Boeotian Treats:

Acharnians 874-80

DI. T€ f°reiw;

YH. ÜOs' §st‹n égayå Boivto›w èpl«w,

Ùr€ganon, glax≈, ciãyvw, yruall€daw,

nãssaw, koloi≈w, éttagçw, falar€daw, 875

trox€lvw, kolÊmbvw.

DI. ÑVspere‹ xeim∆n êra

Ùrniy€aw efiw tØn égorån §lÆluyaw.

YH. Ka‹ mån f°rv xçnaw, lag≈w, él≈pekaw,

skãlopaw, §x€nvw, afieloÊrvw, pikt€daw,

fikt€daw, §nÊdriaw, §gx°liaw Kvpa˝daw. 880

Greek text from Perseus: http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aristoph.+Ach.+860

(Athenian font): http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~pinax/greekkeys/Atheniandownload.html

http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~pinax/greekkeys/GreekKeysWord2004.html

See the wonderful new commentary by S. Douglas Olson, Aristophanes: Acharnians (Oxford, 2002).

English translation by Jeff Henderson:

Dicaeopolis

What have you?

Theban

All the goods Boeotia boasts.

Got marjoram, pennyroyal, rush-mats, wicks for lamps,

got ducks and jackdaws, francolins and coots,

got wrens and grebes--

Dicaeopolis

You've hit my market-place

just like an autumn storm with its fowl winds.

Theban

Got geese, got rabbits, got some foxes too,

got moles and hedgehogs, kitty-cats and badgers,

got martens, otters, eels from Lake Copais.

http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aristoph.+Ach.+860

Pictures of some of the tasty (?) objects

(I’m assuming you know what “rush mats,” “wicks,” “ducks,” “geese,” and “foxes” look like)

1. Marjoram: Ùr€ganon : Origanum vulgare

(not oregano as such, but majoram)

2. Pennyroyal: glax≈n: Mentha pulegium

(Attic blhx≈n)

3. Jackdaw: koloiÒw: Corvus monedula

The sound you heard is the call of the jackdaw

4. Francolin: éttagçw: Francolinus francolinus

5. Coot: falar€w: Fulica atra

6. Wren or Plover or Sanderling: trox€low

The ‘runner’, cf. tr°xv, so a running little shore bird.

See D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Birds (Oxford, 1936), 289;

Nan Dunbar, Aristophanes: Birds (Oxford, 1995) on Birds 79.)

Probably:

Snowy Plover: or Sanderling:

Charadrius alexandrinus Calidris alba

(also called Kentish Plover)

7. Grebe: Little Grebe or Dabchick:

kolÊmbow or kolumb€w: Tachybaptus ruficollis

The “diver” so Tachybaptus is perfect.

8. Hare: lag≈w: Lepus europaeus

(not rabbits but their bigger and tougher cousins the hares)

Albrecht Dürer, 1502 Jan Weenix (1642-1719)

9. Mole: skãloc (also spãlaj): Talpa europaea

(skãl-oc, lit. shovel face; French taupe, whence the color)

10. Hedgehog: §x›now: Erinaceus europaeus

11. Cat : afi°lourow, more commonly a‡lourow: Felis domesticus

(looking more like the Egyptian cat than our modern moggie)

a. Nilotic cats, inlaid dagger, Mycenae, Grave circle A

b. “Athletes base,” Athens, cat and dog

c. Cat Mosaic, Pompeii

12. Badger?: pikt€w: no one really knows what a piktis is.

We don’ need no stinking piktides!

13. Marten: ‡ktiw: Martes martes

(Our pine marten is Martes americana and even cuter)

14. Otter: ¶nÊdriw: Lutra vulgaris.

(Canadian otter is a slightly different species, Lutra Canadensis)

(“in the water”. You know what otters look like but they’re just so darned cute)

and finally

15. eel: ¶gxeluw: Anguila anguila

Oh, so ugly

But oh, so tasty

unagi