Λυσικράτης
Lysikrates, Lysicrates
Translated by David Whitehead12 Sep 2001Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
This man used to blacken his own hair with a particular potion. Aristophanes [writes]: "you could not [be blacker] if you had boiled the potion with which Lysikrates blackens himself".1 And elsewhere: "will the nose of Lysikrates be as proud as [that of] handsome men?".2 For he was snub-nosed and disreputable and thieving and insignificant. [There is] also a saying: 'Lysikrates bribe-taking'. [He was] an Athenian general.3
Greek original · Adler’s text
Λυσικράτης· οὗτος φαρμάκῳ τινὶ ἐμέλαινε τὰς ἑαυτοῦ τρίχας. Ἀριστοφάνης· οὐδ' ἂν εἰ τὸ φάρμακον ἕψουσ' ἔτυχες, ᾧ Λυσικράτης μελαίνεται. καὶ αὖθις· ἡ Λυσικράτους ῥὶς ἴσα τοῖς καλοῖσι φρονήσει. ἐπειδὴ σιμὸς ἦν καὶ αἰσχρὸς καὶ κλέπτης καὶ ἄσημος. καὶ παροιμία· Λυσικράτης δωροδοκῶν. στρατηγὸς Ἀθηναίων.
Betacode
*lusikra/ths: ou(=tos farma/kw| tini\ e)me/laine ta\s e(autou= tri/xas. *)aristofa/nhs: ou)d' a)\n ei) to\ fa/rmakon e(/yous' e)/tuxes, w(=| *lusikra/ths melai/netai. kai\ au)=qis: h( *lusikra/tous r(i\s i)/sa toi=s kaloi=si fronh/sei. e)peidh\ simo\s h)=n kai\ ai)sxro\s kai\ kle/pths kai\ a)/shmos. kai\ paroimi/a: *lusikra/ths dwrodokw=n. strathgo\s *)aqhnai/wn.
Notes (3)
- 1Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 735-6, addressed to a cooking-pot (web address 1); again at phi 103. ↩
- 2Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 630 (web address 2). ↩
- 3From the scholia to Aristophanes, Birds 513: a bird "was standing and watching what bribe Lysikrates took" (web address 3). Commentators rightly point out that, with twenty years between the two plays, there can be no certainty that L. the corrupt and L. the vain are one and the same. (The name is common: 45 listings in LGPN ii.) One would also have wished for some corroborating evidence for the L. of Birds as a general. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 3 perseus.tufts.edu
Neighbouring entries
Revision history4 revisions · last 24 Apr 2013
- Revised — David Whitehead
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- more keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- added links, set status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — David Whitehead