[325] All these surnames bore some relation to the character or the build of the individual to whom the poet applies them.--Chaerephon, Socrates' disciple, was of white and ashen hue.--Opontius was one-eyed.--Syracosius was a braggart.--Midias had a passion for quail-fights, and, besides, resembled that bird physically. [326] Pisthetaerus' servant, already mentioned. [327] From the inspection of which auguries were taken, e.g. the eagles, the vultures, the crows. [328] Or rather, a young man who contemplated parricide. [329] A parody of verses in Sophocles' 'Oenomaus.' [330] The Athenians were then besieging Amphipolis in the Thracian Chalcidicé. [331] There was a real Cinesias--a dithyrambic poet, born at Thebes. [332] The Scholiast thinks that Cinesias, who was tall and slight of build, wore a kind of corset of lime-wood to support his waist--surely rather a far-fetched interpretation! [333] The Greek word used here was the word of command employed to stop the rowers. [334] Cinesias makes a bound each time that Pisthetaerus struck him. [335] The tribes of Athens, or rather the rich citizens belonging to them, were wont on feast-days to give representations of dithyrambic choruses as well as of tragedies and comedies. [336] Another dithyrambic poet, a man of extreme leanness. [337] A parody of a hemistich from 'Alcaeus.'--The informer is dissatisfied at only seeing birds of sombre plumage and poor appearance. He would have preferred to denounce the rich. [338] The informer, says the Scholiast, was clothed with a ragged cloak, the tatters of which hung down like wings, in fact, a cloak that could not protect him from the cold and must have made him long for the swallows' return, i.e. the spring. [339] A town in Achaia, where woollen cloaks were made. [340] His trade was to accuse the rich citizens of the subject islands, and drag them before the Athenian courts; he explains later the special advantages of this branch of the informer's business. [341] That is, whips--Corcyra being famous for these articles. [342] Cleonymus is a standing butt of Aristophanes' wit, both as an informer and a notorious poltroon. [343] In allusion to the cave of the bandit Orestes; the poet terms him a hero only because of his heroic name Orestes. [344] Prometheus wants night to come and so reduce the risk of being seen from Olympus. [345] The clouds would prevent Zeus seeing what was happening below him. [346] The third day of the festival of Demeter was a fast. [347] A semi-savage people, addicted to violence and brigandage. [348] Who, being reputed a stranger despite his pretension to the title of a citizen, could only have a strange god for his patron or tutelary deity. [349] The Triballi were a Thracian people; it was a term commonly used in Athens to describe coarse men, obscene debauchees and greedy parasites. [350] There is a similar pun in the Greek. [351] i.e. the _supremacy_ of Greece, the real object of the war.