιφοβόλους ἀναβολάς.
1385

Πισθέταιρος

ἐκ τῶν νεφελῶν γὰρ ἄν τις ἀναβολὰς λάβοι;

Πισθέταιρος

οὐ δῆτʼ ἔγωγε.

Κινησίας

νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα σύ γε.

ἅπαντα γὰρ δίειμί σοι τὸν ἀέρα.

Κινησίας

εἴδωλα πετεινῶν

αἰθεροδρόμων

οἰωνῶν ταναοδείρων —
1395

Πισθέταιρος

ὠόπ.

Κινησίας

τὸν ἁλάδρομον ἁλάμενος

ἅμʼ ἀνεμων πνοαῖσι βαίην.

Πισθέταιρος

νὴ τὸν Δίʼ ἦ ʼγώ σου καταπαύσω τὰς πνοάς.

Κινησίας

τοτὲ μὲν νοτίαν στείχων πρὸς ὁδόν,

τοτὲ δʼ αὖ βορέᾳ σῶμα πελάζων
1400

ἀλίμενον αἰθέρος αὔλακα τέμνων.

Κινησίας

χαρίεντά γʼ ὦ πρεσβῦτʼ ἐσοφίσω καὶ σοφά.

Πισθέταιρος

οὐ γὰρ σὺ χαίρεις πτεροδόνητος γενόμενος;

Κινησίας

ταυτὶ πεποίηκας τὸν κυκλιοδιδάσκαλον,

ὂς ταῖσι φυλαῖς περιμάχητός εἰμʼ ἀεί;

Πισθέταιρος

βούλει διδάσκειν καὶ παρʼ ἡμῖν οὖν μένων
1405

Λεωτροφίδῃ χορὸν πετομένων ὀρνέων

Κεκροπίδα φυλήν;

Κινησίας

καταγελᾷς μου, δῆλος εἶ.

ἀλλʼ οὖν ἔγωγʼ οὐ παύσομαι, τοῦτʼ ἴσθʼ ὅτι,

πρὶν ἂν πτερωθεὶς διαδράμω τὸν ἀέρα.

Cinesias
Singing.

“On my light pinions I soar off to Olympus ; in its capricious flight my Muse flutters along the thousand paths of poetry in turn ...”

Pisthetaerus

1375 This is a fellow will need a whole shipload of wings.

Cinesias
Singing.

“... and being fearless and vigorous, it is seeking fresh outlet.”

Pisthetaerus

Welcome, Cinesias, you lime-wood man! Why have you come here twisting your game leg in circles?

Cinesias
Singing.

1380 “I want to become a bird, a tuneful nightingale.”

Pisthetaerus

Enough of that sort of ditty. Tell me what you want.

Cinesias

Give me wings and I will fly into the topmost airs to gather fresh songs in the clouds, 1385 in the midst of the vapors and the fleecy snow.

Pisthetaerus

Gather songs in the clouds?

Cinesias

'Tis on them the whole of our latter-day art depends. The most brilliant dithyrambs are those that flap 1390 their wings in empty space and are clothed in mist and dense obscurity. To appreciate this, just listen.

Pisthetaerus

Oh! no, no, no!

Cinesias

By Hermes! but indeed you shall.

He sings.

“I shall travel through thine ethereal empire like a winged bird, who cleaveth space with his long neck ...”

Pisthetaerus

1395 Stop! Way enough!

Cinesias

“... as I soar over the seas, carried by the breath of the winds ...”

Pisthetaerus

By Zeus! I'll cut your breath short. He picks up a pair of wings and begins trying to stop Cinesias' mouth with them.

Cinesias
Running away.

“... now rushing along the tracks of Notus, now nearing Boreas 1400 across the infinite wastes of the ether.”

Pisthetaerus

What! are you not delighted to be cleaving the air?

Cinesias

To treat a dithyrambic poet, for whom the tribes dispute with each other, in this style!

Pisthetaerus

1405 Will you stay with us and form a chorus of winged birds as slender as Leotrophides for the Cecropid tribe?

Cinesias

You are making game of me, that's clear; but know that I shall never leave you in peace if I do not have wings wherewith to traverse the air.