- 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-grc2:924-1015
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
Demus confiscates the signet ring from Cleon to dismiss him from stewardship. In response, Cleon and the Sausage-Seller compete for Demus' favor by presenting vast numbers of ancient oracles concerning his future.
ἰπούμενος1 ταῖς ἐσφοραῖς.
being crushed by property taxes!
ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐς τοὺς πλουσίους
For I will see to it that you are enrolled
σπεύσω σʼ ὅπως ἂν ἐγγραφῇς.
among the rich.
ἐγὼ δʼ ἀπειλήσω μὲν οὐδέν,
Sausage-Seller: But I will threaten nothing; rather, I pray for you as follows:
εὔχομαι δέ σοι ταδί·
that a frying-pan of squids
τὸ μὲν τάγηνον τευθίδων
should be set over the fire, sizzling; and that you,
ἐφεστάναι σίζον· σὲ δὲ
when about to speak
γνώμην ἐρεῖν μέλλοντα περὶ
your opinion concerning
Μιλησίων καὶ κερδανεῖν
the Milesians, and to gain
τάλαντον, ἢν κατεργάσῃ,
a talent if you succeed,
σπεύδειν ὅπως τῶν τευθίδων
should hasten to stuff yourself with the squids
ἐμπλήμενος φθαίης ἔτʼ εἰς
so that you might arrive first
ἐκκλησίαν ἐλθών·2 ἔπειτα
at the Assembly; and then,
πρὶν φαγεῖν3 ἀνὴρ μεθήκοι,
before you can eat them, an envoy should come for you,
καὶ σὺ τὸ τάλαντον λαβεῖν
and you, wishing
βουλόμενος ἐσθίων
to get the talent, while eating in haste,
ἐναποπνιγείης.
should choke to death.
εὖ γε νὴ τὸν Δία καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλω καὶ τὴν Δήμητρα.
Demus: Excellent, by Zeus, Apollo, and Demeter!
κἀμοὶ δοκεῖ· καὶ τἄλλα γʼ εἶναι καταφανῶς
I think so too; and in all other respects he is clearly
ἀγαθὸς πολίτης, οἶος οὐδείς πω χρόνου
an excellent citizen, such as no man has yet been
ἀνὴρ γεγένηται τοῖσι πολλοῖς τοὐβολοῦ.
to the common people of the three-obol class.
σὺ δʼ ὦ Παφλαγὼν φάσκων φιλεῖν μʼ ἐσκορόδισας.
But you, O Paphlagonian, while claiming to love me, have stuffed me with garlic.
καὶ νῦν ἀπόδος τὸν δακτύλιον, ὡς οὐκέτι
And now, give back the ring, as you shall no longer
ἐμοὶ ταμιεύσεις.
be my steward.
ἔχε· τοσοῦτον δʼ ἴσθʼ ὅτι,
Cleon: Take it. But know this much,
εἰ μή μʼ ἐάσεις ἐπιτροπεύειν, ἕτερος αὖ
that if you do not allow me to steward for you, another,
ἐμοῦ πανουργότερός τις ἀναφανήσεται.
far more rascal than I, will appear.
οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅπως ὁ δακτύλιός ἐσθʼ οὑτοσὶ
Demus: It cannot be that this ring
οὑμός· τὸ γοῦν σημεῖον ἕτερον φαίνεται,
is mine; at any rate, the device appears different,
ἀλλʼ ἢ οὐ καθορῶ.
or else I do not see clearly.
φέρʼ ἴδω τί σοι σημεῖον ἦν;
Sausage-Seller: Let me see, what was your device?
δημοῦ βοείου θρῖον ἐξωπτημένον.
Demus: A leaf of beef-tallow, well-roasted.
οὐ τοῦτʼ ἔνεστιν.
Sausage-Seller: That is not on it.
οὐ τὸ θρῖον; ἀλλὰ τί;
Demus: Not the leaf? What then?
λάρος κεχηνὼς ἐπὶ πέτρας δημηγορῶν.
Sausage-Seller: A seagull, with its beak wide open, speechmaking on a rock.
αἰβοῖ τάλας.
Demus: Oh, disgusting!
τί ἔστιν;
Sausage-Seller: What is it?
ἀπόφερʼ ἐκποδών.
Demus: Take it away!
οὐ τὸν ἐμὸν εἶχεν ἀλλὰ τὸν Κλεωνύμου.
He did not have mine, but Cleonymus’.
παρʼ ἐμοῦ δὲ τουτονὶ λαβὼν ταμίευέ μοι.
But taking this one from me, be my steward.
μὴ δῆτά πώ γʼ ὦ δέσποτʼ, ἀντιβολῶ σʼ ἐγώ,
Cleon: Not yet indeed, O master, I beseech you,
πρὶν ἄν γε τῶν χρησμῶν ἀκούσῃς τῶν ἐμῶν.
before you hear my oracles!
καὶ τῶν ἐμῶν νυν.
Sausage-Seller: And mine too, then!
ἀλλʼ ἐὰν τούτῳ πίθῃ,
Cleon: But if you obey this man,
μολγὸν γενέσθαι δεῖ σε.
you are destined to become a leather bottle.
κἄν γε τουτῳί,
Sausage-Seller: And if you obey this one,
ψωλὸν γενέσθαι δεῖ σε μέχρι τοῦ μυρρίνου.
you are destined to be stripped bare to the bone.
ἀλλʼ οἵ γʼ ἐμοὶ λέγουσιν ὡς ἄρξαι σε δεῖ
Cleon: But mine tell me that you are destined to rule
χώρας ἁπάσης ἐστεφανωμένον ῥόδοις.
over the whole land, crowned with roses.
οὑμοὶ δέ γʼ αὖ λέγουσιν ὡς ἁλουργίδα
Sausage-Seller: And mine in turn tell me that, wearing a gold-spangled purple robe
ἔχων κατάπαστον καὶ στεφάνην ἐφʼ ἅρματος
and a crown on a golden chariot,
χρυσοῦ διώξει Σμικύθην καὶ κύριον.
you shall pursue Smicythe and her husband.
καὶ μὴν ἔνεγκʼ αὐτοὺς ἰών, ἵνʼ οὑτοσὶ
Demus: Go then and bring them, so that this man here
αὐτῶν ἀκούσῃ.
may hear them.
πάνυ γε. καὶ σύ νυν φέρε.
Cleon: Very well. And you bring yours now.
ἰδού.
Sausage-Seller: Here!
ἰδοὺ νὴ τὸν Δίʼ· οὐδὲν κωλύει.
Cleon: Here, by Zeus! Nothing prevents it.
ἥδιστον φάος ἡμέρας
Chorus: It will be the sweetest light of day
ἔσται τοῖσι παροῦσι καὶ
to those present and
τοῖσι δεῦρʼ ἀφικνουμένοις,
to those who arrive here,
ἢν Κλέων ἀπόληται.
if Cleon is destroyed.
καίτοι πρεσβυτέρων τινῶν
And yet I heard some
οἵων ἀργαλεωτάτων
of the most crabbed
ἐν τῷ δείγματι τῶν δικῶν
old men arguing
ἤκουσʼ ἀντιλεγόντων,
in the sample-market of the law-courts,
ὡς εἰ μὴ ʼγένεθʼ οὗτος ἐν
that if this man had not
τῇ πόλει μέγας, οὐκ ἂν ἤστην
become great in the city, there would not have been
σκεύη δύο χρησίμω,
two useful utensils,
δοῖδυξ οὐδὲ τορύνη.
the pestle and the ladle.
ἀλλὰ καὶ τόδʼ ἔγωγε θαυμάζω
But I also marvel at this,
τῆς ὑομουσίας
namely his piggish culture;
αὐτοῦ· φασὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν οἱ
for the boys who went to school
παῖδες οἳ ξυνεφοίτων,
with him say
τὴν Δωριστὶ μόνην ἂν ἁρμόττεσθαι4
that he would often tune
θαμὰ τὴν λύραν,
his lyre to the Dorian mode alone,
ἄλλην δʼ οὐκ ἐθέλειν μαθεῖν·
and refused to learn any other;
κᾆτα τὸν κιθαριστὴν
and then the cithara teacher,
ὀργισθέντʼ ἀπάγειν κελεύειν,
in a rage, would order him to be taken away,
ὡς ἁρμονίαν ὁ παῖς
saying that this boy
οὗτος οὐ δύναται μαθεῖν
could not learn any harmony
ἢν μὴ Δωροδοκιστί.
except in the bribe-taking style.
ἰδοὺ θέασαι, κοὐχ ἅπαντας ἐκφέρω.
Cleon: Look here, see, and I am not even bringing them all out!
οἴμʼ ὡς χεσείω, κοὐχ ἅπαντας ἐκφέρω.
Sausage-Seller: Oh, I want to ease myself, and I am not bringing them all out either!
ταυτὶ τί ἔστι;
Demus: What are these?
λόγια.
Cleon: Oracles.
πάντʼ;
Demus: All of them?
ἐθαύμασας;
Cleon: Are you amazed?
καὶ νὴ Δίʼ ἔτι γέ μοὔστι κιβωτὸς πλέα.
And by Zeus, I still have a chest full of them!
ἐμοὶ δʼ ὑπερῷον καὶ ξυνοικία δύο.
Sausage-Seller: And I have an upper-room and two apartment blocks full of them.
φέρʼ ἴδω, τίνος γάρ εἰσιν οἱ χρησμοί ποτε;
Demus: Let me see. Whose oracles are they indeed?
οὑμοὶ μέν εἰσι Βάκιδος.
Cleon: Mine are by Bacis.
οἱ δὲ σοὶ τίνος;
Demus: And whose are yours?
Γλάνιδος, ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Βάκιδος γεραιτέρου.
Sausage-Seller: By Glanis, the older brother of Bacis.
εἰσὶν δὲ περὶ τοῦ;
Demus: And what are they about?
περὶ Ἀθηνῶν, περὶ Πύλου,
Cleon: About Athens, about Pylos,
περὶ σοῦ, περὶ ἐμοῦ, περὶ ἁπάντων πραγμάτων.
about you, about me, about all things.
οἱ σοὶ δὲ περὶ τοῦ;
Demus: And what are yours about?
περὶ Ἀθηνῶν, περὶ φακῆς,
Sausage-Seller: About Athens, about lentil soup,
περὶ Λακεδαιμονίων, περὶ σκόμβρων νέων,
about the Lacedaemonians, about fresh mackerel,
περὶ τῶν μετρούντων τἄλφιτʼ ἐν ἀγορᾷ κακῶς,
about those who measure barley dishonestly in the market,
περὶ σοῦ, περὶ ἐμοῦ, περὶ ἁπάντων πραγμάτων.
about you, about me, about all things.
ἄγε νυν ὅπως αὐτοὺς ἀναγνώσεσθέ μοι,
Demus: Come then, see that you read them to me,
καὶ τὸν περὶ ἐμοῦ ʼκεῖνον ᾧπερ ἥδομαι,
especially that one about me which delights me,
ὡς ἐν νεφέλαισιν αἰετὸς γενήσομαι.
that I shall become an eagle in the clouds.
ἄκουε δή νυν καὶ πρόσεχε τὸν νοῦν ἐμοί.
Cleon: Listen then now, and pay attention to me.
φράζευ5 Ἐρεχθεΐδη λογίων ὁδόν, ἥν σοι Ἀπόλλων
”Mark well, O son of Erechtheus, the path of the oracles, which Apollo...”
- 924ἰπούμενος
The participle ἰπούμενος (present passive participle, nominative masculine singular of ἰπόω "to crush") modifies the subject of the main verb δώσεις in the preceding verse (§922). ταῖς ἐσφοραῖς (eisphorai, the emergency war property tax) is a dative of means or cause.
- 935φθαίης ἔτʼ εἰς ἐκκλησίαν ἐλθών
A typical construction of the verb φθάνω ("to anticipate / do beforehand") accompanied by a supplementary participle (ἐλθών, aorist participle of ἔρχομαι). φθαίης is the aorist optative second-person singular in the ὅπως clause, expressing a wish or purpose of arriving at the Assembly before others.
- 937πρὶν φαγεῖν
The conjunction πρίν ("before") is used here in its standard construction with an infinitive (φαγεῖν, aorist infinitive of ἐσθίω "to eat") because the action of eating has not yet occurred. The main verb of the clause, μεθήκοι (optative), introduces a hypothetical condition ("if an envoy should come").
- 989ἂν ἁρμόττεσθαι
The combination of ἄν with the imperfect indicative (ἥρμοττεν ἂν), expressing a past habitual or iterative action, is converted here into an infinitive with ἄν (ἂν ἁρμόττεσθαι) under the indirect discourse introduced by φασί ("they say"). It refers to Cleon's past habit of tuning his lyre only to the Dorian mode.
- 1015φράζευ
The Ionic and Epic (Homeric) dialectal form (φράζευ) of the second-person singular present middle/passive imperative (corresponding to Attic φράζου). It is deliberately employed here to emulate the archaic and solemn hexameter tone of genuine oracles.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1