Aristophanes Lysistrata 614

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.) — 614 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.) — 614 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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καὶ μάλιστʼ ὀσφραίνομαι τῆς Ἱππίου τυραννίδος·
The genitive phrase τῆς Ἱππίου τυραννίδος is an idiom of scent perception where the genitive denotes the object of the odor (the thing smelled) rather than the source. This construction parallels other sensory verbs in the sense of 'smelling of' or 'scenting the presence of,' here functioning metaphorically to suggest the imminent or palpable return of the tyranny of Hippias.
The reference to 'Hippias' alludes to the last tyrant of Athens (r. 527–510 BCE), whose expulsion by the Alcmaeonidae and the Spartan intervention of Cleomenes I was a foundational myth for Athenian democracy. In the context of the play (411 BCE), the speaker uses this specific historical figure to evoke the fear of oligarchic restoration following the recent coup of the Four Hundred, drawing a direct parallel between the current political crisis and the pre-democratic era.

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δεῦρο συνεληλυθότες ἄνδρες ἐς Κλεισθένους
The phrase ἐς Κλεισθένους refers specifically to the temple of Athena Chalkioikos in Sparta, named after the legendary lawgiver Cleisthenes of Sparta (not the Athenian reformer), where the Spartan ephors traditionally met to deliberate on matters of state. Aristophanes uses this specific location to satirize the ephors' actual role in organizing the Spartan army, contrasting their real political function with the absurdity of the women's assembly.