Aristophanes Frogs 549

Matthew Dillon (Translator)

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Frogs. Aristophanes. Matthew Dillon (Translator). . 2026-09-08.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

Frogs (OCR draft) (English) (English (Matthew Dillon). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Βάτραχοι Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.) — 549 focus
Translations (1)
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.) — 549 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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οὐκ ἐς κόρακας; μὴ πρόσιτον.
The phrase οὐκ ἐς κόρακας is a well-attested idiom meaning 'to nothing' or 'to the dogs,' literally 'not into the crows.' In this context, Dionysus asks if the chorus (or the frogs) are going nowhere, to which Xanthias replies with a sarcastic 'μὴ πρόσιτον' (let us not approach/come near). The use of κόρακες here likely alludes to the Greek belief that crows (or ravens) were associated with death or the underworld, fitting the play's descent into Hades. The construction μὴ πρόσιτον is an elliptical imperative or exhortation, where πρόσιτον (accusative of πρόσιτος) functions as a verbal noun meaning 'approach' or 'come near,' with the negative μὴ expressing prohibition.

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ὁπόθʼ Ἡράκλεια τἀν Διομείοις γίγνεται.
The text relies on a specific textual variant found in the best manuscripts (A, B) which reads τἀν Διομείοις ('in the Diomeia'), whereas some later editions and conjectures have attempted to emend this to τὰν Διομείᾳ or similar forms. The Dative plural Διομείοις is rare and refers to a specific precinct or festival ground associated with Diomedes, likely in the context of the Argive sanctuary. The phrase describes a location where a certain event (implied by the participle γίγνεται, 'happens' or 'is born') takes place, specifically alluding to the myth of Heracles' birth or a related ritual event at the Diomeia. This construction is syntactically dense, with the relative clause ὁπόθʼ ('whenever') governing the entire locative phrase, requiring the reader to understand the spatial and mythological context of the Diomeia to fully grasp the reference.
The phrase τἀν Διομείοις presents a syntactic curiosity: the article τἀν (ta + tēn) is in the dative plural, modifying Διομείοις, which is itself a plural noun. This construction, where the article agrees with the noun in case and number but the noun is plural while the article is typically singular in such contexts, is rare in Aristophanes and may reflect a specific dialectal or poetic usage. The use of the dative plural here indicates a location 'in the Diomeia,' which is a specific precinct or festival ground, rather than a city or general region. This usage is not standard Attic prose and requires careful parsing to avoid misinterpretation of the spatial reference.
The term Διομείοις (Diomeiois) refers to a specific sanctuary or festival ground associated with Diomedes, a hero from the Trojan War. In the context of Aristophanes' *Frogs*, this location is likely alluding to a mythological event or ritual that is being humorously referenced or parodied. The Diomeia was a known site in Argos, and its mention here may serve to ground the comedy in a specific mythological or local context, adding layers of meaning for those familiar with the cultic and mythological traditions of the region.

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χἠ Φερρέφατθʼ, ἅτʼ ὄντε κἀκείνω θεώ.
The form ἅτʼ ὄντε is a Doric dialectal variant of the Attic ἅτινά ἐστιν (or ἅτινές ἐστιν), meaning 'which are also'. The use of the Doric dual/plural form ὄντε (Attic ὄντες) alongside the Doric relative pronoun ἅτʼ (Attic ἅτιν) signals Aristophanes' deliberate adoption of a non-Attic, likely choral or 'high' style register here to evoke the solemnity of the Eleusinian mysteries associated with Persephone (Pherephatta). This is not a simple grammatical irregularity but a stylistic marker distinguishing the speech of the chorus or the invoked deity from the Attic vernacular of the other characters.

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†ἐπὶ βάρβαρον ἑζομένη πέταλον· †
The text contains the critical symbol † (obelus) before both words, indicating that the phrase 'ἐπὶ βάρβαρον ἑζομένη πέταλον' is widely regarded by scholars as a corruption or interpolation. The phrase is syntactically awkward and semantically obscure in its current form; most editors, following the lead of ancient scholia and modern critics like Denniston and Page, suggest that 'πέταλον' (a flat cake or coin) does not fit the context of the scene, where a character (likely the Chorus or a specific character like Xanthias) is describing someone sitting. A common conjecture is that the text should be emended to read 'ἐπὶ βάρβαρον ἑζομένη πέταλον' as a corruption of 'ἐπὶ βάρβαρον ἑζομένη πέταλον' (though this is circular) or more likely, that 'πέταλον' is a dittography or corruption of 'πέταλον' (a specific type of bread) or perhaps 'πέταλον' refers to a specific object in a different context. However, the most accepted view is that the line is corrupt and requires significant emendation to make sense, possibly involving the omission of 'πέταλον' or a complete reordering. The presence of the obelus signals that the sentence as it stands is not to be taken as authoritative text but as a crux requiring editorial intervention.

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κεἴ τις ἥμαρτε σφαλείς τι Φρυνίχου παλαίσμασιν,
The participle σφαλείς (aorist passive of σφάλλω, 'to trip' or 'to deceive') is used here with a dative of instrument (τι Φρυνίχου παλαίσμασιν) rather than the more common prepositional construction or genitive. This usage reflects a specific comic metaphor where 'tricks' (παλαίσματα, literally 'wrestling holds') are treated as the physical means of deception, a semantic shift common in Attic comedy but requiring attention to the dative's instrumental force here.

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χοἰ πατέρες ἐναυμάχησαν καὶ προσήκουσιν γένει,
The verb προσήκουσιν is a present indicative form meaning 'they belong' or 'they are related to', which here functions as a technical term in prosopographical or legal contexts to assert kinship. In this specific context of the Frogs, where the characters are debating the lineage of the Athenian citizens, this construction implies a formal claim of belonging to a specific family or clan, a concept central to the political satire regarding the qualifications for citizenship and military service during the Peloponnesian War.