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Σωκράτης

μὰ τὴν Ἀναπνοὴν μὰ τὸ Χάος μὰ τὸν Ἀέρα

οὐκ εἶδον οὕτως ἄνδρʼ ἄγροικον οὐδένα

οὐδʼ ἄπορον οὐδὲ σκαιὸν οὐδʼ ἐπιλήσμονα·

ὅστις σκαλαθυρμάτιʼ ἄττα μικρὰ μανθάνων
630

ταῦτʼ ἐπιλέλησται πρὶν μαθεῖν· ὅμως γε μὴν

αὐτὸν καλῶ θύραζε δευρὶ πρὸς τὸ φῶς.

ποῦ Στρεψιάδης; ἔξει τὸν ἀσκάντην λαβών;

Στρεψιάδης

ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐῶσί μʼ ἐξενεγκεῖν οἱ κόρεις.

Σωκράτης

ἀνύσας τι κατάθου καὶ πρόσεχε τὸν νοῦν.
635

Στρεψιάδης

ἰδού.

Σωκράτης

ἄγε δὴ τί βούλει πρῶτα νυνὶ μανθάνειν

ὧν οὐκ ἐδιδάχθης πώποτʼ οὐδέν; εἰπέ μοι.

πότερα περὶ μέτρων ἢ περὶ ἐπῶν ἢ ῥυθμῶν;

Στρεψιάδης

περὶ τῶν μέτρων ἔγωγʼ· ἔναγχος γάρ ποτε

ὑπʼ ἀλφιταμοιβοῦ παρεκόπην διχοινίκῳ.
640

Σωκράτης

οὐ τοῦτʼ ἐρωτῶ σʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι κάλλιστον μέτρον

ἡγεῖ· πότερα τὸ τρίμετρον ἢ τὸ τετράμετρον;

Στρεψιάδης

ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδὲν πρότερον ἡμιεκτέου.

Σωκράτης

οὐδὲν λέγεις ὦνθρωπε.

Στρεψιάδης

περίδου νυν ἐμοί,

εἰ μὴ τετράμετρόν ἐστιν ἡμιεκτέον.
645

Σωκράτης

ἐς κόρακας, ὡς ἄγροικος εἶ καὶ δυσμαθής.

ταχύ γʼ ἂν δύναιο μανθάνειν περὶ ῥυθμῶν.

Στρεψιάδης

τί δέ μʼ ὠφελήσουσʼ οἱ ῥυθμοὶ πρὸς τἄλφιτα;

Σωκράτης

πρῶτον μὲν εἶναι κομψὸν ἐν συνουσίᾳ,

ἐπαΐονθʼ ὁποῖός ἐστι τῶν ῥυθμῶν
650

κατʼ ἐνόπλιον, χὠποῖος αὖ κατὰ δάκτυλον.

Στρεψιάδης

κατὰ δάκτυλον; νὴ τὸν Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ οἶδʼ.

Σωκράτης

εἰπὲ δή.

Στρεψιάδης

τίς ἄλλος ἀντὶ τουτουὶ τοῦ δακτύλου;

πρὸ τοῦ μέν, ἔτʼ ἐμοῦ παιδὸς ὄντος, οὑτοσί.

Σωκράτης

ἀγρεῖος εἶ καὶ σκαιός.
655

Στρεψιάδης

οὐ γὰρ ᾠζυρὲ

τούτων ἐπιθυμῶ μανθάνειν οὐδέν.

Σωκράτης

τί δαί;

Στρεψιάδης

ἐκεῖνʼ ἐκεῖνο, τὸν ἀδικώτατον λόγον.

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.) — 627 focus

Enter Socrates.

Socrates.

By Respiration, and Chaos, and Air, I have not seen any man so boorish, nor so impracticable, nor so stupid, nor so forgetful;

who, while learning some little petty quibbles, forgets them before he has learned them. Nevertheless I will certainly call him out here to the light. Where is Strepsiades? Come forth with your couch.
630

Strepsiades.

(from within). The bugs do not permit me to bring it forth.

Socrates.

Make haste and lay it down; and give me your attention.
635

Enter Strepsiades.

Strepsiades.

Very well.

Socrates.

Come now; what do you now wish to learn first of those things in none of which you have ever been instructed? Tell me. About measures, or rhythms, or verses?

Strepsiades.

I should prefer to learn about measures; for it is but lately I was cheated out of two choenices by a meal-huckster.

Socrates.

I do not ask you this, but which you account the most beautiful measure; the trimetre or the tetrameter?

Strepsiades.

I think nothing superior to the semisextarius.

Socrates.

You talk nonsense, man.

Strepsiades.

Make a wager then with me, if the semisextarius be not a tetrameter.

Socrates.

Go to the devil! How boorish you are and dull of learning. Perhaps you may be able to learn about rhythms.

Strepsiades.

But what good will rhythms do me for a living?

Socrates.

In the first place, to be clever at an entertainment, understanding what rhythm is for the war-dance, and what, again, according to the dactyle.

Strepsiades.

According to the dactyle? By Jove, but I know it!

Socrates.

Tell me, pray.

Strepsiades.

What else but this finger? Formerly, indeed, when I was yet a boy, this here!

Socrates.

You are boorish and stupid.
655

Strepsiades.

For I do not desire, you wretch, to learn any of these things.

Socrates.

What then?

Strepsiades.

That, that, the most unjust cause.

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.) — 627 focus

Socrates: By the Breath, by the Chaos, by the Air

Socrates: I have not seen such a rustic man as this.

Socrates: neither difficult nor awkward nor forgetful;

Socrates: whoever learns a few little things by climbing up the ladder

630

Socrates: he has forgotten these things before learning them; nevertheless, indeed

Socrates: Him, I call out, out of doors, come here to the light.

Socrates: Where is Strepsiades? Will he take the strap?

Strepsiades: But the girls do not let me bring them out.

Socrates: Do something and pay attention.

635

Strepsiades: Look!

Socrates: Come then, what do you wish to learn first now?

Socrates: Of these, have you not learned anything at all? Tell me.

Socrates: Whether about measures, or about words, or about rhythms?

Strepsiades: I'm talking about the meters; for once recently

Strepsiades: I was cut down by a flour-miller, a man of dissension.

640

Socrates: I do not ask this of you, but [ask] what is the most beautiful measure.

Socrates: Lead the way. Which one, the trimeter or the tetrameter?

Strepsiades: I, for my part, am not yet half-emptied.

Socrates: You say nothing, man.

Strepsiades: Now, look at me.

Strepsiades: if it is not in four-meters, it must be read in half-meters.

645

Socrates: To hell with you, since you are a boor and slow to learn.

Socrates: you would quickly be able to learn about rhythms.

Strepsiades: And how will the rhythms help me in relation to the barley-cakes?

Socrates: First of all, to be refined in conversation,

Socrates: know what kind of rhythms it is.

650

Socrates: By the arms, and what a way it is by the finger.

Strepsiades: By the finger? By Zeus, but I know.

Socrates: say then.

Strepsiades: Who else, instead of this finger?

Strepsiades: Before, yes, when I was a boy, this fellow.

Socrates: You are a rustic and clumsy fellow.

655

Strepsiades: For you are not a fool.

Strepsiades: I desire to learn nothing of these things.

Socrates: Why then?

Strepsiades: That one, that most unjust speech.

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

640. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-45

Line 640

ὑπʼ ἀλφιταμοιβοῦ παρεκόπην διχοινίκῳ.

The noun ἀλφιταμοιβός ('flour-exchanger' or 'meal-barterer') is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, constructed as a compound of ἄλφιτον (barley-meal) and μοιβός (exchange). Its usage here is not merely descriptive of a baker but satirically precise: in the context of the Clouds' education, Strepsiades is being depicted as a man of such meager means that his only economic interaction involves the barter of basic grain, a detail that underscores the play's critique of the sophists' corruption of even the most humble tradesmen. The compound's formation follows a pattern of comic neologism where the -μοιβός suffix (from μοιβή, exchange) is applied to a commodity to denote the agent of its trade, a linguistic device Aristophanes employs to generate humor through hyper-specificity.

651. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-46

Line 651

κατʼ ἐνόπλιον, χὠποῖος αὖ κατὰ δάκτυλον.

The phrase χὠποῖος is a colloquial contraction of καὶ ποῖος, where the elision of the initial kappa in καὶ before the omega of ποῖος is marked by the rough breathing on the resulting combination. This specific elision, creating the form χὠ-, is a hallmark of Aristophanic comic diction and reflects the rapid, conversational tempo of the dialogue, distinguishing it from the more formal elisions found in tragedy or prose.

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Στρεψιάδης ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐῶσί μʼ ἐξενεγκεῖν οἱ κόρεις.

Σωκράτης ἀνύσας τι κατάθου καὶ πρόσεχε τὸν νοῦν. 635

Στρεψιάδης ἰδού.

Σωκράτης ἄγε δὴ τί βούλει πρῶτα νυνὶ μανθάνειν ὧν οὐκ ἐδιδάχθης πώποτʼ οὐδέν; εἰπέ μοι. πότερα περὶ μέτρων ἢ περὶ ἐπῶν ἢ ῥυθμῶν;

Στρεψιάδης περὶ τῶν μέτρων ἔγωγʼ· ἔναγχος γάρ ποτε ὑπʼ ἀλφιταμοιβοῦ παρεκόπην διχοινίκῳ. 640

Σωκράτης οὐ τοῦτʼ ἐρωτῶ σʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι κάλλιστον μέτρον ἡγεῖ· πότερα τὸ τρίμετρον ἢ τὸ τετράμετρον;

Στρεψιάδης ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδὲν πρότερον ἡμιεκτέου.

Σωκράτης οὐδὲν λέγεις ὦνθρωπε.

Στρεψιάδης περίδου νυν ἐμοί, εἰ μὴ τετράμετρόν ἐστιν ἡμιεκτέον. 645

Σωκράτης ἐς κόρακας, ὡς ἄγροικος εἶ καὶ δυσμαθής. ταχύ γʼ ἂν δύναιο μανθάνειν περὶ ῥυθμῶν.

Στρεψιάδης τί δέ μʼ ὠφελήσουσʼ οἱ ῥυθμοὶ πρὸς τἄλφιτα;

Σωκράτης πρῶτον μὲν εἶναι κομψὸν ἐν συνουσίᾳ, ἐπαΐονθʼ ὁποῖός ἐστι τῶν ῥυθμῶν 650 κατʼ ἐνόπλιον, χὠποῖος αὖ κατὰ δάκτυλον.

Στρεψιάδης κατὰ δάκτυλον; νὴ τὸν Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ οἶδʼ.

Σωκράτης εἰπὲ δή.

Στρεψιάδης τίς ἄλλος ἀντὶ τουτουὶ τοῦ δακτύλου; πρὸ τοῦ μέν, ἔτʼ ἐμοῦ παιδὸς ὄντος, οὑτοσί.

Σωκράτης ἀγρεῖος εἶ καὶ σκαιός. 655

Στρεψιάδης οὐ γὰρ ᾠζυρὲ τούτων ἐπιθυμῶ μανθάνειν οὐδέν.

Σωκράτης τί δαί;

Στρεψιάδης ἐκεῖνʼ ἐκεῖνο, τὸν ἀδικώτατον λόγον.

Current edition Perseus

Strepsiades. (from within). The bugs do not permit me to bring it forth.

Socrates. Make haste and lay it down; and give me your attention. 635

Strepsiades. Very well.

Socrates. Come now; what do you now wish to learn first of those things in none of which you have ever been instructed? Tell me. About measures, or rhythms, or verses?

Strepsiades. I should prefer to learn about measures; for it is but lately I was cheated out of two choenices by a meal-huckster.

Socrates. I do not ask you this, but which you account the most beautiful measure; the trimetre or the tetrameter?

Strepsiades. I think nothing superior to the semisextarius.

Socrates. You talk nonsense, man.

Strepsiades. Make a wager then with me, if the semisextarius be not a tetrameter.

Socrates. Go to the devil! How boorish you are and dull of learning. Perhaps you may be able to learn about rhythms.

Strepsiades. But what good will rhythms do me for a living?

Socrates. In the first place, to be clever at an entertainment, understanding what rhythm is for the war-dance, and what, again, according to the dactyle.

Strepsiades. According to the dactyle? By Jove, but I know it!

Socrates. Tell me, pray.

Strepsiades. What else but this finger? Formerly, indeed, when I was yet a boy, this here!

Socrates. You are boorish and stupid. 655

Strepsiades. For I do not desire, you wretch, to learn any of these things.

Socrates. What then?

Strepsiades. That, that, the most unjust cause.

Commentary

Line 640

Line 651

Stable identifiers

Στρεψιάδης

ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐῶσί μʼ ἐξενεγκεῖν οἱ κόρεις.

Σωκράτης

ἀνύσας τι κατάθου καὶ πρόσεχε τὸν νοῦν.
635

Στρεψιάδης

ἰδού.

Σωκράτης

ἄγε δὴ τί βούλει πρῶτα νυνὶ μανθάνειν

ὧν οὐκ ἐδιδάχθης πώποτʼ οὐδέν; εἰπέ μοι.

πότερα περὶ μέτρων ἢ περὶ ἐπῶν ἢ ῥυθμῶν;

Στρεψιάδης

περὶ τῶν μέτρων ἔγωγʼ· ἔναγχος γάρ ποτε

ὑπʼ ἀλφιταμοιβοῦ παρεκόπην διχοινίκῳ.
640

Σωκράτης

οὐ τοῦτʼ ἐρωτῶ σʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι κάλλιστον μέτρον

ἡγεῖ· πότερα τὸ τρίμετρον ἢ τὸ τετράμετρον;

Στρεψιάδης

ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδὲν πρότερον ἡμιεκτέου.

Σωκράτης

οὐδὲν λέγεις ὦνθρωπε.

Στρεψιάδης

περίδου νυν ἐμοί,

εἰ μὴ τετράμετρόν ἐστιν ἡμιεκτέον.
645

Σωκράτης

ἐς κόρακας, ὡς ἄγροικος εἶ καὶ δυσμαθής.

ταχύ γʼ ἂν δύναιο μανθάνειν περὶ ῥυθμῶν.

Στρεψιάδης

τί δέ μʼ ὠφελήσουσʼ οἱ ῥυθμοὶ πρὸς τἄλφιτα;

Σωκράτης

πρῶτον μὲν εἶναι κομψὸν ἐν συνουσίᾳ,

ἐπαΐονθʼ ὁποῖός ἐστι τῶν ῥυθμῶν
650

κατʼ ἐνόπλιον, χὠποῖος αὖ κατὰ δάκτυλον.

Στρεψιάδης

κατὰ δάκτυλον; νὴ τὸν Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ οἶδʼ.

Σωκράτης

εἰπὲ δή.

Στρεψιάδης

τίς ἄλλος ἀντὶ τουτουὶ τοῦ δακτύλου;

πρὸ τοῦ μέν, ἔτʼ ἐμοῦ παιδὸς ὄντος, οὑτοσί.

Σωκράτης

ἀγρεῖος εἶ καὶ σκαιός.
655

Στρεψιάδης

οὐ γὰρ ᾠζυρὲ

τούτων ἐπιθυμῶ μανθάνειν οὐδέν.

Σωκράτης

τί δαί;

Στρεψιάδης

ἐκεῖνʼ ἐκεῖνο, τὸν ἀδικώτατον λόγον.

Strepsiades.

(from within). The bugs do not permit me to bring it forth.

Socrates.

Make haste and lay it down; and give me your attention.
635

Strepsiades.

Very well.

Socrates.

Come now; what do you now wish to learn first of those things in none of which you have ever been instructed? Tell me. About measures, or rhythms, or verses?

Strepsiades.

I should prefer to learn about measures; for it is but lately I was cheated out of two choenices by a meal-huckster.

Socrates.

I do not ask you this, but which you account the most beautiful measure; the trimetre or the tetrameter?

Strepsiades.

I think nothing superior to the semisextarius.

Socrates.

You talk nonsense, man.

Strepsiades.

Make a wager then with me, if the semisextarius be not a tetrameter.

Socrates.

Go to the devil! How boorish you are and dull of learning. Perhaps you may be able to learn about rhythms.

Strepsiades.

But what good will rhythms do me for a living?

Socrates.

In the first place, to be clever at an entertainment, understanding what rhythm is for the war-dance, and what, again, according to the dactyle.

Strepsiades.

According to the dactyle? By Jove, but I know it!

Socrates.

Tell me, pray.

Strepsiades.

What else but this finger? Formerly, indeed, when I was yet a boy, this here!

Socrates.

You are boorish and stupid.
655

Strepsiades.

For I do not desire, you wretch, to learn any of these things.

Socrates.

What then?

Strepsiades.

That, that, the most unjust cause.