Aristophanes Lysistrata 1157

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.) — 1157 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.) — 1157 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

1174. mvp-tlg0019-tlg007-sanjaya-com-eng1-60

Line 1174

ἐγὼ δὲ κοπραγωγεῖν γα †πρῶτα† ναὶ τὼ σιώ.
The text exhibits a well-known crux at the word πρῶτα, which is marked with obeloi (†) in critical editions. The manuscript tradition is divided: some read πρῶτα (first), others πρῶτον, while the sense of the line ('I, by Zeus, would rather be a butcher's assistant than a citizen') suggests a comparative or superlative construction that is syntactically awkward with the infinitive κοπραγωγεῖν. The most likely original reading, supported by the sense of 'rather' (ναὶ τὼ σιώ) and the context of Lysistrata's hyperbolic refusal to engage in politics, is πρῶτα as an adverbial accusative of degree ('first and foremost' or 'above all'), though some editors have conjectured πρῶτον or even emended to πρῶτον with a different sense. The presence of the crux indicates a significant textual problem affecting the interpretation of Lysistrata's priorities.

1180b. mvp-tlg0019-tlg007-sanjaya-com-eng1-61

Line 1180b

τοῖσι γῶν ναὶ τὼ σιὼ
The sentence is a colloquial oath and vocative address in the Laconian (Spartan) dialect, distinct from the standard Attic Greek of the rest of the play. Key features include the Doric dative plural article τοῖσι (Attic τοῖς), the Doric vocative form ναὶ (often Attic ναί), and the specific Laconian forms γῶν (for γῶν or γῶν = γυνή/γυναικῶν contextually, here likely a dialectal contraction or form for 'women' or 'ladies' as a vocative plural) and σιὼ (the Laconian vocative plural of σύ, meaning 'you', contrasting with Attic σῶς or σῦν). This represents a deliberate stylistic choice by Aristophanes to characterize the Spartan women's distinct linguistic identity and to parody their perceived roughness or archaic speech patterns.