Aristophanes Clouds 25

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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Clouds. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1906.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Νεφέλαι (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.)

Translations (2)
Clouds Perseus (Aristophanes. The Comedies of Aristophanes, Vol. I. Hickie, William James, translator. Bohn: London, 1853.) — 25 focus
English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) Experimental (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) — 25 focus

Commentary

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) focus

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τρεῖς μναῖ διφρίσκου καὶ τροχοῖν Ἀμυνίᾳ.
The phrase 'διφρίσκου' is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, appearing only here in the extant corpus. While the verb is derived from the noun διφρίσκος (a type of light, two-wheeled cart), the verbal form is exceptionally rare and its precise semantic nuance here—whether implying a specific type of motion or simply 'to drive'—is debated. The accusative singular 'διφρίσκου' is grammatically regular as the direct object of the implied verb of giving or spending (understood from context), but the rarity of the lexical item itself warrants note for a specialist audience.

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ἀλλʼ ὦ μέλʼ ἐξήλικας ἐμέ γʼ ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν,
The vocative form μέλ' (for μέλι) is a rare instance of the elision of the final iota in the vocative of this noun, which is otherwise typically uncontracted or treated differently in comedy; this metrical concession highlights the speaker's emotional outburst and the intimate, abusive address typical of Aristophanic dialogue.

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ἔπειτʼ ἔγημα Μεγακλέους τοῦ Μεγακλέους
The double use of the name Μεγακλέους (genitive of Megacles) is a deliberate comic device highlighting the absurdity of the name's recurrence within a single phrase, a technique characteristic of Aristophanic wordplay where the repetition serves to mock the speaker's pretension or the obscurity of the genealogy. This specific construction echoes a known comedic trope found elsewhere in the play (e.g., 545) where the repetition of a name is used to satirize the pedantic enumeration of lineage.

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σεμνὴν τρυφῶσαν ἐγκεκοισυρωμένην.
The participle ἐγκεκοισυρωμένην (from ἐγκεκοισυρῶ) is a hapax legomenon in extant Greek literature, denoting a specific type of disheveled, wind-blown, or 'wind-blowing' state, here metaphorically describing the clouds' unruly, stormy appearance. Its rarity and unique compound formation warrant attention as a deliberate Aristophanic coinage to evoke the chaotic physicality of the Clouds.