it was Procné who was turned into the nightingale.
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The son of Tereus and Procné.
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An African bird, that comes to the southern countries of Europe, to Greece, Italy, and Spain; it is even seen in Provence.
204
Aristophanes amusingly mixes up real birds with people and individuals, whom he represents in the form of birds; he is personifying the Medians here.
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Philocles, a tragic poet, had written a tragedy on Tereus, which was simply a plagiarism of the play of the same name by Sophocles. Philocles is the son of Epops, because he got his inspiration from Sophocles' Tereus, and at the same time is father to Epops, since he himself produced another Tereus.
206
This Hipponicus is probably the orator whose ears Alcibiades boxed to gain a bet; he was a descendant of Callias, who was famous for his hatred of Pisistratus.
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This Callias, who must not be confounded with the foe of Pisistratus, had ruined himself.
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Cleonymus had cast away his shield; he was as great a glutton as he was a coward.
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A race in which the track had to be circled twice.
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A people of Asia Minor; when pursued by the Ionians they took refuge in the mountains.
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An Athenian barber.
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The owl was dedicated to Athené, and being respected at Athens, it had greatly multiplied. Hence the proverb,
213
An allusion to the Feast of Pots; it was kept at Athens on the third day of the Anthesteria, when all sorts of vegetables were stewed together and offered for the dead to Bacchus and Athené. This Feast was peculiar to Athens.—Hence Pisthetaerus thinks that the owl will recognize they are Athenians by seeing the stew-pots, and as he is an Athenian bird, he will not attack them.
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Nicias, the famous Athenian general.—The siege of Melos in 417 B.C., or two years previous to the production of 'The Birds,' had especially done him great credit. He was joint commander of the Sicilian expedition.
215
Procné, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens.
216
A space beyond the walls of Athens which contained the gardens of the Academy and the graves of citizens who had died for their country.
217
A town in Western Argolis, where the Athenians had been recently defeated. The somewhat similar word in Greek, [Greek: ornithes], signifies
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
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.
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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,
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
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
