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Chorus: Great is the matter, great the strife, mighty war is coming.

Chorus: therefore it is a difficult task to divide,

1100

Chorus: when one pulls violently,

Chorus: But he is able to turn back and to strut proudly.

Chorus: But do not sit in the same place.

Chorus: For there are many entrances and other sophisms.

Chorus: Whatever the case may be, they contend,

1105

Chorus: Sing and play the drum and the cymbals.

Chorus: both the old and the new things,

Chorus: And you were running the risk of saying something subtle and clever.

Frogs. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

English (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)

Βάτραχοι Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.) — 1099 focus

Χορός

μέγα τὸ πρᾶγμα, πολὺ τὸ νεῖκος, ἁδρὸς ὁ πόλεμος ἔρχεται.

χαλεπὸν οὖν ἔργον διαιρεῖν,
1100

ὅταν ὁ μὲν τείνῃ βιαίως,

ὁ δʼ ἐπαναστρέφειν δύνηται κἀπερείδεσθαι τορῶς.

ἀλλὰ μὴ ʼν ταὐτῷ κάθησθον·

ἐσβολαὶ γάρ εἰσι πολλαὶ χἄτεραι σοφισμάτων.

ὅ τι περ οὖν ἔχετον ἐρίζειν,
1105

λέγετον ἔπιτον ἀνά τε δέρετον

τά τε παλαιὰ καὶ τὰ καινά,

κἀποκινδυνεύετον λεπτόν τι καὶ σοφὸν λέγειν.

Translations (1)

Frogs (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Matthew Dillon). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 1099 focus

Chorus

Great the event, abundant the strife, grand the war that advances.

So it's hard work to choose

when one strains violently,

while the other can twist around and bear down sharply.
1275

But don't just sit where you are.

For the attacks of wit are many and varied.

So for what you have to quarrel over,

speak out, lay on, beat up,

the old stuff and the new,
1280

and dare to say something subtle and smart.

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

1106. mvp-tlg0019-tlg009-sanjaya-com-eng1-53

Line 1106

λέγετον ἔπιτον ἀνά τε δέρετον

The imperative forms λέγετον, ἔπιτον, and δέρετον are plural second-person imperatives with the enclitic particle -ν added for emphasis or rhythmic closure, a feature common in comic verse to mark a collective command. However, the form δέρετον is particularly noteworthy: while the standard Attic imperative plural of δέρω is δέρεσθε (present) or δάρετε (aorist), the form δέρετον represents a Doric or comic variant of the present imperative, reflecting the dialectal mixture often found in Aristophanic choral or comic speech. This usage highlights the play's engagement with dialectal variation for comic effect, especially in the context of the frog chorus or a rustic scene.

Aristophanes Frogs 1099

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Line 1106

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