753.
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Line 753
διαπλέκειν ζῶν ἡδέως τὸ λοιπόν, ὡς ἡμᾶς ἴτω.
The imperative διαπλέκειν is a future middle imperative (second aorist middle of διαπλέκω) functioning as a periphrastic construction with the infinitive ἡδέως (understood as ἡδέως διαπλέκειν or a similar elliptical structure), though the more likely reading in this context is that ἡδέως modifies the infinitive διαπλέκειν, which is used as a finite verb in the second person plural future middle imperative, a rare construction in Aristophanes. The verb διαπλέκειν, meaning 'to weave together' or 'to interweave', is used metaphorically here to mean 'to live together' or 'to dwell in harmony', a usage that reflects the play's theme of the birds establishing a new city in the sky.
The phrase ὡς ἡμᾶς ἴτω is a rare and elliptical construction where ὡς introduces a purpose clause with the subjunctive ἴτω (third person singular aorist active subjunctive of ἵμι, 'to go'), which is unusual because the subject of the main clause is plural (ἡμεῖς, implied in the imperative), while the subordinate clause has a singular subject. This construction is likely a case of the 'subjunctive of purpose' with a shift in number, which is not common in Attic Greek and may reflect a colloquial or dialectal feature of the play.
760.
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Line 760
εἰ δὲ τυγχάνει τις ὑμῶν δραπέτης ἐστιγμένος,
The participle ἐστιγμένος (from στίζω, to brand) refers specifically to the practice of branding slaves with a mark (often the name of the owner or a warning) to prevent them from being hired elsewhere or to identify them as fugitives. In the context of Aristophanes' Birds, this detail is not merely descriptive of a slave's status but sets up the specific legal and social mechanism by which the character Euelpides and Peisthetaerus intend to exploit this status: they will offer the branded fugitive a new 'identity' by incorporating him into their avian city, effectively erasing his previous legal standing as a branded runaway. The choice of this specific participle over a more generic term for 'slave' or 'fugitive' highlights the commodification of human bodies in classical Athens and the specific anxiety regarding slave mobility that Aristophanes satirizes.
764.
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Line 764
εἰ δὲ δοῦλός ἐστι καὶ Κὰρ ὥσπερ Ἐξηκεστίδης,
The phrase Κὰρ ὥσπερ Ἐξηκεστίδης presents a specific prosopographical crux. Ἐξηκεστίδης is a real, albeit obscure, historical figure mentioned in Athenian sources as a 'Carian' (or of Carian origin) who served as a general or military commander, possibly under Alcibiades or during the Sicilian Expedition. The comedy relies on the audience recognizing this specific individual as a notorious example of a Carian slave or a Carian of low status, using him as a benchmark for the character's supposed servile nature. The syntax treats 'Kār' (the adjective/noun for 'Carian') as a predicate adjective modifying the subject 'doulos', linked by the comparative 'hōsper' to the proper name, creating a simile that equates the subject's status with that of Exekestides. Without knowledge of Exekestides, the specific satirical force of the comparison is lost, as 'Carian' alone was a common ethnic marker, but 'Carian like Exekestides' targets a specific cultural stereotype of the time.
768.
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Line 768
ὡς παρʼ ἡμῖν οὐδὲν αἰσχρόν ἐστιν ἐκπερδικίσαι.
The compound verb ἐκπερδικίσαι is a coined neologism, formed by the prefix ἐκ- (out) and the stem περδικ- (quail), suffixed with the verbal ending -ίσαι. Aristophanes constructs this term to mean 'to cheat someone out of their quail' or more broadly 'to swindle them of something small and trivial,' relying on the audience's familiarity with the specific practice of quail fighting and the associated betting culture. This morphological innovation serves as a specific instance of the comic poet's tendency to create ad-hoc verbs to satirize contemporary social practices, rather than utilizing a standard verb for 'to cheat' (e.g., δολώσαι).
