LITMIR.BIZ

218

Epops is addressing the two slaves, no doubt Xanthias and Manes, who are mentioned later on.

219

It was customary, when speaking in public and also at feasts, to wear a chaplet; hence the question Euelpides puts. The guests wore chaplets of flowers, herbs, and leaves, which had the property of being refreshing.

220

A deme of Attica. In Greek the word ([Greek: kephalai]) also means heads, and hence the pun.

221

One of Darius' best generals. After his expedition against the Scythians, this prince gave him the command of the army which he left in Europe. Megabyzus took Perinthos (afterwards called Heraclea) and conquered Thrace.

222

All Persians wore the tiara, but always on one side; the Great King alone wore it straight on his head.

223

Noted as the birthplace of Thucydides, a deme of Attica of the tribe of Leontis. Demosthenes tells us it was thirty-five stadia from Athens.

224

The appearance of the kite in Greece betokened the return of springtime; it was therefore worshipped as a symbol of that season.

225

To look at the kite, who no doubt was flying high in the sky.

226

As already shown, the Athenians were addicted to carrying small coins in their mouths.—This obolus was for the purpose of buying flour to fill the bag he was carrying.

227

In Phoenicia and Egypt the cuckoo makes its appearance about harvest-time.

228

This was an Egyptian proverb, meaning, When the cuckoo sings we go harvesting. Both the Phoenicians and the Egyptians practised circumcision.

229

The staff, called a sceptre, generally terminated in a piece of carved work, representing a flower, a fruit, and most often a bird.

230

A general accused of treachery. The bird watches Lysicrates, because, according to Pisthetaerus, he had a right to a share of the presents.

231

It is thus that Phidias represents his Olympian Zeus.

232

One of the diviners sent to Sybaris (in Magna Graecia, S. Italy) with the Athenian colonists, who rebuilt the town under the new name of Thurium.

233

As if he were saying, "Oh, gods!" Like Lampon, he swears by the birds, instead of swearing by the gods.—The names of these birds are those of two of the Titans.

234

Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, King of Thebes and mother of Heracles.—Semelé, the daughter of Cadmus and Hermioné and mother of Bacchus; both seduced by Zeus.—Alopé, daughter of Cercyon, a robber, who reigned at Eleusis and was conquered by Perseus. Alopé was honoured with Posidon's caresses; by him she had a son named Hippothous, at first brought up by shepherds but who afterwards was restored to the throne of his grandfather by Theseus.

235

Because the bald patch on the coot's head resembles the shaven and depilated 'motte.'

236

Because water is the duck's domain, as it is that of Posidon.

237

Because the gull, like Heracles, is voracious.

238

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

239

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.

240

In sacrifices.

241

An Athenian proverb.

242

A celebrated temple to Zeus in an oasis of Libya.

243

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.

244

Servants of Pisthetaerus and Euelpides.

245

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.

246

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

247

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

248

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

249

The parabasis.

250

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.

251

Lovers were wont to make each other presents of 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

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