Ἀλλ' οὐ λαχοῦσ' ἔπινες ἐν τῷ γράμματι
so did you not drink in your letter once you had been allotted it?
Translated by Jennifer Benedict31 May 2000Vetting: high7 revisions
Translation
Aristophanes [sc. writes this]. ["Drink"] meaning served as a juror. For the Athenians were allotted [to juries] by letter from the 10 tribes. For example, the first [tribe] had alpha as its symbol, the second beta, as far as kappa. For with there being 10 tribes, there were 10 jurors [sc. per cycle]. So the man drawing the alpha was the first to be a juror, and the others likewise. So perhaps you, he is saying, had [a letter] allotted but you did not act as a juror; instead, you drank.