903.
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Line 903
τὸν δʼ ἀνασπῶντʼ αὐτοπρέμνοις
The construction presents a syntactical crux: the participle ἀνασπῶντʼ (accusative singular masculine) appears to govern the accusative αὐτοπρέμνοις, yet the preposition ἀνὰ with the accusative is standard, while the form αὐτοπρέμνοις (dative plural) creates a case conflict. This has led editors like Diels and Page to conjecture that the text may be corrupted, with some suggesting αὐτοπρέμνοις should be αὐτοπρέμνους (accusative) to match the participle, or that the participle is elliptical for a verb requiring the dative (e.g., ὑπηρετοῦντος). The ambiguity is compounded by the lack of clear manuscript support for either reading, making this a genuine crux requiring textual intervention or sophisticated syntactic reconstruction to resolve.
920.
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Line 920
ὁπόθʼ ἡ Νιόβη τι φθέγξεται· τὸ δρᾶμα δʼ ἂν διῄει.
The construction ἂν with the indicative in the apodosis of a future-less-vivid or general conditional (here, ἂν διῄει with the imperfect indicative) is a recognized feature of Attic comedy and later Koine, contrasting with the more rigid Attic prose preference for the optative in such contexts (e.g., ἂν διῴη). Here, the imperfect indicative with ἂν conveys a repeated or habitual action in the past ('it would always fall apart'), a usage well-attested in Aristophanes but which can confuse readers trained exclusively on Classical prose paradigms.
924.
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Line 924
ἤδη μεσοίη, ῥήματʼ ἂν βόεια δώδεκʼ εἶπεν,
The verb ῥήματʼ ἂν βόεια δώδεκʼ εἶπεν relies on the ellipsis of the subject 'he' (referring to the character speaking) and the conditional particle ἂν combined with the aorist indicative εἶπεν to form a potential future construction (or potential optative in older texts, though here indicative is standard for potentiality in comedy). The phrase βόεια δώδεκʼ refers to 'twelve oxen's worth of words,' a hyperbolic measure of verbosity, where βόεια is the genitive plural of βόες (oxen) used idiomatically to denote a large quantity or value, a usage characteristic of Aristophanic hyperbole.
The term βόεια (genitive plural of βόες) is used here not in its literal sense of 'things belonging to oxen' but as a technical idiom for a specific measure of value or quantity, comparable to 'a hundred oxen' in Homeric contexts, here applied metaphorically to 'words' to suggest an excessive amount of speech, a usage that requires familiarity with the economic and metaphorical extensions of agricultural terms in Old Comedy.
932.
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Line 932
τὸν ξουθὸν ἱππαλεκτρυόνα ζητῶν τίς ἐστιν ὄρνις.
The term ἱππαλεκτρυών (hippalektryōn) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, constructed as a compound of ἵππος and ἀλεκτρυών. Its literal meaning, 'horse-rooster,' is a grotesque chimera, and the context implies it is a specific, likely invented, type of bird or a metaphorical designation for a character (often identified with the bird-like figure of the chorus or a specific satyr) that Dicaeopolis or the protagonist is searching for. The compound's absurdity is central to the comic effect, as it combines two distinct animals to create a non-existent creature, playing on the audience's expectation of a real bird.
938.
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Line 938
ἃν τοῖσι παραπετάσμασιν τοῖς Μηδικοῖς γράφουσιν·
The adjective Μηδικοῖς ('Median') here describes the παραπέτασμα ('curtain' or 'backdrop'). In the context of Old Comedy staging, this refers to the painted backdrop depicting a Persian setting, a specific theatrical convention that Aristophanes satirizes. The phrase alludes to the practice of using a single, reusable scenic element to denote 'the East' or 'Persia' in plays, a detail that clarifies the specific visual gag regarding the inscription being read.
943.
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Line 943
χυλὸν διδοὺς στωμυλμάτων ἀπὸ βιβλίων ἀπηθῶν·
The phrase στωμυλμάτων ἀπὸ βιβλίων ἀπηθῶν ('of grumblings from tiresome books') targets a specific cultural phenomenon of the late 5th century: the rise of written collections of 'wise sayings' or gnomic poetry (often attributed to figures like Theognis or Solon) that had become objects of pedantic, repetitive recitation in symposia and schools. Aristophanes satirizes the practice of extracting trivial moralizing from such texts (βιβλίων) to produce empty, grumbling speech (σωμυλμάτων), contrasting the living, spontaneous wit of the stage with the dead, tiresome authority of the written word. The adjective ἀπηθῶν ('tiresome', 'cloying') is particularly sharp here, suggesting that the content is not merely old, but actively repulsive due to overuse, a critique of the intellectual climate that valued rote memorization of written texts over genuine dialectical engagement.
956.
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Line 956
λεπτῶν τε κανόνων ἐσβολὰς ἐπῶν τε γωνιασμούς,
The phrase γωνιασμούς (goniasmous) is a rare hapax legomenon (or near-hapax) in Aristophanes, derived from γωνία (corner). Here it is used metaphorically to denote the 'turning points' or 'complex turns' of a poetic line, specifically alluding to the intricate, angular metrical structures or the sharp rhetorical turns of iambic or dactylic verse. The juxtaposition with κανόνων (rules/straight lines) creates a deliberate antithesis between linear regularity and angular complexity, reflecting the contemporary debate between strict metrical regulation and the more flexible, 'crooked' artistry favored by poets like Euripides or the comic poet's own satire of overly technical criticism.
963.
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Line 963
Κύκνους ποιῶν καὶ Μέμνονας κωδωνοφαλαροπώλους.
The phrase 'κωδωνοφαλαροπώλους' is a hapax legomenon (a word occurring only once) in extant Greek literature, coined here by Aristophanes to describe a specific type of charioteer or herald. The compound combines 'κώδων' (bell) and 'φαλαροπώλης' (seller of patches or, more broadly, a peddler of trinkets), creating a grotesque image of a noisy, huckster-like figure. This neologism serves the play's central theme of poetic competition by satirizing the pretensions of contemporary poets (specifically Aeschylus) who are accused of filling their works with bombastic, meaningless, or overly ornate language, reducing their grand figures like Memnon to mere bell-ringing peddlers.
970.
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Line 970
πέπτωκεν ἔξω τῶν κακῶν, οὐ Χῖος ἀλλὰ Κεῖος.
The phrase 'οὐ Χῖος ἀλλὰ Κεῖος' relies on a specific pun regarding the reputation of wines from the two islands. In the context of the play, where Dionysus is comparing the quality of wine, the 'Chian' wine was proverbial for being strong and potentially adulterated (mixed with seawater or other substances to increase volume), whereas 'Keian' wine was often associated with being sweeter but perhaps less robust or simply distinct in character. The syntax here functions as a contrastive identification of the wine's origin, implying a qualitative judgment based on these regional stereotypes. The humor derives from the expectation that Dionysus, having 'fallen out of the evils' (presumably the 'evil' of thirst or poor wine), has now encountered a specific type of wine, and the distinction between the two islands is the punchline of the scene's satire on wine quality.
990.
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Line 990
The phrase 'κεχηνότες Μαμμάκυθοι' presents a significant textual crux. While the transmitted text in some manuscripts reads 'Μαμμάκυθοι' (Mammakythoi), a recognized conjecture by scholars such as Bergk and later supported by modern editors like Kassel and Austin is 'Μαμμάκυνθος' (Mammakynthus) or a similar correction, suggesting the text may refer to a specific location or a corrupted proper noun rather than a generic term for 'squash'. The participle 'κεχηνότες' (gaping/open-mouthed) is typically used for people or animals, making its application to a noun ending in '-υθοι' (if taken as a plural of 'squash') a deliberate, jarring comic hyperbole, or, if 'Μαμμάκυθοι' is a corruption of a place name, it implies a specific geographical or topographical joke regarding the 'gaping' nature of that place. The lack of a clear antecedent for 'Μαμμάκυθοι' in the immediate context forces the reader to weigh the likelihood of a manuscript corruption against a highly obscure, dialectal, or coined term.
1004.
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Line 1004
ἀλλʼ ὦ πρῶτος τῶν Ἑλλήνων πυργώσας ῥήματα σεμνὰ
The phrase 'πρῶτος τῶν Ἑλλήνων' (first of the Greeks) is a deliberate hyperbolic honorific applied to Aeschylus, contrasting sharply with the subsequent description of him as 'pyrgōsas rhēmata semna' (building up lofty words). While Aeschylus was widely revered in the 5th century, the specific metaphor of 'building towers' (pyrgōsas) of language is a satirical exaggeration of the comic tradition's view of his style as heavy, bombastic, and architecturally massive, a critique that Aristophanes revisits elsewhere (e.g., *Frogs* 1000–1014). The genitive 'τῶν Ἑλλήνων' here functions as a superlative marker of pre-eminence, but the combination of 'first' and 'builder' creates a specific ironic tension: it elevates Aeschylus to a foundational status while simultaneously reducing his poetic achievement to a crude structural feat, a key element of the play's judgment of the dead poets.
