Νῶιν
to us two, for us two
Translated by Catharine Roth7 Oct 2009Vetting: high3 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] to/for us.1 Aristophanes [writes]: "nothing better, but more suitable". He was claiming that Tereus would tell us two.2 "So best for us two to die [...] as bravely as possible". "Better for us to drink bull's blood; for the death of Themistocles [is] preferable." So Sophocles is saying about Themistocles: "for me [it is] best to drink bull's blood."3
Greek original · Adler’s text
Νῶιν· ἡμῖν. Ἀριστοφάνης· μείζω μὲν οὐδέν, προσφορωτέραν δέ. ἔφασκε νῶιν φράσειν τὸν Τηρέα. κράτιστον οὖν νῶιν ἀποθανεῖν ἀνδρικώτατα. βέλτιον ἡμῖν αἷμα ταύρειον πιεῖν· ὁ Θεμιστοκλέους γὰρ θάνατος αἱρετώτερος. περὶ Θεμιστοκλέους οὖν Σοφοκλῆς φησιν· ἐμοὶ δὲ λῷστον αἷμα ταύρειον πιεῖν.
Betacode
*nw=in: h(mi=n. *)aristofa/nhs: mei/zw me\n ou)de/n, prosforwte/ran de/. e)/faske nw=in fra/sein to\n *thre/a. kra/tiston ou)=n nw=in a)poqanei=n a)ndrikw/tata. be/ltion h(mi=n ai(=ma tau/reion piei=n: o( *qemistokle/ous ga\r qa/natos ai(retw/teros. peri\ *qemistokle/ous ou)=n *sofoklh=s fhsin: e)moi\ de\ lw=|ston ai(=ma tau/reion piei=n.
Notes (3)
- See also nu 540.
- 1cf. a scholion on Homer, Iliad 15.217; Timaeus, Platonic Lexicon; etc. ↩
- 2Aristophanes, Birds 124 (web address 1), with scholion. ↩
- 3Aristophanes, Knights 80-81, 83-84 (web address 2), with scholion. On Themistocles see generally theta 124, theta 125. Adler's note to the present entry cites 'Sophocles fr. 663 [sc. Dindorf]', and the scholiast claims, on the authority of Symmachus, that this last sentence of it is indeed a quotation from a lost Sophoclean tragedy, making this earliest of allusions to Themistocles' alleged death in this way (fr. 178 Radt). ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from4 entries
Neighbouring entries
Revision history3 revisions · last 18 Jun 2013
- tweaked links — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- augmented n.3; more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Catharine Roth