Living Poets

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Aristophanes, ''Thesmophoriazousae'' 136-68}}
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<b>Κηδεστής:</b><br>
ποδαπὸς ὁ γύννις; τίς πάτρα; τίς ἡ στολή;<br />
τίς ἡ τάραξις τοῦ βίου; τί βάρβιτος<br />
λαλεῖ κροκωτῷ; τί δὲ λύρα κεκρυφάλῳ;<br />
τί λήκυθος καὶ στρόφιον; ὡς {{#lemma: οὐ ξύμφορον | οὐ ξύμφορον M  : ἀξύμφορον, ὀξύμφορον vel al. Suda codd. (β 110) : οὐ ξύμφορα Gannon}}.<br /> 
τίς δαὶ {{#lemma: κατρόπτου | κατρόπτου Austin-Olson, Wilson : κατόπτρου M}} καὶ ξίφους κοινωνία;{{#linenum: 140}}<br /> 
{{#lemma: σύ τ' | σύ τ' Cannon, Austin-Olson, Wilson (cf. P, schol.)  : τίς δ’ M}} αὐτός, ὦ παῖ, πότερον ὡς ἀνὴρ τρέφει;<br />
καὶ ποῦ πέος; ποῦ χλαῖνα; ποῦ Λακωνικαί;<br />
ἀλλ' ὡς γυνὴ δῆτ'; εἶτα ποῦ τὰ τιτθία;<br />
τί φῄς; τί σιγᾷς; ἀλλὰ δῆτ' ἐκ τοῦ {{#lemma: μέλους | Here the Greek word μέλους (μέλος, –ους) works in double-entendre to express both “bodily limbs”, and “musical phrases”.}}<br />
ζητῶ σ', ἐπειδή γ' αὐτὸς οὐ βούλει φράσαι;{{#linenum: 145}}<br />

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

<b>Κηδεστής:</b><br>
οὐκοῦν κελητίζεις, ὅταν Φαίδραν ποιῇς;<br />

<b>Ἀγάθων:</b><br>
ἀνδρεῖα δ' {{#lemma: ἢν | ἢν Dindorf, edd. : ἄν M, P}} ποιῇ τις, ἐν τῷ σώματι<br />
ἔνεσθ' ὑπάρχον τοῦθ'. ἅ δ' οὐ κεκτήμεθα,{{#linenum: 155}}<br />
μίμησις ἤδη ταῦτα συνθηρεύεται.<br />

<b>Κηδεστής:</b><br>
ὅταν σατύρους τοίνυν ποιῇς, καλεῖν ἐμέ,<br />
ἵνα συμποιῶ σοὔπισθεν ἐστυκὼς ἐγώ.<br />

<b>Ἀγάθων:</b><br>
ἄλλως τ' ἄμουσόν ἐστι ποιητὴν ἰδεῖν<br />
ἀγρεῖον ὄντα καὶ δασύν. σκέψαι δ' ὅτι{{#linenum: 160}}<br />
Ἴβυκος ἐκεῖνος κἀνακρέων ὁ Τήιος<br />
κἀλκαῖος, οἵπερ ἁρμονίαν ἐχύμισαν,<br />
ἐμιτροφόρουν τε {{#lemma: 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}}.<br /> 
καὶ Φρύνιχος, – τοῦτον γὰρ οὖν ἀκήκοας, –<br /> 
αὐτός τε καλὸς ἦν καὶ καλῶς {{#lemma: ἠμπίσχετο | ἠμπίσχετο Elmsley, edd.: ἠμπέσχετο M}}·{{#linenum: 165}}<br /> 	
διὰ τοῦτ' ἄρ' αὐτοῦ καὶ κάλ' ἦν τὰ δράματα.<br /> 
ὅμοια γὰρ ποιεῖν ἀνάγκη τῇ φύσει.<br />
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<b>In-law:</b><br>	
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]

<b>Agathon:</b><br>
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.

<b>In-law:</b><br>	 
Do you then mount a horse when writing a ''Phaedra''?

<b>Agathon:</b><br>
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.

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

<b>Agathon:</b><br> 
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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|editor=Nicholas Freer
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{{#set:Short title=Ar. ''Th.'' 136-68}}

[[Category:Anacreon Collections]]