πρὸς τό γ' αἷμα τῆς καμήλου ΠΟ. τὸ μὲν πόλισμα τῆς Νεφελοκοκκυγίας οὗτος τί δρᾷς ; ἐπ' ἀριστέρ ̓ οὕτως ἀμπέχει; τί ὦ κακόδαιμον; Λαισποδίας εἶ τὴν φύσιν. εἰ τουτονί γ' ἐχειροτόνησαν οἱ θεοί ; ΤΡ. ἕξεις ἀτρέμας ; ΠΟ. οἴμωζε· πολὺ γὰρ δή σ' ἐγὼ ἄγε δὴ τί δρῶμεν Ηράκλεις ; ΗΡ. ἀκήκοας 1563. τό γ' αἷμα] That the disembodied spirits came up to drink the blood of the victim is of course well known, and is indeed plain from the lines of Homer quoted in the preceding note. The MSS. here mostly read λaîμa, a vox nihili; one reads λαίτμα, a gulf, which has no application here. το γ' αἷμα 18 Mr. Green's excellent suggestion ; the ye is by no means superfluous; it is the ye explanatory; meaning that though the spirit was said to ascend to him (Peisander), it was really coming up for the victim's blood. 1565. τὸ μὲν πόλισμα] The divine envoys, whose approaching visit had been indicated by Prometheus, now make their appearance. They are three in number; (1) Poseidon, the dignified brother of Zeus, (2) Heracles, the son of Zeus by a mortal mother, a mighty man of valour, and withal a mighty trencherman, and (3) the uncivilized Triballian. 1565 1570 1575 Three seems to have been the usual number in these cases; and if I refer to a particular instance, Thuc. viii. 86, it is because one of the three Athenian ambassadors there mentioned is the Laispodias to whom the Triballian is likened four lines below, and who was one of the Athenian generals at or about the time when this Comedy was exhibited, Thuc. vi. 105. On their first entrance, the envoys have a short conversation amongst themselves, which is opened by Poseidon in language either borrowed from, or imitating the language of, a Tragic Play. 1567. ἐπ' ἀριστερά] Aristophanes is playing on the words ἐπ' ἀριστερὰ and ἐπιδέξια. Επ' ἀριστερὰ 19 a term of locality, on the left hand or side. ἐπιδέξια, in this connexion, has nothing to do with locality. It means dexterously, in a handy manner, like a person of refinement; as in Plato's Theaetetus, chap. Whilst the camel's blood upon Pounced the Vampire, Chaerephon. POSEIDON. There, fellow envoys, full in sight, the town Whereto we are bound, Cloudcuckoobury, stands ! (To the Triballian.) You, what are you at, wearing your cloke left-sided? Shift it round rightly; so. My goodness, you're A born Laispodias! O Democracy, What will you bring us to at last, I wonder, If voting Gods elect a clown like this! TRIBALLIAN. Hands off there, will yer? Pos. Hang you, you're by far HERACLES, You have heard The uncouthest God I ever came across. XXV (p. 175 E). The Triballian has merely flung his iμáriov over his left shoulder, letting it droop downwards so as to cover his left side and leg. Poseidon calls this ἐπ' ἀριστερὰ, and proceeds to say Why can't you wear it like a gentleman éñidéşia? contrasting ἐπιδέξια with ἐπ' ἀριστερὰ, as if the former ταδὶ δὲ τὰ δένδρα Λαισποδίας καὶ αναισι (so Hermann for αὐταῖσι) They are called dévdpa, not, as Meineke thinks, from their height, but from their stiff and wooden gait. 1570. ὦ δημοκρατία] Επαιξεν ὡς ἐπὶ 'Aonvaiwr.-Scholiast. The Athenian democracy was in full swing, and we shall presently find that the Athenian laws were in full force, amongst the O Olympian Gods. 1575. ἄγχειν] This was an art in which Heracles was an adept. In his overy babyhood, when he was but ten months old, he had, with infantile glee, meant on the right side, as the latter 1569. Λαισποδίας] The Scholiast says ταῖς κνήμαισιν ἀκολουθοῦσί μοι. throttled the two great serpents which ὅστις ποτ ̓ ἔσθ ̓ ὁ τοὺς θεοὺς ἀποτειχίσας. ΠΟ. ἀλλ ̓ ὦγάθ' ᾑρήμεσθα περὶ διαλλαγῶν ΗΡ. διπλασίως μᾶλλον ἄγχειν μοι δοκεῖ. πρέσβεις. ΠΕΙ. τὴν τυρόκνηστίν τις δότω· φέρε σίλφιον· τυρὸν φερέτω τις· πυρπόλει τοὺς ἄνθρακας. C ΠΟ. τὸν ἄνδρα χαίρειν οἱ θεοὶ κελεύομεν τρεῖς ὄντες ἡμεῖς. ΠΕΙ. ἀλλ ̓ ἐπικνῶ τὸ σίλφιον. ΗΡ. τὰ δὲ κρέα τοῦ ταῦτ ̓ ἐστίν; ΠΕΙ. ὄρνιθές τινες ἐπανιστάμενοι τοῖς δημοτικοῖσιν ὀρνέοις ἔδοξαν ἀδικεῖν. ΗΡ. εἶτα δῆτα σίλφιον ἐπικνᾷς πρότερον αὐτοῖσιν ; ΠΕΙ. ὦ χαῖρεις τί ἔστι ; ΠΟ. πρεσβεύοντες ἡμεῖς ἥκομεν ΟΙΚ. ἔλαιον οὐκ ἔνεστιν ἐν τῇ ληκύθῳ. ληκυ ΗΡ. καὶ μὴν τά γ' ὀρνίθεια λιπάρ ̓ εἶναι πρέπει. ὑμεῖς τ ̓ ἂν ἡμῖν τοῖς θεοῖς ὄντες φίλοι 1579. τὴν τυρόκνηστιν] The leader of the birds is discovered in the kitchen (see the note on 357 supra) busily engaged in cooking the flesh of birds, probably stewing thrushes (see Peace 1197, and the note there); far too busy, he pretends, even to observe the approaching divinities. He is giving directions to his servants in a very appetising manner; and is indeed dressing the birds in the very same method which he so indignantly denounced in an earlier part of the play; supra 533 to 538. But these are oligarchic birds, who have risen up against the demo pools. cracy, and deserve no mercy. 1580 1585 1590 1583. τὰ δὲ κρέα] The pugnacity of Heracles is at once changed into curiosity and interest at the sight and smell of the savoury stew which Peisthetaerus is preparing. 1585. ἔδοξαν ἀδικεῖν] Were found guilty, were condemned, a common Athenian law-term. τινὲς εἰς κρίσιν καταστάντες ἀδικεῖν ἔδοξαν, Lysias versus Nicomachum 1. πολλοὶ οὐδ ̓ ἔδοξαν ἀδικεῖν (that is, were acquitted), Id. versus Andoc. 14, Pro Polystrato 16. 1586. ὦ χαίρ' Ηράκλεις] Who but Heracles could be so inquisitive about Whoever he is, that dares blockade the Gods. Pos. My dear good fellow, you forget we are sent To treat for peace. HER. I'd throttle him all the more. PEI. (To Servants.) Hand me the grater; bring the silphium, you; Pos. We three, immortal Gods, with words of greeting HER. Salute the Man! PEI. I'm grating silphium now. What's this the flesh of? PEI. Birds! Birds tried and sentenced Amongst the birds. HER. Then you grate silphium, do you, What brings you hither? Pos. We are envoys, sent Pos. the details of these culinary operations? Peisthetaerus greets him with pleasure, perceiving that these operations have secured, or will secure, him a friend among the Divine Envoys. With the servant's complaint about the oil compare Clouds 56. 1593. τέλμασιν] Τέλματα, τὰ πηλώδη καὶ τελευταῖα τοῦ ὕδατος.—Hesychius. Rainwater in the puddles, and still and cloudless days all the year round! These offers are adapted for birds in their simple unenlightened state, before the horizon of their ideas had been expanded, and their ambition raised, by the teach ing of Peisthetaerus. They are mere trifling now. Peisthetaerus quietly ignores them, and substitutes a proposal for the transfer to the birds of universal dominion. Poseidon is naturally taken aback at the magnitude of the demand, but Heracles, who after his long privations, is ready to sell his birthright for a mess of pottage, and whose senses are now regaled by the sight and smell of the stewing birds, will allow no obstacle to interfere with the termination of the war and the commencement of the banquet. As to "halcyon days," see the Introduction to the play. Frank - fevery τούτων περὶ πάντων αὐτοκράτορες ἥκομεν. ἀποστερεῖς τὸν πατέρα τῆς τυραννίδος ; μα νῦν μέν γ ̓ ὑπὸ ταῖς νεφέλαισιν ἐγκεκρυμμένοι · ἐὰν δὲ τοὺς ὄρνεις ἔχητε συμμάχους, ὁ κόραξ παρελθὼν τοὐπιορκοῦντος λάθρα 1595 1600 1605 1610 ΠΟ. νὴ τὸν Ποσειδῶ ταῦτά γέ τοι καλῶς λέγεις. ΠΕΙ. τί δαὶ σὺ φής; ΤΡ. ναβαισατρεῦ. 1615 1602. ἐπ ̓ ἄριστον] He knows that this offer will gain him a vote, and Heracles accepts it with unblushing avidity. ψηφίζομαι, he says, I vote. But before he can finish his sentence, Poseidon breaks in with τί (scil. ψηφίζει) ὦ κακόδαι μον; and shows his appreciation of his nephew's motive by protesting against his gluttony. He had already used the same words to the Triballian, supra 1569, but in a slightly different sense. 1609. κύψαντες] The precise meaning of this word in the present passage is doubtful. Hemsterhuys translates "inclinantes sese, peierant vestrum numen mortales," a translation retained by Brunck without any alteration. They refer the action, I presume, to some formality in taking the oath, and if any such formality existed, they are undoubtedly right. The ordinary Aristophanic meaning hanging down their heads is not apt in itself, and would take the present tense rather than the aorist. Her werden's conjecture, κλέψαντες, is attractive ; the verbs κλέπ |