Εἰ μὴ κατένιψε
if he/it had not covered with snow
Translated by Bobbiejo Winfrey ✝7 Aug 2003Vetting: high6 revisions
Translation
"If he/it had not covered Thrace with much snow and held fast the rivers at the very time Theognis was contending ..." This man was a frigid poet of tragedy. And so satirizing him he [= Aristophanes] offers to us "much snow," through this man's frigidity with regard to his poetry.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Εἰ μὴ κατένιψε τὴν Θρᾴκην χιόνι πολλῇ καὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς ἔπηξ' ὑπ' αὐτὸν τὸν χρόνον, ἡνίκα Θέογνις ἠγωνίζετο. οὗτος τραγῳδίας ἦν ποιητὴς ψυχρός. κωμῳδῶν οὖν αὐτὸν παρίστησιν ἡμῖν τὴν πολλὴν χιόνα, διὰ τῆς τούτου περὶ τὰ ποιήματα ψυχρότητος.