Σκύταλον
staff
Translated by William Hutton7 Mar 2014Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] a club. "I, I'll have you know, had the staff brought out."1
Herodotus [writes]: "and they were beating the Persians with their staffs."2
That which is a rod thick at one end.3 Aristophanes [writes]: "I brought out the staff of Lamias."4 He was a working man who made his living by carrying wood. On account of this when he [sc. Aristophanes]5 brings out the rod he says it is his [sc. Lamias's]; for he is being lampooned as a prison-guard. "That is, of those staves which he farts."6 Meaning which he carries. Or perhaps he was farting because of the weight.
Herodotus [writes]: "and they were beating the Persians with their staffs."2
That which is a rod thick at one end.3 Aristophanes [writes]: "I brought out the staff of Lamias."4 He was a working man who made his living by carrying wood. On account of this when he [sc. Aristophanes]5 brings out the rod he says it is his [sc. Lamias's]; for he is being lampooned as a prison-guard. "That is, of those staves which he farts."6 Meaning which he carries. Or perhaps he was farting because of the weight.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Σκύταλον· τὸ ῥόπαλον. ἔγωγέ τοι τὸ σκύταλον ἐξηνεγκάμην. Ἡρόδοτος· καὶ τοῖς σκυτάλοισιν ἔπαιον τοὺς Πέρσας. ὅ ἐστι βακτηρία ἀκροπαχής. Ἀριστοφάνης· τὸ σκύταλον ἐξήνεγκα τὸ τοῦ Λαμίου. ἦν δὲ πένης, ἀπὸ ξυλοφορίας ζῶν· διὸ καὶ βακτηρίαν ἐξενέγκας αὐτοῦ φησιν εἶναι· κωμῳδεῖται γὰρ ὡς δεσμοφύλαξ. τουτέστιν ἐκείνων τῶν σκυταλῶν, ὧν πέρδεται. ἀντὶ τοῦ ὧν φέρει. ἢ ἴσως ὑπὸ τοῦ βάρους ἐπέρδετο.
Betacode
*sku/talon: to\ r(o/palon. e)/gwge/ toi to\ sku/talon e)chnegka/mhn. *(hro/dotos: kai\ toi=s skuta/loisin e)/paion tou\s *pe/rsas. o(/ e)sti bakthri/a a)kropaxh/s. *)aristofa/nhs: to\ sku/talon e)ch/negka to\ tou= *lami/ou. h)=n de\ pe/nhs, a)po\ culofori/as zw=n: dio\ kai\ bakthri/an e)cene/gkas au)tou= fhsin ei)=nai: kwmw|dei=tai ga\r w(s desmofu/lac. toute/stin e)kei/nwn tw=n skutalw=n, w(=n pe/rdetai. a)nti\ tou= w(=n fe/rei. h)\ i)/sws u(po\ tou= ba/rous e)pe/rdeto.
Notes (6)
- 1Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 76 (web address 1); see further below. ↩
- 2Herodotus 3.137.2. ↩
- 3The same gloss appears in sigma 717. ↩
- 4An approximation of Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 76-77, the first line of which has already been quoted (more accurately) above. ↩
- 5As often in such material, the commentator ascribes to Aristophanes the action of his character, who in this case is a woman. ↩
- 6Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 78 (the continuation of the previous quotation), a line labelled as corrupt in Wilson's OCT. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from1 entry
Neighbouring entries
Revision history4 revisions · last 11 Mar 2022
- cosmeticule, link — Catharine Roth
- corrected footnote numbers, tweaks and cosmetics — William Hutton
- more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics; raised status — David Whitehead
- cosmeticule, status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — William Hutton