HAMILTON, RICHARD, The Well-Equipped Traveller: "Birds" 42 , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 26:3 (1985:Autumn) p.235 The Well-Equipped Traveller: Birds 42 Richard Hamilton A T THE BEGINNING of Aristophanes' Birds (42ft), Euelpides and Pisthetaerus have set out in search of a 7'01TO~ a1TpaY!-«JJv, equipped with a Kavovv, a X1J7'pa, and some myrtle crowns (p,vppivaL). The scholia offer two explanations: They bring these things for sacrifice (Tel 7TPO~ Ovuiav) so that once they have fixed their settlement,l they can sacrifice at the founding (Ev rfi i5pvUEt}. It is said in Peace that people used to make foun­ dations (i'5pvov) with XVTpaL. Didymus says they bring the things as defense against the birds, the Kavovv for a shield (avTL 07TAOV), the XVTpa for a helmet so the birds cannot fly at them and strike them, and the f.LVppivaL to shoo them away. Subsequent scholars have sometimes offered both explanations (W. Dindorf, 1827~ I. Bekker, 1829), but more often have rejected Didy­ mus either explicitly (c. D. Beck, 1782~ J. van Leeuwen, 1902) or by giving only the first explanation (F. H. Bothe, 1828; T. Kock 2 , 1876; W. W. Merry3, 1896~ B. B. Rogers, 1906; V. Coulon, 1928). Although Xt'rrpat are in fact used as armor in the battle with the birds (357, 358, 365, 386, 391) and this is the last time they are mentioned in the play, scholars are undoubtedly correct to dismiss Didymus' sug­ gestion. Our adventurers cannot have expected such a battle; Didy­ mus is simply arguing back from the fact.2 Moreover, the battle equipment seems to have come from inside Hoopoe's habitation-at least that is where it is returned (1TaA.Lv, 435) after the battle.3 We should note also that the Kavovv and /-Lvppivat play no part in the 1 So 1. W. White, The Scholia on the Aves of Aristophanes (Boston 1914) 22, who treats olidjuUVTfs as an inceptive aorist and rejects the common emendation OiKiuuv­ TE~ on the grounds that this verb is not used without an object. 2 His explanation "non videtur loci totius menti convenire" (Beck); he was "in miserum igitur errorem abreptus festivo loco comoediae nostrae, ubi ollae et canistra revera pro armis sunt" (van Leeuwen). 3 Cf 361, o~f3acJ)()IJ EVTEV9EVi 'Au{JWv Tj TPV{3'ALOV, which might imply that the other implements were not EVTEV9EVi, except that the plural XVTPWV in 357 indi­ cates that there are more than the single one mentioned in 42. Also, the article in the phrase TWV XVTPWIJ suggests 'the (kitchen) crockery'. Kock contrasts the ritual equipment of 42 with the household equipment of 359ff, which he thinks was brought with it. 235 HAMILTON, RICHARD, The Well-Equipped Traveller: "Birds" 42 , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 26:3 (1985:Autumn) p.235 236 THE WELL-EQUIPPED TRAVELLER: BIRDS 42 battle, while several of Hoopoe's utensils do (rPV{3AW II , 77- 361; XVTpa 78- 357).4 The other suggestion in the scholia seems to be that "the whole apparatus belongs properly to the ceremonies in founding a new state."5 The essential element in such a ceremony was the sacred fire from the hearth of the mother city, and critics often assume that this was contained in the XVTpa.6 Still, there are considerable difficulties with this interpretation also. Since our travellers at the outset want simply to find a city, not found one (47f), these critics seem to be as guilty as Didymus of reading the later action (here the founding ceremony for Cloudcuckooland, at 850ft) back into the prologue. Furthermore, the rituals involving xwpat to which the scholiast and others appeal, while speaking of i8plXTV;, in all cases mean the 'set­ tling' of a god in a new place (a shrine or altar), 7 not a sacrifice on behalf of a newly-founded city: Taw.,,11 (i.e., Peace) XVTpatr; i8pVTEOII (Pax 923); T(lr; XVTpar; air; TOil 6EOII / i8plXTO/LE6a (Plut. 1197f); xv­ Tpar; / /LE6' 6JII <> {36JJ.Wr; o~or; i8pvBT, 7TOTE (fr. 245 Kock). Finally, when we examine the founding ritual in Birds we find that it involves no porridge offering in xwpat but, rather, a procession and an animal sacrifice with lustral water (XEPllt{3a, 850) and sacred basket (Kalloi)II, 850). In Peace, in fact, the porridge offering of XVTpat is rejected for a more elaborate sacrifice, and once again we have a sacrificial animal (here sheep, not goat), XEPlltl/l, and a Kalloi)II (956), with a proces­ sion around an altar. Since we find precisely the same elements in the Phales procession in Acharnians (253), we may wonder whether these are not simply the standard elements in any major sacrifice.8 4 We later find that they have also brought bedding and apparently have two slaves with them (656f, cf 435), although K. J. Dover, Aristophanic Comedy (Berkeley 1972) 144, thinks the slaves at 435 are 'attendants' who "appear when required-summoned more probablY by the hoopoe than by Peisetairos-to carry the properties into the skene." 5 Merry; so also van Leeuwen ("ad coloniam condendam"). See A. J. Graham, Colony and Mother City in Ancient Greece2 (Chicago 1983) 25, whose sole explicit evi­ dence is Etym.Magn. s. v. "npvravE&a." The idea that the equipment in 42 is ritual is now so widespread that the passage is used as the primary text for the sacrifice at the foundation of a colony by L. H. Jeffrey, Archaic Greece (London 1976) 58 n.4. Like­ wise M. Blech, Studien zum Kranz bei den Griechen (=RVV 38 {Berlin 1982]) 319, concludes on the basis of this passage alone that myrtle branches were used in ritual, "um eine neue Stadt zu grUnden." 6 So Kock, Merry, Rogers, Coulon, citing Lys. 297, 308, 315, et al. 7 This is the usual meaning: Link, RE 8.2 (1913) 1393 s. v. "i8pVCTL<;." Our travellers say they wish to be Ka8wpv8evTE (45), and this may have misled commentators; but the verb is passive: they are being settled, not founding a settlement. 8 This seems to be the common conclusion of both ancient and modern scholars: cf, e.g., Poll. 10.65 and W. Burkert, Greek Religion (Cambridge [Mass.] 1985) 56. We should note that the procession at Ach. 284 has a xUrpa. HAMILTON, RICHARD, The Well-Equipped Traveller: "Birds" 42 , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 26:3 (1985:Autumn) p.235 RICHARD HAMILTON 237 While the XVTpm on which the commentators focus are a false lead (and the myrtle crowns would be no better), it is at first tempting to connect the Kavovv of 42 with that of 850 and 864: xmpa occurs almost fifty times in Aristophanes with a variety of meanings, from 'soup bowl' to 'baby container', and there are "over 50 references to the wearing of garlands,"9 but Kavovv appears only seven times and is confined (except for our disputed passage) to the three rituals just mentioned: the Phales procession in Acharnians (244, 253), the i'8pv­ (TIS of the goddess in Peace (948, 956), and the sacrifice for Cloud­ cuckooland in Birds {850, 864).1° Even so, there are problems: the sacrificial Kavovv in Peace 948 contains a knife, barley corns, and myrtle wreath for the priest; 11 some critics (Kock, Merry, Rogers, Coulon) guess that Pisthetairos' basket contains precisely these ob­ jects, but in our passage the wreaths are mentioned after the XVTpa, as things in addition to, not inside, the Kavovv (as Rogers notes), and there is no mention of knife or barley corns. Moreover, Pisthe­ tairos later calls for a (myrtle?) crown12 and lustral water when he is about to address the birds (463f); this suggests that the myrtle crowns he brought with him were not satisfactory. Finally, the pur­ pose of the xmpa in 42 is unclear: we have seen that a porridge offering is not needed later, and fire from the mother city is men­ tioned neither here nor in the founding ceremony. The equipment, then, is neither military nor sacrificial; there is a third possibility, not considered by the critics, that it is sympotic. Myrtle crowns are standard features of Aristophanic symposia {e.g. Pax 1154, Nub. 1364).13 Crowns and XVTpat are found together at Aristophanic feasts (Eccl. 844f; cf Thesm. 400, 403). The Kavovv is harder to place in this context, but it was a standard element at Homeric feasts (II. 9.217, 24.626; Od. 1.147, 8.69, 17.335, 18.120) 9 W. B. Stanford, ArislOphanes, The Frogs2 (London 1963) 103. In 0: B. A. Sparkes, "Illustrating Aristophanes," JHS 105 (I975) 131: "The word is used by some authors to mean household basket, but in Aristophanes its context is always that of ritual, at which time it held barley, fillet and knife." II For the priest's myrtle crown M. Platnauer, ed., ArislOphanes, Peace (Oxford 1964) ad 948, cites Vesp. 861, Av. 43, Thesm. 37; but only the last is a true parallel. Blech (supra n.5) 319 n.5, adds Eur. Ale. 17lf and Theophr. Char. 16.10; but in neither is a myrtle crown worn by a priest, and his conclusion is necessarily vague: "Die Myrte zahlte zu den iiblichen Zweigen des Opferrituals." 12 q: Rogers ad 463: "A myrtle wreath was always worn by an orator." There are numerous parallels: Thesm. 380; £eel. 131, 148, 163; Nub. 625; Vesp. 861; Plut. 21. Blech (supra n.5) 319 n.8, lists the Athenian officials (e.g. archons, generals, thesmo­ thetes) who wore myrtle crowns. I:l For myrtle crowns at symposia, cj: Blech (supra n.5) 71: "von den aus Zweigen gewundenen Kranzen sind nur Myrte und Efeu im Gegensatz zum Lorbeer mehrfach erwahnt. " HAMILTON, RICHARD, The Well-Equipped Traveller: "Birds" 42 , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 26:3 (1985:Autumn) p.235 238 THE WELL-EQUIPPED TRAVELLER: BIRDS 42 and in comic banquets (Pherecrates fL137; Plato Com. fLI5; Diphilus fr.89; Nicostratus fr.l5);14 its one occurrence in Herodotus (1.119) is at a feast.l 5 Further, our adventurous pair is equipped with spreads for a couch «(T'rpwJ,UXTa, 657); they liken their ideal city to a soft cloak to recline in (I22) and name as that city's most serious activity attending wedding feasts (I 28ff) .16 The sympotic interpretation is strengthened when we recall that Pisthetaerus and Euelpides were driven to search for a T67TO~ cX.7Tpa:y­ f.l-WV by the ceaseless buzz of the Athenians at court; cicadas, after all, chirp for only a month or two (39-41). The mention of cicadas recalls (among others) Hesiod's description of summer, where the cicadas sing and the farmer is told to relax and enjoy the food and drink at a picnic (Op. 582ff) P The details of this passage, empha­ sizing time and location, fit nicely with our passage in Birds: t \ \ 'S'I' fI """ ~ , Ot f.tEV yap ovv TETnyE~ Eva f.tTlV TI uVO E7Ti TWV KpaBwv ~BOV(T' (Av. 39f); -ryXETa TETn~ ~ ~ I 'A.. Y I \ \ I " ~ \ UEvupE~ E.pE~0f.tEVO~ I\.tYVPTlv KaTaXEvET aotuTlv 7TVKVOV V1TO 1TTEPlryWV (JEPEO~ KaJ,UXTwBEO~ WPI1 (Op. 582-84). This idyllic setting recurs later in the play when the birds describe their ideal life, resting in the shade T,ViK' av <> (JE(T7TE(TtO~ ogV f.tEA.O~ cX.xETa~ (JaA.7TE(Tt f.tEU'YJf.tf3PtVo'i~ ..ryA.tOJ,UXvr,~ f3oc;. (I 095f). It is probably no accident that the equipment with which our trav­ ellers set out is gradually replaced by local bird equipment obtained 14 Cited from Edmonds, FAC. Didymus (Zenobius 2.31; c:j: Edmonds ad Plato Com. fr.15) said that dinners were brought in bTL Kavwv, and Poll. 6.32 refers to a Kavovv aprocJxJpov; c/ Ath. 4.147, citing the fourth-century dithyrambic poet Philoxenus (=Page, PMG 836.b.6), and 4.152c. L. Deubner, "Hochzeit und Opferkorb," Jdl40 (925) 213 n.5, adds Theoc. 24.137, but this is probably a Homeric echo. 15 So Humborg, RE Suppl. 4 (1924) 869 s.v. "Kavovv": "das k. wurde wohl in erster Linie im Haushalt gebraucht." See also J. Schelp, Dos Kanoun der griechische Op.t'erkorb (WUrzburg 1975) 11. Humborg also remarks (870) "dass das k. auch sonst im tagtiig­ lichen Gebrauch die mannigfaltigste Verwendung fand, lehren zahlreiche Bildwerke," although he does not say how he differentiates the picture of a Kavovv from other types of basket. Professor Jeffrey S. Rusten has kindly supplied these additional refer­ ences, drawn from the TLG data-bank, to the non-ritual use of a Kavovv: Ath. 4.149A; Ach. Tat. 5.3; LXX Gen. 40.16, Ex. 29.32, Jud. 6.19; Joseph. 2.295; Clem. AI. 4.36. lfi This wish is fulfilled first by the luncheon invitation from the Hoopoe (642, c:j: 659) and finally by the feast at the wedding of Pisthetaerus and Basileia, for which the (bird) meat has aready been cooked (16890. 17 This passage was imitated (translated?) by Alcaeus (fr.347 L.-P.) and others. HAMILTON, RICHARD, The Well-Equipped Traveller: "Birds" 42 , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 26:3 (1985:Autumn) p.235 RICHARD HAMILTON 239 from within the stage building, much as the original bird guides are replaced first by Hoopoe and then by a transformed Pisthetaerus, and as the original impulse to seek respite is replaced by Pisthetaerus' grand scheme. In fact, all three items-XvTpa, crown, and Kavovv­ give way in turn; this series of substitutions defines the three main staged actions in the establishment of Cloudcuckooland, which is ritually completed at 1118. First, the Athenians raid Hoopoe's kitchen to get XVTpat and other equipment with which to defend themselves (356ft) .18 Then Pisthetaerus turns to words, as had been the original intent (98), and instructs a slave to bring him a new (?) crown before he begins his speech (463f). Finally we come to the actual founding of the city, for which Pisthetaerus needs not only a new (?) Kavovv and XePVtt/l but also a priest and a sacrificial animal (849f). The sacrifice is repeatedly interrupted until at last Pisthetaerus goes inside to complete it and the chorus sings the parabasis, containing the echo of Hesiod's idyllic setting 0091ff). We should note, finally, that in each of the three cases there is a connection with feasting, although this connection becomes more tenuous as the play pro­ gresses: the weapons come from the kitchen, and part of the birds' distress must stem from their fear of being cooked; when Pisthe­ taerus calls for crown and water, Euelpides asks if they are going to have dinner (464), encouraged no doubt by Pisthetaerus' cooking metaphor at 462f; at the actual sacrifice there is worry that the victim will not provide LKalJOlJ ot/lOlJ (900); and one of the gifts the chres­ mologue seeks is a share of the (T7TAayxva (975). Our travellers, then, are equipped not for battle or sacrifice but for a party, and, as often in Aristophanes, a seemingly incidental line in the prologue turns out to have far-reaching influence on the themes and structure of the play.19 BRYN MAWR COLLEGE October, 1985 18 Note how the XVTpa is emphasized at 357, 358, 365, 386, 390f. I~ I am grateful to Professor Albert Henrichs for references and improvements in detail. This paper has also benefited measurably from careful readings by Professor Gregory W. Dickerson and S. Douglas Olson.