§1586εἴπικνῇς πρότερον αὐτοῖσιν; §1586bὦ χαῖρʼ Ἡράκλεις. §1587τί ἔστι; §1587bπρεσβεύοντες ἡμεῖς ἥκομεν §1588παρὰ τῶν θεῶν περὶ πολέμου καταλλαγῆς. §1589ἔλαιον οὐκ ἔνεστιν ἐν τῇ ληκύθῳ. §1590καὶ μὴν τά γʼ ὀρνίθεια λιπάρʼ εἶναι πρέπει. §1591ἡμεῖς τε γὰρ πολεμοῦντες οὐ κερδαίνομεν, §1592ὑμεῖς τʼ ἂν ἡμῖν τοῖς θεοῖς ὄντες φίλοι §1593ὄμβριον ὕδωρ ἂν εἴχετʼ ἐν τοῖς τέλμασιν, §1594ἀλκυονίδας τʼ ἂν ἤγεθʼ ἡμέρας ἀεί. §1595τούτων περὶ πάντων αὐτοκράτορες ἥκομεν. §1596ἀλλʼ οὔτε πρότερον πώποθʼ ἡμεῖς ἤρξαμεν §1597πολέμου πρὸς ὑμᾶς, νῦν τʼ ἐθέλομεν, εἰ δοκεῖ, §1598ἐάν τι δίκαιον ἀλλὰ νῦν ἐθέλητε δρᾶν, §1599σπονδὰς ποιεῖσθαι.
"Will you then grate some over them first?" "Oh, welcome, Heracles!" "What is it?" "We have come as envoys from the gods concerning a settlement of the war." "There is no oil in the flask." "And indeed the bird-meat ought to be rich." "For we gain nothing by waging war, and you, if you were friends to us gods, would have rainwater in your pools and would always enjoy halcyon days." "We have come with full powers concerning all these matters." "But we never began war against you in the past, and now, if you are willing to do what is just even now, we want to make a treaty.
And the just conditions are these: that Zeus restore the scepter to us birds again.
κἂν διαλλαττώμεθα §1602ἐπὶ τοῖσδε, τοὺς πρέσβεις ἐπʼ ἄριστον καλῶ. §1603ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀπόχρη ταῦτα καὶ ψηφίζομαι. §1604τί ὦ κακόδαιμον;
And if we make peace on these terms, I invite the envoys to breakfast." "This is enough for me, and I vote for it." "What, you wretch?
ἠλίθιος καὶ γάστρις εἶ.
You are a fool and a glutton.
§1605ἀποστερεῖς τὸν πατέρα τῆς τυραννίδος;
Are you going to deprive your father of his sovereignty?" "Really?
§1606ἄληθες; οὐ γὰρ μεῖζον ὑμεῖς οἱ θεοὶ §1607ἰσχύσετʼ, ἢν ὄρνιθες ἄρξωσιν κάτω; §1608νῦν μέν γʼ ὑπὸ ταῖς νεφέλαισιν ἐγκεκρυμμένοι §1609κύψαντες ἐπιορκοῦσιν ὑμᾶς οἱ βροτοί· §1610ἐὰν δὲ τοὺς ὄρνις ἔχητε συμμάχους, §1611ὅταν ὀμνύῃ τις τὸν κόρακα καὶ τὸν Δία, §1612ὁ κόραξ παρελθὼν τοὐπιορκοῦντος λάθρᾳ §1613προσπτόμενος ἐκκόψει τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν θενών. §1614νὴ τὸν Ποσειδῶ ταῦτά γέ τοι καλῶς λέγεις. §1615κἀμοὶ δοκεῖ. §1615bτί δαὶ σὺ φῄς; §1615cναβαισατρεῦ.
Will you gods not have greater power if the birds rule below?" "For now, mortals, hidden under the clouds, bend down and swear falsely by you." "But if you have the birds as allies, when someone swears by the raven and by Zeus, the raven will come up secretly, fly at the false swearer, and strike out his eye." "By Poseidon, you speak well indeed in this." "It seems so to me too." "And what do you say?" "Nabaisatreu!" "Do you see?
§1616ὁρᾷς; ἐπαινεῖ χοὖτος.
He too approves.
ἕτερόν νυν ἔτι §1617ἀκούσαθʼ ὅσον ὑμᾶς ἀγαθὸν ποιήσομεν. §1618ἐάν τις ἀνθρώπων ἱερεῖόν τῳ θεῶν §1619εὐξάμενος εἶτα διασοφίζηται λέγων, §1620μενετοὶ θεοί,
καὶ μἀποδιδῷ μισητίᾳ, §1621ἀναπράξομεν καὶ ταῦτα. §1621bφέρʼ ἴδω τῷ τρόπῳ; §1622ὅταν διαριθμῶν ἀργυρίδιον τύχῃ §1623ἅνθρωπος οὗτος, ἢ καθῆται λούμενος, §1624καταπτόμενος ἰκτῖνος ἁρπάσας λάθρᾳ §1625προβάτοιν δυοῖν τιμὴν ἀνοίσει τῷ θεῷ. §1626τὸ σκῆπτρον ἀποδοῦναι πάλιν ψηφίζομαι §1627τούτοις ἐγώ. §1627bκαὶ τὸν Τριβαλλόν νυν ἐροῦ. §1628ὁ Τριβαλλός, οἰμώζειν δοκεῖ σοι; §1628bσαυνάκα §1629βακταρικροῦσα. §1629bφησί μʼ εὖ λέγειν πάνυ. §1630εἴ τοι δοκεῖ σφῷν ταῦτα, κἀμοὶ συνδοκεῖ. §1631οὗτος, δοκεῖ δρᾶν ταῦτα τοῦ σκήπτρου πέρι. §1632καὶ νὴ Δίʼ ἕτερόν γʼ ἐστὶν οὗ ʼμνήσθην ἐγώ.
Now listen to another good thing we will do for you." "If any man vows a victim to one of the gods and then shuffles, saying, 'The gods are patient,' and out of greed fails to pay, we will exact that too." "Let me see, in what way?" "When that man happens to be counting his money, or sits bathing, a kite will fly down, snatch it away secretly, and carry up the value of two sheep to the god." "I vote to restore the scepter to them." "Now ask the Triballian too." "Triballian, do you want a beating?" "Saunaka baktarikrousa!" "He says I speak very well." "If this seems good to you two, I also agree." "You there, it is agreed to do this concerning the scepter." "And by Zeus, there is indeed another thing I've remembered.
§1633τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ἥραν παραδίδωμι τῷ Διί, §1634τὴν δὲ Βασίλειαν τὴν κόρην γυναῖκʼ ἐμοὶ §1635ἐκδοτέον ἐστίν. §1635bοὐ διαλλαγῶν ἐρᾷς. §1636ἀπίωμεν οἴκαδʼ αὖθις. §1636bὀλίγον μοι μέλει. §1637μάγειρε τὸ κατάχυσμα χρὴ ποιεῖν γλυκύ. §1638ὦ δαιμόνιʼ ἀνθρώπων Πόσειδον ποῖ φέρει;
For Hera I concede to Zeus, but the maiden Basileia must be given to me as a wife." "You do not love reconciliation." "Let us go back home." "I care little." "Cook, you must make the sauce sweet." "My dear Poseidon, where are you off to?
Shall we wage war for the sake of one woman?" "What then should we do?" "What?
διαλλαττώμεθα. §1641τί δʼ ᾠζύρʼ;
Let's settle." "What, you miserable wretch?
οὐκ οἶσθʼ ἐξαπατώμενος πάλαι; §1642βλάπτεις δέ τοι σὺ σαυτόν.
Don't you know you've been cheated all along?" "You are indeed harming yourself.
For if Zeus dies after handing over the sovereignty to these birds, you will be a pauper.
σοῦ γὰρ ἅπαντα γίγνεται §1645τὰ χρήμαθʼ, ὅσʼ ἂν ὁ Ζεὺς ἀποθνῄσκων καταλίπῃ. §1646οἴμοι τάλας οἷόν σε περισοφίζεται.
For all the property that Zeus leaves when he dies becomes yours." "Alas, poor wretch, how he is outwitting you!
Step over here to me, so that I may tell you something." "Your uncle is deceiving you, you poor wretch.
For you have no share in your father's estate, not even a tiny bit, according to the laws; for you are a bastard and not legitimate." "Me, a bastard?
What are you saying?" "Indeed you are, by Zeus, being from a foreign woman.
ἢ πῶς ἄν ποτε §1653ἐπίκληρον εἶναι τὴν Ἀθηναίαν δοκεῖς, §1654οὖσαν θυγατέρʼ, ὄντων ἀδελφῶν γνησίων; §1655τί δʼ ἢν ὁ πατὴρ ἐμοὶ διδῷ τὰ χρήματα §1656νοθεἶ ἀποθνῄσκων; §1656bὁ νόμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐᾷ.
Or how on earth do you think Athena could be an heiress, being a daughter, if there were legitimate brothers?" "But what if my father, when he dies, leaves his property to me as a bastard's portion?" "The law does not allow him.
§1657οὗτος ὁ Ποσειδῶν πρῶτος, ὃς ἐπαίρει σε νῦν, §1658ἀνθέξεταί σου τῶν πατρῴων χρημάτων §1659φάσκων ἀδελφὸς αὐτὸς εἶναι γνήσιος.
This Poseidon here, who is now egging you on, will be the first to lay claim to your father's property, claiming that he himself is a legitimate brother." "And indeed I will read Solon's law to you: 'A bastard shall have no right of inheritance when there are legitimate children.