The Birds | Page 3

FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or the
exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the above
disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you may have
other legal rights.
INDEMNITY
You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, officers,
members and agents harmless from all liability, cost and expense,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, [2]
alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect.

DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by disk, book
or any other medium if you either delete this "Small Print!" and all
other references to Project Gutenberg, or:
[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this requires that
you do not remove, alter or modify the etext or this "small print!"
statement. You may however, if you wish, distribute this etext in
machine readable binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
including any form resulting from conversion by word processing or
hypertext software, but only so long as *EITHER*:
[*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and does *not*
contain characters other than those intended by the author of the work,
although tilde (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may be used
to convey punctuation intended by the author, and additional characters
may be used to indicate hypertext links; OR
[*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at no expense into
plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent form by the program that displays
the etext (as is the case, for instance, with most word processors); OR
[*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at no additional
cost, fee or expense, a copy of the etext in its original plain ASCII form
(or in EBCDIC or other equivalent proprietary form).
[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this "Small
Print!" statement.
[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the gross
profits you derive calculated using the method you already use to
calculate your applicable taxes. If you don't derive profits, no royalty is
due. Royalties are payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation" the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax
return. Please contact us beforehand to let us know your plans and to
work out the details.

WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU
DON'T HAVE TO?
The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, public
domain etexts, and royalty free copyright licenses. If you are interested
in contributing scanning equipment or software or other items, please
contact Michael Hart at: [email protected]
*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN
ETEXTS*Ver.04.07.00*END*

THE BIRDS by Aristophanes
[Translator uncredited. Footnotes have been retained because they
provide the meanings of Greek names, terms and ceremonies and
explain puns and references otherwise lost in translation. Occasional
Greek words in the footnotes have not been included. Footnote
numbers, in brackets, start anew at [1] for each piece of dialogue, and
each footnote follows immediately the dialogue to which it refers,
labeled thus: f[1].

INTRODUCTION

'The Birds' differs markedly from all the other Comedies of
Aristophanes which have come down to us in subject and general
conception. It is just an extravaganza pure and simple--a graceful,
whimsical theme chosen expressly for the sake of the opportunities it
afforded of bright, amusing dialogue, pleasing lyrical interludes, and
charming displays of brilliant stage effects and pretty dresses. Unlike
other plays of the same Author, there is here apparently no serious
political MOTIF underlying the surface burlesque and buffoonery.
Some critics, it is true, profess to find in it a reference to the
unfortunate Sicilian Expedition, then in progress, and a prophecy of its
failure and the political downfall of Alcibiades. But as a matter of fact,
the whole thing seems rather an attempt on the dramatist's part to
relieve the overwrought minds of his fellow- citizens, anxious and
discouraged at the unsatisfactory reports from before Syracuse, by a

work conceived in a lighter vein than usual and mainly unconnected
with contemporary realities. The play was produced in the year 414
B.C., just when success or failure in Sicily hung in the balance, though
already the outlook was gloomy, and many circumstances pointed to
impending disaster. Moreover, the public conscience was still shocked
and perturbed over the mysterious affair of the mutilation of the
Hermae, which had occurred immediately before the sailing of the fleet,
and strongly suspicious of Alcibiades' participation in the outrage. In
spite of the inherent charm of the subject, the splendid outbursts of
lyrical poetry in some of the choruses and the beauty