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Βλέπυρος

κἄγωγʼ, ἐπειδὰν ἀποπατήσω· νῦν δέ μου

ἀχράς τις ἐγκλῄσασʼ ἔχει τὰ σιτία.
355

Ἀνήρ

μῶν ἣν Θρασύβουλος εἶπε τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς;

Βλέπυρος

νὴ τὸν Διόνυσον ἐνέχεται γοῦν μοι σφόδρα.

ἀτὰρ τί δράσω; καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ τοῦτό με

μόνον τὸ λυποῦν ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ ὅταν φάγω,

ὅποι βαδιεῖταί μοι τὸ λοιπὸν ἡ κόπρος.
360

νῦν μὲν γὰρ οὗτος βεβαλάνωκε τὴν θύραν,

ὅστις ποτʼ ἔσθʼ ἅνθρωπος ἁχραδούσιος.

τίς ἂν οὖν ἰατρόν μοι μετέλθοι καὶ τίνα;

τίς τῶν κατὰ πρωκτὸν δεινός ἐστι τὴν τέχνην;

ἀλλʼ οἶδʼ, Ἀμύνων. ἀλλʼ ἴσως ἀρνήσεται.
365

Ἀντισθένη τις καλεσάτω πάσῃ τέχνῃ.

οὗτος γὰρ ἁνὴρ ἕνεκά γε στεναγμάτων

οἶδεν τί πρωκτὸς βούλεται χεζητιῶν.

ὦ πότνιʼ Εἰλείθυια μή με περιίδῃς

διαρραγέντα μηδὲ βεβαλανωμένον,
370

ἵνα μὴ γένωμαι σκωραμὶς κωμῳδική.

Χρέμης

οὗτος τί ποιεῖς; οὔτι που χέζεις;

Βλέπυρος

ἐγώ;

οὐ δῆτʼ ἔτι γε μὰ τὸν Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀνίσταμαι.

Χρέμης

τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς δʼ ἀμπέχει χιτώνιον;

Βλέπυρος

ἐν τῷ σκότῳ γὰρ τοῦτʼ ἔτυχον ἔνδον λαβών.
375

ἀτὰρ πόθεν ἥκεις ἐτεόν;

Χρέμης

ἐξ ἐκκλησίας.

Βλέπυρος

ἤδη λέλυται γάρ;

Χρέμης

νὴ Δίʼ ὄρθριον μὲν οὖν.

καὶ δῆτα πολὺν ἡ μίλτος ὦ Ζεῦ φίλτατε

γέλων παρέσχεν, ἣν προσέρραινον κύκλῳ.

Βλέπυρος

τὸ τριώβολον δῆτʼ ἔλαβες;
380

Χρέμης

εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον.

ἀλλʼ ὕστερος νῦν ἦλθον, ὥστʼ αἰσχύνομαι

μὰ τὸν Δίʼ οὐδένʼ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν θύλακον.

Βλέπυρος

τὸ δʼ αἴτιον τί;

Χρέμης

πλεῖστος ἀνθρώπων ὄχλος,

ὅσος οὐδεπώποτʼ ἦλθʼ ἁθρόος ἐς τὴν πύκνα.

καὶ δῆτα πάντες σκυτοτόμοις ᾐκάζομεν
385

ὁρῶντες αὐτούς. οὐ γὰρ ἀλλʼ ὑπερφυῶς

ὡς λευκοπληθὴς ἦν ἰδεῖν ἡκκλησία·

ὥστʼ οὐκ ἔλαβον οὔτʼ αὐτὸς οὔτʼ ἄλλοι συχνοί.

Ecclesiazusae. 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

Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.)

Translations (2)

Ecclesiazusae (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 354 focus

Blepyrus

I am going to have a look too, when I have finished crapping; but I really think 355 there must be a wild pear obstructing my rectum.

Man

Is it the one which Thrasybulus spoke about to the Lacedaemonians?

Blepyrus

Oh! oh! oh! how stopped up I am! Whatever am I to do? It's not merely for the present that I am frightened; but when I have eaten, 360 where is my crap to find an outlet now? This damned McPear fellow has bolted the door. Call a doctor; but who is the cleverest in this branch of the science? 365 Amynon? Perhaps he would not come. Ah! Antisthenes! Let him be brought to me, cost what it will. To judge by his noisy sighs, that man knows what an arse wants, when it needs to crap. Oh! venerated Ilithyia! I shall burst unless 370 the door gives way. Have pity! pity! Let me not become a thunder-mug for the comic poets.

Enter Chremes, returning from the Assembly.

Chremes

Hi! friend, what are you doing there? You're not crapping, are you?

Blepyrus
Finding relief at last.

Oh! there! it is over and I can get up again.

Chremes

What's this? You have your wife's tunic on.

Blepyrus

375 It was the first thing that came to my hand in the darkness. But where are you coming from?

Chremes

From the Assembly.

Blepyrus

Is it already over then?

Chremes

Certainly.

Blepyrus

Why, it is scarcely daylight.

Chremes

I did laugh, ye gods, at the vermilion rope-marks that were to be seen all about the Assembly.

Blepyrus

380 Did you get the triobolus?

Chremes

Would it had so pleased the gods! but I arrived just too late, and am quite ashamed of it; I bring back nothing but this empty wallet.

Blepyrus

But why is that?

Chremes

There was a crowd, such as has never been seen at the Pnyx, 385 and the folk looked pale and wan, like so many shoemakers, so white were they in hue; both I and many another had to go without the triobolus.

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.) — 354 focus

Blepyrus: And I too, when I have finished my business; but now for me...

Blepyrus: Some woman has locked up the grain.

355

Man: Did Thrasibulus say this to the Lacedaemonians?

Blepyrus: By Dionysus, it is certainly very pleasing to me.

Blepyrus: But what shall I do? For not even this [thing] me

Blepyrus: It is only the grief, but when I eat,

Blepyrus: Wherever I go next, there is the dung.

360

Blepyrus: for now this man has bolted the door,

Blepyrus: whoever this man is, he is a fig-impregnated man.

Blepyrus: Who then would come to my aid as a doctor, and which one?

Blepyrus: Who among those skilled at anal sex is an expert in the art?

Blepyrus: But I know, Amyntas. But perhaps he will deny it.

365

Blepyrus: Let someone summon Antisthenes by every means.

Blepyrus: for this man, at least, because of his groans

Blepyrus: he knows what a bum wants from a flea.

Blepyrus: O Lady Eileithyia, do not look past me!

Blepyrus: 'Torn, not yet stained,'

370

Blepyrus: so that I may not become a comic butt.

Chremes: What are you doing? You're not defecating, are you?

Blepyrus: Me?

Blepyrus: No, by Zeus, not anymore, but I am getting up.

Chremes: But does the woman's tunic fit her?

Blepyrus: for I happened to have taken this inside in the dark.

375

Blepyrus: But where, tell me truly, do you come from?

Chremes: out of the assembly.

Blepyrus: Is it already loosed, then?

Chremes: By Zeus, then, it is early morning.

Chremes: And truly, by Zeus, dearest, the miltos is very great.

Chremes: he provided laughter, which they were splashing around.

Blepyrus: So you took the three-obol coin, did you?

380

Chremes: If only I had wished!

Chremes: but I came later, so I am ashamed.

Chremes: By Zeus, nothing other than the pouch.

Blepyrus: But what is the reason?

Chremes: the greatest crowd of people,

Chremes: Never before has such a crowd come to the thick assembly.

Chremes: and indeed we all resemble the shoemakers.

385

Chremes: Seeing them. For not otherwise, but exceedingly.

Chremes: how white-clad the assembly was to see.

Chremes: So I didn't get it, nor did many others.

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

356. mvp-tlg0019-tlg010-sanjaya-com-eng1-4

Line 356

μῶν ἣν Θρασύβουλος εἶπε τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς;

The anaphoric use of the relative pronoun ἣν (accusative feminine singular) here refers back to the specific, previously mentioned speech or decree (implied by the context of the play's plot regarding the women's assembly) rather than a generic noun. The construction εἶπε τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς alludes to a specific historical event where Thrasybulus, the Athenian democratic leader, negotiated with the Spartans (Lacedaemonians) following the overthrow of the Thirty Tyrants in 403 BCE. The use of the aorist indicative εἶπε rather than a perfect or pluperfect emphasizes the specific, completed utterance of that historical moment, which is being invoked as a precedent for the current political maneuvering of the women in the play.

378. mvp-tlg0019-tlg010-sanjaya-com-eng1-5

Line 378

καὶ δῆτα πολὺν ἡ μίλτος ὦ Ζεῦ φίλτατε

The phrase ὦ Ζεῦ φίλτατε is a rare and marked vocative construction. While ὦ Ζεῦ is standard, the superlative adjective φίλτατε (most dear/favorite) in the vocative directly addressing Zeus is highly unusual in Aristophanes. Typically, Zeus is addressed with terms like Διὸς πάτερ, ὦ Ζεῦ, or ὦ μέγιστε. The use of the superlative φίλτατε here creates a jarring, ironic intimacy, characteristic of the play's subversion of religious and social norms, where the speaker (Praxagora) treats the god with a familiarity that borders on the presumptuous, fitting the chaotic atmosphere of the Ecclesiazusae.

Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae 354

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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Βλέπυρος

κἄγωγʼ, ἐπειδὰν ἀποπατήσω· νῦν δέ μου

ἀχράς τις ἐγκλῄσασʼ ἔχει τὰ σιτία.
355

Ἀνήρ

μῶν ἣν Θρασύβουλος εἶπε τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς;

Χρέμης

οὗτος τί ποιεῖς; οὔτι που χέζεις;

Βλέπυρος

ἐγώ;

οὐ δῆτʼ ἔτι γε μὰ τὸν Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀνίσταμαι.

Χρέμης

τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς δʼ ἀμπέχει χιτώνιον;

Βλέπυρος

ἐν τῷ σκότῳ γὰρ τοῦτʼ ἔτυχον ἔνδον λαβών.
375

ἀτὰρ πόθεν ἥκεις ἐτεόν;

Χρέμης

ἐξ ἐκκλησίας.

Βλέπυρος

ἤδη λέλυται γάρ;

Χρέμης

νὴ Δίʼ ὄρθριον μὲν οὖν.

καὶ δῆτα πολὺν ἡ μίλτος ὦ Ζεῦ φίλτατε

γέλων παρέσχεν, ἣν προσέρραινον κύκλῳ.

Βλέπυρος

τὸ τριώβολον δῆτʼ ἔλαβες;
380

Χρέμης

εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον.

ἀλλʼ ὕστερος νῦν ἦλθον, ὥστʼ αἰσχύνομαι

μὰ τὸν Δίʼ οὐδένʼ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν θύλακον.

Βλέπυρος

τὸ δʼ αἴτιον τί;

Current edition Perseus

Blepyrus

I am going to have a look too, when I have finished crapping; but I really think 355 there must be a wild pear obstructing my rectum.

Man

Is it the one which Thrasybulus spoke about to the Lacedaemonians?

Chremes

Hi! friend, what are you doing there? You're not crapping, are you?

Blepyrus
Finding relief at last.

Oh! there! it is over and I can get up again.

Chremes

What's this? You have your wife's tunic on.

Blepyrus

375 It was the first thing that came to my hand in the darkness. But where are you coming from?

Chremes

From the Assembly.

Blepyrus

Is it already over then?

Chremes

Certainly.

Blepyrus

Why, it is scarcely daylight.

Chremes

I did laugh, ye gods, at the vermilion rope-marks that were to be seen all about the Assembly.

Blepyrus

380 Did you get the triobolus?

Chremes

Would it had so pleased the gods! but I arrived just too late, and am quite ashamed of it; I bring back nothing but this empty wallet.

Blepyrus

But why is that?

Chremes

There was a crowd, such as has never been seen at the Pnyx, 385 and the folk looked pale and wan, like so many shoemakers, so white were they in hue; both I and many another had to go without the triobolus.

Commentary

Line 356

Line 378

Stable identifiers

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Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Βλέπυρος κἄγωγʼ, ἐπειδὰν ἀποπατήσω· νῦν δέ μου ἀχράς τις ἐγκλῄσασʼ ἔχει τὰ σιτία. 355

Ἀνήρ μῶν ἣν Θρασύβουλος εἶπε τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς;

Χρέμης οὗτος τί ποιεῖς; οὔτι που χέζεις;

Βλέπυρος ἐγώ; οὐ δῆτʼ ἔτι γε μὰ τὸν Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀνίσταμαι.

Χρέμης τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς δʼ ἀμπέχει χιτώνιον;

Βλέπυρος ἐν τῷ σκότῳ γὰρ τοῦτʼ ἔτυχον ἔνδον λαβών. 375 ἀτὰρ πόθεν ἥκεις ἐτεόν;

Χρέμης ἐξ ἐκκλησίας.

Βλέπυρος ἤδη λέλυται γάρ;

Χρέμης νὴ Δίʼ ὄρθριον μὲν οὖν. καὶ δῆτα πολὺν ἡ μίλτος ὦ Ζεῦ φίλτατε γέλων παρέσχεν, ἣν προσέρραινον κύκλῳ.

Βλέπυρος τὸ τριώβολον δῆτʼ ἔλαβες; 380

Χρέμης εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον. ἀλλʼ ὕστερος νῦν ἦλθον, ὥστʼ αἰσχύνομαι μὰ τὸν Δίʼ οὐδένʼ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν θύλακον.

Βλέπυρος τὸ δʼ αἴτιον τί;

Current edition Perseus

Blepyrus I am going to have a look too, when I have finished crapping; but I really think 355 there must be a wild pear obstructing my rectum.

Man Is it the one which Thrasybulus spoke about to the Lacedaemonians?

Chremes Hi! friend, what are you doing there? You're not crapping, are you?

Blepyrus Finding relief at last. Oh! there! it is over and I can get up again.

Chremes What's this? You have your wife's tunic on.

Blepyrus 375 It was the first thing that came to my hand in the darkness. But where are you coming from?

Chremes From the Assembly.

Blepyrus Is it already over then?

Chremes Certainly.

Blepyrus Why, it is scarcely daylight.

Chremes I did laugh, ye gods, at the vermilion rope-marks that were to be seen all about the Assembly.

Blepyrus 380 Did you get the triobolus?

Chremes Would it had so pleased the gods! but I arrived just too late, and am quite ashamed of it; I bring back nothing but this empty wallet.

Blepyrus But why is that?

Chremes There was a crowd, such as has never been seen at the Pnyx, 385 and the folk looked pale and wan, like so many shoemakers, so white were they in hue; both I and many another had to go without the triobolus.

Commentary

Line 356

Line 378

Stable identifiers

Βλέπυρος

κἄγωγʼ, ἐπειδὰν ἀποπατήσω· νῦν δέ μου

ἀχράς τις ἐγκλῄσασʼ ἔχει τὰ σιτία.
355

Ἀνήρ

μῶν ἣν Θρασύβουλος εἶπε τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς;

Χρέμης

οὗτος τί ποιεῖς; οὔτι που χέζεις;

Βλέπυρος

ἐγώ;

οὐ δῆτʼ ἔτι γε μὰ τὸν Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀνίσταμαι.

Χρέμης

τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς δʼ ἀμπέχει χιτώνιον;

Βλέπυρος

ἐν τῷ σκότῳ γὰρ τοῦτʼ ἔτυχον ἔνδον λαβών.
375

ἀτὰρ πόθεν ἥκεις ἐτεόν;

Χρέμης

ἐξ ἐκκλησίας.

Βλέπυρος

ἤδη λέλυται γάρ;

Χρέμης

νὴ Δίʼ ὄρθριον μὲν οὖν.

καὶ δῆτα πολὺν ἡ μίλτος ὦ Ζεῦ φίλτατε

γέλων παρέσχεν, ἣν προσέρραινον κύκλῳ.

Βλέπυρος

τὸ τριώβολον δῆτʼ ἔλαβες;
380

Χρέμης

εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον.

ἀλλʼ ὕστερος νῦν ἦλθον, ὥστʼ αἰσχύνομαι

μὰ τὸν Δίʼ οὐδένʼ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν θύλακον.

Βλέπυρος

τὸ δʼ αἴτιον τί;

Blepyrus

I am going to have a look too, when I have finished crapping; but I really think 355 there must be a wild pear obstructing my rectum.

Man

Is it the one which Thrasybulus spoke about to the Lacedaemonians?

Chremes

Hi! friend, what are you doing there? You're not crapping, are you?

Blepyrus
Finding relief at last.

Oh! there! it is over and I can get up again.

Chremes

What's this? You have your wife's tunic on.

Blepyrus

375 It was the first thing that came to my hand in the darkness. But where are you coming from?

Chremes

From the Assembly.

Blepyrus

Is it already over then?

Chremes

Certainly.

Blepyrus

Why, it is scarcely daylight.

Chremes

I did laugh, ye gods, at the vermilion rope-marks that were to be seen all about the Assembly.

Blepyrus

380 Did you get the triobolus?

Chremes

Would it had so pleased the gods! but I arrived just too late, and am quite ashamed of it; I bring back nothing but this empty wallet.

Blepyrus

But why is that?

Chremes

There was a crowd, such as has never been seen at the Pnyx, 385 and the folk looked pale and wan, like so many shoemakers, so white were they in hue; both I and many another had to go without the triobolus.