Living Poets

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M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
 

Κηδεστής:
ποδαπὸς ὁ γύννις; τίς πάτρα; τίς ἡ στολή;
τίς ἡ τάραξις τοῦ βίου; τί βάρβιτος
λαλεῖ κροκωτῷ; τί δὲ λύρα κεκρυφάλῳ;
τί λήκυθος καὶ στρόφιον; ὡς οὐ ξύμφορον οὐ ξύμφορον M  : ἀξύμφορον, ὀξύμφορον vel al. Suda codd. (β 110) : οὐ ξύμφορα Gannon.
τίς δαὶ κατρόπτου κατρόπτου Austin-Olson, Wilson : κατόπτρου M καὶ ξίφους κοινωνία;140
σύ τ' σύ τ' Cannon, Austin-Olson, Wilson (cf. P, schol.)  : τίς δ’ M αὐτός, ὦ παῖ, πότερον ὡς ἀνὴρ τρέφει;
καὶ ποῦ πέος; ποῦ χλαῖνα; ποῦ Λακωνικαί;
ἀλλ' ὡς γυνὴ δῆτ'; εἶτα ποῦ τὰ τιτθία;
τί φῄς; τί σιγᾷς; ἀλλὰ δῆτ' ἐκ τοῦ μέλους Here the Greek word μέλους (μέλος, –ους) works in double-entendre to express both “bodily limbs”, and “musical phrases”.
ζητῶ σ', ἐπειδή γ' αὐτὸς οὐ βούλει φράσαι;145

Ἀγάθων:
ὦ πρέσβυ πρέσβυ, τοῦ φθόνου μὲν τὸν ψόγον
ἤκουσα, τὴν δ' ἄλγησιν οὐ παρεσχόμην·
ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν ἐσθῆθ' ἅμα γνώμῃ ἅμα γνώμῃ M : ἅμα < τῇ > γνώμῃ Meineke φορῶ.
χρὴ γὰρ ποιητὴν ἄνδρα πρὸς τὰ δράματα
ἃ δεῖ ποιεῖν, πρὸς ταῦτα τοὺς τρόπους ἔχειν.150
αὐτίκα γυναικεῖ' ἢν ποιῇ τις δράματα,
μετουσίαν δεῖ τῶν τρόπων τὸ σῶμ' ἔχειν.

Κηδεστής:
οὐκοῦν κελητίζεις, ὅταν Φαίδραν ποιῇς;

Ἀγάθων:
ἀνδρεῖα δ' ἢν ἢν Dindorf, edd. : ἄν M, P ποιῇ τις, ἐν τῷ σώματι
ἔνεσθ' ὑπάρχον τοῦθ'. ἅ δ' οὐ κεκτήμεθα,155
μίμησις ἤδη ταῦτα συνθηρεύεται.

Κηδεστής:
ὅταν σατύρους τοίνυν ποιῇς, καλεῖν ἐμέ,
ἵνα συμποιῶ σοὔπισθεν ἐστυκὼς ἐγώ.

Ἀγάθων:
ἄλλως τ' ἄμουσόν ἐστι ποιητὴν ἰδεῖν
ἀγρεῖον ὄντα καὶ δασύν. σκέψαι δ' ὅτι160
Ἴβυκος ἐκεῖνος κἀνακρέων ὁ Τήιος
κἀλκαῖος, οἵπερ ἁρμονίαν ἐχύμισαν,
ἐμιτροφόρουν τε καὶ διεκλῶντ΄ Ἰωνικῶς καὶ διεκλῶντ΄ Ἰωνικῶς Toup, edd.: καὶ διεκίνων Ἰωνικῶς M : καὶ διεκίνουν Ἰωνικῶς Suda ε 989, ι 495 : κἀχλίδων Ἰωνικῶς Fritzsche : καῖ διεκινοῦνθ’ ὧδέ πως Rogers.
καὶ Φρύνιχος, – τοῦτον γὰρ οὖν ἀκήκοας, –
αὐτός τε καλὸς ἦν καὶ καλῶς ἠμπίσχετο ἠμπίσχετο Elmsley, edd.: ἠμπέσχετο M·165
διὰ τοῦτ' ἄρ' αὐτοῦ καὶ κάλ' ἦν τὰ δράματα.
ὅμοια γὰρ ποιεῖν ἀνάγκη τῇ φύσει.

In-law:
Where did this lady-boy come from? What’s his fatherland? What are these clothes? What’s this way of living? What does a lyre have to say to that saffron-yellow dress? What can it say to that hair-net? And the athletic oil bottle and lady’s girdle? Not exactly a practical combination! What do a mirror and a sword have in common? [140] Hey you, my boy, have you been brought up as a man? And where’s your cock? Where’s your cloak and your Spartan shoes? What, then, have you been brought up as a woman? Then where are your tits? What do you say for yourself? Aren’t you going to speak? But I can work you out from your limbs, since you don’t wish to talk. [145]

Agathon:
O old man, old man, I heard the censure of envy, but I did not allow it to harm me. I wear clothes according to the tenor of my thoughts. For a poet must adjust his manner to the dramas he has to do. [150] As such, should he write plays about women, his body must adopt the sum of their habits.

In-law:
Do you then mount a horse when writing a Phaedra?

Agathon:
And if he is writing something about men, he must be entirely manly in body. That wherewith we were not born [155] is to be achieved through imitation.

In-law:
Well then, when you’re writing Satyrs, call me, so that I can be a firm support for you from behind.

Agathon:
And besides, it is inharmonious for a poet to appear shaggy and rustic. Consider that [160] Ibycus, and Anacreon of Teos and Alcaeus, who all wrote such soft harmonies, all wore a mitra and lived in a soft manner in the Ionian style. And Phrynichus – for you surely have heard him – he was beautiful in both body and comportment, [165] wherefore his dramas were beautiful also. For by necessity a poet’s nature is at one with his verse.

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