Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae 711

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

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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.) — 711 focus
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.) — 711 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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τὴν τῶν ἐλευθέρων ὑφαρπάζειν Κύπριν,
The phrase τὴν τῶν ἐλευθέρων ὑφαρπάζειν Κύπριν presents a syntactic crux regarding the object of ὑφαρπάζειν. While the accusative Κύπριν (Cyprus) typically denotes a place, here it functions as the direct object of the verb 'to snatch' in the sense of 'to seize the Cyprian woman' (Aphrodite or a priestess), a usage attested in Old Comedy but potentially misleading without knowledge of the specific mythological allusion to the abduction of the Cyprian goddess or her cult statue. The genitive τῶν ἐλευθέρων modifies the implied agent or the scope of the action, suggesting a social distinction central to the play's satire of the 'female assembly' and the reordering of social hierarchies.

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κατωνάκην τὸν χοῖρον ἀποτετιλμένας.
The phrase κατωνάκην τὸν χοῖρον ἀποτετιλμένας presents a striking syntactic and semantic tension. The participle ἀποτετιλμένας (perfect passive participle of ἀποτέλλω, 'to cut up' or 'to dismember') agrees with the implied subject (the women of the assembly), while the direct object is τὸν χοῖρον ('the pig'). However, the adverb κατωνάκην ('down to the ground' or 'completely') modifies the action in a way that suggests total destruction or dismemberment. The combination of a perfect passive participle with an active sense of the subject's agency (the women having performed the action) is rare in Aristophanic comedy, where such constructions typically serve to emphasize the completed, often grotesque, nature of the act. This construction likely alludes to the ritual or metaphorical dismemberment of the pig, a common motif in satyr plays and Old Comedy, but here twisted into a political allegory for the dismantling of the state.

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ὁ τὴν σκάφην λαβὼν προΐτω· τὰ κηρία
The imperative προΐτω (from προίημι) is a rare future form in the third person singular, distinct from the more common present imperative προίει or aorist subjunctive. Here it functions as a command for the official to 'lead the way' or 'go forward' to the assembly, a usage specific to the procedural context of the Ecclesia and the role of the κήρυξ (herald).
The term σκάφην (skaphēn) literally means 'boat' or 'trough,' but in the context of the Athenian assembly, it refers to the specific wooden box (often described as a 'ship' due to its shape) from which the lot-drawing officials (kleroteria) would draw the names of citizens to form the prytany or select jurors. The verb λαβὼν (having taken) implies the official has just retrieved this box from the sanctuary of a god or the public archives, marking the precise moment the procedural lottery begins.