Aristophanes Lysistrata 665

Lysistrata. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (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)
Λυσιστράτη Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.) — 658 focus
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.) — 658 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.) — 658 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

665. mvp-tlg0019-tlg007-sanjaya-com-eng1-24

Line 665

ἀλλʼ ἄγετε λευκόποδες, οἵπερ επὶ Λείψύδριον ἤλθομεν ὅτʼ ἦμεν ἔτι,
The phrase λευκόποδες (white-footed) is a specific epithet here for the chorus of women, evoking the purity of their feet as they have marched to the Acropolis, but more crucially, it alludes to the mythological tradition of the Lemnian women or the specific ritual purity required for the procession to the Acropolis, contrasting with the 'dirty' feet of the men. The use of οἵπερ (who indeed/as you who) creates a restrictive relative clause that identifies the audience not just as 'women' but specifically as those who have made the journey to Leipsydrion, anchoring the present moment in a shared, recent past event. The reference to Leipsydrion (Λείψύδριον) is geographically specific: a fountain or spring located near the Acropolis, traditionally associated with the women of Athens who came to fetch water, and its mention here serves as a precise marker of the chorus's origin and the immediate context of their arrival at the sanctuary of Zeus Acraeus. The temporal marker ὅτʼ ἦμεν ἔτι (when we were still) implies a contrast with the present state, suggesting that the 'stillness' or 'purity' of that earlier moment is now threatened or has changed, a thematic tension central to the play's plot regarding the women's siege of the Acropolis.