G-Fa&l oj88€> YALE UNIVERSITYBirds of Aristophanes A THEORY OF INTERPRETATION. SCARBOROUGH.Birds of Aristophanes: A THEORY OF INTERPRETATION. Read before the American Philological Association at its Annual Meeting at Sage College, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., July 13, 1886, by W. S. SCARBOROUGH, M.A., LL.D., PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE IN WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY, OHIO ; MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, AND. OF THE AMERICAN SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION. >t*c< Published for the Author: J. S. CUSHING & CO., PRINTERS, BOSTON. 1886.Copyright, 1886, W. S. SCARBOROUGH.THE BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES: A THEORY OF INTERPRETATION. The three periods of the national and political existence of Athens — from 448 to 404 b.c.; from 404 to 338 b.c.from 338 to 260 b.c.—characterize more or less the three stages of Attic comedy, — the old, the middle, and the new. The old comic poetry, as exemplified by Aristophanes, assumed unlimited license. " It incarnated the freedom of the democracy, caricaturing individuals, criticising constitutional changes, and, through all its extravagances of burlesque and fancy, maintaining a direct relation to politics." 1 As the old grammarians assert, there was no party except the old Athenian democracy, that would have tolerated for a moment the outspoken and personal features of this element of the drama. It is related that the country people in Attica, when injured by the people in the city, used to come at night and sing personal lampoons at the doors of the aggressors, to bring the crime home to them, and to excite public censure. This practice seems to have operated well for a time, and was once made a law. But amid the triumphs and defeats of the 1 Vide Greek Poets, chap. xix. — J. A. Symonds.4 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. Athenian democracy, enactments passed at one time as a restraint upon libel of individuals were at another abrogated : especially was this the case between 440 and 404 B.C. One Syracosius1 (01. 91, 1) is said to have been the author of a law that forbade these personal abuses; yet Aristophanes, in the Birds, satirizes this same person, and calls him a "jay," probably because of his chattering qualities (Zvpa/cocriG) Be kLttcl). In Horace (Epist. II. i. 145-155) we find references made to a similar practice among the Romans, and a law prepared by the decemviri to prevent such personal attacks : — Fescennia per hunc inventa licentia morem Versibus alternis opprobria rustica fudit, Libertasque recurrentes accepta per annos Lusit amabiliter, donee jam saevus apertam In rabiem coepit verti jocus et per honestas Ire domos impune minax. Doluere cruento Dente lacessiti; fuit intactis quoque cura Condicione super communi; quin etiam lex Poenaque lata, mato quae nollet carmine quemquam Describi; vertere modum, formidine fustis Ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti. In Virgil (Eclogue III.) there is another instance of the extent to which personal libel was carried with 1 This second decree (of Syracosius) is inferred by Droysen to have had special reference to those then charged with profanation of the mysteries, and to have restrained comic satire as likely to prejudice the courts against them. As the old comedy always treated the events of the day, such a provision would deprive it of its main interest. — Mahaffy (footnote).BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 5 impunity. Two shepherds, Menalcas and Damoetas, while trying their musical skill, do not hesitate to use the coarsest invectives, and at the same time to blackguard each other. The Romans seemed fond of this style of abuse during their Saturnian festival, which, in fact, constituted one of the earliest forms of the Latin drama. Aristophanes, as far as we have any historical knowledge of his life and public career, was a man of an independent spirit. He boldly attacked and fearlessly assailed the political vices and corruptions of his times. Symonds,1 in speaking of him, says : " His license is large, serene, sane, statuesque, self-approved. His sensuality is nonchalant and natural — so utterly devoid of shame, so thoroughly at home and well contented with itself, that it has no perturbation, no defiance, no mysterious attractiveness. His direiJrcoXijfjievoi and evpv-irpooKToi promenade in noonday, and get laughed at instead of being stoned and hooted down." Pkto, in his Symposium, speaks of him as a man fond of pleasure, an aristocrat of high breeding. He was known to be a man of liberal culture, member of good society, conservative in politics, literature, and philosophy. He advocated the old Athenian policy, opposed innovations, and appeared as a " bitter antagonist to any intrusion against his settled convictions." The demagogues and sophists found in him an uncompromising opponent. 1 Greek Poets.6 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. Even the Gods1 themselves did not escape his keen satire and burlesque. The comedies of Aristophanes were both satirical and didactic. There was always some underlying purpose beneath the surface of his most exaggerated effusions. It was about 427 B.C., in the fourth year of the Peloponnesian war, that Aristophanes appeared as a comic writer. He ridiculed the follies of extravagance ; praised the manners, customs, and sentiments of former times, but contemned modern life (as in the Banqueters). The Babylonians, in which he satirized the magistracies and Cleon the demagogue, appeared in the year following the Banqueters. For this he was accused and prosecuted by Cleon, who also attempted to deprive him of the rights of citizenship. Aristophanes refers to the circumstance in the Acharnians (377~388).2 This play was written 425 B.C. The design of the poet was to expose the folly of the war between Athens and Sparta; to defend the party that favored peace against the intrigues of those who advocated war. The specific object of the Knights, which appeared in 424 B.C., was another attack upon Cleon. The " Athenian demos was personified as an easy-going, lazy, dull-witted old man, with Nikias, Demosthenes, and Cleon among the slaves, among 1 " Non licebat poetis tragicis deos religionis vulgaris, nedum major urn gentium, malos pravosque exhibere et depingere, ut licitum erat comoedia eos ludibrio laedere." — Toepelmann. 2 ai)T<5s t' ifiavrbv inrb KAeWos airaOov iirUrra/jLai Sta rjjv irtputrt Ku/itpSlav, etc.birds of aristophanes. 7 whom the latter has attained a tyrannical ascendancy by alternate bullying his fellows and flattering his master." 1 The Clouds, which aimed at the Sophists, and Socrates in particular as a representative of that sect, appeared in 423 b.c. In 422 b.c. the Wasps appeared, in which attacks on the popular courts of justice were made. Three years later the Peace made its appearance. Aristophanes returns to the subject of the Peloponnesian war, which is ridiculed as only the poet can ridicule. The Frogs, Amphiaraus, the Lysistrata, Plutus, Ecclesiazusae, have each, as the poet's other plays, a specific mission, and to this end he bends every nerve. Of all the works of Aristophanes now extant, however, the Birds, though more delightful and entertaining, has given rise to the greatest discussion. I give some of the theories held by scholars as to the object aimed at in the plan : — "The Birds came out in the spring of 414 b.c., in the year following the sending out of the Sicilian expedition, the panic about the Hermae, and the recall and banishment of Alcibiades. The law of Syracosius, limiting the freedom of lampooning in comedy, was doubtless connected with the public excitement of the time, when the gibe of a comedian might bring upon any man suspicion, prosecution, and exile. It is doubtless to these circumstances that we may ascribe the political vagueness of this piece, which is a general satire upon the vain hopes and wild expectations of young Athens, and ridicules their ideal empire in the western Mediterranean, which contrasted so 1 Mahaffy.8 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. strongly with the poet's conservative notions about the Attic purity, dignity, and simplicity." — Mahaffy. "The Birds caricature in the liveliest manner the Sicilian expedition then being meditated, but which proved so utter a failure." — Chambers' Encyclopedia. " There is no doubt but that Aristophanes intended in the Birds to ridicule the ambition of the Athenians and their inveterate gullibility. Peisthetaerus and Euelpides represent in comic caricature the projectors, agitators, schemers, flatterers, who, led by Alcibiades, had imposed upon the excitable vanity of the nation. Cloudcuckootown is any castle in the air or South Sea bubble which might take the fancy of the Athenian mob. But it is also more especially the project of western dominion connected with their scheme of the Sicilian conquest. Aristophanes has treated his theme so poetically and largely that the interest of the Birds is not like that of the Wasps or the Knights, almost wholly confined to the Athens of his day. It transcends those limitations of place and time, and is the everlasting allegory of foolish schemes and flimsy ambition." — Symonds. "The spirit of parody and burlesque, which is a general trait of the Aristophanic drama, here displays itself most freely and amusingly. Even the solemn genius of Pindar does not escape entirely the poet's whimsical perversions. The dithy-rambic poets in general are unsparingly ridiculed; the philosophers and men of science are not allowed to pass untouched; while profligates and impostors of every class and description are here (in the Birds), as well as in the Clouds, held up to scorn and contempt."—Felton} K. O. Miiller thinks the play in some respects only a general satire on Athenian frivolity. Schlegel says it 1 Revised by Goodwin.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 9 is merely a " Lustspiel" full of imagination and the marvellous, with amusing touches at everything, but with no particular object. Kochly advances an argument to prove that the analogy from other plays compels us to believe that Aristophanes sympathizes with those whom he makes victorious (Peisthetaerus and the Birds). W. C. Green, in his introduction to the Birds, says that Kochly means to convey the idea that the poet recommends a neW Athens, despairing of the old, and the type of this place is in the air. It is to be a democracy, but yet to have a head, — a Periclean democracy. The head hinted at (in spite of his being under accusation, if not condemned) was Alcibiades. In support of this, v. 1431 (Frogs) is quoted (Ye ought not to rear a lion's cub ; but, if such be reared, submit to his ways). Vogelin and Droysen both oppose Kochly, and regard the Birds as simply a poetical composition with no particular object. Kock says : "The relation in which the comedy stands to reality and facts is neither one of contradiction nor agreement. Reality and facts by the feelings they produced called forth the poem, and so far had an influence on it; but the poem is independent of the passions which first started it." Kennedy regards the play as an antidote to the religious fanaticism of Athens at that time. In a Journal ofClassical and Sacred Philology, published in England over a quarter of a century ago, W. G. Clark, in his criticism of Siivern's position, gave the latter's main points as follows: " Over and above the avowed andIO BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. patent purpose of ' exhibiting to the public eye a view of the extreme corruption, perversity, and vanity of the Athenian life and manners in general, particularly the licentiousness of the demagogues, etc,' Aristophanes," says Siivern, " had a special and less obvious design of exposing the Sicilian expedition 'as essentially a chimerical phantom, which none but a vain, ambitious population, of inflammable, giddy, and volatile men, could have been induced to pursue; and besides several serious admonitions which are scattered about here and there, he clearly shows the selfish views in which it was conceived, and in the accomplishment of which it is likely to end'; that is to say, that Alcibiades had conceived the expedition with a view to make himself despot of Athens, and, through Athens, of Greece." In Siivern's own language : — "Aristophanes hat nun sein Thema so behandelt, dass er das Unternehmen durch dessen ganze Einkleidung als ein in seinem Ursprunge durchaus sophistisches, seinem Wesen nach windiges und chimarisches Project, wie es nur einem eiteln, herrschsuchtigen Volke entziindbarer, leichtfertiger, vogelartiger Menschen eingeredet werden mochte, darstellt, und, ausser mehrern einzeln eingestreuten ernsten Warnungen, ganz beson-ders den eigensuchtigen Zweck klar macht, worin es gemeint sei, und in dessen Ausfiihrung es endigen konne." 1 This same writer (Siivern), in his elaborate essay, says that the Birds of the play represent the Athenian people; 1 Uber Aristophanes Vogel von Hrn. Siivern. (Published in the "Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences," at Berlin, in 1830.)BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. II the Gods, the Spartans and their principal allies; the men, the smaller dependent Greek states collectively; Peisthetaerus combines the chief characteristics of Alci-biades and Gorgias ; Euelpides represents the credulous populace of Athens, in conjunction with Polus of Agri-gentum; and the Epops is meant to represent Lamachus. To the close reader and observer-there is a resemblance between the character of Alcibiades and that of Peisthetaerus, notwithstanding the disparity of their ages. This likeness is seen in more than one passage, and especially where the character of Alcibiades is contrasted with that of Nicias : — Kal fxtjv fia tov At" ou^t vvcrra^eiv y eri (Lpa (ttiv r/filu ov8e ficWovLKiav, aXX d>s ra^tcrra Set rt Spav • ttp&rov Se ye eicrekdeT e; veornav Te ty]v ip.r)v Kal TafLa Kapi] /cat ra irapovra tppvyava, Kal tovvo/m rjp.lv cfapaaaTOV.1 If Peisthetaerus2 (IIeio-OeTcupos, TleiOeraipos, Ilei-o-eracpo9) means the eloquent pleader, as the name might imply, then most assuredly he has a counterpart in Alcibiades. Grote tells us (Vol. VIII.) that in cour- 1 Birds, lines 638-6 2 IIcurOcTaipos.] Semper legendum puto Heurcraipos sine 0, ut Refer avSpos neurltrrpaTos, vel saltern Tliaderaipos. Sed quum fiye/xoviKbs omnino sit ille, magis convenit nomen ei dare ui ireldovri robs eralpovs quam ut viffTtfi eralpai. Dobraeus. Nihil horum verum videtur, sed scribendum potius TleiOfraipos. HfurOeralpov nomen quinquies in hac fabula legitur, v. 644, 1046, 1123, 1271, 1495.— Perditarum Fabularum Fragmenta ex Recensione, G. Dindorjii.12 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. age, in ability, in enterprise, in power of dealing with new men and new situations, Alcibiades was never wanting ; qualities which, combined with his high Mrth, wealth, and personal accomplishments, sufficed co render him for a time the first man in every successive party which he espoused, — Athenian, Spartan, or Persian; oligarchical or democratical. But to none of them did he ever inspire any lasting confidence ; all successively threw him off. ©n the whole, we shall find few men in whom eminent capacities for action and command are so thoroughly marred by an assemblage of bad moral qualities as in Alcibiades. As to the character of Alcibiades in particular, Cornelius Nepos says:1 — " Alcibiades, Cliniae filius, Atheniensis. In hoc natura, quid efficere possit, videtur experta. Constat enim inter omnes, qui de eo memoriae prodiderunt, nihil illo fuisse excellentius, vel in vitiis, vel in virtutibus. Natus in amplissima civitate, summo genere, omnium aetatis suae multo formosissimus, ad omnes res aptus, consiliique plenus. Namque imperator fuit summus et man et terra; disertus, ut imprimis dicendo valeret, quod tanta erat commendatio oris atque orationis, ut nemo ei dicendo posset resistere ; deinde, quum tempus posceret, laboriosus, patiens, liberalis, splendidus non minus in vita, quam victu; affabilis, blandus, temporibus callidissime inserviens. Idem, simul ac se remiserat, neque causa suberat, quare animi laborem perferret, luxuriosus, dissolutus, libidinosus, intemperans reperi-ebatur, ut omnes admirarentur, in uno homine tantam esse dis-similitudinem, tamque diversam naturam." 1 Alcibiades, C. LBIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 13 Again the same writer adds :1 — " Hunc infamatum a plurisque tres gravissimi historici sum-mis laudibus extulerunt: Thucydides, qui ejusdem aetatis fuit; Theopompus, qui post aliquanto natus, et Timaeus : qui quidem duo maledicentissimi, nescio quo modo, in illo uno laudando conscierunt. Namque ea, quae supra diximus, de eo praedica-runt, atque hoc amplius : quum Athenis, splendidissima civi-tate, natus esset, omnes splendore ac dignitate superasse vitae, postquam inde expulsus Thebas venerit, adeo studiis eorum inservisse, ut nemo eum labore corporisque viribus posset aequiparare (omnes enim Boeotii magis firmitati corporis, quam ingenii acumini inserviunt) ; eumdem apud Lacedaemonios, quorum moribus summa virtus in patientia ponebatur, sic duri-tiae se dedisse, ut parsimonia victus atque cultus omnes Lacedaemonios vinceret, venisse ad Persas, apud quos summa laus esset fortiter venari, luxuriose vivere : horum sic imitatum con-suetudinem, ut illi ipsi eum in his maxime admirarentur. Qui-bus rebus effecisse, ut, apud quoscumque esset, princeps pone-retur, habereturque carissimus. Sed satis de hoc; reliquos ordiamur." The Birds may represent the Athenian people ; the Gods, the Spartans and their principal allies; and the men, the smaller Greek states collectively, so far as the confusion of birds and men, blended as they are in meaning with one another and the Gods, may allow. But this blending is so close, and the confusion so intricate, that we can only assert without direct proof, either historical or otherwise, that this interpretation, from the nature and sphere of comedy, whether ancient or modern, and the license granted the comic writers, is more 1 Alcibiades, C. XI.14 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. than probable. This confusion Siivern refers to as follows : — " J a, um die Verwirrung zu vollenden, die Vogel selbst, in denen Grundziige der atheniensischen Sitte und Verfassung satirisirt werden, haben auch so lobliche und schone Eigen-schaften, dass sie in mehrern derselben offenbar als Muster fur die Athenienser, ja als Ideale fiir die ganze in diesem Drama geschilderte Welt, also auch fur sich selbst, vorgestellt sind. Zu ihnen wenden sich die beiden Auswanderer, um der Handelund Prozesssucht in Athen zu entgehn (v. 32, no, 114 fg.). Die iippigen Wunsche, deren Befriedigung jene suchen, werden von dem Epops stark gemissbilligt (v. 143). Sorglos leben die Vogel, ohne Geld und ohne Falschheit (v. 117 fg., 156 fg.), mit weniger Nahrung und in ihren belaubten Wohnungen zufrieden (v. 159, 162 fg., 1078 fg.), und ihre Einfalt steht der List und dem Truge der Menschen gegeniiber (v. 451 fg.). Bei ihnen gelten noch alte heilige Gesetze, welche die Menschen, und die Athenienser insonderheit, scheulos verschmahn (v. 1353 fg.). In ihrer Stadt herrscht Weisheit, Anmuth und Ruhe (v. 1318 fg.), welches Lob jedoch der Athenienser ohne alien Zweifel auf seine Stadt zu beziehn geneigt war. Sie erheben sich frei mit ihrem Gefieder und schweben weit iiber Land und Meer, der Menschen mannigfache Thorheiten iiberschauend (v. 118 fg., 1458, 1470 fg., 1553 fg., 1694 fg.). Und vor allem in der herrlichen Parabase erscheint dem luftigen, freien und leichten Vogelgeschlechte gegeniiber das miihseelige, ohn-machtige Menschengeschlecht in tiefer Jammerlichkeit (v. 685 fg.). Sie sind da die Ursprunglichen, Ewigen, Unvergan-gliches Sinnenden; Gotter und Menschen gegen sie nichts. Dabei durchtonen und erheitern das Ganze ihre lieblichsten Gesange." 1 1 Uber Aristophanes Yoge! von Hrn. Siivern, pp. 8, 9.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 15 Again, in regard to the veil thrown over the fundamental idea of the play by this confusion, he continues : — " Zu verwundern ist es nun zwar nicht, dass diese Durchein-anderwirrung einen Flor um den Grundgedanken der Dichtung zieht, und die Meinung veranlasst, es sei hier lediglich auf eine allgemeine Satire auf die Menschen, menschliche Vorstel-lungen und Verhaltnisse, nur mit vorzugsweiser Beriicksich-tigung der Athenienser, abgesehn. Man wird sich indess nicht irre dadurch machen lassen, wenn man bedenkt, theils dass ein solches Durcheinanderwirren der Schalkhaftigkeit der ihren Zweck in dem Spiele stets beweglicher Ironie versteckenden, eben dadurch aber auf den, welcher diese durchsieht, desto treffender wirkenden, komischen Poesie ganz eigen und ange-messen ist, theils dass sich doch sehr gut unterscheiden lasst was einem jeden der drei Theile zukommt, in wie fern er eine in das Unternehmen verflochtene Partei ausmacht, und was ihm ausserdem beigelegt ist, in Hinsicht der Menschen beson-ders noch, was ihnen als solcher Partie und was als Geschlecht, in Hinsicht der Vogel zuerst ebenfalls was ihnen als Gliede der Handlung, was vermoge der ihnen verliehenen Maske, und dann noch was ihnen als dem Chore gehort, und dazu vorlaufig annimmt, dass die bemerkte Confusion auch mit aus dem Gegenstande dieser Komodie fliessen mochte, welcher eine gewisse Nothwendigkeit seiner Verschleierung fur den Zeit-punct, in dem die Vogel gegeben wurden, mit sich fuhrte, indem er zugleich es wohl gestattete, die durch die Handlung umfass-ten Theile, bei aller Verschiedenheit ihrer Grundbedeutung, in ihrer materiellen Ausbildung wieder auszugleichen und der-gestalt einen durch den andern zu satirisiren. Und dass diese Voraussetzung mit gutem Grunde gemacht werden konne, wird die weitere Entwicklung darthun."1 1 Uber Aristophanes Vogel von Hrn. Siivern, pp. 9, 10.i6 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. The Gods appear menlike, with the vices and corruptions of men — voluptuous, sensual, selfish, and covetous. As such, that is, as men, they may represent the Spartans and their principal allies : — "Die Gotter, gegen welche das Untemehmen der Vogel eigentlich gerichtet ist, und die als eine von dem Vogeln und von den Menschen aufs Bestimmteste verschfedne Partei eintre-ten, sind doch wieder so vogelartig und so menschlich, als ob zwischen ihnen und den beiden andern Parteien kein Unter-schied der Bedeutung Statt finden sollte. Ihre Abstammung von den Vogeln giebt ihnen vogelartige Natur (v. 574 fg., 693). Sie sind, wie die Menschen wolliistig (v. 556 fg.), sinnlich, eigenniitzig und begehrlich auf alle Art (v. 1583 fg., 1606 fg., 1637), konnen eben deshalb, der Opfer wegen, der Menschen nicht entbehren (v. 190 fg., 1230 fg., 1516 fg.), und werden dadurch, gleich diesen, von den Vogeln abhangig. Wie die Menschen haben sie Verrather unter sich (v. 1494 fg.). Ihre Gesandten vertreten nur leicht das gemeinsame Beste, beriicksichtigen nur ihren personlichen Vortheil, lassen sich beschwatzen, sind nicht einig, und geben durch dies Alles dem Gegenpart das Ubergewicht (v. 1565 fg.). Die Wahl solcher Gesandten schreibt Poseidon der, auf die Gotter tibergetrag-enen, atheniensischen Demokratie zu (v. 1570), die nach den Acharnern v. 61 fg. von ihren Gesandten oft nicht weniger betrogen wurde; und die Solonische Gesetzgebung herrscht, nach dem Beweise, den Peisthetairos dem Herakles fuhrt, dieser konne dermaleinst nicht Erbe seines Vaters Zeus werden (v. 1649 fg-)j auf dem Olymp wie in Athen. Es erscheint also auch hier wieder mit einander vermischt was sich von andrer Seite als geschieden, ja einander entgegengesetzt, gezeigt hat."1 1 Uber Aristophanes Vogel von Hrn. Siivern, p. 9.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 17 It has been said that no Athenian audience would have tolerated at any time, least of all at this time (that of the play), a drama which represented themselves as gaping, light-minded, feeble birds, and their enemies as Olympian Gods. "On the other hand," says Grote (Vol. VIII.), "the Knights and Wasps of Aristophanes, however, not to* mention other plays, are a standing evidence of one good point.in the Athenian character: that they bore with good-natured indulgence the full outpouring of ridicule and even of calumny interwoven with it upon those democratical institutions to which they were sincerely attached. The democracy was strong enough to tolerate unfriendly tongues either in earnest or in jest: the reputation of men who stood conspicuously forward in politics on whatever side might also be considered as a fair mark for attacks; we may remark that excess of bitter personality is among the most conspicuous sins of Athenian literature generally." I. find nothing 'that I would regard as tangible against the theory of the Birds themselves representing the Athenian people or Peisthetaerus, Alcibiades, though Green tells us in his edition of the Birds that the interpretation of Siivern has been abandoned by most scholars. How far this is true I am not able to say. There is doubtless something in the theory of Siivern that carries with it weight, and it should not be passed over lightly. The theory that the poet, getting tired of the hubbub of the political and social life as then experienced by him at Athens, thought he would write a playi8 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. as a mere diversion — something for an amusement only — is untenable as it seems to me. This is not in keeping with the character of Aristophanes if history is any guide. It was the boast of Aristophanes that he was the first comic composer who selected great and powerful men for objects of attack. His predecessors had meddled only with small vermin and rags: e'? ra pa/cia 7tt0vta0€ip(rlv iroXefiovvrai; (Pac. 724-736; Vesp. 1030).1 I hardly think this boast of Aristophanes is to be construed as meaning that none other than great men were attacked by himself, but, on the other hand, that great men and great themes were assailed with the same vehemence as small "vermin and rags." Cicero, in his Republic (De Repub.) remarks upon the old Athenian comedy, its unlimited license, and the freedom of the law in reference to personal attacks, which law was in marked contrast to the laws of the Twelve Tables at Rome, which condemned to death any one composing or publishing libellous verses against the reputation of another citizen. Another theory is, that it is pressing matters of fact too far, in judging of a poetical work, to attempt to show that the main drift of the comedy is to expose the follies of the Athenians in their dreams of universal empire at the time of the Sicilian expedition, or to fancy that not only the political parties in the Pelopon-nesian war, but individual characters of the times, could be also identified. I think this is hardly true, on the 1 Grote.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 19 whole, since the history of Greek song is the history of the Greek people. The origin and growth of the Hellenic autonomy are so closely interwoven with song, that we can scarcely separate the two. The thoughts, -si purposes, aims, and plans of the Greeks all naturally flowed in verse. Homer sang of national themes; Hesiod directed the attention of men to agriculture and rural pursuits, while he gave encouragement to domestic life; Callinus, among the lyric poets, exhorts the Ephesians to defend themselves in battle against the advancing enemy; Tyrtaeus encourages the Spartan youth, with eloquent words, to defend their fatherland ; Solon admonishes the people of Athens, and urges them to recover the Island of Salamis — and why not a comic poet reprove a people in verse for an inordinate ambition, condemn their litigious spirit and their schemes for universal empire, whether manipulated by one man or by a party, even representing the individuals themselves whom he desires to satirize ? There is nothing to prevent it, so far as the writer has seen. It is well known that the story of the Birds begins with two Athenian characters, Euelpides and Peisthetaerus, who, tired of the folly, wrangling, and contentions of their fellow-country-men, determine to leave them and try their fortune in parts more congenial to their tastes. Having heard of the fame of Epops,1 King of the Birds, they direct their journey thither, under the guidance of a raven and a jackdaw, to secure through him (Epops) a city free of 1 Sometimes called Tereus (rbv Trjyjea eirova yevijievov).20 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. strife and confusion. They come to the bird city ; but their appearance creates for a while great excitement, as they are taken to be fowlers. Trochilus, after recovering from fear, responds to their inquiry, and informs them that the king is asleep. They await His Majesty's convenience, relate their errand, and urge the king to comply with their wishes. Finally they agree to build a city in mid-air (after the offer of several cities is refused), that the communication between heaven and earth, Gods and men, may be cut off; that there may be no more feasting (by the Gods) "on the fume of sacrifices daily sent up to them, nor men enjoying the benefit of the seasons, nor the fruits of the earth, without permission from those winged deities of the middle region."1 The significant name of Nephelococcygia (Cloud-cuckoo-town) is given to the newly established city. The poem ends with an epithalamium in honor of Peisthetaerus and his bride, Basileia.2 Though the references made in the Birds to the Sicilian expedition and to the leaders and demagogues of the times are less pointed than many other statements made by the poet on other occasions and under other circumstances relative to undertakings with which he was not in sympathy, yet his language is clear enough to leave no doubt as to the meaning of the comedian. The hints and thrusts give unmistakable evidence of his strenuous opposition to the spirit of the age. The allusion in 1 Felton. 2 Vide Schlegel, Dram. Lit.> also the play itself.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 21 line 108 of the Birds (odev ai rpiripeis ai tcaXaL) refers to the spirit of pride exhibited in the Athenians in respect to the splendor of their naval power. Only a short time before this had the Sicilian expedition set sail from the Peiraeus, which may have suggested the words to the mind of Aristophanes. Thucydides (VI. 26-29, 53, etc.) and Grote (Vol. VII. 58, etc.) give a detailed account of the Hermae and the recall of Alcibiades to answer the charges preferred against him of having mutilated these statues of Mercury. I quote: — " prjvveral ovv dwo /j.€tolko)v tc Ttvatv Kal olkoXovOw irtpl /xev tS>v 'Ep/Aiov ovSeu, aWwv Se dyaA/xarotv irepiKowai nves irporepov V7ro vewrepoiv pera. 7raiSias Kal olvov yeyevrjpevai, /cat ra pvcrr-qpLa apa d>s 7roieiTat iv ot/ctais €' vfipeu • £>v Kal rov 'AA/ct^StaS^v tluivto. Kai avra. v7ro\apfidvovT€<; oi paXwrra tcS 'AA/a/JiaSy d\0o-pevoi ipiroSibv ovtl (rLs £7T(. Srjpov KaraXvaa ra re pvcrrLKa Kal r/ twv 'Eppwv wepL-Koirr] yevoiTO Ka\ ovSev eir/ avrwv o ri ov per ekcivov iirpa^Or], etti\£-yovtcs TCKp-qpui rr]v aXXrjv avrov is ra iTrirySevpara ov 8rjporiKY]V Trapavoptav." 1 Catana, now Catania, a city of Sicily, was founded by a colony from Chalcis in Euboea five years after the settlement of Carthage. The inhabitants were transferred by Hiero to Leontini, but after his death they returned and reoccupied the place. Dionysius, who afterward got possession of the city, sold a part of the inhabitants as slaves, and settled here a body of mercenaries called Campani. It was here that the ship i Thuc. Bk. VI. 28.22 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. " Salaminia " (Xaka/xLVLa) came from Athens for Alci-biades,—to order him to sail back and defend himself against the charges which the state had brought against him, — and for some others of the soldiers, who with him had been informed against as being guilty of impiety with regard to the mysteries, and some of them with regard to the Mercuries also. For the Athenians, after the armament had sailed away, made no less investigation into what had been done in the case of the mysteries than in that of the Mercuries; and as they did not test the character of the informers, but in their suspicious mood admitted all who came forward, on the credit of unprincipled men, they arrested and threw into prison very excellent men (citizens), thinking it more expedient to sift the matter, and find it out, than that, in consequence of the bad principle of an informer, an accused person, even though he had a good character, should be unquestioned, and should escape.1 Then again we observe that while dismay, terror, and wrath beset the Athenian mind at home, the Athenian forces set sail from Catana for Messana, expecting its betrayal to themselves ; but in this they were deceived, as the intrigues attempted did not come to anything. Alcibiades, who was now summoned home, had left his command, and supposing that he would be outlawed, gave information of the intended movement, to which he was privy, to the friends of the Syracusans in Messana, 1 Thu.c. VI. 53. Literally, rather than freely translated by Dale, formerly of Oxford.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 23 thus acting the part of a traitor. He well knew the awful consequences that would follow his return home. And yet, as Grote remarks, " in considering the conduct of the Athenians toward Alcibiades, they were guilty of no act of injustice. He had committed — at least there was fair reason for believing that he had committed — an act criminal in the estimation of every Greek, — the divulgation and profanation of the mysteries. This act — alleged against him in the indictment very distinctly, divested of all supposed ulterior purpose, treasonable or otherwise — was legally punishable at Athens, and was universally accounted guilty in public estimation, as an offence at once against the religious sentiment of the people, and against the public safety, by offending the two goddesses, Demeter and Persephone, and driving them to withdraw their favor and protection." Grote thinks that there is no ground for reproaching the Athenians ; for the uniform tendency of Christian legislation has been to use legal punishment for sacrilegious crimes. In support of his assertion, he quotes very freely from a work on French criminal jurisprudence, — Jousse, Trait £ de la Justice Criminelle, Paris, 1771, part iv. tit. 27, Vol. III. p. 672 ; also part iv. tit. 46, n. 5, 8, 10, 11, Vol. IV. pp. 97-99. I simply call attention to the passages without comment. Alcibiades, on being informed that he had been condemned to death, in his absence, is said to have exclaimed, " I shall show them that I am alive!"1 As is well known, the recall and 1 Vide Plutarch, Alcibiades, c. 22, for further particulars as to how he redeemed his word.24 birds of aristophanes. banishment of Alcibiades proved in a sense fatal to the interests of Athens. It made him an angry enemy, who lost no opportunity to advise the Spartans as to the weak points of the Athenians, and assist them in bringing about the defeat of this once proud and famous city; it stirred up those who had espoused the cause of Alcibiades, and were willing to defend him under all circumstances, favorable or unfavorable. A portion of the Sicilian armament became offended; the Argeians and Mantineians lost interest, slackened their zeal, or, in the words of Thucydides (II. 65), ra re iv tg> arparo-7reSip afifiXvrepa iiroiovv, k.t.X. Such was the state of things as was then existing; such was the condition of affairs as seen, and doubtless thoroughly analyzed by the comedian, Aristophanes. In line 15 70 of the Birds, Aristophanes puts into the mouth of Poseidon the words, at &7)fjL0tcpaTia, 7rot Trpoftiftas rjfia^ 7rore, el tovtovl 7' i^eipoTovrjaav 01 deoi; The poet seems to complain here in respect to the drift of the democracy — what it is bringing the people to — the mixed state of things at Athens. He expresses his sad lament, and bewails the future. The note of Dindorf will not be out of place at this point: — " 5 SrjfxoKpaTLo] Ludit, quasi etiam apud deos ess'et democra-tia, ut Athenis. Perstringit autem populum Atheniensem, qui saepe legatos nominet, tam arduo muneri impares, qualem notat in Vesp. 1263, Amyniam, quem pro eo,.quod deberet ad magis-trum aut ad principem accedere, quo missus fuerat, dicit cum servis conservatum esse. Berg."BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 25 Alcibiades was one of the most prominent of those connected with the democratic party of his times. He and his companions did not limit their ambition to the conquering of Sicily, but secretly meditated upon the possession of Italy, Carthage, and Lybia. Sicily was simply the entering wedge to carrying out their wily designs. Thucydides, Plutarch (who may be considered head authority on this subject), and others, all agree that the proposed extension and ultimate purpose of the Sicilian expedition aimed at making Alcibiades (the instigator and strongest supporter of the war) first in riches, power, and esteem. This was his ruling ambition, though already Sea fiev /caWo9 viro irdXXwv Kal v kcu eA.7ri£TV)(ij(ras XPV' 1 Siivern.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 27 fiattl T€ Kat $6£rj ixj>eX-qauv. yap iv d^uiifuxTL xnrep roiv dcrTcov, Tats €7rt0 v/Aiais fia^ocTLV r/ Kara t^i/ inrdp^ovcrav ovaiav i\prjTO Is tc ras t7T7rOTpo06as Kat ras aAAas Sairdvas, k.t.a." If the wise policy of that greatest of Athenian statesmen, Pericles, had been followed, and if Athens had strenuously maintained peace, inasmuch as there were powerful enemies in Peloponnesus watching an opportunity to take advantage of any mistake that might be made, the Athenian people would have been spared the mortification and disastrous results which sad experiences brought upon them. In lines 146-7, Aristophanes alludes to the recall of Alcibiades :— " ol/xol, /i.r]SafiS><: fjfuv ye irapa. ddkarrav, iv dvaKvij/eraL KXrjTtjp' ayovcr ewdev r] 2aaajtuvta." 1 Dindorf, in his note on this passage, says : — e " t/ SaAa/itvta (est) navis publica, quae paucis ante hanc fabulam mensibus in Siciliam missa erat, Alcibiadis reportandi causa, qui inter ep/zo/co7n'r$as esse videre^. De quo vide argu-menti Graeci scriptorem, qui minus accurate iirl 'ApifivrjcrTov tov irpo Xaftp'ov, id est anno ante hanc fabulam, factum dicit, et Thucydidem 6, 6i." Thucydides further says (chap. VI. 29): — " o 8' iv re t(3 irapovTL 7t/30s to, fJirjvv/JLaTa direXoyeiTO, Kal eroLfWi rjv irplv eKirXeiv Kpivecr&ai, ct tl tovtwv elpyacr/xevos rjv (rjSrj yap Kal ra rrjs TrapacrKevrjs iireiropLCTTo), /cat el fiev tovt(ov tl elpyacrTO, Slktjv Sovvai, el 8' aTroXvdeLT), ap)(eLV. Kat iTre/xaprvpeTO /jltj olttovtos TrepL axiTOv 8ta/3oAas pove?ys; rts y\avK KOrfvat, rjyaye; " and in line 1455, where the Sycophant uses " kvOase (. . . is av tovv 'Ii/oCs.—Ach. 434. 8 Von hier gen Athen, Sprich, fandest du wohl dir noch den Weg? — Droysen. 4 Acta haec fabula est Dionysiis urbanis archonte Chabria Olymp. 91. 2. Primae partes fuerunt Philonidis. — Dindorf.BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 31 referred, but before her return and before the treason of Alcibiades could have been generally known. It requires a broad stretch of the imagination to find a counterpart for each of the dramatis personae of the Birds of Aristophanes. Therefore it is hardly necessary to attempt to show that " Euelpides represents the credulous populace of Athens, Epops, Lamachus, or that the men represent the smaller dependent Greek states collectively." While this might materially aid us in our purpose, it would not add much to the arguments already advanced to prove that the fundamental thought of the writer as set forth in this comedy is in opposition to the Sicilian expedition. It is easy to conjecture that, this is that, and that, this, without adducing the shadow of proof in support of one's position. Critics nowadays seem to take delight in this mode of procedure. It is not the aim of this paper to find a prototype for each of the characters Represented in the Birds, or to support any given theory. It is simply our purpose to examine the data at our command, and draw our own conclusion as to the poet's aim. 1. Because Lamachus has a large crest in the Acharnians, and Epops has a large crest in the Birds; ergo, Lamachus is Epops, and Epops is Lamachus, may be plausible, but not conclusive. 2. Because Lamachus was poor, and Epops is moulting ;1 ergo, Lamachus is Epops, and Epops is Lamachus, 1 ET. Tr/pevs yap el av; irorepov opvts fj raws; EIIOV. op vis eywye. ET. nSra coi irov32 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. is interesting reading; but there it ends so far as proof is concerned. It is hard to believe, however, that Lamachus, who played such an important part in the military conquests of his times, would have been omitted in a play of which the Sicilian expedition was the object. Clark says that the first argument may well be left to fall by its own weight, and that the second would have been more apposite if Lamachus had once been rich; further, that the well-known passage' in the Acharnians1 (614 sqq.), if taken as the expression of ra irrepa; EnO'V. ^eppvrjKf. ET. ttirepov vnb viffov rivSs ; EnOV. ot)K, a\\a rbv xeiixwva irdvra r&pvea irrepoppvei, k£t aSffn erepa (pvofieu. &\K' efaarSv fioi, op[8r)s % TlpivlStts; olSev ti5 v/iwv TaK&drap' ff tovs Xaivas ; oiS iraprjvovv ol SrifioKparla, ravra dfjr' ivatrxeri; AIKAIOIIOAI2. ov Syr' 4av fiij fiicrOotpopfi ye Aafiaxos. AAMAX02. ovv eycb fiev iraffi Tle\oiroi>vi)(rlois itel iroXephaq, Kal rapaf&j iravraxrj ; Kal vaval Kal Tre£o?cri, Kara rb Kaprepiv. AIKAIOIIOAI2. 4y&> Se KrjpvTTQ) ye neXoirovvTjiriois airaffi Kal Meyapevtri Kal Boicorlois irw\e?v ayopa(etv irpbs 4/ie, Aa/J.dxv ^ n^.34 BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES. have occupied a more important post during the Sicilian conquest. He proved himself to be a brave and gallant officer till his death. The siege of Syracuse had been conducted by him with vigor and unremitting energy, and, if he had survived, it is possible that the result of this struggle would have been different. As soon as Nicias is left in command he exhibits a lack of energy, shows signs of slackness and apathy, and being overconfident and " always overrating the gloomy contingencies of the future," he permitted himself to be betrayed into " fatal languor" in respect to the military operations around about Syracuse. Grote tells us that Nicias1 fancied the surrender of Syracuse inevitable, and therefore he became for one brief moment preceding his calamitous end, not merely sanguine, but "even careless and presumptuous in the extreme. 1 640. fieWoviKiav] Locum hunc citat Plutarch, in Nic. p. 528, ubi monet, Niciam hie ab, Arist. perstringi, ift cunctatorem, idque ob lentam obsidionem Pyli, in qua quum multum teniporis frustra consumsisset, Cleon postea successor ei datus castellum dictum brevi tempore expugnavit. Suidas vero v. fieWovuciav ex vetere in h. 1. scholiaste aliam reddit ratio-nem quart Nicias a comico nostro appelletur cunctator; nimirum ob expe-ditionem Siciliae in aliud atque aliud tenipus ab eo dilatum. Sic enim ait: fieWoviKiav, rb PpaSweiv Kal aPafS&\\ev ris rmv 'AOrivaluv Ka\ irapaKaXirras rbv Nadav, ovk £