The Eleven Comedies, Volume 2. Аристофан
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Название: The Eleven Comedies, Volume 2

Автор: Аристофан

Издательство: Public Domain

Жанр: Драматургия

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СКАЧАТЬ birds. The cock and the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest.

252

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

253

A notorious robber.

254

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.

255

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

256

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

257

An imitation of the nightingale's song.

258

God of the groves and wilds.

259

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

260

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

261

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

262

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

263

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

264

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

265

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.

266

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

267

Pisthetaerus and Euelpides now both return with wings.

268

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.

269

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.

270

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.

271

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

272

Also mentioned in 'The Wasps.'

273

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

274

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

275

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

276

An Athenian effeminate, frequently ridiculed by Aristophanes.

277

This was the name of the wall surrounding the Acropolis.

278

i.e. the fighting-cock.

279

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

280

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.

281

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).

282

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

283

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

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