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3875. A8 1906Arlstophanous Ornithes
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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