The
dwellers
in Chios!
Aristophanes
Oh!
Hawk, the sacred guardian of Sunium, oh, god of the storks!
PRIEST. Pray to the swan of Delos, to Latona the mother of the quails,
and to Artemis, the goldfinch.
PISTHETAERUS. 'Tis no longer Artemis Colaenis, but Artemis the
goldfinch. [281]
PRIEST. And to Bacchus, the finch and Cybele, the ostrich and mother of
the gods and mankind.
CHORUS. Oh! sovereign ostrich, Cybele, the mother of Cleocritus,[282]
grant health and safety to the Nephelococcygians as well as to the
dwellers in Chios. . . .
PISTHETAERUS.
The dwellers in Chios! Ah! I am delighted they should be
thus mentioned on all occasions. [283]
CHORUS. . . . to the heroes, the birds, to the sons of heroes, to the
porphyrion, the pelican, the spoon-bill, the redbreast, the grouse, the
peacock, the horned-owl, the teal, the bittern, the heron, the stormy
petrel, the fig-pecker, the titmouse. . . .
PISTHETAERUS. Stop! stop! you drive me crazy with your endless list. Why,
wretch, to what sacred feast are you inviting the vultures and the
sea-eagles?
PRIEST. Pray to the swan of Delos, to Latona the mother of the quails,
and to Artemis, the goldfinch.
PISTHETAERUS. 'Tis no longer Artemis Colaenis, but Artemis the
goldfinch. [281]
PRIEST. And to Bacchus, the finch and Cybele, the ostrich and mother of
the gods and mankind.
CHORUS. Oh! sovereign ostrich, Cybele, the mother of Cleocritus,[282]
grant health and safety to the Nephelococcygians as well as to the
dwellers in Chios. . . .
PISTHETAERUS.
The dwellers in Chios! Ah! I am delighted they should be
thus mentioned on all occasions. [283]
CHORUS. . . . to the heroes, the birds, to the sons of heroes, to the
porphyrion, the pelican, the spoon-bill, the redbreast, the grouse, the
peacock, the horned-owl, the teal, the bittern, the heron, the stormy
petrel, the fig-pecker, the titmouse. . . .
PISTHETAERUS. Stop! stop! you drive me crazy with your endless list. Why,
wretch, to what sacred feast are you inviting the vultures and the
sea-eagles?
