Χόες
Choes, Pitchers
Translated by Jennifer Benedict14 Apr 2000Vetting: high9 revisions
Translation
It is a festival in Athens held in the month of Anthesterion.1 They say that the festival came about thus, when Orestes, after killing his mother, came into Athens and [the] Athenians welcomed him and entertained him; but they did not share their wine with him; instead, the people set aside a pitcher for him and entertained him this way, marking off a small area for Orestes.2
And otherwise:3 Pitchers [is] a festival at Athens, [instituted] for this reason; Orestes, after the killing of his mother, came into Athens to [the house of] Pandion, his kinsman settled there, who happened to be king of the Athenians. He encountered him in the act of celebrating a festival at public cost. So Pandion, ashamed to send Orestes away, yet thinking it impious to share drink and table [with him] as he had not been purged of the murder, set out one pitcher for each of the invited guests, so that [Orestes] would not drink from the same bowl.
And otherwise:3 Pitchers [is] a festival at Athens, [instituted] for this reason; Orestes, after the killing of his mother, came into Athens to [the house of] Pandion, his kinsman settled there, who happened to be king of the Athenians. He encountered him in the act of celebrating a festival at public cost. So Pandion, ashamed to send Orestes away, yet thinking it impious to share drink and table [with him] as he had not been purged of the murder, set out one pitcher for each of the invited guests, so that [Orestes] would not drink from the same bowl.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Χόες· ἔστιν ἑορτὴ Ἀθήνησιν ἀγομένη μηνὶ Ἀνθεστηριῶνι. τὴν ἑορτήν φασιν οὕτω γεγονέναι, ὅτε Ὀρέστης ἀνελὼν τὴν μητέρα ἦλθεν εἰς Ἀθήνας καὶ ἐδέξαντο αὐτὸν Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ εἱστίασαν· οὐ μὴν ἐκοινώνησαν αὐτῷ τοῦ οἴνου· ἀλλὰ χωρὶς χοᾶ παραθεὶς αὐτῷ ὁ δῆμος, οὕτως εἱστιᾶτο, ἀπονείμας ὀλίγον τι χωρὶς τῷ Ὀρέστῃ. καὶ ἄλλως· ἑορτὴ Ἀθήνησι Χόες, ἀπὸ τοιαύτης αἰτίας· Ὀρέστης μετὰ τὴν τῆς μητρὸς ἀναίρεσιν ἦλθεν εἰς Ἀθήνας παρὰ Πανδίονα, συγγενῆ καθεστηκότα, ὃς ἔτυχε βασιλεύων τῶν Ἀθηναίων. κατέλαβε δὲ αὐτὸν εὐωχίαν τινὰ δημοτελῆ ποιοῦντα. ὁ τοίνυν Πανδίων παραπέμψασθαι μὲν τὸν Ὀρέστην αἰδούμενος, κοινωνῆσαι δὲ ποτοῦ καὶ τραπέζης ἀσεβὲς ἡγούμενος, μὴ καθαρθέντος αὐτοῦ τὸν φόνον, ὡς ἂν μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κρατῆρος πίνοι, ἕνα ἑκάστῳ τῶν κεκλημένων παρέθηκε χοᾶ.
Betacode
*xo/es: e)/stin e(orth\ *)aqh/nhsin a)gome/nh mhni\ *)anqesthriw=ni. th\n e(orth/n fasin ou(/tw gegone/nai, o(/te *)ore/sths a)nelw\n th\n mhte/ra h)=lqen ei)s *)aqh/nas kai\ e)de/canto au)to\n *)aqhnai=oi kai\ ei(sti/asan: ou) mh\n e)koinw/nhsan au)tw=| tou= oi)/nou: a)lla\ xwri\s xoa= paraqei\s au)tw=| o( dh=mos, ou(/tws ei(stia=to, a)ponei/mas o)li/gon ti xwri\s tw=| *)ore/sth|. kai\ a)/llws: e(orth\ *)aqh/nhsi *xo/es, a)po\ toiau/ths ai)ti/as: *)ore/sths meta\ th\n th=s mhtro\s a)nai/resin h)=lqen ei)s *)aqh/nas para\ *pandi/ona, suggenh= kaqesthko/ta, o(\s e)/tuxe basileu/wn tw=n *)aqhnai/wn. kate/labe de\ au)to\n eu)wxi/an tina\ dhmotelh= poiou=nta. o( toi/nun *pandi/wn parape/myasqai me\n to\n *)ore/sthn ai)dou/menos, koinwnh=sai de\ potou= kai\ trape/zhs a)sebe\s h(gou/menos, mh\ kaqarqe/ntos au)tou= to\n fo/non, w(s a)\n mh\ a)po\ tou= au)tou= krath=ros pi/noi, e(/na e(ka/stw| tw=n keklhme/nwn pare/qhke xoa=.
Notes (3)
- OCD(4) p.97, under 'Anthesteria'. See also chi 370.↩
- 1Anthesterion corresponds roughly to our February; the Anthesteria was its principal festival; and "Pitchers" was the second of its three days. ↩
- 2In Euripides, Iphigeneia in Tauris 949, Orestes speaks of a monotrapeza ('individual table') for himself; and Plutarch, Moralia 643A refers to a personal table (trapeza idia) for Orestes. People at the Choes were supposed to sit alone when they drank, if possible at their own tables. ↩
- 3Meaning, from another source: in this instance the scholia to Aristophanes, Knights 95 (where the phrase 'a pitcher of wine' occurs).
Linked from6 entries
- α4177Ἀσκὸς ἐν πάχνῃa wineskin in a frostDavid says: "I have become as a wineskin in a frost." A wineskin when heated becomes porous and when inflated it swells, but in the frost it is hardened and frozen. Thus also the nature of the body becomes complacent…
- χ364Χοάςpourings[Meaning] outpourings, offerings over corpses, or libations. An oracle has been issued that it is necessary to bring choai to the deceased of the Aitolians, year on year, and hold a festival of the choai. The word is…
- χ365ΧοᾶςpouringsWhen it is placed in meter, it is pronounced with the circumflex accent.
- χ370ΧόεςPitchers, ChoesIt was a particular festival amongst Athenians, celebrated on the twelfth [day] of [the] month Anthesterion. But Apollodorus says that Anthesteria is the name for the festival as a whole, celebrated in honour of…
- χ622ΧύτροιPotsA festival at Athens; on a single day both the Pitchers and the Pots used to be held; in it they would boil every [kind of] seed in a pot and sacrifice it to Dionysus and to Hermes. Theopompus says that those who had…
- χ623ΧύτροιChytroiThere is a city in Cyprus, of this name. There is also a particular Athenian festival [called] Chytroi ["Pots"]. The festival used to be celebrated on the thirteenth [day] of [the month] Anthesterion, according to…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history9 revisions · last 1 Jun 2023
- tweaked note — Catharine Roth
- tweaked tr and added a note, at the prompting of Dr Mary Frances Williams — David Whitehead
- updated a ref — David Whitehead
- more keywords — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- augmented n.2; more keywords — David Whitehead
- modified headword and translation; augmented notes; added bibliography and keyword; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- —
- —
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict