Freed from the war and its ills, I shall
keep the Dionysia(2) in the country.

f(1) When Athens sent forth an army, the soldiers were usually ordered
to assemble at some particular spot with provisions for three days.

f(2) These feasts were also called the Anthesteria or Lenaea; the Lenaem
was a temple to Bacchus, erected outside the city. They took place
during the month Anthesterion (February).

AMPHITHEUS
And I shall run away, for I'm mortally afraid of the Acharnians.

CHORUS
This way all! Let us follow our man; we will demand him of
everyone we meet; the public weal makes his seizure imperative. Ho,
there! tell me which way the bearer of the truce has gone; he has escaped
us, he has disappeared. Curse old age! When I was young, in the days
when I followed Phayllus,(1) running with a sack of coals on my back, this
wretch would not have eluded my pursuit, let him be as swift as he will;
but now my limbs are stiff; old Lacratides(2) feels his legs are
weighty and the traitor escapes me. No, no, let us follow him; old
Acharnians like ourselves shall not be set at naught by a
scoundrel, who has dared, great gods! to conclude a truce, when I wanted
the war continued with double fury in order to avenge my ruined lands.
No mercy for our foes until I have pierced their hearts like sharp
reed, so that they dare never again ravage my vineyards.
Come, let us seek the rascal; let us look everywhere, carrying our
stones in our hands; let us hunt him from place to place until we trap
him; I could never, never tire of the delight of stoning him.

f(1) A celebrated athlete from Croton and a victor at Olympia; he was
equally good as a runner and at the 'five exercises.'

f(2) He had been Archon at the time of the battle of Marathon.

DICAEOPOLIS
Peace! profane men!(1)

f(1) A sacred formula, pronounced by the priest before offering
the sacrifice.

CHORUS
Silence all! Friends, do you hear the sacred formula? Here is he,
whom we seek! This way, all! Get out of his way, surely he comes
to offer an oblation.

DICAEOPOLIS
Peace, profane men! Let the basket-bearer(1) come forward, and thou
Xanthias, hold the phallus well upright.(2)

f(1) The maiden who carried the basket filled with fruits at the Dionysia
in honour of Bacchus.

f(2) The emblem of the fecundity of nature; it consisted of a representation,
generally grotesquely exaggerated, of the male genital orga