Plot, picture and thoughts
In the picture Dikaiopolis is impatient again. Constantly giving orders:
"hurry up, slave" (σπεῦδε, ὦ δοῦλε)bring me (φέρε μοι = to me)Next he attaches (προσάπτει) the plow to the oxen. How? He leads (ἄγει ) the oxen under the yoke (ὑπὸ τὸ ζυγόν), fastens the straps and then attaches the plow to the yoke (no yoke, no work, but strangled ox).
Same old story, the farmer wants to work, the slave is in no hurry. Why should he, it is not his farm, so everything is done slowly (βραδέως ), every opportunity taken to have a little nap, under a tree (ὑπὸ δένδρῳ ). He's always lagging behind
ὄπισθεν βαδίζει
and always has an excuse handy.
Interesting point: The Ancients were great believers in gods (deities) and invoked them before undertaking anything. (Likewise nowadays lots of people say grace before meals, little prayers before performing certain acts, tasks) or cross themselves. Here Demeter, goddess of grain, is called upon to watch over his seed and give him a good crop. If Demeter was not gracious* (ἵλαος ) his crop failed, so better implore her:
" ἵλαος ἴσθι, ὦ Δήμητερ"* ἵλαος, ἵλαον, or, in Attic Greek ἵλεως, ἵλεων. The second edition favours ἵλεως, for being more Attic I suppose. But then, invocations were not always supposed to be pure Attic, just as extracts from Homer or Hesiod were not translated into Attic, but were kept in the original.