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, "
255
The Greek word for
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 Sparta, and also a kind of broom used for weaving rough matting, which served for the beds of the very poor.
270
A fanciful name constructed from [Greek: nephel_e], a cloud, and [Greek: kokkux], a cuckoo; thus a city of clouds and cuckoos.—
271
He was a boaster nicknamed [Greek: Kapnos],
272
Also mentioned in 'The Wasps.'
273
Because the war of the Titans against the gods was only a fiction of the poets.
274
A sacred cloth, with which the statue of Athené in the Acropolis was draped.
275
Meaning, to be patron-goddess of the city. Athené had a temple of this name.
276
An Athenian effeminate, frequently ridiculed by Aristophanes.
277
This was the name of the wall surrounding the Acropolis.
278
i.e. the fighting-cock.
279
To waken the sentinels, who might else have fallen asleep.—There are several merry contradictions in the various parts of this list of injunctions.
280
In allusion to the leather strap which flute-players wore to constrict the cheeks and add to the power of the breath. The performer here no doubt wore a raven's mask.
281
Hellanicus, the Mitylenian historian, tells that this surname of Artemis is derived from Colaenus, King of Athens before Cecrops and a descendant of Hermes. In obedience to an oracle he erected a temple to the goddess, invoking her as Artemis Colaenis (the Artemis of Colaenus).
282
This Cleocritus, says the Scholiast, was long-necked and strutted like an ostrich.
283
The Chians were the most faithful allies of Athens, and hence their name was always mentioned in prayers, decrees, etc.
