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A Literal Translation, with Notes.
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Aristophanes in Print
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88 pages - You are on Page 60
DIONYSUS. Oh! leave that alone, do; 'tis not the best side of your case.
EURIPIDES. Furthermore, I taught the spectators the art of speech ...
AESCHYLUS. 'Tis true indeed! Would that you had burst before you did it!
EURIPIDES. ... the use of the straight lines and of the corners of language, the science of thinking, of reading, of understanding, plotting, loving deceit, of suspecting evil, of thinking of everything....
AESCHYLUS. Oh! true, true again!
EURIPIDES. I introduced our private life upon the stage, our common habits; and 'twas bold of me, for everyone was at home with these and could be my critic; I did not burst out into big noisy words to prevent their comprehension; nor did I terrify the audience by showing them Cycni[480] and Memnons[481] on chariots harnessed with steeds and jingling bells. Look at his disciples and look at mine. His are Phormisius and Megaenetus of Magnesia[482], all a-bristle with long beards, spears and trumpets, and grinning with sardonic and ferocious laughter, while my disciples are Clitophon and the graceful Theramenes.[483]
[480] There are two Cycni, one, the son of Ares, was killed by Heracles according to the testimony of Hesiod in his description of the "Shield of Heracles"; the other, the son of Posidon, who, according to Pindar, perished under the blows of Achilles. It is not known in which Tragedy of Aeschylus this character was introduced.
[481] Memnon, the son of Aurora, was killed by Achilles; in the list of the Tragedies of Aeschylus there is one entitled 'Memnon.'
[482] These two were not poets, but Euripides supposes them disciples of Aeschylus, because of their rude and antiquated manners.
[483] Clitophon and Theramenes were elegants of effeminate habits and adept talkers.
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