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Νεᾶνις

ᾆδʼ ὁπόσα βούλει καὶ παράκυφθʼ ὥσπερ γαλῆ·

οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὡς σὲ πρότερον εἴσεισʼ ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ.
925

Γραῦς Α

οὔκουν ἐπʼ ἐκφοράν γε.

Νεᾶνις

καινόν γʼ ὦ σαπρά.

Γραῦς Α

οὐ δῆτα.

Νεᾶνις

τί γὰρ ἂν γραῒ καινά τις λέγοι;

Γραῦς Α

οὐ τοὐμὸν ὀδυνήσει σε γῆρας.

Νεᾶνις

ἀλλὰ τί;

ἥγχουσα μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ σὸν ψιμύθιον;

Γραῦς Α

τί μοι διαλέγει;
930

Νεᾶνις

σὺ δὲ τί διακύπτεις;

Γραῦς Α

ἐγώ;

ᾄδω πρὸς ἐμαυτὴν Ἐπιγένει τὠμῷ φίλῳ.

Νεᾶνις

σοὶ γὰρ φίλος τίς ἐστιν ἄλλος ἢ Γέρης;

Γραῦς Α

δείξει γε καὶ σοί. τάχα γὰρ εἶσιν ὡς ἐμέ.

Νεᾶνις

ὁδὶ γὰρ αὐτός ἐστιν.

Γραῦς Α

οὐ σοῦ γʼ ὦλεθρε

δεόμενος οὐδέν.
935

Νεᾶνις

νὴ Δίʼ ὦ φθίνυλλα σὺ

δείξει τάχʼ αὐτός, ὡς ἔγωγʼ ἀπέρχομαι.

Γραῦς Α

κἄγωγʼ, ἵνα γνῷς ὡς πολύ σου μεῖζον φρονῶ.

Νεανίας

εἴθʼ ἐξῆν παρὰ τῇ νέᾳ καθεύδειν,

καὶ μὴ δʼει πρότερον διασποδῆσαι

ἀνάσιμον ἢ πρεσβυτέραν·
940

οὐ γὰρ ἀνασχετὸν τοῦτό γʼ ἐλευθέρῳ.

Γραῦς Α

οἰμώζων ἄρα νὴ Δία σποδήσεις.

οὐ γὰρ τἀπὶ Χαριξένης τάδʼ ἐστίν.

κατὰ τὸν νόμον ταῦτα ποιεῖν

ἔστι δίκαιον, εἰ δημοκρατούμεθα.
945

Γραῦς Α

ἀλλʼ εἶμι τηρήσουσʼ ὅ τι καὶ δράσει ποτέ.

Νεανίας

εἴθʼ ὦ θεοὶ λάβοιμι τὴν καλὴν μόνην,

ἐφʼ ἣν πεπωκὼς ἔρχομαι πάλαι ποθῶν.

Νεᾶνις

ἐξηπάτησα τὸ κατάρατον γρᾴδιον·

φρούδη γάρ ἐστιν οἰομένη μʼ ἔνδον μένειν.
950

ἀλλʼ οὑτοσὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς οὗ ʼμεμνήμεθα.

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.) — 924 focus

Young Girl
Resuming her songs.

But you shall not rob me of my pleasures; you will not be able to reduce or filch the time that first belongs to me.

First Old Woman

Sing as much as you please, peep out like a cat lying in wait, 925 but none shall pass through your door without first having been to see me.

Young Girl

If anyone enter your house, it will be to carry out your corpse. And that will be something new for you, you rotten old thing!

First Old Woman

Can anything be new to an old woman? My old age will not harm you.

Young Girl

Ah! shame on your painted cheeks!

First Old Woman

930 Why do you speak to me at all?

Young Girl

And why do you place yourself at the window?

First Old Woman

I am singing to myself about my lover, Epigenes.

Young Girl

Can you have any other lover than that old fop Geres?

First Old Woman

Epigenes will show you that himself, for he is coming to me. See, here he is.

Young Girl

He's not thinking of you in the least.

First Old Woman

935 Aye, but he is.

Young Girl

Old starveling! Let's see what he will do. I will leave my window.

First Old Woman

And I likewise. You will see I am much wiser than you.

A Young Man
Sings.

Ah! could I but sleep with the young girl without first making love to 940 the old flat-nose! It is intolerable for a free-born man.

First Old Woman
Singing to the same tune.

Willy nilly, you must first gratify my desire. There shall be no nonsense about that, for my authority is 945 the law and the law must be obeyed in a democracy.

Speaking.

But come, let me hide, to see what he's going to do. She retires.

Young Man

Ah! ye gods, if I were to find the sweet child alone! the wine has fired my lust.

Young Girl
Reappearing in her window.

I have tricked that cursed old wretch; she has left her window, 950 thinking I would stay at home. Ah! here is the lover we were talking of.

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.) — 924 focus

Young woman: Sing whatever you like and look over your shoulder like a weasel;

Young Woman: For no one will deceive you before me instead of me.

925

Old Woman A: Not then, for a funeral, at least.

Young Man: That is something new, you scoundrel.

Old Woman A: By no means.

Young Woman: For what new thing would anyone say to an old woman?

Old Woman A: 'Will not old age hurt you, my own?'

Young Woman: But what?

Young Woman: I have been here longer, and also your whitewash?

Old Woman A: What is she arguing with me about?

930

Young Woman: And what are you peeping at?

Old Woman A: Me?

Old Woman A: I sing to myself, to Epigenes, my dear friend.

Young Man: For who is a friend of yours besides Geras?

She will show it to you as well. For she will soon be as [fond] of me.

Young Woman: for here he himself is.

Old Woman A: You did not perish, you wretch.

Old Woman A: I need nothing.

935

Young woman: By Zeus, oh withering one, you

Young Man: He will show it soon enough, as I am leaving.

Old Woman A: And I, too, so that you may know that I think much more highly of you.

Young Man: If only it were permitted to sleep beside the young woman,

Young Man: and let him not be ashamed to be rubbed down first.

Young man: a younger woman or an older one?

940

Young Man: for this is not endurable for a free man.

Old Woman A: You will certainly be weeping, by Zeus!

Old Woman A: For these things are not Charixena's.

Old Woman A: to do these things according to the law.

Old Woman A: It is just, if we are ruled by the people.

945

OLD WOMAN A: But I will go to keep watch on whatever they will do someday.

Young man: If only the gods would take the beautiful woman alone,

Young Man: I am coming towards her, towards whom I have long been drinking and longing.

Young Woman: I deceived that cursed old woman;

Young Woman: For she is mistaken, thinking that I remain inside.

950

Young Man: But this man is the very one we remember.

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

929. mvp-tlg0019-tlg010-sanjaya-com-eng1-37

Line 929

ἥγχουσα μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ σὸν ψιμύθιον;

The verb ἥγχουσα is the first person singular aorist indicative active of ἄγχω (to choke, strangle, or throttle). In this context, the speaker (Praxagora) uses the verb metaphorically to mean 'I have choked' or 'I have been strangled,' likely in reference to the physical exertion of the upcoming assembly or a rhetorical hyperbole regarding the difficulty of the task. The aorist tense here denotes a completed action with present relevance, a usage common in comic dialogue to emphasize immediate consequence. The phrase 'more than your white lead' (τὸ σὸν ψιμύθιον) is a specific comic comparison: the speaker claims to be so exhausted or 'choked' that it exceeds the suffocating dustiness of cosmetic white lead (psimythion), a substance often associated with the heavy makeup worn by women and potentially the choking dust of the assembly hall itself. This juxtaposition of a violent physical verb with a trivial cosmetic item is characteristic of Aristophanic comic hyperbole and the specific vocabulary of the play's focus on women's roles and domestic items being repurposed for political discourse.

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Νεᾶνις ᾆδʼ ὁπόσα βούλει καὶ παράκυφθʼ ὥσπερ γαλῆ· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὡς σὲ πρότερον εἴσεισʼ ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ. 925

Γραῦς Α οὔκουν ἐπʼ ἐκφοράν γε.

Νεᾶνις καινόν γʼ ὦ σαπρά.

Γραῦς Α οὐ δῆτα.

Νεᾶνις τί γὰρ ἂν γραῒ καινά τις λέγοι;

Γραῦς Α οὐ τοὐμὸν ὀδυνήσει σε γῆρας.

Νεᾶνις ἀλλὰ τί; ἥγχουσα μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ σὸν ψιμύθιον;

Γραῦς Α τί μοι διαλέγει; 930

Νεᾶνις σὺ δὲ τί διακύπτεις;

Γραῦς Α ἐγώ; ᾄδω πρὸς ἐμαυτὴν Ἐπιγένει τὠμῷ φίλῳ.

Νεᾶνις σοὶ γὰρ φίλος τίς ἐστιν ἄλλος ἢ Γέρης;

Γραῦς Α δείξει γε καὶ σοί. τάχα γὰρ εἶσιν ὡς ἐμέ.

Νεᾶνις ὁδὶ γὰρ αὐτός ἐστιν.

Γραῦς Α οὐ σοῦ γʼ ὦλεθρε δεόμενος οὐδέν. 935

Νεᾶνις νὴ Δίʼ ὦ φθίνυλλα σὺ δείξει τάχʼ αὐτός, ὡς ἔγωγʼ ἀπέρχομαι.

Γραῦς Α κἄγωγʼ, ἵνα γνῷς ὡς πολύ σου μεῖζον φρονῶ.

Νεανίας εἴθʼ ἐξῆν παρὰ τῇ νέᾳ καθεύδειν, καὶ μὴ δʼει πρότερον διασποδῆσαι ἀνάσιμον ἢ πρεσβυτέραν· 940 οὐ γὰρ ἀνασχετὸν τοῦτό γʼ ἐλευθέρῳ.

Γραῦς Α οἰμώζων ἄρα νὴ Δία σποδήσεις. οὐ γὰρ τἀπὶ Χαριξένης τάδʼ ἐστίν. κατὰ τὸν νόμον ταῦτα ποιεῖν ἔστι δίκαιον, εἰ δημοκρατούμεθα. 945

Γραῦς Α ἀλλʼ εἶμι τηρήσουσʼ ὅ τι καὶ δράσει ποτέ.

Νεανίας εἴθʼ ὦ θεοὶ λάβοιμι τὴν καλὴν μόνην, ἐφʼ ἣν πεπωκὼς ἔρχομαι πάλαι ποθῶν.

Νεᾶνις ἐξηπάτησα τὸ κατάρατον γρᾴδιον· φρούδη γάρ ἐστιν οἰομένη μʼ ἔνδον μένειν. 950 ἀλλʼ οὑτοσὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς οὗ ʼμεμνήμεθα.

Current edition Perseus

Young Girl Resuming her songs. But you shall not rob me of my pleasures; you will not be able to reduce or filch the time that first belongs to me.

First Old Woman Sing as much as you please, peep out like a cat lying in wait, 925 but none shall pass through your door without first having been to see me.

Young Girl If anyone enter your house, it will be to carry out your corpse. And that will be something new for you, you rotten old thing!

First Old Woman Can anything be new to an old woman? My old age will not harm you.

Young Girl Ah! shame on your painted cheeks!

First Old Woman 930 Why do you speak to me at all?

Young Girl And why do you place yourself at the window?

First Old Woman I am singing to myself about my lover, Epigenes.

Young Girl Can you have any other lover than that old fop Geres?

First Old Woman Epigenes will show you that himself, for he is coming to me. See, here he is.

Young Girl He's not thinking of you in the least.

First Old Woman 935 Aye, but he is.

Young Girl Old starveling! Let's see what he will do. I will leave my window.

First Old Woman And I likewise. You will see I am much wiser than you.

A Young Man Sings. Ah! could I but sleep with the young girl without first making love to 940 the old flat-nose! It is intolerable for a free-born man.

First Old Woman Singing to the same tune. Willy nilly, you must first gratify my desire. There shall be no nonsense about that, for my authority is 945 the law and the law must be obeyed in a democracy.

Speaking. But come, let me hide, to see what he's going to do. She retires.

Young Man Ah! ye gods, if I were to find the sweet child alone! the wine has fired my lust.

Young Girl Reappearing in her window. I have tricked that cursed old wretch; she has left her window, 950 thinking I would stay at home. Ah! here is the lover we were talking of.

Commentary

Line 929

Stable identifiers

Νεᾶνις

ᾆδʼ ὁπόσα βούλει καὶ παράκυφθʼ ὥσπερ γαλῆ·

οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὡς σὲ πρότερον εἴσεισʼ ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ.
925

Γραῦς Α

οὔκουν ἐπʼ ἐκφοράν γε.

Νεᾶνις

καινόν γʼ ὦ σαπρά.

Γραῦς Α

οὐ δῆτα.

Νεᾶνις

τί γὰρ ἂν γραῒ καινά τις λέγοι;

Γραῦς Α

οὐ τοὐμὸν ὀδυνήσει σε γῆρας.

Νεᾶνις

ἀλλὰ τί;

ἥγχουσα μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ σὸν ψιμύθιον;

Γραῦς Α

τί μοι διαλέγει;
930

Νεᾶνις

σὺ δὲ τί διακύπτεις;

Γραῦς Α

ἐγώ;

ᾄδω πρὸς ἐμαυτὴν Ἐπιγένει τὠμῷ φίλῳ.

Νεᾶνις

σοὶ γὰρ φίλος τίς ἐστιν ἄλλος ἢ Γέρης;

Γραῦς Α

δείξει γε καὶ σοί. τάχα γὰρ εἶσιν ὡς ἐμέ.

Νεᾶνις

ὁδὶ γὰρ αὐτός ἐστιν.

Γραῦς Α

οὐ σοῦ γʼ ὦλεθρε

δεόμενος οὐδέν.
935

Νεᾶνις

νὴ Δίʼ ὦ φθίνυλλα σὺ

δείξει τάχʼ αὐτός, ὡς ἔγωγʼ ἀπέρχομαι.

Γραῦς Α

κἄγωγʼ, ἵνα γνῷς ὡς πολύ σου μεῖζον φρονῶ.

Νεανίας

εἴθʼ ἐξῆν παρὰ τῇ νέᾳ καθεύδειν,

καὶ μὴ δʼει πρότερον διασποδῆσαι

ἀνάσιμον ἢ πρεσβυτέραν·
940

οὐ γὰρ ἀνασχετὸν τοῦτό γʼ ἐλευθέρῳ.

Γραῦς Α

οἰμώζων ἄρα νὴ Δία σποδήσεις.

οὐ γὰρ τἀπὶ Χαριξένης τάδʼ ἐστίν.

κατὰ τὸν νόμον ταῦτα ποιεῖν

ἔστι δίκαιον, εἰ δημοκρατούμεθα.
945

Γραῦς Α

ἀλλʼ εἶμι τηρήσουσʼ ὅ τι καὶ δράσει ποτέ.

Νεανίας

εἴθʼ ὦ θεοὶ λάβοιμι τὴν καλὴν μόνην,

ἐφʼ ἣν πεπωκὼς ἔρχομαι πάλαι ποθῶν.

Νεᾶνις

ἐξηπάτησα τὸ κατάρατον γρᾴδιον·

φρούδη γάρ ἐστιν οἰομένη μʼ ἔνδον μένειν.
950

ἀλλʼ οὑτοσὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς οὗ ʼμεμνήμεθα.

Young Girl
Resuming her songs.

But you shall not rob me of my pleasures; you will not be able to reduce or filch the time that first belongs to me.

First Old Woman

Sing as much as you please, peep out like a cat lying in wait, 925 but none shall pass through your door without first having been to see me.

Young Girl

If anyone enter your house, it will be to carry out your corpse. And that will be something new for you, you rotten old thing!

First Old Woman

Can anything be new to an old woman? My old age will not harm you.

Young Girl

Ah! shame on your painted cheeks!

First Old Woman

930 Why do you speak to me at all?

Young Girl

And why do you place yourself at the window?

First Old Woman

I am singing to myself about my lover, Epigenes.

Young Girl

Can you have any other lover than that old fop Geres?

First Old Woman

Epigenes will show you that himself, for he is coming to me. See, here he is.

Young Girl

He's not thinking of you in the least.

First Old Woman

935 Aye, but he is.

Young Girl

Old starveling! Let's see what he will do. I will leave my window.

First Old Woman

And I likewise. You will see I am much wiser than you.

A Young Man
Sings.

Ah! could I but sleep with the young girl without first making love to 940 the old flat-nose! It is intolerable for a free-born man.

First Old Woman
Singing to the same tune.

Willy nilly, you must first gratify my desire. There shall be no nonsense about that, for my authority is 945 the law and the law must be obeyed in a democracy.

Speaking.

But come, let me hide, to see what he's going to do. She retires.

Young Man

Ah! ye gods, if I were to find the sweet child alone! the wine has fired my lust.

Young Girl
Reappearing in her window.

I have tricked that cursed old wretch; she has left her window, 950 thinking I would stay at home. Ah! here is the lover we were talking of.