comedies of aristophanes

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BOHN'S CLASSICAL LIBRAR'l
THE
COMEDIES OF ARISTOPHANES
GEORGE BELL & SONS
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Artffoc61d
I/.l
THE COMEDIES OF
ARISTOPHANES
LITERALLY TRANSLATED WITH NOTES
AND EXTRACTS FROM METRICAL VERSIONS
BY
\VILLIAM JAMES HICKlE, M.A.
VOL. II.
LYSISTRATA, THE THESMORPHORIIZUSJE, FROGS,
ECCLESIAZUSlE AND PLUTUS.
LONDON
GEORGE BELL AND SONS
1901
BUSWELL MEMORIAL LIBRARY
WHEATON COLLEGE
WHEATON,IL 60187
•
[Reprinted from Stereotype plates.]
s
Ii Y S I T HAT A.
DRAMATIS PERSONlE
LYSISTRATA.
CALONICE.
MYRRHINA.
STRATYLLIS.
LAMPITO.
VARIOUS WOMEN.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN.
CHORUS OF CLD WOMEN.
COMMITTEE·MAN.
CINESlAS.
A CHILD.
HERALD OF THE LACED_E~WNIANS.
VARIOUS ATHENIANS.
AMBASSADORS OF THE Lo\.C~DiRlIIONIAN5.
MARKET-LOUNGEIlS.
POLICE.
SERVANT.
8c.SI
'fHE ARGUMENT.
"Arist"phanu .Av'l'I..rpar". Scho1.Lysistr. 173, Kaniov apxovroC
.,' o~fl"iJx9" 1'0opupa. Arg.Lysistr., iOloax911 E1I"K1aniov apxrvrt'\
roii PEra KAEoKplrov aptavrol:. fiaijnal Ofola KaAAlarparov. Sehol,
Lysistr. 1096, i1l"t l:IKEA,a!: lpEAAov 1I"A.iv 1t'pO irwv TEa..al'wV Tij,
o:aO....w!: TOVTOVTO;; opaparo!:. Four years were the actual interval,
from the sailing ofthe expedition, B. c.415,~EI'OV!:p...o;;vro!:, to the
Dionysia ofthe Archon Callias, B.c.4Il. Musgrave has neglected
these testimonies, and has followed Petitus in the chronology of
this Play, which he places in01.92,4, orthree years below tbe true
time." Clinton, Fast; Hellenici, P:73. Droysen, (Introduction to the
Lysistrata, P-127,) "It has not been recorded whether this play was
brought on the stage at the Leneean festival, or at the Dionysia,
i,e.in January or !\Iarch ofthe year 411. According tothe internal
evidence ofthe time, the latter would appear the more probable."
The plot is this :-Lysistrata, the wife of an Athenian magistrate,
takes it into her head to attempt a pacification between the belli-
gerents. She summons a council of women, who come to a deter-
mination to expel their husbands from their beds, until they con-
clude apeace, In the mean time the elder women are commissioned
to seize the Acropolis, and make themselves masters of the money
which had been stowed therein for the purposes of war. Their
design succeeds; and the husbands are reduced to a terrible
plight by the novel resolution of their win'S. Ambassadors at
length come from the belligerent parties, and peace is concluded
",ilh the greatest despatch, under the direction of the clever L)'si..
U&ta.
IJYSISTHATA.
[SCE~m-t/tefront ifa house.J
Lrs, WnL! if one had summoned them to the temple of
Bacchus,' or Pan, or Colias,2or Genetyllis. it would not even
hare been possible to pass through hy reason of the kettle-
drums: but now not a single woman is present here ; saving
that my neighbour here is coming forth. [Eetnr Calonice.]
'Yelcome, Calonice !
CAJ.ON.Andyon too,Lysistrata ! Why are YOll troubled ?
Be not ofasad countenance, child! for it doesnot beseem you
to arch3Jour eyebrows.
Lrs, I am inflamed in my heart, Calonice, and am grently
vexed on account of us women, because we are considered
among men tobe bad ;--
CALON.For,' by .Jove, we are so!
Lrs, --and when it wastold~them tomeet together here,
o· oov/:,
I "Bacchus wasconsidered libidinous. Eur, Ph. 21,0 ~OOI';;
Ii,Tf BarXE;OV 1I'E17':'V,;a1l'flpEV ,ip;v 1I'a;oa." Enqer,
t "Colias and Genetyllis were by-names of Venus. At the orgies
ofthe above-mentioned deities the kettle-drum (rvp1ruvov) wasindis-
pensable." Drogsen, "The difference in usage betwr en EI,and I,
IIIthe comic writers isthis; (I,is used before vowels, I,before con-
sonants. The tragic writers sofar recede from this rule. as towrite
Ie before a vowel, when the metre requires it. Cf. Person, Pnef,
Hec. p, lvi, On the other side, SE'EF'ritzsche ad Thesm, vs. 657.
Elmsley's opinion, (ad Acham, vs.42,) who would expel it:fr:'T tile
comic writers altogether, is plainly false." Enger.
• ..ro!o1ro..iv ruc "</>p;;c' aV17rp''1lf1valIT/lc." ITe.ych:m
• Sec Kruger Gr. Gr. ~6!l,32,obs. 21.
, Hermann (ViI(. n. 21:ll. Matthia (Gr. Gr. §.564), Kim ((1rE'g.
Cor. p, 159), and EngE'r (adloc )consider these forms to lenomin4-
t.~e~absolute. On the contrary, Kriiger (Gr. Gr. §56,2, obs, 5)and
Idf (Gr. Gr. §700) consider them lU"cusativesabsolute. Philologers
390 LYSISTRATA.
to deliberate about no small matter, they sleep, and have not
come.
CALON". But, my dearest, they will come. Of a truth wo-
JUE'nfind it difficult to get out. For one of us goee poking I
about her husband, another wakens the servant, another puts
the child to bed, another washes hers, another feeds kers with
morsels.
Lrs, But indeed there were other matters more important
for them than these.
CALON". What is the matter, dear Lysistrata, for which
you summon us women? What is the affair? Of what
size is it?
Lrs.: Great.
CALON. Is it also thick?2
Lrs, And thick, by Jo\'e.
CALOY. 'Vhy, how then have we not come?3
Lrs, This is not the fashion of it; for, if it had been80,
we should have quickly assembled. But thereds a certain
affair which has been investigated by me, and revolved with
much sleeplessness.
CALON". Doubtless the matter revolved is somewhat subtle.
Lrs, Aye, sosubtle, that the safety of aUGreece depends
upon4 the women. '
CALON. Upon the women? Why, it depended5 on a slight
thing then.
Lrs. Since" the affairs of the state depend upon us, either
that there should be no longer any" Peloponnesians--
would do well to reflect whether the list of accusatives absolute be
cr.
1I0talready fuller than can be maintained by fair argument.
Vesl>-1288.
IThe Scholiast quotes from Sophron,
Iv~&le IClnrrci'ov<F.,,).ei<rra. yvvaiA'E".
for this use ofthe aorist, see Kriiger, Gr. Gr. §li3, G,ohs. 3.
• "Quod dixit Lysiotratal'iya, accipit Calonice devirili membro,
1Jru"ck.
I See Kriiger, Gr. Gr. §53, 6, obs, 2, and note 0:;Pax, IOi7.
• See Hermann, Vig. n. 388.
, Enger, objecting to ;xEtr~al l"t rtvo,", a~an unstatuteahle con
..tructlon, reads "" o:\'iyov oxeir' tip", which isa slight modification
)f Dobree's emendation.
• See Elmsley's note on Acltarn. VS.335.
, "J,ysistrata was going to add •orany .Athenians,' but stops Jter.
e«:lf.lest sheshould utter any thing ill-omcued for her own country,
LYSISTRATA. 391
C.ALON.Then, by Jove, 'tis best they should no longer
exist.
Ln. --and that all the Boeotlans perish utterly.'
~.AT.O~.Not all, pray; exempt the eels.2
i.n. But about Athens I will utter no such ill language.'
Do you conjecture something! else! If the women assemble
here, both those from Bceotia,anti those fromthe Peloponnese,
and wefrom Attica, we shall save Greece in common.
CALON. What prudent or brilliant action could women
accomplish? we,who sit decked~out, wearing saffron-coloured
robes, and beautified, and 1cearing loose Cimmerian vests, and
sandals?
Lrs. .For6 in truth these are even the very things, which I
expect will save us; the little saffron-coloured robes, and the
unguents, and the sandals, and the alkanet root, and the trans-
parent vests.
C.ALO~.In what manner, pray?
Lrs, So that noneof the men of the present day lift aspear
against each other--
CALON.Then, by the two goddesses, I'll get me a saffron
robe dyed
Brunck, " This passage bas been misunderstood by Brunck, Din-
dorf, and Bothe, who think BO.WTiov" Tf in vs, 3.5 corresponds to this
rqTE. The Scholiast rightly explains, •P'; 1I'lHl~'''Ta" ;lpil1pqTE TO;"
.A~"..aio", pqTE TO;'" OE;\.01l'0...."O'IVI'" (p,,""T' dval). W" ;.}"l1l'ul'"
ai ci1l"0'IW1I'T/f1E1'0;'1:'A~"vaiovl:.' He might have added ij1I""f1~~VTa,
"';v 'E;\';\'doa aw~ijval,-althougb 1I'''/J~'''Ta!: is scarcely correctv--fcr
the correlative to riin vs.33,is what is contained in 39-41," Enger •
• Cornp. note on Av. 1597.
, CompoAcharn. 880. Pax, 1005.
a ..hny;\.wTTqO'opal, ominabor. Cf• .lEsch. Prom. 927. Schol. ad
Choeph. 1045." Enger. "ill"IYXwO'O'w' i1l'0IwI'ji:ov alii y;\.WTT""."
llesychiU8.
• ..Aliurl te 'U8l'icari velim. So Pluto 361, ab P'lCEV .il:',l ;'1I'0l'6u
rOlOiiTo, hoc i,l meliw accipe:" Brune" " OT( a1l'0;\.ovvTal a"XOl'OT....
Scholiast. .. Have thou a different notion of me." IVheelwngl.t •
..Bessres denk von mir," Dropsen,
• ..'Vho sit dress'd out with flowers, and bearing robes
Of saffron hue, and richly broider'd o'er
With loose Cimmerian vests and circling sandals." IV/,eelwri'l',t
" Zav~i~ta~al' ~ouJltiu~a.rd, rpiXIl~,i,13.i1TTfu!Jal aUTu,," Ile,ycl.iuI,
Menander, "';v YI11'ai",a yap 1'';'' aw'Ppov' oil Ut Td, rp'"af; (al'3cl,
"0&1....
Cf. Eustath. 1\. A. p, 82.
• ."co Hermann ViI{. n, 29-';.
392 LYSISTRATA. 6~-n.
Lrs, --nor take a.shield--
CALO!'~I.'ll put on a Cimmerian vest.
Lrs, --nor little sword.
CALON.I'll get sandals.
Lrs. Ought not, then, the women to have been present?
CALON.No, by Jove, but to have comeflying long ago"
Lrs. Nay, mydear,2you'll see them thorough Attic-doing
every thing later than they ought. Yet not even from the
people of the sea-coast+ is any woman present, nor from
Salamis.
CALON.nut those, I well know, have crossed over at (lay.
break in the swift boats.
Lrs, Nor have the Acharnian women4 come, whom I ex-
pected and counted onto comehither the first.
CALO:i.At any rate the wife of Theogenes'' consulted the
statue of Hecate, with the intention of coming hither. But
see! here now are some comingIand, again, some others are
coming! Hah! hah! Whence are they?
Lrs, From Anagyrus.
CALO:i.Aye, by Jove! In sooth methinks Anngyrus" has
oeen set in motion. [Enter .Lllyrrliina.]
Mmnrr, Surely we have not come too late, Lysistrata P
What doyou say? Why are you silent?
LYS. I do not commend you, Myrrhina, who have onlynow
come about so important a matter.
I ••Nay, but, by Jove, they should have flown long since:'
Wheelwrig!..t,
I ..Althou~h the feminine of p£).eo, ispe).ia (Vesp, 312), yet the
vocative'; p.A.f isapplied to either sex." Brune". Cf. Eccles. 24S.
• ..The I'arali are those that dwell on the sea-coast." DroY8en.
See Herm. Pol. Ant. § 106.
• ..The Acharnian women, the neighbours of the Athenian wo-
men, had, through their numerous 10<sP8,learnt to hate the war
right heartily." V0I8. They were distant from Attica only lx,
stadia. For the construction, Be notes on Pax, 791. Thesm. li02.
• ..Whether this Thecgenes be the Theogenes mentioned in Av,
822, may be doubted. For the llecateion, see Vesp. 804." DI"0Y8et1.
~ovICaTflov tjPfT(l is Bentley's emendation (ad Callrm. Fr. ccxxvii.)
for TaICarlOV av';peTo. Compare Lobeck, A~laoph. p, 1337. ..(!;'T~
OE,).OC ~I" fIXE 0''EICaT'1C a'1o).pa, 0;' 17rvv6a~fTo '/I"avTaxoii a'/l"udv,"
Scholiast.
• This was one of the Attic demi, socalled from a hero of that
name, who having overturned the houses belonging to it, gave rise
to the proverb ICIVlij; rov·.Ava'1vl'0v.· It~lsodetesed ~stinking plant.