Ἱππῆς
Knights
Aristophanes · first staged Lenaia, 424 BC · first prize
A satire of the demagogue Cleon. Old Demos, the people of Athens, is ruled by a scheming slave who stands for Cleon. Two other slaves find a sausage-seller even more shameless to drive him out.
Persons, in order of appearance
- Οι. ΑʹFirst Slave
- Οικ. ΒʹSecond Slave
- Οι. ΒʹBoth Slaves
- Αλλ.Sausage-seller
- Πα.Paphlagonian
- Χο.Chorus
- Δη.Demos
- Αλ.Sausage-seller and Paphlagonian
Translations
- The Eleven Comediesprose · 1912 · aligned by speech · with Coulon's Greek
- W. J. Hickieprose · 1853 · aligned by speech · with Coulon's Greek
- Ian Johnston (VIU)verse · aligned by speech · with Coulon's Greek
Greek texts
- Coulon & van Daele, Aristophane, vol. 11923
- F. W. Hall and W. M. Geldart, Aristophanis Comoediae, vol. 11906
Cite as Ar. Eq. 1–1408
Full synopsis (tells the ending)
Demos, the Athenian people, has a new slave, the Paphlagonian, who flatters him and bullies the household. Two other slaves find an oracle: the Paphlagonian is to be overthrown by a sausage-seller. They find one and set him on. The contest, before the Council and then before Demos himself, is in shamelessness, bribery, and oracle-mongering, and the sausage-seller wins it. He boils Demos young again, and the Paphlagonian is sent to sell tripe at the gates.
Drawing: Line drawing after the 1857 plate of a red-figure vase (Lenormant and de Witte, Élite des monuments céramographiques II, pl. XCIV); cut out and retraced.