The Homeric Battle of the

Frogs and Mice

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The Homeric Battle of the
Frogs and Mice

Joel P. Christensen and Erik Robinson

 BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
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Title: The Homeric Battle of the frogs and mice / Joel P. Christensen and Erik Robinson.
Other titles: Battle of the frogs and mice. | Battle of the frogs and mice. English. 2018. |
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Magistris discipulisque nostris
 Contents

Preface x
Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1
Date and authorship 1
The manuscript tradition 4
Our poem 5
The tradition of fable 6
Epic parody 12
Parodic epic 15
Homeric language and meter 23
Formulaic language 27
Some conclusions about date and authorship 32
Divergences from Attic Greek 34
A note on translation 36
Works cited in introduction and commentary 37

Greek Text 43

English Translation 53

Commentary 63

Glossary 159

Index 191
 Preface

This commentary developed out of an interest in making students and

casual readers aware of some of the less well-known works of ancient
Greek literature. We first set out to prepare a translation but found
ourselves drawn into a discussion of various manuscript problems, the
poem’s unclear relationship with other literature, and the absence of
modern reference tools to assist in reading it. Thus, in its early stages
our work was designed as a commentary for students setting out with
just a bit of Greek to read something a little different.
The Homeric Batrakhomuomakhia (“Battle of Frogs and Mice”) is a
parody of Greek epic, attributed to Homer during the Roman Imperial
period (around first century ce ). It tells the story of a war between frogs
and mice set off by the death of a lone mouse who dared to take a ride
on a frog’s back in a marsh. The battle—and the scenes preparing for
it—are steeped in Homeric conventions of assemblies, arming
sequences, divine councils, and a slaughter of absurd extent. Along the
way, we find humorous depictions of Athena, the brief aristeia of a
mouse, and the intervention of Zeus, aided by a battalion of armored
crabs. The poem was very popular in the Byzantine era where it was
used as a school text, “a short and entertaining introduction to Homer”
(West 2003: 235).
The Batrakhomuomakhia presents the reader with numerous textual
problems; it received extensive commentary at the end of the nineteenth
century (Ludwich 1896) followed by shorter treatments almost a
century later in German (Glei 1984) and Italian (Fusillo 1988). Certain
issues relating to the text’s author and date remain intractable: in the
last generation, scholars have dated it as early as the fifth century bce
(e.g. Bliquez 1977) and as late as the second century ce (West 2003).
Despite the publishing of a similar, fragmentary “beast epic” in the
1980s (the “Battle of Weasel and Mice”; Schibli 1983) and recent re-
publication with translation (West 2003) alongside literary interest (e.g.
 Preface xi

Kelly 2009; Hosty 2014; a panel dedicated to the poem at the UK ’s

Classical Association Annual Meeting in 2015), the poem has not
received a commentary in English. Our understanding of the poem
stands to benefit, additionally, from scholarly advances since Ludwich’s
magnum opus and the later commentaries, including studies in oral-
formulaic poetry, monumental scholarship on the fable in the ancient
world (van Dijk 1997; Adrados 1998) and literary theory. In addition,
the last few decades have seen a steady increase in interest and
publication on non-canonical works and “post-classical” authors (e.g.
the award winning work of Whitmarsh 2014).
This commentary seeks to fill this void partially by offering an
introduction, text, translation, and commentary. Our comments focus
especially on the poem’s character in terms of Homeric language, the
language of parody, and the conventions of fable. In addition, we have
focused on preparing a text that would primarily serve students and
scholars unfamiliar both with the traditions that influenced the
Batrakhomuomakhia and the history of problems which attend the
poem. In this way, the resulting work is an ideal fit for intermediate and
early-advanced reading of Greek (from the secondary to graduate level)
or for readers who are working on their own.
The introduction is divided into sections that (1) discuss the
manuscript tradition and the editing of the text; (2) introduce the
genres of fable and parody; (3) present the basic features of epic meter
and language; and (4) prepare the reader for engaging with the text with
a summary of structure and content. Although we present a basic
argument for the poem’s dating in the introduction, the commentary
provides readers with the evidence necessary for developing their own
opinions. As such, the notes provide a range of information for a reader
with only a few semesters of Greek, such as forms and vocabulary not
included in primary grammars; assistance with confusing syntax;
discussion with some of the significant variants for the text; and
references to scholarship on subjects that relate to the poem.
We have attempted to show where and how the text relates to other
traditions of Greek literature while also trying to frame some of the
xii Preface

ways in which the parody is sophisticated in its engagement with

literary traditions. Finally, we have commented on the historical
character of the poem’s language, signaling aspects of diction and
form that help us to situate this poem and its language in time. Our
conclusions about the sophistication and origin of this poem, then, are
spread throughout the comments that helped to influence them.
Through the introduction and the commentary, we emphasize the
trans-generic quality of the poem through its parallels with tragedy,
comedy, parody, and fable (as well as epic). This discussion is also
appropriate for readers who are less interested in the Greek language
and more concerned with the history of literature. For this reason,
especially, we have included a mostly literal translation of the poem
retaining the same line numbers as our Greek text.
 Acknowledgments

“As soon as the opportunity arrives, give yourself over to your

studies or to leisure”

ut primum fuerit occasio, relinque teque studiis vel otio trade

Pliny Letters, 1.9

A few years ago, we sat down to read the Commentary to the Iliad by
Eustathius, the Archbishop of Thessaloniki, and before reading
more than a few words, we ended up starting on the Homeric
Batrakhomuomakhia. Our path to this commentary was far from
planned or direct—we just kept moving in the direction of what we did
not understand. The final product emerged out of weekly meetings,
nightly scribblings, and the posting of passages and comments online.
We are fortunate to have been afforded the otium to pursue and
complete this project; but we have had considerable help along the way.
In the preparation of this commentary we have been assisted by the
efforts of the UTSA Library’s Interlibrary Loan Staff; the excellent
library at the Center for the Anthropology of the Ancient World at the
University of Siena; and financial resources provided by Brandeis
University. This project would not have seen print without the fine
editorial guidance of Alice Wright and the exemplary work of Lucy
Carroll at Bloomsbury and our anonymous referees. Angela Hurley, in
addition, was invaluable in copy-editing and preparing the index.
Finally, we are deeply indebted to advice and encouragement of friends.
Portions of the translation and commentary were originally shared on
our website sententiaeantiquae.com and were improved by the reactions
of anonymous and named correspondents, among whom Paul
McKenna merits special thanks for careful reading and insightful
suggestions. We received helpful guidance viva voce from William S.
Duffy, Zachary Elliott, and graduate students at the University of Texas
at Austin including Cassandra M. Donnelly, William C. Shrout, Collin
MacCormack, and Aaron Cogbill.
 Introduction

Date and authorship

Ancient biographical traditions attribute the “Battle of Frogs and Mice”

to “Homer.” Almost no one today supports such a claim. One reason for
such divergent ascriptions emerges from modern conceptions of
“Homer” as a poetic tradition (rather than a traditional poet); but
another derives from a process that began in antiquity of restricting
works attributed to Homer to the Iliad and the Odyssey alone. Our task
in this introduction is not to contribute to the Homeric question, but
rather to explain what features of this epic parody have caused it to be
attributed (or not) to the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.1 As we will
discuss below, there is an ancient tradition crediting “lighter” fare to the
serious epic poet.
The Homeric Batrakhomuomakhia (hereafter, BM) has been dated as
early as Archaic Greece and as late as Imperial Rome (and was immensely
popular during the Byzantine period).2 In recent years, more scholars
place the poem’s origins in the first centuries bce /ce .3 Our earliest
evidence of the poem is subsequent to this period and appears clustered
in the second–third centuries ce . For example, scholars have pointed to
Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaos (15.5)—where Alexander refers to a battle
with Darius a “mouse-war”—as proof that the BM was in circulation
as early as the fourth century bce .4 Similar evidence does not point

1
On the idea of Homer in the ancient world and the incremental narrowing of
attributions to the Iliad and the Odyssey, see Graziosi 2002; Graziosi and Haubold 2005.
2
See Ludwich 1896; Rzach 1913 for the sixth century bce , Bliquez 1977 for the fifth
century bce . See Kirk 1976 and Sens 2005 for the Hellenistic period.
3
Wackernagel 1916; Wölke 1978: 46–60; Glei 1984: 34–6; and West 2003.
4
Plut. Vit. Ages. 15.5: ῎Εοικεν, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὅτε Δαρεῖον ἡμεῖς ἐνικῶμεν ἐνταῦθα, ἐκεῖ τις ἐν
᾿Αρκαδίᾳ γεγονέναι μυομαχία (“Men, when we were defeating Darius there, it was like
a Mouse-battle in Arcadia”). Some scholars accept c. 330 bce as a terminus ante quem
for a BM, but not necessarily the same poem as ours.
2 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

to Homer: The Pseudo-Plutarchean de Malignitate Herodoti (around

second century ce ?) attributes the poem to Pigres the Carian, dating it
then to the fifth century bce based on that figure’s appearance in
Herodotus.5 Additional support for an early date has been offered in the
form of a relief of Homer by Archaelaus of Priene which allegedly
depicted a picture of a mouse sitting at the feet of Homer.6
These types of evidence are circumstantial and problematic: frogs do
not appear in the Plutarchean mouse-war, nor in the relief image of
Homer. The earliest accurately dateable testimonia that connect the BM
with Homer come from the Roman poets Martial and Statius, near the
end of the first century ce . Martial’s Epigram 14.183, Perlege Maeonio
cantatas carmine ranas / Et frontem nugis solvere disce meis (“Read the
frogs sung in Maeonian song / or my trifles to smooth out your brow”)
is read as attributing the BM to Homer with the patronymic adjective
Maeonio. Similarly, in his prefatory epistle to the first book of Silvae,
Statius evaluates the BM as a literary work: sed et Culicem legimus et
Batrachomachiam etiam agnoscimus, nec quisquam est inlustrium
poetarum qui non aliquid operibus suis stilo remissiore praeluserit (8–10:
“But we read the Culex and we know the Batrachomachia too, and there
is no famous poet who has not toyed in style more relaxed than in his
other works”). Statius here uses the BM, along with the Pseudo-Vergilian
Culex, as a stock type, the “light poem by a serious author.”7
These two references conform to a general treatment in the Homeric
Lives (dated to the Roman Imperial Period and later). Of the ancient
Vitae Homeri, the Vita Herodotea,8 Vita Plutarchea, and Vita Homeri V

5
Plut. De Herod. Mal. 873f3: τέλος δέ, καθημένους ἐν Πλαταιαῖς ἀγνοῆσαι μέχρι τέλους
τὸν ἀγῶνα τοὺς ῞Ελληνας, ὥσπερ βατραχομαχίας γινομένης, ἣν Πίγρης ὁ ᾿Αρτεμισίας
ἐν ἔπεσι παίζων καὶ φλυαρῶν ἔγραψε (“And last of all, [he made] the Greeks who were
stationed at Plataia ignorant of the contest right up to the end of it, as if there were a
Frog-War going on, the kind of thing Pigres wrote while playing around nonsensically
in epic verse.”) the Suda (a Byzantine encyclopedia) repeats much of this information.
6
Most scholars now dismiss this evidence; Bliquez 1977 does not.
7
For the use of mock-epic as preparation for serious epic in Vergil see Harrison 2007
(chapter 5).
8
The dating of the Vita Herodotea is problematic. Some (see Graziosi, 2002: 73–4) would
place it in the Hellenistic period, in which case the date of the BM’s composition would
be pre-Hellenistic.
 Introduction 3

mention the BM in conjunction with other Homeric works.9

While these accounts differ in their particulars, they present the BM as
either playful diversion (παίγνια) or a mental/poetic exercise (γυμνασίας
καὶ παιδείας ἕνεκα, τῆς φύσεως καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως ἕνεκα).10 By the
second century ce , the BM had a specific tradition among the
intellectual elite of the Roman Empire as one of the “lesser” poems of
“Homer”. Ancient authors appear to accept the poem as Homeric play,
mental exercise, or an educational text for learners.11 Although
Martial and Statius may refer to a Batrakhomuomakhia (and not the
one we possess or that attributed by the Vitae to Homer), a recently
published papyrus (P. Oxy. 4668) with lines shared by our poem dates to
the second or third century ce .12 There is, of course, quite a distance in
time and culture, between the ascription to Homer or Pigres in the fifth
century bce and the Roman Empire. And, indeed, as Jakob Wackernagel
(1916) argued, and as we will investigate in this introduction and
throughout the commentary, the poem’s internal evidence (language,
meter, etc.) betrays significant influence from the Hellenistic and
Roman periods.

9
“The Khian man possessed children around the same age. They were entrusted to
Homer for education. He composed these poems: the Kekropes, Batrakohmuomakia,
Psaromakhia, Heptapaktikê, and Epikikhlides and as many other poems as were playful.”
ἦσαν γὰρ τῷ Χίῳ παῖδες ἐν ἡλικίῃ. τούτους οὖν αὐτῷ παρατίθησι παιδεύειν. ὁ δὲ
ἔπρησσε ταῦτα· καὶ τοὺς Κέρκωπας καὶ Βατραχομυομαχίαν καὶ Ψαρομαχίην καὶ
῾Επταπακτικὴν καὶ ᾿Επικιχλίδας καὶ τἄλλα πάντα ὅσα παίγνιά ἐστιν. (Vita Herodotea
332–4); “He wrote two poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey and, as some say, though not
truthfully, he added the Batrakhomuomakhia and Margites for practice and education.”
ἔγραψε δὲ ποιήματα δύο, ᾿Ιλιάδα καὶ ᾿Οδύσσειαν, ὡς δέ τινες, οὐκ ἀληθῶς λέγοντες,
γυμνασίας καὶ παιδείας ἕνεκα Βατραχομυομαχίαν προσθεὶς καὶ Μαργίτην. (Vita
Plutarchea 1.98–100); “Some also say that two school poems were attributed to him, the
Batrakhomuomakhia and the Margites.” τινὲς δ’ αὐτοῦ φασιν εἶναι καὶ τὰ φερόμενα δύο
γράμματα, τήν τε Βατραχομυομαχίαν καὶ τὸν Μαργίτην (Vita Quinta, 22–4).
10
This sentiment is echoed in the Greek Anthology, Exhortatory Epigrams 90.1–2: ῞Ομηρος
αὐτοῦ γυμνάσαι γνῶσιν θέλων, / τῶν βατράχων ἔπλασε καὶ μυῶν μῦθον (“Because he
wanted to exercise his mind / Homer made up the tale of frogs and mice”).
11
The scholia of the BM, ἁρμόζει μείραξιν ἁπαλοῖς ἐπτοημένοις περὶ τὰ παίγνια, ὅσους
δηλαδὴ ἔτι ἐγκύκλιος παίδευσις γαλακτοτροφεῖ (“[Homer] adapted epic for young
children who were especially excited for games [paignia], those whom a general
education still milk-fed”).
12
See Wouters 2005: 105. On the MSS traditions in general see Ludwich 1896 and Glei
1984.
4 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

The manuscript tradition

The textual tradition of the BM has presented numerous metrical

anomalies, an abundance of variae lectiones (“variant readings”), and
several (longer) passages which seem hopelessly confused. Because our
text of the BM is not conceived in usum editorum (for the purpose of
establishing an authoritative text), we include only a brief outline of the
textual tradition of the poem. For the most extensive discussion, readers
should consult Ludwich’s edition (which is in German with Latin notes).
The BM enjoyed a wide popularity in the Middle Ages. The oldest
surviving MS , Baroccianus 50 (housed at Oxford) comes from the
tenth century ce . Ludwich notes that this manuscript contains few
marginal glosses, but shows significant signs of correction or alteration
by a later hand. Due to limited access, Ludwich himself was not able to
thoroughly inspect this copy (readers may consult the Oxford Classical
Text (Homeri Opera Vol. V, 1912 and 1946) of T.W. Allen who was able
to conduct a more complete review of it). The recent papyrus find
discussed above indicates some continuity between a text available
during the second/third centuries ce and this manuscript.
Ludwich numbers twenty major MSS hailing from the tenth through
fifteenth centuries ce . The poem enjoyed a burst of popularity in the
fifteenth century, to which forty-seven copies of the major MSS date.
One of the central points upon which the MSS are divided and grouped
is the inclusion of the interpolated lines 42–52 (see the discussion in the
notes). A majority of the MSS include these lines, which are widely
thought to be a Byzantine interpolation; however, a great number of the
earlier MSS (including Baroccianus 50) have also included them.
We have not undertaken a new collation of the poem’s manuscript
readings. Our text is formed primarily from a comparison of the Oxford
Classical Text of T.W. Allen and Ludwich’s (with consultation of Glei 1984
and Wölke 1978). We have included the majority of the longer suspect
passages in our text. It is our hope that by including many of the
problematic passages we will encourage readers to consider them in depth
and make some of their own editorial selections. In addition, a more
 Introduction 5

inclusive text recognizes the importance of the poem’s reception among

various audiences. Just as Byzantine—and presumably earlier—editors
were engaged in fashioning a BM based on their tastes and assumptions
about foregoing literary traditions, so too may modern readers.

Our poem

We will discuss the character of the poem in the following sections

and in the commentary. As a preface to our literary and stylistic
contextualizations, it is worthwhile to summarize the contents of the
poem. We break the poem up into the following sections (we present
brief introductions to each section in the commentary):

1–8 The Proem

9–99 The Casus Belli: Meeting of Frog and Mouse; Death of Mouse
100–31 Mouse Assembly and Arming
132–67 Frog Assembly and Arming
168–97 Divine Council on the War
198–259 Alternating Battle Sequence
260–69 The Aristeia of Meridarpax
270–83 Divine Council
284–92 Divine Intervention in the Battle
293–302 The Arrival of the Crabs

The action is roughly as follows. Following an introduction that draws

on epic motifs for beginning poems, the narrator proceeds in fable
mode with “once there was a mouse.” The mouse meets a frog and brags
about his fine dining under the feet of human beings; the frog invites
the mouse for a ride on his back across a marsh to visit his own home.
While they are traveling, a water-snake appears and the frog dives. The
mouse perishes. When the mouse’s father hears the tale, he gathers the
mice in assembly and exhorts them to war; a comic arming scene ensues
as the mice gird themselves with needles and other objects to be found
on the ground and floor. After the mice have announced their intentions,
6 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

the frogs assemble as well and the culprit amphibian denies his
culpability. The frogs arm in gear appropriate to their environment.
Then, the two sides advance to meet in war.
Before they join battle, however, the scene moves to Olympus where
the gods look down in anticipation. Athena refuses to lend aid to either
side since the mice gnawed a hole in her robe and the frogs keep her
awake at night. The gods resolve to watch the battle where the mice and
frogs slaughter each other until the aristeia of a single mouse warrior
signals doom for the frogs. Again, the gods comment on the action and
this time Zeus enters the fray: he throws lightning bolts and sends in
crabs to mutilate the mice when they will not retreat.
It is probably obvious from this summary that a good deal of the
humor of the poem relies on the basic concept: a heroic battle fought by
rather small and unheroic creatures. More difficult to convey in
summary (and translation) is the extent to which this humor is pursued
with creative naming (of mice and frogs) and its adaptation of Homeric
language and integration of features from other genres. These issues
will be covered throughout the commentary, but we will offer some
general cultural and literary frameworks in the following sections.

The tradition of fable

The BM displays engagement with a wide array of genres both in its

diction and its content. Noteworthy among its influences is the Greco-
Roman fable, a complex tradition that spans many different genres and
eras.13 Cross-cultural comparison reveals similar traditions dating back
to Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and ancient India. Scholars have
emphasized continuities in structure and content among these
traditions, arguing in turn for their influence on the Greek tradition
from the Ancient Near East.

13
For overviews of fable, see van Dijk 1997 and Adrados 1998.
 Introduction 7

In Archaic and Classical Greece, it is difficult to ascertain to what

extent the fable was an independent genre instead of conventional
content in other genres. For the most part, discussions of “genre” in
Ancient Greece and Rome rely on structural elements like meter,
contextual venues for performance, or the tone/aims of a particular
type of composition.14 The fable is exceptional for its inter-generic
character. For instance, poetic genres like epic (the Hawk and
Nightingale in Hesiod’s Works and Days, 202–12), lyric (Archilochus fr.
174 [Fox and Eagle] and 185 [Ape and Fox]; Semonides fr. 9 [Heron,
Eel, and Buzzard]), tragedy (e.g. Aeschylus’ Agamemnon [Lion Cub and
Man, 717–36]), and comedy (e.g. Aristophanes’ Wasps [Mouse and
Weasel, 1182]) contain examples of the fable.15 Nearly all Classical
Greek prose genres contain fables of some kind including philosophy,
historiography, and oratory.
Foremost among the difficulties of defining the fable is the
language used to describe it.16 Hence, the term fable itself—from
Latin Fabula—indicates in part the long and confusing history of the
genre. In early Greek poetry, the terms logos, ainos, and muthos all
introduce what we now recognize as a fable.17 Though definitions of
the fable are nearly as variable as the category itself, a basic description
suffices: fables are stories set in the past which are almost always
metaphorical (or allegorical), believed by their audiences to be
fictitious.18
Most of the fables we have today can be traced to a few collections
made during antiquity. The peripatetic philosopher Demetrius of
Phaleron is credited with collecting fables in verse and translating them
into prose in Athens during the fourth century bce . This collection is
likely the antecedent of the collection now referred to as the Augustana
(dated by some to the middle Hellenistic period). The early Byzantine

14
For a recent discussion of genre and a bibliography, see Rotstein 2012.
15
Van Dijk 1997: 124–382 gives a full catalogue of fables in ancient genres.
16
For a survey of modern theories regarding the fable, see van Dijk 1997: 5–37.
17
For these terms see van Dijk 1997: 79–88; and Adrados 1998: 4–13.
18
Van Dijk (1997: 113) a “fictitious, metaphorical narrative.”
8 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

era preserves a nearly as old tradition of Anonymous Fables and

variations transmitted in the Vindobonensis and Accursiana
manuscripts. In addition to these, we also have the Rylands Papyrus,
probably hailing from the late first century bce .
During this process of transmission, fables remained in part what
they always had been, a type of literary exercise with a guise of simplicity
and an intrinsic sense of humor. Plato’s Socrates liked the fable for its
clear morals (Diogenes Laertius’ Vita Phil. 2.5.45); Aristotle echoes this
in classifying the fable as a type of exemplum (Rhet. II .20). Scholars
tend to agree on the persuasive and exemplary nature of fables as well
as their intrinsically comic character. By the time of Quintilian
(Inst. 1.9.1–3), fables were regularly used for both moral instruction
and practice in composition, but they were also still ripe for jest (as in
the work of the early imperial poet Phaedrus), literary exercise, and
competition, for Babrius and the Babrian tradition, or both, as in the
case of the late Roman Avianus.
What exactly a fable contained, of course, was always transforming
as well. A common notion of the Aesopic fable is that it deals primarily
with animals.19 There are lots of animal tales, true, but many fables also
deal with people. As Adrados (1998: 32–3) argues, what distinguishes a
fable from myth is as much its “closed” nature—fables express their
“moral” directly—as well as shorter length and structure. Fables tend to
put two characters into a conflict (an agôn), sometimes with help or
replacements should they perish, in a specific situation the resolution of
which leaves one character the victim and the other a victor (sometimes
with divine help; often with surprising outcomes). Fables often include
dialogue and end with a moral.
Even from the brief summary above, it is obvious that the BM
adheres to some—though not all—of these characteristics—less clear
is how we should conceive of the relationship between the BM and
the fable which most closely resembles it. The “Frog and Mouse” tale is
found in the Life of Aesop, separate from the other collections of fables.

19
For a brief discussion of Aesop and the Aesopic tradition, see van Dijk 1997: 98–104.
 Introduction 9

This Life is thought to be later than some of the dates argued for the
BM.20 For this reason, there has been some debate over whether the
parody draws on this specific fable or whether the fable is based on the
parody (see Adrados 1998: 144). Of course, there is a middle ground
where we can imagine an early fable which influenced both, but the
evidence for this is uncertain.
By the Hellenistic period, “Aesopic Fable” was taken largely to mean
animal fable, and the received tradition of animal tales can give us some
guidelines for evaluating the BM.21 The characterization of animals
tends to be fairly standard. In fables, foxes are clever, lions are strong,
and monkeys make fools of themselves. The message concerning frogs
and mice is a little less clear. In Aristophanes’ reference to “Mice and
Weasels” (on which, see below) mice perish in part because they are
ostentatious. But in other tales a grateful mouse frees a lion from a trap.
In fables, frogs are devoured by kites, they absurdly seek a king from a
serpent, and they bake in the sun. Adrados (1998: 174–5), however, sees
the “Mouse and Frog” story as a special case similar to the “Eagle and
Fox” where the weak animal prevails due to the intervention of a
divinity (even though there is no divine intervention in the Fable
below). The conflict between a mouse and a frog is not as paradigmatic
as a hare being bested by a tortoise or the mice struggling against
weasels. As the BM points out, these animals are really from different
worlds, they belong to separate kinds of tales.
If we can suspend the question of derivation—along with the curious
nature of its exceptionality—it is useful to consider the “Frog and
Mouse” fable (Aesop, Fabula 302):

There was a time when all the animals spoke the same language. A
mouse who was on friendly terms with a frog invited him to dinner

20
While Adrados implies that the fable is derivative, e.g. 1998, 469, 655, he proposes that
the prototype of the Vita Aesopi was in the Hellenistic fables. Van Dijk asserts “The mock
heroic Batrachomyomachia is based upon, but does not allude to, a Frog-Mouse fable”
(1997: 137). West (2003: 232) believes that “the author took his starting point from
another Aesopic fable.”
21
See Adrados 1998: 398–402 for a catalogue of fables.
10 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

and led him into a storehouse of his wealth where he kept his
bread, cheese, honey, dried figs and all of his precious things. And
he said “Eat whatever you wish, Frog.” Then the frog responded:
“When you come visit me, you too will have your fill of fine things.
But I don’t want you to be nervous, so I will fasten your foot to my
foot.” After the frog bound his foot to the mouse’s and dragged him
in this way, he pulled the tied-up mouse into the pond. While he
drowned, he said “I am being killed by you, but I will be avenged by
someone still alive!” A bird who saw the mouse afloat flew down and
seized him. The frog went aloft with him too and, thus, the bird
slaughtered them both.
A malicious plan between friends is thus a danger to them both.

ΜΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΒΑΤΡΑΧΟΣ

ὅτε ἦν ὁμόφωνα τὰ ζῷα, μῦς βατράχῳ φιλιωθεὶς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν
εἰς δεῖπνον καὶ ἀπήγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς ταμιεῖον πλουσίου, ὅπου ἦν ἄρτος,
τυρός, μέλι, ἰσχάδες καὶ ὅσα
ἀγαθά, καί φησιν „ἔσθιε, βάτραχε, ἐξ ὧν βούλει.” ὁ δὲ βάτραχος
ἔλεγε· „ἐλθὼν οὖν καὶ σὺ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἐμπλήσθητι τῶν ἀγαθῶν μου. ἀλλ’
ἵνα μὴ ὄκνος σοι γένηται, προσαρτήσω τὸν πόδα σου τῷ ποδί μου.”
δήσας οὖν ὁ βάτραχος τὸν πόδα τοῦ μυὸς τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ποδὶ ἥλατο εἰς
τὴν λίμνην ἕλκων καὶ τὸν μῦν δέσμιον. ὁ δὲ πνιγόμενος ἔλεγεν· „ἐγὼ
μὲν ὑπό σου νεκρωθήσομαι, ἐκδικήσομαι δὲ ὑπὸ ζῶντος.” λούππης δὲ
θεασάμενος τὸν μῦν πλέοντα καταπτὰς ἥρπασεν. ἐφέλκετο οὖν σὺν
αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ βάτραχος καὶ οὕτως ἀμφοτέρους διεσπάραξεν.
ὅτι ἡ τῶν φίλων πονηρὰ συμβουλὴ καὶ ἑαυτοῖς κίνδυνος γίνεται.

Variant from the Life of Aesop G.

Once when all the animals spoke the same language, a mouse who
was friends with a frog invited him to dinner and led him into a
storehouse of his wealth where he kept every type of bread, meat,
cheese, olive and dried figs. Then he said “eat.” Since he was so well
received, the frog said “come also and dine with me so that I might
treat you well.” He led him to the pond and said “Swim” and the
mouse responded “I don’t know how to swim” and the frog said “I
will teach you.” Then, after binding his foot to the mouse’s foot
with cord he dragged the mouse. And the mouse while drowning
 Introduction 11

said “I will get vengeance on you still living when I am a corpse.” While
he said these things, the frog went under and drowned him. As the
mouse lied in the water and the frog swam on, a crow snatched
the mouse who was still bound to the frog. After he ate the mouse,
he killed the frog. This is how the mouse got vengeance on the frog.
In the same way, when I die, I will be the death of you. For the Lydians,
the Babylonians and nearly the rest of Greece will harvest the fruit
of my death.

“ὅτε ἦν τὰ ζῷα ὁμόφωνα, μῦς φιλιάσας βατράχῳ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ

δεῖπνον καὶ εἰσήγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς ταμιεῖον πλούσιον πάνυ, ἐφ’ ᾧ ἦν
ἄρτος, κρέας, τυρός, ἐλαῖαι, ἰσχάδες· καί φησιν ‘ἔσθιε.’ καλῶς ληφθεὶς
ὁ βάτραχός φησιν ‘ἐλθὲ καὶ σὺ παρ’ ἐμοὶ δειπνήσων, ἵνα σε καλῶς
λάβω.’ ἀπήγαγεν δὲ αὐτὸν εἰς λίμνην καί φησιν ‘κολύμβησον.’ ὁ δὲ
μῦς· ‘κολυμβῆσαι οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι.’ ὁ βάτραχος· ‘ἐγώ σε διδάξω.’ δήσας
τε λίνῳ τὸν πόδα τοῦ μυὸς πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον πόδα [ἔδησεν] <ἥλατο εἰς
τὴν λίμνην> καὶ τὸν μῦν ἔσυρεν. ὁ δὲ μῦς πνιγόμενος εἶπεν ‘νεκρὸς
ὢν ζῶντά σε ἐκδικήσω.’ ταῦτα εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ καταδὺς ὁ βάτραχος
ἔπνιξεν αὐτόν. κειμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ ἐπιπλέοντος,
κόραξ ἥρπασεν τὸν μῦν σὺν τῷ βατράχῳ συνδεδεμένον, καταφαγὼν
δὲ τὸν μῦν ἐδράξατο καὶ τοῦ βατράχου. οὕτως ὁ μῦς τὸν βάτραχον
ἐξεδίκησεν. ὁμοίως κἀγώ, ἄνδρες, ἀποθανὼν ὑμῖν μόρος ἔσομαι· καὶ
γὰρ Λύδιοι, Βαβυλώνιοι, καὶ σχεδὸν ἡ ῾Ελλὰς ὅλη τὸν ἐμὸν
καρπίσονται θάνατον.”

This tale and the BM share several plot elements.22 The mouse speaks at
length about the quality of his food; the frog invites him for a swim; the
mouse drowns and curses the frog while dying. Lexical ties between the
fable and the poem (discussed in the commentary) imply some type of
relationship.23 But the differences are also important: the BM leaves out
anything about the binding of the foot; and the bird which kills the frog
is completely absent as well. It is easy to imagine a parodist taking his

22
See also Wölke 1978:91–178; Glei 1984: 22 and 116–17; Fusillo 1988: 32, and 89–90.
23
E.g. the use of the non-Homeric verb ἀποπνίγω at line 119 (τοῦτον ἀπέπνιξεν
Φυσίγναθος ἐς βυθὸν ἄξας) and 158 (πνίξαντες) may echo the Fable’s ὁ δὲ πνιγόμενος;
likewise, the rare ἀκολύμβους (“unable to swim,” line 158) recalls the Fable’s “I do not
know how to swim” (κολυμβῆσαι οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι).
12 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

cue from the meeting of the animals and building an interspecies war
over the death of the mouse, excising the avenging bird in favor of
divine intervention and the all-too-comic battalion of crabs that ends
the poem. But it is somewhat less easy to conceive of a fable based on
the BM leaving out divine interest (since fables often involve gods in
animal affairs).24 In addition, the snake which features so prominently
in the BM would be a natural component of an animal fable.

Epic parody

While the BM shares some similarities with both the conventions of

fable and the fable passed down as “Frog and Mouse,” the exact nature
of this relationship is unclear. The language of the poem, moreover,
attests to broad engagement with lyric and comic poetry in addition to
epic. Although we have no clear fables within extant Homeric epic, late
ancient writers attribute fable-use to Homer.25 But another genre
attached to Homer is parody. In ancient testimonies, the BM is
often paired with a composition called the Margites as belonging to
Homer.26 In his Poetics, Aristotle mentions one of these works (1448b28–
1449a3):

We aren’t able to say anything about this kind of poem before Homer—
but it is likely there were many—but we must start from Homer who
leaves us the Margites and other works of this sort. It is fitting that
among these works he also developed the iambic meter—for this is the
very reason that iambos is called this today, since men are always
mocking each other in that meter. Some of the ancient poets wrote
heroic poetry, others wrote iambic. Just as Homer was the exceptional

24
The scholarly consensus holds that the fable is based on the BM ; see van Dijk 1997: 126.
25
Theon, Prog. 3; Pseudo-Diogenian Praef.; Philostratus, Im. 1.3: see van Dijk 1997: 442–3.
26
Earliest account: Plutarch’s On the Malice of Herodotus; it is likely that the testimony in
Proclus’ Chrestomathia (67), the various Vitae Homeri, Eustathius (Comm. Ad Il.
II .6.28) and the Suda all draw on this. For issues of authorship and the poems attributed
to Homer in antiquity, see Graziosi 2002.
 Introduction 13

poet in serious matters—for he didn’t only do it well in other ways but

he also made his representations dramatic—in the same way he was
the first to display the character of comedy in dramatizing something
funny, not reproachful. And his Margites completes an analogy for us:
just as the Iliad and the Odyssey are to tragedy, so to the Margites is to
comedy.”

τῶν μὲν οὖν πρὸ ῾Ομήρου οὐδενὸς ἔχομεν εἰπεῖν τοιοῦτον ποίημα,
εἰκὸς δὲ εἶναι πολλούς, ἀπὸ δὲ ῾Ομήρου ἀρξαμένοις ἔστιν, οἷον
ἐκείνου ὁ Μαργίτης καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. ἐν οἷς κατὰ τὸ ἁρμόττον καὶ τὸ
ἰαμβεῖον ἦλθε μέτρον—διὸ καὶ ἰαμβεῖον καλεῖται νῦν, ὅτι ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ
τούτῳ ἰάμβιζον ἀλλήλους. καὶ ἐγένοντο τῶν παλαιῶν οἱ μὲν ἡρωικῶν
οἱ δὲ ἰάμβων ποιηταί. ὥσπερ δὲ καὶ τὰ σπουδαῖα μάλιστα ποιητὴς
῞Ομηρος ἦν (μόνος γὰρ οὐχ ὅτι εὖ ἀλλὰ καὶ μιμήσεις δραμαικὰς
ἐποίησεν), οὕτως καὶ τὸ τῆς κωμῳδίας σχῆμα πρῶτος ὑπέδειξεν, οὐ
ψόγον ἀλλὰ τὸ γελοῖον δραματοποιήσας· ὁ γὰρ Μαργίτης ἀνάλογον
ἔχει, ὥσπερ ᾿Ιλιὰς καὶ ἡ ᾿Οδύσσεια πρὸς τὰς τραγῳδίας, οὕτω καὶ
οὗτος πρὸς τὰς κωμῳδίας.

Following Aristotle, discussion of ancient Greek genre has often focused

on form (i.e. meter) and content/tone. Thus, Aristotle separates the
Margites from the other Homeric epics using both criteria: it has a
different meter (iambic and dactylic hexameter) and a different tone—
rather than being serious (τὰ σπουδαῖα) it is funny (τὸ γελοῖον), but not
in the character of personal reproach (οὐ ψόγον).27 In addition, this
type of poetry is “Homeric” to the extent that it is also dramatic
(δραματοποιήσας). It is attractive to imagine that in referring to other
poems of this type (τὰ τοιαῦτα), Aristotle leaves room for compositions
like the BM (which is funny and dramatic), but such an assertion ignores
both the context (namely that τὰ τοιαῦτα means other iambic poems)
and the wide array of poems attributed to Homer in the ancient world,
including many other epics in addition to the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The attribution of the Margites to Homer and the later pairing of the
two poems gives us sufficient justification, however, to ask what that

27
See Rotstein 2010 for the relationship between the Margites and iambic poetry.
14 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

poem might be able to tell us about the BM. A handful of lines survive
(fr. 1–4a):

Some old man, a divine singer, came to Kolophon,

An assistant of the Muses and Apollo
Holding a sweet-singing lyre in his dear hands.
The gods didn’t make him an excavator or a ploughman
Nor wise in anything at all: he screwed up every kind of craft:
He knew many matters, but he knew all of them badly.

ἦλθέ τις ἐς Κολοφῶνα γέρων καὶ θεῖος ἀοιδός,

Μουσάων θεράπων καὶ ἑκηβόλου ᾿Απόλλωνος,
φίληις ἔχων ἐν χερσὶν εὔφθογγον λύρην.
τὸν δ’ οὔτ’ ἂρ σκαπτῆρα θεοὶ θέσαν οὔτ’ ἀροτῆρα
οὔτ’ ἄλλως τι σοφόν· πάσης δ’ ἡμάρτανε τέχνης.
πόλλ’ ἠπίστατο ἔργα, κακῶς δ’ ἠπίστατο πάντα.

Aristotle is right to divide this poem from Homer’s other epics for its
tone. It also has certain characteristics that we might identify in the
fable, including the generalizing character of the opening line (ἦλθέ τις)
and the continuing participle in line 3 (ἔχων).28 And according to
ancient accounts, the rest of the poem’s contents would not have been at
home in ancient epic. Part of Margites’ ignorance extended to carnal
acts (from Dio Chrys. Or. 67.5, On Reputation): “He would be much
more foolish than Margites, who was ignorant about what to do with a
woman after being married.” (Πολύ γε ἂν εἴη τοῦ Μαργίτου μωρότερος,
ἀγνοοῦντος ὅ, τι χρὴ γήμαντα χρῆσθαι τῇ γυναικί).29
In addition to the fragments above, the Margites is also often said to
have included the famous animal maxim attributed to Archilochus that
“the fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing”
(πόλλ’ οἶδ’ ἀλώπηξ, ἀλλ’ ἐχῖνος ἓν μέγα, fr. 201). So, from the perspective

28
For these qualities, see the commentary section for lines 1–7.
29
Hesychius (an Alexandrian Lexicographer, fifth/sixth century ce ) adds another detail:
Margites’ wife told him she had been bitten in her genitals by a scorpion and that she
needed “treatment.” The Byzantine Archbishop Eustathius (Comm ad Od. 1.395, twelfth
century ce ) repeats this anecdote.
 Introduction 15

of ancient scholars, an animal story seemed apt to a poem like the

Margites. Nevertheless, for comparison to the BM, Aristotle’s formal
distinction remains. The Margites may share in epic language—as does
much of lyric and elegiac poetry—but it is not entirely in the epic meter.
For Aristotle, form and content separate the Iliad from the Margites.
The BM crosses these lines.

Parodic epic

Aristotle does, however, offer an important comparandum for

understanding the BM. Just as comedy relies in part on the poetic and
performance conventions of tragedy, so parody also depends upon the
conventions established by “serious” epic. Here, too, Aristotle gives us a
clue: earlier in the Poetics he writes that “Hegemon of Thasos was the
first to write parodies” (1448a12), although he does not tell us much
more about who Hegemon was or what (he thinks) parody is.
If we weigh the ascription of the Margites to Homer as evidence of
the antiquity of a Homeric tradition of humorous material paired with
the serious, we can trace the origins of parody before the appearance of
Hegemon in Athens (dated to the Peloponnesian War—accounts have
him entertaining Athenians c. 416 bce ). Generic boundaries did not
prevent Greek poets from using a shared language in different
treatments of the same ideas. Tyrtaeus, for example, uses the same
register as Homer to describe the contemporary Messenian Wars
among the Spartans;30 Archilochus uses martial language to evoke an
anti-martial ethic;31 Sappho, Alcaeus, and Mimnermus similarly use
“Homeric” phrases for erotic topics.
The analogy of Athenian comedy developing alongside and in
response to tragedy is helpful. As several authors have emphasized (e.g.
Bliquez 1977; Olson and Sens 1999), Athenaeaus’ Deipnosophists

30
See Steinbock 2013: 78.
31
See Barker and Christensen 2006.
16 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

preserves fragments of a scholar named Polemon (c. third century bce )

who searched for the “inventor of Parody,” concluding that it was none
other than Hipponax (mid-sixth century bce ).32 Given the pervasiveness
of epic in the Archaic and Classical periods, it is likely that poets of all
types were engaged with mockery of myth and the epic genre using its
diction and meter. The mockery of comedy and parody was likely
connected as well to the essentially agonistic character of Greek
poetry.33 Even within the epic genre, there was probably more variety
and play than Homer and Hesiod might indicate. The poet Panyassis
(fifth century bce ), for example, sets his epic in sympotic contexts,
which result in a lexicon that differs from that of Homer and Hesiod.
Similarly, the ethnographic and fantastic poetry of Aristeas (sixth
century bce ?) uses diction and formulae distinct from both Homer
and Panyassis.
Here, too, ancient testimony provides hints but no precise answers.
Scholars have introduced inscriptional evidence on the Island of Euboea
attesting to parodic competitions at the Artemisian Games (IG XII 9
I89, c. 340 bce ; see Degani 1983 and Rotstein 2012; cf. Olson and Sens
1999). Since these later games seem to have been modeled on the festival
known as the Greater Panathenaea where many believe the Homeric
epics were performed, similar parodic performances in Athens may
have occurred prior to the mid-fourth century bce .34 Following this
period, as Olson and Sens (1999) show, there was a flourishing of epic
parody leaving us poems by Archestratos of Gela (who wrote a catalogue
of the best food and drink, c. 390–350 bce ), Euboeus of Paros (c. mid-
fourth century bce ), Hipparchos (undated, but with a gastronomic
“Egyptian Iliad”) and Matro of Pitane (early fourth century bce ).

32
Epic parodies are attributed to old comic poets like Cratinus and Hermippus.
Aristophanes may have been in on the parodic game as well: he toys with Homeric
images frequently and plays games with Homeric lines in his Peace (1282–3).
33
For the pervasiveness of competition and rivalry in early Greek poetry, see Griffith
1990; cf. Barker and Christensen 2006.
34
The same ancient scholar who identified Hipponax as the “founder of parody” records
that Hegemon of Thasos won a prize of fifty drachmas in the parodic competition with
his version of the Gigantomachy (Ath. Deip. I5.698b–699d).
 Introduction 17

These poets—along with Hegemon mentioned above—share some

important similarities. First, their remaining fragments are clearly
engaged with Homeric language, combining distinct phrases with non-
epic subjects (frequently food and topics similar to those of old comedy)
and adapting conventional formulae. But, as far as we can tell from what
we know of their poems, their subjects were not animals. In addition,
we do not have any clear information about performance context. The
level of parody implies a fairly thorough familiarity with Homeric
precedents—and an audience who “get” the joke in some way or another.
To understand some of the expectations that might have attended a
parody like the BM, it is worthwhile to consider the fragments of the
early parodic exemplars, Hipponax and Hegemon, for their style and
engagement with Homer. Hipponax leaves us four lines: (fr. 128; see
Olson and Sens 1999: 5).

Muse, tell me the tale of the sea-swallowing

Stomach-slicing, son of Eurymedon, who eats without order—
How he died a terrible death thanks to a vile vote
in the public council along the strand of the barren sea.

Μοῦσά μοι Εὐρυμεδοντιάδεα τὴν ποντοχάρυβδιν,

τὴν ἐν γαστρὶ μάχαιραν, ὃς ἐσθίει οὐ κατὰ κόσμον,
ἔννεφ’, ὅπως ψηφῖδι < κακῇ> κακὸν οἶτον ὀλεῖται
βουλῆι δημοσίηι παρὰ θῖν’ ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο.

In the passage (Deipn. 15.55) where Athenaeus introduces this fragment,

he quotes the earlier Polemon as commending the parodists Boiotos
and Euboios for their double-meaninged play with words (τὸ παίζειν
ἀμφιδεξίως). Hipponax, he explains, was an iambic poet (τὸν ἰαμβοποιόν)
who founded a genre (εὑρετὴν μὲν οὖν τοῦ γένους). Several features
of the fragment stand out as indicative of the ways in which parody
might engage with the Homeric tradition.35 Note the characteristic
invocation of the Muse with some poetic play—the invocation starts

35
For a discussion of the genre and language of this fragment, see Faraone 2004 (who
argues that the poem is a curse rather than a parody).
18 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

line 1 (Μοῦσά μοι) but the verb is left until the third line (ἔννεφ’). The
first line is filled out by a lengthy—and therefore probably mocking—
patronym followed by an odd compound (ποντοχάρυβδιν). The final
three lines end with common Homeric formulae begun with more
contemporaneous images (e.g. ψηφῖδι, βουλῆι δημοσίηι).36
In the same discussion, Athenaeus pursues Polemon’s subsequent
citation of Hegemon: (fr. 1; p. 52 Brandt):37

“When I arrived in Thasos they struck with missiles made of shit

And then someone stood near me and said:
“Dirtiest of all men, who persuaded you to mount
this pristine stage with feet like yours?”
I answered them all with this wise word:
“Fame persuaded me as an unwilling old man to climb here.”
And poverty, which compels many a Thasian, dirty men with fine hair,
To board a trading ship, men who both kill and die,
Men who right now recite bad songs badly there.
I too gave in to them because I need food terribly.
But I will not again travel abroad for profit, but among the Thasians
I will hand out glorious silver and cause no one pain,
Lest any of the Achaean women find fault with me at home.
When my wife kneads the ritual bread in an unseemly way,
And some one might say when she sees the small cheese-cake:
“What is this, woman? After your husband sang for the Athenians
And won fifty drachmas, you bake so small a cake?”
Pallas Athena appeared next to me as I considered these things
While holding her golden staff, she hit me and said:
“Suffering as much as you have, Dirty Lentil-soup, enter the contest.”
And thus emboldened, I sang even louder.”

36
κατὰ κόσμον occurs over a dozen times in the Homeric poems, ending the line at Od.
20.281. For the phrase κακὸν οἶτον ὀλεῖται in Homer, we find the phrase κλέος οὔ ποτ’
ὀλεῖται in Homer (e.g. Il. 7.91) more than once, with the combination κακὸν οἶτον in the
same metrical position (πάντες ἔσαν· τῶ σφεων πολέες κακὸν οἶτον ἐπέσπον, Od.
3.134) and a form of the verb with the same phrase (οἵ κεν δὴ κακὸν οἶτον ἀναπλήσαντες
ὄλωνται. Il. 8.465). For παρὰ θῖν’ ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο, see Il. 1.316; this phrase occurs in
other genres, including the New Archilochus fragment, see Christensen and Barker 2006
37
The Greek text is based on Kaibel’s Teubner (1890; 1966) with some emendations
adopted from Olson’s Loeb edition of Athenaeus (2012).
 Introduction 19

᾿Ες δὲ Θάσον μ’ ἐλθόντα μετεωρίζοντες ἔβαλλον

πολλοῖσι σπελέθοισι, καὶ ὧδέ τις εἶπε παραστάς·
‘ὦ πάντων ἀνδρῶν βδελυρώτατε, τίς σ’ ἀνέπεισεν
καλὴν ἐς κρηπῖδα ποσὶν τοιοῖσδ’ ἀναβῆναι;’
τοῖσι δ’ ἐγὼ πᾶσιν πυκινὸν38 μετὰ τοῦτ’ ἔπος εἶπον·
‘μνῆ μ᾿ ἀνέπεισε γέροντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντ’ ἀναβῆναι
καὶ σπάνις, ἣ πολλοὺς Θασίων εἰς ὁλκάδα βάλλει
εὐκούρων βδελυρῶν, ὀλλύντων τ’ ὀλλυμένων τε
ἀνδρῶν, οἳ νῦν κεῖθι κακῶς κακὰ ῥαψῳδοῦσιν·
οἷς καὶ ἐγὼ σίτοιο μέγα χρῄζων ἐπίθησα.’
αὖθις δ’ οὐκ ἐπὶ κέρδος ἀπείσομαι, εἰς Θασίους <δὲ>;
μηδένα πημαίνων κλυτὸν ἄργυρον ἐγγυαλίξω,
μή τίς μοι κατὰ οἶκον ᾿Αχαϊάδων νεμεσήσῃ,
πεσσομένης ἀλόχου τὸν ἀχάινον ἄρτον ἀεικῶς,
καί ποτέ τις εἴπῃ σμικρὸν τυροῦντ’ ἐσιδοῦσα·
‘ὡς φίλη, ὡνὴρ μὲν παρ’ ᾿Αθηναίοισιν ἀείσας
πεντήκοντ’ ἔλαβε δραχμάς, σὺ δὲ μικρὸν ἐπέψω;’
Ταῦτά μοι ὁρμαίνοντι παρίστατο Παλλὰς ᾿Αθήνη
χρυσῆν ῥάβδον ἔχουσα καὶ ἤλασεν εἶπέ τε φωνῇ·
‘δεινὰ παθοῦσα Φακῆ βδελυρή, χώρει ‘ς τὸν ἀγῶνα’.
καὶ τότε δὴ θάρσησα καὶ ἤειδον πολὺ μᾶλλον.

This passage shows a much smaller percentage of Homeric formulae

than we find in Hipponax (although both samples are small). Where
there are resonances with Homer, they seem knowingly playful, as when
Hegemon describes his speech before introducing it as a πυκινόν . . .
ἔπος (or, according to the more recent edition, a “small word,” μικρόν).
In Homer’s Iliad, the combination πυκινὸν ἔπος is used always together
and within direct speech to describe a plan immediately described
afterwards (e.g. 24.75).39 Here, Hegemon breaks the words apart, uses
them in a speech introduction, begins with a lament, and only eventually
describes a previous plan he has already enacted (if his tale can be

38
Olson (2012) prints μικρὸν instead of πυκινὸν for τοῖσι δ᾿ ἐγὼ πᾶσιν μικρὸν μετὰ τοῦτ᾿
ἔπος εἶπον.
39
ὄφρά τί οἱ εἴπω πυκινὸν ἔπος, ὥς κεν ᾿Αχιλλεὺς / δώρων ἐκ Πριάμοιο λάχῃ ἀπό θ’
῞Εκτορα λύσῃ, 24.75–6. Cf.Il.7.375, 11.788, and 24.744).
20 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

considered a plan). If we accept instead the reading μικρόν, we still

retain a sense of play: Homeric heroes never give speeches described as
slight or small! Thus, Hegemon’s toying with Homeric language and
convention is complex and requires a fairly sophisticated audience to
“get.” Thematically, the poem is especially concerned with food,
money, and performance, all elements echoed in the BM. In addition,
note the prominence of Athenians and the goddess Athena. Elements
of the poem recall other parodies we have discussed. While the age
of the singer—an old man—is partly comic (old men were stock figures
in Attic Comedy) it also recalls the traveling old Margites from his
poem.
Despite the similarities we have identified, one further comparison
illustrates the extent to which the BM may be anomalous in the tradition
of parody. The “Attic Dinner Party” by Matro of Pitane is also preserved
in Athenaeus’ Deipnosophists and it is dated to the late fourth century
bce (see Olson and Sens 1999). Its interest in food is also comic and
clearly surpasses that of the BM, but it is also engaged with the Homeric
tradition from a consciously literary perspective. A large number of the
poem’s lines are made of Homeric parallels or surprising adaptations—
partial lines and recognizable phrases are combined with new material
throughout to create a comic effect. Not only does this poem show
more rigorous and extensive use of this trope, but it also uses similes
(which the BM does not) and metapoetic tropes as when the speaker
declares that he could not resist the divine cake “even if he had ten
hands and ten mouths / and his stomach unbreakable and his heart
bronze” (οὐδ’ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν χεῖρες, δέκα δὲ στόματ’ εἶεν / γαστὴρ δ’
ἄρρηκτος, χάλκεον δέ μοι ἦτορ ἐνείη).40 In this adaptation, Matro has
replaced one word in each line. Where the Homeric narrator denies his
ability to recount faithfully before he performs the catalog of ships,
Matro’s speaker adapts the lines after he has already presented an

40
These lines are based on famous lines from the Iliad introducing the catalog of ships
where the narrator denies the ability to name everyone who came to Troy (οὐδ’ εἴ μοι
δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι, δέκα δὲ στόματ’ εἶεν / φωνὴ δ’ ἄρρηκτος, χάλκεον δέ μοι ἦτορ
ἐνείη, 2.489–90).
 Introduction 21

impressive catalog of dishes. Furthermore, he does this as he protests

his inability to eat anymore, a gesture of comic satiety to contrast with
the fact that the Homeric narrator is just beginning. The BM offers no
adaptations that seem so clearly playful and specifically allusive.
Although a formulaic analysis shows that the BM’s variations on
Homeric language are structurally similar (see below and Camerotto
1992: 15–16), the tone and ostentatious quality differ. Like later imitators
of Homeric epic such as Nonnus (fourth or fifth century bce ), the
author of the BM likely wants the poem to appear archaic.
As we saw above, the contents of Hegemon’s poem—his reference to a
performance and victory at Athens—coupled with a much later
inscription, provide the evidence for a contest of parody in Athens.
But, just as in the BM, to what degree should we credit what the
narrator of this poem (which appears to be an introduction to a longer
one) says about the performance of the poem? He refers to a past
performance and victory (which may be fictitious). Greek poetry was
highly competitive—Hesiod mentions traveling to Aulis and winning a
victory in poetry in the Works and Days (652–60)41—but contest was
both a context and trope in the poems themselves. No real-world contest
is necessary for a poem to be influenced by the cultural poetics of rivalry.
The BM, in fact, is imagined by later authors to be part of Homer’s
competition with Hesiod in the Contest of Homer and Hesiod. According
to this account, Homer and Hesiod competed at Chalcis; the former was
cheered by the audience but the latter was awarded the prize for the
content of his poem.42
The theme of traveling to contests may also be important for
considering possible performance contexts for the BM. Note that the
predominant number of the parodists—with the exception of the
authors from Old Comedy—are from outside of Athens—Syracuse,
Thasos, Paros, Pitane. The world outside the poems of parody is the

41
On the confusion between this contest and Hesiod’s tale in the poem, see West 1978:
319–21. On the fiction of the contest in antiquity, see Graziosi 2002.
42
West (2003: 298) traces this back to a sophist named Alcidamas from the fourth century
bce .
22 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

larger Greek world, indicating perhaps the genre flourishing within the
power of Athenian influence (both before the fall of Athens in 404 bce
and after with its secondary flourishing during the fourth century) or a
later period (e.g. the Hellenistic) when Greek culture was also
international and when authors in places like Alexandria were copying
Athenian texts and composing their own versions of Classical genres.
The BM does stand distinct from these traditions as well for the basic
fact that it is an animal parody. Byzantine testimony points to a tradition
of animal epics dated to the sixth through fourth centuries bce or later
(the Suda lists “Battle of the Cranes,” Geranomakhia; and “Battle of the
Spiders,” Arakhnomakhia; fragments remain of a “Weasel and Mouse
War,” on which see Schibli 1983; West 2003: 259). The fragments of the
Galeomakhia, on a papyrus from the end of the second century bce ,
provide some interesting parallels. The “Battle of the Weasel and the
Mice” (hereafter, GM) is “more Homeric” in that it uses a higher
proportion of clearly Homeric parallels. Its tone is also more reserved:
where the BM is clearly more engaged with comedic and tragic
traditions in its language and its topics, the GM is humorous in its
situation but more staid in its execution. Some comic strategies are
shared by the two poems, such as humorous names: the doomed mouse
at the beginning of the GM is called “Squeak” (Τρίξος, line 3); his wife is
called the “daughter of Smokey” (Κν]ισ̣έωνος θ[υ]γάτη̣[ρ], line 8) and
an elder leader is called “Miller” (Μυ̣[λ]εύς).
Structurally, the GM bears similarities to the BM: a proem and an
initial death of a mouse which sends his widow out to rouse the mice to
war (5–10). It also features divine action (Hermes, at least, is present),
depicts the gods as watching the scene, and provides the weasel with his
own speech (26–30) and multiple speeches including a lament by a
widowed mouse. The fragment consists of 60 or so lines (many
incomplete) and does not tell the whole story which West (2003: 231)
argues contained a triumph of the mice over the weasel, anticipated at
line 128 of the BM. If the poem does go on to provide a clash between
the species, divine engagement, and a resolution, it still might not be as
long as the BM. But this is pure speculation.
 Introduction 23

The BM does not have any true peers. Perhaps, if we had additional
examples of animal parody, the story would be different; but the
category itself is not well represented in ancient testimony. We are left,
then, to read and evaluate this poem on its own generic merits and
based on its engagement with other genres.

Homeric language and meter

The Homeric dialect developed over a long duration of time.43 As such,

Homeric language is a composite of several different layers of different
Greek dialects (including Ionic, Aeolic, and some Doric) with some
correspondences in Mycenaean Greek (see Horrocks 1997: 196–9). Our
picture of the relationship among these dialects and the final period for
the formation of the Homeric dialect is complicated by analogical
formations and artificial archaisms. To aid in reading this text for those
familiar primarily with Attic Greek prose, we have included the
following sections on meter and formulaic language. Both categories
also help to inform our understanding of the BM’s relationship to the
Homeric tradition and its likely dates.
Greco-Roman meter is based on syllable quantity (the length of the
vowel sound) rather than syllable quality (where the accent falls).44 The
development of the early Greek dialect resulted in the selection of many
morphological options and word spellings for metrical utility. Greco-
Roman metrical rules, in addition, allow for variation in word
pronunciation. Syllables may be long by nature (diphthongs, eta, omega,
and select alphas, iotas, and upsilons) or long by position (before doubled
consonants, before multiple consonants or, at times, before complex
consonants like zeta). In most cases, a rough breathing does not act as a
consonant and cannot make a previous syllable long. A consonantal
stop followed by a liquid (ρ, λ) can at times be preceded by a short

43
For features of the Homeric dialect see Horrocks 1997 and Russo 1997.
44
For Greek meter in general, see West 1982. For Homeric meter, see West 1997.
24 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

syllable. Sometimes words that begin with σκ- or ζ- do not make the
previous vowel long.
Dactylic hexameter—the meter of epic poetry—consists of six
metrical “feet”; each foot contains either a spondee (two long syllables)
or a dactyl (a long syllable followed by two short syllables) with the
exception of the final two feet, which are almost always a dactyl followed
by a spondee.

1 2 3 4 5 6 Spondee: |- -|
_ _ _ _ _ Dactyl: |– ∪∪|
– ∪∪ | – ∪∪ | – ∪∪ | – ∪∪ | – ∪∪ | – X Anceps: X = long
or short syllable
Example 1: The first lines of Hesiod’s Theogony

|– –|– ∪∪ |– ∪∪ |– –|– ∪∪ | – ∩
Μουσάων ῾Ελικωνιάδων ἀρχώμεθ’ ἀείδειν,

|– ∪∪ |– ∪∪ |– ∪∪ |– ∪∪|– ∪∪ | – ∩
αἵ θ’ ῾Ελικῶνος ἔχουσιν ὄρος μέγα τε ζάθεόν τε,

|– ∪∪ |– –|– ∪∪ |– ∪∪|– ∪∪ | – ∩
καί τε περὶ κρήνην ἰοειδέα πόσσ’ ἁπαλοῖσιν

|– – |– – |– ∪∪ |– ∪∪|– ∪∪ | – ∩
ὀρχεῦνται καὶ βωμὸν ἐρισθενέος Κρονίωνος·

Word or phrase breaks in the line called caesurae help to separate

phrases and provide regular end and start points for formulae (regular,
repeated phrases of similar metrical shape). Caesurae occur in the
middle of a metrical foot. If a caesura occurs after a long syllable, it is
considered strong (also called “masculine”); if it occurs after a short
syllable (in-between two short syllables) it is considered weak
(feminine). While caesurae primarily function to emphasize the sense
of a line, the diaeresis is a conventional metrical pause that does not
always correspond with the line’s meaning. The bucolic diaeresis is a
conventional pause between the fourth and fifth foot of a Homeric line.
 Introduction 25

Such pauses help to break a line of dactylic hexameter up into smaller

rhythmic units (cola) that often correspond to sense units.

Example 2: The proem to the Iliad (1.1–7) with caesurae and diaereses

|– ∪∪ |– ∪∪ |– || – |– ∪∪|– ∪∪ | – ∩
Μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ ǁ Πηληϊάδεω ᾿Αχιλῆος

|– ∪∪ |– || – |– ∪∪ |– –|¦ – ∪∪ | – ∩
οὐλομένηνǁ, ἣ μυρί’ ᾿Αχαιοῖς ;¦ ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε,

|– – |– – |– – |– || ∪∪|– ∪∪ | – ∩
πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς ǁ ῎Αϊδι προΐαψεν

|– – |– || – |– ∪∪ |– ∪∪|¦– ∪∪ | – ∩
ἡρώων ǁ, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια ¦τεῦχε κύνεσσιν

|– – |– ∪∪ |– ∪ || ∪ |– ∪∪|– ∪∪ | – ∩
οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσιǁ, Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή,

|– – |– – |– || ∪∪ |– –|– ∪∪ | – ∩
ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα ǁ διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

|– ∪∪ |– ∪∪|– || – |– || –|¦– ∪∪ | – ∩
᾿Ατρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ǁ ἀνδρῶνǁ καὶ ¦ δῖος ᾿Αχιλλεύς.

Caesurae (marked with ||) and diaereses (marked with ¦)

If there is no caesura, the cola are said to have a “bridge.” Hermann’s

Bridge (named after Gottfried Hermann) is the tendency of Homeric
poetry to avoid word end between two short syllables in the fourth foot.
Similar are the Three Laws of Wilhelm Mayer (all broken by the first
line of the Iliad). First Law: Words that begin in the first foot do not end
between the shorts of the second foot or at the end of that foot. Second
Law: Disyllables of the shape short-long do not occur before the caesura.
Third Law: Avoidance of word end after the third or fifth princeps (the
first syllable of the foot). These rules are broken with some frequency by
Homer; but they become rather rigidified by the Hellenistic period.
26 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Example 3: The Proem to the Batrakhomuomakhia with caesurae and

diaereses

|– ∪∪ |– || – |– ∪∪ |– || ∪∪|¦– ∪∪ | – ∩
᾿Αρχόμενος|| πρώτης σελίδος|| χορὸν¦ ἐξ ῾Ελικῶνος

|– – |– || ∪∪| – ∪ ∪|– ∪ ∪ |¦ – ∪∪ | – ∩
ἐλθεῖν εἰςǁ ἐμὸν ἦτορ ἐπεύχομαι ¦ εἵνεκ’ ἀοιδῆς,

|– ∪∪ |– || – |– ∪ ∪| – || ∪ ∪ |¦ – ∪∪ | – ∩
ἣν νέον ἐν ǁδέλτοισιν ἐμοῖς || ἐπὶ ¦γούνασι θῆκα,

|– ∪∪ |– ∪∪| – || ∪ ∪| – ∪ ∪ |¦ – ∪∪ | – ∩
δῆριν ἀπειρεσίην, || πολεμόκλονον ¦ἔργον ῎Αρηος,

|– ∪∪ |– || ∪ ∪| – ∪ ∪| – ∪ ∪|¦ – ∪∪ | – ∩
εὐχόμενος || μερόπεσσιν ἐς οὔατα ¦πᾶσι βαλέσθαι

|– ∪∪ |– || ∪ ∪| – ∪ ∪| – –| – ∪ ∪ | – ∩
πῶς μύες ἐν ǁ βατράχοισιν ἀριστεύσαντες ἔβησαν,

|– ∪∪ |– || – | – – | – ∪ ∪|¦ – ∪∪ | – ∩
γηγενέων || ἀνδρῶν μιμούμενοι ¦ἔργα Γιγάντων,

|– ∪∪ |– || – | – ∪ ∪ | – || – | – ∪∪ | – ∩
ὡς λόγος ἐν|| θνητοῖσιν ἔην·|| τοίην δ’ ἔχεν ἀρχήν.

The extent to which the BM adheres to these metrical conventions may

be instructive for establishing its period of composition. Although
several scholars have dismissed metrical evidence,45 a metrical analysis
of the BM supports the basic picture of a late poem striving to match
earlier practices. For example, Hellenistic poets tend to observe word-
end after an uncontracted fourth biceps at a higher percentage than
Homer: the Homeric poems observe it at a rate around 47 percent,
poets like Callimachus and Apollonius exhibit higher rates (57 percent

45
Wölke (1978: 70–84) presents metrical analysis as inconclusive; cf. Vine 1986: 385 n. 10.
Bliquez summarizes metrical analyses of the poem as “futile” (1977: 12). Janko (1982:
38–9) notes that the frequency of breaches of Meyer’s First Law in the BM is much less
than in the Homeric epics and more similar to Callimachus.
 Introduction 27

and 63 percent respectively).46 The BM observes this “bucolic diaeresis”

around 52 percent of the time.47

Formulaic language48

Homeric language is a distinct artistic dialect that draws on forms from

the history of the Greek language and from different dialectical regions.
This language developed alongside the meter; as a result, singers who
were trained in the dialect were able to compose in performance. A
secondary result is that Homeric language appears to be composed of
repeated noun-adjective combinations, phrases, and even whole lines
(many of these fitting naturally between the caesurae). Although such
features were attributed to epic’s oral background in antiquity, Milman
Parry and his students first codified the term formula to describe such
repeated phrases. Many decades of debate on how to define formula and
what its implications were for the interpretation of the epics followed.
Parry’s early definition—“an expression, regularly used, under the
same metrical conditions to express an essential idea” (1971: 13)—was
challenged both for its semantic limits and its implications for the
meaning available in Homeric poetry. For instance, Parry argued that
the Homeric language had one noun-epithet combination ready-made
for syntactical need in any given position in the line. In addition, Parry
suggested that the entire Homeric dialect exhibited tendencies towards
thrift (economy) and thus away from synonymy. Subsequent scholars
examined the linguistic system, adjusting definitions and focusing on
variety and flexibility. J.B. Hainsworth, for example, reduced the
definition of a formula to a “repeated word group” and along with others

46
See West 1982: 154; see Barnes 1986 for Homeric cola and caesurae.
47
This includes suspect lines. Wölke insists that there are many violations of Alexandrian
tendencies (1978: 84; see 78–9 for the summary). These, however, are largely those that
separate the BM from all other Greek poems: metrical features of proper names, diction
shared with Greek fable, and unique literary adaptations.
48
This is based largely on Christensen (forthcoming). See also Hainsworth 1968; Parry
1971; Russo 1997; and Garner 2011.
28 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

examined how phrases transformed (expanded, contracted, separated,

otherwise adapted) for contextual (i.e. metrical, syntactical, or
expressive) reasons.
Homeric meter, when broken into smaller units (cola) along the
caesurae, preserves evidence of the flexibility and adaptability of epic
diction. Formulae (following Hainsworth 1968) can move, expand,
separate, or rearrange their parts, or generate alternatives with different
case-forms or suffixes. Such flexibility has necessarily impacted notions
of how formulaic Homeric poetry is. Analyses have shown the poems as
made up of as much as 60–66 percent repeated phrases.49 Other studies
have shown that in the Iliad words that occur only once in Homer
appear every 9.4 lines whereas in the Odyssey they occur every 11.8.50

Example 4: Formulaic Epithets For Hector (Cf. Christensen and Barker,

2013:23)

Subject (Nominative) Object (Accusative)

Héktôr / Priamí/dês - /- ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ Héktora/ dîon ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ /

/-- - ∪ ∪ /- -
Héktôr / Priamí/dês broto/loigôi/ísos Héktora/ d’ainon ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪
Arêi / - ∪ ∪ /- -
Héktôr/ Pria/moio pá/is phlogí/ Héktora/ Priamí/dên ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ /
eíkelos/alkên - ∪ ∪ /- -

- Hék/tôr méga/thumos ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - thrasún/ Héktora/

-∪∪/-- - ∪ ∪ /- -

- - / - Priá/moio pá/is koru/thaíolos -∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/

/ Héktôr Héktora/dîon ∪ /- -

49
For 60 percent, see Finkelberg 1989; for 66 percent, see Dee 2010. Some distinguish
between formular density (lines that are mostly formulaic) and formulaic percentage
(the total number of lines that exhibit some kind of formula). According to Pavese and
Boschetti (2003: 50) the Theogony has a formular density of 51.11 percent and a
formulaic percentage of 79.26 percent whereas the Works and Days is 36.7 percent and
69.91 percent respectively. These should be compared with the formular density of the
Homeric epics of 57.29 percent (Il.) and 60.23 percent (Od.) and formulaic percentages
of 83.87 percent and 84.66 percent (51).
50
See Edwards 1997: 270.
 Introduction 29

- ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ mé/gas -∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/ -∪∪/

koru/thaíolos/Héktôr Héktora/dîon
-∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/- - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / Héktora/
koru/thaíolos/Héktôr poiména/ laôn
-∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/ -∪∪/ - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / Héktora/
phaídimos/ Héktôr khalkoko/rustén
-∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/ -∪∪/ - huí/on Príam/oio da/íphronos/
óbrimos/ Héktôr Héktora/dîon

Of/From (Genitive) To/For (Dative)

Héktoros/androphó/noio ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / Héktora/ Priamí/dê ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ /

- ∪ ∪ /- - - ∪ ∪ /- -

-∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/ -∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/ -∪∪/

Héktoros/androphó/noio Héktora/díô
-∪∪/-∪∪/-∪∪/ - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / - ∪ ∪ / Héktora/
Héktoros/hippodá/moio khalkoko/rustê

Descriptions of the shape of this linguistic system have often been

paired with hypotheses about function: early assertions that
conventional epithets served less to describe a noun at a specific
moment than aid in the metrical shape of the line evolved during
Parry’s and Lord’s comparative studies in South Slavic epic (see Lord
1960). Their observations indicated that formulaic language has a
compositional function. In other words, performers possess a knowledge
of an entire language system—phrases of various metrical shape fit to
the needs of their specific song type—and re-create each song anew
during performance rather than simply reciting memorized sequences.
Broader debates concerning the formula, however, have explored
whether repeated phrases can have both compositional function and
contextually relevant meaning. Much of this dialogue resulted from an
assumption that Parry’s original identifications were prescriptive rather
than descriptive. In his early work, Parry asserted that the Homeric
epithet may have generalized or particularized meaning but is largely
void of contextually derived relevance. Both literary-minded scholars
who objected to this interpretive limitation and later oralists have
succeeded in showing that epithets can have compositional functions,
30 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

traditional connotations, and new context-specific meanings all at the

same time. As later scholars like John Miles Foley and Egbert J. Bakker
have argued, oral-poetic dialects function like actual languages: meter
is a part of their fabric and “speakers” conceive of their utterances in
phrases and groupings (“intonation units,” corresponding to the cola
mentioned above) rather than single words.
For a work like the BM, understanding the formulaic character of
the epic tradition helps us to evaluate how Homeric it should be
considered. The formulaic character of the BM affects whether we
envision the poem as coming out of a performance context or a more
literary one (the two of course are not to be completely opposed) just
as it can also give us hints for where the poem should be dated. In
the BM, clearly Homeric formula tend to be collocated at the end of
the line. The battle portion of the poem, moreover, shows a much
greater proportion of formulaic language. No portion of the poem
indisputably demonstrates the clearly self-conscious formulaic
manipulation of a parody like Matro’s Attic Dinner Party or the
appearance of formulaic dependence in our fragments of the “Battle of
Weasel and Mice.”
A formulaic analysis of the BM yields fairly clear evidence that the
poem’s derivation is literate rather than oral. In examining brief
passages, G.S. Kirk characterizes the poem as a literary pastiche (1976:
188–90) while Albert Lord suggests (based on five lines, 197–201) that
it was an imitation of oral poetry. According to the full analysis
performed by Camerotto (1992: 6) the BM has a formular density of
32.36 percent and a formulaic percentage of 76.36 percent (total
number of lines exhibiting formulae). Such a density is comparable to
the later Homeric Hymns (39, 30, 36). Pavese and Boschetti (2003: 51)
comment that “the formular density on one hand is rather low for an
oral poem and rather high for a literary poem, while the formulaic
density on the other hand seems rather high for an oral poem and just
suitable for a traditional one: both of these facts are due to the parodic
imitation of formular heroic diction as practised by the poet.” The
authors point out that the epic has a large number of “equivalent
 Introduction 31

formulae” (those that introduce variations that violate principles of

economy, which are clear adaptations of earlier precedents).
Statistical analyses like those of Richard Janko (1982; 2012), seek to
establish the antiquity of Greek poems relative to one another.51 Several
aspects of the BM support a date later than the poems of Hesiod and
Homer. These include the masculine a-stem genitive singular which
appears at a ratio of 1:80 lines in the Iliad and 1:124 lines in the Hymn
to Demeter (Janko 2012: 29) whereas the two appearances in the BM (28
and 104 for the same patronym) provide a ratio of 1:151 lines. Similarly,
the BM shows a diminished ratio of genitive plural in –αων (only one
instance (291) for a ratio of 1:303 vs. 1.71 for the Iliad and 1:85 for the
Theogony); fewer instances of a genitive singular in –οιο (12 for a ratio
of 1:25 vs. 1:7.5 lines for the Iliad and 1:6.62 for the Works and Days);
twelve occurrences of dative plural in -οισι/ηισι/αισι (a ratio of 1:25
lines vs. 1:8.77 for the Iliad or 1:5.14 for the Theogony); and no instances
of οισ’/αισ’ instead of οις/αις (which occurs over 80 percent of the time
in the Iliad though only 36 percent of the time in the Works and Days).52
One telling exception in the BM is the use of γαῖα instead of γῆ. Where
Homeric and Hesiodic poetry prefers the former at percentages above
80, the BM uses it exclusively (though only on four occasions: 60, 84, 95
and 229). This seems to be a clear example of a false archaism.
While formulaic and linguistic analyses indicate a later date for the
poem, some features imply a more complicated situation. In the BM, the
particle ἄρα—extremely common in Homer (over 1,800 times between
the two epics for a relative frequency near 1:15; see Denniston 1954:
33)—occurs nineteen times in 303 lines for a frequency of 1:15.9.53
Where the particle appears in the BM is interesting as well: many of its
occurrences are in the formulaic speech conclusion ῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη (65,
177, 197, 277, 285) and most (twelve) are in the last 100 lines of the
51
See Janko 2012: 26–9 for graphs of gradual change.
52
Cf. Janko 1982: 35–6 for the BM’s use of hiatus and lengthening as suggesting “literary
influence or interference.” All of the figures for Homer and Hesiod are based on Janko 2012.
53
Hesiod’s Theogony exhibits a ratio of the same particle at 1:20.86; Works and Days’ ratio
is a surprising 1:69 (see Zarecki 2007: 11). The particle occurs 167 times in Apollonius
Rhodes’ Argonautica (a ratio of 1:34.9); at a rate of 1:20.63 in the Homeric Hymn to
Demeter and 1:34.11 in the Hymn to Hermes.
32 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

poem during the rather “Homeric” battle scene (Σευτλαῖον δ’ ἄρ, 209;
cf. 226; ὠργίσθη δ’ ἄρ’, 239; cf. 239). Hence, in the last 106 lines of the
poem the particle occurs twelve times for a ratio of 1:8.83 which well
exceeds that of either the Iliad or the Odyssey. (And this also leaves the
ratio of the first 196 lines at 1:28.)
The lower percentages of recognized formulae in the BM are not,
however, completely determinative. Early epic fragments we have
mentioned earlier (e.g. Panyassis and Aristeas) are also less “formulaic”
(in the sense of exhibiting a preponderance of Homeric parallels), but
they do bear more features common to oral traditions. At the same time,
while formulaic parallels can indicate derivation from oral traditions or
engagements with the Homeric traditions, they are not entirely
diagnostic: even though we have over 30,000 lines of epic poetry from
the Archaic and Classical ages, this must represent only a small percentage
of the production of hexameter poetry over centuries before and after
the classical age. It is, however, the character of the BM’s formulae that
establishes its origins in a literate setting: many of the formulaic variations
have clear models in the extant textual tradition of the Homeric epics;
variations within the BM itself speak of intentional variations.
The metrical and formulaic data available from the BM—even despite
its many manuscript problems—indicate a poem that does not likely
derive from an oral performance. Instead, the adaptations indicate a
literate poet imitating Homeric style at a fairly sophisticated level. The
metrical data, while also somewhat inconclusive, is nevertheless indicative
of many of the practices of the Hellenistic era. All of this information
indicates a poem composed in the third century bce or later.

Some conclusions about date and authorship

The language of the BM, then, overlaps with our sketch of its generic
qualities: The poem offers a veneer of likeness to early epic,54 but its style
54
Most (1993: 38) argues rather convincingly that the epic displays an intimate knowledge
(“intemir Kenntnis”) both of Homeric poetry and of scholarship on Homeric poetry.
 Introduction 33

and diction belong to a later age. Its literary and cultural contents show
influences from Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods.55 Foremost,
the BM’s aesthetic and poetic strategies position it between different
approaches to poetry. For instance, the poem seems to avoid overt
intertextuality, perhaps following the style of early Greek epic.56 But its
beginning is clearly allusive (see the discussion in the commentary on
the proem). Its characteristic mixing of genres and poetic practices are
common qualities of late Hellenistic and Imperial Roman poetry.57 If
we gather this material together systematically, the later Greek or
“Roman” character of the BM is hard to ignore.
There is no absolute evidence linking the poem to Roman authorship,
but certain features indicate that it is part of a broader culture spanning
Greek and Roman worlds. First, the earliest extant references to the BM
come from Roman writers in the first century ce , followed by
comparatively late Greek evidence. Moreover, though the poem reflects
the author’s literary education, it is nevertheless marked by instances of
somewhat strange Greek,58 awkward verbal obscurity, and numerous
metrical difficulties, possible indications that the author was composing
in a foreign tongue.
The poem’s demonstrated engagement with varied literary traditions,
its contents, and its style are also typical features of the so-called Second
Sophistic and later. Indeed, from the perspective of the development of
the epic genre, its attempt to mimic archaic hexameter style anticipates
Quintus of Smyrna (third/fourth century ce ) and Nonnus (fourth/fifth
century ce ). Thus, from a generic perspective, the poem hails from a
transitional period between the classical Alexandrian period and the

55
For the BM and the tradition of Hellenistic parody, see Sens 2005; cf. Most 1993: 33; and
Kelly 2009: 46 n. 12.
56
The parodic project does depend upon “intertextual” strategies: see Most 1993: 35. Nagy
(1979: 42–3) denies that in early Greek epic “a passage in any text can refer to another
passage in another text,” but this does not mean that poetic traditions and motifs cannot
engage with one another. For recent discussions, see Burgess 2012 (who emphasizes the
need for a “knowledgeable audience” (170)) and Bakker 2013: 157–69. Bakker concludes
that forbidding “quotation” or “allusion” to early Greek epic imposes a “rigid oral-literacy
contrast” that has “long been disproved” (168). Cf. Currie 2016.
57
As argued by Harrison 2007 passim.
58
For example, the phrase ἀριστεύσαντες ἔβησαν in line 6.
34 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Second Sophistic. If we could date this poem with confidence to the

early years of the Imperial age (i.e. under the reign of the Julio-Claudian
emperors), it would provide tantalizing clues to the character of Greek
literature before its later Renaissance. Such an argument has support
from other sectors as well: Bruce Winter (2001), for example, has argued
for continuity between Roman Alexandria and the Sophistic in the
work and life of Philo. Philostratus (second/third century ce ) tells the
tale of the Sophist Scopelian from Clazomenae—who went on embassy
to Domitian—as composing an “Epic on Giants.”59 Our analysis of the
BM indicates that its author, like a Philo or Scopelian, worked in a
center of Greek learning and culture, but lived in an increasingly
“Roman” world.

Divergences from Attic Greek60

Letters
The following distinctions are typical of Greek hexameter poetry and
appear to a certain extent in the BM.

Long α in Attic is almost always an -η as in Ep. θαλάττη (not θάλαττα).

Vocalization: The replacement of -ου with -ευ as in μευ instead of
μου or ἔρχευ instead of ἔρχου.
Rho: The liquid rho can create variations in -αρ- or -ρα- κράτος/
κάρτος καρδίη/κραδίη due to the fact that in PIE [Proto-Indo-
European] rho was vocalized.
Doubling of sigmas, lambdas, and the option of initial πτ as in
πτόλεμος instead of π as in πόλεμος.
Digamma (ϝ, Ϝ): Even into the classical period, some inscriptions
still used the digamma, a glide-sound similar to English “w.” The
impact of the digamma is still felt in the Homeric epics because
certain formulae and metrical patterns rely on the existence of

59
Philostratus, Vitae Sophist. 518.27–33.
60
For a fuller list, see Leaf and Bayfield 1959, xxv–xliii.
 Introduction 35

the sound to make metrical position or prevent elision. One

example of this may occur in the BM (μεμφομένων δ’ αὐτῶν
Φυσίγναθος (ϝ)εἶπεν ἀναστάς, 146).
Contraction: Following Ionic dialects, contract vowels (especially
epsilons) may not contract in dactylic hexamer. Following other
dialects, they may. Homeric forms may also become “distended”
so a contracted form like ὁρῶντες from ὁράωντες is re-analyzed
as ὁρόωντες (see Horrocks 1997: 209).

Verbs
Augments can be omitted.
Generalization of the aorist third person plural active ending –σαν.
Infinitives with -μεν and -εμεν (Aeolic), -ναι (Ionic), μεναι (Lesbian).
Sigmatic doubling in short verbal endings, see line ὄλεσσα at 112 or
ἐξετέλεσσεν at 268.

Cases
Nominative: Short -α for -ης.
Genitive: Masculine genitive in -αο, -οιο, -εω and the uncontracted
feminine plural -αων.
Dative: Optional sigmatic doubling in dative plurals ending in -σι
(-σσι, traced to the Aeolic dialects). Dative plurals in -ησι instead
of αις as in αὐτῇσι instead of αὐταῖς.
Accusative: Short α as in βασιλῆα from βασιλεύς.
Other: The case ending -φι (likely related to latin-ibus and the Proto-
Indo-European locative ending).

Additional features
Articles: The article is optional and functions often as a demonstrative
pronoun or the equivalent of a relative pronoun.
Particles: ἤν for εἄν; κε/κεν for ἄν.
36 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Apocope: Shortening in prepositions (πάρ instead of παρά; κάτ

instead of κατά) and particles (ἄρ, or ῾ρα instead of ἄρα).
Tmesis: The separation of compound verbs, e.g. line 3 of the BM ἣν
νέον ἐν δέλτοισιν ἐμοῖς ἐπὶ γούνασι θῆκα.

Issues of prosody
Quantative metathesis: The movement of metrical length from one
syllable to another, so -ηο can become -εω.
Metrical lengthening: For dialectical and metrical reasons some
words exhibit “gemmination” (the doubling of consonants) as in
line 23: ἔμμεναι· ἀλλ’ ἄγε θᾶσσον ἑὴν γενεὴν ἀγόρευε. This form,
however, is really a result of the generalization of this phenomen
from verbs like ἔμμαθε (Od. 17.26). Classical Ionic forms like
ξένος can be ξεῖνος (lines 13, 15, 57. “Compensatory lengthening”
(making up for the loss of a syllable or vowel in the history of the
lexical item) can also be seen in words like μοῦνος. Short forms
like Ὄλυμπος and ἕνεκα can be lengthened to Οὔλυμπος and
εἵνεκα.
Correption: The shortening of any long-vowel or diphthong before
another vowel, usually at the end of a word. Similar is synizesis,
when two adjacent vowels are pronounced as one long syllable as
in the end of Πηληϊάδεω in the first line of the Iliad (phonetically:
pey-lay-e-a-deu).

Note on translation

We have the utmost respect for authors who transform ancient poems
into modern works of art. This, however, is not the aim of our translation.
Instead, we have tried to convey the sense and the content of the original
Greek without considerable concern for polish. For readers who are just
beginning in Greek (or have not started at all) we have tried to maintain
correlation between the lines of the translation and the original. Where
 Introduction 37

the text is suspect or mangled, we have made some compromises but

have mostly left the translation similarly “challenged.” As it is, we aim
for the translation to help many but please few.

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Walsh, T.R. Fighting Words and Feuding Words: Anger and the Homeric Poems.
Lanham, MD, 2005.
West, M.L. Hesiod: Theogony. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
West, M.L. Hesiod: Works and Days. Oxford, 1978.
West, M.L. Greek Metre. Oxford, 1982.
West, M.L. “Homer’s Meter.” In Morris and Powell, 1997:218–37.
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West, M.L. Homeric Hymns, Homeric Apocrypha, Lives of Homer. Cambridge,

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Haug (2012): 224–41.
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Wölke, H. Untersuchungen zur Batrachomyomachie. Meisenheim am Glan,
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Wouters, A.P. Oxy. 4668 [Homer,] Batrachomyomahia 41, 53–8. The
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Zarecki, J.P. “Pandora and the Good Eris in Hesiod.” GRBS 47 (2007): 5–29.
 Text

᾿Αρχόμενος πρώτης σελίδος χορὸν ἐξ ῾Ελικῶνος

ἐλθεῖν εἰς ἐμὸν ἦτορ ἐπεύχομαι εἵνεκ’ ἀοιδῆς
ἣν νέον ἐν δέλτοισιν ἐμοῖς ἐπὶ γούνασι θῆκα,
δῆριν ἀπειρεσίην, πολεμόκλονον ἔργον ῎Αρηος,
εὐχόμενος μερόπεσσιν ἐς οὔατα πᾶσι βαλέσθαι 5
πῶς μύες ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀριστεύσαντες ἔβησαν,
γηγενέων ἀνδρῶν μιμούμενοι ἔργα Γιγάντων,
ὡς λόγος ἐν θνητοῖσιν ἔην· τοίην δ’ ἔχεν ἀρχήν.
Μῦς ποτε διψαλέος γαλέης κίνδυνον ἀλύξας,
πλησίον ἐν λίμνῃ λίχνον προσέθηκε γένειον, 10
ὕδατι τερπόμενος μελιηδέϊ· τὸν δὲ κατεῖδε
λιμνόχαρις πολύφημος, ἔπος δ’ ἐφθέγξατο τοῖον·
Ξεῖνε τίς εἶ; πόθεν ἦλθες ἐπ’ ἠϊόνας; τίς ὁ φύσας;
πάντα δ’ ἀλήθευσον, μὴ ψευδόμενόν σε νοήσω.
εἰ γάρ σε γνοίην φίλον ἄξιον ἐς δόμον ἄξω· 15
δῶρα δέ τοι δώσω ξεινήϊα πολλὰ καὶ ἐσθλά.
εἰμὶ δ’ ἐγὼ βασιλεὺς Φυσίγναθος, ὃς κατὰ λίμνην
τιμῶμαι βατράχων ἡγούμενος ἤματα πάντα·
καί με πατὴρ Πηλεὺς ἀνεθρέψατο, ῾Υδρομεδούσῃ
μιχθεὶς ἐν φιλότητι παρ’ ὄχθας ᾿Ηριδανοῖο. 20
καὶ σὲ δ’ ὁρῶ καλόν τε καὶ ἄλκιμον ἔξοχον ἄλλων,
σκηπτοῦχον βασιλῆα καὶ ἐν πολέμοισι μαχητὴν
ἔμμεναι· ἀλλ’ ἄγε θᾶσσον ἑὴν γενεὴν ἀγόρευε.
Τὸν δ’ αὖ Ψιχάρπαξ ἀπαμείβετο φώνησέν τε·
τίπτε γένος τοὐμὸν ζητεῖς; δῆλον δ’ ἐν ἅπασιν 25
ἀνθρώποις τε θεοῖς τε καὶ οὐρανίοις πετεηνοῖς.
Ψιχάρπαξ μὲν ἐγὼ κικλήσκομαι· εἰμὶ δὲ κοῦρος
Τρωξάρταο πατρὸς μεγαλήτορος· ἡ δέ νυ μήτηρ
44 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Λειχομύλη, θυγάτηρ Πτερνοτρώκτου βασιλῆος.

γείνατο δ’ ἐν καλύβῃ με καὶ ἐξεθρέψατο βρωτοῖς 30
σύκοις καὶ καρύοις καὶ ἐδέσμασι παντοδαποῖσιν.
πῶς δὲ φίλον ποιῇ με, τὸν ἐς φύσιν οὐδὲν ὁμοῖον;
σοὶ μὲν γὰρ βίος ἐστὶν ἐν ὕδασιν· αὐτὰρ ἔμοιγε
ὅσσα παρ’ ἀνθρώποις τρώγειν ἔθος· οὐδέ με λήθει
ἄρτος τρισκοπάνιστος ἀπ’ εὐκύκλου κανέοιο, 35
οὐδὲ πλακοῦς τανύπεπλος ἔχων πολὺ σησαμότυρον,
οὐ τόμος ἐκ πτέρνης, οὐχ ἥπατα λευκοχίτωνα,
οὐ τυρὸς νεόπηκτος ἀπὸ γλυκεροῖο γάλακτος,
οὐ χρηστὸν μελίτωμα, τὸ καὶ μάκαρες ποθέουσιν,
οὐδ’ ὅσα πρὸς θοίνας μερόπων τεύχουσι μάγειροι, 40
κοσμοῦντες χύτρας ἀρτύμασι παντοδαποῖσιν.
οὐδέποτε πτολέμοιο κακὴν ἀπέφυγον ἀϋτήν,
ἀλλ’ εὐθὺς μετὰ μῶλον ἰὼν προμάχοισιν ἐμίχθην.
ἄνθρωπον οὐ δέδια καί περ μέγα σῶμα φοροῦντα,
ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ λέκτρον ἰὼν ἄκρον δάκτυλον δάκνω, 45
καὶ πτέρνης λαβόμην, καὶ οὐ πόνος ἵκανεν ἄνδρα,
νήδυμος οὐκ ἀπέφυγεν ὕπνος δάκνοντος ἐμεῖο.
ἀλλὰ δύω μάλα πάντα τὰ δείδια πᾶσαν ἐπ’ αἶαν,
κίρκον καὶ γαλέην, οἵ μοι μέγα πένθος ἄγουσιν,
καὶ παγίδα στονόεσσαν, ὅπου δολόεις πέλε πότμος· 50
πλεῖστον δὴ γαλέην περιδείδια, ἥ τις ἀρίστη,
ἣ καὶ τρωγλοδύνοντα κατὰ τρώγλην ἐρεείνει.
οὐ τρώγω ῥαφάνους, οὐ κράμβας, οὐ κολοκύντας,
οὐ σεύτλοις χλωροῖς ἐπιβόσκομαι, οὐδὲ σελίνοις·
ταῦτα γὰρ ὑμέτερ’ ἐστὶν ἐδέσματα τῶν κατὰ λίμνην. 55
Πρὸς τάδε μειδήσας Φυσίγναθος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
ξεῖνε λίην αὐχεῖς ἐπὶ γαστέρι· ἔστι καὶ ἡμῖν
πολλὰ μάλ’ ἐν λίμνῃ καὶ ἐπὶ χθονὶ θαύματ’ ἰδέσθαι.
ἀμφίβιον γὰρ ἔδωκε νομὴν βατράχοισι Κρονίων,
σκιρτῆσαι κατὰ γαῖαν, ἐν ὕδασι σῶμα καλύψαι, 60
στοιχείοις διττοῖς μεμερισμένα δώματα ναίειν.
εἰ δ’ ἐθέλεις καὶ ταῦτα δαήμεναι εὐχερές ἐστι·
βαῖνέ μοι ἐν νώτοισι, κράτει δέ με μήποτ’ ὀλίσθῃς,
ὅππως γηθόσυνος τὸν ἐμὸν δόμον εἰσαφίκηαι.
῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη καὶ νῶτ’ ἐδίδου· ὁ δ’ ἔβαινε τάχιστα 65
 Text 45

χεῖρας ἔχων ἀπαλοῖο κατ’ αὐχένος ἅμματι κούφῳ.

καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἔχαιρεν ὅτ’ ἔβλεπε γείτονας ὅρμους,
νήξει τερπόμενος Φυσιγνάθου· ἀλλ’ ὅτε δή ῥα
κύμασι πορφυρέοισιν ἐκλύζετο πολλὰ δακρύων
ἄχρηστον μετάνοιαν ἐμέμφετο, τίλλε δὲ χαίτας, 70
καὶ πόδας ἔσφιγγεν κατὰ γαστέρος, ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ
πάλλετ’ ἀηθείῃ καὶ ἐπὶ χθόνα βούλεθ’ ἱκέσθαι·
δεινὰ δ’ ὑπεστενάχιζε φόβου κρυόεντος ἀνάγκῃ.
οὐρὴν μὲν πρῶτ’ ἔπλασ’ ἐφ’ ὕδασιν ἠΰτε κώπην
σύρων, εὐχόμενος δὲ θεοῖς ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι 75
ὕδασι πορφυρέοισιν ἐκλύζετο, πολλὰ δ’ ἐβώστρει·
καὶ τοῖον φάτο μῦθον ἀπὸ στόματός τ’ ἀγόρευσεν·
Οὐχ οὕτω νώτοισιν ἐβάστασε φόρτον ἔρωτος
ταῦρος ὅτ’ Εὐρώπην διὰ κύματος ἦγ’ ἐπὶ Κρήτην
ὡς μῦν ἁπλώσας ἐπινώτιον ἦγεν ἐς οἶκον 80
βάτραχος ὑψώσας ὠχρὸν δέμας ὕδατι λευκῷ;
῞Υδρος δ’ ἐξαίφνης ἀνεφαίνετο, πικρὸν ὅραμα
ἀμφοτέροις· ὀρθὸν δ’ ὑπὲρ ὕδατος εἶχε τράχηλον.
τοῦτον ἰδὼν κατέδυ Φυσίγναθος, οὔ τι νοήσας
οἷον ἑταῖρον ἔμελλεν ἀπολλύμενον καταλείπειν. 85
δῦ δὲ βάθος λίμνης καὶ ἀλεύατο κῆρα μέλαιναν.
κεῖνος δ’ ὡς ἀφέθη, πέσεν ὕπτιος εὐθὺς ἐφ’ ὕδωρ,
καὶ χεῖρας ἔσφιγγε καὶ ὀλλύμενος κατέτριζε.
πολλάκι μὲν κατέδυνεν ὑφ’ ὕδατι, πολλάκι δ’ αὖτε
λακτίζων ἀνέδυνε· μόρον δ’ οὐκ ἦν ὑπαλύξαι. 90
δευόμεναι δὲ τρίχες πλεῖον βάρος εἷλκον ἐπ’ αὐτῷ·
ὕδασι δ’ ὀλλύμενος τοίους ἐφθέγξατο μύθους·
Οὐ λήσεις δολίως Φυσίγναθε ταῦτα ποιήσας,
ναυηγὸν ῥίψας ἀπὸ σώματος ὡς ἀπὸ πέτρης.
οὐκ ἄν μου κατὰ γαῖαν ἀμείνων ἦσθα, κάκιστε, 95
παγκρατίῳ τε πάλῃ τε καὶ εἰς δρόμον· ἀλλὰ πλανήσας
εἰς ὕδωρ μ’ ἔρριψας. ἔχει θεὸς ἔκδικον ὄμμα
ποινήν τ ἀντέκτισίν τ᾿ ὀρθὴν ὅς κ᾿ ἀποδώσει, 97a
ποινήν αὖ τείσεις σὺ μυῶν στράτῷ οὐδὲ ὐπαλύξεις
τοῖς τίσουσί σε μυῶν στρατὸς οὐδὲ ὐπαλύξεις
῝Ως εἰπὼν ἀπέπνευσεν ἐν ὕδασι· τὸν δὲ κατεῖδεν
Λειχοπίναξ ὄχθῃσιν ἐφεζόμενος μαλακῇσιν· 100
46 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

δεινὸν δ’ ἐξολόλυξε, δραμὼν δ’ ἤγγειλε μύεσσιν.

ὡς δ’ ἔμαθον τὴν μοῖραν, ἔδυ χόλος αἰνὸς ἅπαντας.
καὶ τότε κηρύκεσσιν ἑοῖς ἐκέλευσαν ὑπ’ ὄρθρον
κηρύσσειν ἀγορήνδ’ ἐς δώματα Τρωξάρταο,
πατρὸς δυστήνου Ψιχάρπαγος, ὃς κατὰ λίμνην 105
ὕπτιος ἐξήπλωτο νεκρὸν δέμας, οὐδὲ παρ’ ὄχθαις
ἦν ἤδη τλήμων, μέσσῳ δ’ ἐπενήχετο πόντῳ.
ὡς δ’ ἦλθον σπεύδοντες ἅμ’ ἠοῖ, πρῶτος ἀνέστη
Τρωξάρτης ἐπὶ παιδὶ χολούμενος, εἶπέ τε μῦθον·
῏Ω φίλοι εἰ καὶ μοῦνος ἐγὼ κακὰ πολλὰ πέπονθα 110
ἐκ βατράχων, ἡ πεῖρα κακὴ πάντεσσι τέτυκται.
εἰμὶ δ’ ἐγὼ δύστηνος ἐπεὶ τρεῖς παῖδας ὄλεσσα.
καὶ τὸν μὲν πρῶτόν γε κατέκτανεν ἁρπάξασα
υἱέα μοι πρῶτον μυοφόρβος δορπήσατο
ἔχθιστος γαλέη, τρώγλης ἔκτοσθεν ἑλοῦσα.
θὴρ μεγάλη κλονέοντα πτέρναν σιάλοιο τυχοῦσα
τὸν δ’ ἄλλον πάλιν ἄνδρες ἀπηνέες ἐς μόρον εἷλξαν 115
καινοτέραις τέχναις ξύλινον δόλον ἐξευρόντες,
ἣν παγίδα κλείουσι, μυῶν ὀλέτειραν ἐοῦσαν.
ὃ τρίτος ἦν ἀγαπητὸς ἐμοὶ καὶ μητέρι κεδνῇ,
τοῦτον ἀπέπνιξεν Φυσίγναθος ἐς βυθὸν ἄξας.
ἀλλ’ ἄγεθ’ ὁπλίζεσθε καὶ ἐξέλθωμεν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς 120
σώματα κοσμήσαντες ἐν ἔντεσι δαιδαλέοισιν.
Ταῦτ’ εἰπὼν ἀνέπεισε καθοπλίζεσθαι ἅπαντας.
καὶ τοὺς μέν ῥ’ ἐκόρυσσεν ῎Αρης πολέμοιο μεμηλώς·
κνημῖδας μὲν πρῶτον ἐφήρμοσαν εἰς δύο μηρούς,
ῥήξαντες κυάμους χλωρούς, εὖ δ’ ἀσκήσαντες,
οὓς αὐτοὶ διὰ νυκτὸς ἐπιστάντες κατέτρωξαν.
θώρηκας δ’ εἶχον καλαμοστεφέων ἀπὸ βυρσῶν,
οὓς γαλέην δείραντες ἐπισταμένως ἐποίησαν.
ἀσπὶς δ’ ἦν λύχνου τὸ μεσόμφαλον· ἡ δέ νυ λόγχη
εὐμήκης βελόνη, παγχάλκεον ἔργον ῎Αρηος· 130
ἡ δὲ κόρυς τὸ λέπυρον ἐπὶ κροτάφοις ἐρεβίνθου.
Οὕτω μὲν μύες ἦσαν ἔνοπλοι· ὡς δ’ ἐνόησαν
βάτραχοι ἐξανέδυσαν ἀφ’ ὕδατος, ἐς δ’ ἕνα χῶρον
ἐλθόντες βουλὴν ξύναγον πολέμοιο κακοῖο.
σκεπτομένων δ’ αὐτῶν πόθεν ἡ στάσις ἢ τίς ὁ θρύλλος, 135
 Text 47

κῆρυξ ἐγγύθεν ἦλθε φέρων ῥάβδον μετὰ χερσίν,

Τυρογλύφου υἱὸς μεγαλήτορος ᾿Εμβασίχυτρος,
ἀγγέλλων πολέμοιο κακὴν φάτιν, εἶπέ τε τοῖα·
῏Ω βάτραχοι, μύες ὕμμιν ἀπειλήσαντες ἔπεμψαν
εἰπεῖν ὁπλίζεσθαι ἐπὶ πτόλεμόν τε μάχην τε. 140
εἶδον γὰρ καθ’ ὕδωρ Ψιχάρπαγα ὅν περ ἔπεφνεν
ὑμέτερος βασιλεὺς Φυσίγναθος. ἀλλὰ μάχεσθε
οἵ τινες ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀριστῆες γεγάατε.
῝Ως εἰπὼν ἀπέφηνε· λόγος δ’ εἰς οὔατα πάντων
εἰσελθὼν ἐτάραξε φρένας βατράχων ἀγερώχων· 145
μεμφομένων δ’ αὐτῶν Φυσίγναθος εἶπεν ἀναστάς·
῏Ω φίλοι οὐκ ἔκτεινον ἐγὼ μῦν, οὐδὲ κατεῖδον
ὀλλύμενον· πάντως δ’ ἐπνίγη παίζων παρὰ λίμνην,
νήξεις τὰς βατράχων μιμούμενος· οἱ δὲ κάκιστοι
νῦν ἐμὲ μέμφονται τὸν ἀναίτιον· ἀλλ’ ἄγε βουλὴν 150
ζητήσωμεν ὅπως δολίους μύας ἐξολέσωμεν.
τοιγὰρ ἐγὼν ἐρέω ὥς μοι δοκεῖ εἶναι ἄριστα.
σώματα κοσμήσαντες ἐν ὅπλοις στῶμεν ἅπαντες
ἄκροις πὰρ χείλεσσιν, ὅπου κατάκρημνος ὁ χῶρος·
ἡνίκα δ’ ὁρμηθέντες ἐφ’ ἡμέας ἐξέλθωσι, 155
δραξάμενοι κορύθων, ὅς τις σχεδὸν ἀντίος ἔλθῃ,
ἐς λίμνην αὐτοὺς σὺν ἐκείναις εὐθὺ βάλωμεν.
οὕτω γὰρ πνίξαντες ἐν ὕδασι τοὺς ἀκολύμβους
στήσομεν εὐθύμως τὸ μυοκτόνον ὧδε τρόπαιον.
῝Ως εἰπὼν ἀνέπεισε καθοπλίζεσθαι ἅπαντας. 160
φύλλοις μὲν μαλαχῶν κνήμας ἑὰς ἀμφεκάλυψαν,
θώρηκας δ’ εἶχον καλῶν χλοερῶν ἀπὸ σεύτλων,
φύλλα δὲ τῶν κραμβῶν εἰς ἀσπίδας εὖ ἤσκησαν,
ἔγχος δ’ ὀξύσχοινος ἑκάστῳ μακρὸς ἀρήρει,
καί ῥα κέρα κοχλιῶν λεπτῶν ἐκάλυπτε κάρηνα. 165
φραξάμενοι δ’ ἔστησαν ἐπ’ ὄχθαις ὑψηλαῖσι
σείοντες λόγχας, θυμοῦ δ’ ἔμπλητο ἕκαστος.
Ζεὺς δὲ θεοὺς καλέσας εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα,
καὶ πολέμου πληθὺν δείξας κρατερούς τε μαχητάς,
πολλοὺς καὶ μεγάλους ἠδ’ ἔγχεα μακρὰ φέροντας, 170
οἷος Κενταύρων στρατὸς ἔρχεται ἠὲ Γιγάντων,
ἡδὺ γελῶν ἐρέεινε· τίνες βατράχοισιν ἀρωγοὶ
48 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

ἢ μυσὶν ἀθανάτων; καὶ ᾿Αθηναίην προσέειπεν·

῏Ω θύγατερ μυσὶν ἦ ῥα βοηθήσουσα πορεύσῃ;
καὶ γὰρ σοῦ κατὰ νηὸν ἀεὶ σκιρτῶσιν ἅπαντες 175
κνίσῃ τερπόμενοι καὶ ἐδέσμασι παντοδαποῖσιν.
῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη Κρονίδης· τὸν δὲ προσέειπεν ᾿Αθήνη·
ὦ πάτερ οὐκ ἄν πώ ποτ’ ἐγὼ μυσὶ τειρομένοισιν
ἐλθοίμην ἐπαρωγός, ἐπεὶ κακὰ πολλά μ’ ἔοργαν
στέμματα βλάπτοντες καὶ λύχνους εἵνεκ’ ἐλαίου. 180
τοῦτο δέ μοι λίην ἔδακε φρένας οἷον ἔρεξαν.
πέπλον μου κατέτρωξαν ὃν ἐξύφηνα καμοῦσα
ἐκ ῥοδάνης λεπτῆς καὶ στήμονα μακρὸν ἔνησα,
τρώγλας τ’ ἐμποίησαν· ὁ δ’ ἠπητής μοι ἐπέστη
καὶ πράσσει με τόκον· τὸ δὲ ῥίγιον ἀθανάτοισιν. 185
χρησαμένη γὰρ ἔνησα καὶ οὐκ ἔχω ἀνταποδοῦναι.
ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὣς βατράχοισιν ἀρηγέμεναι βουλήσω.
εἰσὶ γὰρ οὐδ’ αὐτοὶ φρένας ἔμπεδοι, ἀλλά με πρῴην
ἐκ πολέμου ἀνιοῦσαν ἐπεὶ λίην ἐκοπώθην,
ὕπνου δευομένην οὐκ εἴασαν θορυβοῦντες 190
οὐδ’ ὀλίγον καταμῦσαι· ἐγὼ δ’ ἄϋπνος κατεκείμην·
τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀλγοῦσαν, ἕως ἐβόησεν ἀλέκτωρ.
ἀλλ’ ἄγε παυσώμεσθα θεοὶ τούτοισιν ἀρήγειν,
μή κέ τις ὑμείων τρωθῇ βέλει ὀξυόεντι·
εἰσὶ γὰρ ἀγχέμαχοι, εἰ καὶ θεὸς ἀντίον ἔλθοι· 195
πάντες δ’ οὐρανόθεν τερπώμεθα δῆριν ὁρῶντες.
῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη· καὶ τῇ γε θεοὶ ἐπεπείθοντ’ ἄλλοι,
πάντες δ’ αὖτ’ εἰσῆλθον ἀολλέες εἰς ἕνα χῶρον.
καὶ τότε κώνωπες μεγάλας σάλπιγγας ἔχοντες
δεινὸν ἐσάλπιγξαν πολέμου κτύπον· οὐρανόθεν δὲ 200
Ζεὺς Κρονίδης βρόντησε, τέρας πολέμοιο κακοῖο.
Πρῶτος δ’ ῾Υψιβόας Λειχήνορα οὔτασε δουρὶ
ἑσταότ’ ἐν προμάχοις κατὰ γαστέρα ἐς μέσον ἧπαρ·
κὰδ δ’ ἔπεσεν πρηνής, ἁπαλὰς δ’ ἐκόνισεν ἐθείρας.
δούπησεν δὲ πεσών, ἀράβησε δὲ τεύχε’ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ. 205
Τρωγλοδύτης δὲ μετ’ αὐτὸν ἀκόντισε Πηλείωνος,
πῆξεν δ’ ἐν στέρνῳ στιβαρὸν δόρυ· τὸν δὲ πεσόντα
εἷλε μέλας θάνατος, ψυχὴ δ’ ἐκ σώματος ἔπτη.
Σευτλαῖον δ’ ἂρ ἔπεφνε βαλὼν κέαρ ᾿Εμβασίχυτρος,
 Text 49

᾿Αρτοφάγος δὲ Πολύφωνον κατὰ γαστέρα τύψε· 210

ἤριπε δὲ πρηνής, ψυχὴ δὲ μελέων ἐξέπτη.
Λιμνόχαρις δ’ ὡς εἶδεν ἀπολλύμενον Πολύφωνον,
Τρωγλοδύτην ἁπαλοῖο δι’ αὐχένος τρῶσεν ἐπιφθὰς
πέτρῳ μυλοειδέϊ· τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψε· 213a
Τρωγλήτης δ᾿ ἄῤ ἔπεφνε Βρεκαίκιγα ἐσθλὸν ἀίξας 213b
᾿Ωκιμίδην δ’ ἄχος εἷλε καὶ ἤλασεν ὀξέϊ σχοίνῳ
οὐδ’ ἐξέσπασεν ἔγχος ἐναντίον· ὡς δ’ ἐνόησε 215
Λειχήνωρ δ’ αὐτοῖο τιτύσκετο δουρὶ φαεινῷ
καὶ βάλεν, οὐδ’ ἀφάμαρτε καθ’ ἧπαρ· ὡς δ’ ἐνόησε
Κοστοφάγον φεύγοντα βαθείαις ἔμπεσεν ὄχθαις.
ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὣς ἀπέληγε μάχης ἀλλ’ ἤλασεν αὐτόν·
κάππεσε δ’, οὐκ ἀνένευσεν, ἐβάπτετο δ’ αἵματι λίμνη 220
πορφυρέῳ, αὐτὸς δὲ παρ’ ἠιόν’ ἐξετανύσθη,
χορδῇσιν λιπαρῇσί τ’ ἐπορνύμενος λαγόνεσσιν.
Τυροφάγον δ’ αὐτῇσιν ἐπ’ ὄχθαις ἐξενάριξεν.
Πτερνογλύφον δὲ ἰδὼν Καλαμίνθιος ἐς φόβον ἦλθεν,
ἥλατο δ’ ἐς λίμνην φεύγων τὴν ἀσπίδα ῥίψας. 225
Λιτραῖον δ’ ἀρ’ ἔπεφνεν ἀμύμων Βορβοροκοίτης,
῾Υδρόχαρις δ’ ἔπεφνεν Πτερνοφάγον βασιλῆα,
χερμαδίῳ πλήξας κατὰ βρέγματος· ἐγκέφαλος δὲ
ἐκ ῥινῶν ἔσταξε, παλάσσετο δ’ αἵματι γαῖα.
Λειχοπίναξ δ’ ἔκτεινεν ἀμύμονα Βορβοροκοίτην, 230
ἔγχει ἐπαΐξας· τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψεν.
Πρασσαῖος δὲ ἰδὼν ποδὸς εἵλκυσε Κνισσοδιώκτην,
ἐν λίμνῃ δ’ ἀπέπνιξε κρατήσας χειρὶ τένοντα.
Ψιχάρπαξ δ’ ἤμυν’ ἑτάρου περὶ τεθνειῶτος
καὶ βάλε Πρασσαῖον κατὰ νηδύος ἐς μέσον ἧπαρ, 235
πῖπτε δέ οἱ πρόσθεν, ψυχὴ δ’ ᾿Αϊδόσδε βεβήκει.
Κραμβοβάτης δὲ ἰδὼν πηλοῦ δράκα ῥίψεν ἐπ’ αὐτόν,
καὶ τὸ μέτωπον ἔχρισε καὶ ἐξετύφλου παρὰ μικρόν.
ὠργίσθη δ’ ἄρ’ ἐκεῖνος, ἑλὼν δ’ ἄρα χειρὶ παχείῃ
κείμενον ἐν δαπέδῳ λίθον ὄβριμον, ἄχθος ἀρούρης, 240
τῷ βάλε Κραμβοβάτην ὑπὸ γούνατα· πᾶσα δ’ ἐκλάσθη
κνήμη δεξιτερή, πέσε δ’ ὕπτιος ἐν κονίῃσι.
Κραυγασίδης δ’ ἤμυνε καὶ αὖθις βαῖνεν ἐπ’ αὐτόν,
τύψε δέ οἱ μέσσην κατὰ γαστέρα· πᾶς δέ οἱ εἴσω
50 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

ὀξύσχοινος ἔδυνε, χαμαὶ δ’ ἔκχυντο ἅπαντα 245

ἔγκατ’ ἐφελκομένῳ ὑπὸ δούρατι χειρὶ παχείῃ·
Τρωγλοδύτης δ’ ὡς εἶδεν παρ’ ὄχθῃσιν ποταμοῖο,
σκάζων ἐκ πολέμου ἀνεχάζετο, τείρετο δ’ αἰνῶς·
ἥλατο δ’ ἐς τάφρους, ὅππως φύγῃ αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον.
Τρωξάρτης δ’ ἔβαλεν Φυσίγναθον ἐς ποδὸς ἄκρον. 250
ἔσχατος δ’ ἐκ λίμνης ἀνεδύσετο, τείρετο δ’ αἰνῶς
Πρασσαῖος δ’ ὡς εἶδεν ἔθ’ ἡμίπνουν προπεσόντα,
καὶ οἱ ἐκέδραμεν αὖθις, ἀποκταμεναι μενεαίνων 252a
ἦλθε διὰ προμάχων καὶ ἀκόντισεν ὀξύσχοινον·
οὐδ’ ἔρρηξε σάκος, σχέτο δ’ αὐτοῦ δουρὸς ἀκωκή·
οὐδ’ ἔβαλε τρυφάλειαν ἀμύμονα καὶ τετράχυτρον 255
δῖος ᾿Οριγανίων, μιμούμενος αὐτὸν ῎Αρηα,
ὃς μόνος ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀρίστευεν καθ’ ὅμιλον·
ὥρμησεν δ’ ἄρ’ ἐπ’ αὐτόν· ὁ δ’ ὡς ἴδεν οὐχ ὑπέμεινεν
ἥρωας κρατερούς, ἀλλ’ ἔδυνε βένθεσι λίμνης
῏Ην δέ τις ἐν μυσὶ παῖς Μεριδάρπαξ ἔξοχος ἄλλων, 260
Κναίσωνος φίλος υἱὸς ἀμύμονος ἀρτεπιβούλου· 260a
μεριδάρπαξ ὄρχαμος μιμούμενος αὐτὸν ἄρηα
ὃς μόνος ἐν μύεσσιν ἀρίστευεν καθ’ ὅμιλον 261b
Κναίσων μέν, βατράχοιο βέλει πληγεὶς κατὰ χεῖρα 261c
οἴκαδ’ ἴεν, πολέμου δὲ μετασχεῖν παῖδ’ ἐκέλευεν·
αὐτὸς δ’ ἑστήκει γαυρούμενος κατὰ λίμνην
οὗτος ἀναρπάξαι βατράχων γενεὴν ἐπαπείλει·
στεῦτο δὲ πορθήσειν βρατράχων γένος αἰχμητάων 263a
ἀγχοῦ δ’ ἕστηκεν μενεαίνων ἶφι μάχεσθαι
καὶ ῥήξας καρύοιο μέσην ῥάχιν εἰς δύο μοίρας 265
φράγδην ἀμφοτέροισι κενώμασι χεῖρας ἔθηκεν·
οἱ δὲ τάχος δείσαντες ἔβαν πάντες κατὰ λίμνην·
καί νύ κεν ἐξετέλεσσεν, ἐπεὶ μέγα οἱ σθένος ἦεν,
εἰ μὴ ἄρ’ ὀξὺ νόησε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε.
καὶ τότ’ ἀπολλυμένους βατράχους ᾤκτειρε Κρονίων, 270
κινήσας δὲ κάρη τοίην ἐφθέγξατο φωνήν·
῍Ω πόποι ἦ μέγα θαῦμα τόδ’ ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ὁρῶμαι·
οὐ μ᾿ ὀλίγον πλήσσει Mεριδάρπαξ ὃς κατὰ λίμνην
ἅρπαξ ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀμείβεται· ἀλλὰ τάχιστα
Παλλάδα πέμψωμεν πολεμόκλονον ἢ καὶ ῎Αρηα, 275
 Text 51

οἵ μιν ἐπισχήσουσι μάχης κρατερόν περ ἐόντα.

῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη Κρονίδης· ῎Αρης δ’ ἀπαμείβετο μύθῳ·
οὔτ’ ἄρ’ ᾿Αθηναίης Κρονίδη σθένος οὔτε ῎Αρηος
ἰσχύει βατράχοισιν ἀμυνέμεν αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον.
ἀλλ’ ἄγε πάντες ἴωμεν ἀρηγόνες· ἢ τὸ σὸν ὅπλον 280
κινείσθω· οὕτω γὰρ ἁλώσεται ὅς τις ἄριστος,
ᾧ Τιτᾶνας πέφνες ἀρίστους ἔξοχα πάντων
ὥς ποτε καὶ Καπανῆα κατέκτανες ὄβριμον ἄνδρα
καὶ μέγαν ᾿Εγκελάδοντα καὶ ἄγρια φῦλα Γιγάντων.
῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη· Κρονίδης δὲ βαλὼν ἀργῆτα κεραυνὸν
πρῶτα μὲν ἐβρόντησε, μέγαν δ’ ἐλέλιξεν ῎Ολυμπον. 285
αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα κεραυνὸν δειμαλέον Διὸς ὅπλον
ἧκ᾿ ἐπιδινήσας. ὁ δ᾿ ἄῤ ἔπτατο χειρὸς ἄνακτος
πάντας μέν ῥ’ ἐφόβησε βαλὼν βατράχους τε μύας τε·
ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὣς ἀπέληγε μυῶν στρατός, ἀλλ’ ἔτι μᾶλλον
ἔλπετο πορθήσειν βατράχων γένος αἰχμητάων, 290
εἰ μὴ ἀπ’ Οὐλύμπου βατράχους ἐλέησε Κρονίων,
ὅς ῥα τότ’ ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀρωγοὺς εὐθὺς ἔπεμψεν.
῏Ηλθον δ’ ἐξαίφνης νωτάκμονες, ἀγκυλοχεῖλαι,
λοξοβάται, στρεβλοί, ψαλιδόστομοι, ὀστρακόδερμοι,
ὀστοφυεῖς, πλατύνωτοι, ἀποστίλβοντες ἐν ὤμοις, 295
βλαισοί, χειλοτένοντες, ἀπὸ στέρνων ἐσορῶντες,
ὀκτάποδες, δικάρηνοι, ἀχειρέες, οἱ δὲ καλεῦνται
καρκίνοι, οἵ ῥα μυῶν οὐρὰς στομάτεσσιν ἔκοπτον
ἠδὲ πόδας καὶ χεῖρας· ἀνεγνάμπτοντο δὲ λόγχαι.
τοὺς δὴ ὑπέδεισαν δειλοὶ μύες οὐδ’ ἔτ’ ἔμειναν, 300
ἐς δὲ φυγὴν ἐτράποντο· ἐδύετο δ’ ἥλιος ἤδη,
καὶ πολέμου τελετὴ μονοήμερος ἐξετελέσθη.
 Translation

As I start from my first page, I pray that the chorus

comes into my heart from Helikon for the sake of the song
Which I have just set down upon the tablets on my knees—
a song of limitless strife, the war-rousing work of Ares—
because I hope to sound to the ears of all mortal men 5
how the mice went forth to best the frogs,
imitating the deeds of the earth-born men, the giants,
as mortal tale goes. It has this kind of beginning.

Once upon a time, a thirsty mouse escaped the weasel’s danger

and then lowered his greedy chin down to a pond 10
to take pleasure in the honey-sweet water. A pond-loving frog,
a big-talker, saw him and uttered something like this:

“Friend, who are you? From where have you come to our shore?
Who sired you?
Tell me everything truly so I don’t think you’re a liar.
If I consider you a worthy friend, I’ll take you home, 15
where I will give you many fine gifts of friendship.
I am King Bellowmouth and I am honored
throughout the pond as leader of frogs for all days.
My father Mudman raised me up after he had sex
with Watermistress along the banks of the Eridanus. 20
I see that you are noble and brave beyond the rest,
and also a scepter-bearing king and a warrior in battles.
Come closer and tell me of your lineage.”

Then Crumbthief answered and spoke:

54 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

“Why do you seek out my lineage? It’s known 25

to all men, gods and flying things in the sky.
I am known as Crumbthief. I am the son
of great-hearted Breadnibbler and my mother Mill-licker,
who was daughter of King Hamnibbler.
She birthed me in a hidey-hole and nourished me with food
like figs and nuts and all kinds of choice sweets. 30
How could you make me your friend when our nature is so different?
Your life is in the water—but it is my custom
to nibble away at the foods of men. And I never miss out
on thrice-kneaded bread in the well-rounded basket.
Nor does a long-robed flat cake dressed out with plenty of sesame and cheese 35
ever escape me. Neither does a ham-slice, a white-robed liver
nor just-curdled cheese from sweet-milk,
nor the wholesome honey-cake which even the gods desire,
nor the things cooks carve out for mortals’ feasts 40
when they season the dishes with every kind of spice.
I have never fled the dread song of war
but instead I head straight into the danger and join the forefighters.
I don’t fear people, even though they have such great size;
no, I run up to their beds and bite the tip of their fingers. 45
Then I take their ham and no pain overtakes the man,
no one wakes from sleep when I bite him.
But I do really fear two things over the whole earth:
the hawk and the weasel who bring me great grief
and also the grievous mousetrap where a deceptive fate awaits me. 50
But I fear the weasel more than anything, that beast who is best
at ferreting a hole-dweller out of his hole.

I don’t eat radishes, cabbage, and pumpkins;

and I don’t munch on pale beets or parsley.
Such things are the delicacies of pond-dwellers like you.” 55

Grinning at this, Bellowmouth responded:

“Friend, you brag too much about your belly. We also
have many marvels to see in the pond and on the shore.
 Translation 55

Zeus gave the frogs an amphibious realm

to dance upon the earth or cover our bodies in water 60
and to inhabit homes divided doubly in parts.
If you wish to learn about these things too, it’s simple.
Climb on my back, hold on tight so you don’t slip
and then you can come happily to my home.”

Thus he spoke and offered up his back. Crumbthief hopped on quickly, 65

holding his hands around Bellowmouth’s delicate neck with a light embrace.
At first he was rejoicing as he looked upon the neighboring harbors
and delighted in Bellowmouth’s swimming. But, then, when he was
splashed by the roiling waves, he poured forth a flood of tears
and reproached his useless decision. He tore at his hairs, 70
squeezed his feet around his stomach and his heart
shook at the novelty and he wished to get back to land.
He wailed dreadfully under the oppression of chilling fear.
First, he set his tail into the water as though guiding a rudder,
and prayed to the gods to make it to the shore. 75
He was splashed again by the murky water, and kept shouting out for help.
Then he made a speech like this as he proclaimed:

“Didn’t the bull carry his cargo of love in this way

when he led Europa over the waves to Krete?
Such is the way this frog set out and led a mouse to his house 80
after raising his pale body on the white wave.”

Suddenly, a water snake appeared, a bitter sight to both,

holding his throat up straight out of the water.
When he saw him, Bellowmouth went under water, considering not
what sort of friend he was about to abandon to death. 85
He submerged in the depth of the pond, and avoided black death.
But the mouse, as he was let go, fell backward into the water,
clenched his hands, and squeaked as he was dying.
Several times he went down below the water, and several times
he kicked and came back up. But it was not possible to ward off fate. 90
His wet hair put more weight on him,
56 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

and dying in the water, he shouted out these words:

“You won’t evade the gods in doing these deceitful things,

tossing me shipwrecked from your body as if off a crag.
You rotten bastard, you were not better than me upon land 95
at fighting or wrestling or running, so you brought me to the water
and hurled me into it! God has an eye for vengeance.
You will not avoid paying a penalty and
righteous payback to the host of mice who honor me.”

As he said this, he gasped in the water. And Platelicker

saw him as he sat upon the luxuriant banks. 100
Then he wailed terribly, ran, and informed the mice.
A dread wrath fell upon them as they learned his fate,
and they ordered their heralds to summon their kin
to the assembly at the home of Breadmuncher at dawn.
He was father of pitiful Crumbthief who floated on the pond 105
as a corpse facing upward, no longer struggling
on the banks but raised up in the middle of the sea.
And so they came hurrying at dawn and among them first
Breadmuncher rose enraged over his son to make this speech:

“Friends, even if I alone suffered these many evils from the frogs, 110
it would still be a vile crime against us all.
I am wretched because I have lost three children:
a most hateful weasel snatched up the first and killed him
as she dragged him from his hole.
Harsh men dragged the second to his doom 115
once they designed a wooden trick with their newfangled arts—
that thing they call the trap, the destroyer of mice.
[A mouse-eating great beast made my first son into dinner
as he chanced upon him spinning on his fat heel.]
The third was beloved to me and his prized mother,
Bellowmouth drowned him once he dragged him to the deep.
Come, let us arm ourselves and go out to face them 120
once we’ve arrayed our bodies in our well-worked arms.”
 Translation 57

In saying this, he persuaded everyone to arm themselves;

and so, Ares who loves war armed them.
First, they fit their greaves to their two legs,
after breaking some pale beans and fitting them well, 125
beans they nibbled clean by working on them all night.
They had chestpieces made of reed-bound hides
which they made skillfully after flaying a weasel.
Their shield was the middle-section of a lamp. And their spear
was a well-measured needle, a completely bronze work of Ares. 130
The helmet on their temples was the husk of chick pea.

And this is the way the mice were armed. When the frogs noticed
they rose up from the water: and once they gathered in the same place
they summoned a council for wicked war.
While they were examining the conflict and noise, 135
a herald approached carrying a staff in his hand:
Bowldiver, the son of great-hearted Cheeseborer,
in announcing the evil report of war said these kind of things:

“My frogs: the mice threaten you and send me

to tell you to arm yourselves for war and battle. 140
They saw Crumbthief, whom your king
Bellowmouth killed in the water. But fight,
all of you who were born best among the frogs.”
He explained it, speaking in this way. The report entered all their ears
and disturbed the minds of the arrogant frogs. 145
While they were reproaching, Bellowmouth stood and said:

“Friends, I didn’t kill the mouse, nor did I witness him dying.
He drowned altogether because he was playing near the shore
trying to mimic the swimming of frogs. These villains
are blaming me when I am not at fault. But let us seek 150
a plan so that we may kill those treacherous mice.
I will announce the strategy that seems best to me.
Let all of us stand after adorning ourselves in arms
on the top of the banks where the land is steep.
58 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Whenever they come rushing against us— 155

Once we have snatched them by their helmets as each approaches—
we will throw them straight into the water with their weapons.
When we drown those unaccustomed to the water in this way,
we will happily dedicate a trophy to the murder of mice.”

So speaking he persuaded everyone to arm themselves. 160

First, they covered their shins with the leaves of reeds
and they had breastplates from fine yellow beets
they fitted well the leaves of cabbage into shields
and a great sharp reed was worked as a spear for each.
The horns of polished snails covered their heads. 165
They stood on the high banks defending themselves;
and as they brandished their spears, courage filled each of them.

Zeus called the gods to starry heaven

and showed them the mass of war and strong warriors
so many, so great, carrying enormous spears 170
just as the army of centaurs or giants had once approached them.
Then, laughing sweetly, he asked who among the immortals
were supporters for the frogs or mice. And he addressed Athena:

“Daughter, won’t you go forth to help the mice?

For they all continuously dance around your temple 175
Delighting in the smell and every kind of treat.”
So Kronos’ son asked and Athena responded:

“Father, I would never come to the aid of the distressed mice

because they have done me many evils
by ruining my garlands and lamps to get at the oil. 180
One thing they did really wears at my thoughts.
They ate up at the robe which I wore myself out weaving
from tender weft I spun myself on a great warp—
they fill it with holes. The mender waits for me
and makes me his debtor, a thing horrible for the gods. 185
For I spun it in debt and I can’t pay it back.
 Translation 59

But there is no way I want to help the frogs.

For these creatures are not of sound mind: yesterday
when I was returning from war and really worn out
and needing sleep, they did not allow me to nap even a little, 190
as they made a ruckus. And I lay there sleepless,
with a headache until the rooster crowed.
Come on, let us gods avoid helping them,
lest one of us get wounded by a sharp missile,
for they fight up close, even if a god should confront them. 195
Let’s all instead enjoy watching this battle from heaven.”

So she spoke and the other gods assented to her

and they all came gathered together in one spot.
Then some mosquitoes bearing great trumpets
sounded the dread song of battle. And from heaven 200
Kronos’ son, Zeus, thundered the portent of wicked war.

First, Croakmaster struck Lickman with a spear

through his stomach, mid-liver, as he stood among the forefighters.
And he fell down headlong and dirtied his delicate hair.
He thundered as he fell, and his weapons clattered about him. 205
Hole-dweller next hurled at Muddy’s son
and fixed a stout spear in his chest. Then black death took him
as he fell and his soul flew from his body.
Bowldiver killed Beeteater when he struck him in the heart
and Breadmuncher struck Sir Croaks-a-lot in the stomach— 210
and he then fell headlong, and his soul flew from his limbs.
When Pondlubber saw Sir Croaks-a-lot dying
he acted first in crushing Holedweller’s tender neck
with a rock like a mill-stone. Then darkness covered his eyes.
Grief overtook Basilson and he drove him through with a sharp reed 215
as the other didn’t raise his spear against him. When Lickman saw this,
he took aim at him with his own shining spear
and hurled it: he didn’t miss his liver. Then, when he noticed
that Spice-eater was fleeing, he rushed upon the lush banks.
And he did not let up from battle, no, he ran him through.
60 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

He fell and didn’t look up again: then the pond was dyed 220
with purple blood even as he was stretched out on the shore
as he tried to rise with his intestines and trailing loins.
Then he despoiled Cheesenibbler on the same banks.
When Minty saw Hamcarver he went into flight
and he was driven into the pond while rushing, after abandoning his shield. 225
Blameless Mudbedder killed Poundweight.
Watergrace killed King Hameater
after striking him with a stone on the top of his head. And his brains
dribbled from his nose and the earth was spattered with blood.

Platelicker then killed blameless Mudbedder 230

as he sprung at him with his spear. Then darkness covered his eyes.
When Greenstalk saw this, he dragged Smokehunter by the foot,
overpowered him, and drowned him in the pond as he reached out his
hand.
Crumbthief defended his dead friend
and hurled at Greenstalk through his stomach into his liver— 235
then he fell forward and his soul descended to Hades.
Cabbagetreader saw this and threw a lump of mud at him;
it smeared his face and he nearly blinded him.
When he was enraged by this, he grabbed a heavy rock
lying on the ground, a burden to the earth, with his stout hand 240
and he struck Cabbagetreader with it below the knees. His right greave
was completely shattered and he fell face-up into the dust.
Croakerson defended him and went straight at the other guy,
striking him in the middle of the stomach. The whole sharp reed
pierced into him and all of his guts poured out on the ground 245
because of the spear as it was withdrawn by the strong hand.
When Holedweller saw this from the banks of the river,
he retreated, limping from the battle to rest, since he was terribly worn out.
He rushed into the ditches in order to flee the sheer destruction.
Breadmuncher struck Bellowmouth on the top of the foot. 250
He retreated to the furthest part of the pond, terribly worn out.
And when Greenstalk saw him falling still half-alive,
again he then ran out, desiring to kill,
and he went through the champions and hurled his sharp-reed.
 Translation 61

He didn’t break the shield and the tip of the spear held fast.
Shining Oregano, as he imitated Ares himself, 255
and was the only one who prevailed through the engagement among the
frogs,
did not strike the four-measured, blameless helm
but he rushed at him. But when the frog saw him, he didn’t wait for
the strong heroes, but he dived into the depths of the pond.

There was a child among the mice who stood out from all others, 260
Pieceplunder, the dear son of blameless Grater, the Bread-councilor.
He was on his way home; he had ordered the child to join in the war.
But he was threatening to eliminate the race of the frogs
as he stood nearby desiring to fight with force.
First, he split a nut along its middle into two halves 265
and set them on both his bare hands as defense,
then everyone feared him and scattered around the pond.
He would have achieved his goal since his strength was so great
if the father of men and gods had not taken note.
Kronos’ son pitied the dying frogs; 270
he spoke this kind of speech as he shook his head.

“O wretches, I really see a wonder with my eyes!

Pieceplunder worries me not a little as he crosses like
a thief among the frogs. But quickly then,
let’s send war-rousing Pallas or even Ares 275
to restrain him from battle, even though he is mighty.”

So Zeus spoke and Ares responded with a speech:

“Son of Kronos, neither the power of Athena nor Ares

is able to ward steep destruction from the frogs.
Let’s all go as allies. Or maybe you should 280
brandish your arms. Whoever is best will be caught in this way,
as when you killed the stout man Kapaneus,
great Enkelados, and the fierce tribes of the giants.”

So he spoke and the son of Kronos threw down shining lightning

62 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

and thundered first and shook great Olympos. 285

Then he hurled and threw the frightening weapon of Zeus
and it flew from the master’s hand
and frightened all the frogs and mice as he threw.
But the army of the mice did not let up—they even more 290
hoped to eradicate the race of spear-bearing frogs—
unless Kronos’ son took pity on the frogs from Olympos
and sent helpers straight away to the frogs.

Suddenly, the armor-backed, crooked-clawed

bow-waling, twisted, scissor-mouthed, hard-shelled, 295
bone-built, broad-backed, with shining shoulders,
crooked-legged, lip-stretching, with eyes set in their chest,
eight-footed, two-headed, handless creatures who are called
crabs, went to war. They easily cut off the mice’s tails with their mouths
along with their feet and hands. And their spears were bent back.
The cowardly mice were frightened of them and waited no longer 300
to turn to flight. The sun was already setting.
And the end of this war was accomplished in a single day.
 Commentary

Part 1: The Proem—Epic poems, whether monumental poems like the

Iliad or Odyssey or shorter performance pieces like the Homeric Hymns,
typically begin with “introductions,” proemia which (1) invoke a deity; (2)
anticipate the subjects and themes of the poem to follow; and
(3) sometimes establish the authority of the narrator to sing the song in
question. This proem uses language similar to other proemia but in some
rather indirect ways. In addition, it is largely unformulaic in the traditional
sense—its phrases and images offer few direct parallels in extant epic.
The term “proem” comes from Greek prooimion, roughly “the thing
before the oimê [song-path].” Ancient testimony identifies the term with
“preludes” to longer poems. For the four parts of a proem as (1) invocation;
(2) advertisement of the topic; (3) reinvocation; (4) beginning of the song,
see Harden and Kelly 2014: 8. For an analysis of this proem, see Wölke
1978: 84–91; and Scodel 2008: 227–8 for its self-consciously literary
character. The BM has an indirect invocation (by calling for the chorus
from Helicon, 1–2) followed by an invocation of the topic (strife, δῆριν
ἀπειρεσίην) and then a delayed specification of that strife as one between
the frogs and mice (line 6) before the story starts at line 9. Of particular
contrast with the proemia of Homer and Hesiod, the BM emphasizes
writing (line 3), the fame of this particular tale (lines 5 and 8) and exhibits
a ring structure: it begins with ᾿Αρχόμενος (1) and ends with ἀρχήν (8).

1 ᾿Αρχόμενος: “Beginning from, as I begin from,” common in epic

and hymnic poetry. Hesiod’s Theogony offers the declaration that the
narrator “begins” with the Muses (Μουσάων ῾Ελικωνιάδων ἀρχώμεθ’
64 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

ἀείδειν, 1); similar are the remains of the lost Epigonoi (Νῦν αὖθ’
ὁπλοτέρων ἀνδρῶν ἀρχώμεθα, Μοῦσαι, 1; “Muses, let us now sing in
turn of younger men”). Cf. also the Hom. Hymn to the Muses and Apollo
(Μουσάων ἄρχωμαι ᾿Απόλλωνός τε Διός τε); and A.R, Arg.: ᾿Αρχόμενος
σέο Φοῖβε παλαιγενέων κλέα φωτῶν (cf. Glei 1984: 112 ad loc.). As with
Apollonius’ line, the BM does not exhibit the performative subjunctive
common to choral and performance-oriented poetry (e.g. Hesiod’s
ἀρχώμεθ;’ see Calame 1994–95: 142–5; cf. Fogelmark 1972: 93–4;
Faraone 1995: 3–11 and Christensen 2010: 1–3.). The indirect evocation
of the Muses (through the mention of Helicon), seems a rather
Hellenistic strategy. Perhaps this explains the origin of the variant for
the next phrase πρῶτον μουσῶν, which would render this line
“beginning first with the Muses, I pray that a chorus comes from
Helicon into my heart.”

πρώτης σελίδος: from σελίς, σελίδος (f.), translate as “page.” Some texts
have πρῶτον μουσῶν instead of πρώτης σελίδος; the phrase seems a
rather bland attempt to adhere more closely to proemial norms. πρώτης
σελίδος is found in Z, the oldest of our surviving MSS , which dates
back to the tenth century. This σελίς is associated with Homeric poetry
in later writing: cf. Grk. Anth. 4.2: ῎Ανθεά σοι δρέψας ῾Ελικώνια καὶ
κλυτοδένδρου / Πιερίης κείρας πρωτοφύτους κάλυκας / καὶ σελίδος
νεαρῆς θερίσας στάχυν ἀντανέπλεξα . . .; or Vita Homeri (Plutarch):
“double pages of heroes” (δισσὰς ἡμιθέων γραψάμενος σελίδας / ὑμνεῖ
δ’ ἡ μὲν νόστον ᾿Οδυσσῆος πολύπλαγκτον / ἡ δὲ τὸν ᾿Ιλιακὸν
Δαρδανιδῶν πόλεμον) Cf. also the lexicographer Photius (μηδ’ ἐς
῾Ομηρείην σελίδ’ ἔμβλεπε μηδ’ ἐλεγείην / μὴ τραγικὴν Μοῦσαν, μηδὲ
μελογραφίην, 187).

Note the internal jingling of the line: 1 ᾿Αρχόμενος. . .σελίδος. . .

῾Ελικῶνος. Such sound-play is not typical of early hexameter.

χορὸν ἐξ ῾Ελικῶνος: “[I pray that a ] chorus [comes] from Mt. Helicon”;
for Helicon as a location of the Muses see Hes. Th. 1 (Μουσάων
῾Ελικωνιάδων ἀρχώμεθ’ ἀείδειν). Heliconian Muses are special to
 Commentary 65

Hesiod but not to be differentiated from the Olympian Muses. Mt.

Helicon is in Thrace, but this epithet may have been extended to
Olympus; see West 1966: 152. The Hellenistic scholiast and poet Moschus
comments on this passage, “αὗται μὲν ἐν τῇ Πιερείᾳ γεννῶνται, ἐν δὲ τῷ
Έλικῶνι χορεύουσιν.” (“They [the Muses] were born in Pieria, but they
dance on Helicon.”) The use of χορός to refer to the group of dancers,
rather than the dance itself, represents a post-Homeric semantic range;
it suggests that the poem was composed subsequent to the flowering
of Attic tragedy. One scholiast records a fanciful etymology from the
Byzantine scholar John Tzetzes: “Έλικῶν δὲ κατὰ Τζέτζην αἱ βίβλοι, εἰς
ἃς ἑλίσσονται καὶ συστρέφονται καὶ ὁιονεὶ χορεύουσιν αἱ Μοῦσαι.”
(“Helicon, according to Tzetzes, refers to books, into which the Muses
are twisted and collected together as though they were dancing.”)
The image of a chorus dancing into the poet’s heart is striking (Scodel
2008: 227 calls it “disconcerting”) and probably evidence of a late date of
composition.

2 ἐλθεῖν εἰς ἐμὸν ἦτορ ἐπεύχομαι: introduces indirect statement,

accusative subject χορόν. In Homer ἐπεύχομαι means “boast” or
“threaten.” Here it means more like “to pray or hope,” which is also
possible in Homer; see Muellner 1976: 17–67.

εἵνεκ’ ἀοιδῆς: “for the sake of a song.” In Homer, aoidê indicates the
action of a performing bard. Cf. Od. 1.340–341. (. . .ταύτης δ’ ἀποπαύε’
ἀοιδῆς / λυγρῆς, ἥ τέ μοι αἰὲν ἐνὶ στήθεσσι φίλον κῆρ. “Stop this
mournful song / which always pains the dear heart in my chest.”)

Note also preponderance of ε/η sounds concentrated into one line.

3 ἣν νέον ἐν δέλτοισιν ἐμοῖς: “which I just recently wrote on my

tablets.” The antecedent of ἥν is ἀοιδῆς (“the song which. . .”). The
narrator refers to the practice of writing drafts on tablets, probably
covered in wax. The practice is documented in the early classical age in
vase painting (most famously by Douris whose tablet-writing vase is
held in Berlin). The earliest similar evidence of writing is in Aesch.
Prom. Bound, 789: ἣν ἐγγράφου σὺ μνήμοσιν δέλτοις φρενῶν. Cf. also
66 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Eur. Iph.Taur.: ἐς τήνδε δ’ ὤικισ’ αἶαν. αἵδ’ ἐπιστολαί, / τάδ’ ἐστὶ τἀν
δέλτοισιν ἐγγεγραμμένα. The BM ’s line recalls Callimachus’ Aetia
(1.21–2: καὶ γὰρ ὅτε πρώτιστον ἐμοῖς ἐπὶ δέλτον ἔθηκα / γούνασιν,
᾿Α[πό]λλων εἶπεν ὅ μοι Λύκιος· “When I first set my tablet on my
knees, Lykian Apollo spoke to me”). This parallel has led some (e.g
Bliquez 1977: 12) to argue that the opening lines are a Hellenistic
interpolation. Others have seen this as firmly establishing a Hellenistic
character for the poem, see Sens 2005: 217; cf. Wölke 1978: 58–61 and
Glei 1984: 22.

νέον: neuter singular adjective used as adverb.

ἐμὸν ἦτορ ἐπεύχομαι. . .δέλτοισιν ἐμοῖς: The preponderance of first-

person reference in the proem may align the BM with the tradition of
fable. Adrados (1998: 368) suggests that fables often use the first-person
to strengthen the persuasive and moralizing force.

ἐπὶ γούνασι θῆκα: Tmesis with unaugmented aorist.

4 δῆριν ἀπειρεσίην:“endless strife”; cf. Il. 17.158 (ἀνδράσι δυσμενέεσσι

πόνον καὶ δῆριν ἔθεντο) for strife in war; cf. Od. 24.515: υἱός θ’ υἱωνός
τ’ ἀρετῆς πέρι δῆριν ἔχουσι. δῆριν is line-initial at Hes. Sc. 251 and 306.
Cf. Nicander 450 (δῆριν ἄγει γενύεσσιν ὅταν βλώσκοντα καθ’ ὕλην).
Camerotto (1992: 12) counts this phrase as an “equivalent formula,”
likely evidence of literary adaptation. In this metrical position,
ἀπειρεσίην appears at Il. 20.58 (γαῖαν ἀπειρεσίην ὀρέων τ’ αἰπεινὰ
κάρηνα) and Od. 11.621 (εἶχον ἀπειρεσίην· μάλα γὰρ πολὺ χείρονι
φωτὶ).

If “strife” is the theme of this poem, one might expect it a little earlier:
the Iliad begins with its theme of wrath (μῆνις) and the Odyssey starts by
indirectly naming its subject (ἄνδρα). Strife is announced as the topic of
the fragmentary “Battle of Weasel and Mice” (line 1: Μοῦσά μοι ἔννεπ]ε
νεῖκο[ς]. . .) and used later to refer to the action (μέγα νεῖκος, 27).

πολεμόκλονον ἔργον ῎Αρηος: (“the war-rousing work of Ares”) a

transfered epithet from Ares to the work. This epithet is applied to
 Commentary 67

Athena at Anacreonta fr. 55.33 (πολεμόκλονόν τ’ ᾿Αθήνην). For this

phrase as providing a terminus ante quem for the poem of c. 570–500
bce , see Bliquez 1977: 12. πολεμόκλονoν may be ironic, since Ares
eventually prevents war instead of rousing it; see lines 278–9 below.
Camerotto (1992: 16) believes this is analogically based on the phrase
πολεμήϊα ἔργα at Od. 12.116.

5 εὐχόμενος μερόπεσσιν ἐς οὔατα πᾶσι βαλέσθαι: see line 2 for

indirect statement introduced by εὐχόμενος.

μερόπεσσιν: “mortals” (see μερόπεσσι βροτοῖσιν, Il. 2.285). The term

only appears in the plural and has its origins in meromai plus ops
(literally “dividing the voice,” meaning “articulate” or having language).
In Homer, the word is only used as an adjective for brotos or anthrôpos,
so this substantive use is a departure. For the imagery of sound striking
the ears, see Il. 10.535 ἵππων μ’ ὠκυπόδων ἀμφὶ κτύπος οὔατα βάλλει.

6 πῶς μύες ἐν βατράχοισιν: πῶς here is an indirect interrogative, i.e.

“tell you how the mice went among the frogs.” This use not common
in Homer (though the direct use is). For a proem, an initial question
subject is common, as in the Iliad’s “who of the gods set these two to
battle in strife?” (Τίς τ̓ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι; 1.8).
Such re-emphasis is common as transition from proemia to narrative.

ἀριστεύσαντες ἔβησαν: various MSS have the future ἀριστεύσοντες

instead of the aorist particple. The form ἔβησαν is used with the aorist
participle at Od. 5.107 where the participle clearly indicates action prior
to the finite verb (εἰνάετες, δεκάτῳ δὲ πόλιν πέρσαντες ἔβησαν. “Nine-
years, in the tenth they left after sacking the city”). But here the
periphrasis likely has a progressive sense: “they went about triumphing
among the frogs.”

7 γηγενέων. . .Γιγάντων: “earth-born. . .giants”; mice live in the earth

and are “born” from it, hence the epithet γηγενέων could aptly describe
mice and giants. The comparison with giants (born from Gaia, “Earth”)
is obviously humorous. Note as well the separation: the epithet begins
68 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

the line and the “joke” (giants) ends it. The epithet may be a hyper-
archaism, appearing often in Ap. Rhodes (frequently with Cyclopes,
e.g. 1.510: γηγενέες Κύκλωπες ἐκαρτύναντο κεραυνῷ). But cf. early
archaic Eumelus of Corinth (fr. 19: γηγενέες· φρίξεν δὲ περὶ στιβαροῖς
σακέεσσι); and late fifth century Antimachus (γηγενέας τε θεοὺς
προτερηγενέας Τιτῆνας). Forms of the adjective appear with some
frequency among the tragedians (Aeschylus; Euripides), Aristophanes,
and Plato.

Γιγάντων: For the giants, see Hes. Th. 185 (γείνατ’ ᾿Ερινῦς τε κρατερὰς
μεγάλους τε Γίγαντας. “[And Gaia] gave birth to the strong furies and
the mighty giants”) and fr. 43a 65 (ἐν Φλέγρηι δ]ὲ Γίγαντας ὑπερφιάλους
κατέπεφ[νε. “He killed the arrogant giants in Phlegrê”). In addition to
being comedic, the comparison is also pejorative (giants were arrogant
and challenged the cosmic order).

μιμούμενοι: “imitating, mimicking”; the participle does not occur in

hexameter poetry.

8 ὡς λόγος: “as the story goes” vel sim. Some MSS have epos instead of
λόγος (which would be more Homeric). The phrase ὡς λόγος probably
draws on the language of fable. Post-classical fable traditions
conventionally summarize the tale’s moral with phrases like “the logos
teaches/makes clear” etc. (ὁ λόγος δηλοῖ / διδάσκει / ἁρμόζει). Other
aspects of the introduction of the tale strengthen the resonance with
fable. As Adrados (1998: 383–4) demonstrates, fables are often
introduced with an imperfect (e.g. ἦν γὰρ χρόνος πότε, Pl., Protagoras,
370c: ὅτε φωνήεντα ἦν τὰ ζῶα) combined with markers of indefinite
time (e.g. πότε; see Μῦς ποτε on line 8 below) and person (τις; cf.
Archilochus fr. 174: αἶνός τις ἀνθρώπων ὅδε).

ἔην: Uncontracted 3rd person singular imperfect of εἰμί.

τοίην δ’ ἔχεν ἀρχήν: “this sort of beginning.” This creates a ring structure
with the beginning of the proem (᾿Αρχόμενος; on ring structures and
oral poetry, see Minchin 1995; Minchin 2001: 181–202) and also the
general sort of introduction that is not uncommon to the transition to
 Commentary 69

the actual narrative. The use of the qualitative τοίην, rather than τήνδε,
may mark the following tale as especially divorced from specific context.
In addition, the indefiniteness of τοίην may complement the fabular
style mentioned above on line 7. This level of indefiniteness, however,
may be parodic: once the story begins in classical fable, the narration is
fairly straightforward, without this type of hedging.

9–64 The poem continues with the language of fable and the meeting of a
frog and mouse near the edge of a marsh. The two question each other in
mock heroic style, though the mouse engages in extensive comic boasting
about the superiority of his diet. The frog invites the mouse for a ride
across his pond.

9 Ποτε: this indefinite temporal adverb answers both the temporal

echo of the last line (Μῦς ποτε) and the interrogative πῶς (line 6),
recalling the “once-upon-a time” formula common to fabulae (see the
introduction; see van Dijk 1997: 125 for a full bibliography). For a
temporal starting point in epic, consider Il. 1.6 (“from when those two
first stood apart in strife”: ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε) or
the Cyp.1.1: “there was a time when the tribes of men were always
weighing down the earth” (ἦν ὅτε μυρία φῦλα κατὰ χθόνα πλαζόμεν’
αἰεὶ).

γαλέης κίνδυνον ἀλύξας: Psicharpax’s escape from a weasel is not

wholly necessary to the story, but it facilitates the introduction of the
two worst mouse-antagonists in the fabulist tradition: frogs and
“weasels. (See, for example, Aesop Fab. 239: Ποτὲ δὲ γαλαῖ ἐμάχοντο
πρὸς μύας κατατροποῦσαι αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀναιροῦσαι. “Once the weasels
fought against the mice, turning them to flight and seizing them.”)
Moreover, Psicharpax’s recent escape from death heightens the pathos
of his “accidental” drowning.

ἀλύξας: Adrados (1998: 385–6) isolates an initial use of participle as

characteristic of fables (and cites this line specifically).

διψαλέος: “thirsty” cf. English dipsomania. During a reading of this

commentary, William C. Shrout has suggested that this should be
70 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

compared to the snake in Nicander’s Theriaca (φωλειοῦ λοχάδην ὑπὸ

γωλεὰ διψὰς ἰαύῃ, 125).

γαλέης: “Weasel or Cat”; LSJ Greek Lexicon defines γαλέη as “a name

given to various animals of the weasel kind, weasel, marten, polecat, or
foumart.” Glei (ad loc.) suggests that the meaning of γαλέη is unclear,
meaning either “weasel” or “cat.” The modern sense would naturally
incline to the selection of the cat as the mouse’s natural enemy, but this
would be anachronistic. The evidence strongly suggests that the animal
in question here is, in fact, a weasel. Ludwich, in his commentary (ad
loc.) explains that the confusion of the weasel and the cat was a product
of the scholiasts in late antiquity and later interpreters of the poem;
indeed, he notes that lexical appearances of “cats” as we know them are
not easy to find before the fourth century ce . In ancient Greece, weasels
(probably closer to our ferret) were commonly domesticated and used
for rodent control. Cats (Gr. αἴλουρος, “cat,” felix domesticus whence
our ailourophobia, “fear of cats”) became more common during the
Hellenistic period and later; it is clear from the language and literature
that weasels fulfilled their cultural (and poetic) roles. The overlap
between the function of the animals leads to confusion: sometimes the
word for weasel (γαλέη, galea) may actually indicate a cat. Cats appear
in Greek imagery as early as the sixth century bce ; they are still paired
with weasels by the time of Plutarch (first Century ce ) and gatta
appears in Greek by the fifth century ce . For Greek and Roman
domesticated pets, see Lazenby 1949.

The Vitae Aesopi (both G and W) have αἴλουρος for the animal we
would recognize as a cat. The domestic weasel appears to have been
smaller than the wild one. The physician Philumenus (date uncertain)
describes the shrew as <ἡ> μυγαλῆ ἀπεικάζεται μὲν κατὰ τὴν χρόαν
τῇ κατοικιδίῳ γαλῇ, κατὰ δὲ τὸ μέγεθος μυί, ὅθεν καὶ σύνθετον τὸ
ὄνομα ἔχει. “The shrew is compared in its skin to the domestic weasel,
but in its size to the mouse, from which it derives its compound
name.” (Philumenus, de venenatis animalibus eorumque remediis, 33.1.)
 Commentary 71

Herodotus, in describing the wild animals of Libya (His. 4.192),

proceeds immediately from the discussion of mice to the discussion of
wild weasels. Strabo (Geog. 3.2.6) explains that Libyan weasels were
used specifically for driving hole-dwelling animals out of their abodes.
This is in accordance with the description which Troxartes later gives in
the BM (lines 113–114) of the death of one of his sons. Cf. Phaedrus
1.24, 1 for a similar use for the domesticated weasel.

10 ἐν λίμνῃ: “in the pond, marsh”; with πλησίον the action seems
overdetermined. The choice of water-body may have some conventional
connection with frogs in the fifth century bce and later. The word λίμνη
has fairly extensive meanings: it refers to several different bodies of
water, including lakes, ponds, swamps, and marshes. The parodist Matro
even uses it to refer to the sea. Bliquez (1977) notes that this may be a
reference to the Athenian neighborhood ἐν Λίμναις (his conjecture has
not gained wide acceptance.)

λίχνον: “Greedy.” This is not an epic word; its earliest attestation is Eur.,
Hip. 913 (ἡ γὰρ ποθοῦσα πάντα καρδία κλύειν / κἀν τοῖς κακοῖσι λίχνος
οὖσ’ ἁλίσκεται). Note the alliteration πλησίον ἐν λίμνῃ λίχνον followed
by the near homoioteleuton (quasi-rhyming) between the syllable end
after λίχνον and the line final γένειον. The repeated L-sounds could be
meant to mimic the sound of drinking.

γένειον: “Chin”; Homeric, often at the end of a line; cf. Il. 24.516
(οἰκτίρων πολιόν τε κάρη πολιόν τε γένειον).

11 τερπόμενος: “taking pleasure in.” In the active this verb means “to
cause delight.” In the middle it is the intransitive (quasi-reflexive).
Achilles is described at Iliad 9.187: τὸν δ’ εὗρον φρένα τερπόμενον
φόρμιγγι λιγείῃ. Similarly so in the Odyssey, Odysseus is afforded the
chance to delight in the song of the Sirens (12.52): ὄφρα κε τερπόμενος
ὄπ’ ἀκούσῃς Σειρήνοιϊν.

μελιηδέϊ: “honey-sweet”; usually of wine, see Il. 4.346, 18.345; and grain
(10.569) and fruit (18.568) but also of sleep: Od. 19.551.
72 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

12 λιμνόχαρις: “pond-loving”; this epithet occurs only in the BM .

Similar compounds are readily formed in early Greek poetry. Cf. the
daughters of Nereus in Hesiod’s Theogony (240–63; e.g. “Wave-swift”
Κυμοθόη, 245; “Sea-conveyer” Ποντοπόρεια, 256; and “Sandy”
Ποντοπόρεια, 257). Ludwich records conjectures λιμνοκράτης or
λιμνοκράτωρ in place of λιμνόχαρις.

πολύφημος: “very famous”; “much known.” This epithet may recall the
Cyclops of the Odyssey (see Sens 2005: 241–2); on that ground, this
reading is to be preferred over the comparatively flat πολύφωνος.
However, it is possible that an editor or copyist inserted the famous
reference. However, see line 19, where Physignathos was fathered by
Πηλεύς (“Muddy,” and not the famous father of Achilles). This suggests
that the incorporation of famous Homeric character names in novel ways
is part of the parody’s general poetic program. In addition (Sens 2005),
the contexts of the BM and the Odyssey may have humorous apposition:
Like the Cyclops, the frog is a water-boundried creature whose way of life
threatens the protagonist. Diogenianus, the late paroemiographer,
informs us that the frogs of Seriphos were silent: Βάτραχος Σερίφιος: ἐπὶ
τῶν ἀφώνων. Οἱ γὰρ ἐν Σερίφῳ βάτραχοι οὐ φθέγγονται.

ἔπος δ’ ἐφθέγξατο τοῖον: “He uttered this kind of speech.” A rather

un-Homeric speech-introduction. The word epos occurs in speech
introduction (e.g. Il. 1.361; 3.198); as does φθέγγω at Od. 21.192
(φθεγξάμενός σφ’ ἐπέεσσι προσηύδα μειλιχίοισι; cf. Od. 14.292), and
Il. 21.123 (ἀνέρι εἰσάμενος, βαθέης δ’ ἐκ φθέγξατο δίνης) where it falls
in the same position. But the combination ἔπος. . .τοῖον is odd. On
speech introductions as a feature of oral-composition, see Edwards
1970 and Riggsby 1992. See also the note on line 8. Camerotto (1992:
14) compares this line to Non. Dion. 4.601 (παρθενικὴ δὲ πιοῦσα τόσην
ἐφθέγξατο φωνήν) and Moschus 2.134 (ἀμφί ἑ παπτήνασα τόσην
ἀνενείκατο φωνήν). The use of forms of τοῖος shifts the narrative into a
less literal mode. Perhaps the suggestion is that no human could know
exactly what a frog or mouse said, and therefore the author will not
attempt to give a literal transcription, but will fashion the speeches so as
to suit the speaker and occasion.
 Commentary 73

13 Ξεῖνε τίς εἶ; πόθεν ἦλθες ἐπ’ ἠϊόνας; τίς ὁ φύσας; “Who are you
and where are you from and who are you parents” is formulaic, see
Od. 3.71 (=9.242: ὦ ξεῖνοι, τίνες ἐστέ; πόθεν πλεῖθ’ ὑγρὰ κέλευθα) and
14.187 (τίς πόθεν εἰς ἀνδρῶν; πόθι τοι πόλις ἠδὲ τοκῆες;). These lines
may have become proverbial: Seneca the Younger has the deceased
emperor Claudius quoting the Odyssey at Apocolocyntosis 5.

φύσας: “who sowed you?” (i.e. “who is your father”); Glei (119) notes
that this is not epic usage, though it is common in tragedy. This suggests
a date of composition subsequent to the fifth century bce . The phrase
was likely selected for the wordplay with Φυσίγναθος.

14 ἀλήθευσον: This verb does not appear in Homer. However, see

Plato, Rep. 413.a.6: ἢ οὐ τὸ μὲν ἐψεῦσθαι τῆς ἀληθείας κακόν, τὸ δὲ
ἀληθεύειν ἀγαθόν; ἢ οὐ τὸ τὰ ὄντα δοξάζειν ἀληθεύειν δοκεῖ σοι εἶναι;
(“Doesn’t it seem right to you that it is wrong to be deceived of the
truth, but right to hear it? And isn’t it that case that to discuss this as
they really are is to speak the truth?”). For the sentiment, however,
consider the repeated line ἀλλ’ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως
κατάλεξον (“Come, tell me this and tell it all to me truly,” e.g. Od. 4.486)
or Od. 15.263 (εἰπέ μοι εἰρομένῳ νημερτέα μηδ’ ἐπικεύσῃς. “Tell me
truly what I have asked and don’t hide it”).

μὴ ψευδόμενόν σε νοήσω: “so that I may not know you are a liar.”
Negative purpose clause with a future: μή alone can signal a purpose
clause (like Latin ne) see Smyth §2193.

ψευδόμενον: “Liar”; more as a simple substantive than subordinating

participle.

νοήσω: This form ends the line four times in the Iliad. The future
indicative may appear in purpose clauses, see Smyth §2203. But there is
morphological ambiguity between the aorist subjunctive and future
indicative.

15 εἰ γάρ σε γνοίην φίλον ἄξιον ἐς δόμον ἄξω· Future more vivid

with an optative protasis with εἰ. See Smyth §2359.
74 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

γνοίην: First person aorist optative of γιγνώσκω.

ἄξιον ἐς δόμον ἄξω: Camerotto (1992: 15) compares the phrase to

Od. 18.328 (. . .ἐς δόμον ἐλθών) and notes that 119 (ἐς βυθὸν ἄξας) in
this poem is an ironic interplay with this line. Such variation, according
to Camerotto, indicates a literary origin. The use of ἄξιον. . .ἄξω is
more than an idle pun. The adjective ἄξιος means “worthy” by a general
extension of its original verbal significance, “weighing down the
scale.” This latter meaning can be traced back to a very specific use of
ἄγω, to “draw down in the scales. . .” (See LSJ, definition VI .) The pun
may foreshadow Psicharpax’s fate in drowning. Indeed, a suspicious
reader might suspect that Physignathus intends the mouse harm all
along.

16 δῶρα δέ τοι δώσω: Cognate accusatives are common in early

Greek poetry (see Od. 4.589: καὶ τότε σ’ εὖ πέμψω, δώσω δέ τοι ἀγλαὰ
δῶρα. “And then I will send you off well and I will give you glorious
gifts.”).

ξεινήϊα: For “guest-gifts.” Homer offers a shortened form (e.g. Od.

9.517. . .ἵνα τοι πὰρ ξείνια θείω) but this neuter plural appears five times
in the Iliad and the Odyssey (e.g. 24.273) and twice in this metrical
position (Il. 4.33; 24.273).

πολλὰ καὶ ἐσθλά: Hendiadys: “many fine guest-gifts.” The pairing

appears in this position seven times in the Iliad and Odyssey (e.g.
Od. 2.312).

17 βασιλεύς: “king, lord.” In Homer, most heroes are also basileis,

that is, leaders of their community. Nowhere in the Iliad and the
Odyssey does any hero introduce himself as basileus. Surely the
unfolding phrase (“I am I, King Physignathos. . .”) would sound
especially humorous to those steeped in the epic tradition. For the
semantic range of basileus and kingship before the Archaic Age, see
Drews 1983; for distinctions between basileus and wanax, cf. Palaima
1995.
 Commentary 75

The issue of kingship among the frogs (and their inability to select a
leader) is a topic in Aesop’s Fables, 44: βάτραχοι λυπούμενοι ἐπὶ τῇ
ἑαυτῶν ἀναρχίᾳ πρέσβεις ἔπεμψαν πρὸς τὸν Δία δεόμενοι βασιλέα
αὐτοῖς παρασχεῖν. ὁ δὲ συνιδὼν αὐτῶν τὴν εὐήθειαν ξύλον εἰς τὴν
λίμνην καθῆκε. καὶ οἱ βάτραχοι τὸ μὲν πρῶτον καταπλαγέντες τὸν
ψόφον εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς λίμνης ἐνέδυσαν, ὕστερον δέ, ὡς ἀκίνητον
ἦν τὸ ξύλον, ἀναδύντες εἰς τοσοῦτο καταφρονήσεως ἦλθον ὡς καὶ
ἐπιβαίνοντες αὐτῷ ἐπικαθέζεσθαι. ἀναξιοπαθοῦντες δὲ τοιοῦτον ἔχειν
βασιλέα ἧκον ἐκ δευτέρου πρὸς τὸν Δία καὶ τοῦτον παρεκάλουν
ἀλλάξαι αὐτοῖς τὸν ἄρχοντα. τὸν γὰρ πρῶτον λίαν εἶναι νωχελῆ.
καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς ἀγανακτήσας κατ’ αὐτῶν ὕδραν αὐτοῖς ἔπεμψεν, ὑφ’ ἧς
συλλαμβανόμενοι κατησθίοντο.

“The frogs, distressed by the anarchy prevailing among them, sent

ambassadors to Zeus asking him to give them a king. He took note of
their silliness and threw down a piece of wood into the pond. The frogs,
terrified at first by the loud sound, submerged themselves in the depths
of the pond. Later, when the piece of wood was still, they came back
up and rose to such a height of insolence that they mounted the wood
and perched upon it. Deeming this king unworthy of them, they sent
messengers to Zeus, asking him to change their king, because the first
one was too lazy. Zeus was irritated by this, so he sent them a snake as
king, by whom they were all snatched up and eaten.”

λίμνην: “pond.” See above, note 10.

18 τιμῶμαι: Contract of τιμα-ομαι. Honor, timê, is an important

indication of the social esteem held by heroes in Homer. See Wilson
2002.

ἡγούμενος: “leader”; a present participle likely functioning as a simple

substanative, i.e. “I am honored as leader of the frogs.”

ἤματα πάντα: “for all time” common formula for “forever.” Cf. Il. 8.539
(“I would be deathless and ageless for all days”; εἴην ἀθάνατος καὶ
ἀγήρως ἤματα πάντα).
76 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

19 Πηλεύς: “Mudman”; sounds like Achilles’ father, Peleus. Using

Achilles’ patronym in an unexpected way may be a trope of parody. The
parodist Euboeus is said by Athenaeus to have written in the Battle of
the Bathmen (τῆς τῶν βαλανέων μάχης) when a potter argues with a
barber over a woman “don’t you, though so noble, rob this man, nor you,
son of Peleus” (μήτε σὺ τόνδ’ ἀγαθός περ ἐὼν ἀποαίρεο, κουρεῦ, / μήτε
σύ, Πηλείδη (Deipn. 699b). The frog here may also be positioned as an
Achilles-character as a child of water-based mother (see “Watermistress,”
below) and as someone who excels all others (see ἔξοχον ἄλλων). Most
(1993: 38–9) sees the rivalry between Achilles and the Iliad, on the one
hand, with Odysseus and the Odyssey on the other, as possibly played
out through the mouse and frog. For the meeting of the frog and mouse
as echoing the meeting of Odysseus with the Cyclops, see Sens 2005:
237–44.

ἀνεθρέψατο: There is a variant ποτ’ εγείνατο. The form ἀνεθρέψατο

does not occur in Homer, but the variant occurs in the same position at
Od. 1.233, 4.13, and 21.172. In such cases, however, the mother is the
subject of the verb εγείνατο.

Ὑδρομεδούσῃ: “Watermistress.”

20 μιχθεὶς ἐν φιλότητι: Lit: “after mingling in love,” the typical idiom

for “having sex” (cf. Il. 2.232; Th. 823 for this position). Describing
one’s own conception, however, is more typical of the genealogical
descriptions to be found in Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns. Cf. Hom.
Hymn to Hermes where the god is born, creates the lyre and then sings
of how Zeus and Maia conceived him (58–9). The mixing of heroic and
hymnic registers would probably be clear to ancient audiences.

παρ’ ὄχθας ᾿Ηριδανοῖο: The textual tradition provides ὠκεανοῖο as an

alternative to ᾿Ηριδανοῖο. The geographic location provides extra flavor.
(Yet, the variant is grander.) The Eridanos is not known to Homer, but
Glei (ad loc.) notes that in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods 25.3, the water
of the Eridanos became warmer after Phaethon fell into it. A scholiast
suggests that this makes it optimal for frog-breeding. The identification
 Commentary 77

of this location with a stream in Athens may serve to localize the poem
in an Attic tradition; see Bliquez 1977: 20.

21 καλόν: Both here and at line 162, the alpha of καλόν must be taken
as long in order to resolve the scansion of the line. For the line’s
sentiment, consider Achilles’ words to Lykaon in the Iliad: “don’t you see
what kind of a man I am, both good-looking and large?” (οὐχ ὁράᾳς
οἷος καὶ ἐγὼ καλός τε μέγας τε; Il. 21.108)

ἔξοχον ἄλλων: “beyond the rest.” This phrase occurs only in line-final
position in the Iliad, six times (6.194, 9.631, 9.641, 13.499, 17.358,
20.184) and three times in the Odyssey, (5.118, 6.158, 19.247).

22 σκηπτοῦχον: “scepter-bearing.” Three classes of people hold the

σκῆπτρον in Homer: kings, priests, and heralds. Agamemnon threatens
Chryses by suggesting that his heraldic scepter will not avail him against
regal rage: μή νύ τοι οὐ χραίσμῃ σκῆπτρον καὶ στέμμα θεοῖο· (Il. 1.28).
Later, while reproaching Agamemnon, Achilles swears by his own
scepter: ναὶ μὰ τόδε σκῆπτρον (Il. 1.234).

μαχητήν: “warrior” from μαχητής; in this position, see Il. 16.186

(Εὔδωρον πέρι μὲν θείειν ταχὺν ἠδὲ μαχητήν). The combination of
scepter-bearing king and warrior (with adjectives from the prior line) is
parodic: the frog appears to be comparing the mouse to a king (like
Agamemnon) and a warrior (like Achilles).

Lines 22–3 are omitted by some MSS . See on line 27, as well as the
speech of Troxartes in 110–20. Accepting these lines as interpolations
requires a thematic balancing to establish Psicharpax’s status among the
mice. This may be the only place in which he is assigned royal lineage.

23 ἔμμεναι: Epic lengthened infinitive for εἶναι, postponed somewhat

harshly from the indirect statement initiated at line 21 (καὶ σὲ δ᾿
ὁρῶ. . .). Cf. Hes. Works and Days, 272: ἔμμεναι, εἰ μείζω γε δίκην
ἀδικώτερος ἕξει.

ἑήν: Homeric reflexive possessive pronoun: “his own.”

78 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

ἀγόρευε: Homer does not use this verb for genealogical explication; in
most instances, it refers to communication of plans or counsels, or
alternatively the interpretation of omens. The parodist likely uses the
verb to mark the frog’s bombastic and elevated style.

24 Ψιχάρπαξ: Note the abrupt introduction the name of Psiparchax

(“crumbsnatcher”) before he reveals it in line 27.

ἀπαμείβετο φώνησέν τε: basically just “answer”; a typical formula in

Homer. See Od. 7.298 (ἀπαμείβετο φώνησέν τε); cf. Il. 20.199. For
typical answering formulas in Homer, see Edwards 1969.

25 τίπτε: τί, “why?”. This line may recall the exchange between Glaukos
and Diomedes in the Iliad. (See Glei 1984: 124; Fusillo 1988: 92–3; and
Sens 2005: 235–7.) The two meet in the midst of battle and the latter has
been warned not to attack any more gods (he wounded Aphrodite in
book 5). Diomedes asks Glaukos his name and his parentage and
Glaukos responds “son of Tydeus, why do you ask me my family
history?” (Τυδεΐδη μεγάθυμε τί ἢ γενεὴν ἐρεείνεις; 6.145).

τοὐμόν: τὸ ἐμόν

ζητεῖς: This usage is un-Homeric. In Homer, the verb describes concrete

action of actual pursuit, rather than the metaphorical “pursuit” of
questioning. See Il. 14.258:. . . ἐμὲ δ’ ἔξοχα πάντων / ζήτει. More
commonly, Homer would employ a word such as ἐρεείνεις. Consider
Il.6.145: Τυδεΐδη μεγάθυμε τί ἢ γενεὴν ἐρεείνεις;

The oldest MSS read τὸ δ’ ἄσημον ἅπασιν in place of δῆλον δ’ ἐν

ἅπασιν. The older reading fails to render the proper sense: Psicharpax
would hardly be surprised that Physignathos must ask his name if it
were indeed undistinguished among all. On this basis, Ludwich
conjectured εὔσημον in place of ἄσημον.

26 οὐρανίοις πετεηνοῖς: “flying things in the sky”; periphrasis for

birds. cf. Hes. Works and Days 277: ἰχθύσι μὲν καὶ θηρσὶ καὶ οἰωνοῖς
πετεηνοῖς. The adjective in epic is more often associated with divine
 Commentary 79

creatures. E.g. Il. 17.195 (Πηλεΐδεω ᾿Αχιλῆος ἅ οἱ θεοὶ οὐρανίωνες) and

is thus likely humorous here.

27 κικλήσκομαι: “I am called”; common in Homer with an iterative

sense—cf. “My name is Nobody: my mother and father and all the
rest of my companions call me Nobody” Οὖτις ἐμοί γ’ ὄνομα· Οὖτιν
δέ με κικλήσκουσι / μήτηρ ἠδὲ πατὴρ ἠδ’ ἄλλοι πάντες ἑταῖροι.’
(Od. 9.366–7).

εἰμὶ δὲ κοῦρος: Not the most common word for “son” in Homer (ὑίος).
But kourê is frequently used for daughters (cf. Il. 1.98: πρίν γ’ ἀπὸ πατρὶ
φίλῳ δόμεναι ἑλικώπιδα κούρην).

The use of κοῦρος is jarring after hearing from Physignathos in line 22

that Psicharpax was manifestly a sceptre-bearing king and warrior
in battle; the semantic range of κοῦρος extends from infancy to late
adolescence, but it does not seem to have been used as a generic
substitute for ὑιός. This may be intentionally absurd; more likely, it
lends some support to the omission of lines 22–3. (See also the 110–20,
where no mention is made of Psicharpax’s royalty.) Indeed, the possibly
interpolated lines at 22–3 provide the only hint that Psicharpax is the
king of the mice. It is possible Psicharpax’s royal lineage was introduced
to create parity with Physignathos.

28 Τρωξάρταο: This masculine genitive singular in -αο occurs

nearly 200 times in the Iliad (see Janko 2012: 29) for an occurence
rate of 1:80 lines. In the BM , it only occurs again with the same word,
for a ratio of 1:151 (compare the Hymn to Demeter which shows a ratio
of 1:124).

μεγαλήτορος: “Great-hearted,” common in Homer. See Il.2.547 (δῆμον

᾿Ερεχθῆος μεγαλήτορος, ὅν ποτ’ ᾿Αθήνη).

29 Λειχομύλη: “Millstone licker” (λείχω + μύλη); The mice are,

in general, given names which hint at their inclination to eating.
Compounds in Λειχ- (cp. English “lick”) occur in three mouse names:
80 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Λειχομύλη, Λειχοπίναξ, and Λειχήνωρ. Not dissimilar is the naming of

Phaiakians: the sea-faring people have a princess named Nausikaa
(“excelling in ships” or “ship-burner”) and forebears like Nausithoos
(“swift-ship,” cf. Od. 6.7).

Πτερνοτρώκτου: “Hamnibbler” (Πτέρνα + τρώκτος, verbal adjective

from τρώγω). Πτέρνα is a mock-epic form adapted from Lat. perna. See
LSJ s.v. Forms occur at 29, 37, 224. The parodist Matro uses κωλή
(κωλῆν δ’ ὡς ἔιδον, ὡς ἔτρεμον (Ξ 294)· ἐν δὲ σίναπυ). Jackob
Wackernagel (1916) identifies the repeated use of πτέρν- compounds
throughout the poem as evidence for a later date. As Wackernagel
points out, this use of πτέρνα is entirely unattested in Greek literature
prior to the BM . The equivalent perna, however, was in common use
among Latin authors c. third century bce .

30 γείνατο: from γίγνομαι; cf. ln. 19. which has ποτ’ ἐγείνατο as an
alternative to ἀνεθρέψατο. The preference of ποτ’ ἐγείνατο in 19 is
supported by the reading here.

ἐν καλύβῃ: “hidey-hole,” cf. kaluptô, “hide.” This word does not appear
to be used before Thucydides. In later Greek, this term can also mean a
shelter made of branches.

βρωτοῖς: Glei (ad loc.) suggests that this word is suspect because it
effectively doubles the sense of line 31. However, there is no prima facie
reason for suspecting a word solely because of redunancy. In Homer,
βρῶσις is preferred.

31 σύκοις καὶ καρύοις: “figs and nuts.”

ἐδέσμασι παντοδαποῖσιν: “all kinds of treats”; ἐδέσμα is not found

as early as Homer. It rises in popularity in the fourth century bce
(appearing in Xenophon and Aristotle). Forms appear in Aesop’s
Fabulae as well. The adjective παντοδαποῖσιν is also not typical, but it
appears in one fragment of Sappho (152). The mouse expatiates on his
diet and may recall some of the excessive consumption used to
characterize figures in comedy. For this phrase, cf. Matro of Pitane’s “all
 Commentary 81

kinds of food” (εἴδατα πάντα). For an exploration of the use of food in

Attic comedy, see Wilkins 2000.

32 φίλον ποιῇ: Deliberative subjunctive using the second person

(relatively rare, see Smyth §1805b). The abstract use of ποίειν is un-
Homeric. It is also highly irregular to see φίλον used as a substantive in
this way.

τόν: Functions here as a relative with με as its antecedent: “When I am

not the same in nature.”

φύσιν: “Nature, character.” This is non-Homeric; phúsis seems to draw

on later scientific and philosophical treatments. Cf. Aesch., Suppl. 496:
μορφῆς δ’ οὐχ ὁμόστολος φύσις. Alternatively, the sense may simply
mean “form.” Cf. Aesop, Fab. 50: καὶ ἡ θεὸς ἀγανακτήσασα κατ’ αὐτῆς
πάλιν αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν ἀρχαίαν φύσιν ἀποκατέστησεν. “The goddess
was irritated with her, and changed her back to her original form.”
The central point of this fable was that the weasel, though changed in
appearance, did not change in nature or inner character (described in
the fable as tropon); this occasions Aphrodite’s anger, leading her to
change the weasel back to its original form (φύσιν). If the BM shares
substantial lexical similarities with the fabulist tradition, this passage
may help to properly explain the exact force of φύσιν here.

ὁμοῖον: “The same”; Homeric poetry uses this word to express equality
more than similarity. Cf. Il. 2.553–4: τῷ δ’ οὔ πώ τις ὁμοῖος ἐπιχθόνιος
γένετ’ ἀνὴρ / κοσμῆσαι ἵππους τε καὶ ἀνέρας ἀσπιδιώτας·

33 σοί: dative of possession with βίος.

βίος: This abstract use of βίος, “way/mode of life,” is characteristic of

later Greek thought but evident already in Hesiod; e.g. Works and Days,
42: Κρύψαντες γὰρ ἔχουσι θεοὶ βίον ἀνθρώποισιν.

ἐν ὕδασιν: “your life is in the water.” Homer does not use plural forms of
ὕδωρ. Apollonius Rhodes does, see 3.876: οἵη δέ, λιαροῖσιν ἐν ὕδασι
Παρθενίοιο.
82 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

αὐτὰρ ἔμοιγε: The combination ἔμοιγε ends lines in Homer and αὐτὰρ
often appears in the penultimate position; this particular combination
does not occur.

34 ὅσσα: ὅσα, lengthened for metrical reasons. See the introduction.

ἔθος: Does not occur in Homer. The use of ethos + infinitive seems
comparatively late. Cf. Dem., Adversus Leptinem 40.2.

λήθει: From λανθάνω. In Homeric usage, this verb does not mean to
evade or escape literally. It often signifies that a thing or person will not
escape someone’s mind or notice. Cf. Il. 23.323-5 αἰεὶ τέρμ’ ὁρόων
στρέφει ἐγγύθεν, οὐδέ ἑ λήθει. ὅππως τὸ πρῶτον τανύσῃ βοέοισιν
ἱμᾶσιν. This, combined with the comment of Physignathos at line 57,
provides an excellent characterization of Psicharpax, begun in line 10,
where he is described as having a likhnon geneion, a gluttonous mouth.
It is perhaps significant that the king of mice is described as voracious
and greedy in an oral sense, in contrast to the king of the frogs, who
swells at the jaw for another reason (his croaking and bombast!).

35 ἄρτος τρισκοπάνιστος: “thrice-kneaded bread” (τρίς + κοπανίζω),

a hapax legomenon; also available is δυσκοπάνιστος (“ill-kneaded
bread”; cf. Glei and Wölke ad loc.).

ἀπ’ εὐκύκλου κανέοιο: “well-woven basket.” The adjective eukuklos

modifies shields in the Iliad (5.453) and wagons/chariots in the Odyssey
(cf. 6.58). The use of this adjective for basket is certainly mock-heroic.
The combination of martial language and bread perhaps recalls lines
like those of Archilochus fr. 2: “My kneaded bread is in my spear /
Ismarian wine is in my spear / and I drink while leaning on my spear”
(ἐν δορὶ μέν μοι μᾶζα μεμαγμένη, ἐν δορὶ δ’ οἶνος / ᾿Ισμαρικός· πίνω δ’
ἐν δορὶ κεκλιμένος). Where Archilochus subverts by mixing martial
and sympotic language, the parodist applies epic diction to more
mundane objects.

κανέοιο: -οιο an Archaic genitive singular. The uncontracted κανέοιο

occurs in the Odyssey in connection too with bread: Od. 17.343-344:
 Commentary 83

ἄρτον τ’ οὖλον ἑλὼν περικαλλέος ἐκ κανέοιο / καὶ κρέας, ὥς οἱ χεῖρες

ἐχάνδανον ἀμφιβαλόντι·

36 πλακοῦς: “flat-cake.” This was often offered as part of a sacrifice or

simple sacrifices to gods. In his parody, Matro of Pitane is stuffed but
cannot refuse the proffered cakes: “When I saw entering the baked child
of Demeter, that cake, how could I then hold back from the divine
cake?” (Δήμητρος παῖδ’ ὀπτὸν ἐπεισελθόντα πλακοῦντα / πῶς ἂν ἔπειτα
πλακοῦντος ἐγὼ θείου ἀπεχοίμην, 117–18).

τανύπεπλος: “flowing-robed,” often used of female characters in Homer;

here, probably humorous in describing the cake.

σησαμότυρον: “sesame-cheese.” The sesame-cake was sometimes part

of a wedding feast in Athens. See Aristophanes’ Peace 869: ὁ πλακοῦς
πέπεπται, σησαμῆ ξυμπλάττεται.

37 οὐ τόμος ἐκ πτέρνης: “slice of ham”; τόμος is from τέμνω, “to cut.”

In referring to food, τόμος was common in Old and Middle Comedy.
See Alexis fr. 1 (Χορδαρίου τόμος ἧκε καὶ περίκομμά τι); Eubulus,
fr. 15.7 (νενωγάλισται σεμνὸς ἀλλᾶντος τόμος); and Cratinus fr. 192
(ὡς λεπτός, ἦ δ’ ὅς, ἔσθ’ ὁ τῆς χορδῆς τόμος). Cf. Pherecrates fr. 45.5
and Mnesimachus fr. 4.14.

πτέρνης: “Ham”; mock-epic form adapted from Lat. perna. See LSJ s.v.
See above on line 29.

οὐχ ἥπατα λευκοχίτωνα: “white-girded liver”: another humorous

application of feminine clothing to food. Cf. πλακοῦς τανύπεπλος, 36.
The adjective is probably late.

38 νεόπηκτος: “Newly-curdled”; πήγνυμι can mean “to make chesse

by curdling milk” on the parallel of stiffening limbs or materials. See
LSJ s.v. III . This compound is also rather late.

ἀπὸ γλυκεροῖο γάλακτος: “from sweet-milk.” This combination occurs

in the Odyssey (τυροῦ καὶ κρειῶν οὐδὲ γλυκεροῖο γάλακτος, 4.88).
84 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

39 οὐ χρηστὸν μελίτωμα: “wholesome honey-cake.” A scholiast to

Aristophanes’ Knights 345 cites this line: “For we call a treat ‘wholesome’
when it is well-made” (χρηστὸν γὰρ ἔδεσμα καλοῦμεν τὸ εὖ ἠρτυμένον.
καὶ ῞Ομηρος “οὐ χρηστὸν μελίτωμα, τὸ καὶ μάκαρες ποθέουσιν”).

40 οὐδ’ ὅσα πρὸς θοίνας: “However much the cooks prepare for a
feast.” Typically πρός + accusative denotes motion, but it can indicate
general relation to or for, as in purpose, see Smyth §1695.3b.

μερόπων: “mortals”; on this adjective, see above on line 5.

μάγειροι: “cooks,” popular figures in comedy and post-classical Greek

but extant as early as Herodotus (6.60.2). For cooks in parody, cf. Matro
fr. 1.8 (τῷ δὲ μάγειροι μὲν φόρεον πλῆσάν τε τραπέζας).

41 κοσμοῦντες χύτρας: “arranging/seasoning the dishes.” The active

of kosméô is not extant in Homer in participle form. The passive
κοσμηθέντες occurs in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.

ἀρτύμασι παντοδαποῖσιν: “every kind of dressing/spice.” See line 31

(ἐδέσμασι παντοδαποῖσιν) above.

42–53: These lines are omitted by our oldest MSS but are part of the
Prosodia Byzantina (metrically problematic lines whose interpolation is
dated to the Byzantine period). Fusillo 1988 argues there are good
reasons to consider all of these lines inserted in the twelfth century.
Lines 44, 45, and 47 are ametrical. We have included the lines for their
stylistic difference and interest. The content is obviously satirical and a
break from the culinary catalogue. Although the speech returns to the
subject of food after at line 54, this contested section adds a “heroic”
aspect to the characterization of Crumbthief. Martial language with
Iliadic flavoring is prominent in this section.

42 ἀπέφυγον: An Attic form. ἀπὸ does not occur in compounds with

φεύγω in Homer.

πτολέμοιο: πολέμου; the form is Homeric, e.g. Il. 7.232 (καὶ πολέες·
ἀλλ’ ἄρχε μάχης ἠδὲ πτολέμοιο). In the non-Byzantine segments,
 Commentary 85

however, the parodist prefers the other form: e.g. 123: καὶ τοὺς μέν ῥ’
ἐκόρυσσεν ῎Αρης πολέμοιο μεμηλώς, which is an adaptation of a
Homeric formula (13.469: βῆ δὲ μετ’ ᾿Ιδομενῆα μέγα πτολέμοιο
μεμηλώς). Both spellings coexist in Homer. In this context, however,
πτολέμοιο is likely a hyperarchaism.

ἀϋτήν: “Battle cry”; the language clearly draws on martial Homeric

passages.

43 μετὰ μῶλον: “into the fray,” often in the phrase “fray of Ares”
(μῶλον ῎Αρηος, 18.134). For this phrase, with the verb “to go,” cf. Il.
18.188 πῶς τὰρ ἴω μετὰ μῶλον).

προμάχοισιν ἐμίχθην: “I have mixed among the forefighters” the

sentiment is Iliadic, see 4.354: “[You will see] the dear father of
Telemachus mixing among the forefighters” (Τηλεμάχοιο φίλον πατέρα
προμάχοισι μιγέντα) and 13.642 for the combination with the participle
(αὐτὸς δ’ αὖτ’ ἐξ αὖτις ἰὼν προμάχοισιν ἐμίχθη).

44 ἄνθρωπον οὐ δέδια καί περ μέγα σῶμα φοροῦντα: This line is

ametrical; the last three feet scan well for dactylic hexameter (περ μέγα
σῶμα φοροῦντα) but the first half does not.

δέδια: Perfect of δείδω (“to fear”). Homer has δείδια (13.49) and this
poem has the lengthened περιδείδια at line 51. For δέδια, see Sophocles
Oed. Col. 1469 (δέδια τόδ’· οὐ γὰρ ἅλιον).

φοροῦντα: “bearing,” here “having” (more like ἔχοντα). For this verb
as denoting a physical attribute, cf Archestratos (fourth century bce ,
Sicily): ἤδη χρὴ γεραόν, πολιὸν σφόδρα κρᾶτα φοροῦντα (“an old man
with a very gray head,” fr. 59.2).

καί περ: This combination often signals a concessive use of the participle
and typically appear separate as at Il. 1.577 (“I will advise mother even
though she already knows herself,” μητρὶ δ’ ἐγὼ παράφημι καὶ αὐτῇ
περ νοεούσῃ). The particle περ alone can signal concession; see Smyth
§2083a.
86 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

45 ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ λέκτρον ἰὼν ἄκρον δάκτυλον δάκνω: This line is also
ametrical.

ἄκρον δάκτυλον: “finger tip” or “toe-tip.”

46 πτέρνης: “ham”; See above on line 29.

λαβόμην: This form only occurs here. In the middle, λαμβάνω means to
“keep hold of ” or “to make one’s own” and takes a genitive direct object.

καὶ οὐ πόνος ἵκανεν ἄνδρα: “no pain comes to the man.” For πόνος as
simply “pain” see Simonides fr. 15.1 (αἰῶνι δ’ ἐν παύρωι πόνος ἀμφὶ
πόνωι).

47 νήδυμος: “sweet”; a typical epithet of sleep (ὕπνος) in Homer, e.g.

Il. 14.354 “Sweet sleep went to rush to the ships of the Achaeans” (βῆ δὲ
θέειν ἐπὶ νῆας ᾿Αχαιῶν νήδυμος ῞Υπνος).

δάκνοντος ἐμεῖο: Perhaps taken as a genitive absolute (i.e. “Sweet sleep

never flees when I bite”); but the force of the preposition in ἀπέφυγεν
(see above, line 42) might take a genitive object (i.e. “Sweet sleep never
fled from my bite”).

ἐμεῖο: ἐμοῦ.

48 δύω: The passage is part of Byzantine interpolation, but it introduces

two feared opponents (the hawk and the weasel) and adds a third (a
mousetrap). It is possible that in this “mistake” the BM is alluding to
similar Homeric oversights as in the famous problem of the duals of Iliad
9 where a pair is described as going on the embassy which actually
includes three people (Odysseus, Phoinix, and Ajax; plus the two heralds).
For the ancient debate and a good overview on this, see Segal 1968. For
more recent discussions and bibliography, see Louden 2002.

τά: The article in Homer is often used as a relative, see line 32 above.

δείδια: See on 44.

πᾶσαν ἐπ’ αἶαν: αἶα (“land, earth”) is Homeric. This phrase is typical,
see Il. 23.742: (χάνδανεν, αὐτὰρ κάλλει ἐνίκα πᾶσαν ἐπ’ αἶαν).
 Commentary 87

49 κίρκον: “hawk”; in Homer the hawk is described in a simile

(Il. 17.755–759):

As a flock of starlings or jackdaws moves on,

They squawk constantly when they see a hawk coming on,
Bearing murder for the small birds.
In this way, the sons of the Achaians shrieked when they saw
Aeneas and Hector, and they lost their battle-courage.

τῶν δ’ ὥς τε ψαρῶν νέφος ἔρχεται ἠὲ κολοιῶν

οὖλον κεκλήγοντες, ὅτε προΐδωσιν ἰόντα
κίρκον, ὅ τε σμικρῇσι φόνον φέρει ὀρνίθεσσιν,
ὣς ἄρ’ ὑπ’ Αἰνείᾳ τε καὶ ῞Εκτορι κοῦροι ᾿Αχαιῶν
οὖλον κεκλήγοντες ἴσαν, λήθοντο δὲ χάρμης.

In the Odyssey, the hawk is a messenger of Apollo (15.526: κίρκος,

᾿Απόλλωνος ταχὺς ἄγγελος· ἐν δὲ πόδεσσι).

καὶ γαλέην: “weasel”; see above on line 9 for the weasel as a mouse-
antagonist.

ἄγουσιν: sc. φέρουσιν.

50 παγίδα: παγίς: “A snare, a trap” but here a “mousetrap.” Forms of

this noun appear as early as Aristophanes (Birds, 194 and 527) and
Aesop, although they refer to snares for birds. An earlier noun (πάγη)
overlaps in meaning; both derive from πήγνυμι (“to fix, fasten”). For the
Trojan Horse as a “wooden trap,” see Grk. Anth. 9.152.4 (αἴθε δ’ ᾿Επειὸς
/ κάτθανε πρὶν τεῦξαι δουρατέαν παγίδα).

στονόεσσαν: “grievous,” cf. Il. 24.721 (θρήνων ἐξάρχους, οἵ τε

στονόεσσαν ἀοιδὴν).

δολόεις: “tricky, deceptive”.

πέλε: A synonym for ἔστι. The middle form is more common in Homer.
For this form, see Il. 19.365 (τοῦ καὶ ὀδόντων μὲν καναχὴ πέλε. . .).

51 πλεῖστον: adv. “the most, especially.” This form occurs in Homer,

but not at the beginning of the line.
88 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

περιδείδια: “I really fear.” This is a Homeric form: cf. Il. 10.93 αἰνῶς γὰρ
Δαναῶν περιδείδια. . .). Cf. above on δέδια at line 44.

ἥ τις ἀρίστη: Another Homeric phrase in a familiar position. See

Il. 17.62. Here, however, the indefinite pronoun seems a bit forced.

52 τρωγλοδύνοντα: “hole-dweller.” Cf. English “troglodyte.”

ἐρεείνει: “seek out.” In Homer, this verb means more frequently “to ask,
inquire”; cf. “to seek” and “to ask” on line 25 above.

53 ῥαφάνους: “radish.”

κράμβας: “cabbage.” The cabbage was used for food and medicinal
purposes in ancient Greece. Aristotle prescribes cabbage juice as a
hangover cure (Problemata 873a–b) where in Athenaeus it is also given
to women post-partum (Deipn. 9.369=9.10 Kaibel).

κολοκύντας: “pumpkins.”

Ernesti 1764 suspects that lines 53–55 ought to come before line 40.
This would collocate all of the food discussion. However, the transition
from line 52 to the reply of Physignathos in line 57 (“You prattle on too
much about food.”) is rather abrupt.

54 οὐ σεύτλοις χλωροῖς: “pale beets.”

ἐπιβόσκομαι: “to feed on”; usually used of animals in Homer and

without the prefix.

σελίνοις: “parsley.”

55 ἐδέσματα: See above on line 31.

κατὰ λίμνην: See above on line 17.

56 μειδήσας: “Grinning,” often appears in responses to speeches in

Homer, e.g. Il. 23.555 (“So he spoke, and shining, swift-footed Achilles
grinned”; ῝Ως φάτο, μείδησεν δὲ ποδάρκης δῖος ᾿Αχιλλεὺς). This
masculine participle seems more popular in the Hellenistic period, see,
e.g. Ap. Rhodes 2.61 (ἦκα δὲ μειδήσας, οἵ οἱ παρὰ ποσσὶν ἔκειντο).
 Commentary 89

ἀντίον ηὔδα: “He responded, answered back”; a typical Homeric speech

introduction. See, Il. 3.203 (Τὴν δ’ αὖτ’ ᾿Αντήνωρ πεπνυμένος ἀντίον
ηὔδα).

57 λίην: “excessively,” adv.

αὐχεῖς: “You brag about your belly” with ἐπὶ γαστέρι. αὐχεῖς is not a
Homeric word, but it does appear in Aeschylus (Ag. 1497; cf. Eur. Her. 31
Χο. εἰ σὺ μέγ’ αὐχεῖς).

ἐπὶ γαστέρι: “on your belly” with the sense of “because of.” See Smyth
§1689.2c. This use not typical in Homer. The phrase appears in the
Odyssey (7.216: οὐ γάρ τι στυγερῇ ἐπὶ γαστέρι κύντερον ἄλλο) but the
sense there seems more one of addition or comparison (“there is
nothing more shameful beyond a belly”).

The charge that mice are gluttons is commonplace in Greek literature.

See Gr.Anth. 9.86 Παμφάγος ἑρπηστὴς κατὰ δώματα λιχνοβόρος μῦς:
“The all-eating, tidbit-munching mouse who crawls about the house.”
See also the note on line 29, above, on mouse name compounds with
Λειχ-. Also, the mouse’s character in the fabulist tradition is not
infrequently that of the “dinner host.” See, for example, the mouse and
frog fable presented in Vita Aesopi G: “ὅτε ἦν τὰ ζῷα ὁμόφωνα, μῦς
φιλιάσας βατράχῳ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ δεῖπνον καὶ εἰσήγαγεν αὐτὸν
εἰς ταμιεῖον πλούσιον πάνυ, ἐφ’ ᾧ ἦν ἄρτος, κρέας, τυρός, ἐλαῖαι,
ἰσχάδες· καί φησιν ‘ἔσθιε.’ “When animals all spoke the same language,
a mouse on friendly terms with a frog called him to dinner and led him
to his well-stocked store-room, where there was bread, meat, cheese, oil,
and fish. And he said ‘eat.’”

The enumeration of comestibles seems a stock theme in the fabulist

tradition and in comedy. However, if lines 42–52 are indeed interpolation,
we may suspect that the interpolator imported the long list of foods
precisely because of its similarity to the sorts of catalogue found in the
fables. Alternatively, the catalogue of food can be read as a parody of the
long catalogues which are typical of epic and didactic poetry.
90 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

ἔστι καὶ ἡμῖν: sc. ἔξεστι (“it is possible for us to see many wonders”) or
“we have many wonders. . .”; dative of possession with subject enjambed
in the next line.

58 θαύματ’ ἰδέσθαι: This plural (θαύματ’) does not occur in Homer

(but does in Hesiod and Homeric Hymns). For the singular with this
infinitive, see Hom. Od. 13.108: φάρε’ ὑφαίνουσιν ἁλιπόρφυρα, θαῦμα
ἰδέσθαι. The phrase-pattern may have antiquity. Cf. the plural at Hes.
Th. 834 (ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖ σκυλάκεσσιν ἐοικότα, θαύματ’ ἀκοῦσαι).

It is possible that the contrast between the frog and mice had allegorical
force for some ancient audiences. (See Most 1993 for the contrast as
an elaborate literary satire pitting proponents of the Iliad—the mice—
against those of the Odyssey—the frogs.) In this first exchange of
speeches, one might imagine an ethical allegory, namely that the two
species represent different types of sensual indulgence. The mice are
clearly stock “glutton” characters; perhaps the frogs resemble the
aesthetes described in Plato’s Republic (476b): Οἱ μέν που, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ,
φιλήκοοι καὶ φιλοθεάμονες τάς τε καλὰς φωνὰς ἀσπάζονται καὶ χρόας
καὶ σχήματα καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων δημιουργούμενα, αὐτοῦ
δὲ τοῦ καλοῦ ἀδύνατος αὐτῶν ἡ διάνοια τὴν φύσιν ἰδεῖν τε καὶ
ἀσπάσασθαι. “These are, in a way, fond of hearing and seeing, and they
gratefully embrace beautiful sounds, colors, shapes, and all sorts of
things worked up out of those things, though their minds are unable to
see and embrace the nature of beauty itself.” It may be useful to compare
this use of τὴν φύσιν with that found earlier at line 32; in Plato, the term
clearly refers to the inner “nature” of a thing, as opposed to its appearance.

59 ἀμφίβιον. . .νομήν: “amphibious realm”; lit. “a double-lived pasture.”

The “amphibious life” is rather over-elaborated over the next few lines,
which has led some (such as Ernesti 1764) to suspect the lines due to their
tautologous nature.

Κρονίων: “Son of Kronos,” Zeus, a typical epithet in this position.

60 σκιρτῆσαι κατὰ γαῖαν, ἐν ὕδασι σῶμα καλύψαι: δίδωμι (here,

ἔδωκε) often takes an infinitive (i.e. “Zeus grants that we dance upon
 Commentary 91

the earth”). But combined here with the object ἀμφίβιον. . .νομὴν
it seems a bit forced. The chiastic structure of this line (infinitive-
prepositional phrases-infinitive) is characteristic of Hellenistic play.
Note possible humorous foreshadowing in “covering the body in water”
(σῶμα καλύψαι).

γαῖαν: This lengthened form of γῆ (which also occurs at lines 84, 95, and
229) is common in early Greek poetry and identified by Janko 1982 an
archaism (indicating a later date for the text).

61 στοιχείοις: “Parts, or elements”; from στοῖχος, “row or rank.” The

meaning “parts” or “elements” is common in philosophical prose; the
noun appears colloquially as well, e.g. Aes. Fab. 32.2.9 (“The story shows
that no place, no land, no sky nor any part of the water safekeeps
murders of men,” ὁ μῦθος δηλοῖ, ὅτι τοὺς φονεῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὔτε
γῆς οὔτε ἀέρος οὔτε ὕδατος στοιχεῖον οὔτε τόπος ἄλλος φυλάττει). The
root noun was available as early as Homer, cf. “in a ranked line”
μεταστοιχί (Il. 23.358).

Many of the old MSS , including Z, omit this line altogether. See Plato
for the earliest literary attestation of the word in this way (Timaeus
48 b): . . .καὶ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν λέγομεν ἀρχὰς αὐτὰ τιθέμενοι στοιχεῖα
τοῦ παντός. . . “. . . and we call each of them beginnings, having
established that they are the elements of everything. . .” Ancient
philosophers, in particular the Milesians and other Pre-Socratics, were
much given to speculation on questions of physics and natural history;
in particular, they were fascinated by the division of the world into
στοιχεῖα, “elements.” Cf. Diogenes Laertius on the Egyptians: Τὴν δὲ
τῶν Αἰγυπτίων φιλοσοφίαν εἶναι τοιαύτην περί τε θεῶν καὶ ὑπὲρ
δικαιοσύνης. φάσκειν τε ἀρχὴν μὲν εἶναι τὴν ὕλην, εἶτα τὰ τέσσαρα
στοιχεῖα ἐξ αὐτῆς διακριθῆναι, καὶ ζῷά τινα ἀποτελεσθῆναι. (“The
philosophy of the Egyptians about the gods and justice was this. They
said that material was the beginning of everything, and from that four
elements were separated, out of which certain living things are made,”
Vit. Soph. 1.10.5.)
92 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

διττοῖς: Un-Homeric. A word such διπλόος would be more common.

Theognis has the non-Attic Δισσαί (837).

δώματα ναίειν: “to inhabit homes,” still governed by ἔδωκε, i.e. “Zeus
has granted that we inhabit. . .” Cf. Hes. Th. 303: ἔνθ’ ἄρα οἱ δάσσαντο
θεοὶ κλυτὰ δώματα ναίειν (“The gods were alloted to inhabit famous
homes”) and νῆσος δενδρήεσσα, θεὰ δ’ ἐν δώματα ναίει (“The forested
island where the goddess inhabited her home,” Od. 1.51).

μεμερισμένα: “divided” from μερίζω, “to divide.” This participle does

not occur in Homer (and is typical more of philosophy), but consider a
scholion to the Odyssey, which says of the Aethiopians: “The Aithiopians
are on the east and the west—both groups settled near the ocean. This
is why they are the ‘furthest of men’ ” (Αἰθίοπες ἀνατολικοὶ καὶ δυσμικοί.
κατοικοῦσι δὲ ἀμφότεροι πρὸς τῷ ὠκεανῷ. τούτου χάριν φησὶν
“ἔσχατοι ἀνδρῶν.” νενέμηνται, μεμερισμένοι εἰσίν, E Schol. in Od.
1.23). This gives the boast of Physignathos a comic effect by extending
his range between the real and semi-mythical worlds. Cf. line 20, where
ὠκεανοῖο is a variant of ᾿Ηριδανοῖο.

62 δαήμεναι: from δάω, a Homeric infinitive, “to learn,” often with

a genitive direct object. Cf. Il. 21.487 (εἰ δ’ ἐθέλεις πολέμοιο
δαήμεναι. . .).

εὐχερές: Lit. “ready-to-hand,” i.e. “easy.”

63 βαῖνέ. . .ἐν: ἐμβαίνω is often used with getting on ships.

ἐν νώτοισι: “on my back.” The plural is often used metaphorically for

the sea (e.g. Od. 17.146: οἵ κέν μιν πέμποιεν ἐπ’ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης.)
but this dative form appears twice for portions of meat (Il. 7.321;
Od. 14.437), and elsewhere with horses (see Theognis 249: οὐχ ἵππων
νώτοισιν ἐφήμενος·).

κράτει δέ με μήποτ’ ὀλίσθῃς: from κρατέω (imperative singular, often

confused with the 3rd person indicative κρατεῖ); “Hold me tight so you
don’t slip off ”; κράτει has no Homeric parallels but appears with a
 Commentary 93

genitive object in Sophocles (Philokt. 1292: πρότεινε χεῖρα, καὶ κράτει

τῶν σῶν ὅπλων).

64 γηθόσυνος: “happy,” a Homeric adjective, e.g. Il. 4.272 (῝Ως ἔφατ’,

᾿Ατρεΐδης δὲ παρῴχετο γηθόσυνος κῆρ). Sens (2005: 238–41) finds
complex engagement here with the Odyssey, especially book 5 and
Odysseus’ shipwreck.

ὅππως. . .εἰσαφίκηαι: Uncontracted middle aorist subjunctive from

ὰφικνέομαι (ὅππως—lengthened from ὅπως—object clause of effort).
This is a Homeric form, though rare: μὴ καὶ ὑπὲρ μοῖραν δόμον
῎Αϊδος εἰσαφίκηαι, 3.336). In Homer, object clauses may take the
subjunctive or optative where Attic might use future forms, see Smyth
§2217.

65–92 The mouse climbs on the frog’s back and is at first delighted at the
novel experience of swimming. Then, fear sets in; the frog compares
himself to Europa. And a watersnake appears! The frog dives to escape the
snake, abandoning the mouse to fate. As he dies, he appeals to the gods for
vengeance.

65 ῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη καί: A typical speech conclusion, cf. Il. 1.584 (῝Ως ἄρ’
ἔφη καὶ ἀναΐξας δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον).

ὁ δ’: The particle δέ with a noun is frequently used to signal a subject

change.

ἐδίδου: Imperfect, 3rd singular active. This form occurs once with an
augment in Homer (Od. 11.289). Cf. Il. 23.895 (Ταλθυβίῳ κήρυκι δίδου
περικαλλὲς ἄεθλον) for the form without an augment.

66 ἀπαλοῖο: Most manuscripts have τρυφεροῖο instead. Restored,

τρυφεροῖο: recalls Iliadic battle language: ἀντικρὺ δ’ ἁπαλοῖο δι’ αὐχένος
ἤλυθ’ ἀκωκή, Il.17.49.

κατ’ αὐχένος: “around, or along the neck.”

ἅμματι κούφῳ: “with a light embrace”; Some manuscripts have ἄλματι

καλῷ (“beautiful brine”).
94 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

67 ἔχαιρεν: Note the imperfect tense indicating continuing action.

τὸ πρῶτον: “At first”, adverbial accusative.

ὅρμους: “harbors”; Some manuscripts have λίμνας instead.

68 νήξει: dative singular, related to νήχω “swim”; a post-Homeric

word.

ῥα: Line-final ῥα is comparatively rare in Homer.

69 κύμασι πορφυρέοισιν: “purple or rolling waves”; a Homeric

phrase, see Il.21.326 (πορφύρεον δ’ ἄρα κῦμα διιπετέος ποταμοῖο) and
Od. 11.243 (πορφύρεον δ’ ἄρα κῦμα περιστάθη οὔρεϊ ἶσον). This
specific phrase occurs in the Homeric Hymn to Athena (κύμασι
πορφυρέοισι κυκώμενος, ἔσχετο δ’ ἅλμη, 12). Camerotto (1992: 12)
argues that this line (along with 76 below) is an equivalent formula,
evidence of literary adaptation of oral poetic conventions.

ἐκλύζετο: “he was splashed by”; used in conjunction with “waves” in

Homer, see Il. 23.61 (ἐν καθαρῷ, ὅθι κύματ’ ἐπ’ ἠϊόνος κλύζεσκον).

πολλὰ δακρύων: “weeping much”; for Homer, it is heroic to cry.

This line is probably based on δάκρυα λείβων (13.658); cf. Camerotto
(1992: 16).

70 ἄχρηστον: “useless,” from χράομαι.

μετάνοιαν: “decision, change of mind.” This is post-Homeric, fairly

common in Attic Greek and later. Cf. Thucydides’ description of the
Athenians’ repentance of their decision to destroy Mytiline: καὶ τῇ
ὑστεραίᾳ μετάνοιά τις εὐθὺς ἦν αὐτοῖς (3.36.4). Compounds with -νοια
become popular in philosophical and technical works.

ἐμέμφετο: “to reproach, find fault with,” from μέμφομαι. This verb is
found only in ἐπὶ- compounds in Homer.

τίλλε δὲ χαίτας: “he tore his hair.” Hair and clothing rending is part of a
formulaic expression of grief. See Il. 22.406 where Hecuba tears her hair
(τίλλε κόμην. . .)
 Commentary 95

71 ἔσφιγγεν: “he was squeezing.”

ἦτορ πάλλετ’: “His heart was leaping”; from πάλλω which functions
like an intransitive middle (i.e. πάλλομαι) in Homer. For this phrase, see
Iliad 22.451–2: ἐν δ’ ἐμοὶ αὐτῇ / στήθεσι πάλλεται ἦτορ ἀνὰ στόμα,
νέρθε δὲ γοῦνα.

72 πάλλετ’ ἀηθείῃ καὶ ἐπὶ χθόνα βούλεθ’ ἱκέσθαι: Some MSS omit
this line.

ἀηθείῃ: “the novelty” (lit., “unaccustomedness”). Forms of this word

appear in Plato, but not earlier. See Apollonius of Rhodes 2.1063–5
αὐτὰρ πασσυδίῃ περιώσιον ὄρνυτ’ ἀυτήν ἀθρόοι, ὄφρα κολῳὸν ἀηθείῃ
φοβέωνται / νεύοντάς τε λόφους καὶ ἐπήορα δούραθ’ ὕπερθεν.
Cf. Il. 10.493 (νεκροῖς ἀμβαίνοντες· ἀήθεσσον γὰρ ἔτ’ αὐτῶν).

ἱκέσθαι: from ἱκνέομαι, Homeric aorist infinitive. Some MSS have

ἰδέσθαι.

73 δεινά: Adverbial, “terribly” used in the combination δεινὰ δ’

ὁμοκλήσας in the Iliad (e.g. 20.448).

ὑπεστενάχιζε: “groan beneath”; the compound is not Homeric, but

στενάχιζε is.

φόβου κρυόεντος ἀνάγκῃ. “Chilling fear” is a Homeric combination

(Il. 9.2), but the full phrase “by necessity of. . .” is a little tortured. This is
likely another equivalent formula, see Camerotto (1992: 12).

74 οὐρήν: “tail.”

ἠΰτε κώπην: “like a rudder.”

ἐφ’ ὕδασιν: see above, 33.

75 This line basically repeats the same thoughts as line 72 (πάλλετ’

ἀηθείῃ καὶ ἐπὶ χθόνα βούλεθ’ ἱκέσθαι).

σύρων: “dragging, drawing” from σύρω.

ἱκέσθαι: see on 72 above.

96 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

76 ὕδασι πορφυρέοισιν: see above on line 69 for κύμασι πορφυρέοισιν.

This particular combination does not occur in Homer. Some MSS have
κύμασι instead of ὕδασι. This may be another literary adaptation of the
formula, see Camerotto (1992: 16).

ἐκλύζετο: See on 69, the image is repeated.

πολλά: Adverbial accusative.

ἐβώστρει: Related to βοάω (“to shout”); rare, but in the Odyssey (12.124).
Other MSS have the metrically weaker δ᾿ ἐβόα.

77 καὶ τοῖον φάτο μῦθον ἀπὸ στόματός τ’ ἀγόρευσεν: This line is

omitted by some texts. As a speech introduction it is a bit odd. For the
generic kind of speech anticipated by τοῖον, see above on note 12. Such
a generalizing introduction may derive from the epic’s engagement
with the tradition of fables. Without this line, 78–81 should probably
not be considered direct discourse, since there is speech-concluding
formula. Despite the difficulty, we have elected to retain this line: the
self-address might recall moments of deliberation in the Odyssey
as when Odysseus is being tossed about after his raft is destroyed
(e.g. 5.298–313).

ἀπὸ στόματoς: Does not occur in Homer.

ἀγόρευσεν occurs in the Iliad (8.29). Without the line, subsequent lines
must be read as indirect speech.

78 Οὐχ οὕτω. . .: Most editors punctuate this speech as a statement,

but there is some Homeric precedent for starting a question with a
negative, see Il. 7.448; 9.339; 15.555; and 21.108.

ἐβάστασε: “to lift up.” Lines 78–81 have been identified by several
scholars as alluding to Moschus’ Europa from the Hellenistic period.
See Glei 1984: 34–6; Fusillo 1988: 39–43.

φόρτον ἔρωτος: “cargo of love”; see Anacreon fr. 115.1 (φόρτον

῎Ερωτος). For this phrase as providing a terminus ante quem for the
poem of c. 570–500 bce , see Bliquez 1977: 12.
 Commentary 97

79 ταῦρος ὅτ’ Εὐρώπην: Zeus, disguised as a bull, abducts Europa and

takes her to Crete. She gives birth to Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys.
See Apollodorus 3.1. In Homer, comparison to mythological examples
(called paradeigmata) is a common motif in speeches, see Willcock
1964; Edmunds 1997; and Alden 2000. Here, the parodist imitates the
Homeric style and satirizes it through inapposite (though quite
amusing) comparison. One might also sense in this a subtle critique of
Homeric use of paradeigmata—just as the mouse here makes a grand
and somewhat inapposite comparison from myth, so too the Homeric
heroes’ comparisons may be imperfect.

80 ἁπλώσας: “To make single, unfold, spread out” as in ἱστία.

Other MSS have instead ἐπιπλώσας, cf. Il. 3.47 (“once he sailed upon
the sea after gathering his trusty companions,” πόντον ἐπιπλώσας,
ἑτάρους ἐρίηρας ἀγείρας). Earlier editors (e.g. Ludwich) suggested that
ὑψώσας from 81 would be a better fit here, moving ἁπλώσας to its
place.

ἐπινώτιον: “on the back,” a rare and later word; cf. line 63 above.

81 ὑψώσας: “raise on high,” from ὑψόω, a later verb.

ὠχρὸν δέμας: “pale skin”—perhaps the poet is thinking of the pale color
of a frog’s skin.

ὕδατι λευκῷ: This could be repunctuated as a question, but the word

order is imperfect. The phrase “white water” appears in Homer (see
Od. 23.282) in connection with bathing.

82 ῞Υδρος: “watersnake.”

ἐξαίφνης: “Suddenly,” some MSS have ἐξαπίνης which appears in this

position in Homer (e.g. Il. 5.91). ἐξαίφνης does occur, but less frequently
(Il. 17.738 and 21.14 with the same participle ὄρμενον ἐξαίφνης).

ὅραμα: “sight, spectacle”; also a later word, see Demosthenes Exordium

55.1.7: ἀλλ’ ὅραμα τοῦτ’ ἐποιεῖθ’ ὁ δῆμος αὑτοῦ καλόν, ὦ ἄνδρες
᾿Αθηναῖοι, καὶ λυσιτελὲς τῇ πόλει.
98 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

83 ἀμφοτέροις: “a bitter sight for them both.”

ὀρθόν: adverbial with ὑπὲρ ὕδατος “straight up above the water.”

Homeric poetry tends to use the adjective in noun agreement (e.g στῆ
δ’ ὀρθὸς καὶ μῦθον ἐν ᾿Αργείοισιν ἔειπεν, 23.830).

τράχηλον: “throat.”

84 κατέδυ: “he went under,” aorist 3rd singular.

οὔ τι νοήσας: “he wasn’t thinking at all about. . .οἷον ἑταῖρον.”

85 οἷον ἑταῖρον: “What kind of companion,” i.e. his species/ability.

ἀπολλύμενον: “who is being killed”; some MSS have the infinitive

ἀπολλύμεναι. This participle appears in Homer (δῷς; ἐπεὶ οὔ τι Τρῶας
ἀπολλυμένους ἐλεαίρεις, Il. 7.27) although it is more common without
ἀπό.

86 δῦ δὲ βάθος λίμνης: Unagumented aorist: “Entered the depth of

the sea” seems to be an adaptation of the Homeric αὐτὴ δ’ ἂψ ἐς πόντον
ἐδύσετο κυμαίνοντα (Od. 5.352).

κῆρα μέλαιναν: “black death,” a typical Homeric phrase (e.g. Il. 2.859).
For this line, see Il. 3.360 (ἔγχος· ὃ δ’ ἐκλίνθη καὶ ἀλεύατο κῆρα
μέλαιναν).

ἀλεύατο: “avoid, shun, escape” from ἀλέομαι.

βάθος: βάθος is not present in Homer. Consider, however, the related

βένθος in Il. 18.38 (πᾶσαι ὅσαι κατὰ βένθος ἁλὸς Νηρηΐδες ἦσαν).

87 ἀφέθη: aorist passive, 3rd singular of ἀφίημι.

πέσεν ὕπτιος εὐθὺς ἐφ’ ὕδωρ: πέσεν ὕπτιος is a common collocation

in Homer (see Il. 15.647). ὕπτιος: “sprawled out; on one’s back;
backward.”

88 ἔσφιγγε: see on line 71 (“he was squeezing”). Line 88 is considered

suspect by several editors, but the image is appropriate.
 Commentary 99

κατέτριζε: “squeaked,” according to Fusillo (ad loc.), a word used only of

beasts.

89 πολλάκι μὲν. . . πολλάκι δ’ αὖτε: The single-line anaphora is clever,

but un-Homeric.

90 λακτίζων: “kicking.” This form appears twice in the Odyssey of

opponents in duress (18.99 and 22.88).

ὑπαλύξαι: “avoid”; used in Homer in avoiding death. For this aorist,

see Il. 12.327 (μυρίαι, ἃς οὐκ ἔστι φυγεῖν βροτὸν οὐδ’ ὑπαλύξαι).

91 δευόμεναι δὲ τρίχες πλεῖον βάρος εἷλκον ἐπ’ αὐτῷ: The image is

probably based on the human experience of being dragged down by
wet clothing. Furred animals are not so encumbered.

δευόμεναι: from δεύω, “to dip, dye.”

πλεῖον βάρος: The comparative in early Greek may use a partitive

genitive (e.g. Theogn. 1.606: μοίρης πλεῖον); see Smyth §1315. Some
MSS have πλεῖστον which is more common as a straight modifier.

92 ἐφθέγξατο: “uttered”; the combination τοίους ἐφθέγξατο μύθους

is rather generalized for a speech introduction. This is probably a
literary adaptation of formulaic language, see the comments on line 12
above.

ὀλλύμενος: “perishing”; cf. Iliad 11.83 and above on line 85.

93 δολίως: “trickily”; many MSS have γε θεούς instead of the direct

object. The verb λανθάνω takes a supplementary participle, here “you
won’t get away with doing these things!” The variant posits the gods as
witnesses of the deeds (“you won’t escape the notice of the gods”). In
Homer, this verb often appears with the person deceived as an object,
see Od. 13.393 (καὶ λίην τοι ἐγώ γε παρέσσομαι, οὐδέ με λήσεις).
For λανθάνω with a participle, see Od. 22.198 (λήσει ἀνερχομένη
χρυσόθρονος, ἡνίκ’ ἀγινεῖς). It would be natural to call upon the gods
here, as our mouse does in line 97. The adverb δολίως is a little late and
the sense seems a bit strange.
100 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

94 ναυηγόν: “shipwreck”; some MSS provide instead ἐς λίμνην με.

95 οὐκ ἄν. . . ἦσθα: With the past tense indicative, ἄν indicates past
unreal potential, translate “you couldn’t be better than me on land”,
vel sim.

κατὰ γαῖαν: “on land.” See Smyth §1784.

96 παγκρατίῳ: The pankration is a post-Homeric sport. According

to Herodotus (9.105), it was one in which the Athenians excelled: ᾿Εν
δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ μάχῃ ῾Ελλήνων ἠρίστευσαν ᾿Αθηναῖοι, καὶ ᾿Αθηναίων
῾Ερμόλυκος ὁ Εὐθοίνου, ἀνὴρ παγκράτιον ἐπασκήσας.

πάλῃ: Unlike the pankration, wrestling is Homeric, see Iliad 23.634–5.

For this whole line, cf. Od. 8.206 (ἢ πὺξ ἠὲ πάλῃ ἢ καὶ ποσίν, οὔ τι
μεγαίρω).

εἰς δρόμον: “in the footrace,” another good archaic competition see
Il. 23.373.

97 ἔκδικον ὄμμα: “an eye for vengeance”; Zeus is often worshipped as

a god of justice. The phrase is not quite archaic and it may echo what the
frog says in the Aesopic tradition: ἐγὼ μὲν ὑπό σου νεκρωθήσομαι,
ἐκδικήσομαι δὲ ὑπὸ ζῶντος (“I am being killed by you but I will be
avenged by the living”).

97–8: These two lines are considered to be Byzantine interpolations.

The sense of both is reflected in the current line 98/99.

97a ποινήν τ ἀντέκτισίν τ᾿ ὀρθήν ὅς κ᾿ ἀποδώσει

ἀντέκτισίν: is un-Homeric and a gloss for ποινήν which is Homeric.

Cf. Glei ad loc.; Ernesti (ad loc.) notes a “Christian” character to this
line.

ὀρθήν: “straight” is often associated with justice in Hesiod (e.g., “let us

resolve this conflict with straight judgments, which are the best things
that come from Zeus ” . . . ἀλλ’ αὖθι διακρινώμεθα νεῖκος / ἰθείῃσι
δίκῃς, αἵ τ’ ἐκ Διός εἰσιν ἄρισται, Works and Days, 36–7).
 Commentary 101

98 τοῖς τίσουσί σε μυῶν στρατὸς οὐδὲ ὐπαλύξεις or ποινήν αὖ

τείσεις σὺ μυῶν στράτῷ οὐδὲ ὐπαλύξεις: The paying back of penalties
is common in Homer but usually in exchange for harm done to
honor or the like (see Wilson 2002). In the Odyssey, punishment for
a crime is more usually marked with terms of tisis. Yet, in describing
his treatment of the Cyclops, the narrator combines the thematic terms
(23.313–14):
ἠδ’ ὅσα Κύκλωψ ἕρξε, καὶ ὡς ἀπετείσατο ποινὴν
ἰφθίμων ἑτάρων, οὓς ἤσθιεν οὐδ’ ἐλέαιρεν.

And however many things the Kyklops did, even then he paid the
exchange for my strong companions, the men he ate and did not pity.

τοῖς τίσουσί σε μυῶν στρατός: There is a noun/subject agreement

problem with this phrase. While the syntax is not exactly clear, the sense
is basically the same.

99 ῝Ως εἰπὼν ἀπέπνευσεν ἐν ὕδασι: Note the melodramatic, extended

death scene (from 88–99). In modern film, for example, this hyperbole
might seem humorous. In ancient epic, however, death scenes are often
drawn out and unrealistic. Consider the Homeric deaths of Patroklos
and Hektor. The parodic sense is not in the length of the scene but in the
character who is dying.

ἀπέπνευσεν: “to die,” literally “to breathe out,” a metaphor for death
clearer in Pin. Nem. 1.47 (ψυχὰς ἀπέπνευσεν μελέων ἀφάτων);
cf. Il. 4.524.

τὸν δὲ κατεῖδεν: “looked down upon him.”

100–31 The mice learn of the death of their companion. They hold an
assembly and decide to wage war against the frogs. This is followed by an
arming scene. The assembly scenes are amusing for the heroic depiction of
the mice (imitating conventional assembly scenes). The arming sequence
combines the process of heroic arming with weapons made from material
available for mice—the parody thus relies on the intrinsic humor of
arming with these materials and the clever images offered therein.
102 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

100 ὄχθῃσιν ἐφεζόμενος μαλακῇσιν: “sitting on the soft banks”; the

participle ἐφεζόμενος occurs in the Iliad (δενδρέῳ ἐφεζόμενοι ὄπα
λειριόεσσαν ἱεῖσι, 3.152) where the comparison of the elders of Troy to
cicadas may evoke a sense of uselessness.

[100a] καί ῥα κραιπνότατος μοίρας μυσὶν ἄγγελος ἦλθεν: “and the

swiftest messenger of the fate came to the mice.” This variant line is also
probably a Byzantine interpolation. The adjective κραίπνος is common
in Homer, but the superlative does not appear.

101 δραμών: Aorist participle of τρέχω.

δεινόν: Adverbial accusative.

ἐξολόλυξε: “wailed out,” a hapax legomenon. The root related to

ululation has to do both with triumphal and mournful exclamation. In
Homer, ὀλολύζω is most often associated with women and can express
joy. Consider Eurkyleia’s near-exultation at the death of the suitors,
Od. 22.408 (ἴθυσέν ῥ’ ὀλολύξαι, ἐπεὶ μέγα εἴσιδεν ἔργον).

ἤγγειλε: 3rd person singular aorist of ἀγγέλλω. This form occurs at

Od. 23.22 (ταῦτ’ ἐλθοῦσ’ ἤγγειλε καὶ ἐξ ὕπνου ἀνέγειρε).

μύεσσιν: This dative plural is lengthened for metrical reasons. The same
form occurs at least once in the Galeomuomakhia (line 10) and is
reconstructed elsewhere (line 4). Note that the shorter form appears at
line 173 (μυσὶν). The GM also displays both forms (the shorter one
occurs at line 28; see West 2003: 260).

102 τὴν μοῖραν: “fate.” The ametrical variant τὸν μόρον (see Glei ad
loc.) is more Homeric semantically; in Homer μοῖρα tends to indicate
“portion” or “allotment” rather than “fate” as in death.

ἔδυ χόλος αἰνός: “A dread rage came over them.” Homer uses three
words (mênis, kholos and kotos) to describe anger; χόλος is most
frequently used for anger within a social group over slights and honor
(and is destabilizing according to Walsh 2005). On mênis as denoting
divine rage, see Muellner 1996.
 Commentary 103

103 κηρύκεσσιν: Lengthened for metrical reasons.

ὄρθρον: This is not the typical epic phrasing for “morning”: it is

probably late. See Plutarch’s Publicola, 22.5 for a description of a
foggy morning: καὶ κατὰ τύχην ὁμίχλης βαθείας ἐπιπεσούσης περὶ
ὄρθρον.

104 κηρύσσειν: with κηρύκεσσιν, such figura etymologica (see above

on “giving gifts,” line 16) are common in early Greek poetry. Compare
to Od. 2.7–8: αἶψα δὲ κηρύκεσσι λιγυφθόγγοισι κέλευσε / κηρύσσειν
ἀγορήνδε κάρη κομόωντας ᾿Αχαιούς.

ἐς δώματα Τρωξάρταο: “the house of Breadnibbler”; in the Iliad, the

Trojan assembly is held before Priam’s house (2.788) and the gods also
meet in Zeus’ home. The Greeks meet in assembly near Odysseus’ ship
(see Clay 2011). The Ithakans in the Odyssey seem to have a specific
assembly-area as do the Phaiakians (7.44). In the depiction of the
Kyklopes as being uncivilized and savage, Odysseus notes that they
do not have a place for assemblies and laws (τοῖσιν δ’ οὔτ’ ἀγοραὶ
βουληφόροι οὔτε θέμιστες, 9.112).

ἀγορήνδ’: here seems to be used metaphorically (i.e. “to ‘assembly’

before, at the home of . . .”) whereas the typical Homeric use of this form
implies motion to the place of assembly (῝Ως ὅ γε κοιρανέων δίεπε
στρατόν· οἳ δ’ ἀγορὴν δὲ / αὖτις ἐπεσσεύοντο νεῶν ἄπο καὶ κλισιάων,
Il. 2.207–8)

105 δυστήνου: “wretched,” Homeric.

ὃς κατὰ λίμνην: see above, line 17: The word λίμνη has a fairly extensive
reach: It refers to several different bodies of water, including lakes,
ponds, swamps, and marshes.

106 ὕπτιος: “facing up; on his back,” used sometimes for falling from
a distance (e.g. Od. 18.398) but here used instead of a floating corpse;
common in descriptions of deaths.

ἐξήπλωτο: A later verb (ἐξαπλόω), “to unfold, or spread out.”

104 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

οὐδὲ παρ’ ὄχθαις: “nor on the banks,” usually of rivers but here of the
marsh/pond.

107 ἦν ἤδη τλήμων: τλήμων (“unfortunate”; “enduring”), common in

tragedy but infrequent in epic (see Il. 10.231: ἤθελε δ’ ὁ τλήμων
᾿Οδυσεὺς καταδῦναι ὅμιλον).

μέσσῳ δ’ ἐπενήχετο πόντῳ: lit. “he was swimming upon” (from νήχω,
deponent νήχομαι), but here means more like “floating in the middle of
the pond.” Note the hyperbolic use of pontos (‘sea’) for a pond.

108 ὡς δ’ ἦλθον σπεύδοντες ἅμ’ ἠοῖ: On assembly meetings, see above

on 104. The phrase ἅμ’ ἠοῖ (“at dawn”) appears often in Homer (e.g.
Il. 11.685).

πρῶτος ἀνέστη: “He rose first”; typical assembly turn-taking language.

109 Τρωξάρτης ἐπὶ παιδὶ χολούμενος: The participle χολούμενος

does not appear in the Iliad or Odyssey but it does appear in the Homeric
H. Hermes (308) and Hesiod’s Works and Days (138). It does not
typically take the preposition ἐπὶ + dative (instead ἀμφί is more
common). The participle χωομένος is more common in Homer in this
sense.

εἶπέ τε μῦθον: “speak a speech” or simply just “speak.” Combinations of

this verb and noun are common in Homeric speech introductions. This
specific introduction, however, is not—this is likely an adaptation of a
conventional line, see Camerotto (1992: 14).

110 εἰ καί: “even if.” Ancient readers may have felt the adversative
sense of the conditional weak: Some MSS have ἀλλ᾿ ἡ with πεῖρα. The
combination is rather un-Homeric, where εἴ περ would be more
common except where εἰ καὶ may have the force of αὖ as in Hom.
Il. 16.623 (εἰ καὶ ἐγώ σε βάλοιμι τυχὼν μέσον ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ).

The force of εἰ καί without a coordinating particle (e.g. ἄν, κε, γε) in
the apodosis may be harsh, motivated perhaps by the the father’s
emotionality or, imperfect composition.
 Commentary 105

κακὰ πολλὰ πέπονθα: from πάσχω; cf. Od.11.6: μάλα πολλὰ πέπονθας.
This is likely another formulaic adaptation of a literary nature (rather
than being a reflex of an oral tradition).

111 ἐκ βατράχων: “from the frogs.” The preposition ἐκ + the genitive

can express agency or origin of action in early Greek poetry.

ἡ πεῖρα κακὴ πάντεσσι τέτυκται: Other MSS have μοῖρα instead of

πεῖρα, paralleled by Il. 3.101. But τέτυκται tends to end the line with
various subjects (e.g., Il. 24.354). For πάντεσσι τέτυκται, cf. Il. 14.246.
The angered mouse’s use of πεῖρα as a “trial” may be humorous when
used in reference to the sea-dwelling frogs. The noun πεῖρα was
etymologically connected to the word pirate. Cf. a scholion to Sophokles’
Ajax 2: “In Attic usage, peira means a trick or contrivance; for this
reason, criminals on the sea are called peiratai (pirates).” (πεῖρα γὰρ
᾿Αττικῶς δόλος καὶ τέχνη, ὅθεν καὶ πειραταὶ οἱ κατὰ θάλατταν
κακοῦργοι.)

112 δύστηνος: “ill-fated”; see above on 105.

ὄλεσσα: aorist 1st person singular of ὄλλυμι. The sigma is doubled, see
the introduction.

113 This sequence begins a catalogue of mouse enemies moving from

weasel, to men and culminating, humorously, in frogs.

114 γαλέη: “weasel” or “cat”; see above on line 9. The poetic tradition
of a “Battle of Weasel and Mice” may be echoed here; the fragmentary
poem has πρῶτον γὰρ μιν ἑλοῦσα γαλῆ . . . (line 6; see West 2003:
258).

τρώγλης ἔκτοσθεν ἑλοῦσα: compare Skylla grabbing men in the

Odyssey (οὓς ἔφαγε Σκύλλη γλαφυρῆς ἐκ νηὸς ἑλοῦσα, 12.310).

τρώγλης: Mice live in holes, even in the city. For this motif of
animal fable, see the fragment of the “Battle of Weasel and Mice”: “in
the hole-home bed-chamber” τρ]ωγλ̣αίωι {ἐν} θαλάμωι (line 9; West
2003: 258).
106 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

113–14: There are alternate lines in the Byzantina prosodia: υἱέα

μοι πρῶτον μυοφόρβος δορπήσατο / θὴρ μεγάλη κλονέοντα πτέρναν
σιάλοιο τυχοῦσα: “a big mouse-eating beast first made a meal of my
son, a beast found him as he rushed after a ham-hock.”

115 ἄνδρες ἀπηνέες: “harsh men.” The adjective ἀπηνής is common in

Homer but this uncontracted plural may be a hyper-archaism. Its
earliest appearance is in Theocr., Id. 22.169.

εἷλξαν: “dragged” from ἕλκω.

116 καινοτέραις τέχναις: “new-fangled arts/tricks.” The adjective

καινός is not Homeric.

ξύλινον δόλον: “wooden trick,” the phrase may recall the Trojan horse.
The subsequent mention of the trap may be another allusion to
Callimachus (fr. 177. 15–37; see Scodel 2008: 232).

117 Allen excises this line because it was taken from verse 50. Glei
(ad loc.) points out that verse 50 was omitted in many MSS . Given the
metrical difficulties (see below) this line is more likely corrupted than
interpolated.

ἤν παγίδα κλείουσι: “which they call a trap”; see above on line 50.
κλείουσι is a conjecture by Ludwich to fix metrical problems. The
original MSS have καλέουσι (offering a run of short syllables in the
second and third feet).

μυῶν ὀλέτειραν: “destroyer of mice”; ὀλέτειραν, cf. ὄλλυμι.

118 ὃ τρίτος: “the third son.” The other two have just been described,
this is the son in question.

ἀγαπητός: “beloved,” used of Telemachus by Euryklea in the Odyssey

(2.265) and of Astyanax in the Iliad (Il. 6.501).

ἐμοὶ καὶ μητέρι κεδνῇ: Dative with ἀγαπητός. Cf. Od. 10.8 (οἱ δ’ αἰεὶ
παρὰ πατρὶ φίλῳ καὶ μητέρι κεδνῇ.)
 Commentary 107

119 τοῦτον ἀπέπνιξεν Φυσίγναθος ἐς βυθὸν ἄξας: The MSS have the
alternate line τοῦτον ἀπέκτεινεν βάτραχος κακὸς ἔξοχος ἄλλων, “A frog
who exceeds all others in wickedness killed him.”

ἀπέπνιξεν: ἀποπνίγω: “to choke, suffocate, drown.” This recurs at 233.

The verb is not Homeric, but is frequent Aristophanes and the
Attic orators. In Aesop, the Mouse speaks “while drowning” (ὁ δὲ
πνιγόμενος).

ἐς βυθὸν ἄξας: ἄξας: sigmatic aorist of ἄγω; Homer uses the root-aorist
ἤγαγον. This line is a play on line 15 above (ἐς δόμον ἄξω) and probably
an adaptation of a traditional formula. Glei argues that this line is a
holdover from the traditional fable where the former ties a rope around
the mouse and drags him to his death (δήσας οὖν ὁ βάτραχος τὸν πόδα
τοῦ μυὸς τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ποδὶ ἥλατο εἰς τὴν λίμνην ἕλκων καὶ τὸν μῦν
δέσμιον). On the relationship between the Fable and this parody, see
the Introduction.

120 ἀλλ’ ἄγεθ’ ὁπλίζεσθε: “But arm yourselves”; ἄγετε commonly

strengthens imperatives in Homer. The form ὁπλίζεσθε does not appear
in Homer. Some MSS have ὁπλισόμεσθα instead (which appears at
Od. 12.292)

καὶ ἐξέλθωμεν ἐπ’ αὐτούς: The hortatory subjunctive is often used in

Homer in conjunction with imperatives.

121 This line is omitted in many MSS and by Ludwich (1896). The
first half is the same as line 153 and the second half appears in Homer
(cf. ἀλλ’ ἄρα μιν κατέκηε σὺν ἔντεσι δαιδαλέοισιν, Il. 6.418).

σώματα κοσμήσαντες: “decking out, adorning our bodies.”

ἐν ἔντεσι δαιδαλέοισιν: “in well-worked weapons.” Early Greek

lexicographers gloss δαιδάλεος as ποικίλος (“intricate, finely-made”);
but the adjective can also indicate exoticness. See Morris 1992.

122 Ταῦτ’ εἰπὼν ἀνέπεισε καθοπλίζεσθαι ἅπαντας: This line is the

same as 160; some MSS omit it and the following line.
108 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

123–31 The arming of the mice draws on the sequencing and general
imagery of conventional arming scenes in Homer. For the arming-scene as
a traditional type-scene with recognizable characteristics, see Arend 1975
and Edwards 1992. For arming scenes in the BM , see Kelly 2009. The
humor of this scene depends only in part upon the audience knowing the
convention of Homeric arming; the mice also make novel use of objects-
at-hand for their armament.

123 καὶ τοὺς μέν ῥ’ ἐκόρυσσεν: κορύσσω in the middle voice

generally means to arm oneself, but in the active can mean “to arm,
array.” Here, the meaning is probably metaphorical (i.e. “to marshal,” as
in Il. 2.273 (πόλεμόν τε κορύσσων). The verb appears in Homer without
augment.

῎Αρης πολέμοιο μεμηλώς: The combination πτολέμοιο μεμηλώς “who

cares for war” appears in Homer (Il. 13.469). The verb can take a genitive
or accusative object, cf. Od. 1.151.

124 κνημῖδας μὲν πρῶτον ἐφήρμοσαν εἰς δύο μηρούς: “And they
fitted the greaves to their two thighs.” Greaves are typically put on shins
instead of thighs. Some scholars (e.g. Ludwich) have imagined this
confusion as resulting from interpolation and corruption. It is possible,
however, that the poet is making a joke that mouse legs are too small
to accommodate a distinction between shin and thigh or, perhaps,
including a bit of nonsense to bring into relief the unreality of many
typical Homeric arming and battle scenes. The absurdity of the
subsequent arming sequence supports such a reading. On the parody’s
sophisticated reading of epic precedents, see Kelly 2009. This version of
the line appears only in two MSS .

κνημῖδας μὲν πρῶτον: This is close to the Homeric κνημῖδας μὲν

πρῶτα . . . (see Il. 3.330; 11.17; 16.131; 19.369).

125 The arming sequence has multiple variations in the MSS .

This line has variants that are closer to 161: φύλλοις μὲν μαλαχῶν
κνήμας ἑὰς ἀμφεκάλυψαν (“they covered their shins with mallow
leaves”).
 Commentary 109

ῥήξαντες κυάμους χλωρούς: “After breaking pale/yellow beans.”

εὖ δ’ ἀσκήσαντες: For this second half of the line, some MSS have
instead κνήμῃσι καλύπτρην. The verb ἀσκέω often appears with arms
in Homer (e.g. Il. 14.240) and appears later in this text at 163.

126 ἐπιστάντες: “working on”; the form occurs in Aesop (Fable

28 v3.6). Ludwich offers ἐπισπῶντ᾿ ἐς κατάτρωξιν which would mean
“who hurry for the gnawing of . . .”

κατέτρωξαν: “nibbled clean” from κατατρώγω.

127 θώρηκας: “chest-piece,” common in Homer, e.g. Il. 2.544.

καλαμοστεφέων ἀπὸ βυρσῶν: “from reed-bound hides.” Ludwich

provides the alternate καλαμοραφέων “reed-woven.”

128 οὓς γαλέην δείραντες: “After flaying a weasel/cat”; this participle

occurs in the accusative at Od. 10.533. One might assume that the
murine killing of a weasel would require explanation. The passage
most likely refers to a tale like that of the Galeomuomakhia (see the
Introduction). Ludwich (1896, ad loc.) supposes that animals so adept
at arming for war would obviously be able to kill a weasel. The parody
may also be styling the mouse as a mythical hero like Herakles who kills
a beast (e.g. lion) and wears its skin.

ἐπισταμένως ἐποίησαν: “They made it skillfully” (see Il. 7.317 for

preparing dinner; Od. 5.245 for the building of the raft).

129 ἀσπὶς δ’ ἦν λύχνου τὸ μεσόμφαλον: “their shield was the middle

piece of a lamp.” The MSS have the dative possessor αὐτοῖς but this
renders the line unmetrical.

ἡ . . . λόγχη: “spear.”

130 εὐμήκης βελόνη: “well-measured needle”; βελόνη is often used

for a spear or arrow point after Homer.

παγχάλκεον ἔργον Ἄρηος·: “all-bronze work of Ares.” Ares does not

actually make weapons—the association here is a metonym for the use
110 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

of the tool. ἔργον Ἄρηος often indicates the effects of war in general, see
Il. 11.734. For the adjective with a weapon, see Od. 8.408.

131 ἡ δὲ κόρυς: “helmet”; frequent in the Iliad.

τὸ λέπυρον . . . ἐρεβίνθου: “husk of a chick pea.” A variant has the mice

using a nut shell: κροτάφοισι καρύου.

ἐπὶ κροτάφοις: “on the temples”; for the helmet being fitted to temples,
see Il. 13.188 (῞Εκτωρ δ’ ὁρμήθη κόρυθα κροτάφοις ἀραρυῖαν). This
image appears four times in the Iliad and the Odyssey; cf. Il. 18.611,
Od. 13.378 and 22.102.

132–59 The frogs notice the arming of the mice and gather into
an assembly where they are approached by a herald who announces
the coming war. Physignathos prevaricates and denies his guilt. Then
he proposes a specific military strategy for coping with the mouse attack.
The frog assembly is less clearly established the previous mouse assembly
which may echo political differences between the Achaeans and the
Trojans in their assembly practice in the Iliad (on which, see Mackie 1996:
15–26 and Christensen 2015). If the parody does create this tension,
this is another indication of sophisticated engagement with the Homeric
tradition. In addition, the fact that the frogs gather suddenly to contemplate
dealing with a dangerous threat echoes the Trojans assembly outside
the walls after Achilles has appeared suddenly on the battlefield (18.243–
313). Note the initial genitive absolute of the first line describing the
Trojan assembly in the Iliad (ὀρθῶν δ’ ἑσταότων ἀγορὴ γένετ’, οὐδέ
τις ἔτλη).

132 ἔνοπλοι: “armed”; a variant in some MSS for ἐν ὅπλοις which

Ludwich prefers since the adjective is post-Homeric.

ὡς δ’ ἐνόησαν: “when they noticed”; ἐνόησαν ends the line several times
in Homer; e.g. Il. 12.143.

133 ἐξανέδυσαν ἀφ’ ὕδατος: “they rose up from the water.” The
combination is available in Homer: κύματος ἐξαναδύς, τά τ’ ἐρεύγεται
ἤπειρόνδε, Od. 5.438. Cf. 4.405.
 Commentary 111

ἐς δ’ ἕνα χῶρον: “into one place,” a rather bland description for assembly
formation. At Il. 4.446, a similar phrase is used to describe joining in
battle (ἐς χῶρον ἕνα).

134 βουλὴν ξύναγον: “They summoned a council for wicked war.”

This combination is not archaic, but the objective genitive with βουλὴν
is easy to understand. It is unclear whether the line is reflecting the
convening of a council regarding war or the creation of a plan about the
war. It must also be noted that the narrative is a bit proleptic, the frogs
do not yet know that the mice have armed against them.

πολέμοιο κακοῖο: A Homeric formula repeated at 201. Cf. e.g. Il. 1.284
(ἕρκος ᾿Αχαιοῖσιν πέλεται πολέμοιο κακοῖο; “he will be a bulwark
against terrible war for the Achaeans”).

135 σκεπτομένων δ’ αὐτῶν: Genitive absolute (“as they were

examining”).

πόθεν ἡ στάσις ἢ τίς: Indirect question: “where the chaos was from
or what the noise was . . .” στάσις is a typical word for civil conflict
or strife cf. Theog. 717: καὶ στάσιν ῾Ελλήνων λαοφθόρον. ἀλλὰ σύ,
Φοῖβε.

ὁ θρύλλος: “noise”; some MSS have μῦθος instead.

136 It is rather un-Homeric for a herald to announce war; see Glei

(ad loc.).

ῥάβδον: “staff ”; not typically used in Homer except by gods, e.g. Hermes
(Il. 24.343 and Kirke (Od. 10.293); Athena (Od. 13.429). In Homer,
this wand is usually magical, but here it is a gloss for the herald’s
kêrukeion. In later Greek, it stands for all types of rods etc. (scepter,
shepherd’s staff, etc.).

137 Τυρογλύφου: “Cheeseborer” (i.e. “one who puts holes in cheese”).

μεγαλήτορος: “great-hearted,” a common Homeric epithet. For this

position, see Il. 17.299.
112 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

᾿Εμβασίχυτρος: “Bowldiver.”

138 ἀγγέλλων: for the participle with a form of ἔρχομαι (as here with
ἦλθε, 136) see Od. 13.94 (ἔρχεται ἀγγέλλων φάος ᾿Ηοῦς ἠριγενείης).
But note the severe separation here.

φάτιν: “rumor, report,” see Od. 21.323; some MSS have ἔριν “strife”
instead.

εἶπέ τε τοῖα: Again, less specific than Homeric speech introductions.

On this combination, see above line 12. Some MSS have μῦθον like
line 109 (εἶπέ τε μῦθον).

139 ὕμμιν: Lengthened form of ὑμῖν.

ἀπειλήσαντες: “threatening”; this is a common form of speech in

Homer, see Il. 2.665 (βῆ φεύγων ἐπὶ πόντον· ἀπείλησαν γάρ οἱ ἄλλοι).
The sense is unclear, however: typically the verb correlates with a
specific threat, not general menace.

ἔπεμψαν: supply με as subject of the infinitive εἰπεῖν and ὑμεῖς for

object.

140 ἐπὶ πτόλεμόν τε μάχην τε: for ἐπὶ + accusative as “for” (as in
purpose) see Smyth §1689.3a. For the combination πτόλεμόν τε μάχην
see Il. 13.11 (καὶ γὰρ ὃ θαυμάζων ἧστο πτόλεμόν τε μάχην τε). The
repetitive combination is traditional.

141 ὅν περ: ὅσπερ; this could simply be printed as ὅνπερ, effectively

an extra emphatic form of the relative (e.g. “the very man whom . . .”).

ἔπεφνεν: “kill, slay”; a common Homeric form (a reduplicated aorist;

cf. Il. 21.96: ὅς τοι ἑταῖρον ἔπεφνεν ἐνηέα τε κρατερόν τε) related to the
noun φόνος. The present φένω is assumed (but does not occur). Some
MSS have κατέπεφνεν.

142 ἀλλὰ μάχεσθε: “But fight!” This seems like it might be typical of
Homeric battle exhortations, but it is not.
 Commentary 113

143 οἵ τινες ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀριστῆες: Several MSS have εἴ τινες

instead of οἵ τινες. For the motif of calling out the “best” of a group, see
book 7 of the Iliad. (Il. 7.73: ὑμῖν δ’ ἐν γὰρ ἔασιν ἀριστῆες Παναχαιῶν
and Il. 7.159 ὑμέων δ’ οἵ περ ἔασιν ἀριστῆες Παναχαιῶν; cf. Od. 6.34).

γεγάατε: from γίγνομαι. The epic perfect γέγαα is a variation for γέγονα.
This is the only extant occurrence of this form in Greek literature and
some MSS propose γεγόνατε while Ludwich has γεγάα[σιν]. This is
likely a hyper-archaism.

144 ἀπέφηνε: from ἀποφαίνω: “to speak out.”

λόγος δ’ εἰς οὔατα πάντων: Homer does describe a sound as striking

the ears (Il.10.535: ἵππων μ’ ὠκυπόδων ἀμφὶ κτύπος οὔατα βάλλει).
Compare the BM ’s programmatic statement in line 5, that the purpose
of the poem is to “hit upon everyone’s ears” . . . ἐς οὔατα πᾶσι βαλέσθαι.
The image of words coming upon the ears is common in Hellenistic
Greek. Cf. Apollonius Rhodes 3.904 . . . μὴ πατρὸς ἐς οὔατα μῦθος
ἵκηται. Also, see Callimachus Epigrams 27.4: ὅρκους μὴ δύνειν οὔατ’ ἐς
ἀθανάτων. Notice that the poet uses λόγος here interchangeably with
μῦθος (138) to refer to the same speech.

πάντων: Many MSS have μυῶν instead but it would make little sense
for the mice to be frightened by their own messenger’s announcement
to the frogs.

145 ἐτάραξε φρένας: from ταράσσω,“stir up, confuse”; used frequently

of gods causing descruction and gods are often said to influence human
φρένες (see Il. 6.234; 7.360; and 9.377).

ἀγερώχων: “arrogant, lordly, gathered” This same epithet is applied

to the Rhodians in Iliad 2.654. In Homer, the adjective has a positive
meaning which is roughly equivalent to “lordly,” but it later acquires the
meaning “arrogant.” (Cf. Plutarch On Brotherly Love 492A: . . . ἀγέρωχον
ὄντα καὶ ὑβριστήν . . .).

146 μεμφομένων δ’ αὐτῶν: The genitive absolute does not clearly

indicate whether the frogs were upbraiding the herald Embasikhutros
114 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

or their own king Physignathos (they may be doing both). It becomes

clear that they are critcizing the king for his actions. In Homer, one
may question a king’s judgment (Diomedes asserts his right to
question Agamemnon in the agorê, 9.32–3). If the frogs were criticizing
their king, rather than the herald’s statements, the genitive absolute
may have a causative force which motivates the lie: “Because the
frogs were reproaching him, Physignathos got up and said . . .” It is
possible that in creating a scene where the king has risked his own
people by acting impetuously, the poet has Iliad 1 in mind (or, perhaps,
the general motif of a tyrannical king acting against his people’s best
interests).

εἶπεν ἀναστάς: For a king standing up to address the assembly, see Iliad
19.77 (where Agamemnon does not stand: αὐτόθεν ἐξ ἕδρης, οὐδ’ ἐν
μέσσοισιν ἀναστάς). There is no clear indication that the frogs sat in
assembly in the text (pushed too far, the image is nonsensical: frogs
customarily rest on four limbs). But it is conventional for the army to sit
or for new speakers to “stand forward” during assemblies in Homer; see
Beck 2005: 221–4.

147 ῏Ω φίλοι οὐκ ἔκτεινον ἐγὼ μῦν, οὐδὲ κατεῖδον: Physignathus’

protest is reminiscent of Hermes’ claim in the Homeric H. Hermes: “I
didn’t see [the cows], nor learn of them, nor hear a story from anyone
else” (οὐκ ἴδον, οὐ πυθόμην, οὐκ ἄλλου μῦθον ἄκουσα, 263). The
external audiences in both cases know that the speaker is lying.

148 ὀλλύμενον: A temporal participle showing contemporaneous

action, “I didn’t look on as he was dying.”

πάντως δ’ ἐπνίγη: πνίγω, “to choke, drown.” The aorist is passive,

ἐπνίγην like ἔβην (from βαίνω). Note the alliteration of p-sounds
(πάντως δ’ ἐπνίγη παίζων παρὰ λίμνην) perhaps echoing the sound of
a sputtering or panting mouse.

παίζων: The dismissive tone of παίζων, coupled with the reproach

which Physignathos leveled against Psicharpax (λίην αὐχεῖς ἐπὶ
 Commentary 115

γαστέρι) suggests that the frogs entertained a rather slighting attitude

toward mice, perhaps reflecting human beliefs about the frivolity of a
mouse’s life.

149 νήξεις: “the swimmings”; cf. line 68 νήξει.

μιμούμενος: The participle μιμούμενος has a certain pathetic

conative force: Psicharpax died trying to imitate the swimming of the
frogs.

150 νῦν ἐμὲ μέμφονται τὸν ἀναίτιον: Assertions that someone is

“blaming the blameless” occur with reference to Achilles (Il. 11.654)
and Hektor (13.775) using the cognate accusative ἀναίτιον αἰτιάασθαι;
cf. the reference to Odysseus at Od. 20.135). The use of μέμφονται here
may be conditioned by the narrative μεμφομένων δ’ αὐτῶν (146). In
Homer, this verb only appears in compound, e.g. ἐπιμέμφομαι. Blame-
negotiation is an essential part of epic. At the beginning of the Odyssey,
Zeus complains: 1.35–7:

Mortals, they are always blaming the gods and saying that their evils
come from us. But they suffer grief beyond their allotment thanks to
their own recklessness.

“ὢ πόποι, οἷον δή νυ θεοὺς βροτοὶ αἰτιόωνται.

ἐξ ἡμέων γάρ φασι κάκ’ ἔμμεναι· οἱ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ
σφῇσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ὑπὲρ μόρον ἄλγε’ ἔχουσιν

See also Agamemnon at Iliad 19.86–7: “and they were criticizing

me, but I am not to blame, no Zeus, Fate and the Fury who walks on
air [are]” (καὶ τέ με νεικείεσκον· ἐγὼ δ’ οὐκ αἴτιός εἰμι / ἀλλὰ Ζεὺς
καὶ Μοῖρα καὶ ἠεροφοῖτις ᾿Ερινύς . . .). For the expression of blame
in Homer, see Vodoklys 1992; Nagy 1979: 211–75; and Martin 1989:
30–5.

151 ζητήσωμεν: Aorist subjunctive, hortatory. The use of ζήτειν for

abstract searching is post-Homeric. For this use, cf. Aesch. Prom. Bound
. . . ἄθλου δ’ ἔκλυσιν ζήτει τινά. See above, note 25.
116 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

ὅπως δολίους μύας ἐξολέσωμεν: Object clause of effort. Some MSS have
the adverb δολίως instead of the adjective. The mice, who are actually
victims here, have not exhibited any trickiness whereas Physignathos,
whose recent denial makes him seem at least a little shifty, is actually
formulating a deceptive battle strategy. In defense of the adjective, the
frog may attribute to the mice the very quality he is exercising. It is
entirely possible as well that mice had a conventional association with
cleverness.

ἐξολέσωμεν: from ὄλλυμι, Aorist subjunctive. This compound appears

once in Homer (τοὺς Ζεὺς ἐξολέσειε πρὶν ἥμιν πῆμα γενέσθαι,
Od. 17.597).

152 τοιγὰρ ἐγὼν ἐρέω ὥς μοι δοκεῖ εἶναι ἄριστα: This line is common
in Homeric council-scenes. Cf. Iliad 9.103 αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ἐρέω ὥς μοι
δοκεῖ εἶναι ἄριστα. When advisors speak what “seems best to them”
and are ignored, it signals disfunction or danger in Homer as when
Polydamas gives his best advice to Hektor (Il.12.315; 13.735). Generally,
the contention that something “seems best” is supported by the narrative
as when Zeus proposes a plan in the Odyssey (13.365).

ἐγών: This is a typical Homeric form for ἐγώ. Of the eight occurences of
the first-person pronoun in the BM this is the only instance.

153 σώματα κοσμήσαντες ἐν ὅπλοις: essentially, “after arming.” Instead

of ἐν ὅπλοις, the phrase could end with ἔνοπλοι (simply “armed”).

στῶμεν ἅπαντες: The subsequent strategy is for the frogs to stand on

the edge of the bank and to capitalize on the forward momentum of the
mice’s charge to drown as many of them as possible.

154 ἄκροις πὰρ χείλεσσιν: “on the highest part of the bank.” Χείλος
often refers to the lip of a cup, but is also the highest part of a furrow or
riverbed (ἐπ’ ἄκρῳ / χείλει) as at Il. 12.51–2 (τόλμων ὠκύποδες, μάλα
δὲ χρεμέτιζον ἐπ’ ἄκρῳ / χείλει ἐφεσταότες).

ὅπου κατάκρημνος: “very steep, precipitous.”

 Commentary 117

155 ἡνίκα: “when, at the time when”.

ὁρμηθέντες: Aorist passive, but active in meaning.

156 δραξάμενοι κορύθων: “after grabbing them by the helmet.”

κορύθων occurs in Homer, 13.341 (. . . κορύθων ἄπο λαμπομενάων.)

ὅς τις σχεδὸν ἀντίος ἔλθῃ: Some MSS have ὅποτε or ὅππως for ὅς τις
and others have ἤλθον ἐφ᾿ ἠμᾶς instead of ἀντίος ἔλθῃ. The latter is
Homeric phrase; early editors or copyists may have been uncomfortable
with the switch from plural to singular.

157 ἐς λίμνην αὐτοὺς σὺν: Variations include σὺν ἔντεσιν / σὺν

(metrically problematic) or σὺν ἐκείνῳ which could refer back to
Psicharpax. The passage could be requesting that they allow the other
mice to join their fallen comrade. Here the feminine ἐκείναις does not
have a clear antecedent.

158 πνίξαντες: It is not clear whether drowning was the default mode
of murder employed by frogs, or inherited from the fable. There
is, at any rate, a certain grim irony in Physignathos’ plan to drown the
rest of the mice, since he claims to have been wholly innocent in the
drowning of Psicharpax. In extolling the virtues of the amphibious
life in line 60, Physignathos notes that frogs have the power ἐν ὕδασι
σῶμα καλύψαι; if we do not take this reflexively, it may be a grim
foreshadowing.

ἀκολύμβους: “Unable to swim.” This language may be drawn from a

variant of the Aesopic fable in the Life of Aesop where the mouse, when
invited to swim, declares “I do not know how to swim” (κολυμβῆσαι
οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι).

159 στήσομεν: Aorist short-vowel subjunctive; cf. Il. 18.278 (στησόμεθ’

ἂμ πύργους . . .).

τὸ μυοκτόνον ὧδε τρόπαιον: The μυοκτόνον τρόπαιον may be a meta-

poetic conceit: the lasting monument to mouse-murder is the poem
itself.
118 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

τρόπαιον: “trophy.” Greeks set up trophies after victories made up of

panoplies of captured goods and armor. The term is related to τρέπω: the
site was to mark the spot where the enemy turned to retreat. In historical
cases, these temporary monuments were replaced by permanent ones.
See Steinbock 2013: 84; cf. Paus. 1.32.5.

160–7 The frog arming scence matches the mouse arming sequence. The
similar content and contrast adds both to the earlier description and also
parodies the type of balance evident in Homeric scenes. See Kelly 2014 for
a recent re-evaluation of this scene.

160 ῝Ως εἰπών: A typical formula in Homeric speech-framing, e.g.

Il. 1.326, sometimes expanded to the caesura as ῎Ητοι ὅ γ’ ὣς εἰπὼν . . .
(e.g. Il. 7.354).

ἀνέπεισε: This compound is common in authors from Herodotus on.

Homer uses παραπείθω and ἐπιπείθω with some frequency.

καθοπλίζεσθαι ἅπαντας: See on 122.

161 φύλλοις μὲν μαλαχῶν: “leaves of of mallow.” Mallow may describe

many different types of the family Malvaceae. The genus native to
Europe and Asia Minor, Althaea, grows on river banks. The plants reach
maturity at between three and six feet with soft flowers whose qualities
helped give the name to marshmallows. Greeks and Romans prized the
plants for alleged healing properties; the leaves were often eaten in
salads.

κνήμας ἑάς: “their own shins”; ἑάς:, reflexive personal pronoun.

ἀμφεκάλυψαν: This compound (unaugmented) ends the line at

Od. 5.493, 13.152 and 158 and elsewhere.

162 θώρηκας δ’ εἶχον καλῶν χλοερῶν ἀπὸ σεύτλων: “they had

breastplates from yellow beets.”

σεύτλων: This vegetable (beets) appears in one of the lives of Aesop

(Life W) along with the μαλαχῶν.
 Commentary 119

163 φύλλα δὲ τῶν κραμβῶν: “leaves of cabbage.”

εἰς ἀσπίδας εὖ ἤσκησαν: cf. Il. 23.742: πολλόν, ἐπεὶ Σιδόνες πολυδαίδαλοι
εὖ ἤσκησαν (“when the very-talented Sidonians made them well”).

164 ἔγχος δ’ ὀξύσχοινος ἑκάστῳ μακρὸς ἀρήρει: An awkward

sentence with a Homeric parallel: εἵλετο δ’ ἄλκιμα δοῦρε, τά οἱ
παλάμηφιν ἀρήρει, 16.139 (“he took two strong spears which were
fitted to his palms”). Following the pattern of the previous passage,
it may be best to consider this as predicative: “For each a sharp reed
was fitted as a great spear.” ὀξύσχοινος: “sharp reed,” may refer to a
specific plant.

165 καί ῥα κέρα κοχλιῶν λεπτῶν ἐκάλυπτε κάρηνα: This line has
several variants, most of which include the same image: snails’ shells as
helmets (e.g., . . . κοχλίαι κάρην ἀμφεκάλυπτον).

λεπτῶν: “fine, thin, well-wrought.” Since the adjective is being applied to

snail shells (κοχλιῶν), we translated this as “polished”—but it may refer
instead to the appearance of intricate handiwork.

166 φραξάμενοι: φράσσω, in the middle “to arm oneself.” This form
appears in Mimnermus (ἤ[ϊξ]α̣ν κοίληι[ς ἀ]σπίσι φραξάμενοι, fr. 13a2).

ἐπ’ ὄχθαις ὑψηλαῖσι: “on the high banks”; the adjective appears in
Homer and Hesiod for homes (e.g. Il. 6.503) and chairs (e.g. Od. 8.422).

167 σείοντες λόγχας: “brandishing spears,” λόγχη is a post-Homeric

noun but the combination is similar to Il. (σείοντ’ ἐγχείας. 3.345). Likely
another literary adaptation.

θυμοῦ δ’ ἔμπλητο ἕκαστος: The syntax here is a little strange. Typically

in Homer, πίμπλημι signals the filling of a bodypart (in the accusative)
with a substance in the genitive as at Il. 22.312 when Achilles “filled his
heart with eagerness” (μένεος δ’ ἐμπλήσατο θυμὸν) cf. Il. 1.102–3. In the
passive, the verb can simply take a genitive as here if we understand
thumos metonymically, e.g. “each was filled with enthusiasm.” Such a use
of thumos appears in Isocrates (ἀλλ’ ὀργῆς καὶ θυμοῦ καὶ φθόνου καὶ
120 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

φιλοτιμίας μεστοὺς, 12.81.8). One manuscript has the accusative θυμόν,

which would also be non-Homeric without a genitive complement.

168–93: Zeus calls a council of the gods to consider the severity of the
threat. The scene parodies divine concern in the Homeric epics where even
the works of men can bring them no real danger. In addition, the parody
imitates the actual divine assemblies that occur in Greek epic at Iliad
4, 8, 24; and Odyssey 1. Athena responds to Zeus and complains that she
cannot support either side. The depiction of the goddess contrasts with
Homeric epic or Attic tragedy where she is frightening and serious. Here,
Athena is rather pathetic, complaining about how the mice have ruined
her clothing and that the frogs keep her awake. It is not impossible that
Athena would receive such an irreverant treatment in a satyrical context
(e.g. satyr plays or comedy), but the patron goddess is not a common
target of the classical period.

168 Ζεὺς δὲ θεοὺς καλέσας: the verb of speech (ἐρέεινε, 172) is rather
separated from the subject for Homeric standards.

εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα: A Homeric formula, e.g. Od. 12.380.

169 καὶ πολέμου πληθύν: The substantive πληθὺν typically appears

unqualified in Homer, but here has a descriptive genitive.

κρατερούς τε μαχητάς: “strong warriors,” more hyperbole. The

combination is likely modeled on Il. 3.179 (. . . κρατερός τ’ αἰχμητής).

170 πολλοὺς καὶ μεγάλους: Hendiadys, “many great and strong

warriors.”

ἠδ’ ἔγχεα μακρὰ φέροντας: cf. Il. 3.135 (ἀσπίσι κεκλιμένοι, παρὰ δ’
ἔγχεα μακρὰ πέπηγεν).

171 οἷος Κενταύρων στρατὸς ἔρχεται ἠὲ Γιγάντων: This responds

to other comparisons in the poem; the mice are compared to giants
at line 7 and the battle is compared to the hubris of the giants at 283.
Both centaurs and giants are shown in myth to challenge the natural
order of affairs. Variants seem to push the comparison to another level
 Commentary 121

of absurdity (170a–b). The Byzantine edition has ὡς βατράχων στρατὸς

ἔβρεμεν εὖτε γιγάντων and καὶ μῦες κενταύρων μεγαλαύχων ἦσαν
ὁμοῖοι. “The army of frogs roars like the giants and the mice are just like
the boasting centaurs.” The images paired here (and in the following
segment) may show knowledge of Athenian ritual and art on the
Acropolis. As Bliquez (1977: 17–18) emphasizes, the Parthenon showed
both the Gigantomachy and the Centauromachy; in addition, the robe
(peplos) offered to Athena each year was decorated with an image of the
Gigantomachy.

172 ἡδὺ γελῶν: This form is not found in Homer, where instead we
find ἡδὺ γελάσσας· (cf. Il. 21.508). This phrase at first appears to
introduce a speech in the middle of a line, but it is more likely that this
is an indirect description of speech.

τίνες βατράχοισιν ἀρωγοὶ / ἢ μυσὶν ἀθανάτων: Perhaps better

understood as indirect question rather than a quotation.

ἀρωγοί: “helpers, assistants,” used in the Iliad of gods who aid one side
or the other, see Il. 8.205 (εἴ περ γάρ κ’ ἐθέλοιμεν, ὅσοι Δαναοῖσιν
ἀρωγοί) which occurs in another divine assembly.

173 ἢ μυσὶν ἀθανάτων: Some manuscripts anticipate 178 with

τειρομένοισιν in this line (“who will help the frogs and mice who are
being worn down”). Instead, the text has a separation between the
partitive genitive and the interrogative, i.e. “Who of the gods will be
helpers for the mice or frogs?” In the context we prefer the latter.

174 μυσὶν ἦ ῥα βοηθήσουσα: Zeus expects his daughter to help the

mice since they are often in her temple. His image of the playful and
happy mice stands in contrast to their described bellicosity.

βοηθήσουσα: Future participle of purpose. Some manuscripts have

ἐπαλεξήσουσα; in the Iliad, Zeus sends Athena down to defend Herakles
(ἐπαλεξήσουσαν, 8.365).

πορεύσῃ: Deliberative subjunctive.

122 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

175 ἀεὶ σκιρτῶσιν ἅπαντες: “They are all always dancing.” σκιρτάω,
perhaps appropriate to the skittish movement of mice (as in Aratus,
1134–5: ᾿Αλλὰ γὰρ οὐδὲ μύες, τετριγότες εἴ ποτε μᾶλλον / εὔδιοι
ἐσκίρτησαν ἐοικότες ὀρχηθμοῖσιν), is applied to the movement of
Bacchae (Eur. Bacchae 446) and members of a chorus (Ar., Wealth,
761); the image of dancing in the temple of Athena may have humorous
echoes of ritual practice. A war-dance was performed in honor of
Athena’s birth in full-armor at the Panathenaean festival (pyrrhiche),
see Burkert 1985: 102.

176 κνίσῃ τερπόμενοι: The gods are the ones who enjoy the smoke
from sacrifices; it may be natural for a god to imagine that the mice
would enjoy the things he himself does. For “smoke” in a mouse name,
see Κνισσοδιώκτην, line 232. Cf. the “Daughter of Smokey” (Κν]
ισ̣έωνος θ[υ]γάτη̣[ρ], line 8) who appears in the fragmentary GM .

ἐδέσμασι παντοδαποῖσιν: Zeus echoes what Psicharpax says about

himself at line 31.

177 ῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη Κρονίδης· τὸν δὲ προσέειπεν ᾿Αθήνη: Rather

typical lines of speech conclusion and introduction. It is less common
to have an expression of speech conclusion and introduction in the
same line. See line 277 below. This combination is probably a literary
adaptation.

178 ὦ πάτερ οὐκ ἄν πώ ποτ’ ἐγὼ μυσὶ τειρομένοισιν: A future less

vivid (using the optative with ἄν in the apodosis) with the protasis in
the participle τειρομένοισιν (i.e. “I would never go as a helper to the
mice even if they are being worn down”). According to Plutarch (de
Invidia et odio, 537a) many nations hate mice and kill them to keep
them out of the temples (whose gods similarly despise them).

179 ἐπεὶ κακὰ πολλά μ’ ἔοργαν: Some MSS have ἐρέξαν instead of
ἔοργαν. In either case, the sense is “they’ve done me many bad things.”

180 στέμματα βλάπτοντες καὶ λύχνους εἵνεκ’ ἐλαίου: The garlands

were most likely made of olive-leaves (Athena is accusing the mice of
 Commentary 123

eating her sacred objects). The lanterns (λύχνους) also have ritual use
and burned olive oil; earlier in the poem the mice use them for their
shields (129).

181 ἔδακε φρένας: The use of ἔδακε is rather playful. It is not

uncommonly used for psychic phenomena (cf. Iliad 5.493 . . . δάκε δὲ
φρένας ῞Εκτορι μῦθος). However, it is perhaps intended to evoke the
mouse’s characteristic nibbling. (cf. line 45 . . . ἄκρον δάκτυλον δάκνω).

182 πέπλον μου κατέτρωξαν ὃν ἐξύφηνα καμοῦσα: This toys with the
ritual tradition of Athena’s peplos. Part of annual offerings to Athena
involved the dressing of her cult image in the Parthenon with a new
robe (allegedly decorated with images of the Gigantomachy). Presenting
Athena as weaving one for herself makes her like the women depicted
in Homer but rather unlike a divine entity. The mice’s eating of the robe
may be another allusion to Callimachus, whose Molorchus suffers a
similar fate (fr. 177.29–31; see Scodel 2008: 232).

ἐξύφηνα καμοῦσα: Sequential use of the participle in Greek is often

opposite of English sense, here “I wore myself out weaving” instead of
the Greek order “I wove, wearing myself out.” ἐξύφηνα is a root aorist of
ὑφαίνω. The compound ἐξύφηνα does not appear until Herodotus.

183 ἐκ ῥοδάνης λεπτῆς: “from tender weft”.

καὶ στήμονα μακρὸν ἔνησα: Athena spins her own wool too!

ἔνησα: νέω, “to spin.”

184 τρώγλας τ’ ἐμποίησαν: “they made holes in [my robes].”

ἠπητής: A “mender,” from ὴπήσασθαι, “to mend.”

ἐπέστη: from ἐφίστημι, middle intransitive meaning, “to await, spring

upon, pay attention to.”

185 καὶ πράσσει με τόκον: “and he makes me a debtor.” Ludwich (376)

notes that the placement of this line is uncertain, sometimes appearing
before 186, sometimes after. The explanatory γὰρ in 186 may provide
124 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

some grounds for retaining 185 in its current position. Some scholars
have questioned Athena’s debt for her robe as absurd. The absurdity is
clearly humorous and not out of line with the Homeric tradition
where, as Xenophanes claims, the gods appear worse than men (fr. 11
Diehl-Krantz):
Homer and Hesiod attribute to the gods
Everything that is reproachful and blameworthy among men:
Stealing, committing adultery, and deceiving one another.

πάντα θεοῖσ’ ἀνέθηκαν ῞Ομηρός θ’ ῾Ησίοδός τε,

ὅσσα παρ’ ἀνθρώποισιν ὀνείδεα καὶ ψόγος ἐστίν,
κλέπτειν μοιχεύειν τε καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀπατεύειν.

The undignified depiction of Athena, however, may militate against an

Athenian composition for the poem.
τὸ δὲ ῥίγιον ἀθανάτοισιν: ῥίγιον (“more horrible, chilly,” from ῥιγέω, “to
shiver”) appears throughout Archaic poetry and should be prefered to
the variant τό γε ῥίπον / γ᾿ ἔριπον.
186 χρησαμένη: from χράομαι, “to borrow.”
ἔνησα: See above, note 183.
ἀνταποδοῦναι: ἀνταποδίδωμι, “to repay.”

οὐκ ἔχω: sc. οὐ δύναμαι. With infinitives ἔχω can mean “to be able to.”
187 ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὣς βατράχοισιν ἀρηγέμεναι βουλήσω. Cf. Od. 1.6: ἀλλ’
οὐδ’ ὧς ἑτάρους ἐρρύσατο, ἱέμενός περ·
ἀρηγέμεναι: from ἀρήγω, “to help”; cf. Il. 8.11: ἐλθόντ’ ἢ Τρώεσσιν
ἀρηγέμεν ἢ Δαναοῖσι. The lengthened infinitive ἀρηγέμεναι does not
occur in Homer, but does in Quintus Smyrnaeus. Multiple active
infinitive variants often coexist: Consider Homeric ἀμύνειν, ἀμυνέμεν,
ἀμυνέμεναι (“to defend”).
188 εἰσὶ γὰρ οὐδ’ αὐτοὶ φρένας ἔμπεδοι, ἀλλά με πρῴην: for the
expression, see Il. 6.352: τούτῳ δ’ οὔτ’ ἂρ νῦν φρένες ἔμπεδοι . . . The BM
adapts the Iliad’s “his thoughts are not sound” to “they are not sound in
their thoughts”; cf. the conjecture αὐτοῖς φρένες (Ludwich ad loc.).
 Commentary 125

189 ἐκ πολέμου ἀνιοῦσαν: cf. Il. 6.480 ἐκ πολέμου ἀνιόντα·

ἐκοπώθην: from κοπόω [κοπιάω] “to weary.” Probably the first occurance
of this denominative verb from κόπος, “beating, striking.” The English
“I am beaten down” is perhaps apt. Athena then complains that the
frogs’ noise annoys her and has kept her from sleeping. Similarly, in
Aristophanes’ Frogs, the eponymous chorus is depicted as “croaking”
both during the chorus and the stichomythic exchange. Dionysus
complains “I wish this ‘croak’ would go to hell! There’s nothing left but
croaking!” (᾿Αλλ’ ἐξόλοισθ’ αὐτῷ κοαξ / οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστ’ ἀλλ’ ἢ κοαξ,
226–7). Frog noise may have been a common complaint in Classical
Athens, but the parodist is likely engaging with Aristophanes. For the
frog-sounds and possible identification of a local species, see on line
213 below.

190 οὐκ εἴασαν: For the 3rd plural aorist termination in -αν and its
bearing on the date of the poem, see the note on line 179.

θορυβοῦντες: “making an uproar.” Forms of this verb do not appear in

Homer, but they do appear in Pindar to describe the noise of assembled
people, in Plato, especially of judicial assemblies.

δευομένην: modifies με in line 188 along with ἀνιοῦσαν (189). The

alternation of indirect discourse and first-person verbs would be out of
character for archaic hexameters.

191 καταμῦσαι: καταμύειν literally means “to close one’s eyes.” A

reader might see in the form καταμῦσαι a pun on the murine theme of
the work, or an echo of the similar-sounding Katamyomachia (“battle
of cats and mice”).

192 ἀλγοῦσαν: Some MSS have this form, following the accusative
participles in 189 and 190. Others have the nominative ἀλγοῦσα using
τὴν κεφαλὴν as an internal accusative. The sense of the accusative in
indirect statement might be better construed if we move this line after
189 (or, without moving it, change to the nominative, following
Ludwich, Glei et al. accepting the resulting hiatus ἀλγοῦσα, ἕως.)
126 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

ἀλέκτωρ: “cock, rooster.”

193 ἀλλ’ ἄγε παυσώμεσθα θεοὶ τούτοισιν ἀρήγειν: Several scholars

have objected to the reading of παυσώμεσθα on the grounds that
one cannot stop what one has not yet begun (cf. Ludwich 379 ad loc.).
This debate may too severely constrain the meanings of παυσώμεσθα
and ἀρήγειν which are here, more consistent with Hellenistic usage,
functioning more abstractly to indicate reluctance and side-taking
rather than specific assistance.

194 μή κέ τις ὑμείων τρωθῇ βέλει ὀξυόεντι· Byzantine variants

include μή τις καὶ λόγχῃ τυπῇ δέμας ἠὲ μαχαίρῃ and μή κέ τις τρωθῇ
λόγχῃ. Both lines use λόγχῃ (which is post-Homeric, see above) whereas
the first also includes the Homeric short-sword, (cf. 11.844: ἔνθά μιν
ἐκτανύσας ἐκ μηροῦ τάμνε μαχαίρῃ).

τρωθῇ: (“wound”) aorist of τιτρώσκω, cf. τρώω.

ὑμείων: Lengthened form of ὑμῶν which appears four times in Homer

(e.g. Il. 19.153).

βέλει ὀξυόεντι: “sharp shaft” built analogically on the Homeric formula

ἔγχεϊ ὀξυόεντι. The form βέλει occurs once in the Iliad when Athena
encourages Pandaros to shoot at the Achaeans (σῷ βέλεϊ δμηθέντα
πυρῆς ἐπιβάντ’ ἀλεγεινῆς, 4.99).

The sentiment here plays upon the wounding of gods in the Iliad (e.g.
Aphrodite in book 5) and that epic’s separation between the worlds of
gods and men expressed most clearly by Apollo in book 21 (462–7)
where he argues that it is foolish for immortal gods to fight for mortals.

195 ἀγχέμαχοι: “near-fighters,” “fierce.” This Homeric epithet may be

odd here: often it applies not to those you might fight against, but
instead those who fight alongside (near) you, as at Il. 16.272 and 17.165.
For line 195, some MSS have instead the full line εἰσὶ γὰρ ἀγέρωχοι
ἄλκιμοι ἀγκιμαχηταί: “They are haughty, stalwart, close-fighters.” Both
adjectives (ἀγχέμαχοι and ἀγέρωχοι) are applied to the Mysians in
Homer (Μυσῶν τ’ ἀγχεμάχων καὶ ἀγαυῶν ἱππημολγῶν, Il. 13.5; πρὸς
 Commentary 127

Θύμβρης δ’ ἔλαχον Λύκιοι Μυσοί τ’ ἀγέρωχοι, 10.430). It may be a

stretch to imagine play on the sound of Greek mûs in the Homeric
Mûsoi affecting the epithet selection. Close collocation, however, with
καταμῦσαι (191) may strengthen the association.

196 πάντες δ’ οὐρανόθεν τερπώμεθα δῆριν ὁρῶντες: Compare

Athena’s sentiments in 193–6 to the speech delivered by Apollo to
Poseidon at Iliad 21.466–7: ἄλλοτε δὲ φθινύθουσιν ἀκήριοι. ἀλλὰ
τάχιστα / παυώμεσθα μάχης· οἳ δ’ αὐτοὶ δηριαάσθων. Note as well that
δῆριν refers to the topic announced for the poem at line 4.

197 ῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη: A formulaic speech-conclusion line, see above at

line 65.

καὶ τῇ γε θεοὶ ἐπεπείθοντ’ ἄλλοι: “The rest of the gods agreed with her.”
In the Iliad, the consent of the other gods is often balanced against Zeus’
desires (as in book 4 where Hera tells Zeus to do what he wants even
though the other gods will not praise it: ἕρδ’· ἀτὰρ οὔ τοι πάντες
ἐπαινέομεν θεοὶ ἄλλοι, 4.29). On the importance of praise and consent
among the gods, see Martin 1989: 55–6 and Elmer 2013. In the Odyssey,
however, Zeus and Athena operate primarily without the participation
of the other gods. Here, the parodist allows Zeus to convene over the
divine assembly, Athena to propose a course of action, and the other
gods to follow her.

ἐπεπείθοντ’: In Homer, the middle of πείθω often means “to assent to”
rather than “obey.” On this distinction, see Stensgaard 2003.

198–259 The gods watch the clash of the armies. They direct the
audience’s attention as an internal audience gazing upon the slaughter of
war. The parodist makes this even more explicit after the gods move
together as a crowd thronging into a theater for a spectacle. For the gods
as an audience in Homer, see Griffin 1980: 179–201. For a more theoretical
treatment, see Pucci 2002: 21. What the gods gaze upon is a rather
confusing and hectic series of deaths. The text has problems throughout.
The last 100 lines of the poem are more formulaic and “Homeric” than the
first two-thirds. This formulaic section presents action that is not
128 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

altogether clear with prominent characters who die only to appear again
later. Typically, scholars have interpreted the confusion as resulting from
a combination of poor poetic skill and textual corruption. Following
Kelly’s argument (2009) that the confusion and lack of clarity is an
intentional parody of Homeric style, we can view this section as a generic
critique. It is clear from the manuscript tradition that there are significant
confusions from textual transmission; on the other hand, the sophistication
of the poem from the beginning to this point should make us wary of
dismissing Kelly’s suggestion to take the parody seriously (on which, see
also Most 1993 and Sens 2005). It is possible to accomodate both the
conventional and the theoretical interpretations of the poem.

198 ἀολλέες: “in throngs, gathered together,” Homeric.

εἰς ἕνα χῶρον: Cf. line 133.

199 καὶ τότε: A common Homeric phrase coordinating action among

different characters as at Il. 1.92 (Καὶ τότε δὴ θάρσησε καὶ ηὔδα μάντις
ἀμύμων).

κώνωπες: from κώνωψ, “gnat, mosquito.” Here, probably “mosquitoes.”

The σάλπιγξ was a war trumpet. According to Aristotle (de Mundo
399b), the σάλπιγξ was sounded prior to the soldiers’ assumption of
their arms. Presumably, the mosquitoes were bearing these trumpets
for the mice, as it seems unlikely that they would serve the frogs in any
function other than a source of sustenance.

200 ἐσάλπιγξαν: Denominative verb from σάλπιγξ.

δεινὸν . . . κτύπον: This might typically signal a percussive sound,

whereas in Homer trumpets “scream” (ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀριζήλη φωνή, ὅτε τ’
ἴαχε σάλπιγξ, 18.219).

201 Ζεὺς Κρονίδης βρόντησε, τέρας πολέμοιο κακοῖο. Cf. Il. 20.56
(δεινὸν δὲ βρόντησε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε) and 17.548 (Ζεὺς ἐξ
οὐρανόθεν τέρας ἔμμεναι ἢ πολέμοιο). For πολέμοιο κακοῖο (Homeric
genitive) see 1.284 (ἕρκος ᾿Αχαιοῖσιν πέλεται πολέμοιο κακοῖο). The
appositive use of τέρας—generally associated with Zeus—is a bit odd,
 Commentary 129

but see Il. 5.741–2 (“on it was the Gorgon-head of the terrible monster,
dread and terrifying, a symbol of Aegis-bearing Zeus”; ἐν δέ τε Γοργείη
κεφαλὴ δεινοῖο πελώρου / δεινή τε σμερδνή τε, Διὸς τέρας αἰγιόχοιο).

202 Πρῶτος δ’: δὲ πρῶτος often starts sequences of action. The δέ is

not adversative (i.e. anticipating a contrast, cf. Eng. “but”), but instead
copulative (close to “and”).

῾Υψιβόας: “Shouts-on-high.”

Λειχήνορα: “Manlicker.” Cf. line 216 below.

οὔτασε δουρί: A common sequence in the Iliad, cf. Il. 5.56 and 7.258

203 ἑσταότ’: Perfect passive particple of ἵστημι. ἑσταότ’ is common at

the beginning of lines (e.g. Il. 4.366).

κατὰ γαστέρα: Some MSS have the genitive κατὰ γαστέρος instead,
meaning “through the stomach, he struck the middle of the liver with the
spear.” The accusative with κατά (meaning “down into” or simply “into”) is
Homeric (16.465) but the specification “down into the stomach into the
liver” seems a bit strained. For κατὰ γαστέρος see on line 71. See also line
235 below. Both are likely literary adaptations, see Camerotto 1992: 12.

ἐς μέσον ἧπαρ: “in the middle of the liver” not in Homeric battle scenes
(but cf. . . . μέσην κατὰ γαστέρα τύψε, 17.313), but instead when Hecuba
wishes she could eat Achilles’ liver (. . . τοῦ ἐγὼ μέσον ἧπαρ ἔχοιμι /
ἐσθέμεναι προσφῦσα . . ., 24.212–13).

204 κὰδ: κατά, a common assimilation with δ’ ἔπεσεν see Il. 11.676: δ’
ἔπεσεν πρηνής: “He fell down face forward.” In battle language, πρηνής
contrasts with ὕπτιος, on one’s back ἁπαλὰς δ’ ἐκόνισεν ἐθείρας: For
κονίω as a transitive, see Il.21.207. For falling in dust, cf. 16.469: κὰδ δ’
ἔπεσ’ ἐν κονίῃσι μακών, ἀπὸ δ’ ἔπτατο θυμός.

205 δούπησεν δὲ πεσών: Homeric, see Il. 16.599 (δούπησεν δὲ πεσών·

πυκινὸν δ’ ἄχος ἔλλαβ’ ᾿Αχαιούς). This line is suspect to some: for Glei
1984 (ad loc.) it is a variation on a previous line; West 2003 considers it
130 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

an interpolation. Its repetitive nature is in line with the tone of the

unfolding battle scene.

ἀράβησε δὲ τεύχε’ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ: this whole line is Homeric, see Il. 5.42
(δούπησεν δὲ πεσών, ἀράβησε δὲ τεύχε’ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ).

206 Τρωγλοδύτης δὲ μετ’ αὐτὸν ἀκόντισε Πηλείωνος: The verb here

can take the genitive, but some MSS have the accusative πηλείωνα. The
addition of μετ’ αὐτὸν obscures the matter. For the general sense, perhaps
take μετ’ αὐτὸν merely temporally (i.e.“after that/him Holedweller hurled
at the son of Peleus and his strong spear stuck in his chest”).

Πηλείωνος: “The son of Peleus.” Physignathos, the frog at the center of

the war, dies an understated death here (if this patronymic indicates the
same frog). On the name, see Physignathos’ speech above at line 19.
Note, however, that Physignathos is alive to be struck on the foot at line
250. (And there is likely extra humor that a son of Peleus is struck
on the foot as Achilles is in the tradition). The dead mouse-prince,
Psicharpax, appears alive at 234.

207 πῆξεν: Unaugmented aorist of πήγνυμι; στιβαρὸν δόρυ is the

subject.

τὸν δὲ πεσόντα: object of εἷλε.

208 μέλας θάνατος: “black death” occurs at line 16.687 the phrase is
closely based on the common κῆρα μέλαιναν (e.g. 21.66). Cf. Camerotto
(1992: 16) and line 236 below. Sens (2005: 233–4) sees a sophisticated
engagement with Homeric and Hesiodic models in the adaptation of
this line.

ἔπτη: The syncopated, defective aorist of πέτομαι does not appear until
after the Hellenistic period.

209 ᾿Εμβασίχυτρος: “someone who enters dishes” (we suggest

“Bowldiver”); he is the herald who announces the war to the frogs at
line 137.

Σευτλαῖον: from σεῦτλον, “beet.”

 Commentary 131

ἔπεφνε: See on 141.

210 ᾿Αρτοφάγος: “Breadeater” from ἄρτος “loaf ” and φαγέω, used as

a second aorist of ἐσθίω.

Πολύφωνον: “of much voice” e.g. noisy, chatterer; see the note at
line 12.

κατὰ γαστέρα: See discussion on 203.

τύψε: unaugmented, 3rd person singular.

210–22: In his edition, Allen suggests that 210, 213a and 217 are
“clearly Byzantine” and that the other lines “stand with them” and should
be rejected. Several of the lines have metrical issues and present
somewhat ungainly repetitions from earlier lines. The first part of 213a
does not fit the meter (πέτρῳ μυλοειδέϊ) and the close final repetition
of ὡς δ’ ἐνόησε at 215 and 217 seems inelegant. There are also several
rare words and formulae seemingly lifted from Homer which imply
later “authorship.” (See the comments on each line below.) West 2003
cuts out some of the lines but preserves most. Glei preserves the bulk
while Ludwich agrees that 213, 213a are out of place. 216 and 217 are
also absent in some manuscripts.

211 ἤριπε δὲ πρηνής, ψυχὴ δὲ μελέων ἐξέπτη: This line is similar to

204 (κὰδ δ’ ἔπεσεν πρηνής) and 208 (ψυχὴ δ’ ἐκ σώματος ἔπτη). The
first half is similar to Il.5.58 (ἤριπε δὲ πρηνής, ἀράβησε δὲ τεύχε’ ἐπ’
αὐτῷ.). The notion is similar to Il. 23.880 (ὠκὺς δ’ ἐκ μελέων θυμὸς
πτάτο, τῆλε δ’ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ).

μελέων: Uncontracted genitive plural of μέλος, μέλεος (“limb”).

ἐξέπτη: See on line 208.

212 Λιμνόχαρις: “Delights-in-the-Pond.”

ὡς εἶδεν: “When he saw that”; ὡς often follows the clause’s subject.

ἀπολλύμενον: Note the present tense of the participle, for progressive

force, i.e. “When he saw that Polyphônos was being destroyed.”
132 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

213 Τρωγλοδύτην ἁπαλοῖο δι’ αὐχένος τρῶσεν ἐπιφθάς: There are

two lines included in this section in some MSS : 213a and 213b below.
In addition, there is a variant for 213: Τρωγλίτην ἁπαλοῖο δι’ αὐχένος
ἤριπε δ᾿ εὐθύς: 208–9 repeated ἁπαλοῖο δι’ αὐχένος.

213a πέτρῳ μυλοειδέϊ· τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψε· πέτρῳ μυλοειδέϊ:

this appears in the Iliad (7.270: εἴσω δ’ ἀσπίδ’ ἔαξε βαλὼν μυλοειδέϊ
πέτρῳ) during the dual of Ajax and Hektor. τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψε:
A common Homeric formula, e.g. Il. 6.11; see line 231 below.

213b Τρωγλήτης δ᾿ ἄῤ ἔπεφνε Βρεκαίκιγα ἐσθλόν ἀίξας: This line

also has formulaic aspects. On ἔπεφνε see 141, 209.

Βρεκαίκιγα ἐσθλὸν: The novel compound may echo Aristophanes’ frog

call (brekekkex koax koax; Βρεκεκεκεξ κοαξ κοαξ from the Frogs) or
derive from the root βρέχω (“to moisten, or to be wet”) and ἀίσσω (“to
leap”), so: “Waterdarter.” Thus, the line-ending participle ἀίξας, by
modifying the mouse, not the frog, engages in a bit of linguistic play.
For the call brekekkex koax koax, see Dover 1993: 219 who draws on
Campbell 1984 in proposing that the frog species in question in the
Marsh Frog, Rana ridibunda.

214 εἷλε: Aorist of αἱρέω.

ἤλασεν ὀξέϊ σχοίνῳ: “with a sharp reed.” The final two words adapt
a common Homeric line-final adjective-noun pairing: ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ
(e.g. Il. 10.35), ὀξέϊ δουρὶ (e.g. Il. 11.95) and ὀξέϊ λᾶϊ (once, 16.739).
The humorous adaptation of Heroic bronze on a spear to the reed
would certainly be clear to an audience familiar with Homeric
poetry.

214a ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν ἔσπασεν ἔγκος: This line is similar to the first half
of 215.

ἐφωρμήθησαν δ᾿ ἐκ αὐτῶ̣: This plural aorist passive exists nowhere else

in Greek literature. The singular appears in the Odyssey (4.713).
 Commentary 133

ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν ἔσπασεν ἔγκος: This line is similar to the first half of 215
(οὐδ’ ἐξέσπασεν ἔγχος ἐναντίον).

215 ἐξέσπασεν: from σπάω, “to draw out.”

216 Λειχήνωρ δ’ αὐτοῖο τιτύσκετο δουρὶ φαεινῷ: This line is almost

identical to Il. 13.159 (Μηριόνης δ’ αὐτοῖο τιτύσκετο δουρὶ φαεινῷ). A
“Manlicker” was killed as one of the first casualties at line 202. With the
apparent resurrections of Physignathos and Psicharpax (see the
appearance of the former at 206), the return of the same Leikhênôr may
contribute to the parody.

τιτύσκετο: from τιτύσκομαι which can mean “obtain or hit” like τεύχω,
τυγχάνω with the genitive object.

217 καὶ βάλεν, οὐδ’ ἀφάμαρτε καθ’ ἧπαρ· ὡς δ’ ἐνόησε: The

combination appears in Il. 11.350 (καὶ βάλεν, οὐδ’ ἀφάμαρτε
τιτυσκόμενος κεφαλῆφιν, 11.350). The tautology of “hitting” and “not
missing,” is somewhat formulaic.

ἀφάμαρτε: second aorist of ἀφαρματάνω: “to miss.”

ὡς δ’ ἐνόησε: This is repeated throughout this section as a transition

from one action to another. This concept appears in Homer (e.g. Il.
11.248; Od. 24.232) but not in this combination to end a line.

218 Κοστοφάγον: “Spice-eater”; the lexicographer Hesychius glosses

κόστος as εἶδος ἀρώματος (a type of aromatic spice).

ἔμπεσεν: aorist from ἐμπίπτω. The subject remains Λειχήνωρ.

219 ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὣς ἀπέληγε μάχης ἀλλ’ ἤλασεν αὐτόν: The first part
of this line is identical to a repeated line in the Iliad (e.g. ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὧς
ἀπέληγε μάχης κορυθαίολος ῞Εκτωρ, 7.263). The doubling of ἀλλά in
the line is un-Homeric.

ἀπέληγε: from ἀπολήγω, “to leave off,” and takes a genitive object.

ἤλασεν: Aorist of ἐλαύνω which can mean “to cut and wound” instead
of simply “to drive.”
134 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

220 κάππεσε: syncope for καταπίπτω.

ἐβάπτετο: βάπτω, “to dip, to dye.” In tragedy, this verb is commonly

used for scenes of slaughter (e.g. Aesch. Pr. 863). With the pond as
subject, however, the image is clear but strange.

221 πορφυρέῳ: “dark red”; purple.

παρ’ ἠιόν’: “along the shore.”

ἐξετανύσθη: From ἐκτανύω “to stretch out.” This form occurs in the
Iliad (7.271: βλάψε δέ οἱ φίλα γούναθ’· ὃ δ’ ὕπτιος ἐξετανύσθη).

222 χορδῇσιν: “intestines.”

λιπαρῇσι: “thin, tender” or, as we prefer, “trailing [as in drawn-out]

intestines.”

ἐπορνύμενος: Some MSS have genitive ἐπορνύμενου instead. In both

cases the lines are hard to construe. The nominative works better; the
subject changes at αὐτὸς δέ. Kostophagos is trying to rise up again as his
intestines trail out of him. West (2003) believes that this line is out of place.

λαγόνεσσιν: “loins.” From λαγών, λαγόνος.

223 Τυροφάγον δ’ αὐτῇσιν ἐπ’ ὄχθαις ἐξενάριξεν: For this line to

make sense, the subject would be Platelicker again, which seems to
indicate a mouse killing another mouse (unless this is a frog with a
murine name).

Τυροφάγον: “Cheeseeater,” a name appropriate for a mouse. Cf. English

tyrophile (“cheeselover”).

ἐξενάριξεν: “to despoil” from ἐξεναρίζω, common ending the line in

Homer (e.g. Il. 5.151).

αὐτῇσιν ἐπ’ ὄχθαις: “the same banks.”

224 Πτερνογλύφον: “Hamborer.”

Καλαμίνθιος: “Minty.”
 Commentary 135

ἰδὼν: see ὁράω.

ἦλθεν: Aorist of ἔρχομαι. The idiom ἐς φόβον ἦλθεν appears to be

periphrasis for “they fled because of fear.” This seems conceptually
related to a Homeric “he drove fear into them” (cf. Il. 14.522: ἀνδρῶν
τρεσσάντων, ὅτε τε Ζεὺς ἐν φόβον ὄρσῃ).

225 ἥλατο: Aorist passive of ἐλαύνω.

τὴν ἀσπίδα ῥίψας: “after abandoning the shield.” The shield-abandoning

poem is a motif in early Greek literature, and this line seems to draw on
lyric fragments (cf. Anacreon fr. 36b ἀσπίδα ῥίψας ποταμοῦ καλλιρόου
παρ’ ὄχθας). The most famous articulation of this anti-heroic sentiment
is Archilochus fr. 5.1–4.

226 Λιτραῖον (“worth a litra,” i.e. a pound”): Other options for this
noun: Λιστραῖον (“digger” from λιστραίνω), φυτραῖον, φιλτραῖον (“of a
love-charm”), χυτραῖον (“earthen-pot”), φιτραῖον.

Βορβοροκοίτης: “Sleeps in the mud”; some MSS have the accusative

form instead.

227 ῾Υδρόχαρις δ’ ἔπεφνεν Πτερνοφάγον βασιλῆα: This line is

unmetrical and is missing from many MSS .

῾Υδρόχαρις: “Watergrace.”

ἔπεφνεν: See above, note 141.

Πτερνοφάγον: “Hameater.”

βασιλῆα: accusative singular of βασιλεύς.

228 χερμαδίῳ: “stone”; this word begins the line 5x in the Iliad (e.g.
4.518). Sens (2005: 232–233) sees important engagement between lines
228–229 and Od. 9.290 (where Odysseus’ men have their brains
smashed by Polyphemos) among others.

πλήξας: Aorist of πλήσσω, “to strike” (in this form 1x in the Iliad).
136 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

βρέγματος: “forehead” from βρέγμα, which does not appear before

tragedy and comedy (Aesch., fr. 496.8; Strattis, fr. 34: οἶσθ’ ᾧ προσέοικεν,
ὦ Κρέων, τὸ βρέγμα σου;).

ἐγκέφαλος: “brains,” in Homeric battle scenes in this position (e.g.

12.185).

229 ἐκ ῥινῶν: from ῥίς, “nose”; in the plural, “nostrils.”

ἔσταξε: from στάζω “to drip.” This verb occurs without an augment once
in the Iliad (19.39) and in a Hesiodic fragment, but popular in tragedy.
With ῥινῶν: στάξε κατὰ ῥινῶν, ἵνα οἱ χρὼς ἔμπεδος εἴη, Il. 19.39.

παλάσσετο δ’ αἵματι: “to be dyed with blood” appears in the Iliad (e.g.
5.100) but not with γαῖα. Instead, in Homer has the earth “flowing with
blood” (ῥέε δ’ αἵματι γαῖα, Il. 4.451). This line, then, is likely a composite
of the two Homeric images.

230 ἀμύμονα Βορβοροκοίτην: the metrical shape of Borborokoitês is

the same as Bellerophontes which shares the same epithet at Il. 6.216
(Οἰνεὺς γάρ ποτε δῖος ἀμύμονα Βελλεροφόντην). Some MSS have
Leikhopinax in the accusative and Borborokoitês in the nominative
(ἀμύμων Βορβοροκοίτης). Some MSS have Ἐμβασίχυτρος instead of
Βορβοροκοίτης, although the former is a mouse-name. The accusative
Λειχοπίναχα would be unmetrical. The simplest MSS solution, then, is
to retain the accusative Βορβοροκοίτην and nominative Λειχοπίναξ.

231 ἔγχει ἐπαΐξας: from ἐπαίσσω, common in Homer, e.g. Il. 5.235.
Some editors put a comma after Βορβοροκοίτην in line 230, thus
construing ἔγχει as a dative instrument with ἐπαΐξας relying on Homeric
usage as at Il. 5.81 and 5.584. In both cases, however, the dative
instruments are probably better with the main verbs. At 5.81, Eurypylos
strikes the shoulder “with a sword after he leaps” (ἔλασ’ ὦμον / φασγάνῳ
ἀΐξας; as opposed to “strikes the shoulder after he leaps with a sword”).
Similarly, at 5.584, Antilokhos “struck his temple with a sword after
leaping upon him” rather than “struck him after leaping upon him with
a sword” (᾿Αντίλοχος δ’ ἄρ’ ἐπαΐξας ξίφει ἤλασε κόρσην). The poet of
 Commentary 137

this parody has retained the shape of the line and the formula (dative
instrument plus participle) with a less comprehensive grasp of the
sense.

τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψεν: A formulaic passage for death from

Homer (see e.g., 6.11) “Darkness covered his eyes.” ὄσσε is dual.

[231a] The MSS also have a full line from Homer: δούπησεν δὲ πεσών,
ἀράβησε δὲ τεύχε’ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ, Il. 13.187. But this line also appears at 205.

232 Πρασσαῖος: “Greenstalk” (cf. πρασίνος, “leek”), most likely a

frog name. The variant Πρασσοφάγος (“stalk-eater”) strengthens the
identification with a frog-diet; yet, phage-compounds are more common
among the mice: See ᾿Αρτοφάγος, 210; Κοστοφάγον, 217; Τυρόφαγος,
line 223; Πτερνοφάγον, 227.

ποδός: here, “by the foot.”

Κνισσοδιώκτην: “Smokehunter” an appropriate name for vermin

lurking near sacrifices. The double-sigma is likely a hyper-archaism for
κνίση. Some MSS offer νεκρὸν ἐόντα. Syntactically, νεκρὸν ἐόντα
would refer back to the last object, in this case Βορβοροκοίτην and
would seem to imply frog-on-frog violence; or, this could refer to
an unnamed mouse without grammatical antecedent (following Kelly
2009: 47). This reading would have Prassaios leaping upon and
drowning a corpse, an image other commentators have found absurd.
Perhaps the absurdity characterizes the ferocity of the frog’s attack? The
reading νεκρὸν ἐόντα would effect a rhyme with the following line
(χειρὶ τένοντα) which is typically avoided in hexameter poetry. Ludwich,
who has Ἐμβασίχυτρος instead of Βορβοροκοίτης at line 230, offers the
variant νεκρόσαντα, providing the sense that Prassaios, once he has
witnessed Leikhopinax in the act of making someone else into a corpse,
drags him by the foot to his drowning death. This works well in a battle
where frogs kill mice by drowning.

233 ἀπέπνιξε: On this verb, see above lines 99 and 119. Some MSS
present the rather bland variant ἀπέθηκε.
138 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

κρατήσας: “to overpower”; κρατέω often takes a genitive object but can
function absolutely (“to prevail”) or with an accusative of the person
prevailed against. In this case “he overpowered [him] as he reached out
with his hand.”

234 Ψιχάρπαξ: “Crumbthief ” here makes a reappearance (he died

at line 99). We are left to assume (1) a manuscript problem or artistic
error (see Glei 1983, ad loc.), (2) that another mouse-hero shares this
name, as in the two Ajaxes (in which case, one might disambiguate
using patronyms) or (3) that the dead mouse prince has been resurrected
(see Kelly’s (2009) note on how the parody here takes the ambiguity of
Homeric battle scenes to task). MSS variants to solve this problem
include: (1) a variant Λειχάρπαξ (a compound of two verbs, meaning
“Licksnatch”); (2) Ludwich’s conjecture Λυχνάρπαξ (“Oilthief ”), for
a the lacuna in th text (Λ[. . .]άρπαξ) and the content of line 180
(στέμματα βλάπτοντες καὶ λύχνους εἵνεκ’ ἐλαίου). For (1), we have
already the compound Λειχομύλη: “Millstone licker”—but here the
combination of two verbal-roots generates a name with little sense;
(2) is attractive enough, but still conjecture.

ἑτάρου περὶ τεθνειῶτος: Some MSS have the plural ἑτάρων. . .

τεθνειώτων ἤμυν’: The augmented form of ἀμύνω is less common in
Homer (see Christensen 2013). The verb can “ward off ” danger from
an object in the genitive as at Il.13.109–10 whereas the use of the
preposition περὶ is more common as at 18.173 (οἳ μὲν ἀμυνόμενοι
νέκυος πέρι τεθνηῶτος).

235 βάλε: unaugmented, “he struck.”

κατὰ νηδύος ἐς μέσον ἧπαρ: on this see above note 203 (κατὰ γαστέρα
ἐς μέσον ἧπαρ). Here we have the genitive instead of accusative, but
the noun has changed: νηδύς can mean “womb” or just a cavity in the
stomach. For a wound in the νηδύς, see Il. 20.486 (τὸν βάλε μέσσον
ἄκοντι, πάγη δ’ ἐν νηδύϊ χαλκός). Instead of ἧπαρ, some MSS have ἦτορ.

236 πῖπτε: Unaugmented imperfect.

 Commentary 139

οἱ πρόσθεν: οἱ is likely the dative singular 3rd person pronoun. This

passage probably means “he fell before him”.

ψυχὴ δ’ ᾿Αϊδόσδε βεβήκει: This line is most likely influenced by Homeric

images, as at 22.362 (ψυχὴ δ’ ἐκ ῥεθέων πταμένη ῎Αϊδος δὲ βεβήκει).

237 Κραμβοβάτης δὲ ἰδών: The triple anaphora in this battle section

(name + δὲ ἰδὼν) is not Homeric. The epics often have the sequence τὸν
δὲ ἰδὼν.

Κραμβοβάτης: “Cabbagetreader”; some MSS have Πηλοβάτης

(“Mudwalker”). We should probably assume that this is a frog; some
have suggested that Κραμβοβάτης might denote a mouse (though
Psicharpax claims he does not eat cabbages at 53); the sense of the
passage would have a mouse attacking a mouse (here Ψιχάρπαξ from
line 234) unless we provide another object-pronoun without antecedant.

πηλοῦ δράκα: “Handful of mud”; cf. drakhma, “a handful.”

238 καὶ τὸ μέτωπον: here, “face.”

ἔχρισε: χρίω, “to rub on, annoint”; one manuscript has ἔπληξε instead.
The sense with ἔχρισε is more vivid.

ἐξετύφλου: Other MSS have ἐξετύφλωσε (“to blind”) instead.

παρὰ μικρόν: Adverbial: “more than a little” which comes to mean

“almost.” μικρόν as an adverb is not Homeric. This phrase appears in
Eur. Heracl. 295 (ὡς δείν’ ἔπαθεν καὶ παρὰ μικρόν), Isocrates 4.59. See
the LSJ entry III .5.b. See Smyth §1692.3c παρὰ μικρόν for “narrowly”
or almost. This phrase seems gains in popularity during the classical
period, appearing in tragedy, oratory, and then philosophy (e.g. Aristotle
Phy. 1.97.92).

239 ὠργίσθη: from ὀργίζω: “to make angry.” Some MSS have ὀργισθείς
instead. Others have θυμώθη, μουνώθη, γουνώθη, and συνώθη.

χειρὶ παχείῃ: “with a thick hand,” Homeric; see e.g. 21.424: καί ῥ’
ἐπιεισαμένη πρὸς στήθεα χειρὶ παχείῃ.
140 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

240 ἐν δαπέδῳ: “earth.” Some variants include γαίη̣ and πεδιω̣. This is
Homeric, see Od. 11.577: κείμενον ἐν δαπέδῳ. ὁ δ’ ἐπ’ ἐννέα κεῖτο
πέλεθρα.

λίθον ὄβριμον: “Strong rock.” The adjective is most often combined

with spear (ἔγχος).

ἄχθος ἀρούρης: “a burden of the earth”; a Homeric formula which is

used by Achilles to describe his uselessness while out of battle (ἀλλ’ ἧμαι
παρὰ νηυσὶν ἐτώσιον ἄχθος ἀρούρης, 18.104). Cf. Od. 20.379 (ἔμπαιον
οὐδὲ βίης, ἀλλ’ αὔτως ἄχθος ἀρούρης) where it insultingly refers
Odysseus. The allusion may humorously trivialize the Homeric scenes.

241 Κραμβοβάτην: There is also the variant Πηλοβάτην. The scene is

describing the blinding of a mouse who, in rage, hurls the first thing at
hand against his assaillant.

ὑπὸ γούνατα: “under the knees.”

ἐκλάσθη: “sounded out” from κλάγγω. This form appears once in

Homer (Il. 11.584)

242 κνήμη δεξιτερή: “Right greave.”

πέσε δ’ ὕπτιος ἐν κονίῃσι: “He fell face up into the dust.” The image and
language is taken from Homer (ἑσταότ’ ἄγχ’ Αἴαντος· ὃ δ’ ὕπτιος ἐν
κονίῃσι, Il. 15.434) but the verb is often enjambed into the next line
(νηὸς ἄπο πρυμνῆς χαμάδις πέσε . . .).

243 Κραυγασίδης: A patronymic without any clear antecedant or

noun.

ἤμυνε: see above on line 234.

αὖθις: “in turn.”

ἐπ’ αὐτόν: Another object without a clear antecedant, but it must refer
to the subject of 234 (here Ψιχάρπαξ) who kills there and is attacked
in 237 (ἐπ’ αὐτόν). Once angered (ὠργίσθη δ’ ἄρ’ ἐκεῖνος), he picks up
 Commentary 141

his boulder and strikes his adversary (241). The new subject at 243 can
only have that adversary to strike in 244.

244 κατὰ γαστέρα: On this phrase, see on line 203.

245 ὀξύσχοινος: “sharp reed” (see above, 164) is modified by πᾶς

(244).

ἔκχυντο: “poured out”; the subject is in the next line.

246 ἔγκατ’: “Innards, guts.”

ἐφελκομένῳ: dative of possession “all his guts poured out because of the
spear from the stout hand.”

ὑπὸ δούρατι: With ὑπὸ, the dative can mean “under the force of ” or
merely “under.”

χειρὶ παχείῃ: The repeition so close to 239 is a little suspect.

247 Τρωγλοδύτης: “Holedweller”; see above on 52.

παρ’ ὄχθῃσιν ποταμοῖο: Note the use of a n-moveable before a

consonant; Janko (1982; 2012: 29) includes this as an archaism. This is
the only instance (other than line-ending n-moveables at 31, 100, 121,
136, and 185) in the epic. This phrase is Homeric, see Od. 6.97: δεῖπνον
ἔπειθ’ εἵλοντο παρ’ ὄχθῃσιν ποταμοῖο.

ὡς εἶδεν: “When he noticed,” cf. Il. 4.149 (ὡς εἶδεν μέλαν αἷμα καταρρέον
ἐξ ὠτειλῆς).

248 σκάζων ἐκ πολέμου ἀνεχάζετο, τείρετο δ’ αἰνῶς: This line seems

like “cut-and-paste” poetry. Each of the three parts appears in Homer in
exactly the same position; but only all together here.

σκάζων ἐκ πολέμου: “limping from battle” σκάζω. This phrase occurs

only at Il. 11.811 (σκάζων ἐκ πολέμου· κατὰ δὲ νότιος ῥέεν ἱδρὼς).

ἀνεχάζετο: “to retreat” from ἀναχάζω “to cause to retreat”; this verb
appears frequently in Homer, e.g. Il. 5.600, 11.461, 16.710, 17.108
142 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

τείρετο δ’ αἰνῶς: from τείρω “to wear down”; here “to suffer.” αἰνῶς
“dreadfully, terribly.” Cf. Il. 5.352 ῝Ως ἔφαθ’, ἣ δ’ ἀλύουσ’ ἀπεβήσετο,
τείρετο δ’ αἰνῶς·

249 ἥλατο δ’ ἐς τάφρους: Some MSS have ἐς τάφρον, Ludwich shows

ἐς λίμνην as well, but it would not make sense for a mouse to retreat
to the pond. In Homer, the plural never occurs. The singular appears at
Il. 18.215 (στῆ δ’ ἐπὶ τάφρον ἰὼν ἀπὸ τείχεος, οὐδ’ ἐς ᾿Αχαιοὺς).

250 Τρωξάρτης: This is Psicharpax’ father who speaks at 109.

ἐς ποδὸς ἄκρον: “Top of his foot.” This scene may play upon Paris’
wounding of Diomedes’ foot in the Iliad 11.377ff. The scene probably
also resonates with the death of Achilles at Paris’ hand in the mythical
tradition. The use of the preposition ἐς with ἔβαλεν is odd, but it is
not without some precedent: intensifying or directional prepositions
are used with βάλλω, see Il. 17.517 (καὶ βάλεν ᾿Αρήτοιο κατ’ ἀσπίδα
πάντοσ’ ἐΐσην). Earlier, at line 209, Physignathos the son of Πηλείωνος
dies. This wounding in the foot may indicate (1) an unresolved
manuscript conflict; (2) different frogs in the two scenes; (3) intentional
literary play with conventional Homeric battle scenes; see Kelly 2009.

251 ἔσχατος δ’ ἐκ λίμνης ἀνεδύσετο, τείρετο δ’ αἰνῶς: This line is

unmetrical; for the first word to scan as a dactyl, we would have to lose
the δ’ (as Glei does); but the line would be odd without a connective.
There are several MSS variants for this line including:

ὦκα δὲ λίμνην ἤλατο τειρόμενός περ δεινῶς

ὦκα δὲ τειρόμενος ὲς λίμνην ἤλατο φεύγων
ὦκα δ᾿ ἐς λίμνην εἰσᾶλτο τειρόμενον δ’ αἰνῶς

None of the variants seems more convincing than the others. When it
comes to content, this line does not really contribute to the order of the
action which would have Physignathos exiting the pond in suffering.
Instead, there is logic in having Prassaios noticing his fall and then
entering into action. In addition, there are elements repeated from
line 248.
 Commentary 143

252 Πρασσαῖος: Ludwich has Τρωξάρτης instead. Prassaios here

makes more sense because the other has just been wounded.

ὡς εἶδεν: A typical Homeric phrase for a character noticing something;

see Il. 15.484: ῞Εκτωρ δ’ ὡς εἶδεν Τεύκρου βλαφθέντα βέλεμνα.

ἡμίπνουν: “half-alive.”

προπεσόντα: from πίπτω.

252a καὶ οἱ ἐκέδραμεν αὖθις, ἀποκτάμεναι μενεαίνων: Ludwich

includes this variant; Glei does not.

ἀποκτάμεναι μενεαίνων: This phrase is similar to Il. 20.165 (σίντης, ὅν

τε καὶ ἄνδρες ἀποκτάμεναι μεμάασιν). ἀποκτάμεναι: from ἀποκτείνω.
μενεαίνων: “longing for.”

253 ἦλθε διὰ προμάχων: “He went through the forefighters”; this is
similar to Il. 17.88 (βῆ δὲ διὰ προμάχων κεκορυθμένος αἴθοπι χαλκῷ).

ἀκόντισεν: from ἀκοντίζω “to hurl a spear.” This form appears in this
position at Il. 4.490 (Πριαμίδης καθ’ ὅμιλον ἀκόντισεν ὀξέϊ δουρί).

ὀξύσχοινον: on this, see line 164.

253–6: Various MSS omit these lines.

254 ἔρρηξε: ῥήγνυμι “to break.”

σάκος: “shield.”

δουρὸς ἀκωκή: “Tip of the spear,” often at the end of the line, cf.
Il. 23.821 (αἰὲν ἐπ’ αὐχένι κῦρε φαεινοῦ δουρὸς ἀκωκῇ).

σχέτο: intransitive aorist of ἔχω, cf. Il. 7.248 (ἐν τῇ δ’ ἑβδομάτῃ ῥινῷ
σχέτο· δεύτερος αὖτε).

255 Some MSS omit both 255 and 256. The sense of line 255 (οὐδ’
ἔβαλε τρυφάλειαν ἀμύμονα καὶ τετράχυτρον) is difficult in context.
With 254: “He didn’t break the shield, but the tip of the spear stuck in it
/ and he also didn’t hit the helment, blameless and four-pots-thick.”
144 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Switching the order of the two lines might make more sense. However,
there is probably a subject change at 255 with the nominative δῖος
᾿Οριγανίων postponed to 256. According to a scholiast, these objects
are actually names, Tetrakhutros and Truphaleios, of the victims here
(the “strong heroes” reflected in ἥρωας κρατερούς at 259).

τετράχυτρον: “Four-pots thick,” modifying τρυφάλειαν, “helmet.” The

epithet τετράχυτρον only appears here in all of Greek literature, a clear
parodic neologism. Cf. the similar form at A.R. 2.920 (τετράφαλος
φοίνικι λόφῳ ἐπελάμπετο πήληξ). In addition, this form may also be
built on the “four-layered” shield that appears at Il. 15.479 (αὐτὰρ ὅ γ’
ἀμφ’ ὤμοισι σάκος θέτο τετραθέλυμνον).

256 δῖος ᾿Οριγανίων: “Shining/Glorious Oregano;” the common

Homeric epithet here is humorous and functional.

μιμούμενος αὐτὸν ῎Αρηα: μιμούμενος: see on line 7 and 149. The

participle of μιμέεσθαι here and at line 7 highlights the parodic
detachment between the world of myth and the ridiculous mice. This is
underscored by the fact that we encounter Zeus ἡδὺ γελῶν in line 172,
but also is discordant with the fears expressed by Athena (194) and even
Zeus himself (272–3).

257 ὃς μόνος ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀρίστευεν καθ’ ὅμιλον: “he alone

among the frogs had his aristeia through the throng.” In Homer,
καθ’ ὅμιλον usually indicates movement (e.g. Il. 12.468: κέκλετο δὲ
Τρώεσσιν ἑλιξάμενος καθ’ ὅμιλον); here this makes more sense if
the verb ἀρίστευεν is understood as having a sense of motion,
i.e. “he had his aristeia all through that crowd.” This turns out to
be funny shortly—he is said to be the only one who has an aristeia
but then jumps into the water when he notices that everyone else is
fleeing!

ἀρίστευεν: “to have an aristeia,” “to be the best”; this verb appears in
Homer, e.g. 11.784 (αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν καὶ ὑπείροχον ἔμμεναι ἄλλων).

καθ’ ὅμιλον: “Throughout the throng.”

 Commentary 145

258 ὥρμησεν: ὁρμάω is comparatively rare in Homer but common in

prose authors after the fifth century BCE .

δ’ ὡς ἴδεν: Note the unaugmented form instead of the earlier ὡς εἶδεν

at 247.

259 This line is left out by several MSS . There is a metrical problem
midline (ἀλλ’ ἔδυνε seems to be missing a syllable). The previous line
needs some corresponding or continuing action—the action is a bit
abrupt with a character seemingly changing his mind and retreating
into the pond. This line is probably corrupt, but we find the representation
of altered action attractive.

ἥρωας: In early epic poetry, the term “hero” can refer, as in Hesiod’s
Works and Days, to the race of heroes (ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων θεῖον γένος, 159)
who perish fighting around Thebes and Troy (159–65). From Hesiod’s
perspective, the word “Hero” is restricted to this generation (see Nagy
1979: 159). In the Iliad, all participants are referred to generically as
heroes, see Iliad 1.3–4. Obviously, it is parodic to depict mice as heroes
in a mythical—even Homeric sense—but there is another possible level
of meaning. More than once in this poem, the combatants are compared
to mythical beasts such as giants (line 7), centaurs (170–1) or kosmic
threats like the Titans (280–3). Here, they are compared to men: this
may indicate interpolation (insofar as it doesn’t conform to the earlier
strategy) or amplifies and complicates the parodic move.

ἥρωας κρατερούς: The adjective κρατερούς in the masc. accusative

plural is not found typically in Homer (but is in later authos such as Ap.
Rhodes and Quintus Smyrnaeus). One MS preserves κραταιοὺς.

ἔδυνε: from δύνω (cf. δύω; the former is a parallel formation with the
present infix -n-) lit. “to put on,” but used frequently in Homer to
describe putting on clothing (e.g. Il. 11.19: δεύτερον αὖ θώρηκα περὶ
στήθεσσιν ἔδυνε) but also of entering water (cf. Od. 4.425: ὣς εἰποῦσ’
ὑπὸ πόντον ἐδύσετο κυμαίνοντα·). The dative object we accept here
(βένθεσι λίμνης) is probably also evidence of corruption.
146 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

βένθεσι λίμνης: “in the depths of the pond.” This is a Homeric formula,
see Il. 13.21: Αἰγάς, ἔνθα δέ οἱ κλυτὰ δώματα βένθεσι λίμνης.

260–8: The Aristeia of Meridarpax has several MSS variants and

difficulties in sense. The basic narrative is that this young, exceptional
hero threatens to wreak such destruction that Zeus takes pity on the frogs
and sends crabs to defend them.

260 ῏Ην δέ τις: The phrase ῏Ην δέ τις recalls the language and style
of fable.

παῖς Μεριδάρπαξ ἔξοχος ἄλλων: The conjunction of παῖς and ἔξοχος

ἄλλων, as well as the terror which Meridarpax instills in the frogs, may
be a parodic joke on the overwhelming awe and fear which young
warriors such as Achilles and Neoptolemus could inspire. For the sense
of ἔξοχος ἄλλων, cf. αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν καὶ ὑπείροχον ἔμμεναι ἄλλων,
Il. 6.208 and τῆς ᾗ μιν παρὰ νηυσὶν ἐτίομεν ἔξοχον ἄλλων, 9.631).

Μεριδάρπαξ: μερίς (from μερίς, μερίδος) + ἅρπαξ: A scholiast

glosses this name as “the one who seizes the portions” (ὁ τὰς μερίδας
ἁρπάζων).

261 Κναίσωνος: perhaps from κνάω, “to scrape or grate,” an appropriate

name for a rodent. A scholiast glosses this as “one who eats meat” (τοῦ
τρώγοντος τὰ κρέα).

ἀρτεπιβούλου: (“bread-conspirer”). The epithet ἀρτεπιβούλου is unique,

found only here in Greek literature. It is compounded from ἄρτος (bread
or cake) and ἐπιβουλεύω (to purpose, plot, or design).

Three variants for this line present different difficulties. 261a (μεριδάρπαξ
ὄρχαμος μιμούμενος αὐτὸν ἄρηα) replicates the naming in 260 and
begins with two short syllables; 261b (ὃς μόνος ἐν μύεσσιν ἀρίστευεν
καθ’ ὅμιλον) may expand excessively on his description, but such
expansiveness is both in accord with epic description and with the parody;
261c, however, seems thoroughly out of place, insofar as it describes the
wounding of the character named as Meridarpax’s father (Κναίσων μέν,
βατράχοιο βέλει πληγεὶς κατὰ χεῖρα). Nevertheless, 261a echoes line 7
 Commentary 147

(μιμούμενοι ἔργα Γιγάντων) and repeats the sense of 256 (δῖος

᾿Οριγανίων, μιμούμενος αὐτὸν ῎Αρηα).

262 οἴκαδ’ ἴεν: The beginning of the line is a typical position for
οἴκαδε in Homer (13x Iliad; 20x Odyssey) and with forms of εἶμι as at
Iliad 1.170 (οἴκαδ’ ἴμεν σὺν νηυσὶ κορωνίσιν, οὐδέ σ’ ὀΐω). ἴεν occurs
in the Iliad and the Odyssey; it is the epic imperfect third singular of εἶμι
where Attic has ἦ̣ει(ν).

μετασχεῖν: “To join in” (from μετέχω), taking a genitive direct object
(here, πολέμου).

The sense of this line is off: It seems to describe the father (Knaisôn)
going home and ordering his son to join the battle. This is a bit of a
strain for a Homeric parallel—the arming is late, and the motif of
having a father order a son to go to war is out of place. This scene is
similar both to Nestor’s encouragement for Patroklos to go to war in
Iliad 11 and Nestor's own tale of his own father’s command that he not
join battle in his youth (618–804).

In addition, the syntactical link with the earlier lines is unclear. In the
abrupt and compact style presented in the battle section, it is possible
that a subject change is implied by the δέ. However, it is likely that
262 is an interpolation. We suggest reading 260, 261a, 261b, 263 for the
following logic:

There was a certain child among the mice exceptional among the rest,
Meridarpax
The dear son of the blameless bread-conspirer Knaisôn
Who had an aristeia among the mice through the throng.
And he stood boasting along the shore
And was threatending that he would eradicate the race of frogs.

῏Ην δέ τις ἐν μυσὶ παῖς Μεριδάρπαξ ἔξοχος ἄλλων,

Κναίσωνος φίλος υἱὸς ἀμύμονος ἀρτεπιβούλου·
ὃς μόνος ἐν μύεσσιν ἀρίστευεν καθ’ ὅμιλον.
αὐτὸς δ’ ἑστήκει γαυρούμενος κατὰ λίμνην
οὗτος ἀναρπάξαι βατράχων γενεὴν ἐπαπείλει·
148 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

262a is most probably an addition that makes sense with the inclusion
of 261c (Κναίσων μέν, βρατράχοιο βέλει πληγεὶς κατὰ χεῖρα). The final
line is missing any sort of connective.

263–9: Several MSS omit some or all of these lines.

263 ἀναρπάξαι: “To extirpate, eradicate.” The mouse declares his

genocidal intentions. This infinitive only occurs here. The verb
ἀναρπάξαι is a play on Merdiarpax’s (as well as Psicharpax’s) name. The
noun ἅρπαξ appears below at line 274.

ἐπαπείλει: “to threaten.”

263a στεῦτο δὲ πορθήσειν βρατράχων γένος αἰχμητάων: this is

identical to line 291 with the exception of the initial verb (στεῦτο for
“he promised/threatened”). Most editors see it as more appropriate for
the latter context.

264 ἀγχοῦ δ’ ἕστηκεν μενεαίνων ἶφι μάχεσθαι: Only one MS has this
line.

ἕστηκεν: intransitive perfect of ἵστημι.

μενεαίνων ἶφι μάχεσθαι: “eager to fight with force.” This is a modified

Homeric phrase (e.g. Il. 5.606, εἴκετε, μηδὲ θεοῖς μενεαινέμεν ἶφι
μάχεσθαι).

265 καὶ ῥήξας καρύοιο μέσην ῥάχιν εἰς δύο μοίρας. This line is
omitted by a handful of MSS . Its tone is certainly humorous: “he breaks
the middle spine of the chestnut into two portions” for the mouse
version of brass-knuckles.

ῥήξας: from ῥήγνυμι, “Break.”

καρύοιο: “nut,” from κάρυον, “nut tree.”

ῥάχιν: “spine or outer edge,” from ῥάχις. A form occurs in Soph. Ajax 56.

εἰς δύο μοίρας: “into two parts”; in Archaic Greek, μοῖρα can denote
“portion” as when the night is split into three segments (Il. 10.253: τῶν
δύο μοιράων, τριτάτη δ’ ἔτι μοῖρα λέλειπται).
 Commentary 149

266 Meridarpax is the only character to be treated in an individual

arming scene in order to highlight his importance as the greatest
warrior on the field.

φράγδην: “piece-by-piece.”

κενώμασι: From κένωμα, a later noun related to κένος, “empty parts.”

267 οἱ δὲ τάχος δείσαντες ἔβαν πάντες κατὰ λίμνην· Some MSS omit
this line.

τάχος: The normal adverb ταχέως is supplanted by this adverbial neuter.

Cf. Il. 406: νῦν ὤρεξε τάχος καὶ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ κῦδος ἔθηκεν·

δείσαντες: Aorist from δείδω “to fear.”

ἔβαν: From βαίνω, occuring in this position with some frequency in

Homer (cf. the similar structure of Il. 7.432: ἐν δὲ πυρὶ πρήσαντες ἔβαν
κοίλας ἐπὶ νῆας).

268 Several MSS omit this line.

ἐξετέλεσσεν: aorist of τελέω. One manuscript has ἐξετέλεσσαν, but

the plural would not make sense here. Cf. Od. 11.317 (καί νύ κεν
ἐξετέλεσσαν, εἰ ἥβης μέτρον ἵκοντο). In that case, the antecedent of the
action “and they would have completed it” is the previously described
act. Here, the verb’s notional antecedent is the extirpation of the frogs
threatened at line 263 (οὗτος ἀναρπάξαι βατράχων γενεὴν ἐπαπείλει).

ἐπεὶ μέγα οἱ σθένος ἦεν: ἐπεί can be used temporally and causally as
here: “since he had great strength.” These contrafactual scenes are typical
in Homer, referred to as “if not-situations” by de Jong 1987; “pivotal
contrafactuals” by Louden 1993; and “reversal passages” by Morrison
1992.

269–303 The gods note the demise of the frogs and Zeus pities them. He
convenes another council. Ares is afraid to face a threat as dangerous as
the frogs, so Zeus himself decides to intervene. When even his intervention
appears in vain, he sends in an army of crabs to relieve the beleagured
150 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

frogs. The absurdity and hyperbole in this section is obvious. There

is, however, a good deal of imagination and poetic skill in the final
segment.

269 εἰ μὴ ἄρ’ ὀξὺ νόησε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε. This line is
repeated entirely from the Iliad (e.g. 8.132 εἰ μὴ ἄρ’ ὀξὺ νόησε πατὴρ
ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·) from a scene prefacing divine intervention.

270 ἀπολλυμένους: “in the process of being destroyed.”

ᾤκτειρε: from οἰκτείρω, “to pity.” cf. Iliad 7.27: δῷς; ἐπεὶ οὔ τι Τρῶας
ἀπολλυμένους ἐλεαίρεις.

271 κινήσας δὲ κάρη: “moving his head” see Odyssey 5.285: κινήσας
δὲ κάρη προτὶ ὃν μυθήσατο θυμόν· cf. line 92 above: ὕδασι δ’ ὀλλύμενος
τοίους ἐφθέγξατο μύθους·

272 This entire line is repeated from Iliad 13.99, 15.289, 21.344, 22.54;
cf. Od. 19.36.

῍Ω πόποι: The phrase ῍Ω πόποι, like many Greek exclamations, does not
admit of direct translation into English; the sense to be conveyed is one
of anger or vexation. Cf. Odyssey 1.32, where Zeus angrily complains of
the accusations which humans make against the gods: ὢ πόποι, οἷον δή
νυ θεοὺς βροτοὶ αἰτιόωνται.

μέγα θαῦμα: “A great wonder.” Some MSS have πένθος or ἔργον, either
of which might constitute an interesting variation on the formulaic
line.

273 οὐ μικρόν με πλήσσει Mεριδάρπαξ ὃς κατὰ λίμνην: This line

appears in most MSS but is questioned by Allen. Some MSS omit the
με to preserve the line in this form με would have to be scanned as
a long syllable with μικρόν as two shorts. Ludwich presents the
emendation οὐ μ᾿ ὀλίγον πλήσσει, which preserves the sense of
the line.

274 This line is difficult to construe unless ἅρπαξ refers to

Meridarpax (either as a nickname or as a predicate) or we take the
 Commentary 151

rather bland translation of ἀμείβεται as “take turn” as at Il. 15.684

(θρῴσκων ἄλλοτ’ ἐπ’ ἄλλον ἀμείβεται, οἳ δὲ πέτονται). So, we suggest:
“He is taking his turn as a destroyer among the frogs.” There are several
variants for the line, including ἐνναίρειν, ἐναίρων, αἴρειν, and ἤλασε
for the beginning.

ἅρπαξ: The scholia gloss this as φθορεύς, “destroyer”

275 πέμψωμεν: hortatory subjunctive (aorist).

πολεμόκλονον: see on line 4 above. The epithet πολεμόκλονον (“raising

the din of war”) while suited to both Athena and Ares, is ironic here,
since their purpose is to detain Meridarpax from the battle.

276 οἵ μιν ἐπισχήσουσι: “they will restrain” something in the accusative

from someone/something in the genitive (hence, “they will restrain him
from battle”). This form is not well attested in early poetry.

κρατερόν περ ἐόντα: “though he is strong.” ἐόντα: uncontracted, epic

form. This particular phrase does not appear in Homer, but κρατερόν
περ appears in the same possition (Il. 21.63) and ἐόντα typically ends a
line (cf. the similar phrase ἀγαθόν περ ἐόντα. 9.627 or ἴφθιμόν περ
ἐόντα, 16.620).

277 ῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη: An answering formula, see on line 65.

῎Αρης δ’ ἀπαμείβετο μύθῳ: Part of an answering formula cf. Il.24.200

(. . .καὶ ἀμείβετο μύθῳ). Essentially just “Ares answered.” The
conversation between Zeus and Ares (with Athena present) may recall
Iliad 5.871–899 where Ares tries to complain about Athena’s behavior
to their father only to have Zeus express his hatred for his
own son.

278 οὔτε ῎Αρηος: It is strange that Ares refers to himself in the third
person (which happens at times in early Greek poetry). Some MSS take
issue; Ludwich offers the conjecture ἐμεῖο; and West suggests instead
that Hera should be the speaker. The form may in part be conditioned
by the position: ῎Αρηος ends the line over twenty times in the Iliad
alone).
152 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

Κρονίδη: vocative, “Son of Kronos.”

279 ἀμυνέμεν αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον: “To ward off dread ruin”; cf. Il. 18.129
(τειρομένοις ἑτάροισιν ἀμυνέμεν αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον). On ἀμύνω see 234
above. It can take a dative of advantage as it does here. Some MSS have
ἀρηγέμεν instead of ἀμυνέμεν.

ἰσχύει: Here “to be able” or “has enough strength to . . .”; the verb ἰσχύω
(from ἰσχύς) appears in Classical poetry and prose, but is comparatively
rare with an infinitive.

280 ἴωμεν: “Let us go”; Homer typically has the short-vowel subjunctive
ἴομεν. The lengthened form ἴωμεν is typical of tragedy and Classical prose.

ἀρηγόνες: “helpers, aids,” from ἀρηγών (ἀρήγω). This is typically used

of gods helping mortals. Cf. Il. 4.8 (δοιαὶ μὲν Μενελάῳ ἀρηγόνες εἰσὶ
θεάων / ῞Ηρη τ’ ᾿Αργείη καὶ ᾿Αλαλκομενηῒς ᾿Αθήνη).

281 κινείσθω· οὕτω γὰρ ἁλώσεται ὅς τις ἄριστος: In some MSS

this line occurs at 284. There is an unmetrical variant: κινείσθω
τιτανοκτόνον ὀβριμοεργόν (“let him send in the Titan-killing, strong-
worker”). ὀβριμοεργόν: In the Iliad, ὀβριμοεργόν is an epithet for
Diomedes (5.403) in Hesiod, it is applied to Pelias (Th. 997). There is
also an additional line recorded by some MSS : (281a).

281a ᾧ Τιτᾶνας πέφνες ἀρίστους ἔξοχα πάντων): “with which you

killed the best of the Titans.” This makes some sense with the examples of
the giants and Capaneus. But the syntactical flow is awkward.

κινείσθω: This imperative does not appear in Homer but the verb κινέω
does (e.g. Il. 10.158; 16.298).

ἁλώσεται: from ἁλίσκομαι, a defective verb overlapping with αἱρέω.

The meaning here seems: “Whoever is best will be destroyed.” See
Demosthenes (On the Crown 45.5) and Herodotus (7.102.4) for “caught”
in the sense of “detected.”

282 ὥς ποτε: anticipating a comparison or story from the past.

 Commentary 153

Καπανῆα: Capaneus is the father of Sthenelos, Diomedes’ the friend in

the Iliad. He is one of the leaders in the traditional tale of the Seven
against Thebes. During the battle he was struck by Zeus’ lightning as he
boasted that not even the gods could stop him (see Aesch., Septem 440
ff.; Pausanias 9.8.7).

κατέκτανες: “to kill”; similar to Od. 22.29 (καὶ γὰρ δὴ νῦν φῶτα
κατέκτανες, ὃς μέγ’ ἄριστος).

ὄβριμον ἄνδρα: “powerful man”; the diction, from the divine perspective,
may signal impiety or hubris. In the Iliad, ὀβριμοεργόν is an epithet for
Diomedes during his aristeia (5.403); in Hesiod, it is applied to Pelias in
his treatment of Jason (Th. 997).

283 ᾿Εγκελάδοντα: Enkelados was one of the giants. According

to Vergil (Aen. 3.578–83) his entombed body formed Mt. Aetna. Cf.
Eur., Herakles 908. Both Kapaneus and Enkelados are appropriate
figures since they exhibit hubris. As in other mythical comparisons in
the poem, this is obviously parodic.

ἄγρια φῦλα Γιγάντων: For giants, see also lines 7 and 171. In the first,
the narrator anticipates that his traditional tale (ὡς λόγος) will feature
frogs “mimicking the deeds of the giants.” In the latter, the narrator has
Zeus describes the gathering of the armies, “like the army or centaurs or
giants” (οἷος Κενταύρων στρατὸς ἔρχεται ἠὲ Γιγάντων). Cf. Od. 7.206:
ὥς περ Κύκλωπές τε καὶ ἄγρια φῦλα Γιγάντων.

ἄγρια φῦλα: “savage tribes,” see Il. 19.30–1 where Thetis promises
Achilles that she will ward the “savage race of flies” (ἄγρια φῦλα / μυίας)
from Patroklos’ body.

284 ῝Ως ἄρ’ ἔφη: See above on line 277.

βαλὼν ἀργῆτα κεραυνόν: “bright lightning,” cf. Il. 8.133 (βροντήσας δ’

ἄρα δεινὸν ἀφῆκ’ ἀργῆτα κεραυνόν). Cf. Ar. Birds 1747.

285 ἐβρόντησε: “To thunder,” see Hes. Theogony, 839 (σκληρὸν δ’

ἐβρόντησε καὶ ὄβριμον, ἀμφὶ δὲ γαῖα).
154 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

μέγαν δ’ ἐλέλιξεν ῎Ολυμπον: “he shook great Olympos”; from Homer

(Il. 1.530: κρατὸς ἀπ’ ἀθανάτοιο· μέγαν δ’ ἐλέλιξεν ῎Ολυμπον).

286 αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα κεραυνὸν δειμαλέον Διὸς ὅπλον: This line is

considered an interpolation by most editors. Ludwich supposes that
αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα was inserted to answer the πρῶτα μὲν of 285. The
appositive string “Lightning, the frightening weapon of Zeus,” is a bit
repetitive (cf. ὅπλον in 280; κεραυνόν in 284).

δειμαλέον: “frightening” or “horrible,” a post-Hellenistic Greek adjective.

287 ἧκ᾿ ἐπιδινήσας: “he threw it, whirling it down.” This combination
begins a line in Homer, cf. Il. 7.269: ἧκ’ ἐπιδινήσας, ἐπέρεισε δὲ ἶν’
ἀπέλεθρον.

ἔπτατο: Aorist from πέτομαι, “it flew from the hand of the god.” The
subject changes awkwardly to the lightning bolt and then in the next
line back to Zeus (clear from the active particple βαλών). This form is
used of a missile in motion in Homer (θώρηκος γύαλον, ἀπὸ δ’ ἔπτατο
πικρὸς ὀϊστός, Il.13.287).

288 πάντας μέν ῥ’ ἐφόβησε βαλὼν βατράχους τε μύας τε: This text is
superior to the alternative which ends ἐπὶ τοὺσδε τε μύας—the sense of
the demonstrative here is unclear. Only one manuscript, however,
presents our preferred reading.

289 οὐδ’ ὣς ἀπέληγε: This occurs at Il. 7.263 (ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὧς ἀπέληγε
μάχης κορυθαίολος ῞Εκτωρ).

ἀπέληγε: imp. “the army of mice was not relenting” from ἀπολήγω.

ἀλλ’ ἔτι μᾶλλον: This combination ends the line in Homer, cf. Il. 9.678:
κεῖνός γ’ οὐκ ἐθέλει σβέσσαι χόλον, ἀλλ’ ἔτι μᾶλλον.

290 ἔλπετο πορθήσειν: “the army of mice was expecting/hoping

to uproot the race of spear-bearing frogs.” This is not the first time a
genocidal wish has been expressed by the mice: see 263a and 264. For the
sense of expectation of future outcomes with ἔλπομαι, see Il. 10.355–6.
Cf. Aesch. Fr. 99.19: α̣ὐχεῖν δὲ Τρώων ἄστυ πορθήσειν βίᾳ.
 Commentary 155

αἰχμητάων: “spearmen, warriors.” Uncontracted genitive plural; this

form occurs only at the end of the line in Homer and Hesiod and is one
of Janko’s (2012: 29; cf 1982) markers for relative age in dating Homeric
epic. The Iliad has 224 occurrences of this form (for a ratio of 1:70.5
lines) while Hesiod shows a ratio of 1:85 lines in the Theogony and 1:92
lines in the Works and Days.
291 ἀπ’ Οὐλύμπου: “down from Olympos.” The description makes
sense (Zeus is pitying the frogs from the vantage point of Olympus) but
in Homer (e.g. Il. 1.532) this combination of preposition and adjective
nearly always describes motion. This lengthened form appears in
Homer in this metrical position (Il. 16.364:῾Ως δ’ ὅτ’ ἀπ’ Οὐλύμπου
νέφος ἔρχεται οὐρανὸν εἴσω).
ἐλέησε Κρονίων: for this combination, cf. Il. 17.411 (Μυρομένω δ’
ἄρα τώ γε ἰδὼν ἐλέησε Κρονίων). ἐλέησε is from ἐλεέω (“to pity”).
Many MSS have ὤκτειρε instead. See above on line 270 for ᾤκτειρε
Κρονίων
292 ἀρωγούς: “helpers”; see above on line 172 (ἡδὺ γελῶν ἐρέεινε·
τίνες βατράχοισιν ἀρωγοὶ) in Homer, the gods can be “helpers” to men
Il.8.205 (εἴ περ γάρ κ’ ἐθέλοιμεν, ὅσοι Δαναοῖσιν ἀρωγοί, cf. 21.428).
Mortals can be helpers too (οἵδε κακὰ φρονέοντες, ἐμοὶ δ’ οὐκ εἰσὶν
ἀρωγοί, 18.232).
ἐν βατράχοισιν: “among the frogs”; some MSS have instead ῥα
φθειρομένοισιν (“he sent helpers to those who were being destroyed . . .).
293 For the next six lines we have a somewhat absurd listing of epithets
for the crabs who are sent to defeat the mice. The image, without the
elaboration, is humorous enough: crabs would be cataphracts among the
lightly armored frogs and mice. But the accumulation of epithets—most
of which are neologisms—might amount to a type of artistic gaming as
the artist stretches the meaning and the conventions of epic poetry. (We
imagine that performers and even amateurs might have competed in
composing humorous and absurdist hexameters. Even at this extreme, the
list attests to a type of virtuosity.) Parody is often excessive; the excessive
excess here marks the end of the poem with a vivid, memorable, and
156 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

humorous deus ex machina. The scholarly tradition attributes something

analogous to the poet Lykophron who took very seriously the play of
integrating obscure diction, references and possible innovations into his
poetry. For this as a parody of the “extreme allusiveness” of Hellenistic
poetry, see Fusillo 1988: 134; cf. Scodel 2008: 233.

νωτάκμονες: νωτ-άκμονες “anvil-backs” (LSJ “mail-backs,” i.e. “armor-

backed”; the surface can take a pounding.)

ἀγκυλοχεῖλαι: “with twisted lips (or claws)” χεῖλος, “lip” (often used
metaphorically for “lip of a drinking vessel”), while the alternate spelling
χηλή can mean “claws.” Glei supports the latter spelling. Aristotle uses
the latter to describe to a crab specifically (Historia Animalium 527b5)
in astronomy χηλαί. This epithet is used in Homer of vultures in the
same position (Il. 16.428).

294 λοξοβάται: “side-ways walker”; “walking at a slant,” cf. λοξός

“sideways” ἀεροβάτης (“air-walker”).

στρεβλοί: “twisted or crooked,” sometimes “squint-eyed.” Many crabs

have eyes on the end of antennae. Some species, however, have eyes
or eye-like holes on the main part of their bodies. The freshwater crab
Potamon fluviatile—whose eyes are situated thus—is native to rivers
and lakes near the Mediterranean basin in Europe and still found in
many islands in the Aegean. Nevertheless, the epithet here may be more
apropos of the contour of the crabs’ eyes, cf. the ankulotoksoi (“curved
bows”).

ψαλιδόστομοι: “scissor-mouthed”; ψαλίδον: “scissor.” The word can also

mean “vault or arch” but in line 298 the crabs use their mouths to
dismember the mice.

ὀστρακόδερμοι: “pottery-skinned”; “hard-shelled.”

295 ὀστοφυεῖς: “bony.”

πλατύνωτοι: “wide-backed.”
 Commentary 157

ἀποστίλβοντες ἐν ὤμοις: “shining in the shoulders” ἀποστίλβοντες

appears in Homer, see Od. 3.408 (λευκοί, ἀποστίλβοντες ἀλείφατος·
οἷσ’ ἔπι μὲν πρὶν).

296 βλαισοί: “knock-kneed” or simply knees that knock together.

χειλοτένοντες: “holding mouths-out”; a hapax legomenon; some MSS

have χειροτένοντες instead, but the next line describes the crabs as
“handless.” Repetition would certainly not be a problem here.

ἀπὸ στέρνων ἐσορῶντες: “They see from their chests.” This confirms
that the species of crab imagined most likely did not have eyes on
antennae (see note 294 above).

297 ὀκτάποδες: “eight-footed.”

δικάρηνοι: “two headed.” Cf. Nonnus at 13.131 where he uses the epithet
to describe Parnassus.

ἀχειρέες: “handless.”

οἱ δὲ καλεῦνται: “who are called.”

298 καρκίνοι: “crabs,” note the postponement of this noun.

οὐράς: “tails”; the crabs immediately strike at the unarmored, exposed

extremities of the mice.

στομάτεσσιν: Dative of instrument. Early Greek poetry would be more

likely to use the shorter form, see στόμασιν (e.g. Theognis, 240
ἐν πάσαις πολλῶν κείμενος ἐν στόμασιν).

299 ἠδὲ πόδας καὶ χεῖρας: After disfiguring the mice, the crabs now
immobilize them. It is not clear how the mice were able to flee after the
crabs deprived them of their appendages, unless we are to understand
that the phrase δειλοὶ μύες in 298 refers to those who had been holding
back from the battle, in contrast to the πρόμαχοι.

ἀνεγνάμπτοντο δὲ λόγχαι: “the spears were bent back,” i.e. they were
bent and broken on the armor of the crabs. The mice struggle against
158 The Homeric Battle of the Frogs and Mice

their mutilators, but their weapons founder on the crabs’ natural

defenses.

300 ὑπέδεισαν: Aorist, third person plural of ὑποδείδω “to cower

before,” “shrink in fear,” a not un-mouselike thing to do (from a human
perspective). This appears in the same position in the Iliad (1.406 τὸν
καὶ ὑπέδεισαν μάκαρες θεοὶ οὐδ’ ἔτ’ ἔδησαν).

δειλοί: “cowards,” prior to the advent of the crabs, the mice were
certainly not cowardly. This is an early pejorative in Greek poetry, see Il.
11.816 Od. 10.431; cf. Theogn. 58.

301 ἐς δὲ φυγὴν ἐτράποντο: “They were routed”; “They turned to

flight,” a common phrase in historiography, see Herodotus 3.13.1 (Οἱ δὲ
Αἰγύπτιοι ἐκ τῆς μάχης ὡς ἐτράποντο, ἔφευγον οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ. “After
the Egyptians were routed from battle. They were fleeing in disorder”).

ἐδύετο δ’ ἥλιος ἤδη: “the sun was already going down”; the image is
possibly Homeric, see Il. 7.465 (δύσετο δ’ ἠέλιος, τετέλεστο δὲ ἔργον
᾿Αχαιῶν; “the sun went down and the work of the Achaeans came to an
end”).

302 πολέμου τελετή: “end of the war”; the form τελευτή appears in
Homer (e.g. 16.787: ἔνθ’ ἄρα τοι Πάτροκλε φάνη βιότοιο τελευτή;
“There then the end of your life came clear, Patroklos”). This shorter
form occurs as early as Herodotus: “The end of his life came most
illiustriously” (τελευτὴ τοῦ βίου λαμπροτάτη ἐπεγένετο, 1.30.22).
For possible connections between this language and mystery cult, see
Glei ad loc.

μονοήμερος: “single-day,” “of a day.” This may be the earliest instance of

this compound. Cf. Theogn. 52 μούναρχοι δὲ πόλει μήποτε τῆιδε ἅδοι;
and Hes. Th 426: μουνογενής. Μοῦνος (the Ionic form of Attic μόνος)
is preferred in early poetry.

ἐξετελέσθη: “was completed, was effected”; this form appears at the end of
the line in Theocr., Id. 17: ὧδε καὶ ἀθανάτων ἱερὸς γάμος ἐξετελέσθη (“In
this way too the sacred marriage of the gods was completed”).
 Glossary

ἀγαπητός: desirable, beloved

ἀγγέλλω: announce, report, bring news
ἄγε: come on! Imperative form of ἄγω; plural imp. ἄγεθ’ (120)
ἀγέρωχος: high-minded, lordly, noble
ἀγκυλοχήλης: with crooked claws (293)
ἀγορεύω: speak in the assembly, speak, say, declare, proclaim
ἀγορήνδε: to the assembly, to the market
ἄγριος, -α, -ον: wild, savage, uncultivated, fierce
ἀγχέμαχος, -ον: fighting hand to hand
ἀγχοῦ: near (adv.)
ἄγω: lead, draw, carry, convey
ἀεί: always, forever
ἀηθείη, ἡ: novelty, unaccustomedness, inexperience
ἀθάνατος, -η, -ον: immortal, undying; used substantively = “the undying ones,”
i.e. “the gods”
᾿Αθηναίην, ᾿Αθηναίης: see ᾿Αθήνη below
᾿Αθήνη, ἡ: Athena
αἶα, ἡ: earth/land (epic form of γαῖα)
Αϊδόσδε: to Hades (adv.)
αἷμα, -ατος, τό: blood
αἰνός, -ή, -όν: dread, dire, horrible; adv. αἰνῶς = terribly, exceedingly
αἰπύς, εῖα, ύ: high, steep, towering; used with ὄλεθρος
αἱρέω: grasp, seize, take away
αἰχμητής, -οῦ, ὁ: spearman, warrior
ἀκόλυμβος, -ον: unable to swim
ἀκοντίζω: to hit or strike with a javelin
ἄκρος, -α, -ον: highest, topmost
ἀκωκή, ἡ: point (often of a spear or missile weapon)
ἀλγέω: feel pain, suffer
ἀλγοῦσαν: fem. acc. sing. participle of ἀλγέω
ἀλέκτωρ, -ορος, ὁ: rooster, cock
160 Glossary

ἀλέομαι: avoid, shun, flee for one’s life; ἀλεύατο (86)

ἀληθεύω: speak truth; imp. form ἀλήθευσον (14)
ἁλίσκομαι: be taken, be conquered, fall into enemy hands
ἄλκιμος, -η, -ον: stout, brave
ἀλλά: but, otherwise, still, at least
ἄλλος, -η, -ο: other, another, a different one; οἱ ἄλλοι = the others,
the rest
ἀλύξας: participle – sg. aor. act. of ἀλύσκω
ἀλύσκω: flee, avoid, shun
ἁλώσεται: 3rd sing. fut. of ἁλίσκομαι
ἅμα (shortened form ἅμ’): at once, at the same time
ἀμείβω: exchange, repay; surpass, outdo
ἀμείνων, -ον: comparative form of ἀγαθός, better
ἅμμα, -ατος, τό: knot, cord, noose, halter
ἀμύμων, -ον (gen. -ονος): blameless, noble, excellent
ἀμύνω: keep off, ward off, protect, defend
ἀμφίβιος, -ον: living a double life
ἀμφικαλύπτω: enwrap, enfold, cover with a veil
ἀμφότερος -α, -ον: either, both (of two)
ἄν: modal particle serving to limit verbs; this does not admit of ready translation
into English
ἀνάγκη, ἡ: force, constraint, necessity
ἀναγνάμπτω: bend back
ἀναδύνω: come to the top of the water
ἀναδύομαι: shrink back, withdraw
ἀναίτιος, -α, -ον: not guilty, blameless, guiltless
ἀνανεύω: throw the head back, reject, deny
ἄναξ, ἄνακτος, ὁ: lord, master
ἀναπείθω: persuade, convince
ἀναρπάζω: snatch, carry off, take by storm
ἀναστάς: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ἀνίστημι
ἀναφαίνω: bring to light, make known, display; in passive, ἀνεφαίνετο =
“appeared”
ἀναχάζομαι: draw back, give way, retire
ἀνεθρέψατο: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἀνατρέφω = bring up, rear, educate
ἄνειμι: go back, go up, approach
ἀνέστη: 3rd sing. aor. of ἀνίστημι
 Glossary 161

ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ: man

ἄνθρωπος, ὁ: man; in plural, humankind, humans
ἀνιοῦσαν: acc. sing. aor. act. part. of ἄνειμι
ἀνίστημι: stand up, raise up, rise
ἀνταποδίδωμι: give back, repay
ἀνταποδοῦναι: aorist. act. inf. of ἀνταποδίδωμι
ἀνέκτισις, -εως, ἡ: revenge, requital, retribution
ἀντίον: as adv. against, in front of all, in response
ἀντίος, -ία, -ίον: against, opposite, contrary, in opposition
ἄξας: nom. sg. aor. act. part. of ἄγω
ἄξιος, -ία, -ιον: worthy, estimable, deserving
ἀοιδή, ἡ: song, the act of singing
ἀολλής, -ές: all together, in crowds
ἁπαλός, -ή, -όν: soft, tender
ἀπαμείβομαι: answer, reply, respond
ἅπας, ἅπασα, ἅπαν: all, the whole, entire
ἀπειλέω: promise, threaten
ἀπειλήσαντες: nom. pl. aor. act. part. of ἀπειλέω
ἀπειρέσιος, -α, -ον: boundless, immense
ἀπέφηνε: 3rd sg. aor. ind. of ἀποφαίνω
ἀπηνής, -ές: rough, cruel, merciless
ἁπλόω: spread out, unfold
ἁπλώσας: nom. sg. aor. act. part. ἁπλόω
ἀπό: from, out of
ἀποδίδωμι: repay, give back, restore
ἀποδώσει: 3rd sg. fut. act. ind. of ἀποδίδωμι
ἀπολήγω: leave off, desist from
ἀπόλλυμι: destroy, kill, ruin
ἀποπνέω: breathe out, exhale, breathe one’s last breath
ἀποπνίγω: choke, suffocate
ἀποστίλβω: shine brightly
ἀποφαίνω: show forth, display, make known, declare
ἀποφεύγω: flee from, escape cf. ἀπέφυγον (42) ἀπέφυγεν (47)
ἄρα: then (denoting consequence or temporal succession)
ἀραβέω: rattle, ring, clang
ἀραρίσκω: fit together, construct
ἀργής, -ῆτος, ὁ, ἡ: bright, shining
162 Glossary

ἀρήγω: aid, assist, succor (w. dat.)

ἀρηγών -όνος, ὁ, ἡ: helper, one who brings aid
ἀρήρει: see ἀραρίσκω
῎Αρης, ὁ: Ares, god of war
ἀριστεύς, -έως, ὁ: chief, noble man, prince
ἀριστεύω: be the best, noblest, finest
ἄριστος, -η, -ον: best, noblest, finest
ἄρουρα, ἡ: arable land, earth, ground
ἁρπάζω: seize, grasp, take swiftly
ἁρπάξ-αγος, ὁ, ἡ: robbing, rapacious
ἁρπάξασα: nom. sing. aor. fem. part. from ἁρπάζω
Ἀρτεπίβουλος, ὁ: Breadthief, literally, “one who contrives plans for [taking]
bread”
ἄρτος, ὁ: cake or bread
᾿Αρτοφάγος, ὁ: Breadeater
ἄρτυμα, -ατος, τό: condiment, seasoning
ἀρχή, ἡ: beginning, origin
ἄρχω: make a beginning, begin from
ἀρωγός, -όν: helper (from ἀρήγω)
ἀσκέω: form by art or skill, fashion, dress, deck out
ἀσκήσαντες: nom. pl. aor. act. masc. part. from ἀσκέω
ἀσπίς, -ίδος, ἡ: shield
ἀστερόεις, -εσσα, -εν: starry, like a star, sparkling
αὖ: again, further, once more
αὖθις: back, back again, anew
ἄϋπνος, -ον: sleepless, wakeful
αὐτάρ: but, besides, moreover
αὖτε: again, furthermore
ἀϋτή, ἡ: cry, shout
αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό: himself/herself/itself; he, she, it
αὐχέω: boast, assert confidently
αὐχήν, -ένος, ὁ: neck, throat
ἀφαμαρτάνω: miss the mark
ἀφέθη: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἀφίημι
ἀχειρ-ής, -ές: without hands
ἄχθος, -εος, τό: burden, load
ἄχος, -εος, τό: pain, distress
ἄχρηστος, -ον: useless, unprofitable
 Glossary 163

βάθος, -εος, τό: depth

βαθύς, βαθεῖα, βαθύ: deep, stout, thick
βαίνω: walk, step, mount
βάλλω: throw, cast, hurl
βάπτω: dip, dye, sink
βάρος, -ους/-εος, τό: weight, burden, oppressiveness
βασιλεύς, -ῆος, ὁ: king
βαστάζω: lift, carry, bear
βάτραχος, ὁ: frog
βεβήκει: 3rd sg. plupf. of βαίνω
βέλος, -εος, τό: missile, projectile weapon, javelin
βελόνη, ἡ: needle
βένθος, -εος, τό: depth
βίος, ὁ: life
βλαισός, -ή, -όν: bent, distorted, bandy-legged
βλάπτω: disable, hinder, harm
βλέπω: look upon, see
βοάω: cry out, shout
βοηθέω: aid, assist, rescue
βοηθήσουσα: nom. fem. sg. fut. act. part. of βοηθέω
Βορβοροκοίτης, -ου, ὁ: Mudbedder/Mudcoucher
βουλεύω: take counsel, plan, devise
βουλή, ἡ: counsel, plan; Council, Senate, assembly
βρέγμα, -ατος, τό: the forehead
βροντάω: thunder
βρωτός, -ή, -όν: to be eaten
βυθός, ὁ: the depth
βύρσα, ἡ: hide, leather
βωστρέω: call on (for aid)

γαῖα, ἡ: earth, land

γάλα, γάλακτος, τό: milk
164 Glossary

γαλέη, ἡ: weasel
γάρ: for (often used in an explanatory sense to clarify what has just been
stated)
γαστήρ, γαστέρος, ἡ: belly, stomach
γαυρόμαι: exult, pride oneself in
γαυρούμενος: nom. sing. masc. pres. part. of γαυρόομαι
γε: at least, at any rate, in any case
γεγάατε: 2nd pl. pf. act. ind. of γίγνομαι = come into being, be born
γείνομαι: bring forth
γείτων, -ονος, ὁ, ἡ: neighbor, borderer
γελάω, Ep. γελόω: laugh
γενεή, ῆς, ἡ: race, family, birth
γένειον, τό: chin
γένος, -εος/-ους, τό: race, offspring, clan
γηγενής, -ές: born of the earth, earthborn
γηθόσυνος, -η, -ον: glad, joyful
Γίγας, -αντος, ὁ: a giant
γλυκερός, -ά, -όν: sweet
γνοίην: 1st sg. aor. act. opt. of γιγνώσκω = come to know
γόνυ, γόνατος/γούνατος, τό: knee

δαήμεναι: aor. inf. of δάω, to learn

δαιδάλεος, -α, -ον: carefully wrought, intricately fashioned
δάκνοντος: gen. sing. pres. act. part. of δάκνω
δάκνω: bite, sting
δάκρυ, τό: tear, drop
δάκτυλος, ὁ: finger, toe
δάπεδον, τό: level surface, plain
δέ: adversative particle meaning but (in several contexts; sometimes
untranslated)
δέδια, δείδια: variant forms of the 1st sg. perf. act. indic. of δείδω
δείδω: fear
δείκνυμι: point out, show, demonstrate
 Glossary 165

δειλός, -ή, -όν: cowardly, wretched

δειμαλέος, -α, -ον: timid, fearful
δεινός, -ή, -όν: terrible, dreadful, wonderful, marvelous
δείξας: nom. masc. sing. aor. part. of δείκνυμι
δείραντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. part. of δέρω
δείσαντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. part. of δείδω
δέλτος, ἡ: writing-tablet
δέμας, τό: body, bodily structure
δεξιτερός, -ή, -όν: on the right hand/right side
δέρω: skin, flay
δεύω: wet, drench; δευόμεναι (91) δευομένην (190)
δή: now, then, finally; indeed, truly, in fact
δῆλος, -η, -ον: visible, conspicuous, famous
δῆρις, ἡ: battle, contest
διά: through (w. gen.)
δίδωμι: give, grant, assign
δικάρηνος, -ον: two-headed
Διός: gen. of Ζεύς
δῖος, δῖα, δῖον: divine, godlike, heavenly
δισσός/διττός, -ή, -όν: double, twofold, duplicated
διψαλέος, -α, -ον: thirsty
δοκέω: appear, seem
δόλιος, -α, -ον: deceitful, tricky, treacherous
δολόεις, -εσσα, -εν: tricky, subtle, crafty
δόλος, ὁ: trap, trick, stratagem
δόμος, ὁ: house, abode, dwelling
δόρυ, δούρατος, τό: spear shaft
δουπέω: fall with a thud or heavy sound
δράξ, -ᾰκός, ἡ: handful
δραμών: nom. masc. sing. aor. act. part. of τρέχω
δράσσομαι: grasp, take a handful
δραμών: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. of δράσσομαι
δρόμος, ὁ: course, footrace
δῦ: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of δύω
δύο: two
δύστηνος, -ον: wretched, unfortunate, suffering
δύω: sink, plunge into
δῶμα, -ατος, τό: home, dwelling, household
166 Glossary

δῶρον, τό: gift, present

δώσω: 1st sg. fut. act. ind. of δίδωμι

ἐάω: permit, allow

ἔβαινε: 3rd sg. impf. act. ind. of βαίνω
ἔβαλε: 3rd. sg. aor. act. ind. of βάλλω
ἔβαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of βαίνω
ἐβάπτετο: see βάπτω
ἐβάστασε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of βαστάζω
ἔβησαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of βαίνω
ἔβλεπε: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of βλέπω
ἐβόησεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of βοάω
ἐβρόντησε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of βροντάω
ἐβώστρει: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of βωστρέω
ἐγγύθεν: from nearby; ἐγγύθεν ἐλθεῖν = approach
ἔγκατα, τά: innards, guts, entrails
᾿Εγκελάδος, ὁ: the name of one of the Giants
ἐγκέφαλος, -ον: within the head; used subst. = the brain
ἔγχος, -εος, τό: spear, lance
ἐγὼ/ἐγὼν: I (1st sg. pronoun)
ἔδακε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of δάκνω
ἔδεσμα, -ατος, τό: food
ἐδίδου: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of δίδωμι
ἔδυ: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of δύω
ἐδύετο: 3rd sg. aor. m/p ind. of δύω
ἔδυνε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of δύω
ἔδωκε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of δίδωμι
ἔην: 3rd. sg. imp. act. ind. of εἰμί
ἔθειρα, ἡ: hair
ἐθέλω: wish, will
ἔθηκεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of τίθημι
ἔθος, -εος, τό: custom, habit
εἰ: if
εἶ: 2nd sg. pres. act. ind. of εἰμί
 Glossary 167

εἴασαν: 3rd. pl. aor. act. ind. of ἐάω

εἶδον: see ὁράω
εἷλε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of αἱρέω
εἷλκον: 3rd pl. imp. act. ind. of ἕλκω
εἵλκυσε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἕλκω
εἷλξαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of ἕλκω = draw out, drag
εἰμί: I am
εἶναι: pres. act. inf. of εἰμὶ
εἵνεκα: for the sake of, on account of
εἶπον: say (aorist of λέγω)
εἶπε: present imperative of εἶπον
εἰς: to, toward; against; in respect to, regarding
εἷς, μίᾰ, ἕν: one
εἰσαφικνέομαι: come to, arrive at
εἰσαφίκηαι: 2nd sg. aor. act. ind. of εἰσαφικνέομαι
εἰσελθών: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of εἰσέρχομαι
εἰσέρχομαι: come into, enter
εἰσῆλθον: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of εἰσέρχομαι
εἴσω: into, to the inside
εἶχε (83): 3rd sing. imp. act. of ἔχω
εἶχον (127, 162): 3rd pl. imp. act. of ἔχω
ἐκ/ἐξ: out of, from
ἐκάλυπτε: see καλύπτω
ἕκαστος, -η, -ον: each one
ἔκδικος, -ον: avenging
ἐκεῖνος, ἐκείνη, ἐκεῖνο: that one/that person/that thing
ἐκέλευεν: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of κελεύω
ἐκέλευσαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of κελεύω
ἐκλάσθη: 3rd sg. aor. pass. ind. of κλάω
ἐκλύζετο: 3rd sg. imp. m.p. ind. of κλύζω
ἐκόνισεν: see κονίω
ἔκοπτον: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of κόπτω
ἐκοπώθην: see note on 189
ἐκόρυσσεν: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of κορύσσω
ἔκτεινεν, ἔκτεινον: see κτείνω
ἐκτελέω: bring to an end, accomplish, fulfill
ἔκτοσθεν: outside
ἐκχέω: pour away, spill
168 Glossary

ἔκχυντο: 3rd pl. aor. mid. indic. of ἐκχέω

ἔλαιος, ὁ: olive
ἐλεέω: have pity, show compassion
ἐλέησε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐλεέω
ἐλέλιξεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. of ἐλελίζω = to shake or quiver
ἐλθεῖν: pres. act. infin. of ἔρχομαι
ἔλθῃ: 3rd sg. aor. act. subj. of ἔρχομαι
ἔλθοι: 3rd sg. aor. act. opt. of ἔρχομαι
ἐλθοίμην: 1st sg. aor. act. opt. of ἔρχομαι
ἐλθόντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. of ἔρχομαι
Ἑλικών, ῾Ελικῶνος, ὁ: Mount Helicon, the home of the Muses
ἕλκω: draw, drag away
ἑλοῦσα: fem. nom. aor. act. part. of αἱρέω
ἔλπομαι: hope, expect
ἑλών: masc. nom. aor. act. part. of αἱρέω
ἔμαθον: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of μανθάνω
᾿Εμβασίχυτρος, ὁ: Bowldiver
ἐμέ: acc. sing. of ἐγὼ
ἔμειναν: 3rd pl. aor act. ind. of μένω = stay, remain
ἐμεῖο: gen. sing. of ἐγὼ
ἔμελλεν: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of μέλλω
ἐμίχθην: 3rd sg. aor. ind. of μίγνυμι
ἔμμεναι: = εἶναι
ἐμοί: dat. sg. of ἐγὼ
ἐμός, -ή, -όν: mine
ἔμπεδος, -ον: firm, steadfast, sure
ἔμπεσεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐμπίπτω
ἐμπίπλημι: fill up
ἐμπίπτω: fall in, fall upon
ἔμπλητο: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐμπίπλημι
ἐμποιέω: make in, fashion, produce upon; ἐμποίησαν (184)
ἐν: in
ἕνα: acc. sing. of εἷς
ἐναντίος, -α, -ον: opposite
ἔνησα: 1st sg. aor. act. ind. of νέω, to spin fabric
ἐνόησαν: 3rd pl. aor act. ind. of νοέω
ἐνόησε: 3rd pl. aor act. ind. of νοέω
ἔνοπλος, -ον: armed, in arms
 Glossary 169

ἔντεα, τά: arms, armor, weapons

ἐξαίφνης: suddenly, on a sudden
ἐξανέδυσαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. of ἐξαναδύομαι = rise out, emerge from
ἐξεθρέψατο: 3rd sg. aor. mid. of ἐκτρέφω = raise, rear, bring up
ἐξέλθωμεν: 1st sg. pres. act. subj. of ἐξέρχομαι
ἐξέλθωσι: 3rd pl. aor. act. subj. of ἐξέρχομαι
ἐξενάριξεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐξεναρίζω = strip of armor, despoil
ἐξέπτη: 3rd sg. aor act. ind. of ἐκπέτομαι = fly out, escape from
ἐξέρχομαι: go out from, come out of
ἐξέσπασεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐκσπάω = draw out, remove by force
ἐξετανύσθη: 3rd sg. aor. pass. ind. of ἐκτανύω = stretch out
ἐξετελέσθη: 3rd sg. aor. pass. ind. of ἐκτελέω
ἐξετέλεσσεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐκτελέω
ἐξετύφλου: 3rd sg. imp. pass. ind. of ἐκτυφλόω = make blind
ἐξευρόντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. ἐξευρίσκω = find out, discover
ἐξήπλωτο: 3rd sg. imp. pass. ind. of ἐξαπλόω = spread out
ἐξολέσωμεν: 1st pl. aor. act. subj. of ὄλλυμι = kill, destroy
ἐξολόλυξε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐξολολύζω =howl aloud
ἐξύφηνα: 1st sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐξῠφαίνω = weave, finish weaving
ἔξοχος, -ον: towering above, excellent, eminent
ἐόντα: acc. masc. sing. pres. part. of εἰμὶ
ἔοργαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of ἔρδω = do, fashion, work
ἑός, ἑή, ἑόν: their own; his/her/its own
ἐοῦσαν: acc. fem. pres. sing. part. of εἰμὶ
ἐπαΐξας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ἐπαΐσσω = jump at, rush at
ἐπαπειλέω: threaten, guarantee
ἐπαρωγός, ὁ: helper, one who brings aid
ἐπεί: when, since
ἔπειτα: then, thereupon
ἔπεμψαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of πέμπω
ἐπενήχετο: 3rd sg. imp. m./p. ind. of ἐπινήχομαι = swim upon
ἔπεσεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of πίπτω
ἐπέστη: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐφίστημι
ἐπεύχομαι: pray
ἔπεφνε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of θείνω = slay, kill
ἐπέχω: hold out, hold upon, impose, attack
ἐπί: upon (w. gen.)
ἐπιβόσκομαι: feed upon, graze upon
170 Glossary

ἐπιδινήσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ἐπιδινέω = whirl around
ἐπινώτιος, -ον: on the back
ἐπιπείθομαι: be persuaded, comply with
ἐπισταμένως: skillfully, expertly
ἐπιστάντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. of ἐφίστημι
ἐπισχήσουσι: 3rd pl. fut. act. ind. of ἐπέχω
ἐπιφθάς: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ἐπιφθάνω = outstrip, reach first
ἔπλασε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of πλάσσω = form/mold/shape into
ἐπνίγη: 3rd sg. aor. pass. ind. of πνίγω = choke, suffocate
ἐποίησαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of ποιέω
ἐπορνύμενος: nom. masc. sg. pres. m./p. part. of ἐπόρνυμι
ἔπος, -εος, τό: word, counsel, speech
ἔπτατο: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of πέτομαι
ἔπτη: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of πέτομαι
ἔργον, τό: work, deed
ἐρέβινθος, ὁ: chickpea
ἐρεείνω: ask, inquire
ἔρεξαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of ῥέζω
ἐρέω: question, ask, inquire
ἔρρηξε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ῥήγνυμι
ἔρριψας: 2nd singular aor. of ῥίπτω
ἔρχομαι: come, go, approach
ἔρως, -ωτος, ὁ: love
ἐς: see εἰς
ἐσάλπιγξαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of σαλπίζω = play the trumpet, sound the
horn
ἐσθλός, -ή, -όν: brave, stout, good
ἐσορῶντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. of εἰσοράω = look into, look upon
ἑσταότα: acc. masc. sg. pf. act. part. of ἵστημι
ἔσταξε: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of στάζω
ἑστήκει: 3rd. sg. plup. act. ind. of ἵστημι
ἕστηκεν: 3rd sg. pf. act. ind. of ἵστημι
ἔστησαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of ἵστημι
ἔσφιγγε: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of σφίγγω
ἔσχατος, -η, -ον: farthest, extreme, uppermost
ἑταῖρος, ὁ: comrade, companion, friend
ἐτάραξε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ταράσσω = stir up, disturb
ἔτι: still, to this point, even now
 Glossary 171

ἐτράποντο: 3rd pl. aor. ind. mid. of τρέπω

εὖ: well, thoroughly
εὐθύμως: cheerfully
εὐθύς, -εῖα, -ύ: straight, direct, forthright
εὔκυκλος, -ον: well-rounded
εὐμήκης, -ες: tall, long, of goodly proportion
Εὐρώπη: Europa
εὐχερής, -ές: easy
εὔχομαι: pray, entreat, beseech
εὐχόμενος: nom. masc. sg. pres. act. part. of εὔχομαι = pray
ἐφεζόμενος: nom. masc. sg. pres. act. part. of ἐφέζομαι: sit upon
ἐφέλκω: lead, draw on, drag
ἔφη: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of φημί = say
ἐφήρμοσαν: 3rd pl. aor act. ind. of ἐφαρμόζω = fit together, fasten upon
ἐφίστημι: set upon, impose upon
ἔχθιστος, -η, -ον: most hated, most hateful
ἔχρισε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of χρίω = anoint, rub with oil
ἔχω: have, hold
ἕως: until

Ζεύς, ὁ: Zeus
ζητέω: seek, search, look for

ἦ: in truth, to be sure
ἦγ’/ἦγεν: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of ἄγω
ἤγγειλε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἀγγέλλω = announce
ἠδέ: and
ἤδη: already
ἡδύς, ἡδεῖα, ἡδύ: sweet, pleasant
ἠέ: or
ἦεν: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of εἰμί
172 Glossary

ἠϊών, ἠϊόνος, ἡ: beach, shore

ἧκε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἵημι
ἤλασεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐλαύνω = drive
ἥλατο: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἅλλομαι = leap, spring, jump
ἦλθε, ἦλθεν, ἦλθες, ἦλθον: see ἔρχομαι
ἥλιος, ὁ: the sun
ἡμίπνοος, -ον: half-breathing/half-alive
ἤμυνε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἀμύνω = guard/ward off
ἦν: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of εἰμί
ἡνίκα: at the time when
ἧπαρ, -ατος, τό: the liver
ἠπητής, -οῦ, ὁ: repairer, mender
᾿Ηριδανός, ὁ: The Eridanus, a river
ἤριπε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἐρείπω = throw down, cast away
ἥρως, ὁ: a hero
ἦσαν: 3rd pl. imp. act. ind. of εἰμί
ἦσθα: 2nd sg. imp. act. ind. of εἰμί
ἤσκησαν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ἀσκέω
ἦτορ, τό: heart
ηὔδα: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of αὐδάω = utter, speak
ἠΰτε: as, like
ἠώς, ἡ: dawn

θάνατος, ὁ: death
θᾶσσον: sooner, earlier, more swiftly
θαῦμα, -ατος, τό: a wonder, a marvel, something causing
amazement
θεός, ὁ: god
θῆκα: 1st sg. aor. act. ind. of τίθημι
θνητός, -ή, -όν: mortal
θοίνη, ἡ: meal, dinner, feast
θορυβέω: make a noise, make an uproar
θρύλλος (135) θρῦλος, ὁ: noise, murmur
θυγάτηρ, θυγατρός, ἡ: daughter
 Glossary 173

θυμός, ὁ: spirit, soul

θώρηξ, -ηκος, ὁ: coat of mail, armor

ἰδέσθαι: aor. mid. inf. of εἶδον

ἴδεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of εἶδον
ἰδών: masc. nom. sg. aor. act. part. of εἶδον
ἴεν: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of εἶμι = go
ἵημι: send forth, throw, hurl
ἱκάνω: come, reach, arrive
ἱκνέομαι: come, arrive, reach
ἵστημι: set up, make stand, establish
ἰσχύω: be strong, have the ability to (w. comp. inf.)
ἶφι: by force, by power, by might
ἴωμεν: 1st pl. pres. act. subj. of εἶμι = go
ἰών: nom. masc. pres. act. part. of εἶμι = to go

κάδ: poetic form of κατά

καθοπλίζω: arm, equip, fashion out
καί: and, also
καινός, -ή, -όν: new, fresh, novel
κακός, -ή, -όν: bad, base, wretched, ugly
Καλαμίνθιος, ὁ: Minty
καλαμοστεφής, -ές: covered with reed
καλέω: call, summon
καλέσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of καλέω
καλός, -ή, -όν: beautiful, noble, excellent, good
καλύβη, ἡ: hut, cabin, a hiding place
καλύπτω: conceal, hide, cover
καλύψαι: aor. act. inf. of καλύπτω
καμοῦσα: nom. fem. pres. act. part. of κάμνω = work
κάνειον, τό: the lid of a vessel
174 Glossary

Καπανεύς (282): Kapaneus

κάππεσε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of καταπίπτω = fall down
κάρη, τό: the head, peak, topmost point
κάρηνον, τό: head
καρκίνος, ὁ: crab
κάρυον, τό: a nut
κατά: w. acc. = throughout, on/over a space, down against; w. gen = down
from, down upon
καταδύω: go down, sink down, plunge into
κατάκειμαι: lie down, lie outstretched; lie hidden, lurk
κατάκρημνος, -ον: steep, rugged
κατακτείνω: kill, slay
καταλείπω: leave, behind
καταμῦσαι: aor. inf. of καταμύω = close the eyes
κατατρίζω: squeak
κατατρώγω: eat, chew
κατεῖδον: look down
κε: this is a modal limiting particle, and does not admit of simple translation
into English (see ἄν)
κέαρ/κῆρ, τό: heart
κεδνός, -ή, -όν: cared-for, dear, careful, trusty
κεῖμαι: lie down, lie dead
κεῖνος: see ἐκεῖνος
κελεύω: urge on, drive on, order
Κένταυρος, ὁ: a centaur
κένωμα, -ατος, τό: an empty space, void
κέρας, τό: horn
κεραυνός, ὁ: thunderbolt
κεφαλή, ἡ: head
Κήρ, ἡ: death, doom (acc. in κῆρα)
κῆρυξ, -υκος, ὁ: herald, messenger
κηρύσσω: announce, summon
κικλήσκω: call, address by name
κίνδυνος, ὁ: danger
κινέω: set into motion
κινείσθω: 3rd. sg. imperat. m./p. of κινέω
κινήσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of κινέω
κίρκος, ὁ: hawk, falcon
 Glossary 175

κλάω: break off, shatter

κλέω: call (= καλέω)
κλύζω: wash over
Κναίσων, Κναίσωνος, ὁ: Grater
κνήμη, ἡ: the leg between the ankle and the knee
κνημίς, ῖδος, ἡ: greave, leg-protector
κνίση, -ης, ἡ: the smoke which arises from the fat of a
burnt sacrifice
Κνισσοδιώκτης, -ου, ὁ: Smokehunter
κολοκύντη, ἡ: gourd
κόνις, -ιος, ἡ: dust
κονίω: make dusty, cover with dust
κόπτω: cut, chop, strike
κόρυς, -υθος, ἡ: helmet
κορύσσω: equip, muster, marshal
κοσμέω: order, arrange, marshal
κοσμήσαντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. of κοσμέω
κοσμοῦντες: nom. masc. pl. pres. act. part. of κοσμέω
Κοστοφάγος, ὁ: Spice-eater
κοῦρος, ὁ: boy, young man
κοῦφος, -η, -ον: light, easy
κοχλίας, -ου, ὁ: spiral-shelled snail
κράμβη, ἡ: cabbage
Κραμβοβάτης, ὁ: Cabbagetreader
κρατερός, -ά, -όν: strong, stout, mighty

κρατέω: get possession of, hold on

κρατήσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of κρᾰτέω
Κραυγασίδης, ὁ: Croakerson
Κρήτη, ἡ: Crete
Κρονίδης -ου, ὁ: Zeus (son of Kronos)
Κρονίων, -oνος, ὁ: “Son of Kronos,” i.e. Zeus
κρόταφος, ὁ: the side of the forehead, the temples (in pl.)
κρυόεις, -εσσα, -εν: chilly, ice-cold
κτείνω: kill, slay, put to death
κτύπος, -ου, ὁ: bang, crash, loud striking sound
κύαμος, -ου, ὁ: bean
κῦμα, -ατος, τό: swell, wave, billow
176 Glossary

κώνωψ, -ωπος, ὁ: gnat, fly, mosquito

κώπη, ἡ: oar, the handle of an oar

λαβόμην: 1st sg. aor. mid. ind. of λαμβάνω = seize, take hold of
λαγών, -όνος, ἡ: flank, hollow beneath the ribs
λακτίζω: kick, struggle
Λειχήνωρ, -ορος, ὁ: Lickman
Λειχομύλη, ἡ: Mill-licker
Λειχοπίναξ, -ακος, ὁ: Platelicker
λέκτρον, τό: couch, bed
λεπτός, -ή, -όν: husked, peeled, fine, small, delicate
λέπυρον, τό: rind, shell, husk
λευκοχίτωνος, -ον: white-coated
λευκός, -ή, -όν: white, light, bright
λήθει: 3rd sg. pres. act. ind. of λανθάνω/λήθω = escape notice
λήσεις: 2nd sg. fut. act. ind. of λανθάνω/λήθω
λίην: very much, too much, excessively
λίθος, -ου: stone, rock
λίμνη, ἡ: pond, lake, marsh, body of standing water
λιμνόχαρις, -ιτος, ὁ: Grace of the marsh, pond-loving; as a proper name =
Pondlubber
λιπαρός -ά, -όν: oily, shining with oil, unctuous
Λιτραῖος, ὁ: Poundweight
λίχνος, -η, -ον: greedy, gluttonous
λόγος, ὁ: story, rumor, report
λόγχη, ἡ: lance, spear, javelin
λοξοβάτης, -ου, ὁ: walking sideways, walking obliquely
λύχνος, ὁ: lamp, lantern

μάγειρος, ὁ: butcher, cook

μάκαρες, οἱ: the blessed (i.e. the dead)
 Glossary 177

μακρός, -ά, -όν: great, large, long

μάλα: greatly, exceedingly, quite
μαλακός, -ή, -όν: soft, gentle, luxuriant
μαλάχη, ἡ: mallow
μᾶλλον: more, rather
μανθάνω: learn
μάχομαι: battle, strive, contend, fight
μάχη, ἡ: battle, combat
μαχητής, -οῦ, ὁ: combatant, fighter
μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγᾰ: big, great, large
μεγαλήτωρ, -ορος, ὁ/ἡ: great-hearted
μειδήσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of μειδάω = smile
μέλας, μέλαινα, μέλαν: black, dark, murky
μελιηδής: honey-sweet
μελίτωμα, -ατος, τό: honey-cake
μέλλω: to be about to do, on the verge of doing, destined to do (w. compl.
inf.)
μέλος, -εος, τό: limb
μέμφομαι: blame, censure, upbraid
μεμφομένων: gen. pl. pres. m/p. part. of μέμφομαι
μὲν: used absolutely = indeed; used with δέ = “on the one hand . . . on the other
hand” (27, 33, 74, 89, 113, 123, 124, 132, 161, 261c, 285, 288)
μενεαίνω: desire earnestly, long for eagerly
μεμερισμένα: neut. pl. pf. passive part. of μερίζω
μένω: stay/remain
Μεριδάρπαξ, -ᾰκος, ὁ: Crumbthief
μέροψ, -οπος, ὁ: possessing the power of speech
μεσόμφαλος, -ον: in the middle; mid-navel
μέσος, -η, -ον: middle, intermediate
μετά: w. acc. = among, in the middle of; w. dat. = between
μετάνοια, ἡ: change of mind, repentance
μετασχεῖν: aor. act. inf. of μετέχω = to partake, have a share in
μεμηλώς: nom. masc. pf. act. of μέλω: care for, take an interest
μέτωπον, τό: brow, forehead
μὴ: w./subj., expressing negative wishes or negative purpose. Also used to express
counterfactual statements, as in line 291, εἰ μὴ . . . βατράχους ἐλέησε
Κρονίων, if Zeus had not pitied the frogs.
μήποτε: in no way
178 Glossary

μηρός, ὁ: thigh
μήτηρ, ἡ: mother
μίγνυμι: mix, mingle
μικρός -ά, -όν: small, little, tiny
μιμούμενος: nom. masc. sg. pres. act. part. of μιμέομαι = imitate, mimic
μιν: 3rd sg. masc. acc. = him
μιχθείς: nom. masc. sg. aor. pass. part. of μίγνυμι
μοῖρα, -ας: fate, destiny
μονοήμερος, -ον: being completed in one day
μόνος, -η, -ον: singular, alone
μόρος, ὁ: fate, destiny, doom
μοῦνος: see μόνος
μῦα, ἡ: fly
μῦς, ὁ: mouse
μῦθος, ὁ: word, speech, conversation, account, report
μυλοειδής, -ές: like a millstone
μυοκτόνος, -ον: mouse-slaying
μῶλος, ὁ: the toil of war

ναίω: dwell, inhabit

ναυηγός, -όν: shipwrecked
νεκρός, ὁ: corpse, dead body
νέος, νέα, νέον: new, young
νεόπηκτος, -ον: fresh-curdled
νήδυμος, -ον: sweet, delightful
νηδύς, -ύος, ἡ: stomach, belly,
νηός, ὁ: temple

νῆξις, -εως, ἡ: swimming

νοέω: perceive, apprehend

νοήσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of νοέω
νομή, ἡ: food
νυ: now
 Glossary 179

νύξ, νυκτός, ἡ: night

νῦν: now
νωτάκμων, -ονος, ὁ: having an armored back
νῶτον, τό: the back

ξεῖνος, ὁ: friend, guest, stranger

ξεινήϊον, τό: a gift given by a host to a guest
ξύλινος, -η, -ον: wooden
ξύναγον: 3rd pl. imp. act. ind. of ξυνάγω = bring together

ὄβριμος, -ον: mighty, powerful, strong

οἴκαδε: to home, to a house
οἶκος, ὁ: a house, home
οἷος, οἵα, οἷον: of what sort
ὀκτάπους, ὁ: having eight feet
ὄλεθρος, ὁ: death, destruction
ὄλεσσα: 1st sg. aor. act. ind. of ὄλλυμι = destroy, kill
ὀλέτειρα, ἡ: destroyer
ὀλίγος, -η, -ον: small, little
ὀλίσθῃς: 2nd sg. aor. act. of ὀλισθάνω = slip, fall
ὀλλύμενος: nom. masc. sg. pres. m.p. part. of ὄλλυμι = perish, die
Ὄλυμπος, ὁ: Mount Olympus
ὅμιλος, ὁ: crowd, throng
ὄμμα, τό: the eye
ὁμοῖος, -α, -ον: the same, similar
ὀξυόεις, -εσσα, -εν: having a sharp point
ὀξύς, -εῖα, -ύ: sharp, keen, piercing; ὀξύ: quickly, swiftly (neut. adj. used as
adv.)
ὀξύσχοινος, ὁ: Juncus acutus, a spiny type of reed
ὁπλίζω: get ready, equip
ὅπλον, τό: tool, instrument, shield, weapon
180 Glossary

ὅπου: where, wherever

ὅπως/ὅππως: in order to (in final clause w./subj. verb)
ὅραμα, -ατος, τό: something seen, a sight
ὀρθός, -ή, -όν: straight, upright, just
᾿Οριγανίων, ὁ: Mr. Oregano
ὁρμηθέντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. pass. part. of ὁρμάω = set in motion,
drive on
ὅρμος, ὁ: harbor, shore
ὄρχαμος, ὁ: leader, chief
ὁρῶ: contracted form of ὁράω = see
ὁρῶμαι: 1st sg. pres. mid. of ὁράω = see
ὁρῶντες: nom. masc. pl. pres. act. part. of ὁρῶ
ὅσος/ὅσσος, -η, -ον: as great as, how great
ὄσσε, τώ: (dual form) the two eyes, both eyes
ὀστοφυής, -ές: possessing a bony nature
ὀστρακόδερμος, -ον: hard-shelled; having a potsherd skin or shell
ὅτε: when
οὐδέ: but not, and not
οὐδέν: neut. adj. used adverbially = in no way
οὐδέποτε: never
οὖς, τό: an ear
οὐρά, ἡ: a tail
οὐράνιος, -α, -ον: heavenly, dwelling
οὐρανόθεν: down from heaven
οὐρανός, ὁ: the sky, the heaven
οὔτασε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of οὐτάζω = to wound
οὔτε: and not; οὔτε . . . οὔτε neither, nor
οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο: this (demonst. pronoun)
οὕτω: in such a way, in this way
ὀφθαλμός, ὁ: eye
ὄχθη, ἡ: the bank of a river or pond

παγίς, -ίδος, ἡ: trap, snare

παγκράτιον, τό: a contest combining elements of boxing and wrestling
 Glossary 181

παγχάλκεος, -ον: made entirely of bronze

παίζω: play
παῖς, παιδός, ὁ: child
παλάσσω: besprinkle, bespatter
πάλη ἡ: wrestling
πάλιν: back, again
Παλλάς, -άδος, ἡ: Pallas (epithet of Athena)
πάλλετο: 3rd sg. imp. pass. ind. of πάλλω = quiver, shake
παντοδαπός, -ή, -όν: of every sort, of all kinds
πάντως: absolutely, assuredly, entirely
πάρ: around
παρά: beside, next to; παρὰ μικρόν (238) = nearly
πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν: all, whole, entire
πατήρ, πατρός, ὁ: father
παυσώμεσθα: 1st pl. aor. act. subj. of παύω = make an end, desist, cease
from
παχύς, εῖα, ύ: thick, stout, robust
πεῖρα, -ας, ἡ: an attempt against someone
πέλε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of πέλω = come into existence.
πέμπω: send
πένθος, -εος, τό: grief, sorrow
πέπλος, ὁ: sheet, robe
πέπονθα: 1st sg. pf. act. ind. of πάσχω = suffer
περ: at lines 44, 276, used adversatively = although; at line 141, this particle
adds force to the assertion
περί: around (w. gen.)
περιδείδια: 1st sg. pf. act. ind. of περιδείδω: fear greatly
πέσε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of πίπτω
πεσών: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of πίπτω
πετεηνός -ή, -όν: winged, capable of flying
πέτομαι: fly
πέτρη, ἡ: rock, stone
πέτρος, ὁ: rock, stone
πίπτω: fall upon, fall down
Πτερνογλύφος, ὁ: Hamscratcher/Hamcarver
Πηλείων, -ος: Mr. Muddy
Πηλεύς, ὁ: Peleus, here “Mudman”
πηλός, ὁ: clay, dirt, mud
182 Glossary

πῆξεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of πήγνυμι

πικρός, -ά, -όν: sharp, pointed, bitter
πλακοῦς, -οῦντος, ὁ: flatcake
πλανήσας: nom. sg. aor. act. part. of πλανάω = lead astray
πλατύνωτος, -ον: having a broad back
πλεῖος, -η, -ον: full, filled
πλεῖστος, -η, -ον: the most
πληγείς: nom. masc. sg. aor. pass. part. of πλήσσω
πληθύς, -ύος, ἡ: crowd, large group
πλήξας: nom. sg. aor. act. part. of πλήσσω
πλησίος, -α, -ον: near, next to
πλήσσω: strike, smite
πνίξαντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. of πνίγω = choke, suffocate
ποθέω: desire, crave, require
πόθεν: from where?
ποιήσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ποιέω
ποιέω: make, do, fashion
ποινή, ἡ: recompense, restitution, requital
πολεμόκλονος, -ον: raising the din of war
πόλεμος, ὁ: war
πολύς, πολλή, πολύ: much, great, large
πολλάκι: many times
πολύφημος, -ον: speaking much, many-voiced
Πολύφωνος, ὁ: Sir Croaks-a-Lot
πόνος, ὁ: work, toil
πόντος, ὁ: the sea
πόποι: an untranslatable expression of anger or exasperation
πορεύω: carry, convey
πορθέω: destroy, lay waste, ravage
πορφύρεος, -η, -ον: gushing, bubbling, surging, purple
ποταμός, ὁ: river, stream
ποτε: at one time, once
πότμος, ὁ: destiny, final fortune, death
πούς, ποδός, ὁ: foot
Πρασσαῖος, ὁ: Greenstalk
πράσσω: exact payment from
πρηνής, -ές: stooping, bent forward, prone
πρόμαχος, -ον: champion, fighter at the front
 Glossary 183

πρός: for, for the purpose of (44); in response to (56)

προσεῖπον: speak to, address
προσέθηκε: 3rd sg. pf. act. ind. of προστίθημι, place upon, place near
πρόσθεν: before, in front of
προπεσόντα: acc. masc. sing. aor. act. part. of προσπίτνω = fall
forward
πρῴην: early in the morning
πρῶτος, -η, -ον: first of all, foremost, primary
πτέρνη, ἡ: the heel, the butt-end; a ham hock
Πτερνοτρώκτης, -ου, ὁ: Hamnibbler
Πτερνοφάγος, ὁ: Hameater
πώ: yet, up to this point
πῶς: how?

ῥα: shortened form of ἄρα

ῥάβδος, ἡ: rod, wand, scepter
ῥάφανος, ἡ: cabbage
ῥάχις, -ιος, ἡ: backbone, ridge, trunk
ῥέζω: do, act, perform
ῥήγνυμι: break, break out, burst forth
ῥήξαντες: nom. masc. pl. aor. act. part. of ῥήγνυμι: break, break off
ῥήξας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ῥήγνυμι: break, break off
ῥίγιον: colder, horrible, miserable
ῥῑνός, ὁ: skin, hide
ῥίπτω: throw, cast away, hurl
ῥίψας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ῥίπτω = cast, throw, hurl
ῥίψεν: 3rd sg. aor. act ind. of ῥίπτω = cast, throw, hurl
ῥοδάνη, ἡ: spun thread

σάκος, -εος, τό: shield

σάλπιγξ, -ιγγος, ἡ: war-trumpet
184 Glossary

σείω: shake, brandish

σελίς, -ίδος, ἡ: a column of writing
σέλινον, τό: celery
Σευτλαῖος, ὁ: Beety
σεῦτλον, τό: a beet
σησαμότυρον, τό: cheese blended with sesame
σθένος, -εος, τό: strength, bodily power
σκάζω: limp, halt
σκέπτομαι: look around
σκηπτοῦχος, -ον: holding a scepter (used of a king)
σκιρτάω: jump or leap about
σκιρτῆσαι: aor. act. inf. of σκιρτάω
σκότος, ὁ: darkness, gloom
σπεύδω: hurry, make haste
στάζω: let fall, drop, drip
στάσις, -εως, ἡ: sedition, tumult, discord
στέμμα, -ατος, τό: garland, wreath
στέρνον, τό: breast, chest
στεῦμαι: promise, threaten
στήμων, -ονος, ὁ: warp
στήσομεν: 1st pl. fut. act. ind. of ἵστημι
στιβαρός, -ά, -όν: strong, sturdy, stout
στοιχεῖον, τό: an element; pl. means the elements, elements of
knowledge
στόμα, τό: the mouth
στονόεις, -εσσα, -εν: mournful, causing groans
στρατός, ὁ: the army
στρεβλός, -ή, -όν: twisted, crooked
στῶμεν: 1st pl. aor. subj. of ἵστημι
σύ: you
σῦκον, τό: the fig
σύν: with
σύρω: draw, drag along
σφίγγω: clutch, bind, hold together, strangle
σχεδόν: near, close
σχέτο: 3rd sg. aor. mid. ind. of ἔχω
σχοῖνος, ὁ: reed
σῶμα, -ατος, τό: the body
 Glossary 185

τάδε: these things

τανύπεπλος, -ον: with a flowing robe
ταῦρος, ὁ: a bull
ταῦτα: these things
τάφρος, ἡ: a ditch, trench
τάχιστα: most quickly
τάχος -εος, τό: speed, quickness
τε: enclitic particle, serving as conjunction and; τε . . . τε = both . . . and
τεθνειῶτος: gen. sg. perf. act. part. of θνῄσκω = die
τείρω: wear out, distress
τείσεις: 2nd sg. fut. act. ind. of τίνω = pay back
τελετή, ἡ: properly, an initiation into a mystery rite; here, however, the author
uses it as an equivalent of τελευτή = end, fulfillment, completion
τένοντα: masc. acc. sg. pres. act. part. of τείνω = extend, stretch out
τέρας, τό: something monstrous or wonderful to behold
τέρπω: delight, cheer; (in mid./pass. = have enjoyment of, enjoy)
τετράχυτρος, -ον: consisting of four pots
τέτυκται: 3rd sg. perf. pass. ind. of τεύχω
τεῦχος, -εος, τό: tool, implement, weapon, armor
τεύχω: make, fashion, form
τέχνη, ἡ: skill, craft, art
τίθημι: put, place, draw up (for battle)
τίλλω: pluck, pick out
τίνω: pay back
τίπτε: why?
τις, τι: (indefinite) anyone, anything; in line 84, οὔ τι = not at all
τίς: (interrogative) who?
τίσουσι: dat. pl. fut. act. part. of τίνω
τιτρώσκω: wound
τιτύσκομαι: fashion, prepare, make ready
τλήμων, -ονος: steadfast, wretched, suffering
τόδε: this thing
τοι: dat. form of σύ
τοιγάρ: therefore, accordingly
τοῖος, τοία, τοῖον: of such a sort, such
τόκος, ὁ: interest
186 Glossary

τόμος, ὁ: a slice
τότε: then, at that time
τράχηλος, ὁ: neck, throat
τρεῖς: three
τρέπω: turn around, turn oneself
τρέχω: move quickly, run
τρισκοπάνιστος, -ον: kneaded three times
τρίτος -η, -ον: third
τρίχες: hairs, from θρίξ, ἡ
τρόπαιον, τό: trophy, a monument marking the defeat of
an enemy
τρυφάλεια, ἡ: a helmet
τρυφερός, -ά, -όν: delicate, soft
τρωθῇ: 3rd sg. aor. pass. subj. of τιτρώσκω
τρώγλη, ἡ: hole
Τρωξάρτης, ὁ: Breadmuncher
τρωγλοδύνων, -οντος, ὁ: crawling into a hole
Τρωγλοδύτης, ὁ: Holedweller
τρώγω: eat, nibble, gnaw
τρῶσεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of τιτρώσκω
τύψε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of τύπτω = strike
Τῡρογλύφος, ὁ: Cheeseborer
τυρός, ὁ: cheese
Τυροφάγος, ὁ: Cheeseeater

Ὑδρομέδουσα, ἡ: Waterqueen
ὕδρος, ὁ: watersnake
῾Υδρόχαρις, ὁ: Watergrace
ὕδωρ, ὕδατος τό: water
υἱός, ὁ: son
ὑμεῖς: you (pl.); dat. form in ὔμμιν
ὑμέτερος, -α, -ον: yours
ὑπαλύξαι: aor. act. inf. of ὑπαλύσκω
ὐπαλύξεις: 2nd sg. fut. act. ind. of ὑπαλύσκω
 Glossary 187

ὑπέδεισαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. ind. of ὑποδείδω = to fear/shrink in fear

ὑπέμεινεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ὑπομένω = to stay behind
ὑπέρ: over, above (w. gen.)
ὑπεστενάχιζε: 3rd sg. imp. act. ind. of ὑποστεναχίζω = to groan
beneath
ὕπνος, ὁ: sleep
ὑπό: under, beneath
ὕπτιος, -α, -ον: backwards, on the back
ὑψηλός, -ή, -όν: lofty, towering
῾Υψιβόας, ὁ: the Loud Shouter
ὑψώσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part. of ὑψόω = to lift/raise up

φαεινός, -ή, -όν: shining, radiant

φάτις, ἡ: saying, report, talk
φάτο: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of φημί
φέρω: bear, carry, wear
φεύγω: flee, run away, take flight
φημί: say
φθέγγομαι: utter a cry
φίλος, -η, -ον: dear, beloved (used substantively = friend)
φιλότης, -ητος, ἡ: love, intercourse
φοβέω: terrify, alarm, scare
φόβος, ὁ: fear, terror
φόρτος, ὁ: cargo, burden (from φέρω)
φορέω: possess, hold, bear
φράγδην: piece-by-piece
φραξάμενοι: nom. masc. pl. aor. m./p. participle of φράσσω = fortify,
defend
φρήν, φρενός, ἡ: heart, mind
φύγῃ: 3rd sg. aor. act. subj. of φεύγω
φυγή, ἡ: flight, retreat
φῦλον, τό: race, tribe, class
φύλλον, τό: leaf
φύσας: nom. masc. sg. aor. act. part of φύω = beget
188 Glossary

Φυσίγναθος, ὁ: Bellowmouth
φύσις, ἡ: nature
φωνή, ἡ: sound, tone
φώνησεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of φωνέω = make a sound

χαίρω: take joy in, rejoice in, be delighted

χαίτη, ἡ: hair
χαμαί: on the ground
χεῖλος -εος, τό: the lip
χειλοτένων, -οντος, ὁ: lip-stretching
χείρ, χειρός, ἡ: hand
χερμάδιον, τό: a boulder
χθών, χθονός, ἡ: the earth, the ground
χλοερός, -ά, -όν: verdant (poetic form of χλωρός)
χλωρός, -ά, -όν: pale, green or yellow
χόλος, ὁ: wrath, anger
χολόομαι: to be provoked to anger
χορδή, ἡ: guts
χορός, ὁ: chorus, choral dance
χρησαμένη: nom. fem. sg. aor. mid. part. of χράομαι: be in need, be
in debt
χρηστός, -ή, -όν: useful, serviceable
χύτρα, ἡ: a pot
χῶρος, ὁ: land, country

ψαλιδόστομος, -ον: scissor-mouthed

ψευδόμενον: acc. masc. sing. pres. m.p. part. of ψεύδω = lie, cheat
Ψιχάρπαξ, Ψιχάρπαγος, ὁ: Crumbthief
ψυχή, ἡ: the soul, life
 Glossary 189

ὦ: O, as a form of address preceding a vocative

ὧδε: thus, in this way
ᾤκτειρε: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of οἰκτείρω = feel pity upon
᾿Ωκιμίδης, ὁ: Basilson
ὦμος, ὁ: shoulder
ὠργίσθη: 3rd sg. aor. pass. ind. of ὀργίζω = make angry
ὥρμησεν: 3rd sg. aor. act. ind. of ὁρμάω = set upon
ὡς: as, how, when
ὥς: thus, so, in such a manner
ὠχρός, -ά, -όν: pale
 Index

Achilles 71, 72, 76, 77, 88, 110, 115, Athena 6, 58–9, 120, 122–5, 126, 127,
119, 129, 130, 140, 142, 146 144, 151
Accursiana manuscript 8 Athenaeus 15–16, 17–18, 20, 88
Adrados, F.R. 8, 9, 66, 68, 69 Athenian comedy 15–16
Aeschylus 89 Athenian influence, on parody genre
Aesop 87, 107 22
Fables 8–12, 75, 80, 117 Attic Dinner Party 20, 30
Agamemnon 74, 77, 114, 115 Attic Greek, divergences from
Ajax 86, 105, 132, 138 34–6
Alexander the Great 1 Attic tradition, Batrakhomuomakhia
Allen, T.W. 4, 106, 131, 150 77
Alternating Battle Sequence Augustana 7
commentary 127–46 avoid 59, 98, 99, 160
translation 59–61
amphibious realm 55, 90 Bakker, E.J. 30
Ancient Greece, genre in 7, 13 Baroccianus 50 4
anger 103, 150 basileis 74
animals Basilson 59
and Aesopic fables 8, 9–12 Batrakhomuomakhia (“Battle of
animal epics 22 Frogs and Mice”)
answering formulae 151 Alternating Battle Sequence—
Antimachus 68 commentary 127–46
Aphrodite 81 Alternating Battle Sequence—
Apollo 126 translation 59–61
Apollonius Rhodes 26, 81 The Aristeia of Meridarpax—
Archaelaus of Priene 2 commentary 146–9
Archestratos of Gela 16, 85 The Aristeia of Meridarpax—
Archilochus 15, 82, 135 translation 61
Ares 53, 57, 61, 66–7, 85, 110, 149, Arrival of the Crabs—
151 commentary 146–58
Aristeas 16 Arrival of the Crabs—translation
aristeia 144, 146 62
Aristeia of Meridarpax and the Attic tradition 77
commentary 146–9 as Byzantine 131
translation 61 character of xi, xii, 5, 14, 30, 32–3,
Aristophanes 9, 16n.32, 84, 87, 107, 63, 66
125, 132 comparisons in 120
Aristotle 8, 12–15, 88, 128, 156 content of 5
arming-scenes 56–8, 102–20 date and authorship of 1–3, 31,
Artemisian Games 16 32–4, 65, 73, 91, 131, 155
192 Index

Death of Mouse—commentary confusion in 128

93–102 repetition in 131, 142, 147, 157
Death of Mouse—translation bearing 85, 87
55–6 Beeteater 59
Divine Council on the War— Bellerophontes 136
commentary 120–7 Bellowmouth (Physignathos)
Divine Council on the War— accused of killing the mouse 56
translation 58–9 attitude towards mice 115
Divine Intervention in the characterization of 82
Battle—commentary 153–5 criticism of 114
Divine Intervention in the death of 130
Battle—translation 61–2 denying his guilt 110
as a fable 8–9 explanation of the death of the
formulaic section 30–2, 99, mouse 57
127–8 meeting the mouse 53–5, 69–93
Frog Assembly and Arming— plan to drown the mice 117
commentary 110–20 and Psicharpax’s royal lineage 79
Frog Assembly and Arming— resurrection of 133
translation 57–8 trickiness of 116
Greek text 43–52 wounding of 60, 142
manuscript tradition 4–5, black death 59, 98, 130
128 Bliquez, L.J. 71
Meeting of Frog and Mouse— Boiotos 17
commentary 69–93 Borborokoitês 136
Meeting of Frog and Mouse— Boschetti, F. 30–1
translation 53–5 Bowldiver 57, 59, 130, 168
metrics of 26–7 bread-conspirer 146, 147
Mouse Assembly and Arming— Bread nibbler 54
commentary 102–10 Breadmuncher 56, 59, 60, 186
Mouse Assembly and Arming— breastplates 58, 118 (see also
translation 56–7 chestpieces)
and oral performance 32 Byzantine, Batrakhomuomakhia as 131
Proem, The 53, 63–9
summary of 6 cabbage 54, 58, 88, 119, 175, 183
translation 53–62 Cabbagetreader 60, 139, 175
Battle of the Bathmen 76 caesurae 24–6
“Battle of Frogs and Mice”. See Callimachus 26, 66, 106, 123
Batrakhomuomakhia Camerotto, A. 30, 67, 74, 94
“Battle of the Weasel and the Mice”. Capaneus 152, 153
See Galeomakhia cases, in hexameter poetry 35
battle section Centauromachy 121
Alternating Battle Sequence— Centaurs 58, 120, 121, 145, 153, 174
commentary 127–46 character
Alternating Battle Sequence— of Batrakhomuomakhia xi, xii, 5,
translation 59–61 14, 30, 32–3, 63, 66
 Index 193

and the fable 13 Culex 2

of Greek literature 32 Cyclops 72, 76, 101, 103
of Greek poetry 16
term 81 dactylic hexameter 13, 24–5, 85
Cheeseborer 57, 111, 186 de Malignitate Herodoti 2
Cheeseeater 134, 186 death
Cheesenibbler 60 black death 59, 98, 130
chestpieces 57 (see also breastplates) death scenes 101
choke/suffocate/drown 107, 114, 161, descriptions of 104, 137
170, 182 of Physignathos 130
cognate accusatives 74 of Psicharpax 55–6, 93–102, 117
comedy debtors 58, 123–4
Athenian 15–16 deceptive 54, 87, 116
comic interest in food 20–1 Deipnosophists 15–16, 20
comic strategies 22 Demetrius of Phaleron 7
and “cooks” 84 despoil 60, 134, 169
Old and Middle Comedy 83 diaereses 24–6
comparisons, in Batrakhomuomakhia Dialogues of the Gods 76
120 diction, epic 28
competition, and poetry 21 Diogenianus 72
compositional function, of formulaic Diomedes 78, 114, 142, 152, 153
language 29–30 Dionysus 125
Contest of Homer and Hesiod 21 divine concern 120
cooks 84 Divine Council on the War—
cowards, mice as 158 commentary 120–7
crabs Divine Council on the War—
arrival of 62, 146–58 translation 58–9
epithets for 155–7 Divine Intervention in the Battle—
Croakerson 60, 175 commentary 153–5
Croakmaster 59 Divine Intervention in the Battle—
Croaks-a-lot 59, 182 translation 61–2
Crumbthief (Psicharpax) Dover, K. 132
and the battle sequence 130 drip 136, 184
characterization of 82 drown/choke/suffocate 107, 114, 161,
death of 55–6, 93–102, 117 170, 182
diet of 139
escape from a weasel 53, 69 Embasikhutros 114
fate of 74 enemies, of mice 105 (see also
heroic aspect of 84 weasels)
meeting Bellowmouth 53–5, Enkelados 61, 153
69–93 epic diction 28
name 148 epic genre 16
reappearance of 60, 133, 138 epic parody 12–23 (see also parody)
royal lineage 79 epic poetry
status of 77 introductions of 63
194 Index

parodic epics 12–23 Gaia 67, 68

term “hero” 145 Galeomakhia (Battle of Weasel and
Epigonoi 64 Mice) 22, 30, 66, 102, 105, 106
Epigram 2 genre(s)
epithets, for the crabs 155–7 in Ancient Greece and Rome 7, 13
Eridanos, the 76 epic genre 16
Ernesti, I.A. 88, 91 parody genre 22 (see also parody)
Euboeus of Paros 16, 17, 76 giants 53, 58, 61, 67–8, 120–1, 145,
Eumelus of Corinth 68 152, 153, 166
Euripides 153 Gigantomachy 16n.34
Glaukos 78,
fable, tradition of 6–12, 13, 66, 68, 69, Glei, R. 73, 80, 106, 107, 131, 143,
89, 107 156
Fables 8–12, 75, 80, 117 gnat/mosquito 128, 176
fate 102, 103, 178 gods 58–9, 61, 124–7 (see also names
fear 85, 88, 95, 135, 149, 164, 181, of individual gods)
187 great-hearted 54, 57, 79, 112, 177
fierce 126, 159 Greater Panathenaea 16
Foley, J.M. 30 greaves 57, 108
food Greco-Roman meter 23
arranging/seasoning the dishes 84 greedy 53, 71, 176
catalogue of 89 Greek literature, character of 32
comic interest in 20–1 Greek poetry 16, 21, 34–6, 74
descriptions of 54 Greenstalk 60, 137, 182
flat-cake 54, 83 grief 95, 181
references to 83
forefighters 54, 59, 85, 143 Hainsworth, J.B. 27–8
forehead 136, 163, 175, 177 Hamcarver 60, 181
formulaic language 27–32, 99 (see Hameater 60, 135, 183
also Homeric formulae) Hamnibbler 54, 80, 183
“Frog and Mouse” fable, Life of Aesop harsh men 56, 106
8–11, 117 hawks 54, 86, 87, 174
Frogs 125 Hecuba 94, 129
frogs (see also names of individual Hegemon of Thasos 15, 16n.34,
frogs) 17–20, 21
arming-scenes 58, 118–20 Hektor 101, 115, 116, 132
assembly of 57–8, 110–18 helmets 57, 58, 119
and Athena 125 helpers 62, 121, 155
characterization of 90 Hera 127, 151
as a child of water-based mothers Hermann’s Bridge 25
76 Herodotus 2, 71, 84, 100, 158
contrast with mice 90 heroes 61, 74, 75, 97, 109, 144, 145,
kingship among the 75 146, 172
Marsh Frog 132 Hesiod 16, 21, 24, 31, 63, 72, 76, 81,
Fusillo, M. 84 90, 104, 145, 153, 155
 Index 195

hexameter (see also meter) Janko, R. 31, 91, 141, 155

dactylic 13, 24–5, 85 de Jong, I.J.F. 149
early 64, 125
iambic 13 Kelly, A. 128
hexameter poetry 32, 34–6, 68, 125, kill 112, 153, 161, 169, 174, 175, 179
137 kingship 74, 75
Hipparchos 16 Kirk, G.S. 30
Hipponax 16, 17, 19 Knaisôn 147
Holedweller 59, 60, 130, 141, 186 Knights 84
Homer (see also frequent references Kostophagos 134
to his work in the Kronos 58, 59, 61, 62, 90, 151, 175
Commentary section)
as the author? 1–3 language
and the epic genre 16 formulaic 27–32, 99, 127–8
fable-use of 12 (see also Homeric formulae)
Homeric formulae 18, 19, 28, 30, Homeric 23–7
85, 111, 116, 120, 132, 140, 146 martial 15, 82, 84, 85
Homeric Hymn to Athena 94 Leikhopinax 136, 137
Homeric Hymn to Demeter 31, 79 letters, in hexameter poetry 34–5
Homeric Hymn to Hermes 76, 104, Lickman 59, 176
114 Life of Aesop 8–11, 89, 117
Homeric Hymn to the Muses and Life of Agesilaos 1
Apollo 64 literature, character of Greek 32
Homeric Hymns 30, 76 Lives 2–3
Homeric language and meter 23–9 Lord, A. 29, 30
Homeric poetry 13, 28, 64 Louden, B. 149
Homeric tradition 15, 17, 20–1, Lucian 76
110, 124 Ludwich, A. 4, 70, 72, 106, 107, 109,
Iliad. See Iliad 110, 123, 131, 137, 138, 142,
Odyssey. See Odessey 143, 150, 151, 154
and parody 12–14, 17–18 Lykophron 156
honor 53, 56, 75, 101
hortatory subjunctive 107, 151 mallow 109, 118, 177
Hymn to Athena 94 Manlicker 129, 133
Hymn to Demeter 31, 79 manuscript tradition 4–5, 128
Hymn to Hermes 76, 104, 114 Margites 12, 13–15
Hymn to the Muses and Apollo 64 Marsh Frog 132
hyper-archaism 68, 106, 113, 137 Martial 2, 3
martial language 15, 82, 84, 85
iambic hexameter 13 Matro of Pitane 16, 20–1, 30, 71,
iambic meter 12 80–1, 83
Iliad (see also frequent references Menis 102
throughout the Commentary Meridarpax 146, 147, 148, 149, 150,
section) 15, 19, 28, 31, 86 151
indirect interrogatives 67 metapoetic tropes 20
196 Index

meter Odyssey 28, 101, 103, 115 (see also

Homeric 23–7 frequent mentions throughout
and oral-poetic dialects 30 the Commentary)
mice (see also names of individual Oilthief 138
mice) Old and Middle Comedy 83
and Athena 122–3 Olson, S.D. 16
characterization of 90 Olympus 6, 65, 179
contrast with frogs 90 oral performance, and
as cowards 158 Batrakhomuomakhia 32
disfiguring/immobilization of oral-poetic dialects, and meter 30
157–8
enemies of 105 (see also Pallas 18, 61, 181
weasel(s)) Panathenaean festival 122
genocidal wishes of 154 pankration 100
as gluttons 89 Panyassis 16
Mouse Assembly and Arming— Paradeigmata 97
commentary 102–10 Paris 142
Mouse Assembly and Arming— parody
translation 56–7 animal parody 22
names of 79–80 and arming of the mice 102
Zeus’s image of 121 Athenian influence on 22
Mill-licker 54, 176 divine concern 120
Millstone Licker 79, 138 epic 12–23
Minty 60, 134, 173 excessive 155–6
morning 103, 183 and the Homeric tradition 12–14,
Morrison, J.V. 149 17–18
mortals 67, 84, 115, 126, 152, 155 and “serious” epic 15
Moschus 65, 72, 97 Parry, M. 27, 29
mosquito/gnat 128, 176 participle, use of 67, 68, 69, 85, 92,
mousestrap 87 123
mousetraps 54, 56, 86 Patroklos 101, 147, 153, 158
Mudbedder 60, 163 Pavese, C.O. 30–1
Muddy 59, 72, 181 Peace 16n.32
Mudman 53, 76, 181 performance-oriented poetry 64
Mudwalker 139 Pelias 152, 153
Muses 63–5 Peleus 76, 130, 181
myth 8, 16, 97, 120, 142, 144, 145 Peplos 121, 123
perna 80, 83
nature 54, 81, 90, 188 Philostratus 34
Nicander 70 Philumenus 70
Nonnus 21, 33, 157 Physignathos (Bellowmouth)
novelty 95, 159 accused of killing the mouse 56
attitude towards mice 115
object clauses 93, 116 characterization of 82
Odysseus 71, 76, 78 criticism of 114
 Index 197

death of 130 Quintilian 8

denying his guilt 110 Quintus Smyrnaeus 124, 145
explanation of the death of the
mouse 57 repetition, in the battle section 131,
meeting the mouse 53–5, 69–93 142, 147, 157
plan to drown the mice 117 report 112, 176
and Psicharpax’s royal lineage 79 Republic 90
resurrection of 133 retreat 118, 141–2, 187
trickiness of 116 ring structure 63, 68
wounding of 60, 142 Roman authorship, of
Pieceplunder 61 Batrakhomuomakhia 33
Pigres the Carian 2, 3 Rome, genre in 7
Platelicker 56, 60, 134, 176 rumor 112, 176
Plato 8, 90, 91, 95, 125 Rylands Papyrus 8
Plutarch 1, 103, 122
Poetics 12, 15 Sappho 15, 80
poetry Sarpedon 97
“cut-and-paste” 141 scepter-bearing 53, 77, 79, 154
epic 12–23, 63, 145 Sens, A. 16, 135
Greek 16, 21, 34–6, 74 shields 57, 58, 135
hexameter poetry 32, 34–6, 68, 137 Shining/Glorious Oregano 61, 144
Homeric 13, 28, 64 Shrout, William C. 69–70
performance-oriented 64 Silvae 2
Polemon 16, 17, 18 similes, use of 20
Pondlubber 59, 176 Sir Croaks-a-lot 59, 182
Poundweight 60, 176 slay 112, 169, 174, 175
Prassaios 137, 142, 143 smoke 122, 175
Priam 103 Smokehunter 60, 137, 175
proems 63, 67 snake 55
Prosodia Byzantina 84 snare/trap 56, 87, 180
prosody, in Greek hexameter poetry 36 Socrates 8
Psicharpax (Crumbthief) son of Kronos. See Zeus
and the battle sequence 130 son of Peleus. See Physignathos
characterization of 82 (Bellowmouth)
death of 55–6, 93–102, 117 Sophocles 93
diet of 139 spears 57, 58, 119
escape from a weasel 53, 69 speech-introduction 72
fate of 74 Spice-eater 59, 133, 175
heroic aspect of 84 spread out 97, 104, 161, 169
meeting Bellowmouth 53–5, 69–93 staffs 18, 57, 111
name 148 Statius 2, 3
reappearance of 60, 133, 138 Sthenelos 153
royal lineage 79 stone 135, 176, 181
status of 77 straight 60, 101, 171, 180
Publicola 103 stretch out 134, 169, 185
198 Index

strife 63, 66 Wackernagel, J. 3, 80

strike 135, 136, 159, 175, 182, 186 warriors 6, 53, 58, 77, 79, 120, 155,
suffocate/choke/drown 107, 114, 161, 159
170, 182 water snake 55
syllable quantity/quality 23–4 Watergrace 60, 135, 186
Watermistress 53, 76
tablets, writing of drafts on 53, 65–6 weapons 102, 107, 110, 169 (see also
Tetrakhutros 144 arming-scenes; spears)
textual tradition 4–5, 32, 76 weasel(s)
Theocritus 106, 158 in Galeomakhia 22
Theogony 24, 31, 63, 72, 155 in glossary 164
Theriaca 70 killing of 57, 109
Three Laws of Wilhelm Mayer 25 as a mouse-antagonist 54, 56, 87
thumos 119 nature/character of 81
timê 75 or cat 70–1, 105
Titans 145, 152 Psicharpax’s escape from a 53,
tragedies 15, 73, 104, 120, 134, 136 69
translation, notes on 36–7 West, M.L. 22, 129–30, 131, 151
trap/snare 56, 87, 180 Winter, B.W. 34
tricky/trickily 87, 99–100, 165 Works and Days 21, 31, 78, 81, 104,
trophy 58, 118, 186 145, 155
Troxartes 71, 77 wrestling 56, 100, 180, 181
Truphaleios 144 writing, of drafts on tablets 53,
Tyrtaeus 15 65–6
Tzetzes, J. 65
Xenophanes 124
unagumented aorist 98
unfold 97, 104, 161 Zeus
uproar, making an 125, 172 abducting Europa 97
uttered 53, 72, 99 asking for the supporters of mice/
frogs 58, 120
vengeance, eye for 56, 100 and frogs 55, 75
verbs, in hexameter poetry 35, 125 as a god of justice 100
Vindobonensis manuscript 8 and mice 121
Vita Aesopi G. See Life of Aesop and mortals 115
Vita Herodotea 2–3 and the other gods 127
Vita Homeri V 2–3 as Son of Kronos 90
Vita Plutarchea 2–3 taking pity on the frogs 6, 61–2,
Vitae Homeri 2–3 146–58