The
Boeotians
were the allies of Sparta.
Aristophanes
[52] Guests used pieces of bread to wipe their fingers at table.
[53] 'Dog's head,' a vicious species of ape.
[54] They were allowed to remain in the ground throughout the winter so
that they might grow tender.
[55] An allusion to the pederastic habits ascribed to some of the orators
by popular rumour.
[56] He imputes the crime to Agoracritus of which he is guilty himself.
[57] A town in Thrace and subject to Athens. It therefore paid tribute to
the latter. It often happened that the demagogues extracted considerable
sums from the tributaries by threats or promises.
[58] It was customary in Athens for the plaintiff himself to fix the fine
to be paid by the defendant.
[59] Athene, the tutelary divinity of Athens.
[60] And wife of Pisistratus. Anything belonging to the ancient tyrants
was hateful to the Athenians.
[61] An allusion to the language used by the democratic orators, who, to
be better understood by the people, constantly affected the use of terms
belonging to the different trades.
[62] He accuses Cleon of collusion with the enemy.
[63] Cleon retorts upon his adversary the charge brought against himself.
The Boeotians were the allies of Sparta.
[64] Allusion to cock-fighting.
[65] The tripping metre usually employed in the _parabasis_.
[66] Hitherto Aristophanes had presented his pieces under an assumed
name.
[67] A comic poet, who had carried off the prize eleven times; not a
fragment of his works remains to us.
[68] An allusion to the titles of some of his pieces, viz. "the Flute
Players, the Birds, the Lydians, the Gnats, the Frogs. "
[69] The Comic Poet, rival of Aristophanes, several times referred to
above.
[70] These were the opening lines of poems by Cratinus, often sung at
festivities.
[71] A poet, successful at the Olympic games, and in old age reduced to
extreme misery.
[72] The place of honour in the Dionysiac Theatre, reserved for
distinguished citizens.
[73] A Comic Poet, who was elegant but cold; he had at first played as an
actor in the pieces of Cratinus.
[74] Besides the oarsmen and the pilot, there was on the Grecian vessels
a sailor, who stood at the prow to look out for rocks, and another, who
observed the direction of the wind.
[75] Two promontories, one in Attica, the other in Euboea, on which
temples to Posidon were erected.
[76] An Athenian general, who had gained several naval victories. He had
contributed to the success of the expedition to Samos (Thucydides, Book
I), and had recently beaten a Peloponnesian fleet (Thucydides, Book II).
