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ARISTOPHANES THESMOPHORIAZUSAE
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ARISTOPHANES THESMOPHORIAZUSAE EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY
COLIN AUSTIN and S. D O U G L A S OLSON
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Colin Austin and S. Douglas Olson 2004 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data applied for ISBN 0-19-926527-5 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Typeset by Regent Typesetting, London Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddies Ltd, King's Lynn
For Annapurna
C.A.
For Andrea S.D.O.
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PREFACE In December 1965 I obtained my D.Phil, -with a commentary on Thesmophoriasusae 1—530. I -was confident at the time that the full edition -would be ready -within three years. Dis aliter visum.1 For over three decades the play, though never completely lost sight of, found itself relegated to the sidelines, as first Euripides, then Menander and the comic fragments, and more recently Posidippus, all took precedence over my original project. In September 2001, after months of ill-health and disruption caused by unstable angina, I joined forces -with Douglas Olson, -who had just completed his edition of Acharnians. We met in Cambridge and I handed over to him everything relevant I had collected till then. Combining this -with material of his own, he prepared a fresh draft, -which -we have repeatedly scrutinized and emended on both sides of the Atlantic. The end result, -we hope, is a harmonious blend of the old and the new. The original thesis had been supervised by Hugh (now Sir Hugh) Lloyd-Jones in Oxford and Rudolf Kassel in Berlin. To both I owe an immense debt of gratitude. Sir Hugh's formidable learning and razor-sharp intellect kept me on my toes from day one, and I am still struggling to cope -with the first of his ten commandments: 'Learn by heart the -whole of Greek Comedy.' In Berlin, thanks to Kassel, the spirit of Wilamowitz ( 1931) was still very much alive, even in the brave new world of the Freie Universitat. Some 50 years earlier my maternal uncle Paul Etard ( 1962), himself a disciple of Hermann Diels ( 1922)2 and later Librarian of the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, had met the great man and his circle in the golden years before the First World War. I -was happy to follow in his footsteps, and it -was at de Gruyter's that the genial charm of Heinz Wenzel ( 1998) laid the firm foundation of the future 'K—A' partnership. Ihr naht euch wieder, schwankende Gestalten, Die friih sich einst dem truben Blick gezeigt. Versuch ich wohl, euch diesmal festzuhalten? 1
'The gods decided otherwise' (Verg. Aen. ii. 428). Diels had asked my uncle to prepare a new edition of Aristotle's Physics for Teubner, but the project fell through after the outbreak of hostilities. 2
viii
PREFACE
FuhlichmeinHerznochjenem Wahngeneigt? . . . Ihr bringt mit euch die Bilder froher Tage, Und manche liebe Schatten steigen auf; Gleich einer alten, halbverklungnen Sage Kommt erste Lieb und Freundschaft mit herauf; Der Schmerz wird neu, es wiederholt die Klage Des Lebens labyrinthisch irren Lauf Und nennt die Guten, die, um schone Stunden Vom Gliick getauscht, vor mir hinweggeschwunden.3
As a young research student I came under the spell and influence of many teachers, colleagues, and friends, all alas now long departed. It is -with nostalgic admiration that I mention here the Olympian brilliance of Denys (later Sir Denys) Page (f 1978), -who first explained to a novice some of the metrical eccentricities of Agathon's song; the Erasmian -wisdom of Harry Sandbach ( 1991);4the irreverent bonhomie of Tony Andrewes ( 1990); the austere perfectionism of Spencer Barrett ( 2001); and the trenchant petulance of Eduard Fraenkel ( 1970).5 All these scholars followed my Aristophanic pursuits with lively interest, especially Eduard Fraenkel, who generously made available to me the unpublished lecture notes left by Georg Kaibel ( 1901).6 In Berlin, two of Kassel's 'Doktoranden', the talented but short-lived Armin Schafer ( 1965)7 and the incomparable Volkmar Schmidt ( 1998), were ready at all times to discuss with me matters both great and small, whether it be Euripidean misogyny or how to print + - in crasis. Eric Handley and Kenneth (later Sir Kenneth) Dover had examined the thesis in 1965. They very kindly agreed, nearly 40 years later, to cast a fresh and critical eye on the penultimate typescript. Besides saving us from errors, they have enriched the edition 3 From the Dedicatory poem to Goethe's Faust: 'Once again you draw near, you uncertain shapes that long ago appeared before my clouded vision. Shall I try this time to take possession of you? Does that folly still move me to longing?... You bring with you the images of happy days, and many a well-loved shade comes back to life: first love and friendship rise again with them, like an old half-forgotten legend; pain is renewed, and grief once more retraces life's labyrinthine erring course, and names those dear ones whom Fortune has cheated of hours of joy and who have vanished from sight before me' (translated by David Luke). 4 See PEA 84 (1994) 500-2. 5 See Q (70063(1999)40. 6 See Austin (1987) 67-8. 7 See CRNS 16(1966) 291-3.
PREFACE
ix
with many new references and acute observations. Douglas j oins me here in warmly thanking them for their invaluable help. C. A. Trinity Hall, Cambridge
In February 2001, I wrote to Sir Kenneth Dover, the general editor of the OUP Aristophanes series, to ask if he would approach Colin Austin for me about the possibility of Austin's and my collaborating to produce the edition of Thesmophoriasusae on which I knew he had been working for many years. Austin replied through Dover that he would need to meet me first, and we eventually settled on a date in late September. In the meantime I got Acharnians off to press and produced a sample text and commentary on the opening scene of Thesmophoriasusae as a-way of providing a sense of the contribution I might make to the project. I arrived at the train station in Cambridge deeply ill at ease, expecting hard questions, difficult negotiations, and perhaps an abrupt and unhappy end to my trip. But the next day after lunch, after Colin had spent the morning reading through what I had given him and we were sitting together in his upstairs study, he turned to me and said simply: 'Well, how shall we go about doing this?' Our partnership has been easy and cordial ever since. When I left Cambridge a few days later, I took with me the original copy of Austin's dissertation ( which includes introductory chapters on the festival and the date and historical background to the play); handwritten drafts of an updated but much-abbreviated version of the commentary on the opening sections of the play, and of new material on 531—670, along with bibliographical notes on all the rest; Austin's extensive Cambridge lecture notes on the text; and an immense pile of offprints, learned correspondence, and the like. I spent most of that academic year and the next reworking and combining this material with ideas of my own and with further insights and parallels furnished by Colin. We had originally agreed that I should visit Cambridge every three to six months to make sure that the process of collaboration proceeded smoothly. After I had made an additional trip or two, it became clear that we could work together just as efficiently and effectively via fax and express courier. But I recall with great fondness Colin and Mishtu's hospitality to me in their wonderful home full of books, children and grandchildren, students, fine wine, and Mishtu's beautiful batiks and the smell of her
X
PREFACE
extraordinary cooking. Some readers may be tempted to try to prize this volume apart so as to discover Austin here and Olson there. We encourage them to put their critical abilities to other uses. The edition has been a joint effort from the very first, and we take mutual credit and responsibility for everything it contains. As regards secondary literature, we have tried to be helpful and comprehensive, although not exhaustive. In metrical matters we have been far more selective but always refer to L. P. E. Parker's recent book, which is now the standard reference work on Aristophanic lyric. We regret that Andreas Willi, The Languages of Aristophanes (Oxford, 2003) and Kannicht's edition of the fragments of Euripides in TrGF had not yet appeared as we went to press. John Gibert read the entire Introduction and commentary, and Benjamin Millis read the entire commentary, and both offered countless helpful comments and suggestions. Alexander Sens provided advice and support on a day-to-day—and often hour-to-hour—basis. Anna Stelow was a good-humoured and efficient Research Assistant and a keen and critical reader. Bruce Swann of the Classics Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offered crucial bibliographical support. Oliver Taplin kindly provided details of modern productions of Thesmophoriazusae from the Oxford Archive, and Erika Zwierlein-Diehl furnished excellent colour slides of the 'Telephos' krater in Wurzburg. John Traill cheerfully offered unpublished PAA numbers. Our copy-editor, Leofranc HolfordStrevens, scrutinized our typescript with meticulous care, and we have benefited greatly from his copious notes and illuminating comments. My own work on this project was supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation, and the Graduate School at the University of Minnesota. I would also like to extend thanks to Steven J. Rosenstone, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, and to the former and current chairs of my department, William Malandra and George Sheets, for their continuing support of my research. S. D.O. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities 26 July 2003
CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION I Aristophanes and his Play II Date and Political Background III The Festival IV Euripides and the City's Women V Staging VI Thesmophoriazusae II VII The Manuscript Tradition VIII Modern Work on the Text METRICAL SYMBOLS SIGLA
ARISTOPHANES, THESMOPHORIAZUSAE
xiii
xxxi xxxiii xlv li Ixviii Ixxvii Ixxxix xcix CV Cvii
i
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
2
TEXT
3
COMMENTARY
51
GREEK INDEX
353
GENERAL INDEX
359
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ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY We abbreviate the names of ancient authors as in LSJ, except that we use 'H.' for Homer and 'Bacch.' for Bacchylides. Our numbering of fragments follows Bernabe for epic; PMGF for Alkman, Stesichoros, and Ibykos; PMG's continuous numbering (supplemented by SLG) for other lyric poets; Voigt for Sappho and Alkaios; IEG2 for elegy and iambos except Hipponax, for -whom we cite Degani; Maehler for Pindar and Bacchylides; Diels—Kranz 10 for the pre-Socratic philosophers; TrGF for Aeschylus, Sophocles, and minor or unidentified tragic poets; Nauck2 for Euripides, except -where indicated otherwise; PCG for fragments of the comic poets, and Arnott's Loeb for Menander's substantially preserved plays; Olson—Sens for Archestratos and Matro; Rose3 for Aristotle; Wehrli for other representatives of Aristotle's school; Fortenbaugh for Theophrastos; Pfeiffer for Callimachus; Austin—Bastianini for Posidippus; Gow for Macho; and CA and SH for other late classical and Hellenistic poets. For epigrams, we give equivalent numbers in HE, GPh, or FGE wherever possible. We cite Harpokration from Keaney; Hippocrates from Littre; Hesychius a—o from Latte; Hesychius — from Schmidt; Moeris from Hansen; Photios — , from Theodoridis; Photios — from Parson; Pollux from Bethe; and the Suda from Adler. For the numbering of lines in lyric sections of tragedy, we generally follow the OCTs of Page (for Aeschylus), Lloyd-Jones—Wilson (for Sophocles), and Diggle (for Euripides). All seventh- to first-century dates are BC unless specified otherwise. We refer to editions of Thesmophoriasusae and commentaries on it, as well as to standard commentaries on other ancient texts, by the editor's or commentator's name only. We abbreviate periodicals as in L'Annee philologique, except that we use 'AJP' instead of 'AJPh', 'CP' instead of'CPh','HSCP instead of 'HSCPh', 'PCPS' instead of 'PCPhS', 'TAPA instead of 'TAPhA, and 'YCS' instead of ' YCIS'. We refer to the foliowing books and articles by the author's or editor's last name or abbreviated name only, with a date
xiv
ABBREVIATIONS AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY
or abbreviated title added where ambiguity is possible, or simply by an abbreviated title: Aerts
W. J. Aerts, Periphrastica (Amsterdam,
Agora
The Athenian Agora: Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (31 vols.;
1965)
Allen Amyx Anderson Anredeformen
Princeton, 1953— )
D. Allen, The World of Prometheus (Princeton, 2000) D. A. Amyx, 'The Attic Stelai: Part III', Hesperia 27 (1958) 163—310 C. A. Anderson, Athena's Epithets (Beitrage zur Altertumskunde 67: Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1995) J. Svennung, Anredeformen (Acta Societatis Litterarum Humaniorum Regiae Upsaliensis 42: Uppsala and Wiesbaden, 1958)
Apagoge
Ar. and Athens ARV2 Athenian Religion Athens and Persia Ausfeld Austin (1987) Austin (1990)
M. H. Hansen, Apagoge, Endeixis and Ephegesis against Kakourgoi, Atimoi and Pheugontes (Odense University Classical Studies 8: Odense, 1976) D. M. MacDowell, Aristophanes and Athens (Oxford, 1995) J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figure VasePainters2 (Oxford, 1963) R. Parker, Athenian Religion: A History (Oxford, 1996) M. C. Miller, Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century B.C. (Cambridge, 1997) C. Ausfeld, De Graecorum Precationibus Quaestiones, in fb. cl. Ph. Suppl. 28 (1903) 503-47 C. Austin, 'Textual Problems in Ar. Thesm.', Dodone 16. 2 (1987) 61—92 'Observations critiques sur les Thesmophories d'Aristophane', Dodone 19.2 (1990)9-29
ABBREVIATIONS AND
Bain, Actors Bain, 'Verbs' Bakhuyzen Beavis Bechtel, AF Beobachtungen Bers Bezantakos Bierl Blech
Blumner
Bobrick
Bonner and Smith
BIBLIOGRAPHY
XV
D. Bain, Actors and Audience: A Study of Asides and Related Conventions in Greek Drama (Oxford, 1977) 'Six Greek Verbs of Sexual Congress C0NS 4 I (1991)51-77 W. H. van de Sande Bakhuyzen, De parodia in comoedus Aristophanis (Utrecht, 1877) I. C. Beavis, Insects and Other Invertebrates in Classical Antiquity (Exeter, 1988) F. Bechtel, Die attischen Frauennamen nach ihrem. Systeme dargestellt (Gottingen, 1902) E. Fraenkel, Beobachtungen zu Aristophanes (Rome, 1962) V. Bers, Greek Poetic Syntax in the Classical Age (Yale Classical Monographs 5: New Haven and London, 1984) N. P. Bezantakos,
(Athens, 1987) A. Bierl, Der Chor in der Alien Komodie (Beitrage zur Altertumskunde 126: Leipzig, 2001) M. Blech, Studien sum Kranz bet den Griechen (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten xxxviii: Berlin and New York, 1982) H. Blumner, Technologic und Terminologie der Gewerbe und Kunste bet Griechen und Roniern (4 vols.: vol. i2 Leipzig and Berlin, 1912, vols. ii—iv Leipzig, 1879—87) E. Bobrick, 'The Tyranny of Roles: Playacting and Privilege in Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae', in G. W. Dobrov (ed.), The City as Comedy (Chapel Hill and London,1997)177—97 R. J. Bonner and G. Smith, The Administration of Justice from Homer to Aristotle (2 vols.: Chicago, 1930, 1938)
xvi
ABBREVIATIONS AND
Boule Bowie Brandenburg
Bruhn, Anhang Brumfield Bryant Buitron-Oliver
Burkert Butrica CA CAR2
Cairns Garden Casson CEG
BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. J. Rhodes, The Athenian Boule (Oxford, 1972) A. M. Bowie, Aristophanes: Myth, Ritual and Comedy (Cambridge, 1993) H. Brandenburg, Studienzur Mitra: Beitrage zur Waffen- und Trachtgeschichte der Antike (Fontes et Commentationes, Schriftenreihe des Instituts fur Epigraphik an der Universitat Munster 4: Munster, 1966) F. W. Schneidewin and A. Nauck (eds.), Sophokles viii Anhang, zusammengestellt von E. Bruhn (Berlin, 1899) A. C. Brumfield, The Attic Festivals of Demeter and their Relation to the Agricultural Year (New York, 1981) A. A. Bryant, 'Greek Shoes in the Classical Period', HSCP 10 (1899) 57-102 D. Buitron-Oliver, Douris: A MasterPainter of Athenian Red-Figure Vases (Forschungen zur antiken Keramik ii. 9: Mainz am Rhein, 1995) W. Burkert, Greek Religion (Cambridge, Mass., 1985) J. Butrica, 'The lost Thesmophoriazusae of Aristophanes', Phoenix 55 (2001) 44—76 see Powell The Cambridge Ancient History2 (14 vols. in 18: Cambridge, 1970—2000) D. L. Cairns, Aidos (Oxford and New York, 1993) R. Garden, The Papyrus Fragments of Sophocles (Texte und Kommentare 7: Berlin and New York, 1974) L. Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World (Baltimore and London, 1971) P. A. Hansen (ed.), CarminaEpigraphica Graeca (Texte und Kommentare 12 and 15: Berlin and New York, 1983, 1989)
ABBREVIATIONS
CGFPR Chadwick Chantraine, Formation Clinton Cohen, Law Cohen, Theft Collard, Cropp, and Lee Coulon, Essai Cropp and Fick Csapo Daremberg—Saglio Davidson Davies and Kathirithamby Deubner DFA
AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
xvii
C. Austin (ed.), Comicorum Graecorum fragmenta inpapyris reperta (Berlin and New York, 1973) J. Chadwick, Lexicographica Graeca: Contributions to the lexicography of Ancient Greek (Oxford, 1996) P. Chaintraine, La Formation des noms en grec ancien (Paris, 1933) K. Clinton, Myth and Cult: The Iconography of the Eleusinian Mysteries (Stockholm, 1992) D. Cohen, Law, Sexuality, and Society: The Enforcement of Morals in Classical Athens (Cambridge and New York, 1991) Theft in Athenian Law (Munchener Beitrage zur Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte 74: Munich, 1983) C. Collard, M. J. Cropp, and K. H. Lee (eds.), Euripides: Selected Fragmentary Plays i (Warminster, 1995) V. Coulon, Essai sur la methode de la critique conjecturale appliquee au texte d'Aristophane (Paris, 1933) M. Cropp and G. Pick, Resolutions and Chronology in Euripides: The Fragmentary Tragedies (BICS Suppl. 43: London, 1985) E. Csapo, 'A Note on the Wiirzburg BellCrater 115697 ("Telephus Travestitus")', Phoenix 40(1986)379—92 C. Daremberg and E. Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques et romaines (6 vols. in 10: Paris, 1877—1919) J. Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens (New York, 1997) M. Davies and J. Kathirithamby, Greek Insects (New York and Oxford, 1986) L. Deubner, Attische Feste (Berlin, 1932) A. Pickard-Cambridge, The Dramatic Festivals of Athens2 , rev. J. Gould and
xviii
A B B R E V I A T I O N S AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dickey Dillon Dover, AC Dover, EGPS Dover, G&G Dover, GH Dover, G L Dover, GPM Dubois Ehrenberg Fehling
FGE FGrHist
FHG Forbes ERA
Fraenkel, Horace
D. M. Lewis (Oxford, 1968; reissued -with supplement and corrections, 1988) E. Dickey, Greek Forms of Address from. Herodotus to Lucian (Oxford Classical Monographs: Oxford, 1996) M. Dillon, Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion (London and New York, 2002) K. J. Dover, Aristophanic Comedy (London, 1972) The Evolution of Greek Prose Style (Oxford, 1997) Greek and the Greeks: Collected Papers, i (Oxford and New York, 1987) Greek Homosexuality2 (Cambridge, Mass., 1989) The Greeks and their Legacy: Collected Papers, ii (Oxford and New York, 1988) Greek Popular Morality in the Time of Plato and Aristotle (Oxford, Berkeley, and Los Angeles, 1974) L. Dubois, Inscriptions grecques dialectales de Sidle (Paris/Rome, 1989) V. Ehrenberg, The People of Aristophanes2 (Oxford, 1951) D. Fehling, Die Wiederholungsfigurenund ihr Gebrauch bet den Griechen vor Gorgias (Berlin, 1969) D. L. Page (ed.), Further Greek Epigrams (Cambridge, 1981) F. Jacoby (ed.), Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (Leiden, 1923—69) C. and T. Mueller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (5 vols.: Paris, 1841—70) R. J. Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology2 (9 vols.: Leiden, 1964) M. J. Osborne and S. G. Byrne, The Foreign Residents of Athens (Studia Hellenistica 33: Leuven, 1996) E. Fraenkel, Horace (Oxford, 1957)
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fraenkel, KIB Furley and Bremer Gallant Garland
Gildersleeve
Ginouves GMAW22
Goodwin
Gordziejew
GP
GPh Green Gygli-Wyss
Hagg
Haldane
xix
Kleine Beitrage zur klassischen Philologie (2 vols.: Rome, 1964) D. Furley and J. Bremer, Greek Hymns (2 vols.: Tubingen, 2001) T. W. Gallant, Risk and Survival in Ancient Greece (Stanford, 1991) R. S. J. Garland, 'Religious Authority in Archaic and Classical Athens', BSA 79 (1984)75-123 B. L. Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek (New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago, 1900: repr. Groningen, 1980) R. Ginouves, Balaneutike: Recherches sur le bain dans I'antiquite grecque (Paris, 1962) E. G. Turner, Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World2 (ed. P. J. Parsons) (BIOS Suppl. 46: London, 1987) W. W. Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb3 (Boston, 1890; repr. New York, 1965) V. Gordziejew, 'DePrologo Thesmophoriazusarum', Eos 38 (1937) 296-324 J. D. Denniston, The Greek Particles2 (rev. K. J. Dover) (Oxford, 1954) A. S. F. Gow and D. L. Page (eds.), The Greek Anthology: The Garland of Philip (Cambridge, 1968) J. R. Green, Theatre in Ancient Greek Society (London, 1994) B. Gygli-Wyss, Das nominale Polyptoton im. alteren Griechisch (Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiet der indogermanischen Sprachen, Erganzungsheft 18: Gottingen, 1966) R. Hagg (ed.), The Role of Religion in the Early Greek Polis (Acta Instituti Atheniensis Regni Sueciae 8°, 14: Stockholm,1996) J. A. Haldane, 'A Scene in the
XX
A B B R E V I A T I O N S AND B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Hall
Handley, 'Nouns' Handley, 'Words'
Handley and Rea Hansen (1983) Hansen (1987)
Hanson (1989)
Hanson (1991)
Harrison HCT
HE
Horn
Hubbard
ID
Thesmophoriasusae (295—371)', Philologus 109(1965)39-46 E. M. Hall, 'The Archer Scene in Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae', Philologus 133 (1989) 38-54 E. W. Handley, '-sis Nouns in Aristophanes', Eranos 51 (1953) 129—42 'Words for "soul", "heart" and "mind" in Aristophanes', RhMNFgg (1956) 206—25 E. W. Handley and J. Rea, The Telephus of Euripides (BICS Suppl. 5: London, 1957) M. H. Hansen, The Athenian Ecclesia (Copenhagen,1983) The Athenian Assembly in the Age of Demosthenes (Black-well's Classical Studies: Oxford and New York, 1987) V. D. Hanson, The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece (New York, 1989) (ed.), Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience (London and New York, 1991) A. R. W. Harrison, The Law of Athens (2 vols.: Oxford, 1968, 1971) A. W. Gomme, A. Andrewes, and K. J. Dover, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides (5 vols.: Oxford, 1945—81) A. S. F. Gow and D. L. Page (eds.), The Greek Anthology: Hellenistic Epigrams (Cambridge, 1965) W. Horn, Gebet und Gebetsparodie in den Komodien des Aristophanes (Erlanger Beitrage zur Sprach- und Kunstwissenschaft 38: Nurnberg, 1970) T. K. Hubbard, The Mask of Comedy: Aristophanes and the Intertextual Parabasis (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology LI: Ithaca and London, 1991) Inscriptions de Delos
A B B R E V I A T I O N S AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 2
IEG
IG Jackson Judeich Kaimio
Kassel, KS K-A KB
KG
Kilmer, Erotica Kleinknecht
Klimek-Winter Kloss
Kraus
xxi 2
M. L. West (ed.), Iambi et Elegi Graeci (Oxford, 1989-92) Inscriptiones Graecae J. Jackson, Marginalia Scaenica (Oxford Classical and Philosophical Monographs: Oxford, 1955) W. Judeich, Topographic vonAthen2 (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft iii. 2. 2: Munich, 1931) M. Kaimio, The Chorus of Greek Drama within the Light of the Person and Number Used (Commentationes Humanarum Litteraruni46: Helsinki, 1970) R. Kassel, Kleine Schriften (Berlin and New York, 1991) see PCG R. Kiihner, Ausfuhrliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache3 i ElementarundFormenlehre (rev. F. Blass) (2 vols.: Hannover, 1890, 1892) Ausfuhrliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache3 ii Satzlehre (rev. B. Gerth) (2 vols.: Hannover and Leipzig, 1898,1904) M. F. Kilmer, Greek Erotica on Attic RedFigure Vases (London, 1993) H. Kleinknecht, Die Gebetsparodie in der Antike (Tiibinger Beitrage zur Altertumswissenschaft 28: Stuttgart, 1937; repr. Hildesheim, 1967) R. Klimek-Winter, Andromedatragodien (Beitrage zur Altertumskunde 21: Stuttgart, 1993) G. KAoss,Erscheinungsformen komischen Sprechens bei Aristophanes (Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte 59: Berlin and New York, 2001) W. Kraus, Testimonia Aristophanea cum scholiorum lectionibus (Vienna and Leipzig, 1934)
xxii
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
La Cite Labiano Ilundain
Lange Larson Latte Lautensach
Leveque
Lewis
LfgrE LGPN
LIMC Lopez Eire Lourengo Lyric Metres2 LSAM
Studia Aristophanea viro Aristophaneo, W. J. W. Koster, in honorem (Amsterdam, 1967) La Cite des Images (Lausanne, 1984) J. M. Labiano Ilundain, Estudio de las Interjecciones en las Comedias de Aristofanes (Classical and Byzantine Monographs 48: Amsterdam, 2000) G. Lange, Quaestiones in Aristophanis Thesmophoriazusas (Diss. Gottingen, 1891) J. Larson, Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore (Oxford, 2001) K. Latte, Kleine Schriften (Munich, 1968) O. Lautensach, Die Aoriste bet den attischen Tragikern und Komikern (Forschungen zur griechischen und lateinischen Grammatik I: Gottingen, 1911) P. Leveque, Agathon (Annales de 1'Universite de Lyon III, Lettres 26: Paris, 1955) S. Lewis, The Athenian Woman: An Iconographic Handbook (London and New York, 2002) B. Snell et al., Lexikon des fruhgriechischen Epos (Gottingen, 1955—) P. M. Fraser and E. Matthews (eds., vols. i, iiiA—B), and M. J. Osborne and S. G. Byrne (eds., vol. ii), A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names (Oxford, 1994— ) Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (Zurich and Munich, 1981—99) A. Lopez Eire, La Lengua coloquial de la Comedia aristofdnica (Murcia, 1996) F. Lourengo, 'Metrical Notes on "Andromeda's Lament" in Thesmophoriazusae', Euphrosyne 28 (2000) 321—4 A. M. Dale, The Lyric Metres of Greek Drama1 (Cambridge, 1968) F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrees de I'Asie mineure (Paris, 1955)
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
LSCG LSCG Suppl. LSJ
Maas Maas and Snyder
xxiii
- Lois sacrees des cites grecques (Paris,
1969) Lois Sacrees des cites grecques.
Supplement (Paris, 1962) H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, A GreekEnglish Lexicon9 (rev. H. S. Jones and R. McKenzie, rev. supp. by P. G. W. Glare) (Oxford, 1996) P. Maas, Greek Metre (trans. H. LloydJones; Oxford, 1962; originally published in German in 1923) M. Maas and J. M. Snyder, Stringed Instruments of Ancient Greece (New Haven and London,1989)
McClure
L. McClure, SpokenLike a Woman: Speech and Gender in Athenian Drama (Princeton,
Miasma
R. Parker, Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion (Oxford, 1983) M. M. Miles, The Athenian Agora xxi The City Eleusinion (Princeton, 1998) H. W. Miller, 'Some Tragic Influences in the Thesmophoriazusae of Aristophanes', TAP A 77(1946) 171-82 R. Meiggs and D. Lewis, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century BC (rev. edn.: Oxford, 1988) J. Henderson, The Maculate Muse: Obscene Language in Attic Comedy2 (New York and Oxford, 1991)
Miles Miller
M-L
MM
Moorhouse Morrison and Williams Muecke Miiller
1999)
A. C. Moorhouse, The Syntax of Sophocles (Mnemosyne Suppl. 75: Leiden, 1982) J. S. Morrison and R. T. Williams, Greek Oared Ships 900-322 B.C. (Cambridge, 1968) F. Muecke, 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman', CQ NS 32 (1982) 41—55 D. Miiller, Handwerk und Sprache: Die sprachlichen Bilder aus dem Bereich des Handwerks in der griechischen Literatur
xxiv
ABBREVIATIONS AND
NAGP
NCI
Norden Oakley and Sinos Oeri Olson, 'Names' Ostwald O'Sullivan 'Owls to Athens'
PA
PAA Page, S Paquette
A
BIBLIOGRAPHY
bis 400 . Chr. (Beitrage zur klassischen Philologie 51: Meisenham am Glan, 1974) A. Rijksbaron (ed.), New Approaches to Greek Particles (Festschrift C. J. Ruijgh; Amsterdam Studies in Classical Philology 7: Amsterdam, 1997) B. Cohen (ed.), Not the Classical Ideal: Athens and the Construction of the Other in Greek Art (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne, 2000) E. Norden, Agnostos Theos: Untersuchungen zur Formengeschichte religioser Rede (Leipzig, 1913) J. H. Oakley and R. H. Sinos, The Wedding in Ancient Athens (Wisconsin Studies in Classics: Madison and London, 1993) H. G. Oeri, Der Typ der komischen Alien in der griechischen Komodie (Diss. Basel, 1948) S. D. Olson, 'Names and Naming in Aristophanic Comedy', CQ NS 42 (1992) 304-19 M. Ostwald, Nomos and the Beginnings of the Athenian Democracy (Oxford, 1969) N. O'Sullivan, Alcidamas, Aristophanes and the Beginnings of Greek Stylistic Theory (Hermes Einzelschriften 60: Stuttgart, 1992) E. Craik (ed.), 'Owls to Athens': Essays on Classical Subjects Presented to Sir Kenneth Dover (Oxford, 1990) J. Kirchner, Prosopographia Attica (Berlin, 1901—3; reprint Chicago, 1981) J. Traill (ed.), Persons of Ancient Athens (Toronto, 1994—) D. Page, Sappho andAlcaeus (Oxford, 1955) D. Paquette, L'Instrument de musique dans la cer antique de la Grece antique: Etudes d'Organologie (Universite de Lyon, Publications de la Bibliotheque Salomon Reinach iv: Paris, 1984)
A B B R E V I A T I O N S AND B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Parke Parker PCG Peek, GVI Peppier Petersen PMG PMGF Policing Poultney Powell Pritchett Quad. Torino Rau RE Renehan Rijksbaron
XXV
H. W. Parke, Festivals of the Athenians (Aspects of Greek and Roman Life: Ithaca, NY, 1977) L. P. E. Parker, The Songs of Aristophanes (Oxford, 1997) R. Kassel and C. Austin (eds.), Poetae Cornici Graeci (Berlin and New York, 1983- ) W. Peek, Griechische Vers-Inschriften i (Berlin, 1955) C. W. Peppier, 'Comic Terminations in Aristophanes: Part V, AJP 42 (1921) 152— 61 W. Petersen, Greek Diminutives in -LOV (Weimar, 1910) D. L. Page (ed.), Poetae Melici Graeci (Oxford, 1962) M. Davies (ed.), Poetarum Melicorum Graecorum Fragmenta i (Oxford, 1991) V. J. Hunter, Policing Athens: Social Control in the Attic Lawsuits, 420—320 B.C. (Princeton, 1994) J. W. Poultney, The Syntax of the Genitive Case in Aristophanes (Baltimore, 1936) J. U. Powell (ed.), Collectanea Alexandrina (Oxford, 1925; repr. Chicago, 1981) W. K. Pritchett, 'The Attic Stelai: Part IF, Hesperiazs, (1956) 178—317 Quaderm del Dipartimento difilologia, linguistica e tradizione classica deirUniversitd degli studi di Torino P. Rau, Paratragodia: Untersuchung einer komischen Form, des Aristophanes ((Zetemata 45: Munich, 1967) Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (Stuttgart, 1893— 1970; Munich, 1972—) R. Renehan, Studies in Greek Texts (Hypomnemata43: Gottingen, 1976) A. Rijksbaron, The Syntax and Semantics
xxvi
Rivals Roscher, Lexikon Russo Rutherford Sansone Schwyzer
Scodel SH
SIG3 Sifakis Silk Simon
ABBREVIATIONS AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of the Verb in Classical Greek (Amsterdam, 1994) D. Harvey and J. Wilkins (eds.), The Rivals of Aristophanes (London, 2000) W. H. Roscher, Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie ((6 vols.: Leipzig and Berlin, 1884—1937) C. F. Russo, Aristophanes: An Author for the Stage (London and New York, 1994; originally published in Italian in 1962) W. G. Rutherford, The New Phrynichus (London, 1881) D. Sansone, 'Socrates' "Tragic" Definition of Color (PI. Meno76D-E)',CP91 (1996) 339-45 E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik (4 vols.: Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft 2. i) i Lautlehre. Wortbildung. Flexion (Munich, 1939), ii Syntax und syntaktische Stilistik (ed. A. Debrunner: Munich, 1950), iii Register (ed. D. J. Georgacas: Munich, 2 ig6o), iv Stellenregister (ed. F. and S. Radt: Munich, ^994) R. Scodel, The Trojan Trilogy of Euripides (Hypomnemata6o: Gottingen, 1980) H. Lloyd-Jones and P. Parsons (eds.), Supplementum Hellenisticum (Texte und Kommentare 11: Berlin and New York, 1983) W. Dittenberger (ed.), Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum3 (Leipzig, 1915— 24; repr. Hildesheim, 1960) G. M. Sifakis, Parabasis and Animal Choruses (London, 1971) M. S. Silk, Aristophanes and the Definition of Comedy (Oxford, 2000) E. Simon, Festivals of Attica: An Archaeological Commentary (Wisconsin Studies in Classics: Madison and London, 1983)
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
SLG Small Objects
Snodgrass Snyder Sommerstein, 'Naming' Sparkes Stehle
Stephanis Stevens
Stone
Taillardat
Taplin (1977) Taplin (1987)
xxvii
D. Page (ed.), Supplementum Lyricis Graecis (Oxford, 1974) G. Davidson and D. Thompson, Small Objects from the Pnyx I (Hesperia Suppl. vii: Baltimore, 1943) A. M. Snodgrass, Arms and Armor of the Greeks2 (Baltimore and London, 1999) J. M. Snyder, 'Aristophanes' Agathon as Anacreon', Hermes 102 (1974) 244—6 A. H. Sommerstein, 'The Naming of Women in Greek and Roman Comedy', QS II (1980) 393-418 B. A. Sparkes, 'Illustrating Aristophanes', f H S 9 5 ( 1 9 7 5 ) 122-35 E. Stehle, 'The Body and its Representations in Aristophanes' Thesmophoriasousai: Where Does the Costume End?', AJP 123 (2002) 369-406 I. E. Stephanis, (Iraklio, 1988) P. T. Stevens, Colloquial Expressions in Euripides (Hermes Einzelschriften 38: Wiesbaden, 1976) L. M. Stone, Costume in Aristophanic Comedy (New York, 1981) I. C. Cunningham (ed.), Synagoge. (Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker 10: Berlin and New York, 2003) J. Taillardat, Les Images d'Aristophane: Etudes de langue et de style (Annales de 1'Universite de Lyon III, Lettres 36: Paris, 1962) O. Taplin, The Stagecraft of Aeschylus (Oxford, 1977) ——'ClassicalPhallology, Iconographic Parody and Potted Aristophanes', Dioniso 57 (1987) 95—109 (a slightly revised version
xxviii
ABBREVIATIONS
Taplin (1993) Thesleff
Thompson Threatte Tichy
Tod Todd Traill TrGF Tzanetou
Usener van Straten
AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
of an article originally published in PC PS NS33 (1987)92-104) ——ComicAngels and other Approaches to Greek Drama through Vase-Paintings (Oxford, 1993) H. Thesleff, Studies on Intensification in Early and Classical Greek (Societas Scientarum Fennica, Commentationes humanarum litterarum 21.1: Helsingfors [—Helsinki], 1954) D. W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Birds2 (Oxford,.1936) L. Threatte, The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions (2 vols.: Berlin and New York, 1980,1996) E. Tichy, Onomatopoetische Verbalbildungen des Griechischen (Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien 409: Vienna, 1983) M. N. Tod (ed.), A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions2 (2 vols.: Oxford, 1946,1949) S. C. Todd, The Shape of Athenian Law (Oxford, 1993) J. S. Traill, The Political Organisation of Attica (Hesperia Suppl. 14: Princeton, 1975) B. Snell et al. (eds.), Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (Gottingen, 1971–) A. Tzanetou, 'Something to Do -with Demeter: Ritual and Performance in Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria', AJP 123 (2002) 329—67 H. Usener, Gotternamen: Versuch einer Lehre von der religiosen Begriffsbildung (Bonn,1896) F. T. van Straten, HIERA KALA: Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (Leiden, New York, and Cologne, 1995)
A B B R E V I A T I O N S AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Vos Waanders Wackernagel, KS War Webster Wegner Werres West, AGM West, GM Wilamowitz Willi Zeitlin
xxix
M. F. Vos, Scythian Archers in Archaic Attic Vase-Painting(Archaeologica Traiectina VI: Groningen, 1963) F. M. J. Waanders, The History of and in Ancient Greek (Amsterdam, 1983) J. Wackernagel, Kleine Schriften (3 vols.: Gottingen, 1955, 1979) W. K. Pritchett, The Greek State at War (5 vols.: Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1971-91) T. B. L. Webster, The Tragedies of Euripides (London, 1967) M. Wegner, Das Musikleben der Griechen (Berlin, 1949) J. Werres, Die Beteuerungsformeln in der attischen Komodie (Diss. Bonn, 1936) M. L. West, Ancient Greek Music (Oxford, 1992) Greek Metre (Oxford, 1982) U. v. Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Kleine Schriften iv (Berlin, 1962) A. Willi (ed.), The Language of Greek Comedy (Oxford, 2002) F. I. Zeitlin, 'Travesties of Gender and Genre in Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae', in Playing the Other: Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature (Women in Culture and Society: Chicago and London, 1996) 375—416 (a revised version of a piece originally published in H. Foley (ed.), Reflections of Women in Antiquity (London, 1981) 169— 217)
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INTRODUCTION I. A R I S T O P H A N E S AND HIS PLAY
'Je passe actuellement toutes mes matinees avec Aristophane. Voila qui est beau et verveux et bouillant. Mais ce n'est pas decent, ce n'est pas moral, cen'estmemepas convenable, c'est tout bonnement sublime.'1 So wrote Gustave Flaubert to his mistress Louise Colet in September 1847.2 His 'sublime' is no exaggeration,3 and Aristophanes' eleven surviving comedies—one-fourth of the poet's output—have lost none of their appeal since Flaubert's time. No doubt the range and originality of Aristophanes' genius had been factors that ensured that the best of his work was preserved for posterity even when the lights slowly went out during the dark ages before the rebirth of learning in ninth-century Byzantium. In this respect he was more fortunate than all his rivals, 'Eupolis, Cratinus . . . and the other exponents of Old Comedy'.4 The selection we have falls neatly into three distinct chronological groups:5 (i) five early plays, produced while the poet was still most likely in his twenties, and covering the second half of the 'Archidamian' War (the name given to the first 10-year phase of the Peloponnesian War of 431—404):6 Acharnians (425), Knights (424), Clouds (423),7 Wasps (422), and Peace (421); 1 'I now spend all my mornings with Aristophanes. Here's something that's beautiful, spirited, and fiery. But it's indecent, it's immoral, it isn't even proper; it's simply sublime.' 2G. Flaubert, Correspondance i (Paris, 1973) 470.
3 Cf. 'Plato' FGR 626—7 = Ar. test. 130: ('The Graces, seeking to find a sanctuary
that could not fall, discovered the soul of Aristophanes'). 4 Cf. Hor. Sat. i. 4. 1-2 Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanes-que poetae / atque alii, quorum comoediaprisca virorum est (= Ar. test. 62). 5 The ancient testimonia are collected in PCGiii. 2. 1—33. For recent introductory surveys, see Dover, Frogs, pp. 1—5; Olson, Peace, pp. xxi—xxiv, and Acharnians, pp. xxvii-xxxi; as well as the entries under'Aristophanes' in OCD3 (1996) 163-5 (Dover) and Brill's New Pauly i (2002) 1125-32 (Nesselrath). See also P. von Mollendorff, Aristophanes (Hildesheim, Zurich, and New York, 2002: in German). 6 We do not know when Aristophanes was born, but Nu. 530 ('I was still a virgin and not yet allowed to give birth') implies that he was a precocious young man in 427, the year of his earliest play, Banqueters (A airaXf/s). 7 Aristophanes partially rewrote Clouds after its defeat by Cratinus' Wine-Flask
xxxii
INTRODUCTION
(ii) four mature masterpieces, Birds (414), Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae (both 411), and Frogs (405), which eerily illuminate Athens' darkest decade, as the city lurched from crisis to crisis, from the catastrophic Sicilian expedition (415—413) to the final defeat at Aigospotamoi (405); (iii) two 'twilight' productions, Ecclesiazusae (392 or 391) and Plutus (388), both paving the way to the 'Middle Comedy' of the fourth century.8 Thesmophoriazusae (hereafter '77z.') is arguably the jewel in the crown. The play is less concerned with city politics than most of the other surviving comedies, and instead takes up the problem of the relationship between men and women, which it explores with a mix of wild transvestite farce and glorious and extended parody of Euripidean tragedy. Lysistrata in the same year also focuses on the 'battle of the sexes', but from a daring and unusual angle, although Euripides is mentioned there as well (at 283 and 368). There was clearly something in the air to make 411 a year about 'women', as 423 had been a year about 'thinkers' and 414 one about 'escapism', and as 405 was to become one about 'tragic poets'.9 The virtues of the piece have not gone unnoticed by modern critics in Europe and North America. Long ago Arthur Palmer in Dublin called Th. 'by far the most diverting of all the plays of Aristophanes' ;10 Gilbert Norwood in Toronto wrote 'For dazzling wit and irresistibly laughable farce combined this ... is perhaps the world's finest masterpiece';11 more recently Froma Zeitlin in Princeton and Michael Silk in London have both described it as 'brilliant'. 12 Th. is carefully structured, side-splittingly funny, and concerned with problems likely to strike a twenty-first-century reader or audience as remarkably contemporary. It is none the less also, as Jeffrey Henderson notes, 'of Arisand Ameipsias' Konnos. Only the revised second version survives: see Dover, C/oz«fe,pp.lxxx-xcviii. For the first version, seePCGiii. 2. 214-19 (frr. 392-401); for additional bibliography, Storey, in Rivals 542-3. 8 Aristophanes probably died in or shortly before 386. His last two plays, Aiolosikon and Kokalos, were produced by his son Araros; see Aiol. test, iv (PCG iii. 2. 33).9 423: Socrates mocked in both JVw. and Arneipsias'_Kojzjzos(fr. 9); 414: withdrawal from Athenian society as a theme in both Av. and Phrynichos' Recluse 405: tragedians discussed in both Ra. and Phrynichos' Muses (Movaai; see Harvey, in Rivals 91—134). 10 The Quarterly Review 158 (1884) 354. 11 Greek Comedy (London, 1931) 253. 12 Zeitlin 378; Silk 320; so already D. Barrett (594 n.) 97.
A R I S T O P H A N E S AND HIS PLAY
xxxiii
tophanes' extant plays . . . the most precariously attested . . . and least explored by scholars, editors, and translators'. 13 This edition is intended as a contribution to the vigorous emerging effort to reevaluate this neglected literary gem by one of Athens' most famous and important poets. II. DATE AND POLITICAL
BACKGROUND
A. The Year No explicit notice of the year in -which Th. -was performed has been preserved.14 The play can none the less be firmly assigned to 411 on the basis of the folio-wing items of evidence (cited in descending order of significance): (i) At 1060—i, Echo (played by the disguised Euripides) tells Inlaw that she performed 'last year in this same spot', and 2R identifies this as a reference to Euripides' Andromeda and notes that that play '-was staged the previous year' Ra. 53 reports that 'Andromeda had been put on in the 13 AJP 12,3 (2002)501. This entire issue of Af P is devoted to Th., to mark the 2001 production of Mary-Kay Camel's version of the play at Case Western Reserve University ('The Julie Thesmo Show'). The first revival of Th. known to us was around 370 BC in Southern Italy, as reflected in the Wiirzburg 'Telephos' krater (discussed in Section V.E). The Oxford A rchive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama has at present details of 39 productions (since 1955) listed on its database. For the Modern Greek adaptations of Solomos (1958) and Koun (1985) at Athens and Epidauros, see G. Van Steen, Venom in Verse (Princeton, 2000) 159, 175, 202-3. In England there have been lively presentations in Oxford by the Magdalen Players (May 1965) and at the Oxford Playhouse (December 1996) and in London by the Classical Societies at King's College (1965, 1974, 1985) and University College (1989, 1995). The first King's performance was favourably reviewed in the Times of 3 March 1965 under the heading 'Riotous Greek Play'. There have also been productions in Australia, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Italy (Syracuse), New Zealand, and the United States. The most recent translations of all the plays are the French Pleiade of Pascal Thiercy (Paris, 1997) and the new 4-volume Loeb of Jeffrey Henderson (Cambridge, Mass. and London, 1998—2002; Th. in vol. iii (2000)). Alan Sommerstein's edition in the Aris and Phillips series (Warminster, 1980— ; Th. in vol. viii (1994)) was successfully completed in 2002 with a volume of Indexes (including an index of Persons, pp. 87-126). 14 The fundamental discussion of the question remains U. von WilamowitzMoellendorff, Aristoteles und Athen ii (Berlin, 1893) 343-55. Cf. more recently Dover, AC 168-72; Sommerstein, jfHS 97 (1977) 112-26, and in the introduction to his edition of the play (pp. 1-4); Andrewes, HCTv. 184-93; Henderson, Lysistrata, pp. xv—xxv; Hubbard 187—9, 343~5-
xxxiv
INTRODUCTION
eighth year before this' i.e. before the performance of Frogs at the Lenaia in 405 (Ra. Hyp. I. c). This places Andromeda (on inclusive reckoning) in 413/12 (along •with Helen) and Th. in 412/11. 15 (ii) 804 patently refers to an incident described by Thucydides (viii. 41. 3—43. i) in which the Athenian general Charminos lost six ships near Rhodes some time in -winter 412/11. Th. can thus be no earlier than 411. As Wilamowitz noted, moreover, this -was a relatively minor defeat, -which -was completely overshadowed by the victory at Kynossema some time in summer 411 (Th. viii. 104—6), and it is difficult to believe that it -would have merited mention in a comedy of 410 or later, particularly since the Athenians could by then no longer be accused of incompetence in naval affairs. 16 (iii) At 808—9, the chorus, in the course of drawing a series of punning comparisons bet-ween the city's -women and its men, ask •whether 'any member of last year's Council is better than Euboule' —a name that means literally 'Giving Good Counsel'—'after having surrendered his authority to another man'. This can scarcely be a reference to the putsch conducted against the Council of 412/11 by the 400 in June 411 (see B, below), since that -was an example of neither evfiovXia nor its opposite but a violent seizure of power. The allusion must be instead to the appointment near the end of summer 413 of aboard of ten probouloi (cf. B, below), one of-whom is mocked mercilessly on stage in Lys., to share some of the powers of the Council. This places Th. once again in 412/11. (iv) R 190 reports that Euripides died 'in the sixth year' after Th. -was staged. The Marmor Parium (FGrHist 239 A. 63) dates Euripides' death to 407/6, and this finds support in the plot of Frogs (•which-was staged at the Lenaia in 405 (Ra. Hyp. I. c) and must have been conceived -well before that), as -well as in the anonymous Life of Euripides § 2 (— S. T 54), -which reports that Sophocles responded to news of his rival's death by appearing in mourning -with his actors at 15 identifies that verse as an allusion to E. Andromeda fr. 116 But the supposed allusion is not compelling (cf. Henderson ad loc.) and thus provides no additional evidence for the date of Euripides' play. 16 Wilamowitz (n. 14) 346. R 804 notes that 'Charminos was serving as one of the generals around Samos in this period along with Phrynichos'—who was assassinated in July 411 (Th. viii. 92. 2)—'and his colleagues' but is referring to the time when the battle took place rather than the date of the play.
DATE AND P O L I T I C A L BACKGROUND
XXXV
aproagon, i.e. before one of the contests in 406, since he too-was dead bythebeginningof4O5 (Ra. 76—7; Phryn. Com. fr. 32; cf. Marm. Par. FGrHist 239 A. 64). The sixth year before 407/6 -would on inclusive reckoning be 412/11. But R might have followed Timae. FGrHist 566 F 105; Eratosth. FGrHist 241 F 12; and Apollod. FGrHist 244 F 35, in error in placing Euripides' death in 406/5 (which -would put Th .in 411/10), and this evidence therefore cannot be given the same •weight as that discussed above. (v) R 841 notes that Lamachos 'had died in Sicily in the fourth year before this' Unfortunately, Thucydides (vi. 101. 6) dates Lamachos' death only to some time in summer 414 -without specifying -whether it came at the end of 415/14 (-which -would put Th. in 412/11, as appears on all other counts to be right) or the beginning of 414/13 (-which -would put Th. in4i i/io). 17 The evidence thus overwhelmingly supports a date of 411 for Th. WeknowfromZyys. Hyp. I. 33—4 that that play too-was staged in 411. It may have been possible for a poet to present two comedies at a single festival, -with one at least nominally assigned to someone else, although the only example of this phenomenon generally adduced is at the Lenaia in 422, -where Ar. -was placed second -with Wasps but is sometimes thought to have -written Philonides' Proagon (-which took the prize) as -well. But this is a hypothesis of last resort and it is far more likely that one of Ar.'s comedies of 411 -was staged at the Lenaia (probably celebrated that year in February), the other at the City Dionysia (early to mid-April). 18 Assignment of the plays to 17 D.S. xiii. 8. i places the death in 414, but it is unclear that he had any evidence for this beyond the text of Thucydides. (Dover points out that D.S. dates Athenian events as if the archon-year began, like the Roman consular year, in midwinter rather than midsummer. His '414' is thus the second half of the Athenian 415/14 and the first half of the Athenian 414/13.) Nothing can be deduced from R 32, which reports that Agathon began to produce plays 'three years earlier' We know from PI. Snip. I73a that Agathon won the prize with his first production and Athenaeus (5. 2i7a), apparently drawing on official records, dates this to the Lenaia in 416; and rpiaiv must therefore be corrupt; the numeral F (= 6) was misread as F (= 3). 18 B. D. Meritt, The Athenian Year (Sather Classical Lectures 32: Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1961) 218, puts the first day of 412/11 on 5 August of the Julian calendar. This is relatively late and pushes the dates of the City Dionysia and Lenaia back further in 411 than would be normal, which is a matter of some significance (cf. below). But the evidence is flimsy and controversial, and little should be built upon it; cf. Wenskus, Hermes 126 (1998) 383—5 (on the problem of the date of Lys.).
xxxvi
INTRODUCTION
their individual festivals is more difficult and requires some discussion of the political events of 412/11. B. Historical Background When, near the end of summer 413, news reached Athens of the defeat of the expedition sent out against Sicily two years earlier, the people at first refused to believe what they were told. After they accepted the truth, they were filled both with anger against those who had encouraged them in their undertaking and with fear (Th. viii. i. 1-2). The city was short of money and ships and crews to fill them; their enemies in the West might well follow up on their victory by sailing against the Piraeus; the Spartans and their allies would certainly redouble their efforts to defeat them; and revolts among the subject-allies seemed all but inevitable (Th. viii. i. 2; cf. viii. 24. 5). The Athenians accordingly adopted a number of emergency measures, including cutting expenses wherever possible, gathering supplies to build new ships, and appointing a board of probouloi to exercise some sort of supervisory power over state finances and war-preparations (Th. viii. i. 3-4, 4). Much of the rest of the Greek world, meanwhile, took it for granted that the great war that had been going on intermittently for almost two decades was about to come to a final, decisive end. The Spartans began a crash programme of shipbuilding and ordered their allies to do the same (Th. viii. 3); Euboia and Lesbos sent ambassadors to the Spartan king Agis at Dekeleia (a fort in Attica he had been occupying since the spring (Th. vii. 19. i-2)), seeking his support if they were to revolt from the Athenian empire (Th. viii. 5. 1-3); and representatives of oligarchic factions on Chios and in Erythrai came to Sparta itself with similar requests (Th. viii. 5. 4; for the Chians' initially limited political base at home, Th. viii. 9. 3, 14. 1-2). Two Persian satraps, Tissaphernes and Pharnabazos, sent envoys to Sparta around the same time, offering to support naval operations in Asia Minor and the Hellespont, respectively (Th. viii. 5. 4, 6. i); Pharnabazos' agents actually brought 25 talents in cash with them to help fit out and man the ships (Th. viii. 8. i). Both satraps were concerned primarily with redirecting the tribute currently being paid to Athens into their own coffers, but they also hoped to gain credit with the Great King, Darius II, by winning him new allies (Th. viii. 5. 5, 6. i; cf. the treaty-terms at viii. 18. i, 37. 2). The Spartans were thus confronted with many
DATE AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND
XXXvii
attractive options for doing the Athenians mischief; but Alcibiades, •who -was living in exile among them as a result of having been implicated in the religious scandals that broke out in Athens on the eve of the Sicilian expedition, and -who -was now doing his best to injure his own people in any -way he could, convinced them to accept the proposals of the Chians and Tissaphernes (Th. viii. 6. 3). Even after this decision had been reached, the Peloponnesian powers behaved in a typically dilatory fashion, creating problems for the Chians, most of -whom -were not yet in on the plot but -who fell under Athenian suspicion before matters could advance any further (Th. viii. 9. 2, 10. 1—3). Indeed, the -war in Ionia might never have got under -way (cf. Th. viii. 11.3) had it not been for Alcibiades, -who goaded the ephor Endios into action and eventually sailed to Chios himself along -with the Spartan general Chalcideus and a fleet of five ships (Th. viii. 12). Chios then revolted, followed by Erythrai and Klazomenai (Th. viii. 14; Klazomenai -was recovered by the Athenians shortly thereafter (Th. viii. 23. 6)), and later by Miletos (Th. viii. 17. 1—3), Lesbos (quickly crushed by the Athenians) (Th. viii. 22—3), and numerous other cities; and Chalcideus and Tissaphernes concluded a formal alliance between Sparta and the Persian king (Th. viii. 17. 4—18). The Athenians responded to the revolt of Chios by tapping the i,ooo-talent reserve fund set up at the beginning of the -war (Th. ii. 24. i) and using it to build and man new ships (Th. viii. 15. i). A year of disjointed war followed along the coast and on the islands just off Asia Minor. Much of the expense for the Spartans •was offset by subsidies paid by Tissaphernes and by plunder taken from cities that remained loyal to Athens. The Athenians, on the other hand, -were forced to pay for everything themselves, and the financial desperation this produced was a major contributing cause to the eventual collapse of the democracy (below). Both sides built up large fleets in the area; the centre of Athenian operations -was the large island of Samos. The exact chronology and course of events leading up to the oligarchic coup in Athens in late 412/11 are difficult to reconstruct, in part because Book viii of Thucydides' History is in an unfinished condition. At some point at the end of summer 412 or the beginning of-winter 412/11, the Spartans grew suspicious of Alcibiades, and he fled to the court of Tissaphernes (Th. viii. 45. i). As Thucydides tells the story, Alcibiades gained Tissaphernes' confidence and got him to reduce his financial support for the Spartan fleet (Th. viii.
xxxviii
INTRODUCTION
45. 2—6); he also -worked to convince the satrap that Persia's advantage lay in allowing the two Greek powers to -wear one another out, •while maintaining that the Athenians -would make better allies in the long run (Th. viii. 46. 1—4). What Alcibiades -wanted now -was to get back to Athens, but on his own terms; and he therefore found means to communicate -with the 'most powerful' —i.e. the richest and most influential—Athenians on Samos, expressing his eagerness to return from exile if the democracy -were replaced by an oligarchy, and promising that, should that change occur, he could detach Tissaphernes from the Spartans and make him an Athenian ally instead (Th. viii. 47, cf. 48. i). But Thucydides also makes it clear that the oligarchic movement on Samos -was not Alcibiades' creation. Some of the -wealthier individuals among the Athenian forces there had grown tired of paying (via trierarchies and the like) for a war waged by a state dominated by the poor, and after a secret meeting with Alcibiades, they set about forming a conspiracy (Th. viii. 47. 2—48. 2; cf. viii. 63. 4). It must be seen as a measure of the times that, when these men publicized Alcibiades' proposals, the troops generally acquiesced in them, even if with no great enthusiasm, recognizing that an alliance with Persia would mean that their daily pay was secure (Th. viii. 48. 2—3). Some time probably around mid-December 412, Peisandros (who had been active in Athenian politics since the mid-42os (cf. Olson on Pax 395) and was currently a general and a leading member of the oligarchic faction on Samos) and a number of other men were dispatched to Athens to begin negotiations about putting an end to the democracy, bringing Alcibiades back from exile, and forging an alliance with Tissaphernes and the Persians (Th. viii. 49). On the most straightforward reading of Thucydides' account of events in Athens, Peisandros and his companions went more or less directly to the Assembly, where they put the conspirators' case to the people. The historian (who was in exile at this point and did not witness the scene himself) reports that they received an initially very hostile reception, but that Peisandros overcame the opposition by asking anyone who spoke against his proposals what clever new idea he himself had for preserving the state. As no one had a convincing answer to this, and as Peisandros insisted that any constitutional changes that did not work out could be reversed later, the oligarchs' programme-was approved in principle (Th. viii. 53—54. 2). Peisandros then made the rounds of the city's hetaireiai (small-scale
DATE AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND
xxxix
political groups organized to get control of offices or to influence the outcome of trials), urging them to combine forces to overthrow the democracy; and 'after settling whatever else the situation required, in order that there might be no further delay', he and the ten men chosen to accompany him sailed off for their meeting with Tissaphernes (Th. viii. 54. 4-5). The negotiations that followed seem not to have been completed until the beginning of summer, meaning that Peisandros must have spent a month or more in Athens; and the question of how he carried out his business there and in what order has important implications for our understanding of Ar.'s comedies of 411 (C, below). According to Thucydides, Tissaphernes had now grown convinced of the wisdom of allowing Sparta and Athens to damage one another militarily, and also felt that the Spartans were at this point the more formidable force and therefore better kept on his own side (Th. viii. 5 6.2). He was accordingly unreceptive to the Athenian offer of an alliance, a stance that placed Alcibiades—who had assured the oligarchic conspirators on Samos that he could deliver the Persians, if they agreed to his recall from exile and a more restricted form of government—in a difficult position. He responded by deliberately scuttling the talks, presenting ever more outrageous demands for the Persian side until Peisandros and his companions finally gave up in disgusted anger and left (Th. viii. 56. 3-5). Tissaphernes—whose demands Alcibiades may in fact (despite Thucydides) have been communicating all along—then patched up his relations with the Spartans, which had deteriorated as a result of his grudging recent treatment of them (Th. viii. 57-9). The actual overthrow of the democracy occurred some time around the beginning of June 411 (Th. viii. 63. 3, cf. viii. 61. i; [Arist.] Ath. 32. i). The oligarchs on Samos, having concluded that Alcibiades was not to be trusted, decided to proceed without him— and without Persian help as well. Peisandros and five of the men who had accompanied him on his mission to Tissaphernes were accordingly sent back to the city and told to overthrow the democracies in any allied states they visited along the way (Th. viii. 64. i). But by the time Peisandros arrived in Athens in early June, the revolution was already well underway. Androkles, a leading democrat and an enemy of Alcibiades, had been assassinated by a group of young men, who then disposed of a number of other politically inconvenient individuals in a similar fashion (Th. viii. 65. 2); a proposal for
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INTRODUCTION
the abolition of pay for public office (a key characteristic of the late fifth-century democracy) and for a form of government restricted to 5,000 'competent' individuals had been floated publicly, although Thucydides claims that this was a sham put forward by the oligarchs in the hope of concealing their true intentions (Th. viii. 65. 3-66. i); the Council and the Assembly continued to meet, but the discussions that took place in them were controlled by the conspirators, who murdered anyone who attempted to oppose them (Th. viii. 66. 1-2); and a sense that the conspiracy was far more widespread than it was and that resistance was therefore futile had reduced the populace at large to silent terror and mutual suspicion (Th. viii. 66. 2-5). How long this state of affairs prevailed is unclear, although the most natural reading of Thucydides' account is that Peisandros set it in motion during his visits to the city' s hetaireiai toward the end of that winter (Th. viii. 54. 4-5) and that the killings, at least, began shortly after he left for Tissaphernes' court. Peisandros' arrival in Athens none the less marked a decisive final stage in the coup. The Assembly was convened and approved a motion appointing a board of ten men to draft a new constitution (Th. viii. 67. i). For reasons that are unclear, the board failed to fulfil its charge and on the day that had been fixed for its report merely proposed that all legal restraints on debate be removed (Th. viii. 67. 2); the simplest explanation of this would seem to be that the members were too deeply divided to put together a proposal, despite Thucydides' repeated implication that the oligarchic movement was a unified political whole. In the end, it was decided that a group of 400 men should replace the Council and produce a roster of 5,000 to serve as a new Assembly (Th. viii. 67. 3). Shortly after this, the 400, armed with daggers and accompanied by a gang of 120 young toughs, invaded the Council's chambers and expelled the Councilmembers (Th. viii. 69-70. i); this marked the decisive formal end of the democracy. The new government then executed a small number of opponents, made unsuccessful overtures to King Agis, and sent envoys to Samos to justify their behaviour to the troops there (Th. viii. 70. 2, 72). But in the meantime fighting had broken out within the fleet, and after the democrats prevailed there, they formed what amounted to a government in exile. The 400 held power for only a few months, after which they were replaced by a much less restricted oligarchy of 5,000 hoplites (Th. viii. 97; [Arist.] Ath. 33. i). Full democracy was restored some time in summer 410.
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C. The Festivals Neither Lys. nor Th. refers to any event or individual that can be dated after the Lenaia in February 411. Lys. is today more or less universally taken to have been performed at the Lenaia, Th. at the City Dionysia, on the basis of the different assumptions they appear to make about the political situation in the city. This is probably correct, but the question is more complex than it has been made out to be. Henderson characterizes Lys. as marked by 'a general attitude of guarded optimism about Athenian chances' of a sort better suited to February 411 than to two months later (Lysistrata, p. xviii). It might be more accurate to say that the play takes a military and political crisis for granted but declines to counsel despair. Athens' manpower is stretched exceedingly thin (Lys. 99—104), Miletos has revolted (Lys. 108), and the reserve fund on the Acropolis is being called upon to fit out ships (Lys. 421—2); but the city's -women are none the less able to bring the situation to a happy conclusion. Lysistrata's specific prescription for curing Athens' ills includes breaking up the hetaireiai (Lys. 577—8), re-enfranchising public debtors (Lys. 581), and regaining control of the subject-allies (with this presented, in accord -with normal Athenian imperial propaganda, as a reconciliation between mother-state and colonies) so as to provide for the -welfare of average citizens (Lys. 582—6), i.e. via resumption of payment of the tribute. This is a lovely vision but no more realistic than the patently pie-in-the-sky scheme for dividing up control of a post-war Greek -world bet-ween Athens and Sparta outlined metaphorically at Lys. 1161—75, and the play's apparent 'optimism' is better treated as a generic feature of Old Comic fantasy than as an index of the political atmosphere in Athens at the time it -was performed (or composed; cf. below). The most significant specific political allusion in Lys. occurs at 489—91, -where the heroine mockingly insists to the Proboulos that the -war is being fought 'so that Peisandros can have something to steal' This is a typical comic slander (cf. Th. 811—13 n -)> 1 9 but by Lenaia-time Peisandros must already 19 Andrewes, HCTv. 189 (cf. Woodhead, AfP 75 (1954) 138), rightly points out that the passage refers to the ordinary democratic scramble for office; note the use of aei in Lys. 491. Dover adds that 'corruption, in one form or another, is part of the small change of comic vilification, whereas an accusation of plotting to overthrow the democracy could easily have put Ar.'s name on a hit-list'.
xlii
INTRODUCTION
have been in Athens for amonth or moremakingpreliminary arrangements for the oligarchic coup, and economic corruption seems a bland charge to bring against someone -who might instead have been pilloried for -working to overthrow the democracy. Andrewes, HCT v. 189 (followed by Henderson, Lysistrata, pp. xxii f.), deals •with this problem by suggesting that Peisandros did not argue in the Assembly for recalling Alcibiades and instituting an oligarchy immediately upon his arrival in Athens, as Th. viii. 53—4 implies. Instead, he -will have begun by insisting only that money must (or could) be got out of the Persians, after -which he made the rounds of the hetaireiai and finally told the Assembly -what he -was up to only after he knew he had enough support for his proposals. Ar. therefore made no allusion to the oligarchs' plans in Lys.; but had the festival fallen a little later or Peisandros tipped his hand a little earlier, he •would undoubtedly have done so. This interpretation seems unlikely on several counts. Thucydides reports that the oligarchic conspirators on Samos 'told the common people openly' that an alliance could be made with the Persian king (and Persian funds thus obtained to support the fleet) if the Athenians would recall Alcibiades from exile and replace the democracy with an oligarchy, and he adds that the troops assented in the plan (viii. 48. 2—3). None of this, therefore,-was a secret, and word of what was being planned must inevitably have made its way to Athens, if not even before Peisandros arrived in the city in December (via gossip carried by the crews of the transport and supply-ships that must have gone constantly back and forth to Samos, or by other travellers and traders), 20 then certainly when the crew that brought him home began to talk to their families, friends, and neighbours about events in camp. Nor is it conceivable that Peisandros could have spent weeks moving from one small group of citizens to the next, asking for their support for the conspirators' plans, without word of what he was up to leaking to the populace at large—particularly since at least a few of those to whom he spoke must have been appalled and told their fellow-citizens what was being contemplated. Whatever the explanation may be, therefore, 20 For examples of similar phenomena (or the fear of them) during the same year, Th. viii. 9. 2 (word of the Chian faction's intention to revolt with Spartan help makes it way to Athens when the plans are not carried out immediately), 14. i (Alcibiades and Chalkideus arrest anyone they meet as they sail to Chios in order to prevent word of their approach anticipating them).
DATE AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND
xliii
of Ar.'s characterization of Peisandros in Lys. as a thief but seemingly nothing more, it cannot be that the details of the oligarchs' intentions -were generally unknown at Lenaia-time in 411. The references to the dangers posed by antidemocratic treachery, hostile attempts to rewrite the constitution, and secret dealings •with the Persians at Th. 335—7, 361—2, 365—6, can all be dismissed as echoes of the actual Assembly-curse (although they need not have been only that). But commentators universally agree that the appeal to Athena as traditional patroness of the city at 1136—47, and especially the extraordinary bacchiac line 1143—4, in "which the goddess is invoked as an enemy of tyrants, -was intended to echo in the audience's ears as they exited the Theatre. Although Lys. displays no overt awareness of an immediate threat to Athens' democracy, in other -words, Th. does; and the obvious implication is that the play -was staged at a time -when the oligarchic conspiracy -was more advanced and could no longer simply be ignored, i.e. at the City Dionysia in mid-April. If that is true, it is striking that Th. nowhere alludes to the reign of terror that, according to Thucydides, had already engulfed the city -when Peisandros appeared for a second time around the beginning of June (Th. viii. 65. 2—66). 21 Andrewes, HCT v. 193, explains this anomaly by arguing that Thucydides' apparent chronology is once again at fault; the conspirators -were relatively few in number (cf. Th. viii. 66. 3), and they must not have got aggressively down to -work until some time after the City Dionysia, perhaps six or seven -weeks before Peisandros' arrival. But the similar elision of the details of Peisandros' political manoeuvring in Lys. suggests that something more significant (and more sinister) is at -work. Ar. must have produced a relatively solid draft of his plays -well in advance of the festivals at -which they •were performed, so as to allow adequate time for the very complicated process of production. The difference bet-ween -what looks to have been political reality on the day of the festival and -what the text presents (i.e. in Lys. the treatment of Peisandros as an important political player but not as someone involved in antidemocratic 21 But one could argue that there are many quiet hints of this, for in the world imagined in the play secret meetings are held and conspiracies hatched to condemn individual citizens to death for opinions expressed in public; the Assembly is a bizarre and bitter parody of itself; official political power functions as a means of oppression; average citizens like Agathon prefer to remain uninvolved in the troubles of others; and it takes a reckless fool to stand up in public and speak what he takes to be the truth.
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INTRODUCTION
plotting, and in Th. the vague allusions to threats looming against the democracy but no mention of political murders and the like) might simply be a product of that lag: the plays reflect the situation at the time they were written, not the time they were performed, and if up-to-date topical material was inserted during rehearsal, it did not make its way into the copies of the text we have. Much more likely, both plays are deliberately reticent about the political situation in the city at the time they were produced, although for different reasons. The political changes proposed by Peisandros and his allies in mid-winter were certain to be wrenching, and although average democrats seem to have accepted their inevitability (Th. viii. 48. 3, 53. 2—54. i), the topic may well have seemed too sensitive to refer to on stage.22 Peisandros could be mentioned and made passing fun of on some other generic charge; but that -was already almost too close for comfort, and Ar. in any case probably recognized that the plot of his comedy responded to the oligarchs' proposals by offering (even if tongue-in-cheek) what no one in the Assembly had been able to come up with a few weeks earlier: an alternative path to salvation for the city (cf. Th. viii. 53. 2—3). In the case of Th., matters were likely very different. If Thucydides is to be taken at his word (and there is no good reason to doubt him), by the time of the City Dionysia it had become exceedingly dangerous to express non-oligarchical political opinions in Athens. Comedy normally enjoyed a special exemption on matters of this sort. But these were not normal times, and if Ar. kept his peace about such things—except for a few, easily dismissed allusions in the parody of the Assembly curse, and -what could be characterized, if necessary, as merely a hymn to Athena asking that she protect the city from traditional enemies (cf. 338—9 -with n.) and secure it peace—it may have been because he was afraid; and what is perhaps most remarkable is that in times like these he dared speak out at all. 23
22 23
Cf. comedy's seemingly complete silence about the plague in the 4205. Cf. Sommerstein (n. 14) 120.
THE F E S T I V A L
xlv
III . THE F E S T I V A L
The Thesmophoria -was a women's festival celebrated -widely throughout the Greek cities of the ancient Mediterranean in honour of Demeter and her daughter Pherrephatta/Persephone/Kore.24 According to Hdt. ii. 171. 2—3, these rites -were introduced into Greece from Egypt by the Danaids before the Dorian invasion, a thesis that attests to their antiquity if nothing else. The Thesmophoria -was held at sowing-time in early -winter and -was intended to ensure the fertility of the earth and (perhaps as a secondary development) the city's -women.25 The meaning of the name is unknown, but it more likely refers to the various rites passed on to mankind by the two goddesses than to objects carried in procession by their devotees.26 Men -were strictly excluded from the Thesmophoria and the details of the ceremonies -were treated as a great and terrible secret (cf. 363—4, 627—8, 1150—4; EC. 442—3; Hdt. vi. 135. 2; Ael. fr. 44 Hercher). We therefore know little about the festival, and although Ar. and his male contemporaries clearly took some basic 24 For catalogues of known Thesmophoria festivals, M. P. Nilsson, Griechische Feste von religioser Bedeutung mil AusschluJ} der attischen (Leipzig, 1906) 313-16; L. R. Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States iii (Oxford, 1907; repr. New York, 1977) 328-32 (nn. 76-107); Arbesmann, RE vi. i (1936) 24-6; Burkert 242-6. A new comprehensive survey of the evidence is being prepared by C. Austin and D. De Bartolo. For the Athenian Thesmophoria, Farnell (above) iii. 83—97; Deubner 50-60; Parke 82-8; Simon 18-22; Brumfield 70-103; M. Detienne, in M. Detienne and J.-P. Vernant (eds.), The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks (Chicago and London, 1989; originally published in French in 1979) 129—47; H. S. Versnel, Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual (Leiden, New York, and Cologne, 1993) 235-60; Habash, GRBS38 (1997) 19-40, esp. 20-3; Robertson, EMC/CFNS 18 (1999) 1-33; Dillon 110-20; Tzanetou 331-5. It has been conjectured that the Danaid trilogy of Aeschylus ended with the foundation of the Thesmophoria: see R. P. WinningtonIngram, Studies in Aeschylus (Cambridge, 1983) 71 n. 53; D. J. Conacher, Aeschylus: The Earlier Plays and Related Studies (Toronto, 1996) 107-8. For the name Pherrephatta/Persephone, 286-8 n. 25 In Athens, the Proerosia ('Preparation for Ploughing') on 5 Pyanepsion was similarly associated with the beginning of the agricultural year, and the Pyanepsia ('Bean-boiling') on 7 Pyanepsion may also have had fertility aspects. 26 Cf. Call. Cer. 18; D.S. v. 5. 2; Verg. Aen. 4. 58 with Servius and Pease ad loc.; 2R Luc. p. 276. 25—8 (below). For the epithet, cf. e.g. A. Ag. 525) or (SIG1 629. 6; Pergamon, 2nd c. BC); Brumfield 70—3; Levin, General Linguistics 31 (1991) 1-12. Those who accept Frazer's view that are 'things deposited' (i.e. pigs and other objects) refer to Anacr. PMG 406 and LSCG 154 B 17 (Kos, 3rd c. BC). But this is clutching at straws.
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INTRODUCTION
information about -what -went on during it for granted, they too must have been quite imperfectly informed. In Athens, the Thesmophoria originally occupied three days, from 11—13 Pyanepsion (October—November), but by the late fifth century a local celebration in Halimous on 10 Pyanepsion had, according to 2R 80, been incorporated into it. 12 Pyanepsion (on-which Th. is set) could thus be referred to as both the 'third day' of the festival (if one included the Halimous Thesmophoria in the count) and the 'middle day' (i.e. of the original three days); cf. Phot. , ('The Days of the Thesmophoria: Four; the tenth is "Thesmophoria", the eleventh "Descent", the twelfth "Fasting", and the thirteenth "Fair Offspring" '). 27 Ar.'s characters repeatedly refer to a Thesmophorion ('sanctuary of the Thesmophoroi'), -where all the action in the play after the opening scene is set (83, 89, 880; cf. 278). No such shrine has been identified, and Broneer, Hesperia 11 (1942) 250—64, esp. 262—4, 273—4 (folio-wed by Miles 22—3; Dillon 118—19), reasonably suggests that it may have been located -within the City Eleusinion, a large, -walled (Th. ii. 17. i) precinct on the north slope of the Acropolis. The propylon through •which one entered the Eleusinion from the Panathenaic Way -was at the south end of the precinct and is sufficiently far up the slope to justify the numerous references in Ar.'s play to 'going up' to the Thesmophoria, i.e. from the Agora (281 withn., 585, 623, 893), and to explain the name 'AvoSos ('Ascent') for the first day of the festival. The -women -who took part in the Thesmophoria camped in tents in—and perhaps, if the crowd -was large enough, around—the precinct (624, 658), and they must therefore not normally have gone home at night. 28 By the second century, there -was a priestess of 'the 27 Forthe festival at Halimous (of which next to nothing else is known), Plu. Sol. 8. 4—6; Polyaen. Strat. i. 20. 2 (two slightly different versions of a story in which women celebrate a Thesmophoria by dancing on a beach at Kolias nearby); Clem. Al. Protr. 34. 2 (simply referring to mysteries there). We know from Paus. i. 31. i that there was a temple of Demeter and Kore at Halimous, and Hsch. /5~7)- This does not mean that the tragic playwright has changed his mind about female behaviour; indeed, he closes with a threat that, if he does not get what he wants, he will tell the city's men everything that goes on at home while they are off on military duty (1167-9). Instead, Euripides proposes to cover up what he and the chorus (who immediately agree to come to terms, attesting to their awareness that he is right about their having something substantial to conceal) both 'know' to be true and the audience in the Theatre is thus allowed to take for granted: the world is full of Phaidras and Melanippes, despite the fact that Euripidean tragedy will in the future feature only Penelopes (cf. 549-50). The ultimate result of this meeting of minds is that Inlaw is released from his bonds and allowed to escape to his wife and children (1205-6), after which the chorus leave the Thesmophorion for home (1228-9), resolving the irregular social situation with which the play began (see section A). The world has been set right, but at a price. As the male semi chorus in Lysistrata say (citing what they describe as proverbial wisdom), men can live neither with women nor without them, and 58 Cf. Bowie 224-5 (arguing that the parodies of Telephos, Palamedes, and Helen amount to a connected Trojan War trilogy, that the parody of Andromeda is a sort of satyr play, that the closing scene is a 'comic coda', and that all of these taken together recall the structure of a normal day's set of performances at the City Dionysia).
E U R I P I D E S AND THE CITY'S WOMEN
Ixv
the only -workable choice is to find some -way to live -with them (Lys. 1038—9).59 Bad as -women are, it seems, it does no good to call—or perhaps even to pay—much attention to the fact; and Th. implicitly concludes on a very similar note. Up to this point, Euripides has shown no interest in compromise, and his offer to the chorus is in one sense unexpected. But his proposal also does little more than put into -words something that has been apparent on stage for over 300 lines and that simultaneously represents a coherent (if tendentious) interpretation of recent theatrical history. Helen and Andromeda (both staged in 412) feature •what Mika and the chorus -would certainly call 'good' female characters , so that not only do Inlaw' s parodies of those plays proleptically fulfil Euripides' offer at 1160—7, but by proposing to bring 'good' •women on stage the comic Euripides offers to do something the historical Euripides had arguably undertaken a full year earlier.60 At the same time, the concession at 1160—7 is not "what it appears to be, for Euripides' 'new' -woman as interpreted by Aristophanes is a helpless, vulnerable creature, -who is simultaneously chaste and enticing and -whose story can be brought to a happy conclusion only through the intervention of an aggressively virile man (cf. section B).61 Mika has got her -wish (cf. 547—8), but the problem -with the •way it has been granted is that the 'good' female characters Aristophanes' Euripides has to offer are indistinguishable from the positive aspect of the polarized Athenian male view of-women about •which the chorus complain so bitterly in the parabasis. The radical change his Euripides proposes—and -which he has, on another level, already put into effect—is thus in a larger sense no change at all but a back-handed affirmation of the status quo. For-women to be'good' in the -way the Aristophanic Euripides and Mika -would have them be, it must also be generally conceded that they are 'bad', for the two categories are mutually dependent (see section A). Indeed, a recognition of something very similar encapsulates the understanding to -which the tragic poet and the chorus come at 1167—70: only because Euripides knows how 'bad' -women are can he reach an agreement -with them to represent them in his tragedies as 'good'. Despite an appearance of putting '-women on top', the sexual politics of Aristophanes' 59 Cf. Susar. fr. i. 3—4 'Women are an evil (KO.KOV) ; but all the same, demesmen, one cannot have a home without evil'; Men. frr. 801; 804. 16—17. 60 Indeed, it is tempting to suggest that Ar. conceived of the plot of Th. while watching Euripides' tragedies of 412 as a way of explaining their—to him, at least, 61 apparently striking—content. Cf. Bobrick 184.
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INTRODUCTION
play are in fact extremely conservative. Not regardless but because of -what his Euripides has done and promised to do, nothing about the relationship between men and -women -will change; the idea that misogyny has a historical origin and can accordingly have an end serves as cover for a deeper and more powerful conviction that things -will always be just as they have always been. Inlaw is thus allowed to escape and the plot of Th. brought to an end by means of a poetic sleight-of-hand, -which finesses the fact that solving the 'problem of Euripides' not only fails to alter the larger situation described in the parabasis but confirms and lends it support. Aristophanes' over-whelming eagerness to bring the sexes together in a nominally happy ending is apparent in the fact that he supplies Inlaw -with a -wife at 1020—1 (in an incongruous paratragic context) and then -with children at 1205—6, giving the old man someone to hurry off home to once he has been freed, as -well as in the chorus' announcement at 1228—9 that they too are leaving for home, despite the fact that the Thesmophoria is not over (cf. 80 -with n.). But perhaps most telling is the resort at the end of the play to the cheap but effective (cf. 1128—32) motif of the barbarian threat. As the chorus surrender control of Inlaw to Euripides, they note that the only problem that remains is the Skythian (1171), -who is now the sole 'blocking figure' on stage; and much of-what is clearly intended to be the hilarity of the final scenes consists in the systematic humiliation of this character first by Aristophanes (-who depicts him from the very first as a clumsy brute) and then in the final scene by Euripides and the chorus. In both Helen and Andromeda, Greeks triumph over non-Greeks, so that -what goes on on stage here is still in one sense Euripidean parody. But the united front Euripides and -women so readily and easily construct against -what is now abruptly defined as their common enemy also diverts attention from the irresolvable (although allegedly resolved) conflict bet-ween men and -women, •with -which most of the play is concerned, onto another conflict, the rights and -wrongs of -which must have appeared far clearer to the average late fifth-century Athenian; and it can scarcely be coincidence that something very similar goes on at the end of Lysistrata, •where the heroine urges the Athenians and the Spartans to put aside their seemingly irreconcilable differences to confront the threat of Persian power (Lys. 1128—34, esp. 1133-with Henderson ad loc.). 62 62
Cf. ibid. 190.
E U R I P I D E S AND THE CITY'S WOMEN
Ixvii
The fundamental problem -with Euripidean tragedy as it is presented in Th. is that it aggressively exposes ugly facts -which -would be better left obscure. As Aeschylus says in a related context in Frogs, that something is true is no excuse for putting it on stage, for good poetry aims not to 'educate' people but to convince them to act in socially helpful -ways (Ra. 1052—5). In Th., this criticism focuses on Euripides' hostile treatment of -women; but in the first half of the play in particular Aristophanes does exactly -what Mika condemns Euripides for, by presenting his female characters—and indeed allowing his female characters to present themselves—in an exceedingly dark manner. Aristophanic comedy elsewhere defends its scathing criticisms of its audience by insisting that this abuse serves a positive purpose: by telling the Athenian people things they -would rather not hear, it forces them to mend their -ways (esp. Ach. 630—64). But one can easily imagine the Aristophanic Euripides defending his tragedies in a similar fashion; and that Th. is not really intended to teach the audience in the Theatre anything about •women's behaviour is apparent both from the fact that its assertions are commonplace (as the chorus' complaints in the parabasis make clear) and from the poet's repeated attempts at the end of the play to impose a hasty (if superficially appealing) solution to the problems raised at the beginning. None of this ought perhaps to come as a surprise. Th. is set on a festival day, -when normal activities are suspended in the city but extraordinary events can be expected to occur (78—84); and so too the comic poets enjoyed the right to express themselves at the Lenaia and the City Dionysia in -ways that -would not have been tolerated in most public settings.63 But Aristophanes also regularly contrives to withdraw or neutralize many of the criticisms he offers in his plays. In Knights, for example, the old fool Demos ('the People') ultimately reveals that he is cleverer than he has let on, and the Sausage-seller (-who -won his position as chief slave/demagogue by showing he -was the most unprincipled man in the house/city) at the end of the play unexpectedly bestows extraordinary goods on his master. This is -wildly inconsistent, but the inconsistency serves the poet's purposes, by allowing him both to criticize and to flatter his audience, and by eliminating -what might other-wise have been perceived to be the call for changes in the real -world outside the 63
But note e.g. Aeschin. i. 126, 131, 164; 2. 99; D. 18. 130.
Ixviii
INTRODUCTION
Theatre. So too in Th., the hostile portrait of Athenian women in the opening scenes yields by the end to a consistent depiction of them as devoted celebrants of Demeter's mysteries.64 If the play has a point to make about relations between the sexes, it seems to be (as in Lysistrata) that men need -women and therefore have no choice but to ignore the ugly things they know to be true about their character and behaviour. The supposed historical development of Euripidean tragedy traced in Th. from dangerous and unproductive truth-telling to artful concealment of -what are generally conceded to be facts, and from over-the-top misogyny to equally over-the-top romance, is thus simultaneously a description of the internal -workings of Aristophanes' play itself. The audience in the Theatre—as opposed to the hypothetical future audiences referred to at 1167—9, •who can be expected to believe anything they see—has -watched this process unfold from the beginning and has thus been alerted to the fact that the 'new' vision of -women Euripides and Aristophanes are contriving to promote is a calculated misrepresentation of the actual state of affairs. But for the moment, at least, none of that matters much. The Thesmophoria is coming to an end, as is the City Dionysia; the unexpected, unlikely, and offensive things said or done on stage today can all be forgotten or ignored, if that is -what is required (as it is) to bring the -world back to normal; and all concerned—or at least all those -who matter—can go happily home to their families.
V. STAGING
A. Division of Parts At 922-9, Inlaw is on stage pinned to a plank; Kritylla is standing guard over him; Euripides is heading off into one wing; and the Prytanis is entering from the other. These are all speaking parts, and the unavoidable conclusion is that Th. can be staged with three actors only via some odd and unlikely arrangement involving lightning changes of costume, unmarked exits, silences on stage, and the like. Like a number of other Aristophanic comedies (including Acharnians and Frogs), therefore, the play is most naturally taken to require a fourth actor, who on the staging outlined below speaks 64
Cf. Zeitlin 399—405.
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only nine lines or partial lines. The speaking parts in Th. are best divided as follows (cf. Lange 46; DFA 152; Russo 196—7), although other arrangements are possible:65 Protagonist: Inlaw (1-946, 1001-1209) Deuteragonist: Euripides (1-279, 869-927, 1009-12 (cf. 1009 n.), 1056-1132 (cf. 1064 n.), 1160-1209), Mika (295-764) Tritagonist: Agathon's Slave (36-70), Agathon (95-265), Kritylla (295-458, 759-944), Kleisthenes (571-654), the Skythian (10011225) Fourth Actor: the Prytanis (923-44) One remarkable feature of this division is that both of the—presumably quite demanding—lyric parts at the beginning of the play (39—62, i o 1—29) -were taken by the tritagonist, -who must have been a quite accomplished performer, despite his seemingly inferior status. Mania (295—764), Teredon (i 160—1203), andElaphion (i 160—1214) are represented by mutes, as is the Skythian in his first appearance on stage (923—46). Mute slaves appear on stage at 95 and 265 (pushing Agathon on and off, respectively, on the ekkuklema) and at 238—48 (bringing on and taking off a torch), and perhaps also at 655 (bringing the chorus torches, -which must then also have been taken off by prop-men dressed as slaves earlier) and 1001 (carrying on Inlaw bound to his plank). B. Costume Although representations of comic actors from Ar.' s time are neither numerous nor always easily interpreted, a good deal of information about this aspect of the plays can be gleaned from the texts and from artistic evidence dating to a generation or two later.66 Male characters •were normally represented -with dark masks (cf. 31 n.) fitted -with detachable beards (222—3 n -) > 'whereas -women -were represented -with •white masks. Most adult male characters -wore a long leather stagephallus, -which could be tied up out of the -way, allowed to dangle 65 We assume that the assembly heraldess (295-311, 331-51, 372-82) is played by the coryphaeus; cf. 295—382 n. 66 The standard treatment of Old Comic costuming is Stone. For the artistic evidence, T. B. L. Webster, Monuments Illustrating Old and Middle Comedy (3rdedn., revised and enlarged by J. R. Green) (BIOS Suppl. 39: London, 1978), together with the comments of Green 27—38.
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INTRODUCTION
free, or put in an erect position (like the Skythian's at 1187—1201). Artistic evidence suggests that most actors -were fitted -with absurdly padded stomachs and buttocks. Beyond that, comic costume -was relatively realistic, and characters -wore clothes and shoes appropriate to their age, sex, and social status. Much of the visual economy of Th. depends on an aggressive subversion of these conventions. Almost all the male characters in the play are made to look like -women at some point: Agathon -wears a -white, beardless mask (191) and -women's clothes (esp. 136—8; cf. 97—8, 250—1, 257—8) and has no visible stage-phallus (142); Kleisthenes lacks a beard (575) and may also -wear a -white mask (cf. 571—3); Euripides enters at the very end in female costume and clearly -well disguised, given that the Skythian takes him for a -woman •with no questions or prompting (i 194); and Inlaw spends virtually the entire play dressed in a krokotos (a saffron-coloured -women's inner garment; cf. 137—8 n.) and a bizarre -wig or set of headgear he has borrowed from Agathon (cf. 257—8 n.). Ar. clearly expected his audience to find this cross-dressing both amusing and deeply humiliating for the individuals involved67 (even if those individuals sometimes evince little shame at how they look), and he accordingly draws out the scenes in -which Inlaw is transformed into a -woman (213—68) and stripped and exposed as a man (636—51) to great length and jams them full of-wild, slapstick humour. So too Inlaw mocks Agathon for his effeminate appearance (97—8, 134—43); the coryphaeus treats Kleisthenes in a similarly scornful manner (582—3); -when the Council decide to put Inlaw to death, they decree that he -wear his krokotos and mitra on the plank, an additional horror the old man tries desperately to avoid (936—45); much of the effect of the parodies of Helen and Andromeda depends on the fact that the tragic heroines are played by an individual -wearing a prominent stage-phallus; and Euripides' cross-dressing in the final scene is best explained as an index of his utter desperation after all his other plans have failed. Inlaw's female costume is both his means to infiltrate the -women's assembly and the clearest sign of the extent to -which he has violated societal norms by doing so. Thanks to Euripides' intervention, he escapes his bonds and runs off—still dressed in -women's clothes (cf. 1220). But the visual argument of the play is maintained none the less, for after Inlaw is gone from sight, the role of dramatic scapegoat 67
Cf. the treatment of Blepyros at EC. 311—727.
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settles on the only character -who is even more outrageously dressed than he: the Skythian in his -wild native costume (cf. 923 n.). C. Props Aristophanic props are generally very simple.68 Those used in Th. include the brazier and myrtle branches brought out by Agathon's servant (37); Agathon's couch (95 n., 261—2 n.); the razor (218—20 •with n.), mirror (140 -with n., 234—5), musical instruments (137—8 •with n.), and various items of clothing (249—62 -with nn.) piled on or beside it; the torch used to depilate Inlaw's arse (238—41), and those carried by the -women at the festival (280, 655, 917); the garland -worn by speakers in the -women's assembly (380 -with n.); the brush-wood Mika and Mania stack about Inlaw after he seeks refuge at the altar (726—9 -with nn., 739); Mika's elaborately dressed baby/ •wineskin (esp. 733—4) and the bowl in -which she proposes to catch its 'blood' (754—5 withn.); the knife Inlaw uses to cut the -wineskin open and to carve letters into the dedicatory plaques he discovers hanging from the altar (694—5 n -> 773~5 "with 773—4 n.); the plank to -which Inlaw is pinned throughout the final scenes of the play (930—1 n., 1001 n.); the Skythian's -whip (cf. 932—4 n.), knife (i 125—7 n -)> and quiver/bowcase (1195—7 n.), as -well as the mat he fetches to sleep on (1007 n.); and Euripides' musical instruments (1217—19 n.). D. Theatre Resources; Exits, and Entrances Archaeology offers little insight into the details of the Theatre of Dionysos in Ar.'s time, and most of -what -we know comes from the text of plays that survive from the period. 69 Bet-ween the front row of seats and the stage -was a dancing area (the orchestra), -which -was accessible via two side-entrances (the eisodoi or parodoi). A permanent altar (put to use in Th. for the offerings by Agathon's servant (37—8) and by Inlaw himself (285), as-well as for parodies of Euripides' Telephos, Palamedes, and Helen) stood in the middle of the orchestra.10 In the 68 For Aristophanic props, see Poe, RhM NF 143 (2000) 274-6, 283-7, 292-5; English, Helios 27 (2000) 149—62. 69 Cf. A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens (Oxford, 1946) 1-133, esP- 15—29; Moretti, REG 113 (2000) 275-98, esp. 284-98 (English version in ICS 24-25 (1999-2000) 377-98). 70 Rehm, GRBSzg (1988) 263-307.
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INTRODUCTION
41 os, the stage probably consisted of a raised -wooden platform connected to the orchestra by several steps, -which allowed actors to move down into the orchestra (as Inlaw does after he seizes Mika's 'baby' at 689) or up from it (as Euripides and Inlaw probably do at the very beginning of the play). A -wooden stage-building (the OK-UJV-TI) stood along the back of the stage. Th. requires only a single, central stagedoor, -which functions as Agathon's house (26—265); an unspecified sacred building in the Thesmophorion precinct (cf. 278, 880) -where fire-wood is kept (726—39); an ill-defined spot, safe from prying eyes, •where the Skythian can go to pin Inlaw to his plank (947—1000), to fetch his mat (1007), and to have sex -with Elaphion (1202—9); and (as part of the Andromeda -parody) as Echo's cave (c. 1064—97). A theatrical trolley (the ekkuklema; cf. 96 n.) -was located behind the central stage-door and could be pushed out to represent interior scenes; at 95—265 it is used for the visit to Agathon's house. A theatrical crane (the mechane), -which allowed characters to fly on stage, -was concealed behind the OK-UJV-TI', the earliest more or less certain evidence for its use is at the end of Euripides' Medea (431).71 The mechane (like the ekkuklema) -was a favourite device of the late fifth-century tragic poets and is perhaps used by Euripides at 1098 for his entrance in the guise of Perseus returning home -with the Gorgon's head (but see n. ad loc.). The direction of a number of exits and the places from -which a number of characters have come are indicated or implied in Th., and this information, -when combined -with that discussed above, allows much of the basic staging of the play to be reconstructed, provided one assumes that: (a) -when characters return from off stage, they do so from the -wing, eisodos, or stage-door through -which they exited earlier—this is an uncontroversial thesis; (b) unless characters indicate -when they exit that they are going somewhere different from -where they came from, they exit by the -wing, eisodos, or stagedoor from -which they entered. This is a less secure assumption but can be regarded as a sort of Occam's Razor of staging practice: characters 'belong' to the 'place' from -which they came. The folio-wing points can then be made: (i) At458,KrityllaexitstotheAgora(457),andwhenKleisthenes 71 Cf. Mastronarde, CA 9 (1990) 268-72; Lendle, in E. Pohlmann et al., Studien zur Biihnendichtung und sum Theaterbau derAntike (Studien zur klassischen Philologieg3: Frankfurt am Mein, 1995) 165—72.
STAGING Ixxiii enters at 571, he says he has come in response to gossip circulating in the Agora (577—8). The obvious conclusion is that Kleisthenes enters from the same wing as that into -which Kritylla exited earlier (and from -which she must return at 759). (ii) At 654, Kleisthenes exits into a -wing (hereafter 'Wing B') to inform the prytaneis that Inlaw has been arrested, and Mika follows him off -with the same mission at 764. When the Prytanis and the Skythian enter in response to this summons around 923, therefore, they must come from Wing B. (iii) Since Kleisthenes implies that he has come from the Agora but notes as he exits that he is going somewhere else (i.e. to see the prytaneis), he probably enters from a different -wing from that into •which he exits, i.e. from Wing A. If that is the case, Kritylla must also exit into Wing A at 458 and emerge from it again at 759 (see (i) above). But this is all somewhat uncertain. (iv) The Prytanis does not say -where he is going -when he exits at 944, and he therefore probably returns to Wing B. Kritylla also leaves the stage at this point; -whether she exits into Wing A (from •which she came) or Wing B (accompanying the Prytanis off) is unclear. (v) When Euripides exits at 927, having been alerted by Kritylla that the Prytanis and the Skythian are entering from Wing B, he must go into Wing A to avoid them. It must therefore be from Wing A that he emerges again at 1009. (vi) In that case, it is most likely also Wing A into -which he exits at 279 and 1132, and from -which he must enter at 871 and 1160. (vii) Where Euripides and Inlaw exit to at 1209 is anyone's guess. But the neatest staging -would be to have the two of them race down the same eisodos they entered through at the beginning of the play (eisodos A?). The chorus, -who are also going home (1228—9), probably follow them off, -while the Skythian exits in the opposite direction (into Wing B?). The entrances and exits in Th. can thus be reconstructed as follows (cf. Lange 49-50). Wing-assignments that appear certain are marked with an asterisk; those that pose a substantial problem of some sort are marked with *. i Euripides and Inlaw enter via an eisodos. 36 Agathon's slave enters through the central stage-door. 70 Agathon's slave exits through the central stage-door.
Ixxiv
INTRODUCTION
95 Agathon is rolled out of the central stage-door on the ekkuklema. 265 Agathon is rolled through the central stage-door on the ekkuklema. 279 Euripides exits into Wing A. 295 The chorus, Mika, and Kritylla enter via an eisodos (their arrival is announced at 281). 458 Kritylla (going to the Agora) exits into Wing A*. 571 Kleisthenes (coming from the Agora) enters from Wing A*. 654 Kleisthenes (going to speak to the prytaneis) exits into Wing B*. 729 Mika and Mania exit through the central stage-door. 739 Mika and Mania emerge from the central stage-door. 759 Kritylla (coming from the Agora; cf. 458) enters from Wing A*. 764 Mika (going to speak to the prytaneis) and Mania exit into Wing B*. 869 Euripides enters from Wing A (cf. 279). 923 The Prytanis and the Skythian (having been summoned by Kleisthenes (654, cf. 764)) enter from Wing B*. 927 Euripides exits into Wing A*. 944 The Prytanis exits into Wing B (cf. 923). Kritylla exits into a •wing*. 1009 Euripides enters from Wing A*. 1012 Euripides exits through the central stage-door. 1056 Euripides enters from the central stage-door. c. 1064 Euripides exits through the central stage-door. 1098 Euripides enters either from the central stage-door or via the mechane*. 1132 Euripides exits into Wing A. 1160 Euripides, Elaphion, and Teredon enter from Wing A. 1203 Teredon exits into Wing A. 1209 Euripides and Inlaw exit down the eisodos through -which they entered at i. 1214 Elaphion exits into Wing A. 1225 The Skythian exits into Wing B. 1231 The chorus exit via the eisodos through -which they entered at 295-
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E. The Wiirzburg 'Telephos' Krater Wiirzburg 115697 (Plate i), an Apulian bell krater dated to £.370, depicts two figures. To the extreme left, standing sideways to the viewer and facing toward the centre of the pot, is an unattractive woman who wears a headscarf and a sleeveless, belted chiton which falls to her ankles. She is looking directly at the other figure, to whom her posture implicitly calls attention, and holds a large skyphos or krater out in front of her with both hands. Her left (forward) foot is planted firmly on the ground, but the heel of her right (rear) foot is raised, as if she -were leaning eagerly forward. The figure to the right has a stubbled face, identifying him as a beardless man. He is seen from the front and is almost in the middle of the composition, and although his eyes are averted to his right, in the direction of the woman, his gaze falls somewhere between her and the individual examining the pot. He is thus apparently aware of the woman's presence but looking at a third party, whose existence his gaze creates; and there can be little doubt that he is the central character. Like the woman who approaches him, he is barefoot and wears a belted chiton. But his chiton has sleeves and extends down only to his knees or so, and leggings are visible beneath it, and he wears a headband of some sort. In his left hand is a wineskin, two dangling extremities of which are fitted with what look like sandals or slippers. In his right hand is a knife, with which he simultaneously threatens the wineskin and holds the woman at bay. Directly above the sword floats an object probably to be identified as a mirror. In 1980, Kossatz-Deissmann identified the Wiirzburg krater as a depiction of a scene from a South Italian phlyax comedy that parodied Euripides' Telephos and was similar to Th.;72 the third party toward whom the hero is looking must therefore be the audience in the Theatre (to be distinguished from the individual examining the pot, who sees the scene from an additional remove). But as Csapo and Taplin (1987), working independently, pointed out a few years later, the Wiirzburg krater more likely recalls a performance of Th. itself and in particular the action at 750-5, where Inlaw threatens Mika's daughter—actually a wineskin wearing 'Persian' slippers 72 A. Kossatz-Deissmann, in H. A. Cahn and E. Simon (eds.), Tainia: Festschrift fur Roland H amp e (Mainz, 1980) 281-90, with two plates (Tafel 60. 1—2). Further references will be found in J. R. Green's forthcoming third edition of Phlyax Vases. For Euripides' Telephos, above, n. 48.
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INTRODUCTION
(733—4 withn.)—with a knife taken from the altar to which he fled at 689 (cf. 694—5 n -)> and Mika holds out a basin (cf. 754—5 n.) to catch her child's 'blood'. 73 Csapo 381—7, notes that this makes sense of a number of details in the painting that puzzled Kossatz-Deissmann: the headband (which Telephos ought not to have on) must represent the KefiaXrj TTepiOeros borrowed from Agathon at 257—60 (cf. 941);'* the stubble on Inlaw's face recalls the clumsy shave he got from Euripides at 221—31; and the mirror is presumably the prop he used to inspect his newly beardless face at 23 3—5." That the mirror is still visible 'on stage' some 500 lines after this, Csapo 387, suggests, may mean that it -was not taken on and off on the ekkuklema, as one -would other-wise assume, but hung throughout the play on a peg driven into the OK-UJV-TI. One important implication of the Csapo—Taplin thesis (-which has been generally accepted) is that Athenian Old Comedies -were at least occasionally revived in Magna Graecia in the first half of the fourth century. 76 A number of problems -with the scene on the Wiirzburg krater none the less make clear that this is something other than a simple, straightforward depiction of a South Italian theatrical performance, although such a performance doubtless lies in the background. The text of Th., firstof all, leaves little doubt that the mirror used at 233—5 comes on stage -with Agathon (cf. 140), and there is no reason to think that it is not taken off in the same -way. Nor could Inlaw's face have been anywhere near as badly shaved as it is on the Wiirzburg krater, for the old man passes easily as a -woman until his dress is opened up (revealing that he has no breasts) and then lifted at 636—50; and unlike in Ar.'s play, the Wiirzburg Inlaw is barefoot (cf. 262—3), and no brush-wood is piled around the altar (cf. 728—9, 739), and the old man's theatrical phallus, -which is exposed to the •women (and the audience in the Theatre) -with much hue and cry at 643—8, is here invisible. The absence of the brush-wood and the 73 Csapo 379-87; Taplin (1987) 102-5; cf. the discussion at Taplin (1993) 36-40; Green 65—7. 74 Cf. Taplin (1987) 103—4 (identifying the headband as merely a bit of typical comic—as opposed to tragic—costume). 75 Taplin (1987) 105, obliquely suggests that the mirror is to be understood instead as a dedication in the sanctuary; but this fails to explain why the artist has chosen to include it in his composition. 76 Cf. Csapo 387-92; Taplin (1993), esp. 30-6, 41-7 (who cites three other secure examples of what are almost certainly scenes from Athenian Old Comedies preserved on South Italian vases), reviving a suggestion by Webster, CQ 42 (1948) 19—27.
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phallus, and perhaps of Agathon's fancy boots (which no Euripidean beggar -would -wear), may serve to make the Wiirzburg Inlaw more closely resemble the tragic Telephos, rendering the parody more recognizable and the point of the scene clearer." Indeed, if the painter had chosen to depict the action only a few lines further on in the text, after Inlaw had killed the captive 'baby' (as Telephos did not), the resemblance between the tragic and the comic heroes -would be considerably less striking. Much more important, the seemingly unwanted mirror (to -which the upraised knife, however, emphatically calls attention), the stubble on Inlaw's face, the missing phallus, and the carefully rendered headband, -work together to remind anyone looking at the pot of the singeing- and shaving-scene earlier in Aristophanes' play; -while the fact that Inlaw is depicted here as obviously male obliquely stresses the fact that his disguise has failed, explaining how he got to this point of desperation. The Wiirzburg krater is thus not just a document of a moment in fourth-century theatrical history but a sophisticated bit of visual narrative, -which requires and repays careful, engaged reading. How Inlaw -will escape is not obviously hinted at. But for the moment he seems to have the situation -well in hand, and the implication is perhaps that he -will ultimately emerge, if not quite triumphant, at least no more badly damaged than he is already. VI. THESMOPHORIAZUSAE II
Among the fragments of Aristophanes' lost comedies are 28 (frr. 331—58, totalling 54 lines or fragments of lines, plus a few -words and phrases cited out of context) from another Thesmophoriasusae (hereafter 'Th. II')- Th. II is undated but has generally been assigned to some time after the preserved play of 411, 78 Its plot and general contents are obscure, although a few basic elements of the action can perhaps be recovered.
77 Cf. Taplin (1987) 103, who notes that the posture adopted by the Wiirzburg Inlaw (a sword in one hand and one knee on the altar) seems to be standard in visual representations of Telephos. 78 Cf. Kaibel as quoted in PCG iii. 2. 182 'nee de tempore fabulae constat. . . nisi quod superstitem deperdita antiquiorem fuisse nemo dubitabit.'
Ixxviii
INTRODUCTION 1
A. The Fragments '' fr. 331 ap. 2 R 298
Phot. K 1 1 8 KaXXiyeveiav H-jroXXd&iupos p.ev rr/v Pffv (FGrHist244 F 141
(Kalligeneia is) a divinity associated with Demeter, whom he represented speaking in the prologue in the other Th. Kalligeneia: Apollodorus says that she is Earth, others a daughter of Zeus and Demeter. But Aristophanes the comic poet (says that she is Demeter's) nurse.
fr. 332 ap. Poll. vii. 95 (cf. v. 96—101) and (except for the first and last line) Clem. Alex. Paed. ii. 124. i
5
10
15
(A.) A razor, a mirror, scissors, wax, soap, a hair-piece, purple stripes for gowns, headbands, hair-bindings, rouge—utter destruction! —white lead, scented oil, a pumice-stone, abreastband, a hair-net, a veil, orchil-rouge, necklaces, eyeliner, 5 an expensive Egyptian garment—medicine for insanity! —a hair-band, a slip, a shawl, a fancy robe, a bordered robe, a long robe— the stocks! the pit! — a robe with a purple edge, a curling-iron. 79 For a detailed philological study, Torchio, Quad. Torino 14 (2000) 33—66. In vol. 13 (1999) 99—1 14, Torchio discusses POxy. 1 3540 — adesp. com. fr. 1132, which Handley had tentatively attributed to Th. II on the strength of his supplements in
fr. 331 ; at 1. 13 there is mention of
THESMOPHORIAZOUSAI II
Ixxix
The best is yet to come. (B).What's next? (A.) An earring, a set stone, more earrings, a choker, cluster earrings, 10 a bracelet, brooches, wrist-bands, necklaces, ankle-bracelets, seal-rings, chains, finger-rings, plasters, baubles, breastbands—dildos!—carnelians, dangling necklaces, coiled earrings, and many other things which you couldn't list if you tried 15 fr. 333 aP- Ath. 3. I04e80
5
(A.) Has any fish been bought, or a little cuttlefish or some broad prawns or an octopus? Or is a dogfish being roasted or a mullet or some squid? (B.) Certainly not, by Zeus. (A.) No skate? (B.) Absolutely not. (A.) No haggis or beestings or boar's liver or honeycomb or pork belly or eel or crayfish? This is great aid you've lent to wearied women
5
fr. 334 ap. Ath. i. zga
I will not allow you to drink Pramnian wine, nor Chian, nor Thasian, nor Peparethian, nor any other that will arouse your ship's-ram
fr.33 5 ap.2 E 7V M .623
They say that the ambassadors to the Amphictyonic council have come bearing great blessings for the city from Pylaia, and the ambassador to the Delphic council as well 80
For detailed discussion, M. Pellegrino, Utopie e immagini gastronomiche nei frammentidell'Archaia (Bologna, 2000) 157-72.
Ixxx
INTRODUCTION
fr. 336 ap. Ath. 15. 6900
O much-honoured Zeus! What a smell the vile bag breathed out at me the moment it was opened, of scented oil and hazelwort fr. 337ap.2 VEBarbMatr P/. 159
however many curious items of clothing they had, and with however many ornaments they wrap themselves about
fr. 338 ap. Poll. vii. 66
after she took off the covering of her inner robe and of the breastbands her titties were in fr. 339 ap. Phot, a 1065 — S a 1446 — 27way.B a 955
woe is me for that day long ago, when the herald said of me, 'This fellow is worth . . . "
fr.34oap.Z RVE8MBarb .Ra. 3
since on account of this saying I'm unable to carry so much baggage and I'm having my shoulder crushed fr. 341 ap. Phot. c c 2 i o i - 27way.B a 1520 and an antithesis shaved in Agathon's style
fr. 342 ap. Poll. ix. 36 he ought to have been given the name Amphodos
THESMOPHORIAZOUSAI II
Ixxxi
fr. 343 ap. Poll. x. 152 a little bag, (of the type) in which our money is kept
fr. 344 ap. Zon. p. 195 (Orus fr. A 4 Alp.) I want to mount my wife
fr. 345 ap. Poll. ix. 69 the cauldron is getting hot (in reference to women preparing mulled wine)
fr. 346 ap. agth-c. Arabic version of Gal. by Hubais (made from a lost Syriac translation by his teacher Hunain ibn Ishaq)81 I also say that we determine the meaning of these names in the language of the Greeks based on the hint offered by the word itself, meaning the etymology of the name 'fire', that it is a great burning heat. Based on the popular use of this name, I conclude that people say 'he has fever' when a person is burning with heat. This is the first meaning. Based on the use of this name by the ancient people, we conclude that we must see which ancient people mentioned this term . . . When you say 'Which ancient people should we follow?', I will tell you: one of the many ancient people who did not deal with medicine, philosophy, or other fields of that kind; for they recall the meaning of the names only in the way people used them at that time. If you wish, I will mention the first of them: the comic poet Aristophanes, because this is a man who, when standing in a theatre, where many people gathered, surely tried very hard to make sure that the words he used in his speech would not be taken in a way different from how people normally understood them. I say that this Aristophanes, when he stood once in front of the audience, wanted his audience to absorb his poetry well, and asked a group of Athenians to forgive him for a fault they thought he had in his words that might cause them to think badly of him. So he claimed that for four months now he had a chronic illness, an illness that is called and fever. Then he said about the illness which is called ijm'oAos that it was 81 Our translation was produced by Renana Schneller of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies atthe University of Minnesota. The Arabic original, accompanied by a German translation, was published by M. Meyerhof and J. Schacht,APAW,philosophisch-historischeKlasse (Berlin, 1931 no. 3). The passage is discussed by Cassio, RFIC 115 (1987) 5—11.
Ixxxii
INTRODUCTION
cold, and that he got fever as a result of it, and that the fever is not similar to the cold, but its nature is in fact contradictory to it. He claimed that, as a result of the cold, he demanded to be covered with wool, because he wished to get warm, and a fever attacked him with heat and burning fire, and caused him to drink water. I want to quote his words for you, so that you hear from him the clear words I told you about. [Hunain ibn Ishaq says: After Galen explained that, he offered a citation from Aristophanes. But the Greek manuscript from which I translated into Syriac had so many mistakes and gaps, that it would be impossible for me to understand its meaning unless I was used to understanding Galen's words in Greek and all their meanings from his other books. But I am not confident and used to Aristophanes' words and therefore could not understand them easily, so I leave it out. Another reason caused me to leave it out: as I read it I found no meaning in it that went beyond what I have already found in Galen, and I considered it correct, so I did not want to make the effort, and switched to something more useful. After Galen quoted the words of Aristophanes he returned to where he was and said:] So are you saying, my friend, that the people from Athens understood these words of Aristophanes? Or do you argue that his words sounded to them as if he said 'Already for four months I suffer from an illness called , and it is the precursor of the illness called jSXlrvpi; and that when he mentioned aKivSat/ios he meant the cold that preceded the heat, and when he said jSXlrvpi he meant the same heat? But you know that his word is the shivering that comes before the heat, and his word 'warmth' is a name that indicates burning heat. You heard what this man said after the word I copied for you, which was correct in your eyes, and I agree entirely that his word r/TTLaXos also indicates a cold sickness and his word 'warmth' indicates a warm sickness. [Hunain said: I am not able to finish the word that he copied here as well, for the reason I mentioned previously. Galen said:] And Aristophanes, according to what I explained to you, testified about himself and about the people of Athens that they used the name 'warmth' according to what I described in their words. I am able to explain to you that all the comic poets use the name 'warmth' the same way in testimonies from their words that I am using frequently as a proof. If I wanted to fill up books with them, the books would be bigger than the books of Menodotos and Menemachos. But I know that if I did that and proved it, all the people would say 'he has forgotten himself. Preserved in Greek: (i) ap. 2vr V. 1038 (citing Th., sc. //) and at the same time a cold, precursor of fever
THESMOPHORIAZOUSAI II
Ixxxiii
(2)ap. Poll. iv.i86 and he had come with heat and burning fire (i.e. a fever) fr. 347 ap. Ath. 3. nyc
certainly a great bit of food fis thef production of comic poetry, when Krates both considered his saltfish 'white as ivory', 'shining', and 'summoned with no effort', and made countless other such jokes fr. 348 ap. Heph. ench. 13.3 (p. 41.11 Consbr.) 82
neither to summon the Muses with their curling tresses nor loudly call the Olympian Graces to the dance; for they are here, according to our poet fr.349ap.2 b T Pl. Cra. 42id
'A contest does not wait for an excuse' is a saying applied to those who are naturally easygoing and carefree, or to those who don't approve the words of others who offer excuses. Aristophanes has mentioned it in Th.II fr. 350 ap. Phot. A 452 - S A 816
'The wolf had his jaws wide/ They say this to describe those who hope to make some money but don't succeed. Aristophanes in Th.II
82 From the parabasis, to which Fritzschealso attributed fr. 719 (in the same metre) ap. S a 2874 — £vva,y.E a 1617 — Apostol. iii. 37 ('to show off smart words and jokes / all fresh from the bellows and the moulds').
Ixxxiv
INTRODUCTION
fr. 35iap.Erot. 045 'Wine with a bouquet': that which smells good and is sweet, according to Ar. in Th.
fr. 352 ap. Ath. 14. 6iga and there is another (song) of women winnowing, according to Ar. in Th. fr. 353 ap. Antiatt. p. 78. 24 'Better': Ar. in Th.
fr. 354 ap. Hsch. fiziz 'barbos': a spoon in Th.
fr. 355 ap. anon, in Arist. EN, CAG xx p. 200, 10 Heylb.
baukides, which are a type of shoe Ionian women wear, of which Ar. too has made mention in Th. fr. 356 ap. Antiatt. p. 88. 28 expl. Poll. ii. 125) ovaais
'to have a talk with' in an amorous context (i.e. 'to make love'): Ar. in Th. fr. 357 ap. Antiatt. p. 96. 25 'to correct oneself: Ar. in Th. fr. 358 ap. Hsch. A 224 - Phot. A 48 - S A 62 'to play the Laconian': to be a paederast. Ar. in Th.II. B. The Date Th. II is most often referred to in ancient sources simply (if confusingly) as 'Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae' vel sirn. (e.g. Poll. vii. 95, citing fr. 332; Ath. 3. 1046, citing fr. 333), but is called 'the
THESMOPHORIAZOUSAI II 11
IxxXV
second 77z.' a number of times (first at Ath. i. 2ga, citing fr. 334; subsequently a t2 RVE8MBarb Ra. 3, citing fr. 340; 2T PI. Cra. 42id, citing fr. 349; and Photios — Suda, citing frr. 350 and 358), 'the other Th.' once (2R 298, citing fr. 331), and 'the first Th.' once (Hephaestion, citing fr. 348). The surviving play, on the other hand, is referred to as 'the first Th.' by Clement of Alexandria (on 215—16) and as 'the earlier Th.' by Aulus Gellius (citing 453—6). 83 The evidence -would seem to favour the notion that the extant Th. -was generally known in antiquity (i.e. from didaskaliaf) to have been staged before the lost play. But Butrica 51—62, shows that references of this sort are sufficiently inconsistent and ambiguous in their implications to prevent us from treating this as a necessary conclusion, and he offers four reasons for dating Th. II at least a decade earlier than is generally assumed, to the late 4203 and perhaps specifically the Lenaia of 423: (i) Fr. 347 refers to the comic poet Krates, -whose floruit -was around 450—430 and -whom Ar. mentions elsewhere only atEq. 537 (424) (Butrica 44-5). (ii) The creto-paeonic metre of frr. 347—8 is common in Ar.'s first five plays (425—421) but is found in his last five only at Ra. 1356— 60 (Butrica 45). 84 (iii) 2VLh V. 61 (ovS' aS9is avaaeXyaiv6p,evos EvpiTTiSrjs ('nor Euripides abused again'); part of a catalogue of comic cliches in -which the poet's characters, speaking for the poet, decline to indulge today) observes that Ar. also attacked Euripides in Acharnians, Proagon (422?), and Th. The other two plays mentioned date to the 4203; the omission of Frogs makes it clear that -we are not being offered a catalogue of every Aristophanic comedy in -which Euripides -was criticized; and the Th. referred to is thus unlikely to be the preserved play of 411 (Butrica 45—6). (iv) The 'cold' (rjTTiaXos) and 'fever' (Trvperos) said in fr. 346 to have cost the poet his voice for four months should be connected -with the openly metaphorical mention at V. 1038 of 'colds and fevers' attacked by Ar. in a comedy of 423 (cf. MacDowell ad loc. and the similar language in fr. 399, from the original Clouds) and understood as a reference to individuals -who brought malicious prosecutions 83 For the complex problem of ancient titles, see Sommerstein, SemRom 5 (2002) 1-16. 84 For the problematic metre in this passage, Dover, Frogs, pp. 361—2.
Ixxxvi
INTRODUCTION
against him some time probably in 424 (cf. Ar. test, i. 29—30). Since Wasps -was a Lenaia play and the original Clouds -was performed at the City Dionysia in 423 (Nu. Hyp. ii. i), the only festival date that remains open for Th. II in this period is the Lenaia of 423 (Butrica 46-9). None of these arguments is compelling. (i) The description of Krates' poetic accomplishments uses the imperfect and comes in the context of what seems to be a brief (and tendentious) history of the genre, and mention of him is no more or less appropriate to the late 4103 or 4003 than is the allusion to his rough contemporary Kratinos atRa. 357 (405). (ii) Av. 243-7 (4 J 4) offers three creto-paeonic tetrameters very much like fr. 348 (although not from a parabasis); Lys. 614-25 ~ 636-47 (411) contains a mix of trochaics and cretics reminiscent of fr. 347; and cretics appear elsewhere in Ar.'s later plays at e.g. Lys. 1046- 1061, 1049 ~ 1063, 1192- 1206 (a\\4cr);Ra. 229 (cr2tr), 245 (cr tr); EC. 906 (cr tr), 952a-b ~ 960-1, 958 (all 2 cr). (iii) In V (the only source for the scholia vetera in the opening sections of Wasps), the scholium referred to by Butrica is two separate and probably unrelated notes. The first of these (6ib in Roster's edition) ahistorically identifies V. 61 as a reference to Th., whereas the second (6ic in Koster's edition) actually reads ('Euripides has been introduced in this fashion not only in Dramas but also in Proagon and inAcharnians').*5 The two notes were combined by the early fourteenth-century scholar Demetrios Triklinios, whose version of the scholia - 2 Lh and who emended 2V 6icto readoj ('Euripides has been introduced not only in this drama, as has been said, but also in Proagon and Acharnians'), producing the text printed by Koster. But the older version offers no reason for believing that the anonymous commentator from whose work2 v 6ib is drawn thought of the Th. to which he refers as belonging to an early group of plays along with Acharnians, Proagon, and Dramas. 8f> 85 Note the apparatus. 2V 6ic is written in the interior margin of the page and may be from a different source than 2V 6ib (cf. Koster p. xii). 86 It may also be worth noting in this context that the preserved Th. fits the description offered by Zv 6ib, whereas the fragments of Th. II contain only one apparent glancing allusion to Euripides' work (fr. 342) (cf. B, below).
THESMOPHORIAZOUSAI II
Ixxxvii
(iv) This is an ingenious theory, but lacks any probative value. Perhaps most important, one decisive piece of evidence ignored by Butrica requires that Th. II be dated to roughly the same period as the preserved play or even later. Fr. 341 leaves no doubt that Agathon's personal and poetic tendencies -were -well known to the audience of Th. II, just as they clearly -were to the audience in 411. But evidence preserved by Plato and Athenaeus (cited at 29—30 n.) makes it clear that Agathon staged his first set of plays at the Lenaia of 416, -where he took the prize. Th. //thus almost certainly cannot be dated earlier than the City Dionysia of that year and -would fit more comfortably at least a year or two later. Aristophanes could still have referred to Agathon's poetry even after the latter's departure for Macedon some time before 405 (Ra. 83-5 with 2 RVME8Barb 85, — Agathon TrGF 39 T ya—b). But Th. II is none the less more naturally placed before that, leaving 415/14—407/6 as the most likely range of dates. C. The Plot According to 2 R 298 (— fr. 331), the goddess Kalligeneia,-who shared her name -with the final day of the Thesmophoria festival (cf. 299 n.), spoke in the prologue of Th. II; and Ath. i. 2,ga reports that the literary historian and -wit Demetrios of Troizen called the play not ('the second Women at the Thesmophoria) but at &eap,o<j)opidaaaai ('Women who are Done Celebrating the Thesmophoria') (Th. II test, ii — SH 377). The play -was thus almost certainly set on the final day of the festival, a conclusion lent further support by fr. 333, -where someone expresses exasperation that no fine foods have been prepared of the sort that 'lend aid to -wearied •women' (i.e. after they have fasted and danced throughout the 'Middle Day', on -which the preserved Th. is set).87 That the plot of the play involved a serious rupture of male—female relationships is possible: atfr. 332, one character (almost certainly a man) offers another a catalogue of items -women -wear or use to make themselves attractive, -with caustic additions (vv. 3, 6, 8) that show he regards all these as means to ruin the opposite sex (cf.frr. 336—7; 355); atfr. 3 34 a man is forbidden to drink any -wine that might give him an erection; and 87 Cf. the reference to women drinking in fr. 345; IG IP 1184. 9-10 Pap. Col. Zen. i 19 (New York, 1934) mentions the gift of two Chian jars of wine for the Thesmophoria in Alexandria on 27 Nov. 257 BC.
Ixxxviii
INTRODUCTION
at fr. 344 the speaker's observation that 'I -want to mount my -wife' perhaps implies that something is preventing him from doing so.88 But beyond this, we know only that frr. 339—40 seem to have been spoken by an unhappy slave not unlike Xanthias at the beginning of Frogs or Karion at the beginning of Wealth; and that in the parabasis the poet (speaking through his chorus) explained his recent absence from the public eye (fr. 346) and discussed the history of comedy (fr. 347) and his own—pre-eminently important—position in it (fr. 348). Butrica 62—70, taking up a suggestion of Kuiper's, attempts to get beyond these limited conclusions by comparing the story told by the third(?)-century-BC author Satyros (POxy. ix. 1176 fr. 39 col. x) about a confrontation between Euripides and Athens' -women, arguing that Satyros' account represents the plot of Th. II treated as biography. Satyros reports that the -women hated Euripides because of the nasty things he said about them in his plays and therefore 'united against him at the Thesmophoria and -were present en masse at the place -where he happened to be passing time' (i.e., presumably, the cave -where Euripides did his -writing, referred to at col. ix. 4—19). 'But although they -were angry, they spared the man, both because they felt awe for the Muses . . ,'. 89 The column breaks off at this point, but the anonymous Vit. Eur.§6(p.6. 10—ii Schwartz; probably drawing on the same source) adds 'and then after he offered assurances that he -would no longer speak badly of them'.90 Butrica observes that there are as many differences as similarities bet-ween Satyros' story and the plot of the preserved Th., to -which it patently bears some relation: in Satyros' account there is no trace of a character like Inlaw; the -women seem to confront Euripides face-to-face in his lair rather than plotting behind his back at their festival; and the Muses apparently play an important part in rescuing him, perhaps (if the source is indeed a lost 88 For other references to sex, frr. 356; 358. Grenfell and Hunt (the original editors) assigned fr. 592, in which one woman proposes resolving a problem (clearly the absence of any men to have sex with) by using dildos—immediately said by another woman to be utterly unsatisfactory substitutes for the real thing (esp. 16—18, 24—7)— and then seemingly moves on to the possibility of sleeping with slaves (29-30), to Th. II, but it is impossible to know if this is correct. 89
Col. X. 24—38 ] Movaas . . . . Cf. Kuiper, Mnemosyne ii. 4 (1913) 276-7.
90
THE M A N U S C R I P T T R A D I T I O N
Ixxxix
comedy) by appearing (ex machinal) at the very end. Butrica accordingly suggests that Satyros must have been relying not on the play we have but on Th. II, -which may have been less successful than Ar. hoped and -was therefore re-worked by him, much like the original Clouds (of -which -we similarly have only the later, revised version). One significant objection to Butrica's thesis is that the tale as presented in Vit. Eur. §6 lacks the odd elements in Satyros' version and instead conforms neatly to the plot of the preserved Th., suggesting that Satyros' additional details have come from some other source and been -worked into the Aristophanic narrative frame-work. Nor do the fragments of Th. II lend Butrica's conjecture any positive support, for the only reference to Euripides in -what -we have of the play is -what looks to be a parodic allusion to Antiope at fr. 342, and there is no hint of verbal attacks on the tragedian or of a confrontation outside his cave or the like. Indeed, the obvious parallel to -what little we can recover of the action -would seem to be instead the connubial strike in Lysistrata.91 But barring a major new papyrus find, this is probably as far as -we can go.
VII. THE MANUSCRIPT TRADITION
HI — PSI 1194 + PSI XIV p. xv. Seven pieces of a second-century AD roll -written in a stylized but not very elegant hand, and containing line-beginnings (139—56, 272—88, 594—6, 804—9), line-ends (237—46), and a colophon -with title and line-numbering. The piece containing 139—44 -was first published by E. Grassi in SIFC NS 27—8 (1956) 48 (- PSI XIV (1957) xv), the rest by M. Norsa and G. Vitelli as PSI XI (1935) 1194. See Austin, Pap.Flor. 7 (1980) 11—12 (-with pi. i). 272—88 are also reproduced in Dover, AC, pi. 2 (p. 6). Changes of speaker92 in HI are indicated by paragraphoi, dicola, and some abbreviated names inserted by a second hand at 279). The stage-direction (parepigraphe) after 276 is preceded by a coronis in the margin. The papyrus has an important new reading at 242, -where R's text is defective (see n. ad loc.), and confirms 91 Which party initiated the break in relations between the sexes and why is impossible to know. But if the trouble began with the women at their festival, fr. 334 shows that the men quickly met whatever they did with a sexual blockade of their own. Or was all this the result of some larger social or political crisis, the resolution of which fr. 335 announces? 92
See in general Lowe, BICS 9 (1962) 27—42; Dover, G&L 254—62.
XC
INTRODUCTION R
a variant reading in 2 at 141, a modern conjecture at 285, and the correct spelling of proper names at 287 and 807. It agrees with R at 142,93 as well as at 140, 150, 239, and 277, where the text has sometimes been suspected. n2 — POxy. Ivi. 3839. Three fragments of a second-/third-centuryAD roll-written in a biblical uncial and containing parts of 2s(?), 742— 66, 941—56. On the back is a version of Apollonius Sophista, Lexicon Homericum (see BICS 28 (1981) 123—41, -with pi. i). The papyrus •was first published by W. Cockle, in 'Owls to Athens' 51—60. Changes of speaker in T12 are indicated by paragraphoi and blank spaces. (But the blank space before erne /J.OL in 743 is a mistake; R correctly has a dicolon after the phrase. At 745 and 746 T12 has a text •without break, -where R -wrongly has dicola before p,iKpov and respectively.) The papyrus confirms modern conjectures at 745, 746, and 754, and agrees -with R's MLKO. (a spelling supported by epigraphic evidence) in 760 (-where see n.). 758 (condemned by some modern critics) is present. n3 - POxy. Ivi. 3840. A fourth-century-AD scrap written in a rapid, sloping hand, containing line-ends at 1185-93, and published by P. Parsons in 1989. n3 has a dicolon at the end of 1190, as well as the parepigraphe that appears as an extra line in R after 1187 (see n. ad loc.). The papyrus is confirms a modern conjecture at 1185, but the Skythian's wrongly normalized at 1192. R — Ravennas 429, in the Biblioteca Classense in Ravenna. Parchment, -written in minuscule £.950 and the only manuscript containing all eleven extant plays of Aristophanes, in the order PI., Nu., Ra., Av., Eq., Pax, Lys., Ach., V., Th., EC. Changes of speaker are normally indicated by paragraphoi and dicola. Some names -were added by the SiopOwrris ('corrector'), -who made a number of corrections and added the scholia (2R) in small uncials. But the majority of attributions -were inserted in the sixteenth century by Euphrosynus Boninus, -who used the text of R as printer's copy for the Juntine editio princeps of Th. and Lys. (Florence, I5i6). 9 4 Boninus had found 93 'Although the scribe of R has made a mistake of some kind, he did not actually write a-ntos. Probably he intended TTEOS and inadvertently wrote an extra loop in his •n' (N. Wilson). 94 See F. A. von Velsen, Uber den Codex Urbinas der Lysistrata und der Thesmophoriasusen des Aristophanes (Halle, 1871).
THE M A N U S C R I P T T R A D I T I O N
XC1
R in Urbino and took it to Pisa, -where it remained out of circulation for nearly three centuries. Invernizzi rediscovered it in Ravenna and used it for his 1794 Leipzig edition. The scholia in R -were first published in London by Bekker in 1829. M - Monacensis Graecus 492, in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. A fifteenth-century direct copy of R, 95 with Th. and Lys., but containing a small crop of often correct minor variants. R and M were fully collated by von Velsen in his 1878 Saarbriicken edition (reprinted in Leipzig by Teubner, 1883). We have checked his readings against the photographic facsimile of R (ed. J van Leeuwen (Leiden, 1904)) and a microfilm of M.96 Variant readings gleaned from the scholia (2 R ), 97 from entries in the tenth-century Suda lexicon (S), 98 and from citations in other ancient sources (the indirect tradition)99 often contribute to the improvement of the text. But Th. is unique in being a one-manuscript play: -were it not for R, this -would be afabula deperdita, on a par •with Th. II (above, Section VI). R is thus a priceless object, both beautiful and venerable in appearance, yet (like many other medieval manuscripts) a somewhat messy document, containing a rich farrago of scribal corruptions accumulated over the centuries. Since the Renaissance, scholars have painstakingly attempted to restore this 'battle-scarred text'100 to its original state. Our critical apparatus records their successful emendations, as -well as countless minor 95 This was first pointed out by Enger, RhM NF 2 (1843) 245. See also Clark, JP 3 (1871) 160, and von Velsen (above, n. 94). 96 Note the following addenda and corrigenda to von Velsen's collation: in R 5 oa (6V M), 69 TTpoit], 142 mas (see above, n. 93), 233 (/ipovTiarjs, 290 ciXXtos, 306 KO.I added above the line by a later hand, 311 n) Traiatv three times, 373 np,6K\€i, 471
477 TroAA', 500 oiov, 657 €ia€\ij\vd€i>, 964—5 i€pa>, 1073 ypat?, 1173 €([>poi>, 1185 aj, 1187 in M 1114 97 See Kraus 41—3. As we go to press (July 2003), the new edition of the scholia on Th. and&. in the Groningen corpus (Part III fasc. 2/3) has still not appeared (cf. CR N S 5 I (2001) 18-19). The most learned scholium on Th. is at 162, where the annotator takes sides with Aristophanes of Byzantium against the inept criticisms of Didymos (see 161—3 n -)- On Alexandrian and later scholars in the Ar. scholia, see PCG iii. 2. 28-30 (test. 113-29); Henderson, Lysistrata,pp. lix—Ixviii; Dover, Frogs, pp. 94-102; Dunbar, Birds, pp. 31-43; S. Trojahn, Die auf Papyri erhaltenen Kommentare zur Alien Komodie (Munich and Leipzig, 2002) 117-52. 98 See V. Coulon, Quaestiones criticae in Ar.fabulas (Strasburg, 1907) 105-9. 99 See Kraus; Kassel, KS 243-4. We have been able to supplement their lists in a few places. 100 Jackson 212.
XC11
INTRODUCTION
blunders of a more obvious kind in R. So as to avoid overburdening the apparatus -with minutiae and to give an accurate idea of the manuscript's idiosyncrasies and aberrations, we offer a survey of R's more notable features (many of-which, it should be said, accurately reflect early Byzantine practice). Scriptio plena At change of speaker:101 28 aKove, 215 p,e, 5 62 wore, 625 e'|U,oiye, 1081/2 twice, oroTti^e twice. Before a pause: 97 et(U,t, 184 ndaa, 508 dneXO' aneXOe, 647 S), 766 CTTLVOLO. (also n 2), 813 KXeifmaa, I2i3a Bentley). Inmid-sentence: 166 KaXdrjv,42'j 9piTrriSeaTa,444dXXa-, 5^o^ Poll.), 693 ev6a.Se, 812 |U,eyiora, 1075 vij Sia, l i o o 1111 ccAAd. Contractions (crasis and synizesis): see app. crit. at 288, 344, 476, 747, 1061. Division of words No division: see app. crit. at 122 Siavevp-ara,102 558 aura, 909 985 eiccTTCtAA', 1047 averiKTe, 1062 TOCFCHJT^S, 1114 p-"f)TL, 1120 1150 dvSpdcnv, 117s. Wrong division: see app. crit. at 514 CTOT' eK/j,ay/j,a, 527 ccAA' dnav, 717 1125 |U,aoTiyoi a', 1156 TToAu Trorvta. 103 Note also 159 Gelenius, praeterea Divus), 329 609 TLT0i!)v iq St' (TIT^ vi) /It"), 624 Schaefer ad Greg.Cor. p. 65). 101 For the issues involved, see van Leeuwen on Nu. 214; Gomme-Sandbach on Men. Epitr. 219; Radermacher 2 (1954) 312-13, on Ra. 1220; Dunbar on Av. 90; Braun, ZPE 133 (2000) 34. 102
R regularly treats prepositions as part of the following word: 2 l^atdivov, 91 101/2 £vi>€\€vd€pa, 126/7/8 Siai^piSiou, 313 and 327b €7T€v^aLs, 360 and 366 398 TTpoTou, 440 TTapaurr/s, 452 €iaijp.iav, 529 VTroXidai, 716 £uix (OVK M), 619 ecr0' (ear' M), 835 M), 909 p,dXia9' t'Sov105 (|U,dAioT' efSov E. .He/. 563), and, for aspirates in the Skythian's regularly unaspirated Greek, app. crit. at 1091, 1093, 1103, 1124, 1214 (ws ra^tora). Note also 1007 1083 OVTOS, 1133 olov, 1180 cos and wcmep (also 1185, 1192), I222a Wrongly omitted: 7 ay' (ay' Msic), 15 avrw(ai>T- M, aur-Brunck), 148 M), 418 633 djU,ts (djU,- Pollux), 655 di/iajU-evas (a- M), 659 eta, 664 M), 842 -ar' i^V, iO47b dV (dv Casaubon), 1178 Omission of aspirated article: see app. crit. at 2, 30, 95, 266, 403, 405, 409,426,446,495,563,635,906, 1010, 1165. Wrong accents Double Accents: 261 TOVTL (also 733), 412 roSt (also 1181), 1142 See also below under Negatives. Adverbs, particles, pronouns: I dpa (for apa; also 8, 263), 407 et'ev, 77 36 eKTToSwv (also 293), 847 e/j,TToSwv, 846 6'8' (o 8' S), 209 (for a); also 649, 695, 735 twice, 737, 878, 1038, iO48a, 12220), 523 Indefinite adverbs and pronouns: these are regularly accented as interrogatives: 537 noOev, I wore (also 527), 31 TIS (also e.g. 151, 238), 632 TLVOS, 647 rtV, 271 TI (also e.g. 335, 402). Nouns and adjectives: 559 yaAi)v, 11 eKarepov (-repov M), 346 200 KaraTTuyov (-TTiiyov S ^JC, KaraTTuyov Dindorf), 258 S),106 976 ftfAi^Sas, 417 jU.op(U,oAjJKeta (-AuKeta Dindorf), 779 Poll. S), 641 arepififi (-ifir) Meineke), 415 Proper names: g88a SaK^ete (SaK^ete Fritzsche), 898 Elmsley on ^4c/i. 47). Verbs: Jx', see below under Negatives. For aspirates before forms of ISeiv, see W. Cronert, Memoria Graeca Herculanensis (Leipzig, 1903) 149 n. i; E. Mayser and H. Schmoll, Grammatik dergriechischen Papyri aus der Ptolemderzeit2 i. i (Berlin, 1970) 175-6. 106 See F. Studniczka, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der altgriechischen Tracht (Vienna, 1886) 130 n. 26. 105
XC1V
INTRODUCTION
Dindorf), 568 Aa/Se (for Aa/Se; also 913, 1096, 1197), 10
Negatives and oi>x are always followed by an apostrophe107 (as -with elided see below under Crasis): 5 OJJK' (also e.g. 188, 451), 7 ou^' (also e.g. 8, 97). Note also 226 OVK' ovv (for OVKOVV),IOS 41 1 ovoeis, 98 (for ouSeV'; also 688), 383 ovoep,ia (cf. 430 /aia), 843 jU,i)8ev' (also 932), 442b (U,i)8ev (also 496, 1 162), 228 /j,rjoa/j,ws (also 714), 1 162 Crasis in crasis appears as «' or ^': 161 K'dvaKpewv, 349 /c'oi/ciav, 484 641 K OVK (etc.), 5 lo^'oi, 522^'ijTts. Butnote6o2 284 KCCT, 482 KCCT', 486 KaO' , 518 KCCT', 792 Kx are always followed by an apostrophe107 (as -with elided see below under Crasis): 5 OJJK' (also e.g. 188, 451), 7 ou^' (also e.g. 8, 97). Note also 226 OVK' ovv (for OVKOVV),IOS 41 1 ovoeis, 98 (for ouSeV'; also 688), 383 ovoep,ia (cf. 430 /aia), 843 jU,i)8ev' (also 932), 442b (U,i)8ev (also 496, 1 162), 228 /j,rjoa/j,ws (also 714), 1 162 Crasis in crasis appears as «' or ^': 161 K'dvaKpewv, 349 /c'oi/ciav, 484 641 K OVK (etc.), 5 lo^'oi, 522^'ijTts. Butnote6o2 284 KCCT, 482 KCCT', 486 KaO' , 518 KCCT', 792 K Bergler: €KTauTfjs x^11 Markland: ^dp R
R:
7
95
IOO
101
IOI/2 I03 104
I°4/5
110
114/15
93—4 §§ Sr439
Tzetz.C7z//.xiii.28i—8
93 §§ 8*2025
94 (iJ/Lterepos1 o-Trupa/Ltous 1 ) §§ S7r3i92;cf.
96 (eKKVK\ovfjLevos)§§
Zon.6jSeKKVK\ei
1445 (iLvpiLf]Ko$ a.Tpa.TTov$) §§ Hsch. fj, 1904; Phot, fj, 606 Trag. 75 104/5-6 (ev-rreiarcos . . .) § S a 183 95 rt Kaibel: ri 8' R suppl. Meineke
100 §§ S 104 cf. §§ Luc.
-MyaflajpBiset: ay- R 96 TTOU Dobree: TTOLO R 'a^';— 99 yap Burges: av R: av Scaliger: vvv Rogers: r/V Austin
(ecce\ cf. Men. Dysc. 910; Theoc. 8. 26) post 99 parepigraphe i^ivvpia^os (rP-*2R 100 8iafj,ivvp€Tai Dawes: -fj,ivvpi£,€Tai RS 101 X8ovia.iv Meineke: -at? R 102 eXevOepia Hermann 103 TrarptSt R: TrpaTrtSt Wecklein -^opevoaoOe Anon. Rom. (tripudiate Divus): -aflat R 104 i>ti> Dindorf: vw R 105 Reiske: eviriar- RS 106 e^et S: -et? R 107 oA/3t£e Bentley: oirXi^e R Bergk: fj,ovoa R
8 ii5/i6
120
125 126 126/7/8
128
130
135
115/16 (^prefjiiv aypoTepav) § Eust. p. 361. 27 I2O EM, p. 153. 31 TTdpcoBcov TO e£ 'Ep€x&€cos Evpnri8ov (brevius § Et. Gen. (AB) a 1271 Lass.-Liv. = § Phot, a 2957 = § S a 4147 = § £vvay.E a 2226 125 §§ S a 4016 128 (ayaAAe) §§ Phot, a 164 = §§ Sway.B a 145; cf. §§ Phot, a 87 post 129 parepigraphe 6XoXv^,€i 6 yeptov §§ S o 194 130—2 (rj8v . . . i^avoaAtoTov) § S y 141 131—2 (^TjAuSpiajSes" . . . /LtavSaAajrov) §8^,134 131 (^lyAuSpiajSes" . . .) § S K 912 Hsch. 6491 (KaTe"yX(aTTiafjLevov)§ Poll. ii. 109 132 Hsch. fj, 224; §§ Phot. ^,86 132—3 (ajar' . . .) § S y 63 (hinc 133 §§ Zon. 423 133 (yapyaAo?) §§ Moer. y 23; cf. §§ Phryn. PS, p. 56. 9 134 (TJTLS) §§ Hsch. 17 948 136 (. . . Trarpa) §§ S y 504 (ytWts) § Hsch. y 1015; cf. §§ Phryn. PS, p. 60. 19 136-40 (TIS 17 • • •) § S /3 no 137 Hsch./3 211; cf. §§ Phot./3 62 115 dei'aaT'Zanetti(/m/(&7£eDivus): -aavr' R 117 aepvav Dindorf: -ofR 122 Sidfeu^taTa Fritzsche: Stav- R 125 OOKI^COV Schone: -co R2RS: OOKI^OV *y')-^R 126 ^ao? Burges: ^to? R 127 a/Lt Meineke: iJ/Lt-R: u/Lt- Nietzsche 128 ' Dindorf: <j)oifiov n^a R post 129 parepigraphe 6AoAv£,ei 6 (-eis R) y€pcov RS: A R 2 130 TTOTfiai S:-TfiaR 134 ^Tts Gelenius(cf. Hsch.): efrts R ex corr.) 135 /lu^oupyeia? Dindorf: -yta$- R
9
140
145
15°
155
160
165
1^.1—2,
(iTOTepOV . . . 7T€O$) § S 77 987
Moer. x I9
142 (iTOU 7T€O$ . . .) S A 63
(ACLKCOVIKCLI) §§ Hsch. A 225; §§ Phot. A 57
146—7 S a 1097
149-50 § Apostol. xviii. 4ih 159-61 S a 1633 162-3 S € 989 162 S € 4049 (hinc (oiirep . . .) §§ Zon. 942 exvfuaav) (exv^iaav) §§ Hsch. € 7681 163 S i 495 (_€fjLiTpoI>T' Toup: -/f]vp€i> Meineke: -€vp€i> RS 440 aurr/v Zanetti: -TJ? R -K\€TJS Bentley: R 443 €i>€Ka Kaurr/ Porson: €I>€K' aurr/ R 446 ap-^p Brunck: av- R 450 Taraip Brunck: -at R 453 a-n-aaaiaii' Gell.: -at R
21
455
460
46 3 /4 464/5 465
470
475
480
455-6 § Plu. Comp. Ar. et Men. i (p. 8530) 457-8 (Sei . . .) § S a 1591 458 Ath. 15. 68oc (aT€rivovs avv8t][ia.Tiaiovs) § Poll. vii. zoo Hsch. a 2624 459—60 § S A 4 4 i 466 (o£vdvp,£iadai) §§ Phot. p. 340. 19 468 (davp,aaiov) §§ Moer. 6 16 (hinc §§ Hsch. 6 146) 469 §§ S o 330 (brevius Phot. p. 335. 25 = §§ Sway, o 162) (ovaipriv) §§ Hsch. o 852 470 § S 328 473-4 (• • • epofj.€v) S T 683 480 § Poll. iii. 42 Hsch. S 1558 456Tof?Plut. Gell.:om. R
Zanetti (audientes Divus): -aais R
462 aKaipaZanetti: aKepaR
469 ovai^v S: ovoi- R
467
471
Brunck: -Xoiaiv R 474 e/Grynaeus (s/Divus): rj R 476 ^taAA-^i'Dindorf: R 477 -n-oAAa Selv' Dawes: m>AA' R 478 -ij Dindorf: TJF R 479 KadfjuBev Scaliger: -euSeii' R 480 Bi€/ Cobet: dAA' a-n-av RS 532 dp' €i R: dAAai S 533 'AyXavpov'Daubuz-.'Ayp-'R 537 avraied. pr.: -ro/R: om.Z H. yeR: IH.
24 54°
545
55°
555
560
565
554 (l/^1?0^') § Et. Gen. (A) -tjBeioOa (Orus fr. B 77 Alpers, brevius §§ EM, p. 420. g; cf. Eup.fr. 454) 557 (ai8ivov ('I've been wandering about seeking him since dawn'). dmoXei [ i : A colloquial expression of exasperation; 'He'll be the death of me by (+part.)!', i.e. 'Damn him for (+ part.)!' Cf. 1073 with n.; Antiph. fr. 221. 8; Alex. fr. 177. 15; Men. Mis. 18. dXotiv: 'thrashing around' (cf. 2R). dAodoi is properly 'thresh [cut grain]', i.e. by causing horses, oxen, or the like to trample it on a threshing-floor (H. //. 20. 495—7; X. Oec. 18. 3—4; Bliimner i. 3—5; Miiller 251-4); hence the meaning 'tramping endlessly about, pounding along' here and the more common extended sense 'thrash, crush' (e.g. Ra. 149; fr. 932; Theoc. 22. 128; Herod. 2. 34). Cf. Taillardat §138; Austin(1987) 69—70; (1990) 11. For similar complaints, Av. 4; Men. Mis. 21. (6) dvOptd-uos expresses hostile impatience ('this person'), as at e.g. Av. 940; Lys. 936; PL 855; D. 3. 16; 4. 9. Cf. Headlam on Herod. 6. 27. !£ itoGivoO: 'since [the time of] dawn'. A colloquial Attic equivalent of eiuOev, first attested elsewhere at Pherecr. fr. 95* (above); cf. Alex. fr. 259. 4*; Men. Sam. 511*; PI. Snip. 22oc; Phdr. 227a, 228b; Lg. 722c; X. HG i. 1.5. This is hardly consistent with ewdev in 375 (marking the start of the women's assembly), but Greek drama is notoriously flexible in its handling of time (cf. Taplin (1977) 290—4) and the audience cannot be expected to worry about matters of this sort. 3-4 oTov re: Sc. eari. A common ellipse (also 178), as with e.g. eVoi^ioy (59) and (j>povSos (691); cf. KG i. 40—1. For the peremptory tone, cf. potin at Plaut. Amph. 903; Men. 466; Pers. 287; Rud. 424. This might be a colourful way of describing the stitch Inlaw has got in his left side (for the location of the spleen on the left side of the body, PI. Ti. 72c; Arist. HA 496 b i6-i7) from chasing
LINES
1-6
53
Eur. about the city (2), which makes it feel as if his spleen has expanded and is about to burst out of his body; cf. Plaut. Merc. 124 (an exhausted messenger)peril, seditionemfacitlien, occupatpraecordia('l'vehaditl My spleen's in revolt; it's pressing up into my chest!'); Plin. Nat. 11. 205 (the spleen 'sometimes causes a peculiar impediment in running'). But Inlaw is not only tired but annoyed (2 with n.), and what he means is more likely 'before I vomit up my spleen' (for e«j8dAAa) in this sense, e.g. Eg. 404); cf. HeadlamonHerod.4.62(p.2O3); Austin (1990) 11—12. is a colloquial Attic intensifier (e.g. Pax 820*; Antiph. fr. 189. 14; PI. Snip. 2isd; Is. 6. 35; Hyp. 3. 6; cf. Thesleff §272); here 'absolutely' vel sim. TTOI fi' dyeis;: An obvious question, set up by the complaints in 1—3. But the answer is deferred until 25—30 and a bit of amusing nonsense (5-24) inserted to warm up the audience. Cf. 5-22 n. perhaps adds urgency to the appeal; see Dickey 199-206; contrast 193. For the crasis, cf. Theoc. 2. 66 TiuvpovXoio = ru> Evj3-; KB i. 221. Contemporary Athenians represented on stage in Ar.'s plays are routinely identified by name either just before or immediately after they appear (as here); cf. 95 with n., 571 (a striking exception to the rule) with 574—5 n.; Olson, 'Names' 316—18. 5—22 An interruption in the forward movement of the dialogue (and perhaps in the movement of the characters across the orchestra), consisting of (i) a quick display of Euripidean verbal subtlety, with Inlaw playing the befuddled straight-man but still acknowledging the brilliance of it all (5— 12); followed by (2) a mock-philosophic discourse by Eur. on the origin of the senses of sight and hearing, again capped by an (at least nominally) appreciative comment by his companion (13-22). Cf. 39-62 n., 71-94 n., 97—176 n. The pomposity of Eur.'s professorial manner is mercilessly exposed by Inlaw's ludicrous distortions and misunderstandings; cf. ZR ('The one character speaks in a very elevated, tragic style, while the other hears [his words] more stupidly than is necessary'); A. Roemer, Studien zu Aristophanes (Leipzig, 1902) 169. 5—10 What Eur. means in 5—6 is that Inlaw does not need to hear about things he will soon see. But Inlaw assumes that he is being told he ought not to hear what he has asked about (7); and when Eur. says 'Not the things you're going to see' (7), Inlaw takes this to mean that he should not see anything (8), at least if he wants to hear about it, as he does; by which point Eur. is talking in circles (8) and Inlaw is completely flummoxed (910). Gordziejew 299, compares Strepsiades' bumbling (or half-hearted) attempts to make sense of the learned remarks of Socrates and his slave at Nu. 165-8, 200-17, 235-6. 5-6 For the idea that autopsy is better than learning by verbal report (a commonplace), e.g. H. 77. 2. 484-6; E. Or. 81; Th. i. 22. 2; Plaut. True. 489. Cf. Pax 939; Av. 119; PI. 517; E. Supp. 1176; 70/2417; fr. 413. i.
54
COMMENTARY
Sommerstein follows ed. pr. and Dobree in reading oy (i.e. But oaa, like a y in 7-8, is needed to link the two contrasting ideas, 'you don't need to hear what you're going to see' (andvice versa). A deliberate manipulation of the audience's expectations: Eur. speaks like a priest and misleadingly implies that he is taking Inlaw to some sort of initiation (cf. Ra. 155). mus \€Y€is;: 'Huh? What do you mean?' (Av. 323; Ra. 515*; Aristomen. fr. 2. 2); more often (e.g. Av. 319; PI. 268; E. Hel. 471 ('What do you mean? What is that you said? Say it to me again!')) or (e.g. Ach. 768; Nu. 207; Lys. 756) 7—8 ou 8ei [i' aKoueiv; in 7 is echoed in ou8' dp' opdv 8ei fi';* in 8, just as in 7 is echoed in oux & Y "v ditoueiv Set]* in 8, with the infins. in chiastic order. For seeing what one should see and not seeing what one should not see as a mark of a good man (a trope perhaps lurking in the background), E. fr. 413. 3; Hdt. i. 8. 4; cf. Men. Mon. 48. For the turn of phrase, cf. E./OW558; Antipho Soph. 87B44&. A col. 3. 1—15. expects a positive response (GP46). Q-IO Cf. Ra. 1169 (Dionysos' reaction to Eur.'s attempt to draw a distinction between -IJKIU and Kare'p^o^ai) 'Well done, by Hermes; although I don't understand what you're saying!' TT&JS f-ioi mapaiveis; is a serious rather than a sarcastic question. Se^uis: For Se|ioj and its cognates as very positive, primarily late 5th-c. evaluative terms (a sense of the word attested first in Pindar (JV. 3. 8; /. 5. 61) but absent from tragedy), Dover, Frogs, pp. 13—14. Used of poets also at Ach. 629; Ra. 71, 1009 (Eur. identifies this as one of the first qualities to be looked for in a good poet); cf. Stratt. fr. I. 2 Spdp,a Se^iwrarov (of E. Or.). Editors generally place a full stop at the end of 9 and make 10 interrogative. But this is quite abrupt, and it seems more natural to place a colon at the end of 9 and a full stop at the end of 10, making the second line a simple-minded comment on Serais. Explanatory yap is not needed; cf. Doveron_Ra. 15. jievroi: 'certainly', as at e.g. Lys. 1095 Men. Epitr. 510; PI. Snip. I7&b; cf. GP401 ('Conveying a favourable opinion of the previous speaker's words'). 'You're saying that I mustn't. . .' (KG ii. 180). For ris', R has the wrong accent <j>-l)s (cf. Introduction p. xciv)), Arnott, in Willi 216-17. 11 Elsewhere in comedy, x^p's always means 'separate' or 'separately' (e.g. Ach. 714; V. 658; Antiph. fr. 27. 24) rather than 'different', as here and frequently in Plato (esp. Sph. 245C Phlb. 44a and 2R (cf. Miller 172) comments that 'These things are borrowed from natural philosophy' (cf. Anaxag. 5 9 6 6 'to exist apart'). But ^oipij has the sense 'different' also at e.g. Semon.
L I N E S S-l8
55
fr. 7. i; Euen. fr. 4. 2; A. Ag. 926 with Fraenkel ad loc.; S. Ant. 510; OC 808; E. Ale. 528 xwpls TO T' eivai ml TO f^-ij vopitfrai, and this must be a simple case of an (originally perhaps primarily poetic) extension of meaning. Y"P: '[Yes,] for. ..' (GP"j^— 4); cf. 641. Preservation of the dual is a distinctive feature of Attic; cf. 24, 956, 1183; Bers 59-61. €KdT : 'What do you mean, "different"?'; cf. Lys. 496, 521; Ra. 98; EC. 126; PI. 356. OUTU: i.e. in such a way as to be Cf. 14-15 n. The vb. is characteristic of philosophical discourse (e.g. Anaxag. 59 B 13 Derveni pap. (ZPE 141 (2002) 42, col. xxi. 14)) and poetic cosmogony (A.R. i. 498). rore: 'at that time', i.e. 'the time I am referring to', further defined in 14-15. Cf. van Leeuwen on PL 834. 14—18 Critics have often tried to detect the influence of a particular philosophical system in the parody here and in the Euripidean fragments cited in 14-15 n.: earlier scholars (e.g. L. Parmentier, Euripide et Anaxagore (Memoires Couronnes xlvii: Brussels, 1892-3) 82-4) thought of Anaxagoras, with whom Eur. was sometimes connected (cf. D.S. i. 7. 7 (quoting E. fr. 484. 2—6) 'being a student of Anaxagoras'; Alex. Aet. fr. 7, p. 126 Powell, withMagnelliadloc., pp. 223-31 of his edition, Florence, 1999), while Mureddu, Lexis 9/10 (1992) 115-20, argues for Empedokles (thus also Sansone). Eur. did refer to contemporary intellectual theories in his plays (e.g. Ale. 245 with Dale ad loc.; cf. Telecl. fr. 41), but the specific parallels alleged are not compelling; cf. 16-17 n -; Wilamowitz, Analecta Euripidea (Berlin, 1875) 163-4; Bakhuyzen 108-9. Two things must be distinguished in this passage: (i) the idea of separation at
56
COMMENTARY
the origin of the universe (14-15); and (2) the notion of Aither creating the separate sensory organs (16-18). The first idea goes back at least to Hesiod's Theogony (see G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers2 (Cambridge, 1983) 34—41). A concern with the development of the sense-organs, on the other hand, seems to be characteristic of 5th-c. thought; Diogenes, Empedokles, Alkmaion, and others evidently treated the problem, although nothing in what survives of their work is much like our passage. A closer parallel is X.Tkfem. i. 4. 5 (Socrates is speaking): 'Does it not seem to you that he who originally made human beings equipped them for their good with what they needed to perceive each category of things, eyes for seeing what can be seen, and ears for hearing what can be heard?' In general, cf. F. Solmsen, Kleine Schriften i (Hildesheim, 1968) 332-55, esp. 338. 14-15 AE0r|p: The aWr/p is properly the upper air, in which (inter alia) lightning (1050 with n.) and gusts of wind (43 withn.) originate and the stars are set (1067-8; cf. Griffith on [A.] PV88; Rowe on PI. Phd. lopby-ci), and from which Euripidean gods mould simulacra of living things (Hel. 583-4; Ph. 1543; Ba. 291-3, 629-31); at 272 (where seen.) ~ E . f r . 487, it is Zeus' residence. A personified AlOr/p (first attested at Hes. Th. 124) is referred to as a cosmogonic deity at Orph. i B 12; 13; Musae. 2B 14; Acus. 9 B i; 3; cf. Pherecyd. 7 A 9; as well as at E. fr. 839. 1-2, and is identified with Zeus at E. frr. 877; 941; Pherecyd. 7 A 9; Emped. 31 A 33; cf. A. fr. 70. For AlOr/p specifically as the begetter of living things, Nu. 570 A ('Aither . . . nourisher of all life'); E. fr. 839. 1—2 ('Zeus' Aither, begetter of human beings and gods'); cf. E. frr. 877; 1023. aiB-qp/AW-qp is poetic and philosophic vocabulary; very common in Eur. but elsewhere in Ar. only in tragic quotations or paratragedy (43 (where the Slave's use of the word sets him in the tradition of poetic bombast established here), 51, 272, 1050, 1068, 1099; Av. 1183; Ra. 100 = 311, 892); in dithyrambic parody (Av. i4Oo;cf. Av. 1393b); in lyric at Nu. 285/6, 570 (above); and at Nu. 265 (part of an invocation of various deities; anapaests). The impfs. in these verses describe a process in the course of which two innovations (marked by aors.) occurred (16-18 with nn.); the implication of 17 is that the sun was created at a preliminary stage in the process. ore . . . Creation is occasionally referred to elsewhere in early sources as a process of differentiation rather than aggregation (E. frr. 52. ('Earth the birth-giver separated out mortal beings'); 484. 2—4; Emped. 31 A 49 (of aither); Anaxag. 59 B 2), although the image is more often applied to the 'dissolution' of elements conventionally referred to as 'death' (e.g. Emped. 31 A 37; B 9. 4; Epich. 23 B 9 = fr. 213; E. fr. 839. 8-14). Siexaipi^ero is mid. ('was separating itself out [from the original indistinct mass]') rather than pass.: Aither
L I N E S 14-17
57
went one way and Earth the other, as at E. fr. 484. 3 (of Sky and Earth). Cf. W. Staudacher, Die TrennungvonHimmelundErde (Tubingen, 1942) 105—6. TCI TfpuTa: Adverbial, like -irpu)r(a) in 16. In a cosmogonic context also at Hes. Th. 108 ('Tell how the gods and the earth first came into being'). are 'living creatures', not 'living things', so that plants are not included; but the qualifier Kivou^ieva ('endowed with motion') is none the less added at the end of the line to make clear why eyes and ears are needed (16—18), that is, to keep the animals that were being created from running into one another. Iv auru: 'in its bosom'. £UV€T€KVOU: The simplex TeKvoo) is poetic and especially tragic vocabulary (e.g. A. Th. 657; S. OT 867; E. HF r, Theodect. TrGF 72 F 4. 2; first in prose in Aristotle), but is absent from comedy; cf. Miller 172-3. The compound is attested elsewhere only in several non-Attic inscriptions, gvv- implies a partner, which must be Earth (as at E. frr. i82a Kannicht = Antiope VI Kambitses; 484; 839; cf. Supp. 532—4; fr. 1004), although the lack of any specific mention of her means that the emphasis falls on Aither. 16-18 In 14-15, Aither is presented as merely a primordial entity of some sort, whereas here it behaves like a human craftsman, manufacturing special parts for the creatures that it is—in a less anthropomorphic form—in the process of producing. 16-17 & [iev P\eu€iv xp^: 'with which one must see' (instrumental dat.; cf. PI. Snip. 2i2a with Dover ad loc.), i.e. 'the thing one needs, in order to see'. TTpo)T(a): 14—15 n. Eur.'s argument depends on the traditional poetic image of the sun as an eye that looks down upon and sees all things (JVM. 285/6 with Dover ad loc.; EC. i with Ussher ad loc.; Olson on Pax 406; Mastronarde on E. Ph. 543). But 'the wheel of the sun' is an otherwise unattested image, although the sun's disk is referred to from time to time as a 'circle' e.g. A. Pers. 504; E. Hec. 412; EL 465) and the personified Sun is frequently said in poetry to travel through the sky in a chariot (Diggle on E. Phaeth. 2, 173; Olson on Pax 406). dv-rifiifiov (first attested here and identified as a poeticism at Arist. Rh. 1406^9-30) normally takes the gen. (hence Blaydes's rpo^ou). But Eratosth. Cat. 13 has (which Bakhuysen no, suggested might echo an actual Euripidean verse, but see Nauck on E. fr. 925), and Nonn. xviii. 115 = xxi. 204 offers O.VTITVTTOV p.ip.T)p.a SeX-rjvaiijai Kepamis. For the eye compared to the sun, PI. _R. 5o8b; this is based on the common Greek conception of man as a microcosm, avripipos TTJJ ovpaviov rafeius ('an imitation of the heavenly organization'; Ruf. Anat. i). Cf. W. Kranz, Kleine Schriften (Heidelberg, 1967) 195. For the idea that living creatures were moulded out of earth, Dunbar onAv. 686, to whose references add Epich. 23 B 9 = fr. 213; E. fr. 839 (which combine to support her thesis that
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the image dates to well before the 4th c.). Empedokles also discussed the origin of the eye (31 B 84, 86), but the theories Eur. offers here show no sign of any specific influence of his poetry. (Blass's speculative at Emped. 31 B 84. 9 canot be used as evidence; see M. R. Wright, Empedocles: The Extant Fragments (New Haven, 1981)241.) 18 aKof)s...x°»vr]v: '[asl a funnel for hearing';cf.2 R 'the word 019 is missing'; D.S. ii. 56. 4T'ljsaKO'ljsTprip.aTa', Austin (1987) 70; TsitsiridiSjHellenika 51 (2001) 57—61. Thus Biset for R's indefensible aKo-rjv Se^odvTjy; but Boissonade's aKofj Se -^oavrfv is also possible (if palaeographically inferior). For funnels, Pherecr. fr. 113. 30-1; IG 13 386. 127; 387. 144; Amyx 255-9. For hearing as a fluid that passes through a channel, S. OT 1386—7. For the image of the listener filled full like a vessel, PI. Phdr. 235C—d. For ears as funnels, PI. R. 41 la. For 'pierced ears', S. fr. 858. 2 (where Radt prints Meineke's pv-ma^fvov for the paradosis TpvTra>fi,evov); cf. A. Ch. 451-2 Si' Miiller 52. 8i€T€Tpr|vaTO is the Homeric form of the aor. (here mid., perhaps under the influence of the preceding e^TjxavTjaaTo; Attic would have SierpTjaaro) and is thus appropriate for a cosmogony; cf. Rutherford 76-7. In the same way Plato injected 'subtle and feathery' Ionic touches into cosmological utterances; cf. Dover, CR NS 31 (1981) 288—9 (reviewing D. Th. Sakalis, a(Ioannina, 1978-80)). IQ 'So because of this funnel I shouldn't hear or see?' (deliberative subJunes.). For the anaphoric article (contrast 18 -^odvriv), KG i. 597. Inlaw seizes on Eur.'s final point to return to the question he asked in 10 (where OUT' aKoveiv olid' opdv is * as fir|T' (XKOUU ^6' opto), bringing his interlocutor's brief foray into speculative cosmogony to a suitably ridiculous end. Cf. Nu. 227—38, where Strepsiades offers a similarly puzzled response to Socrates' closing remarks about the resemblance between abstract thought and cress, before trying to bring him down to earth (both figuratively and literally). 20 vr) TOV Ai': Like ^d TOV At' (e.g. 34, 175; Nu. 1228; Ra. 192), a common line-opening formula (e.g. 259; V. 217; Pax 1265; Lys. 1095; Ra. 3) equivalent to a simple affirmative adv. (Thesleff §288). 'I am happy to learn thisl' ye is exclamatory and distinctly sarcastic (GP 128). irpoapavdavia (first attested at [A.] PV 697) is 'learn [something] in addition to [something else]', here 'in addition to [what I knew before this conversation started]'; cf. 24; MacDowell on V. 1208. 21 2R cites S. fr. 14 ao<j>ol rvpavvoi rcov aofituv fvvovaiq ('tyrants are wise by keeping wise company') and claims that Ar. in Heroes (= fr. 323) attributed the line to Euripides, as Plato (Thg. I25b; R. 5&8a), Antisthenes (fr. 59 Decleva Caizzi), and scattered later sources do (cf. Radt's apparatus; is one poet echoing the other? or did they both hit on the same line by
L I N E S l6-24
59
coincidence (cf. E. Andr. 28 ~ S. OT 218; E. Ba. 193 ~ S. fr. 695)?). But nothing suggests a specific allusion to the verse, although is elevated poetic style (below). Seneca, on the other hand, seems clearly to echo Inlaw at Ep. 94. 40 occursus mehercules ipse sapientium iuvat, et est aliquid. oiov Y« TTOU '<JTIV KT\.: 'What a thing is . . . ! ' ; cf. Eup. fr. 342 olov ye TTOV 'ari yXwaaa Kavdpanrov Aoyoy. Each particle keeps its own force: ye emphasizes olov, while TTOV is ironic, as at V. 27. Cf. GP 494. For the agreement of (e)<jTW with the predicate OLOV rather than the pi. subj., which follows, KG i. 75-6; Gildersleeve §124. (a poeticism; cf. KG i. 261-2), 'consorting with brilliant men', avvovam/fvvovaia is late 5th-c. vocabulary; first attested in Hdt. (ii. 78; vi. 128. i). 22-4 iroXV av KT\.: For the poet as teacher, an idea lurking behind Eur.'s remark (ignoring Inlaw's simple-mindedness), 399 n. Not a genuine aside (since it makes no difference whether Eur. hears it) but—like 1—2; see i n.—an exasperated remark intended for no one in particular. 77019 av + opt. (a primarily tragic idiom, rare in comedy) is highly emotional and expresses a hopeless wish (KG i. 235; Gildersleeve 446; Fraenkel on A. Ag. 622; cf. 1016—17 (paratragic); Ach. 991 (lyric); Eq. 17, i6(aparody of Phaidra's dilemma); V. 166 (probably tragic quotation or paratragedy); Pax 68 (paratragedy?); Men. Epitr. 441-2; Sam. 102); 'if only . . .!' The solemn prayer ends in bathos. ouv: 'in that case', i.e. 'if you have so much to teach me'. dyaSois: For similarly sarcastic uses of the adj., Pax 370 with Olson ad loc.; S. Ant. 31, 275; Ph. 873. R has e^evpoip,' OTTWS / eri irpoa^adoL juij, which is metrical but nonsensical, and we print Ellebodius' Sommerstein and V. Tammaro (in a forthcoming note in the Miscellanea in ricordo di A. Colonna, pp. 919—21) both accept Reiske's e|eiJpoiy; but cf. Zuretti, RFIC 29 (1901) 555. Having just been told (at least as he sees it) that he ought to be both blind and deaf (19), Inlaw notes that his problems would all be solved if he could only find a way to be crippled as well—and thus spared the need to walk any further (thus 2R). Cf. Austin (1987) 70; (1990) 12; S. OT 120 eV ydp iroAA' av e|et>poi p,a0€iv. For fvpiaKia and its compounds used in the sense 'invent', 438/9 n. For irpoapavdavu}, 20 n. xu^°S etvai TIO <JK€\€I: An oblique reference to Eur.'s alleged overfondness for crippled heroes (Ach. 410—11, 426—9; Pax 146-8;Ra. 846xwXoTtoiov('cripple-maker')). r Gow on Theoc. 7. 59; A. Lesky, Thalatta (Vienna, 1947) 161. Attested elsewhere in comedy only in paratragedy (Av. 1339 = S. fr. 476. 3; Ra. 665/6 ~ S. fr. 371), and presumably intended as another mocking echo of high poetic style. For the sense of the adj. (here 'grey-green' vel sim.; to be taken in apposition to P. G. Maxwell-Stuart, Studies in Greek Colour Terminology, i: (Mnemosyne Suppl. 65: Leiden, 1981); Olson-Sens on Archestr. fr. 14. 7. Phot. j8 212 = S j8 370 (cf. Hsch. j8 787) glosses ('a sound pronounced for disparagement and mockery'), and the suffix -d| is commonly attached to onomatopoeic words (Peppier 158-9; Dover on Nu. 390-1 and Pa. 209-67; cf. 945-6 n.), so that |3oii|3d£ (presumably derived from^o^oy, 'roar, rumble' (cf. 1176)) must mean 'Blah-blah-blah!, Yada-yada-yada!' vel sim.; cf. Plaut. Pseud. 365; Labiano Ilundain 123—5. Like the augmented form j3op.j3aXoj3op.j3af in 48 (cf. TTmTmTmnrd^atNu. 390, after mra-mxl), a 'bomolochic' interjection, to which the Slave does not react; cf. 86, 153 with n., 200-1, etc.; Bain, Actors 89—90; contrast 50—1 with 50 n., 57—8. ri \eyei;: Not so much a question as a complaint: Inlaw's refusal to keep quiet as requested (39-40) is making it difficult for Eur.—who is standing further from the door and thus behind his companion (39-40 n.)—to hear what the Slave is saying. Cf. Austin (1990) 13.
L I N E S 44-SO
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46-8 With human beings and the natural world having been told to keep silent (39-40, 43-5), all that remains is to give the birds (46) and beasts (47—8) their orders. •nrrfvtiv re y^VTl KiTaKoifidaGto: Cf. Verg. Aen. 8. 27 alituum . . . genus sopor altus habebat. -n-Tr/vfav . . . yevrj is a highstyle periphrasis (e.g. 312, 959-60 (both lyric); Av. 1707 (paratragic) with Dunbar ad loc.; Anaxil. fr. 22. 5 -mrpa. ff Ap-nviiav A. Eu. 912; S. Ai. 398; E. Hipp. 1252; Andr. 727; cf. Olson-Sens on Archestr. fr. 60. 9—10). -n-Tr/vos is tragic vocabulary; elsewhere in Ar. only at Pax 126, 141 (both paratragic); Av. 1088 (lyric), 1707 (above; paratragic). Grjpuv: Primarily poetic (especially tragic) vocabulary (in prose at Hdt. iii. 129. i; PI. Sph. 235a; _R. 559d; X. Cyr. iv. 3. 13, 6. 4, etc.); attested elsewhere in comedy at Av. Ill (lyric), 1064 (lyric); Alex. fr. 247. 12; Theopomp. Com. fr. 46. i. The prose equivalent is Brjpiov. iioSes u\o8p6fiuv / \ir\ \uea6tov: 'let not the feet be released [from sleep; cf. 46; S. Ai. 675—6] so that they can roam the woods', with vXoSpop.iuv, which really belongs with -jro&es (cf. KG i. 280), taken in apposition to 8-rjpwv . . . aypiiav. This is a very stilted way of putting the idea—which is precisely the point. v\oSpofi,os (attested nowhere else before the late Roman period; cf. Catull. 63. 72 nemorivagus) is a parody of 'frigid' (168—70 n.) tragic coinages such as vXoKop.os (E. Andr. 284 (lyric)), v\oopl36s (E. IT 261), and Aan/ujpoSpo^ioy (E. IA 207 (lyric)). 45 n. 49 KaXXiemris (echoed mockingly in 60) is attested nowhere else before the Roman period. But the cognate vb. KaAAieire'o^ai is found in 5th- and 4thc. prose (cf. LSJ s.v.), and there is no need to assume that this is a coinage modelled on ijSuemys (exclusively poetic vocabulary; e.g. H. //. i. 248; Pi. O. 10. 93; N. 7'. 21 (of Homer); S. OT 151 (lyric)) or on Euripidean hapax legomena such as KaXXipXefiapos (Ion 189 (lyric)), KaXXipiuXos (Or. 1382 (lyric)), KaXXiSlv-rjs (HF 368 (lyric)), KaXXlSipos (Hec. 467 (lyric)), (Ph. 645 (lyric)), and «aAAiTo|oy (Ph. 1162). But Ar. does none the less use «aAAi- compounds elsewhere only in lyric (Pax 797; Av. 682; Ra. 451) and reminiscences of lyric (Ach. 1227 with Olson ad loc., 1228, 1231-3; Eq. 1254; Av. 1764 (all KaXXlvixos)). For the preciosity of the historical Agathon's language, TrGF 39 T 16; PI. Snip. igSa-b, 2Oic. The omission of medial caesura serves Ar. as an ironic comment on the claim. 50 -n-pofios: Epic (e.g. H. //. 3. 44; Od. 11. 493; cf. adesp. eleg. fr. 62. 4) and tragic (e.g. A. Ag. 200 (lyric); S. OT 660 (lyric); E. Heracl. 670; adesp. tr. fr. 668. 5) vocabulary; attested nowhere else in comedy (conjectural at Cratin. fr. i. 3). R's -n-pd^oy is linguistically possible (Schwyzer i. 494 n. 2) but more likely represents a simple scribal slip than a genuine hapax legomenon. Inlaw's coarse interjection jitiv piveiaGcu; (cf. 35 n.) comes from out of the blue, but his equally crude interjection in 57 also
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lacks any obvious motivation in what the Slave has said, and it seems best to assume that at both points he is offering a hostile comment based on what he (and the audience in the Theatre) already know of Agathon's predilections (35)—although in this case (contrast 45 with n., 48) the Slave notices that someone has spoken, even though he fails to react to the content of the remark (51; contrast 57-8). For Inlaw's aggressive use of obscenity throughout this scene and the contrast with Agathon (who uses none at all), McClure 215-26. 51 a6povs ('light-bearing pine-branches')); S. Tr. 1198 -jrevKivris . . . Xap.-jra.Sos aeXas ('gleam of a pinewood torch'); E. Ba. 146, 307) but those portions of the pine that are most heavily impregnated with pitch and thus most flammable, and which were harvested separately (esp. Thphr. HP ix. 2. 7; cf. HP iii. 9. 3; iv. 16. i; ix. 3. 4). Koupai is a non-Attic form, found in Attic texts only in poetry (also 1138-9 (lyric); A. Th. 149 (lyric); S. OC 180 (lyric); cf. Av. 977 Kovpe (a mock oracle)). £uv IXeuGepa / -n-arpiSi: 'in the company of our free fatherland'; the entire city is imagined singing with and through its chorus. Agathon's song is set in Troy in the mythical past and lacks any other obvious political content; but the reference to the freedom of the fatherland may none the less represent a comment on the situation in contemporary Athens. Cf. Introduction, Section II, esp. pp. xliii—xliv. For rd mxrpia as a political slogan in 412/11, [Arist.] Ath. 29. 3. IXevdepm (Hermann) TrpcnrlSi (Wecklein, RhM NF 24 (1869) 547; cf. Pi. P. 2. 57 eXevBepa pevl, 61 -^avva irpam'Si) is clever but unnecessary. + dat. is more typical of tragic style than comic (where fierd + gen. is preferred); cf. 716 (dochmiacs), 1034—5 (paratragic lyric); Pax 356 with Olson ad loc. ^opeviu is 'play the chorus' part', and ('sing a song accompanied by dance'; cf. Tib. i. 3. 59 hie choreae cantusque vigent) is no more (or less) extravagant an image than Ra. 247-8 ('we spoke a choral part') or E. HF 1027 (' I will make the sound of a dance'). 104 Cf. Luc. Trag. 75 rivi Saif^ovtov ayovai KWfMaT-fjv \opov; For initial questions as a characteristic of Greek hymns, e.g. Pi. O. 2. 2; Pae. 9. i—6; fr. 29; cf. Norden 144—7; Fraenkel, Horace 293 n. i; Race,
L I N E S IOI-8
91
YCS 29 (1992) 28-9. rivi Saifiovuv;: The use of the sing, may be significant: as 128-9 make clear, the hymn is addressed in the first instance to Apollo, and Artemis and Leto are mentioned only because they are associated with him. Cf. h.Ap. 158—9, where Delian Kovpai are said to sing 'first Apollo, and then Leto and Artemis who pours forth arrows'. OKIO^OS: 'the procession' (cf. 117 withn.; Pi. O. 4. n; 8. 10; Bacch. n. 12; E. Hipp. 55; Tr. 1184; Hel. 1469) and thus, by a natural extension of meaning, the hymn that those participating in the procession sing; cf. 988b-9 with n.; Braswell on Pi. P. 4. 2. 104-6 \€Y€ viv: i.e. 'Tell us his name!'; see Introduction, p. xcviii n. 114. is needed as a sequel to TLVL in 104, and Agathon is unlikely to have said (cf. E. Or. 1281 <j>epe vvv), given aye vvv in 107. The injunction might well be impatient (cf. Olson on Ach. 811-12), but is not necessarily so. eu-ueiaTtds . . . Toujiov / . . . ix^i: An elevated equivalent of 'I am easily persuaded', i.e. 'ready and eager'; cf. E./OW247—8 For evTreiarws, cf. Men. fr. 286. I with K-A ad loc. For the use of TOV^OV (often somewhat broader than eyw), cf. S. El. 1302; E. HF 165 with Bond ad loc.; Ph. 775 with Mastronarde ad loc.; KGi. 267. 8€isusedforydp(GP 169). Cf. 674 aej:Si£,eiv &aip.ovas (lyric), aepit^iu (first attested at A. Supp. 815, 922; cognate with ae^voy (i 17 with n.)) is poetic vocabulary (e.g. Pi. P. 5. 80; Emped. 31 B 112. 8; S.Ant. 943; E.El. 196-7; adesp. tr. fr. i&7c. 2; elsewhere in Ar. only at 674 (above)); prose uses a6J3op.aL (123, 949). 107 dye vuv: A standard, widely distributed Aristophanic formula urging another character to action (e.g. 213 with n., 947; Eq. ion; Nu. 489; V. 211; Pax 512 with Olson on 263-4). For imper. + vvv, 27 n. 'make happy, give joy to' (cf. 129 with n.; C. de Heer, MAKAP — EYAAIMQN — OABIOZ — EYTYXHZ (Amsterdam, 1969) 67-72), as also in 118. oAj8i'£o> is tragic vocabulary (e.g. A. Ag. 928; S. OT 1529; E. Andr. 1218; Hel. 640); not attested in Ar. outside this song. R's ('arm') reflects the influence of the mention of Apollo's bow in 108. R has p.ovaa, but an appeal to the Muse is out of place here and the final syllable must be long. Bergk's pouaa ('with song') is certainly correct; cf. Beobachtungen 113. Fritzsche, Ind. lect. Rost. 1859/60 p. 6, was the first to combine this with Bentley's o'Aj8i£e. For p.ovaa in this sense (elevated style), e.g. Eq. 505 (lyric); A. Eu. 308 (lyric); S. Tr. 643 (lyric); E. Hipp. 11 35 (lyric); Pratin. PMG-JI2. a. 3; Timoth. PMG-jgi. 203; cf. 112. 108 xPUCT«dv pu-ropa TO£UV: Apollo is routinely described in epic as ('of the silver bow'; e.g. H. //. i. 37; Od. 17. 251; Hes. fr. 185. 9; h.Ap. 140; Panyas. fr. 3. 2; cf. Usener 333—4), but Pindar calls him ('of the golden bow'; O. 14. 10; cf. Isyll. 48, p. 134 Powell; A.R. 4. 1709 xpvaeiov . . . TO^OV), an unsurprising inflation of the image, and Sophocles refers to his golden bowstring (OT 203—4). Cf. 321 withn.;
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Apollo's golden lyre at 315; his golden sword at H.7/. 5. 509; 15. 256; Hes. &• 357- 3; Artemis' Tmyxpvaea ro|a ('bow made all of gold') ath.Hom. 27. 5; her golden arrows at H. II. 16. 183 (cf. Janko ad loc.); and Athena's golden spear (318/19 withn.). pvriup (< epviu (A), 'draw') is attested elsewhere only at Arat. 301 (where see Kidd'sn.). 109-10 0oi|3ov (cf. Usener 332-3) is the only name used for Apollo in this song (also 112, 128); neither he nor Artemis is ever called 'child of Zeus' (contrast 118, 129), although what one ought to make of this is unclear. os iSpuaaro x"PaS / yua\a: 'who founded the hollow enclosures of the country', i.e. 'who established a city' in the place. For the rel. clause as a typical hymnic feature, 316 n. For Apollo and Poseidon as mythical builders of the walls of Troy, H. 77. 7. 452—3 (a different version at 21. 446-9); Pi. O. 8. 31-3; E. Andr. 1009-10; Tr. 4-6, 814; Hellanic. FGrHist 4 F 26; Apollod. ii. 5. 9 with Frazer ad loc. yvaXov is elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. Hes. Th. 499; h.Ap. 396; Pi. P. 8. 63; A. Supp. 550 (lyric); S. Ph. 1081 (lyric); E. Ion 220 (lyric); Hel. 189 (lyric)) and is attested nowhere else in comedy; Euripides commonly uses the word of temples, sacred precincts, and the like (Stevens on E. Andr. 1093). 2i^iouvriSi ya: 'in the land of the Simoeis', i.e. the Troad, called after the river (or torrent-stream) that ran down from Mt. Ida and met the Scamander before the city (esp. H. II. 4. 475; 5. 773-4; cf. H. II. 12. 18-22; 21. 305-9; A. Ag. 696-7; E. Andr. 1019, 1183; Hec. 641 £7.441; Tr. 810, n 16-17; [E.] Rh. 546, 826; Call. Lav .Pall. 19 withBulloch ad loc.; Str. 13. 595, 597). For the naming of a place after one of its chief rivers, Kannicht onE. Hel. 1-3. For the locative dat. (high style), KG i. 441-2; Bers 86-101. 111—13 Essentially a recapitulation of 107—10, with the coryphaeus' order to the chorus transformed into a request by the chorus to Apollo that he allow what they have been told to do to happen. For the text, Austin (1987)74. Xa'P€ KaXXicrrais aoiSais: For^dpiy ('joy') and its cognates used in Greek hymns in expressions of a desire to please the god, 314 with n., gSob; Av. 1743 with Dunbar ad loc.; Dover on Nu. 274; Race, GRBS 23 (1982) 8-10; Furley and Bremer i. 61-3; cf. 129 with n., 1231. 0oip(e): 109-10 n. eveu^ouaoiai KT\.: A vexed passage, best explained by reference to the coryphaeus' remarks in 107— 10. Apollo has earned his y^pis ('portion of honour'; cf. Olson—Sens on Archestr. fr. 59. 11) by his work in founding Troy (109-10); this ye'paj is ('holy') simply because it belongs to a god. -upo^epuv describes the circumstances under which Apollo will take pleasure in the chorus' song (in), 'by displaying (cf. LSJ s.v. -jrpofiepiu II) his sacred due (as manifested) in our melodious worship', i.e. by acknowledging that the debt the Trojans owe him is appropriately repaid by celebrations such as this. Cf. 959—61 ye'yoy 'OXvp.-jri(uv dfcov / . . . ye'paipe. The obscurity is a deliberate
L I N E S IO8-I9
93 n
part of the parody of Agathon's style; cf. 101-3 - fvp,ovaos is attested elsewhere before the Roman period only at E. IT 145 (lyric); but cf. 107 n. 114-19 Cf. 320-1. 114—16 Cf. E. Tr. 551—5 (part of a woman's description of the last night ('and I at that time in my house was honouring the mountain-haunting virgin daughter of Zeus with song and dance'); probably a standard detail in the story of the city's fall. For Artemis' association with mountains (the place to hunt wild animals (e.g. H. //. 21. 485-6; Od. 19. 428-32; h.Hom. 27. 4-8; E. Hipp. 215-18, 1127-9)), e -g- H. Od. 6. 102-3; h.Ven. 18; Sapph. fr. 44A. a. 6 with Page, S&A 263; Simon. PMG 519 fr. 3s(b). 7; S. OT 206-8; E. IT 126-7; Ph. 151-2; Call. Dian. 18, 20; cf. Telesill. PMG 720. Spvoyovos (a hapax legomenon) is better translated 'oak-engendering' than 'oak-grown' (LSJ). Oaks are conventionally represented as mountain trees (e.g. H. //. 12. 132; 13. 389—91; Hes. Op. 232—3, 509—10; [Hes.] Sc. 374~8;h.Ven. 264-6; E.Ba. 109-10(cf. 116)). is essentially a gloss on rdv . . . xopav. For Artemis dypore'pa ('of the wild country', and thus 'huntress'), Eg. 660; Lys. 1262—3 with Henderson ad loc.; H. //. 21. 471; Sapph. fr. 44A. a. 9; Bacch. 5. 123—4; I Z - 37> carm. conv. PMG 886. 3-4; X. Cyn. 6. 13; IG IP 4573. 1-2 (mid-4th c.); cf. 320 with n., 970-1 with n. For Artemis' cult at Agra in Athens (just outside the city, on the other side of the Ilissos; cf. PI. Phdr. 229c), [Arist.] Ath. 58. i with Rhodes ad loc.; Paus. i. 19. 6;IG IP 1008. 7; ion. 7; etc. (a series of inscriptions from the Roman period referring to a procession and sacrifice by the city's ephebes in the goddess's honour); Deubner 209; Judeich4i6. 117—19 The coryphaeus' implicit reference to Artemis as archer in 114—16 (cf. the reference to Apollo as 'he who draws golden bows' in 108) is not taken up by the chorus, who instead concentrate attention on the goddess's status as daughter (118) and virgin (119; cf. 115/16 Kopav). As the dramatic setting of the song is a religious procession (101—29 n -)> the primary sense of euofiai K\r|£ouaa is certainly 'I follow [behind you], lauding', as at Ach. 1231 eW<j#e vvv aSovres ('Now follow singing!'; cf. Ach. 1232—4); E. Hipp. 58 e-jreaO' q&ovres ('Follow singing!'). «A»]£a) is attested elsewhere in Ar. only in Av. (905 (lyric), 921, 950 (lyric), 1745 (lyric)) and is apparently treated by him as high style; cf. Dunbar on Av. 905, but note that the vb. is in fact extremely rare in lyric outside tragedy (only Pi. O. i. 110; cf. Lamprocl. PMG 735(a). i (dactylic hexameter); conjectural at adesp. ia. fr. 38. 14). aejivdv: 'august' velsim. (cf. 106 aepiaai with n.); not in Homer or Hesiod, but found occasionally in the Hymns (h.Cer. i, 486; h.Hom. 28. 5) and used routinely in the 5th and 4th c. of gods and heroes and of the rites, sanctuaries, and objects associated with them (e.g.
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P/.772(je^,v7jy77aAAdSoy;Pi. O. 14. 8; 'E.Hipp. 713 aep.vfivApTefi.iv, El. 1254; S. OC55; Archestr. fr. 13. 3). The adj. is attested in this sense in Ar. only in elevated or mock-elevated passages (322, 948, 1152/3 (all lyric); Nu. 265 (Socrates' invocation of the Clouds), 291 (Strepsiades' initial address to them); Pax 974 (lyric); Av. 746 (lyric); PI. 772 (Wealth's paratragic invocation of Attica after he is healed)); elsewhere 'proud' velsim. (e.g. Ra. 178; PI. 275). Here it describes not so much the goddess's nature independent of the chorus' song as the effect of their performance: Artemis is a€fi.vri because her worshippers' reverent expressions of respect make her such. Cf. 123 aepofi.a.1. Y°VOV • • • Aarous: For Artemis described as'childofLeto'(cf. Hes. Th. 918-20), e.g. 321; A.-Horn. 27. 21; A. Th. 149; S. El. 570; E. Hipp. 1092; IT 1398. yovov is also fern, at E. I A 794 (lyric). 6\pi£ouaa: Cf. 107 oAj8i£e with n., 129 oXfiie ira.iAa.Tovs. The asyndeton (which draws attention to the tautology with «:Aij£ot>(ja) is part of the parody of Agathon's style; cf. 101—3 n Aprejiiv aTreipoXexfj: For Artemis as a virgin, h.Ven. 16—17; Sapph. fr. 44A. a. 4—8 with Page, S&A 262-3; A. Supp. 144-50 with Johansen-Whittle ad loc., cf. 1030-2; S. El. 1239; E. Hipp. 14-16; Call. Dion. 6; cf. Lys. 1263; h.Hom. 9. 2; 27. 2 (called -jrap&evos). dTreipoAe^j (not attested elsewhere before the 4th c. AD) is a high-style formation; cf. direipoya^oy (Eub. fr. 34. i (lyric), where K— A compare h.Ven. 133 o.TrtipT)ri)v M-n)Tos and Men. Sik. 372-3 . . . I drreipos dvSpos); drreipoSpoaos (E. El. 735 (lyric)); drreipoKaKOS (E. Ale. 927 (lyric); in prose at Th. v. 105. 3); direipo^d^aj (Pi. N. 4. 30). 120—2 Sc. de«7aTe('hymn'; cf. 1 1 5 / 1 6 ) velsim. Acmi: For Leto and her cult (widespread in Asia Minor) and iconography, Wehrli, RE Suppl. v (1931) 555-76; LIMCvi. i. 256-7. KpoupciTci. . . AaidSos: Sc. Ki&dpios (cf. 124, which rules out the suggestion of Pearson (on S. fr. 287) that this verse be taken 'the beating of the Asian [land]', with reference to the dance (m>8i);2 R ; Phot, a 2956 Aams- ij KiBdpa); cf. Austin (1987) 74. Identified by EM, p. 153.3 1-2 > as a parody of a line from Euripides' Erectheus (fr. 370; Erecth. probably dates to the late 4205 and is parodied or adapted by Ar. elsewhere at Lys. 1135 = E . fr. 363; Horaifrr. 580 = E. fr. 357; 586 = E. fr. 366; cf. Cropp and Pick 78-80). For the kithara, a sevenstringed lyre also called 'Asian' by Euripides at Cyc. 443-4; Hyps. frr. I. iii. 9—10 (problematic); 64. ii. 101, cf. Wegner 30—7; Paquette 90—129; Maas and Snyder 53-78; West, AGM 50-6; Cassio, AION (filol.), Quaderni 5 (2000) 105-10. Kpovfiara are 'blows', i.e. those struck on the strings by the fingers or theplektron (cf. Headlam on Herod. 6. 51; West, ^4GM 65-9), and thus, by a natural extension of meaning, 'notes' (e.g. Eup. fr. 121; Theopomp. Com. fr. 51. 2). Keeping time with the dance (cf. 955/6 with n., 985 fvpvd^ia irooi) against the rhythm'. A deliberate verbal paradox subtly brought out by the variation in metrical quantities, as pvOp. is scanned first long, then short. For other
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examples of the phenomenon, H. //. 5. 31; S. Ph. 296; Theoc. 6. 19; cf. Nisbet-HubbardonHor.c.i. 32.11; Hopkinson, Glotta60(1982) 162-77. 6vpvOp.os is first attested in Th. and at E. Cyc. 563 (adv.); common in the 4th c. (e.g. PI. 759 evpvOp.ois -jrpoj3rnj.aoLV', PI. Com. fr. 47. 2; PI. Lg. 795e). (coined on analogy with €vpv8p,os) is attested elsewhere only at Orph. A. 31. 3 (of dancers to lyre-music; Ricciardelli's 'seguite il ritmo' is precisely the opposite of the sense required), but cf. Pratin. TrGF'4 F 3. 13 Phrygia is properly west-central Anatolia, the homeland of the 'Mountain Mother' Kybele, whose cult was already known in Athens in this period (cf. Av. 746 with Dunbar ad loc., 874-6; E. Hipp. 143-4; Ba. 78-9 with Dodds ad loc.; L. E. Roller, In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1999), esp. 143-85; Dillon 154-6). But Sophocles (e.g. Ai. 488) and Euripides (e.g. Andr. 592; Hec. 827; Or. 1480—1) routinely identify Trojans and Phrygians, as Agathon seemingly does here. 'Phrygian' melodies are referred to already by Alkman (PMGF 126) and Stesichorus (PMGF 212. 2), and Sophocles is said to have introduced the Phrygian mode into tragedy (Aristox. fr. 79); according to anon, de Trag. §5 (p. 28. 48 Perusino), Agathon was the first tragic poet to make use of the Hypophrygian mode (a modulated Phrygian, for which cf. [Arist.] Pr. 922bio-27). Plato describes the Phrygian mode as suited to peaceful purposes, including beseeching the gods (R. 399a-b), whereas Aristotle considers it violently exciting and emotional, and associates it with dithyramb (Pol. I342 a 32- b i2). Cf. West, AGM 177-8, 180-1, 352. For the Graces generally, 300-1 n.; for their association with music and the Muses, Av. 781-3; West on Hes. Th. 64. Sidveujiara: 'by the aid of nods', i.e. those of the Graces, who are imagined keeping time with the music. R has oiavfiipara, which LSJ Suppl. s.v. interprets as 'gestures of the body' (cf. Luc. Salt. 64 Siavevw, of rhythmic swaying). But the asyndeton after Aarw re Kpovfiard T' in 120 would be extremely harsh, and the R-scribe's normal practice is to treat prepositions as part of the following word (Introduction p. xcii n. 102). 123 aepofiaiAcmi: iO4-6n., n7-i9n., i2O-2n. dvaaaav: Ageneric epithet of goddesses (e.g. Pi./. 5. 6 (of Theia); fr. 205. 2 (of Truth); E.El. 678 (of Earth)), most often applied to Demeter (e.g. Ra. 385^ h.Cer. 75 with Richardson ad loc.), Athena (e.g. H. Od. 3. 380; A. Eu. 235; S. Ai. 774), and Artemis (971 with n.), although probably only because they are mentioned more frequently than minor figures like Leto. 124 KiGapiv: For the kithara, 120—2 n. Ki&apis is the old Homeric name for the instrument (H. Od. i. 153; Ale. fr. 41. 15; Pi. P. 5. 65; E.Erecth. fr. 65. 8 Austin; Hyps. fr. I. iii. 10 (lyric); Timoth. PMG 791. 231; cf. A. Supp. 681 dxldapiv), although Aristox. fr. 102 claims that the kithara and the kitharis are not to be identified. Ki&dpri/Ki&dpa is attested first at Thgn. 778;
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COMMENTARY
Epich. frr. 68. i; 108. 2, and is the dominant form from the second half of the 5th c. on (e.g. Hdt. i. 24. 5;E.7ow882; PI. Com. fr. 10. i; PI. 7?. 399d). is a kenning, i.e. a riddling periphrastic description of a sort common in Greek poetry of all periods (e.g. H.77. 2. 696; Pi. O. 8. i; S.Ai. 173-4); cf. I. Wtern, THE OZTEA: The Kenning in Pre-Christian Greek Poetry (Uppsala, 1951). At the same time, the chorus' characterization of the kitharis reflects ideas implicit in the mention of Leto in 123: just as she is the mother of Apollo (cf. 129) and—clearly much less important—of Artemis, so the instrument that participates in her worship is 'the mother of hymns' (perhaps with a hint at the new tyranny of music over words; contrast Pi. O. 2. i dra^i^op^iyyej vpvoi ('hymns that rule the lyre')). 125 cipaevi (3oa: Not only musical instruments (Hdt. i. 17. i) but musical scales and keys could be conceived as either 'masculine' or 'feminine' (West, AGM 90-1, 252), and what Agathon's chorus mean is that the kithara's music is loud or vigorous (cf. Pers. 6. 4 marem strepitum). But the more significant point is that the instrument—grammatically feminine—is confused about its gender, like Agathon and a number of other characters in the play. For jSod and its cognates used of the sound of musical instruments, e.g. H. II. 18. 495; Pi. N. 5. 38; A. Th. 394; of lyres and the like at Pi. P. 10. 39; E. Erecth. fr. 65. 8 Austin; Hyps. fr. I. iii. 10 (124) on its own is somewhat pointless, and Schone's SOKL|_IIOV (RhM NF 5 (1847) 627-8; 'esteemed on account of + dat.) rather than &oKip.ov ('yp~'2R; modifying Ki&apiv) should be printed; cf. Pi. JV. 3.11 &oKip.ov vp.vov. &oKip.(u (R2RS) reflects the influence of the dats. that precede it. 126-6/7/8 'By which, and by our sudden voice, light has shone forth in divine eyes.' Cf. Austin (1987) 74. The antecedent of ra (dat. of agent) is the kitharis (cf. 2 R ) rather than its song. cjmos: 'the light [of joy]'; cf. Lys. 1283/4 (of Dionysos dancing with the maenads) Salerai ('has burning eyes'). doy is an exclusively poetic form (e.g. H. 77. 18. 11; Corinn. PMG 690. 9; Thgn. 569; Bacch. 3. 80; A. Ag. 575) used by Ar. only in paratragedy (Ach. 1185) and lyric (also Eq. 973; Av. 1748; Ra. 1529). Prose uses ws. For joy expressed by the eyes, e.g. S. OT 81; cf. Biihler on Mosch. 2. 86; M. G. Ciani, doy e termini affini nellapoesia greca (Florence, 1974) 35, on A. Pers. 150—1. For the joy felt by the gods at the sound of music, H. II. i. 474; h.Ap. 204—6. iaauro: Poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. //. 2. 809; Pratin. PMG 708. 4; Pi. P. 4. 135; E. HF 919); elsewhere in Ar. only in the compound form eTreavro at fr. 718 (lyric and most likely parodic). 6|_i|_iaaiv: Primarily poetic vocabulary, attested in Ar. only in lyric (e.g. 665/6, 958; Nu. 285/6; Ra. 1354) and paratragedy (Ach. 1184; EC. i) Up to this point, the coryphaeus has merely told the chorus what to do (hence Nietzsche's vp.eTepas (Werke iv (Munich, 1937) 32)), and here
L I N E S 124-30
97
for the first time she identifies the song as 'ours'. The song is 'sudden' because the event that sparked it (the Achaeans' seeming retreat from Troy)—like most displays of divine power (cf. Hopkinson on Call. Cer. 60)—was as well. Si/i is elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. Od. n. 421; Alcm. PMGF 3 fr. i. 4; Bacch. i. 77; E. Ion 1204); attested elsewhere in Ar. only at Pax 400, 804 (lyric). The variation in construction (contrast both the simple dat. in 126 and &v x GP 122-3. (attested first in Ar. and Hippocrates) is common in the comic poets (e.g. Eq. 629; Nu. 1343; Eup. fr. 102. 7; Antiph. fr. 134. i) and prose authors (e.g. Hp. Int. 23 (vii. 226. 4), 35 (vii. 252. 25); Th. iii. 37. 2; PI. Lys. 2O-jb; Is. i. i; not in Hdt.), but is not attested in serious poetry and is presumably colloquial. *33 UTTO T11V £§pav aurr|v uTifjXGe: 'stole over my very seat'; the effeminacy of Agathon's poetry is such that it has had an effect not just on Inlaw generally but on the specific portion of his anatomy where sexual desire is centred (for a passive homosexual). Cf. Pers. i. 20—1 cum carmina lumbum / intrant et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu; Rabelais, Gargantua ch. xiii 'cela me causoit au fondement une volupte bien grande'. For e'Spa (an inoffensive euphemism), MM §436. For iVep^o^ai used of feelings that 'steal up' on a person (a common sense of the vb. in tragedy,
L I N E S 130-5
99
but not attested elsewhere in Ar.), LSJ s.v. II; Miller 175-6; Rau 109. 'a tickle, twinge'; glossed epeBia^os ('stimulation, irritation requiring a response') by Erot. y 9 (citing Ar. fr. 181 (where see K—A's apparatus) and Diph. fr. 24), who says that the word 'is taken from lusty women'. Cf. the yapyaAia^oy felt by hungry diners at the smell of food at Hegesipp. Com. fr. i. 15-16 and by the charioteer of the soul when he sees a 'love-inspiring vision' at PI. Phdr. 2536; and the use of 'want to scratch') to describe sexual desire at EC. 919. 134-5 (addressed to Agathon; contrast 130-3) move the audience's attention from the song they have just heard (alluded to again very briefly at 144—5 and then more or less forgotten) to what they see on stage (136—40) and its implications (141—3), and thus pick up on Inlaw's remark in 97—8 afterthelonginterruptionin99-i33 (whereseen.). Inlawmoves to centre-stage to confront Agathon (cf. 71 n.). 134-5 with 2 R 13 5 = A. test. 67—8. to veaviax': A veaviaKos is an 'adolescent male', as distinguished from a irais ('boy'), on the one hand, and an avr/p ('adult male'), on the other (e.g. PLLys. 2o6d;_R. 4136; cf. Dover, GH 85-6). The term is commonly used of what we would call 'young men', i.e. those in their late teens and early twenties (e.g. Eg. 731; Av. 1362; Alex. fr. 116. 5), and is here intended as a malicious reference to Agathon's lack of a beard (29-30 n.) or visible stage-phallus (142 with n.), like -ncu. ('boy') in 141 (whereseen.). Cf. 254 with n., 582-3; Dickey 72-7. The word is common in comedy (e.g. Lys. 784/5; EC. 112; Eup. fr. 367; Men. Dysk. 414) and prose authors (e.g. Th. viii. 69. 4; Lys. i. 37; X. HG ii. 3. 23) but absent from serious poetry, and is presumably colloquial. Plato similarly emphasizes Agathon's youth (e.g. Snip. ig8a rov veavlaKov), and J. and G. Roux, RPh iii. 35 (1961) 210—24, miss the irony when they take these references at face value in an attempt to fix precise dramatic dates for some of the dialogues, which routinely combine chronologically irreconcilable events and situations; cf. Dover, Phronesis 10 (1965) 7. rj-ris explicitly identifies Agathon as a woman, despite the masc. voc. that precedes it. M's vfaviaK fins ef ('if you are one') is defended by Holzinger, Burs. 116 (1903) 251; for this use of TIS, cf. PI. Ap. 2Oe rfjs yap ep,rjs, el Sr/ TIS earlv aom. But the text as printed expresses the oxymoron more pungently. For a similar joke, Nu. 692. KCIT' AiaxuXov: Lit. 'in accordance with Aeschylus', i.e. 'to quote Aeschylus, as Aeschylus put it'. For this use of Kara + ace., e.g. frr. 341; 592. 35; Antiph. fr. no. 2; Cratin. lun. fr. 10. 2; PI. Snip. I74C. In Frogs, Aeschylus claims that the characters in his tragedies exemplified traditional masculinity (1013—17, 1021—2, 1026—7, 1039—42) and rejected sexual licence (1043—4), and his words are therefore not inappropriately used here to condemn the effeminate libertine Agathon. IK rfjs AuKoupYeias: 'from his Lykourgeian tetralogy'; for this use of e«, 770; V. 580; Pax ioi2',Ra. 1124 ef 'Opeareias with
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Dover ad loc. For R's AvKovpylas, Introduction p. xcv n. i n . Aeschylus' Lykourgeian tetralogy (undated) consisted of Edonians (A. frr. 57-67; cf. below); Bassarai or Bassarids (A. frr. 23—5; the title is a reference to a garment worn by Thracian bacchants and probably by Dionysos himself in Edonians (cf. A. fr. 59 with Radt's apparatus), and the play told of Orpheus' destruction at the hands of Thracian maenads); Neaniskoi (A. frr. 146—9; contents obscure; for veaviaKos, 'adolescent male', cf. above); and the satyr play Lykourgos (A. frr. 124—6). Most likely Aeschylus took first place (cf. A. test. 69). Lykourgos was king of the Edonians, a Thracian tribe (Th. ii. 99. 4; cf. A. Pers. 492-5; E. Hec. 1153). In Aeschylus' version of the story, Lykourgos had Dionysos arrested when he attempted to introduce his rites, and questioned him about his odd appearance in the scene quoted in 136 (where see n.) and perhaps at Av. 276 (= A. fr. 60), and alluded to at Ra. 47 ('What are you thinking? Why have the stage-boot and the club joined forces?'; cf. Dover ad loc.), as well as at E. Ba. 453—9 and at some length in Eubulus' Dionysios (2R 137 = Eub. fr. 24). Cf. M. L. West, Studies in Aeschylus (Stuttgart, 1990) 26-50. For Lykourgos' story, H. //. 6. 13040; S.Ant. 955-65; fr. roc. 2 withHaslam, ZPE 22 (1976) 34; Apollod. iii. 5. i; Hyg.fab. 132; Roscher, Lexikon ii. 2191—2204; LIMCvi. 1.309—10. Polyphrasmon also produced a Lykourgeian tetralogy, in 467 BC (TrGF 7 F i). But Lykourgos came to a bad end, and Inlaw's decision to quote him perhaps prefigures his own eventual discomfiture. probably governs -TJTIS «; cf. 605 ep.' -IJTIS (ftp') r/pov; 136 -uoSa-uos 6 YUVVIS; is identified by 2R as borrowed from Aeschylus' Edonians (A. fr. 61), in which Dionysos seems to have dressed very much like Agathon here and to have carried (or at least been accompanied by followers carrying) exotic musical instruments (cf. 134—5 n -> A. frr. 57; 60). A yvvvis is a 'sissy'; cf. A. fr. 78a (a satyr play). 68 yvvvis S' avaXxis ('a defenceless sissy'); Theoc. 22. 69 with Sens ad loc.; Phryn. PS, pp. 17. 13—14; 60. 19; Poll. vi. 127; Hsch. y 1015; Phot, y 237. For-jroSa-jros ('from what country?' or (at least by this period) 'of what sort?'), Pearson on S. fr. 453; Arnott on Alex. fr. 94. i; Olson onAch. 767-8, 818. It is impossible to know how much of the rest of 13 6-45 is taken from Aeschylus, although (as Fritzsche says) the solemn introduction makes us expect a long and important parody; cf. A. fr. **6iart S' dam'Si ^vvdrfpa «ai«:apCT(7ia;;('what pact exists between a shield and a drinking-cup?') (a fragment (adapted at Ath. 5. 2156) only conjecturally assigned to Aeschylus; = adesp. com. fr. *83i); Kassel, KS 369—71. 2R 137 (which lacks a lemma) reports that Eubulus got 'the beginning of his Dionysios', in which he gave a list of discordant objects in the tyrant-poet's house, 'from here' (evrevBev). Pace Rau 109 (followed by Hunter on Eub. fr. 24 (his fr. 25a)), however, this means not that Eubulus offered a verse identical with at least the first part
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°f 37 (proving it Aeschylean), but only that he used the same theme as that also picked up from the tragic poet by Ar. ris -uarpa;: mxrpa is poetic vocabulary and particularly common in tragedy (e.g. A. Pers. 186; S. Tr. 326; E. Hel. 91; [A.] PV 665); cf. Rutherford 18-19; Olson on Ach. 147. As Rau 109, notes, a question after Agathon's homeland makes no sense in Inlaw's mouth here but is entirely appropriate to Lykourgos asking about the origins of the exotic Dionysos, and these words as well (cf. above) thus have a reasonable claim to be considered part of the original Aeschylean text. Cf. the agricultural adaptation or parody at fr. 30 For 92n. 137—40 expand on Inlaw's final question in 136; contrast 141—3 withn. 137—8 rdpa^is and its compounds are attested elsewhere in Ar. at Ach. 315; Eq. 247; Pax 266, and in Hippocrates (Hum. i (v. 478. 3); Viet. 89 (vi. 648. 20); Mul. i. 29(viii. 72. 9)). Tragedy uses rapay^ioj (e.g. A. Ch. 1056; E. El. 368; HF 533; Ph. 196; adesp. tr. fr. 625. 10), which would fit the line (with a different beginning), and this question thus seems less likely than the ones that precede it to have been taken direct from Aeschylus. is used of Dionysiac excitement at S. Tr. 218. In 139—40, Inlaw draws an explicit contrast between archetypically 'masculine' and 'feminine' objects (respectively an oil-flask and a sword, and a breast-band and a mirror). Here, on the other hand, his questions simply mean 'What is a male poet doing in female clothing?' The (first mentioned at Anacr. PMG 472 and Sapph. fr. 176) is a long-armed bowl-lyre, which Bacch. fr. 2oB. 1—2 calls 'seven-toned' (i.e. 'seven-stringed'). The jSdpjSiTo; is distinguished from the kithara (1202 n.) at Arist. Pol. I34i a i8-i9, 39-40, and from both the kithara and the a(cf. below) at Anaxil. fr. 15. What is less clear is whether a number of instruments have been brought on stage with Agathon on the ekkuklema or whether Inlaw is engaging in a bit of paratragic bombast and calling the same prop by several names (thus Austin (1990) 17-18). Pindar (fr. *I25) claims that the j3dpj3iTos was invented by Terpander, whereas Neanthes (FGrHist 84 F 5) credits it to Anakreon; the instrument seems generally to be associated with Dionysiac scenes, including symposia. For other 5th-c. references, fr. 792; Magnes' Barbitistai; Bacch. fr. 2oC. 2; Pi. fr. **i24d; Crit. 88 B i. 4; E. Cyc. 40; Ale. 345. Cf. Wegner 42-5; Snyder, 0767(1972) 331-40; Paquette 173-86; Maas and Snyder 39-40, 113-38; West, AGM 50-1, 57-9. \a\ei: The vb. and its cognates (not attested in Aeschylus, who more likely wrote Aeye' or ^e'Aei) serve routinely in Ar. to characterize speech as unnecessary or unwanted (e.g. 267 with n., 393, 578; Ach. 21 with Olson ad loc.; cf. Dover, Frogs, p. 22), and Inlaw's use of it (also of musical instruments at Anaxandr. fr. 36; Theoc. 20. 29; cf. Taillardat §866) renders his question explicitly hostile: not just 'What has a barbitos to say to a krokotos'f but 'What nonsense can a barbitos have
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to say to a krokotosT KpoKUTio: A saffron-dyed chiton, normally worn by women (JVM. 51 (dubious); Lys. 44—51, 644/5; EC. 332, 879; cf. 253-5; Arar. fr. 4 'he looks like an unmarried girl, since he's wearing saffron-dyed robes and women's clothing'; A. Ag. 239; E. Hec. 468; Ph. 1491; IG IP 1514. 58—9, 60—i, 62; 1527. 44 (etc.; all women's dedications at Brauron)) or by Dionysos (Ra. 46; Cratin. fr. 40; Callix. FGrHist 627 F 2 (p. 169. 16)), as apparently inEdonians (cf. A. fr. 59). Saffron-dyed clothing is referred to already in early epic (KPOKOTT€TT\OS at H. II. 19. i; Hes. Th. 273) and lyric (Alcm. PMGF46; cf. Sapph. fr. 92. 7-8; Tyrt. fr. 18. 2), and is a mark of luxury and wealth at A. Pers. 660 (Dareios' shoe); Pi. P. 4. 232 (Jason's robe); JV. i. 38 (Herakles' swaddling clothes). Cf. Headlam on Herod. 8. 28; Stone 174-5; Braswell on Pi. P. 4. 232. For ancient dyeing technology, Bliimner i. 225—59 (f°r dyeing specifically with crocus, i. 250). ri 8e KT\.: Sc. AaAei. Xupa seems to serve as a generic term for lyre-like instruments of all sorts (cf. 315 and 327a with n.; Maas and Snyder 79-80; West, AGM 50-1), and is here probably a synonym for pappms, although cf. above. A long band of cloth that was wrapped around the head and tied, producing a sack in which the hair was contained; cf. 161-3 n -> 257~8 with n., 840-1 n.; fr. 332. 6 (in a catalogue of women's accessories; from Th. II); Antiph. fr. 187 (in a catalogue of women's accessories); H. 77. 22. 469 with Richardson ad loc.; IG IP 1522. 18; 1523. 195—6 (etc.; all women's dedications at Brauron); Posidipp. 46. 4; Antip. Sid. AP vi. 206. 3-4 = 777? 200-1; Daremberg-Saglio s.v.; Stone 203-4; Jenkins and Williams, 47^89(1985)411-18. 139 TI \r|Ku6os Kdi <jTpoiov;: 'Why a lekythos and a strophion [together] ?' A Xr/KvOos is a small oil-flask and functions here as a symbol of masculinity because a man took an oil-flask (of a type now conventionally referred to as an aryballos) and a scraper (arXe-yyis or fvarpa', cf. 556—7 n.) with him when he went to work out at a wrestling school (cf. frr. 145; 214; Diph. fr. 51 ap. Poll. x. 62; Ginouves 144-5); c f- Beazley, ABSA 29 (1927-8) 187-215; Haspels, ibid. 216-23; Amyx 213-17; Henderson, HSCP 76 (1972) 13 5—7 (with further bibliography). Perhaps it also has some phallic connotations (Dover on Ra. 1200); cf. 141—3 n. (on the contrast between the male penis and female breasts (implicitly referred to in the mention of the strophion)). A arpoffnov is a broad band of cloth worn by women (presumably beneath the chiton; cf. 255 with n., 637 n.) to provide support for the breasts, rather like the modern bra; cf. 638 n.; frr. 332. 13 (called dTToSeap,os, as also in the next reference); 338. 2 (both from Th. II); Pherecr. fr. 106 (in a catalogue of women's accessories); Quinn on Catull. 64. 65 strophio . . . vinctapapillas; Stone 184—5 'How incongruous!'; here predicative of a pi. subj. (cf. 21; KG i. 58—9; Gildersleeve §126).
L I N E S 137-43 n
103
140 Cf. Ra. 47 (134—5 -)> E. IT 254 ('And what have cowherds in common with the sea?'); adesp. com. fr. 903. 3 TCS yctp KaroTrrpw (/ 582-3; Dickey 65-72. As if Agathon were still a child (cf. TTO.I) being 'brought up' in his father's house. None of the items mentioned in 142 (except perhaps the is likely to have been mentioned by Aeschylus •ueos;: The implication is that no theatrical phallus can be seen on the actor playing Agathon; cf. DFA 222; Stehle 380—3. For the presence of a penis treated as decisive proof that a character is a man, 640—50 (where the absence of breasts is similarly treated as clear evidence that the disguised Inlaw is not a woman); cf. 139 n.;.£opeiv, Jebb on S. Ant. 705—6). But more likely this is simply an odd Agathonic way of saying avv via ('deliberately'). Meineke's (rfj) •yvwp.r) is an easy emendation, but the awkward medial caesura in the context of a discussion of proper poetic practice must be intentional and perhaps hints mischievously at Agathon's penchant for being split down the middle; cf. below; 167 withn. iioT)Triv civSpa: A set phrase (cf.Ra. 858, 1008); but in this context avSpa is brought back to life, scoring a point for Agathon ('I am a man whatever you may think'). mpos TCI Spaniard KT\.: An awkward way of saying rpo-jrovs ex6LV ^pos TO. Spd^ara a -jroei, but the clumsiness (or overelaboration) is part of the implicit critique of Agathon's poetic style (cf. above), irpos + ace. is here 'in accord with', i.e. 'to match' (E. Hipp. 701; LSJ s.v. C. I I I . 5). For Spd^ara in the sense 'tragedies', 52 n. 8ei expresses purpose; cf. Av. i53;_Ra. 37. 151-2 serve, inter alia, as discreet preparation for Inlaw's physical transformation into a woman at 213-67. auriKa: 'ne longe abeam, ne longa exempla petam' (Stephanus in the Thesaurus Graecae Linguae s.v.), i.e. 'for example'; a colloquial sense of the word (absent from serious poetry) first attested in Ar. (e.g. V. 1190; Av. 166), Hippocrates (e.g. de Arte 8 (vi. 14. 5); Loc. Horn. 41, 43 (vi. 332. 16, 336. 14)), and the Attic orators (e.g. Antipho 5. 68), and then repeatedly in 4th-c. prose (e.g. PI. Phdr. 2356; Lys. 19. 46, 63; X. Oec. 19. 18; Thphr. fr. s84a. 9. i; Arist. Xen. 975 a n). Cf. KG ii. 115. Y UVCUK€ '( a ) • • • Spaniard is taken by 2R to mean plays in which the chorus is made up of women (in which case Euripides' Bacchae and the pseudo-Aeschylean PV would both be 'women's plays', but Sophocles' Antigone would not), but Agathon is clearly referring more generally to tragedies in which the primary focalizers are female (and the chorus generally, but not always, are as well). Contrast 154 av&pem. Sophron's mimes were conventionally divided into dvSpetoi and yvvaiK€toi ^LC^LOI (test. 22, cf. test. 7). ^lerouaiav . . . i.e. ^erey^eiv Ttov TpcnTwv (sc. Ttov yvvdiKuiv)', another example of the Aristophanic Agathon's somewhat overfull style (cf. 1467 n., 148—50 n., 154—6 n., 183 n., 195—7 n -> 198—9 n.). p.eTovam is first
L I N E S 148-56
107
attested here and at Ra. 443/4; otherwise prosaic (e.g. Is. 11. 22; X. Cyr. viii. 5. 23; D. 15. 29; Aeschin. 2. 152). 153 Like 157—8, addressed to Agathon but ignored by him (as are many other similarly crude and disruptive remarks in Aristophanic comedy); cf. 45 n., 263 with n., 936-7 with n.; Dover, AC 59-65; contrast 168-70. 'therefore . . .?, so, . . .?' K€\T)TI^€IS: Lit. 'do you ride horseback?'; but KeXr/s and its cognates are also used of a sexual position in which the woman (or boy) is on top (esp. V. 501; Macho 171; cf. Pax 900 with Olson ad loc., and add Asclep. AP v. 202-3 -HE 974-9, 832-7; Diosc. APv. 55 = HE 1483-90; Hor. Sat. ii. 7. 50; Ovid, AA 3. 777-8; Mart.xi. 104. 14). The image gains some point from the fact that Phaidra's beloved, Hippolytos, was a famous horseman (cf. E. Hipp. 1131—4), and in Euripides' extant Hippolytos the love-sick Phaidra expresses a desire to ride horses (E. Hipp. 230-1). orav 0ai8pav -n-ofjs: Phaidra, daughter of Minos of Crete and wife of Theseus, king of Athens, plays a central part in Euripides' surviving Hippolytos (428 Be), in which she is an innocent victim, and must have been at least equally central to his undated lost tragedy of the same name (E. frr. 428-47), in which she seems to have behaved less passively. Ar.'s characters, at any rate, treat the Euripidean Phaidra as a by-word for female sexual depravity (497, 546—7; Ra. 1043-4; cf- &• 469; Eub. fr. 115. 11-12). Sophocles wrote a Phaidra (frr. 677-93; undated); whether Agathon also wrote a play in which she was the central character is unknown, and Inlaw's words imply only that any poet interested in writing 'female dramas' (151) will settle on her as a subject sooner or later; cf. 157. For Phaidra's story and the tragedies it inspired, Barrett, Hippolytus, pp. 6-45; Webster 64-76; Gibert, CQ NS 47 (1997) 85—97; LIMCv. i. 445—6, 459—60. For Troie'o) in the sense 'compose', e.g. 157, 193, 450 (used absolutely), 547; Ra. 1043. 154-6 A quite unnecessary statement of the reverse case of 151-2, which both illustrates again Agathon's vacuous prolixity (cf. 151-2 n.) and provides Inlaw with another opportunity for a hostile, witty remark (157—8). Sc. Spd^ara (cf. 151). iveaO' umdpxov = iVap^ei (cf. EC. 114). An empty pleonasm and an otherwise unexampled supplementary use of the part, of inrap-^ia with a form of elp.1 (for a form of inrap-^ia supplemented by apart, of f t p i , e.g. Hdt. i. 192. 4; D. 21. 38). i.e. TO avopeiov ('masculinity'); nothing suggests a gesture, but there is certainly some humour in the fact that Agathon himself appears to lack male genitalia (141-3 n.). a 8' ou K€Krr|fi€0a KT\.: Perhaps quotation or parody of tragedy; cf. E. fr. 21. 6—7 a &' ol -n-Xovro vvres ov Keicnj^e^a, is 'have', as at e.g. EC. 747> E. Supp. 264; IA 822. The use of the ist-pers. pi. in place of the istpers. sing, is a high-style affectation (KG i. 83-4); cf. 183, 196, 219, 250 with n., 877—8 with n. |_ii|_ir)ais is here simply 'imitation', as at
I08
COMMENTARY
Ra. 109; Th. i. 95. 3 (the only other 5th-c. attestations). Cf. 850 with n. For the history of the word, with particular attention to the 4th c. (when it emerges as an important semi-technical term of aesthetic criticism), Else, CP53 (1958) 73—90; G. Sorbom, Mimesis and Art (Uppsala, 1966), esp. 41-77 (a careful catalogue of the word and its cognates, but in support of the unlikely thesis of a close connection with the literary genre mime); D. W. Lucas (ed.), Aristotle: Poetics (Oxford, 1968) 258-72; cf. Introduction p. liv; Handley, 'Nouns' 133; Muecke 54—5; Stohn, Hermes 121 (1993) 196-205; Mazzacchera, Lexis 17 (1999) 205-24; S. Halliwell, The Aesthetics of Mimesis (Princeton and Oxford, 2002; mostly on Plato and Aristotle). Plato in the Republic notes that persistent imitation of another person's gestures, tones of voice, or state of mind can grow into a habit which becomes second nature, and he accordingly will not allow his guardians to 'imitate a woman, since they are men' (395d). adds emphasis to ^IJIMJCTIJ (KG ii. 122—3). auv8r)peu€Tai: 'helps to hunt down'. The compound is attested elsewhere in the 5th c. only at E. fr. 981. 5, but cf. avvOrfpaia (based on a 5th-c. form of the simplex, as opposed to the older 8-rjpevw) at S.Ant. 432-3 (in 'tmesis'); PA. 1005. A banal image (cf. Nu. 358; LSJ s. Or/paiu II. 2; s. Or/peviu II. 2; Taillardat §768), but the metaphorical appeal to a sphere of interest traditionally thought proper for vigorous young men (e.g. Eq. 1375-83; Lys. 784-91) is none the less striking in the mouth of the emphatically effeminate Agathon. 157—8 Cf. 59—62 (a brazen threat; but the basic sentiment is very similar); Av. 1253—6 (where the size of Peisetairos' anticipated erection is an important part of the threat of rape). 'whenever you represent satyrs' (Agathon TrGF 39 F 33); cf. 153 ('whenever you represent Phaidra') with n. The reference is clearly to satyr play, and LSJ s.v. II gives 'satyric drama' as a sense of pi. But the examples cited are all very late, and in the classical period the word never means anything other than 'satyrs' (e.g. Hermipp. fr.47. i; Alex, fr.77.4; E. Cyc. ioo;Ba. 130; Lys.fr. 91 Sauppe(ap. Ath. 5. 2ioa)). For satyrs (known in particular for their very large penises and constant state of sexual excitement), G. M. Hedreen, Silens in Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painting(AnnArbor, i992);L/MCviii. i. 1108-10. Forsatyrplays, R. Krumeich, N. Pechstein, and B. Seidensticker, Dasgriechische Satyrspiel (Texte zur Forschung 72: Darmstadt, 1999); P. Voelke, Un Theatre de la marge: Aspects figuratifs et configurationnels du drome satyrique dans I'Athenes classique (Bari, 2001). roivuv: 'Well, then . . .'; picking up on the previous speaker's words (cf. 269, 272, etc.), in this case Agathon's entire theory of poetry as thus far explicated (149—52, 154—6). Cf. GP572-3. But part of Inlaw's point is perhaps that—especially in the guise of a satyr (cf. below)—he will have something to share with Agathon that Agathon appears to be missing (cf. 15 5—6 withn.), i.e. an (erect) penis.
L I N E S 154-60
lOQ
The particle is rarely placed later than second, but cf.Ec. 339; PL 863; GP 579-80. KaXeiv: A jussive infin. (here colloquial; cf. Bers 180; Lopez Eire 192—3), '[remember] to . . .'; to be distinguished from the use of the infin. in prayers '[grant that] . . .' (288 with n.). 'in order that I might collaborate with you'; cf. frr. 596. 3; 958; Eup. fr. 89. But (6)iiia0€v KT\. makes it clear that what Inlaw is really referring to is buggering Agathon; cf. MM §245; Austin (1990) 18. For the absolute use of o-jriaOev, cf. 1124 e|om<m> -jrpiuKTiaov ('butt-fuck him from the rear!'); V. 1376; Z/ys. 1170. IOTUKUS: 'with a hard-on'. A colloquial obscenity (MM §7), here perhaps para prosdokian for earrjKws ('standing'; cf. Pax 728). lyi simply adds emphasis to the part, that precedes it; cf. 171* with n. 159-67 Unlike in 149-56, where Agathon explains his seemingly inappropriate style of dress by claiming that a poet must adapt his ways to his subject-matter, here he argues that personal style offers insight into an individual's nature and thus bears a direct relationship to the character of his poetry generally. Agathon thus undercuts his own initial explanation of his behaviour and confirms Inlaw's more hostile analysis (i 34-45): the fact is that he dresses like a woman and writes effeminate poetry because he is himself effeminate. Cf. Muecke 53. 159 dXXus T(e): 'and besides' (S. OT 1114; E. Supp. 417; Ion 618; IA 491 (all line-initial); Hdt. viii. 142. 3). Contrast 290 dAAaij S' ('but otherwise'). The style of this and the following line is again elevated With infin., a somewhat recherche expression coined on the model of e.g. CLTOTTOV eari (Pherecr. fr. 96); 'it is inartistic, uncultured, to see . . .'. a^ovaos ('muse-less', and thus 'unsophisticated, crude'; first attested at Emped. 31 B 74 in the sense 'mute') and its cognates are otherwise in this period exclusively tragic vocabulary (e.g. S. fr. 819; E. Ale. 760; fr. 663 ('Desire then teaches a poet, even if he was previously a^ovaos', alluded to at V. 1074; Men. Karch. fr. 7 Sandbach); adesp. tr. fr. 705. n; cf. Miller 176). Agathon himself, of course, at least allegedly keeps company with the Muses (41— 2) and can therefore offer a reliable report of their style and preferences. Holford-Strevens compares Hortensius' reply to Torquatus at Gell. i. 5. 3 Dionysia malo equidem esse quam quod tu, Torquate, 160 dypeiov ovra Kai Saauv: Cf. Nu. 655 / dypeioy ei Kal aKciios ('You are uncouth and stupid'); Alcm. PMGF 16. 1-2 ('He was not an uncouth man nor stupid'). Agathon is describing someone who looks different from himself, and dypeiby (rare, exclusively poetic vocabulary; subsequently at Call. fr. 24. 13; Leon. AP vi. 35. 2 = HE 2256, but there without any obvious pejorative sense) must be in the first instance a reference to the average rustic's rough, unsophisticated cloth-
110
COMMENTARY
ing (e.g. Nu. 72; Thphr. Char. 4. 4) and lack of a fancy haircut (cf. Ach. 849 with Olson ad loc.; Ephipp. fr. 14. 6). In 161-5, therefore, Agathon uses Ibykos, Anakreon, Alkaios, and Phrynichos as exempla in support of his claim that authors of beautiful poetry have traditionally dressed beautifully. Saavs ('shaggy'), on the other hand, although used occasionally of facial hair (cf. 33 SaavTrwywv with n.), more often refers generally to the hair that begins to cover a man's body when he reaches sexual maturity (e.g. Batofr. 7. 9; Ale. ^4Pxii. 30. i = HE 44; Diocl. APxii. 35. 3 = GPh 2098) and in particular that around his anus (Cratin. fr. 339; PI. Com. fr. 3. i; Eub. fr. 106. 2; cf. 236-42 with nn.). Agathon never attempts to claim that other poets practised depilation, although he notes that lonians wore head-scarves or the like (163 with n.) to keep their hair in order. The second adj. is thus (by way of contrast) entirely about the speaker himself. 161—3 For Ibykos, Anakreon, and Alkaios as pederastic poets, 2 Pi. /. 2. ib (= Ibyc. PMGF TB 4); Cic. Tusc. iv. 33. 71 (= Ibyc. PMGF TB 2) quae de iuvenum amore scribitAlcaeus! Nam Anacreontis quidem totapoesis est amatoria. Maxime vero omnium flagrasse amore Rheginum Ibycum apparet ex scriptis ('What things Alkaios writes about the love of young men! All Anakreon's poetry is concerned with love. And that Ibykos of Rhegion burned with passion most of them all is clear from his writings'). For e«eiVoy meaning 'the well-known', e.g. Nu. 180; EC. 167; cf. KGi. 650. Ar. alludes elsewhere to the poetry of Ibykos of Rhegion (mid-6th c.) only at EC. 973a-5 (cf. PMGF 288). For other ancient witnesses associating Ibykos with pederasty, Ibyc. PMGF TB i, 3, 5. Cf."IwvoXiosatPaxS^S', Gildersleeve§539. Ar. refers to the poetry of Anakreon of Teos (PAA 126635; mid- to late 6th c., including some time in the Peisistratid court in Athens) also at Ach. 850 (~ PMG 372; 388. 5; cf. Olson ad loc.); Av. 1372-4 (~ PMG 378); fr. 235 (together with Alkaios). For Anakreon depicted dressed in long robes and head-gear of a sort an average late 5th-c. Athenian would have regarded as unmistakably feminine, L. D. Caskey and J. D. Beazley, Attic Vase Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ii (Oxford, 1954) 58-60; Brandenburg 86-8; Snyder; Slater, Phoenix 32 (1978) 188-9; Ridgway, AJA 102 (1998) 721—3. A\KCIIOS: The poetry of Alkaios of Lesbos (7th/6th c.) is also referred to by Ar. at V. 1232—5 (~ Ale. fr. 141. 3-4); Av. 1410-11 (~ Ale. fr. 345); fr. 235 (together with Anakreon); and perhaps V. 1238/9 (= incert. fr. 25c Voigt). 2R reports that a variant reading .M^aioj ('Achaios', the name of a tragic playwright (TrGF 20) roughly contemporary with Euripides and quoted by Ar. at V. 1081; Pax 356 (both the same verse-fragment); Ra. 184) stood in some MSS of the play, including 'the older copies'. 2R adds that (i) A\Kaios was an emendation by the Alexandrian scholar Aristophanes of Byzantium
L I N E S 160-3
II:
(3rd/2nd c.), who recognized that Achaios was out of place in a list of archaic lyric poets (= Ar. Byz. fr. 397); and that (2) another Alexandrian scholar, Didymos (ist c.), objected to Ar. Byz.'s reading on the ground that Alkaios' poetry was too obscure for Ar. to refer to (a claim rightly rejected as nonsense by 2R, quoting several of the passages cited above), but added elsewhere that A\Kaios could stand, provided it was taken as an allusion to the citharode (Stephanis no. 131) mentioned at Eup. fr. 303 (Did. fr. 14. 66 Schmidt). That several ancient MSS contained the reading A^aios (presumably a deliberate correction after majuscule A was lost after A) is apparent. What is less clear is whether 2R or its source has independent information about the textual tradition of the play, or (more likely) is merely passing on Didymos' report of the situation and the best witnesses actually supported A\Kaios (thus G. Pasquali, Storia della tradizione e critica del testo (Florence, 1952) 199; Slater on Ar. Byz. fr. 397). In any case, HXKaios must stand, despite C. Kugelmeier, Reflexe friiher und zeitgenossischer Lyrik in der Alien attischen Komodie (Beitrage zur Altertumskunde 80: Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1996) 290-7. 'joining, fastening' (LSJ s.v. I), and thus 'the art of musical composition'; first in this sense here, although cf. fr. 930 (obscure); E. Phaeth. 67—8 (the nightingale's song) \f-mav . . . appoviav. When used of music, the word usually refers to individual tuning-systems (e.g. Eq. 994; Pherecr. fr. 155. 16; Anaxandr. fr. 42. 22; Lasus PMG 702. 3; Pratin. PMG7i2(b). 3; cf. Heraclid. Pont. fr. 163; West, AGM 177-84). 'gave some flavour to, spiced up'; a hapax legomenon. (like xvXos, for which see Olson on Pax 997) is a 'savour' (e.g. Arist. de An. 4i4 b i3-i4, 422 a io-n, b io-i4) or a liquid that contains a savour, which can be used to lend taste to something else (cf. Sotad. Com. fr. i. 19 (a cook describing how he handled a stewed dish) ('I added a bit of oil-and-vinegar sauce')). For the image, Taillardat §755. !fUTpo6pouv: A mitra is a ribbon of cloth that was wrapped about the head and tied like a headband or a turban; cf. Daremberg—Saglio s.v. II; Brandenburg 53—6, 69—76; Tolle-Kastenbein, ^^4(1977)23-36; Stone 203-4; Bezantakos£asszm.7kfz£razareworn(i)by women at e.g. Alcm. PMGF i. 67-9; E. Hec. 923-4 (cf. 257; fr. 332. 2 (a catalogue of women's accessories; from Th. II); Pherecr. fr. 106 (a catalogue of women's accessories); Bezantakos 55—83); (2) by Dionysos or his devotees at e.g. S. OT209; E. Ba. 833, 928-9; cf. Diog. Ath. TrGF45 F i. 1-2; Bezantakos 85-94; (3) by victorious athletes et sim. at e.g. Pi. O. 9. 84; /. 5. 62; E. El. 162-3 (cf- Brandenburg 67-8; Bezantakos 118-30); and (4) routinely by banqueters and komasts in vase-paintings (Brandenburg 76-86). fi,iTpoopea> is a hapax legomenon (although cf. ^n-p^opos at Hdt. vii. 62. 2; Diog. Ath. TrGF 45 F i. i); for the formation, cf. 218 LyS. 44 KpOKWTO(j)Op(JO',
fr. 830
112
COMMENTARY
S) is unmetrical and probably represents a superlinear gloss that drove out the less familiar word below it. Toup's 8i€K\uvT' (Emend, in Suid. i (London, 1760) 129—30; 'they were broken down', i.e. 'they adopted a pampered style of life, became effeminate'; cf. D.H. Dem. 43 Phot. S 339 SiaK\wv Siadpy-rrnav, with LSJ s. and Ka-ra-yvv^L I. 2) is sufficiently obscure to have required explanation by an ancient commentator, leading to the error. For SiaKiveiu in a seemingly similar sense (hence perhaps the gloss), V. 688. Fritzsche'sKa^AiSoivisalso possible; cf. Coulon, Essai 25. For the idea that clothes match the person, e.g. Sapph. fr. 57. 1-2; Semon. fr. 7. 2-6; Hdt. iii. 22. i 'in Ionian style' (not 'in the Ionian mode'), i.e. 'luxuriously' with undertones of 'effeminately' et sim. For Ionian 'softness' and sexual wantonness, e.g. Pax 933 with Olson ad loc.; EC. 918; Cratin. fr. 460; Antiph. fr. 91; Asius fr. 13; Hor. c. iii. 6. 21; cf. M. Goebel,.E£/mzca(Diss. Breslau, 1915) 105—7. Of the poets mentioned in 161—2, only Anakreon was actually an Ionian. 164-7 •I'puvixos: The tragic poet Phrynichos son of Polyphradmon (PA 15008; TrGF 3), an older contemporary of Aeschylus, is referred to by Ar. also at V. 219—20, 269, 1490 with MacDowell on 220 and 1490; Av. 748—51; Ra. 910, 1299—1300. He was the author of two historical plays, The Capture of Miletos and Phoenician Women, and according to S 762 (= Phryn. Trag. TrGF 3 T i) was the first playwright to use female characters. For the 'sweetness' of his lyrics in particular, V. 219—20; Av. 748—51 with Dunbar ad loc. (and note the allusion to the image of the honeybee also at Ra. 1299-1300); Timae. FGrHist 566 F 32 (= Phryn. Trag. TrGF 3 T 11). TOUTOV Yopp.i-y£; a^opSoy ('a stringless lyre'); of a bow) certainly fits Aristotle's definition. For 'frigidity' as a personal characteristic (a nasty form of obtuseness), PLEuthd. 2846; D. 18. 256; Chrysipp. SVFiii. 50 (fr. 211). 171 amaa' avayKT]: 'It's absolutely necessary [that things work this way]', i.e. 'It's inescapable'. The phrase and variants thereof are attested in poetry at Pax 373; Polyzel. fr. 3. i; A. Supp. 440; S. EL 1497; OT 986, but are also very common in prose (e.g. Hdt. v. 52. 2; Hp. Loc. Horn. 44 (vi. 338. 12); PI. Tht. 2O3d; D. 20. 26). Euripides has only -jroXXr/ p.' avayKi] et sim. (Ale. 378; Med. 1013; Hec. 396; Ph. 1674). Y"P T O i : 8in. adds emphasis to yvous; 'when I realized these things'. Cf. 158* with n. 172 Ifiaurov €0€pdii€uaa: 'I took care of myself, gave myself the treatment I required' (LSJs. Oepa-jreviu 11.4). TTp6sT&Jv0€&JvisusedbyAristophanic characters only in entreaties (e.g. 228*; Pax 376*; EC. 562*) and urgent questions (e.g. Eq. 1390*; Av. 69*, 996*; PL 1176*); cf. Barrett on E. Hipp. 219. But however interested Inlaw may profess to be in the details of Agathon's 'self-treatment', part of the answer to his question is obvious ('I put on women's clothes') and another part is best left as innuendo (' I contrived to get myself fucked by as many men as possible'; cf. 35 n., 175 n.). TT&JS KT\. is thus little more than a weak narrative feint
L I N E S 168-76
115
which provides an opportunity for Eur. to interrupt (173-4) and take over the conversation (176-92); and in any case, Inlaw soon learns at first hand what it takes to turn a man into a seeming woman (213—68). 173—4 Z 75 n -> c f- !&7 n. Eur. steps over to join the conversation. Lit. 'Stop crying jSaii jSavl' (the noise made by a dog), i.e. 'Stop yapping at him, harassing him!' jSav^w (onomatopoeic) is first attested at Heraclit. 22 B 97 (in the compound form Karaj3avl,iu) and is otherwise exclusively poetic vocabulary (895 (paratragic; also of snarling vituperation); Cratin. fr. 6. i; A. Pers. 13 (corrupt; see Broadhead's Appendix I, pp. 249-50); Ag. 449 with Fraenkel ad loc.; Theoc. 6. 10; Lye. 1453). Cf. V. 1401—5 (a verbally abusive woman compared to a barking dog); Taillardat §487. For the formation, cf. aia£o) (e.g. E. Tr. 145), (1095 withn.), fi,v£,a> (231 withn.), ol^iii^ia (248 withn., 1001 with n., 1081/2), oAoAt>£a) (129 n.), OTOTt>£a) (1081/2 with n.), ev£,a> (A. Ag. 1308), co£a) (e.g. V. 1526/7). Kai yap eyw: 'for I too' (GP 108); said in a tone of confident superiority. f\ (Dindorf 1825) is the proper Attic form, although rjv (RS; a very common corruption) is used occasionally metrigratia (e.g. PI. 29, 695, 822; 'E.Hipp. 1012 with Barrett on 700; HF 1416); cf. 478; Harrison, CR 56 (1942) 6-9; Stevens on E. Andr. 59. TT]\IKOUTOS is late 5th- and 4th-c. Attic vocabulary, first attested at A. Ag. 1620; first in prose in the orators (e.g. Lys. 21. 20; Is. 3. 55) and Plato (e.g. Prt. 3i8b). r|viK' ripxofirjvuoeiv refers in the first instance to Eur. himself, but the real function of the clause is to cast Agathon (to whom Eur. is comparing himself) as a rank—and quite pretentious—amateur at the art of tragedy, despite the fact that he had won at the Lenaia five years earlier (29-30 n.). 175 What Eur. means in 173—4 is I used to talk very similar nonsense'. But Inlaw takes him to be saying 'I used to dress and behave in the same way', and he accordingly reacts with contempt and disgust. A typical 'bomolochic' interjection (45 n.), to which Eur. fails to react (cf. 176 n.). [no. TOV Ai': 20 n. ou £r]\ti <j€ rfjs iraiSeuaetos: 'I don't begrudge you your training'; cf. 1118 ov ^r/XiuoL ae ('I don't begrudge you [this passion]'; also contemptuous). iraiSevais (late 5th- and4th-c. vocabulary, attested elsewhere in poetry of the classical period only at Nu. 93 7b, 986, 1043; cf. Handley, 'Nouns' 131—2 ('current educated speech')) is properly 'the treatment given a boy' and thus continues the process of presenting Agathon indirectly as a very young man (cf. 134 withn., 173-4, 177-8 n.). But Inlaw means something more ambiguous (and considerably more hostile), like the English 'rearing'; cf. 172 n. £-»jAa) ae + gen. is a favourite Aristophanic construction (Ach. 1008 (lyric) with Olson ad loc.; Eq. 837 (trochaic tetrameter); V. 1450 (lyric)). 176 d\\(d) followed by an imper. marks 'a transition from arguments for action'—i.e. 173—4—'to a statement of the action required' (GP 13—14),
Il6
COMMENTARY
making it clear that Eur. simply 'fails to hear' Inlaw's comment in 175 (where see n.). For the omission of the antecedent of the rel. clause tovuep OUV€K' ^\0ov, e.g. Nu. 238; Ra. 108—9;-P/. 1200; cf. Headlam on Herod. 5. 53. OVVCKO. appears to be the standard 5th-c. Attic form, at least in poetry, although the inscriptional evidence is inadequate and the MSS often confused; cf. Dover on Nu. 238; Olson on Pax 210; Threatte ii. 660—9. €(1:64—5 n. Xeye:'Say [what you ha veto say]!', i.e. 'Go ahead! Speak up!', as at e.g. V. 944*; Lys. 214*; Ra. 1442*. 177-8 ~E. fr. 28(from^4zo/os; 'the mark of wisdom lies in neat abridgement of a lengthy speech'), with Eur.'s original waiSe; replaced by A-yadiav; for the implicit juvenilization of Agathon, cf. 134—5 n -> I 73~4> Z 75 n - Ar. also quotes or alludes to Aiolos at Nu. 1371— 2; Pax 114—15, i i 9 ( ~ E . f r r . 17-18; cf. Olson ad locc.); Ra. 850, 1081, 1475 (~ E. fr. 19), and seems to have presented an extended parody of the tragedy in his two lost plays entitled Aiolosikon (cf. Aiol. test. v. 10—11). Forthe idea, cf. Lucret. 6. 1083; P.-L. Courier, Pamphlet des pamphlets (CEuvres completes: Paris, 1940, 217) 'c'est un merite non commun . . . de clore en peu de mots beaucoup de sens'; Andre Gide, Billets a Angele (CEuvres completes xi: Paris, 1936, 39) 'Le classicisme, c'est 1'art d'exprimer le plus en disant le moins.' For the usefulness of the sentiment in allowing Ar. to avoid repeating material already explained on stage, 82-5 n. aotfiou -upos dvSpos: '[it is] the mark of a wise man', with aninfin. expected in place of the indef. rel. clause oaris KT\.; cf. KG ii. 441—2; Barrett on E. Hipp. 426—7; Handley on Men. Dysk. "j66ff. ('The illogical correlation between main clause and relative clause is of a kind which is familiar in sententious reflections'); Poultney 188. 179—80 Eur.naturallyusestragiclanguageinhissupplication. 'struck by a novel'—i.e. 'terrible'—'misfortune'; paratragic (esp. E. Ale. 405, 856 193-4 n.); cf. A. Pers. 1008; Ch. 31; Rau 112). ^v^opa is common in but scarcely confined to tragedy (e.g. A. Pers. 846; S. OT 99; E. IT 549). For forms of -n-f-irXriYfiievos in tragedy, e.g. A. Ag. 544*, 1345*; S. Tr. 931*; E. Med. 1387*; adesp. tr. fr. 323a*; in Aristophanic paratragedy at Ach. 1218* (cf. Ra. 1214). IK€TT]S diYHv-i)v ('after kneading his voice [to make it] soft'). d-uaXos ('delicate, tender') is commonly used of women (e.g.Av. 668 (coupled withXevKo$);Ec. 902; Sapph. frr. 94. 16; 122; Anacr. PMG^o) and in particular of their hands and feet (e.g. Lys. 418; Alex. fr. 49. 2-3; Timocl. fr. 24. 6; A. Pers. 537; Ale. fr. 45. 6), those of men properly having been hardened by physical labour (e.g. H. Od. 21. 149-51). But the adj. is also applied in slightly later sources to sexually desirable boys (e.g. adesp. com. fr. 735. 2; PI. Snip. I95C, I9&a; Asclep. ^4Pxii. 161. i = 777? 902; cf. Cratin. fr. *I95- 3 (coupled with XevKos)). The adj. (first attested at Xenoph. fr. B 3. 5; cf. adesp. PMG 927(6). 2 (undated)) can be used of either men (e.g. EC. 427; Anaxand. fr. 35. 2) or women (E. I A 386); cf. 233. Eur. thus closes his description of Agathon as he began it, with a relatively neutral term; cf. 191 n. For the act. infin. where English expects the pass., cf. 680-2 e^f/iav-ris opav;Nu. 1172; V. 821; Av. 1710; EC. 387; KG ii. 14-15.
L I N E S 433-48
IQI
as Kritylla wife of Antitheos, of the deme Gargettos (898 with n.; cf. 380 n.), and considerably older than the first (896), steps forward, takes the garland from the coryphaeus and puts it on her head (cf. 380 n., 431—2 n.), and begins to speak. iveKa Kaurr|: Thus Parson (Tracts (London, 1815) 30); R's IvfK avrfj (sic) is a simple haplography. «ai is needed with 'I too', i.e. in addition to the first speaker. -uapfjXGov: 'came forward [to speak]' (e.g. Eup. fr. 102. 2; Hdt. viii. 80. 2; D. 7. 20; Ex. 44. i; Aeschin. i. 193)2. 47). 444-5 are a metrical version of the sort of thing probably said routinely in the Assembly and especially the lawcourts when a second speaker wished to bolster the case made by the first. Cf. Lys. 14. 3 eKaarov vp,ds SiSd^w ('Archestratides has offered an adequate indictment as regards the rest. But whatever he has left out, I will instruct you about each matter individually'); 27. i. a 8' lyi ireirov8a: The first speaker's remarks were very general and accused Eur. of wronging women as a group; now we hear the voice of direct personal experience. 446 Ifioi . . . (6) dvr|p: 'my husband'; for the 'sympathetic dat.', Schwyzer ii. 147—8. No &e answers jiev, for the second half of the sentence takes a different construction (dyoi for eyo; &e TO.VTO. vel sim.). Cyprus was under firm Persian control during the Peloponnesian War years; cf. Maier, CAH* vi (1994) 297-326, esp. 306-17. Athens had last intervened (unsuccessfully) on the island in 449 (Th. i. 112. 2—4), but had Kritylla's husband died in the fighting then, her children would be in their late 305 and 405 by now and she would have no need to support them. Although the specificity of the description is striking, there is no reason to think that Athenian forces were involved in the coup that brought Evagoras I to power in Cyprian Salamis some time around 411 (Isoc. 9. 28-32; D.S. xiv. 98. i; cf. IG I 3 113; M. J. Osborne, Naturalization in Athens ii (Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van Belgie, Klasse der Letteren 101: Brussels, 1982) 21—4). Perhaps some Athenians were involved as mercenaries or the like, or Kritylla's husband is supposed to have been a merchant and her complaint exploits the theme of the pathos of dying far from home. Being widowed and never remarrying seems to have been the norm for Athenian women, especially if they had children by their first husband; cf. Gallant 26-7. 447-8 -uaiSdpia -uevTe: waiSdpiov is a pathetic diminutive, 'five little children'. The effect is magnified by the fact that this appears to be a relatively large family and other children would almost certainly have been lost in childbirth or infancy (cf. Gallant 22-6); the speaker has had a very hard life. Cf. 637 with n. aY" KT\.: Cf. 444-5 n. Under normal circumstances, a woman whose husband died returned to her paternal
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household (Harrison i. 38-9), perhaps leaving her children to be raised by their father's relatives, as Mantitheos' mother does after her husband dies at D. 40. 6. That Kritylla was instead (for reasons she does not explain) left to her own resources increases the pathos of her situation considerably. jioXis: 'barely, with great difficulty'. 5th- and 4thc. vocabulary, first attested at A. Ag. 1082; Eu. 864, and widely distributed thereafter in comedy (e.g. 1024; Ach. 890; Cratin. fr. 255) and tragedy (e.g. S. Ant. 290; E. Andr. 811) and in prose (e.g. Th. i. 12. 4; And. i. 44; PI. Tht. I42b). <jT€avr]-n-\oKoua(a): The compound is otherwise attested only at Sapph. fr. 125 (cited by 2R 401). For garland-making as a profession, Arist. fr. 228; Thphr. HPvi. 8. i. This was piece-work (457— 8) which required little capital or credit and must have been done only by the very poor who lacked the strong back and mobility needed to be a porter (for which, Poll. vii. 130) or the like. For female market-vendors and the like, Brock, CQ NS 44 (1994), 336-46, esp. 340-1; Lewis 91-8, esp. 94—5 (with discussion of a red-figure cup (London, British Museum E6i) that may show a female garland-vendor). The extended discussion of flowers and their seasons in connection with garland-making at Thphr. HPvi. 8 leaves no doubt that harvesting wild flowers to be woven into garlands was a minor year-round industry, although we know next to nothing else about it. ipoaKov: The vb. 'is properly used of beasts, and is transferred to men only with a sense of irksomeness'—as here—'or contempt' (Neil on Eq. 255—7); c f- Av. 1357—9 (where the law requiring nestlings to support their old fathers uses rpe(j>iu, but the rebellious Father-beater uses jSoaKw); Lys. 1203-4; Headlam on Herod. 7. 44; Taillardatp. Son. 3. Ivrais fiuppivais: 'in the [place in the Agora (cf. 457—8) where they sell] myrtle garlands'; the implication is that Mika kept her children with her as she worked, no one else being available to take care of them. Henderson's suggestion that Kritylla hints at doing a bit of work as a prostitute on the side (MM§i 25, comparing the colloquial use of p.vpTov to refer to the female genitalia at e.g. Lys. 1004; PI. Com. fr. 188. 14; and the significant name 'Myrrhine' juxtaposed to 'Kinesias' at Lys. 850-2) may appeal to those unwilling to take her woes at face value. For garlands made of myrtle branches, 36-7 n. For sections of the Agora called after the commodities sold there, e.g. Eq. 1375; V. 789; Av. 13, 1288; Lys. 557; EC. 3O3b ('the garlands'); fr. 258. i; Cratin. fr. 209; Eup. fr. 327. 2-3; Pherecr. fr. 2. 2 ('the garlands'); Antiph. fr. 83. 2 ('the garlands'); Lys. 23. 6; Thphr. Char. 11.4; cf. Poll. ix. 47; x. 19; Agora iii (i957) 193-205. 449—51 retds fi€V ouv d\\' / • • • vuv 8': 424—6 n. For reius = ~rrpo TOV, cf. fr. 543; Eup. fr. 384. 3. r)|_uKciKios is 'tolerably, more or less'. rj^iKaKos is attested else where at S. fr. 1051; Alex. fr. 10, and is most likely colloquial. 'I kept myself fed' ;cf. 44 7-8 n.;Eq. 1258.
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93~4 Tilariv;: 95 n. 194 = E. Ale. 691 (Pheres declines to die for Admetos) 'You find life pleasant; do you suppose your father doesn't!' Obviously a striking and well-known verse, given the allusion to it also at Nu. 1415 K\dovGi TraioV?, -Trarepa 6' ov K\O,€IV 8oK€ts', ('Children wail, and do you not think it right that their father wail?'). Ar. quotes from or alludes to Ale. (438 BC) elsewhere at Ach. 893-4 (~ -Ale. 367-8); Eq. 1251-2 (~ Ale. 181—2); Av. 1244 (~ Ale. 675); and perhaps at 179 (where see n.); V. 753 (~ Ale. 866-7?); and^4«. 539 (cf. Ale. 442). Cf. Introduction p. Ivin. 48. For the antithesis (appropriate in any case in the mouth of Agathon; cf. 146-7 n.), cf. Lys. 763-4; E. Hec. 1256. 195—7 An explanation of the significance for the current situation of the quotation in 194, justified in 198—9 by reference to a general gnomic statement. For eywye standing alone as an affirmative response to a question, e.g. Ach. 777*; Eq. 23*',Ec. 91*; S. Tr. 1248*; PLEuthphr. 6e. Presumably colloquial. [ir\ . . . k\fniar\'s'- 'Don't expect!' (Goodwin §259; Rijksbaron 38—9). eAm£o> (for the older eArno) is attested first at A. Pers. 746 and is thereafter widely distributed in prose (e.g. Hdt. iii. 157. i; Th. iii. 30. 3; Aeschin. 3. 221) and poetry, especially tragedy (e.g. Av. 956; Emped. 31611.2; S.Ai. iO52;E..Hj/>/>.97;Neophr. TrGF 15 F 1.4). 154—6 n. uc|>e^eiv: 'to suffer', as at Lys. 841; contrast 756 with n. Kai Yap: 67-8 n. av fiaivoifi€0' civ: 'I should be a lunatic!, I'd have to be crazy!'; cf. 470 with n.; PL 1070; Stevens 16. The use of the pi. for sing, helps maintain an elevated tone in an otherwise colloquial expression; cf. 154—6 n. For one av followed very closely by another, e.g. Ach. 307; S. OT 339; fr. 739; E. Hipp. 961; Tr. 1244; cf. 440-1; KG i. 246-8; Bruhn, Anhang§n6; Slings, CP 87 (1992) 102-5. .e. TO aov, cf. 151—2 n. OLKCLUS: 'as if it were your own'—as, of course, it is. The adv. is first attested here and at Lys. 1118, and is otherwise confined to prose (e.g. Th. ii. 60. 6; Lys. i. 39; PI. MX. 2436) and New Comedy (e.g. Men. fr. 236. 12; Damox. fr. 2. 58) and is thus presumably colloquial. 198—9 = Agathon TrGF 39 F 34? ('It is right to withstand misfortune not by inventiveness but by submission'; cf. Dover, GH 140). For the function of the verses in the argument, 195-7 n - F°r the antithesis (typical of the historical Agathon's poetic style), 146—7 n. For the rhyming distich, cf. Agathon TiGF 39 F 11 epyov ws mipepyov eK-irovov^eBa', E. Norden, Die antike Kunstprosa vom vi. Jahrhundert v. Chr. bis in die Zeit der Renaissance (Leipzig, 1898) 832-3; Bruhn, Anhang §243. For the sentiment (a commonplace), e.g. A. Pers. 293-4; S. Ph. 1316-17; fr. 585 with Pearson ad loc.; E. Med. 1018; HF 1228 with Bond ad loc.; Ph. 1763; Dover, GPM 167-9 For 'devices' as typically Euripidean, 94 n. The presence of rf-^yaapa also at E. Or. 1053 (otherwise unattested before X. HG vi.
L I N E S I93-2O5
121
4. 7, except at Or. 1560 (probably interpolated)) may suggest that Ar. has borrowed the word from some lost tragedy (thus Willink ad loc.), perhaps by Agathon himself (above). TOLS Tf-^yaapaaiv is echoed by in 199. €p€iv agrees properly only with and with -r^vaa^aaiv only by zeugma; 2R paraphrases eKevyeiv ('to escape'). d\\ci TOIS Tra6r|fia<jiv: i.e. dAAd ru> -rrda^eiv, in Agathon's crabbed style (151—2 n.). Echoed in 201*. Trafrij^a is widespread in late 5th-c. tragedy and prose (e.g. S. Tr. 142; E.Hipp. 570; Hdt. i. 207. i; Th. i. 23. i; Hp.Ep. v. 80 (v. 250. 6)), but is not attested elsewhere in comedy. 200-1 A 'bomolochic' interjection, and therefore ignored by both Agathon and Eur.; cf. 45 n. KOI [ir\v introduces a new point, while Y(E) emphasizes the word immediately preceding; 'well you certainly are . . .'. Cf. Jebb on S. Ai. 531; GP 353-5; Wakker, in NAGP 215-17. A.KaTmTvya>vis someone who likes tobe fucked 'down the arse' (cf. 59—62 n.). Apparently a common colloquial form of abuse, although Inlaw means the word literally; cf.Ach. 79 with Olson ad loc. (with further primary references, including a number of 5th-c. graffiti); Fraenkel, KIB i. 147-50; MM §462. eupuTrpuKTOs: Lit. 'wide-arseholed', i.e. as a result of having been buggered so often (cf. above), although what follows makes it clear that (pace MM §460) the word functioned also as a general form of abuse, rather like the modern 'cocksucker' (rarely intended as a comment on a man's actual sexual behaviour). Cf. 199* with n. What is expected in apposition to \6yoiaiv ('not inwards') is dAAdroiy e'pyoiy ('but in deeds'; cf. S. OT 517; OC 782). But Agathon prefers to play the passive part, and Inlaw accordingly refers not to 'what you've done'but to 'what's been done to you' (i.e. 'the many good hard fuckings you've received'); cf. 206—7. 202 Eur.'s question cuts through the obfuscations in 195—9, esp. 198—9: the real problem is that Agathon is afraid of something, as he readily admits (203-5). TI 8' OJTIV on SeSoiKas l\0€iv;: 'What is it that makes you afraid to go?'; an awkward combination of TI S' earlv STL oeooiKas; ('What are you afraid of?') and TI oeooiKas eX&eiv; ('Why are you afraid to go?'). Cf. Eq. 183. auroae ('to there') is attested only in comedy (also Lys. 873; Metag. fr. 6. 4*; Antiph. fr. 57. 20) and prose (e.g. Th. iv. i. 4; PI. Phd. 68b; X. An. iv. 7. 2; a variant reading at Hdt. iii. 124. i), and is presumably colloquial. 203 KCIKIOV aTfo\oifiT)v av r\ au: Picking up on Eur.'s original description of his dilemma in 181-2. KO.KIOV is an adverbial ace., 'more miserably' (KGi. 315). For the expression (here intended literally), 757 n. Cf. 96 n.; V. 48*; Men.Dysk. 625*. 77019; is 'how [can it be that you would perish more miserably than me]?'; cf. 188 withn. 204-5 Sc. dTToXoifjLrjvav. SOKUV: Agathon admits only that the women think he does these things, not—as Inlaw and Eur. repeatedly
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insist (e.g. 35, 153, 200-1, 206)—that he actually does them (although cf. 257-8 with n.). The words yuvaiKuv ipYa appear * in a paratragic context at Lys. 708, and both passages are most likely inspired by a lost tragic exemplar. vuKT€pr|aia (attested nowhere else before Lucian) is modelled on i^epTjaioy (e.g. A. Ag. 22; Hdt. viii. 98. i; cf. H. Od. n. 246 ^lAorijCTia e'pya). As Wilamowitz and Kaibel note (cf. Austin (1987) 75), R's hapax legomenon vvKrepeiaia (as if from epei'So) (cf. 488 with n.)) is out of place with Agathon's euphemisms (aggressively punctured by Inlaw in 206-7). 'to steal for myself the sex women would otherwise enjoy'. Cf. EC. 722 the similarity suggests a common tragic model, perhaps by Agathon himself, v^apird^u} ('filch'; first in Ar. and Herodotus) is attested in the classical period only in comedy (e.g. Eq. 1200; EC. 921; Philem. fr. 3. 14) and prose (e.g. Hdt. v. 50. 3 (in a different sense); X. Cyr. viii. 4. 16; Arist. HA 6o9 a io), and must be colloquial. For Kv-jrpis (properly an epithet of Aphrodite, 'Cyprian') as a euphemism for sex, e.g. Eub. fr. 82. 2; Ibyc. PMGFzSj. 4; [A.] PV6so; E. Ba. 315; cf. Olson on Ach. 988-9. 206—7 204—5 n. Like 200—1 (where see n.), another 'bomolochic' interjection ignored by the other characters on stage. For E8ou y^ followed by a contemptuous repetition of something said by the previous speaker, e.g. Eq. 87; Nu. 818, 1469; Lys. 441; EC. 136 (all line-initial); cf. GP 129; Lopez Eire 103. vr) Aia introduces the mot juste Inlaw insists on calling a spade a spade. Cf. Henderson on Lys. 715; PI. 286—7 TrXovaiois . . . / (Ka.)vf is adversative and ouv lends it emphasis; 'to the contrary!', i.e. 'what you ought to say, is . . .!' (GP475; Lopez Eire 127-9; c f- 861; PL 287 (above)). For the delayed position of the particles (normally first or second in their clause), GP478. r| -up6aais is '[the general sense of] the excuse' as opposed to the specific terms in which it has been cast (206). For the noun, the meaning of which ranges in comedy from 'excuse' to 'pretext' to 'reason, cause', but is never altogether positive, D.H. Th. p. 427. 10 (discussing Th. i. 23. 6, but getting the historian's atria and Trp6aais the wrong way round); Pearson, TAPA&3 (1952)205-23; 103 (1972)381-94; Gomme—Sandbach on Men. Kon. 20; Arnott on Alex. fr. 132. i (with further bibliography). The crucial point is that any -jrpcxjxiais, be it true or false (or merely inadequate or incomplete), must represent an attempt to supply a believable justification for behaviour—as, Inlaw concedes, Agathon's does (eiKortos ^X €l )Y€ 'n 2O7 'serves to define more sharply the new idea introduced' by drdp, 'this, and nothing else' (GP 119; cf.Ec. 1067). Fordrdp, 87* n. 208 riouv;: 'What about it, then?' (cf. Lys. 861; PL 94; Lync.fr. i. 17 (all followed by a question)); getting back to the point (TO.VTO. = the plan described
L I N E S 2O4-I2
123
in 184-7) after the long discussion of the motives of the various parties in 188—207. TTor|<ms TdUTa; anticipates a polite ravra TTOTJCTO) (Lys. 506; Ra. 1515; Beobachtungen 81—3), not a cold rebuff. 'Don't imagine [that I will]!', i.e. 'Forget about it!' For the position of ye (idiomatic after juiy in negative commands; cf. V. 922), GP 125-6. 209-10 TpiaKaKoSaifitdv: Not attested in tragedy but common in Ar., generally * (Ra. 19; EC. 1098; cf. 229 with n., 875 TpiaKaKoSai^oy*; Ach. 1024), and in Menander (e.g. Epitr. 145; Pk. 978). For the prefix rpiameaning 'utterly', Olson on Ach. 400. us dii6\td\(a): 'I've had it!, I'm done for!' (for exclamatory 019, I3on.); cf. 1212. * at Ach. 473; Eq. 752; cf. 77 d-iroAaiA'*; PI. 850. Tragedy prefers the aor., although the pf. is found in this sense at e.g. S. Ph. 742; E. Hipp. 1350; adesp. tr. fr. 91. Eur.'s great plan having failed (and the expectations of the audience in the Theatre having thus been subverted), Inlaw—who has been very much on the conversational sideline since 176—abruptly breaks into the action withanewproposal. The repeated voc. adds urgency to the plea (e.g. Pax 1198; Av. 1271-3; EC. 1129; S. Ph. 799; E. Tel. fr. 147. 81 Austin). For the word order (poetic), cf. Ach. 475 E. Hel. 1451; Or. 124.6; KG i. 49; Fraenkel, Agamemnon ii, p. 284 n. 2. Genuinely affectionate, as generally in Ar.'s plays (e.g. Eq. 6n; Nu. 1464; Pax 1198; Lys. 950; cf. Dickey 119), where it is none the less frequently accompanied by a request of one sort or another, as here. to KTjSeard: 74 n. [ir\ aaurov mpoStis: 'don't let yourself down!', i.e. 'don't give up!'; cf. PI. Com. fr. 66 ('Gather your courage and don't give up!'; supposedly said to women in childbirth); PI. Cri. 45C aavrovTrpoSovvai('to give up'). Probably an ill-attested colloquialism; cf. E. Andr. 191 211-12 -utis ouv TTor|atd Sfjra;: 'Sfjra denotes that the question springs out of something which another person . . . has just said' (GP 269); 'Well, [if I shouldn't give up (cf. 210),] then how should I act?' Cf. 618 with n.; Pax zoo 7TO>9 ovv ov Syr' evravda KareXet^d^s ^JLOVO'S; For ovv . . . Srjra (an almost exclusively Aristophanic combination), cf. also 226 with n.; GP 272. For Inlaw's reaction to Agathon's refusal, cf. Xanthias' response at Ra. 178—9 to the corpse's refusal to carry Dionysos' luggage: OVK olpuj^frai; / eyo; j3aSLOvp.aL ('To hell with him! I'll go myself). 'tell him to wail long and loud!', i.e. 'to go to hell!' For the colloquial use of «Aaio), e.g. Ach. 1131 with Olson ad loc.; Eq. 433 K\aifiv ae p.aKpa KeXevaas; Pax 255; Hippon. fr. 86. 18; Fraenkel on A. Ag. 1148; Stevens 15—16. For the spelling «Aai- rather than «Aa- (cf. 1063), see MacDowell on V. 584; Threatte ii. 503. For fiaxpa, in this sense, e.g. V. 584; Lys. 520; Eup. fr. 328; Diph. fr. 42. 36; Men. Epitr. 160, 1068; Peric. 370—1 p.aKpa / KO.I p.e-yaXa (an even stronger
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form). The variant {laxpav appears at Av. 1207 (RVEA); PI. i n (RV); Antiph. fr. 217. 6 (CE); Men. Georg. 57. 'and do whatever you wish with me'; frighteningly broad licence, of which Eur. takes immediate and full advantage (cf. 215—17). Cf. Th. ii. 4. 7 (unconditional surrender), on av + subjunc. is expected (cf. Th. iv. 69. 3; X. An. iv. 8. 11), but on + indie, is regular when the vb. is (e.g. Nu. 439; V. 723; Pax 206, 1204; Lys. 98; Ra. 3; Th. vii. 85. i; Lys. 7. 40; Herod. 5. 6 with Headlam ad loc.) or ^pjj^o) (751). Sc. e{i,e, 'take [me] and . . .', as at Av. 56 Xidia Kot/iov XajSwv ('take a stone and knock with it!'); S. 00475 with Jebb adloc. For the quasi-pleonastic use of Xapwv (routinely *) with an imper., e.g. 253; Ach. 188; Ra. 616; 5. Ant. 398; E. Ale. 1020; cf. 285. Inlaw's offer represents an unexpected—if not altogether unmotivated (cf. 72-4 with 74 n.)—narrative twist, which abruptly makes it clear to the audience in the Theatre why Ar. has included the old man in the action (although not why Eur. brought him on his errand to Agathon's house, a loose end that is simply left hanging). Eur.' s immediate acceptance of the offer in 213-14, with no further questions asked or specific orders given about what Inlaw is to say in the women's assembly (cf. 184—6 n., 269—76 n.), is an even less neatly concealed narrative seam: Inlaw looks no more like a woman (cf. 190—2) than does Eur. himself (although he enjoys the advantage of anonymity; cf. 189), and has displayed none of the verbal brilliance Eur. claims made him think of approaching Agathon (184—7, esp. 187); cf. Silk 208—9 (emphasizing the discontinuity of characterization). But Ar. has set the plot up from the first to have Inlaw go off to the Thesmophoria when Agathon refuses, and he steamrollers the question of motivation and has Eur. do what has to be done to move the action forward. 213—78 For a similar (but even more extended) scene in which an old man is dressed in new clothes and taught—ultimately unsuccessfully—how to behave in a hostile and very foreign social environment, V. 1131-1264. 213—14 2 i i — 1 2 n. dye vuv, €ii€i8r| marks a transition; cf. 107 n.; V. 2ii*; Lys. 1273*. aye vvv ('Come on now!') is a regular line-opening formula before a vowel (e.g. .Eg. ion; Nu. 489; Pax 1056; cf. 947); before a consonant, aye or/ is generally used (e.g. 652 with n., 765; Ach. 98; Eq. 155; Lys. noo). aauTOveuiSiStos: 'you are offering yourself; for the expression, cf. 217, 249; V. 1130; PI. 781. Henderson on Lys. 659/60 misrepresents the distribution of the vb., which is attested elsewhere in comedy not only at Hermipp. fr. 43. 2 but at Pax 333; Cratin. fr. 93, and in other genres at e.g. H. 77. 23. 559; Hes. Op. 396; Thgn. 561; E. Med. 186, although the specific sense 'increase, advance' is primarily prosaic (LSJ s.v. III). diroSuOi: Cf. Cratin. fr. 330 a,Troov8i TTJV a-roXrp. Accompanied by a gesture. A ifudriov is a rectangular, woollen outer garment of a sort worn by both men and women (esp. EC.
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526-7, 535), at least during the coldermonths of the year(cf. V. 1055-9), although the need for Inlaw to take off his own himation and put on another so as to pass for a woman (250, 261 with n.) makes it clear that the two sexes wore different styles. Cf. Stone 155—66, esp. 155—60. For ('there you are!' vel sim.) in response to a command, indicating completion of the action, e.g. .Eg. 22; Nu. 778*; Av. 175, 550; PI. Com. fr. 71.9; A. Supp. 438; S. OC 173; cf. 266 with n.; GP 251-2. Sc. eon, '[it's] on the ground!'; cf. Ach. 342. Inlaw drops his himation (which was normally draped over the left shoulder and gathered in at the front, and could easily be taken off), just as other characters do at 568, 656, 1181. 215—17 are, strictly speaking, unnecessary, since 218 could follow directly after 214. But the obvious expectation when Inlaw is made to shed his himation in 214 is that Eur. will begin dressing him up like a woman (cf. 92) rather than shaving his beard and burning the hair off his crotch. These verses thus have a practical programmatic significance: Eur.'s announcement of his plans in 215-16 serves to alert the audience in the Theatre about what is to come (which is not quite what they had thought was coming, although the cross-dressing does finally take place at 249— 63), while Inlaw's response in 216—17 prefigures the mix of foreboding and resignation he displays throughout the scene. 215 According to2 R , Ar. 'got these things from Cratinus'/e\6v wore ('I ought never to have'), Beobachtungen 115—16. p.ri and more = ^iroTe, as at 344; Ach. 221. 218—65 Cf. Ach. 414—79, where Dikaiopolis borrows a long series of items from Eur., but Eur. himself remains largely passive throughout the proceedings (esp. Ach. 432), as Agathon does here (cf. 219-20 with n.). For borrowing household items and the like from friends and neighbours, Olson on Pax 261. 218-35, 236-45 Two roughly parallel incidents: (i) Eur. gets the equipment he wants and issues Inlaw orders, with which Inlaw complies (21821, 236—9); (2) after part of the work is complete, Inlaw complains about his suffering (222—6, 240—2); (3) Eur. offers reassurances and convinces the old man to complete the process (226-9, 243-5); and (4) Inlaw offers some weak jokes with sexual overtones about the transformation he has undergone (232—5, 245—6, 248). 218—20 Cf. 249—52; less substantial parallels at 257—62, esp. 257—8. For fievroi with au in the parenthesis, 'giving the reason why this particular person is addressed in this particular way' (GP 400), cf. Av. 933-4. 'you carry a razor'. A hapax legomenon; cf. 161—3 n is late 5th- and 4th-c. vocabulary; absent from tragedy but common in comedy (e.g. Eq. 1070*; Av. 1440*; PI. Com. fr. 168. i; Anaxandr. fr. 58. 3) and prose (e.g. Hdt. ii. 25. 3; Th. i. 68. 2; PI. Euthphr. 3b), and presumably colloquial. ^pr\aov TI . . . £upov: 'Would you mind
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lending us a razor?' The indefinite softens the imper.; cf. Men.Epitr. 381 ('Have you such a thing as a box?'). Razors are referred to first at H. //. 10. 173, where the image of 'the razor's edge' (subsequently at Thgn. 557; A. Ch. 883 (MSS); fr. **gg. 22; S. Ant. 996; E. HF 630; Hdt. vi. n. 2) seems already to be proverbial. Razors were used by women (and—at least according to the comic poets—effeminate men; cf. 191 withn.)to shave unwanted body-hair (Ec. 65-7; cf. 2i6-i7n.; fr. 332. i (in a catalogue of women's accessories; from Th. II)). The 'split anapaest' at change of speaker is paralleled at ^4c/i. 165. r|fiiv: Cf. 250 with n. auros Xdfipave / KT\.: Throughout this scene, Agathon himself seems never to hand anything to Eur. or Inlaw, but merely points out items they can have if they wish (also 252, 261-2). i.e. from the foot of Agathon's couch. IK rfjs £upo8oKT]s: This is the sole surviving mention in Greek literature of a 'razor-case' (although cf. Mart. xi. 58. 9), and whether Agathon's contains only one razor or a number (like Odysseus' SovpoSoxi] ('spear-rack') with its 'many spears' (H. Od. i. 128—9)) is unclear. Y€Vva'°S et: A very general commendation ('you're a good man, a gentleman!'; cf. Ra. 179 xprjaros ei KO.I yewdSajwith Dover, Frogs, p. 46; DennistononE. El. 253; Dover, GPM 95; Stevens 4) equivalent to an expression of thanks. For generosity as a mark of a good man, Dover, GPM 175—80, esp. 178; contrast 757 (being grudging as a mark of a bad man). Eur. steps over to Agathon's couch and takes a razor from the case. 221-65 Inlaw must sit on something to be shaved (221), and Eur. (who has already approached Agathon's couch to get the razor) must get from his right side (221) to his left between 223 and 230 in order to complete the process. On the simplest staging, Agathon's head is to stage right and Inlaw comes over and sits on the other end of the couch, giving Eur. access to his right cheek. When Inlaw runs away at 223—6, he heads for stage left, and Eur. chases him just far enough to be able to turn around and shave Inlaw's left cheek once Inlaw has been lured back into position (228-9). During the singeing scene, Inlaw leans on the end of the couch, pointing his arse toward Eur. (and stage left). 221 Addressed to Inlaw. There must be a brief pause between and c|>uoa, as Inlaw walks over to the couch and sits down as directed. rr|v yvaQov. 'your cheek'. yvdBos (first attested at Hes. fr. 302. 13; Hippon. frr. 79. 4; 132) is a widely distributed (e.g. Pax 237; Epich. fr. 18. 2; A. Ch. 280; Hdt. ix. 83. 2) equivalent of Homeric (e.g. //. 13. 671; found occasionally in late 5th-c. poetry metrigratia (e.g. S. fr. 507. 2;E. Hipp. 1223)); LSJs.v. ('Prose form of -yvaO^os, alsofreq. in Poets') is misleading. For puffing out one's cheeks, D. 19. 314 (evidence of pride); Batr. 56 vai-yva&os (the name of a frog). 222-3 Eur. begins to shave Inlaw's right cheek with the razor—somewhat
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inexpertly (225-6). Stage-beards were detachable (cf. Ach. 117-22 with Olson on nj—i8;Ec. 118-21,493-4, 501-2), and what must actually happen is that Eur. (whose right hand is occupied with the razor) rips off half of Inlaw's beard with his left hand during the second half of 223. Cf. 230 with n. In Ar., oifioi is normally an expression of physical pain, as here (cf. 241), or grief (232, 237); cf. Labiano Ilundain 251-65, esp. 258—65; contrast 625 withn. R's caipoL (i.e. capoi) is also attested atNu. 925 ((j3ip.oi R: o'lp.oi V). Scribal conflation of capoi and o'lp.oi is unlikely, as caipoL is attested as early as 400-350 BC on a funeral stele in Egypt (CEG 718). Note also Sapph. fr. 94. 4; A. Pers. 253 (u>ifi,oi M: u>fi,oi cett.); S. OC 820 (wtjtAot L: WjtAot cett.); EM, p. 822. 34 €K rov OC^LOI Kara €KTO,GIV TOV o els o> W^LOI (cf. Lex. Mess, f. 283v 23). u>fi,oi or u>fi,oi appears to be the high poetic form of the word, whereas Dindorf's of^oi is colloquial Attic and thus more appropriate for Inlaw; cf. Barrett on E. Hipp. 799. KeKpayis: Pf. with pres. sense, as routinely (e.g. 692; Ach. 335; V. 198; Ra. 982; Eup. fr. 113; S. Ai. 1236; [A.] PF743; Men. Sam. 226,239). IfipaXuaoiTrciTTaXov: A reference to a procedure (described in more detail at Eq. 375-81, where see Neil's n.) in which a butcher stuck a wooden peg into the mouth of a pig— or probably any animal—to jam its jaws open and grabbed the tongue to inspect it for signs of disease (although in this case the effect will be to silence Inlaw's protests). For the image, cf. 237 withn., 239 n. For similar threats, Herod. 3. 85; Luc. Vit. Auct. 22. t]v [ir\ audrras: 'unless you keep quiet'. d-rraTai laTrarai: An inarticulate cry of grief, as also (with slight variations in the form of the exclamation) at 1005*; Ach. ngo;Nu. 707; S. Ph. 743, 790; cf. 945-6 n.; Headlam on Herod. 3. 79; Labiano Ilundain 97—103. For the double exclamation both with and without the initial L, cf. V. 1338 laipoi alj3oi. Inlaw leaps up and runs off to stage left, clutching his wounded face; Eur. chases him. 224 OUTOS au, TTOI 0€is;: Cf. 610 / av-nj av, TTOI arpef/iei;; Ach. 564*; V. 854*; Lys. 728 avri) KrX.* OVTOS av is 'Hey you!' (also at e.g. 689b, 930, 1083 (all OVTOS tantum); Pherecr. fr. 135 OVTOS av, TTOL*; S. OT 532*, 1121*); a brusque, colloquial way of calling attention to an indignant question (Anredeformen 208-12; Austin, Gnomon 39 (1967) 125; Stevens 37-8 (where the references to Crates should be to Pherecrates); Moorhouse 31; Lopez Eire 112). For TTOL Dels;, cf. 1223. Sc. lepov; cf. 83 with n. The sanctuary of the Zf^val Seal ('August Goddesses'; often identified with the Erinyes) was located probably on the saddle between the Areopagos and the Acropolis and contained statues of Pluto, Hermes, and Earth (Paus. i. 28. 6 with Frazer ad loc.; Judeich 300-1). Some of the followers of Kylon sought sanctuary at their altars (Th. i. 126. n; cf. Paus. vii. 25. 1-2), and Inlaw too is eager to escape to the place to avoid being cut to pieces by Eur. (225—6), like the young
L I N E S 222-9
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triremes Hyperboles plans to send to Carthage at Eq. 1311-12. For the— occasionally precarious—protection afforded suppliants at altars, 726-7 n. For what little is known of the cult of the August Goddesses and its personnel, Sommerstein, Eumenides, pp. 10—11; Lloyd-Jones, in 'Owls to Athens' 203-11, esp. 208-10; Athenian Religion 298-9. 225 Cf. Nu. 814 ovroi [id T-IJV 'Ofj.i^X-rjv eV Ivravdoi Bevels; V. 1442 rrjv Arnj,y]rp' €r' evravdot fj,€V€ts', PI. 65 ou yap f*a Tr|v Ar|fir]Tp': Cf. Eq. 1021 ^d TT\V Armrirp'*', Ra. 42, 668, 1222; PL 64, 364. Only men swear simply by Demeter in comedy; women add the adj. $l\i)v (Antiph. fr. 26. 2; Men. Epitr. 955; Philippid. fr. 5. 4-5). Cf. Werres 45—6. Person (Advers. (Cambridge, 1812) 33) notes that 'Post iusiurandum, qualia sunt vrj Ala . . . et cetera huiusmodi, nunquam sequitur particula ye nisi alio vocabulo interposito' (cf. 20, 623-4), hence his Ar|fiT)Tp' ir' (p. 37) for R's Ar/p.-rfrpd y (in origin a majuscule error, T mistaken for P); cf. Dunbar on Av. n; K—A on Eup. fr. 286. can be used to refer not just to direction but to location; cf. Schwyzerii. 158; Starkie on V. 1442; Dover on Nu. 8i4and_Ra. 273. 226 T€fiv6fi€vos: Cf. 222-3 with n. OUKOUV . . . 8f)T(a): Common in Ar. in impatient questions; cf. 211—12 n.; Ra. 200; GP 431—2. an object of hostile laughter, mockery'; routinely presented as an intolerable situation (e.g. 936-44 with 941-2 n.; Ach. 76 with Olson ad loc., 1081, 1194-7; Eq. 713; Nu. 1238; V. 515-16, 1406; Av. 1407; PL 880; cf. Halliwell, CQ NS 41 (1991) 279-96, esp. 286-7). For a half-shaved face making a man look ridiculous, Hermipp. fr. 13; Hdt. ii. 121. S. 6 (where How and Wells compare 2 Sam. 10: 4, although the correct reading there may well be LXX's 'their beards' rather than MT's 'half their beards'); cf. D.L. 6. 33. 227 rr|v r||-uKpcupav rr|v irepav: 'one of your two cheeks'; cf. Dover on Ra. 1415. rifj:iKpaipa (first attested here) is properly 'half the head' (cf. Hsch. TI 496; K 3931-2), as also at Amips. fr. 7. 2, and thus by extension 'half of anything, as atIG IP 1356.4—5 (etc.)r]ij.iKpaipavxopo'f)s('half the sausage'); 1359. 8, and most likely Crobyl. fr. 6. I tender half of a young pig'). v|n\r|v: 'smoothf-shaven]'; cf. 232 withn., 583 yvdBovs t/iiXds ('smooth cheeks' (of Kleisthenes)). 228—9 6\iYOVfi€\€ifioi('I don't much care') and variants thereof are a regular Aristophanic expression of ostentatious indifference to a threat, warning, or the like (e.g. Eq. 1195; Nu. 1142; V. 1411, 1446; Av. 1636; Ra. 1136). |-ir)8ci|.ia)s . . . / -upoStis n«: Cf. 210; Inlaw's own words are turned back against him. ^TjSa^oiy is used routinely in desperate (or mockdesperate) pleas (e.g. 714; Ach. 590*; V. 1164*; Pax 322 p.ri&ap.tusTposTtijv 926; Av. 145; EC. 562 172* n. X^P61 Seupo: 'Get over here!' (Pax 301; Av. 1186*; Lys. 738; EC. 730). KaKoSaipuv eyu: 'Poor me!'; * at 604, 650;
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Ach. 1094; Nu. 698; V. 1166; cf. 1225 with n. KaxoSaijucw is attested in tragedy (which generally uses SuaSaijuaw) only at E. Hipp. 1362, and the distribution of the word (common in comedy; attested elsewhere at PI. Snip. I73d; Men. 78a; R. 44oa) leaves little doubt that it is colloquial. Cf. 209-10 n. Inlaw reluctantly returns to Agathon's couch and sits down; Eur. prepares to shave his left cheek. 230 ix' drpejia aaurov: 'Keep yourself still!'; cf. Hdt. ix. 54. I But Dobree's €%' a.Tpep.as ainov ('Stay still right here!'; adverbial avrov, as in 61 o) is tempting (cf. Av. 1200* (where the punctuation is disputed)), and elsewhere the pron. is always omitted with sim.(akoNu.2,6i, 743*; Av. 1244*, 1572; Ra. 339; Pherecr. fr. 6. 3; E. Or. 258). The error wouldbe a simple one; cf. Austin (1987) 76. is poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. Od. 13. 92; Bacch. 5. 7; E. Hipp. 1358 with Barrett ad loc.); first in prose in Antipho (3. 3. 10,4.7). 'keep your head up!' (imperfective), i.e. 'your chin up', so as to make his neck and cheek more accessible to the razor. TTOI povTiar]s: 'Don'tworry about it!' (247*;-Eg. 1356; V. 25,228*, gg&*;Ec. 549; S.Ph. 1404; cf. Alex. fr. 129. 3; E. Ion 257; X. Cyr. ii. 2. 4); Eur. is eager to get on with the job. tbs: 36—7 n. euTTpemris • • • mdvu: For eu-n-pe-mjy, 192 n. TTO.VV (first attested at Xenoph. fr. B i. 18) is very common in comedy (e.g. 749 with n.; Ra. 137; Eup. fr. 166; Alex. fr. 194. i) and prose (e.g. Th. vi. 18. 6; PI. Snip. 2i8c; D. 56. 37), but is attested only eight times in tragedy (with an adj. at A. Pers. 926 (problematic); Ag. 1456; Theodect. TrGF 72 F 6. 2; also E. Cyc. 646; absent from lyric) and is presumably colloquial. For TTO.VV used as an intensifier with an adj. or adv., 259, 916; Thesleff §71; Dover, G&G 53—7, esp. 54—5. (3ou\€i GedaGai aaurov;: Eur. sets the razor down on Agathon's couch and picks up a mirror (cf. 95 n., 140 n.), which he offers to Inlaw. si 8oK€i: 216-17 n. For el SoKeivel sim. as a response to povXei . . .;, PI. Cra. 383a; Thg. I2ia. 'Give [it to me]!'; cf. 261, 1115, 1196*; Ach. 584; Eq. 118; Nu. 1297; V. 1164; etc. Inlaw takes the mirror, looks into it, and does a double-take. 2 35 ou [no. Ai', d\\ci KXeiaOevrj: If Eur. is in fact playing the parodic barber (233—4 n -)> the expected response to opas aeaurov; ('Do you see yourself!') is 'Not myself, but someone much more handsome' vel sim. (cf. 233). But Inlaw instead claims to see Kleisthenes (PA 8525; PAA 575540 ~ 575545), a politically and socially prominent individual (cf. V. 1187; Lys. 621; Ra. 48; Olson on Ach. 117—18) whom Ar. ridicules repeatedly elsewhere for his beardlessness, his general femininity, and his willingness to be fucked by other men (Ach. 117-21; Eq. 1373-4; Nu. 355; Av. 829-31; Lys. 1091-2; Ra. 57, 422-4; cf. Cratin. fr. 208. 2-3; Pherecr. fr. 143) and whom he brings on stage at 574—654 as a self-appointed ally of the city's women in their struggle with Eur. (cf. 576 n.). ov p,a AC is * at e.g. V. 193; Pax 1046 ov p,aA", dAA' 'IepoK\erjs', Ra. 493; EC. 556; PL 704. RS have KXeLaOevr/v, but -i] is the proper ending for the late 5th c. (cf. 763, 848; Nu. 355 KXeiaOevri E: -vi]v cett.; Threatte ii. 173—5). Inlaw sets the mirror down on the couch.
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236-48 The second stage of the process announced in advance at 215-16 (cf. 215-1711.). 236-7 dviaraa(o): Forthe form, cf. 643*; V. 286, 998; Lys. 929*; Men. Sik. 363; E.Hec. 499*. Ka(i !)YKu*|ms ix^: 'and after bending over, remain that way!', i.e. 'and [then] bend over and stay that way!' For eyKtWoi (first attested in Ar.), Nu. 191; Ra. 425, 804; PI. Phdr. 254d; R. 359d, 5556. LSJ mistakes the part, here for a form of avaKv-miu. The new entry in Moer. e 73 e'laKvijjov, OVK e-yKvijjov .MpiCTTO^avTjy (= fr. 81 i a ) is somewhat puzzling (cf. ofj.fj.aTO. T' IKKVTTTOVTO . . . KelaKv-rrrovra of the 'eyes' of a snail at Teucer.FGrHz's£274 F3). Forego) + aor. part, serving as a periphrastic pf. (a primarily poetic usage), KG ii. 61—2; Goodwin §47; Gildersleeve §296; Aerts 128-60; West on Hes. Op. 42; cf. 706 with n. Inlaw stands up but does not yet bend over, forcing Eur. to tell him to do so again at the beginning of 239. oifioi KdKoSaifiuv: Cf. 232* with n. 'I'mgoing to become apiggy', i.e. 'I'mgoing to be treated like apiggy'; for the expression, cf. EC. 1021; frr. 608. 2; 957; Eub. fr. 119. 5; E. Fraenkel, Elementi plautini in Plauto (Florence, 1960) 24. is a diminutive of Se'Aa| ('mature pig', as opposed to a ('piglet', but also colloquially 'cunt'; cf. Olson on Ach. 738—9); cf. Ar. Byz. frr. 170—1; Schaps, JHS 116 (1996) 169—71). Hsch. & 599 reports that SeXffxixiov was also used to refer to the female genitalia, which may be part of the joke (cf. MM §113). But the main point is that pigs were singed after butchering to remove their bristles (e.g. H. //. 9. 467—8; Od. 2. 300; 14. 73—5; Semon. fr. 24. i; A. fr. 310; thus2 R ). For Inlaw as a pig, cf. 222 with n., 239. In the context of the Thesmophoria, this is entirely appropriate; cf. Introduction pp. xlviii-1; Bowie 215-17. 238 For IveyKciTtd TIS used to order a slave to fetch something out of a house, Ach. 805 cvf/Kiiru} TIS ev&oOev*', Nu. 1490 (a torch); V. 529; Pax 1149; Ra. 1304; Cratin. fr. 271. 2. 8d8' f\ \uxvov: For torches, 101-3 n- F°r lamps, Olson on Pax 688-92. Women used lamps to depilate their genital region (216—17 n.), but the scene that follows is funnier if what is stuck (very briefly) under Inlaw's arse is a large torch, which is brought out through the central stage-door by an anonymous mute slave and given to Eur. Lighted torches are common props (e.g. 294 with n.; Nu. 1490; V. 1330—1; Pax 1319; EC. 978, 1150; PL 1041, 1194; cf. Nu. 543 (running on stage with torches and cries of woe treated as a tired old convention); PL 423-5 (Furies in tragedy always carry torches); Men. Dysk. 964 with Sandbach ad loc. ('a torch lends the play's conclusion the traditional aspect of the K(jjp.os')). 239 iTriKuTrre: 'Bend over!'; the compound is attested elsewhere only in prose (e.g. X. Snip. 2. 22; Arist. HA 522 b i8) and comedy (e.g. Lys. 1003; Anaxandr. fr. 38. i; adesp. com. fr. 368) and must be colloquial 'Mind the tip of your tail now!', as if Inlaw
L I N E S 236-42
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really were a pig (237 with n.). But Kepxos was also a colloquial term for a penis (Ach. 785-7; Eub. fr. 127; Herod. 5. 45 with Headlam ad loc.; Small Objects 159 no. 114 (an early 5th-c. vase with a phallic spout labeled KEPKIQ[); cf. Eup. fr. 471; S. fr. 1078; MM§92), and Eur. is actually referring to Inlaw's stage-phallus, which must be dangling loose (cf. initial n., 643 n.). For a«poy used in predicative position of the extremities of body-parts, Ach. 638; Lys. 443; Men. Dysk. 451; LSJ s.v. I. 2. a; Gildersleeve §636. For the mid. <j>vXa,TTov, Delphic orac. Qi44 Fontenrose ap. Hdt. vii. 148. 3 Kea\riv Trev\a^o ('guard the head'). Inlawbends over. 240 Ifioi fi€\r|<j€i KT\.: Elsewhere in Ar., ep.ol p.eXriaei (always line-initial) is followed not by an oath but by TO.VTO. •/' vel sim. (1064, 1207; Ach. 933; Pax 149, 1041, 1313; PI. 229) and serves to deflect an unsolicited or unnecessary order or suggestion ('I'll take care of that!'). That the standard phrase is left incomplete suggests that Inlaw is forced to abandon what he was going to say after vr) Aia, when Eur. thrusts the torch between his legs and he abruptly realizes that his person is on fire. ii\r|v Y' OTI: 'except for the fact that . . .'; cf. Nu. 1429; Pax 675; van Leeuwen on Eq. 27 -n-Xr/v ye ('His particulis utitur qui gravissimum incommodum, quo id quod alter proposuit premitur, cum leni quadam ironia indicat'). 241—2 For24i,cf.Paxjgoifj. Lit. 'Alas, miserable [me]!', i.e. 'Woe is me!'An almost exclusively comic expression (e.g. Ach. 174*; Av. 62*; Hermipp. fr. 51. i; Pherecr. fr. 56. 3*; Antiph. fr. 257. i*; Men. Asp. 504*), attested in tragedy only at S. OT 744*; Ph. 416*, 622*. Contrast 1038 with n. For the adj., 385 n., 644 n.; Chadwick 262-5. u8up u8up KT\. is a parody of a call to one's neighbours for help in fighting a fire (cf. Plu. Rom. 20. 6; Quint. Decl. 12. 6; Prop. iv. 8. 58; Sen. Ep. 17. 3; Juv. 3. 198), with ('arse, arsehole'; cf. below) appearingparaprosdokian for OIKMV ('house'; cf. 2R). The repetition reflects the speaker's excitement; cf. 508, 514, 634—5 n -> 9 I 3~ I 5- For the ellipse of the vb. (<j>epeTevel sim.), cf. Men. Sik. 364 (water needed to revive an old man who has fainted; cf. Xenarch. fr. 7. 14; Beobachtungen 31-2); Gildersleeve §87. For similar appeals to neighbours for assistance in emergencies, Nu. 1322-3; Pax 79 (above); Men. Dysk. 594. Small fires must have been common in Athens, where most buildings were constructed at least partially of wood (cf. Nu. 1494—7 (Strepsiades burns down the Phrontisterion); Olson on Pax 99-100), and it is surprising that we hear so little about them; perhaps they were too much a part of everyday life to require comment (although cf. D. 23. 24 (a reference to a law concerned with arson)). mpiv dvriXapeaGai KT\.: 'before another arsehole catches fire in turn', i.e. 'before the fire spreads to another arsehole', in the way that flames leap from one building to the next. Cf. Austin, ZPE 57 (1984) 58 (comparing Hor. Epist. i.
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18. 84—5). TTpuKTOv irepov: TrpwKTos (also 248, 1119; cf. 1124) is crude colloquial vocabulary; cf. MM §449 ('the vox propria for the anus in comedy . . . Its low tone assured that even in the absence of a joke its mere mention could be counted on to raise a laugh'). R (or R's exemplar) lost erepov (restored to the text by Medaglia, Boll.Class.Line. iii. 3 (1982) 154-9 (cf- 4 (rp^s) 137; i? (1996) 96-100), on the basis of 77,) when the scribe's eye leapt from the first -ov to the second. 243 Gdppei. —TI Gappu;: Cf. Plaut. Cure. 182—3 face. / —quid taceam?, 553-4«a/e. /—quidvaleam?, sggpropera. —quidproperem? 8dppei is * at Ach. 830; EC. 796; PI. 328, 452, 1188. Bappw is deliberative subjunc. ('having been utterly burned up') carries on the metaphor of the house (241—2 with n.). The prefix serves as an intensifier; cf. 1215 n. For the simplex, 727 with n.; Nu. 1497; V. 1079; Av. 1580; cf. E. Supp. 640; Hel. 767; Miller 176-7. The compound is attested nowhere else before the 2nd c. 244—5 d\V OUKCT' ouSev ^payf-id aoi: 'But there's no longer anything for you to worry about'; explaining why Inlaw ought not to be afraid, despite having been burnt in his first encounter with the torch (243). Colloquial; cf. Pax 244; Ra. 1215; EC. 462, 670; Nicom. Com. fr. i. 24; PI. Euthphr. 3c; Stevens 55. For ovKer' ov&ev, e.g. Eg. 1243; Pax 685; cf. KG ii. 203—4. ('You've finished most of it', i.e. 'We're almost done') leaves no doubt that Eur. applies the torch to Inlaw's arse again, and (|>€u must be the old man's inarticulate expression of unhappy astonishment at the amount of soot that covers his rear end; cf. Lys. 312 ^euTouKcmvoti, j8aj8aid£('Aargh, the smoke! Damn it!'). Dindorf proposed v; but at Lys. 295a = 3O5a this is surely the noise the old men make as they blow their fire (cf. Lys. 293), which will not do here. Eou rfjs For an unhappy lov (Labiano Ilundain 219—25; for the accent Dover on Ra. 653) followed by exclamatory gen. (Poultney 125), cf. Lys. 295b = 3O5b lav lov rov KO.TTVOV. aajSoXos ('soot') is said by Phryn. PS, p. 28. 1—3, to have been treated as masc. by Hipponax (= fr. 185) and is elsewhere occasionally first-declension (e.g. Semon. fr. 7. 61). 246 cu66s: 'dark' or 'black', as also at Bacch. fr. 4. 69 (of spiders); S. fr. **2&9a. 54 (probably of an Egyptian); Call. Dion. 69 (of ash); cf. the use of the cognate adj. aWoijj (frequently glossed 'black' by 2) in Homer (cf. LfgrE s. aidcm-, and note the use of aWoi/i and aidwv in this sense in Oppian (H. i. 133, 510) and the term AlBiotji ('dark-face') of men who live nearest the sun's rising and setting). Y€Y^VTlhiai: * a^ 846; PI. 148; cf. yeyeV»]povTiar]s: Cf. 233* with n. irepos: 'someone other than you' (not 'someone other than me'), the point being that Inlaw need not worry about how black and sooty his arse has got, for the problem will be taken care of for him (by a slave). <JOYYI€': A rare vb., first attested here; for the spelling, Threatte i. 469. For sponges used to clean one's person, Ra. 482—5 (where Dionysos coyly asks Xanthias 'give a sponge for my heart!', but actually wants it to wipe his arse, much as Eur. proposes having someone clean up Inlaw here); fr. 59; Crates Com. fr. 17. 7; Pherecr. fr. 58; Theopomp. Com. fr. 41. i (a catalogue of the equipment needed to make oneself vomit and then wash off afterward); H. //. 18. 414—15; Ginouves 143 n. 5; cf. Daremberg—Saglio s. spongia. 248 is perhaps only a bit of sexual posturing, as Inlaw makes it clear that he does not share Agathon's personal predilections and that anyone who touches his arsehole will be sorry. But the remark (which brings the singeing-scene to a close) ought to be funnier than that, and since had the colloquial sense 'abuse' (cf. Ach. 381 with Olson ad loc.), more likely ei TIS TOV Ifibv rrpuKTOV rrXuvei is a pun that means not just 'anyone who's going to wash my arse' but 'anyone who's going to speak ill of my arse'. Or perhaps the proverbial -n-piuKros -n-Xwopevos ('an arsehole getting a washing' (of a pointless and impossible task); cf. V. 604) is in the background. oifiti^er' dp', ei TIS: 'He'll regret it, then, if anyone . . .', i.e. 'Anyone who . . . will regret it'; cf. 916—17 with n.; Goodwin §§444, 447. For olfula^ca (lit. 'say otjuoi'; cf. 173—4 n -) used in this sense (colloquial), e.g. Nu. 217 olfjLw^ead' apa; Pax 466; Av. 1207 with Dunbar ad loc.; PI. 876; Alex. fr. 115. 19. For the text (Brunck's correction of R's unmetrical olpuai^fT' ap' els), Austin (1990) 19. Eur. hands the torch back to the mute slave who brought it on at 238 and who now exits with it through the central stage-door. 249-63 pick up the action where it broke off at 214 to allow for the shaving and depilation-scenes (215—48); cf. 215—17 n.
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249-52 Cf. 218-20 with n. 249-51 aauTOV euiSouvai 0ov€is: A hostile characterization of Agathon's straightforward motives for refusing to cooperate (203—7; cf. 193—7). F°r oavrov €7Ti8ovvai, 213—14 n. dXX(ct) . . . y ouv = &AAd ovv . . . ye (71 o with n.), 'still, at least' (GP 444, 458-9); cf. Lys. 877. 2i3-i4n., 261 withn. r\[ilv TOUTUI: 'to us for this fellow'; for the double dat., cf. K. Hel. 1248 ri ooi Trapdo^w Srjra rw redvyKori;', Bruhn, Anhang §45. 2. The reference to Inlaw in the 3rd pers. suggests that iijuv stands for e^oi, as probably also in 219 (cf. 154-6 n.), although it might simply beanethicdat. ('please'). Kai<jTpo? ravrd y' OVK eoriv aot; prolepsis (KG n. 577~$). Agathonis wearing a woman's himation and astrophion (137—9), but Eur. is asking to borrow instead items that (like the razor in 219-20) are already visible on the couch, which must be the point of this remark. 252 ou (|)0ovt5 (sc. vjuv TOVTIUV, cf. E. HF 333 ov (j>0ovfa -jre-jrXiuv) is a sarcastic echo of (j>0oveis in 249. ri ouv \d|3(d;: Addressed to Eur.; cf. 253-5 n. 253-5 The assignment of these verses is problematic. R gives 253 and av£,iuaov avvaas in 255 to Agathon, and 254 and I8ov in 255 to Inlaw, and has a dicolon indicating change of speaker before aipe in 255. In general, Agathon does little more in this scene than point out items of clothing which his interlocutors can have (252, 257-8, 261-2; cf. 219-20, 264-5), whereas Eur. and Inlaw work actively together to dress the old man up like a woman (esp. 255—6, 260), and Wilamowitz 487, must be right to argue that Eur. speaks both 253 and aipe vvv arp6iov in 25 5. Van Leeuwen (who assigns 253 and ISov in 25 5 to Agathon, and aipe vvv arpoffnov in 25 5 to Inlaw) assumes that Agathon strips off his own krokotos and strophion and gives them to Inlaw. But this makes the staging excessively complicated while distracting the audience from Inlaw's gradual physical transformation into a woman, and does not explain why Agathon fails to offer his own himation as well (261). 2 53 F°r ° Tli preceding the answer, cf. Ach. 106; K—A on fr. 305. 4. The def. art. is anaphoric, the object in question having been referred to in 138 (where see n.); contrast 255. -uptdTOV is adverbial, as again in 380, 476, etc. A a (Bio v: Cf. 212 with n. 254 Inlaw takes the krokotos from Agathon's couch and sniffs at it dubiously. vr| rr|v At|)po8iTT)v: Elsewhere in comedy, oaths by Aphrodite are offered only by women (esp. EC. i89*-9i; cf. Lys. 858*; EC. 558*;P/. loGgpa.T'fjvjifipoSiT'rjv*; Phoenicid. fr. 4. i; Men.Epitr. 480), and Inlaw has thus perhaps already begun to play his part; cf. 517 with n. For other women's oaths, 225 n., 383 n., 517-19 n., 533 n. But part of the joke must also be that the scent he catches is appropriate to the goddess of physical love. r|8u y' o£ei woaGiou: 'it smells sweetly of a
L I N E S 249-58
137 R
little dick!' (para prosdokian for p,vpov ('scented oil') vel sim. (thus 2 ; cf. Crates fr. 2)). The 'little dick' (a mock-affectionate diminutive?; cf. 515, 1188 with n.) in question is Agathon's. For the use of a neut. adj. with e.g. Ach. 193; V. 38; PI. 1020. TToaOiov (cf. 291 withn., 515—16 n.) is a diminutive of TroaBij (Nu. 1014; probably cognate with Woy (59-62 n.) but less overtly offensive). 255 <ju£td<jov: 'gird me together', i.e. 'fasten my belt'; cf. 656; Lys. 536. For the ^ujvri/^iuviov ('belt, waistband, girdle'), Lys. 72; fr. 332. 7 (from Th. II; called f,wp.a, as also at S. El. 452 (where Jebb ('= f,wvrjv, a sense which recurs only in later Greek') misses the parallels here and in the Brauron dedications (IG IP 1514. 15; 1523. 16)); A. Supp. 457 e'^oi arpcxjxivs £aWj re, avXXapas -jre-jrXiuv ('I have bands and belts, things that hold robes together'), cf. 462); Stone 183. The staging is difficult to reconstruct, but Inlaw has perhaps stepped into the krokotos and is holding it halfway up his body. After Eur. ties the belt about Inlaw's waist and the breastband about his chest (below), the old man pulls the upper half of the garment up over his shoulders and fastens it there. dvuaas + imper.: 'hurry up and . . .' (e.g. Ach. 570-1; Nu. 181; V. 30; Lys. 920). 'pickup [and hand me]', as at Pax i; S.Ai. 545; H. //. 6. 264. responds to irpunov in 253. i8ou:25*n. Inlaw picks up a strophion from Agathon's couch and hands it to Eur., who wraps it about his companion's upper chest and ties it; cf. I39n. 256 161 vuv: A common line-opening formula (e.g. Eg. 105; Nu. 237; V. 843; Lys. 861; Ra. 494). KardareiXov: 'put in order'(cf. Apollod. Com. fr. 19. 2; E. Ba. 933) + ace. of the whole (fie) and the part ( )(KGi. 289-90). The parallel scene at E.Ba. 935-8(cf. E.Med. 1163—6) makes it clear that the effect of a woman's chiton depended in large part on how it hung. Eur. arranges the lower portions of Inlaw's krokotos. 2 57~8 K€Kpud\ou 8ei KCU fiirpas: Addressed to Agathon; cf. 262 inroSyjfj.dToiv Sei. For the KfKpixjxiXos, 137—8 n. For the pirpa, 161—3 n - F°r the two combined, as here, Posidipp. 46. 3—4. r|8i KT\.: Agathon picks up something that will pass for the items requested (cf. below) from his couch and holds it out to Eur. jiev ouv is strongly adversative; 'Here instead . . .'. Cf. Av. 292, 341; GP475. At 941, Inlaw describes himself as wearing a krokotos and a mitra, and the object in question here might simply be an elaborate poeticism of a sort typical of Agathon. More likely it is a kind of wig (prefitted, for staging purposes, with something resembling a mitra) intended to help Agathon avoid recognition in disreputable places, like the capillamentum supposedly worn by Caligula (Suet. Calig. n); cf.fr. 187 ap. Poll. x. 170 (irfpidfTov ABC, -8eaiv FSL); Aristomen. fr. 5. 2 ireplBerovirpoaumov; Page on FGE 1062—3. *lv ^V"1 vuKTtop <j>opb>: i.e. when he is out trying
138
COMMENTARY
to find men to fuck him (thus 2R); cf. 35 (where there is no mention of Agathon's use of female disguise) withn., 204—5 n. 259-60 Eur. takes the wig (or whatever the object in question is) from Agathon, inspects it, and (260) puts it on Inlaw's head. The repeated vr) TOV Ai' d\\d, vr) Ai' d\\' marks Eur.'s growing enthusiasm for his plan. d\\d Ka(i IJirmfSeia mdvu: 'Why, it's just what's needed!' dAAd marks 'a sympathetic reaction to the previous speaker's words or actions' (GP 19-20), as again in 260, while KO.I adds emphasis to the adj. (GP 317), as in 639. For the repetition of dAAd (probably colloquial), Bond on E. HF 622ff. For the intensifying use of -jravv, 233—4 n is not an unreasonable question, but serves primarily to cover the stage-action; cf. 263*. dpiar'ixei: 'it's perfect!' Cf.Ra. 1161 with Stanford ad loc.; Aeschin. i. 17. 261—2 €p(€): 233—4 n. <JYKUK\OV: A woman's himation (cf. 213—14 n.) of some sort (also mentioned at 499; Lys. 113,1162; EC. 536; fr. 332. 8 (from Th. II); IG IP 1514. 48-1517. 154-5; I 5 2 4- 2°6, 223 (all women's dedications at Brauron); cf. Stone 164—5; Perusino, QUCC 72 (2002) 129—33); according to Phot. p. 388. 13, it had purple 'round about' it, i.e. a purple border (TO Se KVK\ 29; Jebb on S. Ant. 894; Carnoy, in Melanges Bides (Brussels, 1934) 71-7; Richardson on h.Cer. 56; Threatte i. 450-1. reinforces -iroXXdias, 'many many times'; cf. EC. 1105; E. Med. 1165; Tr. 1015; D. 20. 3; Luc. Dem.Enc. 38; Gygli-Wyss 35-6. Colloquial, like KaX"f] KaXtus (e.g. Ach. 253) et sim. Dover suggests taking as the obj. of both e'xovaav and dveiv, but this seems less likely. For the desire to sacrifice often again in the future, cf. 950-2; Headlam on Herod. 4. 86—7. Daubuz compared E. El. 803—7, and Fraenkel, Beobachtungen 118-19, added/G I 3 728 = CEG 227. Gueiv and \a6eiv, like in 289 and e%eiv in 291, are optatival infins., which typically appear after an invocation of a deity and express a wish for the future (e.g. Ach. 250-2; Ra. 387-8; Pi. P. i. 67-8; A. Th. 253; cf. 157-8 n.; E. Supp. 3; El. 805; KG ii. 22—3; Goodwin §785; Bers 182—3). Xa&eiv appears paraprosdokian for dveiv, as Inlaw's real concerns (282-3 n.) slip through into his prayer, is generally * in iambic trimeter in Ar. (408, 419; .Eg. 74; EC. 23, 26). 'having [the resources to do so]', i.e. 'and be rich enough to do so' (for f^ca in this sense, Bond on E. HF 636), the implication being that some return is expected for the current gift, if future gifts are to be forthcoming. For Inlaw's use of the fern, form of the part., 285 n. 'or at all events, not to be found out today'; cf. X. Mem. iii. 3. 7 el8e furj, dAAd vvv ye ireipdaofnai', GP n—12. For the synizesis of juiy, , cf. 476, 646; KB i. 229. 289-90 Inlaw prays for the welfare of his children in the same way that the dying Alcestis prays to Hestia for hers: ('Pair a beloved wife with him, and a noble husband with her' (E. Ale. 165-6)). rr|v 0uY 375~6 n.; Kleinknecht 33-8; Horn 106-15; Hansen (1987) 88-93; Olson on Ach. 43-5. For the handling of motions, 431-2 n. Ar. could not reproduce on stage the actual procedure of the Thesmophoria, about which he himself probably knew little or nothing (cf. Introduction pp. xlv—xlvi); but it was amusing to turn the whole thing into a parody of the city's Assembly. One consequence, however, of the poet's desire to stick close to real procedure is that the play has no proper parados. 295—311 The coryphaeus (taking the part played by the Herald in a real Assembly) bids the women to prayer. Prose, as also in a parody of a prayer at Av. 864-88. For prose elsewhere in comedy, Ach. 43 (an Assemblyformula), 123 (a remark by the Assembly Herald), 237 = 241 (requests for ritual silence); Eg. 941 (adapted from the heliastic oath); Pax 433—4
L I N E S ZQZ-Q
151
(ritual cries); Av. 1035-6, 1040-2 (mock decrees), 1046-7 (an indictment), 1661-6 (a law of Solon); Eup. fr. 401 (a scholium asserting that the poet frequently used prose); Archipp. fr. 27 (a parody of a peace treaty). The prayer is doubtless modelled closely on the one pronounced by the Herald at the beginning of real Assemblies (for which, Aeschin. i. 23; Din. 2. 14; Agora xix (1991) L 3. a+d. 2; cf. Boule 36-7), although the women's private interests are here put on the same level as the general interests of the demos, and the choice of gods invoked is determined by the festival. 295-6 €uopiu (where 2R thinks it necessary to note fj Aj)jij)rt)p KO! r/ Yltpatfyovt]). 299 TU nXouTto: Ploutos ('Wealth') was the son of Demeter and the mortal lasios/Iasion; cf. Hes. Th. 969—74 with West on 969; h.Cer. 488—9 with Richardson on 489; carm. conv. PMG 885. 1—2; IG I 3 5. 5 (included by conjecture in a catalogue of deities offered sacrifice in connection with the cult at Eleusis). In art, he is almost always represented by a naked young boy holding a cornucopia or a bunch of grain stalks, and he seems to have played an important part in the Eleusinian Mysteries; cf. Clinton 49-55, 91-4, 103-4; LIMC vii. i. 416-20. In the popular imagination he was conceived of as blind (PL passim; Amphis fr. 23. i; Men. fr. 74. i; Hippon. fr. 44. i; Timocr. PMG 731. i; PI. Lg. &3ic; Theoc. 10. 19; Diggle on E. Phaeth. 166). Plouton (Lord of the Underworld and husband of Pherrephatta/Kore) was also worshipped in Attica in conjunction with Demeter and Kore (IG IP 1363. 20-2 = LSCG 7. B. 22-4 = SEG xxiii 80. 24-5 (Eleusis, c.ioo BC; see Robertson, GRBS 37 (1996) 337—44) ffi T°v nXovrwvos tepeta I . [ . . . ] . . . oas rolv 0€o^io [(fropoiv ('to the priestess of Plouton for . . . the two Thesmophoroi'); IG IP 1672. 169 ('the [sanctuary] of Plouton' (on which construction work is being done)), 182 e-jrapx'f] Arnj.riTpi Kal Ropy KO.I nXovriuvi ('first fruits
152
COMMENTARY
[offered] to Demeter and Kore and Plouton') (Eleusinian accounts from 329/8 BC); SEG xxxv 113.1 [^ijjurp-pi 06ap.o](j>opiu . . . 7 IT]XovT(uvi (cult regulations for a local Eleusinion at Olympos in Attica, £.300 BC); Clinton 111-12), and he seems to have had a sanctuary somewhere very near to the Eleusinion (Clinton 18—21; cf. Miles 101—2). The two figures appear to be confused occasionally even in the classical period ([A.] PV8o6; S. fr. 273 with Pearson ad loc.; cf. the etymologies at fr. 504. 1-2 and PI. Cra. 4O3a; Clinton 105-10), and the original text glossed by 2R may well have read ('to Plouton'); cf. nXovnavi for TTAoirro) at PL 727. Although the deities listed in 297—301 were all associated with Demeter and Pherrephatta/Kore, and thus presumably with the Thesmophoria festival, the order in which the final four are invoked also traces the trajectory of a parent's wishes and concerns: for a safe birth, the opportunity to raise one's children rather than seeing them die in infancy, and the hope that they will mature into handsome young men and women (under the aegis, respectively, of Hermes and the Graces). rfj KaXXiYeveia: Kalligeneia ('Fair Birth') was the name of the third day of the Thesmophoria (cf. Introduction p. xlviii), to which the goddess referred to here gave her name (which must represent what the city's women prayed for when they made sacrifice)—or from which she perhaps borrowed it. For worship of Kalligeneia at the Thesmophoria, cf. Plu. Mor. 298b—c (where the fact that the women of Eretria did not invoke her at the festival is treated as a puzzle). According to 2R, Kalligeneia spoke in the prologue of Th. II (cf. Butrica 73-4), and the implication of Phot. « 118 (which together with 2R makes up fr. 331) is that she presented herself as Demeter's nurse (cf. Introduction pp. Ixxviii, Ixxxvii; Usener 122—4; Jacoby on Apollod. FGrHist 244 F 141; Martina, AION(filol) i (1979) 36-9. 300-1 rf) Kouporpotfxo: Kovporpof/ios ('rearer of children') is an epithet of gods, places, and natural and social phenomena (e.g. H. Od. 9. 27 (of Ithaka); Hes. Th. 450 (of Hekate); Pi. fr. 109. 4 (of civil strife); Theoc. 18. 50 (of Leto); Paus. i. 22. 3 (of Earth)), but here the reference must be to the independent deity who speaks PI. Com. fr. 188 (cf. v. 7) and is offered sacrifice at IG IP 1358 col. II. 6, 14, 31, 46; SEG xxi 527. 12, 85. Cf. Usener 124—8; T. H. Price, Kourotrophos: Cults and Representations of the Greek Nursing Deities (Studies of the Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society viii: Leiden, 1978), esp. 106-17 (arguing that Kourotrophos is to be identified with Earth; cf. below). R has rfj Ffj after these words, and Earth appears together with Hermes and the Graces in IG I 3 5. 3, a sacrificial catalogue dating to £.500 associated with games at Eleusis (cf. Deubner 91-2) F]ei : hepfiei 'Evayovloi : Xdpiaiv : alya ('a she-goat to Earth, Hermes god of contests, [and] the Graces'), while ('Earth Rearer of Children') was worshipped along with Demeter Chloe in a temple most likely on the south slope of the Acropolis
L I N E S 299-305
153
(Paus. i. 22. 3; for the cult of Earth in Athens, Dunbaron^4«. 586; Olson on Pax 188-9). But (i) the presence of Frj in the Eleusis inscription does not prove that her name ought to be retained here, and (2) ('either Earth or Hestia') leaves no doubt that the version of the text the author of the scholium had before him did not include the words which must be an intrusive gloss, like rfj Ar/p.-rfrpi xal rfj Kopij after in 297. A 2nd-c. AD inscription from the Acropolis (IG IP 4778) records that a certain Eisidotos dedicated rrp Kovporpcxjxiv 'to Demeter Chloe and Kore in accordance with a dream' (KO.T' oveipov; cf. G. Sfameni Gasparro, Misteri e culti mistici di Demetra (Rome, 1986) 239 n. 54). Tto'Epfifj: Hermes had no major rites or sacrifices in Athens in this period, although wrestling schools celebrated a Hermeia (PI. Lys. 2o6d-e; Aeschin. i. 10); offerings of boiled seeds were made to Hermes Chthonios during the Chytroi festival (Theopomp. Hist. FGrHist 115 F 347); and occasional small sacrifices were made to the statues of him that stood throughout the city (PL 1120—33). His association with the Eleusinian deities presumably reflects the role he played in the recovery of Persephone/Kore from the Underworld (h.Cer. 334-79), although Pausanias notes that Hermes was said by some to be the father of the hero after whom Eleusis was named (i. 38. 7) and that the Eleusinian genos of the Kerukes traced their ancestry back to him as well (i. 38.3; cf. Olson on Ach. 46). (TCUS) Xdpiaiv: For the Graces, LIMC iii. i. 191—3; Olson on Pax 41—2. The Graces appear immediately after Hermes in/G I 3 5. 3 (above) and in a list of deities favourable to Peace at Pax 4.56; cf. Plu. Mor. 446 ('the ancients gave Hermes a place with the Graces'); I38c; Paus. i. 22. 8 (a sculpture by Socrates of Hermes and the Graces at the entrance to the Acropolis). 302—3 'That we convene this assembly and the current meeting in the fairest and best fashion'. The paired synonyms (cf. 304-5 are a typical feature of official language. For cf. 375 withn.; Eq. 746; D. 19. 185. awoSoy perhaps occurs in this sense already at Ale. fr. 13ob. 15 (thus LSJ Suppl. s.v.), although the text there is lacunose and obscure. For KaXXiara Kai apiara in similar contexts, Th. i. 129. 3 (a letter of Xerxes) 'Accomplish your business and mine in whatever way will be KaXXiara KO.I apiara for us both'; X. An. iii. i. 6 'Xenophon asked Apollo to which god he ought to pray and sacrifice in order to make the journey KaXXiara xal apiara'; v. 6. 28 'I make as many sacrifices as I can in order that I may say, think, and do whatever things will be KaXXiara KO.I apiara for both you and me'; Vect. 6. 3; Fraenkel, KIB i. 266-7. 304-5 The antithesis 'for the city . . . and ourselves' is regular in such contexts; cf. 352-3 withn.; A.Supp.410-11 ('that what we do first of all be harmless
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to the city and turn out well for us ourselves'); Aeschin. 3. 120 ('you are about to ask the gods for their blessings on you both collectively and individually'). That is borrowed from the language of prayer is suggested by X. Eq. Mag. i. i (the only other attestation of the word before Aristotle): 'First you must make sacrifice and ask the gods to grant that you think, say, and do the things from which you would serve as a commander in the fashion most pleasing to the gods and most friendly and glorious and to yourself, your friends, and the city'. is attested before Aristotle only here and at Ach. 250 (Dikaiopolis' prayer to Dionysos) and A. Ag. 464, and is most likely religious language (thus Fraenkel ad loc.). The speaker is amember of the assembly and ought not to be distinguished from it, and R's Fritzsche) should be printed, as also in 310 (cf. 350). 306—9 Cf. 355—6. rr|v Spiiaav Kai dyopeuouaav TCI (JeXriaTa: A standard formulation; cf. Lys. 1046—9 D. 18. 57 Trpdrrovra ml Xeyovra rd jSeXriara . . . ru> Sr^ai with Wankel ad loc.; IG IP 657. 32-3 (a decree of commendation) is an archaic word, the simplex of which is generally found only in fixed expressions, as here and in 379 (where see n.); cf. 786 (solemn style); Dover, G&G 235; Olson on Ach. 41. The phrase -uepi TOV Sfjjiov TOV AGrjvauov is common in decrees of commendation (e.g. IG I 3 65. 10—n; IP 26. 9; 31. 7—8, 25—6; 51. 7—8; 76. 9—10; 657. 59—60; cf. Ach. 697 with Olson ad loc.) and is another echo of official language, expanded parodically in 308. Cf. 335-6 with n., 1145-6. viKav: 'prevail [with her arguments], carry the day', as at e.g. 356; Ach. 626 (cf. Olson ad loc.); Nu. 99, 115, 432; V. 594; E. Or. 944; D. 18. 86. For the idea, cf. D. 4. 51 ('May whatever is likely to be to the advantage of us all prevail!'). 310—11 TOUT' euxeaGe resumes the initial order in 297; cf. Men. Kol. fr. i. 3-7
('Let us pray to all the Olympian gods and goddesses that they grant us security, health, and much good! Let us pray for all this!'). For Kai r|juv KT\., cf. Pax 45 3 (the conclusion of Trygaios' prayer in preparation for the recovery of Peace) J^LLV S' dyaBd yevoir'. o) waidav, Ir/ ('But for us may there be good things! le Paion, Ie!'). T(CI) oV/aBa: 'the good things [that the gods decide to give us]'; a standard locution in prayers (Ec .781; K—A on fr. 504. 14; X. Mem. i. 3. 2; Aeschin. 3. 120 (304-5 n.); D. 25. 101 ('to pray for all rd dyaBd for all of us'); Prooem. 54; Theopomp. Hist. FGrHist 115 F 104 ('they used to pray to the gods that they grant
L I N E S 304-30
ISS
to the Chians and themselves'); IG V. 2 344. 10-11). is equivalent to a plea for divine assistance and good fortune at the beginning of an enterprise, and thus reinforces the prayer; cf. V. 874; Pax 453 (above) with Olson ad loc. For the hieratic repetition, 295—6 n. is the comic form of the word; tragedy normally has mudv (cf. L. Deubner, Kleine Schriften (K6nigstein/Ts., 1982) 208; Wackernagel, KS ii. 869-72; Barrett on E. Hipp. 1371-3; Cromey, Glotta 56 (1978) 62-5). is 'Let us rejoice [in certainty that the prayer just proposed has found favour with the gods]!', to which the chorus respond (312) 'We accept [your proposal]!' Cf. 714 with n.; Av. 645-6; Eup. fr. 131. 2 (A.) xaipere -jravTes. (B.) &exop.eaOa ((A.) 'All of you rejoice!' (B.) 'We accept!'); S.El. 668. 312-30 A 'cletic hymn' (cf. 1136-59; Eq. 551-64, 581-94; Nu. 264-6, 26974; Fraenkel, KIB i. 355-63), which summons a series of gods to come in person and asks that the women's assembly be successful (328—30), just as the coryphaeus ordered (302—9). The gods appealed to (315—26), however, are mostly major Olympians rather than the Eleusinian divinities listed in 297-301. Cf. Habash, GRBS 38 (1997) 28. The metre is primarily iambic and dactylic; non-responding. Cf. Wilamowitz, Aristoteles und Athen ii (Berlin, 1893) 352—4; Parker 406—9; Furley and Bremer ii. 346-9(0312
(2)313 (3)314 (4)315-16
(5)317 (6)318/19 (7)319
(8) 320 (9)321 (10) 322
(11)323 (12)323/4
(13)324 (14)325-6
(i5)327a (i6) 3 2 7 b (17)328-9 (18)330
2ia iaba iaba D (prolonged) ia cho lek 2ia 2iaba D (prolonged) par par P par adon 6da ith ba adon 6da ith
as here), (4, 8) For 'enoplian' cola (including those beginning cf. Parker 77-8 (but without specific reference to these verses).
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(14) For the treatment of the line as a single verse, Austin (1990) 21. (17) Cf. (14); or perhaps to be treated as D — D —. (15) The ithyphallic underlines the flippant echo of Pi. P. i. i (16) For la- scanned^—, cf. Page on E. Med. 149; Dover's metrical n. on Ra. 217; Kannicht on E. Hel. 1147. 312—14 SexofieGa: 310—11 n. 0€t5v y^vos — TOVS Oeovs; cf. 959—60 (also lyric). The periphrasis is a mark of elevated style (46-8 n.), as is the absence of the def. art. XirojieGa: A rare,
exclusively poetic metri gratia variant of AMJCTO^CU (1040 (lyric; probably adapted from Eur.); H. 77. 16. 47; Od. 14. 406; h.Hom. 16. 5; Mel. AP v. 165. 1-2 = 777?4254-5). 'to take pleasure at these prayers', i.e. 'in response to these prayers' or, more precisely, in response to the song by means of which the prayers are expressed; cf. 327b—8 ITT' ev^ais / rnj.eTepa.is with n. For the repetition of the prep, in the prefix of the vb., cf. A. Ch. 149 is normally used of rejoicing over the misfortune of another (e.g. Pax 1015), but cf. S. Ai. 136. For the idea of the gods taking pleasure in rites or songs performed in their honour, 111—13 with n., 977—Sob. (|>av€VTas: Forms of <j>aiviu (most often aor. pass, participles and imperatives) occur routinely in cletic hymns and parodies thereof (e.g. 1143; Ach. 567 with Olson ad loc.; Eq. 591; Nu. 266; Ale. fr. 34. 3; S. OT 164; cf. Ausfeld 516). 315 Zeu fieyaXtivufie: Like Aratos (Phain. i), the chorus 'begin with Zeus' (cf. also Theoc. 17. i), to whom they return in 368-9. They quickly concentrate their attention, however, on deities of more importance to contemporary Athenian cult (315—21), who are left unnamed but described with rich clusters of epithets; cf. Nu. 563—74 with Dover ad loc. ('renowned'; cf. Hsch. ^,481; Phot.^, 169) is rare, exclusively poetic vocabulary, first attested at Sapph. fr. 44A. a. 3 (of Zeus); subsequently at Nu. 569 (lyric; ofAither); V. 1518/19 (lyric; of Karkinos' sons); S. Ant. 148 (lyric; of Nike). xPUCTO^upa is first attested here, despite LSJ s.v. (corrected in the Suppl.); subsequently at Posidipp. 118. 2; Orph. h. 34. 3. Apollo is associated with the lyre and similar instruments (for which, 120—2 n., 137—8 n.) already in early epic (H. II. i. 603; 24. 62-3; h.Ap. 130-1, 184-5, 201; h.Merc. 514-15; [Hes.] Sc. 201-3; cf. g6gEv\vpav;Av. 217-19; Ra. 231/2; Hes. Th. 94-5; E.Ion 164; etc.); cf. LIMC ii. 2 s. Apollo no. 83-238. For his instrument specifically described as made of gold, [Hes.] Sc. 203; Simon. PMG 511 fr. i. a. 5; Pi. P. i. i; Timoth. PMG 791. 202 xpvaeoKi&apiv, Call. Ap. 32—3; and probably Bacch. 3. 28 (cf. Maehler ad loc.) and Pi. P. 5. 104 (cf. Bernardini et al. ad loc.). Cf. io8n., 327-8. For Xvpa as a generic term, i37-8n.; cf. 327a
L I N E S 312-19
157
with n. The list of deities in the form A B re is typical of hymnic style; cf. Dover on Nu. 263-74. 316 AfjXov os esP- 64-5. The hyperbaton AfjXov . . . lepdv is elevated style; cf. 318—19 -jroXivI. . . irepi^d^TjTov. e^eu is 'inhabit', as at e.g. Nu. 596, 598; Ra. 659 = Anan. fr. I. I 'AiroX\ov—os TTOV A-rjXov rj Tlvdcov' ex6is ('Apollo!— you who inhabit Delos or Delphi'); Pi. O. 4. 8; cf. 1140 with n. 317-19 TraYKpares: Elevated 5th-c. poetic vocabulary (e.g. Simon. PMG 541. 5; Pi. N. 4. 62; Bacch. 17. 24; S. Ai. 675; [E.] Rh. 231 (lyric)), most often used of Zeus, as at 368 (also lyric, and the only other attestation of the word in comedy), where seen. For the idea, cf. 1140-1 (of Athena) with n. Any doubt the audience may feel about the identity of the 'all-powerful maiden' referred to in 317 is immediately put to rest by the further description of her as Y^QUKUTII ('grey-eyed' vel sim.; cf. 45 n.), a standard epic epithet of Athena (e.g. H.7/. i. 206; Od. 2.433 yXavKamiSi Kovpfi; Hes. Th. 895 Kovprfv yXavKonriSa Tpiroyevemv; h.Ap. 323; h.Ven. 94; subsequently at e.g. Stesich. PMGF 814. 3; Pisand. fr. 7. i; Pi. O. 7. 51; S. OC 706). Cf. 1138—9 (also of Athena) irapdfvov a^vya Kovpr/v, Anderson 57—68. For the adj. (attested nowhere else in comedy), Jessen, RE vii (1912) 1404-7; Chantraine, in Melanges Carcopino (Paris, 1966) 193-203; Braswell on Pi. P. 4. 249 (with further bibliography). XPUCTO^°YX€: Attested elsewhere only at E. Ion 9 (Athens 'called by the name of Pallas of the golden spear'). The image is unexceptional (cf. 108 n.), but if a reference is intended to any particular representation of the goddess, what follows suggests that it is to the west pediment of the Parthenon (where Athena was almost certainly depicted holding a gilded spear); cf. below. For AoyCT ('spear'; elevated 5th-c. poetic vocabulary), cf. 826; Olson on Ach. 1226. -uoXiv / oiKouaa TT€pifiaxr]TOv: A reference in the first instance to the quarrel between Athena and Poseidon over control of
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COMMENTARY
Attica (e.g. Hdt. viii. 55; PL MX. 237c-d; cf. Frazer on Apollod. iii. 14. i; Olson-Sens on Archestr. fr. 14. 8) depicted on the west pediment of the Parthenon (Paus. i. 24. 5). There may well be a contemporary political point as well; cf. Introduction pp. xliii—xliv. For the hyperbaton, 316 n. For oiWo) applied to a god, Av. 836; cf. the use of vaiia at E. Hipp. 68; El. 992. TTepifidxyTos is first attested here and at Av. 1404, but is otherwise prosaic (e.g. Th. vii. 84. 5; PI. R. s86b; X. Snip. 3. 9; Isoc. 10. 40; Aeschin. i. 134). For l\0€ Seupo et sim. in cletic appeals, e.g. 1137, 1146, 1148, 1155; Ach. 665 with Olson ad loc.; Eq. 559, 586, 591; Lys. 1263, 1271; Ra. 675; Sapph. fr. i. 5, 25; Anacr. PMG 357. 7; S. OT 167; E. Or. 1300; cf. 987/8; Ausfeld 516; Nisbet-Hubbard on Hor. c. i. 2. 30 venias. 320-1 Cf. 114-19 with nn. -uoXutivufie: Cf. Call. Dian. 6-7 (the young Artemis asks her father Zeus for perpetual virginity and can mean either 'renowned' (e.g. Hes. Th. 785; cf. 315 pfya\ii>vvpf with n.) or 'of many names', i.e. 'many cult-titles' (e.g. S. Ant. 1115 with Jebb ad loc.; cf. PI. 1164), and either sense would do here. Poetic vocabulary (also at e.g. Hes. fr. 388; h.Ap. 82; Pi. P. i. 17; /. 5. i; Theoc. 15. 109 with Gow ad loc.); first in prose at PI. Phdr. 238a. 0T]poaai . . . rais but as Richardson (h.Cer., p. 142) notes, 'this may mean that crowns were only of myrtle or smilax, rather than that no flowers were used at all'. R's is far less common than the Suda's-jTpoTepov-jrpLv(e.g.Ec. 620; Hdt. vii. 8. j8. 2; Th. v. 10. 9; Isoc.4. 89), but is protected by Ach. 383 (also and ought to be printed as the lectio difficilior. 381—2 Trochaic tetrameters, which elsewhere in Ar. regularly introduce the agon, for which the assembly-debate here stands in; cf. 383—530 n. Cf. Theoc. 15. 96, 99 ('Be quiet, Praxinoa! She's going to sing the Adonis song. She'll give a fine performance, I'm sure; she's just clearing her throat'). Cf. Cratin. fr. 315 aKove, aiya, -n-poae^e rov vovv, Sevp' opa ('Listen! Be still! Pay attention! Look in this direction!'); Plaut. Poen. 3 sileteque et tacete atque animum advortite ('Be silent! Hush! Turn your attention here!'); Ter. Eun. 44 date operam, cum silentio animum attendite ('Pay attention! Give heed in silence!') with Barsby ad loc. The request clearly approximates the sort of things heralds said routinely at the beginning of meetings of the Assembly; cf. E. Hec. 529—33; Supp. 668—9; I A. 1563—4; fr. 773. 75; Luc. Dear .Cone. I aKove, aiya. TLS a-yopeveiv fiovXerai; ('Listen! Be still! Who wishes to speak?'); Beobachtungen 119-20. For 25 n.; Isoc. 7. 19; A. Burckhardt, Spuren der athenischen Volksredein der alien Komddie(D\ss,. Basel, 1924) 15—16, andcf. the common exhortation to the audience at the beginning of parabases Trpoae^ere TOV vovv (Eq. 503; Nu. 575; V. 1015; Av. 688; Pherecr. fr. 84. i). ('she is clearing her throat'; onomatopoeic) is attested elsewhere before Theokritos (above) only in comedy (Eup. fr. 176. 4; cf. adesp. com. fr. noo), satyr-play (E. Cyc. 626), and Hippocrates (e.g. Epid. 5. 78 (v. 248. 15); Viet. 62 (vi. 576. 23)); cf. Perpillou, RPh iii. 64 (1990) 9-12; La
L I N E S 380-432
175
Fontaine, Les Amours de Psyche et de Cupidon I ((Euvres diverses: Paris, 1942, 131) 'ayant tousse pour se nettoyer la voix, il commenca par ces vers'. 01 pr|TOp€s: 292—4n. jiaKpdv construes as an internal ace. with Xe^eiv ('to speak at length'), and no noun is to be supplied; cf. A. Ag. 916 with Fraenkel ad loc., 1296; S. Ai. 1040; EL 1259; E. Med. 1351; I A 420; Wilamowitz on E. HF 681. For other examples of a fern, adj. in agreement with an unexpressed abstract implicit in the vb. and construing as an internal ace., Eq. 121; V. iz^i',Ra. igi;Ec.SS^. 383-530 The debate consists of three speeches (383-432, 443-58, 466-519), each followed by a short ode (433-42, 459-65, 520-30). The first and third speeches are of nearly equal length (50 and 54 lines, respectively), the arguments in the third respond directly to those in the first, and the first and third odes respond. The second speech is much shorter and can be regarded as an appendix to the first, and Inlaw ignores it in his reply. The ode that follows the second speech stands on its own, but like them is written in trochaics. All three speeches contain (especially at the beginning and the end) rhetorical topoi typical of forensic speeches, and the first and third are notable for the citation of a wealth of examples and parallels, strung one after the other. Both are also much indebted to Euripides' plays, the first because it deals with themes treated by the tragedian and even cites him verbatim a few times, the third because (like Dikaiopolis' defence of his private peace at Ach. 496-556) it is modelled directly on Telephos' speech in the eponymous Euripidean tragedy. The second speech is also inspired by Euripides, but its strongly personal focus contrasts with the more general accusations of the first. The second speech and the long narrative sections of the third (476-89, 502-16) are also characterized by a decidedly popular style, which stands in clear contrast to their more solemn surroundings. The Aristophanic agon is normally written in anapaestic or iambic tetrameters and takes the form of an epirrhematic syzygy. But because the poet has put an adaptation of a tragic speech in iambic trimeters in Inlaw's mouth, the first speech (to which the third replies) must for reasons of symmetry be in trimeters as well, and the second is carried along with it. 383-432 A full-scale attack on Eur. for denouncing women in his tragedies, thus raising the suspicions of the city's men. The two issues of most concern to the speaker are sexual misbehaviour (396—409, cf. 410—13) and stealing from the household stores (418-28); as a penalty for the man who has let word of such crimes slip to the city generally, she proposes death (428—31). Like Inlaw (who is, however, rather more open about the nature of his argument) in 466—519, Mika does not deny the validity of Eur.'s accusations but instead blames him for having revealed the truth to the city's men, who are now in a position to prevent much that used to go on routinely unimpeded.
176
COMMENTARY
383-4 j8Aem>t>(j'), not the part.; cf. V. 1081-2; Schreiner, PCPS NS 16 (1970) 100 n. 4. 'when they enter [the house]' (e.g. 495; V. 107; Ra. 981 (part of a very similar complaint); Ephipp. fr. 6. i; Antiph. fr. 216. 24), i.e. 'when they come back home'. duo TUV iKpiiov: In Homer and Herodotus, are 'planks, decking' (e.g. H.77. 15. 676, 685; Od. 3. 353; 5. 163; Hdt.
l8o
COMMENTARY
v. 16. i). In Athens, the term was used of temporary stands of scaffolding set up to accommodate spectators for processions and (at least before a famous—and presumably catastrophic—collapse in Pratinas' time) theatrical shows in the Agora (Pratin. TrGF4 T i. 3-4; Hsch. a 1695; i 501; 77513; Phot. 195). After the dramatic festivals were transferred to the Theatre of Dionysos, the word continued to be used of the rows of seats there, as also at Cratin. fr. 360. 3. Cf. Martin, RPh iii. 31 (1957) 72-81; Agora iii (1957) 162-3; xiy ( I 97 2 ) 126-8; S. Scullion, Three Studies in Athenian Dramaturgy (Beitrage zur Altertumskunde 25: Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1994) 52—61 (arguing that there were no shows in the Agora and that the iVpia to which the lexicographers refer were wooden benches in the Theatre of Dionysos); J.-C. Moretti, Theatre et societe dans la Grece antique (Le Livre de Poche, references 585: Paris, 2001) 121—2. 'give a narrow glance at' + ace.; normally an expression of hostility or suspicion (Lys. 519 (also of a husband toward his wife); Pherecr. fr. 162. 5; E. HF 1287; PI. Cri. 53b; Snip. 22ob; contrast Phd. n7b with Burnet ad loc.). For the theme of the jealous husband, cf. 414—17; EC. 520—6. For Eur.'s plays arousing men's suspicions generally, cf.Ra. 958, 971-88. aKOTTOuvrai.. . / [ i r ] . . . f\: 'they check to make surethereisn't'(Goodwin§366). fioixosivSovKrX.: 05.499-501; EC. 225 (in a list of women's habitual practices) ^oi^oiy e^ovaiv evSov ('they have adulterers within [the house]'). For a real situation similar to the one described here, Lys. i. n. 398 &ios (properly an adj., 'peg-like [tooth]', as opposed to an incisor; cf. Olson on Pax 33-4) is colloquial vocabulary (e.g. Ra. 572; Phryn. Com. fr. 73. i; Hdt. ix. 83. 2; Arist. GA 789"!); first attested at Epich. fr. 18. 3. For the word used to refer to the 'tooth' of a key, cf. Lat. dens (Tibull. i. 2. 18). ('some, certain'; equivalent to TWO) is common in comedy (e.g. Nu. 630; Ra. 173; Sotad. Com. fr. i. 22) and prose (e.g. PI. Grg. 49&c; X. Cyr. iii. 3. 8; D. 55. 19) but absent from serious 5th- and 4th-c. poetry; cf. (587-8 n.). 424-8 A separate problem from the one just described, this time involving storerooms that are sealed but not locked (contrast 421-3), and thus simple theft rather than abuse of authority (contrast 418—21). 424—6 Tipo TOU fiev ouv ^v d\\' . . . / . . . / vuv 8': Cf. 449—50 Pax 690-2; PI. Euthd. 272a. p,ev is prospective, ovv transitional (GP 470-2); cf. 1174. For dAAd meaning 'at least', cf. 449 (above); GPi^. uiroi^ai: The prefix implies secrecy, as at EC. 15; Alkimos
L I N E S 419-29
187
FGrHist 560 F 2 (the only other attestations of the compound, both in very similar contexts). rr|v 0upav: 'the [storeroom] door', 'after getting it made'; cf. Pax 69 KrAi^aKia iroioii^evoy ('getting some light ladders made'). SaKruXiov: 'a signet-ring', like the one worn by the Paphlagonian as Demos' steward and the other given to the Sausage Seller at Eq. 947-59, in this case equipped with a copy of the husband's (apparently quite conventional) seal. For makers and engravers of signet-rings, PL 883—4 (where a ring intended to provide supernatural protection of some sort costs a drachma, the same price as at Antiph. fr. 175. 5); Philyll. fr. 14; Pherecr. fr. 234; PI. Ale. I I28c. For actual examples (all much more elaborate than the inexpensive item referred to here), J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings (London, 1970) 189-302 (with plates 444-822). Tpuop6\ou: A proverbially small amount (Pax 848 rpidajSoXov*; PL 125*; Nicopho fr. 20. 3; Eub. fr. 87. 3; Epicr. fr. 3. 18; Phoen. fr. 6. 21, p. 236 Powell; cf. PL 329). An oiKorpufj is properly a slave born and brought up in the house, like Dromon at Men. Sik. 78 (see Austin on Men. Asp. 176); cf. (of a slave taking refuge in the Theseion) at fr. 475. Here the word is used as a term of abuse against Eur. because 'no-one knows better than a slave born and raised in the house how household affairs ought to be managed' (Fritzsche ad loc.). Cf. D. 13. 24 ('human pestilence, second-generation oiKorpipes'). For the crasis, 349—51 n. 427—8 ISiSa^e: Cf. 399 with n.
0pnrr|8€<jT(a) . . . at^payiSia: For
the use of signet-rings with seals made of wood damaged by wood-boring beetles (dpmes', cf. Beavis 181-2), creating an intricate and unique design, or perhaps of wood deliberately carved to look this way, cf. Thphr. HP v. 1.2; Luc. Lex. 13; Paus. Gr. 0 18 Erbse; Hsch. 0 761. This might be another allusion to the action in a lost Euripidean tragedy (with the ring in question serving as a birth-token or the like); or perhaps the speaker means nothing more than 'as a result of what Eur. has taught them (i.e. about our general treachery and thievishness), they now wear special rings'. SpiTTr/Searo; is first attested here; subsequently before the Roman period only at Hyp. fr. 82 (metaphorical); Thphr. HP iii. 8. 5; ix. 14. 3. 'to put on and wear' (LSJ s. e^a-m-ai A. II. 2). For this use of e^a), 733—4 n. Ifioi. . . 8oK€i: Also used to introduce a definite proposal for action at Eq. 654 (in the Council), 1311 (in the triremes' debate). 429 KupKdvdv: Lit. 'mix up' (cf. Epinic. fr. i. 8 (of producing a drink made of honey, wine, and flour); Hp. Mul. 57 (viii. 114. n)), i.e. 'plot, devise'; cf. 75 (asimilar culinary metaphor) with n., 852; Taillardat §421. 'in one way or another', and thus little different from in 430. An Attic idiom (despite Moer. a 103); also attested at Lys.
l88
COMMENTARY
fr. 103 Sauppeap. Harp. A 103; PI. Ti. 520; Arist. Ph. 196*16; GC 333 b 2&; Metaph. 1022*2; Rh. 1415b3o; cf. Ach. 608 d^HjyeVij with Olson ad loc. 430 For r ] . . . r ] . . . y€, cf. Th. vi. 34. 2 r/ ^>avepa>? r/ e^ evo? ye rov Tpowov; KG 11. 173. apfiaKoiaiv: Cf. 561; Oeri 23. That women work against their enemies by preference by means of poison is a Euripidean trope (e.g. Med. 384-5; Hec. 876-8; Ion 616-17, 843-5; &• 464). ('by some device') = eviye rca rpo-jriu (PL 402; PI. Phdr. 242b; Men. 9&d; D. 58. 65); cf. 64-5 n., 429 n.; Th. vi. 34. 2 (above); Luc. DMeretr. 12. 2. 431-2 onus d-n-oXeiTdi is not really necessary after 428-9, but the repetition serves to bring out the speaker's main point as forcefully as possible: Eur. must die. Taur(a) KT\. presumably echoes actual procedure in the Athenian Assembly: when the Council had put forward an open probouleuma (372-9 n.) or when someone wished to propose a course of action different from that recommended by the Council, a man might speak generally in favour of an idea and draft the specific language of the decree afterwards 'in consultation with the secretary' (in this period probably the same man as the 'secretary of the prytany' referred to in 374). For Gvyypdffro^ai, cf. PI. Gig. 45ib ol €v ra> STJ^LW ovyypaffro^evoi ('those who arrange the drafting of [amendments to motions] in the Assembly'); Dover, G&G 31-3. For the various state secretaries andunder-secretaries and their duties, [Arist.] Ath. 54. 3-5 with Rhodes ad loc.; Boule 134-41. 'publicly, for everyone to hear'. Cf. 90—1 n., 672 n.; with the same sense in 465. rfjs YPafifiaT^tds: Pollux draws attention to the comic fern.; cf. 292 and K-A on Cratin. fr. 475. Mika returns the garland to the coryphaeus (cf. 380 with n.) and goes back to where she was standing before she began her speech. 433—42, 459—65, 520—3ob Each speech is followed by a short ode in which the chorus comment on what the speaker has just said. In the first and second ode, they praise the eloquence of the woman; in the third, they express shock at Inlaw's impudence. All three odes are written in trochaics; the first and third are strophe and antistrophe. 433-42 ~ 52O-3ob Mostly trochaic; cf. Parker 412-17. (i)433/4 = 520 (2)434/5 = 52i (3)435 ~522 (4)436 ~523 (5)436/7 ~524
par 2tr 2tr 2tr 2tr 2tr
L I N E S 429-35
189
2tr (6)437/8 ~525 2tr (7)438/9 ~ 526a lek (8)439 ~526b 2tr (9)440 = 527 (10)440/1 3 tr ~ 528/9 2tr (11)4423 ~ 529/3° lek (i3)442b = 530 (i) R's ov-mimoTf is unmetrical, and the simplest solution is to follow Dindorf (1825) 424, in deleting -jrore, which must have been added mechanically by an inattentive scribe. (3) For the dactyl in the strophe, cf. (6); dactyls frequently crop up in trochaic tetrameters (e.g. Ach. 318; 1^.496). There is thus not necessarily anything odd about Seivorepov (435), which is in any case needed for the sense, and the meaning is clearly 'a woman who speaks more cleverly'. (5-6) As Parker 415, notes, 'R's text is thoroughly garbled' and 'the colometry . . . is wildly disordered'. 436/7 probably represents a case of 'corruption by paraphrase' (cf. Parker 118) and thus requires substantial rewriting. Once R's ei&eas (ISeas S) arose out of scriptioplena ei&e, the further alteration of iravra S' to iraaas S' became inevitable. For the dactyls in 437/8, see on (3). 'Normal' trochaics can be restored via Enger's TTO.VT' epdaraaev (with to be deleted as a gloss, as suggested by Thiersch). But the resulting asyndeton (for which, see Denniston, GP 164, and (more fully) Greek Prose Style (Oxford, 1952) 99-123) would be awkward, and following Dale, Lyric Metres2 91, we hesitantly print R's text.
433-5 Cf. the very similar praise of Philokleon's speech by the chorus at V. 631-3 ('Never did we hear anyone speak so clearly or so cleverly'). 'not yet', i.e. 'never before'. Taurrfs: For the omission of r/ after the comparative, cf. Ach. 425; KG ii. 309-10. fJKOuaa: In contrast to 312-30, 352-71 (where the ist pers. pi. is used consistently), the chorus speak in the ist pers. sing, repeatedly in the ode and antode (also 442a, 52&a, 528/9), as if they were individual members of the assembly commenting on the proceedings. -iroXu-n-XoKUTepas refers to the ' intricate' wiles of the speaker's mind (Latin multiplex), as also at 463 (lyric) andThgn. 215 (of the octopus). The adj. and its cognates are attested first in Thgn. (also 67); subsequently at E. Med. 481; I A 197 (lyric), and in prose (e.g. Hp. Oss. 14 (ix. 188. 6); PI. Phdr. 23oa). On the metaphorical
igo
COMMENTARY
use of irXfKia in general, cf. Miiller 228-30. 'a more compelling speaker, more Seivrj Xeyeiv'; cf. EC. 516 (the chorus praise Praxagora after her great success in the Assembly) ('I don't know that I've associated with a woman who was more brilliant than you'). 436 SLKCUCI: 'true', as at e.g. 542; Ach. 373, 501; Eq. 510; Nu. goo. 436/7 Tiavra 8' €18': Aglowing compliment (contrast e .g. E. Ph. 745 but the text is conjectural (see metrical n.). is first attested at Thgn. 1016, but is primarily prosaic (in the tragic poets at S. Ai. 586; OC2ii; 'E. Ale. ion; Supp. 391). 437/8 ipdaraae: The vb. is literally 'hold, balance, weigh [in the hand]' (e.g. Hermipp. fr. 47. 2; H. Od. 21.405; S. PA. 657; OC 1105) and thus, by a natural extension of meaning, 'weigh [in the mind], consider' (e.g. Eup. frr. 76. 2; 326.4; adesp. com. fr. 949; [A.] PF888); cf. Fraenkel on A.Ag. 35; Dale on E. Ale. 19. Poetic vocabulary, first attested in Attic prose in Aristotle (Mu. 4OOb2; fr. 197). p€vi: Handley, 'Words' 217-18. 'shrewdly', a poetic sense of the word; cf. Ach. 445 ('shrewd mind') with Olson ad loc.; Eq. 1132; EC. 571 ('shrewdmind'); Amphisfr. 33. 5—6 Xe-n-rfas xal -jrvKvtijs/TTOVT'
efeT Se |U,tao> ^i€v AaKeSai^ovtovs o<j)68pa ('I really hate the Spartans'). Kaurr) Y»p : 'For I myself, in fact' (cf. Eq. 252; GP 108-9). OUTUS ovaifiTjv TUV T€Kvuv: Expressions of this sort generally include a balancing oij-clause (e.g. Nu. 520—1; cf. Ter. Heauton. 686—7 ^a me di ament ut ego nunc . . . / laetor) but sometimes omit it (as here), especially when the vb. in the main sentence is an imper. (E. Med. 714-15; Men. Dysk. 299-300; Epitr. 264-7; Pk. 400 with Gomme-Sandbach ad loc.; Herod. 5. 69—71); cf. KG ii. 494—5. For the specific wish to gain advantage from one's children (i.e. by receiving support from them once they reach adulthood; cf. 407-9 n.), Philem. fr. 143; D. 28. 20; Herod. 5. 69-71 with Headlam ad loc.; Luc. Philops. 27. For a wish with OVTWS at the beginning of a speech, Men. Sik. 224; Herod. 3. 1—2; Hor. c. i. 3. i sic te divapotens Cypri. ei fir) |-icuvo|_icu is used in dogmatic affirmations also at Nu. PLEuthd. 2836; Prt. 3496; cf. 196 oV pa.ivoiptff ay with n. 471 Iv: 'among'; cf. 52&a; Ach. 498, 630; Nu. 892; V. 1185; PL 1061; LSJ s.v. A. I. 5. b. Souvcu \6yov: 'to have a [frank] discussion'; cf. Hdt. i. 97. 2; iv. 77. i; X. HGv. 2. 20. 472 Probably a parody of aline fromE. Tel., given the echo at Ach. ^o^ 'we are alone' (e.g. Ach. 504 (above) with Olson ad loc.; V. 255; PI. Prm. I37a; Herod. 6. 70 with Headlam ad loc.; Luc. DDeor. 14. 2; cf. Plaut. Cas. 197 nos sumus; KG i. 652—3). 'there is no-one who will carry a report of our discussion off [to the city's men]' (thus 2R); cf. PI. La. 2Oia MSS; contrast p.vOos 6K(j>opogat Cratin. fr. 305). For the idea, c f- 363— 4 with n. Valckenaer (on E. Hipp. 294 (Leiden, I768)p. I94)proposed eKopd on the ground that eKopos cannot have an active meaning. But compounds with -opos can be used both actively and passively (e.g. ; cf. Chantraine, Formation 8—9; Fraenkel on A. Ag. 12. For a gen. dependent on a verbal adj. used actively, cf. Pax 678 aTro^oAi^aioy TOW oVAaw; KG i. 371. 473—519 For the idea, cf. fr. 9 ('Not without reason, ladies, do our menfolk always pound us with every sort of abuse; for they catch us doing terrible things'). 473 The echo of this verse at Ach. 514 ('Why do we blame the Spartans for these things?') suggests an allusion
198
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toE. Telephos. Intransitive ixouacu'adds a notion of duration to that of present action' (LSJ s. e'^oi B. IV. 2; cf. 852 n.). Meineke suggested ''icfivov, but if this is paratragedy (cf. 472 n. and above), the paradosis Keivov (also in tragic parody at 784; V. 753) is right. 474-5 (3ap€us . . . €pOfi€v: An echo of 385 (where seen.). For the rhetorical device of minimizing the claims made by one's opponent while inflating the number and significance of one's own , cf. [Arist.] Rh.Al. I439 b 5. ^uveiSus goes with KCIKCI (cf. fr. 207. 2), and et-ue governs both «a«d and Spuoas (for the double ace., cf. 5 51-2); 'if he, aware of two or three of our misdeeds, has told of them against us who do countless such things'. For p.vpm in the common sense 'countless', e.g. 927; Nu. 685; Av. 231; Ra. 143; cf. 555. 476-516 By offering a personal anecdote in support of the argument made in 473-5, Inlaw both lends more credibility to his case (cf. the similar strategy at 444—52) and momentarily avoids speaking evil of anyone else (476—7). But this initial caution rapidly yields to wild slanders of women generally (491-6) and racy anecdotes about other anonymous individuals (499-516). Cf. S. Trenkner, The Greek Novella in the Classical Period (Cambridge, 1958)80—4,86—7. Unlike Mika, Inlaw focuses almost exclusively on sexual treachery, although he later insists that, had he wished, he could have discussed other sorts of matters as well (555-65). 476-7 fi(r|) d\\T)v: For the synizesis, 286-8 n. A syllable is missing from the text, and Seivorarov in 478 provides good support for adding Sew(d), as Bentley was the first to see; but Dawes' iio\\(d Seiv'} lends more emphasis to the crucial word than does Bentley's 'sums up the main import of details which have been . . . omitted as unnecessary' (GP 4.63; cf. E. Or. 14—15), here all the other terrible things Inlaw has supposedly done. 478 vufipevas ('fear grips my mind') with Johansen-Whittle ad loc. For a woman addressing her spouse simply as tovep ('husband'), e.g. 508; Lys. 518; EC. 531, 542; Men. Sik. 306; Phasm. 203; cf. Dickey 84-6, 270. Contrast 614. For the similar use of yvvai ('wife'), cf. Ach. 262; Dickey 86—8. 485 eis TOV KOTfptiv(a): 'to the latrine', which often consisted of nothing more than a pit somewhere in the courtyard (cf. Ussher on EC. 320-2; Olson on Pax 99—100; Kub. 52. 2—3 ('each man has a latrine at his door') is meant to be comic, a joke against Boeotian 'pigs'); getting out into the street requires a further step (487-8 with 487 n.). For the reference to defecation as inherently funny, 570 with n., 611—12 n. (3a§i£e vuv: 'Off you go then!'; cf. 25 n.; Men. Sik. 145. 486 irpipe: 'he began to grind' (inchoative), i.e. with a mortar (8vem; cf. Olson on Pax 228-9) and a pestle (aXfrpifiavos or SoiSvt;), as also at e.g. EC. 404; PL 718—20 (Asklepios himself producing 'medicine'); Antiph. fr. 47. 2 (a doctor, perhaps Asklepios); Eub. fr. 125. 2; and frequently in Hippocrates (e.g. Epid. ii. 6. 9 (v. 134. 16); Morb. ii. 14 (vii. 26. 14)). Cf. 488 n. KeSpiSas: Juniper berries (Thphr. HP i. 12. i), used inter alia, according to Plin. Nat. 24. 20, to calm an upset stomach. The paradosis avr/Oov is probably unmetrical, as also at Nu. 982 (where see Dover's n.). The simplest emendation in both places is Dindorf's (1830) ('dill'; cf. Eub. fr. 35. 3; Alex. frr. 132. 5 with Arnott ad loc.; 179. 4; Mosch. 3. 100), and the two readings then support one another, although here aw7j(jov('anise'; cf. Alex. fr. 132. 7 with Arnott ad loc.) would also do. For the medicinal use of dill, Plin. Nat. 19. 167; Olck, RE 5 (1905) 641-2. A wildherb (Cratin. fr. 363. i; Eup. fr. 13. 3; Alex. fr. 132. 8 (in a catalogue of kitchen spices); Men. Dysk. 605; Thphr. HPvi. i. 4, 2. 5), probably to be identified as sage (Latin salvia). For its medicinal uses, Plin. Nat. 22. 146-7 (employed inter alia as a treatment for dysentery). 487 Karaxeaaa TOU paivoij.evos (unmetrical) is a careless error for Kuster's aor. 6ap6|_i€vos. For the form, Ach. 179 caa^povro; V. 792 R); Eup. fr. 7 oapea8ai (oapalvea8ai MSS); Philonid. fr. 2. zoat/ipofi.ev'rjv. duo reixous: Since the occupation of Dekeleia in 413, Athens had been a beseiged city, and a constant, manpower-draining guard was kept on the walls (Th. vii. 28. 2; viii. 69. i; cf. Introduction p. xxxvi, and the situation described at Lys. 5 5 5-64, where armed men are said to fill the city's marketplace). eiauov: 395-7 n. 496—7 firfSev KaKov 8pdv uTroTOTrfJTai: 'not suspect us of doing anything evil'. (late 5th-c. vocabulary, restricted in this period to comedy (also _Ra. 958 Kax'iVoTOTTewjflai (what Eur. taught the Athenians to do); cf. f r g^^ and prose (e.g. Hp.Art. 33 (iv. 148. 14); Hdt. iii. 70. i; Th. i. 20. 2)) is a variant of the slightly more common and widespread (first attested at Epich. fr. 113. 10; cf. A^.Ag. 1637). rauG', opas,/ Cf.49owithn. OaiSpav: I53n. 'rails against, reviles'. 5th-c. vocabulary, first attested at Pi. O. 9. 37; A. Eu. 206, and widely attested thereafter in both poetry (e.g. 571, 650; Pherecr. fr. 152. 9; E. Hec. 1237) and prose (e.g. Th. iii. 62. i; Is. 6. 59). 498 rifuvri TOUT' ear';: 'What's this to us?', i.e. 'Why should we care?' Colloquial (e.g. Eq. 1198; Lys. 514; EC. 520-1; Diph. fr. 31. 18; Men. Epitr. 133; Sam. 362; D. 54. 17; Herod. 2. 18-19; Plaut. Cure. 395 quididrefert mea?); cf. Stanton, RhM NF 116 (1973) 89. Cf. 490 with n., 501 499-501 In the scene imagined here, the wife is inside the house with her lover when her husband unexpectedly returns home. Thinking fast, she pretends to be happy to see him and displays a piece of clothing on which she has supposedly been working in his absence, spreading it out so wide that it conceals the adulterer's escape from the house. The tale as Inlaw tells it is too condensed to be readily comprehensible for anyone not already familiar with it and may thus have been a commonplace; note the def. art. r| ('the woman [of whom you already know]'). 261-2 n. 500 is a troubled verse; for the various conjectures, Coulon, REG 38 (1925) 90—4, and in Melanges Bidez
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(Brussels, 1934) 122. (i) R's VTT avyds olov eariv at the head of the line is unmetrical. Hermann (Opusc. viii (Leipzig, 1877) 300) suggested (with IOTLV to be expelled as a mechanical intrusion and then lost when the line became too long), whereas Bachmann (Conjecturarum observationumque Aristophanearum specimen i (Gottingen, 1878) 27) proposed olov {•/} v-n av-yds eariv (for exclamatory ye transplanted to reported speech, GP 130). But the simplest solution is Hermann's earlier uTTauycuj' oTov lariv (Z.Alt. 5 (1838) 683), 'to see what it looks like under the sun's rays', inravya^ia would be a hapax legomenon, but the simplex is used at S. Ph. 217-18 in the act. sense 'see', and other compounds are attested in both the act. (eo-, ev-, -n-po-) and the mid. (air-, ITT-, KO.T-) with the idea of 'beholding, looking at, examining' foremost. For R's tendency to split up compound vbs. and write the prep, separately, Introduction p.xciin. 103. The infin. is 'final-consecutive' without ware, as often with vbs. of seeing (799—800 n.); cf. A. Ch. 798 loeiv, S. Tr. 999 Schwyzerii. 362—5. See Austin (1987) 79. (2) Coulon rightly observes that R's €-yK€Ka\vfi,fi,€vov must go with TOV fioixov in 501 and mean 'wrapped up' (cf. Nu. 11 €-yK€Ka\vfi,fi,€voi*), and suggests that the point is that the lover will thus be able to make his escape without being recognized in the street. But what matters is that the man not be spotted by the husband, and even if he is 'wrapped up', he can still be seen. We therefore print ('well-concealed, well-hidden'), a very slight change. For in this sense, e.g. Antiph. fr. 76. i; H. 77. 16. 360; Od. 8. 503; Hes. Th. 9; Archil, fr. I9&a. 45; cf. Austin, in Le Monde grec: Hommages a Claire Preaux (Brussels, 1975) 186-7. °"K €ipr)K€ ITU: An emphatic echo of 498oi5S' eVeiV' eiprjice TTW /. Cf. Nu. 334 jSoaKova', picking up poaKovai from 331. 502—16 For supposititious children, 339—41 n. 502-3 (i)aaK€v: The 'complexive' or durative aor. is expected with definite numbers like 8ex' rjfiepas (Gildersleeve §243), but when there is a notion of interruption (as here) or of continuation into another, overlapping stage of action, the impf. is used instead (Gildersleeve §208). 'Ten days' is a ridiculously long time for contractions to continue but the anecdote (like most of Inlaw's stories in this speech) depends on the husband being a fool. yuvr\ (properly yvvaiKa, to agree with has been attracted into the case oft] in the rel. clause; cf. Ra. 889; PI. 933; E. Hec. 771; IT 63-4; etc. ius eirpiaro -uaiSiov: For the vb., Rutherford 210-13; Olson onAch. 811-12. That supposititious children are purchased rather than got for free is also specified at Telecl. fr. 44. 1—2; D. 21. 149. Whether this rep resents social reality or not, the effect is to make the child indistinguishable from a slave and thus an even less satisfactory heir; cf. 564-5. 504 A description of the general situation over the course of the ten days of
L I N E S 499-507
205
feigned labour (502-3): the husband kept running about buying things. At the moment the 'birth' is about to occur, on the other hand, he is at home (510). Tr€pir|px€T(o): 'was going around [the stalls of the drug-sellers in the marketplace]', as at Lys. 557—8. The impf. ^PX^W 's extremely rare (Rutherford 103-11), but cf. Men. Dysk. 534o with Sandbach ad loc. apfi,a,KcnTa>\ai ('drug-sellers') sold not just herbs, roots, andberries(Thphr._ffPvi. 2. 5;ix.8. 5), but also charms and amulets (JVM. 766—8 with Dover on 766; cf. PL 883—4), as well as venomous insects and snakes (fr. 28; Arist. HA 594a2i-4, 622b33-4). ('things encouraging swift birth-giving') were also known as TIKTIKO, (fr. 902) and might be either potions or amulets (Hp. Mul. 77 (viii. 170. 9—
172. 13)). Cf. Hanson, inM. Wyke(ed.), Parchments of Gender: Deciphering the Body in Antiquity (Oxford, 1998), 82-4. 505 TO 8' ...
TO TraiSiov: For the apposition, cf. H. //. i. 348; J. Wacker-
nagel, Vorlesungen fiber Syntax ii (Basel, 1928) 133. 'was bringing it in [to the house]'. That the individual who imports the child is a ypaus ('old woman, hag') reflects both the fact that women beyond childbearing age were relatively freer than others to move about the city (cf. 414 n., 789—90 n.; Hyp. fr. 205) and the generally disreputable character of Old Comic crones (cf. 345 with n.). Whether the old woman is supposed to be a midwife, an old nurse, or a neighbour is unclear. Iv xufpa: Unwanted children were (at least conventionally) sometimes exposed in pots, presumably so that they could be buried in them after they were dead (cf. Ra. 1189—90; Hdt. i. 113) and to keep them from being eaten by pigs, dogs, or birds in the meantime; cf. Patterson, TAPA 115 (1985) 103-23. But here the point is that the child must be brought into the house secretly (cf. 506), and a covered cookpot (cf. 403—4 n.) is used to transport it simply because so common a vessel is unlikely to arouse suspicion. 506 i'va [ir] POUT): 'to keep it from crying out' and thus betraying the plot (cf. 505) to the husband (cf. 507—10) or any other man in the vicinity. Krjpiu (Jepuafievov: Sc. TO aTop.a (510—11 with n.; Pax 645; PL 379; Hdt. vi. 125. 4), 'plugged as regards its mouth', i.e. 'with its mouth plugged with a honey-comb'. For the pf. part., cf. Ach. 463; fr. 733- F°r bee-keeping and honey production (an important agricultural activity; cf. 1191—2 n.; Nu. 43—5; Philem. fr. 105. 1—3), Jones, Graham, and Sackett, ABSA 68 (1973) 397-412; E. Crane, The Archaeology of Beekeeping (London, 1983), esp. 45-51; Anderson-Stojanovic and Jones, Hesperia 71 (2002) 345-76. 507 iv€u<j€v: 'nodded', i.e. 'gave an affirmative signal'(e.g. 1020 with n.;Pax 883; Alex. fr. 95; H. Od. 16. 283; E. Ale. 978; Hec. 545), indicating that she had at last got a male baby and the plan could proceed. The subj. is the wife (last referred to in 502—3).
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508-9 drreXO' drreXO': For the repetition, 241-2 n. This is a deliberate ploy to get the husband out of the way (cf. 510), but the implication of the request is none the less that giving birth was regarded as exclusively 'women's business', from which men were normally excluded; cf. N. Demand, Birth, Death, and Motherhood in Classical Greece (Baltimore and London, 1994) 63-70. uvep: 483-4* n. jioi SOKU: 'I think'; confined to comedy (e.g. V. 250; Ra. 1421 with Dover ad loc. (both with fut. infin.); Chion. fr. 2. i; Men. Dysk. 445) and prose (e.g. Hdt. iii. 63. 4; Lys. 8. i; PI. Phd. 9ia), and presumably colloquial. For the enclitic after a voc., cf. Barrett on E. Hipp. 327. re^eiv: Both re'loi (e.g. Eq. 1037) and rf^opai (e.g. Lys. 744) function as the fut. of TIKTOI; cf. LSJ s.v. The subj. of the vb. is TO muSt'ov. The joke is complicated. The rjrpov (according to Moer. rj 14 an exclusively Attic word for the common moyaarpiov; cf. Theodoridis on Phot. rj 294) is the portion of the belly between the navel and the genital region (Tim. on PI. Phd. n8a), and rfjs X"TPaS (an anaphoric art.; cf. 505 €v yinpa) appears para prosdokian for rfjs p.-rjrpos (thus Fritzsche; 2R and S understood as 'the womb', but their paraphrase of 'membrane' or 'lining', is misleading): the baby kicks from inside the pot just as energetic children often kick against their mothers' stomachs from inside the womb. But the woman wants her husband out of the house or room in any case, so that the baby can be removed from the pot without his noticing; and Inlaw accordingly gives her some additional motivation (yap) by specifying that the child was about to spoil the elaborate effort to keep it hidden (506), a fact that called for a bit of quick thinking. For a word properly referring to human anatomy used to describe part of a pot, Taillardat §273. 510—11 x" Hfiv KT\.: 504 n. <jrp€X€v: 'went running [out]'. Sc. TO KTjpiov (cf. 506); the subj. is again the wife, to whom the baby has now been given. Hirschig (Ar. Vesp. (Leiden, 1847) 155) actually replaced TOV TTO.I&IOV with but the reference to the child serves to introduce TO S' aveKpayev (which in Hirschig's version of the text would most naturally be taken to refer— nonsensically—to the behaviour of the honeycomb). As any healthy child does at birth (e.g. A. Ch. 608—9; Arist. HA 587a27). 5i2-i3fuapd: 'disgusting, dirty', with overtones of'shameless, brazen'; colloquial and very insulting. Cf. 649, 1092, 1097, 1133, 1222a;Miasma4-5; Dickey 167; Dover, inWilligs—6. The adj. is added in anticipation of the description in 513—16 of the old woman's nasty, treacherous behaviour in convincing the husband that this is really his son (a sort of ne plus ultra of female crime); and a reminder that she was also the one who brought the child into the house in the first place is accordingly appended for good
L I N E S 508-19
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measure (fj (i)€p€v TO-iraiSiov; cf. 505). 0€iKr\.: Forthe motif of the servant rushing to tell the master of the birth of a son, e.g. Hdt. vi. 63 2; Thphr. Char. 17. 7. The mention of the old woman's smile serves to underline her insincerity. 514 \€tov \€tov: i.e. 'someone who will grow up to be a great and powerful man'. Similar prophecies of the birth of a 'lion' at Eq. 1037 (a mock oracle); Delphic oracle Q6o Fontenrose ap. Hdt. v. 92. j3. 3; Hdt. vi. 131. 2 (a prophetic dream); for the image, e.g. Ra. 143 la—b; E. Supp. 1222—3 with Collard ad loc.; Ph. 411; Dyson, CQ 23 (1929) 186-95; Taillardat §318. For the repetition, 241-2 n. aureKjiaYna aov: 'your very image'; cf. Cratin. fr. 275 eKeivos O.VTOS eKp.ep.a-yp.evos ('the very image of the man himself). The metaphor is from modelling with wax; cf. 56—7 n.; Ra. 1040; Miiller 114. For the prefix, cf. Nossis,^4Pvi. 353. i = HE 2819 (of a portrait; 'Melinna has been wrought here to the life') with Gow—Page ad loc. To tell a father that his child resembles him is not just to flatter him (Thphr. Char. 2. 6) but also to assure him that it is legitimate; cf. Av. 767; Gow on Theoc. 17. 45; West on Hes. Op. 235; Aristaenet. i. 19. 35 Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale II. iii. 95—107. 515—16 rd T' d\\(a) KT\.: Ace. of respect with avreKpa-ypa aov in 514. is in the classical period exclusively comic vocabulary (e.g. 550; Eq. 845; Av. 1539; Ra. 161; Archipp. fr. 14. 4; Antiph. fr. 132. 6; Men. Mis. 669); presumably colloquial. In Modern Greek a-jTafa-jravTes is still used to mean 'one and all'. ('his little dick'; cf. 254 n.) appears para prosdokian for TO piviov ('his little nose') vel sim. For the paroxytone accent on dactylic trisyllabic diminutives ('Wheeler's law'), see J. Vendryes, Traite d'accentuation grecque" (Paris, 1945) §206. The remark has an acid undertone (for the alleged connection between the size of a man's penis and the adequacy of his sexual performance, Av. 1255-6; Lys. 414—19), and there must be some humour in the fact that the old woman is so well-acquainted with the physical appearance of the father's cock. 'twisted', i.e. 'curved, bent like a catkin' or 'ament', the dense, drooping male flower of various conifers (thus 2R; cf. Thphr. HP iii. 3. 8). The adj. is first attested at Eup. fr. 195. 2 and Hp. Aer. 14 (ii. 60. 4); Epid. ii. 6. 14 (v. 136. 4), and is absent from serious poetry. 517-19 TCIUT' ou -uooufiev KT\. extends the indictment of individual (allegedly representative) women in 476—516 to the sex generally, providing Inlaw the ground for his final, main point in 518—19. is perhaps an echo of a line from E. Tel.; cf. Ach. 555 ('I know you would have done these things') with Olson ad loc. A women's oath (569, 742*; Lys. 435, 922*, 949*; EC. 90
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136*; Epicr. fr. 8. 2; E. Hipp. 713; cf. Antiph. fr. 59. 6 ~ Eriph. fr. 2. i, where this is the only indication of the sex of speaker A) and thus appropriate to the part Inlawis playing, as again 01569. Cf. 254n. K T 'we certainly [do]!' (GP 122—3). ) rather than a call to action, but they none the less also serve to set the stage for Mika's demand for summary justice at 536—9. 520—3 TOUTI points forward to the questions posed in 521— 3. fievroi adds emphasis to Gaujiaarov (GP 399-400). For the adj., 466-8 n. The indirect questions in 521-3 define what the chorus find astonishing (520): that a 'creature' like Inlaw could be found at all and that any land could have produced 'her'. Cf. 524—6b, where this is made explicit. The implication is that Inlaw is barely human and certainly not an Athenian, and that wherever 'she' was brought up, it must be some rough, awful place to have produced so vile a monster; cf.A.Eu. 58—9; E.Med. 1339—43. For the augmentation (evpeOri R), cf. 439, 794; Threatte ii. 482—3. 'the creature' (cf. Pax 38 with Olson ad loc.; Lys. 677), i.e. Inlaw with 'her' outrageous arguments. X*1TIS epSpe^e x&pa: 'and which country reared . . .'; cf. Bacch. 5. 86—8 ('Who raised such an offspring [and] in what land?'); A. Ch. 585-6 iToXXd. p,ev yd rpeei / Seivd Seifidraiv d^ ('the earth nourishes many terrible, fearful woes'); Eu. 57-9 ('I have not seen what land boasts of rearing this race'). Gpaaeiav: 'brazen, impudent, insolent', as at e.g. Eg. 181; V. 1402; E. Ba. 491; PI. Prt. 3&ob. 524-6b A complex bundle of closely related ideas and terms: Inlaw can be denounced as Travoupyov ('willing to do anything', i.e. 'crook, scumbag') because 'she' has done something any normal woman would regard as unthinkable (OUK av tbofiTjv) by saying things openly in the company of others cf. 471 n. for this use of Iv) that ought not to have been said at all, thus displaying the lack of concern for
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basic social values ((58' dvai8(is; cf. Cairns passim) and (what is virtually the same thing) reckless daring (roXfifjaai) typical of the individual who is 'willing to do anything'. Cf. 702 with n. -jmvovp-yos and its cognates (first attested at A. Th. 603; Ch. 384) are 5th-c. Athenian vocabulary and are widely distributed in both poetry and prose; the adj. rapidly becomes the other characters' favorite term for Inlaw(55i, 727, 762, 858 with n., 893, 899, 929, 944, 1112). For a similar outburst of incredulity, cf. Lys. 258/9. For the phrase itself, adesp. com. fr. 1017. 18; S. fr. 314. 15; E. Ale. 1088; HF 1355; Gomme-Sandbach on Men. Epitr. 369; cf. Antipho 2. 3. i; Lys. 3 . 1 . reinforces the preceding OVK, 'I should not have imagined that she would have even dared'; cf. H. //. 17. 641 ov p.iv oiopai ov&e Tre-jrvaOai; GP 196-7. 527 d\\d Tfdv Y^VOIT' dv: The idea that 'anything could happen now' was proverbial (e.g. Eup. fr. 391; Philem. fr. 173; Men. fr. 685; Archil, fr. 122. ('nothing is unexpected'); Hdt. iv. 195. 2; v. 9. 3; E. Med. 410 avw Trora^tav lepwv ^wpovai mxyai ('the springs of the sacred rivers run backwards'); X. An. vii. 6. n; Macho 51; cf. Pi. O. 2. 17; [A.] PV 981), but rj8r] ('nowadays') suggests that this is not just a rhetorical topos but a direct reference to the immediate political context; cf. Introduction pp. xliii-xliv. 528—30 rr|v rrapoifuav . . . rr|v TfdXaidv: For explicit appeals to ('proverbs'), 'old sayings', and the like in 5th- and 4th-c. Athenian poetry, e.g. Cratin. fr. 182; PI. Com. fr. 188. 3-4; Alex. fr. 88. 3-5; A. Ag. 264 with Fraenkel ad loc.; S. fr. 282. urro \i0to KT\.: An allusion to the proverb also preserved in various forms at Praxill. PMG 750 mo ('Look out, my friend, for a scorpion under every stone'); carm. conv. PMG 903 ('A scorpion creeps under every stone, my friend. Watch out lest it sting you!'); S. fr. 37 ('for a scorpion keeps watch in every stone'). Here 'orator' appears para prosdokian for 'scorpion', just as 'sycophants' is attached to 'scorpions and snakes' at Eup. fr. 245. fir) 8aKT): Cf. PL 885 ('a sycophant's bite'); Taillardat §296. 531—71 Iambic tetrameters catalectic, used in lively scenes of heated discussion (e.g. Eq. 335-66; Lys. 350-81, 467-75; Men. Dysk. 880-958); cf. F. Perusino, // tetrametro giambico catalettico nella commedia greca (Rome, 1968) 61-2. For the relationship of this scene to the action in E. Tel., Introduction pp. Ivii—Iviii. 531—2 The two tetrameters beginning with dAA(d) round off the preceding ode, and thus have the outward form (although not the content) of a proper katakeleusmos (cf. 350-1, 726-7; T. Gelzer, Der epirrhematische Agon bei Aristophanes (Munich, 1960) 154). For the sentiment exploited
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here, e.g. Lys. 369 (supposedly quoting Eur.) ('for no creature is as shameless as women'), 1014-15; Alex. fr. 291 OVK ear' dvaio^vvrorepov ovQev Qtypiov / yvvaiKos ('there is no beast more shameless than a woman'); S. fr. 189. 2—3 ('there is nothing worse than a woman and never will be'); E. fr. 494. I— 2T-rjs^fv KaK-rjs KaKiovovSevyiyverai/ yvvaiKos('there is nothing worse than a bad woman'). For d\\(d) . . . yap resuming the main topic after the more general reflections in 527—30, GP 103. €is amavra: 'in all respects'; cf. Ra. 968 Seivos els TO. mivra', PI. 273 S. Tr. 489 els a-rravd' Tjaawv; Th. viii. 76. 3 For ap(a) in a conditional protasis denoting that the possibility represented by the hypothesis has only just been realized, cf.Av. 601 TrXrjveiTisap' opvis', Metag. fr. 14.2; GP37-8. appears para prosdokian: 'The Chorus are casting about for some object whose vileness is greater than that of the most shameless woman; and the vilest object they can call to mind is—womankind in general' (Rogers ad loc.). Cf. Men. fr. 400. 1—2 ('there couldn't be anything more wretched than an old man in love except another old man in love!'). 533—70 Mika is initially in control of the debate (and seemingly of the situation as a whole) and does her best to convince the women to punish Inlaw collectively (533-9, 544-8). But the old man gradually begins to dominate and his interlocutor is reduced to curses (557, 562) and spluttering, ineffective protests (551—2, 559, 563), and finally attempts to attack him alone (566-70). 533-9 Cf. 566-7 with 540-65 n. 533 OUTOI. . . eu pov€iT€: 'You are not in your right minds' (e.g.Nu. 817; Ra. 705; PL 479; S. Ant. 755; E. EL 568—9; Ba. 196); cf. 965 ('he is seriously mistaken'). For OVTOI with an oath, cf. 34, 5&6*-7; Av. 1335; Ra. 42, 668; PL 64, 364. 'AyXaupov is Daubuz's correction of R's aypavXov (for a similar error, E. Ion 496) and is supported by the inscriptional evidence (Threatte i. 478). According to the 4th-c. Athenian historian Androtion (FGrHist 324 F i), Kekrops, king of Athens, had three daughters, Aglauros, Herse, and Pandrosos. Philochorus (probably dependent on Androtion) reports that Aglauros was a priestess of Athena (FGrHist 328 F 106), and Apollod. iii. 14. 2 adds that the girls' mother was named Aglauros as well (cf. E. Ion 23, 496). Euripides (Ion 21-4, 267-74) reports that Athena gave two of Kekrops' daughters a chest containing the baby Erichthonios (who, Apollod. iii. 14. 6 reports, was produced when Hephaistos' semen spilled on the ground after he tried to rape the goddess). Although Athena ordered the girls to keep the chest closed, they were overcome by curiosity; and when they opened it and saw a snake curled about the baby, they went mad and threw themselves
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down from the Acropolis. Philochoros (once again probably drawing on Androtion) told a very different story, according to which Aglauros threw herself from the Acropolis to save the city from an invader in response to an oracle of Apollo (FGrHist 328 F 105); this version is presumably to be connected with the fact that the city's ephebes swore their oath to defend their fatherland in Aglauros' shrine (D. 19. 303 with MacDowell ad loc.; cf. Tod no. 204. 17). This shrine was located on the east slope of the Acropolis, where the rock drops off sharply (Hdt. viii. 53. i; Paus. i. 18. 2; Dontas, Hesperia 52 (1983) 48-63, esp. 57-62), and this must on either version of Aglauros' story have been imagined to be the spot where she fell to her death. Cf. Garland 86—7 (on the cult); Shapiro, in E. Reeder (ed.), Pandora: Women in Classical Greece (Baltimore, 1995) 39-48; LIMC i. i. 283-6. 'By Aglauros' must be another women's oath (cf. 254 n., 517-19 n.) but is attested only here; 2R reports that 'they used to swear by Aglauros and less often by Pandrosos' (cf. Lys. 439), 'but we have found no oaths by Herse' (who may be a relatively late addition to the story; cf. Henderson on Lys. 439-40). 534 TT€dpfiax6': For madness allegedly caused by ^ap^axa ('drugs'), 561; A.Ag. 1407-9 with Fraenkel on 1408; E. Ba. 326-7; Is. 6. 21; 9. 37; 0.46. 16; cf. 430 n.; Men. Her. fr. 5 Sandbach ap. Phot, a 1548. 'there is something else seriously wrong with you'; forthe idiom, e.g. Ach. 912; Eq. 346; V. 995. 535—6 96pov: 'destruction', i.e. 'destructive creature', as at Eq. 1151; D. 13. 24; Theoc. 15. 18 with Gow ad loc.; cf. 860 J>Xe&pe withn.; PI. Com. fr. 201. 4 exBtar-rfvTOCTOV('most hateful disease'; used of a politician); D. 25. 80 ('thisman, aplague'); L,at.pestis;Anredeformen6i. The word stands in apposition to Tavrr/v, cf. S. El. 301; Ph. 622 KGi. 273; Schwyzerii. 613—14. Very similar charges were originally levelled by the women against Eur. (esp. 386-7, 464/5), but Inlaw instead now becomes the most significant object of their wrath (536—8); cf. 539 (an echo of 85, 182). The prefix intensifies the sense of the vb. (LSJ s. -jrepi F. IV); the compound (elsewhere in Ar. at Eq. 727; V. 1319 (also with double ace.)) is attested elsewhere before the Hellenistic period only in Herodotus (e.g. i. 114. 5; ii. 152. 3). €i fiev KT\.: Addressed to the audience: 'If there is anyone [prepared to punish her, well and good]; if not, we will do it ourselves.' 'The apodosis to the first of two alternative suppositions is suppressed, because the speaker passes on to emphasize the second' (Pearson on S. fr. 458); for other examples of the idiom (the schema anantapodoton), PL 468-70; PI. Com. fr. 23; Men. fr. 659; H. //. i. 135-9; carm. pop. PMG 848. 13; Th. iii. 3. 3; PI. Prt. 325d; cf. KG ii. 484-5. For the synizesis of jir|, i\\i-, 269-71 n. 537—8 Reiske proposed ainai re (re iam "S, H.), but y£ is needed for the
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contrast ('we, at least'), and Kai TCI 8ou\dpia ('with the help of our slaves') is merely added as an afterthought. SovXdpiov is identified as an Atticism at Luc. Lex. 25 and said to be used properly only of female slaves; the word is attested elsewhere before the Roman period only at Metag. fr. 20. For the presence of slaves at the festival, 292-4 n.; Introduction p. xlvii. T€pav: '[hot] ash', i.e. ash mixed with quiescent coals, as at Sotad. Com. fr. i. 29; Archestr. fr. 60. 4; also used to burn off an enemy's pubic hair at Nu. 1083 (the punishment of an adulterer; cf. PI. 168; Philonid.fr. 7). TauTT)sdTfov|/i\tiaofi€VT6vxoipov: 'we'll strip her pussy bare', in contrast to the partial pubic depilation practised routinely by women (216—17 n.); cf. Lys. 827—8 [ ('[my pussy] stripped bare with a lamp'), although the reference there must be only to very neatly trimmed hair (cf. Lys. 825-7). is rare 5th-c. vocabulary; first attested at A. Ch. 695 and found thereafter in both poetry (above) and prose (Hdt. iii. 32. 4; Hp. Foet. Exsect. i (viii. 512. 7)). For this use of ^oipoy, 289—90 n. 539 yuvr) Yuvaixas ouaa: 'here the tendency to put similar words next to each other leads to the separation of the words which belong together, (Fraenkel on A. Ag. 1318 cf. KGii. 602; Gygli-Wyss 137—42; Fehling232—3. 535-6 n. TO XOITTOV: Adverbial, 'for what remains', i.e. 'from now on, in the future' (first attested at Pi. P. 5. n8; N. 7. 45; A. Eu. 683, 763, and widespread thereafter in both poetry and prose). Cf. 1160 with n., 1163. 540-65 The condemnation and threat in 533-9 are repeated (in much condensed form) in 566-7, and 540-65 merely furnish Inlaw—and Ar.—the opportunity to offer a few more reckless comic slanders of women before the plot moves briefly forward again at 566—70. 540-52 The focus of the discussion returns briefly to Eur. and his crimes (542-8; contrast 535-9), before Inlaw inadvertently diverts the charge of slandering women onto his own head again (549—52). Cf. 535—6 n., 551-3 n. 540-3 As Rogers notes, Inlaw 'is quite ready for a stand-up fight' (cf. 56770); 'but he naturally deprecates a mode of attack which would lead to his immediate detection' (cf. 643—50). 540—1 fir) STJTCI . . . Y^: Sc. a-jroifjiXitiariTe. A passionate negative command (GP27&; cf.Eq. 960; Nu. 696; Lys. 36; Ra. n); 'Pleasel [Don't strip] . . .!' The emphatic repetition of xoipov from 538 must reflect the fact that Ar.'s audience found public use of the obscenity funny. 383—4 n. ei Y&P KT\.: Perhaps an echo (mutatis mutandis) of a remark made by the still-disguised Telephos in Eur.'s play after someone raised a protest against his initial speech in defence of his people; cf. 4665i9n., 544—5 n.; Introduction pp. Ivii—Iviii.
L I N E S 537-48
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the freedom to say whatever one wants about matters of public concern) and layyopm (the equal right of 'however many of us citizens as are present to speak' without regard to wealth or family connections) are fundamental to the ancient concept of democracy and to the Athenians' understanding of their own democracy in particular (e.g. Eup. fr. 316. 3; E. Supp. 438-41 with Collard ad loc.; Moschion TrGF 97 F 4. 2—4 ('the freedom of speech that has been encouraged in Athena's citizens and the city of Theseus'); Hdt. v. 78; P1._R. 557a-b; Mastronarde on E. Ph. 391-5). («)£°v: Ace. abs. (Schwyzer ii. 401-2); after a gen.abs. also at e.g. Th. iii. 53. 2; Lys. 14. io;X.^4w. v.8. 3 292—4 n., 327b—30 n.; Introduction p. xlvii. 542-3 The use of €ir(a), cWira, Kara, or Kaneim after a participial clause where we would expect no connection is an Attic colloquialism; cf. 55, 559, 564; Starkie on V. 49; Pearson on S. fr. 636. 2; KG ii. 281; Olson on Ach. 23—4. a (€)YiYvtdCTKOV • • • Sixaia: 'what I took to be the truth'(cf. 436 n.). Souvai SIKTJV: 465 n. u' ujiuv: To be taken with TiXXofievrjv (which here must mean 'by being made hairless' vel sim. rather than more specifically 'by being plucked', as comparison with 537—8 with n. makes clear). 544-8 Addressed to Inlaw but intended primarily for the ears of the other women (cf. 533, 540), who need to be reminded of why speaking on Eur.'s behalf (542) is so terrible, and whom Mika addresses directly again in 551-2. 544-5 Perhaps another echo of the debate-scene in E. Tel. (cf. 540-1 n.; Introduction pp. Ivii-lviii), given the similarity to the chorus' condemnation of Dikaiopolis for being the only Athenian reckless enough to speak on behalf of the Spartans at e.g. Ach. 311—12, 315—16, 493. 'The question is rhetorical . . . and implies that the speaker throws doubt on the grounds of the previous speaker's words'—which are here echoed from 543; 'the tone is dissentient' (GP 77). 'What!' is until the middle of the 4th c. exclusively poetic vocabulary (e.g. PI. 280; H. //. I. 228; Thgn. 825; E. Tel. fr. 703. 'to argue the contrary case'. The vb. is first attested in Sophocles (e.g. Ant. 1053, 1232) and Euripides (e.g. Tel. fr. 706. 3 Socaidy' avre Lirfivf-^iav (from a speech by Telephos)) an at [A.] PV 51, and is common in the orators (e.g. Lys. i 2 . 2 6 ; D . i 8 . 8 3 ) . Cf. 455 (Kritylla's summary) 546—8 eiuTT|S€s: 'deliberately'. R'se^e-n-mjSej (the stronger form of the adv.) is a careless error which spoils the metre. XOYOUS: '[traditional] stories', on the basis of which a tragic plot can be constructed; cf. Olson on Pax 50—3. For the contrast between iiovT]pd and ob>c|>p(dv, Dover,
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GPM 65. MeXaviimas TTOUV OaiSpas re: Cf. 157-8 n.; Ra. 1043 (Aeschylus addressing Euripides) ('I didn't write about whores like Phaidra and Stheneboia'). Melanippe, the daughter of King Aiolos, was raped by Poseidon. After she bore twin sons, she exposed them, but they were rescued by herdsmen. Later she was forced to plead for the boys' lives with her father, and when her connection to them came out, he threatened her with blinding (although whether he carried out the threat is unclear). Eur. wrote two plays about Melanippe, Melanippe the Wise (4205?) and Captive Melanippe (4105?). Cf. Cropp and Pick 83-4; Cropp, in Collard, Cropp, and Lee 240-80, esp. 240—7; LIMC viii. i. 829—30; H. Van Looy, Euripide viii. 2 Fragments (Paris, 2000) 347—96. For Phaidra, 153 n. Forthepls. (which signal venomous contempt), cf. 941 with n.; Ach. 270 with Olson ad loc.; Av. 558-9, 1701 ;Ra. 963 KvKvovsTToa>vKalMefi,vovas('writing about Kyknoses andMemnons'), 1051; Fraenkel on A. Ag. 1439. Aristotle famously observed that neither the Iliad nor the Odyssey was a rich source of tragic material (Po. i459b2-4), and Eur. in fact seems never to have written a play in which Penelope figured (although his contemporary Philokles did (TrGF 24 T i)). The argument is none the less exaggerated, for some Euripidean tragedies do feature noble female characters, including Alcestis (cf. Ale. 182 ('[no other woman] could be more sophron')), Makaria, Polyxena, and Iphigenia. The anapaest in the last metron in 547 is highly unusual, as 2 R points out. yuv11 wcipci>vI8o§eveivai: Cf. Ischomachos' young wife at X. Oec. 7. 14: 'My mother said that my job [after I was married] was to be sophron'. Cf. above; H. North, Sophrosyne (Ithaca, NY, 1966), esp. 85—120. 549—50 For the repetition of yap, Call. Com. fr. 15. 2; GP 58. T(O) airiov: For the crasis (of a sort seemingly confined to Ar.), cf. Ra. 1385; Diggle on E. Phaeth. 165. juav . . . OUK av eiirois: Emphatic for the expected ovSe^tav . . . av eiTrot?; cf. Fldt. vin. 119 Herod. 6. 35—6 withHeadlamadloc. For the sentiment, cf. Eub. fr. 115. 8-15 (spoken by someone allegedly reluctant to slander women)
('If Medea was a bad woman, Penelope was something great. Someone will say that Clytaemestra was bad; I set against her Alcestis as good. Perhaps someone will slander Phaidra; but, by Zeus, there's the good . . . who? Who? I'm in trouble! I've already run out of good women, and I still have many bad ones left to mention!'). Cf.adesp.com.fr. 1106. 10. For the anapaest in the second metron
L I N E S 546-57
215
in , cf. 560; Nu. 1050 (personal name), 1427; Ra. 912 (personal name), 932; fr. 581. 5. 8' is needed for the contrast, and its absence from R must represent a majuscule error (A omitted by haplography before A). The M-scribe added the word instinctively but then deleted it, presumably after he checked his copy against R. 5i5-i6n. 551—3 r| iravoupYOs: 524—6b n. auGis au: A common pleonasm in late 5th-c. Attic poetry (e.g. 862; Ach. 854 with Olson ad loc.; Lys. 1150; E. Herad. 796 with Wilkins ad loc.) and in Plato (e.g. Cra. 42ie; Prm. I3&b). Kdi vr| Ai' KT\.: Cf. the very similar character of Inlaw's defence of Eur. earlier: the poet actually knows more about women's misbehaviour than he has said(esp. 474—5; cf. 556—7 n., 1167—9). Forvrj Ai(a) used in support of anegative statement, 640; Pax 218; EC. 445; Diph. fr. 31. 25. euei: 'since [that is true, but you probably don't believe it,] . . .'; cf. Nu. 786; Dodds on PI. Grg. 474^7; MacDowell on V. 73; Johansen-Whittle on A. Supp. 330. 554 An unexpected twist: rather than denouncing Inlaw as a liar, Mika merely insists that he must by now be out of material, implicitly conceding the truth of much of what he said in 466—519; cf. 339—48 n., 1168—9 n - The immediate dramatic effect is to give the old man an opportunity to offer further, increasingly nasty slanders of women (55565). Hirschig's fj8r]a0(a) (Ar. Vesp. (Leiden, 1847) 146; is the correct Attic form; cf. EC. 551; Eup. fr. 454; KB ii. 242; Jebb on S. Ant. 447; Dover on Nu. 329 (although he reluctantly retains the paradosis Alpers on Orus fr. B 77. lpx€as: F°r tne image ( a poetic commonplace), e.g. 1041 with n.; Emped. 316 39. 3; A. Ag. 1029; S. fr. 929. 3; E. Supp. 773; cf. Taillardat§5O4. 555 Sc. e^e'^ea. ouSe rr|v . . . fiupioaTT|v fioipav: Cf. 474—5 n.; Lys. 355 pcpos y' rffAWV opaY' oiVa) TO f^vpioarov ('you don't yet see the tiniest portion of us'); Lys. 14. 46 ('I have not mentioned the smallest fraction of their misdeeds'); Plaut. Mil. 763—4 hau centesumam / partem dixi ('I have not told you the hundredth part'), fivpioaros is first attested here and at Lys.355 (above) but is otherwise exclusively prosaic vocabulary (e.g. PI. Lg. 6566; X. Cyr. ii. 3. 6). For Faber's (Y^), cf. Ra. 559 556-7 rd8' OUK €ipT)x', opas: Cf. the very similar remarks in defence of Eur. at 490, 496-7, 498, with 551-3 n. For parenthetic opas, 490 n. <jT\€YY'SaS' Strigils were curved scrapers properly used to remove sweat, sand, and oil from one's skin when one bathed after exercise in a wrestling school (cf. 139 n.), and were normally made of metal; cf. DarembergSaglio s. strigilis; I. Raubitschek, Isthmia VII: The Metal Objects (Princeton, 1952—89) 121—4, 129—30; E. Kotera-Geyer, Die Strigilis (Frankfurt,
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1993). But Plutarch claims that in Sparta they were made of reed (Mor. 23 gb) and Aristotle refers in passing to the possibility of using one not as intended but as a tool to draw off a liquid (Top. I45 a 23—5); and it must be to such a reed strigil—clearly a simple, homely device—that Inlaw is referring. eueira: 542—3 n. aicJHdvi^o^iev TOV oivov combines two themes already established in Mika's speech: that women routinely pilfer household supplies (esp. 418—20) and that they drink secretly and to excess (cf. 630 n.). A siphon is an inverted U-shaped tube that, once filled with liquid, drains a container from the top into a lower one; cf. Hippon. fr. 58 atywvi AeTTTWTOiW&j^aTeTp-ijras^'afterpiercingthelid [of a winejar?] with a thin siphon'); Alex. Aphr.Pr. 2. 59 ('by sucking air out of the siphon we drain off the wine'). The vb. is attested only here. The ancient witnesses have alrov; but grain cannot be 'siphoned' out of a storage vessel and Kuster's olvov is certainly correct. euiTpipeirfs: That this was a common, colloquial curse is clear fromAv. 1530 (cf. adesp. com. fr. 1112. 51 emTpijSfeiijy), as well as from the use of emVpm-Tos- as an imprecation (e.g. Ach. 557; Sannyr. fr. 11; Alex. fr. no. i; And. i. 99). 'Damn you!', 'To hell with you!' vel sini.; cf. EC. 776; Taillardat§64. For the interruption with a curse, cf. 562; Holzinger on PL 180. 558 &ST' au is used in place of ovo' 019(491*, 493*, 560*, 564*) for the sake of stylistic variation. TCI Kpe' l£ ArfaTOupiuv: The Apatouria festival was celebrated by Athens' phratries (kinship-groups whose precise number and average size is unknown) some time in Pyanepsion (October/ November); cf. Deubner 232-4; Parke 88-92; S. D. Lambert, The Phratries of Attica (Michigan Monographs in Classical Antiquity: Ann Arbor, 1993) 143—89, esp. 143—78; Palagia, Hesperia 64 (1995) 493—501. The second and third days of the festival featured sacrifices, from which shares of meat not eaten on the spot must have been taken home by individual phratry-members; cf. Ach. 145-6 (where Sadokos is said to enjoy 'sausages from the Apatouria'); V. J. Rosivach, The System of Public Sacrifice in Fourth-Century Athens (American Classical Studies 34: Atlanta, 1994) 9-67 (on the distribution of meat from large-scale sacrifices generally). rais fiaaTpo-uois 8i8ouaai: At X. Snip. 4. 57-60 (cf. 8. 5, 42), a p.aoTpo-jTos is defined as someone who tries to make one party in a potential sexual relationship attractive to the other, and at 4. 61 this is distinguished from the behaviour of the apparently even less reputable (339-41 n.), although Theopomp. Hist. FGrHist 115 F 227 treats the terms as equivalent. For other references to paarpoTroi (always female where the sex can be distinguished, except in Xenophon), Epicr. fr. 8. i; Theophil. fr. n. 4; Diph. fr. 42. 22; Herod, i; X. Snip. 3. 10 (a 'craft' by means of which Socrates claims he could make considerable money). The word is first attested here. For sending gifts of sacrificial
L I N E S 556-63
217
meat to individuals whom one wants to honour, thank, or influence, Olson on Ach. 1049—50. 559 iireiTa: 542—3 n. rr|v YiArjv afi€v: Sc. «Ae'i/iai ('stole [them]'). Weasels were kept in Greek houses to control rats, mice, and the like (Arist. HA 6o9b28-3o; Gow on Theoc. 15. 27-8; Benton, CR NS 19 (1969) 2603); for their tendency to steal meat, V. 363—4; Pax 1150—1 with Olson on 792-5; Plu.Mor. Sigd; cf. Semon. fr. 7. 50-6, esp. 55-6. 'Miserable me!, Woe is me!' (e.g. 690, 695; Lys. 735; Alex. fr. 100. 3; Men.Dysk. 189; cf. 385 withn., 625, 644 with n.). c|>\uapeis: The vb. and its cognates (first attested at Timocr. fr. 10) are widely distributed in comedy (e.g. V. 85; Eub. fr. 35. 3; Philem. fr. 178. i; Men.Pk. 3 36) and prose (e.g. PI. Grg. 4906; X.ffGvi. 3.12; Isoc.4. 188; D. 16. 3) but absent from serious poetry. 560 The Suda preserves a careless version of the text, with eVe'pa intrusive from 561. TOV dvSpa KT\.: Euripides refers several times to the TreXeKvs ('axe') with which Clytaemestra murdered Agamemnon (Hec. 1279; El. 160, 279, 1160; Tr. 361; the weapon is always a sword in Aeschylus, but cf. Garvie on A. Ch. 889 for an axe as 'part of the traditional version of Clytaemestra's defence of Aegisthus against Orestes'). Inlaw is referring, however, not to a traditional story but to what are at least alleged to be contemporary events, as 2R notes. For the anapaest in the second metron, cf. 550 with n. KaTeamoSrfaev: The vb. is attested elsewhere in the classical period only at A. Th. 809; here it probably means 'pounded hard, to destruction' (cf. 1215 n.; [Archil.] fr. 328. 6; Taillardat §633), i.e. 'chopped to pieces'. 561 apfidKois • • • ifir]V€v: 43on., 534n. If aman was incapacitated by mental illness, control of the family property apparently passed to his son (cf. Dover on Nu. 845); but blame for his breakdown probably settled more often than not on his wife, who had had ample opportunity to poison him. Cf. Antipho i. 562-3 rf) TTueXu: 'her bathtub' (cf. Amyx 252-4; Ginouves 47-8; Olson on Pax 843-4), a heavy item of household equipment which would not normally be moved (cf. V. 141, where the mjeAoy is fitted with a drain leading outside the house, leaving no doubt that it is more or less permanently installed). !£6\oio: A bitter colloquial curse; lit. 'Might you perish utterly!', i.e. 'To hell with you!', 'Fuck you!' (also 887; Alex. fr. 125. 2; cf. 556—7n., 757 withn., 1051;Ra. 86, 226). Inlaw's story is oddly circumstantial (why an Acharnian woman? and why did she bury the body under abathtub, of all things? and why was the victim her father rather than her husband, as in 560-1?), and -HOT' ('once upon a time') suggests that he is rehearsing a well-known tale, as does the fact that Mika angrily interrupts him before he can get out what might otherwise seem to be the central details of the story. It thus seems likely that the old
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man is alluding to a famous local incident and that Dobree's should be printed for R's AxapviKr/ (cf. Introduction p. xciii). Acharnai was located north of Athens among the foothills of Mt. Parnes and was far and away the largest Attic deme, with a bouleutic quota of 22. Cf. Traill 50; D. Whitehead, The Denies of Attica $o8/j-ca. 250 B.C. (Princeton, 1986) 397-400; J. Travlos, Bildlexicon zur Topographic des antiken Attika (Tubingen, 1988) 1—5; Olson onAch. 177. 8fJT(a) injects a note of indignation; cf. 705; S. OT429 rj TO.VTO. 8rjr' dveKrd . . . K\vfiv;\ Ph. 987 GP 272. 564-5 Inlaw abruptly turns his venom on Mika herself; cf. 567 n. For the charge of passing off another woman's child as one's own, 339—41 n., 407—8, 502—3; andcf. S. OT 1062—3, where Oedipus, having just learnt that he was adopted as an infant, assumes that his birth-mother must have been a slave. For the preference for a son, Men. frr. 22; 58; Posidipp. Com. fr. 12 with K—A ad loc.; Olson on Ach. 736—7. Sc. muSiw; cf. EC. 549. etra: 542—3 n. 'your own infant daughter' (Petersen 140). Bv-ydrpiov is attested elsewhere only in comedy and related genres (e.g. 1184; Stratt. fr. 65. i; Xenarch. fr. 12. 2; Men. Dysk. 19; fr. 323. i; adesp. com. fr. 1008. 19; Macho 348) and in prose (D. 40. 13), and is most likely colloquial Attic. 566 Cf. 718—20; V. 1396 383-4 n. Kararfpoi^ei: Ionic vocabulary (Archil, fr. 200; Hdt. iii. 36. 6; vii. 17. 2; etc.); used in the colloquial Attic of Aristophanic comedy only in the 2nd pers. fut. with OVTOL and an oath and with either a part, (also Eq. 435; V. 1366) or a gen. (JVM. 1240; V. 1396). 567 IKTTOKUO aou Tas TTOKciSas: 'I'll shear off your wool', i.e. 'your pubic hair'; cf. Lys. 448 eyo>'KTTOKIW aov rds GT€VOKWKVTOVS rpt^a? ('I'll shear off your close-hairs and make you scream'; also said by a woman spoiling for a fight), 683-6; Taillardat §586. The argument has grown personal (564-5) and Mika now proposes to do by herself what she earlier urged the women to do as a group (537—8). IK-JTOKL^IU is attested elsewhere only at Lys. 448 (above; thus Blaydes for the paradosis IKKOKKJJ)', for the simplex, Theoc. 5. 26. TroKiis is secure only here. 'You won't get hold [of them], by Zeus!', i.e. 'You'll have to get hold of them first!' ovToipaAia is a mocking echo of Mika'soiVoi^aToi^eaiin 566. R has ovoe (unmetrical), for which Lenting (in the Addenda to his Obs. Crit. (Zutphen, 1839) 133) suggested OVTOL. Bothe'souSij would be an odd use of the particle, which rarely strengthens negatives (GP 222-3). F°r in similar contexts, Lys. 365; PI. Com. fr. 136. i; Men. Sam. 576. 568 Kdi fir)v E8ou. —Kdi fir)v E8ou: Mika takes off her himation (cf. below) and steps forward to fight, and Inlaw immediately does the same; cf. 637 n.; Lys. 362. For KOL ^v ('Look!'), GP 356-7. For ISov (here in response to the implied invitation to fisticuffs in 567), 25 n.
L I N E S 562-73
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For throwing off one's outer robe to prepare for a fight (as for any vigorous physical action), V. 408; Hippon. fr. 121 ('Take my himatia, so I can punch Boupalos in the eye'); cf. 656 with n., 1181 with 1186 n.; Pi. P. 4. 232-3; E. Ion 1208-9. Mika's slave is named Mania (728 with n., 739, 754; cf. 608—9 n.), and Philiste is most likely a member of the chorus. The name is relatively common in Athens (12 examples in LGPN ii s. 0Mara and 0Mar-r) (four from the 5th and 4th c.), not including this passage). 569 Trp6a0€s fiovov: Sc. ^eipa ('just lay [a hand] on me!'); cf.Nu. 933; Cratin. fr. 309; E. Ph. 1699. A harsh ellipse, but the action on stage makes Inlaw's meaning clear. Threatening adverbial p,6vov appears in similar contexts at Lys. 365, 439; PI. Com. fr. 136. i. vr| rr|v'Aprejuv: 517-19 n. TI Spcujeis; is belligerent; 'You'll do what?' 570 TOV ar]aafiouv9' ov KdT€aY€s: The 'Middle Day' of the Thesmophoria involved fasting (cf. 80 n.; Introduction p. xlviii with n. 35) and the nasty implication of Inlaw's remark is that Mika has been snacking surreptitiously. For ariaap.ovs ('sesame-[cake]'), Ach. 1092; S a 341; cf. IG IP 1184.11 withMichonad\oc.(UnDecretdudemedeCholargos(Paris, 1913) n). Sesame (a-qaa^ov, a Semitic loan-word; cf. E. Masson, Recherches sur les plus anciens emprunts semitiques en grec (Etudes et Commentaires 67: Paris, 1967) 57—8) was a minor summer crop; cf. Thphr. HPviii. i. i—2, 4; R. Sallares, The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World (Ithaca, NY, 1991) 363-4. KareaBlw ('gulp down') is an undignified vb., common in comedy but used elsewhere only of the greedy eating of non-human or sub-human creatures; cf. Olson on Ach. 973—5. Cf. Eup. fr. 173. 3 (njaa^i'Saj oe x^6L- Here a climactic obscenity (35 n.; cf. 611-12 n.), after which the action moves in a new direction (571-3). For involuntary defecation as a consequence of a beating, Eq. 69—70; Nu. 1385—90; Lys. 440; cf. Plaut. Cure. 295 ex unoquoque eorum crepitum exciam polentarium ('I'll knock a barley-fed fart out of every one of them'). xe'£o) is coarse, colloquial vocabulary (e.g. Eq. 998; Nu. 295; EC. 320). For -^eaeiv rather than -^eaai (Ec. 808) as the aor. act. infin., Ale. Com. fr. 5 with K—A ad loc.; KB ii. 103; Lautensach 226. For TTOTJCTO) used in threats, K—A on Hermipp. fr. 74. 571—3 For57I—2,cf. S.El. I/\.2& ('Stop [talking]! for I see Aigisthos in full view'). 'reviling one another, quarrelling' (496—7 n.). Kai yap: 'for the fact is that' (GP 108—9). Y UV1 1 TI S ( c f- 572 573 is a joke, for the bare-cheeked character who enters now—and whose passage across the stage these verses serve to cover—speaks from the very first as a man and must have been immediately recognizable as such. Cf. 574—5 n., 582—3 n. !<jTrou8aKuia: 'bent on business' (e.g. V. 694; Ra. 813; Antiph. fr. 182. 2; Men. Dysk. 148 with Sandbach ad
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loc.; fr. 607. 4). Tipiv . . . y^veaGai: Sc. gether [with us]' (e.g. Eq. 245; Pax 513; fr. 562; S. Ant. 1180; OC 1107; PI. R. 458c); identified by 2R (cf. Harp. O 22) as Attic for the common 'decorously', i.e. without any slanging (cf. 571) of the sort Inlaw engages in again at the first opportunity (592-4); cf. 8534, where KOCT^U'OIJ / e|eij means little more than 'keep quiet' . For ('decorousness'), a virtue routinely associated, especially for women, with alSiiis (cf. 524— 6b n.) and aiu^poavvi] (546—8 n.), e.g. Philem. fr. 4; PI. Chrm. 1 59b; Lycophronid. PMG 843 . KOCT^IOJ is common in comedy (e.g PL 565; Anaxandr. fr. 57. 3; Men. Sam. 18) and prose (e.g. Hp. Epid. iii. 3.17 (iii. 146. 15); Lys. i . 26; X. Mem. iii. 1 1 . 14), but is found in serious poetry of the classical period only at S. EL 872. 574-5 The character who enters from Wing A at 571 and speaks now for the first time is not addressed or referred to by name until 634, where he is identified as Kleisthenes (235 n.). But the ofif-hand way in which the name is used there leaves no doubt that his bare cheeks (which led the coryphaeus in 571-3 to the mistaken initial conclusion that he must be a woman) make his identity apparent from the moment he enters; cf. 3-4 n., 33 n. Nothing else specific can be said of Kleisthenes' costume; but perhaps he has a white mask or lacks a visible stage-phallus (cf. Introduction p. Ixx). c|>i\ai Y<JvaiK€s: Perhaps paratragic (Rau 47); cf. 1036; S. Tr. 225; E.Andr. 802; Hel. 255; fr. 399. i; etc.; and note the lack of resolution in the line. £uYY €V€ 'STOUfiouTp6TTOu: Lit. 'kinofmy personal style' (cf. 93 n.), i.e. 'who share my personal style, proclivities'; cf. Poultney 41. For the gen. rather than the dat. (e.g. Ach. 789) with the adj. 'when the idea of affiliation is in the foreground', KG i. 432; cf. PI. R. 487a (j>lXos re Kal avy-yevrjs aXr/Oems ('friendly to and a kinsman of truth'). on fi€vi\os KT\. plays on the standard oratorical device of attempting to convince the people of one's deep affection for and devotion to them before offering them advice or the like (e.g. Eq. 732-4, 773-6, 790—1, 820—1, 860—3), and TCUS YV^OIS ('by my jaws') is accordingly reserved for the end of the line as a surprise for roiy e'pyoiy ('by my deeds') vel sim. For p,€v solitarium at the beginning of a speech, 383-4 n. R's euiSrjXos (with ei^u'to be supplied from what precedes) can probably stand (cf. Lys. 919 rj TOL-yvyf] <j>iXei p.e, Sr/Xi) 'arlv KaAoiy; PL 333; Denniston on E. EL 37), although Blaydes's em'S^Acy (cf. Av. 703—4 the nom. would be an easy error under the influence of is tempting. em'S-ijAos (first attested at Thgn. 442 ~ i i&2b) appear in the classical period in comedy (also 799 (adv.); Eq. 38; EC. 661; Men. Sam. 448; fr. 858. 3) and prose (e.g. Hdt. viii. 97. i; Hp. VMS, (i. 586. 8); Thphr. HP iv. 14. i), but is absent from elevated poetry. 576 YuvaiKopavw: 'I'm wild for women's ways'. Modelled on Homeric (II. 3- 39 = 13. 769); cf. Amphis' FwaLKopavia (frr. 9—11),
221
L I N E S 57l-8l
(Av.
I28l), OpVlddfMVW
(.
As if the city's women were foreigners forced to rely on an influential Athenian insider (cf. 235 n.) to protect their interests among the men; cf. 602 (Kleisthenes addressed as -n-pofeve by the coryphaeus), 652-4 n., 1162-3 n -; Lys. 620-4 (Spartans and women imagined meeting in Kleisthenes' house, as if he were the official representative of one party or the other); M. B. Walbank, Athenian Proxenies of the Fifth Century B.C. (Toronto and Sarasota, 1978) 2—9 (on the duties and privileges of the proxenos and the history of the institution). 577—8 Kai vuv: Cf. E. Andr. 59—60 ('I was well-disposed to you previously, and now I have come bringing you fresh news'). TrpaYna • • • fi^ya: 'an important matter';cf.58i*withn.; F.59o;Z/ys.23,5ii;_Ra.759,1099. 'a little earlier'; cf. Hdt. iv. 79. 2, 81. 2; vi. 69. 2; viii. 95 (all but vi. 69. 2 with a gen., 'a little before this'). 457—8 n. Eur.'s plan depends on secrecy (91—2), but if anyone in the audience in the Theatre wondered how word of the plot reached the city at large, the obvious answer would be that Agathon or one of his slaves let the cat out of the bag; cf. Ra. 750—3. For shops in the Agora as places where men hung about to talk, e.g. Ach. 21 with Olson ad loc. (with additional primary references); EC. 3O3a-b; Pherecr. frr. 2. 2-3; 70. 1-3; Men. Sam. 510-12; Lys. 24. 20; S. Lewis, News and Society in the Greek Palis (Chapel Hill, 1996) 13—19. For gossip and rumour in Athens generally, Cohen, Law 94—7; Policing96— 119. 579-91 contain no resolution except in 585 and are clearly paratragic; cf. 579-81 n., 582-3 n., 586 n., 587-8 n., 595-602 n., 598-600 n.; Rau 46-7; Sanchez, Emerita 65 (1997) 294—6. 579—81 In good paratragic fashion, Kleisthenes repeatedly says the same thing twice cf. 586, 587, 590, 599-600, 783-4 n.; Ra. 1153-7, 1172-4 (similar charges lodged against Aeschylus). Trfpfjre: Also used in this sense ('look out lest') in the act. at e.g. Pax 146; PI. _R. 442a; contrast V. 372, 1386 (mid.). Kai 2 adds emphasis to jir|, 'lest in fact, lest actually' (cf. EC. 29, 495, 870; GP 298; Johansen-Whittle on A. Supp. 399). TTpoameaT]: The compound is first attested in the second half of the 5th c. (e.g. S. Ai. 1181; E. Ale. 350; Hdt. iii. 40. 4), but cf. A. Pers. 152 TTpoaTTiTVW, Th. 95 TTOTimaui. cttfxipKTOLs: Lit. 'unfenced', i.e. 'off your guard, unawares'; cf. Th. i. 117. i ('after falling on the squadron when it was off guard'); Taillardat §872. Dindorf's -<j>api and the joke in 571—3 with n.; whatever Kleisthenes is, he is certainly not a man. 'cheeks that are bare' or 'your cheeks bare'. For the adj. in predicate position in similar phrases (most having to do with the person), e.g. Ach. 120; Eg. 1170; Lys. 88; PL 1018, 1022 (all with forms of e^oi); cf. Gildersleeve §629. 584-91 Kleisthenes' report that Eur.'s agent was sent to infiltrate the Thesmophoria assembly disguised as a woman (584—5, 590—1) matches the tragedian's own initial account of his plan precisely (89, 92). Had Kleisthenes also noted that the interloper's basic job was to argue on Eur.'s behalf (90-1; cf. 186), Inlaw would have been identified with no further ado by the content of his great speech (466—519); but Ar. defers the climax of the action by having Kleisthenes say instead that Eur. sent his old relative only to listen to the women's discussion and learn their plans (587-8). This requires that Inlaw be caught in a different—more time-consuming and much funnier—fashion (esp. 610—48), and only after he has been exposed do the women put two and two together (649—50). Cf. 590—1 n. 584—5 aa(i): Sc. ol Iv dyopd AaAowrej (cf. 578 with n.). is emphatic; 'a man'. KT)8€arr|v riva / aurou: The addition of the detail—which, unlike y^povra ('an old man'), will not help the women identify the interloper—implicitly answers the question raised explicitly in a slightly different form by Inlaw in 5 92-3: why should anyone agree to do something so reckless on behalf of another man? Cf. 74 n. 280—1 n. 586 upas TTOIOV ipyov t] rivos Y^f-11!? X"P IV > : For the paratragic pleonasm, cf. 579-81 with n. For gen. + ya.pu>, cf. 126/7/8 with n. For irpos . . . e'pyov, 966-8 n. The question (like 589) has very little content (587 could just as easily have followed directly after 585) and serves mostly to maintain the dialogue form; cf. 71—94 n.; Rau 47. 587-8 Amuch-inflatedwayofsaying"i/d (equivalent to ariva) is attested in comedy (e.g. Ach. 98; PI. Com. fr. 52. 3; Ephipp. fr. 16. 2) and prose (e.g. Hp. Mul. C 4. 9 (p. 98. 6 Grensemann), 9. 5 (p. 106. 28); PI. Grg. 497a; D. 4. 50), but is found in tragedy only at Agathon TrGF 39 F 5. 2 and may (like drra; cf. 421-3 n.) be colloquial. The word is none the less used here in a generally paratragic context to avoid resolution. (3ou\€uoia6e Kai fieXXoire 8pdv: Another para-
L I N E S 579-94
223
tragic pleonasm; cf. 579-81 n. KardaKoiios and its cognates are late 5th-and4th-c. vocabulary (e.g. Hdt. i. 100. 2; E.Hec. 239; Th. iv. 27. 3; Antiph. fr. 274. 2; X. Cyr. vi. 1.31). 589 A simple connective K( 895 n.; Ach. 335 with Olson ad loc.; V. 198; Men. Sam. 580; Gildersleeve §406. 'will feed morsels of food (ifjiupoi)', sometimes chewed in advance to make them soft enough for a baby; cf. Eq. 715-17; Lys. 18-19 Democrat, ap. Arist. Rh. i4O7a7-8. Prosaic vocabulary, first attested in Hippocrates (e.g. Epid. vii. 3 (v. 370. 17); Mul. 92 (viii. 222. i)) and absent from serious poetry, upon the thigh-bones', i.e. 'on top of the altar'. A poetic periphrasis; that there are no thigh-bones on the altar and that there would not be on a day of fasting (80 with n.) is beside the point. The thigh-bones of sacrificial
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victims were routinely cut out, stripped of flesh, wrapped in soft fat, and burned as part of the god's share of the sacrifice, which also included the blood (694-5 withn.), the tail, and some of the entrails; cf. 758-9 with n.; van Straten 118-44; Olson on Pax 1020-2. 694—5 UP to the hepthemimeral caesura in 695 are perhaps borrowed direct from E. Tel. (= fr. **i43 Austin). ^iax and Greek Cult Tables (New York and London, 1991) 15—19). But here TOUT! TO Sep^ia is a reference to the empty wineskin (733—4 n.). We print icpeas (the original 5th-c. form of the word) for the transmitted lepelas; cf. S. fr.45&; E./T34, 1399; Or. 261; Ba. 1114; Erecth. fr. 65. 97 Austin; Threatte i. 315 (with add. ii. 731); Handley and Sandbach on Men. Dysk. 496. The 'priestess of the two Thesmophoroi' is not attested elsewhere before the 2nd c.; cf. Introduction p. xlvii with n. 29. \a(3€: 'Take [it]!'; Inlaw throws the empty wineskin (doubtless still equipped with bootees (734 with n.)) to Kritylla, who takes one look at it and realizes what has happened (760—1). 760—1 Use of the superlative TaXavrdrr] (like raXav, cf. 644 n.) is restricted to women in Ar. (elsewhere at PL 684, 1046, 1060); Menander has TaXavraros (fr. 343). MIKCI is a relatively common woman's name in Athens (at least a dozen additional 5th- and4th-c. examples inLGPNii s.v., not all necessarily citizens; add/G I 3 1037. 38 (a slave) = FRA 7859; cf. Bechtel, AF 42; Threatte i. 509). The poet's decision to name thi character (anonymous since her entrance at 294) only now, just befor she exits for the final time at 764, is difficult to explain. But something similar occurs with Kritylla, who likewise enters at 294; is named only in 898; and exits, never to return, at 944. ris l^eKoprjae as;: 'Who swept you clean?', i.e. 'Who stripped you of everything you valued?'; but also (via a pun on Koprf) 'Who deprived you of your daughter?' Cf. Pa 59 with Olson ad loc.; fr. 277; Zeitlin 409 (suggesting an allusion to the kidnapping of Persephone/Kore). a^airr]Tr]v: Used routinely of only children (e.g. H. 77. 6. 401; Od. 2. 365; Hes. fr. 326; X. Cyr. iv. 6. 5; Theoc. 17. 64; cf. 697—8 with n.; Poll. iii. 19), doubtless primarily to add emotional colour (usually pathos), as here. R has '^pTjaaro, as if < e|aipe'o) ('take away'). But the aor. mid. of that vb. is e^eiXop.^, and Fritzsche changed a single letter to produce '^Tjpdaaro, < e|epda) ('empty out'; cf. adesp. com. fr. 1073. 12 eXaiov efripaaap.^ ('I emptied out the olive oil'); Taillardat §291 (comparing Ach. 341; V. 993)), perhaps with a pun on epapa,i, 'lust after, love'. Cf. Rutherford 216; Lautensach 128; Gregoire and Goossens, Byzantion 13 (1938) 399-400. 762—4 eueiSrimep: A colloquial Attic conjunction, attested in Ar. also atAch.
2S8
COMMENTARY
437, 495; Nu. 1412; V. 1129; Av. 1360, and widely distributed in prose (e.g. Th. vi. 18. 3; PI. Ap. 2jd; [X.] Ath. 3. i; Lys. 14. 8), but absent from serious poetry. 763—4 echo 652—4 (where see n.) and prepare for the entrance of the Prytanis at 923; cf. 726—7 n., 853—4 (which remind the audience yet again of what is coming, further increasing their expectation that the entrance of the Prytanis will mark a decisive turn in the action), 932—4 n., 1084 with n. Mika and Mania exit into Wing B. After 760—2, a TTemorfx' OUTOS is most naturally taken to mean that Mika will inform the authorities not only that Inlaw infiltrated the Thesmophoria but also—and perhaps more important—that he murdered her 'daughter'. But nothing is ever made of the killing, and when the Prytanis at last appears, the only charge he makes against the old man is that he is a imvovpyos ('reprobate, crook, scumbag') because he has dressed in women's clothes (i.e. and infiltrated a women's festival), and he refers only to the information laid by Kleisthenes (929, 943—4). Cf. 726—7 n.; 862—3, where Kritylla ignores the murder of Mika's 'daughter' (which she witnessed) and refers instead to the crime the old man committed by disguising himself as a woman, and 893-4, where she unexpectedly accuses him of being a thief, i'va KT\. is thus best understood as merely a convenient device to get Mika off stage, freeing the deuteragonist to return at 869 as Eur. 765-7 aY€8r|:Cf. 213-14 n., 652* with n.; Cephisod.fr. 13. Cf. 87 n., 946 (Inlaw momentarily abandons hope) OVK ear' . . . A. Th. 209* (p.rixavriv)', E. Hel. 1034* (p.rixavriv)', Ph. 890*; Hid. ix. 6. 4. TIS meipa, ris en-ivoi(a);: Lit. 'What attempt [is there]? What device?', i.e. 'What can I try? What can I think up?' For the 'literary' anaphora, which adds little or no new information to the question in 765, Slings, in Willi 100. For emvoia (late 5th-c. vocabulary; relatively common in comedy and prose, but rare in elevated poetry), 335-9 n.; Mastronarde onE. Ph. 408. 6 ... ai-rios/ KT\.: Cf. 651 with n. 768 ou aiv€T(ai): 'is not in evidence, is nowhere to be seen'; cf. EC. 312; Bond on E. HF 705. ou-uu: 'not yet'. Eur. has promised to rescue Inlaw if necessary (269-76), and most of the rest of the play consists of his attempts to do so. The problem is that—at least from the old man's point of view—Eur. is taking far too long to act, hence the need to try to communicate with him somehow (768-71). Cf. 846-50. (|>€p€: ' Come now!' velsim.;cf. 788,915, 1116. Colloquial (Lopez Eire 98). (added to the text by Person, Notae in Ar. (Cambridge, 1820) 218) was omitted via haplography (OYNANAF written OYNAF). 769 The addition of IY&) with ot8(a) is probably colloquial; cf. 850 withn.; Fraenkel on A. Ag. 1668. Kai 8r| marks a vivid perception or (here) realization; 'hah!' vel sim. (GP 250—1); cf. 1092/3 with n.
L I N E S 762-72
259 259
For the particles falling after the vb., e.g. Ra. 604; S. OC 173; Hdt. vii. 196. -uopov: 'a device, means [of accomplishing what I want]'. Ar. uses the word in parodic contexts also at V. 308 (~ Pi. fr. 189); Pax 124 (paratragic); cf. Eg. 759 with Arnott on Alex. fr. 236. 5—6; Ra. 1465 (Aeschylus is speaking). 770-1 IK TOU ria\afir|8ous: 134-5 n- Palamedes son of Nauplios was one of the original Greek commanders at Troy and was known for his cleverness (cf. Ra. 1451) and his inventions, in particular of writing (E. fr. 578; Stesich. PMGFziy; Gorg. 82 B na. 30; cf. Eup. fr. 385. 6; Anaxandr. fr. 10; A. fr. **i8ia. 3-4; S. fr. 479. 2-4; Roscher, Lexikon iii. 1268-71; A. Kleingunther, I1PQTOZ EYPETHZ (Philologus Suppl. 26. i: Leipzig, 1933) 78—84; LIMC vii. i. 145). His brilliance earned him the enmity of Odysseus, who contrived to have him killed; the story had already been told in the Cypria (arg. 66; fr. 30) and by Pindar (fr. 260), and seemscc to have been alluded to by Stesichorus (cf. PMGF 213). For Euripides' Palamedes andthe parody of it in Th., Introduction pp. Iviii—Ix; Rau5i—3; cf. 168-70 n. According to 2R, in Eur.'s play it was not Palamedes but his brother Oiax (also mentioned at E. Or. 432) who inscribed the story of the hero's fate on oar-blades, which he threw (or planned to throw) into the sea, hoping that one of them would make its way to their father; cf. E. Hel. 767, 1126-31 (allusions to Nauplios' plot against the Greek fleet on its return from Troy); Scodel 58-60. Plays entitled Palamedes were also composed by Aeschylus (frr. 181—2a), Sophocles (frr. 478—81), and Astydamas II (TrGF 60 F 5a). IKCIVOS: 'the man I'm thinking of, i.e. Oiax; cf. Ach. 428. rds -uXdras: Here simply 'oarblades', although the noun is often used in an extended sense in poetry to mean 'oar', 'oarage', or even 'ship' (e.g. Anaxil. fr. 22. 17 (parody of E.?); A. Supp. 134 with Johansen-Whittle ad loc.; S. OC 717; E. Andr. 865; HF 432; Or. 54). For oars and how they were produced, Olson on Ach. 552. piv|/u YP"(dv: 'I wiU inscribe and [once that is done] throw'; cf. 774, 930; Moorhouse 210—11. Holford-Strevens suggests that the pres. part, might indicate instead that these are concurrent processes: like the Euripidean Oiax, Inlaw 'will write and throw, write and throw, write and throw', not write a stack of oar-blades and then post them all together. That in the event he inscribes only one tablet is merely a matter of staging. d\\' ou mdpeiaiv ai uXdrai: The parodies of Helen (850-919) and Andromeda (1010-1126) put on by Inlaw and Eur. in the scenes that follow are brought repeatedly to earth via hostile (if largely ineffective) interjections by Krityllaandthe Skythian, respectively. Here the parody is developed at much less length and reality intrudes in a more straightforward way: the original stage-props (note the def. art.) are missing. 772 iioGev ouv Y^VOIVT' dv;: * at fr. 68. 2. R's ye'voir' might be explained as
2&O
COMMENTARY
an example of the 'schema Pindaricon' (pi. subj. with sing, vb.; cf. Gildersleeve §118). But Grynaeus' yeVcwr' is a trivial change and ought probably to be adopted. The text in R is unmetrical, and Sandbach's accounts neatly for the loss of the word (via haplography); cf. Austin (1987) 82. For the repetition of the interrogative at the end of the sentence, e.g. Nu. 79; Ra. 120,460, 1399. 773—4 TI 8' civ;: Sc. e'lr/, 'What would [happen]?' (esp. fr. 592. 30; Eup. fr 53; cf. V. 524; Lys. 399; Men. Dysk. 897Handley). Colloquial; cf. Stevens 30-1; Dover onNu. 1444. Ta8iT(d) dYa\nar(a): 'these offerings' (accompanied by a gesture), i.e. wooden (775) tablets of a sort routinel hung up in sanctuaries to record vows, offerings, great deeds of the god, and the like (cf. A. Supp. 463; W. H. D. Rouse, Greek Votive Offerings (Cambridge, 1902; repr. New York, 1975) 80-3; Headlam on Herod. 4. 19), a pair of which Inlaw discovers hanging conveniently on one side of the altar. YP 819—20 n.), and it is difficult to believe that Hyperboles' mother herself routinely made interest-bearing loans of substantial sums of money, as this verse implies. (The unsecured loans of money between women referred to at EC. 446—9 are presumably
L I N E S 840-8
277
of very small sums, and the actual legal arrangements for the loan of i ,800 drachmas allegedly made by a woman to her son-in-law at D. 41. 9 are impossible to recover.) Cf. D. M. Schaps, Economic Rights of Women in Ancient Greece (Edinburgh, 1979) 63—7 (with particular attention to the non-Athenian evidence); Harris, Phoenix 46 (1992) 309-21, esp. 318-21; Johnstone, CA 22 (2003) 247-74, esP- 267-71. But the attack must have some basis in reality, and it may be that the exiled Hyperboles (cf. 840—1 n.) asked his mother to watch over his assets, some of which she arranged to have lent out at interest (thus Sommerstein) through a male agent—a crucial qualification the comic poet, like the hostile gossip his attacks draw on and reinforce, felt no need to emphasize A common formula in imprecations; cf. K—A on Eup. fr. 132. i. For Trpa,TTOfi,ai in the sense 'assess [a charge]', e.g. Ach. 1211 with Olson ad loc.; Ra. 561; Hdt. iii. 117. 6; PI. Ap. igd. For interest and interest rates (normally probably i % per month for impersonal, nonmaritime loans), P. Millett, Lending and Borrowing in Ancient Athens (Cambridge, 1991) 91-108, esp. 103-6. For the term TOKOS, cf. Millett (above) 45-6; E. E. Cohen, Athenian Economy and Society (Princeton, 1992) 44—60. The abrupt switch to the pi. eirrovTcis (contrast 842—3) and the specification (3ia ('violently') combine to configure 844—5 as an ugly scene of public shaming: Hyperboles' mother is not just to be refused the interest she is owed by individual debtors (842-3) but assaulted by a mob and robbed of the principal she was attempting to lend out (TCI xpi1H€i: Tragic vocabulary (e.g. A. Supp. 440; S. Ai. 1278; E. Med. 477; Hel. 233), used by Ar. in paratragedy also at Ach. 541*; Ra. 1382 -os* = E. Med. i). 878 is adapted from E. Hel. 461 AtyinTTos; a> ovGTtjvos oi rn£'n\£vt< apa (here cleverly divided between two speakers); cf. 874—6 n. In Euripides' play, the doorkeeper takes Menelaos' remark as an insult to her land, and he quickly claims that that is not what he meant (Hel. 462-3). In the Aristophanic version there is neither protest nor apology, and the sentiment may well be just as negative as it
L I N E S 874-86
28S
seems; cf. 920-211.; fr. 581. 14-15 (ironic). oT: Fortherel. after a exclamation, cf. V. 188. TrerrXuKafiev: Ar.'s use of Ionic for Eur.'s Attic -jre-n-XevK- (cf. Ra. 535) and the use of the pi. for sing. (cf. 155 withn., 877, 886; KGi. 83—4) both raise the stylistic level and increase the pathos of 'Menelaos" complaint; cf. Kannicht on E. Hd. 461-3. 879-80 Addressed to Eur. Something has dropped out of the text, and we print Grynaeus' rreiGei TI (round); cf. 592 with n. Scaliger's before KaKtas would also do (cf. PL 65, 418, 879; Men. Dysk. 442; Sik. fr. i. 5 Arnott). Variants of KCIKIOS drroXoufievu appear routinely * in comedy (e.g. Ach. 778 with Olson ad loc., 865; Pax 2; EC. 1052; Pherecr. fr. 22. i; Antiph. fr. 159. 5). Literally 'doomed to perish badly', butreally a colloquial equivalent of 'son-of-a-bitch' vel sim.; cf. 887; Stevens 15. For the cognate internal ace., cf. 792-4 n.; PL 517 277-8 n., 930-1 n. 881 Cf. E. Hel. 467 (Men. is speaking, in reference to Theoklymenos) Cf. 884*. ('out of sight [of home]') is Euripidean vocabulary, always in linefinal position (Ale. 546; Med. 624; Supp. 1038). 882—4
OUK
^CT^ onus ou: 403—4* n.
vaurias OeoL For 6v|/iv, cf. 1153/4 (lyric); Men. Mis. 611—12 a> Zev, TLV' oijjivov&e-jTpoa&[oK(U[j.evriv] / opa>;; Handley, 'Nouns' 133. Y"vai: Cf. 902 n., 909*. 906-9 =E.Hel. 558, 561-3. The omitted verses 5 5 9-60 (Me.) expressions of wonder addressed to the world at large, which serve to retard the action and add poignancy to the recognition scene. But Ar. has no need for tragic nonsense of this sort and omits the verses from his parody. E.Hel. 561 was lost from L (the only MS that preserves the play) or its exemplar as a result of the homoioarchon with 562, and Markland restored the verse to the text from the parody here, precedes the emphatic fid\i<jT(a), as at S. Ai. 994-5; Tr. 464; cf. GP 228. 910 is adapted from E. Hel. 564 For the form of the name, 866—7 n -> 900—1 n. Sc. €{i,e elSevai, 'so far [as I can tell] from . . .'; cf. Pax 857; Goodwin §778. R's dva>v ('small-fry'; cf. Olson-Sens on Archestr. fr. 11. i) is unmetrical as well as nonsensical. 2R and the Suda read itfiuiov, which in Theophrastos appears to be a flowering plant (HP vi. 6. n, 8. 3; cf. vii. 13. 7), but which 2R and Phot, i 278 (cf. fr. 572. 2; Hsch. i 1132), supported by Epich. fr. 158. 7, describe as a wild pot-herb. If that is right, Eur. must be draped in seaweed, as befits the victim of a shipwreck (873), and there is an allusion to the alleged service of the tragic poet's mother as a vegetable-vendor (386-8 n.; thus Dindorf, TLGvi. ~J2gd). Gregoire, The Link i (1938) 16-20, notes that in 935 Kritylla calls Eur. a 'mender of sails' and that in E. Hel. Menelaos repeatedly complains of having lost his fine clothes and being reduced to rags (e.g. 416, 422, 1079—80; cf. 554). He therefore suggests that Ar. wrote dp^iwv ('garments'; cf. S. fr. 420 with Pearson ad loc.; Call. fr. 177. 31 = SH 259. 31) and that the joke has to do with the tragic playwright's alleged addiction to dressing his leading characters in tatters (Ach. 412—13; Ra. 842, 1063—4). But the emendation is flat (and thus unlikely); the reading in R (upon which it depends) most cclikely represents scribal 'correction' of the lectio difficilior preserved in2R and the Suda; and if one is going to emend, one might do better to print (cf. Alex. fr. 115. 2). 911-12 = E. Hel. 565-6, except that (i) the alteration of the end of E. Hel. 564 in 910 has forced Ar. to write dp' for Eur.'s yap in 911 (cf. Kannicht on E. Hel. 565—7); and (2) at the end of 912 ~ Hel. 566, Ar. has replaced
291
L I N E S 904-17 as
the Euripidean ey x^P with the obscene double-entendre laxdpas (lit. 'hearths', but also 'cunt'; cf. Eq. 1286 with ccHsch. € 6447 €G%dpai' . . . Kal at TWV yvvaiKwv (frvo 2044); MM§164; Perpillou, RPh iii. 58(1984) 55-6; Chadwick 114-15). For the terminal ace. (elevated style), 877-8 n. On Sdfiapros, see Stevens on E. Andr. 4. 913—16 Inlaw rushes from the altar to Eur. and embraces him. The old man thus abandons his suppliant status, which solves a problem for Ar. at 929-46 (cf. 726-7 n.) by allowing the Prytanis to make his arrest with no complications. Dochmiacs (almost entirely resolved), marking cthe emotional climax of the scene; cf. 700—1 n.; E. Hel. 625—97 (a reco tion duet, Helen's part of which contains numerous dochmiacs); Parker 426-9. (0913/14 (2)914/15 (3)916
----- ^^^^— ----- n~^^~ - — — --A
2do 2do
do.
(2) For the bold epic correption Kvaw. cm-aye, cf. 1149, 1157; Nu. 1170 (also dochmiac); Parker 92. (3) What seems at first to be Inlaw's fifth dochmiac (- — — --A; for the full form, e.g. S. Ph. 1117) is abruptly truncated, as Kritylla cuts him short and neatly restores a normal iambic trimeter. 913-15 \a(3€ [is \a(3€ |j€ . . . / . . . a-uaY€ [i' d-iraY* KT\.: The repetition reflects Inlaw's desperate eagerness to be rescued (cf. 241-2 n.) but is also part of the parody of Euripidean style; cf.Ra. I33&b, I352a—5 with Dover, Frogs, p. 358; E. Hel. 640, 648, 650-1, 661-2, 670, 684 (all from Helen's part of the recognition duet). -uoai: Poetic vocabulary (in tragic quotation or paratragedy also at 866, 901, but otherwise absent from comedy and 5th-c. prose). mepipaXe . . . x^PaS and similar expressions are cccommon in Euripides (e.g. IT 796; Hel. 634; Ph. 165—6, 14 1044; cf. Bond on E. Hyps. fr. 756 (p. 138)); the vb. is attested elsewhere in Old Comedy only at V. 1154 (of putting on a garment); Ra. 1322 ~ E. fr. 756 -jrepipaXX' . . . iliXevas. €p€: 768 n. KUOIO: Poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. //. 6. 474; E. Med. 1207; carm. pop. PMG 909. 9), attested elsewhere in Ar. ate.g.Ach. 1209; Lys. 797. 916-17 \ap&)v echoes AajSe. . ., Aa l 8e'in9i3/i4. raxuirdvu: Cf. 233-4 n.;Paxz6i (conjectural);Z/ys.864;P/.57;Eup.fr.334. i. dpa • • • / Saris: 'Anyone who . . . will be sorry he did!'; cf. 248 n., 1087—8, ii25-7withn.,n87;A r M.933;Pa^532;Eup.fr.222. i-2;FraenkelonA.^4g-. 1148; Stevens 15-16; Johansen-Whittle on A. Supp. 925. echoes cm-aye in 914/15. Turrrofievos TTJ Xa|4iraSi: For burning torches (cf. 65 5 n.) used in comedy to assault other characters, V. 13 30— i,
2Q2
COMMENTARY
139°; Lys. 376, 1217-18; cf. PI. 1052. Kritylla brandishes her torch at Eur. 918—19 920—2 n. For au introducing a question, cf. Ale. fr. 72. 11 (thusLobel-Page);A.^4g-. i6i-j;Eu.8g6. Cf. 860, 864-5 n -; E. Hel. 472/17 TvvSapls irais', Or. 1512 (both of Helen). The adj. is otherwise confined to Euripides. 920—2 In 871—99, Eur. asks a long series of questions (871—3, 877, 881, 885, 889—90, 896), to which Inlaw offers wildly improbable answers (874, 878, 886, 890-1, 897), and Kritylla treats her visitor as a bit confused (882-4) but primarily a victim of her treacherous prisoner's fast talk (875—6, 879—80, 892—4, 897—9). But after Eur. actively supports Inlaw's request to be removed from her custody (918—19, cf. 914—16), she finally puts two and two together. Cf. 590-1 n. oifi' us: Cf. 625 n.; Nu. 1238; Av. 1501; Stevens 17. Cf. 858 with n., 893, 899; Ra. 80, 1520 (both Euripides as -jravovp-yos). p.oi et sim. is a common Aristophanic line-end formula (e.g. 622; Nu. 1271, 1276; Av. 1225; Ra. 645; PI. 1060, 1150). For the word order, e.g. Nu. 37 with Dover ad loc.; Av. 255; PI. 861. A first attested at Anacr. PMG 357. 10) is an 'adviser, counsellor' (e.g. Ach. 651; Nu. 1481), but the meaning of the word occasionally shades over into 'fellow conspirator' (as if < jSov\ofi,ai), as at E. Hel. 1019. OUK ITOS: 'It's no wonder that'; attested elsewhere only in comedy (e.g. Ach. 4.11; EC. 245; fr. 9. i; Anaxil. fr. 29. i) and Plato (_R. 4146, 5&8a), and presumably colloquial. fiYim-rid^ei^e): 'you were playing Egyptians'; a reference not just to the setting of the (parody of) Hel. but also to the Egyptians' reputation for cleverness and deceit (Cratin. fr. 406; A. fr. 373; Hyp. 3. 3 with Whitehead ad loc.; Theoc. 15. 48 with Gow ad loc.; cf. Taillardat §409; E. Hall, Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy (Oxford Classical Monographs: Oxford, 1989) 123). For the formation, cf. No doubt such words were made up as needed first attested in Cratinus (above)). o8e fiev draws an implicit contrast with Eur., who has also been behaving badly but will not necessarily be punished for it (GP 381-2). 923 TTpoaepxerai Y"P: Cf. 866-7 n -; V. 1508*; Av. 1709*; PL 861*. Athens had nothing we should recognize as a police force. Instead, the prytaneis controlled meetings of the Assembly and the Council and enforced their will (and that of various public decision-making bodies) elsewhere in the city by means of 300 Skythian archers (cf. Ach. 54-7; Eq. 665; Lys. 184, 433-62; EC. 143, 258-9; Eup. fr. 273; PI. Prt. 3i9c; IG I 3 45. 14-16), whom the Athenian state had purchased for this purpose some time around450 (And. 3. 5; Aeschin. 2. 173). Cf. Hall 44-5; Policing 145—7; Ar. and Athens 270—3. Forms of TO^OTTJS are generally * in
L I N E S 916-28
293
Ar. (e.g. 940, 1177, 1193; Ach. 54; Eq. 665; Lys. 433; EC. 143); contrast 931. A Prytanis and a Skythian archer (played for the moment by a mute; cf. 930—i n., 1001 n.) enter from Wing B. Nothing specific can be said about the Prytanis' costume, which probably resembles that of any other adult male character. The Skythian wears the wildly patterned jacket and trousers typical of his people and a soft cap with dangling sideflaps; the hair on his wig is perhaps red; a large knife and a combination quiver/bowcase hang from his belt (cf. 1126—7 withn., 1197 with n.); and he carries a whip in his hand (933 withn.). Cf. Hdt. vii. 64. 2; ¥0540-51; Stone 288-9 and fig. 36; Tsiafakis, in NCI 367-72. 924-8 cover the passage of the two characters across the stage. 'this'—i.e. the arrival of aprytanis not alone but accom924 panied by an archer—'is bad!'; cf. 930-1 with n. For irovripov as a comment on what has just been said, cf. Men. Dysk. 2,2,0; Her. 17; Pk. 390. 457—8 n. uTTCuroKivrfTeov: Sc. earlp.oi, 'I have to sneak away'; the compound is attested elsewhere only at Av. 1011. For verbal adjs. in -re'oy, 603-4 nEur. sets off toward Wing A, avoiding an encounter with the Prytanis and the Skythian (923 with n.). 925-7 cover his exit. 70 n.; Fowler, HSCP 91 (1987) 5-38 (on 'the adds a plaintive note to rhetoric of desperation'). the question. 'Take it easy!, Stay calm!'; a metri gratia variant of the colloquial e^' ffav-^os (e.g. PI. 127*; E. Med. 550*; cf. Stevens 34—5; ARV2 444 no. 241 = Buitron-Oliver no. 233 (inscribed on a red-figure cup by Douris dating probably to the first quarter of the A reaffirmation of the promise Sthc.)). made in 269-74, with the resonant term firjxavai (87 n.) thrown in, and thus for the audience in the Theatre an indication that at least one more parody of a Euripidean rescue-plot is to come. Cf. 1010 (Inlaw realizes that another attempt to rescue him is going to be made) avr/p e'oiKev ov 1131-2. ouSeuoT^) is the regular Aristophanic word for 'not ever, never'; oiVor(e) is metrically possible here but is attested nowhere in iambic trimeter in the surviving plays and fragments (but note three new examples in Menander, Epitr. 800 Martina (ed. Rome, 1997); Mis. 24 (v-iroTf Pap., corr. Austin); fab. incert. vi. 8 Arnott). Ar. has ovSe-jTore five times in other metres (Eq. 1289; Pax 1083—4; Av. 1106; i.e. 'so long as I am alive' (2R); cf. PI. Lys. 541). Ap. 29d; R. 3&8c; Herod, i. 90 with Headlam ad loc. The vb. is particularly common in this sense in Euripides (e.g. Ale. 205; Hipp. 1246; Ph. Not a very 1419 with Mastronarde ad loc.; Or. 155. reassuring note on which to exit; cf. Inlaw's despair at 930 with n., 946. 'failme'. Forthevb., 323-4^ 474-5 n. Eur. exits into Wing A. 928 'This string'—i.e. 'this fishing line' (Gow on Theoc. 21. 12), and
294
COMMENTARY
thus 'this attempt at trickery'—'drew [up] nothing!'; said by 2R to be 'a proverbial expression for those who try to do something and do not succeed'. Cf. V. i75—6ovKea-jraaev/TavT'[)-y' ('he pulled nothing [up] with this [string]!'); Taillardat §395. 929-46 The legal procedure in question in this scene would appear to be an ephegesis, in which a magistrate makes an arrest at the instigation of a private citizen (i.e. Kleisthenes); cf. Apagoge 24—6. Inlaw is treated like a KaKovp-yos ('malefactor'; cf. 816—18 n., 858 n., 892—4 n.) and prepared for execution via airoTvpiraviaiias (930-1 n.). This would normally be done by the Eleven (cf. Cohen, Theft 38-44, 52-62 (forthe application of thisprocedure to thieves in particular)), and whether the Council actually had the power of ephegesis and execution in 411 or all of this is merely a wild, halflegal procedural hodge-podge, and, if the Council did have such powers, whether this was only an emergency measure connected with the political instability of the period, is impossible to say; cf. Boule 185—6; Apagoge 30—1. In any case, Ar. was less concerned with legal niceties than with producing a smoothly-working plot. 929 Addressed to Kritylla, who mustnodher head'Yes'(cf. soyn., 1020-1 n.) in response to the question. Cf. 858 n., 944. Cf. 654 with n. Mika's announcement of her intention to add herself to the mission to the Council (763-4 with n.) is ignored, ijfuv is the prytaneis, who must be assumed to have called an emergency meeting of the entire Council after they were informed of what had happened (943 with 652—4 n.). Addressed to Inlaw, who is still standing where 930-1 Eur. left him (cf. 913-15 n.) and whose behaviour amounts to an acknowledgement that his situation has suddenly become far more dire than it was (cf. 924 with n., 945—6). Cf. Eq. 1354* (hanging one's head as a sign of shame; cf. 939-44 with 941-2 n.); fr. 410 (either shame or dejection) with K-Aadloc.; Eup. fr. 192. I2O/ovTOs,TiKeKvas; Cf. 940 -n-pos rij aavi&i. Although the Prytanis does not say so explicitly, Inlaw has been sentenced to death (cf. 938, 1109) via a form of public execution most often referred to as in which the victim was pinned (Se'oi is used again of the procedure at 940, 943, 1022) tightly to a wooden plank (the by means of five two-pronged iron 'pins' or 'nails' (cf. 1003), which held fast but did not pierce his neck, wrists, and ankles, and suspended (cf. 1027/8/9, 1053, mo) thus until he died (perhaps often only after a number of days of torture). Cf. PL 476 (rvpiTava referred to as instruments of torture); Cratin. fr. 366; [A.] PV 52-81 with Men. fr. 508. 1-2 and Griffith on 26; Hdt. vii. 33 (also the penalty for defiling a sanctuary); ix. 120. 4; Lys. 13. 56;D.8.6i;9.6i; 10.63; J9- I37;21- IO5', DunsFGrHist-j6 F&7ap. Plu. Per. 28. 2 with Stadter ad loc.; A. D. Keramopoullos,
L I N E S 928-35
295
(Athens, 1923), esp. 11-35 (a report on the excavation of the skeletons of seventeen individuals apparently executed in this manner in Phaleron in the yth c.); Gernet,REG 37 (1924) 261—95 (English version in L. Gernet, The Anthropology of Ancient Greece (Baltimore and London, 1981) 252— 76, esp. 252-4); Bonner and Smith ii. 279-87; Latte 400-2 (critical of earlier accounts); Allen 200-1, 232-3. For 'chains' at the Thesmophoria, Introduction p. li. For the construction with the pres. part., 770—1 n. Inlaw could easily be tied up on stage (cf. the treatment of Nikarchos at Ach. 926-52), but his exit with the Skythian (currently represented by a mute) allows the tritagonist to assume the latter part in 1001-1225. Cf. Dover, G&G 252. 1177. ZKV&O. (1112, in6, i i 2 i ) i s used as a metrigratia alternative form of address for the character (although cf. n 11-12 n.). In the context of a dramatic performance in the Theatre of Dionysos, Iv0a8i is 'here on stage'. But although Kritylla has just observed in 880 that this is the Thesmophorion (cf. 947 with n., 1227—31 with n.), the presence of the Prytanis and the Skythian; the Prytanis' expectation that there will be male passers-by to see what is done to Inlaw; and the fact that the Skythian blithely exits twice through the central stage-door (which at 726—39 seemed to function as a building within the sanctuary) suggests that the setting has implicitly shifted to an area just outside the Eleusinion. Cf. 962-5 n. 932—4 The Prytanis has no way of knowing that another rescue of Inlaw is going to be attempted (although in 934—5 Kritylla does justify his order by reference to her own recent experience), and these verses serve primarily to alert the audience in the Theatre to some of what will come next. In the event, the Skythian allows Eur. to get much closer to Inlaw than he should (1115 with n.; cf. 1007 n.) and the threat of the whip alone proves sufficient to make the intruder retreat (i 125-9). gives what amounts to the same order three times, each time in more pointed terms: 'Stand him here and keep guard; let no one approach; and drive away anyone who tries to approach with your whip!' For whips (which, like modern police officers' truncheons, are painful but not normally deadly weapons) used to maintain public order in Athens, EC. 863; cf. Poll. x. 177 (citing Cratin. fr. 123); 2RVENeapM Av. 1463. Cf. App. Anth. iii. 171. 3-4
GP247-
'nearly'; cf. Ach. 348*, 381; Nu. 722; KG i. 204; Poultney 123. 'a sail-stitcher'; an ill-attested word (cf. ID 1416. B. i. 92; Poll. vii. 160), but one whose meaning is sufficiently pedestrian that there is no need to identify it as an Aristophanic coinage. 2R explains Kritylla's characterization of Eur. as a reference to the Egyptians' (cf.
935
296
COMMENTARY
855-7, 877-8) reputation for producing linen, from which sails were manufactured (Hermipp. fr. 63. 12-13; Plin. Nat. 19. 2-7; Morrison and Williams 298—9; for linen production generally, Bliimner i. 191—9; Forbes iv. 27—43, esp. 27—31, 39—43 (on Egyptian linen)). That the word is in final position, however, suggests that it appears para prosdokian for a synonym of imvovpyos (cf. 920) such as ^wj^avoppd^oy (E. Andr. 447), and a more obvious explanation is that Kritylla's choice of vocabulary combines a hostile characterization of the sort 2R identifies with an allusion to 'Menelaos" rags, which he (like his namesake in the Euripidean original) has assembled from tattered bits of sail-cloth. Cf. 869-70 n., 91 o n.; Miller 182; Kamerbeek, in Kiup.iuSoTpa-yrnj.aTa 79—80; Kannicht on E. Hel. 421-2. 'by your right [hand]', which Inlaw now 936-7 seizes as a persuasive gesture of supposedly mutual affection (cf. Nu. 81; V. 1237; Ra. 754, 789; Diph. fr. 42. 24; X. HG iv. i. 31; D. 18. 323; associated with supplication at e.g. E. Med. 496; Hipp. 333; Hec. 752—3). A man might routinely 'stretch out his right hand' in friendship (e.g. D. 18. 323 rrjv Se^mv irporeivuiv), but KoiXrjv (lit. 'hollow', i.e. 'empty') is odd if that is the point, and ctpyupiov KT\. (* at Nu. 98) at the end of the line unexpectedly converts this into a reference to habitual corruption. Cf.Ec. 782-3 (of the gods; cf. Dunbaron^4«. 518('[their statues] 19) stand stretching out their hand in order to get something'); D. 19.255 Strat.^4Pxii. 212.3 (of a boy seeking money in return for sexual favours) ('you have put out your hand to me hollow'). In real life, a gratuitous insult of this sort would ensure that the favour being requested was denied. But different standards apply on the comic stage, and the Prytanis reacts (939) as if nothing untoward had been said. Cf. 45 n.; Dover, AC 60; Bain, Victors 88-9. The Old Oligarch claims that bribery was an effective (and to some extent necessary) tool for getting business done in the Council and the Assembly ([X.] Ath. 3. 3), and although he takes a generally jaundiced view of the democracy, there is no reason to think that Athens was, in this regard at least, much different from any other society. Cf. Pax 907-8 (a very similar charge); Lys. 6. 29; Boule 112; Olson on Ach. 6—8 (on political corruption 'offers'. generally). 938 For the popular motif of the 'last wish', e.g. Hdt. i. 24. 2-5; E. Ale. 299-310; HF 327-31; IT 597-615. Cf. 1195; Eg. 1255 a' (LITCO j3pax>->', Men. Dysk. 299—300 930—1 n.; Schwyzer ii. 389. The point of the concessive clause is that one would normally do a favour only if one expected a favour in return—something a dead man is unlikely to be able to accomplish.
L I N E S 935-46
297
Cf. 936-7n.'Nu. 87 Cf. drjrd aot;; D. 3- 22 ri vp,cv ^apiaa>|CAat; Lys. 1173 yvp.vos O.TTO&VS (although there the part, and the adj. refer to the same person). Cf. 930—1 withn. 941-2 Inlaw is going to die (938) and deservedly so. What he wants to avoid is mockery, which will inevitably be increased by the ludicrous contrast between his old and unattractive male self and his beautiful female clothing (a contrast central to the visual humour of much of the play; cf. Introduction p. Ixx), hence his specification yepuv dvr|p ('[as] an old man'). Cf. 226 n., 638 n. But the Council has other concerns (943-4 withn.). For the role of shame in Athenian society, Dover, GPM 236—42; D. L. Cairns, Aidos (Oxford, 1993) 178—431, esp. 351—4 (on Ar.). The krokotos and mitra represent all the female clothing Inlaw is wearing; cf. 945, where the krokotos alone (as the most obviously offensive item) is mentioned, as again in the old man's complaint in 1044. For the pis. (indicating visceral horror and contempt), 546—8 n. For the idiom, Eq. 319-20; EC. 379; H. Od. 20. 8; cf. Epich. fr. 32. 3-4; E. Med. 383; HF 285-6; PI. Chrm. issb (with diffThe audience in the Theatre can erent vbs.). reasonably expect Inlaw to express concern about derision from human passers-by (cf. 944), but he offers a far more pungent image, referring to the ravens he will nourish with his corpse—or perhaps with his living body, if he is not rapidly put out of his misery. Cf. 868, 1027/8/9 with n. 943-4 ixovra: 733-4 n. i8o^€ rfj Pou\fj: An echo of official language; cf. 372*-4 n., 929 n. i'va TOIS -uapiouai KT\.: i.e. not just to make clear his status as a malefactor, so as to bring shame upon him (cf. 941—2 with n., iO48b—9), but also—and more important, from a public policy point of view—to give anyone who witnesses his torture a sense of what he has done wrong and thus of the likely consequences of such deeds. Brunck's impiovai (for R's impovai) is certainly correct; 'passersby' rather than 'bystanders' are in question (cf. V'. 622). For the corruption, cf. E. Cyc. 546 Trapiwv Reiske: impiiiv L. Cf. 929. For SfjXos elfu + part., e.g. V. 734; Av. 125; cf. LSJ s. 11. 2. The Prytanis and Kritylla exit, most likely both into Wing B. 945—6 iairirairaid£: An expanded form of (cf. V. 235 like (Eq. i) and larrarai from arrarai (223 with n.; Ra. 649), here expressing inarticulate grief and horror. Cf. 1191 with n.; Labiano Ilundain 276—8. For the suffix -d£, e.g. Ach. with Olson ad loc.; Eq. i with Neil ad loc.; Nu. 390 64 941-2 n. For direct address of an object some45 n. how implicated in the situation for which lamentation is being made (a tragic mannerism), e.g. S. OT 380—1; E. Ale. 177; Hipp. 1355—6; Hel.
939-40
298
COMMENTARY
Paratragic, like 386-7; cf. Miller 182. atAv. 323. Cf. 743 withn.; S.Ant. 1228; Tr. 1203; Ph. 786, 928; E. Hipp. 683; Miller 182. IX-uis . . . awrrjpias: Cf. E. Heracl. 452*; HF&o 7Ti4i3*;Th. i. 65. i Miller 182. For the sentiment, conLys. 21. 15 trast 765 (where rescue still seems possible), 1009. The Skythian takes hold of Inlaw and drags him roughly off through the central stagedoor. 947-1000 For a wide-ranging discussion of these verses, Bierl 107-50. 947-52 Two anapaestic tetrameters catalectic, followed by four anapaestic dimeters, the last catalectic; recitative. Verbal preparation for the dance that follows (947—8; cf. 655—8 (also anapaestic)), combined with a brief fragment of abuse-poetry (949-52). 947 Cf. 983 213-14 n., 652—4 n. maiatdfiev: 'let us dance'; cf. 795—6 n. Cf. 983 (above), 1136—7 e^oi / . . . vop.os; Ostwald 40—3. For the emphasis on ritually correct behaviour (a theme in the song), also Clearly to be taken as a reference to the 974 Thesmophorion (cf. 880), given the mentions of the 'two goddesses' in 948 and of fasting in 949 (cf. 984), although the setting of the larger action of the play has grown a bit vague (930-1 n.) and the absence of any mention of Demeter and Kore in the song that follows is striking. Call. fr. 63. 10 Cf. 1152/3 ('rites'; cognate with ep-yov, epSiu), Richardson on h.Cer. 273 (the earliest attestation of the word). Geaiv: 285 n. For the omission of &> with Upais upais, Dover on Nu. 310; an exception at Philod. Scarph. Paean in Dionysum 4, p. 166 Powell 'we uphold, maintain, preserve', as at (4th c.). H. Od. 19. in; Pi. P. 2. 89; JV. 7. 89; S. Ai. 212; E. Hec. 121. For the implicit theme of the importance of continuity in a time of political and social turmoil, cf. 819—29, esp. 819—20. (PAA 770370) was an Athenian painter whose work relied on 949 baffling visual effects and a strong sense of humour (Henioch. fr. 4. 2-9; Arist. Metaph. io5oai9-2i; Po. i448a5-6; Plu. Mor. 3966 ~ Luc. Dem. Enc. 24 ~ Ael. VH 14. 15; A.-J. Reinach, Recueil Milliet: textes grecs et latins relatifs al'histoiredelapeinture antique (Paris, 1921) 174—6; cf. Ach. 854; test. 57, on which see Hammerstaedt, Cron.Erc. 27 (1997) 105-20). As a man, Pauson did not celebrate women's festivals; but the point of the remark is that (according to the comic poets) he none the less routinely ate very poorly (cf. PL 602; Eup. fr. 99. 5—8; Henioch. fr. 4. 9—10; Apostol. xiv. 2), like the city's women on the middle day of the Thesmophoria (80 n.; cf. the very similar comparison atAv. 1519-20), i.e. as a result of his alleged incompetence at making a living (but cf. Halliwell, LCM"j (1982)
L I N E S 945—58
299
153). The attack on Pauson is of apiece with the criticism of the city's men generally in the parabasis, but serves primarily to set up expectations that are reversed in 962—5 (where see n.). Prosaic vocabulary (elsewhere in Ar. at 983/4; Av. 1519), attested in Herodotus (ii. 40. 4, in the compound Trpovrjarevai) and common in Hippocrates (e.g. Epid. ii. 5. 6(v. 130. 4); Nat. Mid. i8(vii. 338. 21)), but found in serious poetry of the classical period only at Emped. 31 F 144. 'joining [us] in praying to the two of 950-1 them (i.e. to Demeter and Pherrephatta/Kore)'. For the compound, Th. vi. 32. 2;X.^4w. iii. 2. 9 (the only other attestations in the classical period); A. Corlu, Recherches sur les mots relatifs a I'idee de priere, d'Homere aux tragiques (Etudes et Commentaires 64: Paris, 1966) 242. 'in one season after another', i.e. 'for all time, forever'; cf. 286-8 n.; Nu. 562 with Dover ad loc.; Ra. 381; A.R. 4. 1774; Gow on Theoc. 15. 74; Headlam on Herod. 5. 85 (with an extensive collection of parallels); Gygli-Wyss 69—70. To be taken with Toiavra KrX. in 952. (a) is elevated poetic vocabulary; rare in 5th- and 4th-c. prose (e.g. 952 PI. Phd. 896; Prm. I3oa; X. Cyr. viii. 8. 12; Isoc. 12. 102) and attested elsewhere in comedy only at Eq. 990 (lyric; cf. Neil ad loc., although his catalogue of prose examples of the word is defective); Av. 234 (lyric); PI. n66;fr. 156. 4 (a poet is speaking). 953-1000 Best analysed (with Enger) as: (i) proode (953-8); (2) strophic pair (959—61 ~ 962—5); (3) mesode (966—8); (4) strophic pair (969—76 ~ 977-84); (5) mesode (985-9); (6) strophic pair (99O-4b ~ 995-1000). Cf. nn. adlocc.; Thomsen, C&MDiss. ix( 1973) 27-46; Austin (1987) 84 (on 966); Parker 428-9; Furley and Bremer i. 357-60; ii. 350-9. The imperatives throughout the song are addressed by the chorus members to each other, as they encourage the group to adopt the coryphaeus' suggestion in 947-8; cf. 372-4 n.; Kaimio 127-9. 953-8 Proode; cf. Parker 428-31. (0953 (2)954 (3)955 (4)955/6 (5)956
(6)957 (7)958
an lek arist 2ia gl 2ia 3ia
(i) For the spondaic opening, cf. 43 3/4 = 520. The chorus' words trace the initial progress of their dance: they set off from where they are (953), form a circle (954), join hands (955), establish a rhythm (955/6), set their feet rapidly in motion (956), and move around
300
COMMENTARY
and around in a circle (957-8). Only after their dance is under way do they begin to describe the proper subject of their song (959-61). 'Set off! Start to move!'; cf. EC. 478 For 659 n. Adverbial Kouc|>a ('lightly') with a vb. of motion is a poeticism; cf. 659 n.; Lys. 1303/4; Autocr. fr. i. 3; H. //. 13. 158 [Hes.] Sc. 323; Anacr. PMG^J. 5; Pi. O. 14. 17; Bacch. 13. 89. eis KUK\OV: Cf. 662, 968; Ra. 441/2 dvd KVK\OV; DFA 239. Cf. A. Eu. 307 xopov atfjia^fv with Sommerstein 955-5/6 ad loc.; Men. Dysk. 953 Gildersleeve §182 (on repetition of cognates); Gygli-Wyss 90. ('rhythm') used of dance rather than song, e.g. V. 1504; EC. 1167; fr. 147; PI. Lg. 6646 ('[We agreed that] the name for the organization of movement'—as opposed to that of verbal expression—'was pvOp.os'); cf. 121 withn., 985. (first attested at Pratin. TrGF 4F 3. i-j = PMG-jo8. i6)is common in Plato (e.g. Lg. &54b) but is treated elsewhere in the 5th and early 4th c. as elevated poetic vocabulary (968, gSob, 982 (all lyric); Ra. 247, 336, 388 (all lyric); E.Ph. 1265; Timoth. PMG-jgi. 201; Chaerem. TrGFji F 14.3). Fomda(a) + imper., 372-4n. u-uaYe: 'gradually begin'(LSJs.v.A. III). (attested only here in comedy; absent 956 from tragedy and classical prose) is epic vocabulary (mostly adverbial, but with dat. forms of TTOVS at H. //. 16. 342, 809; 22. 166; h.Merc. 225; Nost. fr. n. i; subsequently at 'Stesich.' SLG 150. ii. 6; Emped. 31651 (adv.); Pi. P. 12. 20; Theoc. 25. 156). 957—8 The obj. of euiaKomeiv is x°P°u Kardaraaiv (cf. A. Ag. 23 'we must keep an eye on the chorus' formation', ('everywhere', i.e. 'both left and right'; cf. 660 n., 665-6 n.) goes with (cf. E. Ph. 364 KVK\COV -jrpomuTTov with Mastronarde ad loc.). 959-61 ~ 962-5 The first strophic pair; cf. Parker 430-3. 953-4
(1)959-60 p lek crlek ~962-3 3trtr A (2)961 ~964-5 A discussion of the song that will accompany the dance, presented in both a positive (959-61) and a negative (962-5) form. 959-61 cifia is adverbial, 'at the same time [that you dance]'. Cf. 312 with n. (echoed in 970, 974, 989; attested elsewhere in comedy only at Anaxandr. fr. 42. 19 (anapaests)) is elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. H.//. i. 474; Corinn. PMG 654 i. 18; Pi.
L I N E S 953-68
301
P. 3. 78 (mid.); Bacch. 13. 94; A.Ag. 1445; E.Ba. 155 (lyric)). Y£p ai P £ opos (attested nowhere else in comedy) is elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. 77. 21. 483 (of Artemis); h.Ap. 13; 'Simon.' FGE 743 dyvas Apre{i,iSos rot;o6pov; Pi. O. 6. 59; P. 5. 41; E. Tr. 804 (lyric); oracle ap. Hdt. ix. 43. 2; in classical prose only at Hdt. i. 103. i). One might expect the goddess to be invoked as a dancer (cf. 975—6 with n.) rather than a huntress; but perhaps (with Artemis, at least) the former idea was implicit in the latter (e.g. H. Od. 6. 101-9). dvaaaav: 123 n. Also used of Artemis at E. IT 1230; IA 434, 1482, 1523. dyvr|v: Poetic vocabulary; also of Artemis at e.g. Lys. 1315 (lyric); H. Od. 5. 123; 'Simon.'FGE743 (above); A. Supp. 144-5 with Johansen-Whittle adloc., 1030; Ag. 135. Q72a-b xaip(e): 129 n. 'EitdepYe and its cognates are used routinely in epic and non-dramatic poetry as epithets of Apollo (e.g. H. II. i. 147; 9. 564; h.Ap. 257; h.Merc. 307; Sol. fr. 13. 53; Simon. PMG 573; adesp. PMG 934. 2; Pi. P. 9. 28; Posidipp. 118. 10), and the chorus' request is most naturally taken as directed to him, as leader of the dance (969 with An n.), although it might be to Artemis instead, odd remark for a group of women taking part in a religious festival, but appropriate for a comic chorus competing to win the prize in the Theatre of Dionysos; cf. 964 with n., 1060-1 n., 1227-31 n. omx£o) is elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. II. 7. 205; h.Hom. 30. 18; Thgn. 151; Pi. P. 4. 107; A. Th. 256; E. Hipp. 45; attested elsewhere in comedy only at Eq. 200, a mock-oracle) and is frequently found in petitions to deities et sim. For Hera Teleia ('who brings [marriages] to 973-6 accomplishment'; cf. 976), e.g. Pi. TV. 10. 18; A. Eu. 214; fr. 383; D.S. v. 73. 2; Paus. viii. 22. 2, 31. 9; Aristocl. Hist. FGrHist 33 F 3; Poll, iii. 38; Waanders §201; Salviat, BCH 88 (1964) 650-1; cf. Williams on Call. Ap. 14. More often an epithet of Zeus (Fraenkel on A. Ag. 973), of whom the chorus make no mention in their prayer (969—1000 n.). 721—2 n., 947 n. 3i6n. 'dances in'; cf. 795-6 n.; E. Ba. 866-7 ('like a fawn dancing in the green pleasures of the meadow', i.e. 'in the pleasant green meadows' (lyric; of a bacchant)); Jebb on S. Ant. 800 (lyric, and the earliest attestation of the compound); Dover, in Entretiens Hardt 38 (Vandoeuvres-Geneva, 1993) 176-8; also at fr. 463 (cf. Phot, e 731, referring to Hdt. iv. 134. 2) in the sense 'mock at' + dat. Cf. gSoa—b, 992, 994b, where other gods invoked by the chorus are similarly described as devoted to dancing. 'is guardian of wedlock'. Cf. above; 421-3 n. (on locks and keys), 1142 (of Athena) with n.; Bers 29 (on the use of
304
COMMENTARY
For Hermes as a rural or pastoral deity, e.g. Hes. 977-80 Th. 444; h.Merc. 2, 571; h.Ven. 262-3; Semon. fr. 20; S. OT 1104; E. EL 463; cf. LIMCv. i. 287—8. vop.ios is used of Hermes only here; more often of Apollo (Williams on Call. Ap. 47; of Pan (978) ath.Hom. 19. 5). For the def. art. omitted with both the name of the god and the epithet, Pax 42; Gildersleeve§545; contrastSsS. avrofiai: Poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. //. 15. 698; Pi. P. 2. 71), also in the sense 'entreat, implore' at e.g. 1155 (lyric, in a very similar context; the only other attestation in comedy); S. OC 243 (lyric); E. Med. 709; Andr. 921; Supp. 278 (lyric); adesp. SH 1018. Kdi fldva Kai Nufi(|>as iXas: The worship of Pan (mentioned elsewhere in Ar. only in the Frogs' song at Ra. 230) was introduced into Attica in 490 after the Battle of Marathon (Hdt. vi. 105), and he and the Nymphs (cf. 325-6 n.) were routinely associated in cult; cf.h.Hom. 19. 3~5;E.Hel. 186-90; Men. Dysk. 1-2; adesp. PMG 936. 1-2; P. Borgeaud, The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece (Chicago and London, 1988; originally published in French in 1979) 133—72, esp. 139—42, 158—9; Athenian Religion 163-8; Larson 96-8, 130-1, 242-50. For Pan as a dancer, A. Pers. 448-9 with Broadhead ad loc.; carm. conv. PMG 887 (together with the Nymphs, and with the request ('might you be pleased and laugh at my fsongsf')). 'to smile/laugh [appreciatively, favourably] in response', as at e.g. PI. Phd. 77e; R. 398c; X. Cyr. i. 6. 27; iii. i. 43. A rare compound, otherwise attested in the classical period only in prose. Echoed in 981 (also line-final). is to be taken with both XXe-yovaa is also possible (cf. 680—3 n -> Taillardat §736) and is slightly closer to the paradosis. A paratragic expression of grief; cf. 885 n., 1128 with 1042 n.; V. 315; S. EL 826 e e, a tat; E. Hipp. 595 ami e e; Labiano Ilundain 127-30. 1043—4 The first thing Eur. does to Inlaw to make him resemble a woman is in fact to shave his face (215-35, esp. 215 airo^vpfiv raSt), and the old man tacitly conflates that outrage with the closely related process of singeing his arse that follows (236—46), just as he sums up the way he was dressed in female clothing (249—63) by mentioning only the first item he was made to put on, the krokotos (253 rov xpoKwrov Trpwrov evSvov). Cf. 941-2 n. The anaphora of os €fi(e) parodies elevated poetic style (e.g. H. Od. 2.131). KpoKoevr' is aneut. pi., as Hermann saw (Opusc. viii. 306); 'he dressed me in saffron'. For this form of the adj. (implicitly treated here as poetic), Tyrt. fr. 18. 2; Sapph. fr. 92. 7; Pi. P. 4. 232 with Braswell ad loc.; E. Ph. 1491 (lyric). d^eSuoev (2R) is attested elsewhere only at S. Tr. 605 (mid.); R's unmetrical eve&vaev is a prosaic gloss that has driven out the less familiar form. For the double ace., cf. Lys. 1021 IvSvaw ae. 1045-6 eui + dat.: 'in addition to'; cf. Nu. 480; EC. 82; PL 57. r68' The bare ace. of direction is elevated poetic style (877—8 n.), as is the absence of a copula in ivGayuvaiKes ('where the women [are]'; cf. K G i . AT"). Cf. Nu. I259a; V. 750 (both paratragic); E. Ale. iO47a-b Ph. 1290 Id) P.OL -JTOVIUV (both lyric); KG i. 388; Labiano Ilundain 236—40. iriKre: A common idiomatic use of the impf. (e.g. V. 312 = E. fr. 385; Cratin. fr. 360. 3; Men. Sam. 56 with Sandbach ad loc.; H. //. 16. 180; Hes. Th. 45; A. Eu. 321; E. Ale. 638; Andr. 566; Ph. 289 withMastronardeadloc.; PI. Chrm. is8b). 'my evil genius' vel sim.; cf. 1054 a-^i] 8aLuovi(a)', Wilamowitz 485 n. i ('Dass sein boser Damon das Geschick, seine uoipa, erzeugt hat, ist ein so lustig verstiegener Ausdruck wie die Verbindung von Dochmius und Ithyphallikus'; cf. 1029, 1041); Olson on Pax 39—40.
320
10483
COMMENTARY
Cf. E. Andr. 838-9
Hel. 53-4. The adj. (first attested at Bacch. fr. 2oA. 10) often functions simply as a form of abuse (e.g. 1097, 1109; Pax 33, 1272; Lys. 530; Pherecr. fr. 76. 3; E.Hec. 716; D. 18. 209 with Wankelad loc.; 19. 70 with MacDowell ad loc.). But iO47a-b leave no doubt that Inlaw is actually presenting himself as 'subject to a curse' (cf. E. Hipp. 1362); perhaps he belatedly recognizes this as an inevitable consequence of the sacrilege he has committed by invading the Thesmophorion. Cf. 941-4 with nn. In the Euio48b-io4Q ripidean original, Andromeda must have presented her undeserved suffering as likely to evoke widespread pity rather than contempt (as here). -jraOos is common 5th-c. vocabulary (first attested in Aeschylus), but is found elsewhere in Ar. only at 1058 (paratragic); V. 328 (paratragic anapaests); Lys. 479 (lyric), and was seemingly regarded by him as a marker of elevated style. dfieyipTOv: 'unenviable, melancholy'; predicative of -n-ddos. Rare epic (e.g. H. //. 2. 420; Od. 21. 362; Hes. Th. 660; h.Merc. 542) and tragic (A. Supp. 642 (lyric); fr. **273a. n (anapaests); E. Hec. 192 (lyric); [A.] PV 402 (lyric)) vocabulary; attested nowhere else in comedy. eui KaKtov mapouaia: 'on account of the presence of troubles'; modifying dp.e-ya.pTov. For this use of em, cf. Eg. 406 For cf. E. Hec. 227 1050-1 For the wish for death in 1050 (diverted, upon second thought, in 1051 onto the Skythian; cf. Austin (1990) 28—9), cf. V. 328—9 (paratragic) with Kleinknecht 64-6; S. Tr. 1085-8; E. Med. 144-5; Andr. 847-50, esp. 847; Supp. 829-31, esp. 831; [A.] PV 582-3. (lit. 'a fire-bearing star of the upper air') must refer to a lightning bolt; cf. 14—15 n., and the passages cited above, and note the use of (primarily poetic vocabulary) in similar contexts at Av. 1248 with Dunbar ad loc., 1750; A. Th. 444; Pi. N. 10. 71; S. OT 200; Ph. 1198; OC 1658. For darr/p similarly used in lyric to mean 'fire' (rather than 'star'), E. Hel. 1131. Inlaw's reference to the Skythian as ('the barbarian'; contrast 1017 is the first step in an elaborate literary and social manoeuvre that eventually brings the conflicts with which the play began to a close. Cf. 1001 n., Cf. 1098—1100 n., 1129 with n.; Introduction p. Ixvi. 562-3 n.;Ach. 1152-3; PL 592. 1052-3 Cf. E. Ale. 868 (after an expression of a wish for death) ('for neither do I rejoice in seeing the rays [of the sun]'). For 'see the light' etsim. in the sense 'be alive', e.g. H.//. 5. 120; Od. 4. 540; Pi. P. 4. 144—5 d^i^i€? • • • oQevo's deXiov . . . I X€VGGO^€V', A. Pels. 710 Ag. 1646; E. Ale. 18; El. 349 Xevaaei dos; i.e. the sun. dBdvaros is generally a two-termination adj., but a separate fern, form appears occasionally in poetry (e.g. Nu. 289 (lyric);
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H. II. 7. 32; Od. 5. 213; Simon. PMG 519 fr. 32. 5; A. Ch. 619 (lyric); E. Ph. 235 (MSS; lyric)). \euaaeiv: Elevated poetic vocabulary (primarily epic (e.g. H. II. 5. 771; Od. 10. 30); for examples from lyric and tragedy, see above); attested elsewhere in comedy only at Ra. 992 = A. fr. 131-1 (lyric). stands in loose apposition to the clause that surrounds it. Aai^or^^a) ('throat-severed') is a reference to the pin about Inlaw's neck (cf. 930—1 n., 1002—4 with 1002—3 n -)- The adj. (attested elsewhere only at E. Ph. 455) and its cognates Aai^oro^os- (pass.) and ACU^OTO^OS- (act.) are distinctly Euripidean vocabulary (Hec. 208; EL 459; /T444; Ion 1055; IA 776 (all lyric); subsequently at Timoth. PMG 791. 130; cf. Mnesim. fr. 4. 16 SiaAai^oTo^en^ai)). For a^Tj 8aifn6vi(a), cf. iO47a-b n.; A. Pers. 581 Saip,ovi' axy (lyric), a^oy is primarily poetic vocabulary and is very common in Euripides (e.g. Med. 358 (anapaests); Andr. 274 (lyric); Ph. 354, 1046 (both lyric)); attested elsewhere in comedy only at Ra. 1353 (parody of Euripidean lyric), 1531 (dactylic hexameter in a song with numerous Aeschylean reminiscences). R's unmetrical Saip.6vwv reflects the influence of 2R is used at S. Tr. 94, 131 (both lyric), to describe night, and since Inlawis leaving the light (1052—3) and going to the (conventionally gloomy) world of the dead, aioXav might be a transferred epithet to be understood 'dark' vel sim. But when applied to night, the adj. probably means 'dappled [with stars]' (cf. E. fr. 593. 4 and here the sense is more likely 'swift, rapid', as at H. 77. 19. 404 ('a swift-footed horse'; cf. Ra. 248 (lyric); h.Ven. 137 ; A. Th. 494; Achae. TrGF 20 F 48 ap. Phot, a 611; Telest. PMG 8o5(c). 2): Inlaw is heading quickly to death. (poetic); cf. Verg. Aen. 6. 126 facilis descensus Averno ('id est "ad Avernum'" Servius; see R. G. Austin ad loc.); Coulon, RhM NF 100 (1957) 194; Bers 98. -uopeiav: Common in prose, but attested elsewhere in comedy and tragedy only at [A.] P 1^73 3, 823; Men. Sik. 412. For the 'journey to death' (a banal image), Taillardat §58. 1056-97 In the Euripidean original, the song parodied in 1015-55 was followed by the entrance of Perseus (cf. 1010-12 n., 1098-1102 with nn.), and Eur.'s brief appearance 'in the manner of Perseus' and Inlaw's interpretation of it at 1009—14 have made it clear to the audience in the Theatre that something of that sort is coming. The appearance of Echo—who belongs at the very beginning of the play—is thus a surprise and serves briefly to arrest the forward movement of the plot. 1056—7 1022—3 n Eur. enters through the central stage-door (temporarily identified with Echo's cave), dressed as an old woman (cf. 1073; probably a mocking distortion of the tragic exemplar, in which Echo, like Andromeda, was at least imagined to be young and beautiful).
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Cf. generally Rau 79-80; Ar. and Athens 269 n. 44. For Eur.'s exit and subsequent return as Perseus, 1064 n., 1098-1100 n. at E. Hipp. 288, 473; Tr. 697, but attested nowhere else in tragedy or comedy. TOV 8e marepa Kr](|>€a sets Inlaw firmly in the role of Andromeda for the scene that follows; cf. the even more explicit identification of'Echo' in 1059-61. d-uoXamav 01 0eoi: * atEq. 3. 1058 was identified by J. Barnes as E. Andromeda fr. 127. 2 (with Ar.'s replaced by Saris and v. i supplied by 1110) but is in fact probably The only Aristophanic paratragedy. Cf. Rau 80-1. vb. (echoed in 1107 KaroiKTipov with n., mo)—like the emotion it describes—is very rare in comedy (outside this scene only at V. 328 (a paratragic prayer in anapaests), 556, 975 (both parodies of speeches in the lawcourts); Lys. 961 (paratragic)) but common in tragedy (e.g. A. Ag. 1330; S. Ai. 510; E. HF 1236; Ph. 1444). For the spelling in -ip- rather than -fip-, cf. 1107, mo; V. 328, 556, 975; Lys. 961; van Herwerden, Mnemosyneii. 10(1882)86; Threatteii.648. -udGosiCf. iO48b-9n. was identified by Hartung (not necessarily cor1059 rectly) as a fragment of Euripides (= Andromeda fr. **ii4a Snell; not included in Kannicht). Echo is first personified in surviving sources at Pi. O. 14. 21; subsequently at E. Hec. mo-n; S. Ph. 188-90; Eub. Ptol. Philopator Adonis. For her story, Mosch. 6; Orph. h. 11.9; Ov. Met. 3. 356-401; Waser, RE 5 (1905) 1926-30; LIMC iii. i. 680. ('singing in response') is first attested here; subsequently at Mel. APvii. 196. 6 = HE 4071; Arch. ^4Pvii. 191. 4 = GPh 3713 (of an echo). emKOKKaaTpia ('a woman who «™co«:«:d£ei'; for the ending, 386-8 n.) is obscure but is almost certainly Ar.'s own addition to the line and thus unflattering. Glossed eliuOvia yeXdv ('accustomed to laugh') by 2R (cf. Tichy 258); but in that case the idea is left largely undeveloped in 1064-96 (although cf. 1089), where 'Echo's' main characteristic is her relentless, annoying loquacity. 1060—i In contrast to 1059, the tone here is entirely colloquial and prosaic, as befits the movement from paratragedy to metatheatre. i.e. the Theatre of Dionysos (not the Thesmophorion; cf. 962-5 n.). -^lapiov is common in prose (e.g. Hdt. i. 98. 4; PI. Phdr. 23od) and comedy (e.g. Ach. 998; Eq. 750*; Anaxil. fr. 16. 2 -^lapiov*), but is attested in the tragic poets only at Critias TrGF 43 F 19. 39* (perhaps from a satyr play). Kaurr): i.e. in addition to 'Andromeda', to whom 'Echo' is speaking and who also participated in the previous year's 'helped in the [dramatic] contest'. The vb. play. is first attested here; subsequently prosaic (esp. Arist. Po. 14.56*26—7 (of a chorus' relationship to the other participants in a tragic drama)). functions not as a kinship term but simply as a nominally 1062-3 affectionate form of address, in comedy most often directed to someone
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younger, female, or both (e.g. 1181, 1198; Lys. 7; fr. 129; Anaxandr. fr. 57. i). 'you must do your part'; explained in what follows. KAcueiv: For the spelling, 211—12 n. Ar. elsewhere uses forms of eXeivos only of Euripidean costume (Ach. 413) and the effect it produces (Ra. 1063). In 1064, Eur. treats Inlaw's as 8' euiKXaieiv uarepov ('But [it's necessary that] you wail in reply later on!') as an unnecessary reminder that he is to echo the old man's lamentations, as he does beginning in io69b. But Inlaw is really referring—behind a seemingly cooperative front—to the result of the beating he intends to give the man who has got him in this trouble, if he ever gets the chance. Cf.24on., 1062-3 n., 1207*. Cf. Av. 684 ('begin the anapaests!'). The deuteragonist speaks his final words as Echo at 1096 but none the less returns as early as 1098, dressed as Eur. playing Perseus (cf. n. ad loc.). At 1085—6 the Skythian cannot tell where Echo's voice is coming from (cf. 1091-3), although in 1096 Inlaw claims that she is 'here nearby'; and the simplest solution to all these interconnected problems of staging is that Eur./'Echo' returns at this point to 'her' cave (i.e. the central stagedoor; cf. 1018—19 n -) and changes costume behind the oKr/vy, while still participating in the dialogue with the Skythian from there. That Echo's voice would be obscured as a result (cf. Gilula, QS 22 (1996) 162-3, with bibliography) is not really to the point, for these are supposed to be only echoes; and cf. Medea's extensive laments from within her house at E. Med. 96-167. Verse 1090 perhaps suggests that Inlaw (whose back is to the stage-door) does not realize that his visitor has vanished from sight. 1065—98 Anapaests, like the opening of ^.Andromeda (1065—9a = E. fr. 114; 1070-2 ~ E . f r . 115; cf. Lys. 963 ~ E. fr. 116). 1065-93 = E. Andromeda fr. 114 (the opening words of the play; Andromeda is alone on stage in chains and the night is coming to an end (cf. Sandbach on Men. Mis. Ai—16 and Diggle on E. Phaeth. 63 for parallels, and add the opening scene of this play)) 'O holy Night, how long a course you pursue as you drive your chariot over the starry back of the holy Aither through most solemn Olympos.' For Night and her chariot, cf. A. Ch. 660; E. Ion 1150—1; Williams on Verg. Aen. 5. 721. For vtora used of the For the hiatus after sky, E. El. 731; PI. Phdr. 247^ 1065, cf. 776-7 n. For ^ ^ w in 1068, cf. 821-3 n. See also Lourenco 324. lodgb Eur. 'echoes' Inlaw's final words, as must have happened also in the tragic exemplar (cf. 1018—19 with n.), although perhaps with less frequency. (on 1070-2 ~ E. Andromeda fr. 115 (which includes the words which Gavdrou in 1072 is then dependent, unlike here, where it hangs in
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mid-air) at the end, but lacks the—already grating—interjections by Eur./ 'Echo') 'Why o why have I, Andromeda, obtained a share of ills beyond all others, as, hapless one, I am about to meet my death?' A poetic adv. (first attested at h.Hom. 19. 46 and Pi. P. 11.5; Pae. 9. 48), also used in the context of exceeding grief at S. OT 1218-19 1073—82 Inlaw temporarily abandons his tragic model but continues to speak (and be echoed) in anapaests; the parody of Andromeda resumes at 1098. A colloquial expression of exasperation with the behav1073-4 iour of another individual (cf. 2 n.; sometimes without ^e); 'You'll be the death of me!', i.e. 'Damn you!' (e.g. Ach. 470 with Olson ad loc.; V. 1202; Theognet. fr. i. i; Men. Dysk. 412, cf. Sik. 158; cf. Plaut. Men. 922 occidis fabulans). Cf. Ach. 460 (also paratragic) with Olson ad loc. (and add 1075-6 a reference to this passage). eiar|ppr]Kas: 'you've intruded', sc. 'into my lament'. The hostile tone ('—damn you!—') is common for the vb. andits compounds in comedy (e.g._Bg. 4withNeiladloc., 533; V. 147, 1329; Pax 500; Lys. 336 with Wilamowitz ad loc.); cf. 1079—82 n.; Dover, in Willi86. Xiav: Cf. Thesleff§i97 ('commonly used with words of bad sense, to which it adds a shade of subjective disapproval'). is nominally polite ('my good man') but not much more 1077-8 than that, as frequently in Ar. (e.g. Eg. Ill; Nu. 675; V. 1145; Av. 1577). Cf. Dover, in Willi 90. The lapse into the masc. (contrast 1073, 1075), along with the metatheatrical request that follows, marks a further stage in Inlaw's disgusted abandonment of his tragic model (cf. 1073 with 1073—82 n.). |_iovu)8r]acu: Cf. Pax 1012; Ra. 849, 944, with Dover on 1329—63; fr. 162 with K—A ad loc.; Cratin. fr. 270 (bis; tragic parody?). Kai x a P l€ ' t-1011 'and you'll be doing me a favour', i.e. 'and I'll be grateful'. -uauaai: 'Stop [interrupting]!' (cf. 1075-6). 1079—82 Inlaw gives up trying to reason with Eur. (1077—8) and begins to insult him—only to hear the same nasty remarks back. 'Throw [yourself] to the ravens', i.e. 'Die andgounburied!' (cf. 941-2 n., 1027/8/9 with n.) and thus 'Go to hell!' vel sim.; cf. 1226; Nu. Z 3 3 > V. 835; PI. 782; fr. 477. 2. ej KopaKas is a colloquial curse; the vb. used with it varies (e.g. Eg. 892; Nu. 123; Pherecr. fr. 76. 5; Amips. fr. 23; Alex. fr. 99. 5 with Arnott adloc. (the last three all with eppoi, forwhichcf. 1075-6 n.)) or can simply be omitted (e.g. Nu. 646; V. 458; Euphanes fr. 2; Men. Dysk. 112). ri KCIKOV; —ri KCIKOV;: Cf. 610 n., 1085—6*. R's (bis) reflects the influence of the normal (but unmetrical) expression. Xrjpeis: 595-6 n. oi|Ui>£': Cf. 173-4 n., 1001 n.; Men. Sam. 294 = Sik. 167 otfuo£e. —KOL av. OTOTU£': Lit. 'Cry Lys. OTOTOI!' (cf. 173—4 n -> Pax ion; Av. 1042
L I N E S 1070-94
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520), a tragic lament (e.g. A. Ch. 869; E. Andr. 1197; Tr. 1287), but like (above) here merely a nasty imprecation ('Piss off!' vel sim.). 1083—6 The Skythian wakes up (cf. 1007 with n.) and realizes that Inlaw is not keeping quiet, as he was ordered in 1006. Only at 1085—6 (addressed to the world at large) does the Skythian realize that it is not his prisoner who is repeating his words back to him. An unrealized but believable threat, which inter alia serves to mislead the audience in the Theatre about what is to come. ri KCIKOV; —ri KCIKOV;: * at 1080/1. Nowhere else does the Skythian use 01 for o, and Wilamowitz (MS ap. Maas) opted for Blaydes' -jrore -ny -jriuvri; (-jrore iam Grynaeus), although -ny for iy is equally unparalleled. TO -muvi] is good 'barbarian' Greek (cf. 1126 TO KemxAiy, 1187 TO mryiy, 1192 TO yAoxja'), hence perhaps the bold ad hoc mure to keep the metreflowing. The Skythian is aware at this point that the mysterious voice is not coming from Inlaw, but at 1087—9 ne returns to the possibility that the old man may be mocking him. Perhaps he turns his back on his prisoner for a moment and looks or wanders about the stage as he asks the questions in 1085—6, allowing his attention to return to Inlaw after he discovers no more likely suspect. Or perhaps he is simply being characterized as none too bright, setting up the trick in 1176-1225. 1087-9 The Skythian focuses again on Inlaw (cf. 1083-6 n.). au R's KXavaaip.i (bis) is unmetrical and most editors adopt Brunck's K\avafi, which is good Greek—and thus unlikely to be what the Skythian said. We assume that the paradosis at is an error for e and print K\aua'€Ti('you're going to wail!', i.e. 'You're going to be sorry!' (e.g. 916 with n., 1187; Nu. 933; Pax 1277; Lys. 505)). For en in a threat, e.g.Ach. 1156 with Olson ad loc.; Ra. 707 with Dover ad loc.; PI. 64.011... ^aipr/aeis eri. Ka(i €)KKpfi,ia{i,evos*. But the phrase may also have occurred somewhere in Andromeda; cf. A. fr. *I93. 2-4; Rau86; Bond on E. HF 1094-7.
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1107—8 Inlaw's plea was identified by Matthiae as E.Andromeda fr. 128. But this is more likely Aristophanic paratragedy. to ^eve: Used by the Euripidean Andromeda (in the form w lew') in an address to Perseus at E. fr. 132. i. KdToiimpov: The compound is attested elsewhere in the 5th c. only in Herodotus (e.g. i. 45. 2; vii. 46. 2) and tragedy (S. OT 13; E. Heracl. 445; IA 469, 1246); cf. Rutherford 4—6. For the simplex, 1058 n. -uavaGXiav: Tragic vocabulary (A. Th. 970 (lyric); Ch. 428 (lyric), 695; S. Ph. 1026; OC mo; E. Andr. 67; Hec. 658); attested elsewhere in comedy only at Timocl. fr. 27. i (paratragic). 1108-9 °"Kl The Skythian's Greek is very bad, making it impossible to be sure; but after ou^i juiy, XaXrjai must stand in for fut. act. indie. (Goodwin §297). In any case, this is a strong prohibition; 'Shut up, you!' 'do you dare, when you're going to die, [that] you chatter?', i.e. 'do you dare to open your mouth when you're about to die?' (Friedrich, Philologus 75 (1919) 295). Cf. 1006, 1083-4, 1120 (a similarly awkward parataxis). The Skythian has already shown himself ready to maltreat Inlaw if crossed (1002—6; cf. 1125—7), and the old man responds to this order by staying silent until the very end of the scene(ii34, earning another nasty threat in 1135). The Euripidean Andromeda perhaps behaved in a similar way when Perseus first arrived on stage (E. fr. 126 with Klimek-Winter 204—5 (who notes that the verse may belong elsewhere in the play)). Alternatively, one might print AaA-ijj (i.e. \a\fjaai; cf. 2R) with Kaibel MS or simply AaAew (cf. Aa/Jew at 1135), and trace the error to the influence of roA^aj. The Skythian's observation in 1135 that Inlaw is still eager to get the whip suggests that he brandishes it at his prisoner here, reducing the old man to terrified silence. i no (a response to the plea in 1107) was identified by Matthiae (almost certainly in error) as E. fr. 127. i. t5iiap0€v'appears*atE.y4w(fromeda fr. 129 (Perseus addresses the heroine in the opening scene, having apparently already been struck with love for her) w irapdev', e'la-r] P.OL -jfapiv; ('Young woman, if I were to save you, will you show me 1058 n. favour?'). IIII-I2
' is a hostile echo of mo ('doing wrong' velsim.) and its cognates are attested mainly in poetry (Pax 415; Epich. fr. 113. 13; Eup. frr. 213; 422; Thgn. 325, 327, 1248, 1281; Phryn. Trag. TrGF 3 F i6c?; S. fr. 999); in classical prose only at Hp. Epid. ii. i. 8 (v. 80. 4); Arist. EN 1109a3 3. The Skythian speaks in a consistently crude manner, making it unlikely that this is a poeticism; but the absence of the word from Attic prose before the end of the 4th c. is striking. Cf. 762-4 n.,
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858 n., 893-4 with 892-4 n., 929, 944. to 5Ku0a: Cf. 279 n. and 1116, 1121* with 930-1 n. The Skythian's identity as a barbarian is important (cf. 1001 n., 1129—32), and the choice of form of address may not be driven solely by metrical considerations. 1113-14 Cf. 896-7 (a similarly unsuccessful attempt to coax the character guarding Inlaw into acceding to the paratragic fantasy). Ar. appears to treat the use of rrais (in the sense 'child') + gen. of the father's name (less often the mother's name) as an elevated poetic mannerism (e.g. 129 (lyric), 891 (paratragic), 991 (lyric); V. 1466 (lyric); Ra. 1226 (= E. fr. 819. 2), I335a (parody of Euripidean lyric)); contrast vios + gen. at e.g. Nu. 134; Pax 1290. KUOTO is Scaliger's correction of R's unmetrical OKVTO, which may reflect either the influence of 27«t>#a in 1112 or a scribe's lingering awareness that the theatrical phallus was made of leather (JVM. 538). For the error, cf. Eup. fr. 247. 4 KvaOov Hermann: aKv&ovMS. KvaOos is 'cunt' (MM §107), hence Sommerstein's OVKO (i.e. OVKOV), 'fig' and allegedly by extension 'penis' (although cf. Olson on Pax 1359-60). But what the Skythian is referring to is obvious and the solecism is simply another symptom of his limited command of Greek. [ir\ + indie, indicates 'cautious assertion or suspicion' (Goodwin §269); cf. Eup. fr. 6; [A.] PV 247, 959 (all with TI, although Inlaw's phallus is in fact quite large and prominent and the Skythian's caution is ironic). 'It doesn't . . ., does it?' 1115 Addressed to Inlaw. For (|>epe ... Tr)vx£ip(i) ('Give me your hand!'), cf. Headlam on Herod. 7. 113. Inlaw is in no position to respond to this request (cf. 930-1 n.), but Eur. steps up next to him and takes hold of his hand. Eur. ought not to be able to get this close to the prisoner (cf. 932—4 with n.). But the Skythian generally shows very little concern for the details of his orders (cf. 1007 with n.), even if he has no intention of letting Inlaw escape (1125-7), and his negligence is ultimately his undoing (i 193—1225 withnn.). For the idea ('I'm only human'), Dover, GPM 1116-18 269-71. Violent passions of all sorts can be referred to as 'sicknesses' (esp. V. 71-88); for ipus in particular described thus, Eub. fr. 67. 8-9; 'E.Hipp. 764—6; Ion 1524; fr. 400. 2. For epius and its power as a theme in Andromeda, E. frr. 136; 138. yap is anticipatory (GP 68—9). Late 5th-c. vocabulary, widely distributed in both poetry (e.g. Lys. 1085; S. Ai. 338; E. El. 656; [A.] PV 225) and prose (e.g. Hp. Epid. ii. 5. i (v. 128. 6); Th. ii. 49. 6; PI. Tht. 142!)). €i\r](|>€v: For the image, cf. EC. 958 = 967; E. Hipp. 27-8. (a fut. form with pres. meaning). Cf. 175 n. 1119-20 = €1 TO TfptdKTO SeupO Tf€pl€<JTpaflfl€VOV: 'if
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his arsehole [were] turned around this way', i.e. 'if he were pinned with his front rather than his back toward the board'. The Skythian—whose own sexual appetites are considerable, if more conventional than those he attributes to his visitor; cf. 1185—98—is less interested in gratifying Eur. (whom he turns on abruptly at 1125-7, when displeased) than in the idea of tormenting his prisoner; cf. 1001-6, 1123-4. irepiarpef/ia) (attested only here in comedy) is found in Homer (//. 19. 131; Od. 8. 189) but is absent from serious poetry in the classical period. must be awkwardly paratactic with OVK eTrrovrjaa a(e), '[that] you take him and bugger him!'; cf. 1109 with n. The Skythian recognizes that sexual acts are normally performed in private (cf. 1198—1201). But the crucial point is that, even if the old man were pinned face-down to the board and Eur. were allowed to take him off elsewhere, he would still not be allowed to release the prisoner before having intercourse with him. TTv-yi^iu (frormrvyri, 'rump'; cf. 1187 withn.; Peppier 156) is attested also at 1123; Theoc. 5. 41; in an early 5th-c. inscription inside an Attic kylix from Herbessos in Sicily (Dubois 191 no. 167. 3) Ho cf. Epich. fr. 232) mryi|«('The man who wrote this message will bugger the man who reads it'); and in a number of graffiti, and despite its rarity is doubtless colloquial; cf. 1124 withn.; MM§450; Bain, 'Verbs' 67-71. amounts to a polite request ('Please let me . . .'; II2I-2 cf. Eg. 160—i), which emphasizes the speaker's physical desire for his 'beloved' and therefore meets with a mild response that accommodates the desire (1123-4). Only after Eur. insists on setting Inlaw free does the Skythian turn nasty (1125-7). 1122 (= E. fr. 889) is probably Aristophanic paratragedy rather than a line borrowed direct from Euripides. meaeiv Is euvr|v: For TTLTTTIU used in this sense, cf. S. OT 1210; E. Hec. 926 d>s Treaoifi,' es evvdv (not sexual); Hd. 1093; Stheneboia fr. 661. 9 (p. 128 Page); Archelaus fr. 2. 15-16 Austin ey For the tragic form Is (cf. 657 n.), Willi 116. For €vvi] in the sense 'marriage-bed' vel sim. (poetic), cf. EC. 959a; LSJ s.v. I. 4. Cf. 891 with n., 1034 with n.; E. Or. 1050 1123-4 = . Not a serious suggestion, but none the less further evidence of the Skythian's lackadaisical attitude toward the specifics of his orders; cf. 1007 n., 1121-2 n. The contrast between his brutally direct language and Eur.'s elevated periphrases in 1122 renders the latter all the more ridiculous. Truyiao: 1119—20 n. an Attic form of epic e|om#e; cf. 158 withn.; Olson on Ach. 260. Attested only here, but beyond any doubt a common crude colloquialism, like
L I N E S I I 19—29
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1125-7 Cf. 916-17 (Kritylla puts an end to the Helen parody with the Cf. threat of a blow from her torch), 1121-2 n. [ia Pax 989; Lys. 74; Ra. 174 (all / ^d A" dAA' ); PL 101*; GP 22-3; Werres 28—9. Sea^id: 1012—14 n. 'You'll get whipped then!, vapulabis ergo! (Blaydes)' (cf. 933-4; KB ii. 111-12 (on the use in Attic of fut. mid. with pass, sense)); but the threat proves insufficient to discourage Eur. (1126). p.aaTi-yoiu is attested in comedy (e.g. Eq. 67; Ra. 619; adesp. com. fr. 712. 2) and prose (e.g. Hdt. iii. 16. i; Lys. i. 18; PI. _R. 6136), but is absent from serious poetry. Epic has ^aa-ri^ia (e.g. H. //. 5. 768); cf. Arnott on Alex. fr. 138. 4-5. Kdi firjv: 'and yet' (35 n.). . For Kf(j>aXri, 1102—4 n 'this big knife here'; accompanied by a gesture threatening enough to put an abrupt and immediate end to Eur.'s latest set of machinations (1128—9)—and probably to cause him to retreat from Inlaw's side. For the li^o^d^aipa (described by Hsch. £ 80 as 'a large knife' and presumably to be identified with the 'short swords' mentioned in Herodotus' description of Skythian costume at vii. 64. 2), cf. Theopomp. Com. frr. 8. 2; 26; IG I 3 346. 63; (etc.) (the Parthenon accounts). For the form, cf. Nu. 1125; Ra. 1223. 1128-32 Addressed to the world at large. 1128-9 (= E. fr. 139) are most likely Aristophanic paratragedy rather than a fragment of Andromeda (as Matthiae believed). * at E. Med. 1042; Kresph. fr. 66. 52 Austin, -n opaaiu; is also * at e.g. S. Ai. 809; Ph. 969; E. Hec. 419; Ph. 1310 (all of^oi, riSpdaw;; in comedy at i2i5a-i6oi l iioi./TiSpaCT^withn.;A r M.844of l u,orTiSpd<JO)*; Hermipp.fr. 13). is an odd expression (Rau 88, compares Nu. where there is, however, also 1455 seems to be word-play on the name 'Strepsiades'), and aor. attested in Attic only in Plato (cf. Lautensach 252-3). Perhaps the words can pass for paratragic simply because they are so far from normal diction. Xo-yovs are 'arguments', as commonly with evSe'^o^ai (below); contrast 546 with n. d\\' OUK av KT\.: Eur. was no more successful with Kritylla in 871-924 than he has been with the Skythian here, and the obvious conclusion is that the problem is not the latter's ('barbarian nature'; cf. 11 n.) but the immense gap between tragic fiction and what passes within the play for real life. But having his character frame the matter thus allows Ar. to bring his plot to a quick and satisfying end; cf. 1001 n., 1050—1 n., 1098—1100 n.; Introduction p. Ixvi. 'be receptive' (e.g. Eq. 632 evSe^Ojiievrjv TOVS Xo-yovs; E. Ion 1607 Ph. 459 fvof^fi Xoyovs with Mastronarde ad loc.; Moschion TrGF 97 F 5. I evSegai Xoyovs; Hdt. v. 92. I, 106. 4; PI. Cra. 428a—b). ev was omitted after av; a very simple error.
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1130-2 The implicit basis of the argument is that barbarians are 'naturally' stupid (cf. 1129 jSdpjSapos vais), a point 1176-1225 would seem to prove. 1130 ~ E. Med. 298 (said by a barbarian woman in characterizing her own relationship with Greeks!). The verse that follows in the tragic original ('you will seem to be hapless rather than wise')) emphasizes the folly of the person who devises useless subtleties rather than the obtuseness of his audience, and has accordingly been replaced by Ar. (or Eur.) with something that better suits his purposes. Ar. refers elsewhere to Medea at Ra. 1382 (= Med. i) and perhaps Ach. 450 (cf. Olson ad loc.). TOI (not in the Euripidean original) is gnomic ('[I say] to you') and perhaps makes the self-citation explicit ('as anyone listening knows I wrote in Medea); cf. GP 542-3; Bond on E. HF 678. cf. also S. fr. 763. i* = adesp. com. fr. 120. i* (an For independent echo of E. Med. 298?). 'you would waste [your words]'. Cf. Lys. 467 (paratragic?); S. Ai. 1049 E. Med. 325 Xoyovs dvaXois. The vb. is first attested at A. Th. 813; Pi. P. 9. 25, although the cognate noun dvdXwais appears already at Thgn. 903. fir]xavr|v TTpoaoiareov: For the image, cf. Nu. 479—80 with Dover on 481, to whose references add Hdt. vi. 125. 3. Eur. exits into Wing A; 1134 is addressed to his retreating back (and accordingly gets no response). 1133 A clumsy mix of images appropriate for the (now allegedly doltish; cf. 1129—31 with nn.) Skythian. Like 1128—32, addressed to the world at 'Goddamnfox!'; cf. 512-13 n. Forthe fox large. as a symbol of treachery and cunning, e.g. V. 1241-2; Pax 1067-8 with Olson ad loc., 1190; Av. 430; Lys. 1268/9-70; Ale. fr. 69. 6-7; Sol. fr. n. 5 (whence perhaps Cratin. fr. 135); Semon. fr. 7. 7—9; Taillardat §405. The noun is elsewhere always grammatically fern. 'What a monkey-shine he tried on me!' For monkeys (mdr)Koi) as masters of dirty tricks, e.g. Ach. 907 with Olson ad loc.; Eg. 887; Pax 1065 with Olson ad loc.; Ra. 1085—6; adesp. com. fr. 589; Semon. fr. 7. 78-82; Taillardat §406. m#r;ia£a> is attested elsewhere only at V. 1290 (cf. Eq. 887 TTidrjKiafjLOis) and is doubtless colloquial. 1134—5 F°r ! ! 34> cf- ! ! 3°~2 n.; Klimek-Winter 313 (arguing against identifying this as a fragment of E. Andromeda; note the violation of Person's Law and the fact that the Euripidean Perseus seems never to have abandoned Andromeda). This is Inlaw's first line since the Skythian ordered him to shut up in 1108—9 (where see n.), and the threat of a whipping in 1135 reduces him to silence again until 1207 (by which point the Skythian is safely off stage). fiefivrjao: 275*-6 n. For the hyperbaton \i us for 019 p.', cf. 405-6 n.; Pax 77; Av. 95, 310; Lys. 753, 905, 1027; Ra. 504 with Dover ad loc.; Fraenkel, KIB i. 435; Barrett on E.
L I N E S 1130-39
333
d6\iav is to be taken in apposition to ^,(e) (obj. i108-9 n For equivalent to p.aaTi-yovaOai, cf. V. i^2^',Ra. 6"j^;Ec. 324(all LSJs. AafijSdvcoA. II. 3. 1136-59 Aeolic (primarily ibyceans); cf. Lyric Metres2 166-7; Parker 44653. Two invocations, the first (and more overtly political) of Athena (1136—47), the second of Demeter and Pherrephatta/Kore(i 148— 59). Cf. in general Introduction p. xliii; Furley and Bremer i. 360-1; ii. 359-63; Bierl 154-7. Hipp. 503-4. of
(1)1136 (2) 1137 (3)1138-9 (4) 114° (5) 1141
(6) 1142 (7)1143-4 (8)1145-6 (9) H47 (10) 1148 (n) 1149 (12) 1150-1 (13) H52/3 (14) H53/4 (15) H55-6 (16) 1157 (17) 1158-9
ibyc ibyc ibyc. ibyc gl ph 4ba 2gl ph
ibyc ibyc ibyc ibyc ibyc. aeol da ibyc 4da archeb
(7) For the 'cry to Athena' in the bacchiac sequence (elsewhere in Ar. only at 1018-19 (where see metrical n.) and V. 3i7a(bothparatragic)), cf. Lyric Metres2 167; Parker 449-50; Introduction p. xliii. (i i, 16) For the epic correptions in TTOTVLUL and emjKoai, see metrical n. on 9I4-I5(16, 17) R's duals f/XBerov . .. a^iKfaOov arose under the influence of in 1155-6. For the variation, cf. 1148 i^ere, 1153/4 ^aiverov. For the 'archeboulean' in 1158—9, cf. Ibyc. PMGF 298. 3 (with initial ^^ for 1136—9 Ar. elsewhere uses the divine name FlaXXdSa only at Eg. 581 (lyric), 1172 (an allusion to an actual cult-title); Nu. 299/300 (lyric), 967 (~ Lamprocles PMG 735(b)), 1265 (= Xenocl. TrGF 33 F 3. 3); EC. 476 (a prayer); PI. 772 (paratragic); cf. Anderson n. Elsewhere in comedy at Hermipp. fr. 2; Eub. fr. 5 (of Athenian coins stamped with an image
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of the goddess's face). t|n\6xopov (cf. 987-9 n.) is a persuasive epithet: the goddess is invoked thus in the hope that she will in fact take pleasure in the dance to which she is summoned (i 137) and thus be more inclined to lend her customary favour and protection to Athens (1140—7). Cf. 1140-2 n. Ifioi / . . . vojios: Sc. earl. Cf. 947 with n.; Davies, C_RNS 23 (1973) 226. Seupo . . . €isx°P° v: Cf. 317-19 n.; Eg. 559 (also a cletic hymn) Sevp' eX&' els x°P°v, fr. 348. 2 (from Th. II); Beobachtungen 199—201. mapGevov (of Athena at e.g. E. Tr. 971 -jrap&evov re UaXXdSa; Hel. 25 SioyevTjy re TrapBevos; IG I 3 728. i; 745. 2) is perhaps to be taken as a specific allusion to the goddess' major cult-title on the Acropolis and thus as a proleptic reference to her deep concern for the city's welfare (1140—2). Cf. Anderson 64—5. a£uya ('unyoked', and thus by extension 'unmarried') is poetic and especially Euripidean vocabulary (Eup. fr. 474; Archil, fr. 262, cf. fr. 54. 5; Bacch. 11. 105; 16. 20 (both offerings to Athena); E. Med. 673; Hipp. 546 (lyric), 1425; Tr. 536 (lyric; of Athena); Ba. (tg^-irapdfvon' eV a£uyej; IA 805; Theoc. 27. 7). For Kouprjv (Bathe's correction of R'sunmetrical Kopyv), 101-3 n 1140-2 Cf. 1138-9 impOfvov with n. Fortherel. clause as typical of hymnic style, 316 n. The description says the same thing in three slightly different ways: the goddess has Athens under her authority and protection (i 140); she alone exercises 'open power' over it (i 141); and she is acknowledged to control its keys (1142). This too (cf. 1136 with n.) is a persuasive description: reminding Athena of her traditional affection for and authority over the city makes it more likely that she will answer the summons issued in 1143-7 and assist Athens in its hour of need. At the same time, the emphasis on her absolute (and fundamentally political) authority sets up the much more partisan request that follows (i 143—4 with n.). Cf. 316 n. and the epithet TroAiou^oy (of Athena at Eq. 581 (lyric), cf. 582-5; Nu. 602 (lyric); Av. 826-8; Lys. 344/5 (lyric); IG P 683. 2; 718. i; 775. 2 (all dedications from the Acropolis)). Ar. uses Kpdros elsewhere only at 871 (= E. Hel. 68); V. 1232/3 (~ Ale. fr. 141. z);Ra. 1126= 1138 (= A. Ch. i), 1276 (= A. Ag. 104), 1284/5 (= A. Ag. 108-9), and clearly treats the word as elevated poetic vocabulary. Cf. 317-19 n. Forms of JIOVT) and similar adjs. are frequently employed in prayers, hymns, and the like to enhance the deity's honour; cf. V. 392; Pax 589—90; Av. 1546 with Dunbar ad loc.; Norden 245 n. i; Barrett on E. Hipp. 1280-2. K\T)8ouxos . . . KaXeirai: The adj. is normally used of the priest or priestess who controls access to a temple vel sim. (Phoronis fr. 4. i; A. Supp. 291—2; E. IT 130—1; Hyps. fr. I. iv. 28; cf. H. //. 6. 297-300; E. Hipp. 540; Dover, Frogs, pp. 52-3; Dillon 80-3). Here the image is metaphorical, as at 976 (of Hera) K\fjSas -ya^ov v\a,TTei; adesp. com. fr. 1147. 27 (of Artemis) KXrjSovx' 'Eeala; Pi. P. 8. 4: Athena has supreme authority over the city. Cf. 421—2 with n. But if
L I N E S 1136-49
335
any particular keys are in question, they are more likely those of the city's temple storerooms than of its gates, which must have been barred rather than locked (cf. Whitehead on Aen. Tact. 18. i). 312—14 n. to rupdvvous aruyoua': Athena's alleged "43-4 attitude reflects that of the democracy that controls—if precariously—the city she is being called to visit and assist (cf. 338-9 with n., 1145-6 with n.), which is to say that these words amount to an aggressive gloss on 1140—2 (where the goddess is presented as committed to the city but not to any particular political system). For the contemporary implications of the characterization, Introduction p. xliii. arvyew is elevated poetic vocabulary, attested elsewhere in Ar. only at Ach. 33 (= adesp. tr. fr. 41; cf. Olson ad loc.), 472 (~ E. fr. 568 (but see Olson ad loc.)). Cf. 721-2 n., 947. The phrase qualifies arvyova'; cf. S. Ai. 824 av (since Zeus was Aias' great-grandfather). 1145—7 8fjfios momentarily creates (or reinforces) the impression that the chorus are speaking for the Athenian people as a whole (cf. 1140-4 with nn.). But the effect is undercut by yuvaiKuv (cf. 336, 338), as again by the adj. at the end of 1147 (cf. below), and 1148—59 are as blandly apolitical as 1136—9. Cf. Dover, AC 171—2. TOI with <j€ 'conveyfs] a summons to attention' (GP 542). ixouaa . . . / Eipr|VT)v makes good sense as part of a wish for the well-being of the Athenian state as a whole in 411 BC; cf. Introduction p. xliii. But ((nXeoprov (a hapax legomenon) immediately diminishes the effect of the words by returning to the apolitical festival theme of 1136-7. For Peace (referred to as a goddess already at Hes. Th. 902), Olson on Pax 221; Stafford 173-97. F°r the prayer to come bringing a companion, cf. Eg. 586—90; Fraenkel, Horace 198 n. 2. fioXois: Cf. 317—19 n., 1155 p.oXeTov. ep.oXov is a primarily poetic form, used elsewhere by Ar. only atEq. 21-6, 73 (for the sake of a pun); Av. 405 (anapaests; corrupt); Lys. 743 (a prayer, and therefore elevated style?), 984, 1263, 1297 (all three Lakonian, the second and third lyric in a cletic hymn); Ra. 1232 (= E. IT i); fr. 717. i (lyric). Cf. Rutherford 41-2; Ausfeld 516; Lautensach 84-5. yields a glyconic. But a connective is wanted with the 1148-9 'wellshift of addressee, hence Hermann's disposed' (Fraenkel on A. Ag. 806). Elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. //. 15. 99; Alcm. PMGF i. 37; Pi. P. 9. 73; A. Supp. 19), also in cletic hymns and the like at Lys. 1282 (lyric; the only other attestation in comedy); Pi. O. 2. 14; S. Ai. 705 (lyric); cf. Ausfeld 537-8. i'Xaoi: Elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. //. 9. 639; Pi. O. 3. 34; Bacch. 11. 15; attested nowhere else in comedy); in cletic hymns, prayers, et sim. at e.g. Pi. P. 12.4; A. Eu. 1040; adesp. PMG934. 19; Herod. 4. n; cf. E./T27i; Hel. 1007; S. OC 1480; Ausfeld 537-8. Cf. 130 n., 1156
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S. OC 1050; Usener225; Richardsononh.Cer. 39. AndXaos is simply a 'sacred precinct' (cf. Str. 9.412 'the poets embellish matters, calling all sacred areas aXor/, even if they have no trees at all'); here the reference is to the Thesmophorion. The word is attested elsewhere in comedy only at Ra. 441/2 (lyric); adesp. fr. 155. 4. Cf. p. xlixn. 37. 1150-4 R's ov must have been added deliberately at the beginning of 1150 after dvSpas IV was misread av&paaiv, and the Sr/ that follows it may well be a corrupted majuscule dittography of av (ANAN read AHAN; cf. 400-2 n.). For the repetition of a word meaning 'where', cf. Nu. 302-3 (hymnic) ov aejSas appr/Taiv lepwv, "va / f^varoSoKos So^oy. Cf. Dover on Nu. 140; Bulloch on Call. Lav.Pal. 78; Olson on Pax 101718. Cf. 948 op-yia aep.va Oeaiv (whence, most likely, the intrusive 8eaiv in R here) with n. The d^Pporov 6v|nv which the goddesses reveal 'with torches' (i.e. by torchlight) might be their face(s) (cf. LSJ s. oijjis I. i. b) when they appear in their precinct. But the second "ra-clause is best understood as the inverse of the first, and the 'divine sight' (cf. LSJ s. Si/iis I. 2) in question is probably the sacred ceremonies from which men are banned and to which the city's women alone have access. ap.j3poTos is elevated poetic vocabulary (e.g. H. Od. 18. 191; Simon. PMG 519 fr. 84. 2; Pi. JV. 10. 7; A. Eu. 259 (lyric); Timoth. PMG 780. 2); attested elsewhere in comedy only at Av. 1749 (lyric). For 904-5 n. Cf. 1146 with n., 1227—31 n. II55-6 Cf. 977 with n. Geapotfiopio moXuiiOTvia: Cf. Pi. fr. 37 (from a Hymn to Persephone) Uorvia 0eafi,o6pe. -nohmmvia. (a strengthened form of cf. 1149 with n.) is attested elsewhere before the Hellenistic period only ath.Cer. 211 -jroXv-jroTvia A-qia, hence Richardson's suggestion that the form of the invocation here 'probably belongs to the [Eleusinian] cult' (p. 69). Cf. Orph. h. 40. 16 (of Eleusinian Demeter); used as an epic rarity of various goddesses and queens at A.R. i. 1125, 115154. 1069. 1157—9 For the prayer-type (da quiadedisti, and thus here venite quia venistis), e.g. Eq. 591-4; Nu. 356-7; Sapph. fr. i. 5-7; Pi. /. 6. 42-6; S. OT 165-7; cf. 1202 with n.; Ach. 405 with Olson ad loc.; Ausfeld 531-2; NisbetHubbardonHor. c. i. 32. i; Furley and Bremer i. 57-8. en-rjKou: The adj. and its cognates appear in similar contexts at e.g. Phryn. Com. fr. 72; Thgn. 1321; Anacr. PMG 357. 8; Pi. O. 14. 15; A. Ch. 725; PI. Plb. 25b; MX. 247d; Lg. 93 ic-d. For (KCU} vuv (with «aiborrowed from 1157, where it is unmetrical), cf. Eq. 594 eiWp wore «ai vvv; Nu. 356 with Dover ad loc.; Sapph. fr. i. 25
S. OT 167 1160-3 Up to now, there has been very little hint that Eur. and the city's women could ever be reconciled (although cf. 962-5 n.), and his offer— to say nothing of their acceptance of it (i 170)—is quite unexpected, as
L I N E S 1148-63
337
their response in 1164 acknowledges. Cf. 90-2 n., 1167-70 with nn.; Silk 330-1. Inlaw's bungling has paradoxically accomplished more than the highly polished performance Eur. presumably expected from Agathon (esp. 187) could have, but the tragedian has also paid a much higher price than he might have liked. 1160-1 Eur. enters from Wing A, carrying several small harp-like instruments (1217 with n.; cf. 1177—8 with n.). The chorus (who in this respect stand in for the audience in the Theatre) recognize him immediately, leaving little doubt that he is dressed as he was at the beginning of the play. At 1176-1201, on the other hand, the Skythian with no prompting takes Eur. for an old woman (cf. 1194 with n.), and the tragedian thus most likely carries a woman's himation and cap, which he puts on at 1172—5, as he gives his assistants their orders. Stehle 396-8, suggests that he may have shaved (i.e. removed his stage-beard; cf. 190, 222-3 n -) as well. But it is far more likely that he has simply put on a suitably adapted Old Woman mask to hide his face. Eur. is accompanied by two mute characters: (i) an attractive young woman, who is called Elaphion in 1172 and turns out to be a dancing-girl/prostitute (1177-8, 1193-6); and (2) a young, male (cf. 1203) pipe-player given the name Teredon in 1175. Elaphion wears a himation and sandals (1181—3), but most likely very little else (cf. 1185, 1187). 1174 suggests that all three characters hesitate part way across the stage and only cross to where Inlaw is suspended and the Skythian is sleeping at 1176. TOV \omov xpovov: 'for the time that remains', i.e. 'for ever'. An occasional metri gratia variant of the far more common TO Aoi77w(539withn., 1163); cf. V. 1006*; Cratin. fr. 26; E. Ale. 295*; S. Ph. 84*; in prose at e.g. Lys. 2. 78; PI. Ap. 4ic. For the idiom, Olson on Ach. 51—2. Followed by mpos + ace. also at Ach. 131; Lys. 1006. irdpa = e^eon, as at V. 316 (paratragic lyric); Ra. 1484 (lyric); cf. Kassel, Gnomon 33 (1961) 136-7. 1162-3 Cf. 1166-7, where the offer is resumed in abbreviated form and with a very significant threat—naturally omitted in the initial tender, which is designed to be as appealing as possible—appended (1167—9). 'on the condition that . . .', although the clause that follows binds the speaker rather than the addressee (as is normal). Eur. is not bargaining from a strong position (but cf. 1168—9), and he reserves a description of what he wants in return for 1166. The expression e<j>' oire is confined to comedy (Ach. 722; PL 1000, 1141; Cratin. fr. 311; Men. fr. 602. 2) and prose (e.g. Hdt. iii. 83. 2; PI. Ap. 29c), and is perhaps originally diplomatic language; cf. GP 528. 'nothing whatsoever'. Adverbial p.riSap.0. (cf. fr. 868 ovSap.a) is otherwise attested in Attic only in tragedy (e.g. A. Pers. 431; S. OT 1348; OC 1104 with Jebb ad loc.; [A.] PF526;not inE.); elsewhere at e.g. Ale. fr. 129. 16; Hippon. fr. dub. 196. 7; and in Ionic prose (e.g. Hdt. i. 68. 3; Hp. Loc. Hum. 28. 15 (vi. 322. 7)).
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'These are the terms I 539 n. offer for peace'. For the vb. (which draws on and strengthens the persistent image of the city's women as something like a separate people; cf. 576 n., 1145-6), 335-9 n. 1164 1160-3 n. Cf. V. 413 (lyric) rovSe Xoyov elaepei ('he introduces this proposal'; legal language). TwS(e) . . . Xo-yov is routinely * in tragedy (e.g. A. Ch. 510; Eu. 836; S.El. 388;E.Merf. 790; Hec. 271; [A.JPF393). 1165 is not so much an explanation of who Inlaw is (since the chorus already know that; cf. 584-5, 634-5) as a justification for the extraordinary conceswith n. sion Eur. is willing to make to get him free. Cf. 74 a very rare crasis, attested in the 5th c. also at E. Ph. 589; cf. E. HF 1189; Men. Sik. 198 (both conjectural). 1166-7 An abbreviated version of the offer in 1160-3, with the crucial condition added at the beginning (t]v ouv K0|_uaio|_icu TOUTOV) and a threat tacked on at the end (1167—9). ouSev [ir\ + subjunc. has the force of an emphatic denial; 'you will certainly hear no abuse!' (cf. Goodwin §§295-6). aKovaifr' is Elmsley's correction (ad Ach. 295) of R's impossible aKovaan'. Bentley suggested fut. indie. aKovaer' (cf. 1169 with p.ov for the paradosis ^TJ in 1166. But in the classical period the fut. of + gen. rather than a bare gen. (e.g. Lys. 8. 15; Isoc. 6. 59; D. 40. 45). For the idiom, cf. above; 85 n., 386-8 n.; E. Ale. 726; Th. v. 28. 2; Lys. 10. 13; X. Snip. 4. 64. R's -jreiOriaOe ('be persuaded') is metrical, but Hirschig'siii0T)a0€(^4r. Vesp. (Leiden, 1847) 155; 'comply'; cf. aor. K0fi,laa>{i,ai in 1166) makes it clear that a single, decisive action is in question; cf. Jebb on S. El. 1015; Lautensach 67. Parallel errors at e.g. Av. 163 with Dunbar's n., 1086. R 1168-9 uTTOiKoupeire: 'the deceptions you practise at home' (cf. 2 , in reference to the sort of stealthy behaviour Inlaw described at 476—516, 556—9, and to which the chorus, by accepting Eur.'s offer (1170), implicitly confess. Cf. 339—48 n. imoiKovpeiu is first attested here and appears nowhere else in the classical period; for the simplex (in Ar. at Ach. 1060; cf. oiKovpos at V. 970; Lys. 759), Fraenkel on A. is here 'military Ag. 809. service', as at e.g. Ach. 251; Lys. 100 em arpaTidj a-jrovras. Cf. 824—9 n For the implication that a substantial portion of the city's men were on active duty abroad in early 411, Lys. 99-104; cf. Introduction pp. xlixlii. ufi&JvistobetakenwithTo«j«'dw>pd so as to match Elaphion's dance; and as an exotic, 'barbarian' piece is appropriate to beguile a Skythian. There may well be some connection to the exotic Eastern music described at e.g. E. Ba. 120—34; Diog. Ath. TrGF 45 F i; and cf. 1200 with n., 1217 with n.; and the derisory reference to Euripides' 'Karian pipe-songs' at Ra. 1302. The theatrical piper begins to play, and Teredon and Eur. follow Elaphion toward centre stage. 1176 The Skythian wakes up and moves into a sitting position on the steps leading up to the stage (cf. 1007 n., 1182). Teredon probably breaks off his playing in terror in response to the Skythian's—clearly unappreciative—comments; cf. 1186. TI TO PO^PO TOUTO;: For the 'buzzing' or 'droning' of pipes, Ach. 866 j8ofij8ai5Atot (a hostile characterization); Taillardat §789; West, AGM 105. Kio|_io TIS dv€Y€ipi fioi;: Not accenting the question allows it to serve as a tentative (and incorrect) answer to ri TO J3op.j3o TOUTO;, whereas with TIS; the Skythian pointlessly asks the same thing twice. In any case, this is a reasonable guess about the source of the noise, since revelling-bands were sometimes accompanied by pipe-players taken from the party the group had left (e.g. PI. Snip. 2i2d; cf. 987-9 n.; Ach. 551 with Olson ad loc.; V. 1322—1449, where the drunken Philokleon with his torch (1330—1) and the pipegirl he has stolen from the party (esp. 1345-6, 1368-9) make up a wild komastic party of two); Headlam on Herod. 2. 34-7 (on the K(jjp.os generally)). Coulon suggested that 2R took KQMOTIZ as a single word (KOI^OTIJ) and glossed it K(up.oopia ('Koj^oy-girl'; otherwise unattested). 1177-8 That Elaphion (like Teredon) is a slave and her body available for sale, and that the old woman played by Eur. is her owner and procuress, is apparently so obvious that none of the characters on stage needs to comment explicitly on the fact. That Eur. carries several additional instruments (1217 with n.) suggests that 'she' too intends to contribute to the entertainment and is probably to be taken for a retired prostitute who 'was about to start now works as a madam, rehearsing'; for the impf. of ^e'AAoi + an inchoative pres. infin., cf.Eq. 267 with Neil ad loc. ;Ra. 518. For irpo^Xfraia (first attested here), cf. EC. 117 (also a rehearsal-scene). For the idea, cf. Pax 1265—7.
L I N E S 1175-82
341
For dancing-girls, cf.Ach. 1093; Ra. 514-15; Metag. fr. 4. 1-2. Not all dancing-girls and other female symposium-entertainers necessarily worked as prostitutes (cf. 1193—5). But there was probably a considerable degree of overlap between the two categories (cf. V. 1345—6)—as the fact that Elaphion wears little if anything below her himation (cf. 1185, 1187) suggests—although an additional fee may have been demanded for extra services. Cf. Ehrenberg 178—80; Davidson 109—36 (both on prostitution generally); Olson— SensonMatrofr.6.2;Neils,in,ZVC/2O3—26,esp.224—5. i.e. to a symposium (cf. 457-8). 1179-80 = 6pKT]ai and ^leAeTTfai echo Trpo^eXerdv in 1177 and op-^rfaopfvi] in 1178. Teredon (in response to a signal from Eur.?) begins to play again, and Elaphion dances in time to his music. The Skythian is entranced. us IXarrpos: 'How nimble, light on her feet [she is]!'; cf. Anacr. PMG 390 KaAAiVo^oi Kovpai Aios ('fair-tressed daughters of Zeus danced lightly'); Pi. fr. I O7(b). I e\apov A'pOTi"*' °5>a TtoSwv fi,eiyvv{i,ev (' I know how to put together a nimble dance'); adesp. PMG 939. 7 e\dp' dramxAAo^eyoi ('bounding up lightly'; of sea-creatures about Poseidon). KioSio: 'just like a flea on my sheepskin'. Sheepskins were commonly used for sleeping (e.g. Eq. 400; Philem. fr. 26; H. Od. 20. 1-3; PI. Prt. 3isd; Timae. FGrHist 566 F 26a (p. 607. i); cf. Ra. 1478), and the Skythian's choice of imagery suggests the dirty, impoverished (cf. 1195—7) circumstances to which he is accustomed; cf. Nu. 144—7 ( a similarly oblique characterization of life in the house of the preeminently dirty Socrates, with attention once again to the flea's leaping ability); PI. 537-9; Beavis 240 ('The eggs of the human flea are found wherever dirt is allowed to accumulate in buildings'). For fleas (Pulex irritans Linn.), Davies and Kathirithamby 149; Beavis 240-2. The simile is common in later literature: 'I wish all the fleas in my bed were such as she!', says Sancho of the beautiful Dorothea in Cervantes' Don Quixote i. 30 ('jAsi se me vuelvan las pulgas de la cama!'). 'Pass me this himation here from 1181 above!', i.e. 'Take your himation here (with a gesture) by the upper part (cf. the very similar use of aviu&ev at PI. _R. 449b), slip it over your head, and hand it to me!' Cf. Austin (1987) 86. Cf. 1062-3 n., 1198; WilamowitzonZ/ys. 7. But perhaps Eur. is posing as Elaphion's mother (for mother-daughter prostitute teams, cf. Macho's Gnathaina and Gnathainion)—as the Skythian, at least, obviously believes (1210). Elaphion takes off her himation and hands it to Eur., who sets it on the ground (leaving his hands free to remove her shoes/sandals (1182-3)); cf. 1189 with n. A nominally innocent position, appro1182
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COMMENTARY
priate for a child with a parent or the like (H.//. 9.455; 21. 506; 22. 500-1; Od. 19. 401), but calculated to drive the Skythian wild with desire (1185, 1187-8, 1190). 'I may take off [your shoes/sandals]' (e.g. Nu. 152; V. 1183-4 1157; PL 927; Pherecr. fr. 162. 9; PI. Snip. 2i3b). The repetitions reflect the Skythian's eager excitement. vaiKi (= vai-^i) is an alternative form of vai (also 1194, 1196, 1218; Men. Epitr. 873; Leukad. fr. i.6;Sam. 296; S. OT684; [PL] Hipparch. 232a; SEGxxiv-jj (a terracotta ball from Attica, c.500 BC);ARVZ 1577 no. 13 (Epidromos cup; London £25); 1605 (cup from Vulci); Call. e. 28. 5); cf. ou^t; W. Schulze, Kleine Schriften (Gottingen, 1966)706; Dover, G&Gz^. OntheformKarT]ao(i.e. Olson onAch. 59; cf. EC. 144, 169, 554; PL 724; K