Living Poets

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Aristophanes, Frogs 76-82 = Sophocles T 101 Radt

HΡ.	εἶτ’ οὐ Σοφοκλέα πρότερον ὄντ’ Εὐριπίδου  μέλλεις ἀνάγειν ἀνάγειν m : ἀναγαγεῖν m, εἴπερ γ’ ἐκεῖθεν δεῖ σ’ ἄγειν;
ΔΙ.	οὔ, πρίν γ’ ἂν Ἰοφῶντ’, ἀπολαβὼν αὐτὸν μόνον, ἄνευ Σοφοκλέους ὅ τι ποιεῖ κωδωνίσω. κἄλλως ὁ μέν γ’ Εὐριπίδης πανοῦργος ὢν κἂν κἂν Dobree : καὶ M ξυναποδρᾶναι δεῦρ’ ἐπιχειρήσειέ μοι· ὁ δ’ εὔκολος μὲν ἐνθάδ’, εὔκολος δ’ ἐκεῖ.

Heracles:	Then aren’t you planning to bring up Sophocles, who is better than Euripides, if you really have to bring someone up from there?
Dionysus:	No, not before I’ve had a chance to test what Iophon is capable of producing all on his own, without Sophocles. Anyway, Euripides is a knave in other respects, so he’d willingly try to escape with me as his accomplice. But Sophocles was content here and will be content there.

Aristophanes, Frogs 768-794

ΞΑ.	τί δῆτα τουτὶ τεθορύβηκεν Αἰσχύλον;
ΟΙ.	ἐκεῖνος εἶχε τὸν τραγωιδικὸν θρόνον, ὡς ὢν κράτιστος τὴν τέχνην.
ΞΑ.	νυνὶ δὲ τίς;770
ΟΙ.	ὅτε δὴ κατῆλθ’ Εὐριπίδης, ἐπεδείκνυτο τοῖς λωποδύταις καὶ τοῖσι βαλλαντιοτόμοις καὶ τοῖσι πατραλοίαισι καὶ τοιχωρύχοις, ὅπερ ἔστ’ ἐν Ἅιδου πλῆθος, οἱ ἀκροώμενοι τῶν ἀντιλογιῶν καὶ λυγισμῶν καὶ στροφῶν 775 ὑπερεμάνησαν κἀνόμισαν σοφώτατον· κἄπειτ’ ἐπαρθεὶς ἀντελάβετο τοῦ θρόνου, ἵν’ Αἰσχύλος καθῆστο.
ΞΑ.	κοὐκ ἐβάλλετο;
ΟΙ.	μὰ Δί’, ἀλλ’ ὁ δῆμος ἀνεβόα κρίσιν ποιεῖν ὁπότερος εἴη τὴν τέχνην σοφώτερος.780
ΞΑ.	ὁ τῶν πανούργων;
ΟΙ.	νὴ Δί’, οὐράνιόν γ’ ὅσον.
ΞΑ.	μετ’ Αἰσχύλου δ’ οὐκ ἦσαν ἕτεροι σύμμαχοι;
ΟΙ.	ὀλίγον τὸ χρηστόν ἐστιν, ὥσπερ ἐνθάδε1 ἐνθάδε M : ἐνθαδί Meineke : κἀνθαδί Blaydes.
ΞΑ.	τί δῆθ’ ὁ Πλούτων δρᾶν παρασκευάζεται;
ΟΙ.	ἀγῶνα ποιεῖν αὐτίκα μάλα καὶ κρίσιν 785 κἄλεγχον αὐτοῖν αὐτοῖν m : αὐτῶν m τῆς τέχνης.
ΞΑ.	κἄπειτα πῶς οὐ καὶ Σοφοκλέης ἀντέλαβετο τοῦ θρόνου;
ΟΙ.	μὰ Δί’ οὐκ ἐκεῖνος, ἀλλ’ ἔκυσε μὲν Αἰσχύλον Αἰσχύλον M : Αἰσχύλος Naber, ὅτε δὴ κατῆλθε, κἀνέβαλε τὴν δεξίαν κἀκεῖνος ὑπεχώρησεν αὐτῶι τοῦ θρόνου· κἀκεῖνος … θρόνου del. Dobree, Wilamowitz, Fraenkel 790 νυνὶ δ’ ἔμελλεν, ὡς ἔφη Κλειδημίδης, ἔφεδρος καθεδεῖσθαι· κἂν μὲν Αἰσχύλος κρατῆι, ἕξειν κατὰ χώραν· εἰ δὲ μή, περὶ τῆς τέχνης διαγωνιεῖσθ’ ἔφασκε πρός γ’ Εὐριπίδην.

Xanthias:	Why, then, is Aeschylus angry about this?
Slave:	He used to hold the throne of tragedy, since he was the mightiest in the art.
Xanthias:	And who holds it now?
Slave:	When Euripides came down here, he put on shows for the clothes-stealers and the handbag-snatchers, the parricides and the burglars, of which there is a great multitude in Hades, and when they heard his contradictions and his twistings and windings, they went crazy and judged him the wisest: and then, being buoyed up with excitement, he snatched the throne where Aeschylus had sat.
Xanthias:	And wasn’t he pelted?
Slave:	No, by Zeus, but the people shouted out that a trial should be held to judge who is the wisest in the art.
Xanthias:	The mass of criminals?
Slave:	Yes, by Zeus, to high heaven.
Xanthias:	Weren’t there others who allied themselves with Aeschylus?
Slave:	The good citizens are few in number, as they are here.
Xanthias:	What then is Pluto planning to do?
Slave:	To hold a contest rightaway and an examination of the arts of both of them.
Xanthias:	And then how is it that Sophocles didn’t also seize the throne?
Slave:	Not he, by Zeus, but he kissed Aeschylus when he came down, and he grasped his right hand and withdrew from the throne for his sake. And now he intends, in the words of Cleidemides, to sit beside them as an onlooker: and if Aeschylus wins, he will remain where he is. But if not, he said that he would contend against Euripides for the sake of art.

Aristophanes, Frogs 889-94

ΕΥ.	ἕτεροι γάρ εἰσιν οἷσιν εὔχομαι θεοῖς.
ΔΙ.	ἴδιοί τινές σου σου m : σοι m, κόμμα καινόν;
ΕΥ.	καὶ μάλα.
ΔΙ.	ἴθι δὴ προσεύχου τοῖσιν ἰδιώταις θεοῖς.
ΕΥ.	αἰθήρ, ἐμὸν βόσκημα, καὶ γλώττης στρόφιγξ καὶ ξύνεσι καὶ μυκτῆρες, ὀσφραντήριοι, ὀρθῶς μ’ ἐλέγχειν ὧν ἂν ἅπτωμαι λόγων.

Euripides:	For the gods to whom I pray are different.
Dionysus:	Some private gods of your own? A brand new coinage?
Euripides:	Absolutely.
Dionysus:	Go on then, pray to your private gods.
Euripides:	Aether, food of my mind, and Pivot of the Tongue and Comprehension and Keen-scented Nostrils, may I correctly cross-examine whatever words I lay hold of.

Aristophanes, Frogs 1491-5 = T 42 Kannicht

ΧΟ.	χαρίεν οὖν μὴ Σωκράτει παρακαθήμενον λαλεῖν, ἀποβαλόντα μουσικήν τά τε μέγιστα παραλιπόντα τῆς τραγωιδικῆς τέχνης.

Chorus:

So refinement is not sitting beside Socrates chattering, throwing out mousikê and neglecting the most important elements of the tragic art.

Relevant guides	Euripides