Aristophanes
Parodos
Καρίων
ὦ πολλὰ δὴ τῷ δεσπότῃ ταὐτὸν θύμον φαγόντες,
ἄνδρες φίλοι καὶ δημόται καὶ τοῦ πονεῖν ἐρασταί,
255 ἴτʼ ἐγκονεῖτε σπεύδεθʼ, ὡς ὁ καιρὸς οὐχὶ μέλλειν,
ἀλλʼ ἔστʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀκμῆς, ᾗ δεῖ παρόντʼ ἀμύνειν.
Χορός
οὔκουν ὁρᾷς ὁρμωμένους ἡμᾶς πάλαι προθύμως,
ὡς εἰκός ἐστιν ἀσθενεῖς γέροντας ἄνδρας ἤδη;
σὺ δʼ ἀξιοῖς ἴσως με θεῖν, πρὶν ταῦτα καὶ φράσαι μοι
260 ὅτου χάριν μʼ ὁ δεσπότης ὁ σὸς κέκληκε δῦρο.
Καρίων
οὔκουν πάλαι δήπου λέγω; σὺ δʼ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἀκούεις.
ὁ δεσπότης γάρ φησιν ὑμᾶς ἡδέως ἅπαντας
ψυχροῦ βίου καὶ δυσκόλου ζήσειν ἀπαλλαγέντας.
Χορός
ἔστιν δὲ δὴ τί καὶ πόθεν τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦθʼ ὅ φησιν;
Καρίων
265 ἔχων ἀφῖκται δεῦρο πρεσβύτην τινʼ ὦ πόνηροι
ῥυπῶντα κυφὸν ἄθλιον ῥυσὸν μαδῶντα νωδόν·
οἶμαι δὲ νὴ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ψωλὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι.
Χορός
ὦ χρυσὸν ἀγγείλας ἐπῶν πῶς φῄς; πάλιν φράσον μοι.
δηλοῖς γὰρ αὐτὸν σωρὸν ἥκειν χρημάτων ἔχοντα.
Καρίων
270 πρεσβυτικῶν μὲν οὖν κακῶν ἔγωγʼ ἔχοντα σωρόν.
Χορός
μῶν ἀξιοῖς φενακίσας ἔπειτʼ ἀπαλλαγῆναι
264–271

Well then, I leave him to you, and do the thing quickly.

PLUTUS: Oh, no! Have mercy!

CHREMYLUS: Will you speak then?

ἀζήμιος, καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐμοῦ βακτηρίαν ἔχοντος;
Καρίων
πάντως γὰρ ἄνθρωπον φύσει τοιοῦτον ἐς τὰ πάντα
ἡγεῖσθέ μʼ εἶναι κοὐδὲν ἂν νομίζεθʼ ὑγιὲς εἰπεῖν;
Χορός
275 ὡς σεμνὸς οὑπίτριπτος· αἱ κνῆμαι δέ σου βοῶσιν
ἰοὺ ἰού, τὰς χοίνικας καὶ τὰς πέδας ποθοῦσαι.
Καρίων
ἐν τῇ σορῷ νυνὶ λαχὸν τὸ γράμμα σου δικάζειν,
σὺ δʼ οὐ βαδίζεις, ὁ δὲ Χάρων τὸ ξύμβολον δίδωσιν.
Χορός
διαρραγείης, ὡς μόθων εἶ καὶ φύσει κόβαλος,
280 ὅστις φενακίζεις, φράσαι δʼ οὔπω τέτληκας ἡμῖν,
οἳ πολλὰ μοχθήσαντες οὐκ οὔσης σχολῆς προθύμως
δεῦρʼ ἤλθομεν, πολλῶν θύμων ῥίζας διεκπερῶντες.
Καρίων
ἀλλʼ οὐκέτʼ ἂν κρύψαιμι. τὸν Πλοῦτον γὰρ ὦνδρες ἥκει
272–284

But if you learn who I am, I know well that you will ill-use me and will not let me go again.

CHREMYLUS: I call the gods to witness that you have naught to fear if you will only speak.

285 ἄγων ὁ δεσπότης, ὃς ὑμᾶς πλουσίους ποιήσει.
Χορός
ὄντως γὰρ ἔστι πλουσίοις ἡμῖν ἅπασιν εἶναι;
Καρίων
νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς Μίδαις μὲν οὖν, ἢν ὦτʼ ὄνου λάβητε.
Χορός
ὡς ἥδομαι καὶ τέρπομαι καὶ βούλομαι χορεῦσαι
ὑφʼ ἡδονῆς, εἴπερ λέγεις ὄντως σὺ ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ.
285–295

Well then, first unhand me.

CHREMYLUS: There! we set you free.

PLUTUS: Listen then, since I must reveal what I had intended to keep a secret. I am Plutus.

The Athenian Society, "The Eleven Comedies" (1912)
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Hall 1907
OCT
Hall & Geldart, OCT, 1907 · 1907
The Editor

Frederick William Hall (1865–1948) was a classical scholar and Fellow of St John's College, Oxford. Together with William Martin Geldart, he produced the Oxford Classical Text of several authors. Hall was a careful editor known for his thorough collation of manuscripts and his conservative approach to textual criticism.

About This Edition

The Hall–Geldart editions in the Oxford Classical Texts series provide reliable critical texts with selective apparatus criticus. The OCT series, established in 1894 as the Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, aims to present the best available Greek and Latin texts in a format suitable for both scholarly use and teaching. Each volume provides a clean text with the most significant manuscript variants recorded at the foot of each page.

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