- Source
- Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0019.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:719-784
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
Cleon and the Sausage-Seller move to the assembly at the Pnyx to win the favor of Demus, engaging in a fierce debate as each claims his superior love and loyalty to Demus.
καὶ νὴ Δίʼ ὑπό γε δεξιότητος τῆς ἐμῆς
Cleon: And indeed, by Zeus, because of my cleverness
δύναμαι ποιεῖν τὸν δῆμον εὐρὺν καὶ στενόν.1
I can make the Demus broad and narrow.
χὠ πρωκτὸς οὑμὸς τουτογὶ σοφίζεται.
Sausage-Seller: And my anus too knows this trick.
οὐκ ὦγάθʼ ἐν βουλῇ με δόξεις καθυβρίσαι.
Cleon: My good man, do not think you have insulted me with impunity in the Council.
ἴωμεν ἐς τὸν δῆμον.
Let us go to the Demus.
οὐδὲν κωλύει·
Sausage-Seller: Nothing prevents it.
ἰδοὺ βάδιζε, μηδὲν ἡμᾶς ἰσχέτω.
Look, walk on, let nothing hold us back.
ὦ Δῆμε δεῦρʼ ἔξελθε.
Cleon: O Demus, come out here!
νὴ Δίʼ ὦ πάτερ
Sausage-Seller: By Zeus, O father,
ἔξελθε δῆτʼ.
Cleon: Do come out indeed!
ὦ Δημίδιον ὦ φίλτατον
Sausage-Seller: O dearest little Demus,
ἔξελθʼ, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς οἷα περιυβρίζομαι.
come out, so that you may know how I am being insulted.
τίνες οἱ βοῶντες; οὐκ ἄπιτʼ ἀπὸ τῆς θύρας;
Demus: Who are those shouting? Won’t you go away from the door?
τὴν εἰρεσιώνην μου κατεσπαράξατε.
You have torn my eiresione to pieces!
τίς ὦ Παφλαγὼν ἀδικεῖ σε;
Who is wronging you, O Paphlagonian?
διὰ σὲ τύπτομαι
Cleon: Because of you I am being beaten
ὑπὸ τουτουὶ καὶ τῶν νεανίσκων.
by this fellow and by the young men.
τιή;
Demus: Why?
ὁτιὴ φιλῶ σʼ ὦ Δῆμʼ ἐραστής τʼ εἰμὶ σός.
Cleon: Because I love you, O Demus, and am your lover.
σὺ δʼ εἶ τίς ἐτεόν;
Demus: And who are you, really?
ἀντεραστὴς τουτουί,
Sausage-Seller: A rival lover of this man,
ἐρῶν πάλαι σου βουλόμενός τέ σʼ εὖ ποιεῖν,
who has loved you for a long time and wished to do you good,
ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ καὶ καλοί τε κἀγαθοί.
along with many other noble and good men.
ἀλλʼ οὐχ οἷοί τʼ ἐσμὲν διὰ τουτονί. σὺ γὰρ
But we are not able to do so because of this man. For you
ὅμοιος εἶ τοῖς παισὶ τοῖς ἐρωμένοις·
are like beloved boys;
τοὺς μὲν καλούς τε κἀγαθοὺς οὐ προσδέχει,
you do not accept the noble and good men,
σαυτὸν δὲ λυχνοπώλαισι καὶ νευρορράφοις
but surrender yourself to lamp-sellers, cobblers,
καὶ σκυτοτόμοις καὶ βυρσοπώλαισιν δίδως.
shoe-cutters, and tanners.
εὖ γὰρ ποιῶ τὸν δῆμον.
Cleon: For I do good to the Demus!
εἰπέ νυν τί δρῶν;
Sausage-Seller: Tell me then, by doing what?
ὅ τι; †τῶν στρατηγῶν ὑποδραμὼν τῶν ἐκ Πύλου, †
Cleon: What? Having supplanted the generals at Pylos,
πλεύσας ἐκεῖσε, τοὺς Λάκωνας ἤγαγον.
and sailed there, I brought back the Laconians.
ἐγὼ δὲ περιπατῶν γʼ ἀπʼ ἐργαστηρίου
Sausage-Seller: And I, walking about from my workshop,
ἕψοντος ἑτερου2 τὴν χύτραν ὑφειλόμην.
stole the pot while another was boiling it.
καὶ μὴν ποιήσας αὐτίκα μάλʼ ἐκκλησίαν
Cleon: And indeed, having called an assembly right now,
ὦ Δῆμʼ ἵνʼ εἰδῇς ὁπότερος νῷν ἐστί σοι
O Demus, so that you may know which of us two is more
εὐνούστερος, διάκρινον, ἵνα τοῦτον φιλῇς.
well-disposed to you, decide, so that you may love that one.
ναὶ ναὶ διάκρινον δῆτα, πλὴν μὴ ʼν τῇ πυκνί.
Sausage-Seller: Yes, yes, do decide indeed, only not on the Pnyx!
οὐκ ἂν καθιζοίμην ἐν ἄλλῳ χωρίῳ.
Cleon: I would not sit in any other place!
ἀλλʼ ἐς τὸ πρόσθε. χρὴ παρεῖνʼ ἐς τὴν πύκνα.
Demus: Then move forward. We must be present at the Pnyx.
οἴμοι κακοδαίμων ὡς ἀπόλωλʼ. ὁ γὰρ γέρων
Sausage-Seller: Ah, wretched me, I am ruined! For the old man,
οἴκοι μὲν ἀνδρῶν ἐστι δεξιώτατος,
at home, is the shrewdest of men,
ὅταν δʼ ἐπὶ ταυτησὶ καθῆται τῆς πέτρας,
but whenever he sits upon this stone,
κέχηνεν ὥσπερ ἐμποδίζων ἰσχάδας.
he gapes as if threading dried figs.
νῦν δή σε πάντα δεῖ κάλων ἐξιέναι σεαυτοῦ,
Chorus: Now indeed you must let out every rope of yours,
καὶ λῆμα θούριον φορεῖν καὶ λόγους ἀφύκτους
and wear a raging spirit, and bring inescapable arguments
ὅτοισι τόνδʼ ὑπερβαλεῖ. ποικίλος γὰρ ἁνὴρ
with which you will surpass this man. For the fellow is crafty
κἀκ τῶν ἀμηχάνων πόρους εὐμήχανος πορίζειν.
and clever at finding resources even out of resourceless situations.
πρὸς ταῦθʼ ὅπως ἔξει πολὺς καὶ λαμπρὸς ἐς τὸν ἄνδρα.
Therefore, see to it that you go against the man with full force and brilliance.
ἀλλὰ φυλάττου καὶ πρὶν ἐκεῖνον προσκεῖσθαί σοι πρότερος σὺ
But take care, and before he presses hard upon you,
τοὺς δελφῖνας μετεωρίζου καὶ τὴν ἄκατον παραβάλλου.
raise your dolphins first, and bring your light boat alongside.
τῇ μὲν δεσποίνῃ Ἀθηναίᾳ τῇ τῆς πόλεως μεδεούσῃ
Cleon: To our mistress Athena, the guardian of the city,
εὔχομαι, εἰ μὲν περὶ τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἀθηναίων γεγένημαι
I pray: if indeed I have been toward the Athenian Demus
βέλτιστος ἀνὴρ μετὰ Λυσικλέα καὶ Κύνναν καὶ Σαλαβακχώ,
the best man after Lysicles and Cynna and Salabaccho,
ὥσπερ νυνὶ μηδὲν δράσας δειπνεῖν ἐν πρυτανείῳ·3
may I, just as now, dine in the Prytaneum without doing anything;
εἰ δέ σε μισῶ καὶ μὴ περὶ σοῦ μάχομαι μόνος ἀντιβεβηκώς,
but if I hate you and do not fight for you standing alone in opposition,
ἀπολοίμην καὶ διαπρισθείην κατατμηθείην τε λέπαδνα.
may I perish and be sawed in two, and cut up into leather straps.
κἄγωγʼ ὦ Δῆμʼ, εἰ μή σε φιλῶ καὶ μὴ στέργω, κατατμηθεὶς
Sausage-Seller: And I too, O Demus, if I do not love you and cherish you, may I be cut up
ἑψοίμην ἐν περικομματίοις· κεἰ μὴ τούτοισι πέποιθας,
and boiled in mincemeat; and if you do not believe these things,
ἐπὶ ταυτησὶ κατακνησθείην ἐν μυττωτῷ μετὰ τυροῦ,
may I be grated on this into a cheese-garlic sauce with cheese,
καὶ τῇ κρεάγρᾳ τῶν ὀρχιπέδων ἑλκοίμην ἐς Κεραμεικόν.
and may I be dragged by my testicles with a meat-hook to the Ceramicus!
καὶ πῶς ἂν ἐμοῦ μᾶλλόν σε φιλῶν ὦ Δῆμε γένοιτο πολίτης;
Cleon: And how indeed could there be a citizen who loves you more than I do, O Demus?
ὃς πρῶτα μὲν ἡνίκʼ ἐβούλευον σοὶ χρήματα πλεῖστʼ ἀπέδειξα
I, who first indeed when I was a councilor, showed the greatest amount of money
ἐν τῷ κοινῷ, τοὺς μὲν στρεβλῶν τοὺς δʼ ἄγχων τοὺς δὲ μεταιτῶν,
in the public treasury for you, by torturing some, choking others, and begging from others,
οὐ φροντίζων τῶν ἰδιωτῶν οὐδενός, εἰ σοὶ χαριοίμην.
not caring for any of the private citizens, if only I might please you.
τοῦτο μὲν ὦ Δῆμʼ οὐδὲν σεμνόν· κἀγὼ γὰρ τοῦτό σε δράσω.
Sausage-Seller: This, O Demus, is nothing grand; for I too will do this to you.
ἁρπάζων γὰρ τοὺς ἄρτους σοι τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους παραθήσω.
For snatching other people’s bread, I will serve it to you.
ὡς δʼ οὐχὶ φιλεῖ σʼ οὐδʼ ἔστʼ εὔνους, τοῦτʼ αὐτό σε πρῶτα διδάξω,
And that he does not love you nor is well-disposed, this very thing I will first teach you,
ἀλλʼ ἢ διὰ τοῦτʼ αὔθʼ ὁτιή σου τῆς ἀνθρακιᾶς ἀπολαύει.
except for this very reason that he enjoys your warm embers.
σὲ γάρ, ὃς Μήδοισι διεξιφίσω4 περὶ τῆς χώρας Μαραθῶνι,
For you, who fought with swords against the Medes for our land at Marathon,
καὶ νικήσας ἡμῖν μεγάλως ἐγγλωττοτυπεῖν παρέδωκας,
and having won, gave us the power to speak grandly,
ἐπὶ ταῖσι πέτραις οὐ φροντίζει σκληρῶς σε καθήμενον οὕτως,
he does not care that you sit so hard upon the stones,
οὐχ ὥσπερ ἐγὼ ῥαψάμενός σοι τουτὶ φέρω. ἀλλʼ ἐπαναίρου,
not like me, who having sewn this for you, bring it. Come, lift yourself up,
- 720ποιέω τὸν δῆμον εὐρὺν καὶ στενόν
A double accusative construction, where the verb ποιέω takes τὸν δῆμον as its direct object and the adjectives εὐρὺν καὶ στενόν ('wide and narrow') as its predicative complement. Metaphorically, it means to manipulate the people's minds freely (making them compliant or tight), which also sets up the vulgar joke about the anus in the next line (§721).
- 745ἕψοντος ἑτερου
A genitive absolute construction (participle ἕψοντος and noun ἑτέρου), indicating time or attendant circumstance ('while another was boiling [it]') with a subject different from that of the main clause. The main verb ὑφειλόμην is in the middle voice, meaning 'to steal secretly,' reducing Cleon's political usurpation to a vulgar culinary theft.
- 766δειπνεῖν ἐν πρυτανείῳ
An infinitive of wish representing a prayer ('may I dine in the Prytaneum'). While it functions as the main clause of the conditional sentence starting with 'εἰ μὲν...', the participle δράσας appears in the nominative case because the logical subject of the infinitive is identical to the speaker (Cleon), drawing it into agreement.
- 781σὲ γάρ, ὃς Μήδοισι διεξιφίσω
The relative pronoun ὃς ('who') refers to the prepended accusative pronoun σέ ('you'). Since the verb in the relative clause (διεξιφίσω) is in the second-person singular, it agrees with its second-person antecedent. This accusative σέ is anticipated (prolepsis) at the beginning of the sentence and serves as the semantic object of οὐ φροντίζει ('does not care [about you]') in §783.