Aristophanes[1] alectoras qui mares sint, alectryaenas [401] quae foeminae, alectryónas utrunque continere, ludens in comoedia monstravit. Invenias et pro maribus alectoridas acceptos, ut inquit Athenaeus, Hermolaus. Socrates sane in Nebulis Aristophanis Strepsiadem docens, reprehendere videtur quod ἀλεκτρυόνα in utroque sexu proferat, itaque iubet eum foeminam ἀλεκτρύαιναν vocare, ficto vocabulo et poëtico, ut a λέων scilicet fit λέαινα: marem vero ἀλέκτορα. Apparet autem (inquit Scholiastes) vulgarem hanc consuetudinem tum fuisse, foeminam quoque ἀλεκτρυόνα nominandi, ut patet ex hisce (Aristophanis) in Amphiarao verbis: Γύναι τί τὸ ψόφημα ἐστί; Ἡ ἀλεκτρυών | Τὴν κύλικα καταβέβληκεν. Οἰμωξουσάγε. Et in Platonis (Aristophanis, Athenaeus. positum est καὶ πλάτων, pro καὶ πάλιν a librarijs) Daedalo, Ἐνίοτε πολλαί τῶν ἀλεκτρυόνων ὑπηνέμια βίᾳ τίκτουσι ὠά πολλάκις. Ὁ δὲ παῖς ἔνδον τὰς ἀλεκτρυόνας σοβεῖ. Attici quidem etiam gallinas sic vocabant. Et Theopompus, Vocant vero gallinam etiam ἀλεκτρύαιναν: Haec Scholiastes. sed locus, quod ad authorum citationes, non recte distinctus emendari potest ex Athenaeo[2], cuius verba subieci. Cratinus (inquit) ἀλεκτρυόνα in foem. genere dixit. item Strattis, Αἱ δ’ἀλεκτρυόνες ἅπασαι καὶ τὰ χοιρίδια τέθνηκεν. Et Anaxandrides Rhodius Comicus, Ὀχευομένας τὰς ἀλεκτρυόνας θεοροῦσιν ἄσμενοι. Et Theopompus in Pace, Ἄχθομαι δ’ἀπολωλεκώς ἀλεκτρυόνα τίκτουσαν ᾿ῳά πάγκαλα. Et Aristophanes in Daedalo[3], Ὠόν μέγιστον τέτοκεν, ὡς ἀλεκτρυών. Dicitur et ἀλέκτωρ. Ὥσπερ ὁ περσικός ὥραν πᾶσαν καναχών ὀλόφωνος ἀλέκτωρ, Cratinus. Veteres ἀλεκτρυόνας vocabant etiam gallinas, Hesychius.

In a comedy Aristophanes joking has shown that aléktoras are the males, alektrýainas the females, and that alektryónas includes both. You can find that with alectorídas are meant also the males, as Athenaeus says, Ermolao Barbaro. In Clouds of Aristophanes it really seems that Socrates, while teaching Strepsiades, is reproaching him since he says alektryóna for both sexes, and so he bids him to call the female alektrýainan with an invented and poetic word, as from léøn - lion - comes léaina - lioness: but the male is aléktora. On the other hand, the scholiast says, it seems that at that time there was this widespread custom of calling alektryóna also the female, as it is evident from these words (of Aristophanes) in Amphiaraus: Gýnai tí tò psóphëma estí? Hë alektryøn | Tën kýlika katabéblëken. Oimøxouságe. - O woman, what this noise is? It is the hen who brought down a cup. She sent forth a moan. And in Daedalos of the comedy writer Plato (of Aristophanes, Athenaeus says; by publishers has been put kaì plátøn instead of kaì pálin – and again): Eníote pollaí  tøn alektryónøn hypënémia bíai tíktousi øá pollákis. O dè paîs éndon tàs alektryónas sobeî. - Sometimes many hens lay wind-eggs – sterile eggs - against their will. The boy drives the hens inside. In fact the Attic inhabitants called in this way also the hens. And the comic Theopompus says: But they call the hen also alektrýainan: the scholiast says this. But the passage, not very precise as far as the quotations of various authors is concerned, can be corrected according to Athenaeus, whose words I quoted underneath. He says: Cratinus used alektryóna in feminine gender. As well as Strattis Ai d’alektryónes hápasai, kài tà choirídia téthnëken - All the hens and the young sows died. And the comic poet Anaxandrides of Rhodes Ocheuoménas tàs alektryónas theoroûsin àsmenoi - They happily observe the hens while are trodden. And in Peace the comic Theopompus: Áchthomai d’apolølekøs alektryóna tíktousan øiá pánkala - I am grieved to have lost the hen laying very good eggs. And in Daedalos Aristophanes Øión mégiston tétoken, høs alektryøn. – She laid a very big egg, like a hen. They say also aléktør. Høsper ho persikòs høran pâsan kanachøn olóphønos aléktør - Like the all voice Persian rooster shouting for a whole hour, Cratinus. The ancients called the hens also alektryónas, Hesychius.

Ab ἀλέκτωρ masculino, foemininum ἀλεκτορίς derivatur. Ἀλεκτορίς  poeticum est, ὡς τὸ ἀλέκτωρ ἑλληνικόν (lego ἀδόκιμον) ὅλως, Varinus. Thomas Magister[4] quoque annotat, vocem ἀλεκτρυών significare marem et foeminam: ἀλεκτορίς  autem esse vocem plane poeticam, ἀλέκτωρ vero vocabulum esse ἀδόκιμον. Atqui ἀλεκτορίδα Aristoteles etiam dixit lib. 6. de historia animalium: et Galenus in opere de Simplicibus medic. ἀλεκτρυόνος καὶ ἀλεκτορίδος αἷμα. itaque ego vocem ἀλεκτρύαινα prorsus ἀδόκιμον dixerim, ἀλέκτωρ vero poeticam tantum contra Varinum et Thomam Magistrum: qui cum ἀλεκτορίς poeticum faciant, poetae nullius testimonium proferunt, et ego quoque nullum ex poetis hac voce usum memini. ἀλέκτορα vero in prosa nemo dixit, sed poetae aliquot, Aristophanes, Theocritus, Cratinus. item Septuaginta Prov. 30.[5] et Kirañ[6]. Usus nostro tempore obtinuit ut gallinae ὄρνιθες et ὀρνίθια dicantur, galli vero ἀλεκτρυόνες et ἀλεκτορίδες, Athenaeus. Ὄρνις genere communi privatim de (avibus) domesticis (id est gallinis) dicitur, Eustathius. Ὄρνιθες ἐνοικίδιοι et κατοικίδιοι, pro gallinaceo genere, in scriptis Porphyrii. Ὄρνιθας τροφίμους Suidas in Melito dixit, sive pro gallinacei generis, sive pro aliis etiam altilibus avibus. Ἀλεκτορίδης, pullus gallinaceus, forma patronymica, Suidas, et Varinus in Λαγωός. Ἀλεκτρυόνιον et περδίκιον ab Antiphane nominantur forma diminutiva: qua etiam ἀλεκτορίσκοι dicuntur. sed Suidas alectoriscos Tanagraeos nominat, qui grandes sunt gallinacei.

From the masculine aléktør comes the feminine alektorís. Alektorís is poetic, as utterly is the Greek aléktør (but I read adókimon - derogatory, not hellënikón - Greek), Varinus. Also Thomas Magister annotates that the word alektryøn points out the male and the female: but that alektorís is a quite poetic word, and that aléktør is a derogatory word. Nevertheless since also Aristotle said alektorída in 6^th book of Historia animalium: also Galen said alektryónos kài alektorídos haîma - blood of rooster and hen - in the treatise De simplicium medicamentorum temperamentis et facultatibus. Therefore, opposing myself to both Varinus and Thomas Magister, I would say that the word alektrýaina is quite adòkimon - derogatory, while aléktør is poetic: they, when defining alektorís as poetic, don't bring the testimony of any poet, and I also don't remember any poet who used this term. Really, nobody told aléktora in prose, but some poets, Aristophanes, Theocritus, Cratinus. Likewise the Septuagint in Proverbs 30,31 and Kiranides. In. our times the custom succeeded in calling the hens as órnithes - birds - and orníthia – little birds, the roosters on the contrary as alektryónes and alektorídes, Athenaeus. Commonly and generally they specifically say órnis for domestic fowls (that is, for hens), Eustathius of Thessalonica. In the writings of Porphyrius we find órnithes enoikídioi and katoikídioi - domestic birds - to point out the gallinaceous genus. The lexicon Suidas at the entry Mélitos has written órnithas trophímous - fed birds - both for birds belonging to gallinaceous genus and for the other battery birds. Alektorídës, the gallinaceous chick, is a patronymic word, the lexicon Suidas says, and also Varinus says this when speaking of Lagøós, belonging to hare. By Antiphanes are quoted alektryónion and perdíkion – young chicken and young partridge – in diminutive: and still in diminutive they are also said alektorískoi. But the lexicon Suidas quotes the alectoriscos of Tanagra, which are big sized chickens.

¶ His subiungam rariora quaedam gallinacei generis nomina, quae poetica sunt, partim glossis et dialectis differunt, partim fortassis etiam barbara. et quoniam ea non pauca sunt, ordinem alphabeticum iis recensendis adhibebo.

¶ To these I will add some rarer names concerning the gallinaceous genus, the poetic ones partly differ according to glossaries and dialects, partly perhaps are also foreign. And since they are not few, in passing them in review I will use the alphabetical order.

Βρητὸς, gallus anniculus, Hesych. et Varinus. Ἠϊκανὸς[7], gallinaceus, Iidem.¶ Κέρκνος, accipiter vel gallinaceus, Hesychius et Varinus. Σέρκος, gallus, et gallinae σέλκες, Iidem. Κῆρυξ, accipitris genus: et gallinaceus, Suidas et Varin. Κίκιῤῥος, gallinaceus, Hesych. et Varinus. Κικκὸς oxytonum, gallinaceus: paroxytonum vero, parva cicada[8], ὁ νέος τέττιξ, et κίκκα (paroxytonum) gallina, Iidem. vox per onomatopoeiam facta videtur, ut Germanica güggel. Κοκκοβόας[9] ὄρνις, de gallinaceo accipiendum videtur apud Sophoclem[10], Eustathius[11]. a voce nimirum, de qua verbum κοκκύζειν usurpant Graeci. Κορυθών ἀλεκτρυών, αἱ νεανίδες, Hesychius et Varinus, forte autem sic nominatus fuerit gallus quod corytha, id est cristam gerat. et eadem ratione fortassis etiam κορυνθεύς apud eosdem, quae vox eis etiam cophinum et calathum significat. Κόσκικοι, οἱ κατοικίδιοι ὄρνιθες, Hesychius et Varin. Κοττοὶ, gallinacei a crista capitis sic dicti, Iidem in Προκόττα quod est κεφαλῆς τρίχωμα. Κόττος, ὄρνις: sed equum quoque aliqui sic vocabant, Iidem. Et rursus, Κοττοβολεῖν τὸ παρατηρεῖν τινὰ ὄρνιν. Κοττυλοιοί (κοττυλιοί, per iota. in penultima, Varinus) κατοικίδιοι ὄρνεις, Hesychius. Κοτίκας, gallus, Hesych. et Varinus.

Brëtòs is the one year-old rooster, Hesychius and Varinus. Ëïkanós is the rooster, still they. ¶ Kérknos is the hawk or the rooster, Hesychius and Varinus. Sérkos is the rooster, sélkes the hens, still they. Kêryx - the herald, is a kind of hawk and the rooster, lexicon Suidas and Varinus. Kíkirros is the rooster, Hesychius and Varinus. Kikkòs oxytone is the rooster, on the contrary paroxytone is a small cricket, ho néos tettix - the young cricket and kíkka (paroxytone) is the hen, still they. It seems a word of onomatopoeic origin as the German güggel. It seems that in Sophocles kokkobóas órnis has to be interpreted as referred to the rooster, Eustathius says that obviously it is because of the manner of singing, from which the Greeks make derive the verb kokkýzein - to do a cock-a-doodle-doo. Korythøn alektryøn, ai neanídes - the rising rooster, the young girls, Hesychius and Varinus, perhaps however the rooster has been so named since is bearing the corytha, that is, the comb. And perhaps for the same reason is also said koryntheús by the same authors, but this term for them is also meaning great basket and wicker basket. Kóskikoi, hoi katoikídioi órnithes - Kóskikoi, the domestic birds, Hesychius and Varinus. The roosters are said kottoì because of the comb they have on the head, still they when dealing with prokótta, that is kephalës tríchøma - hair of the head. Kóttos, órnis, but some were calling in this way also the horse, the same authors. And again, Kottoboleîn, to paratëreîn tinà órnin - Kottoboleîn, to observe a bird. Kottyloioí (Varinus reads kottyliοí  with an iota in the penultimate syllable) katoikídioi órneis - Kottyloioí domestic birds, Hesychius. Kotíkas is the rooster, Hesychius and Varinus.

¶ Μηδικοί, aves Medicae, gallinacei, Iidem.  Aristophanes in Avibus[12] Medum (μῆδον) avem facere videtur. Scholiastes gallinaceum accipiendum suspicatur. alibi quidem dubitat an ulla avis recte μῆδος appelletur. Sed cum gallinaceus ab eodem Comico etiam Persica avis dicatur, medum quoque vel medicam avem pro gallinaceo accipi ab eo probabile est. De Medicis gallinaceis magnis et pugnacibus, scriptum est supra in B. Ὥσπερ ὁ περσικός ὥραν πᾶσαν καναχὼν ὀλόφωνος ἀλέκτωρ, Cratinus apud Athenaeum. Ὀλόφωνος, gallinaceus, sic dictus, vel a lopho, id est crista, vel ab eo quod inter canendum in sublime se erigat, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν τῷ ᾄδειν ὄλον αἴρεσθαι καὶ μετεωρίζεσθαι, Hesych. Alexarchus Cassandri Macedonum regis frater, gallum gallinaceum orthoboam (ὀρθοβόαν[13], nimirum quod inter canendum se erigat, unde et ὀλόφωνον dictum quidam coniiciunt, ut iam diximus: nisi quasi ὀρθροβόαν potius, a matutino cantu, sic appellatum placeat,) vocabat, Hermolaus ex Athenaeo. Ὀρτάλιχοι[14] gallinacei, Eustathius. item pulli gallinacei, Vide infra in Pullo[15]. Ὀρτάλιχοι pulli sunt qui nondum volare possunt, volare tamen gestiunt et conantur, παρὰ τὸ γλίχεσθαι τοῦ ὀρούειν καὶ πέτεσθαι, Etymologus[16] et Varin. Boeotice etiam ipsi gallinacei sic vocantur, ut apud Aristophanem in Acharnensibus, Scholiastes et Varinus. Thebani rerum nomina innovare gaudent. itaque sepiam vocant ὀπισθοτίλαν[17], ἀλεκτρυόνα ὀρτάλιχον, etc. Athenaeus lib. 13. et Varinus in Λεξάσθων. Ὀρταλίς αἰχμητῆσιν ὑπευνηθεῖσα νεοσσοῖς[18], Nicander de gallina. Ὀρταλίχοισι χελιδόσιν Oppianus dixit[19].

¶ Mëdikoí, Median birds, they are the roosters, the same authors. Aristophanes in Birds seems that is considering the rooster as Median bird (mëdon). The scholiast suspects that a rooster has to be meant. But in another point he doubts that some bird is correctly called mëdos – from Media. But since by this comedy writer the rooster is also said Persian bird, it is probable that on his behalf also the bird of Media, or Median bird, is meant as rooster. About the Median roosters, big sized and combative, I have previously written in the paragraph B. Høsper ho persikós høran pâsan kanachøn olóphønos aléktør - as the all voice Persian rooster shouting for a whole hour, Cratinus in Athenaeus. Olóphønos - all voice - is the rooster, so-called either from lóphos, that is comb, or because while singing is rising upward, apò toû en tø_i á_idein ólon αíresthai kài meteørízesthai - since when singing he wholly rises himself  and becomes proud, Hesychius. Alexarcus, brother of Cassander king of Macedonians, called the rooster orthoboa (orthobóas, just because while singing sticks up, thence some are deducing that he is also called olóphønos, as already I said: unless we prefer to think that on the contrary he is so called as being an orthrobóas - one who sings at dawn, órthros = dawn, Ermolao Barbaro drawing it from Athenaeus. Ortálichoi are the roosters and the hens Eustathius. Likewise, they are the young chickens, see ahead at the entry Chicken. Ortálichoi are the chickens not yet able to fly, nevertheless moving the wings to fly and making some attempts, parà tò glíchesthai toû oroúein kaì pétesthai - to succeed in rising and fly, the Etymologicon magnum and Varinus. In Boeotian language also the chickens themselves are so named, as in Acarnians of Aristophanes, in scholiast and Varinus. The Thebans enjoy in creating new words. Therefore they call opisthotíla the cuttlefish, ortálichos the rooster, etc., Athenaeus in 13^th book and Varinus at the entry Lexásthøn. Ortalís aichmëtësin hypeunëthéîsa neossοîs - the hen laying under the aggressive roosters, Nicander about the hen. Oppian Anazarbeus said ortalíchoisi chelidósin - chicks similar to swallows.

¶ Gallinaceus Persica avis (περσικός ὄρνις) dicitur propter cristam. Multos pueros deceperunt amatores, alius [402] coturnice, alius Persica ave aliave donata, Aristophanes in Avibus. ubi Scholiastes, Pretiosa (inquit) omnia, quibus solus rex (Persarum) utebatur, Persica vocabantur. et hoc in loco avis Persica, non certam aliquam avem designat. sunt tamen qui gallinaceum, et qui pavonem interpretentur. Vide superius paulo in Medo.

¶ The rooster is said Persian bird (persikós órnis) because of the comb. The lovers deceived many boys, one with a quail, one with a Persian bird, or giving another kind of bird, Aristophanes in Birds. The expounder say in this connection: They were called Persian all the precious things used only by the king (of Persians). And in this passage Persian bird is not indicating a specific bird. Nevertheless some are interpreting it as rooster, others as peacock. See just before apropos of Median bird.