Cratinus' Pytine

<Under construction, but you can already find much information>

The Pytine (or Wineflask) is Cratinus' most famous comedy. It was performed at the Dionysia of 423 BC, together with Aristophanes' Clouds and another comedy of course. It got the first prize; the Clouds got the third prize. This proves what the quality of this comedy must have been, although the revised version of the Clouds, that we possess, is not among Aristophanes' best comedies.

The fragments of the Pytine that have been saved, are mostly found in the so-called scholiasta (comments found in the margin of ancient text, mostly written in medieval times). If such is the case, I will place a link to the place where you can find the original text in translation to which the scholiasta belong.

In most other cases the text is obtained from Athenaeus' Deipnosophists (I tried to, but I can’t find a version of it online).

The Pytine is an allegoric persiflage on Cratinus' own dipsomania, after Aristophanes had mocked him because of that in his Knights (525 – 533):

Cratinus again was like a torrent of glory rushing across the plain, up-rooting oak, plane tree and rivals and bearing them pell-mell in his wake. The only songs at the banquet were "Doro, shod with lying tales" and "Adepts of the Lyric Muse," so great was his renown. Look at him now! He drivels, his lyre has neither strings nor keys, his voice quivers, but you have no pity for him, and you let him wander about as he can, like Connas, his temples circled with a withered chaplet; the poor old fellow is dying of thirst; he who, in honour of his glorious past, should be in the Prytaneum drinking at his ease, and instead of trudging the country should be sitting amongst the first row of the spectators, close to the statue of Dionysus and loaded with perfumes.

It might not have been so grave, because poets exaggerate things very often. But Cratinus reacted sufficiently: with his Pytine and he beat Aristophanes tenderly.

Aristophanes, in his Knights, told that old Cratinus was a good poet in past times, but that he wasn't able to write comedies anymore and that Athenians should assure him a place in the Prytanaion (like the national heroes), where he could drink gratis (Cratinus' love for wine was well known). Cratinus took his revenge.
In his Pytine he represented himself as the husband of a beautiful woman named 'Comedy'. Comedy brings Cratinus to a trial, because - she says - the old drunkard poet betrays her and plays around with the young Wines (represented as young boys; homosexuality was common habit). You can see such a young Wine, Mendaios this time, in fragment 3. These young Wines are not only an image of Cratinus’ homosexuality, but also a metaphor on his dipsomania, because there is a sort of personification (the Mendaios is becoming a person). Such personifications are common in Old Attic Comedy.
Cratinus told her that it was necessary for him to drink wine, cause poets drinking only water (like Aristophanes!) are not able to write good plays (this is an important topic in ancient world. See Archilochos and Callimachos). (this summary of the play is mainly written by Maurizio Sonnino)

A Greek text (scholiasta ad Equites 399) says the following:

It is depicted that Comedy is his wife, and that she wants to abandon the marriage with him, and that is declared to her that the case against him for wronging would be discussed by the court, that

To give you an idea how an Old Attic Comedy’s structure was, I will give you the structure of an Aristophanic comedy (full document):

Aristophanic comedies have a more elaborate structure than the typical tragedy. The chorus is also larger: 24 (as opposed to 12-15).

1. Prologue: As in tragedies.
2. Parode (Entrance Ode): As in tragedies, but the chorus takes up a position either for or against the hero.
3. Agôn (Contest): Two speakers debate the issue (typically with eight feet per line), and the first speaker loses. Choral songs may occur towards the end.
4. Parabasis (Coming Forward): After the other characters have left the stage, the chorus members remove their masks and step out of character to address the audience.
5. First the chorus leader chants in anapests (eight per line) about some important, topical issue, typically ending with a breathless tongue twister called pnige.

   Next the chorus sings, and there are typically four parts to the choral performance:

   1. Ode: Sung by one half of the chorus and addressed to a god.
   2. Epirrhema (Afterword): A satyric or advisory chant (eight trochees [long-short] per line) on contemporary issues by the leader of that half-chorus.
   3. Antode (Answering Ode): An answering song by the other half of the chorus in the same meter as the ode.
   4. Antepirrhema (Answering Afterword) An answering chant by the leader of the second half-chorus, which leads back to the comedy.
6. Episode: As in tragedies, but primarily elaborating on the outcome of the agon.
7. Exode (Exit Song): As in tragedy, but with a mood of celebration and possibly with a riotous revel (cômos), joyous marriage, or both.

I think the one who has to judge now, are you! You can read the fragments below and if you have comments, mail me.

I got the fragments from the 'Comicorum Graecorum Fragmenta', Liber II,1. The translation and the comments are my own, but I have been helped greatly by Maurizio Sonnino, Ralph Rosen and Andrew Fenton.

You need the font 'Athenian' to read Greek letters. Download it here for Windows, and here for Mac (from Perseus).

I owe great thanks to Maurizio Sonnino, who has commented my work greatly.

Fragment 1

Original text (found in the Scholiasta Aristophanis ad Equites 399)

ƒAll' ¤panatr¡cai boælomai eÞw tòn lñgon.

prñteron ¤keÝnow pròw ¥t¡ran gunaÝk' ¦xvn

tòn noèn, kakŒw eâpoi pròw ¥t¡ran: Žll'

’ma m¢n tò g°raw, ’ma d¡ moi dokeÝ

oéd¡pot' aétoè prñteron.

Translation

But I want to fortify me again for the conversation.

May he call them bad women to the one woman,

Having his mind by another woman:

But on the one hand there is the old age, on the other hand it seems to me

From him, that is has never happened before.

Comments

This fragment is a part of the speech of Comedy. She is explaining the case.

Fragment 2

Original text (it is Porphyrius in the Scholiasta Homeri ad Odysseam Q’ 186)

Gun¯ d' ¤keÛnou prñteron ·, nèn d' oék¡ti.

Translation

At first she was his wife, now not anymore.

Comments

It seems that Cratinus has lost his wife Comedy some way. These words are Comedy's.

Fragment 3

Nèn d' µn âdú MendaÝon ²bÇnt' ŽrtÛvw

oÞnÛskon, §petai kŽkolouyeÝ kaÜ l¡gei,

oàm' Éw plaòw kaÜ leukñw. "r' oàsei trÛa;

Translation

When Cratinus sees the young wine Mendaios

He follows him and tells,

- I think - that he looks enervated and pale. Will he mix three parts in it?

These are the words of Comedy again.

Mendaios was a famous kind of wine, like, e.g., the Italian "Chianti" or the French "Bordeaux".

Mendaios is represented as a puer delicatus, that is as a catamite.

Three parts (of water): Greeks never drunk pure wine. They always mixed water in it.

Fragment 4

T¯n m¢n paraskeu¯n àsvw gignÅskete

The preparation perchance you know. (translation this time from this site)

Comments

This fragment probably comes from the Prologue of the play: "I will tell you the precedings of this".

Fragment 5

Tòn d' àson àsÄ f¡ront', ¤gÆ d' ¤kt®komai.

Bringing the equal (part) to a equal (part); I'm melting away.

This fragment probably comes from Cratinus' defence. I think Cratinus wants to says this: "When you mix my wine 50% water and 50% wine, then I leave." Andrew Fenton pointed out that 'ektèkomai' is often said of liquids, so that Cratinus means that he needs this liquid (wine) to prevent that he is going to become another liquid.

Fragment 6

‡Udvr d¢ pÛnvn oéd¢n ’n t¡koi sofñn.

Drinking water, he would not say anything sensible.

I guess this also is a part from the defence of Cratinus: "Let him drink wine, otherwise he will not say sensible things."

Fragment 7

…Anaj …Apollon, tÇn ¤pÇn tÇn reum‹tvn.

kanaxoèsi phgaÛ, dvdek‹krounon tò stñma,

ƒIlissòw ¤n t» f‹rugi. tÛ ’n eàpoimÛ soi;

eÞ m¯ gŒr ¤pibæsei tiw aétoè tò stñma,

‘panta taèta kataklæsei poi®masin.

Master Apollo, of the streams of words.

The waters sound, the mouth of twelve wells,

The Ilissos is in his gullet. What could I say to you?

It so happens that if no one will block its mouth,

It will flow over all these things with poems.

This is a choral song, definitely, because of the particularly poetic language.

You could compare this fragment with Aristophanes’ Knights 526ff. Aristophanes told there that Cratinus was a good poet and that his words were so strong as a river. Now Cratinus says that this is true. His mouth is strong as a river and if somebody doesn't stop him from speaking, he'll fill all the places with his waters (= words, poetry (Apollo is the god of poetry) and so on)! (this explanation is by Maurizio Sonnino)

About the twelve wells of the Ilissos, a river in Attica (see this map), there is a problem. The place where the wells were was called Enneakrounos, Kallirhoe in ancient times. But there is said in the opera Pisistratidarum that there are only nine wells. There has been suggested that Cratinus is exaggerating, but I think this is not a satisfying solution. But from Pausanias’ work you could conclude that there are more wells. But to know if there are really twelve wells or not is not vital if you want to understand the text.

Fragment 8

PÇw tiw aétñn, pÇw tiw n

Žpò toè pñtou paæseie, toè lÛan pñtou;

B. ¤gÒda. suntrÛcv gŒr aétoè toçw xñaw,

kaÜ toçw kadÛskouw sugkeraunÅsv spodÇn,

kaÜ tlla p‹nt' ŽggeÝa tŒ perÜ tòn pñton,

koéd' ôjæbafon oÞnhròn ¦ti kekt®setai.

(B. indicates another speaker)

How could someone, how could someone

Stop him drinking, drinking very much?

B. I know it. I will knock his measures to pieces,

And I will beat all voting urns of the agreement to pieces violently,

And all the other wine casks,

And he will not acquire any brightly painted wine cask anymore.

A solution is offered for the problem of Cratinus: they will destroy all his attributes and he will not be able to drink wine anymore.

Until here it is all quite easy to understand the fragment. But why ‘beat the voting urns to pieces’? I think somewhere in the piece the chorus (or another group of people) has voted that Mendaios is allowed to drink. Another solution is that there is an law about drinking in Athens that makes drinking legal or something like that, but I do not have enough sources to research this solution.

'Measures': a xoèw is about 43 litre (about 9,5 gallons). I think Cratinus means the concrete measure, so a measure cup (but then a bit bigger; maybe some hyperbole).

Fragment 9

ƒAtŒr ¤nnooèmai d°ta tŒw moxyhrÛaw

t°w ±liyiñthtow t°w ¤m°w.

Translation

On the other hand, I will really think over the badness

Of my folly.

Someone comes to his senses, but this has not to be necessarily Cratinus, because the solution of the problem could be that Cratinus is allowed to go on drinking, and then Comedy has to think over her folly.

Fragment 10

Fragment ten is not really from the comedy, it is descriptive and comes from the scholiasta Aristophanis ad Equites 528. Because it is descriptive, I will only give a translation.

After Cratinus had heard these things (the taunts by Aristophanes), he wrote the Pytine, to show, that he did not blather about these things, which speak ill of Aristophanes, just like the things, which speak ill of Eupolis.

This gives the reason why Cratinus wrote his Pytine.When you read Knights 528 and then these scholiasta, you will understand why he wrote this play.

Fragment 11

Original text (from the scholiasta Aristophanis ad Pacem 602)

‰W lipern°tew polÝtai, tŽmŒ d¯ junÛete.

Poor citizens, listen then to my words.

In the place where the scholiasta belong to is said:

Wise husbandmen, hearken to my words, if you want to know why she was lost to you.

The words (Greek) used are nearly the same as in Cratinus. This sentence is said by Hermes to the Chorus after they had asked something. So Cratinus' sentence is probably also said to the Chorus (in the parabasis!). The one who says this, is probably going to explain something to the Chorus.

Fragment 12

Oé dænantai p‹nta poioèsai nevsoÛkvn laxeÝn,

oéd¢ k‹nnhw.

They cannot make that they get all things of the dock,

Nor of the thatched mat.

This is said of as triremes, as turns out from Pollux' work. This is explained by mr. Fritzsche (originally in Latin, but translated by me):

Although they wish ardently that their fatherland sees them back, they still cannot come back to the docks or straw-mats.

Straw-mats are mostly used as fence, as turns out from Pollux’ text.

There could be spoken here of the defection of Mytilene in 428 BC (which had a big fleet), but more logically of the defeat at Delium or at Chalcidice (424 BC).

Fragment 13

Original text (from scholiasta Aristophanis ad Nubes 354)

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