Aristophan: The Ach: acting ed.
NS
ACTING EDITION OF
- THE ACHARNIANS
| OF ARISTOPHANES
WITH A TRANSLATION . INTO ENGLISH VERSE
BY
G. NORWOOD, M.A.
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a HE ACHARNIANS OF ARISTOPHANES
AN XBR IDGED ACTING, EDITION ©
ARRANGED AND TRANSLATED FOR THE ‘FROGS’ CLASSICAL SOCIETY OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, CARDIFF
BY
G. NORWOOD, M.A.
PROFESSOR OF GREEK
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BREE ACE
Tuis abridged text and verse-translation of the Acharnians has been prepared on behalf of the ‘ Frogs ’ Classical Society of University College, Cardiff, for the use of those who will witness their performance of the play next December.
In preparing the text I have excised not only gross passages, but also a number of allusions to topics of the moment which would afford no entertainment and much perplexity to a modern audience. In this second category, I fear, are to be found several passages important to the scientific scholar ; but their absence does little to mar the play as literature. Ina very few places I have altered the Greek arbitrarily.
I have constantly consulted Dr. Merry’s admirable notes and the magnificent edition by which Dr. Starkie has put students of Aristophanes still more deeply in his debt.
G. NORWOOD.
CARDIFF, Sep/. 24, 1911.
INTRODUCTION
§ 1. Zhe Play.—The Acharnians was first performed at Athens in February, 425 B.c., and gained the first prize in the dramatic contest.
At the moment when the play appeared the Peloponnesian War had already lasted nearly six years, and it is that famous struggle which provides the mainspring of the Acharnians. Aristophanes strains every nerve of his brilliant and now mature comic genius to one dear purpose ; lyric sweetness, powerful and pitiless invective, inexhaustible drollery, match- less and delightful parody, a deft and strong mastery of dramatic architecture—all his resources are employed in the task of urging his countrymen to renounce what the poet and many others looked upon as a ruinous and hopeless war.
In the first scene Dicaeopolis' is discovered waiting in the Pnyx, the meeting-place of the National Assembly of Athens. But for him, the scene is deserted, and in a soliloquy he complains of the supineness of his fellow- citizens, who take no heed of the ruin which the war is causing. At length the Pnyx fills, and we have before us a lively caricature of an Athenian political meeting. Dicaeo- polis is disgusted by the levity and short-sightedness of a nation which wastes its time in listening to the flattering lies of its own servants. He sends a messenger to Sparta
1 The name means ‘ patriotic’. Dicaeopolis is a type of the party for which Aristophanes stands—the section which disliked Sparta but could see nothing but ruin in a continuance of the war.
INTRODUCTION Vv
to make peace for him on his private account. This man returns with ‘peace-wine’ which Dicaeopolis accepts rap- turously. He then retires to his farm to celebrate, after six years’ intermission, the Vintage-Festival.
But he is soon interrupted. While his messenger was hurrying to Athens with the ‘ peace-wine’ the scent of it reached some aged men of the deme of Acharnae. ‘These Acharnian charcoal-burners are the bitterest section of the war-party in Athens. They pursue the messenger, vowing death to the man who has dared to make peace. At the moment when Dicaeopolis is preparing his celebration they come upon the scene as the Chorus of the play, and inter- rupt his merrymaking with a shower of stones. His prayers for a fair hearing are vain, and he is on the point of being stoned to death when a stratagem occurs to him. ‘There is only one way of touching the hearts of these martial charcoal-burners. He saves himself by a burlesque of a famous scene in Euripides. Rushing into the house he comes back with a basket of charcoal and a sword, threatening to slay the Acharnians’ darling if they will not let him plead for his life.
This deadly peril of one so near and dear to them unmans the Chorus, who give Dicaeopolis permission to state his case. But he realizes the danger of speaking to such men in terms even faintly favourable to Sparta, and determines to sue zz forma pauperis. In order to obtain the tattered garments of a suppliant he applies to Euripides, the tragic poet, a favourite butt of Aristophanes ; the point of the satire in this case is that the heroes and princes of Euripides so often made their appearance when ‘ down on their luck’, reduced to wretchedness by wounds or poverty. The conversation between the poet and Dicaeo- polis, in which the latter wheedles out of his victim a ludicrous assortment of beggar’s odds and ends, is one of
vi INTRODUCTION
the happiest things in the Greek drama. Thus equipped, our hero at last confronts the Chorus to make his speech.
This oration (here abridged) is the kernel of the play. It is really an address by the poet himself to the whole nation assembled in the theatre, and is a masterpiece of his argumentative style. Dicaeopolis gives an account, jocular in tone but deeply serious in intention, of the causes of the Peloponnesian War, showing that the Athenians had taken up arms for the most frivolous reason, and that the Spartans had no choice but to fight. When he has finished, half the Chorus are won over, half are obdurate. The two sections come to blows, and the war-at-any-price party calls to Lamachus for help.
Lamachus stalks on to the stage, a martial figure in grotesquely terrifying armour. He seems to have been in real life an unassuming man, with little taste for politics, but a clever soldier ; Aristophanes chooses to put him for- ward as a leader of the war party, and gives us a delightful mixture of the Jingo and Shakespeare’s Ancient Pistol. In his brush with Dicaeopolis he has no arguments to offer, only threats and abuse. At last he retires beaten, consoling himself with menaces against Sparta and her allies. With the departure of this champion all opposition to Dicaeopolis disappears. The whole Chorus are henceforth on his side, and deliver their Parabasis, or address to the audience on behalf of the author.
The rest of the play depicts the blessings which Dicaeo- polis has secured. A Megarian enters, compelled by famine to sell his two little daughters, whom he disguises as pigs ; then a Boeotian, who makes all mouths in the audi- torium water and the sternest of the war party waver by bringing to market the favourite delicacy of Athenians, which (owing to the war) they have not tasted for six years— an eel from Lake Copais. The informers who seek to
INTRODUCTION Vii
interfere with Dicaeopolis’ traffic are harshly dealt with ; one of them is packed up like a piece of valuable china and taken back to Thebes by the Boeotian. Lamachus sends his servant to buy some of the dainties which Dicaeopolis has acquired, but his request is rejected with insult. Then follows what is perhaps the gem of the play, the charming and characteristic choric song beginning cides, & cides, O 7raca OAL.
A Herald enters to proclaim the Feast of Pitchers and the usual prize—a skin of wine—for the drinker who empties his jug first at the carouse. Dicaeopolis determines to compete and begins to cook various dainties for his feast, still plied with requests for a little of his ‘ treaty-wine’. The end is now in sight—the complete downfall of Lama- chus. Two Heralds enter; one to order Lamachus to march off, in spite of the snowstorms and the festivities at home, to guard the Boeotian frontier; the other to summon’ Dicaeopolis to eat his dinner at the house of the Priest of Dionysus. Both prepare themselves for their expeditions, the contrast between the miseries of war and the jollity of peace being emphasized point by point.
After a song by the Chorus (these songs correspond to the modern act-drop and, like it, are supposed to cover any interval of time needed by the action) both champions return. First comes Lamachus, preceded by a mock-tragic messenger who describes the dreadful and complicated injury which has disabled his master. The warrior is haif- carried on to the scene by two soldiers, and seems at the point of death. On the other side Dicaeopolis enters, incapacitated also, but by intoxication, and supported by two flute-girls. He has won the prize for rapid drinking, and when he sees the discomfiture of Lamachus his triumph is complete. The Chorus hail him as the victor, and he leads them out in procession.
Viil INTRODUCTION
§ 2. The historical background. —To understand the Acharnians it is necessary to have some idea of the causes of the Peloponnesian War and its progress during the years 431-425 B.c. The Athenians, at the instance of Pericles, passed a decree excluding Megara from all ports in their empire. The causes of this action are doubtful, though assuredly the ludicrous reason offered by Aristo- phanes is not the true one; but its effects were unmis- takable. At one blow the Megarians were brought to their knees by the prospect of starvation. In their de- spair they appealed to the Spartans, who endeavoured to persuade Athens to rescind the decree, but to no purpose. For this, and for other reasons not alluded to in the play, the two parties found themselves at war. With Sparta were most of the Peloponnesian states, and others out- side the peninsula, notably Boeotia in Central Greece ; Athens was followed by her subject-allies, chiefly island- states of the Aegean.
The Peloponnesians had the mastery by land, the Athenians by sea; so that the full power of one side could not come to grips with that of the other. It was, therefore, not surprising that the war dragged on for many years, only coming to an end in 404 B.C., with the fall of Athens, after the Peloponnesians had obtained fleets and some naval experience. But at the moment when the Acharnians appeared this end was far below the horizon. Up to now the Athenians had on the whole adhered to the policy laid down by Pericles, to harass the sea-coasts of the enemy and not attempt to face him by land. Sparta had had no success by sea but had on land done Athens considerable damage. Nearly every year a Peloponnesian force invaded Attica, laid the country waste, and retired. This was the kind of war which Pericles had expected, and without fear. He was aware that so
INTRODUCTION ix
long as Sparta had no fleet, Athens might ravage the coasts, and damage the trade, of the Peloponnese without hin- drance; while Sparta could do nothing but make land- attacks on Athens—attacks certain to fail while the Athenian corn-trade with the Black Sea was untouched, provided only that his fellow-citizens would consent to look on quietly at the devastation of their country-side, sure of ultimately wearing out their foes.
He was no doubt right, in cold theory. The Spartans won no strategic success, but the moral effect of their repeated and unopposed invasions was great, and nowhere greater than within the walls of Athens. Till the beginning of the war a large proportion of the citizens had not been Athenian residents at all, living on their farms which were scattered over the face of Attica, and coming into the city perhaps not once a month. The policy of Pericles made it necessary that these people should desert their farms and live within the fortifications—a change fraught with the gravest consequences, political, social, economic, and sanitary. The overcrowding was throughout the war a most trying evil; and, soon after it began, the frightful plague broke out which slew no less than one quarter of the inhabitants. Moreover, as the countrymen were now on the spot, they wielded a political power which had never been theirs in the days when they could not attend the Assembly. Infuriated by the destruction of their crops and vineyards, these citizens, or a good number of them, were fierce adherents of the war party. The Acharnians of this play are men of this class. Acharnae was one of the most important country demes, furnishing as many as three thousand heavy-armed infantry to the national forces. ‘Their vines had been chopped down,’ and they were bitter opponents of the ‘waiting game’ of Pericles. That great statesman died in the second year of the war, and his
x INTRODUCTION
mediocre successors soon began to break the rules of warfare which he had laid down.
Such was the state of affairs when this comedy appeared, Six years of war had produced no decided advantage to either side. Dubious success and protracted annoyance, even misery, had sickened many of the _belligerents. Heavy expenditure had produced a new political feature of grave moment: both sides began to appeal to foreign powers for help, both in men and in money—eyen to the old national enemy, Persia. Wise men could see that the Greek states in their mutual jealousy were endangering the liberty of the Hellenic world. Soit is that Aristophanes gives his voice for peace. He is in sympathy with the country party, but he wishes them to see their true interests. Both Dicaeopolis and the Chorus are members of that party ; but while the Acharnians can think of nothing but their wrongs in the past and clamour for vengeance at all costs, Dicaeopolis thinks of the future and knows that the only hope of the agricultural population lies in peace, which will make the fields and vineyards smile once more,
§ 3. Zhe conditions under which the play was acted.—All extant Greek dramas, even the most farcical comedy, were a part of the religious ritual of the State, They were offered by the Athenian nation as an act of worship to Dionysus, the god of wine and mystic rapture. As such, they were managed by the State, and witnessed (as far as possible) by the whole nation, in the great theatre of Dionysus, at the foot of the Acropolis, The chief festival for comedy was the Lenaea (‘ Feast of the Wine-Press’), which occurred early in our month of February. Only three dramatists were allowed to compete ; each obtained a prize, but only the first was regarded as signifying a dramatic ‘ victory’.
The theatre, which was entirely open to the sky, may be
INTRODUCTION XI
divided into three parts: (i) the auditorium, a vast structure of horse-shoe shape ; (ii) the ovches¢va, in which the Chorus danced and sang, a more or less semicircular space inside the curve of the auditorium ; (ili) the Zogezon, or ‘ speaking- place’, where the actors performed—an oblong space backed by scenery and dressing-rooms and forming the chord to the arc of the orchestra. This last of course corresponds to our stage, but whether there was in Aristophanes’ day a platform raised above the level of the orchestra is not certain.
It is clear that these conditions made it impossible for a Greek dramatist to hope for anything like the veri- similitude of modern acting. The theatre was open to the daylight, and the comedies were acted in the afternoon. The huge size of the auditorium made it impossible to employ with effect those subtleties of voice, gesture, and expression which are so admirable a feature of good modern acting ; indeed, the actors wore masks. ‘There was pro- bably no curtain, and only the most rudimentary appliances for indicating a change of scene. In this connexion should be mentioned one curious device which is laughably em- ployed in the Acharnians. The tragedians frequently had occasion to change the scene from the outside to the inside of a building, usually to reveal to persons outside a house some fearful deed which had just taken place within. To do this actually was impossible, but to give something of the effect a most odd machine was employed, called the eccyclema (from éxxvxdéw, ‘to wheel out’) which was pro- bably managed thus. Behind the scenes a little tableau, e.g. the murderer standing over his victim, was arranged upon a small wheeled platform. The doors were then flung open and the eccyclema wheeled forward into the view of the actors outside. When the scene was over the plat- form was wheeled back again and the doors shut. Euripides, like other tragic poets, used this machine in his plays, and
Xil INTRODUCTION
in the Acharnians Dicaeopolis, finding that the poet is too busy to come out, induces him to show himself in this typically tragic manner ; so that Euripides is indeed ‘ abroad and yet within doors’. In the performance for which the present translation is written, he is made to come to the window of his study ; the modernization is surely legitimate.
§ 4. Merits of the play.—On this point little need be said to those who have the work before them. The Acharnians is one of the most brilliant productions which the history of the drama can boast. The elaborate burlesque of the Athenian Assembly, the exquisite parody of Euripides’ Telephus, the delightful fooling in the scene of the Megarian and his ‘ pigs’, the ode already mentioned which is perhaps unsurpassed in its kind, the riotous jollity with which the play ends—these are the outstanding charms of the Acharnians and make it a possession of permanent and precious worth.
The play has, of course, its more ephemeral side. It is not only a comedy; it possesses some of the qualities of a political pamphlet. A propagandist poet is not usually more scrupulous than most pamphleteers; Aristophanes puts forth all his powers to turn his countrymen against the war, and his last scenes are a witness that there is a jingoism of peace as well as a jingoism of war, That war robs us of Copaic eels and facilities for drunkenness is no better argu- ment for peace than ‘glory’ is for militarism; and if Lamachus’ ankle is put out of joint it does not follow that the same injury is done to his nose. The last scenes are undoubtedly a gross argumentum ad populum. But it must be borne in mind that the poet only allows himself this after a sincere, reasoned, and elaborate argument. More- over, he never forgets, as some propagandist dramatists have forgotten, that his first business is to entertain ; and to turn the laugh against his opponents was for him not merely excusable, but necessary.
Pooutiok NLANS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
DICAEOPOLIS, an elderly Athenian farmer.
AMPHITHEUS, az Athenian aristocrat.
HUMBUGGOSINJI,! a Persian envoy.
THEORUS, ax Athenian envoy.
EURIPIDES, a ¢ragic poet of Athens.
LAMACHUS, a distinguished Athenian soldier.
A MEGARIAN,
AN INFORMER.
A BOEOTIAN MERCHANT.
NICARCHUS, a professional Informer.
A FARMER.
A BRIDESMAN.
HERALDS, MESSENGERS, ENVOYS, CITIZENS, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE, CONSTABLES, THRACIAN MERCENARIES, SLAVES.
WIFE OF DICAEOPOLIS.
THEIR DAUGHTER.
Two LITTLE GIRLS, daughters of the Megarian. BRIDESMAID.
Two FEMALE SLAVES.
CHORUS, consisting of aged charcoal-burners of Acharnae,
1 In the original, Yevdaprafas, an imaginary name formed from wWevdys (‘lying’) and -aprafas, a termination of Oriental names; with a side- glance at dpraBn, of one ‘ weighed in the balances and found wanting’.
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ACHARNIANS
[ The scene represents the Pnyx, the meeting-place of the National Assembly of Athens. Dicaeopolis 7s discovered, solitary, waiting for the beginning of business. After giving several stgns of boredom and annoyance, he turns to the audience.|
Dic. How many pangs have stung me to the heart! My joys are few—but three or four ; my woes Are multitudinosity itself.
Let ’s see: what ave I found that gladdened me ? Ah yes; I know what pleased my bosom’s lord— The thousand pounds that Cleon * had to pay. But I'd a tragic grief to balance that. ’Twas in the theatre. There I sat and yawned, Waiting to see a play of Aeschylus ; Then came the call: ‘ Your chorus, O Theognis!’ But never since I first began to wash Did soap e’er sting my eyes so painfully As does this hateful sight. To-day is fixed For solemn session, and the Pnyx is empty ! Not even the Committee have arrived ! They’ll turn up hours late, and then they'll push And jostle one another like the deuce To seize the foremost seats, a graceless mob Rushing in spate. A lot such fellows care About the hopes of peace! O wretched Athens !
But I come always first to the Assembly And sit down in a wilderness of benches. I yawn, I stretch myself, I groan and cough, I die of boredom, scribble on the ground, I scratch my head, do sums to pass the time, Yearning for peace, and gazing o’er the fields, Loathing the town and longing for my village, That never cried ‘ Buy coals!’ ‘ Buy vinegar !’ ‘Buy oil!’ It didn’t know the word ‘to buy’, It gave its produce freely, well advised That buying is a sell.
So now I’ve come
1 This statesman had attacked Aristophanes in the preceding year. Hence the defiance levelled at him in the Parabasis (see below).
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ACHARNIANS , 5
With mind made up. I'll bawl and interrupt,
I'll blackguard every orator in Athens,
Who dares to speak on anything but peace! [JVozse without. Here the Committee come; it’s noon at least !
[Enter the Committee. The President for the day takes his seat, and his colleagues stt on benches near him. Enter Citizens, marshalled by a Herald.
HERALD. Move forward!
Close up, and come within the sacred space. [Enter Amphitheus, anx-ous and hurried.|
AMPH. Has any one spoken yet?
HERALD [70 the public at large|. What man would speak ?
AMPH. I.
HERALD. Who are you?
AMPH. Amphitheus.
HERALD. Are you mortal!?
AMPH. Ohno! Divine. Amphitheus of old
Was son of Ceres and Triptolemus. From him.did Celeiis spring, who took to wife Phaenarete, my grandam, and she bare Lycinus, mine own sire. Thus do I boast Immortal lineage. But now to business: The gods have bidden me make peace with Sparta All by myself; but though I have blue blood I haven’t a red cent, and your Committee Won’t pay my fare to Sparta! HERALD. Constables ! [ Zwo Constables seize Amphitheus. | AMPH. Protect me, my immortal ancestors! [Hezs dragged away. Dic. [vistzg]. The Committee is unfair to this Assembly If it expels a man whose only aim Is to make peace and lay our bucklers by! HERALD. Silence! Sit down! Die: No, by the gods I won’t, Unless you'll put the question, Peace or War. HERALD. The Ambassadors from the King of Persia! Dic. The King be hanged! I’m sick of Embassies And peacock’s feathers and bombastic airs ! HERALD. Keep silence ! | Enter Ambassadors, gorgeously dressed.| Dic. My! What swank! Just look at them! -First AMBASSADOR. You sent us to his Majesty of Persia (Expenses paid—a pound a day each man) Eleven years ago... Dic. [aszde]. What tons of pounds ! AmB. Yes, and we had to rough it, lounging on Through the Caystrian plains, under an awning 1 There is a joke here which can hardly be rendered neatly in English.
The Herald understands the name Amphitheus as an adjective, in which
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ACHARNIANS 7
In downy litters, lying on our backs ; It nearly killed us!... Dic. [aside]. Meanwhile, on the rampart I had a beano, sleeping in my straw! Amb. Then, when they entertained us, we were forced To drink from cut-glass goblets and from gold Sweet undiluted wine... Dic. [aside]. O ancient burgh, Dost see the way these envoys mock at thee ? AMB. Barbarians believe you're no true men Unless you eat like pigs and drink like fishes. After four weary years we came to Court. The King made cheer for us; the tables groaned With oxen roasted whole... Dic. [as/de}. More swank and lies! Who ever saw a bullock in an oven? AmB. And now we’ve come bringing Humbuggosinji, Called The King’s Eye. Dic. [aside]. Oh for a kindly crow To peck it out, and yours to boot, you fraud ! HERALD. Room for The King’s Eye !
[Enter a man wearing a mask which represents a single enormous eye, with a square Persian beard beneath it. He is attended by two Persians.)
Ie. Heracles preserve us ! Good sir, you're like a cruiser cleared for action ! Or are you merely coming into dock ? You’ve got your fender slung beneath your eye. AmB. Humbuggosinji, speak and give the message The King hath sent to the Athenian state. HuMBuG. Iartaman exarxas apisona satra. AMB. You take his meaning? Dic. No, by Jove I don’t. AMB. He says the King intends to send you gold. | Aside, to Humbug.] Don’t mumble. Shout ‘gold’ unmistakably. HUMBUG. Shan’t get the gold, Ionian bounder; no! Dic. Confound it all, ‘za/’s plain enough ! AMB. What is it? Dic. Why, he says that we Ionians are bounders If we expect to handle Persian gold! AMB. Ohno! /e means we shall get boundless wealth. Dic. Boundless be shot! Yow are a bouncing liar!
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| AXAPNES
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ACHARNIANS 9
Stand back: I must examine him in private. [He takes Humbug. and the Persians aside. My coloured friend, you watch this staff of mine, For fear you’re black and blue instead of brown. Out with it! Will the Persian send us gold? [ They shake thetr heads. Then our Ambassadors are cheating us? [ They nod. These chaps can nod in Greek, at any rate. Deuce take me if they aren’t Athenians! HERALD. Silence! Sit down! The Senate invite the Royal Eye to luncheon In the Town-Hall. DIc. Isn’t it sickening? The open door for foreigners, I see ! Their food will cost them less, while I loaf here Neglected! But I’ll act a hero’s part! I want Amphitheus. Where’s he go‘ to?
[Amphitheus stealthily re-appears.|
AMPH. Here! Dic. [aside to him]. Wold out your hand. There are eight shillings for you. Make peace with Sparta for me—me alone, My children, and my wife. [Exit Amph. And you, my friends, Gape on like idiots at your precious envoys ! HERALD. Theorus, Envoy from Sitalces!
[Enter Theorus and other Ambassadors. |
THEORUS. Here. Dic. [as¢de]. This herald has a repertoire of knaves. THEO. Our stay in Thrace would not have been protracted — Dic. [aséde]. But for the pay that you from us extracted ! THEO. But for the snowstorms that were raging there.
The rivers froze the very week Theognis
Brought out his play here—a tremendous frost.
I spent the time in drinking with Sitalces,
And found him pro-Athenian to the core.
He is in love with you! Why, on the walls
He used to write ‘ Darling Athenians’.
His son, just made a citizen of ours,
Was pining for his christening-sausages,
And begged his father to assist his country.
Papa consented, swearing that he’d come
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ACHARNIANS _ 1H
With such a host, Athenians should exclaim:
‘What endless streams of locusts in the wind !’ Dic. [aséde]. The foul fiend take me if this yarn contains
One word of truth—except the plague of locusts ! THEO. And now the most ferocious tribe in Thrace
He’s sent to aid you.
Dic. [aszde]. Well, that ’s something done. HERALD, The Thracians whom Theorus brings, come forward ! [Enter four or five miserable savages.]
Dic. What nightmare’s this? THEO. [ groudy]. The Odomantian host. Dic. You don’t say so! And what’s the use of them? THEO. These gallant fellows, for a pound a day, Will fill Boeotia with the reek of war! Dic. A poundaday! Locusts are going up. The handy man who helps us rule the waves Would growl at that. [One of the savages steals a string of onions from D.’s wallet.| The deuce! They’ve ruined me! These foreign troops are ravaging my onions. Are you going to drop the onions fF [Squaring up to them. THEO. Wretched man, Onion is strength. Don’t touch them, or they’ll kick. Dic. Do you Committee-men sit there unmoved While foreign brigands on Athenian soil Handle me thus?... Stop! I forbid this meeting To vote about their wages! I announce A sign from Heaven: I felt a drop of rain. HERALD. The Thracians must retire and come again Two days from now. The meeting is adjourned. [Exeunt all but Dic. Dic. Woe’s me! A noble salad have I lost. But here’s Amphitheus back from Lacedaemon. [Enter Amphitheus, running. He carries three skins of wine."| Amphitheus, hail! AMPH. Not yet; I haven’t reached you. I must outrun the fleet Acharnians. Dic. What’s up? AMPH. While I was speeding on my way Bearing the treaty-wine for you to taste, Some old Acharnians scented it afar, Grey-bearded stalwarts, hearts of oak and maple,
1 Peace was always concluded by a solemn pouring-forth of wine. The liquor which Amphitheus brings back from Sparta after his very speedy negotiations is regarded as ‘essence of Peace’. The age of each sample corresponds of course to the number of years of peace which it represents,
I2
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ACHARNIANS 8)
Stubborn of soul—they fought at Marathon. These cried in chorus: ‘ Villain, dost thou bring Peace-wine to men whose vineyards are destroyed ?’ They filled their cloaks with stones to hurl at me; Then I made off, but they gave chase with howls. Dic. Well, let them howl. You didn’t drop the wine? AMPH. Of course not. Here’s three different brands to taste. This sample’s five years old, Come, have a drink. Dic. [drinking]. Ugh! AMPH. What is wrong? Dic. I don’t like the bouquet. It smells of pitch and naval armaments. AMPH. Well, try this second sample, ten years old. Dic. [avinking|. But this is nasty too. It reeks of envoys Going the round, and allies hanging back. AMPH. Then here’s the final vintage—thirty years Of peace by land and sea. Dic. [drinking]. Calloo! Callay! This smells of nectar and ambrosia. Farewell, a long farewell, to that old legend: ‘The battalion will parade at five a.m.’ It cries within my mouth: ‘Go where you choose.’ This is the brand for me! I’li pour libations And drink in this confusion to Acharnae ! Then freed from war and turmoil, on my farm I’ll celebrate the rustic Vintage-Feast. [Exit. AMPH. Meanwhile, the Acharnians chase me. I am off. [ae [The scene changes to a spot in the country, with Dicaeopolis’ house in the background. Close by are two other houses, which, by a looseness of mise en scene frequent in early Attic Comedy, are supposed to be the houses (really sttuated tn Athens) of Euripides and Lamachus respectively. Enter the Chorus, which consists of aged charcoal-burners of Acharnae. They are full of haste and fury; thetr cloaks are girt up and loaded with stones. | CHoR. Weare hot on his track, so let no one hang back, but ask all whom you meet if they’ve spied him ; It’s a national sin if we don’t run him in! Bad luck to the man who would hide him! [Turning to the audience.| Come, gentlemen, say : has he scampered this way? Give ear to our just indignation. He’s a traitorous hound, and he ought to be drowned in the wine of his treaty-libation ! Gone! He nowhere appears! Oh, the weight of sixty years ! In the days when I was twenty, When I carried coals in plenty On my shoulder, in the sun With Phayllus I could run. Never then this coward wight,
14 AXAPNHS
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ACHARNIANS 1s
Who makes peace and dares not fight, Would so actively have fled. He'd be dead! But now my poor shins are two withered old pins, and my feet as I run are both heavy and sore ; Now has old Lacratides a stitch in his side, he’s dis- covered his limbs are less fleet than of yore. So the villain has gone! Never mind, followon! Let him grin if he can when we catch him once more! O ye gods! Father Zeus! With our foes he’s made a truce ! Foes my soul has ever hated Since my farm they devastated. Peace farewell! Amid my vines Shall they camp their hostile lines ? Let their hated blood be spilt ; Let me plunge up to the hilt In their hearts, and drink their life Like a knife ! Over land, over sea, come and hunt him with me, one and all every obstacle scorning ! I could pelt him all night like an agile Hittite, and continue the game in the morning! [A pause. The door of Dicaeopolis house opens, and his voice is heard within.| Dic. Silence for the rite! Silence! CHORUS LEADER. Quiet all! You heard it, comrades? Heard the voice proclaiming silence ? In that house is he we’re seeking! Back and hide ourselves a moment ! All to ambush! He is coming out of doors to sacrifice! [They hide. Enter Dic., his wife, daughter, and slaves. They carry sacred emblems and articles connected with the Vintage-Festival.| Dic. [adirecting operations|. Silence for the rite! Forward a space, O damsel of the basket. Now put it down, my dear ; I must begin. DAUGHTER. Mother, please hand me out the soup-ladle. I want to pour some soup over the cake. Dic. A noble soup indeed! ... Lord of our Feast, O Dionysus, may our glad procession Find favour with thee! Bless the sacrifice Which I and mine would offer. Happiness Be ours amid thy vintage-festival, Our warfare overpast ! And may this peace Bring blessings with it through its thirty years ! MOTHER. Now dear, be sure you bear the basket nicely, Like a nice girl, with looks demure and prim. Happy the man who gets you for his wife !
16
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ACHARNIANS 17
Dic. Move forward; mind no rascal in the crowd Filches your brooch or necklace on the sly. I in the rear will sing the phallic ditty. And you, my wife, shall watch me from the roof. [Zhe léttle procession moves round the stage, Dic. singing. | Companion of Bacchus, Thou roamer by night, Thou soul of his revels, Restored to our sight !
Six years, jolly Phales, Have over us passed ;
And, returned to my homestead, I greet thee at last.
I’ve made me a treaty And hung up my shield: Now welcome the meadows, Farewell to the field !
Come, join in our wassail, Our mirth to increase ;
If you rise with a headache, Quaff bumpers of Peace!
[The Chorus rush upon the scene with cries of rage, pelting Dic. and his family with stones. The slaves, &c., run within, while Dic. stands his ground.|
CHORUS (confusedly). That’s the man! There he is!
Pelt away! Pelt away ! Hit him, the rogue! Keep itup! Throw your hardest!
Dic. Heracles above defend us! What is wrong? You'll break
my jug!
CHor. Blackguard rogue! Break your jug? We'll smash
: your mug! Dic. What’s the cause of your emotion, reverend Acharnians ? CHOR. Darest thou ask? Shameless hound, thou’rt traitor found, All alone making truce, without excuse ! Can’st thou look me in the face, thou disgrace ?
Dic. But my reasons for this treaty stay and hear—You really
must !
CHOR. Hearthee? No! Thou shalt die! Friends, let fly !
Dic. Nay, not yet, until you’ve heard me! Hold your hands
awhile, good sirs!
CHoR. Never, dog! Not a word shall be heard!
Thou hast poured the peace-libation with our old Laconian foes ;
Never will I hear thy pleading. Death is thine and all its throes !
Dic. Gentle sirs, let’s drop the Spartans! There’s no need for
all this fuss. Cc
18
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AXAPNHS
a + ae nee a n b) / > , a , TOV 6 euOv oTovddyv akovoaT, ef KaAGS €oTeEL- / oapnu. lal / ’ an -, TOs 0€ y Gy Kah@s A€yots av, ElmEp eoTEeiow y? anak va y BY y¥ 7 VA? / oiow ovTe Bwpods ovTE TiaTLs OVO GpKos peEvEL; AQ) 3 X\ \ \ / e »” 2) / 010’ €y@ Kat Tous Adkwvas, ols adyav éykeiyeba, a) / a fal OUX aTaVTwWY OVTAas Hiv aitiovs TOV Tpay~aTuv. > / Ss fel A lal OvX aTaVTMY, @ Tavodpye; Tavra 67) ToApas A€yeu , lal BA A c c @ 3 ,’ , / eupavas 7j6n mpos nas; €ir e€yd cov deicopuat; > c / 3 c / 3 7) 2. / ev OVX aTaVTwMY OVX aTaVTwMV* GAN Eyw AEywr OdL oe, / TOAN Gv arrodyvaw. exeivous €oO & KddiKovpEvouS. a ¥ \ ” A / TovTo ToUTOs Sewor 6n Kal Tapa€ikapo.or, \ / lal / cn / el ov ToApHoELS UTEP TOV TOAELLMY Hiv AEyeW. Ss fol / ny Kay ye pa) A€Ew Sixara, pnde TO TAHOEL boKG, brep emEjnvov OedAjow THv Kepadjy exwv dEyeu. eimé prot, TL petdouerda TOV AlOwv, @ Snyuorat, ‘ > / 2 ” “~ ») 4 wu) ov Kata€aivew Tov Gvdpa Todvroy és owviKida; oios av péAas Tis tuiv Ovuddrdww émé ever. > b) , > > ? / ee | ‘ oy / ovk akovoer@ ovK axovoerO éredv, WxXapynida; ovK akovoduerba djra. AIK. dewa rapa reloopar a r lal S eforolunv, nv axovow. AIK. pndayes, oxapviKol. r / r os TeOvynEwv toO. vuvi. AIK. byfou’ ap’ tpyas eyo. b) lal ‘ i al / \ / avTaTOKTEVG yap viv Tov pirwy Tovs diArarovs* c v >’, ¢ fal € / A ° / , ws é€xw y tyudv dunpovs, ods aroopagw AaBov. bl / / ~_% ’ al ¥ ” , elm€ pool, TE TOUT GAmEAEL TOUTIOS, Avdpes SnwoTaL, tots "Ayapvixoiow qpiv; pov €xer Tov Tatd(ov nr > ed * ‘ A Tév TapdvTwr évdov eipEas; 7) Tl TO Opacdverat; Bader’, el BovdrAcoO’. eya yap Tovrovi biapbepa. > al , eloopar & tov tax’ doris avOpaxwy TL Kderat. e b , ’ c / , 75> 7 3 4 ws aTwAouerO. 6 AapKos OnuoTys 66 EoT EMOS. b) x ‘ U a / . na 2 cal GAAG py) Spaons 0 péeAAELs* pNndapas, w pndapes. c rn / > ‘ ‘ tJ 5 / @s GmoKTevO, KeKpaxO* €ya yap ovK aKxovoopau A“ / amoXels ap dunAtka Tovde piAavOpaxea; 99) 3 a / ee a oe , , ovd” €4otd A€yorTos bets aptiws nKovoate.
ACHARNIANS 19
I’ve secured peace with honour ; ¢/az¢’s the point we should discuss. CHOR. Who art ¢#ou to prate of honour? Thou hast made a foul intrigue
With the men who scorn religion, plighted word, and solemn league ! Dic. /can tell you these Laconians, butts of our too bitter hate,
Aren’t the cause of a// the troubles which have been our recent fate. CHOR. Not the cause of all, thou felon? Darest thou look us in the eye,
Openly expounding treason to Acharnians? Thou shalt die! Dic. JVo¢ the cause of all, by Heaven! Sparta too could well declare—
Let me prove it !—that owr conduct has been often quite unfair. CHOR. Nowthe mischief’s out! Un-Attic reptile, art thou then so quick
To take sides with Athens’ foes? Upon my word, thou mak’st me sick Dic. If my speech is not convincing, or the audience think it’s not,
On the block I’ll lay my head-piece : execute me on the spot ! CHOR. Fellow-burghers, spare your stones no longer ; give the rogue his due
Make a good slashed doublet of him—scarlet shot with black anc
blue ! [Zhey pelt him
Dic. Flaring up again! From passion will your hearts be never freed ?
Won't you listen just a moment, boys of the Acharnian breed ? CHOR. Nota moment will we listen !
Dic. [coolly.] Well, you ave a cruel lot!
CHOR. May I perish if I heed thee!
Dic. O Acharnians! Surely not!
CHOR. Know that thou art marked for slaughter!
Dic. Then I’ll wound you as I die
In revenge I’ll slay a victim who ’s the apple of your eye. I’ve a hostage, and his gullet shall be slit. I'll fetch him out.
| He goes into the house, while the members of the Chorus converse together uneastly.|
CuHoR. Fellow-burghers, read the riddle: wherefore does he threat and flout Thus the bulldogs of Acharnae? Does he hope to win reprieve, Kidnapping some child of ours? He’s got something up his sleeve !
[Dicaeopolis reappears, bearing in one hand a sword, in the other a basket of charcoal. He sets down the basket, and brandishes the sword.|
Dic. Pelt away, if pelt you must! My fate your dusky darling shares ! Now we'll see which man among you for his charcoal really cares.
| He pretends to stab the basket. The Chorus are completely unmanned.|
CHOR. O good Lord! The basket yonder is my fellow-villager ! Nay, forgo thy ghastly purpose! Mercy, mercy, gentle Sir! Dic. Yell away; his hours are numbered. What care / for prayers and tears? CHOR. Wilt thou slay half my soul, old King Cole? Dic. When / spoke a while ago, you put your fingers in your ears !
C2
20 AXAPNHS
bp) / a
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7 ig
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Geis detpo rodmiEnvoy eyxelper A€yew.
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68 dvip 6 AéEwv obrool ruvvovtodt.
, / ‘ \ > ,’ , /
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kairo. dedotKa TOAAGa* Tovs TE yap TpoTrOUsS
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ACHARNIANS 21
CHoR. Oh, but now talk away! You shall say What you like in the praise of Spartan ways. This my darling I must save from the grave ! Dic. First of all, obey my orders: drop your stones upon the _ ground. CuHorR. There they lie. Be assured: drop your sword. Dic. Try the creases of your cloaks; perhaps a few might still be found. CHOR. Down they go! See us whirl. Don’t we twirl? Drop your sword. Come, away with delay ! Every gown open flies before your eyes! Dic. I thought you’d ask for quarter, every one. The coals of Parnes have hobnobbed with death, All through their stiff-necked fellow-villagers ; And like a cuttle-fish hard pressed by peril This coal-basket has squirted grime on me! ’Tis monstrous that men’s tempers should be acid Like grapes unripe, should make them pelt and bawl And shut their ears to reasoned compromise, Although I said I’d stake my neck while speaking ! CHOR. Well, deliver your speech—when you’ve fetched out the block— And remember you’ve promised to give us a shock With an argument novel, you brazen-faced knave. So we’re burning to learn how your neck you will save. Thou hast thyself arranged the trial-scene. Fetch out the block and so address the Court.
[Dic. fetches from the house a chopping-block and an axe.|
Dic. Behold, the block is here, and here am I, The little chap that ’s going to make a speech. I’m hanged if [’ll put any armour on! I’ll speak for Sparta in plain homely words... And yet I’ve many fears. I know you rustics, How you applaud when any specious rogue Truly or falsely flatters you and Athens, And leads you by the nose to fill his purse. You too, greybeards, I know, whose simple joy
22
AXAPNH®
ovdev BA€rovow GAO TARY Wipe dakeir, a lal / vov oty pe mp@Tov Tply heyew EavaTe 3 / / ’ @ 5 / evoxevacacbai oiov aOAiwrarov. / na / / \ id pl ri rabra orpéder Texvacers TE Kal TopiCers TpLBas; XS ohn} fal me: oR td haBe & euod y Evexa Tap lepwvupov oKkoTodacuTKVOTpixa TW “Aidos KUvTV" a > 3 / ‘ XX / cir e£dvorye pnxavas Tas Lwovov, c fal c X 2 > >’ / Os oxi ayav otros ovk elobé€erar. ve > ‘ ” \ ‘\ a Opa orw apa por kaprepav Wox7v AaPewv, / tae | \ « = / kat por Badiore early ws Evpimiony. mat mat. OE. ris otros; AIK. évdov éor Ev- pumtons; > v v pI / , , ” ovK €vdoy Evoov EoTV, EL YVOPNV EXELS- nas tvdov, cir’ ovk évdov; OE. dpbds, @ yepov. 6 vots pev wm Evddrdeywv e7VAAA odk évoor, aditos 8 évdov dvaBadnv Trovet rpaywolav. AIK. @ rpurpaxape Evpi7idn, vf) c n = \ lal 4 4 60 6 dodA0s oUTwWal TOPas UTOKpLVETAL. éxxdderov aitdv. OE. add’ advvatoyv. AIK. aA’ Opws. ob yap dy arédOouw’, GAAA KWo TiV Ovdpar. Evpurién, Evpiriéuor, « / v , > ’ / , imdxovoor, elmep TOTOT avOpeTor TU AtxaidroAts Kadet oe XoAdeidns eyo. GAN’ ov oXOA?). GAN’ exxuxdjOnr’. EYP. add’ dddvaroy. AIK. add’ Opws. Grn’ exxvxAjoopnar KaraBalveiy 8° ov 7Xody. Evpiridn, EYP. ri dédaxas; AIK. dvaBadnv TOLELS, > 7 AN » ’ - bee." A 2 o. efov xaraBddnv; ovdK eros XwAovs ToLELs. arap tl Ta pax.’ ex Tpaywdias Exes, Cobar edeEVv; OVK eTOS TTMXOUS TOLELS.
ACHARNIANS 23
Is to bite men to death in courts of law. So suffer me, before I speak, to dress In tatters like a wretched suppliant. CHOR. Come, why shilly-shally, and offer excuse ? To Hieronymus go, if you think it’s of use; Like a jungle his hair is, to keep you unseen, Like a cap from the fairies, though hardly so clean! Then open fire, Napoleon of debate, For no excuse this trial can admit. Dic. ’Tis time I steeled my heart with high resolve, And paid a call upon Euripides. [He goes to Luripides house, and knocks.| Hello! SERVANT [appearing at the door]. Who’s there ? Dic Euripides at home ! SERV. [¢mztating his master’s style]. At home, yet not at home, if thou hast wit. Dic. At home, and yet abroad ! SERV. I spoke correctly. His mind’s abroad, collecting epigrams, But he himself’s at home, in fact in bed, Writing a tragedy. Dic. Thrice-bless¢d bard, Whose slave so subtly speaks his master’s mind ! Come, call him forth. SERV. It can’t be done. Dic. Oh, please ! [Zhe servant slams the door.| I'll not depart, but smite upon the door. Euripides! ... ’Rippy! Give answer, if thou ever didst to any! Dicaeopolis am I, from Lame-peter. Eur. [whiz]. Busy !
DIC; Well, come to the window.’ Eur. [w7thin]. Can’t be done. IDIes Oh, please !
Eur. [w¢thiz]. Alright; but I’ve no time to come downstairs. Dic. Euripides! Eur. [w7thin]. Why yellest ? DIG: Now I know
Why all the heroes of your plays are cripples,
Born as they are at the top of crazy stairs.
[Aur. appears at the window.]|
What! You yourself are wearing sorry rags,
The property of some drama. Now | know
Why all the heroes of your plays are beggars.
' It was a joke against Euripides that his heroes were often lame or wounded. Dic. pretends that he belongs to the parish Cholleidae, as if the name were derived from ywAds, ‘ lame,’ so as to ingratiate himself with the poet.
2 See /ntroduction, § 3.
24
| op Bo
AIK. EYP.
AIK.
EYP.
EYP.
AIK.
ETP. AIK.
EYP. AIK.
EYP. AIK.
AXAPNHS
’ lal a GN’ avTiB0AG Tpds TGV yordrar o°, Edpirtén, dds rou paxidy TL Tob Tadawod dpduaros. a / / an fal en / det yap pe A€Eat TH YopS pow paxpav x an abtn 0€ Odvaror, iv Kaxés Aw, épet. DS lal UA a > e > \ €Q\ Ta TOLA TPVXNH; pov ev ois Olveds ddl 6 dvoTOTMOS yEepalos HywviCeTo; ovk Olvéws iv, GAN Er’ GOAwwrépov. aXN’ 7) Ta SveTWH O€deLs TETASpaTA & Beddepoddrtns efx’ 6 xwdds otroci; ov BeddAcpopdvtns’ GAG KaKeivos pay iy , a 4 x / XAOS, TpoTaiTav, aTwptAos, dSewwds Aeyew. oid’ avdpa, Mvodv TiAegov. AIK. vai TyAeov" 4 x >] lal / ‘ / TOUTOV 608 AVTIBOAG GE ror TA ETAdpyava. Ly a 4 ’ ral / = /, @® Tat, bos av’t@ Tyr€ov paxdpara. keirar 6° dvwdev rOv Oveorelwy faker, petakv r&v “Ivods. ldod taut AaBe. ® Zed burra Kai Karénra TAVTAX fj. Evpinlon, "revdyrep exaplow radi, y J al / ‘ , , a c n Kaketva yor bds TaKdAoVOa TGV faker, TO TALSLov rept Ti Kepadiy To Mvcvov. bet ydp pe bdEar Trwxodv €ivat Tipepor, * s nd , , / OX / evar per Oorep ell, cpaiverOat be pur}. ddow* TuKV yap AeTTa pnxavad pevi. > , Tr / el c 4 fal evdaipovoins, Tnrépw & aya pore. ey" olov 76 pnpatioy éurlumrapa. arap d€oual ye mTwxLiKod Baxrnpiov. Toutl AaBay dee Aaivwr crabuar. ® Obp’, Spas yap os azwOoduar ddumr @ OUL, Opgs yap ws ama ls Mov, 4 ° , / Lal e\ nm TOM@Y HEdnEVOS TKEvaplwy* Vov bi) yevod / fal cal > > /> yAltoxpos mporaitav AurapGyv 7. Evpurldy, dds ow omupld.oy diaxexavpeévor AVXVY. Ti 8’, @ TdAas, we Todd’ exer TAEKOUS xpéos; ae ‘ Ios , , oo” nA Xpeos pev ovder, BovAopat 6° duws AaBeiv.
EUR.
IONE,
EuUR.
DRC:
JD OAR,
IDES
EuR.
ACHARNIANS 25
But come, I do beseech thee by thy knees,
Bestow on me some rags from your old play.
A long speech must I make unto the Chorus ;
And if it’s badly done, my fate is death.
Which tatters dost thou mean? [Holding up a roll of MS.| Those in which Oeneus,
That aged butt of misery, played his part ?
Not Oeneus, no; a far worse case than his.
Dost wish the squalid rebes Bellerophon,
The cripple of this play [Lo/ding up another roll|, wore long ago?
No, not Bellerophon. Still, the man I mean
Was crippled too, a beggar, full of words.
I’ve got it—Mysian Telephus.
That ’s him !
Grant me his swaddling-clothes, I do beseech thee !
[to Servant within]. Give him the tattered weeds of Telephus.
You'll find them just above Thyestes’ rags,
Next to the Ino set. Catch! There you are.
Dic. [holding up the cloak and peeping through one of its many
holes}. O Zeus, whose eye sees down and through all things! Euripides, since thou hast granted these, Make the outfit complete. Bestow on me His chic felt cap to give some local colour. To-day must I appear a beggar-wight, Be what I am, but wear an alien semblance.
Eur. [throwing it]. ’Tis thine, as guerdon of thy subtle brain.
Dire:
EWR.
Onc
Bless thee, and Telephus may go to — well,
That is my secret. Good! I’m full already
Of tragic terms. But where ’s my beggar’s staff?
[throwing zt]. Take it, and hasten from these marble halls!
My soul, thou seest how they thrust me forth,
Though needing lots of useful articles !
Be thouimportunate! Euripides,
Give me a basket black-burnt by a lamp.
Eur. Poor wretch, what need hast thou of woven withs?
IDice:
No need have I, yet with withs would I wend.
26
EYP. AIK.
EYP.
ETP. AIK.
EYP.
EYP. AIK.
ETP. AIk.
XOP.
AXAPNH®
\ y 7 oX 3 / , AuTNpos toO Hv KaToxepyngov dopwv. ped
’ A ef € / / EVOALLOVOINS, WOTEP 1) MITHNP TOTE. amehOe viv por. AIK. paddd pou dds Ev povor KoTUAloKLov TO XElAOS ATOKEKPOLPEVOV. pbelpov AaBav 768° to dxAnpos Hy dopors.
/ ow pa A’ otc of aitds épyacer Kaka. G\N’, & yAvk’rar’ Evpuidn, tovri povor, 7 4 / / dds por xuTpidLoy oToyyiw BeBvopevor.
” , >) / ‘ / avOpwn, apaipioer me THY Tpaywdiar. amehOe ravrnvi AaBov. AIK. am€pxopua.
/ / / tal \ ca , Lod ~ \ kairo. Tl dpacw; bet yap Evos, OV pI) TYXwY améAwn’. dxovoov, @ yAvkvrar’ Evpirién:
\ . ” , , : eet TouTl AaBwv amEeysr KOV TPOTELL ETL els TO oruptd.ov loxvd por pvddeta dds. dmokets p. dot cor. poddd por Ta dpdpara. ° > > me > oS 2 A / » ee ee GAN’ ovKEeT, GAA ATE. Kal yap elu ayar dxAnpds, od SoKGr pe Kolpavous otvyety.
¥ > / c >) , , . , olwor Kakodatuwr, ws aTdAWA’. éTEAGOOpY’ ey ameép eote TaVvTa pol TA Tpaypara. Edpinié.ov & yAvx’ratov Kal didraror,
/ > °° / v , ’ ’ / ’ v Kakiot amoAoluny, el Tio aiTyoaim ETL, ahijy @v pdvov, TouTt pdvoy Tovti pdvor, oxdvouxd por dds, pntpdber bedeypevos. ivip bBpiCer KAele THKTA Swpdror. ® Ovp’, dvev oxdvd.ixos eumropevtéa.
* ?» a 7” 4 , a9 5 a / ip ota@ dcov Tov ayav aywviet Taxa,
/ « s > / > ¢ fal / péed\Awy b7ep Aaxedaipoviwy avodpov Acyew; mpdBawe ver, ® Ovpe* ypaypa 6 adrnl. rl dpdoes; Th pyoes; GAN tobe vor dvaicxuvtos dy odnpois & drip, td . “ , ‘ , / doTis Taparxav TH TOAEL TOV avxEVA
d / / / dimaoe pédAets els A€yew Tavarria.
EvuR.
Dic
EUR. DIc.
EuR.
Dire
EvR.
DIc.
EUR. DIG:
EvUR.
Dic
ACHARNIANS 27
[throwing it]. Know that thou troublest me. Remove thyself.
Mayst thou be happy, as thy mother was ! Now, please, begone. Nay, grant me just one thing: A wee small cup, all broken round the edge. [throwing tt]. Take it! The foul fiend rid thee from my house ! Not yet dost see what ills thyself dost work ! O sweet Euripides, but one boon more ! Give me a tiny jug, with sponge beplugged. [throwing it|. Fellow, thou’lt rob me of my tragedy. Take it and go! I go. [Gotng.] But yet I can't.
One thing I need : without it I am lost. Sweetest Euripides, one moment, pray. If I get this I’ll go, nor come again. Give mea musty salad for my basket. I’m ruined. [Zhrows 7t.] Take it. Tragic art, farewell! Not so; I leave thee. [Gozzg.] I have been in truth A trouble; I knew not that the princes hate me. [S¢ops.] Horror and fellcalamity! I forgot One thing on which my every hope depends ! [Going back.| Euripides, thou darling of my soul, May Hades seize me if I ask aught else But only one thing—only, only this : Give us a radish from your mother’s shop! The varlet mocks. Let the portcullis fall!
[Slams window down. My soul, all radishless must thou set forth. Dost know how grim a struggle for thee waits If thou wilt speak for men of Lacedaemon ? Forward, my soul! Here is the starting-line.
[He comes forward to the block, and confronts the Chorus.|
CHOR.
What plea will you offer, You impudent scoffer ? For you’ve wagered your neck that the nation to teach
28
AIK.
AXAPNH2
aes > / A lod ’ al avip ov TpEwEl TO TPAyy.. Ela VUV, 3 , 2 c lal fi eTELON TEP AUTOS alpel, Eye. / / 3 ” € J py por pOovijanr’, avdpes ot Oewpevor, > \ xX mv DN ie) a? Fe / el TTWXOS Gv eTEiT Ev ‘AOnvaiois Acyew / \ fod , 4 lat peA\AW TEPL THS TOAEWS, TpLyY@dlaY TOLOY. x x / > \ , TO yap dixaioy oide Kal Tpvy@dia. zJ \ \ n ~ / , €y® O& piuc@ pev Aakedaysoviovs opodpa, , a c a eh / , kavtois 6 Ilovewdav, ot7i Tawapw Oeos, / ed > j / >s 3 / celoas dracw €euBador Tas olKlas Kapol yap eoTw duTéAla KeKoupeva, po / / ‘ c , 3 , arap, piAot yap ot Taporvtes ev AOyo, tt Tatra Tous Adkwvas airidpeba; « lal ‘ v > \ ‘ , / nav yap avopes, ovxl TV TOALY AEyw, y) ee / / U GA’ avipapia poxOnpa, TapaKekoppeva, yd / / x ‘4 éesvxoparte. Meyapewy Ta xAavioKia: a / Kel Tov olkvov lovey 7) Aaywov.ov ba’ /> ba , bal , ¢ 7) xouplovoy 7) eKdpodov 7) Xovdpovs GAas, oye: x 3 / > > / Tair av Meyapixa xarémpar av0npepor. kal Taira pev 6)) opLKpa KaTLX@pLa, ropynv 6& SyaiOav idvres Méyapdde veaviat kAémTovoL weOvooKdTTaBoL: Kd0” of Meyapis ddvvais Tepvaortyywpevor avre€exhevav “Acracias mépva bvo. evreddev dpyi epixdéns ovAvpuTos jotpantev, ¢Bpovra, Evvexv’xa TH “EAAdéOa, ér(Oer vopuous GoTEp TKOALA yeypappevovs, ws xpi) Meyapéas pajte yh pat ev ayopa s-3 5 / me b] , / par’ év Oadarry pair’ év a7Elpm pevew. évredbev ot Meyapijs, dre 87) melvwy Bddnr, Aaxedaipovioy ed€ovto TO Wipirp dTws petaotpade(n TO bia Tas AatkaoTplas: ovK 70€Aopwev 8 tpets Seopevrwy TOAAAKLS. , cal ¥> / 7 al , /> Kavrevder 6n TaTayos jv TOV doTlowy.
ACHARNIANS
You're able and ready ! Your nerves seem quite steady ; For a trial you’ve asked, so get on with your speech! Dic. Gentles in session, eye me not askance If I, a beggar, speak on state-affairs Before Athenians, in a comedy. E’en comic poets have their moral side. I yield to none in hatred of the Spartans, And may the earthquake-god of Taenarus, Poseidon, shake their roof-trees down on them! For I, like you, have seen my vines chopped down. But come, for we’re all friends in this debate, Why do we blame the Spartans? Men of ours, Not all our town, but ten or twenty cads It was who did the mischief, little worms Who sneaked about ‘ dumped shirts from Megara’. Whene’er they spied a pumpkin, or a hare, A sucking-pig, some rock-salt, or an onion, *Twas ‘made in Megara’ and seized at once. So far ’twas mere parochial quarrelling, But Love comes on the scene. Some tipsy youths Kidnapped Simaetha, the Megarian belle. Then the Megarians, mad with rage, abducted Two of Aspasia’s damsels in revenge. Next our Olympian Pericles, all fury, Lightened and thundered, set Greece by the ears, And drew up laws that ran like drinking-songs : ‘From ports and marts Megarians be driven ; Fancy them off the Earth, but not in Heaven.’ Then the Megarians, seeing every day Starvation creeping nearer, begged the Spartans To get this Women’s Edict set aside ; But say what Sparta would, we stopped our ears. Then clattered shield on shield. We were at war!
30 AX APNH®S
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v a <4
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/ , > 3 / , cal / tis Topyov’ e&jyetpev €x Tod oayparos;
HMIX. ® Adpay’ pws, rav Adpav Kai TOV AdXwD,
ACHARNIANS 31
‘Shameful,’ you'll say. But what cow/d Sparta do? If a Seriphian? pup had been imported To Sparta, and then seized as contraband, Would you have sat down quietly? Absurd ! You would have launched—I know you—on the spot Three hundred cruisers, while the city rang With shouting soldiers, worried sea-captains, Receipt of pay, re-gilding figure-heads, Garlands and flute-girls, anchovies, black eyes. And then the dock-yard! Fellows shaping oars, Hammering pegs and fitting straps to port-holes ; Flutes, boatswains, whistles, screeching all at once! All this would ye have done; ‘and think we then That Telephus should not?’ ’Twere lunacy !
[ This speech causes a division in the Chorus, half of whom are still implacable, while half are won over. A quarrel now arises between the leaders of the two sections.|
First LEADER. Blackguard and outcast, do I hear aright ?
Dost thou, a pauper, dare to beard us so, And scorn us for an odd informer’s sake ? SECOND LEADER. Now, by Poseidon, every word he says Is just; there ’s not a lie in all his speech! FIRST LEADER. Well, even so, is Ze the man to say it? I'll make him rue the day he preached to ws! [He rushes forward, and ts met by the other leader.) SECOND LEADER. Hullo! Where are you running? Halt, I say ! If you strike him, you’ll soon be floored yourself ! [ There ts a struggle between the two and the First Leader zs overpowered. | FirRST LEADER. Ho! Lamachus, draw nigh With lightning in thine eye! Advance thy frightful crest, Of all my tribe the best ! A rescue here, colonel or brigadier, Or any warlike prancer! He Has got my head in chancery! [Enter Lamachus. Heis arrayed in complete armour, with crest, shield, &c., of enormous size.)
LAMACHUS. Whence did arise the roar of clashing hosts?
Where must I charge, and hurl hell-hearted war ? Who hath aroused the Gorgon from her wraps? [He smites his shield, which has a Gorgon’s head as a boss.]
SECOND LEADER [smockingly]. O valiant Lamachus! Fallals
and phalanxes !
! Seriphus was the most insignificant island in the Athenian Empire.
32 AXAPNH®S
Ss / HMIX. @ Adpay’, od yap otros avOpwros TaAaL f a na amacay uov THY TOAW KaKoppobet; AAM. otros ob roAuas Trwyos Gy Eye TAd€E; i , Py AIK. @ Adpay’ iipws, aAAG ovyyvepnv exe, x el TTWXOS Ov Eimov TL KATT@pVAGUND. AAM. ti & etnas nyas; ovx épeis; AIK. ovk oida. AAM. és; AIK. 70 rod b€0vs yap Tav 6rAwY iAtyyLd. 3 >’ > lal ’ 5 / / \ , GAN avTiBo0rA@ oa’, aTEVvEYKE LOU THY jLoppova. AAM. ol os teOvn€ers. AIK. pndapds, @ Adpaye -) \ > Me | , rJ , oT. J \ > ov onv Kat icyty eorw: ei 6 ioxupos él, 7 > > 3 / v \ Ld Ti ovK ameWitwoas; evoTAos yap el. AAM. ravti A€yets ob TOV oOTpaTNyOV TTwXOS OV; AIK. éya yap els mrwyds; AAM. Gada ris yap et; AIK. Goris; moAitns xpnotos, ov arovdapxions, >) 2 3 ind c id / avn’ e€ Grov TEp 6 TOAEMOS oTpaTwridns, \ a J ind 4 , sy av 6 é& Grov Ep 6 TOAELOS pc Oapy fons. / r a AAM. éxewpororvnoay yap we AIK. Koxxvyés ye Tpets. ws a ‘es , > / TavT ovy éy® BdeAUTTOMEVOS EoTELTapND, OpOv ToALovs pev Gvdpas ev Tals Taeow, , 5. - \ , veavias 6 olos ov dradedpaxkoras \ SS » eet’ / fal cal , - Tous pev eT Opakns p.cPopopodvytas Tpeis Opaxmas, - Ticapevopawinrovs, Llavovpyimmapy as c / \ \ ea? \ a °3 r / eTepous b€ mapa XNapnti, Tovs 6 ev Xadou Tepnrodeodpovs, Atoueradacovas, tous 6 év Kapuapivn xav Téda wav Karayeda. AAM., éxetporovnOnoay yap. AIK. atruov 6e rl buas bev det proOoopeiy aunyern, TwMVvol 6€ pnderv’; eredv, ® Mapirddn, ¥ / \ 4 4 e On TEeTpEeTBevkas ov FOALS Ov Evy; avevevoe? Kaito. y ésTl coppwr Kapyarns. a ~ Tl & ’AvOpaxvadros Kedvopldns 7 Upuwidns; / id fal , / x, °4 \ r , eld€v Tis tuav TaKkBarav’ 7) To’s Xadvas;
ACHARNIANS 33
FIRST LEADER. O Lamachus, yon man has been reviling The whole Athenian State for hours on end! LAMACHUS [Zo Dic.]. Sirrah, dost dare to talk so, thou, a beggar? Dic. [7 affected terror|. O valiant Lamachus, pray pardon me, If I, a beggar, chattered saucily. LAM. What didst thou say of us? Dic. I don’t know. LAM. What! Dic, My brain is dizzy, and your armour frights me, For Heaven’s sake remove that hobgoblin [focuting to the shield]. LAM. Zounds! Death gapes for thee! Dic. [coolly]. Oh no, Lamachus. You're far too delicate. Or if you’re not, Why don’t you crush me? You’ve got tools enough ! [ Jostles him. LAM. Beggar, dost speak thus to an officer? Dic. Oh, I’m a beggar, am I? LAM. Why, what else ? Dic. A decent burgher, not a bureaucrat, But since the war broke out, a fightocrat, While you have been a full-pay autocrat. LAM. The will of the people must— Dic. Mm! Plural voting. That ’s just what sickened me, and brought about This peace I’ve made—old greybeards in the ranks, While youths like you are shirking, some in Thrace Knee-deep in coin, captains of horse-marines, Or fencers to the Sophy ; another bunch Fighting the Mughs or following Martell’s stars, Bald-head Boastonians and twopenny wits, Who fight the Carribees and Carriboos! LAM. The will of the people must— DIC: But what’s the cause That you can always find a paying job, But these men [ pointing to the Chorus| can’t? Grimes, did yeu ever go For an ambassador—your’re old enough ? He shakes his head ; yet he’s sober and works hard. What of Macoalay, Porter, and Woodburn ? Have you seen Eldorado or the Mughs? D
34
XOP.
AXAPNHS
r / ov dacw. add 6 Kowsdpas cai Adpayos, a / ols tm €pavov Te Kal xpeOGv Tpenv TOTE, GonEep ATOvintTpov exxeovTes EaTrepas, dmavres e€ictw Tapyvovr ot diror pt = a) ! ® Onpokpatia, Tadra bnr avacyerTa; ov OnT’, eav pr) proOopoph ye Adwaxos NT > #7) ny Paxos. > ‘ Vad / GAN otv éy® pev Tact IleAoTOvynctows / a del TohEUHTH, Kal Tapdgw TavTax ij, Kal vavol Kal meColol, KaTa TO KapTepov. ee \ / / eyw b€ KnpttTw ye [leAotovyvnc ios dmacu kal Meyapetou kal Bowrtious vad +d / \ b] / / \ / mwArcw ayopacew mpos ene, Aapaxw 6€ pu). avnp viKd rotor Adyourw, Kal Tov Sjpov perarrelOer TEpl TOV oTOVO@Y. GAN arodvrTEs Tols dvaralaTots e7lwpev. €€ ov ye Xopolow eseaTnKev TpvytKots 6 bLd6doKados Hav, ovTH Tape3n mpos TO O€arpor A€Ewv ws beios eorw: 6raBadAcuevos 6 i770 TOV €xOpav év “AOnvato.s Taxv- BovaAots, Ws Kwpmbel THY TOAW Huav Kal TOV djpov KabvBpice., . / a ‘ \ > / 4, anoxplvecOa detrar vuvi pos ‘AOnvatovs peraov- Aovs. now & evar ToAAGY ayabGy dios tpiv 6 Tours, , « Ca cal / ‘ / Cal mavoas tas Eevixoior Adyows pr) Alay eLavrarac Oat. mporepov 6 bas and Tov TOAEwY of Tpéo Bets e€aTa- TOVTES fol s > / b] / b] ‘ “ ‘ mpetov pev looredavous exdAovr KatrELO?) TOOTS TLS elo, >A ~~ \ / gee Me 4 an / evOds bia Tos atepavous em axpwy Tov Tvytdlwr b] U exabnade. > o/ c al ‘ el 6€ Tis tas VTOOwTEvoas AiTapas KaA€éoeev >AO2- vas,
LAM. Dre LAM.
DIc.
ACHARNIANS 35
No. But friend Lamachus and his swell clique
Half live in foreign courts—men who till lately
Were so hard hit by club-debts, all their friends
Kept shouting ‘ Out o’ the way! Make yourself scarce !’ | Jostles Lamachus.
Like people in the gloaming emptying slops !
Democracy, must words like these be swallowed ?
No, unless Lamachus receiveshis wage! [Strikes him.
No matter! ’Gainst th’ embattled Peloponnese
With this mailed fist I'll war by land and sea,
Till every nook of Hellas howls again ! [A xz.
Well, please take note, embattled Peloponnese,
Megarians, and Boeotians, you can buy
And sell with me, but not with Lamachus.
[He goes out. The Chorus come forward to deliver their Parabasis, or address to the audience on behalf of the poet.|
CHor. The grand old man has won his case, and smashed the
opposition.
Come, doff your cloaks ; the audience next must hear our just petition.
Though long ago as comic bard our poet was indentured,
To come before the house and brag he never yet has ventured.
But, now he’s slandered by his foes in this home of sheer unreason,
Who say that he blasphemes the State and fills his plays with treason,
In this, the home of second thoughts, to-day he claims a hearing.
His dramas are a boon untold, in spite of all the sneering.
Remember : when an envoy came from any Grecian city,
How easily he cheated you with phrases neat and pretty !
*O City of the Violet Crown!’—that was a favourite notion ;
And on the spot each man of you was swooning with emotion.
If he wanted anything on earth, he’d only got to ask it,
D2
AXAPNH2
eo PN N iN PS Yj N ! eUpeTo TAY av bia TAS AiTapas, apUwY TINY TEpLaas. TabTa ToLnTas TOAAGY ayabGv aitLos buiv yeyevyTat, \ \ , b] ta / / c Kal Tous dyous év Tals TOAcow SeiEas, ws SnwoKpa- TOUVTAL.
o , 5 A AS na , y , / e/ ovTw 6 avTod TEpl THS TOAUNS NON TOppw KAEOS 7)KEL, bre Kal Bacwreds, Aakedaipoviwy Tv mperBelay Ba-
caviCwr, HpOTHTEY TPOTA pev aVTOVS TOTEpOL Tats vavol Kpa- TOvG LW" a XX fal \ 35 / y ‘ / €iTa O€ TOUTOV TOV TOLNTHVY TOTEpPOUS ElTOL KAKA TOAAG* tt \ xv \ b) y \ / TovTous yap Edy Tavs avOpwmovs TOAD BEATIOVS. yE- yevno bat Kav T@® TOACMH TOAY viKHoEW, TodToY Evpovdov EXOVTAS. dia TAO jpas Aakedaypovior THY Elpyvnv TpoKadodr- Tal, \ nt y b] a \ a / \ b] kal THY Alywav amaitotow: Kal Tis vHooU pev exelvyns b] a ov povtigova’, GAN iva totroy Tov TomTiy ade- AwvTat. b} -) KS an / eS) af) c / x / GAN’ tpets TOL my TOT APIO: ws KopwMdNnoEL TA Ot- Kala. mpos Tadra KA€wy kal tadapacOw kal may em euol Texraweodo. TO yap «0 per Euod Kal TO dixatov
/ ” > / Wee a EVppaxov ErTal, KoV My 700 GAG TEpt THY TOAW Ov woTEp eKEtvos detdos Kal AakataTUywv. dedpo Moto’ €AdE hAeyupa Tupos Exovoa pévos, Ev-
tovos ’Ayapviy. otov e€ dvOpdkwrv mpiwivey péWadros avndrar’, épebt- (ouevos ovpia pid, (any deo Ie b) / oS / nvik ay evravOpakides WoL Tapakeipeval,
c X 5) a ,
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ACHARNIANS 37
And call you ‘glistening Athens’, just like sardines in a basket.
Your comic poet stopped all this—come, bless him for his sallies !—
And showed you what ‘democracy’ can mean for subject allies.
From West to East his fame has spread, he’s such a fearless Tartar ;
Why, e’en the Great Mogul himself, when envoys came from Sparta
To seek his aid, asked first (of course): ‘ Who rules the local ocean ?’
Next ‘Whom does Aristophanes insult in his devotion ?’
‘If they’ve got 47m’ (the king explained) ‘to help them in their quarrels,
I’m backing the Athenians; they’ll capture all the laurels.’
That’s why the Spartans sue for peace, and ask you for
Aegina ;
For the island they don’t care a rap, but mind you don’t resign her !
They’re after Aristophanes! He lives there, and they know it.
You keep him safe, and thank your stars for an upright comic poet ! Confusion to Cleon ! His schemes I deride; If he plots for an aeon, I’ve right on my side. Foul is his reputation, But mine shall be sound ; He’s a shame to the nation, A cowardly hound!
Come, Muse of Flame, Bring with thee gusts of fire: Acharnian Dame, Come to thy folk ! As the sparks from the logs leap higher, The logs of holm-oak ; When the blast of the bellows stirs The crackling embers, And the little fishes lie On the hearth to fizz and fry, While the Thasian sauce is creaming up like yeast,
38 AXAPNHS
ot 6& patrwow, ottw coBapov ede péAos, evrovor, aypo.iKerovor,
c DS fa \ ,
ws eue AaBovoa Tov dSynporny.
AIK. dpou pev ayopas ciow olde THs eurs. evtadd ayopatew maor eAotrovyna lous efeott kal Meyapedor kal Bowwttous SLE i, tal \ SO” Ie: / \ / ep wre TwActy pos Eve, Aapaxm S€ ju7. ayopavomovs 6€ THs ayopas KabioTapat Tpeis TOS AaxdvTas Tovad iuavras ex Aempar. evtava pate cvKopartns €icitw
TxD) Sf. wd , 3 a 3 / pat aXdos otis Pacvavos €or avyp. oe xX XN / ay tex b) U eyo O€ THY oTHAnV KAO iv eoTELoapnv péereyws., va ornow pavepay ev rayopa.
MET. dyopa ’v ’A@avais xatpe, Meyapetow diva. b) / \ BY / & / emo0ouv Tv val Tov didtoy amEp parepa.
2) ta Soy , LenS) 3 4 , aA’, ® Tovnpa Kopi abAiov zarpos,
yA >S / 4 > Led / apBare morray padday, at x’ ebpyré ma. axoverov 61, ToTéxeT euly Tay yaoTépa:
/ las / b) sh ” a TOTEpa TeTpAacAar xpyddeT’, 1 TEWHY KAaKOS;
KOPA, wenpacba werpacba.
METI. éyévya xaités day. tis & obrws dvovs aA ¢ / fa x /
Os Due Ka Tplaito, pavepay Caplav;
b) >» / / / GAN’ €or. yap por Meyapixa tis paxava. xolpovs yap tue oxevacas pacd dé€pew.
/ / ‘ i ‘ las / mepiOecbe Tacbe TAS OTAAS TOY XoLpion. dtms 6€ do€eir juev e€ ayabas tos: ¢ \ \ € Un ¥ € (easy, y os val Tov “Eppav, etmep tkeir ofkadis,
TQ TpaTa Telpacetobe Tas AYod Kakds. GAN’ applOerde kal Tradl Ta pvyyxia,
LA 5 \ / #953 9 f / KIJTELTEV ES TOV GDAKKOV OO eo Balvere. Omws O€ ypudALEetre Kal Koikere xyoelre hwvay yxouplov pvoTnpiKav. eyav 6€ kapv&6 ArxaoroAw Oza.
ACHARNIANS 39
And the cakes are nearly ready ; Let thy song be hot and heady, But as full of jolly melody as any rustic feast!
[Enter Dicaeopolis, who marks out the limits of his private market-place, within which, in virtue of the peace he has made, he has the right to do business with members of the confederacy led by Sparta.|
Dic. These are the limits of my market-place. Here may all Peloponnesians buy and sell, Likewise Megarians and Boeotians ; But they must deal with me, not Lamachus. Hereby do I appoint clerks of the market, Duly elected, these three straps from Strapford. Here let no base informer’s face be seen, Nor any other gaol-bird’s. Now to fetch The tablet which proclaims the terms of peace. I’]l place it here to catch the eyes of all.
[Enter a Megarian farmer, who looks wretched and half-starved.|
Msc. Athenian market, hail! You’re dear to Megara. My word, I’ve wanted you, like any babe Its mother. Eigh! Poor girls, join your poor father !
[Zwo little girls enter and run up to him.|
Climb up to t? cake,—if you can see any. Now, listen; pay attention with your stomachs. Would you like to be sold, or would you rather starve? GIRLS. Let’s be sold! Let’s be sold! Msc. Why, so /think. But who’d be such a fool As to buy you, and throw his brass in t’ street ? [Showing his sack.| But see! I’ve got a good Megarian trick. I’ll dress you up and say I’ve brought some pigs. | Producing pigs’ feet.] Quick, put these trotters on, and mind your manners ; Mek people think your mother won a prize! If you go home unsold, I swear by Hermes You'll go to lessons in the school o’ famine. [Showing masks like pigs’ heads]. Put on these snouts and then crawl into t’ sack; And don’t forget to grunt and squeal like pigs At the Mysteries. And now to act town-crier, And find where Dicaeopolis is. [Shouting.| I say,
40
AIK. AIK. AIK.
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AlK.
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AXAPNHS
AtxaidroAt, 7) Afis mplacbar xoupia; ti; avip Meyapixos; MET. ayopacodytes tkomes. m@s éxere; MET. dvavewapes del morro Tip. BN an adn’ dv Tor vy Tov Al’, HY addds Taph. TiO GAXo mpatrel? ot Meyapys viv; MET. ofa &n. Oka pev €yov THvO0EV eutropevdpar, BA , eS) Se, m , avdpes TpdBovdor TovT Expartoy Ta ToXeEL, dmws TaXLOTA Kal KaKLoT aTodoipeEOa. atrix ap amaddagerbe mpayyarwv. MET. od par; / DAS cal at ¢ ea + Tt 6 GdAo Meyapot; 7s 6 oiTos ovios; Det aN 7 & \ / Tap ape ToAvTiuatos, atep Tol Deol. das otv pepers; MET. ody tyes adrav apxere; ovde oxdpoda; MET. rota oxdpod’; tyes Tov dei, 4 2? 3 / \ b) a , OKK €oPaANTE, TMS Apwpaior pwes, / bs ¥ b] UA TacoaK. Tas ayiOas eEopvocere. Tt dal depers; MET. yolpous éyévya pvortikds. KaA@s A€yeis* emrideréov. MET. adda pay Kadai. avrewov, ai Afjs' ws Taxeta Kal Kaha. Toutt TL Hv TO mpayya; MET. xotpos val Aia. ti Neyets 0; TodaT) Xoipos Oe; MET. Meyapuxd. BN n r 7) ov xoipds eo GS; AIK. ov« Eyorye daiverar. ’ / CG ny ba b) / ov detva; Oacbe Tovde Tas amLoTlas* A / n wd a \ / ov dati Tavde xotpov rev. GAG par, ai Afjs, mepldov pou TEpt Ovpuriday GdrAOv $5 p ’ , 73 eo a c / , ai py oTw otros xotpos “EAAdvar vopw. GAN’ €or avOpeérov ye. MET. vai rov Atokdéa, eud ya. ov O€ viv elyevar Tivos dokets; 1) Ais axovdoa pbeyyouevas; AIK. x) rods Oeods éywye. MET. dover 67) Tv Taxéws, xoupiov. ov xpnoba; olyns, @ KaKloT aTo\oUpEVA; / > n \ ‘ c ~ y mdaAw Tv azouw® val Tov “Epyar olkab:s.
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ACHARNIANS 41
Dicaeopolis, do you want to buy some pigs ? [Enter Dicaeopolts.| Dic. A gentleman from Megara! MEG. Come to market. Dic. How goes it? MEG. We do nowt but sit round t’ fire Tuckin’ in—us stomachs. Dic. Jolly, if you’ve got A flutist. Well, what other news have you? MEG. So-so. When I was setting out to-day T’ Committee were discussing ways and means To put us all out of our misery. Dic. You'll soon be free of trouble then. MEG. You're right. Dic. Whatelse from Megara? What’s the price of corn? MEG. Nay, corn’s gone up with us, as high as Heaven. Dic. P’raps you’ve brought salt?
MEG. Nay, you command the salt-mines. Dic. Onions? MEG. Hark at him! You Athenians
Keep on invading us and grubbing up The onions with your spades, like swarms o’ field-mice !
Dic. What save you got?
MEG. Why, pigs for t’ Mysteries.
Dic. Good news! Let ’s see them.
MEG, [Opening sack and showing girls.| Fine and fat they are. Handle ’em if youlike. There’s fat for you!
[Dic. takes hold of one of the ‘ pigs’, and at once penetrates the disgutse.| Dic. Whatever’s this?
MEG. A pig. Where are thy eyes? Dic. Indeed! Where was it bred? MEG. At Megara. Isn’t this a pig? DIc. Well, 7 don’t think it is.
MEG. This beats me! Well, of all the obstinate chaps ! He'll face it out it’s not a pig! Look here, Wilt bet a packet o’ salt with thyme in it That this is not a pig by Grecian law? Dic. But it seems of human breed. MEG. Of course it is! Bred her myself. Whose did you think she was? Wouldst like to hear their voices ? Die: Yes, by Jove. MEG. [Zo one of the girls]. Speak, piggie, speak at once ; come! What? You won’t? [as¢de.] Hast lost thy tongue, tha little imp? All reight : Ah swear ah’ll carry thee back home again. FIRST GIRL [hurriedly and emphatically). Wee! Wee! Wee! Dic. Can they take food without their mother’s help ?
42 MET. AIK.
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AXAPNH®S
\ xX la X a lal / val Tov [loredav, Kav dvev ya TO Tarpds. TiO eoOier padtora; MET. trav? & xa 6id6s. avTos 0 épétn. AIK. yotpe yotpe. KOPH. kot kot. ON MMe A. ah Tp@yols av epeBivOovs; KOPH. kot kot kot. ti dal; PiBddrews ioxadas; KOPH. kot kot. ti dal; ov Kal Tpéyos Gv ad’ras; KOPH. kot kot. c b] NI X X , / Ul ws 0&0 mpos Tas loxddas KEeKpayare. > f} 5 lal , / €veyKaTw TIS Evdobevy TOV Loxadwv Tols xolpiolotow. apa tpdfovrar; BaBal, otov pobiaove’, ® moAvTiun® “Hpaxdess. X XX 4) c an , mobama Ta xoupl’; ws Tpayacatia daivera. > b>] y / / x , / GAN ovTL maoas KaTéerpayov Tas loyaoas. , \ XN ’ n / / 5 , €y® yap avtav Tavoe play averddpav. a» A yo 5: / ‘\ i m Tov AC dorelw ye TH Bookyuare mocov mpiwpat cor Ta xoupidia; A€ye. A . d / , , TO pev &repov ToUTwWY TKOpddwy TpoTAaAtdos, \ Ss d , An / , WING. To 8 Grepor, al Afjs, XolviKos povas GAGr. evyncopatl cou Tepiver avrod. MET. radra 67. «< love | lal ‘ a ‘ ’ a Eppa *prrodate, Tay yuvatka Tay éyav ovTw y atoddc0a Tay T euavTod parepa. ovOpwre, TodaT0s; MET. xoupommdas Meyapikds. ‘ / yA J \ n \ Ta xolplo.a Tolvuy eyo pave Tadl moA€pia Kal oe. MET. rodr’ exetv’, tker madw A +) X na lal c an v dOevTEp GpXa TOV KakOV Gyiv Edv. kAdwy peyapleis. ovK adynoets TOV TAKOY; AtxavoroAr ArkatdToAL, pavTaddopat. c \ n P c / , , Ve c , imo Tod; Tis 6 palywr o eoriv; ayopavopot, Tovs ovkopavras ov Ovpac’ e&elpEere; ov yap dave rovs moAewtovs; AIK. kAdwy ye ov, El pa) TEpwoe TUKOpaVTHTELS TPEXWD. e Q\ A , nn , if mn 3 4 otov TO Kakov ev Tats ‘A@avais TovT evi. Odpper, Meyapix’ GAN As Ta xoupldv amédov a X \ ‘ / \ \ d Tins, AaBe TavTl TA oKOpoda Kal Tovs GAas,
ACHARNIANS 43
MEG. Aye, and without their father’s, no mistake? Dic. And what do they like best ?
MEG. Owt they can get.
Ask ’em yourself. Dic: Come, piggie, piggie ! FIRST GIRL. Honk ! Dic. Can you eat peas? FIRST GIRL. Wee-honk ! Wee-honk! Wee-honk! Dic. Alright; and dried figs ? FIRST GIRL. Honk! Wee-honk ! Wee-honk ! Dic. Alright. [Zo second girl.| Could you eat some? SECOND GIRL. Wee-honk! Wee-honk !
Dic. How eagerly you raise your cry for figs! [ Zurning to the house.| I say ! Let some one in the house bring figs For these young porkers ! [.S/ave brings figs.] Will they eat? Let’s see. [He throws figs on the ground; the girls rush at them and devour them greedily. | Good Lord deliver us! Can’t they ply their teeth ! They must have come from Tuskany, these pigs ! MEG. [aside]. They haven’t gobbled all the figs, you know, I’ve picked up one of ’em to eat myself. Dic. They’re clever little creatures, on my soul! What price are you asking for your pair of pigs ? MEG. For this one you can pay a string of onions; For t’ other, if you like, a quart o’ salt. Dic. Ill buy them. Wait a moment here. MEG, I will, [A2xit Dic. O Hermes, god of merchants, may I sell My wife on these same terms,—aye, and my mother! [Enter an informer.| INFORMER. Fellow, whence come you ? MEG. Megara, selling pigs. INF. Then I denounce these pigs as contraband Of war, and you as well! MEG. [hopelessly]. Aye, the old tale! [¢ragically.| The well-spring of our sorrows floweth yet ! INF. How dare you be a foreigner? Let go The sack. [Zhey strugeg/e.| MEG. Help! Dicaeopolis, I’m denounced ! Dic. [entering hurriedly with the salt and onions]. By whom? Who’s meddling? Market-clerks, wake up, [He seizes a strap. And fling the vile informer out of doors! [7rashes him. INF. Can’t I denounce the foe? Dic. [striking him.) If you like the strap. Trot off and do your dirty work elsewhere! [Zav¢ Jf. MEG. A fearful drawback, yon, to Athens, lad ! Dic. Cheer up, Megarino! Here’s your salt and onions, The price of these two pigs. And now farewell.
44
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BOL.
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ACHARNIANS 45
MEG. Nay, it’s poor fare we get down Megara way ! [Exit Dic. and the girls. My piggies, you must try without your dad To gobble salt scones, if you get any! [A xit. [Zhe Chorus sing a song which includes a racy account of the shady characters who haunted the Athenian markets, but whom Dic. will escape by having a market to which no Athenian but himself is admitted.| CHOR. Our friend is in clover ! The scene that ’s just over Has shown that he wove a Most elegant plot. In the market reclining, His pockets he’s lining ; For rivals combining He cares not a jot. If Ctesias enters, Or other tormentors, Our prince of inventors Will give them his toe. His cloak, on inspection, Won't prove to have specks on Because of infection From Prepis and Co.
You won't let the lawyer
Hyperbolus bore you,
Or that prick-eared top-sawyer, Cratinus the cad.
The jigging musician,
The son of perdition,
A second edition Of his dirty old dad!
Pauson, vilest of creatures, Shan’t libel your features ; Lysistratus’ screeches No more shall you hear. He’s a snipe of the gutter, A criminal utter, Who smells bread and butter Not once in a year!
[Z:uter a Boeotian trader, followed by slaves. They all carry loads of merchandise. Two pipers bring up the rear.| BOEOTIAN. Hoots! But my shoulder’s stiff and sore the day!
Ismenias, put the pennyroyal doon. Be carefu’! And you piper-lads frae Thebes Begin to play ‘Arsenic for Dandy Dinmont’. [Zhe pipers play, very discordantly. Dic. rushes out.| Dic. Stop! Stop, you hornets! Move off down the street ! What cursed wind has brought this braying crew
BOI.
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ACHARNIANS 47
To haunt my doorstep with their gallows-faces ?
BoEoT. Weel said, sir stranger! All the way frae Thebes Thae lads hae ganged behind me, playin’ hard,
An’ blawn the blossoms off the pennyroyal. But if there’s aught you lack among my wares, Buy it—a chicken or a four-winged beast. Dic. Good-day, my bannock-fed Boeotian ! What have you?
BOEOT. All the dainties that we raise: Marjoram, pennyroyal, mats, and wicks,
Ducks, jackdaws, francolins, coots, plovers, divers. . .
Dic. You stormy petrel of the market-place !
BorEoT. Aye, an’ I’ve got fine geese, hares, foxes, moles, Hedgehogs and cats, weasels and lemon-weasels, Otters, an’ genuine Copaic eels.
Dic. Blest be the hand which brings that heavenly morsel ! If you bring eels, O, let me speak to them!
BoEoT. O eldest of the fifty marish-nymphs,
Come forth, I pray—to please the gentleman ! [He exhibits a fine eel to Dic., who is in ecsiasy.| Dic. Hail, my beloved! Thou art come at last To ease the yearning of the comic chorus, Thou glutton’s darling! Varlets, hie with speed, Hale forth the bellows and the cooking-stove ! Look, lads, upon the Queen of Eels, at length After six weary years restored to us! Speak to her, O my children ; and the coals I will provide for this fair stranger’s sake. Nay, take herin! Let me not, e’en in death, Be sundered from thee, in thy robe of beetroot. [A slave takes the eel indoors.
BOEOT. Hey mon, but whaur’s the siller for the fush?
Dic. The eel, of course, you pay as market-dues.
If you wish to sell your other wares, then say so.
Boror. They’re all for sale.
Dic. What price do you ask for them ;
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ACHARNIANS 49
Or will you take another cargo back ? BoEoT. Aye, something cheap wi’ you, and dear wi’ us. Dic. Sprats from Phalerum, I suppose, or china? BOEOT. China or sprats? There’s muckle o’ both wi’ us. Something that’s rare wi’ us, but common here. Dic. I’ve got it—an informer! Pack one up Like china in a crate, and so export him. Boeotr. Lord save us! _ I'd find siller rollin’ in, Importin’ a monkey full 0’ devilment ! Dic. Good luck! Here comes Nicarchus to denounce you. Borot. [looking off |. But yon’s a wee sma’ chap. DIe: Little, but bad.
[Enter Nicarchus, a little man full of tmportance.| Nic. Whose merchandise is this?
BOEOT. It’s mine, ye ken, Frae Thebes, Lord help ye!
NIC. Then do I denounce it As contraband of war.
BOEOT. What! Are ye fey?
Shall chickens bear the slaughterous brunt 0’ war? Nic. You I denounce to boot. BOEOT. What ’s wrang the noo? Nic. I'll tell you—to impress the bystanders. From hostile states you are importing wicks... Dic. A wicked deed of darkness come to light ! Nic. This little wick might burn the dockyard out. Dic. A wick? The dockyard ! NIc. So I think. Dic. But how? Nic. I know Boeotian cunning. He might thrust This wick into a reed, set it alight, Wait for a strong North-wind, then send it off On a voyage down a drain-pipe to the docks; And if the fire once touched our battle-ships, They’d be ablaze in no time. Dic. Liar and slave! A reed and wick would set them in a blaze? [Strikes him. Nic. [20 the bystanders|. Bear witness ! DIc. Put his mouth under arrest. Bring me some shavings ; let me pack him up Like crockery, for fear he’s smashed in transit. [WVic. 7s seizedand Dic. proceeds to pack him up in spite of his struggles.| CHOR. Rope up the parcel, gentle sir, To suit your foreign customer, And pack him tight : don’t let him stir ; E
50
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ACHARNIANS
We really mustn’t break him! Dic. Leave that to me! I’ve rapped the pot ; It sounds like one who’s talking rot. It’s fire-flawed, and a rank bad lot! CHOR. What made the stranger take him? Dic. Of household jars this pot is king ; At pressing suits he’s just the thing ; And if the high official ring Should dare their posts to sin in, He’s splendid as a rushlight-stand, To show them up, or at command A tub for dirty linen. CHOR. But who could use a pot like this And feel that there was naught amiss? He'd fill the house with clatter ! Dic. He’s strong, my boy! For all his squeals, Although you hung him by the heels, This jar you’d never shatter. CuHor. [¢o Boeot.|. Now you're set up ! BOEOT. ’Tis harvest-day ! CHOR. Well, stranger, take your load of hay, This master-rogue ; pitch him away Where’er you like—no matter! Dic. The beggar’s trussed at last—a fearful job! Take up your crockery, my Boeotian boy. BorotT. Ismenias, laddie, come an’ stoop your shoulder. [Nic. ts hoisted on to the slave’s back.| Dic. And pray be careful as you take him home, He ’s cracked already, to be sure—but there ! If you can sell this cargo at a profit, Your fortune’s made: informers won’t run out !
[EZxeunt Boeotian and slaves. Enter a Messenger.| E 2
52
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ACHARNIANS 53
MEss. Dicaeopolis ! Dic, What now? Why this halloo? MEss. Lamachus bids you send him-—here’s a shilling— Some of your thrushes for the Feast of Jugs, And a Copaic eel—three shillings more. Dic. Who ¢s your eel-buying friend, this Lamachus ? MEss. The dreaded Lord of War who wields the Gorgon, : And on whose helmet nod three shadowy plumes! Dic. Not if he threw his shield into the scale! Over his salt fish let him nod his crest. And if he squeals, I’ll call the market-clerks. I'll take these wares within, all for myself, [2x Mess. Wafted by plumage of the thrush and blackbird. [He gathers up the Boeotian’s merchandise and goes within.] CHOR. Dost thou see, thronging city? His cunning so quaint is, The truce he has made crowns him King of the mart. All household utensils, all roastable dainties, Yea, blessings in showers have gladdened his heart ! Ne’er again shall the War-God have welcome from me, Nor join in our feast and our national song, The quarrelsome drunkard! All happy were we, Till his tipsy intrusion wrought havoc and wrong. He bullied and brawled, while to quiet his ire I said, ‘ Sit and drink; pass the loving-cup round.’ But he rammed our vine-props deeper down in the fire, And spilled, like a brute, all our wine on the ground. [Leathers from poultry are thrown out of Dic.’s house. This banquet’s exciting our friend : see the traces ! All these feathers are proof that he’s festive and gay, O Peace, foster-sister of Love and the Graces,
54
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A 4 A , Ss a ed a / Kal TEPL TO XwWPLOV eAddas aTav €v KUKA®,
¢e , 3 7 / > PJ > > lal >) SS fal @or adrcipecOat o am avTOV Kaye Tals voupy-
vias. ) / / x X / \ , dkovere ew KaTa Ta TaTpLA TOVS XOas 7 ig \ Lad / A 3 TN 5 / nmivew tnd THs cadmuyyos: bs 8 av Exrin mpotiotos, aoxov Krnowpdvros Ajwerat. @ Tatdes, @ yuvatkes, ovK 7)KOVoaTE; r fal / rl Spare; Tod KypvKos OVK AKoveETE; b) / > 2 lad / > b) / avaBparreT, eLomTare, TpemeT , ApeAKeETE Ta Aaya Tax€ws, TOUS TTEpdvovs avetpeETE. / ‘\ , / de 3 J / Xx 7 hépe Tovs dBedloKovs, tv dvareipw Tas KixAas. GAG oe THs EvBovdAlas, paddAov dé THs evwxias, avOpwre, THS Tapovons. rl ofr, émevdav Tas KlyAas OmTwpEvas LOnTE; = / \ owe eo / olwal oe Kal Todr ev AEyew. TO Tip UrooKadeve. HKOVTAS OS PLAYELPLKOS KopW@s TE Kal SEeLTVNTLKOS ait@ diaxovetras; = \ , ® pidtate, srovdat yap elor vol pore, a / > eérpnoov elpiyns th jor, Kav mévT’ TN. / rl 8 énabes; TEQ. énerpiinv amodcoas
Boe.
ACHARNIANS 55
How blind to thy beauty our eyes till to-day ! O, might kindly Cupid, with garlanded tresses Like the dream of apainter, bring thee to my arms! Dost thou deem me too old for thy fertile caresses ? To a threefold exploit I’d be roused by thy charms. First the vine-shoots 1’d plant, then young figs in a line, And thirdly the vines under glass that I’d raise ; And a ring-fence of olives the farm to confine, And anoint us with oil on the festival-days !
[Enter a Herald to announce the Feast of Pitchers.|
HERALD. O yes! Drain off your jugs as custom bids, When sounds the trumpet. He who’s finished first Shall get a wineskin made from Ctesiphon."
Dic. [hurrying out|. Varlets and females, heard ye not the news? What do ye? Did the herald cry in vain? Roast on, yea, braise the meat, and turn the spit ; Unspit the hare’s flesh briskly, twine the garlands, And bring me skewers for these thrushes. Haste!
[Slaves bring out a portable stove and cooking begins, superintended by Dic.|
CHOR. I envy you your strategy But more for this your revelry! DIC. When you my roasted thrushes see, You'll say I am a winner. CHOR. Youre right again. Dic. Poke up the fire! CHOR. A prince of cooks! Don’t you admire
The way that taste and skill conspire To help him cook his dinner ? [Enter a farmer, weeping. | FARMER [/o Dic.] Kind sir, there’s none but you has treaty- wine : Spare me a drop—the five years’ brand would do. Dic. What’s wrong? FARMER. I’m ruined—lost my yoke of oxen!
1 A notoriously fat man of the day.
56
AIK. AIK. TEQ.
TEQ.
AIK. TEQ. AIK. PEQ.
AIK. TEQ. XOP.
AIK. XOP.
AIK. XOP.
AXAPNH®S
AN n 700ev; | TEQ. amo Bvdjs €AaBov ot Boudrior. @ TploKkakodaiwv, eira AevKOY dyTexXEL;
fal / X\ b) Kal Tabra pevtot v7) AC wrep p> erpepéernv ev tact Bodiros. AIK. eira vuvi rod de; a7oAwha TOPOarpa baxpvwv Ta Bde. > y / GAN et Tu knder Aepxérov Pvdaciov, is / DoF > 5 / uTaAEnpov elpnvn pe ToPOalyw Taxd. >) > > ie >’ > f. / GAN’, & TOvnp’, OV dnuootedwy TYyXaVU. wad 3 na 3 7 / \ , 10 avTi30AO ao, Vv TwS KOpicwMpaL T@ Boe. oUK €oTW, GAAG KAGE TpOs Tovs TlirTdAov. av 0 adda pou oradaypor eipyyns eva ) x 4 b) / / eis TOV KaAaploKoy evoTtadagov TovTovi. ovo av orpiBirKiy& GAN amidv oluwé Tov. ool KaKodalpwv Tolvy yewpyotv oLdiou, avip evevpynkev TL Tals eTovoaiow Ov, KOvK €oL- b] \ / KEV OVOEVL ETAOOCEL. \ a io \ / KaTAXEL OV THS XOpdHs TO edt Tas onmias oradeve. HKovoeas OpOracpaTwr; OmTaTE TayyXEeAELa. ATOKTEVELS ALLO ME KAL Tous yeiTovas Kvion TE Kal dwvy Tovatra AdoKwv. b] Cad \ \ cal - 2 0( = Onrare TavTl Kal Kad@s EavOicere. AuxatoroAu. AIK. rls otroot ris otroct; v / / 7, .. / emeue Tis cou vupplos TavTl Kpea éx Tov ydpwv. AIK. Kadds ye Tor, doTis -) / » / an nan f exéAeve 0 €yxXeal oe, TOV KpEOV XapL, / ¢ és Tov dGAdBacroy Kvabov eipnyns Eva.
\ / \ / / aTopep aTopepe TA KPEa KAL p47) LoL OLdov, @S OUK Gy eyxeaysl XIALOY dpaxpeor.
>] \ ¢ / GAN abryni tis €orw; TIAP. 7 vupdevtpia
S nV.
ACHARNIANS 57
Dic. Why, where? FARMER. The Boeotians drove them off from Phylae. Dic. Thou’rt drowned in sorrows, yet thou’rt dressed in white? FARMER. Yes, and by Zeus they aye kept me in peace And plenty—of muck. Dic. Well, tell me what you want. FARMER. I’ve lost my sight with weeping for my oxen. Oh, if thou car’st to cure Isaac of Phylae, Anoint my eyes with peace—Oh, don’t delay ! Dic. Unhappy man, I’m not the parish doctor. FARMER. Have mercy! I might get my oxen back. Dic. It cannot be: try at the hospital. FARMER. Oh, but you might just pour me out one drop Of peace into this tiny tube of reed! Dic. No, not a molecule! Go, groan elsewhere. FARMER. Alack! My darling beeves, my fellow-toilers ! [Zxz.
CHOR. This treaty-wine his heart ensnares: He won’t let any one go shares ! Dic. Come, grill the cuttle-fish, and where’s The sausage soaked in honey? CHOR. You hear his cries? Dic. Next roast the eels. CHOR. At all this talk of savoury meals
Each man of us like starving feels, Though yow may think it funny ! Dic. Roast all these dishes ; mind you brown them well.
[Enter a Bridesman and a Bridesmaid.
BRIDESMAN. Dicaeopolis!
IDO Who’s there! what ho! who’s there ?
BRIDESMAN : A certain bridegroom sends you this prime joint From his wedding feast. ...
DIc. Good man, whate’er his name!
BRIDESMAN. And begs of you to pour into this jar
One ladleful of peace, as due return. Dic. Away! Remove the joint! Don’t offer it! I wouldn’t sell a drop for fifty pounds. But who is this? BRIDESMAN. The bridesmaid, who has brought
58 AXAPNHS
na x las i \ / , d€iTaL Tapa THs vopdys TL ToL heEaL pore. ia , (2 \ / ~ Ly AIK. epe 6, Ti ov A€yets; ws yedoiov, @ evi, TO d€nya THs vbuns, 0 detral pou opdédpa. pepe Sedpo Tas orovdds, iv’ airh 66 pov Pp Pp , HI 2 c X is) a / 2) 3 ot ad OTL) yuv oTL TOD TOAEMOU T OUK Agia. vA >, @ _ > / Ss 4 tmex’ Ode dedpo TovEddrermTpov, & ybvar. b) / X / / X = eee amopepe Tas oTOVvOaS. epe THY olvynpvow, ed > b] / \ b] X / WwW olor eyxew aBwv Es TOUS XOas. XOP. kat pay 60f Tis Tas dppis averraKas w@omep TL Oewov ayyeAGv enelyerat. AT.A. i wovou Te Kai paxar kal Adpayou. AAM. ris audi xadkodpddapa démata KTuTeEl; : s/ Bae € \ , AY.A. levar o° éxeAevoy of otparnyol THuEpov TaX€ws AaBdvtTa Tos AdxXous Kal TOYS Adovs* ” lal , X > / KaTELTa THPEL ViowevoY Tas Ela BoAas. € A \ ans ‘ \ Aes ’ mn fs u79 Tovs Xoas yap Kal Xvrpovs avrotoi tus nyyElA€ Anoras euBadreiy Bowwrtiovs. a AAM. ia orparnyot mAeloves 7) BeArloves. ’ ‘ \ > cal , » 7 / ov dewa pr Eeival we pnd? Eopraca; AIK. i@ orparevya TodeyoAapayxaixor. J | ¥ / a ¥ 4 AAM. olpo. kaxodaluwr, Katayedds 7j6n a0 pov.
r , /
AIK. BovAeu pdaxerOa Pnpvovyn tetpanrirg ; AAM. aiat,
id c / > J / ¥ /
olay 6 knpv€ ayyedlav iyyyeid€ pot.
r o - ey / ’ > / ’ Lal AIK. aiai, riva & ad por mpoorpéxer Tis dyyeAGv; AD.B. Atxa7oAr AIK. ri éorw; AT.B. én deimvor
TAaXv Baduce, tiv klorny AaBdy Kal rov xda.
6 tod} Avovicov ydp o° teped’s petanéurrerat. , > , , > a / / GAA eyKovet’ OeiTVEety KaTakwAdvets TAAL. ‘ , / > Bae J \ / Ta 6 adda TavT’ éotiy TaperKevacpeEva,
A / A , kNivat, TpaTrEeCal, TporKePpadaia, oTpwyaTa, Gpvdo., TAaKodvTEs, on TApodVTES, iTpLa.
ACHARNIANS 59
A private message for you from the bride. Dic. Say on; let’s hear it. [ Zhe bridesmaid whispers to him.) Jove! How comical This fond entreaty of a lovesick bride! Hand me the peace-wine: she alone shall have some ; She’s a woman, so the war is not her fault. My girl, hold out the bottle. There you are. [Exit bridesman and bridesmaid. Remove the peace-libations. Bring a ladle ; I must prepare my wine for the Pitcher-Feast. CHoR. Look! Yonder hasteth one with solemn visage, As if he bare some news of fell import. [Enter a Messenger who knocks at Lamachus’ door.| Mess. Ho! Toils and turmoils and Lamachian wars! [Enter Lamachus.| LAM. Who clamours thus without my martial gates? MEss. War Office orders: you must march to-day, O’ th’ instant, with your phalanxes and fallals, And guard the passes in the snow; for news Has come that brigands from Boeotia Have planned a raid for the Feast of Pots and Pitchers. Lam. O War Office, less warlike than officious ! ’Tis monstrous! Can’t I even keep the Feast? Dic. Trumpets without ; then enter Lamachus! Lam. Curse my hard luck! Yow’re laughing at me now. Dic. [decorating his hair with feathers from his fowls]. Dost wish to fight a gryphon of four plumes ? Lam. Alas! What tidings hath the herald brought me! Dic. [/ooking off |. Alas! Another herald running up! For me this time! What can his message be? [Enter another Messenger.| MEss. Dicaeopolis ! Dic: What is it ? MESS. Haste to dinner ! Shoulder your luncheon-basket and your jug. The Priest of Dionysus calls for you. But hurry, or you'll keep the banquet waiting. All else is ready : couches, tables, cushions, Bedspreads and bannocks, buns and cakes and biscuits.
60
AIK.
AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM, AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK.
AAM., AAM. AIK,
AAM.
AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK.
AXAPNH®
GAN ws Taxiota onedde. AAM. kakodainwr eyo. \ x AS if: 3 / N , Kal yap ov peyaAnv eTeypadov tiv Topyova. oUykAEle, Kal delmveY Tis evoKEevaceTo. al o / n mai mat, pep Ew dedpo Tov ybdArov epol. a a Pipes aw cal ss / 3 / mat Tail, hep €€w dedpo THY KioTnY Epol. ul i val ddas Ovpiras oice, Tat, Kal Kpoppra. ewol 6€ Teudxn Kpowpvors yap axOopua. Opiov rapixovs oice devpo, Tat, caTpov. >) \ \ an n b} / Pe) lal Kap.ol ov Onuod Opiov: dmTIHTw O Exel. éveyke Sebp0 TH TTEPH TH kK TOD Kpavovs. , \ X >S / / ‘ ‘ / €ol d€ TAS daTTas ye depe Kal Tas KixAas. KaAGV ye Kal AEUKOV TO THS GTPOvOOD TTEpOV. / A % \ a / / Kadov ye Kal €avOdv TO THs PparTns Kpeas. OvOpwre, Taboar KaTayeAGv pov TOV bTAwr. ovOpwre, BovrA€Er pr BAETEW els Tas KixAas; TO Aodetov e€€veyKe TOV TpLOV hodav. >) bs / a E \ n Kapol Aekaviov TOV Aaywwv bos KpEav. GAN 1 TpLxdBpwres Tovs Addovs pov KaTepayov; >) +) > \ af ‘ , / GAN 1) Tpo SelmvoV THY plwapKLY KaTEdowaAL; avopwTe, [Z0vAEL 2) TpoTayopevey eye; A 3 \ > lal b} / / oUK, GAN’ eye X@ Tals epiCouev TadaL. , / Bovre Twepiodcba, KamuTpewar Aapaxy, , b) / ed , > BN / moTEpov akploes HOLOV eat, 7) KixAaL; olw ws bBpi¢ers. AIK. ras axpidas Kpiver Todd. a a lal / mat Tat, KaOehdv prow TO Sdpv Sedp’ EEw Ee. na c SS (Ne! / mai mat, ov 8 adedwy dedpo THY Xopdiy Pépe. , al , b) / ¥ pepe, TOV Sopatos adEeAKVowpaL TOVAUTPOP. wv 69 , / lal a \ / a Ad €X, GVTEXOV, Tal. AIK. kat ot, mat, Tov aVTEX Ov. Tovs KIAA(Bavtas oice, Tal, THS ao7léos. A ~ 5 ” \ / v Kal THS euns Tovs KpiBaviras Exdepe. pepe Se0po yopyovwtov aomidos KvKAOV. Ka.0l TAAKODVTOS TUpOvVwTOV bos KUKAOD.
LAM.
Dre
ACHARNIANS 61
Don’t waste a minute ; hurry! [Lait Messenger. Curse my luck! Well, why did’st take a fiend to grace thy shield?
[ Zo slaves.] Shut up the house and get the dinner ready.
LAM. DIG: LAM. Die
LAM.
Dic. LAM. Dire LAM. Dic. LAM. DIc. LAM. DIc. LAM. Dic; LAM. Dic.
Lam.
Die LAM. DIC: LAM.
[Lam. and Dic. make elaborate preparations for their
respective expeditions.|
Varlet, bring forth the knapsack for thy lord. Varlet, bring forth for me the luncheon-basket. Fetch me spiced salt, my lad, and onions. I’m sick of onions: fetch me a slice of fish. Bring me a sandwich made of rotten herring. Bring we a rissole, and I’ll cook it there. Fetch me the plumes to fasten on my helm. Fetch ze the thrushes and the pigeon-pie. The ostrich plume —a lovely shade of white! The pigeon’s breast—a lovely shade of brown! Fellow, cease mocking at my warlike gear ! Fellow, cease ogling other people’s thrushes. Fetch me the case that holds my triple plume. Give me a charger piled with roasted hare. What! Have the moths devoured my helmet’s hair? What! Before dinner shall I hare devour? Fellow, pray spare me uninvited chat. Alright, I’m only wrangling with the slave. Let’s bet on it, and ask old Lamachus Are locusts, or are thrushes, best to eat ? What impudence!
He gives his voice for locusts. Varlet, take down my spear and bring it forth. Varlet, take off the sausages and bring them. Come, let me draw the sheath from off my spear. Take hold and pull, my lad.
Dic. [holding out sausage on spit to slave|. And you pull this.
LAM. Dic. LAM. DIG:
Bring me the stand to stay my shield upon.
Bring ze some standard bread to stay my stomach. My orbéd shield, decked with a Gorgon-boss !
My orbéd cake, with boss of cheese adorned!
62 AXAPNH*®
n / AAM. tatr’ od KarayeA@s éotw avOpoeTois TAAaTUS; AIK. ratr’ od mAakobs ONT eotiv avOpedTots yAvKUs; AAM. karayxet ov, Tat, TovAaoy. ev TO XaAKlo evop® yepovta betrias pevEovpevov. AIK. karayxer ob 76 pert. KavOad’ evdnros yepwv / , / \ x / kAdew KeAevov: Aayaxov tov Vopyacov. AAM. pe dedpo, mat, Odpaxa TorEuLoTHpLoV. AIK. é£aipe, Tai, Odpaxa Kao Tov xa. AAM. év rGde Tpds Tods ToAEULoVs OwpyEowat. 2] _ \ \ / / AIK. év TGd€e Tpds TOdS GUUTOTAS OwpHEomat. AAM., ra orpépar’, ® Tai, Ojoov ex THs ao7idos. AIK. 10 deimvov, ® tat, djoov ex THs KioTidos. AAM. éy® 8 euavt® rov ytiAvoy olow AaBSv. AIK. éy® 6 Ooiparioy AaBav e€pyopmar. AAM. rijv donid atpov, kat BadiC, ® Tat, AaBov. / / / X\ / viper. BaBaa& yXepepia Ta Tpaypara. AIK. alpov 70 deimvoyv: ocupmoTiKa TA Tpaypara. XOP. ire 67) xaipovtes emt orpariay. c 5 / yw c , os avopotay EpxerOov odor a XN 7 / TO pev Tivew oTEpavacapEero, \ X\ c lal / col 6€ pryOvtt dvdartew. A , \ / "Apriwaxov Tov wWakadav Evyypadea, TOV pPEAEwV TOUNTHY, \ al na is ws pev ATAG Adyw KakGs eEoreaerev 6 Zevs* te » Le es \ / / lal > / > Os y eve tov TAnpova Ajvara yxopnyav ameduoe GdELTVOV. ov ér emldouue TevOidos , c ’ >) / OEOMEVOV, 1) O @TTNMEVN ‘2 / > ee. / / alGovca mapados em TpamrEely KEmmervn bkeAAow Kata pédAovTos AaPetv avTovd KUwv apracaca pevyol. TOTO pev avT@ Kakov ev: KaO €repov vuKTEepwov YEVOLTO.
ACHARNIANS 63
LAM. All will condemn that nasty piece of cheek.
Dic. All will admire this masterpiece of cheese.
LAM. Pour out the oil. [He begins to polish his shield, which he has placed on the stand.| I’ the brightness of my shield
I see an old man tried for cowardice. Dic. Pour out the honey. Why! I see him too, Bidding our Quixote-Lamachus be hanged!
LAM. Fetch forth, O slave, my martial cuirass here.
Dic. Fetch forth my jug, to mock this queer ass here !
LAM. The enemy I defy: I’ll lick ’em all!
Dic. J will my friends when I’m in liquor maul!
LAM. Tie on my blanket to the shield, my lad.
Dic. Tie on my forage to the luncheon-basket.
LAM. My knapsack will I shoulder, and decamp.
Dic. Ill fetch my mantle and go forth to dinner.
Lam. Take up the shield, my lad, and trudge along.
It ’s snowing. Brrr! This is a wintry day. Dic. Shoulder the dinner. What a festive day! CHORUS. March along: may you come back in triumph again! What different scenes are awaiting the twain ! For one is to drink with a garland of roses, And one to stand guard with the bluest of noses!
[Dic. and Lam. go out severally, followed by slaves.|
On spluttering Antimachus May Zeus send down disaster : I needs must launch at him a curse, That lyric poetaster, Who starved us all, the cynic,—us! Last spring, when chorus-master. Some day may he wish For a fried cuttle-fish ; And, cooked in a vessel that’s reached Table-Bay, May his dinner stand by ; With relief let him sigh, Then a dog snap it up and make off with his prey ! May he be made a fool again By night, the sour curmudgeon. Back from the riding-school again May he tramp home in dudgeon ;
AXAPNH®S
mLaAGV yap olkad’ e€ immacias Badicor,
eira karageve tis avtod peOdwy tiv Kepadry
’Opéorns pawopevos: 6 b€ AlOov AaBetv Bovddpevos ev cKdTw aor TH XElpL KpapBnv BopBdpm wepvpyevny: enagevey & €xwv TOY papyapor,
Kamel? dyaptav Baro. Kparivov.
OEP. @ byuGes ol Kar’ oikdv eore Aapdyor,
AIK.
AAM.
a vA od / lA bowp Vowp Ev XUTpPLOiw OeppatveTe dOovia, KNpwTiVY TapacKevacere, a > > / / \ \ /, €pt olavmnpa, Aap.madioy wept TO oupor. avijp TEeTpwTaL XapaKt diaTNndOv Tappor,
\ \ aN / 5 , kal TO oupov Tadivoppov eexdKKioer,
x ren an / \ , , Kal THs Kepbadns Kateaye TEpt AlOov TETOr,
\ ‘ga } b / b] Led ) v4 kal Topyov’ e&nyeppev ex Tis domios.
/ XX / 3 / tA mritov 6€ Opavaoas TO pEya Kop.TroAaKvOov
A ~ / \ oS 4 / mpos Tats wéTpaiot, Sewov e€nvda p€Aos" > A y A / , 9 ON ® KAEWVOY Oppa, viv TaviaTtatoV o° dav Neiw dos ye Tovpov, ovKET El eyo. tocaira Aé~as els bdpoppday Tirver. 60t 6€ Kadrdés* GAN dvotye Tv Ovpay. arraral arrarat,
bs / \ / / pS oTvyEepa TabE ye Kpvepa TaDEea. Tadas Eyw dwAAvpat Sopos tro ToAEuLoV TUTE!s. éxeivo 6 aiaxrov ay yevourd por, AtxaidroAts Gv ef p? ido. Terpmpevor, Kar’ eyxavo. Tais euais TUxaow, arratat arrarat / , lal ‘> /
prjoarov pe padOak@s, w xpvTiw, TOV yap XOa TpOTOS EKTETWKA. ® ovpdopa Tarawa TOY eudv KaKOr. Ns » / 3 / ia ia Tpavpatwoy éeTwHdvYOD.
ACHARNIANS 65
Then may some tipsy hooligan Knock him silly with a bludgeon.
In the dark, with a groan, May he grope for a stone,
Grab a muddy old cabbage and aim all awry. May his furious throw Fly wide of his foe,
And hit poor Cratinus a blow in the eye!
[Enter a Messenger, in great hurry and alarm. He delivers
a mock-tragic speech.|
Mess. Ye thralls that throng the home of Lamachus,
Boil, boil ye water ; bandages prepare
And salves in store, yea, piles of greasy wool
And lint, to bind the ankle of your lord !
He hath been wounded : striding through a trench He found the point of a stake, and as he fell
From the socket wrenched his ankle, while his head Smote on a stone, which broke it ; then to life The Gorgon woke that slept upon his buckler.
His plume—the feather of the mocking-bird— Upon the rocks was shattered ; loud he wailed: *O glorious Sun, I look my last on thee!
My light is out: here endeth Lamachus!’
Thus did he speak, and fell into the gutter.
But lo! He comes himself; fling wide the door!
[Slaves hurry out of Lam,’s house, carrying bandages &c. Lam, enters, wounded, and supported by two attendants.|
LAM.
Ah me! What woes! What piercing pangs of pain ! By death am I o’erta’en :
A spear-thrust is my bane.
But worse! Suppose That Dicaeopolis saw Me lying in my gore,
And mocked my throes !
[Enter Dicaeopolis, intoxicated, and as helpless as Lamachus.
He is supported by two fiute-gir/s.|
Dic. [40 girls]. Ah me! My rose!
LAM.
My lily! Don’t refrain, But kiss me once again, The first his jug to drain ! Look at my nose ! Ah, wounds my limbs that gnaw, The wasteful work of war! I’m food,for crows !
66
AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM. AIK. AAM.
AIK,
AAM.
AIK.
AAM. AIK. XOP, AIK, XOP. AIK. XOP.
AXAPNHS
in) ty) xatpe Aapaxinmuov.
OTVYEPOS eyo.
Ti pe OV KUVELS;
foyepos eyo.
Tl pe ov OaKveLs;
Tadas eye EvpBodrrs Bapeias.
tois Xovol yap tis EvpBodras emparrero;
ia ia Tavav aay.
GAN odxt vuvl THyepov Tlawvia.
AaBeabe pov, AaBewOe TOD oKEAOUS* TaTai, mpocraBecd, ® didrou.
€uod € ye ow THs Sepyns Gudw Kadr@s mpooddBecO’, & pirat.
Oipace pw e&eveéyxar és tod Lirrddov
Tawviaor xepolv.
@s Tovs KpiTds yo exéeperer Tod “oTw 6 Bactreds; GmOboTe pol TOV aoKer.
hoyxn Tis eumémnyée pou bv doréwy ddvpta.
Opare Tovtrovl Kevdv. THvedAda KaAXiviKos. THvEdAa OAT’, elmep KaAEis y’, & TpeaBv, KadALviKos. kat mpds y’ Gxpatov éyxéas duvotw e€€dAaa, THVEAAG vv, @ yevvddar xwoper haBav Tov aoKdv. emecO€ vuv adorvTes @ THVEAAA KadAlvLKOS.
GAN é,operOa ov xapw
THvEehAa KadAiviKor a-
dovres oe Kal TOV GoKOP,
ACHARNIANS 67
[ The two parties meet. Dic. gives Lam. a tipsy greeting.|
Dic. Huzzah! Huzzah! My colonel of hussars !
LAM. What woe is this!
Dic. [Zo girl]. Come, why that kiss?
LAM. Full is my cup!
Dic. [Zo girl]. You'll eat me up!
LaM. Ahme! Oh murderous attacks !
Dic. A tax on guests! And at the Pitcher-Feast !
LaM. O Healer-God, be thou my speed !
Dic. His day is past. Where is your calendar ?
Lam. Take hold of me, my friends ; Ah! how it hurts ! Grip my leg tight !
Dic. And you embrace my neck, you little flirts, With all your might!
LAM. Bear me away to Pittalus’ nursing-home With hands of healing.
Dic. Bear me to the judges!: let the Censor come.
[¢o slaves]. My drink you're stealing. LaM. A pain-fraught lance has pierced my bones; it’s stinging
like a nettle. | He ts carried out. Dic. See here: I’ve drained my pitcher dry! Salute the man of mettle !
CHOR. We’ll back your words, you grand old chap. All hail the conquering hero !
Dic. What’s more, ’twas neat, but at a gulp I brought it down to zero!
CHOR. Your wineskin grasp and marchalong. Hurrah! Vow’re no old fogey !
Dic. Fall in and follow me, and cry: ‘Tzing-boom! He’s beaten Bogey!’
CHOR. We'll follow, we'll follow,
And fall into line. Three cheers for the victor, and three for his wine!
[All go out in triumphal procession, headed by Dicaeopolis waving his jug and wineskin.|
* He means the judges who were to award the prize to the best of the three comedies presented.
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PA Aristophanes
3875 The Acharnians. An A6 abridged acting ed. 1911
cop.e4
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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY