Aristophanes: Birds 085668287X, 9780856682872

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THE COMEDIES OF ARISTOPHANES:

VOL. 6

BIRDS

ed ited with translation and notes b y

Alan H. Sommerstein

ARISTOPH AN ES: BIRDS

THE

COM EDIES O F VOL.

A R ISTO PH A N ES 6

BIRDS

edited with translation and notes by

A ttic red figure calyx k rater possibly showing a scene from A ristophanes’ Birds. (P hotograph co u rtesy o f The J. Paul G e tty M useum )

Alan H. Sommerstein

A

© Alan H. Sommerstein 1987. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Aristophanes [Birds. English ά Greek (Classical Greek) ] Aristophanes Birds —(Classical texts). I. Birds. English ά Greek (Classical Greek) II. Title III. Sommerstein Alan Η. IV. Series 882’.01 PA3875.A8 ISBN 0 85668 287 X G oth ISBN 0 85668 288 8 Limp Frontispiece: Attic red figure calyx krater. Vase 82.AE.83 Ht: 19cms Diam: 23.3 cms. Photograph courtesy o f The J. Paul Getty Museum.

Printed and published in England by ARIS & PHILLIPS Ltd, Teddington House, Warminster, Wiltshire, England.

CONTENTS PREFACE REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS

vü viii

BIRDS Introductory Note Select Bibliography Note on the Text Sigla Text and Translation Notes

1 7 8 10 13 201

PREFACE

As on previous occasions I am glad to acknowledge the assistance and stimulation of numerous scholars, among whom special mention is due to Jeffrey Henderson, Giuseppe Mastromarco, Colin Austin and Bernhard Zimmermann. 1 am particularly obliged to the kindness of two Oxford scholars. Mr Nigel Wilson once again furnished me with a collation of the Holkham manuscript (L) now in the Bodleian library. Miss Nan Dunbar (Mrs D.M. Jones) put at my disposal the draft apparatus criticus of her forthcoming edition of Birds in the Oxford Aristophanes series, and also read and commented on the whole of my final manuscript. The reader who compares this edition with those of Rogers or Kakridis, with the Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon, with D’Arcy Thompson’s Glossary o f Greek Birds, or even with John Pollard’s valuable Birds in Greek Life and M yth, will find that many of the birds mentioned in the play are here given different scientific names from those formerly current. In this held, having no pretence to expertise, I have in all cases followed the nomenclature employed in W. Bauer et al.. Catalogus Faunae Graeciae. Pars II: Aves (Thessaloniki, 1969).

ALAN H. SOMMERSTEIN Nottingham, April 1987

Sophocles

S.L. Radt, TrGF'iv (Göttingen, 1977).*

REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS

* References to these volumes of TrGF are also valid (unless specified as “ Radt” ) for the fragments of Aeschylus in Nauck’s Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta2 and for A.C. Pearson, The Fragments o f Sophocles (Cambridge, 1917).

(A) COLLECTIONS OF FRAGMENTS

(B) ABBREVIATIONS: ANCIENT AUTHORS AND WORKS

All citations of fragments of Greek authors (other than comic dramatists) made in this volume either are from one of the collections in the following list or else are accompanied by the name(s) or initial(s) of the editor(s) in which case particulars will be found in list (C) below. If there is no editor designated and the author is not listed here, it may be assumed that the author is an Attic comic dramatist and the citation is from T. Kock, Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1880-8); unless otherwise stated, such references are also valid for JJM. Edmonds, The Fragments o f A ttic Comedy (Leiden, 1957-61).

Ach. A en Aesch. Ag. Ale. Anab. Andoc. Andr. Anecd Bekk. Anecd Oxon.

Achaeus Aeschylus Agathon Alcaeus Aleman Archilochus Aristotle Callimachus Euripides Hesiod Ibycus Lysias Menander Pindar Sappho Semonides Simonides

B. Snell, TrGF i (Göttingen, 1971). S. L Radt, TrGF iii (Gottingen, 1985)* and H J. Mette, Die Fragmente der Tragödien des Aischylos (Berlin, 1959). B. Snell, TrGF i (Göttingen, 1971). E. Lobei and D.L Page, Poetarum Lesbiorum Fragmenta (Oxford, 1955). D.L Page, Poetae Melici Graeci (Oxford, 1962). M.L West, Iambi et Elegi Graeci i (Oxford, 1971 ). V. Rose, Aristotelis Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1886). R.H. Pfeiffer, Callimachus (Oxford, 1949-53). A Nauck, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta2 (Leipzig, 1889). R. Merkelbach and M.L West, Fragmenta Hesiodea (Oxford, 1967). Page (see Aleman). T. Thalheim, Lysiae Orationes (Leipzig, 1913). A Körte (rev. A. Thierfelder), Menandri quae supersunt: Pars altera (Leipzig, 1953). B. Snell and H. Maehler, Pindari Carmina cum Fragmentis: Pars II (Leipzig, 1975). Lobel and Page (see Alcaeus). M.L West, Iambi et Elegi Graeci ii (Oxford, 1972). Page (see Aleman). vui

Ant. Ant A pol Ap.Rh. Ar. Arist. AthPoL Ba. Bacch. Copt Char. Cho. Cic. Cim. com. com. adesp. O ut Cycl Cyneg. Cyr.

Acharnions. Aeneid (Virgil). Aeschylus. Agamemnon (Aeschylus). Alcibiades (Plato or Plutarch); Alcestis (Euripides). Anabasis (Xenophon). Andocides. Andromache (Euripides). Anecdota Graeca ed. I. Bekker (Berlin, 1814-21). Anecdote Graeca e codd manuscripts bibliothecarum Oxoniensium ed. J.A Cramer (Oxford, 1835-7). Antiphon (the orator). Antigone (Sophocles). Apology (Plato). Apollonius Rhodius. Aristophanes. Aristotle. Athënaiôn Polîteiâ (pseudo-Xenophon or Aristotle). Bacchae (Euripides). Bacchides (Plautus). Captivi (Plautus). Characters (Theophrastus). Choephoroi (Aeschylus). Cicero. Gmon (Plutarch), comic dramatist. comica adespota (anonymous fragments of comedy). Cratylus (Plato). Cyclops (Euripides). Cynegeticus (Xenophon). Cyropaedia (Xenophon). IX

Dem. Demostk D.S. Dysk. EccL EL

Ep. Eq. E t Gen. E tk Nie E t Mag. Eum. Eur. Fob.

fr. fr. ia. GA Gorg HA Held. Hdt. Hec. HeL Hell Hes. HF kH om fA p.) Hipp. Hipporck Hippocr. kO rpk HP IA Isocr. Isthm. La. Lac Luc. L yc

Demosthenes. Demosthenes (Plutarch). Diodorus Siculus. Dyskolos (Menander). Ecclesiazusae. Electra (Sophocles or Euripides). Epistulae (libanius or Philostratus). De Re Equestri (Peri Hippikës, On Horsemanship) (Xenophon). Etymologicum Magnum Genuinum ed. F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras (vol. I: Rome, 1976). Ethica Nicomachea (Aristotle). Etymologicum Magnum ed. T. Gaisford (Oxford, 1848). Eumemdes (Aeschylus). Euripides. Fables (Aesop) or Fabulae (Hyginus), fragment. iambic (non-dramatic) fragment (Hermippus). De Generatione Animalium (Aristotle). Gorgias (Plato). Historia Animalium (Aristotle). Heracleidae (Euripides). Herodotus. Hecuba (Euripides). Helen (Euripides). HeBenica (Xenophon). Hesiod. Hercules Furens (The Madness o f Heracles) (Euripides). Homerie Hymn (to Apollo). Hippolytus (Euripides). Hipparchicus (Xenophon). Hippocratic treatises. Orphei Hymni ed. W. Quandt (2nd ed., Berlin, 1955). Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus). Iphigeneia at Aulis (Euripides). Isocrates. Isthmians (Pindar). Laches (Plato). Lacedaemonian Constitution (Xenophon). Lucian. Lycurgus (Plutarch).

Lys. Lys Mem. Men. Menex. Mor. NA ND Nem NH Nie OC Olymp. Or. Paus. Per. Pen. Phdr. Phil Phoen Phryn. Pind. PI. Plut. Poet Prom. Prot Pyth Rep. Rhes. Rhet. Sam. schol. Soph. Supp. Symp. Them. Theocr. Thesm. Thg.

Lysias. Lysistrata. Memorabilia (Xenophon). Menander. Menexenus (Plato). Moralia (Plutarch). On the Nature o f Animals (Aelian). De Natura Deorum (Cicero). Nemeans (Pindar). Naturalis Historia (Pliny the Elder). Nicias (Plutarch). Oedipus at Colonus (Sophocles). Olympians (Pindar). Orestes (Euripides) or Orations (Aristeides or Themistius). Pausanias. Pericles (Plutarch). Persae (Aeschylus). Phaedrus (Plato). Philoctetes (Sophocles). Phoenissae (Euripides). Phrynichus. Pindar. Plato. Plutarch. Poetics (Aristotle). Prometheus Bound (ascribed to Aeschylus). Protagoras (Plato). Pythians (Pindar). Republic (Plato). Rhesus (ascribed to Euripides). Rhetoric (Aristotle). Sarnia (Menander). scholium or scholia (ancient and medieval commentaries). Sophocles. Suppliants (Euripides). Symposium (Plato or Xenophon). Themistocles (Plutarch). Theocritus. Thesmophoriazusae. Theogony (Hesiod). XI

Thphr. Thuc. Top. Track, trag adesp. Tro. D ue VH Virg. Xen.

Theophrastus. Thucydides. Topica (Aristotle). Trachiniae (Sophocles). tragica adespota (anonymous fragments of tragedy). Troades (Euripides). Tusculanae Disputationes (Cicero). Varia Historia (AeUan). Virgil. Xenophon.

(C) ABBREVIATIONS: MODERN AUTHORS AND PUBLICATIONS ABSA Agora in Agora xiv

AJA AJPh Alink Barrett

BCH BICS Burkert CFG ü CGFP ac Colonna CP CQ CR

Annual o f the British School at'A thens R.E. Wycherley, Literary and Epigraphical Testimonia (The Athenian Agora, Volume III) (Princeton, 1957). H.A. Thompson and R.E. Wycherley, The Agora o f Athens: The History, Shape and Uses o f an Ancient City Center (The Athenian Agora, Volume XIV) (Princeton, 1972). American Journal o f Archaeology. American Journal o f Philology. MJ. Alink, De Vogels van Aristophanes: een structuuranalyse en interpretatie (Amsterdam, 1983). D. Barrett (with A.H. Sommerstein), Aristophanes: The Knights, Peace, The Birds, The Assemblywomen, Wealth (Harmondsworth, 1978). Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique Bulletin o f the Institute o f Classical Studies, University o f London. W. Burkert, Greek Religion (trans. J. Raffan) (Oxford, 1985). W. Bauer et al.. Catalogus Faunae Graeciae. Pars II: Aves (Thessaloniki, 1969). C. Austin, Comicorum Graecorum fragmenta in papyris reperta (Berlin, 1973). Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum ed. A. Boeckh (Berlin, 1828-77). A. Colonna, Himerii declamationes et orationes cum deperditarum fragmentis (Rome, 1951). Classical Philology. Classical Quarterly. Classical Review. xii

Dale2 Davies Dem. D-K Dover Edmonds Ehrenberg2 FGrH Fraenkel Beobachtungen Fraenkel KB

A. M. Dale, The Lyric Metres o f Greek Drama7* (Cambridge, 1968). J.K. Davies, Athenian Propertied Families 600-300 B. C (Oxford, 1971). J. Demianczuk, Supplementum Comicum (Cracow, 1912). H. Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker6 (rev. W. Kranz) (Berlin, 1951-2). K J. Dover, Aristophanic Comedy (Berkeley, 1972). see (A). V. Ehrenberg, The People o f Aristophanes7 (Oxford, 1951). F. Jacoby, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (Berlin/Leiden, 1923-58). E. Fraenkel, Beobachtungen zu Aristophanes (Rome, 1962).

E. Fraenkel, Kleine Beitrüge zur klassischen Philologie (Rome, 1964). B. Gentili, Anacreon (Rome, 1958). Gentili Gomme- Andrewes- A.W. Gomme, A. Andrewes and K J. Dover, A Historical Dover Commentary on Thucydides (Oxford, 1945-81). G&R Greece and Rome. Heberlein F. Heberlein, Pluthygieia: Zur Gegenwelt bei Aristophanes (Frankfurt, 1980). Heiberg J .L Heiberg, Ptolemaeus I: Syntaxis Mathematica (Leipzig, 1898-1903). Henderson J. J. Henderson, The Maculate Muse: Obscene Language in A ttic Comedy (New Haven, 1975). HSCP Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. Hunter R.L. Hunter, tubulus: The Fragments (Cambridge, 1983). ICS Illinois Classical Studies IG Inscriptiones Graecae. Voluminis l editio minor: Inscriptiones Atticae Euclidis anno anteriores ed. F. Hiller von Gaertringen (Berlin, 1924). Voluminis I editio tertia: Inscriptiones Atticae Euclidis anno anteriores ed. D.M. Lewis (Berlin, 1981- ). Voluminis II et III editio minor: Inscriptiones Atticae Euclidis anno posteriores ed. J. Kirchner (Berlin. 1913-40). Inschr. Priene F. Hiller von Gaertringen, Inschriften von Priene (Berlin. 1906). JHS Journal o f Hellenic Studies JRS Journal o f Roman Studies K-A R. Kassel and C. Austin, Poetae Comici Graeci (Berlin. 1983- ). Kannicht-Snell R. Kannicht and B. Snell, TrGF ii (Göttingen, 1981 ).

Kern Kock LSJ

M Migne

ML

OED Supp. PA Page Paike PCG Pearson Perry PickardCambridge PMG Pollard P.Oxy. Radt Rau RE REG RhM Rogers RPh Russo Sandbach SEG SIG3

O. Kern, Orphicorum Fragmente (Berlin, 1922). see(A). H.G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon9 (rev. H. Stuart Jones) (Oxford, 1940). Mette: see (A), Aeschylus. J.P. Migne, SP.N. Joannis Q irysostom i... opera omnia quae exstant (Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca 47-64) (Paris, 1858-60). R. Meiggs and D.M. Lewis, A Selection o f Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End o f the Fifth Century B. C (Oxford, 1969). R.W. Burchfield, A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford, 1972-85). J. Kirchner, Prosopographia A ttica (Berlin, 1901-3). D.L Pigs, Poetae Melici Graeci (Oxford, 1962) or *D.L. Page, Supplementum Lyricis Graecis (Oxford, 1974). RW. Parke, Festivals o f the Athenians (London, 1977). R. Kassel and C. Austin, Poetae Comici G neci (Berlin, 1983- ). see (A), Sophocles. B.E. Perry, Aesopica I (Urbana, 1952). A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, The Dramatic Festivals o f Athens2 (rev. J. Gould and D.M. Lewis) (Oxford, 1968). D L. Page, Poetae Melici G neci (Oxford, 1962). J.R.T. Pollard, Birds in Greek Life and M yth (London, 1977). The Oxyrhynchus Papyri (London, 1898- ). see (A), Aeschylus and Sophocles. P. Rau, Pantngodia: Untersuchung einer komischen Form des Aristophanes (Munich, 1967). Paulys Realencyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft. Revue des Études Grecques Rheinisches Museum fü r Philologie. B.B. Rogers, The Birds o f Aristophanes (London, 1906). Revue de Philologie. C. F. Russo, Aristofane au tore di teatro2 (Florence, 1984). F.H. Sandbach, Menandri reliquiae selectae (Oxford, 1972). Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. W. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum3 (Leipzig, 1915-24).

Stone Taillardat TAPA Thalheim Thompson2 Threatte TrGF

West West (D) YCS Zimmermann

LM. Stone, Costume in Aristophanic Comedy (New York, 1981). J. Taillardat, Les images d ’A ristophane2 (Paris, 1965). Transactions o f the American Philological Association. T. Thalheim, Antiphon: Orationes et Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1914). D’A.W. Thompson,/! Glossary o f Greek Birds2 (Oxford, 1936). L. Threatte, The Grammar o f A ttic Inscriptions (Berlin, 1980- ). Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (Göttingen, 1971- ); individual tragic dramatists (Melanthius, Philocles, etc.) are referred to by the serial number they bear in TrGF i. M. L. West, Iambi et Elegi Graeci (Oxford, 1971-2). M.L. West, Delectus ex Iambis et Elegis Graecis (Oxford, 1980). Yale Classical Studies. B. Zimmermann, Untersuchungen zur Form und dramatischen Technik der aristophanischen Komödien (Königstein/Frankfurt, 1984-7).

(D) METRICAL SYMBOLS — υ X

a heavy (long) syllable a light (short) syllable a position that may be occupied by a syllable of either kind (anceps)

•For fragments whose number is preceded by S (e.g. Stesichorus S8). XIV

XV

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Birds was produced at the City Dionysia in the spring of 414 B.C. As on several previous occasions, Aristophanes delegated the official responsibility for the production to an assistant, in this case Callistratus, who had earlier produced Banqueters (427), Babylonians (426) and Acharnions (425) for him, and was subsequently to produce Lysistrata (411). The play won second prize, Ameipsias being first with Revellers (KOmastai)* and Phrynichus third with The Hermit (Monotropos). Birds differs from all the other fifth-century plays of Aristophanes that survive in having no strong and obvious connection with a topical question of public interest, whether political (like Acharnions, Knights, Wasps, Peace and Ly sistrata), literary-theatrical (like Thesmophoriazusae and Frogs), or intellectualeducational (like Clouds). It has, indeed, in its own way, plenty of topical and satirical content: in particular, as the city of Cloudcuckooville12 begins to take shape, it proves in many ways to be a replica of Athens3, and is soon visited by many of the less desirable elements in the Athenian population. But taking the 1. No fragment attributed to Ameipsiaa' Revellers has survived; on the other hand there are five surviving fragments attributed to a play of the same name by Phrynichus, and one of these (Phryn. com. fr. 16) mentions the politician and general Laespodias, strongly suggesting a date within the period 414-411 (see note on Birds 1S69). The most plausible explanation of these facts is that Ameipsias produced Revellers on Phrynichus’ behalf, thus enabling the latter to have two plays of his composition competing for the prize at the same festival; similarly at the Lenaea of 422 Aristophanes apparently produced one. play (Wasps) himself and had another (The Preview) produced for him by PhUonides (see my edition of Wasps [Warminster, 1983], p. xv). The question of the authorship of Revellers is discussed by A. Körte, R E x x ' (1941) 919. 2. I have used this rendering of Aristophanes’ Nephelokokkûgiâ, rather than the more familiar “ Cloudcuckooland", in order to emphasize that Peisetaerus’ foundation is a fortified city (polis) and not a territorial or ' ‘national’’ state. “Cloudcuckooland” is perhaps the only Aristophanic expression which has become part and parcel of modem English, without the vast majority of its users being in the least aware of its origin; according to OED Supp. s.v„ its use in the general sense of “a fanciful or ideal realm or συντυχύαν άγαθήν ηχευς έμ ο ί σωτήρ.

545

άναθευς γύρ έγώ σου τό νεόττυα χάμαυτόν οίχετεύ σ ω . άλλ' δ

tu

χρή δρβν, σύ δύδασχε χαρών* ως ζήν ούχ δξυον ήμΰν,

εύ μή χομυοΰμεθα χαντϊ, τρδχφ τύν ήμετέραν βασυλεύαν. Πε.

χαυ δη τούνυν χρωτα δυδοίσχω μιίαν δρνύθων χδλυν εδναυ·

55C

χάχευτα τόν άέρα χώντα χ\5χλφ χαυ χβν τουτυ τό μεταξύ χερυτευχύζευν μεγάλους χλύνθους δ χ τ α ΐς , ώσχερ Βαβυλώνα. Ευ.

ω Κεβρυονη χαυ Πορφυρύων, ώς σμερδαλέον το χάλυσμα.

Πε.

χάχευδόν τοΟ τ' έχανεστήχφ, την άρχόν τόν Δύ' άχαυτεΕ ν jÄ v

μεν μή fÇ μ ηδ' έθελήσρ μηδ’ εύθύς γνωσυμαχι^σ^ι,

555

ιερ ό ν χάλεμον χρωυδβν αύτφ, χ α ί τουου θεουσυν άχευχευν δυά τή ς χώρας τή ς ύμετέρας έστυχόσυ μή δυαφουτάν, ωσχερ χράτερον μουχεύσοντες τό ς ’Αλχμήνας χατύβαυνον χαυ τάς ’Αλδχας χ α ί τάς Σεμέλας* ήνχερ δ ' έχύωσ*, έχυβώλλευν σφραγΕδ’ αύτοΕς έ χ ί την ψωλήν, Cva μη βυνωσ' δ τ ' έχεύνας. τους δ ' άνθρώχους δρνυν i τερον χέμφαυ χήρυχα κελεύω, ώς δρνύθων βασυλευδντων θύευν δρνυσυ τό Xouxrfv, χάχευτα θεοΕς ύστερον α ύθυς, χροσνεύμασθαυ δε χρεχδντως

560

But you, by the grace of fate and a happy turn of fortune, have come to be my saviour; for I shall entrust to you my nestlings and myself, and join your following. CHORUS-LEADER: Now stay here and instruct us what we should do; because life won’t be worth living for us, unless by hook or by crook we can recover our kingship. PEISETAERUS: Very well then, I instruct you first of all that there should be a single City of the Birds; and then you should completely encircle the whole of the air, and all this space between heaven and earth, with a wall of great baked bricks, like Babylon. EUELPIDES: Oh, Cebriones and Porphyrion! what a formidable fortress of a city! PEISETAERUS: And when that’s been set up, you demand the rulership back from Zeus; and if he says no and is unwilling and doesn’t immediately concede defeat, you proclaim a holy war against him, and prohibit the gods from passing to and fro through your territory with their cocks up, in the way they used to come down previously to debauch their Alcmenas and their Alopes and their Semeles. And if they do violate your borders, then put a seal on their skinned pricks, so they can’t screw those women any more. And I suggest you send another bird as a herald to the human race, telling them that the birds are kings and so in future they should sacrifice to the birds and then afterwards, secondly, to the gods. They should assign appropriately to the gods, one by one, that bird which matches each of them.

τοΰσυ θεουσυν τΟν δρνύθων ος δν άρμδττρ χα θ' Ιχαστον* 544

G ry n æ u s: om. codd.

547

τό

547

οίχετεύσω Hermann: οίχήσω KVa: οίχύσω (Ε ).

553

Κεβρυδνη B runck, c f .

554

χάχευδόν (χά χευ δ' αν) Β: χδχευτ* αν RV(E)a.

564

άρμ