%f

Cornell University Library

The

original of

tiiis

book

is in

the Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright

restrictions intext.

the United States on the use of the

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026465751

Cornell University Library

PA

3875. A8 1906Arlstophanous Ornithes

3

1924 026 465 751

THE

BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES

In Course of Publication

THECOMEDIES OF ARISTOPHANESTo be completedAOHAKNIANS.Knishts.,,

in 6 Vols.j the contents:

of which will be as followsVol.I.

Vol. IV. Lysistrata.

Thesmophoriazus^.,,

II.

Clouds.

V. Trogs.EccLEsiAZTJsa:.

Wasps. HI. Peace. ,

VI. Plutus,

with the Mensechmei ofPlautus,

Birds.Vol. V. is

&;

Index.

now:

ready, price 15s.;

;

also the following separate

Plays

Frogs, los. 6d.7s. 61?.;

Ecclesiazusae, 7s. 6d.

Thesmo-

phoriazusse,

Bii-ds, los. 6d.

xa iravra oKiyoyovd

e^drjj

Kcyxpi^os' o^tr) 5e TrXtiora TiKTei tS>v

yaiiilravvyav' cuTrrat pip ovv Kat Terrapa

autem

tIktu Se Koi irKeia. VI. 1. 2. irennatorum infecunda sunt, quae aduncos habent ungues cenchris sola ex his supra;

quaterna edit ova.

Pliny

x. 73.

xxviii

INTRODUCTIONviii.

climes for the winter (Aristotle

18.

1),

to but apparently returns

Greece "before the swallow dares."

We

shall not, I think, be

kuVikSis

with the in identifying the Kv>ivSts though as great EagU Oiol (Bubo maximus, Gould, 37) ; far as I the identity of the two birds has never before, so to go somewhat know, been suggested, it may be desirable

wrong

fully into the reasonsKuVti/Sis is first

which seem quite mentioned by Homer (IliadThere hefir,

Sufficientxiv. 291).

to prove

Sleep,

The it. summoneda,

:

by Hera

to close the M-atchful eyes of Zeus, travels \vithsettles

her to manylofty

fountained Ida.

himself amid

the branches of

and umbrageous

opvidi Xtyvpjj cvaXiyKios,

rjv

t iv opeacri

Xa^iSaItis

ki.kXtiv iv fUTaira Trrepav(cat Tfjv ovpav eipeyeeearepov 8' fCTTi piKpa 6 rpwyXoSuri/s toO ^aai\t^os, like our

may have

been, and

but on the whole, probably was, applied to many blackheaded birds after much fluctuation of opinion, I agree with those who consider thft the /jieXayK6pvs

(pairii/'

veoTrevei be Kal oStos

ev

doubtful whether by Tou p.e\ayK6pv(jiov KaXovpemv -we are to understand " the ^rtmoMse called blackcap" or "the hird called blackcap," but probably the latter, since Aristotle did not reckon the blackcap as one tux atyi6d\av. " The Arabs consider twenty-five eggs to be the proper complement of an ostrich's nest, but it is thoxight that two or more females lay in the same nest. See " Ostriches and Ostrich farming " by Harting and Mosenthal, pp. 40, 59 60.ix. 16. 1.

To'ts SevSpfo-t,

Kal fioiTKfTai roiis a^KoAjjKas.

It is

INTRODUCTIONAndif

XXXVll

distinctly described as a titmouse.

69 we shall find the ^neXay/cdpv^os " Alexander the Myndian," it is there said, "relates that one of the titmice, in the time of ripe figs, is called theto

we turn

Athenaeus

ii.

crvKaXk.

And

of this

bird there be two kinds,

the a-vKakU and the

/teXayKopix^os.

It is interesting to observe, though it is not a circumstance from which any inference can be drawn, that in the comedy before us the ^ueAayKopu^os and aiyWaWo's are mentioned together. Of the a/ATreXts or (in the masculine form) d/ATrtXtW we know little beyond the name ^ but the name itself imports (as we may confidently infer from the names o-v/caXis, d/caXav^is and the djjureXls;

like) that

the bird was in somethe vine.

by

its partiality for

way or other distinguished And as the only bird known,'^

in vine

countries, to choose grapes in preference to other food

is

the Bohemian

Chatterer or Waxiving (Bombycivora garrula, Gould, 160), Aldrovandi, the Liunaeus of the sixteenth century, gave it the name of Ampelis. And Linnaeus himself, two centuries later, confirmed Aldrovandi's nomenclature, In deference to these illustrious calling the bird Ampelis garrulus. naturalists, I have translated d/tircXis by ivaxwing. But the Wax wing and although it occasionally visits North is not found in Greece Italy, and individuals may therefore have sometimes crossed the Adriatic, yet it can hardly have been a familiar bird, qualified to form one of the Chorus in an Aristophanic comedy. And it seems to me more probable that the d/xTrcXis of Aristophanes was the jotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola, Gould, 65), which is very common in Greece which even in England ^ is fond of nesting in vines ; and which, in lands where vineyards are found, loves to take its station;:

ajxire\ih(s and vpis, nop^piav, x^^pi-'t'

Pollux

(vi.

segm. 77) says thatfine

up on paste composed of

;

xXapiaiv, &C.= '

Buffon"

xiii.

479.

or a sweetbriar against the wall of a house, Gilbert White, 40th letter to Pennant; and in the sixteenth letter, "the flycatcher usually breeds in my vine." " They are sometimes found in the thick vineyards." Buffon XV. 119. Cf. Newton's Yarrell i. 221 Wood ii. 357.

The flycatcher builds in a vine

&c."

;

xxxviii

INTRODUCTIONwhenthe chasepursuit of its V^^^^J^ vine, sallying thence in However this is a mere guess, is over.of the birds

on the upper layer of thereturning thither

and the Flycatcher cannot displace the Waxwing. The statement in AelianHhat the ^toE^tto. is one^6...os

m wnoBe

inadequate

;

(Accentor modularis, other. but it is as likely to be that bird as any

desposit her egg Im nests the cuckoo is accustomed to with the Hedge-spar^ caused some to identify the ^a,r. The reason is veiy Gould, 100).

Insessores.Kopai.KopcofT].

Group

2.

KopvSb?.

arpovObs.(ppvyiXos.

(TirepnoXoyos.

KoXoios.

aKaXavOh.a-mvos.

KiTTa.

"WeGould,

may

safely follow

(Corvus corax,221);

Linnaeus in identifying the Kopa^ with the Bam the Kopwvrj with the Croto (Gorvus corone, and the (nrepixoXoyos with the Booh (Corvus frugilegus,Gould, 220);

Gould, 224).

All the qualities attributed by the ancients to the Kopa^ belong to Kaven, the largest and strongest of the Corvidae. It is described as a fierce and determined bird, not KopaSdaring than the eaglebull and the ass;

thi

less

:

attacking large animals, such as

the

Aristotle ix. 2. 6 ; " In the wilder and mountainous parts of Britain, considerable lossinflicted

pecking out their eyes, and tearing out their Aelian ii. 51.

sinews,

is

by the Eaven on the owners of sheep, while even largerits attacks."

cattle

suffer

from

Newton'sapproaches

Yarrell

ii.

260.

"

The

eagle himseU

hardly dares to contest the supremacy with so powerful, crafty, and strong-beaked a bird. And even the larger cattle are not free from itsassaults."

Wood

ii.

390.it

" Bold as well as wary,its nest."

it

does not hesitateiv.

to

attack the eagle

when

Dresser

573.fatal

All nations have looked upon the "boding raven" as a bird of'

ov ndvrav opviBav KoKiais 7rrr;8o 6 kokkv^,

aWa

KOI irdiTTrov.

KopvSoii, Kat (jiaTTtjs, aX.yj?

winrep

riva. X6ov, e^fi S'

vwepvBpa piKpd' erepoviroXXmev eXarroi/

pei^ov

rj

k6ttv\r)Kas

Toiis

ex tZv

viii. 5. 4.

INTRODUCTIONmarkintoof bloody fingers "birds,;

xh

and Ovid pictures the two sisters as changii whereof one seeks the woods, the other finds her way in " Nor have the marks of the bloody deed," he saj the dwellings of men. " yet faded from her breast her feathers are yet stained with blood ^'' That of the two sisters one should have been changed into a nightinga]

two

;

and the other into a swallow,

illustrates the

high estimation in whichthis again is a proof that

t] t]

ancients held the song of the swallow.

And

For though we should hardly allow the swallow such praise as the ancients awarded it, yet it is beyond s question the songstress of the hirundinidae. "It is a great songster says White of Selborne in his nineteenth letter to Barrington. Ai an able and well-informed writer in the Edinburgh Eeview (Jan. 188 p. 233) observes that " a more incessant, cheerful, amiable, happy litf song no other musician has ever executed." I remember one East week, some fifteen or sixteen years ago, listening for fully five minutes the song of a swallow, as it sat on a telegraph wire between Friston ai East Dean (near Eastbourne). It was singing when I came, and st: singing when I left, and the Reviewer's description applied very well its song. I had never previously, nor have I since, heard so prolong( a song from a swallow. But of course there is no comparison betwe its notes and the song of the nightingale. Many passages will be found cited in the Commentary, on Peace 80 Frogs 688, and elsewhere, showing the pleasure which the Greeks felt the song of the swallow and how they coupled it with the song of tl nightingale and how, to complete the choir, a third musician, the swa: was sometimes introduced. Here I will only give two additional passage " When Bion died," says Moschus, Idyll, iii. 47, " the nightingales, and a the swallows, which loved his song, mourned him in rival dirges." Aris

common swallow

intended.

i

;

;

Odysseus, saysKoXbv au(nv a\ffiv6v Koi

ra fVtT^Seta"

Se un

rt

6tpovs p6vov.v. 11. 2.

See also AthenaeuB

ix.

chaps. 50

and

51.

INTRODUCTIONTpvywv.

li

Now the length of the average male of the four European:

species is(2)

given by Yarrell and others as followsIt will be seen that these

(1)

Ring-dove, 17 inches;

;

Rock-

dove, '14 inches; (3) Stock-dove, 13^ inches

(4)

Turtle-dove, 11^ inches.

measurements quite agree with the statements of Aristotle. It remains therefore to see whether there is anything in the description given of these birds by the ancients which would lead us to doubt the identifications so made. In i. 1. 13 Aristotle distinguishes between the ^arra and the TrepwrTcpa, in that the former lives in the country, the latter loves to dwell with man to. /^.w aiypoiKa, wcnrep (^arra' to. 8e aaiaviKO's,

and you and

I will

the word 6A,j8ioydo-T(op is used by the comedian and mention of the (^ao-iavi/cos opvw is made by that most delightful Aristophanes in his Comedy of the Birds. For there two old Athenians, out of their desire for peace and quietness, are trying to iind some city where they may live without troubles and lawsuits. And life with the birds taking their fancy, they go off to the birds and all of a sudden they are frightened by some wild bird ilying towards them, and amongst other things they say (citing lines 67, 68 about the ^acriaviKos).

Done, says Myrtilus;

Amphis

;

Aemyopas,

Myrtilus next quotes the line in the Clouds tous fr].

Atlienaeus7rop0i;picDi

v 8e

TO

fiev

fieytOos

inrep

dXeKTpvova

to

Se

fiSosoi

irapoTrX^crioi,

Kai

ano

tu>v &Ttt>v iKOTepadev

m(rmp

aXeHTpvoves, ra

KaWaia.

Id.

Ivi

INTRODUCTIONthat, unlike the pai-tridge, it'-

very delicate', Mr. Gould says, and adds

And he in India. moist and exhibits a preference formuch esteemedby the ancients" It isis

humid districts The best description

of the arrayai left us

that quoted

by Athenaeus from Alexander the Myndian^ a partridge, and speckled all over its back and it is brick-coloured with a yellowish tinge. And it is caught by the hunters by reason of its weight and the shortness of its wings and it loves to roll in the dust, and is prolific and granivorous. The " amorous and wily " irepStI, which, if not identical with our Coimmnalittle; ;

bigger than

Partridge (Perdix cinerea, Gould, 262), is not distinguishable

any of its habits, is very frequently mentioned by and other ancient writers and the details which they give show that they had acquired an intimate knowledge of the The trait which seems to have impressed character and habits of the bird. them most was its affection for its young, and the artful devices with which it strives to decoy the hunter from their neighbourhood *. Butire'pSil.

from

it

in

Aristotle

;

instead of placing this trait to

its credit,

they upbraidedit

it

for being soKUKorjOe^ and

unaccommodatingjravovpyov bird.

to its pursuers,

and declared that

was a

Quails,

though not found in great numbers in England, yet in warmer countries arrive in such prodigious flocks at the seasons opTu| of migration that they completely cover whole acres of ground and are so fatigued with their journey for the;

'

oTTayas ^diiTTov

e'^fiv fv ewiviKiois Kpeas.

Aristophanes in the Pelargi ; cited by

Athenaeus Ix. 39. By imviKia he means the banquet given by the winner in the dramatic contest to celebrate his victory. ^ Hence in Wasps 257 tov nrikov aa-nep arrayas rvp^da-eis ^aSiCav. On which the Scnouast says 6 drTayas opveov iariv cipiaK6p.fvov iv tois eXecri, Kai TepirofKvov iv roisnrjKciSea-i

tottow koi reX/iaa-iv,

rjpiis

St drrayrjva (attagen) avTov

afiiv.

p,iKptS p.(vTtjv XP""'')

pii^wv

fffTi jrepSiKos,

oXor Se Kardypaipos ra nepl tov pcotov, Kepaiieois8"

VTron-uppifeoi/

pakXov.

Bripcverai

ijro

tS)V Kwr/ySiv Sia to

j3apos Koi

TrjV

Twv irTfpavix. 39.*

^paxvTrjTa.' tari 8c koviotikos, jroXure/cvdy tc, Kai crrrepuoKoyos.

Athenaeus

See Aristotle25-41.

ix.

9.

1.

2;

Solertiaxii."

Animalium,

xvi.

4

Athenaeus ix. 41-3 Aelian iii. 16 Plutarch, De Pliny x. 51, and the quaint lines of Manuel Phile,; ;;

Tristram, Natural History of the Bible, p. 230; Saunders's Yarrell Morris iv. 230 Daniel's Rui-al Sports iii. 139, 140.;

iii.

128;

INTRODUCTIONbirdis

Ivii

shortwinged and, though small, plump and heavy that at first in heaps, and allow themselves to be taken by hand or trodden under foot. Vast migrations take place every spring and autumn. Andtheylie

the great multitude which, as

we read in the Books of Exodus and came up and covered the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness, when the Almighty "rained flesh upon them like dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea '' were but acting in accordanceNumbers,with the habits of their kind. The opTvi is our common Qtiail (Coturnix dactylisonans \ Gould,263).14. 5)

Theis

interesting account

whichat

Aristotle gives of these birds

(viii.

Pliny x. 33. They were and trained for the fashionable amusement of opTvyoKoma. See the notes on Peace 788 Birds 1299. The three birds which remain to be considered under the Order of Easores are not European, and are therefore not to be dXeKxpuiii' but no found in any work on the " Birds of Europe " MijSos If, as most difficulty arises as to their identification. Depo-iKos naturalists suppose, the jungle fowl of Java is the origintranslated with

but slight variations by Athens,

habitually

domesticated

;

;

of our domestic poultry, the latter in all probability, like the

this

Peacock at a subsequent period, reached Europe through Persia. would account for the cock being called the Persian or MedianCf. Varro,

Andbird.

De Ee

Eustica,

iii.

9.

In

later times the

ostrich

was known as the

a-TpovOoKa/j.rjXo's

(Latin

sUiUMocamelus), but that name, as Galen says^, wasthe ancients,6vo//.a^oii(7(. yap(ii.

arj^es

too-Tpou96s

arrets ;u.cyaAas (rrpovOov's.17

Thus Aelian

27) says that

a-rpovOoi

rj

fxeydXt]

has

(xeyiiXir)

thick shaggy wings, but cannotto soar into the air.

i-aise itselfit

from the groundits

Howeverit

wings

like sails to help

along.

And

runs with great speed, and uses cf. Xenophon, Anabasis i. 5. 2.

Aristotle, in the last chapter of his treatise

De Partibus Animalium,

says that the ostrich, which he calls 6 a-rpovOds 6 AtySw/cos, is an abnormal creature, for in some things it resembles a bird, and in others aepithet daetylisonans is derived from the quail's note, which consists of consecutive chirps, supposed to resemble a dactyl. three De Alimentorum Facultatibus iii. 20. The addition of Kaiir}\os is intended to show the tall gawky stature of the ostrich. Compare the compound ko/iijXothis TTapha\is for the giraffe, and the expression v iyyiis

from one end of the worldc'k

Tonav

iroioifieva rtts fierafioXas,

ra 8e koi

tS>v T\dTti>v v

weSlav ds ra

to

avo) Trjs

*E(r 8e 6 tottoj oStos, irepi bv oi Ttvypaioi naToiKovtriV oi yap eoTi tovto fivBos, dXX' ip

fie

\oinS>v

Sio (rpia yap yev) eVriv airSiv) 6 pev \fVK6sKal TiKTfi

Ka\as eVl

tS>v hivbptov.

re XP""" ^X" KoKriv, Koi veorreicc vcperai 8' eXrj Kal \ipvas Kal jreSia Kal \fipwvas.e'x

6

8'

aiTTeptas, 6

iniKaXovpevos okvos, pvOokoyeirai pev yeveadai

SovXav to apxaiov'

iarl 8e Kara*

Trjp crrtavvpiav

Toirav apyoTaros.

ix. 17. 1.

The eptoStoi -which Pallas Athene, in the tenth Iliad, sent as a favourable sign Diomed and Odysseus, as they started beside the River Simois on their midnight expedition to the Trojan camp, was no doubt intended to be a bittern. They did not see it, the night vs-as too dark for that but they heard it booming on their right. The Scholiast asks. Why did she send a heron ? Why not a -yXaCl,to;

her

own

special bird ?

And he

returns answer to himself, Because the heron lovesplaces.

to dwell in

marshy and swampy

And

rightward did Pallas Athene send, to their path full nigh, A heron beside them flying : they saw it not witli the eye Through the mirk of the black dark night howbeit they heard its cry. ^VAY.to;

Ixii

INTRODUCTION;

land

and that they are protected by sailors because they are believed to give warning of approaching gales. The name ireXapyos, by which the Greeks denoted the stork, is said to mean the black and white bird (tteXAos, apybs), a name appropriate enough whether applied to the Wliite Stork ireXapYos (Ciconia alba, Gould, 283), which is everywhere pure white,its;

wings which are of a glossy black or to the which is everywhere glossy black with various metallic reflections, except the lower part of its body, which isexcept the lower part ofBlaclc Stork (Ciconia nigra, Gould, 284),

pure white.ancient and in"

which the stork has been mostly noted both in modern days is the reciprocal affection exhibited between the parent birds and their young.

The

characteristic for

about the storks," says Aristotle^, " it is a veiy widespread belief that the old are in their turn fed and maintained by the young." The same account is given by Aelian, Plutarch, Pliny, Phile, and many

Now

others.

Many modern

anecdotes relating to the family affection of the storks

will be found in Buffon xviii. 277, and Bishop Stanley's History of Birds. The Common Flamingo (Phoenieoptems i-uber, Gould, 287), though not

unknown,oiviKovv, fieyedos aXeKTpvovos, (TTopaxov 8' f'X" ^eirrov' 8iA t&v Xap^avopevaiv ds tov iroSa rn/jieijerai piKpas ras yjftapibas, KaiTTavfiaKpa,

Se TTwn.

\TTevTabaKTvk6s Tf

i>v,

tok pea-ov

i'xei

peyiirTov].

ix.

40.iii.

The words42;

in

brackets are undoubtedly spurious.

See Schneider on Aelian

Schweig-

INTRODUCTIONof purple plumage,its;

Ixix

and has long legs and that its bill, commencing from and that it is of the size of a domestic cock and has a narrow gullet on which account it divides its food into little bits and drinks by mouthfuls." The expression commencing from its very head does not mean merely, as Casaubon explains it, "non extremum tantum illi rostrum puniceum est, sed totum omnino." It refers to the fact that, like the coot and some other birds, the porphyrion has a frontal plate, and that this frontal plate, as well as the bill itself, is sealing-wax red so that the bill appears to commence far up in the head. We are told by Athenaeus (ix. 40) that Callimachus, in his book upon Birds, distinguished the Tropvpl's from the 7rop4>vptvps 6rjpany^ put out towards the right ear {ad aurem porrectum dextram), as is the transverse flute of to-day, was playedits:

by flute-players consecrated to Serapis (Apuleius, Met. lib. xi. cap. 9) ; furthermore, the fragment of an avKhs, believed to be the head of a ti-anaverse flute with the

INTRODUCTIONmouth noteat the side,

kxxviiat Hali-

was taken by Sir Charles Newton from a tomb

carnassus and deposited in the British

Museum.

A third true flute has no mouth hole at the side, but is blown across the sharpened edge of one end of the tube. It is held downwards and only slightlyflutes, consisting of pipes of reed, were shown at Burlington So well were they preserved that a local musician played them as they came from the tomb at Beni Hasan where they were discovered by Mr. Gaistang. Although they had lain undisturbed from about b. c. 2200, they are modern compared with the figure of an animal playing on a flute of this kind (it can be identified by the position in which it is held) to be seen in the Taylor Building at Oxford. In the opinion of Mr. Tlinders Petrie the figure was

sideways.

Two

such

House in 1903.

flute thus blown stiU The tone of the nay it was heard in London not many years since is very sweet and pleasing to the The iiomvXos, which in the opinion of Protagorides was the sweetest of ear. instruments, may well have belonged to this family. It was admitted to be of Egyptian origin, its invention being ascribed to Osiris there is evidence that it was in use in Egypt, Athenaeus stating that it was so popular at Alexandria in his time that the Alexandrians were twitted with it being their fashionable instrument (Deipnosophists iv. 77) again, it was not only called fiovavXos, but was known as the KoKufnos, or reed (iv. 78) thus it bore the same name as the nay, for nay means reed. As Aristophanes expressly refers to the mellifluous effect of the nightingale solo (223-4), to the dulcet quality of the bird's voice (681, 659), and to the purity of L her song (215-16), we have a right to assume that he singled out an instrument remarkable for its sweetness. Now the sound set up by the fluttering of an airjet impelled against a sharp edge is sweeter than that produced by the vibration of a reed it is therefore a fair presumption that the avKos chosen by him belonged

drawn about

six

thousand seven hundred years ago.it is

The

lingers in its old home, Egypt, where

called the nay.

;

;

;

;

to the true flute family.flutes,

needed in blowing the true In the allusion to the mask worn by the nightingale (672-4) there is nothing to indicate that it was furnished with a (j>op^eia whereas the raven representing Chaeris, who, it may be inferredComparativelylittle force is

so that a (^op/Sf la

would be unnecessary.

;

was best known as a musician officiating at religious Church organist of our time (a branch of the art in which, under the Greek system of religion, a reed-blown flute was usually used), was iinre(t)op^ia>(851-8, Peace 951-5),services like thefievos (861).

Whether or not AristophanesBeethoven, for the nightingale

selected a transverse flute, as did

we have no means

of ascertaining.

however, that the resemblance between the notes of the liKayiavkos

Handel and We know, and those of

a bird attracted attention in the old world, for Aelian {UepX faoji/, vi. 19) states that the cry of the wryneck (ivy^) is suggestive of that instrument. Aristophanes says of the nightingale's flute that it was a KaXKi^oas aiUs, or flute vrith a beautiful

Ixxxviiivoice.

INTRODUCTION

Although it was a flute, the nightingale is said to strike it, as if with the strings plectrum (682). Simonides terms a KoXXt^das aiXbs a flute with manyliteraUy.^ A (wo\ixop8os aiUs). We are not, however, to take the description Ka\ov(nv, passage in Plutarch (toi/ ai/Xbv rfpiiouBai \iyova-i, Koi Kpoi/MTa TO. avKfiiuvra \a^^dvovTs ras Trpoarjyopias, Symp. ii. 4) explains the expressions. airb T^y \vpas They have been transferred from the lyre to the flute, so that striking stands for playing, and " many strings " means nothing more than many notes.

Most Greek dramatists, like Wagner in modern times, wrote both the libretto, and the music of their plays. In the scene in the Frogs where Aeschylus and Euripides indulge in mutual recriminations on the subject of their compositions, the attack of Euripides on the music of Aeschylus (Frogs 1264) begins with a SiaiXiov, or flute interlude, here forming an instrumental introduction to the vocal music that comes after 8iav\ia being played so says the Scholiast as the flute solo in the Birds appears to have been, behind the scenesor text,;

If not taken from the works of Aeschylus, the 8iav\iov in the Frogs was (cvSov). doubtless composed by Aristophanes in imitation of his style ; but did Aristophanes compose the nightingale solo in the Birds ? A satisfactory answer to the questionit seems, however, little less than certain that Aristophanes that the execution of the solo would be entrusted to a great artist. If he had not felt sure that the performer was capable of throwing the audience into a state of transport, he would never have allowed the enraptured Peisthetaerus to

cannot be given

;

knew

exclaim, as soon as the last strain of the silver tones had died away,St

Zev paffiXcv, tov (pO^yfiaros TOvpvtOlov

oiov KaTiitOdTOiac TTjv \6xfiV*^ oKtjv,

Andif

Aristophanes must haveis

known

in

what

style the solo

was to be

conceived,

the words of the song with which the hoopoe wakes the nightingale foreshadowto follow.

the kind of music whichto

The expectations of the

listeners are raised

a high pitch. It is no ordinary tune that the bird is bidden to pour forth from her mellow throat, but a divine strain (211) which wiU appeal to the religious sentiment as a sacred hymn (210), and touch the heart as a plaintive wail. Moreover, the nightingale is to trill her lament in liquid melodies (213), so that the solo was not only to be solemn, tender, and pathetic, but would embody a display of execution. If the flute was played alone, or was accompanied by an instrument with strings, it is impossible to say, but the union of flute and lyre was a common form of a-wavXia. Apollo, we are told, responds to the elegies of the nightingale on an ivory-bound phorminx.

The

structure of the passages of

impenetrable darkness.

which the solo was made up is shrouded in The only glimmer we get is in the use by Aristophanes of

the verb iXeXi^eadai (213), which may possibly be thought to give rise to the shadow of a suspicion, that, like Handel and Beethoven, the composer of the solo availed himself of the shake. A direct imitation of the nightingale's song on a musical

INTRODUCTIONinstrument, evenfor,

kxxix;

if it were desirable from an aesthetic point of view, is impossible with the exception of the cuckoo, there are few, if any birds whose notes can be reduced to a recognized scale. What the musician does is to produce a series of sounds which the imagination of the listener, who has been previously thrown

into a state of expectant attention by prompting, converts into, or associates with, the warbling of a singing bird. It is therefore not surprising that the music assigned to the nightingale by Handel is quite different from that given to the songstress by Beethoven, and that the resemblance between the flute parts of " Sweet bird " and " May no rash intruder " is of the faintest. One more word. In the Parabasis, the nightingale, who takes part in the hymns of the birds (678-9), is told to lead off the anapaests on (presumably) her KoKKi^as avKos (682-4), Further on, there are interspersed in two other move-

ments of the Parabasis, the strophe and the antistrophe, ten lines made up of the meaningless combination of letters no and toto. Now no and tot6 represent motions of the tongue which the modern flute-player is for ever making. Tolearn to repeat tot6 rapidly,or,

technically speaking, to acquire the art of double-

tonguing (an articulation impossible on reed-blown instruments), requires a long course of tedious practice. Toto is used in playing the flute part of " May no rash intruder no is the articulation employed in Beethoven's nightingale passage, where the strokes of the tongue are repeated, slowly at first, but quicker a.nd quicker by degrees, until becoming too rapid for the tongue they merge in a shake. On seeing in the text the syllables on which his tongue is so continually at work the flute-player naturally thinks that notes are to be played on the beautifully'' ;

tonedflute

flute.

ciations, all of

Unfortunately, however, for the supposition, other speechless enunwhich are not suggestive of the flute, are found in the song with

accompaniment ohhligato, with which the hoopoe and the nightingale the by the flute call the other birds (227 seqq.). The senseless words in the Parabasis, therefore, instead of being flute notes, may be vocallatter represented

The expedient of portraying the notes of a bird with the singing voice is unknown in modem music. The cuckoo, for example, has been mimicked by the syllables which make up its name the owl by tu-whit, to-who the hen bysounds.

not

;

;

ka ka, ka ka, ne-ey. Even the varied and complex articulation of the nightingale has been attempted by more than one composer. In a part song for three voices, entitled Le chant des oiseaux (Commer's CoUectio Operum Musicorum Batavorum saeculi xvi., torn. xii. p. 78), the singers conjure up the idea of the rossignol byreiterating the following utterances:

ruit ruit, oyti oyti, coqui coqui, le vechi le vechi,

tar tar, frian frian, tu tu, qui lara qui lara, ti ti ciiti ti ciiti, quibi quibi, tu tuvelecy.

fouguet fouquet, Jiti flti, huit huit, turri turri, velecy

Ever Yours,C.

WELCH.

(

xc

)

YnoeE2EI2I.

apisto$anoy:S fpammatikot.Aia. Tus SiKas (pevyovani' 'AOrjvas Svo Tives,ot irpos

Tov

'iiroira,

rof Xeyojievov Trjpea,

eXOovTes rfpmTcav dwpdy(iova tttoXlv.els 5" aiiTiK, enoiri av/jLirapaiy /MeTo,

nXeiovmv5

TTTrfvmv, SiSdaKei ti

Svvar opviQcov yivos,jiicrov

Kal

TTcoy,

kdvirip

Kara

tov dipa

TToXiv KTiacoai,

twp'

6e5)ve/c

ra Trpdyfiara

avTol napaXri^^ovT

5e rovSf. (pap/idK(o

TTTepvyas kiroLovv

rj^icccrav S' oi 6eoi,

emOeaiv ov jiiKpav dpavTis

yevofievrjv.

10

II.

Avo

elcrlu

'A6TJvTj6ev

kKKiywpyjKOTis

npea-^vrai

Sia

ras

SiKai'

TTopevovTai 8e wpos tov Trjpia eirona yeuofievov, TrevaofievoL

nap avTOV

These arguments appear in R. V. andin Aldus and practically in all editions

which print any arguments.3.

is read by all editors except Brunck, who substitutes irpia-^vs for 8' But the conjunction cannot he oppis.

of these

dirpaynova R. V. Invernizzi, Bekker,

omitted.5. tttiji/Sj;

recentiores, except Bothe.

anpayfiovav

MSS.

vulgo.it

Rutherfordyevos.

Aldus, vulgo.

Meineke. iroktv R. V. vulgo, which is wrong with dnpdyp.ova, but would be right with anpaypAvav. diTpaypoviov, however, is clearly wrong. See line 44 of the play. I have substituted 4. f 19 8' ovtik'. auTiV for opvis, which is nonsense, els opyis R. eh 8' opvis V. and one or otheriTToXiv

reads

tttijvov,

joining

with

ButThere

Tr\ei6uau requires the substantive.

has been no previous mention of birds.8.cl)apiidiia

nrepvyasIf

Rutherford,

(pdpfiaKov irTepvydr t9. 7]^iaaav.

MSS. vulgo. this word is correct

it

must mean

assented, acquiesced.

(

xci

)

TTOia

ecTTt

woXiy

eh

KaToiKKr/iov

^eKTiarq.

^p&prai

Se

rrjs

68ov

Ka6r]yii6 KaTco irXavvTTtjiev

aTToXovfieff , 2AXope'i

crij

y kvrevQev 'E^rjKea-riSrjs. fiev & rdv rfjy oSov TavTTjftSiv opveoov,

lOi.

rj

Seiva

SeSpaKeu ovk

6 TTivaKOTrwXris v

opveav fin nivaKav TiOtvres

in the present play.oiov TavTr)v\Tiji/

Scholiast.tls

And

so Hesychius, Photius,

to

oi/jloi

oSoK

^dSt^f.

Scholiast.

The

road

to

Sotrow.13. beiva va> hchpaxev]

Has shamefulh/

and Suidas. Siskins he sold at the rate of seven an obol (infra 1079); but he charged an entire obol for a jackdaw, and thrice that amount for a crow. For his

entreated us.

Throughout the openingis

scene Euelpides

the principal speaker. Peisthetaerus does not come to the fore,until he formulates his

many offences against the birds, the Chorus, in the second Epirrhema, set a price upon his head.16. fK tSi/ opviav]

grand project

for building a great bird-city.14.irivnKOTTaXris]

of course precisely the

These words have same meaning

Philoorates of theopviav,

here as

they had three lines above.

bird-market

{ovk

tS>v

see

the

The

actor, as in the

Comedies of Ariato-

THE BIRDSPelEu. Eu.

No, that would pose evenO, here's a nuisance!

Exeeestidesthere, then, friend,

Pel Go you

I call Philocrates a regular cheat.

The

fool that sells the bird-trays in the market.

HeThe

swore these two would lead us straight to Tereus,hoopoe,this

made adaw,

bird in that same market.

So then

this son of Tharreleides,

phanes

so frequently happens,

is

speak-

mela

;

how Tereus

of Thrace marriel;

ing in his

own

person, and not in the

character he represents in the drama.

the one, and outraged the other how the sisters, in revenge, killed his sonItys,

The hoopoe, whomare seeking,is

the

adventurers

and served him up;

for his father's

really another actor,

and

dinner

how he pursued them, and

how then has he become

a bird ?

By

means of plumage which, like the jackdaw and the crow themselves, wasobtained from the bird-market.

the three were changed into birds, Tereus into a hoopoe, Procne into a nightingale, and Philomela into

Those

a swallow^iXofifiXa

;

koX TIpoKvrj fiev ytveTai d^Siop,

two

birds

might not unreasonably be

Se

x^XiSav aTTOpveovTm deCf. Ovid,

xai

expected to find out the person disguised in feathers which had come fromthe

Tripeiis, Ka\ ylverai eTTOijr.

Met.

vi.

667-74.

Other writers relate the

same

stall

as

themselves.

This

story of the metamorphosis differently

seems toterpretit

me

the obvious sense of the

and, in particular, Philomela was often,as sheis

passage, but all the Commentators indifferently.

now universally, identified with

Thus Bergler, exlevi et

homine superho, autconstans ;

inconstante,et in-

the nightingale; but Apollodorus presents that form of the legend whichis

/actus est ales superbus, aut levis

followed by Aristophanes.17. TovBappeXilSov]is

Brunck,

solas

hasce

inter

omnes aves dixit nobisesse

indices futuras

Terei.

Fritzsche (at Thesm. 910)

Rex avium factus est ah aviculis Kennedy, changed into a (toinged) bird from being a Iparbarian) bird. All thesequi

Son of Tharreleides. undoubtedly a skit on some person of diminutive stature but whether that person was Tharreleides himself, or his son Asopodorus, the oldThis;

explanations are

quite unsatisfactory,

and severalpassage,

editors, frankly

admitting

that they cannotstory of Tereus;

make head or tail of the omit or rewrite the line. The

by Apollodorus iii. 14 how Pandion, king of Athens, had two daughters, Procne and Philois

told

grammarians themselves were unable to determine. There seems no reason for suggesting a pun on dappaXeos and there are certainly no grounds for changing the well-authenticated name &appeX(iSov into &appaXfi8ov, as some;

critics do, in order to

lend plausibility

to the supposed pun.

6

OPNI0ESKoXoiov o^oXov, TrjvSeSl Tpico^oXov.TO) S'

ovK dp

fja-TTiy;

ov8iv dXXo TrXfiv 8dKVLV.eVd' ottol Kara,

KOI

vw

Ti Ke^rj^as;

rmv

ireTplav

20

Tuids er d^eis6S6s.

ov

yapfjLo.

ea-r

evravOd tis

ITEI. ovSh

Ai' kuTavOd y drpairos ovSajiov.Xiyei irepi;

ET.riEI.

17

8'

av KopmvT]

rfj? oSov ti

oil

TuvrcL Kpd>Cu fia

Ata vvu;

re kol tots.

ET.ET.

ri Sfj

Xiyei nepl r^y dSov(f>r]ai

HEI.

ti S'

dXXo y ^;

25

^pvKOvcr direSearQaiov Seivov ovvis8fJT'

fiov Toi>s

SaKTvXovs

karlv

rjp.Ss,

Seofiivovs

KopuKas eX6eiu Kalfifj

irapecrKevacrfiiuovs,;

iTTiiTarififis

'^fvpeii/

8vva

ET. rpoyiKosrpo-^^iKe;

opvis ovToai.

ovv S Spda-ou,

rbv Seairorrfv

80

fliuv

KoXeaov.

TPOX.

aXX'

dpum^

vfi

tov

Ma.

evSei, KaTaaya>v jivpra Kal aeptpovs rivds.

ET.

o/icoy

eweyeipof avTov.8'

TPOX.avrovfi

ol8a jikv a-afJKasai) 8e TTji'

HEI. a SeiXorarov aivTai.

En.ET.

Toiavra fiivTOi 'to^oKXerjs Xv/iaiyeraiiv rais TpaymSiaiaiv efie tov Trjpea.

100

Trjpevs

yap

ef

av

;

Trorepov opvis

fj

Taws

;

En. En. En.

opvis eywye.e^eppvrjKe.

ET. KaTa ET.)(eiiiS)va

aoi irov to. irTepd;

;

Trorepov vtto voctov tivos

ovK,

dXXa TOV

iravra Tcapvea

105

TTTepoppvei T KavOis erepa (pvofitv.

dXX' einarov

fioi o-0cb;

tlv earov

;

ET.

vdi

;

fipoTm.

En. En.

iroSano) to yevosfimv fiXiaa-TdairT]Xtaa-Td.;

ET. ET. jiaXXa darepov Tpoirov, En. o-ireLpeTai yap tovt eKei

o6iv ai rpirjpeis at KaXai.

HO

TO

(Tirep/i;

ET.8f]

oXiyov (tjtZv av e^ dypov XojSotr.

En. vpdyovsET.

8k

TOV SeofMevcc Sevp ijXBeTov

col ^vyyevea-Qai ^ovXa/iivco.

En.

tlvos nipi

1 GO. 'S,o

&v ovv TO irpayfi avTois

EH.

a-v.

yap avTods ^apfidpovs ovras(j)a>vfju,

rrpo tov

eSiSa^a ttjv

^vvav

iroXiiv y^povov.;

200

TTEI. irmSevpl

SfJT

av avTois ivyKaXicreias

EII. ^aSicos.

yap

e/i^as avTiKa pd\' ey rijv Xoy^jirjv,efirju

eneiT

dveyeipas T^y

drjSova,

KaXovfiev avrovs' ol Se vZv rov cpdeyfiaToskdvrrep knaKov, iTco, rrco, itcd,

LT(o Tis aiSe tS)v

kfiwv ofiOTTTepoov

oaoi T eva-TTopovs aypoLKwvvifJLSe XeirTopTjSofieua ^oova-

235

Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib tio.

oaa

&

vp.5>v

Kara

KrJTrovs eirl Kicraov

KXdSeai vojibv e^et,

Ta re

(car opea

Ta re KOTivorpdya rd re

KOiJ,apo(f>dya,

240

dvvaare

ireTOjieva Trpbs kfiav

avSdv

TpiOTO TpiOTb TOTO^pi^'01 6'

iXeias irap avXmvas o^vcTTOfiovs

k/XTTiSas Kdirreff ,

oaa t eiSpocrovs

yfjs

towovs

245

e)(eTe XnfiSivd

t epoevTa Mapa^wfoy, 6p-

227.

eVo-

K.T.X.]

Hereafterfirst

follows

thelines,

the purpose for which the assembly

is

Bird-call,

which,

the

gsneral

convened.229.hoopoes.

exclamations of the

two

rav

e/iSiv

ofion-repap]

That

is

divides itself naturally into three sections,

The

line itself

may

possibly

They summon,farm, the

first,

land-birds from the

hill,

the

garden,

and the

shrubbery, lines 229 to 242.

Then, with

be borrowed from some tragic play, where, however, oiionTipav would mean simply " comrades."232. o-n-ep/ioXoyeov] Sirepjjokoyosspecific;

a sudden change to cretics and paeonics (which include one Fourth Paeon ^_'^JWthey call on the birds which haunt the marshes and swamps, 243 to 249. And finally, with another changef'x^Te Xfi-)

is

the

name

of the

rook,

cf.

infra

yevrj

579 but here the expression cmepiioXoyav shows that the name is not to beall birds

restricted to one particular species, but

to dactylics, they

summon

the sea-birds,

extends toseeds.

that gather

up

the

winding up with an announcement of

THE BIRDS

31

{The Bird-call by the Hoopoe and Nightingale conjointly; the Nightingale's song being imitated, as before, by the flute.)

Hoop. "Whoop-ho

!

Whoop-hoHoi!

!

Whoop-hoop-hoop-hoop-hoop-ho!

!

Hoi

!

Hoi

!

Come, come, come, come, come{The land-birds.)

Come Come

hither

any bird with plumage

like

my own

hither ye that batten on the acres newly sown,

OnAndThe

the acres by the farmer neatly sown

the myriad tribes that feed on the barley and the seed.tribes that lightly fly, giving out a gentle cry;

And

ye who round thevoices sweet

clod, in the furrow-riven sod.flitter

With

and low, twittertio,

to

and

fro,

Singing, tw,

Uo, tioiinx

And

ye

who

in the gardens a pleasant harvest glean.;

Lurking

in the branches of the ivy ever green

And ye who And ye whoCome

top the mountains with gay and airy flightin the olive and the arbutus delightall,

hither one and

come flying

to our call,

Trioto, triotS, totohrinos.{The marsh-birds.)

Ye

that snap

up the gnats, shrUly

voiced,

Mid the deep water-glens of the fens. Or on Marathon's expanse haunt the lea, fair Or career o'er the swamps, dewy-moist,235. aSe] Thus, as I

to see.

am going

to

show

had these notesdirection aiXci.244. o|woTd/jouj]

after

the

Hoopoe'sstage-

you, referring to the Tio,Ti6,Tio which im-

serenade, instead of the mere

mediately follows. It has often occurred to me, and I see that the same idea hasoccurred to Wieseler here and elsewhere,also,

Tar

o^v atova-as.

it.

that,

both

Schohast.

And

so I

have translated;

when

the birdnotes

are reached the singer suddenly pauses,

and thethis

flute

alone

is

heard, mimicking

But it probably means sharply-biting as it must do in the two lines of the Prometheus in which it occurs, 692 and822.247.M.apa6S>vos]

the warble of the nightingale.

But

if

were

so,

we

should probably have

The

marshes

of

32

OPNI0E5VIS TTTepvyorroiKiXos t

UTTayds aTTayds.S>v

T

kirl

irovTiov olSfia BaXda-a-rjs

250

/lef

oil-

y

rbu ovpavov ^Xincov.eoLK, ey Trjp Xoy^firjv

IIEI. aXXcos dp

oviroyfr, coy

265

Marathon are famous

in

history,

as

(jtiiyovris

ela-iv

oi

^dpfiapoi,

koI

is

to4.

having played a conspicuous part in the Near one traditions of the great battle.of them the chief slaughter of the Medes

IXor

a)6ovvTes

aWrjXovs.

Id.

xv.

took placeTQ TToWot

;

tcm. 8e in

rm MapaBavi

Xi/ipri

eXffiSiji'

6s Ta\nr)v aireipia tS>v

such as Bp. Wordsworth of Lincoln and Col. Mure, notice two principal morasses, one on the northerly, and the other on thetravellers,

Modern

6hS>v v ToavS

Siv

opaO

dWaEn.ET.oSroyvfj

Xijivam.

eiKoTccs- Kctl

yhp

ovojjl

avT& y ea-Ti ^oiviKoiTTepos. ET. eTepos opvis IIEI. ti Paxj-rpeTs;

oiroa-i.

IlEL

At" eTepos SfJTa ^(ovtos 'i^eSpov ^aipav

e)(a)v.;

275

TLS

wot

ecrO' 6 /lovcfofiavTis

aToiros opvis opi^aTtjS

266.call

;^apaSpioi'/ii/ioufiei'of]

The Bird-

" harsh screaming of the curlew."267. TopoTi^ Topori'^]

has met withdivert

no response, and

Some think

that

Peisthetaerus suggests that just as theplover, to

attentiondistant spot,

nest, flies to

some

from her and calls

these notes are uttered by the approach' ing flamingo, but almost aU the MSS.

and the older editions assign themthe nightingale's song.opinion, thisis

to

as if to her young,

where her young are not; so the Hoopoe has gone into the copse, and whooped for birds where This artifice, though no birds are. most commonly attributed to the lapwing (" Far from her nest the lapwingcries

the Hoopoe, associated, of course, withquite right.

And, in my Nowhere

throughout the play are these bird-notes given without the accompaniment of the flute. It may be that the flute doesnot play them without the assistance of the singer's voice, see the note on 235 supra but it is certain that the;

but

not confined to her, by others of the Charadriadae, such as the Ringed Plover and the Golden Plover. It is in the absence of response, and not in"), is is

Away

employed

also

vocalists

(whether the Hoopoe or the Chorus) do not sing them without theassistance of the flute.

its

tone, that the

Bird-call

is

said to

In the Bird-call,

resemble the cry of the lapwing.

The

the Hoopoe,

Commentators have missed the sense ofthe words.

humancalls

We may be

sure that the

the birds language, first addresses them with the human voice but finally he;

who has taught

Bird-call, associated as it

was with the

them

in their

own

notes

;

KiKKa^av

nightingale's song, was intended to be

for example, imitates the cry of the owl,

the perfection of melody, and could not

from which the bird derives

itsii.

modern43. rot

be

likened,

as

they suggest, to

the

name

xouKou^ayiS, Dodwell,

THE BIRDSWentp.

35

in the copsCj

and whooped, and whooped

for nothing,

Torotinx

!

Torotinx,here's a bird approaching,

Comrade

coming

to receive onr visit.is it ?is

Aye by)P.

Zeus,

what bird do you

call it ?

Surely not a peacock,

U

That the Hoopoe here

will teach us.object, such as

Prithee, friend,

whatsee

bird

he ?

That

is

not a

commonbe, for

you can always!

That's a marsh-bird.)p.

Eu. Lovely creature

nice

and red

like flaming flame.

So he should!

Flamingo

is

the lovely creature^s name.!

Pel What ? The row you're making Eu. Here's Hi there Aye by Zeus, another truly, with a foreign aspect too.

another, full in view.

Who

is

he, the summit-ascending, Muse-prophetical, wondrous bird

?

yXavKas outm ^avfivScholiast.

XE-youtri,

says the

same sense596),

as the

Spvis

ovk iv

ala-iois

As the birds do not immediately answer, the Hoopoe and Nightingale again give abird's language.little

eSpais of Euripides

(Madness of Heracles the sight of which convinced" a

warble in the

Heracles that some trouble had befallenhis house;

bird appearing in an"E^tSpov"t6v

The twenty-four members of the Chorus do not commence their But entrance until line 294 infra.268. opvis]

inauspicious

quarter."

OVK aiffiov oiavoVj ovk evBerov opviVj ovk ivSeovTi Trjv eSpav ?j(oj/Ta.

Hesychius.

The

before theysingly, pass

come,

four

birds

enter

before the audience, andother side.

Scholiast says, ck ttjs Soc^oxXeour Sevripai Tvpovc ipxht " '^'^ opvis ovTOS, e^e&povXaipav exiov,"

disappear

on the

Theythe

Aristophanes,

however,

are described as theMfjSos, a-i

Bard -prophetical. 276. fiova-6iw.vTi.s] The description in the preceding line was borrowed from Sophocles the;

roi]

The

a-e is

governed by657.

understood.

Cf.

infra 406,

eiKOTcos

in the preceding line

may be

present line, the Scholiast informs us, is taken from a line in the Edonians of Aeschylus, which he gives as n't hoteaff 6treivei;

translated naturally.275. ?$e8pov x^P"" ^X'^"] These are, strictly, words of augury, and are used

/iovo-o/iarrif,

aKaXor,

a^pareus ov

by Sophocles

in the Tyro in exactly the

but which should probably be written ris vot 'iaff 6 povaonavris, a\a\os, d/3poj3aTi)s avfip ; Who is He, the delicate-

36

OPNI ^m6Vo/ia Tovro)

En.ET.

M^5oy

eo-n.

IIEI.

M^5oy;oiiTOcri.

wj/a^ 'Hpa/fXttj'

Cira

nm

dvfv Ka/ii]Kov Mij^or

cov ecreirTaTO

erepoi av Xoipov KaTeLXr](pdos Tis opvisTi

HEI

TO repas tovti ttot kcxTLv)(ovTos ereposr;

;

ov

aii /louos

dp

rjad

eiroyfr,

280

dWoc

EIT. ovToal p.ev

ea-riei

^iXoKXeovs

k^ CTroTToy, eyo) 5e tovtov irdmroi, mcrnep'iTTTrouiKos

Xeyois

KaXXiov Ka^oiJTos

'Ittttovikov KaXXt'ay.a>y

HE IEn.

KaXXt'ay dp'

ovppn earif

Trrepoppvu.

are yap

a>f

yevvaioi inro tSiv iTVKO(f>avTwv TiXXercci,

285

at re OrjXeiai TrpocreKrlXXovcriv

avTov rd TTTtpd.oppis oiiToat.

nEi

.

CO

UocreiSov erepos av tis;

^anTOS

Tis ofo/id^erai iro6' oCroy

EII. ovTocrl Karaxjyayds.

treading, Muse-prophetical, wordless man?

who

considers himself the;

Tereus of Tereus ortells

We know

that the " Edonians " conis

Sophocles, supra 101

(2) the

tained a scene in which Dionysus

hoopoe of Philocles.note on

(The Scholiast

brought before, and cross-examined by Lyourgu?, the Bdonian king (see the note on Thesm. 135), and doubtless the line cited above referred to the samenewly-arrived divinity.

us that Philocles, as to

whom

see thetetra-

logy

Wasps 462, exhibited a known as the TJavbiovts, oneTijpriif

of the

four plays being the(3)

or

"Erroylr.)

Aristophanes

the dilapidated creature

now beforefictitious

changes oKdKos into otottos to show that the cock (the ntpo-iKor opvis, here calledsort,

them.

Theis

object of this little

pedigree

MijSos)isnotoneof the ordinary domestic but a foreign outlandish bird.

a^po^aTTjs^aTijr,

again

is

changed intoeVi

opi-

show that the grandfather and grandson both bore the same name, and so to afford an opportunity for a fling at Callias. The intermediateto

possibly because

the cock wasnerpav,

consideredinfra 836.278. avfv

fTnTrjSiios oiKtlv

name, the name of the /av

riEI. eVrt yap Karaxpayas rtj

^ KXea>vv/j.os;X6ov; ;

ET. TTW dp ovyriEI.

KXidovv/siosr)

y

ovk dire^aXe rbvfj

290

dWafj

fiivTOi tis irod'

Xocpwa-LS;

tcov opvieov

'ttI

tov SiavXou rjXOov

EII.

wanep

ol

Kdpes

ftlv

ow

knl X6(pa>v oIkovyd6 aatpaXnas oiiveKa.

riEI.

& HoaeiSov ov)( Spas ocrov awfiXeKTUL KaKov ET. coya^''AiroXXou rov fecpovs. loii loir, opvicov; 01)8' iSetv er ecd' vn ainZv ireToiiivcav t^iv eicroSoy.oirroa-l

295

DEI.ET.

nepSi^, (Ketvoai ye

vfj

At' drraydf,

oi/Toal Se

wquiXo-^, iKUvql Se y dXKvdoy.

Tis

ydp

(o-O' oviTLo-Oei'

avT^s;

;

IlEI.

octtis earri;

KeipvXos.

ET.

KeipvXos ydp iariv opvLSXavTrji ye yXav^.

IIEI. oi ydp kari'^iTopyiXos;(prj^;

300;

ET. ri

tls

yXavK 'ABtfva^ TJyayev

nEI.

KiTTa, Tpvycov, KopvShs, eXeds, vnodv fils, wepiaTepd,

yeproSt

'"^/?a|) (pidrTa,

kokkv^, epvOpoirovs, Ke^Xrinvpis,

292.

Si'nuXoj/]

petitors

had not

In the Si'auXor the comto run merely from

charcoal-burner, according to his ownaccount, ran a goodoTrXiToSpopor,

point to point.

run to the further end of the course, round the turning-post there, and back to the line from -whence they had st9,rted. The birds, we were told before (supra 205), would "come running"; and as they run in with crests on their heads, they remind Peisthetaerusof the race run by armed njen, which was well known at Athens, and was called the 6;rXiVi;s hpofios, the runner being called otvKitoPollux iii. segm. 151. dpofios, Theto

They had

see

second, was an Acharnians 214 and

the Scholiast there.293. eVi Xov viot ^e KoKoiav. Its use in the present Cf. infra 578.

surroundings, the Cerylus and halcyon

perhaps an indication that, in the following line, the words r^v da-oSovpassageis

would be the male and female kingfisher. But as to all the bird-names, the readeris

referred to the Introduction to the

are substituted irapa npoa-SoKlav for t6vovpavov,

play.801. yXaCx'A^fjvaie]

see

Wasps

1084.

The

cTo-oSos

These

little

was the entrance by which the Chorus made their way into the orchestra.Aristophanes refers to326,it

birds of Athene were so numerous at " Athens, that " to carry owls to Athens

again. Clouds

and in a fragment of the N^o-oi preserved by the Scholiast here. 299. KfipuXor] The name KrjpvKot is changed into KeipvKos (as if from Keipeiv,a laugh against Sporgilus, who was a barber (Kovpeis Scholiast), and doubtless also an rjv,to cut the hair) to raise

became a common saying, the equivalent, as has often been observed, of our " carrying coals to Newcastle." The first words of the letter which Lucianprefixedto his

dialoguep,ev

entitled

"Nigrinus" are 'HrXavKOKopt^eiyXatJKac,

Trapotpta cprjal,

els 'A.6rjvas, i)C yeKo'iov

hv ei xtf

e'/cf i

within the definition of Teleas supra 169, 170. As to the KijpuXor, see the lines of Alcman in the note on 251opvis

on TroXXai Trap airois etiriv. And Hemsterhuys in his note on thatpassage collects several instances of theuse of the proverb.

40irop(f>vph,

OPNI0E2Ktpxvvi, KoXv/t^h,lot/

d/jiTreXis, rjvri,

Spvo-^.

ET.ofa3.p

lovlot)

tS>v opviwv,

305

lov tS>v KO'^i)(^cov

TTiiririCova-i

Kal rpixovai 8iaKiKpay6m.

direiKovfftv

ye vZv

;

offioi,

Kexv^aa-iv ye rot

Kal ^Xeirova-iv els

tre Katfie.

IIEI. tovto

ixev Ka-iiol SoKeT.

XO.En. XO.

TTOTTOTroTTOTroTTonoTroiToiroirov fi

dp os;

310

eKciXea-e

;

Tiva tottov

dpa

irore ve/ierai

oirocTi irdXai irdpeifii Koi>k dnoa-TafS) (piXcou.

T IT IT IT LT ITIT IT IT IV a Xoyovirpose/ik (piXov e^ffii'

dpu

iroT^

315d>v

claws of the assailants.358. yXav^iifvnpocreuTi]

Why should

The

plural

the owl, in particular, be kept at bay by

xvTpmv seems to indicate that the

latter ;(uTpa

was borrowed, as the spit and the platters were undoubtedly borrowed, from the culinary stores of theHoopoe.

For these

articlesis

constitute

the " panoply " whichfrom, whence

directed (infra

485) to be carried back to the kitchenit

This is a question which cannot be answered with confidence but perhaps the most probable explanation is that of Dobree, that the pot contained lighted fire which the bird of night would shun. See, as to the pot which the travellers brought with themthe x^^P"-^

was taken.

Probably

fromAthenSjthe noteon 43 supra. Suidas,s.

the KKVK\ripa (see the note on 92 supra)

vv.

x^'f'P'"'

TpfCJXLv,firj

says fVl tSv TPySi'

had thrown open not merely the Xoxf but also the kitchen, in which we shall17,

iTiOifraVf OTTcos

TrpouepxufVTai al yXnvKes,

find Peisthetaerus

cooking during the

But an empty pot, without fire in it, would not scare the owls from the roof

THE BIRDSHereit!

45

comes

!

I'm

off,

confound them.

Pel?

Fool,

why

can't

you remain with

me ?flee ?

WhatSeize

that these

may

tear

and rend me

Pbi.it is

How

can you hope from birds to

Truly, I haven't the least idea.

Pel Then

I the affair

must guide.

we a

pot and, the charge awaiting, hereavail us ?

Pot

!

and how can a pot

What

of these birds of preyit

we will combat side by side. Pel Never an owl will then come near. Pel Snatch up a spit, like a hoplite's with talons ?Eu.it

spear.

Planting

firmly there before you.

Whatover

shall I

do about

my

eyes

?

Take a

platter, or take

a saucer, holding!

them

buckler-wise.

What

a skilful neat contrivance

O

yo clever fellow you,!

In your military science Nicias you far outdo

and the verb

rpftfieiv

may

possibly point

(TTpev KccKicrTa OtjpicopKcti Siaa-irdcrai;

dnoXeaai Tradofres ovSev dvSpeT7J9 efifjs

yvvaiKos Sure ^uyyepee kuI (pvXira

XO.En.

(peia-o/iecrdarj

ydp

rt.

TwvSe /idWov

rjfiels

^ XvKOiv370

rlvas TKyaijiiff dXXovs t5>vS dv i^diovs en;Se Trjv (piffiv jikv kyOpol toV 8e

ei

vow

diiiKovs, as the

Scholiast says see the note on Eccl. 1 154.;

446. eo-roi Tai/rayi]

These words are not

were represented by their dv/xov and opyrjv, and their presence is still required as the Chorus of the play. The MSS.attribute the proclamation to

a mere acceptance of the conditions which, indeed, are not yet proposed;

a

Krjpv^,

completely formulated.

They

are in-

but the part of the Krjpv^ was no doubt undertaken by the Hoopoe, to whom the

56dyeXofiivovs(TKOTTiiv S'

0PNI0E5SSvX aTnivatirdXiv oiKaSe,kv ToTs invaK(ois.

6 TL

ccv TTpoypd(p(Ofiev

450[arp.

XO.

SoXepbvire(j)VKiv

fikv del

Kara irdvTacrii

8r]

TponovXeyejioi.

dvOpcairos'

S' o/ioos

rd-ya

yap

TV)(ois

dv

\pr)crTov e^eiTratv 6 ri poi

vapopdr

,

^455

Swafitv TivaTrapaXenrofiivrjvail 8e

iiei^cokfifjs

vn

(ppevos

d^vvirov

Tovd' ovpascri>

Xty

els KOivov.p-oi

o

yap dp

rv^rjs

dyaBovdXX'kiTep TrpdyfJ,aTt Tfjv cr^v rJKeis yvdtjxrivtoy

dvaneiaas,

460

Xeye Oapprfaas'IIEI. Kal pi}v opyS)

rds airovSds

oil /irj

nporepot napa^cofiev.e?s fioi,

vt]

tov

Aia

Kai TrpoTre^vparai Xoyos(pipe

ov SiafiaTTeiv KcoXvei ovSevlines are given

nai arecfiavov KaTayetcrQai

by Kock and Kennedy.ij

The

Scholiast says xripv^

TLna-BeToipos,

combat of Menelaus and Paris. At the making of the truce a solemn curse is

but of course Peisthetaerus could have nothing to do with disbanding the troopsof the Birds.

And

the Hoopoe vrould.

naturally be the spokesman here, as he

was supralooked,is

434.

denounced against those oimortpoi nPOTEPOI vnep opxia Tvrjpjjvuav (Iliad iii. 299), and twice in the succeeding book we are told that it was arranged in the counsels of Heaven that the TrojansSp^aa-i(iv. 67,

454. wapopSi-'] For jrapoparai, is over-

nPOTEPOI72),

vwep opKia

SrjXrja-acrSat

Bentley's emendation,

very

and twice, that they were

generally accepted, for Trapopas.lines lower

Three

doomed

to misfortune eVeifii/XijiraiTO

nPOTEPOlIt

down

oipSs

is

Bothe's cor-

vnip opKta

(iv.

236, 271).

"ovpas pro 6 opas" he says "ut ovuos pro 6 Sms, Ran. 27,rection for Spas,oiSuo-o-fvrproo 'Obva-creis, ap. Soph. &c.;"cf.

is plain, therefore, that

Hermann's altera-

tion of Trpdrfpov into irpoTepot

infra 1561.461.n-pdrcpoi]

is abundantly justified. The word irpdynari in the preceding line refers back to line 321,

He

is

recalling

the

impressive language with which

Homer

^escribes the infraction by the Trojans of the truce made between themselves

where Peisthetaerus and his comrade are described as bringing with them the stem irpdypaTQs ireXaipiov,462. 6pyS>](jivpaTm,

The words

opyZ, Trpont-

and the Achaeans, pending the single

and

diapaTTeiv all are

borrowed

THE BIRDSAndmarcli back

57

homewards

;

there await the orders

We^re goingChoe. Pull of

to publish

on the notice-boards.ways,says.

wiles, full of guiles, at all times, in all

Are the childrenSomething good

of

Men

;

still

we'll hear

what he

Thou

hast haply detectedsuspected

which we never Some power of achievement, too high For my own shallow wit by itself to descry. But if aught you espy,for the Birds

Tell

it

out

;

for whatever of advantage shall fall

To

ourselves

by your

aid, shall

be

common

to

all.

So expound us the plan you have brought

us,

my man,

not doubting,

it

seems, of success.

And don't be afraid, for the treaty we made^we won't I am hot to begin, and my spirit within is fermentingAnd my dough

be the

first to

transgress.

the tale to declare.

I will knead, for there's nought to impede.

Boy, bring

me a wreath for myis

hair,

from the process of baking; opym referring to the fermentation, by which the bulk is largely increased, through theformation of air-bubbles withining, first, the yeast; ;

the spectators understand that he

delivering a continuous oration, merely

punctuatedcomic, ofeffectively

by theEuelpides.

remarks,

mostly

irpone-

Thisfirst

was veryrepresenta(a,d.

(pvparai to the various processes of

mixwith boiling water

shown

in the

tion of the play at

Cambridge

and salt then, a paart^of the liquid so produced with a portion of the flour, so as to form what is now called the " sponge " and then the sponge with the rest of the liquid and flour and; ;

Sia/iarTcij'

to

the final kneading.it

He

were an apros. One portion of the dough has already been mixed and fermented, and is now fit to be kneaded, and served up as a loaf. 463. p (f)epeT(o Tay(y TLS.

rj

tC;

na

Ai"

aWa

Xeyeiv ^rjTa ri trdXai [liya koX \apivov enos

Ti Tfjv TOVTCov Opav(TL >^V)(rjv

oiTives Svres irpoTepov ^aa-iXrji

ovTcos vfimv VTTepaXyco,

XO.

rj/ieis

^ao-iXfjs

;

twos

;

HEI.

{i/iets

ndvTCDv

oTTocr

'iaTiv, kfiov

irp&Tov, tovSi, koI tov Alos avTov.

dp)(ai6Tpoi wpoTepoi re K-povov kuI TiTavcov kyeveaOe,

Kal

yfjs.

XO.

Koi yrjs

;

ITEI.

vfj

tov 'AttoXXco.

XO.

tovtI p.^ At" ovk

eireniiffp^

IIEI. dpaOrjs yap

'icpvs

kov TroXvnpdypcov^ oiiS Axcrctnrov TreTrdTrjKas,

b? 'i(pacrKe Xiycov KopvSov irdvTwv irpwTrjv opviBa yeveaOai,

vporepavyrjvVTTS'

Trjs yfjs,

K&weiTa voam tov naTep' avTrjs dTToOvrja-Keiv

OVK elvai, tov Se TrpoKelcrdai TrepTTTuTov ttjv S dnopovtravTrj

dpri^avias tov iraTep avTrjs ev

Ke^aXrj Karopv^ai.

464. Kara

x^'po^ vdap]

This was

tlie

a note in Sohomann,465. Xapivov]

De

Comitiis,stout,

i.

10.:

ordinary expression for the wash before

Lusty,

hrawny

dinner (see note on Wasps 1216), and

strictly of oxen, /aT

eiriBei^ca

tov dXeKTpvov

a>s

eTvpdvvei

rtpxe re

HepaSiv nprnTOv iravTCOv Aapeiov Koi Meya^d^ov,Ilepa-iKos opvLS

a>aT

KaXeiTM

dwo T^S dpxfjs er

eKeivrjs.

485

ET.

Sia TavT dp'

eywv kol vvv wawep ^aaiXtvs

6 /leyas Sia^da-Kei

kvl Trjs K(paXrjs ttjv Kvp^acriav twv opviOeov fiovos opOrjv.

476. Kfcj)a\rjcnv] After each argument " of Peisthetaerus, Euelpides " ctips in

with his

litle joke.

Here, the Ke(pa\^ of

the lark, he imagines, must be Ke0aX^,

an Attic deme, belonging to the tribeAcamantis.used.

commonly it is called SpvoKoXanrrjs. The oak was sacred to Zeus, whose most solemn oracles were delivered at Dodona eK dpvos wffiKoiioio. The woodpecker in attacking the oak might seem to beattackingnaturally

/

In the dative, the plural

Ke0aXj(r(y seems to have been

commonly

Thus Pausanias, runningthroughT^(pa\^crt de ol AtocrKoupot vofii^ovrai

the notabilia of the smaller Attic demes,saysjioKia-Ta

Zeus himself, who would be loth to surrender his sceptre to this puny assailant. The demonstration of the antiquily of theis

birds

now

finished.

Peisthetaerus

But there seems no doubt that its name was really Ke(/)aX^ and a burgher of the deme wasAttica xxxi.1.;

next proceeds to prove their formersovereignty over mankind.

He

gives

three instances.sovereign of Persia:

The Cock was

the:

said to be aKecfyaKTj,a(l>rjs

man KecfyoKij^ev, that is, fromrrjS

the Kite, of Hellas

Kei^aX^, d^fios6brjfioTr^s

AKafiai/Tidos'

and the Cuckoo, of Egypt and Phoenice.483, fViSfi'lm TOV dXfKTpvova] ThateVtSei^Q) COS 6is,

Xeycrai

'Ke^aXTJOeu

HarpOOration. Kc0aX^,

S^fios 'AKaixavri-

aXcKTpvwv irvpavvfi*

The

8of

Koi Kf^aXij^fK"is

4k

rrjs avTrjs

Photius.

accusative

is

not really governed byrepresents the nominative

The demeposition.

seldom mentioned, and

we

emSeiia.sentence,

It

have no means of ascertaining its actual480.8/>uKoXan-Ti)]

to the verb in the second limb of the

thrown back, by a commonconjunction,It

The woodpecker, literIt is called 8pvKo-

Atticasis

idiom, before the

ally the oah-pecker.XdnTrjs here,

and

in 979 infra, but

more

an independent accusative. merely by accident that it

finds

THE BIRDSSo thesire of

61

Uthe lark, givebirth,

me

leave to remark, on the crest of an headland lies dead.if;

y

If therefore,

by

ye are older than Earth,is

before all the

Gods ye

existed,resisted.

By

the right of the firstborn the sceptre

yours

your claim cannot well beit

I advise

you

to nourish

and strengthen your beak, and to keep

in trim for a stroke.

Zeus won't in a hurry the sceptre restore to the woodpecker tapping the oak. i\^

In times prehistoric 'tis easily proved, by evidence weighty and ample, That ^&i*ds, and not Gods, were the Rulers of men, and the Lords of the world for example, Time was that the Persians were ruled by the Cock, a King autocratic, alone The sceptre he wielded or ever the rames " Megabazus," " Daiius " were known And the " Persian " he still by the people is called from the Empire that once was his own.;

And

thus, to this hour, the symbol of

power on his head you can always detecterect.

Like the Sovereign of Persia, alone of the Birds, he stalks with tiara

on As

a transitive verb there. See the note 167 supra and see infra 652..

;

to the expression

Uepa-tKos;

opvis,

Bergler refers to 707 infra

to Athe-

naeuschap.

ix.

16 (374D)who cites from

with KvpjSaaias On their heads." Hdt. v. 49 cf. Id. vii. 61. But the KvpjSacria of the ordinary Persian was rolled round the head and projected over the forehead, whereas that of the Great King;

the Horae of CratinusS/airep 6 HepatKiis

stoodwpav waaav:

up

erect, like

the

feather inTfjv p.(v

a Highland chieftain's bonnet.iirX T7J Ke(pakfj

Tidpav

/SatriXet fi6va> e^eorti/

Kavaxoiv 6\6(pa/vos dKetcTOjp

and

to the quotation in

xiv.

chap. 70

Xen. Anab. ii. 5. 28. And hence Artaxerxes, when he proclaimedopdriv tx^Lv,

same writer from the Menodotus " On the Temple of the Samian Hera," who suggests that peacocks were originally natives of Samos, and thence spread into other(655 A) of thetreatise of

Darius his successor, rqv Kirapiv opdqvc^ipeiv'dSaKe,

Plutarch. Art. chap. 26.says(l>opeiv, jrSo-i

Thei^rjvfiovoi

ScholiastTrjvfie

llepa-ms

Tiapauol

dXX' ovK opdrjv./3ao"tXetff

T(ov

TJepaiov

opdatsrrjviirX

lands,

a)s icai ol

a\KTpv6vS iv

Trj

Uepcridt,

fXpS>VTO.KefjioXfjs

And againKlbapiV

Kvp^acriav'

See also infra 833.487. Kvp^acriav]

tS'

OPNI0ESla^vk re Koi fieyas/5c6/t7jy

rjv

Tore Kat iroXvs, &v

dvayda-Kmv

nEi

.

o^oXov KaTfPp6)(^di(Ta' Kara Kevov tov OvXaKov otKaS' d^eiXKov. KiyviTTov S' av Kal ^oiviktjs irda-r]s kokkv^ fSaa-iXeiis tjv'

^anoff

6

KOKKV^ diroi " kokkv," Tore y

oi ^ocviKes diravres

505

ToiJS iTvpois

&v Kal Tas KpiOas kv toTs neSiois k6ipi(ov.rjv toxjttos

ET. TOVT

dp' eKUv'

dXrjOm- " kokkV ^mXolet

TreSiovSe."

nEi

.

ripxpv

S

ovT(o v (TKriTTTpcov eKaOriTffSt] 'ydo'

opvLS fieri^^wv

ti SmpoSoKoitj.

510

ET.

TovTi Totvvv ovK

Kal Sfjrd

ji

eXd/i^ave OaOfta,

OTTOT e^iXdoL Upiap-os tls e^cov opviv kv roia-i TpaymSoTs,

6 8' dp' elv,

aUrov opvivTj

'iarrjKev e)(a)v ewl rfjs Ke/itVi;r,

by Athenaeus

iii.

vaaros, apros fieyas 6npTot (vpiTai p.fyd\ot,

Hesychius.

name is derived otto Tovvda-a-e(r6aifj

Xenophon, Anab.

(erammed) dpTviiamv

Tpayrjfiaa-iTUri, Ety-

;

;

;

!

THE BIRDSAnd Andthenlet

73

another ambassador-bird toto

men with

this

message beall

sent,

That the Birds being Sovereigns,

them must be paid

honour and worship divine,therefore assort

the Gods for the future to them be postponed.

Now

and combine

Each God with a bird, whichever will best with his nature and attributes If to Queen Aphrodite a victim ye slay, first sacrifice grain to the coot

suit

If a sheep to Poseidon ye slay, to the duck let wheat as a victim be brought

And

a big honey-cake for the ewrmorant make,!

if

ye offer to Heracles aught.

Bring a ram for King Zeus

But ye first must produce for our Kinglet, the gold-crested wren,sacrificed

A.

masculine midge, full formed and entire, to be sacrificed duly by men.

I

am

tickled

and pleased with the

midge.

Now thunder away,

great

Zan !^

OR.

But men,

will they take us for Gods,

and not daws,?

do ye

A ^*^

really believe that they can

If they see us

on wings flying idly about

Pel Don't say suchfar above the rest, but

ridiculous things

mol. Magn. because;

it wasn-uKDrls'/xco-T-ds"

when he hadlittle

TrXijpijs"

/X17

fx'""'

iiroKoix^dv ti. Id.

Hesy-

attained the highest point to which he

ehius,Photius,s.v. i/ao-Tdv.-Theiiame \dpos

could by any possibility ascend, agolden-crested

included

all

the various gull tribes, and

wren which had nestledits

And anyhow

very probably extended to the cormorant. it must be so translated in

unperceived in his plumage, spreadhigher.

tiny wings and flew up a few yards

passages like the present, since with us the cormorant represents the idea ofvoracity just as the Xdpoj did

with thea mere

Hence its claim to be King of and hence its association here with Zeus, the King of the Gods.the Birds;is the Doric form of from which the oblique cases Zrjvos, It is found on Ztjv), Zrjva are derived. Cretan coins, and St. Chrysostom (Horn, iii. in Titum. ad init.) tells us that it was engraved on the Cretan tomb of Oi Kprjres, he says, Td(f)OV exov(Ti Zeus.

Greeks568.crested

:

whilst gull with usfor dupe.

is

570. Zdv] This

synonym

Zffv,

/Sao-iXeuff

idT opp^tXos] The golden-

This little our Kinglet. bird derived its Greek name ^ao-iXiVfcor, its Latin Regulus, and its English Kinglet from the well-known fable of Aesop.is

wren

The assembled birds had agreed that whichever of them could fly the highest should be their King. The Eagle soared[Kp^Tcs at\ ipivarai]Ka>I

Tov

Aidr'

"(vda Zav'OnoirjTTjS

KeiTOt ov

Am

/cikXij-

o'Kovcriv."

ovv

(prjiri'

yap5'

Ta

S

av KopaKes rmv (evyapCmv, oTaivroi/s

Karapovaiv,

Koi tS)V Trpo^aTCov

6^6a\povs

KKoyjrdma)i> eirl neipa.fiicrOo^opii Si.

il& 8 y 'AnoWcov larpos

y mv

IdvOo)'ra>fia>

EY.

fifi

irptvS"

y

Siv

eym tw PotSapicotre

irpwria-T diroSm/iai.s dyiXt)

fiia KiyX!^rivei for;

many think that

this perforating process

;

THE BIRDSOno, for

77

by Zeus, she

will

make some excuse

;

that

is

always the way with Demeter,

'

AndOf

truly the ravens shall pluck out the eyes of the oxen that

work

in the plough,

the flocks and the herds, as a proof that the Birds are the Masters and Potentates now.if his

Apollo the leech,

aid they beseech,

may cure themsold

;

but then they must paylittle

!

NayAndThe One

but hold, nay but hold, nor beginto esteem

till I''ve

my

two

oxen I pray.

But when once

you as God, and as

Life,!

and as Cronos and Earth they\e begun,L-^

as noble Posffldon, delicate tendrils

what joys shall be

theirs

Choe. Will you kindly inform me of one?shall the locusts molest.

and bloom of the vine no more

gallant brigade of the kestrels and owls shall ridshall the

them

at once of the pest.

No more

mite and the gall-making blight the fruit of the fig-tree devour

Of thrushes one

troop on their armies shall swoop, and clear

them

all off in

an hour.

/

both ripens thealso

fig more speedily and makes it less liable to drop from the " Wild figs," says Aristotle (H. A. tree. V. 26. 3), " breed what are called yjfrjva.first is

digious

number of smallin order to;

insects of the

genua called Cynips, which perforatethefigs

make a

nest forinflict

their eggs

and the wound theythe

This atits

a

little

grub, but

when

accelerates

ripening

of the figto maturity

away, leaving the burrows into the wild figs, and prevents their dropping off. Wherefore farmers tie wild figs to cultivated figs, and plant the two sortsskin bursts,it flies it

nearly three weeks, thus leaving timefor the second crop to

skin behind.

And

come

in due season."

Conversations on Vegeii.

table Physiology, vol.

p. 42,

Professor Kidd's treatise "sical

On

quoted in the Phy-

of trees in close proximity."to this, see Hdt. Hist.i.

And

as

Condition of Man," p. 224. Others,

193.1,

Theophrastus,gives a similariv rais

Plant,;

ii.

8.

however, are of a different opinion. " Whether the operations of the CynipsPsenes be of that advantage in fertilizing

account(TVKais

but adds Kvtnes Srav

yivavTai KareirBlovin

roiis ^jfrjvas^

the

fig,

which the

cultivators of that

And he

prescribes, as a

remedy

for this

barbarous conduct, that crabs should be

East have long supposed, is doubted by Hasselquist and Olivier, bothfruit in the

hung up by the

fruit, as

more tempting

competent observers who have been onthe spot," Kirby and Spence's Entomology, i. 295. Peisthetaerus obviously

to the appetite of the Kv'mes.

"In hot

climates the fig-tree produces two crops

of

fruit,

and the peasants

in the isles

of the ArchiJJelago, where the fig-treeabounds, bring branches of wild fig-treesin the spring, which they spread over

thought their operations were injurious The thrush is not mento the fruit.tioned by Aristotle among the aya(H. A.it isviii.

5. 4.

Of

Id. ix. 9. 2)

:

but

those that are cultivated.

These wild

well

known

to be a devourer of

branches serve as a vehicle to a pro-

both insects and

fruit.

78

OPNI0ESirXovTew Se iToOiv SSaofifv airoisTO, jiev;

XO.

Kal yap tovtov afoSp kp&a-iv.oliToi

HE I

d\\' avToTs (JLavTevojievon

Saxrovai to. xp^vos, iv he

So in Christian writers " I would that men pray in every place," says St. Paul, " lifting up holy hands,"occurrence.1

AiPvai TO ToO'A/ificoyoj. Scholiast.infra716.

Cf.

And

as to the oracles ofi.

St.

Tim. ii. 8. at^oSpa itia-Teioixev, says Chrysostom, asking for the prayers of&videKrjo-rjre

Ammon623.

in Libya, see Hdt.duareivovTes

46,

ii.

55.

his hearers,ixaSov

-navTes SfioSv-

rm x^ip'] In the attitude of prayer; Homer's evxero,Xp'opiyiov(Is

ras x^^P"-' fKreiveiv npos tov 6eov

irrep rrjs rifiCTepas a-piKpoTtjTos, OTL

navTa

ovpavov

aarepoevra

KaropdacreTe.Cf. Id.xviii.

Virgil's

" duplices tendens ad sidera

Hom.iv. in 2Thess.(533D). in Eph. (128 E), xi. in

palmas."

" Multi

ad

deos

manus

Philipp. (281 B).

82iaTLvoiroas

OPNI0ESoiiK

&v kyw

ttoO' iKcbv rfjs fffjs yvdo/iris er

dfei/xrjv.

eTrav)(fip.ri

npaTTeiv, eni ravra Tera^ofied'

fjfieis-

ocra 5e yvco/ir] Set ^ovXeveiu, eTTi aol

rdSe irdvT dvaKeiTai.

fifjy fia'

tov Ai' ovyl vvcrTd(eipovSe fieXXoviKidv,

en640Si tol

Spa arlvdXX'

fi/ilv

d>s Td-)(j.(Tra Sei

nto,

Spdv npwTovi/ifjv

elaiXOeT is veoTTidv ye Tr)vKal Tafxd Kap^Tj Kal

irapovTa (ppvyava,

Kal

Tovvo/J.' -fjnTu (ppdcraroy.

IIEI. dXXa paSiov.

ipol pev ovopa Tleia6iTatpos.

EH.

to) Se

n;645

riEI. 'E.veXntSris K-pimdev.

EH. dXXa

yaiperov

629. fVnvp^ijcras] avTi tov(Tos Sia TU>v araiv \6ya>v,-

i^eyaXocjjpovrj-

637. pa/xri

.

.

.

yva>iirj]

Agathonfor the

usea

Scholiast.

Theis

the same jingle,17

yva>nri Se Kpe'urarav itrnv

expression

Ttap'

ip.c

6ip.fvos

\6yovt

pii)xrj

xepav,

and seems,it,

mere

thought to be an imitation of a milltary phrase, nap e'/ie Be/ievos ovXa. 633. SiKaiovs dSoXouf] This is the ordinary language of treaties. Dindorf refers to Thuc. v. 18, 23, 47, and toLysistrata 169.vf(f>ri

koI irapaKoKicras

642. eiVtX^fT']airots tlsrrjv

TOP NtKiav, ovKoxihe

j(p^vai irpo jxkv aiirriv,

Kdv

cpiXrjcrai jioi 8okS>.

HEI

dXX

(3

KaKoSai/iov pvy\os o^eXicrKoiv ex^'*vfi

ET. dXX! &s

in the

next line703.

is

another Hesiodic phrase,

Theog. 625.Trpea-^vTnToi]

The

superlative

seems used for the comparative, the genitives wavrav fiaKaptDv meaning here,as in the preceding line, " all the blessed

There was nothing special with success in love. 710. yepams] We have finished the Cosmogony, but we have not left Hesiod behind us. His " Theogony " indeed is of no further use, but we still need theable bribe.

assistance of his other great poem, the

"Works and Days,"

to

show us the

Gods." See the note on Frogs 762. The next four lines and a half are the

practical utility of the birds to mankind.

weakest part of the Parabasis, in logic aswell as in taste.or a quail

Forif the gift of agoose might win over a lover, so also might the gift of a racehorse or a pack

That the emigration of the cranes gives the signal for the autumnal ploughing and sowing is a precept which Hesiodendeavours emphatically to impress onthe farmer.

well, when afar thou hearest the voice of the crane Clanging aloft from the Clouds, as the season returneth again. Giving the signal for ploughing, foretelling the winter and rain.

Heed thou

Works and DaysHomer,thirdat the

448.

commencement

of the

Iliad, draws a splendid simile from the same emigration, though of course he deduces no lesson from it for the benefit of the husbandman. He

manner in which the Trojans and the Achaeans respectively marched to the onset. The Trojans, he says, rushed forward with clangouris

contrasting the

like that of the birds,

When

afar through theflee

As they

heaven cometh pealing before them the cry of the cranes, from the wintertide storms, and the measureless-deluging rains, .. .

;

DTHE BIRDSSo we than the Blessed are older by far and abundance of proof is existing That we are the children of LoyBj for we fly, unfortunate lovers assisting.;

95

\

And many a man who has found, to his cost, that And his loves have abjured him' for ever, again byFor thegift of

his powers of persuasion have failed,

the power of the Birds has prevailed

a quail, or a Porphyry

rail,

or a Persian, or goose, will regain them.

And'Tis

the chiefest of blessings ye mortals enjoy, by the help of the Birds ye obtain them.

from us that the signs of the Seasons in turn, Spring, Winter, and Autumn are known. When to Libya the crane flies clanging again, it is time for the seed to be sown,the skipper

^

And And

Orestes

may hang up his rudder awhile, and sleep may weave him a wrap to be warm when he's

after all his exertions,

out on his thievish excursions.

But

silently

Steadfastly

marched the Aohaians, breathing the battle-mood's breath, minded to stand by their war-feltejra unto the death. Way.his warBith

Here we have Hesiod Ere the wintry gales commence, he says, draw up your boat on the beach,711. Trr/SdXioc]

and comfort when

out

again.

TrriddXiovB^ eiisfiyesiiTrep KaTTVov Kpefia.a'a(rSaif

Works and Days 629. And at the commencement of the poem hesaysthatif the Gods had not hidden away man's food, sowithout constant toil, we might have gotten a year's food in a single day, ai\ffa icethat they cannot obtainit

For this is, I think, what the passage means. The interpretation of Hemsterhuys (who translated the Play into Latin), though generally accepted, is by nothieving in^th^winter nights.

means

satisfactory

;

praeterea Oresti ut

7n;8Xtoi'

fuv vnep Karrvov

Karadelo, Id.

45.

The

Scholiast refers to these lines

of Hesiod,

and

to those translated in

the preceding note. 712. 'OpciTTTi] To the two warnings ofHesiod, Aristophanes adds a third of

own though even this may be merely a comic adaptation of the older poet's advice to put on, at the approachhis;

of winter, x^alvdv re naKaKrjv{full-length)

Km Tepfiioevrn p^irSva, Works and Days 537-

laenam contexant, ne homines, cum alget, vestibus spoliet. For who are to weave the woollen gannent? And is it supposed that the highwayman stole only because he was cold ? If so, he would have been content with one successful haul, instead of being a perpetual terror to travellers. It seems to me that the crane is supposed to be sending different warnings to different people (f>pd^etv vavKXrjpa to remind the skipper tjipa^eiv 'Opiarrj (Aesch. of one thing Bum. 593) to remind Orestes of another. The use of the active, v(Hvei.v, is not:

;

But if so, Aristophanes converts it into a warning to Orestes, the noted highwayman, who is mentioned again infra 1491, to provide a woollen wrapper for

inconsistent with this interpretation.I

may add

that this line seems fatal toothers.

the theory recently advanced by MiillerStrubing, V.an Leeuwen, and

96Iktivos S' av fieTo,fjVlKa TTiKTilV &pavrj,

always

distinguishable

from

tioned the Temple of Apollo as well as those of Ammon and Zeus why then

a

but

it

frequently involves the

idea of divine agency, a premonition,

;

THE BIRDSen cometh the kite, with;d

97

its

hovering

flight, of

the advent of Spring to

tell,

the Spring sheep-shearing begins ; and next, your woollen attire you sell, d buy you a lighter and daintier garb, when you note the return of the swallow.

ps yourp

Ammon, Dodona, andif

Delphi are we

;

we

are also your Phoebus Apollo.

whatever you do,

a trade you pursue, or goods in the market are buying,friend, first'its

'the

wedding attend of a neighbour and

you look

to the Birds

and

their flying./

d whenever you of

omen

or

augury speak,is

a bird you are always repeatingis

Rumour' s a

bird,

and a sneezethe

a bird, and so

a word or a meeting,see Hdt.91.

.^^idea t