________________________________________________________
Aristophanes
FROGS
________________________________________________________
Translator’s Note
This translation by
Ian Johnston, Professor Emeritus at Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC, has
certain copyright restrictions. For information please use the following
link: Copyright. For
comments or question please contact Ian Johnston.
This text is
available in the form of a Word or Publisher file for those who would like to
print it off as a small book. There is no charge for these files.
For details, please use the following link: Publisher files. The
translation is also available in the form of a published paperback book from Richer Resources Publications. For additional translations and lectures by Ian
Johnston, please consult the following link: johnstonia.
This text provides
links to explanatory notes (indicated by asterisks), but those reading the
entire play might be better served by printing out those pages separately.
The translator would
like to acknowledge the extremely valuable help of W. B. Stanford’s edition of The
Frogs (London: Macmillan, 1963).
In the following
translation, the normal line numbers refer to the English text. The ones
in square brackets refer to the Greek text.
Historical Note
Aristophanes (c. 456
BC to c. 386 BC) was the foremost writer of comic drama in classical Athens. His
surviving plays are the only complete examples we have of Old Comedy. Frogs was
first produced in Athens in 405 BC. By this time Athens had been at war with
Sparta for over twenty-five years.
For
Annie
in whom the best spirit of Aristophanes still lives on.
The Frogs
Dramatis Personae
XANTHIAS: a slave
DIONYSUS: the god, appearing in human form as a middle-aged man
HERCULES: the legendary hero
CORPSE: a dead man being carried off to Hades
CHARON: the ferry man transporting the dead to Hades
CHORUS OF FROGS
CHORUS OF INITIATES: worshippers of the gods of the underworld
AEACUS: a gatekeeper in Hades
SERVANT
FIRST HOSTESS (PANDOKEUTRIA)
SECOND HOSTESS (PLATANE)
SERVANT OF PLUTO
EURIPIDES: the playwright
AESCHYLUS: the playwright
PLUTO: king of Hades
VARIOUS ATTENDANTS
[The play opens on a street leading to Hades, with
a door in the centre of the backstage area. Enter Dionysus, appearing as a
middle-aged man with a noticeable paunch, wearing a yellow tunic and over that
a lion skin. He’s carrying a huge club, one commonly associated with Hercules.
On his feet he wears soft leather lace-up boots. Behind him comes his slave Xanthias riding on a donkey and carrying a huge amount of
luggage. Xanthias notices the audience]
XANTHIAS
Look, master, an audience! Shouldn’t I say something?
Tell them one of those jokes they always fall for?
DIONYSUS
O, all right—say what you like. Only no jokes
about how you’re dying to piss. I can’t stand those—
they’re all so stale.
XANTHIAS
What about my other jokes?
DIONYSUS
Go ahead—just nothing about your bladder,
about how it’s going to burst.
XANTHIAS
What? You mean I can’t tell
that really funny one . . .
DIONYSUS
I suppose so—
but don’t say anything about the bit.
XANTHIAS
What bit?
DIONYSUS
The bit about how you need to shift your load 10
to take a piss.
XANTHIAS
Not even this one—
“Here I am transporting such a load
if I get no relief I may explode.”
[10]
DIONYSUS
Please, please, don't say that one—
not unless I’m sick and need to throw up.
XANTHIAS
Then what’s the point of my being here like this?
Why do I get to carry all the heavy baggage
if I can’t tell the usual porter jokes—you know,
the ones Ameipsias and Phrynichus
and Lycias, too, in all their comedies 20
provide the slave who carries all the bags.*
DIONYSUS
Just don’t. Those jokes are all so feeble—
when I have to watch a play and hear them
by the time I leave I’ve aged at least a year.
XANTHIAS [striking
a heroic tragic pose]
Alas, for my neck beneath this triply damned yoke.
I suffer all this pressure and can’t tell my joke. [20]
DIONYSUS
It’s an outrage, sheer insolence, that I,
Dionysus, son of Winejar, have to walk like this,
sweating along so he can ride at ease
without a care and carrying no load.
XANTHIAS
What!? 30
Aren’t I carrying the load?
DIONYSUS
How can you be?
You’re riding on your ass.
XANTHIAS
I’m loaded down.
All this stuff . . .
DIONYSUS
What do you mean by that?
XANTHIAS
What I just said carries lots of weight.
DIONYSUS
Isn’t the donkey carrying our load?
XANTHIAS
No, no way. Not the load I’m holding.
DIONYSUS
How come?
How can you be carrying anything at all
when someone else is carrying you?
XANTHIAS
I’ve no idea.
But my shoulder’s falling off. [30]
DIONYSUS
All right, then.
Since you claim the donkey’s useless to you,
40
why not take your turn and carry it?
XANTHIAS
What a wretched life!
I should have gone away to fight at sea—
then I’d be free and I’d have told you straight
what you could do with that ass of yours.*
DIONYSUS
Get down, you useless idiot! We’re there—
by the door I’m aiming for, my first stop.
[Dionysus knocks very aggressively on
the door and calls out in a very imperious tone]
Hey, in there! Doorman! I’m summoning you.
[The door opens and Hercules steps out, wearing a
lion’s skin and carrying a club. He’s amazed that someone is dressed up to
resemble him]
HERCULES
Who’s banging on this door—smashing at it
like some wild centaur. My god, what’s this?
[Hercules inspects Dionysus’ outfit and
starts to laugh uproariously]
DIONYSUS
Hey, my boy . . .
XANTHIAS
What?
DIONYSUS
Didn’t you see?
XANTHIAS
See what? 50 [40]
DIONYSUS
How scared he was of me?
XANTHIAS
Yes, by god, he was,
scared you’re nuts.
HERCULES [doubling
up with laughter]
By
holy Demeter,
I can’t stop laughing. I’ll try biting my lip.
No, no use. I can’t stop laughing at him.
DIONYSUS
Come here, my good man. I need something from you.
HERCULES [still
laughing out of control]
I can’t help myself—he’s so ridiculous.
Seeing that lion skin above that yellow dress.
What’s going on? Do people with large clubs
now walk around in leather
booties?
Where on earth do you think you’re going?
60
DIONYSUS
I’ve done naval service under Cleisthenes.*
HERCULES
At that sea battle?
DIONYSUS
Yes—and sunk enemy ships,
twelve or thirteen of them. [50]
HERCULES
Just the two of you?
DIONYSUS
Yes, by Apollo, we did.
XANTHIAS
Then I woke up.
DIONYSUS
I was on board with Euripides' Andromeda,
reading to myself aloud, when suddenly
a huge urge seized my heart. You’ve no idea how strong.
HERCULES
An urge? How big was it?
DIONYSUS
The size of Molon—tiny.*
HERCULES
For a woman?
DIONYSUS
No, no.
HERCULES
A young lad, then?
DIONYSUS
Certainly not.
HERCULES
Well, then, a man?
DIONYSUS
Ugh! 70
HERCULES
Did you grab hold of your Cleisthenes?
DIONYSUS
Don’t mock me, brother.* I’m
not doing so well,
tormented by such hot desires.
HERCULES
Tell me,
my little brother, what’s it like?
DIONYSUS
I can’t explain. [60]
But I’ll try to show you by analogy.
Have you ever had a craving for some stew?*
HERCULES
For stew? In my life maybe ten thousand times.
DIONYSUS
Is that explanation clear enough to you?
Or shall I try some other way?
HERCULES
Not
about
stew!
That I understand completely.
DIONYSUS
Well
then, 80
that’s how much I’m eaten up with my desire
for Euripides.
HERCULES
Even when he’s dead?*
DIONYSUS
So no one’s going to talk me out of it—
I have to find him.
HERCULES
Right down in Hell?
DIONYSUS
Or even lower,
by god, if there’s such a place. [70]
HERCULES
What’s the point of that?
DIONYSUS
I need a clever poet. There’s none around.
The ones we’ve got are all so lousy.
HERCULES
What? Isn’t Iophon still up there?*
DIONYSUS
He’s the only good one left—if he’s any good.
I’m not really sure if that’s the
case. 90
HERCULES
If you’ve got to take a playwright back,
why not Sophocles? He’s better than Euripides.
DIONYSUS
Not ’til I get Iophon all by himself,
without his father, Sophocles, so I can test
the metal of his poetry. Besides, Euripides
is such a rascal he may try to flee Hades
[80]
and come with me. But Sophocles was nice—
easygoing while on earth and down here, too.
HERCULES
What about Agathon? Where’s he?
DIONYSUS
He’s left
us—
a fine poet lamented by his friends.
100
HERCULES
Where’s he gone?
DIONYSUS
Off to feast with saints.*
HERCULES
And Xenocles?*
DIONYSUS
O by god, may he drop dead!
HERCULES
Well then, Pythangelos?
XANTHIAS
What
about ME?
In pain all this time—my shoulder's sore as hell.
HERCULES
Surely you've other artsy-fartsy types—
thousands of tragic poets—all of them
[90]
way more wordy than Euripides?
DIONYSUS
No, no—
all chatterboxes, twittering swallows in a music hall,
mere foliage—disgraces to the artist’s
craft.
Once they get a chance to stage their plays,
110
to crap all over tragedy, they disappear.
If you looked you’d never find one playwright,
someone creative who could well declaim
a worthy sentiment.
HERCULES
That word “creative”—
what’s it mean?
DIONYSUS
Someone poetical enough
to give utterance to something grand,
something like
[Dionysus strikes a tragic pose]
“the sky, Zeus’ pied-a-terre,”
“the foot of time,” or this—“a mind that will not swear [100]
on sacred offerings but a perjured
tongue
that’s false with no sense of its perfidy.”
120
HERCULES
You like that stuff?
DIONYSUS
Like it? I’m crazy about it.
HERCULES
I swear it’s all bullshit—and you know it.
DIONYSUS
Now, now, don’t try to tell me what to think,
not with tragedy. You’re no expert there.
HERCULES
I still say it sounds like total rubbish.
DIONYSUS
Why not teach me how to stuff my guts?
XANTHIAS
WHAT ABOUT ME??!!!!!
DIONYSUS
That’s the reason I’ve come here
and dressed like you—so you can fill me in,
in case I need to know, about this place—
who welcomed you down here, who'd you meet 130 [110]
that time you went down after Cerberus.*
Tell me about the harbours, resting places,
bakeries and brothels, water fountains,
the cities, highways, all the detours,
the local customs and the fine hotels,
the ones with fewest bugs.
XANTHIAS
Still no word of me.
HERCULES
O you valiant heart! Are you man enough
to venture down below?
DIONYSUS
Forget
my courage.
Show me the highway, the shortest one there
is,
that takes me directly down to Hades.
140
Don’t prattle on about the temperature—
and say it's way too hot or cold for me.
HERCULES
Let’s see . . . what should I mention first of all? [120]
Which one? Hmmm. You could try a stool and rope—
you could just hang yourself.
DIONYSUS
Stop it right there.
That way gives me a choking
feeling.
HERCULES
There’s a straight short cut, well traveled, too—
with pestle and mortar . . .
DIONYSUS
You mean hemlock.*
HERCULES
That’s it!
DIONYSUS
Too cold—too much like winter. Right
away
the shins get frozen solid.
HERCULES
All
right, then. 150
You want me to tell you how to get there fast.
DIONYSUS
Yes, by god. I’m not one to take a hike.
HERCULES
How about a stroll to Kerameikos* .
. .
DIONYSUS
Okay, what then?
HERCULES
Climb up the tower there—
right to the very top . . .
DIONYSUS
And then what?
[130]
HERCULES
Take a look at the torch race starting up—
when the spectators all yell out “They’re off!”
then off you go as well.
DIONYSUS
Off? Where to?
HERCULES
Down.
DIONYSUS
No, I can’t take that road. I’d
pulverize
both rissole wrappers of my brain.
HERCULES
What’s left? 160
DIONYSUS
The road you used.
HERCULES
O, an enormous journey.
At the very start you come to a vast lake—
immense and bottomless.
DIONYSUS
How do I get across?
HERCULES
In a tiny boat—miniscule—like this [indicating
the size].
An ancient sailor takes you for a fee—
two obols.
[140]
DIONYSUS
Two obols? It’s amazing
what two obols can buy anywhere.*
How come it’s here in Hades, too?
HERCULES
That
was Theseus.*
He started it. Once past the lake you’ll find snakes.
You’ll see thousands of them, horrific monsters. 170
DIONYSUS
Don’t keep trying to scare me. That won’t work.
There’s no way you’ll get me to turn back.
HERCULES
Then a huge sewer, always full of liquid turds—
and lying in it anyone who harmed a guest
or screwed a lad and then took back the cash,
or smacked his mother, punched his father’s jaw,
or swore false oaths, or else had copied out
[150]
a speech of Morsimus.*
DIONYSUS
By
god, with them in the shit
should lie whoever learned a war dance by Cinesias.*
HERCULES
Next the breath of flutes will sound around you.
180
You’ll see the finest light, just like in Athens,
and myrtle groves, with happy men and women
gathered there to celebrate and clap their hands.
DIONYSUS
So who are they?
HERCULES
Those are the initiates,
the ones who celebrate the mysteries.*
XANTHIAS
Then, by god, in these mysteries I play the ass.
I’ll not stand for this a moment longer.
[160]
[Xanthias dismounts and
starts to unload the baggage he has been carrying]
HERCULES
Those ones will tell you all you need to know.
These initiates live closest to the road
which takes you to the doors of Pluto’s place.* 190
And so, my brother, I bid you fond farewell.
DIONYSUS
Good bye—god keep you healthy, too.
[Hercules exits back through the door. Dionysus
turns to Xanthias, who has just about finished
putting down all the luggage he has been carrying]
You
there—take up the baggage once again!
XANTHIAS
Before I’ve put it down?
DIONYSUS
Yes, and hurry up.
[Enter a solemn funeral cortege parrying a dead man
towards Hades]
XANTHIAS
Come on, I’m begging you. Hire one of them—
someone carrying the corpse. That’s why they’re here.
DIONYSUS
And if I don’t find anyone?
XANTHIAS
I’ll do it.
DIONYSUS
Fair enough. All right, they’re bringing out a corpse [170]
You there . . . you stiff . . . I’m talking to you . . .
Hallo!
[The corpse suddenly sits up straight]
You want
to take a little luggage down to hell?
200
CORPSE
How much?
DIONYSUS
This stuff here.
CORPSE
Will you pay two drachmas?
DIONYSUS
My god, no. Less than that.
CORPSE
Then go away.
DIONYSUS
Hang on, my dear fellow. Can’t we haggle?
CORPSE
If you don’t pay two drachmas, forget it.
DIONYSUS
How about nine obols?
CORPSE
No bloody way!
I’d rather you shoved me back to life again.
[Corpse lies down and the funeral procession moves
away]
DIONYSUS
What a pompous boor!
XANTHIAS
To hell with him—
I’ll take the stuff myself.
[Xanthias starts loading
himself with the baggage once again]
DIONYSUS
That’s
my good man—
a loyal and worthy slave.
Let’s get that boat . . . .
[Enter Charon rowing his
small boat across the stage]
CHARON
Ahoy there! Coming alongside. [180]
XANTHIAS
What’s this?
DIONYSUS
This? 210
By god, it’s the lake Hercules talked about.
And I see the boat . . .
XANTHIAS
You’re right. Thanks to
Poseidon.
This must be Charon.
DIONYSUS
Ahoy
there, Charon . . .
Greetings, Charon . . . Charon,
halloooo!
CHARON
Who’s seeks a rest from work and trouble?
Who’s heading for Fields of Forgetfulness,
Never-never land, the Cerberians,
the Ravens* and
Tartarus.
DIONYSUS
That’s me.
CHARON
Then jump aboard.
DIONYSUS
Where do you put in?
The Ravens? Is that a stop?
CHARON
Yes,
by god— 220
a special stop just for you. Get in.
DIONYSUS [to
Xanthias]
All right, my lad, hop in.
CHARON
I won’t take the slave— [190]
not unless he fought at sea to save his skin.
XANTHIAS
Not me, by god, no way. My eyes were bad.
CHARON
Then you must make a detour round the lake.
XANTHIAS
Where do I wait for you?
CHARON
At Wuthering Rock*—
right by the rest stop.
DIONYSUS
You got that?
XANTHIAS
I got that.
[picking up the bags]
Why am I so
unlucky? When we began
I must've really pissed somebody
off.
CHARON [to
Dionysus]
Sit down there—at that oar.
[Dionysus sits on one of the oars]
Anyone else?
230
Hurry up—all aboard! What are you doing?
DIONYSUS
What am I doing? I’m sitting on this oar.
That’s what you ordered me to do.
CHARON
Come on, fatso—park your butt right here.
DIONYSUS [moving
off the oar]
There! [200]
CHARON
Can you pick up the oar? Stretch your arms.
DIONYSUS
Like this?
CHARON
Don’t be such a fool. Set your foot there.
Now pull the oar with all your force.
DIONYSUS
How can I?
I’ve had no practice. I’m no sailor.
And besides, I’m not from Salamis.*
How'm I supposed to row a boat? 240
CHARON
It’s not hard. You’ll hear lovely melodies
once you make the effort.
DIONYSUS
Songs? Whose songs?
CHARON
The amazing music of the swan frogs.
DIONYSUS
All right, then. Get the tempo
going.
CHARON
Yo ho, heave ho. Yo ho
heave ho.
[As the small boat begins to move, the
Chorus of Frogs is heard from off stage]*
CHORUS OF FROGS
Brekekekex koax koax
Brekekekex koax koax. [210]
Children of the marsh and lake
harmonious song now sweetly make,
our own enchanting melodies 250
koax koax.
The songs we sang for Nysa’s lord,
for Dionysus, son of Zeus,
in Limnai at the Feast of Jars*
as people in their drunken glee
thronged into our sanctuary.
Brekekekex
koax koax. [220]
DIOYSUS [still
rowing]
I’m starting to get a pain in the ass
from all your koax koax.
CHORUS OF FROGS
Brekekekex koax koax. 260
DIONYSUS
Not that you give a damn about it.
CHORUS OF FROGS
Brekekekex koax koax.
DIONYSUS
Piss off—and take that koax koax
with you.
Nothing but koax koax.
CHORUS OF FROGS
Yes, and for us that’s fine
you meddling fool—so asinine.
Music-loving Muses love us too
as does goat-footed Pan [230]
playing music on melodious pipes.
Apollo as he strums his lyre 270
loves us and what we sing,
for in the marshy waters here
we grow the reeds that bridge his string.
Brekekekex
koax koax.
DIONYSUS [still
rowing]
Well, I’m getting blisters and a sweaty bum.
Next time I bend down it’s going to speak . . .
[As Dionysus leans forward for the next stroke he
lifts his rear end up in the air to fart at the Frog Chorus, but their next
line drowns out the sound]
CHORUS OF FROGS
Brekekekex koax koax.
DIONYSUS
Stop it, you music-loving tribe! [240]
CHORUS OF FROGS
No, no. We’ll sing on all the
more—
if we’ve ever hopped on shore 280
on sunny days through weeds and rushes
rejoicing in our lovely songs
as we dive and dive once more,
or as from Zeus’ rain we flee
to sing our varied harmonies
at the bottom of the marsh,
our bubble-splashing melodies.
DIONYSUS
Brekekekex koax koax— [250]
from you I’m catching your disease!
CHORUS OF FROGS
If that’s the case, you’ll never please.
290
That’s hard on us.
DIONYSUS
But worse for me—
I may blow up here as I row.
CHORUS OF FROGS
Brekekekex koax koax
DIONYSUS
Go on. Keep croaking. I don’t care.
CHORUS OF FROGS
We’ll croak on ’til our throats wear out.
We’ll croak all day. [260]
DIONYSUS
Brekekekex koax koax
You never beat me in this play!
CHORUS OF FROGS
And you’ve no chance to win your way,
not matched with us.
DIONYSUS
And you’ve no hope outdoing me. 300
No, no. If I must I’ll yell all day,
koaxing you to get my way—
Brekekekex koax koax
[Dionysus listens for a response from
the Chorus, but there is none]
You see.
Sooner or later I was going to win—
and make you stop your harsh koaxing din.
CHARON
Stop it. Ship that oar alongside here.
Get out . . . and pay your fare.
DIONYSUS
Two obols?
Here. [270]
[Dionysus pays Charon,
who rows his way off stage. Dionysus starts looking
around for Xanthias]
Xanthias! Hey, Xanthias!
XANTHIAS [offstage]
Over here!
DIONYSUS [still
calling]
Come here!
[Xanthias
appears with the baggage but without the donkey]
XANTHIAS
Greetings, master.
DIONYSUS
All right, what have we got?
XANTHIAS
Nothing but filthy muck—mud and darkness.
310
DIONYSUS
Did you see the men who beat their fathers—
or perjurers—the ones he mentioned?
XANTHIAS
You mean you don’t?
DIONYSUS [looking
at the audience]
By Poseidon, yes I do!
Now I see them. So what do we do next?
XANTHIAS
We’d better get away from here.
Hercules mentioned to us it's the place
where wild beast prowl.
DIONYSUS
To Hell with him!
He was talking big to make me scared.
[280]
He saw I was a fighter, and he’s jealous.
No one’s more full of it than Hercules. 320
But I’m keen now for some adventure,
some exploit worthy of this expedition.
XANTHIAS
Of course you are. What’s that? I hear a noise.
DIONYSUS
What? Where is it?
XANTHIAS
Behind us.
DIONYSUS [pushing
Xanthias]
Get behind me.
XANTHIAS
No, it’s up ahead.
DIONYSUS [pushing
Xanthias again]
You get
in front.
XANTHIAS
My
god!
Now I see it. Ooooh, a monstrous beast!
DIONYSUS [cowering
behind Xanthias]
What’s it like?
XANTHIAS
It's weird—all sorts of shapes.
Now it’s an ox—no, no, a jackass—
now it’s a woman—what a gorgeous babe!
[290]
DIONYSUS
Where is she?
I’ll go say hello.
XANTHIAS
Hold
on a minute! 330
She’s not a woman any more. Now she’s a bitch!
DIONYSUS [terrified]
It’s Empusa!!*
XANTHIAS
Her
whole face is on fire!
DIONYSUS
Her legs—does she have one made of bronze?
XANTHIAS
Yes!
By Poseidon, yes! The other’s made of cow shit.
And that’s no lie.
DIONYSUS
Where
can I run?
XANTHIAS [imitating
Dionysus]
Where can I run?
DIONYSUS [appealing
the audience]
O holy man, save me—so we can drink together.*
XANTHIAS
We’re screwed! Oh, lord Hercules!
DIONYSUS
Don’t
call me that!
I’m begging you, my man—don’t say that name!
XANTHIAS
Then Dionysus . . .
DIONYSUS
That’s worse than Hercules. [300]
XANTHIAS [to
the imaginary monster]
Beat it! Shoo! Come
on, master.
DIONYSUS
What’s
going on? 340
XANTHIAS
Cheer up—we’ve come through everything just fine.
Now like Hegelochus we can recite
“After the storm I see the seals are calm.”*
Empousa’s left.
DIONYSUS
You swear?
XANTHIAS
Cross my heart.
DIONYSUS
Swear again.
XANTHIAS
Yes, by Zeus.
DIONYSUS
Swear it one more time.
XANTHIAS
By Zeus, I swear.
DIONYSUS
That was a close shave—
looking at her almost made me puke.
XANTHIAS
You were so terrified you stained your pants.
DIONYSUS [in
a tragic tone]
Woe, woe, why do such ills afflict me so?
Which god shall I accuse of thus destroying me?
350 [310]
XANTHIAS
How ’bout Zeus’ airy pied-a-terre or the foot of
time?
[The sound of music being played on the
pipes comes from inside the house]
XANTHIAS
Listen!
DIONYSUS
What is it?
XANTHIAS
You don’t hear that?
DIONYSUS
What?
XANTHIAS
A tune played on the flute.
DIONYSUS [continuing
his tragic rant]
Ah
yes, and now
the scent of torches just came wafting o’er me,
torches of mystery . . .
XANTHIAS [interrupting]
Shhhh.
Let’s squat down here—
keep quiet and pay attention.
[The Chorus of Initiates is heard offstage]
CHORUS OF INITIATES
Iacchus, O Iacchus,
Iacchus, O Iacchus.
XANTHUS
Master, this is it—the initiates
doing their chant, the ones he talked about— 360
Diagoras’ hymn to Iacchus.* [320]
DIONYSUS
It sounds like that to me. We’d best shut up,
so we find out for sure.
CHORUS OF INITIATES
Iacchus, living here
in your highly honoured shrines—
Iacchus, O Iacchus
in this meadow come to
dance
with partners in your mystery.
Shake the garland round your head,
the fruit-filled myrtle, come and tread 370 [330]
our playful rite’s unbridled steps
where the Graces join in, too—
our pure and sacred dance and song,
the chant of your initiate throng.
XANTHIAS
O holy noble daughter of Demeter,*
I just smelt roast pork—how sweet a smell that is.
DIONYSUS
If you keep quiet, you may just get a
slice.
[Enter the Chorus of Initiates carrying torches]
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Awake the blazing torches in your hands!
[340]
CHORUS OF INITIATES
O Iacchus, Iacchus—with us
you stand
light-bearing star in our nocturnal rite.
380
For now the meadow blazes light,
old men’s knees will move again
as they dance off their ancient pain,
the lengthy cycle of their aged plight
in this your ceremonial night.. [350]
As your radiant torches blaze
bring to this flowery marshy
place,
the forward march of all the young
that constitute your choral throng,
O sacred one. 390
CHORUS LEADER
Let all those stand in silence here
and keep their distance from our dance—
all those who have no sure command
of ritual words and purposes,
who have not purified their hearts,
the ones who’ve never seen or danced
the noble Muses’ ritual songs,
or played their part in Bacchic rites
of bull-devouring Cratinus,*
or like words fit for foolish clowns 400
when such words are not suitable—
or anyone who just can't turn away
from fights and hateful party strife,
who cannot be a genial citizen,
easygoing with his countrymen,
but lights and fans the flames of war,
ambitious to advance himself, [360]
whoever guides our state through storms
and is corrupted by some bribe,
betrays our watch posts and our ships 410
or from Aegina smuggles goods,
like that wretch Thorycion,
our customs agent who shipped off
illicit stuff to Epidaurus*—
oar pads and cloth for sails and pitch,
or who persuades some other man
to send supplies to hostile
ships,
or anyone opposing Hecate
in dithyrambic choruses,
or any politician setting out 420
to pare back pay our poets get
because they mock him in these rites,
ancient rites of Dionysus.
I say to
all such people, and I say again—
and for a third time I state once more—
stand back from our choral mysteries.
[370]
But those now here begin the songs,
the dances lasting all night long,
as fits our ceremonial throng.
CHORUS OF INITIATES
Now each one boldly marches on 430
into the meadow’s flowery lap,
and each one stamps the ground—
we joke, make fun, we mock,
our bellies crammed with breakfast food.
CHORUS LEADER
Move on, now—but see you praise
the saving goddess in a noble way,
as you sing out our melodies.
She says she acts to save our land
[380]
from season unto season,
against the wishes of Thorycion. 440
Come now, cry aloud another chant
for goddess Demeter, our harvest queen,
a celebration made in sacred song.
CHORUS OF INITIATES
O Demeter, queen of our sacred rites, stand with us here
preserve us now, your chorus. Let me play in safety,
let me dance all day, tell lots of really funny jokes,
and offer many serious reflections, too. [390]
Then, as befits your ceremonial rites, let me,
with my ridicule and fun, take off first prize,
let me wear the wreath, garland of victory. 450
CHORUS LEADER
Come now, with your singing summon here
that lovely god, our partner in this dance.
CHORUS
Widely honoured Iacchus,
creator of the sweetest joyful song, [400]
come here with us to Demeter,
show us how you move along
this lengthy way with so much ease.
Iacchus,
lover of the dance,
escort me forward as I prance.
In your playful
penny-pinching mood ` 460
you’ve torn my tiny dancing shoes,
you’ve ripped my dress to shreds—
Iacchus, you’ve found
a way
for all of us to dance and play
what more, we never have to pay.
O Iacchus,
lover of the dance
escort me forward as I prance.
What's
more, as I just glanced aside
around me here, I saw a girl, [410]
a lovely partner in the dance— 470
her scanty dress was ripped in two,
I saw a nipple peeking through.
Iacchus, lover of the dance,
escort me forward as I prance.
DIONYSUS
Hey, I’m always keen to enjoy myself.
I’d like to dance with her.
XANTHIAS
Me, too.
CHORUS OF INITIATES
Would you like to join us now in making fun [420]
of Archedemos, who at seven years old
was toothless, no genuine Athenian teeth.*
And now he plays big shot in politics 480
among the dead above—the best there is
at double dealing and corruption.
And Cleisthenes, I hear, still picks his ass
and rips his cheeks apart among the tombstones,
blubbering over his dead lover Sabinos.
And Callias, they say, son of the man
who used to bugger his own horses,
has fights at sea, naval entanglements,
his arse hole covered by a lion skin. ` [430]
DIONYSUS [approaching
the Leader of the Chorus]
Could you please inform the two of us 490
where Pluto lives when he’s at home down here?
We’re strangers in these parts. We’ve just arrived.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
No need to travel very far from here—
so don’t ask me again. You should know
you’re there—right at this very door. [440]
DIONYSUS [to Xanthias]
All right, lad, pick up the bags again.
XANTHIAS [grumbling
as he picks up the luggage]
What’s this all mean—the same old storyline,
with Corinth, son of Zeus . . . all this baggage.*
CHORUS OF INITIATES
Keep up the dance
along the round path sacred to our goddess, 500
to the flower-bearing grove—let’s play
with those who join this festival,
the one our goddess so adores.
I’ll join the women and the girls
who dance to the goddess all night long,
the ones who bear the sacred light.
Let’s move on into flowery meadows, [450]
the rose-filled fields,
and worship there
the way we always do, with song and dance,
where blessed Fates assemble, too. 510
[The Chorus exits]
DIONYSUS
Let’s see—what style do I use at this point [460]
to knock upon the door? Which one to use?
What’s the local style of knocking here?
XANTHIAS
Stop wasting time. Try chewing on the door—
act like Hercules. You’ve got his height and might.
DIONYSUS [knocking ]
You in there! Doorkeeper!
AEACUS [from
inside]
Who is it?
DIONYSUS
It's great Hercules!
[Aeacus bursts through the door and
grabs Dionysus very roughly]
AEACUS
O you abominable, you shameless reckless wretch—
villain, villain, damned smiling villain—
the man who made off with Cerberus my dog!
You grabbed him by the throat and throttled him, 520
then took off on the run, while I stood guard.
Now you’re caught—black-hearted Stygian rocks, [470]
and blood-dripping peaks of Acheron
will hold you down. Roaming hounds of Cocytus
will gnaw your guts to bits—Echnida, too,
and she’s a hundred heads. The Tartesian eel
will chew your lungs, your kidneys
bleed
from entrails Tithrasian Gorgons rip apart.
I’ll set out hot foot in their direction.
[Aeacus lets go of Dionysus, who drops
to the ground in terror. Exit Aeacus
back into the house. Dionysus lifts his tunic and inspects his underpants]
XANTHIAS
What have you done?
DIONYSUS
I’ve made an offering. Call the god. 530
XANTHIAS
You’re being ridiculous. Get up. Move it, [480]
before some stranger spots you.
DIONYSUS
I’m
going to faint.
Bring the sponge here—set it on my heart.
[Xanthias rummages through the bags and
finds a large sponge]
XANTHIAS
I’ve found the sponge! Here—you can do it.
[Dionysus takes the sponge and begins to clean up his crotch with
it]
XANTHIAS
Where are you putting that sponge? O golden gods,
you keep your heart in there?
DIONYSUS
It was scared—
it ran off to my lower bowel.
XANTHIAS
Of all gods and men
no one’s more cowardly than you.
DIONYSUS
Me?
How can I be when I asked you for the sponge?
Another man would not have asked, as I did. 540
XANTHIAS
What would he have done?
DIONYSUS
Well, a coward
would have lain there and stunk up the place.
But I stood up—what’s more, I wiped myself. [490]
XANTHIAS
By Poseidon, a valiant act.
DIONYSUS
By Zeus. I think it was.
Weren’t you scared shitless by his angry words,
by all those threats?
XANTHIAS
By Zeus, I never thought of them.
DIONYSUS
All right then, since you’re so brave, so
valiant,
you can be me. Take this club and lion skin.
If you’re got the guts, I’ll trade places with you.
I’ll carry all the baggage.
XANTHIAS
All
right. 550
I’ve got no choice. Quick, give me that.
[Xanthias takes the club and puts on the
lion skin]
XANTHIAS [in the
grand style]
Now gaze upon the Xanthian Hercules—
see if I turn coward and act like you. [500]
DIONYSUS
No, by god, you’ll well deserve a whipping.
Come on, then, I’ll pick up the bags.
[Dionysus starts to pick up a few of the smaller pieces. A Servant
enters through the door]
SERVANT
Have you come back, my dearest Hercules?
Come on in. Once the goddess heard you’d
come
she had us baking bread loaves right away,
boiling up pea soup—two or three cauldrons full,
roasting an entire ox, baking honey cakes 560
and cookies. So do come in.
XANTHIAS
That’s really nice,
but I’m afraid . . .
SERVANT
I
won’t let you get away—
by Apollo, no. She’s stewing bird meat, [510]
toasting fresh desserts, mixing sweetest wines.
Please come in.
XANTHIAS
I
appreciate it, but . . .
SERVANT
You can’t be serious. I won’t let you leave.
There’s a lovely flute girl in there, just for
you—
two or three dancing girls, as well.
XANTHIAS
What’s that?
Did you say dancing girls?
SERVANT
Young and in full bloom—
all freshly plucked. So come on in. Right now 570
the cook’s all ready to produce the fish.
The table’s being brought in.
XANTHIAS
You
go on back.
First, tell those dancing girls inside I’m coming.
[to
Dionysus]
You, slave, follow me. And
bring the baggage. [520]
DIONYSUS
Hey, hold on a minute. All this pretence,
you can’t be taking it so seriously.
The fact I dressed you up as
Hercules—
that was just fun. Don’t play the fool with me.
Pick up these bags again and bring them in.
XANTHIAS
What? You're not intending to take back from me 580
what you gave in person?
DIONYSUS
You
bet I am.
Take off that lion skin.
XANTHIAS
I
want witnesses—
I entrust my law suit to the gods.
DIONYSUS
What
gods?
To think that you, a slave and mortal, too, [530]
could play Hercules, Alcmene’s son—
so arrogant and stupid.
XANTHIAS
All
right, all right.
Have it your way, then. Take the
costume.
Perhaps some day the gods'll
make you need me.
[Xanthias hands the club and lion skin
to Dionysus]
CHORUS
There’s a man with brains,
with keen intelligence— 590
someone who’s sailed about a bit
and always rolls himself around
to the right side of the ship.
He’s not one to stand transfixed
like some image made in paint
or frozen solid like a stone.
To move away from where one
stands
to places much more comfortable—
that indicates a clever man, [540]
a born Theramenes.* 600
DIONYSUS
Now that would be extremely funny
to see Xanthias, my slave, lying at ease
enjoying bed linen from Milesia,
as he smooches with some dancing girl.
He asks me for a pot to piss in—
but I, looking at him straight, grab him hard
right by his cucumber.
[Dionysus laughs at the thought, but then reconsiders]
But then he’d see me
and, being a rascal, sock me on the jaw.
He’d knock my front teeth out for sure.
[Pandokeutria, a landlady, enters
through the door, looks at Dionysus, and calls back through the doorway]
PANDOKEUTRIA
Plathane, Plathane, come
out here. 610
That fellow’s back who came to our hotel
and ate up all our bread, all sixteen loaves. [550]
[Enter Plathane, another landlady]
PLATHANE
My god, that’s the one.
XANTHIAS
Oh, oh. Someone’s in trouble.
PANDODEUTRIA
And twenty boiled hams afterwards as well—
at half an obol each.
XANTHIAS
Now he’s in for it.
PANDOKEUTRIA
And lots of garlic, too.
DIONYSUS
My good women, you jest.
You don’t know what you’re saying.
PANDOKEUTRIA
O
yes, we do.
You thought I wouldn’t know you any more
because you’ve got those little booties on.
What else was there? I haven’t said a word 620
about the pickled fish.
PLATHANE
You
left out
all the fresh cheese, by god, the scoundrel ate.
He gobbled up the baskets, too. [560]
PANDOKEUTRIA
To top it all,
when I tallied up his bill, he just looked at me
and yelled, a massive roar right in my face.
XANTHIAS
That’s just like him. He does that everywhere.
PANDOKEUTRIA
Then he pulled out his sword—he looked insane.
PLATHANE
My god, you poor dear!
PANDOKEUTRIA
We were both terrified.
Somehow we ran up fast onto the shelf,
and he took off, grabbing up the mats. 630
XANTHIAS
Well, that’s exactly how he operates.
PANDOKEUTRIA
We’ve got to deal with him somehow. I know—
go call my patron Cleon.*
PLATHANE
If
you meet him,
get Hyperbolos, as well. We’ll fix this fellow. [570]
PANDOKEUTRIA
You wretched greedy swine—I’d be so happy
to smash your molars with a rock, those teeth
which gobbled down my stuff.
DIONYSUS
That’s really
nice—
and I’d like to dump you in a deep ravine.
PLATHANE
I could take a sickle and slice that gullet
which wolfed down all my tripe. Instead of that, 640
I’ll get Cleon to draw up a charge,
so we can fish food out of him right here.
[Exit Plathane and Pandokeutria]
DIONYSUS
Now, may I die the nastiest of deaths,
my little Xanthias, if I’m not fond of you . . .
XANTHIAS
I know what you’re thinking. Just stop right there. [580]
Don’t say a word. I’m Hercules again—
but I won’t do it.
DIONYSUS
Dear little Xanthias,
don’t say such things.
XANTHIAS
How could I be Hercules—
remember I’m a slave and mortal, too.
DIONYSUS
I know you’re angry—you’ve a right to be. 650
But even if you hit me, I won’t criticize.
And if in future I take anything from you,
may I be chopped down root and branch.
Let me die in the worst way possible—
me, my wife, and kids—and Archedemus, too—
the man with clammy eyes.
XANTHIAS
On those conditions I accept your oath.
[Xanthias and Dionysus exchange the lion
skin and club once again]
CHORUS:
Since you’ve taken up the skin, [590]
the one you had before,
your task is now to start again, 660
to reinvigorate yourself—
once more put on that dreadful stare,
recall the god you imitate.
If you get caught in foolish talk
or squeak out squeals of fear,
you’ll be compelled a second time
to carry all the bags.
XANTHIAS
Men, the advice you give me is not bad.
I was thinking the same thing myself.
What’s more, if all this turns out a success, 670
he’ll try to take this back from me again. [600]
I know that for a fact. But I’ll make myself
a manly man—with a gaze like mustard.
I need to do that—for just as I thought
I hear the sound of scraping by the door.
[Enter Aeacus with servants]
AEACUS
Tie up this dog thief. Get a move on, too—
so we can punish him. Be quick about
it.
DIONYSUS
Oh, oh. Someone’s in trouble now.
XANTHIAS
What the hell!
You stay away from me!
AEACUS
O ho, you’re fighting back!
[calling inside the house]
Ditylas, Sceblias, Pandocus—outside!— 680
come here and punch this fellow out.
[Servants appear and begin to fight Xanthias]
DIONYSUS
It's shameful, a complete disgrace— [610]
the way he hits them back—and more than that—
he steals.
AEACUS
That’s shocking.
DIONYSUS
It’s even worse.
It’s scandalous and dreadful.
XANTHIAS
Now, by
god,
I’m prepared to die if I was ever here
before today, or stole a thing from
you
that’s worth a hair. What’s more, I’ll make an offer,
like a true gentleman—take this slave of mine
and torture him. If you find out from him 690
I’ve done wrong, then take me out and kill me.
AEACUS
How should I torture him?
XANTHIAS
All the ways there are.
Tie him to a ladder, hang him up,
whip him with nails, twist him on the rack, [620]
strip off skin, fill his nose with vinegar,
load bricks on him—do everything you can.
Just don’t flog him with fresh onions or a leek.
AEACUS
That offer's fair. So if I beat the slave
and cripple him, I’ll pay for damages.
XANTHIAS
Not to me. Just take him off for torture. 700
AEACUS
No. I’ll torture him right here, so he’ll confess
before your very eyes.
[To Dionysus]
Put down that load.
And hurry up. Don’t give me any lies.
DIONYSUS
I here proclaim no one should torture me.
I’m an immortal god. If you do so,
you’ll have yourself to blame.
AEACUS
What are you saying? [630]
DIONYSUS
I'm saying I'm Dionysus, an
immortal,
a son of Zeus—this man here’s a slave.
AEACUS
You hear that?
XANTHIAS
I hear what he claims to
be—
all the more good reason for flogging him. 710
If he’s a god, he won’t feel a thing.
DIONYSUS
You’re
right.
And since you also claim
that you’re a god,
why don’t you take as many blows as me?
XANTHIAS
Fair enough. Then whichever of the two
you see bursting into tears or flinching
as he’s whipped—you’ll know he’s not the god.
AEACUS
You’re a fine gentleman—that’s obvious. [640]
You stand for justice. All right—the two of you,
take off your clothes.
[Xanthias and Dionysus remove their
clothes and get down on all fours in preparation for the whipping. Aeacus produces a massive whip]
XANTHIAS
How will you judge this?
How will you keep it fair?
AEACUS
That’s easy. 720
I’ll alternate the blows.
XANTHIAS
A fine suggestion.
AEACUS [striking Xanthias]
There!
XANTHIAS
Watch
closely if I flinch or not.
AEACUS
But I just hit you.
XANTHIAS
By god, I didn’t feel a thing.
AEACUS
All right. Now I’ll lay into this one here.
[Aeacus strikes Dionysus]
DIONYSUS
When are you going to start my whipping?
AEACUS
I just did.
DIONYSUS
Why didn’t I sneeze?
AEACUS
I haven't a clue.
Back to this one again.
XANTHIAS
Get on with it!
[Aeacus strikes Xanthias
much harder than the first time]
XANTHIAS [feeling
the pain]
Ahhhh!!!
AEACUS
What’s that sound about? Did that blow hurt?
XANTHIAS
No, by god. I was just remembering [650]
the feast for Hercules at Diomeia. 730
AEACUS
The man’s a saint. All right, now this one’s turn.
[Aeacus strikes Dionysus, again much
harder than before]
DIONYSUS
Oooowww! Ahhh!!
AEACUS
What was that cry?
DIONYSUS
I see men on horseback.
AEACUS
Why are your eyes full of tears?
DIONYSUS
I smell onions.
AEACUS
You didn’t feel a thing?
DIONYSUS
No, nothing—
nothing that bothered me.
AEACUS
All right, then,
back to this one here.
[Aeacus hits Xanthias
really hard]
XANTHIAS
Aiiieeee!!
AEACUS
What was that?
XANTHIAS [pretending
he has a thorn in his hand]
A little prickle. Pull it out.
AEACUS
What’s
going on?
Now it’s this one’s turn.
[Aeacus strikes Dionysus very hard]
DIONYSUS
Aaaiiii!! O Apollo,
who presides at Delphi and at Delos . . .
XANTHIAS
You hear that—the man’s in pain.
DIONYSUS
No, I’m not. 740 [660]
I was remembering some poetry,
a verse from Hipponax.
XANTHIAS
You’re getting nowhere.
Hit him on the ribs.
AEACUS
A good idea, by god.
Stick out that pot of yours.
[Aeacus hits Dionysus savagely on the
ribs and stomach]
DIONYSUS
Aaaiii! O Poseidon . . .
XANTHIAS
Someone’s feeling pain.
DIONYSUS [continuing
to recite poetry]
. . . you who command
Aegean headlands and the green-grey sea . . .
AEACUS
Holy Demeter, I can’t sort this out.
Which one's the god? You'd best come inside.
My master Pluto will know who you are, [670]
so will Persephone, his wife—they're gods. 750
DIONYSUS
Now you talking. I’d have liked it better
if you’d thought of that before these whippings.
[Dionysus and Xanthias and Aeacus go into the house leaving the Chorus on stage]
CHORUS
You Muses, enter now our sacred dance.
Enjoy our songs and gaze upon
the massive crowds of people here,
thousands of clever thinkers in their seats,
in love with honour more than Cleophon,
on whose snarling lips a Thracian swallow sits, [680]
making an awful din—on that foreign leaf
she squawks her nightingale’s lament, 760
for he’ll soon be sentenced, sent to die
although the jury’s votes create a tie.*
CHORUS LEADER
It’s just and proper in this city
our sacred chorus give advice and teach.
So first it seems appropriate to us
to free the citizens from inequalities—
to ease their fears. So if a man slips
up
thanks to the wrestling tricks of Phrynicus,*
I say we should allow the ones who fall [690]
to state their case, reform their evil ways. 770
Besides that’s no dishonour to our city.
It would bring benefits. It’s scandalous
that those who fought a battle once at sea
should instantly become Plataeans,
masters instead of slaves.* I don’t deny
this worked out well—in fact, I praise it.
It’s the only well-intentioned thing you
did.
But as well as this it stands to reason
we should forget the single blow of fortune
of those who fought so much at sea beside you, 780
just like their fathers, your ethnic kinsmen—
that's what they keep requesting. But you here,
whom nature made the wisest of all people, [700]
should drop your anger and make everyone
who fights alongside us at sea a kinsman,
a citizen. For if we are too proud,
too puffed up with self-worth, especially
now,
when we’re encircled by the sea’s embrace,
in future time we’ll look like total fools.
If I’ve a keen sense of the life and style 790
of someone who will someday cry in woe,
this tiny irritating ape Cleigenes, [710]
the most corrupt of all our laundry types,
those noble men who cut the soap with ash,
dilute the mix, and use Cimolian earth,
won’t be with us long. He knows it, too—
that’s why he’s not a man promoting
peace.
He knows that someday in a drunken fit
he may well lose his staff of office,
and, more than that, be stripped of all his clothes.* 800
This
city, it often seems to me
treats our best and worthiest citizens
the way it does our old silver coins, [720]
our new gold ones, as well.* This money
was never counterfeit—no, these coins
appeared to be the finest coins of all,
the only ones which bore the proper
stamp.
Everywhere among barbarians and Greeks
they stood the test. But these we do not use.
Instead we have our debased coins of bronze, 810
poorly struck some days ago or yesterday.
That’s how we treat our finest citizens,
the nobly born, our righteous men,
our best and brightest, the ones well trained
in music and the dance at the palaestra.*
Instead we use foreign bronze for everything—
useless men from useless fathers, red heads,* [730]
men who’ve come here very recently—
the sort the city at its most negligent
would never use in earlier days, 820
not even as a scapegoat.* But now,
you silly fools, it’s time to change your ways.
Use worthy people once again. You’ll see—
if you’re successful, then you’ll merit praise.
And if you fail, well, you’ll be a fine match
for the tree you’re hanging from. At any rate,
should you slip up, that’s what the wise will
say.
[Enter Xanthias with a servant from the
house]
SERVANT
By Zeus who saves us, that master of yours
is a very cultured gentleman.
XANTHIAS
Of
course, he is.
The only things he knows are how to drink 830 [740]
and dip his dink.
SERVANT
But
not to beat you on the spot
when they proved that you’re the slave—and one
who claimed you were the master.
XANTHIAS
If
he had,
he’d have had regrets—and that’s a fact.
SERVANT
What you just did is worthy of a slave,
something I love to do.
XANTHIAS
Forgive my asking,
but what is it you love to do?
SERVANT
It's more than love—
almost ecstasy—when I can curse my master
out of ear shot.
XANTHIAS
What about
really bitching,
whenever you’ve received a total thrashing 840
and run outside?
SERVANT
Yes, I do like that, too.
XANTHIAS
What about sticking your nose in everything?
SERVANT
By god, there’s nothing finer—that’s for sure.
XANTHIAS
By Zeus, divine protector of our race, [750]
what about listening to our masters’ chat
when they spread gossip . . .
SERVANT
I’m even crazier for that!
XANTHIAS
. . . then passing on the gossip all around,
to everyone outside the house?
SERVANT
You mean me?
Every time I do that, I piss myself.
XANTHIAS
By Phoebus Apollo, give me your hand, 850
let me kiss you, and you kiss me.
[Notices a noise from inside the house]
Tell me,
by Zeus, patron of all flogged slaves like us,
what’s going on inside the house, that noise,
all that yelling and abuse?
SERVANT
Oh that—
that’s Euripides and Aeschylus.
XANTHIAS
Ah ha!
SERVANT
Big, big trouble’s in the works down here
among the dead—a massive civil war. [760]
XANTHIAS
What about?
SERVANT
There’s a custom in these
parts
that in the arts—the great and worthy ones—
the best man in his special area 860
gets all his meals for free at City Hall
in the chair of honour next to Pluto . . .
XANTHIAS
I get it.
SERVANT
. . . until someone else arrives
who has more skill than he does. At that point,
he has to yield his place.
XANTHIAS
But why would this
get Aeschylus upset?
SERVANT
Well, he had his chair,
the one for tragedy, as the
finest
in that form of art.
XANTHIAS
Who’s got it now? [770]
SERVANT
When Euripides came down to Hades
he started showing off his rhetoric 870
to thieves, bag snatchers, parricides,
to all the ones who steal—and here in Hades
that’s most of us. Well, they listened to him,
heard his counter-arguments, his twists and turns,
and went nuts for him. So they then proposed
he was the wisest of all men. With that,
Euripides got so worked up he
claimed
that chair where Aeschylus sits down.
XANTHIAS
Didn’t people throw stuff at him?
SERVANT
My
god, no.
Quite the opposite. They all cried out 880
to have a trial set up which could find out
which of the two men was the wiser poet. [780]
XANTHIAS
The crowd of scoundrels?
SERVANT
Yes,
that bunch—
they made a din, by god—right up to heaven.
XANTHIAS
Didn’t Aeschylus get some support?
SLAVE
It's like this audience—too few good men.
XANTHIAS
So what’s Pluto planning to set
up?
SLAVE
A contest— there's going to be a trial right here,
a test of skill.
XANTHIAS
What about Sophocles—
how come he didn’t claim the poet’s chair? 890
SLAVE
My god, he wouldn’t. When he first arrived
he kissed Aeschylus, shook him by the hand,
and kept his distance from the chair of honour. [790]
And now, according to Cleidemides,
he means to sit by as a substitute.
If Aeschylus wins out, he’ll keep his place.
If not, in this contest of poetic
skill
he says he’ll fight on to the bitter end
against Euripides.
XANTHIAS
So this affair is on.
SLAVE
Yes, in a minute. In this very spot 900
some fairly weird things will be going on—
they’re testing poetry with balance scales!
XANTHIAS
What?! They’ll weigh tragedy in milligrams?
SERVANT
And they’re bringing out some measuring sticks,
rulers for words, framed rectangles . . .
XANTHIAS
Will they be constructing bricks? [800]
SERVANT
. . . bevels, too,
and wedges—all because
Euripides
says he’ll test their tragedies, every word.
XANTHIAS
Well, my guess is that Aeschylus
isn’t liking this at all.
SLAVE
He
just glared, 910
lowering his head as if he were a bull.
XANTHIAS
Who’s going to judge this trial?
SLAVE
That’s difficult.
Wise men are hard to find—in short supply.
And Aeschylus didn’t really hit it off
with the Athenians . . .
XANTHIAS
Perhaps
because
he thought that most of them were criminals.
SERVANT
. . . and he considered other
people
worthless as judges of true poetry. [810]
So at last they turned toward your master,
since he’s got some knowledge of that art. 920
But let’s go in. There’s always trouble for us,
every time our master’s in a rush.
[Xanthias and the Servant go into the
house]
CHORUS [in a
parody of the tragic style]
Now the loud-roaring hero feels in full his fury—
that valiant vehemence which surges up within,
when he confronts his rival in poetic craft
sharpening smooth-talking tusks, just like a boar.
His frenzied passion's going to make those eyeballs
roll.
The battle’s here at hand—helmet-glancing war,
horse-crested words, while splintered axles break apart,
as the subtle chisel-worker tries to push and parry 930 [820]
steed-prancing phrases from the man who builds our minds.
The bristling crest erect there on his shaggy neck,
his natural hair, a fearful scowl upon his brow,
and bellowing, he’ll launch his language fixed with bolts,
like planking for a ship, he’ll rip the words apart,
blasting with his giant’s lungs. The other man,
the one who works his mouth, who tortures every
word,
unrolling his smooth tongue and shaking envy’s rein,
will dissect and parse those words, and, splitting hairs,
refute all that large labour of the former’s lungs. 940
[Enter Aeschylus, Euripides, Dionysus, and Pluto, with attendants]
EURIPIDES
I’ll not give up the chair—no more advice. [830]
I say I’m better in poetic skill.
DIONYSUS
Why are you silent, Aeschylus? You hear
the claim he’s made.
EURIPIDES
His high-and-mighty pose—
he does that at the start of every play,
some hocus-pocus for his tragedies.
DIONYSUS
My dear fellow, that’s too much big
talk.
EURIPIDES
I know the man—and for a long time now
I’ve studied him. He makes crude characters
with stubborn tongues. As for his own mouth, 950
it’s unrestrained and uncontrolled, unlocked,
no proper discourse, bombastiloquent.
AESCHYLUS
Is that so, you garden-goddess child? [840]
You say that of me, you gossip-monger,
a beggar’s poet who picks and stitches rags?
You’ll regret those words.
DIONYSUS
Hey,
Aeschylus,
hold on. Don’t fire up your heart so
angrily,
with such ill will.
AESCHYLUS
No, no, I won’t hold back,
’til I’ve exposed the man and clearly proved
this cripples’ poet is a boastful fool . . . 960
DIONYSUS [to the
attendants]
Hey, boys, bring out a sheep—a black one, too.
It looks as if a storm’s about to break.*
AESCHYLUS:
. . . collecting all those monodies from Crete,
importing impure
marriage into art . . .* [850]
DIONYSUS
Whoa, hold on there, much-honoured Aeschylus.
And you, my poor Euripides, back off
beyond this breaking storm—that would be
wise,
in case his anger cracks your skull in two,
some heady phrase makes all your brain leak out
your hero Telephos. And you there, Aeschylus, 970
don’t get so angry. Test him, but calmly—
and then be tested, too. It’s just not right
for poets to engage in such abuse,
like two women selling bread. You bellow
as if you were a tree on fire.
EURIPIDES
I’m
ready. [860]
I don’t mind biting or being bitten first,
whatever he prefers, about my
diction,
or the songs and sinews of my tragic plays—
and by god, about Peleus, too,
my Meleager or my Aeolos, 980
or, even more about my Telephos.*
DIONYSUS
What do you want to do? Tell us, Aeschylus.
AESCHYLUS
I have no wish to enter battle here.
The war we fight is not on equal terms.
DIONYSUS
Why’s that?
AESCHYLUS
My poetry did not die with me,
but his did once he died. So it’s down here—
he’ll have it with him when he wants to
speak.
But nonetheless since it’s what you want,
we must go through with this. [870]
DIONYSUS [to the
assembled group]
Come
now,
someone bring an offering here, and fire as well, 990
so I can pray before this contest starts,
our battle of the brains, and judge the fight
with maximum aesthetic expertise.
[addressing the Chorus]
Now for the Muses you
should sing a song.
CHORUS
O you nine sacred Muses
mighty Zeus' virgin daughters,
gazing down on subtle minds,
you see intelligence at work
in men who write our maxims.
When such as these go out to fight, 1000
with counterarguments and tricks,
with fiercely studied wrestling moves,
with crooked throws, come to us here,
observe the power of these mouths,
their awesome skill in making words, [880]
sawing phrases up like sawdust.
Now our great contest in this art
stands ready, let the business start.
DIONYSUS
Before we have you two recite your lines,
you ought to offer up your prayers.
AESCHYLUS
O
Demeter, 1010
who nourishes my mind, make me worthy
to be there in your mysteries.
DIONYSUS [to
Euripides]
It’s your turn—
take some incense. Make an offering.
EURIPIDES
All right—
but I pray to different gods.
DIONYSUS
Personal ones?
Your very own? Freshly minted?
EURIPIDES
That’s right. [890]
DIONYSUS
Then pray away to those private gods of yours.
EURIPIDES
O air, my food, O pivot of my tongue,
O native wit, O nose that smells so fine,
whatever words I seize upon, let me
refute them—let the victory be mine. 1020
CHORUS
Now we’re filled with great desire
to hear from poets with such skill,
the pathway in this war of words
they’ll walk along. Their tongues are wild,
no lack of boldness in their mood,
nor are their intellects asleep.
It looks as though we’re going to see [900]
one man say something quite urbane
and finely trimmed. The other one
will seize him and his arguments, 1030
the roots and all, and then attack
and scatter words around the place
like wrestle-rolling on a mat.
DIONYSUS [To
Aeschylus and Euripides]
You must speak at full speed. But see you talk
this way—with elegance, no metaphors,
and nothing someone else might say.
EURIPIDES
All right.
As for myself—the kind of poet I am—
I’ll say that in my final words. For first,
I’ll demonstrate this fellow’s fraudulent,
a cheat. I’ll show just how he took them in, 1040
and fooled those idiots reared on Phrynichos.* [910]
First, he’d wrap a person up and sit him down
with his face hidden away—some character
like Niobe or his Achilles—
mere window dressing for the tragedy.
They didn’t speak or even mutter.
DIONYSUS
That’s right. They didn’t.
EURIPIDES
And then his Chorus thumped their lyrics out—
strings of them, four in a row without a break,
the character just sat on stage in silence.
DIONYSUS
Well, I liked that they kept quiet. It pleased me. 1050
It wasn’t any worse than those today
who babble on and on.
EURIPIDES
You were a fool—
no doubt of that.
DIONYSUS
I think so, too. But why so?
Why did our friend here do that?
EURIPIDES
It was a trick
designed to keep spectators in their seats,
waiting for when Niobe might start to speak.
So the play continued on and on and on . . . [920]
DIONYSUS
What a rascal! How he had me fooled!
[to Aeschylus] Why are you fretting there and
fidgeting?
EURIPIDES
Because I’ve caught him out. When he’d played this trick 1060
and half the play was done, someone would speak up,
a dozen ox-like words—with eyebrows, crests,
some fear-faced things full of the bogey man,
which no one in the audience understood.
AESCHYLUS
How miserable I feel . . .
DIONYSUS
Stay quiet please.
EURIPIDES
Nothing he said was ever clear.
DIONYSUS [to
Aeschylus]
Don’t grind
your teeth.
EURIPIDES
He talked on about Scamanders, trenches,
shields with bronze enamelled griffon-eagles,
in horse-cliffed phrases hard to comprehend. [930]
DIONYSUS
Yes, by god, one long night I got no sleep 1070
from worrying what kind of bird was called
the tawny clear-voiced horse cock.
AESCHYLUS
You idiot!
It was a symbol painted on the ships.
DIONYSUS
I thought it was Eryxis, Philoxenos’
son.
EURIPIDES
Did you have to work a rooster in
just for the tragedy?*
AESCHYLUS
You god-forsaken wretch,
what sorts of plays did you create?
EURIPIDES
None like you—
no horse-cock monsters or goat-stags, by god,
the sort they paint on Persian tapestries.
When I first took this art of plays from you, 1080
crammed with bombast to the gills, fustian stuff, [940]
at first I made it slim, reduced its weight,
with vesicles, and walks, and laxatives.
I gave a potion drawn from bookish chat,
and took care nursing it with monodies.
DIONYSUS
And you mixed in Cephisophon,
as well.*
EURIPIDES
I wasn’t fool enough to put in there
whatever stuff I chanced upon, or add
just anything I found. The character
who came out first would right away explain 1090
on my behalf the background of the play.
DIONYSUS
Which was better than your own, by god.
EURIPIDES
After those opening words I never set
anything superfluous in the play. No.
For me the woman spoke—so did the slave,
the master, maiden, the old woman, too. [950]
AESCHYLUS
Well, shouldn’t you be killed for daring this?
EURIPIDES
By Apollo, no. I was doing my work
the democratic way.
DIONYSUS [to
Euripides]
My dear chap,
I’d forget that—from your point of view 1100
that’s not the best line you could take.*
EURIPIDES [indicating
the audience]
I taught these people here to speak their minds . . .
AESCHYLUS
I say so too—and before doing that
I wish you’d split apart—right down the middle.
EURIPIDES
. . . introducing subtle rules for words,
for verses nicely trimmed. I taught them to think,
to see, to understand, to love new twists
and double dealing, to suspect the worst,
to be too smart in everything . . .
AESCHYLUS
I agree.
EURIPIDES
. . . and I brought in domestic issues, too— 1110
useful matters of things we understand,
things people here could challenge me about. [960]
They know their stuff—so they could test my art.
I didn’t boast or lose my common sense.
Nor did I scare them all with characters
like Cycnus and Memnon, who
walk around
with bells attached.* Look at our disciples,
his and mine—you know them all quite well.
Meganeitos and rough Phormisios
are his—great long-beard-lance-and-trumpet men, 1120
flesh-rippers with the pine—whereas, for me
there’s neat Theramenes and Cleitophon.*
DIONYSUS
Theramenes? Now, he’s a clever man,
expert in everything. When he meets trouble,
when it hits him in the face, he gets away,
no problem, by changing who he is—
if being a Chian doesn’t work for him, [970]
he claims that he's Achaean.*
EURIPIDES [rushing
his concluding speech]
I taught these people here
to think about such things. 1130
I brought logic into art.
I made them questioners.
Now they see everything
and understand it all.
Their minds are more profound—
they organize their homes
much better than before.
So now they ask “Where’s this?”
“How’s it going?” “Who took that?”
DIONYSUS [imitating
Euripides speaking style here]
Yes, by god, that’s what they do. 1140 [980]
Now each Athenian man
goes home and starts to yell—
to scream at his own servants,
“Where’s my pot? My sardine—
who’s bitten off its head?
My bowl from bygone years,
is it, too, dead and gone?
And where’s my garlic clove?
I had it yesterday.
Who’s munching on my olives?” 1150
Before this, they’d just sit
and gape there stupidly,
like little mummy’s boys [990]
and silly sweet-toothed fools.
CHORUS [to
Aeschylus]
You see this, radiant Achilles,*
Come now, what can you say to him?
Don’t let your anger take control
and carry you beyond the track.
He’s charged you with some dreadful things.
But now, you noble gentleman, 1160
respond to him, but not with wrath
Haul in your sails—except the tips— [1000]
then bit by bit bring in your ship.
Keep watching for an easy wind.
You just may get a gentle breeze.
DIONYSUS
Now you who were first among the Greeks
to raise the solemn towers of spoken words
adorning them with tragic gibberish,
be strong and spout forth eloquence.
AESCHYLUS
This trial enrages me—it pains my spleen 1170
to have to answer such a man. But still,
to stop your claim that I’m incompetent
you answer this for me: Why should anyone
admire the man who is a poet?
EURIPIDES
For cleverness
and good advice—and since we help improve
the men who live within our cities.
AESCHYLUS
So if that’s something you didn’t do, [1010]
instead transforming fine and decent men
to make them scoundrels, what would you say
you'd then deserve by way of punishment? 1180
DIONYSUS
Death—but don’t ask him.
AESCHYLUS
Consider first
the nature of the men he got from me—
were they not nobly born and six feet tall?
There were no runaways, no layabouts,
no scoundrels like today, no ne’er-do-wells.
No. Those men breathed spears and javelins,
white-crested helmets, coronets, and greaves,
with passions wrapped in seven oxhide folds.
EURIPIDES
This is getting bad.
DIONYSUS
His helmet-making
wears me down.
EURIPIDES
What exactly did you do 1190
to make these men so noble?
DIONYSUS
Aeschylus,
speak up. Forget your pride and stubbornness. [1020]
AESCHYLUS
I wrote a play brim full of war god Ares.
DIONYSUS
Which one was that?
AESCHYLUS
My Seven Against
Thebes.
Every man who saw it fell in love with war.
DIONYSUS
But you did something bad there with the Thebans—
you made them more courageous in the war.
For that you should be spanked.
AESCHYLUS [to the
audience]
You too,
you could have trained yourselves for war as well,
but you weren’t so inclined. Then after that, 1200
by putting on my Persians I instructed them
so they were always keen to beat their foes—
thus honouring our finest act.*
DIONYSUS
I was pleased
when you cried out in sorrowful lament,
“O child of Darius, who is dead,” and then,
the chorus clapped its hands and all yelled out
“Booo hooo.”
AESCHYLUS
Poets need to work on things like
this. [1030]
Look back—they’ve been useful from the start,
the noble race of poets. There’s Orpheus—
he taught us rituals and not to kill, 1210
Musaeus showed us cures for sicknesses
and oracles as well, and Hesiod
taught farming, harvest times, and how to plough.
As for divine Homer, where’s his renown,
his special fame, if not in what he taught,
those useful facts about courageous deeds,
and battle ranks and how men arm themselves.
DIONYSUS
Well, that may be, but Homer didn’t teach
a thing to Pantacles, that clumsy oaf.
The other day while marching on parade, 1220
he clipped his helmet on, and then he tried
to tie the crest on top.
AESCHYLUS
And brave men, too—
Homer gave us lots—with them the hero
Lamachos. I took Homeric warriors, [1040]
and let my brain write many noble deeds
about great lion-hearted fighting men
like Patroclus and Teucer—in
this way
I urged our citizens to match themselves
with them, when they heard the trumpet sound.
But by god I never made a single whore 1230
like Phaedra or that Sthenoboia.*
No one’s ever known me as a man
who writes about the way a woman loves.
EURIPIDES
No, by god. Whatever you possess,
there’s nothing there of Aphrodite.
AESCHLYUS
Let her stay away! But she took her seat
when she sat down hard on you and yours.
She really squashed you flat.
DIONYSUS
She sure did, by god.
What you wrote about the wives of other men
you had to suffer with your own.
EURIPIDES
You wretched man, 1240
How has my Stheneboia harmed
our state?
AESCHYLUS
Because you helped persuade the noble wives [1050]
of well-born men to drink down hemlock,
ashamed of those like your Bellerophon.
EURIPIDES
My Phaedra story—did I make that up?
AESCHYLUS
No—it was there. But it’s a poet’s task
to conceal disgrace—not put it on parade
front and centre and instruct men in it.
Small children have a teacher helping them,
for young men there’s the poets—we’ve got 1250
a solemn duty to say useful things.
EURIPIDES
When you spout on of Lycabettus
and subjects like magnificent Parnassus,
does this involve your teaching useful things?
We need to use the language people use.
AESCHYLUS
You pestering demon, don’t you see
that noble thoughts and fine ideas perforce
produce a language of commensurate size?
Besides, it’s fitting for the demi-gods
to speak in loftier terms—just as they wear 1260 [1060]
much finer robes than ours. But you besmirched
what I displayed with such nobility.
EURIPIDES
What did I do?
AESCHYLUS
First, you dressed your kings in rags,
to make them pitiful to all who watched.
EURIPIDES
If I did that, what damage did it do?
AESCHYLUS
It’s your fault no rich man any more
is keen to pay out money for a ship.
Instead he wraps himself in rags and weeps
and whines about how poor he is.
DIONYSUS
Yes, by Demeter, that’s true. But underneath 1270
he wears a tunic of pure wool. And then,
if he deceives them with a speech like that,
he pops up in the market by the fish.*
AESCHYLUS
And then you taught them how to babble on
with stupid gossip—so the wrestling schools [1070]
stood empty and the buttocks of our young,
who chattered all the time, were quite worn out.
You then convinced the Paralos’ crew*
to argue with their officers. In my day
they were ignorant of this—all they knew 1280
was how to yell for food and cry “Yo ho.”
DIONYSUS
By Apollo, that’s right—and how to fart
straight in the faces of the rowers there, or shit
on sailors down below, their mess mates.
On shore they’d rob
someone. Now they talk back—
they never row—just sail out here and there.
AESCHYLUS [rapidly
summing up his opening argument]
What crimes is he not guilty of?
Did he not put up on display
pimps and women giving birth
in holy shrines and having sex 1290 [1080]
with their own brothers, and then claim
that living is no life? So now,
because of him our city here
is crammed with bureaucratic types
and stupid democratic apes
who always cheat our people.
Nobody caries on the torch—
no one's trained in that these days.
DIONYSUS
No, by god, they're not. That’s why
while at the Panathenic games 1300 [1090]
I laughed myself quite pissless—
a slow, pallid, porky runner
went on by—head drooping down—
far behind the rest. In that race
he wasn’t very good. Well then,
the folks at Keremeios gate
began to whack him in the gut,
to hit his ribs and sides and butt.
While their hands were slapping him,
he let rip a tremendous fart 1310
which killed the torch. Then on he ran.
CHORUS
The event is huge, the strife intense—
the mighty war goes on. It’s hard to choose. [1100]
When one man presses hard, the other one
wheels round and launches the attack once more.
[addressing Aeschylus and Euripides]
You two, don’t you stay inactive where
you sit.
For wit knows many varied ways to strike.
And so, no matter what you’re fighting for,
speak out, set to, bring up your works—
the old and new. Put your daring to the test— 1320
say something that’s intelligent and deft.
Don't be afraid the people watching here
are just too ignorant and will not see [1110]
the subtle points in what you two may say.
Don’t worry on that score, for it’s not true.
They’ve served in wars—and each man owns a book.
He understands the witty parts. You see,
it’s in their nature to possess strong minds,
but now the whetstone’s really sharpened them.
So have no fears—examine everything— 1330
at least for the spectators’ benefit
since they’ve become so wise.
EURIPIDES
All right, I’ll turn to the prologues you composed,
so I can start off with a test to check [1120]
the first part of a clever poet’s tragedy.
In setting down just how events occurred
this man was never clear
DIONYSUS
Which one will you test?
EURIPIDES
Quite a few. [to Aeschylus] But
first, will you recite for me
an opening from your Oresteia.
DIONYSUS
Let everyone keep quiet. Achilles, speak. 1340
AESCHYLUS [quoting
from the Choephoroi]
“O Hermes underground, who oversees
my father’s power, be my rescuer,
my ally, answering the prayers I make.
I’ve come back and returned unto this land.”
DIONYSUS
You see some flaws in this?
EURIPIDES
More than a dozen.
DIONYSUS
But the whole thing's only four lines long! [1130]
EURIPIDES
And each of them has twenty errors.
I warn you, Aeschylus, keep quiet. If not,
you’ll forfeit these four lines and owe some more.
AESCHYLUS
Am I to remain silent just for him? 1350
DIONYSUS
I think that's best.
EURIPIDES
Right
at the very start
he’s made a huge mistake—as high as heaven.
AESCHYLUS
You do see you’re talking rubbish.
EURIPIDES
If so,
it doesn’t bother me.
AESCHYLUS
You claim I’m wrong—
well, where are my
mistakes?
EURIPIDES
Recite the start again.
AESCHYLUS
“O Hermes underground, who oversees
my father’s power . . .”
EURIPIDES
Orestes says this
at the tomb of his dead father, does he not?
AESCHYLUS
I won’t deny it. [1140]
EURIPIDES
Since his father died
a brutal death at the hands of his own wife 1360
and by a secret trick, how can he claim
that Hermes watches over anything?
AESCHYLUS
That’s not my sense—when he speaks, he means
Hermes, god of luck, who watches all the dead.
And his words clearly show that this Hermes
obtained that office from his father Zeus.
EURIPIDES
So you’ve made an even bigger blunder
than I thought—if this subterranean job
comes from his dad . . .
DIONYSUS
If that’s the case,
he’s a grave robber on his father’s side. 1370
AESCHYLUS
That’s cheap wine you’re drinking, Dionysus, [1150]
it lacks bouquet.
DIONYSUS
Recite another line for him.
[to Euripides]
And you,
take care about the damage you inflict.
AESCHYLUS [quoting
again]
“. . . my father’s power, be my rescuer,
my ally, answering the prayers I make.
I’ve come back and returned unto this land.”
EURIPIDES
The skilful Aeschylus has just revealed
the same thing twice.
DIONYSUS
How so?
EURIPIDES
Look at the verse.
All right, I’ll tell you—“I’ve come back”
is followed by the word “returned”—coming back 1380
and returning—they mean the same.
DIONYSUS
Yes, by god—
exactly like a man who says to someone,
“Hey, lend me a baking dish or, if you like,
a dish for baking.”
AESCHYLUS
You blithering idiot, [1160]
it’s not the same at all. That line of verse
has beautifully chosen words.
EURIPIDES
It does?
Then show me what you mean.
AESCHYLUS
To come unto a land
refers to someone with a native home—
he’s come back—there’s nothing else implied.
But when a man arrives who’s been an exile, 1390
he comes back and returns.*
DIONYSUS
By Apollo, that’s good!
What do you say to that, Euripides?
EURIPIDES
I say Orestes didn’t "return" home.
He came in secret, without permission
from those in charge.
DIONYSUS
By Hermes, that’s good.
But I don’t get what you mean.
EURIPIDES
Come on then, [1170]
try another line.
DIONYSUS
Yes, let’s have some more.
Get a move on, Aeschylus. And you,
keep looking out for something bad.
AESCHYLUS [reciting
more lines]
“On this heaped-up burial mound I pray 1400
my father hears and listens . . .”
EURIPIDES
It’s there again—
he’s saying the same thing twice—
to hear, to listen—obviously the same.
DIONYSUS
Well, you fool, he is speaking to the dead.
And we don’t reach them even with a triple prayer.
AESCHYLUS
All right, how do you compose your prologues?
EURIPIDES
I’ll tell you. And if I say the same thing twice
or you see extra padding there, some verse
that doesn’t suit the plot, then spit on me.
DIONYSUS
Come on, speak up. I need to clearly hear 1410 [1180]
the language in your prologues working well.
EURIPIDES [reciting
from one of his plays]
“Oedipus to start with was a lucky man . . .”
AESCHYLUS
By god, no he wasn’t—his nature
gave him a dreadful fate. Before his birth
Apollo said he’d murder his own father—
he wasn’t even born! How could he be
a lucky man right at the very start?
EURIPIDES [continuing
to recite]
“Then he became most wretched of all men.”
AESCHYLUS
No, no, by god. He always was like that.
And why? Because as soon as he was born, 1420
he was exposed out in the cold, in a pot, [1190]
so he wouldn’t grow into a murderer
and kill his father. He dragged himself away
to Polybus on mutilated feet.
And after that he married an old woman,
though he was young, and, as things turned out,
she was his mother. So he poked out his eyes.
DIONYSUS
Then he’d have ended happy after all,
if, like Erastinides, he’d been a general.*
EURIPIDES
You’re being stupid. I make my prologues well. 1430
AESCHYLUS
Is that so? Well, by god, I won’t scratch
each phrase word for word, but with help from the gods
I’ll kill your prologues with a little oil jug. [1200]
EURIPIDES
My prologues? With an oil jug?
AESCHYLUS
Yes,
just one.
The way you write, well, everything fits in—
a little fleece, a little oil jug,
a little bag—they all mesh nicely in
with your iambics. Let me demonstrate.*
EURIPIDES
What this? You’ll demonstrate?
AESCHYLUS
That’s what I’m saying.
DIONYSU
All right, Euripides, you’ve got to speak. 1440
EURIPIDES [reciting
some more of his own lines]
“Aegyptos, so many people say,
with fifty children in a rowing boat,
landing in Argos . . .”
AESCHYLUS
. . . lost his little oil jug.
EURIPIDES
What’s this stuff about an oil jug?
You’ll regret this.
DIONYSUS
Recite another prologue [1210]
so I can see the point again.
EURIPIDES [continuing
to recite]
“Dionysus clothed in fawn skins leaps
among the torches on Parnassus,
on that mount he waved his thysrus—
there he danced and . . .”
AESCHYLUS
. . . lost his little oil jug.
DIONYSUS
O dear, 1450
we’ve been stricken with an oil jug once again.
EURIPIDES
It’s no big deal. In this next prologue
he can’t tie in his little oil jug.
“Among all men there’s not one living
who’s blessed in everything—if nobly born
he lacks sufficient livelihood, or else,
if basely born, . . .”
AESCHYLUS
. . . he’s lost his little oil jug.
DIONYSUS
Euripides . . .
EURIPIDES
What?
DIONYSUS
It seems to me
you should haul in your sails. This little oil jug— [1220]
it’s going to introduce a mighty storm. 1460
EURIPIDES
By Demeter, I won’t even think of it.
Here’s one will knock that oil jug from his hand.
DIONYSUS
All right, recite another one—take care—
keep your distance from that little oil jug.
EURIPIDES
“Abandoning Sidon city, Cadmus,
Agenor’s son . . .”
AESCHYLUS
. . . lost his little
oil jug.
DIONYSUS
My dear fellow, buy the oil jug from him,
so he can’t shatter all our prologues.
EURIPIDES
What?
I should purchase it from him?
DIONYSUS
I think you should.
EURIPIDES
No way. I’ve got lots of prologues to recite— 1470 [1230]
ones where he can’t stick in his little oil jug.
“Pelops, son of Tantalus, arrived at Pisa,
and riding his swift horses . . .”
AESCHYLUS
. . . lost his little oil jug.
DIONYSUS
You see—he stuck in that little oil jug
once again. Look, my good man, pay his price—
use all your means. You’ll get it for an obol.
And it’s really nice—a good one.
EURIPIDES
Not
yet—
I’ve still got plenty left: “Oeneus
once
from his own land . . .”
AESCHYLUS
. . . lost his little oil jug.
EURIPIDES
Let me at least recite the whole line first— 1480
“Oeneus once from his own land received
a bounteous harvest—then while offering [1240]
first fruits for sacrifice . . .”
AESCHYLUS
. . . lost his little oil jug.
DIONYSUS
In the middle of the service? Who stole it?
EURIPIDES
Back off, my dear man—let him speak to this:
“Zeus, as truth reports . . .”
DIONYSUS
You’ll be destroyed—
For he’ll just say “lost his little oil jug.”
These oil jugs pop up in your prologues
the way warts grow on eyes. For god’s sake,
change the subject. What about his lyrics? 1490
EURIPIDES
All right. I’ll show how bad he is at them.
His songs are awful—they all sound just the same. [1250]
CHORUS
What’s going to happen now?
I’ve got an idea how
he’ll criticize and mar
the one whose lyrics are
our finest songs so far.
How will his censure ring
to a Dionysian king,
for me a fearful thing? 1500 [1260]
EURIPIDES
His songs are truly quite astonishing.
I’ll give quick proof, for I’ll condense them all
into a single song.
DIONYSUS
All
right, you do that.
I’ll gather up some pebbles and keep score.
[Someone begins the accompaniment on a flute]
EURIPIDES [beginning
his parody of Aeschylus]
Phthian Achilles, O, you hear the crash—
the loud man-slaughtering BASH, why don’t you come,
come here to help us? As the primordial race,
we honour Hermes by the lake—BASH.
Why come you not to our assistance?
DIONYSUS
That’s two bashes for you, Aeschylus. 1510
EURIPIDES [continuing
the parody]
Most glorious of Achaean men, O Atreus, [1270]
who rules far and wide, learn of me—BISH BASH—
why come you not to our assistance?
DIONYSUS
There’s a third bash for you, Aeschylus.
EURIPIDES [continuing
the parody]
Be still! Attendants on the bee priestess
are nigh to open up Artemis’ shrine—BASH.
Why come you not to our assistance?
I have authority to utter out in full,
to speak those fatal orders ruling us
and this our expedition—BISH BASH. 1520
Why come you not to our assistance?
DIONYSUS
By ruling Zeus, what a pile of bashes!
The toilet’s where I want to be right now—
this bashing’s swollen both my kidneys. [1280]
EURIPIDES
Don’t go, not before you listen to
another group of songs, compressed medlies
of this man’s lyric melodies.
DIONYSUS
All right then, go
on.
But you can leave out all the bash and crash.
EURIPIDES
[continuing his parody of Aeschylus]
How the Achaeans’ twin-throned power, youth of
Greece—
Tophlatto-thratto-phlilatto-thrat— 1530
sent by the Sphinx, presiding she dog of unlucky days—
Tophlatto-thratto-phlilatto-thrat—
swooping bird with spear and with avenging hand—
Tophlatto-thratto-phlilatto-thrat— [1290]
granting eager sky-diving dogs to light upon—
Tophlatto-thratto-phlilatto-thrat—
the allied force assembled to assault great Ajax—
Tophlatto-thratto-phlilatto-thrat.
DIONYSUS
What’s this phlatto-thrat?
Is it from Marathon?
Where did you pick up your rope-twisting songs? 1540
AESCHYLUS
I brought them to a noble place from somewhere fine,
lest I be seen to gather up my crop
from that same sacred meadow of the Muse [1300]
as Phrynichos. But this fellow over here
gets his songs anywhere—from prostitutes,
Meletus’ drinking songs, flute tunes from Caria,
from lamentations or dance melodies,
as in a moment I will demonstrate.
Let someone bring a lyre here—and yet
who needs a lyre for this man? Where is she, 1550
that girl who beats time with her castanets?
Come hither, you Muse of this Euripides—
for your style fits the songs we’re going to sing.
[Enter a very old and ugly woman who accompanies Aeschylus’ parody
by clicking her castanets and dancing very badly]
DIONYSUS [reacting
to the old woman’s appearance]
This Muse is hardly the most gorgeous babe
we've ever seen from Lesbos, that’s for sure.
AESCHYLUS [parodying
Euripides]
You chattering kingfishers in the sea
in the ever-flowing waves [1310]
who wet wing-tops with water drops
like so much dripping dew,
and spiders underneath the roof, 1560
your fingers wi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-inding
threads for stretching on the loom,
work of tuneful weaving rods,
where dolphins, those flute-loving fish,
leap at the blue-peaked prows,
at oracles and stadiums.
I joy in early budding vines, [1320]
the spiral cluster, killing pain.
O my child, hurl your arms about me . . .
You see this foot?
DIONYSUS
I see it.
AESCHYLUS
And the other one?
DIONYSUS
I
see that too.* 1570
AESCHYLUS [to
Euripides]
You write this sort of bilge and then you dare
to criticize my songs—you, who wrote your tunes
to twelve-stringed music of Cyrene?* Bah!
So much for his songs. I still want to check
his solo melodies, their lyric style.
[1330]
[parodying Euripides once
more]
O Night,
O darkly shining Night,
what are you sending me,
what dreams of woe,
from Hades’ halls—
what souls without a soul, 1580
the children of black night,
so horrible they raise my hair
in black corpse-clothes—
murder, murder—
such huge fingernails.
Now,
servants, light my lamp for me,
haul river water in your pails
and warm it up, so I
may rinse away my dream, [1340]
O spirit of the sea. 1590
That’s
it—oh all you
who share this house with me,
gaze here upon these portents.
My Glyce’s fled away—
she stole my cock and ran.
You nymphs born on the mountain peaks,
and you, O Mania, aid me now.
There I
was, poor wretched me,
at work with all my daily tasks,
my spindle full of thread, 1600
my fingers wi-i-i-i-i-i-i-inding,
as I wove skeins of yarn
to carry off to market [1350]
for sale in early morning.
But now
my bird has flown,
flown off into the atmosphere
its wing-tips oh so nimble.
It’s left me woes, woes,
and in my eyes tears, tears—
they trickle, trickle down, 1610
O miserable me.
O you
Cretans, Ida’s children,
seize your bows and rescue me.
Swiftly move your limbs,
make full circle round this house.
And child Diktynna, Artemis,
so beautiful, by all means bring
your baby bitches to my home. [1360]
And you, oh Hecate, Zeus’ child,
with blazing fire-brands in both your hands,
1620
light my way to Glyke’s place,
so I can then reveal her theft
and catch her in the act.
DIONYSUS
Stop the songs.
AESCHYLUS
All right. I’ve said enough.
Now I want to bring him to the balance scale,
the very thing to test our poetry—
to check how much our phrases weigh.
DIONYSUS
Come here, then, if I have to do this—
treating poets just like cheese for sale.
CHORUS:
Clever men like these take pains,
1630 [1370]
for here’s a marvel once again.
Devices new and strange they bring.
Who else would think up such a thing?
I’d not believe it—even though
I met someone who told me so.
DIONYSUS
Come on. Stand beside the balance scales.
AESCHYLUS and EURIPIDES [together]
All right.
DIONYSUS
Now, each of you grab hold and don’t let go
until I yell at you—I’ll say “Cuckoo!”
[1380]
AESCHYLUS and EURIPIDES: [each
one holding a scale pan]
We’re holding on.
DIONYSUS
Speak your line into the scale.
EURIPIDES [reciting]
“I wish that Argive ship had never flown . . .” 1640
AESCHYLUS [reciting]
“O river Spercheios,
where cattle graze . . .”
DIONYSUS
Cuckoo!!! Let go . . .
[Dionysus inspects the scale pans and sees that
Aeschylus’ side has sunk more]
The pan on this man's side
has gone much further down.
EURIPIDES
And why is that?
DIONYSUS
Why? Because he put a river in it.
He wet his words the way wool-sellers do—
whereas you put in a word with wings.
EURIPIDES
All right, let him speak again and match me.
DIONYSUS
Grab hold again.
AESCHYLUS and EURIPIDES
We’re
ready.
DIONYSUS
So speak down.
[1390]
EURIPIDES [reciting]
“Persuasion has no temple except speech.”
AESCHYLUS [reciting]
“The only god who loves no gifts is
Death.” 1650
DIONYSUS
Let go. Let go. This one’s going down again.
He put death in—the heaviest of harms.
EURIPIDES
But I put in persuasion—and my line
was beautifully expressed.
DIONYSUS
Persuasion’s light—
she’s got no brains at all. Say something else,
a heavy line, immense and ponderous,
to make you sink.
EURIPIDES
A
heavy line like that,
where can I find such lines in all my verse?
DIONYSUS
I’ll tell you. “ Achilles threw the dice— [1400]
two snake’s eyes and a four.” You’d better speak— 1660
it’s the last time the two of you get weighed.
EURIPIDES [reciting]
“His right hand grasped the heavy iron club . . .”
AESCHYLUS [reciting]
“Chariot piled on chariot, corpse on corpse . . .”
DIONYSUS
This time he got you once again.
EURIPIDES
How so?
DIONYSUS
He put in two chariots and two stiffs.
A hundred Egyptians couldn’t shift that load.*
AESCHYLUS
No more contest with me word for word—
put him in the scale pan with his wife and kids,
throw on Cephisophon. Let him step in,
sit down—he can bring all his books. For me— 1670
I’ll only speak two verses of my own.
[1410]
DIONYSUS
These men are friends of mine, so I won’t judge
the two of them. I don’t want to be at war
with either man. One of them, I think,
is really clever. The other I enjoy.
PLUTO
Won’t you fail to get the thing you came for?
DIONYSUS
What if I chose the other man?
PLUTO
Take one—
whichever one you wish, so you don’t leave
and make your trip in vain.
DIONYSUS
May
gods bless you.
Look, how ’bout this—I came here for a poet.
1680
EURIPIDES
What for?
DIONYSUS
So I might save our city
and let it keep its choruses. Therefore,
whichever one of you will give our state
[1420]
the best advice, well, that’s the man I’ll take.
So first, a question for each one of you—
What’s your view of Alcibiades?*
This issue plagues our city.
EURIPIDES
The people there—
what do they think of him?
DIONYSUS
What do they think?
The city yearns for him, but hates him, too,
yet wants him back. But you two, tell me this— 1690
what’s your sense of him?
.EURIPIDES
I
hate a citizen
who helps his native land by seeming slow,
but then will quickly inflict injuries
which profit him but give our city nothing.
DIONYSUS
By Poseidon, that’s well said. Now, Aeschylus, [1430]
what’s your view on this?
AESCHYLUS
The
wisest thing
is not to rear a lion cub inside the city,
but if that's what the citizens have done,
we’d must adjust ourselves to fit its ways.
DIONYSUS
By Zeus the saviour, this decision’s hard.
1700
One spoke with skill, the other was so clear.
All right, each one of you speak up again.
Tell me of our state—how can we save her?
EURIPIDES
Use Cinesias as Cleocritus’
wings—
then winds would lift them over the flat sea.*
DIONYSUS
A really funny sight. But what’s the
point?
EURIPIDES
In a sea fight, they’d take some vinegar,
[1440]
and dump the bottles in opponents’ eyes.
But I know the answer—let me speak.
DIONYSUS
All right, say on.
EURIPIDES
When
those among us 1710
who have no faith act faithfully, and things
bereft of trust are trusted . . .
DIONYSUS
What’s
that?
I don’t get what you’re saying. Speak out
more clearly—more matter with less art.
EURIPIDES
If we removed our trust from politicians
on whom we now rely, and used the ones
we don’t use now, we could be saved. It’s clear
we’re not doing well with what we’re doing now,
if we reversed our course, we might be saved.
[1450]
DIONYSUS
Well put, O Palamedes,* you
clever man. 1720
Did you come up with this idea yourself,
or is it from Cephisophon?
EURIPIDES
It’s
mine alone.
that bit about those jars of vinegar—
Cephisophon’s idea.
DIONYSUS [to
Aeschylus]
Now
you. What do you say?
AESCHYLUS
About our state—acquaint me first of all
with those in her employ. Surely they’re good men?
DIONYSUS
Of course they’re not. She hates those worst of all.
AESCHLYUS
She loves the ne’er-do-wells?
DIONYSUS
Not
really—
but she's got no choice. She has to use them.
AESCHYLUS
How can one save a city like this one,
1730
which has no taste for woolen city coats
or country cloaks of goat skin?
DIONYSUS
By
Zeus,
to get upstairs, you’d best come up with something. [1460]
AESCHYLUS
Up there I’d talk, but I don’t want to here.
DIONYSUS
Don’t be that way. Send something good from here.
AESCHYLUS
When they consider their foe’s land their own
and think of their land as the enemy’s,
and when they look upon their ships as riches
and see their wealth as wretchedness . . .*
DIONYSUS
Yes, but jury members wolf down all the cash.
1740
PLUTO
You should decide.
DIONYSUS
I’ll make my choice between them.
I’ll choose the one who’s pleasing to my soul.
EURIPIDES
Do not forget those gods by whom you swore
to take me home. You have to choose your friends . . . [1470]
DIONYSUS
My tongue made that oath, but I choose Aeschylus.
EURIPIDES
What have you done, you foulest of all men?
DIONYSUS
Me? I’ve picked Aeschylus to win. Why not?
EURIPIDES
Do you dare to look me in the face
after you’ve done the dirtiest of deeds?
DIONYSUS
What’s dirty if this audience approves? 1750
EURIPIDES
You’re heartless. Will you never think of me
now that I’m dead?
DIONYSUS
What
if living isn’t really dying,
or breathing dining, or sleep a pillow slip?*
PLUTO
Come inside now, Dionysus.
DIONYSUS
What for?
PLUTO
So I can entertain you here, before you go.
DIONYSUS
An excellent idea, by god.
I won’t say no. [1480]
CHORUS
Blest is the man with keen intelligence—
we learn this truth in many ways
Once he’s shown his own good sense
he goes back home again. 1760
He brings our citizens good things
as well as family and friends,
with his perceptive mind. [1490]
So to be truly civilized,
don’t sit by Socrates and chat
or cast the Muses’ work aside,
forgetting the most vital skills
of writing tragedies.
Wasting time with pompous words,
while idly scratching verbal bits— 1770
that suits a man who’s lost his wits
PLUTO
So now, farewell, Aeschylus—go, [1500]
save our city with your noble thoughts,
and educate our fools—we have so many.
Take this sword, hand it to Cleophon.
Present this rope to tax collector
Myrmex and his colleague Nicomachos—
this hemlock give to Archenomos.
Tell them to come here fast without delay.
If they don’t come soon, then, by Apollo,
1780 [1510]
I’ll brand and cripple them, then ship them down
at full speed underground with Adeimantos,
Leucolophos's son.*
AESCHYLUS
That I'll do. As for my chair of honour,
give it to Sophocles to keep safe for me
in case I ever come back here. He’s the one
whose talent I would put in second place.
Bear in mind—the rogue right there, this clown,
[1520]
this liar, will never occupy my chair,
not even by mistake.
PLUTO [to
the Chorus]
Let your torches shine, 1790
your sacred torches light the way for him,
escort him on his way—and praise his fame
with his own songs and dances.
CHORUS
First, all you spirits underneath the ground,
let’s bid our poet here a fond farewell,
as he goes upward to the light. To the city
grant worthy thoughts of every excellence.
[1530]
Then we could put an end to our great pain,
the harmful clash of arms Let Cleophon—
and all those keen to fight—war on their enemy 1800
in their ancestral fields, on their own property.*
Notes
[Note
that the line numbers in the following notes refer to the translated text not
to the original Greek]
* (line 21) Phrynichus, Ameipsias, Lycias: comic
poets, rivals of Aristophanes. [Back to text]
*
(line 44) the fight at sea refers to the naval victory of Arginusae. Athenian slaves who had fought were freed (this is
the first of a number of references to this action).[Back to text]
* (line
61) Cleisthenes:
a well-known homosexual in Athens, a favourite target of Aristophanes. [Back to text]
* (line
68) Molon: a
man remarkable for his size—either very large or very small. The joke would
seem to demand something very small. Given the sexual innuendo, it may be the
case that Molon was a very big man with (reputedly) a
very small penis. [Back to text]
* (line 72) brother: Hercules and Dionysus are both sons of Zeus,
hence brothers. [Back to text]
* (line
76) stew:
Hercules was famous for his enormous appetite. [Back to text]
* (line
82) dead:
Euripides had died in Macedonia the year before the first production of The
Frogs. [Back to text]
* (line
88) Iophon: son of Sophocles and a writer of tragedies. [Back to text]
* (line
101) Agathon: an important and successful Athenian tragic
playwright. He’d recently left Athens and was living in Macedonia. [Back to text]
* (line
102) Xenocles and Pythangelos: minor Athenian tragic playwrights. [Back to text]
*(line 131) Cerberus: in one of Hercules’ most famous exploits, he went
down into Hell and returned with the Cerberus, the watch dog of Hades. [Back to text]
*(line 148) hemlock: a lethal poison which begins by numbing the lower
limbs. [Back to text]
*(line 153) Kerameikos:
a district in Athens. [Back to text]
*(line 167) two
obols:
the standard amount for welfare payments or daily pay for soldiers and sailors. [Back to text]
*(line 168) Theseus:
the legendary founder of Athens, who made his own journey to Hades and back,
and hence (according to this comment) introduced Athenian customs into Hades. [Back to text]
*(line 178) Morsimus:
an inferior tragic playwright. [Back to text]
*(line 179) Cinesias:
an Athenian poet. [Back to text]
*(line 185) the
mysteries: secret cult religious rituals for
special groups of initiates. [Back to text]
*(line 190) Pluto: god of Hades. [Back to text]
*(line 218) Ravens:
a reference to a curse invoking the ravens to pick someone’s bones. Charon lists various regions of Hell like so many stop on a
bus route. [Back to text]
*(line 226) Wuthering
Rock: a part of the landscape of hell
(possibly invented here by Aristophanes). [Back to text]
*(line 239) Salamis: an island close to Athens, famous for its
sailors. [Back to text]
*(line 245) Chorus
of Frogs: it’s not clear whether this chorus
remains off stage or not. [Back to text]
*(line 254) feast
of Jars: a reference to an annual Athenian
festival (the Anthesteria) held early in the year in
the precinct of Dionysus "in the marsh" (Limnai).
The festival involved a lot of drinking. [Back to text]
*(line 332) Empousa:
a celebrated Athenian ghost-monster who could change her shape. [Back to text]
*(line 336) so
we can drink together: Dionysus here appeals to the
audience, specifically to the Priest of Dionysus who traditionally sat in the
front row. [Back to text]
*(line 343) Hegelochos . . . seals are calm: Hegelochos was an actor
in Euripides' plays who garbled a word and made the lines ridiculous (like
changing "sea" to "seal"). [Back to text]
*(line 361) Iacchos was
a minor divine presence associated with Dionysian celebrations. Diagoras may
refer to a notorious Athenian atheist. [Back to text]
*(line 375) daughter
of Demeter: a reference to Persephone, wife of
Pluto, king of Hades.[Back to text]
*(line 399) Cratinus:a
well-known and successful comic poet before Aristophanes. [Back to text]
*(line 414) Aegina . . . Thoracion .
. . Epidauros:
Aegina was an island centre for illegal trade during the war. Thoracion was (one assumes) well known as a corrupt official.
Epidauros was a naval centre close to Athens. [Back to text]
*(line 479) Archedemos
. . . teeth: a complex joke about a prominent Athenian politician, alleging
that he is not a genuine citizen (someting that was
determined at seven years of age).[Back to text]
*(line 498) Corinth,
son of Zeus: an expression meaning (in effect)
"always the same old stuff."
People from Corinth were (by reputation) never tired of boasting about the
divine origin of the founder of their city. [Back to text]
*(line 600) Theramenes:
An Athenian politician famous for his political survival skills. [Back to text]
*(line 633) Cleon
. . . Hyperbolos:
Athenian politicians with a special interest in leading the common people. [Back to text]
*(line 762) Cleophon . . . votes are equal: Cleophon was an
Athenian politicianin favour of the war. The
gibe here suggests he's not a true Athenian. Aristophanes' prediction
that Cleophon would soon be sentenced to death came
true a year later. [Back to text]
*(line 768) Phrynichus: Athenian politician who led the revolution in 411
BC. [Back to text]
*(line 775) Plataeans . . . masters instead of slaves: after the naval battle of Arginusae,
the Athenians freed the slaves who had fought and gave them rights of
citizenship equivalent to the rights of the Plataeans,
important allies of Athens. [Back to text]
*(line 800) Cleigenes . . . clothes:
Aristophanes here attacks the keeper of a public bath and laundry for cheating
his customers, predictng that soon he will lose his
political office. [Back to text]
*(line 804) our new gold ones, as well: a famous comparison between the political leaders
and the debased coinage (one of the effects of the war). [Back to text]
*(line 815) palaestra: the traditional school in Athens, emphasizing
physical fitness and the arts. [Back to text]
*(line 817) red heads:
a reference to foreigners or slaves, not true Athenians. [Back to text]
*(line 821) scapegoat:
once a year in Athens two condemned criminals were beaten out of the city and executed
in a purification ritual to cleanse the city of its collective guilt. [Back to text]
*(line 962) about
to break: Dionysus pretends he needs to offer a
sacrifice to placate the god of storms. [Back to text]
*(line 850) monodies . . . marriage into art: an attack on Euripides’ innovations and on the
alleged immorality in his plays. Monodies are
long lyrical solos for main characters. [Back to text]
*(line 981) Telephos:
a beggar hero of one of Euripides’ plays. [Back to text]
*(line 1041) Phrynichos:
the most important writer of tragedy before Aeschylus. [Back to text]
*(line 1076) rooster
. . . just for the tragedy: Aeschylus refers to
a rooster in Agamemnon. [Back to text]
*(line 1086) Cephisophon:
an Athenian who lived in Euripides’ house and was rumoured have assisted
Euripides with his plays and had an affair with his wife. [Back to text]
*(line 1101) line you could
take: Euripides’ sympathies in his life appeared to be with the oligarchs,
not with the democrats in Athens. [Back to text]
*(line 1117) with bells
attached: Cycnus and Memnon
were characters in plays by Aeschylus. Warriors had bells attached to their
shields or to their horses’ harnesses. [Back to text]
*(line 1122) Cleitophon:
an Athenian member of the group around Socrates. [Back to text]
*(line 1128) Achaean: this joke is hard
to render accurately. The Greek says (literally) “not a Chian [i.e.,
from Chios] but a Kian” or (more
freely) “not a Chian with a ch
but a Kian with a k,” indicating the man’s slippery
character, able to change nationality by altering the spelling of the word. The
change to “Achaean” may make the joke somewhat more compressed and workable,
especially when the speech is spoken rather than read. [Back to text]
*(line 1155) Achilles:
calling Aeschylus "Achilles" is a reminder both of his traditionally
noble character and of his mood. Like Achilles he sits there silent and
enraged.[Back to text]
*(line 1203) finest act: a
reference to the defeat of the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC,
for most Athenians the high point of their city’s history. [Back to text]
*(line 1231) Phaedra and Sthenoboea: an attack on heroines in plays by
Euripides. [Back to text]
*(line 1273) by the fish: a
reference to the fact that fish was an expensive food in Athens at the time. [Back to text]
*(line 1277) Paralos’
crew: the Paralos was the flag ship of the Athenian navy. [Back to text]
*(line 1391) and
returns: Aeschylus’ hair-splitting point is
that “come back” and “return” mean different things, because the latter is
appropriate for those whose political status is uncertain. [Back to text]
*(line 1429) Erastinides:
Athenian general condemned to death after the battle of Arginusae. [Back to text]
*(line 1438) demonstrate: in the section which follows Aeschylus repeatedly
uses the phrase "lost his little oil jug" to bring out the triviality
of Euripides' verse, especially its rhythms and its imagery. [Back to text]
*(line 1570) that too:
Aeschylus is calling attention to the rhythmic feet in Euripides’ verse.
Dionysus, of course, misunderstands and starts inspecting Aeschylus’ feet.[Back to text]
*(line 1573) Cyrene: a notorious
prostitute. [Back to text]
*(line 1666) raise that load:
Egyptians had a reputation for great strength. [Back to text]
*(line 1686) Alcibiades: a brilliant and
charismatic, but erratic and controversial Athenian politician and general in
the closing years of the Peloponnesian War. [Back to text]
*(line 1705) flat sea: Cinesias was very tall and skinny, and Cleocritus
was reported to look like an ostrich. [Back to text]
*(line 1720) Palamedes:
a hero in the Trojan war. [Back to text]
*(line 1739) wretchedness: Aeschylus is
here apparently defending the early Athenian policy of putting all their faith
in the navy to prosecute the war, leaving the land open for enemy occupation. [Back to text]
*(line 1753) pillow
slip: Dionysus is here mocking Euripides with echoes of the latter’s own
verses. [Back to text]
*(line 1783) Adeimantos:
a general in Athens, later accused of treachery. [Back to text]
*(line 1801) properties: Cleophon was a leader of the pro-war party. The point here
is that many of those advocating war were not putting their own property in
danger, unlike many Athenian farmers and landowners whose lands were occupied
by the enemy forces. [Back to text]
[Back to johnstonia Home Page]
Page loads on johnstonia web files
20,609,148 
View Stats