[332] The
Scholiast
thinks that Cinesias, who was tall and slight of
build, wore a kind of corset of lime-wood to support his waist--surely
rather a far-fetched interpretation!
build, wore a kind of corset of lime-wood to support his waist--surely
rather a far-fetched interpretation!
Aristophanes
[324] Because this bird has a spotted plumage. --Porphyrion is also the
name of one of the Titans who tried to storm heaven.
[325] All these surnames bore some relation to the character or the build
of the individual to whom the poet applies them. --Chaerephon, Socrates'
disciple, was of white and ashen hue. --Opontius was one-eyed. --Syracosius
was a braggart. --Midias had a passion for quail-fights, and, besides,
resembled that bird physically.
[326] Pisthetaerus' servant, already mentioned.
[327] From the inspection of which auguries were taken, e. g. the eagles,
the vultures, the crows.
[328] Or rather, a young man who contemplated parricide.
[329] A parody of verses in Sophocles' 'Oenomaus. '
[330] The Athenians were then besieging Amphipolis in the Thracian
Chalcidice.
[331] There was a real Cinesias--a dithyrambic poet, born at Thebes.
[332] The Scholiast thinks that Cinesias, who was tall and slight of
build, wore a kind of corset of lime-wood to support his waist--surely
rather a far-fetched interpretation!
[333] The Greek word used here was the word of command employed to stop
the rowers.
[334] Cinesias makes a bound each time that Pisthetaerus struck him.
[335] The tribes of Athens, or rather the rich citizens belonging to
them, were wont on feast-days to give representations of dithyrambic
choruses as well as of tragedies and comedies.
[336] Another dithyrambic poet, a man of extreme leanness.
[337] A parody of a hemistich from 'Alcaeus. '--The informer is
dissatisfied at only seeing birds of sombre plumage and poor appearance.
He would have preferred to denounce the rich.
[338] The informer, says the Scholiast, was clothed with a ragged cloak,
the tatters of which hung down like wings, in fact, a cloak that could
not protect him from the cold and must have made him long for the
swallows' return, i. e. the spring.
[339] A town in Achaia, where woollen cloaks were made.
[340] His trade was to accuse the rich citizens of the subject islands,
and drag them before the Athenian courts; he explains later the special
advantages of this branch of the informer's business.
[341] That is, whips--Corcyra being famous for these articles.
[342] Cleonymus is a standing butt of Aristophanes' wit, both as an
informer and a notorious poltroon.
[343] In allusion to the cave of the bandit Orestes; the poet terms him a
hero only because of his heroic name Orestes.
