The Acharnians | Page 7

have just felt a
drop of rain.[1]

f[1] At the lest unfavourable omen, the sitting of the Assembly was
declared at an end.
HERALD Let the Thracians withdraw and return the day after
tomorrow; the Prytanes declare the sitting at an end.
DICAEOPOLIS Ye gods, what garlic I have lost! But here comes
Amphitheus returned from Lacedaemon. Welcome, Amphitheus.
AMPHITHEUS No, there is no welcome for me and I fly as fast as I
can, for I am pursued by the Acharnians.
DICAEOPOLIS Why, what has happened?
AMPHITHEUS I was hurrying to bring your treaty of truce, but some
old dotards from Acharnae[1] got scent of the thing; they are veterans
of Marathon, tough as oak or maple, of which they are made for
sure--rough and ruthless. They all started a-crying: "Wretch! you are
the bearer of a treaty, and the enemy has only just cut our vines!"
Meanwhile they were gathering stones in their cloaks, so I fled and they
ran after me shouting.
f[1] The deme of Acharnae was largely inhabited by charcoal-burners,
who supplied the city with fuel.
DICAEOPOLIS Let 'em shout as much as they please! But HAVE you
brought me a treaty?
AMPHITHEUS Most certainly, here are three samples to select from,[1]
this one is five years old; take it and taste.
f[1] He presents them in the form of wines contained in three separate
skins.
DICAEOPOLIS Faugh!
AMPHITHEUS Well?
DICAEOPOLIS It does not please me; it smells of pitch and of the
ships they are fitting out.[1]
f[1] Meaning, preparations for war.
AMPHITHEUS Here is another, ten years old; taste it.
DICAEOPOLIS It smells strongly of the delegates, who go around the
towns to chide the allies for their slowness.[1]
f[1] Meaning, securing allies for the continuance of the war.
AMPHITHEUS This last is a truce of thirty years, both on sea and
land.
DICAEOPOLIS Oh! by Bacchus! what a bouquet! It has the aroma of
nectar and ambrosia; this does not say to us, "Provision yourselves for

three days." But it lisps the gentle numbers, "Go whither you will."[1] I
accept it, ratify it, drink it at one draught and consign the Acharnians to
limbo. Freed from the war and its ills, I shall keep the Dionysia[2] in
the country.
f[1] When Athens sent forth an army, the soldiers were usually ordered
to assemble at some particular spot with provisions for three days. f[2]
These feasts were also called the Anthesteria or Lenaea; the Lenaem
was a temple to Bacchus, erected outside the city. They took place
during the month Anthesterion (February).
AMPHITHEUS And I shall run away, for I'm mortally afraid of the
Acharnians.
CHORUS This way all! Let us follow our man; we will demand him of
everyone we meet; the public weal makes his seizure imperative. Ho,
there! tell me which way the bearer of the truce has gone; he has
escaped us, he has disappeared. Curse old age! When I was young, in
the days when I followed Phayllus,[1] running with a sack of coals on
my back, this wretch would not have eluded my pursuit, let him be as
swift as he will; but now my limbs are stiff; old Lacratides[2] feels his
legs are weighty and the traitor escapes me. No, no, let us follow him;
old Acharnians like ourselves shall not be set at naught by a scoundrel,
who has dared, great gods! to conclude a truce, when I wanted the war
continued with double fury in order to avenge my ruined lands. No
mercy for our foes until I have pierced their hearts like sharp reed, so
that they dare never again ravage my vineyards. Come, let us seek the
rascal; let us look everywhere, carrying our stones in our hands; let us
hunt him from place to place until we trap him; I could never, never tire
of the delight of stoning him.
f[1] A celebrated athlete from Croton and a victor at Olympia; he was
equally good as a runner and at the 'five exercises.' f[2] He had been
Archon at the time of the battle of Marathon.
DICAEOPOLIS Peace! profane men![1]
f[1] A sacred formula, pronounced by the priest before offering the
sacrifice.
CHORUS Silence all! Friends, do you hear the sacred formula? Here is
he, whom we seek! This way, all! Get out of his way, surely he comes
to offer an oblation.
DICAEOPOLIS Peace, profane men! Let the basket-bearer[1] come

forward, and thou Xanthias, hold the phallus well upright.[2]
f[1] The maiden who carried the basket filled with fruits at the
Dionysia in honour of Bacchus. f[2] The emblem of the fecundity of
nature; it consisted of a representation, generally grotesquely
exaggerated, of the male genital organs; the phallophori crowned with
violets and ivy and their faces shaded with green foliage, sang
improvised