Aristophanes Lysistrata 1279

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

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Lysistrata. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1907.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Λυσιστράτη (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.)

Translations (2)
Lysistrata (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Jack Lindsay). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 1279 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.) — 1279 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

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ἐπὶ δὲ δίδυμον ἀγέχορον
The phrase 'ἀγέχορον' (agchoron) is a hapax legomenon in extant comedy, formed from the privative alpha and ἄχωρ (choros). While the standard term for a 'leader of the chorus' is χορηγός or ἡγεμών, Aristophanes' coinage here creates a specific semantic tension: 'without a leader of the chorus' or 'leaderless chorus.' This is not merely a synonym for 'chorus' but a deliberate neologism likely functioning as a pun or a specific technical reference to a troupe that has lost its director, a situation of practical importance in the production history of the play (potentially alluding to the actual absence of the chorus leader, or a satirical jab at the state of the dramatic profession). The word's construction and rarity make it a significant lexical crux rather than a routine description.

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Ἰήιον
The word Ἰήιον is an adverbial form derived from Ἰή (a vocative exclamation addressed to Apollo or the god in a general sense), functioning here as an interjection or cry of alarm. In Aristophanic comedy, this usage is characteristic of the genre's tendency to blend ritualistic invocations with colloquial exclamations, often signaling a sudden shift in tone or a moment of dramatic irony. The form Ἰήιον, rather than the more common Ἰή, reflects a metrical or stylistic choice specific to the comedic context, where the elongated form may serve to heighten the emotional intensity or align with the rhythmic requirements of the iambic trimeter.