Aristophanes · c. 446-386 BC
The Knights
ἹππεῖςRead our guide to The Knights. The Knights was produced at the Lenaea of 424 BC and won first prize. Two slaves of old Demus, the Athenian people, plot to overthrow their master's favourite, the tanner Paphlagon, by setting a Sausage-seller against him, and the contest is fought out in abuse, oracles and gifts of food. The sections follow the play's dramatic units and keep the standard line numbers of the Greek text.
Contents · 12 passages
- 1–106bPrologue: Demosthenes and Nicias lament their new slave Paphlagon909 words
- 107–234Prologue: the stolen oracle and the Sausage-seller1065 words
- 235–343Parodos: Paphlagon enters and the Knights attack him1073 words
- 344–497Agon: Paphlagon and the Sausage-seller abuse each other before the Chorus1404 words
- 498–623aParabasis: the Chorus speaks for the poet, then praises Poseidon, Athena and the Knights1297 words
- 624–690aEpisode: the Sausage-seller reports on the Council512 words
- 691–835Agon: Paphlagon and the Sausage-seller summon Demus1744 words
- 836–972bAgon: shields, shoes and a tunic before Demus1379 words
- 973–1110bEpisode: the rival oracles of Bakis and Glanis1204 words
- 1111–1228bEpisode: the contest of dainties before Demus936 words
- 1229–1315Episode and second parabasis: Paphlagon is undone766 words
- 1316–1409Exodos: Demus made young again913 words
More by Aristophanes
English translation by Benjamin Bickley Rogers (1924). Original text: Greek text: F. W. Hall and W. M. Geldart (eds.), Aristophanis Comoediae, Oxford Classical Texts, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906-1907, as digitised by Perseus. English: Benjamin Bickley Rogers, Aristophanes, vol. I, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, and New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1924.
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, Greek: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain (Rogers). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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