Аристофан - The Eleven Comedies, Volume 2

Because the gull, like Heracles, is voracious.

The Germans still call it Zaunkönig and the French roitelet , both names thus containing the idea of king .

The Scholiast draws our attention to the fact that Homer says this of Heré and not of Iris (Iliad, V. 778); it is only another proof that the text of Homer has reached us in a corrupted form, or it may be that Aristophanes was liable, like other people, to occasional mistakes of quotation.

In sacrifices.

An Athenian proverb.

A celebrated temple to Zeus in an oasis of Libya.

Nicias was commander, along with Demosthenes, and later on Alcibiades, of the Athenian forces before Syracuse, in the ill-fated Sicilian Expedition, 415-413 B.C. He was much blamed for dilatoriness and indecision.

Servants of Pisthetaerus and Euelpides.

It has already been mentioned that, according to the legend followed by Aristophanes, Procné had been changed into a nightingale and Philomela into a swallow.

The actor, representing Procné, was dressed out as a courtesan, but wore the mask of a bird.

Young unmarried girls wore golden ornaments; the apparel of married women was much simpler.

The actor, representing Procné, was a flute-player.

The parabasis.

A sophist of the island of Ceos, a disciple of Protagoras, as celebrated for his knowledge as for his eloquence. The Athenians condemned him to death as a corrupter of youth in 396 B.C.

Lovers were wont to make each other presents of birds. The cock and the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest.

i.e. that it gave notice of the approach of winter, during which season the Ancients did not venture to sea.

A notorious robber.

Meaning, " We are your oracles. "—Dodona was an oracle in Epirus.—The temple of Zeus there was surrounded by a dense forest, all the trees of which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; both the sacred oaks and the pigeons that lived in them answered the questions of those who came to consult the oracle in pure Greek.

The Greek word for omen is the same as that for bird —[Greek: ornis].

A satire on the passion of the Greeks for seeing an omen in everything.

An imitation of the nightingale's song.

God of the groves and wilds.

The 'Mother of the Gods'; roaming the mountains, she held dances, always attended by Pan and his accompanying rout of Fauns and Satyrs.

An allusion to cock-fighting; the birds are armed with brazen spurs.

An allusion to the spots on this bird, which resemble the scars left by a branding iron.

He was of Asiatic origin, but wished to pass for an Athenian.

Or Philamnon, King of Thrace; the Scholiast remarks that the Phrygians and the Thracians had a common origin.

The Greek word here, [Greek: pappos], is also the name of a little bird.

A basket-maker who had become rich.—The Phylarchs were the headmen of the tribes, [Greek: Phulai]. They presided at the private assemblies and were charged with the management of the treasury.—The Hipparchs, as the name implies, were the leaders of the cavalry; there were only two of these in the Athenian army.

He had now become a senator, member of the [Greek: Boul_e].

Pisthetaerus and Euelpides now both return with wings.

Meaning, 'tis we who wanted to have these wings.—The verse from Aeschylus, quoted here, is taken from 'The Myrmidons,' a tragedy of which only a few fragments remain.

The Greek word signified the city of Sparta, and also a kind of broom used for weaving rough matting, which served for the beds of the very poor.

A fanciful name constructed from [Greek: nephel_e], a cloud, and [Greek: kokkux], a cuckoo; thus a city of clouds and cuckoos.— Wolkenkukelheim [Transcriber's note: So in original. The correct German word is Wolkenkuckucksheim ] is a clever approximation in German. Cloud-cuckoo-town, perhaps, is the best English equivalent.

He was a boaster nicknamed [Greek: Kapnos], smoke , because he promised a great deal and never kept his word.

Also mentioned in 'The Wasps.'

Because the war of the Titans against the gods was only a fiction of the poets.

A sacred cloth, with which the statue of Athené in the Acropolis was draped.

Meaning, to be patron-goddess of the city. Athené had a temple of this name.

An Athenian effeminate, frequently ridiculed by Aristophanes.

This was the name of the wall surrounding the Acropolis.

i.e. the fighting-cock.

To waken the sentinels, who might else have fallen asleep.—There are several merry contradictions in the various parts of this list of injunctions.

In allusion to the leather strap which flute-players wore to constrict the cheeks and add to the power of the breath. The performer here no doubt wore a raven's mask.

Hellanicus, the Mitylenian historian, tells that this surname of Artemis is derived from Colaenus, King of Athens before Cecrops and a descendant of Hermes. In obedience to an oracle he erected a temple to the goddess, invoking her as Artemis Colaenis (the Artemis of Colaenus).

This Cleocritus, says the Scholiast, was long-necked and strutted like an ostrich.

The Chians were the most faithful allies of Athens, and hence their name was always mentioned in prayers, decrees, etc.